painful pedals >> cheddie hanahaki au

Chapter One

italics=thoughts or flashback
bold=sounds/noises or thoughts in a flashback
———-

I laid there; my body limp. I wiped from one corner of my mouth to the other with my sleeve, only to look in my mirror to see that I just smeared more blood across my face. I glanced around me, petals-even whole flowers- were in piles sprawled across the bathroom floor with trails of blood following behind them. I tried to get up but I was too dizzy. I just fell back down. And right when I did that, I felt another batch emerging from my throat. Blood already trickled from my mouth down to my neck. I began to hack up more and more of those nasty petals.

  I just sat there, coughing up more and more. I murmured underneath my breath,"Who knew love could kill?"

—one month before—
//3rd person POV//

Beep beep!
Would it shut up already?, Eddie thought.
Beep beep!
Starting to piss me off....
Beep beep!
That's it.

  Eddie sprinted up and clenched his hand into a fist. He forcefully smacked down on the alarm clock. It made a faint beeping noise before eventually going out.
Finally.

Eddie sat there a bit and then let out a deep sigh. He stayed in bed for a little longer before finally deciding to get up.

Eddie walked into his kitchen and opened the pantry door. He grabbed a box of Special K cereal from the top shelf and then looked at the date residing on the left corner of the box.

Shit, it's expired, he thought to himself.
That's all I have for breakfast. Well, that's all I have for food. Guess I have to go out now.

Eddie took a deep breath and threw the box in the trash. He quickly went back to his room to change into a black t-shirt, jeans, and some Docs. He went from there to his front door where he slipped on a white, blue, and red striped light jacket. Eddie grabbed his keys and made his way to his car; where he was having start up issues. Luckily, however, he was able to get it going. He made his way to the local Kroger.

"Here it is. Thank god that traffic didn't hold me up long".

  Eddie parked his car in a parking lot that was surprisingly very close to the store's entrance. Once he parked, he stepped out and walked over to the sliding doors. As he stepped in, he caught a whiff of fresh produce that was nearby. He always liked the smells, for some reason; it just felt and smelled so refreshing to him.

As he walked over to an aisle with his buggy, an argument caught his attention. He kept moving forward while watching the scene go down-not paying attention to his surroundings. Just as he was going to turn his head around and actually pay attention to where he was going, his cart had already made plans to run into someone, and it was only a matter of seconds before it would happen.

SMACK!

Eddie's cart jammed into another person's, causing the items in the other man's buggy to fly everywhere.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention and I-" Eddie got interrupted by a familiar looking man," Hey, man, it's okay."
"Wait...Chris! I didn't realize that was you!
"Heh."

Eddie knew Chris as his neighbor, and a fellow musician. They didn't know each other well though, they've only talked on certain occasions. However, Eddie still admired him. They both have bands and when he heard Chris' play, it just amazes him how musically gifted they were. While Eddie and his band were very gifted too, he never felt that way when listening to his neighbor next door.

As Eddie began helping Chris pick his groceries up, Eddie looked at the man and said," You know, we never really talk much."
"You're right. I'd be nice to get to know you better, especially since we've been next door neighbors for a couple of years." Chris said.
"How about when we're done shopping, you come over to my place?" Eddie suggested.
Chris smiled and nodded,"Sure. Uh, so when we both see each other at home, I can come over, right?"
"Yup."
"Alright. See you later."
"You too!" Eddie waved bye and grinned. He hasn't had company besides his band mates in quite awhile.

—after they're done shopping—

Eddie pulled up into his driveway and noticed Chris already waiting on his porch. He waved and then quickly went inside with his groceries. He put everything up sloppily and didn't even bother to throw away his bags or close the pantry door. He heard a knock on his front door.

Eddie rushed over, speedily unlocked it, and opened it up for Chris to come on.
"Hey, Eddie."
"Hello there! You can take a seat on the couch if you want."
 
Chris nodded and made his way for the living room to sit on the couch. Eddie quickly poured him some cereal into a small red bowl before joining Chris.

"It's nice to actually sit down and talk finally," Eddie said.
"You're right. I've been wanting to after seeing the weird stuff you do late at night. Makes me feel better because I do weird stuff too."
Eddie blushed," Weird stuff? What weird stuff?"
"I don't know...like dancing like an idiot at 11pm , or blowing up inflatable guitars at 4am and swinging them at shit." Chris chuckled.
"Oh...heh, that's right," he paused a bit," I don't really see you do anything weird."
"Yeah, I usually go into a private room to do my stuff."
"I should do that."
"Yup."

There was bit of an awkward silence after that, but Eddie broke it.

"Let's watch some TV, hm?"
"Sure."

He turned on the television, and the first thing shown was a love scene in either a movie or a show; they didn't know.

Eddie didn't change it. He looked at the screen where two people were confessing their love to one another. He looked closer and realized they were men. He didn't expect to see something like this; especially in an age where homosexuality was largely frowned upon.

He continued to watch and felt these tingles. He looked over at Chris who was also watching it. He felt those tingles again. Chris glanced at Eddie who was sort-of staring at him. He blushed and looked away at the remote. He decided to change it.

Eddie began to think about those feelings. As the two men watched TV, he contemplated it even more.
There's no way...., Eddie thought.
Chris brushed his hand across Eddie's thigh by accident. He felt those tingles again, but more intense this time.
Oh god, I think I really am.

Eddie felt a lump in his throat.
Shit.