A/N: So I took your opinions (and my own) into consideration and I've decided to extend the story. I have two more chapters written, but I'm thinking about writing chapters that take place farther in the future so that the epilogue can occur years from this time. We'll see. So far it should be at least three more chapters than originally planned. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis

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Patricia answered the door as she put her left earing in. "Come in," she waved Eddie in, and grabbed her purse.

"You look nice. Thank you," He blinked, "for coming along, I mean."

"I knew what you meant." A few days ago it would have come out as a joke, but today wasn't a day for joking. And Patricia wasn't in a joking mood when Eddie was around anymore, anyway.

They walked, to the graveyard, the way that they always did. And that was when it finally clicked. They had never actually discussed this because she was too naïve to notice and he was too grateful that she hadn't brought it up, but Eddie didn't even own a car. She should have noticed it the few times that she had driven the short trip to his apartment, there wasn't a car parked in his designated spot. After the damage had been done to the other one in the crash, he probably never purchased a new car. She briefly wondered if he even had his license. Just thinking about it made Patricia's stomach flip. They were taking a different route today, traveling toward the back of town to the graveyard, instead of the front. They were going to cross the street, right where she died, right where glass had laid for days; as Eddie had described it. It made Patricia feel light-headed; she couldn't possibly imagine how Eddie felt.

As they were getting closer to the crosswalk, Patricia noticed how tight his grip was on the flowers, his knuckles nearly white, his hands shaking, his breathing high and quick. She didn't know what to say, so she did the only thing that she felt would keep her stable in a condition like this. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and gave him a slight sideways hug. 'I'm here for you, always' was what it promised him without having to say anything. He hugged her back, and for a moment, Patricia didn't think about this as a hug that could lead somewhere. She didn't think about it as the relationship that could never happen. She didn't even think about liking Eddie at all. She thought about how grateful she was that he was here, by her side. She thought about how good it felt to help someone out. She thought about the fact that she truly would be there for Eddie no matter what, and today was absolutely no exception.

They arrived to the silent, damp graveyard. The warm May air was slowly fading away. It was six seventeen, only two minutes left until the time that she had died. Patricia let go of Eddie to give him space, and hugged her waist. Her finger tips held on to the black lace of her dress as she attempted to replace the warmth that he had provided. They both stared at the gravestone, inscribed with the name; Charlotte Genevieve Baker and the date; (May 29 1995 - May 29 2016). He should have been celebrating her twenty-third birthday with her, right now. He should have never met Patricia, he should have been holding on to Charlotte, tightly, thanking God for her, and now… he had lost that opportunity. In fact, he practically dragged a stranger to her grave, and there, instead of eating birthday cake, Eddie breathed in the scent of the fresh flowers in his hands. He took breaths through his nose, closed his eyes once in a while, and at one point, Patricia heard him choke on air. He was experiencing that horrible moment when your air supply stops because you suddenly give up on not crying.

"Six nineteen," Patricia whispered, solemnly. A few tears ran down Eddie's cheeks as he placed the flowers by her grave. He stood straight up before he could be brought down on his knees, and hugged Patricia as tightly as possible. He cried for a little while; Patricia could feel his shoulders shaking, and when he was done needing the hug, he stood back, and looked at her, silently. "Eddie," she swallowed, tears in her eyes, "I don't know what you were planning on doing, but maybe you should say all of your favorite things about Char. You were able to let go of the grief by talking about what happened. Maybe you can get over all of the sad things that you remember about her by talking about all of the good things." Where had this come from? Patricia wondered, was Eddie right? She knew how to help people and she was good at it?

"Yeah, good idea," he sniffled, kneeling down, and touching the stone softly. He barely made it past the first two words before he was crying so hard that Patricia couldn't understand anything that he was saying. It took him almost an entire hour to get everything that he had on his mind out, and when he was finished, he hugged Patricia again; a much shorter hug this time. Maybe he was tired, or his vision was blurred, or his head was spinning, but when he pulled away from her he whispered; "I miss you." And then he kissed her.

Eddie kissed Patricia.

Patricia kissed him back.

And then he jerked away, his mouth agape at the realization of what he had done. Patricia shouldn't have enjoyed it. She knew that. After all, they were at his girlfriend's grave. He was crying. She had come for support, not a relationship. But it wasn't like she was going argue him kissing her. This had to mean that he liked her. It had to. Right?

Wrong.

"I'm – I'm sorry." Eddie sounded like he was a t loss from air as he took backwards steps blindly. His still seemed stunned frozen by what had happened. "I just - I thought you were Char."

And then he ran.

***o***

A/N: I was watching the sneak peak clips for PLL on YouTube and I have the same sweater as Spencer. Yay. :)

What'd you guys think?
Grace