Starting Over (Eddie Munson x FEM!OC)/Nothing Was Ever As It Seemed

5

Word Count: 1,038

All day he'd been gone. It was just her, Steve and Robin now. They'd done their best to keep her distracted, but her thoughts kept drifting back to a particular long haired metalhead next door, who was currently blasting W.A.S.P next door. He'd been at it all day.

"Come on, Dani. He'll either come around or he won't. If he doesn't, well, you're too good for him," Steve tried to reassure her for the millionth time. This time putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Steve, please don't touch me," she whispered, thinking back to what Eddie had said about the way Steve looked at her. If it was true she didn't want to give him any ideas. She had enough problems at the moment.

Steve removed his arm, scooting away from her on the couch. Sighing she got up, making her way to the kitchen, pausing to look out the window toward Eddie's trailer. There he sat on the steps, in the freezing cold, smoking a cigarette while watching her trailer. At least he was still keeping an eye on her.

"Want me to go over there and knock some sense into him?" Robin speaking right next to her, startling her.

"Jesus Christ, Robin. I need to tie a bell on you or something," Dani laughed, reaching for a glass. "But, no. If he wants to be stubborn and sit in the cold all night, that's on him."

Dani quickly filled her glass, drinking the water as quickly as she could manage. Good lord, she was exhausted. Yawning she took a glance at her watch, seeing it was only 7pm. Rolling her eyes she turned to her friends, pasting a smile on her face.

"I think I'm just gonna go to bed. It's been a day."

She didn't wait for their response, heading down the hall to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Turning on the light she glanced around, her eyes landing on his Hellfire shirt still on the bed. Stripping off her clothes she pulled his over her head. Maybe the smell of him on his shirt would be a decent enough replacement for him.

Heart heavy she crawled into bed, leaving the light on so he'd know where she was. All she could think about was their fight that morning. Was she in the wrong? Or was he? Maybe they both were, and they both were just too stubborn to admit it.

She didn't know how long she laid there, listening to Steve and Robin joking around out in her living room. Eventually her eyes grew heavy, slowly closing as she drifted to sleep, thoughts of what would happen with her and Eddie circling around her mind.

***The Next Morning***

Dani's eyes opened to sunlight filtering through her window, a warm body pressed against her back, a heavy arm draped over her waist. Glancing down she recognized the ringed hand pressed against her stomach. Eddie had come back.

Smiling softly she carefully slid out from under his arm, not wanting to wake him. She at least owed him that much. Reaching for the door she hesitated, wondering if Steve and Robin were awake.

"Montgomery, get your cute little ass back here," his voice rough and groggy.

Turning she stood there, hands clasped in front of her, chewing on her bottom lip. She wanted nothing more than to go to him, but past experience with Jack taught her that nothing was ever as it seemed. Too many times Jack had acted like he wasn't angry with her anymore, only to hurt her the second she got close to him. She watched nervously as he sat up, motioning her forward.

"Dani, please, just come here."

Nodding she slowly made her way over, climbing back into bed with him, keeping her distance. Eddie rolled his eyes, scooting closer before flipping back down, rolling on his side to face her. His fingertips trailed down the side of her face, his brown eyes hopeful as he watched her.

"First, I'm sorry. I overreacted yesterday. I get so caught up in keeping everyone safe all the time, I forgot that you are more than capable of handling yourself." His hand rest against her cheek, the other one grabbing one of her hands. "Second, judging by how you reacted just now, I think it's about time you told me about the scars."

Eddie was right. Of course he was. She'd been putting it off, hoping that maybe he would just forget about it. Avoiding the problem with the hope that one day it would just go away. But it wasn't going away. Slowly she nodded, closing her eyes.

"Can you get everyone to leave for a while? I-I don't want them knowing." She laughed, scooting closer to him. "I'm not even totally sure I want you to know. I don't want you to see me differently."

Eddie wrapped his arms around her, one hand resting on the back of her head. With a contented sigh she relaxed, inhaling his scent, letting it wash over her. This was home. Anywhere he was, as long as she could be just like this, his scent everywhere, she would be home.

"I'm sorry, too," she whispered, hoping he heard her.

Eddie dropped a kiss to the top of her head, holding her a while longer. The two of them stayed like that a while, wrapped around each other. Neither one of them moved. Neither one of them spoke. Eventually he shifted, pulling her half on top of him, his arms still wrapped securely around her. Dani wove one of her legs through his, pulling herself as close as she could to him, too afraid to let go. She knew the second she did she would be that much closer to him finding out about Jack. About everything he'd done to her. That much closer to him likely deciding she was too damaged to deal with anymore.

"There is quite literally nothing that would ever make me think any different of you, Dani. You have to know that."

"I really hope so," she whispered. She really, really hoped so. She didn't think she'd be able to handle it if he changed his mind about her.