7. Untitled - Eddie Vedder
Status: Unedited
It had been a few days since you had spoken to Eddie. You wished he'd call or something...surely he could have got your number from one of the boys? Maybe he’d feel too awkward... the guys would obviously tease him about it.
Your thoughts were clouded these past few days, with thoughts of Eddie and Stone. Mike had called you the next day to tell you about how Stone was doing. He was being extra bitchy about the Friday gig. He wanted everything to be perfect, which was usually the way he wanted things to be done, but this time around, he became more of an asshole about it. The guys tried not to be too upset about it though, considering the situation. You'd been wanting to talk to him, but weren't how or what you were even going to say. Either way, you knew you were going to hurt him, and you didn't want that. But you knew you were going to have to face it one day, and the sooner probably be the better. For the sake of your friendship, and the sanity of the guys too. He would eventually drive them crazy if it kept going the way it has been.
You shook your head, when had things gotten so complicated? Why did they have to be this way? God dammit. Sighing, you tried to think when the best time to talk to him would be. He was still relatively upset, you were sure, and you didn't want to make a scene for everyone. You needed to talk to him privately. You thought about his work schedule and pondered this for a few moments, the only good time would be tomorrow. Most of the guys worked during the day, so you would have time since Stone didn't work till two on Thursdays. Tomorrow seemed very soon to you....
But you knew you had no other choice.
And tomorrow came really fast. You woke up, showered, did your thing, and whenever the clock read eleven-thirty, you knew the guys had all gone to work by now. Stone should be home alone, hopefully not still sleeping. He slept insane hours sometimes.
Lacing up your boots, you made sure to grab your keys before you left.
The walk to Stone and Jeff's place wasn't very far. You were about halfway there when you almost stopped in your tracks. Eddie. You had completely forgotten that he was staying with Stone and Jeff, you hoped he wouldn't be there. Fuck.
You sighed, thinking how stupid that thought was. You wouldn't have to worry about Ed, he was respectful and understanding, maybe he'd offer to leave for a little while or something. He was that type of guy.
Finally reaching their apartment, you slowly made you way to the door, anxiety resting deep in the pit of your stomach. Before you could even knock, the door swung open. It was Eddie. You sighed in relief, but then remembered either way you would still have to talk to Stone.
"Hi Dani. I'm guessing its that time, huh." He spoke quietly, looking at you with what seemed to be worry in his eyes. He knew you what you were here for. You nodded your head.
"I was actually just going to step out for a bit, first time I've seen the sun since I got here." He smiled, and his eyes met the ground. "Stone's been in his room all morning. Come in." He moved over to the side, gesturing you to come forward.
You entered the familiar apartment, and rested your purse on the couch.
"Uhm, are you going to be okay...?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah, I think so. Thanks Ed." You gently squeezed his arm.
"Alright, I'll be back later. If you need anything, uh, I was gonna grab a coffee at the place down the road, at the corner." He pointed in the general area, you knew which one he was talking about.
"Okay, have fun." You gave a small smile, and made your way to Stone's room. You heard the closing of the front door. Once you were at his bedroom door, you hesitated, thinking it might not have been the right time. Your heart started to race a little faster, you really didn't want to do this. Just as you were about to knock, yet again, the door swung open. That had been happening a lot lately.
Stone stood in front of you, wearing a dark pair of boxers, white socks, and a yellow t shirt. His eyes met yours, and his mouth formed a small O-shape. He looked down at his legs, and back up to your eyes. His face flushed red in embarassement. You couldn't hold in your giggles, so you just let them go. He looked down, with what looks to be a tiny little half a smile on his lips. It made you feel somewhat at ease.
"Stoney, go put some pants on," you giggled "I think uh-we need to talk." Your giggles subsided when speaking that last part.
He nodded and trudged into his room, leaving the door open for you to walk inside. You looked around the room, posters of his favorite bands and sports teams scattered on the walls, his room was pretty messy. Clothes on the floor, the bed wasn't made, he had 2 guitars on the ground as well as smaller amp by his closet. You sat down on the bed, waiting, nervously.
He pulled on a pair of black joggers and sat next to you. He looked nervous, he was twiddling his fingers and his eyes were locked on his fingers. You wished more than anything that things could be different. You loved him, you really did, but not in the way he wanted. And for a moment, you almost wished you could love him the way he loved you. Things would be easier, and you both would be happy, surely. But sadly, that was not the case.
You sucked in a deep breath, and looked at him again. You waited for him to finally tear his eyes away from his thumbs, to meet your own and when they did, it nearly broke your heart. He knew you didn't feel the same way, no words had to be spoken. The hurt that filled his eyes made you want to cry. How could you possibly make things better? You were so torn.
"I'm sorry Stone..."you paused and let a few moments of silence pass. "I wish I could." His eyes went back down to the floor this time.
"No, Danica...I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner... I selfishly made that scene in front our friends not thinking about how it would even make you feel." He looked around his room, disappointment loomed in his eyes. You couldn't believe what you were hearing, why the fuck was he apologizing? "I-uh-I always knew...knew you didn’t really feel the same way." You nodded, grabbing one of hands and placing it in your own. "I just..." He sighed, looking everywhere but at you.
"Seeing you with Eddie..just kind of pissed me off. I guess I thought that maybe I would get lucky this time around, and maybe that I was wrong about this one...But I wasn't I guess." He spoke nervously, words stumbling out of his mouth. They broke your heart even more.
"Stone, I-"
"Don't worry, I won't be mad if you were to ever uh-y'know...go out with him or anything. I don't want to stop you, I want you to be happy. And if it can't be with me, then I guess I should be glad it's someone like Eddie." He finally turned and looked at you. You knew it hurt him to say that, and you wished he didn't have to say it.
"As long as it's not Jeff, then I guess I'll be okay." He butted in quickly, and you had to stifle you laughter.
"Oh god, that would never happen Stoney. You don't have to worry about that one." You softly giggled, and squeezed his hand. He nodded, laughing coarsly with you.
A few moments of silenced passed. As much as you were happy things were turning out the way they were, you still needed to get some things off your chest too.
"Stone, I want you to know that I really do love you. I wish things could be different, I want you to be happy Stone. I care about you a lot. I want you to know that I'm always going to be here for you, okay? I'm not going anywhere. Even if you want me to, you can go fuck yourself cause I'm staying right here." He laughed this time. A real laugh. His hand was still placed in your own and you didn't want to let go.
"I would never ask you to leave. Me too, I'm not going anywhere." he assured you. You nodded, flashing a bright smile of relief his way.
"God, stop that. You won't make it fucking easy, will you?" He ripped his hand from your own, and got up from the bed.
"Oh shutup, I didn't do anything!" You stood up and punched his upper arm.
The two of you laughed and made your way out of his room. Eddie still hadn't returned, so you and Stone spent some time together. He just bought some new records from a place downtown, so you spent a good hour listening to some music. It was nearing one-thirty the afternoon, and he had to be at work for two. You decided it was about time to leave so he could get ready, seeing as he wasn’t really dressed properly to go to work, and his hair was a mess.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Stone." You hugged him tightly, before letting go, looking him in the eyes. He nodded, genuine smile on his face. You missed him these past few days.
"Better be! We're counting on you, princess." He winked. You rolled your eyes and walked out the door, waving goodbye.
You made your way home, all feelings of worry and stress were gone. Thank god. Once you reached the corner of the street, you stood in front of the coffee shop Ed was supposed to be at. You pondered for a moment. You had a class at four, and it was only one-thirty, so maybe you could stop in and have a coffee with him or something. You spotted Ed sitting at a small table in the corner, his face in a journal and looked like he was scribbling something intensely in the book. Maybe you shouldn't bother him....
But you hadn't seen him in a while, and really wanted to talk to him. He would surely ask how things went with Stone.
Fuck it, if he doesn't want me to bother him he could just say something.
The door to the coffee shop chimed. You had been in here a couple of times, they had good deserts. Despite the chime, Ed's eyes stayed glued to whatever he was doing. Writing a song, most likely?
You made your way over to him. You decided to be a bit cheesy.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken by a special lady?" his head whipped up to the sound of a voice, but once realizing it was you, his expression changed into that of a goofy grin.
"I think the only lady aloud to take that seat is you." You blushed and looked down as you took a seat.
"Well, aren't I lucky."
Eddie ended his writings there and closed his book. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," You spoke quickly, looking down at his book.
"Oh no, don't worry, I was just uh-working on a little something that I started a few days ago...not close to being finished yet." He reassured you, and took a sip of his coffee.
"Alright, if you're sure." You winked, reaching out to grab some change from your wallet. "I'll be right back, just gonna grab a coffee." You stood up, as he nodded.
You quickly went to the counter and got your drink, returning to your seat. You also grabbed a muffin since you skipped breakfast this morning.
"Blueberry? How lame." He teased, looking at your muffin. You scoffed.
"Oh please, don't tell me you're a chocolate chip type of guy."
"Eh, more of a banana muffin kind of person."
"Pfft, like thats any better. Blueberries rule." You dug into your muffin like you hadn't eaten in days, and Eddie laughed.
"So, I'm guessing things with Stone went okay...?" He addressed the elephant in the room. You were thankful he did, it always made things less awkward.
"Yeah, actually. I was kind of worrying quite a bit... for nothing I guess. He said we'll be okay as long as I don't go out with Jeff." I just had to mention that last part, and Eddie chuckled.
"Just Jeff, huh?" He grabbed his coffee and took another gulp. You nodded, a smile still lingered on your lips. He smiled back.
"Alright..."
The two of you spent another hour and a half talking abut random shit, you were still learning about him just as much as he was you. He was such a unique guy, the way he acts, the things he says, the way he says them, just...everything. It had you captivated, and hoped you hadn't already bought your one way ticket to crush-ville. I mean, come on. Eddie is almost perfect, why is it that he has to be heartbroken and in love with someone else? Life sucked.
"You alright, Dani?" His voice took you out of your thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry just uh- thinking..." before he could ask anything you started to speak again," I've gotta get going. I have a class at four. It was nice seeing you for a bit today, Ed." You smiled at him and you both stood at the same time.
"Oh okay, uh- well I'll walk you home." He insisted. Fuck yeah.
"Okay." You grinned back.
Stepping out of the coffee shop it was still sunny, so you took a moment to breathe in some fresh air and let the sun soak some skin. Felt nice. The walk home was enjoyable, you's didn't talk much, but more so just enjoyed each others company. You were thankful for him walking you home, it was something you looked forward to.
"I really like when you walk me home, Eddie." you looked over to find him already looking at you.
"Me too, thats why I'm here." He chuckled.
"Yes, you were put here on this earth, to walk me home all the time." You spoke sarcastically, and he bumped your shoulder lightly, laughing.
"Hey, lets let it be our thing. Your tradition. To new friendships!" What a guy, he was so funny. And cute...
"Haha, okay. You got it." You were at your apartment before you knew it.
"I'll see you tomorrow at your show, alright?" You gave him a hug goodbye, he returned one equally as tight, hands wrapped around your waist. His pulled your body a little closer than he did last time, and it made you melt inside.
You need to get a grip, girl.
“Alright, see you there.” He smiled.
With a final wave, you both went your separate ways, wishing you could just ditch class and go run back to Eddie and spend more time with him. But sadly, that was not an option. So you trudged into your apartment and got ready for your class.
