Lonely Hearts Club

Walking

Eddie's eyes widened, and his hold on me stiffened. I felt my stomach drop – did he know Steve?

"You dated Steve Harrington?" Gareth asked. I turned, realizing the table had gotten quiet and was watching me. I felt my face pale.

"Y-yeah," I replied nervously. I felt Eddie's hold on me loosen, and I immediately ached for it. I looked back at him, anxious. "Do you know him?"

"Do we know the Hair?" Jeff asked. I looked at him, leaning ever so slightly into Eddie in a lame attempt to get close to him again.

"Was that his nickname?" I asked, surprised. Jeff and Gareth looked at each other, bewildered.

"Uh, yeah, it was," Gareth answered vaguely. He looked back at me. "And we knew him well, he used to—"

"He used to be really popular," Eddie interrupted. I looked back at him, and he forced a smile. "That's crazy that you used to date him."

I could sense something shifted by his tone, and he moved his arm back to the back of my chair instead of around my shoulders like I had been enjoying. I was upset, and I wasn't sure what I had done wrong.

"That makes sense – he was kind of surprised with how things went when he got to college and wasn't the big fish in the pond anymore," I replied. Eddie nodded tightly, and I missed the bubble we had been in. I had almost convinced myself that he liked me back, but now I was sure I was wrong.

"Were you popular in high school?" Gareth asked. I scoffed and shook my head, trying not to read too much into how hostile his tone had gotten.

"God, no – I was in show choir and was president of the drama club," I insisted. They laughed with me and relaxed a bit. I looked back up at Eddie, feeling lame and needy. "I'm sorry if he wasn't nice to you. He's my ex for a reason."

Eddie smiled and shook his head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he replied unconvincingly.

How had I already messed something up with the first guy I had actually liked in a long time?

I opened my mouth, trying to figure out something to save this. I was tipsy, and my crush had worsened, and I felt pathetic. Jeff cleared his throat.

"Munson – let's grab a smoke," Jeff announced. He started standing, kissing Grace on the forehead, and Eddie turned to me, panicked.

"I don't really smoke – I usually just go and hang out while they smoke," he explained. I felt a twinge of hope at his nervousness and beamed at him.

"It's okay if you do," I replied, deciding to be brave and setting my hand on his knee. He broke into a grin and placed his hand on mine before standing. He followed Gareth and Jeff outside. I sighed and looked at Grace, smiling pathetically. She grinned and set her hand on the table.

"Don't overthink things," she said. I furrowed my brows, and she took a sip from her vodka drink. "Eddie's freaked out because you used to date the guy who tortured him in high school."

I felt my stomach drop, again, and my jaw dropped.

"Steve used to bully Eddie?" I croaked. She nodded.

"He was awful to Eddie. We all had a party the day Steve graduated because we didn't have to see him anymore," she continued. "Steve hated all of us because we were dorks, but he hated Eddie the most since Steve thought he was the ringleader of the freaks. It took Eddie a long time to get past a lot of it. But he's okay now."

I was shocked – Robin had hinted that Steve was popular, but I would never have assumed he was a bully. My brain was short circuiting at the fact that someone who I not only dated, but at one point considered my friend, was so horrible to Eddie. Steve had been so kind to me up to our break-up – was it because he didn't think I was a dork?