I helped Margot down from my makeshift ladder, my hands shaking at the thought of her falling asleep next to me. She grinned at me as I took her hand, leading her around the front. She paused when we passed Shelob.
"Can I grab my bag from the van? I have some things to spend the night," she asked sheepishly. I grinned wickedly.
"Princess, did you plan on taking advantage of me tonight?" I teased. She turned red and rolled her eyes.
"You know, I can walk home," she snarked.
"No!" I said way too quickly.
She smirked at me, knowing how tightly I was wound around her little finger. I blushed and walked her to the van, taking her bag from her as she pulled it out. I set an arm around her waist and guided her to the trailer.
"Okay, so, I wasn't expecting company tonight, so please don't judge—"
"Eddie, I won't care, I promise," she interrupted, leaning into me. I grinned and kissed her quickly before opening the door for her. I was relieved to see that my uncle had picked up a bit before he left for his shift. I turned to her.
"Welcome to Casa Munson," I welcomed, grinning at how giddy she was. She looked around, taking it in. I remembered that she was going to actually be sleeping in my room. "Um, stay in here for a bit."
Before she could question me, I ran back to my room and slammed the door, frantically cleaning things. I threw as much as I could under my bed, mortified by the magazines that I casually left out for anyone to see apparently. I straightened my covers and fluffed the pillows before grabbing my cologne to spray on the bed and alleviate some of my normal smells. I trotted back out into the living room. I felt my heart swell when I saw her with her hands clasped behind her back, looking at one of the few photos my uncle kept around. She turned to me when she heard me come in, grinning ear to ear. She held the photo up.
"You were so adorable," she gushed, making my face heat.
I walked over and took the photo from her, studying it. It was a photo of me and Wayne when I first moved in with him. I was in elementary school, and it was the first and only time he had taken me fishing. Wayne had his arm around a tiny Eddie's shoulders, smiling wide. I was small and skinny, with both front teeth missing and a buzzcut. My uncle loved this photo of us and often teased me about it.
"Oh, my god, this is embarrassing," I whined, trying to keep the photo out of her reach. She got it from my hands, studying it again.
"No, it is so cute – I didn't even know you were capable of having short hair," she said, her voice still sweet. She traced my face in the photo and looked back up at me, her eyes crinkled. "Look at you with no teeth!"
"I was pretty dorky," I sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her forehead. She continued to study the photo.
"That's Wayne, right?" she asked. I nodded when she looked up at me. She went back to the photo. "I didn't know you fished."
"I don't," I explained, moving one of my hands to her hair and playing with it. I grinned when she shivered involuntarily. "I never went fishing again after that day."
She looked up at me, her brows furrowed.
"Why not?"
I flushed at the question, embarrassed by the explanation. She grinned – she had picked up my tells now, knowing when I was mortified to tell her something. I don't even know why – she was always so kind, never making me feel stupid. She leaned into me, batting her eyes, knowing that I wouldn't withhold the story from her. I sighed.
"Wayne loves fishing – when I moved in with him, he wanted to take me so we would bond. I loved the outdoors part and the whole spending time with my uncle part – that's when we got the photo," I started. She leaned into me, and I closed my eyes, mortified by the next part of the story. "But I guess I didn't realize that the fish died if you took them out of the water, so when I finally caught one, and Wayne told me what was going to happen, I lost it. Like, lost it. I was sobbing, absolutely inconsolable until Wayne let the fish go. He made up a whole story about how the fish was going to get old and have a family so I would feel better, and I made him tell me that practically every night before bed. Then I never fished again."
It was silent for a beat, and I finally opened my eyes. She was looking up at me, her eyes wide and glistening. She set the photo back on the shelf and turned to me. I felt my face heat as she watched me.
"You are so cute," she said quietly. I furrowed my brows.
"Because I cried when I had to fish?" I asked. She shook her head and set her hands on my biceps, her touch setting me on fire.
"You're just...so different, Eddie," she said, not exactly answering my question. "I loved that story."
I smiled at her, and my heart started racing when she wrapped a hand around the base of my scalp, scratching my head and pulling me close.
"I still can't figure you out, Princess Andúnë," I admitted, melting under her touch. She grinned and leaned into me.
"That's what makes this fun, right?" she asked. I grinned and pressed my lips to hers, holding her tight to me. I over the moon – I was kissing my girlfriend. Margot Patterson was my girlfriend. I pulled back and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Ready to go to bed?" I asked, my voice cracking from my nerves. She smiled and nodded.
I held her hand as I walked her back to my room. I felt my face heat, wishing that I had spent hours cleaning for her. She looked around and I gestured around. She crossed to my stereo and looked at my different cassettes, making sure she was careful with them. She saw the shrine to my guitar and looked back at me, grinning at me.
"This is special," she said, crossing over to it. I scratched the back of my head and shrugged.
"Most important thing I own," I replied. She studied it for a bit and then came back to me, snaking her arms around my back and setting her chin on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, grinning.
"Are you ready to get comfy?" she asked. I swallowed hard and nodded at her before kissing her forehead.
"My bathroom is right there, so you can get changed and ready," I offered, gesturing at my bathroom. She nodded and let me go to grab her bag. She closed the door behind her, and I felt my heart start to pound.
I fell back onto my bed and sighed, throwing my arms out. Was I really about to get into bed with Margot Patterson? My life over the last month and a half had been unbelievable. I got up and quickly got changed out of my jeans into a pair of sweatpants. I kept my t-shirt on, waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. The door opened and my heart caught.
She was in a soft, green nightgown that was shorter than the skirts she normally wore. She had her hair up in a scrunchie and she grinned when she saw that I changed. She bounded over to me and threw her arms around my neck. I kept my eyes trained on hers, making sure I didn't look down to gawk at her legs.
"I like your comfy clothes," she said, kissing me quickly. I flushed and nodded.
"I like yours!" I squeaked, too excited. She grinned and dropped her hold on me. I cleared my throat and started towards the bathroom. "I'm going to brush my teeth – want to get into bed?"
I made sure I didn't stare as she crawled into the bed and went to brush my teeth. I moved through my nightly routine quickly, desperate to get back to Margot. I rinsed my mouth out and shut the light off before going back. I grinned as I saw her settled in my bed, her back against my pillows. She smiled back at me and patted the space next to her. I crawled over to her and dropped onto my side next to her, grinning as she rolled over to me.
"Your bed smells nice," she said. I set a hand on her waist and scooted closer to her.
"I might have panicked a bit and sprayed my cologne everywhere," I replied. She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"I like it," she whispered as I pulled her closer. I brushed my nose against hers, kissing her softly. "Are you going to get under the covers?"
"I run really warm," I replied. It was true – I always slept shirtless, but I wanted to be respectful of her. She furrowed her brows.
"Do you normally sleep on top of the covers?"
I shook my head and flushed.
"No, I'm just normally in just my sweatpants."
---
I felt my face heat at just the thought of Eddie without a shirt. He was holding me, his embrace just as gentle as it always was. I cleared my throat.
"Oh, you know, you can do whatever makes you comfortable!" I insisted, trying to play it cool. He raised his eyebrows.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
I nodded quickly and he sat up, reaching down and yanking his shirt off. My jaw dropped as I noticed the tattoos splayed across this back – scenes of dragons and eagles that moved as he threw the shirt across the room. He grinned as he turned back to me and tapped my chin to close it.
"Let me under the covers, princess," he said. I nodded and helped him under the covers, my eyes tracing his chest to take in all of his other tattoos of skulls and bats. He kept his hands to himself, nervously watching me.
"Is, uh, is it, um, is it o-okay if I h-hold you?" he asked, his voice shaking. I nodded quickly, thrilled at how well my plan was going. He took me into his arms, his hands skating my waist as he pulled me close. His bare chest was close to me, making my face heat and I started tracing the skull designs on it. I smiled as I felt his heart pounding against my hand, and I leaned up to kiss him.
"Thanks for planning a fun night," I said, brushing my nose against his. He turned red and nodded as he scratched my back.
"Anything for my girlfriend," he replied, making me smile.
I kissed him hard and rolled onto my other side. I wiggled into his arms, my back against his chest, and I grinned as he took in a sharp breath. I wrapped his arms around me tighter and shuddered when he started kissing the nape of my neck. He moved to my shoulder, leaving soft touches and kisses in his wake. He pressed his lips to my ear, and I melted.
"I'm so glad you spent the night, Go," he whispered. I smiled.
"Me too," I replied. He pulled me tight in his arms and I closed my eyes, trying to calm my racing heart. I felt Eddie's heart pounding through my back and started tracing his forearms to calm him down. His breathing started slowing and then I heard him snoring against my neck. I sighed and wriggled closer to him, happy that my sleepover had ended so wholesomely.
I finally drifted off, Eddie's quiet snores putting me to sleep. I woke up only once when Eddie had wrapped his arms around me tighter in the middle of the night, pulling me even closer to him in his sleep. I fell back asleep quickly, surprised by how easily I had fallen asleep in his arms.
I woke to Eddie tracing my waist with his fingers, gentle and soft with his touch like he always was. I pulled his arms around me for a large hug, humming happily as he pulled my back tight to his chest. He started kissing my neck, tickling my sides to make me laugh.
"Good morning, princess," he said, hugging me again. "How did you sleep?"
I rolled over to face him, still overwhelmed by him shirtless. He took my arms and set them around his neck, and then took my leg to wrap around him and traced my thigh.
"Very well," I replied. He grinned and kissed me, making my heart pound. "What about you?"
"I did not know that I could sleep so well," he replied, making my face heat and kissing me again. I brushed his hair out of his face. He was so handsome, the morning light shining across his face and breaking through his curls. His eyes were still sleepy, dark and kind as he watched me.
"You're just saying that," I teased. He shook his head and kissed me.
"I think that I need lavender to sleep every night now," he quipped. I giggled and tucked my head under his chin, holding him close to me. I listened to his heart pound and shivered when he started playing with my hair.
"Nephew! I have breakfast!"
We both shot up as we heard Wayne come through the front door. The color in Eddie's face became mottled, a strange mix of red and pale.
"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered, getting out of bed. I looked at him, trying not to panic.
"Eddie, are you going to get in trouble if I'm here?" I whispered. He looked at me, his brows furrowed.
"Why would we be in trouble?" he asked. I shook my head, even more confused.
"If we aren't, why are you acting like this?"
He sighed and sat back down.
"Go, I'm not panicking because we're going to get in trouble. I'm panicking because you're about to meet my uncle, and he's embarrassing as hell."