Still Loving You

Part 25

Eddie pulled into the lot in front of his trailer and hopped out. The ride home felt infinitely longer than the ride there. Of course, the company on the way there had been much better. He'd only had his own thoughts for company on the way back. Driving home alone, he'd just dwelled on having to be away from Elizabeth for four days.

He knew they had to be responsible. She was so close to her degree and he didn't want her to sacrifice that for him. She had worked so hard to get to this point. And he was grateful to Uncle Wayne for rectifying his job situation for him. His boss had every reason to fire him after he just ghosted them and stopped showing up, but he had decided to give him another chance. He couldn't screw it up. He needed the money. Paying gigs were far and few between and definitely not enough to keep food on the table. Plus, if he wanted to have a life with Elizabeth, he was going to have to have a job. Maybe she didn't care about material things but they would at least need to be able to afford the basics.

Eddie couldn't help feeling a bit concerned about making a long distance relationship work. He had heard of many failed attempts by others, but if anybody could do it, it was them. They had continued to love each other for three years while not seeing each other at all. It was a handful of months and then she would be done with college, and they could figure out what came next. He really didn't care as long as, whatever it was, meant they were together.

He couldn't wait for the day they could live together. He wanted to go to sleep with her in his arms every night and wake up to her face every single morning. He wanted to cook dinner with her and wash the dishes together and do all of those menial little things that couples did in life. He wanted to order pizza and stay in, watching movies. He wanted to have lazy Sundays where they had nothing to do and just laid in bed together. He couldn't wait for the day when he didn't have to go a single day without seeing her and kissing her.

"Ed!"

He turned to see Uncle Wayne walking toward him. Eddie pulled him in for a hug and gestured for him to come on in. He grabbed them each a beer from the fridge and they sat down on the couch side by side.

"So, your girl stopped by my trailer the other night," his uncle commented.

"She did?" Eddie asked. Elizabeth hadn't told him she had seen his uncle but then, they had quite a few more important things on their mind that night.

"Yeah, said she didn't know where your trailer was. She seemed pretty desperate to talk to you," he replied with a knowing smile. "I was wondering if she found you."

"She did," Eddie replied, unable to stop the smile that crept across his face.

"From the look on your face, I am going to assume that it went well?"

"It did," he said, nodding. "Very well."

"Oh Ed, I am so happy to hear that. That is the best damn news I've heard in a long time."

"Me too," he agreed, taking a long swig of his beer. "You have no idea how happy I am."

"Does she know what her mom did?" his uncle asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't tell her what happened. I was desperate to find her and she has this friend, Steve. He's a good dude but he's a bit protective and he didn't want to tell me because he thought I had hurt her. Which, I mean, I did, but not on purpose. So, I spilled to him what had really happened to try to convince him that I was not just trying to upset her again. I guess he decided he needed to tell her the truth."

"Look boy, I get why you didn't tell her. You didn't want to cause an issue between her and her mom, and I know a part of you even believed her mom was right. She wasn't, just so you know, but either way, Elizabeth deserved to know the truth. Both of you have been hurting for far too long and her mom had no place doing what she did. No matter what she thought her reasons were."

Eddie nodded. "I know. It's just, she was really angry that her mom had tried to come between us. I guess she succeeded for a while."

"She should be angry. You can't control what happens between the two of them Ed," his uncle sighed. "And none of it is your fault. You need to know that. What happens will happen. They'll figure it out somehow. Her mom made her choices and now she has to live with them."

"I guess so," Eddie shrugged but he didn't like the sound of that. Elizabeth had always been really close with her mom and he didn't want that to change because of him. No, he hadn't told her and yeah, her mom had been wrong, but it still felt like it would be on him. The issue all stemmed from her belief that Eddie wasn't good enough and maybe she never would think he was but he was going to try his damndest to show her how wrong she was.

"So, I notice she's not here," Uncle Wayne said, glancing around the trailer.

"No, she stayed last night after we talked, but she has classes tomorrow so I drove her back," Eddie explained. "We're going to have to make long distance work for a while. She has college and a job there and I have a job here. So, we're going to visit each other whenever we can. I'm going to head there Thursday after my shift and spend a few days with her. She has to work on Friday night, but I'll hang around her dorm or explore town or whatever."

"Well, it sounds like you two have a pretty solid plan," Uncle Wayne nodded. "That's all you can do for now. If you love each other and it's meant to be, and boy, I believe it is, then it will all work out."

"Yeah, you're right. I love her so much, Uncle Wayne. She is...she is everything to me," Eddie admitted. "I don't care what it takes, I will make this work. I can't ever lose her again. I won't. Losing her the first time almost destroyed me. It was the worst mistake I ever made. She is it for me."

"From what I could see when she stopped by my place, she feels the same about you." He slapped his knee and slowly stood up, finishing off his beer. "Well kid, I am beyond happy for both of you. I know you're going her way this time, but you bring that girl around the next time she's this way. I'll pick up something for dinner and we can play some games like we used to when you were kids. I've missed her too, you know, and I've missed seeing you so happy."

Eddie stood up, hugging his uncle. "Thank you."

Uncle Wayne laughed. "I didn't have anything to do with this, kid. This was all you."

"Uncle Wayne, I am thanking you for everything. For taking me in when my parents didn't want me. For always being there and seeing the best in me when others only saw a loser. For dragging me off the couch multiple times and kicking my ass into gear. For convincing me to go after Elizabeth and tell her how I really felt. For making me see that her mom was wrong and I can make her happy. For putting in a good word with my boss so I didn't lose my job. Besides her, there is no one in this world who has been there for me like you."

His uncle began to blink quickly and reached up, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Ed, you made it easy," his uncle said. "I couldn't have asked

for a better kid to love."

Eddie felt his own eyes begin to tear up as he gave his uncle another hug. He headed out and Eddie headed into his bedroom, throwing on some sweats. He climbed into bed and sighed. It felt so empty without Elizabeth there to share it with him. How had he gone three years in this bed without her? Four days...just four days.