I Will Be There Once More (Eddie Vedder fanfiction)

3. Go

"Hi! Lily" he said with a big smile "I'm Chris" He opened his hand as I took it and we shook hands.

"Hi Chris... I'm Lily... but, you already know that of course" I said in a clumsy way, while I felt my cheeks burn.

"Do you have more bags?" He said looking at my hands.

"Oh no, just these two"

"Well, let me help you" He said and promptly took my backpack and my suitcase.

I let out a shy Thank you and he told me it was ok and that we should go to the car.

We left the airport and it was pouring, it was a cold morning and we had to run to the car because he parked some meters away from the entrance. Once inside he started to drive and an uncomfortable silence filled the atmosphere so I decided to look through the window.

"So, welcome to Seattle... How was your trip?" He asked me while smiling and looking at me.

"I- it was ok, thanks" I answered without looking at him... I just I couldn't, I was very nervous.

"So... Art History huh?" He asked again and I finally looked at him.

"Y-yeah... last semester"

"Wow... congrats, that's nice. I never finished school to be honest but hey... I live for the music"

"So... you have a band?"

"Yeah! We're Soundgarden"

"Nice name"

"Thank you"

"And I guess you play rock?"

"We try" He said with a soft chuckle "Hey... Adrien told us you had a band with him and other friends back in California"

"Oh god..." I laughed a little and continued "Yes... we had it in high school and I was the singer" I ended, embarrassed.

We were going to continue the talk but we arrived at Chris' place so he took my things and we went into his apartment. 

It was a regular size apartment but it felt very comfortable and he soon showed me what it would be my bedroom, that I noticed it has a nice little window, perfect for me. I also noticed he had clean the place and I found this funny but I was also grateful in silence; then, I asked for his phone as I made a quick call to home just to notify my father I arrived safely.

After the call we stayed in silence again, and I lowered my gaze because I felt his intense look on me that made my cheeks burn once again. I heard his soft chuckle again until he decided to break the ice.

"Hey... Andy told us you were very very shy but, you don't have to worry" He said smiling.

"Yeah well, I'm... I'm always like that at the beginning" I answered, finally looking at him and giving him a small grin as he smiled again, just nodding. 

"So... it's 10:30 a.m. what do you say if we go for breakfast? And then I could show you the city if you want and... maybe later some beers?" 

"That sounds great... yeah!" I said a little bit more relaxed and he smiled in excitement.

"Right! Let's go then!" 

We got in the car again and we went to this small but nice restaurant where we had the best breakfast I had in years as we started to talk about many things. There, I learned he had problems with drugs in the past, he loved music and he never was that interested in school; also, he told me he had five siblings, a fact that really shocked me and he just laughed at my reaction. I told him about my dad and my sister as the only relatives I had, and we found amusing this big contrast between our two families.

"So... what about your mom... did she... uhm, die?" He asked a little bit shy.

"Oh no... not at all" I tried to say nonchalantly "She's alive and well, living the best life in Europe with the jerk she ran away, obviously not giving a fuck about my dad, my sister or me" I ended, sounding a little bitter, but that's how I felt about her.

"I- I'm sorry" Chris told me and I could see he was a little bit embarrassed for asking me such a personal question.

"Hey, it's ok... it's what happened anyway"

"My parents divorced when I was a teenager so... we're kinda in the same path of abandoned kids" He said in a funny way that made smile and soon added "And... Do you have a boyfriend? Or do you left him in L.A.?" He asked me with curiosity.

"More like I left my ex-boyfriend there"

"Ouuuhhh... you broke up with him to come here?" He asked a little bit shocked and I found it funny because I felt as if I was sharing a gossip with one of my best friends.

"No, we broke up during the Christmas Holidays" I said and I noticed by the look in his eyes he wanted to know more about it, so I continued "He was a person with no commitment and apparently he didn't have any plans for the future, plus he only was interest in me when his friends didn't invite him for a beer or when he didn't have more money and I didn't  want that kind of things in my life so I broke up with him"

"Wow... what a douchebag, I mean... I understand if at some point you have financial problems but to only pay attention to your girl when you ran out of money... that's a very shitty thing" He said, looking a little bit distressed.

"I know... and that was the reason everything finished. So... what about you? Any special lady in your life?"

"Actually yes... and she's the manager of the band. Her name's Susan, you're gonna meet her soon" He added excitingly.

"Wow, that sounds so cool and yes! Of course I want to meet her" I said enthusiastically but honest.

We kept visiting important places in the city (according to him) and talking about random things until night fell over us and that's when we decided to get the promised beers; naturally, within the consume of alcohol we eventually opened up a little bit more with each other and it was funny because it felt like we were old friends who haven't seen in a while and we're just catching up; in the end, we returned to his place early, because next day I had to go to the campus.

We were about to go into our respective bedrooms but Chris stood a few seconds and looked at me, to then smile and add:

"You know? I think you're cool and I think we're gonna be good friends" He said in a total innocent way and smiling. I didn't know if it was because of the booze but I totally believed him.

"Thanks Chris, and thanks for today... we're gonna be the coolest bro's" I said, making him smile.

"Sounds nice to me. Anyways, have a good rest"

"You too, night!" I finished as we both disappeared behind the door.