A/N: Good Morning! :) I stayed up last night reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (I'm like halfway done – so no spoilers) but seriously, it describes my life perfectly. That will so be me in college. I can feel it already.

In other news, are you guys ready to find out what happened to Eddie? There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but Eddie's story will be explained. It's important to pay attention!

Disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis

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"I talked to your friend, Eddie, the other night." Patricia kicked a stick that was lying carelessly on the sidewalk. "I, um… he talked to me, actually."

"Really? Is he okay?" Piper sounded nervous? No, more like relived.

"Well, yeah," Patricia shrugged, "now that I've talked to him and all. I'm a miracle worker like that, you know."

"Patricia, this is serious." Piper cared about this boy so much. Not because she loved him the way that she loved Alfie, but because she cared for everyone and everything. Listening to Eddie's story helped Patricia understand this feeling. "What did he say," Piper swallowed cautiously, "did he talk about suicide?"

"What? No!" Patricia's head snapped up, her eyes transitioning to her twin's concerned face. "He just told me everything about that girl, Char, and I let him."

"Did you even introduce yourself? Eddie doesn't normally talk to strangers openly-"

"I wasn't a stranger," Patricia explained, as if it was obvious; "I was you."

"Patricia. You did not let him walk off believing that he just shared his deepest feelings with a friend, when he didn't. That's awful."

"I know, I feel bad and stuff, but I wanted to ask you a more important question." Patricia turned to her sister, who still looked angry, but did not object to the preposition. "Why didn't you tell me about this before? I really do think that I helped him on Friday."

"I have talked to you about him before. Remember? I've talked to you four times, actually, Patricia, and not once did you respond."

"I probably would have if you had told me that he was driving the car that she died in."

"I didn't tell you that, Patty, because I felt that if he was willing to tell me his secrets, than I would keep them. Unlike someone here, I try my best to help people without hurting them further."

"I didn't hurt Eddie. I think that I saved his life."

"Patricia, what did he say to you? I want to know everything."

"Thought they were his secrets," Patricia replied, shrugging her shoulder.

"Not if he thought that he was sharing them with me." Piper was difficult to argue with.

"Fine," Patricia groaned, taking a seat on a nearby bench. Piper sat next to her, staring straight ahead, probably bracing herself for a story that she didn't want to hear again. Patricia didn't even want to repeat it.

"Okay," she sighed, "Eddie told me that things were getting really bad for him, so I asked him to spill everything that he needed to get off of his chest; and he did." She shut her eyes, but she wasn't quite sure why. Was she visualizing his story, or trying to shut it out? "He told me about the day that he first met Char in school. She was sitting across the room from you, and you guys were glaring at each other, like you were plotting the other's deaths. Eddie said that he was curious, so he got into it. He approached Char after school, and immediately forgot about the situation he had seen in the classroom earlier. He said that he was blown away by her beauty, her smile, her kindness. He asked her out instead. Eddie told me that he fell in love with her so quickly that he couldn't keep himself from obsessing over her. She was his world.

They were dating for six months before he started to hang out with you, too. He said that you were brilliant, the kind of friend that he wanted to have so that he could confide in you. He said that he wanted to talk to someone more than anything when he and Char were in fights. So, on her birthday, as they were driving to her favorite restaurant, she asked why he had been spending so much time with you. And he let it slip that you were an amazing friend, easy to talk to, unlike her. She set off on a list of the things that she hated about you, and he tried to defend you. For one second, Piper. One second, he took his eyes off of the road to look at her. He went right through a red light and another car hit the passenger side of his car. Char died on impact." Piper was nodding, tears running down her cheeks. It was a story that she had already heard, but never in such great detail. Maybe Eddie finally was getting over it.

"Anything else?"

"What do you know?" Patricia asked, looking curiously at her sister.

"Not much, just that he's been drinking more than normal, not going out with friends anymore."

"After her funeral, Eddie visited his dad," Patricia continued.

"They were back on speaking terms, finally. I know," Piper nodded.

"Yeah, but when Eddie went back, Eric yelled at him. He told him that he had ruined his only chance at real love; that he had made the same kind of mistakes that he once had, but that Eddie really screwed up. He told Eddie that what he did was awful, that what he did was an impossible thing to be forgiven for. He kicked him out."

"Oh my god."

"So Eddie turned to drinking in between the multiples shifts that he took so that he could pay for a small apartment of his own. Eddie told me that sometimes, when he's surrounded by the silence, he thinks about her and he cries for hours. Sometimes, he thinks about himself and what could have happened if he hadn't yelled. If he hadn't felt the need to look at her. If they had walked down town, the way that she had originally wanted to."

"What else?" Piper begged, and then carefully, as if tasting something sour, she asked, "did he talk about jumping out the window or overdosing this time?"

"This time?" Patricia had never been so wrapped up in someone else's life before. "Has Eddie tried to commit suicide before?"

"He talked about it. Once," Piper nodded, her mouth scrunching up. "One time, he came to my apartment at four in the morning and Alfie was there," Piper blushed, "he was asleep by then, obviously. So I got out of bed, just myself, and I answered the door. I took the beer from Eddie's hand and threw it away. He was so mad, Patricia. His eyes were blood shot, and his hair was ruffled, and he started yelling. That woke Alfie up, and he thought that Eddie was a murderer, or a robber, and he jumped on him, and that only made Eddie angrier. I – I separated them, and pulled them both on to the balcony, and I sat in Alfie's lap, and Eddie was to my right. And we all just sat there in silence, and I think that Alfie knew something was up because for the first time ever, he didn't crack a joke." Piper looked over to Patricia, sharing a look that read can you believe that this happened to the boy that was at the party on Friday? "Well, um," Piper sniffled, "out of the blue, Eddie just said; what do you think would happen if I took all of those depression pills and just jumped off of here? And then, Patricia, he laughed. He laughed like it was all one big joke and I started crying so much, and hugging him, and sobbing, and begging him to never say anything like that again. And he didn't."

"Piper, he may be more sober now, but it's been an entire eighteen months since she died. He's still not better."

"I know," Piper sniffed. "Eddie doesn't want help, though. He feels like, if I'm the only person that will talk to him, than how can he rely on new people?"

"Well, I talked to him. Alfie knew about this… somewhat. He's getting somewhere, right?"

"Patricia, you have to tell him." Piper said it urgently, standing up and pulling her sister with her. This was her annual routine when a revelation had dawned upon her. "Tell him right now that it was you on Friday."

"Piper, he'll hate me."

"Maybe not," Piper shook her head, "Maybe this is his chance to meet more people, live his life again."

"I don't know. We could just pretend that I don't exist-"

"Patricia, for once in your life stop thinking about yourself. Think about me, and Char, and Eddie. Think about what you could do by simply being his friend. You could save his life, Patricia. You, of all people could be a hero, a friend that listens, and hugs, and cares instead of pulling pranks. You need one of those friends too. This is your chance. Take it."

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A/N: was this chapter confusing? I'm willing to answer any questions as long as they aren't spoilers! I'm looking forward to hearing all of your wonderful thoughts – I appreciated the feedback from last time! :)

Love you guys,

Grace