chocolate milkshakes | rodrick heffley

chapter nine: old habits

"why? you know it's what you want!" his eyebrows furrow as his eyes bore into mine.

"i don't know what i want!" i yell at him. "let me figure my shit out on my own!"

i struggle to open the door and fall out onto the grass. shit. what the fuck is happening right now?

"tate." he calls out. "come here."

i get up, stumbling slightly, and run back into the house. i can't do this. i can't ruin a friendship right now. im not prepared to lose rodrick as a friend. i run to the bathroom, tears building up in my eyes.

"hey, tate!" eric calls from behind me. i turn around to face him, knowing i probably look insane right now. "woah, are you okay?"

"i-i can you please take me to a room or something? rodrick is leaving and i n-need a place to stay, do you think you could find a place-" the words spew out of me frantically. i have a horrible time getting my point across when im high and now im so anxious that i can barely function.

"babe, calm down. holy shit." he grabs my hand, not in the way that he normally would, in a more gentle way. it makes me feel safer. maybe he's nicer now? when he's not around his friends, i mean. he leads me up to someone's room, probably his buddy's, and sits me on the bed. "do you want to sleep? do you need water or something?"

"yeah, i have cotton mouth." i sigh. i peel the covers up and crawl under them. "thanks."

"of course." he leaves the room for a moment, coming back with a glass of water in his hand. he hands it to me and i gulp it down. "if it means anything, i'm really sorry for being such an ass. i wanna be there for you. i miss you."

my heart thumps loudly in response. i stare at him with wide eyes. "i- um- i didn't think you would say that to me. i-"

"it's okay. i know it's a lot to process." he ruffles his brown, curly hair, smiling at me softly. "just know... i really care about you okay?"

i nod my head. "could you.. stay here? i just.. you know what happens to sleeping girls at parties."

"yeah, tate. i didn't plan on leaving." he caresses my cheek, like he always used to when i was anxious. "look, why don't you take a nap, i'll stay here, and then i can drive you home or to my place after? wherever you wanna go. but you shouldn't stay here, just in case the feds come or scott's parents."

"mhmm" i mumble, my eyes drooping shut. i feel him lay next to me under the covers. he scoops me up in his arms and i sigh. why am i letting him do this? and more importantly, why does it feel good? that thought lingers in my mind as i doze off to sleep.

°°°

i wake up in eric's bed, drenched in sweat. his house has always been abnormally warm. i turn on my side, patting next to me on the mattress, reaching for him. when i notice he's not there i wonder if he's at school. what's today? saturday? monday? couldn't fucking tell you.

"eric?" i call out. i get deja vü. this reminds me of when we were dating. i would spend the night almost every night. my dad had caught me once and he almost beat my ass. fun times.

"good morning, my love." eric smirks at me. "how'd you sleep?"

i panic at the word morning. "fuck, is it morning already? my dad's gonna kill me." i rub my forehead, anxiously.

"nah, it's like 4 though. i should get you home soon." he shoves a metallica shirt over his head and onto his body. he must have taken a shower while i was sleeping.

the idea of going home and sleeping alone in my bed makes me uneasy. i have a really hard time staying alone nowadays.

he seems to notice the nausea on my face. "or you could stay longer if you want? we could watch a movie and then i could take you home? whatever you want, okay?"

my heart flutters. he was only ever this nice to me when we first started dating. when he was trying to win me over. i wonder if that's what he's doing now? if he is, he has a pretty fair chance of- what the fuck am i thinking? i know things normally don't work out the second time but i can't help but feel that he's changed. what would one movie hurt?

"yeah, do you still have superbad on dvd?" i grin at him.

he beams back at me. "of course."

once he finds the dvd in the mess of movies he has stacked on his bookshelf, he puts it on and climbs into bed next to me. he smells like eucalyptus and coconut. my favourite smell. i sigh and rest my head on his chest.

"i missed you, tate." he kisses my forehead, causing my chest to tighten. i would never admit it, but i missed him too.

my phone buzzes and i decide to check it. could be my dad.

rodrick: im sorry about what happened. did u get home safe?

i question whether or not i should respond. would he worry?

"who's that?"

"oh, um..." i bite my lip. "rodrick."

"didn't he ditch you at the party? what the hell does he want?"

i look up at him, my eyes stinging slightly from holding back tears. "he kissed me."

"oh shit." he responds. "i mean i knew he had the hots for you but i didn't think he would ever act on it."

"i never even could tell." i sigh.

"oh come on, tate. the way he looks at you... like you're the only person in the room. it's so obvious." eric rolls his eyes.

"does it make you jealous?" i laugh. "is that why you were such a douchebag?"

"yeah" he admits, chuckling. "im sorry about that."

"it's okay."

"so what are you going to do? what's he texting you?" he asks, concerned.

"he just wants to know if im home safe."

"oh fuck that. he's just trying to get you to talk to him. don't even worry about that right now."

i sigh. "okay." maybe eric's right. maybe i shouldn't even have to deal with this right now. i don't owe him anything.

turning my phone off, i decide that i need to focus on myself right now. not rodrick. if he cares so much about me he wouldn't have put me in this situation.

at least that's what i tell myself.

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A/N
hey guys sorry this chapter wasn't very long. sometimes it's hard to find motivation to write but i have lots of ideas for this story. tell me what y'all think of eric. do u trust him 😳 pls vote + add. thanks for the support!!! 1.1k reads? that's fucking crazy. i love u guys