the shire is burning [eddie munson x OC]

chapter twelve

"And what happened after that?"

"Nothing, Rob. He just dropped me off, and that's when I came inside and called you."

Willow had spent the last thirty minutes on the phone with Robin, having immediately ran to her kitchen to call her best friend the moment she was out of Eddie's van. She could still smell the stench of tobacco and something sweeter, a cologne most likely, clinging to her after sitting in his passenger seat.

"Oh, c'mon. You couldn't have at least lied and made it interesting?" Robin whines, and Willow imagines her face all scrunched up.

"No, since apparently, I'm a terrible liar," Willow still isn't going to let that go - not with Eddie, not with Robin. She still found it unfair that they thought so little of her skill of bending the truth, even omitting it at times.

"You've gotta get over that one, even Eddie agrees with me."

"Yeah, he's also on my shit list for it."

"Does he know he's on your shit list?"

"Well, no-"

"Hm. Interesting double standards."

" Buckley , I'm going to hang up on you, I swear," Willow threatens, twisting the excess of the phone cord around her fist, "Anyways, my point of calling was to keep you updated, and to let you know that I won't need rides after tomorrow morning."

"Why after tomorrow morning? Just start getting rides from him tomorrow."

"Jesus Christ," Willow mutters, "You two sound the exact same."

"So he did offer to start giving you rides starting tomorrow morning?" Robin presses, "If he did, then go for it. It's like he told you, if you replace Steve with Eddie without batting an eyelash, it's going to drive Harrington wild. Sure, I'll have to put up with the backlash, but if this is a means to the end in which you two stop making heart eyes and just get together already -"

"Alright, alright, alright. I get it. But I need to tell Steve in person and...." Willow trails off, realization settling heavy on her chest; she hadn't seen Steve in two days now. Since meeting, they had never gone this long without seeing each other. Maybe it had been Willow's crush, or maybe it had been Steve's loneliness, but once Robin had introduced the two properly as friends, they became inseparable. If Willow didn't go and bug Steve during his shifts, her days felt incomplete.

"You two still need to make up," Robin reminds Willow, pulling her back out of her mind.

Willow nods slowly before remembering Robin can't see her, finally softly replying, "Yeah, we do."

"Maybe we should all meet up tonight, hang out just for the hell of it?" Robin offers, and while Willow appreciates it, she doesn't know if she has the stomach for it tonight .

Don't be a pussy , Willow thinks to herself. She needs to agree, or she knows she'll avoid Steve for even longer. And soon a silly disagreement will become a week-long ordeal that has only worsened with age.

"Fine. Okay. What do we want to do?" Willow didn't give herself a chance to hesitate, or a chance to take it back. She needed Robin to lock her into plans and lock her into them fast .

"How about bowling? We haven't gone since-"

"Since you and Steve nearly killed each other from being too competitive? Is that really the best idea?" Willow reminds Robin, twisting the cord around her fist even tighter. Her knuckles were beginning to turn white and the tips of her fingers were numb from lack of blood flow.