Chapter 19 Eden #3
“Hey guys, this is Eden. Eden, this is Alec, my brother, and his best friends. That tall, handsome fucker is Riley.” Riley lifts a hand to wave, and Eden notices he too, has a few friendship bracelets on, including one that matches Alec and the other guy. “That antisocial guy is Hunter.”
“Don’t be a dick, Charlie,” Alec says. “Or maybe you just can’t help it.”
“It’s fine,” Hunter shrugs. “I am antisocial.”
“Charlie’s still an asshole.”
Even Hunter looks surprised by Alec’s words, a sharpness in them that doesn’t feel like the same teasing from Charlie’s friends a few minutes ago.
“Ally, please.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Eden,” Alec says, plastering on what is clearly a fake smile. “Charlie has told me absolutely nothing about you.”
“Alec,” Charlie hisses.
“I’m going inside to check on the food.”
With that, he stalks inside, his friends following after him like overgrown ducklings, leaving Eden to gape after him.
“That could’ve gone worse,” Charlie sighs.
“What the fuck, Charlie?”
“So uh, did I ever mention that one of the reasons—the main reason actually—that I didn’t want Theo and Alec together, aside from blaming him for Alec’s accident at first, was because I thought Theo was too old for him?”
Eden turns around to look at Theo, trying to guess his age. “How much older is he?”
“Eight years.”
Well, that explains a few things.
“So he hates me,” Eden surmises.
“He doesn’t hate you. He’s pissed off at me. I uh, I didn’t tell him about you—anything about you—until about two hours ago.”
Eden slaps Charlie’s arm. “Asshole.”
“Fuck, you and Alec are ganging up on me.”
“Don’t be a dick. Go tell him you’re sorry.”
“I did,” Charlie frowns. “He doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“When has someone not wanting to talk to you ever stopped you from opening your big fucking mouth?”
Charlie opens his mouth then closes it. “You’re right.”
“Obviously.” Eden rolls his eyes. “Go fix things.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”
“Sure, I’ll hang with Andrew.”
Following Charlie towards the house, Eden stops and drops into one of the empty chairs by Andrew, perfectly content to simply observe. To his surprise, he’s immediately drawn into conversation.
“Do you do your own makeup?” Amanda asks.
“Uh, yeah.” Eden tugs on the sleeves of Addy’s sweater, pulling them over his wrists and hands. This is the last time he ever wears something that’s not oversized. There’s nowhere to fucking hide.
“Well it looks amazing. Maybe you can teach me some time. I’d kill to be able to do my liner that sharp.”
“Sure,” Eden mumbles, entirely unsure if she’s serious or making polite conversation. She doesn’t look like she needs any makeup tips, but her smile is unexpectedly genuine.
Slowly but surely, the conversation naturally shifts to some movie Denise and Amanda saw over the weekend.
Not one to watch movies or television, Eden has no idea what they’re talking about and zones out, surprised when Andrew draws him into a new conversation.
How the conversation jumped from an indie movie to favorite energy drinks, he has no idea, but he strongly suspects it was Andrew’s doing from the smile he shoots Eden.
He’d expected to feel horribly unwanted without Charlie around, but he doesn’t.
It’s not only Andrew who makes an effort to include him.
Eden might not be a people person or an extrovert, but Charlie’s friends are nice.
Talking to them is nice. Being around people who are like Eden is really fucking nice.
Sure, he doesn’t think he has anything in common with any of them, but there’s something to be said for not having to tone himself down or pretend that makes it easier to follow along with the conversation.
Even listening to them talk, the sounds of happy kids and adults alike, whose conversations shift from art and queer theory to food and clothes makes it almost easy to forget that if it weren't for Charlie, he wouldn’t be here.
More than once his attention wanders, but there’s no sight of Charlie.
Eden can only hope his presence hasn’t put a strain on his relationship with Alec.
For as much as Eden’s inclination is to say fuck you to anyone he doesn’t like, he’s mature enough to know that isn’t warranted or fair right now.
If he were Alec, he’d be pissed at Charlie.
Eden is kind of pissed at Charlie for not telling Alec earlier.
Given what he knows now, a sudden sense of dread pools in his stomach.
Why hadn’t Charlie told his younger brother?
If they’re so close, and Charlie really meant what he said about them being boyfriends, why wouldn’t he tell his family more about Eden?
Thoughts darkening, Eden is taken by surprise when Andrew touches his arm.
“It’s time to eat.”
Startled, Eden lifts his gaze from the grass, noticing he and Andrew are alone.
“Everyone went inside a few minutes ago,” Andrew offers at his blank look. “You looked pretty lost in thought. You alright? Was it too much? Our friends can be a lot, but they’re all good people.”
“It’s not that,” Eden shrugs, refusing to share his feelings, even with Andrew.
Suddenly, all he can think about is how tenuous this all is.
Andrew is his friend, but only because of Charlie.
He wouldn’t want to hear any worries or issues that Eden was having with him, would he?
Surely he’d want to take Charlie’s side, or no side at all.
And if things go wrong—well, Eden is sure he’ll lose Andrew’s friendship too.
“Are you hungry?”
“A little,” Eden says, his appetite from earlier substantially diminished.
“Is this about Alec?” Andrew asks.
“What makes you say that?”
“So yes then,” Andrew says in that matter of fact way of his.
“Alec will get over it and love you the same way me and Charlie do. He’s a dramatic little shit, but he also had a really rough go of it last year, so I think he’s taking it all harder than he normally would.
The thing about Alec is his emotions are big, and then he moves on.
He doesn’t have the attention span or the heart to stay mad at anyone, especially Charlie. ”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you should feel welcome here, Eden. You’re a guest. But more importantly, you’re Charlie’s boyfriend and my friend. We want you here. I don’t want you to feel unwelcome because Alec is mad at Charlie. It might not feel like it, but it’s really not about you.”
“It kind of is,” Eden points out, rising from the chair when Andrew does.
“No, it’s about Alec feeling left in the dark. He doesn’t like being the last to know anything, and Charlie made some mistakes, but we’re family.”
“Family sucks,” Eden replies. “No offense.”
“Some, yeah. Not ours. I mean none of us are perfect, but our parents are great. They’re going to love you, too.
And Alec and Jason will as well once they get to know you.
This was probably a lot for your first time meeting everyone, but you fit in here, Eden.
I’m glad you came, and I know Charlie is. ”
“You don’t need to say shit to make me feel better,” Eden mumbles, struggling to imagine a scenario where he’d meet Charlie’s parents. The very idea makes him want to puke. Besides, it's not like they’re that kind of boyfriends.
They’re fucking. And okay, dating. But it’s not serious.
“Just wait until you see the feast Alec has cooked up. He’s been at it for days.”
“Alec cooked everything?” Eden asks, grateful for the change of subject as he follows Andrew back into the house.
“Yeah, he’s an incredible cook. Our abuela taught him how to cook and—”
“Andrew King, I see you haven’t changed.”
Andrew freezes beside him, his expression so unlike the easy one he wore outside with Eden before.
“Hi, Zach.” Andrew smiles, but it’s as tight as his shoulders. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“It was our little surprise,” Zach grins.
“Our?” Andrew repeats.
The man, Zach, moves towards Andrew. He’s maybe an inch shorter than Andrew but twice as broad with golden brown hair and a handsome face.
He’s dressed in a pair of jeans and a deep green henley that’s pushed up to his elbows to reveal two arms filled with tattoos.
“Yup, me and Charlie. He invited me, and we thought we’d have a little fun and surprise you. I know how much you love surprises.”
Eden frowns. He’s pretty sure Andrew hates surprises, so what the fuck is this guy talking about?
“Oh wait, that’s right, you hate them,” Zach continues with a laugh, turning his gaze on Eden and grinning like something he said is funny. “Our little Andrew here doesn’t like fun.”
As a general rule, Eden dislikes most people, but he decides immediately he hates this guy. He’s got a smug-ass face Eden wouldn’t mind punching. It’s been years since he got in a fight, but muscle memory is a beautiful thing.
“Who the fuck are you?” Eden asks.
Zach’s smile falters before he draws his eyes from Eden’s head down to his toes in a way that feels decidedly uncomfortable. “I’m an old friend of Charlie and Andrew. Can’t say I know who you are, pretty thing.”
“This is Charlie’s boyfriend, so don’t even think about it,” Andrew says, tone sharper than Eden has ever heard about it. His words soften when he turns to Eden and adds, “we all went to high school together.”
“Yeah, me and Charlie, we’re great friends, and well you know how it is—where Charlie is, there's Andrew. His little shadow.” Zach laughs, clapping Andrew on the shoulder. “Don’t look so sour, you know I’m teasing. Andrew isn’t good at taking jokes.”
Before Eden can point out that wasn’t a fucking joke, Andrew is speaking.
“Well it was nice seeing you again, but me and Eden are going to go eat now.”
“I’m starving too, I’ll follow you,” Zach grins, either oblivious as fuck or willfully ignoring the dismissal in Andrew’s words.