Chapter Twenty-Four

"Loren…"

I was fast asleep when I heard the soft call of my name. I fluttered my eyes open and found myself looking up at the ceiling. Still sleepy, I struggled to stay awake. Sleep won and I was soon falling off into a dozy sleep when I felt someone breathe heavily on my neck.

"Lorennnn."

The said person purred my name and I became alert of the body on top of me. At the sudden notice, I was wide awake and became aware that the person covering half of my body was Eddie. I tried unlocking myself from him but it was no use. There was no escape when his hand was clutching my waist. I sighed and gave up trying. I don't want to wake him up either. I laid there with Eddie's body on me, taking in my surroundings. It was still dark outside and the lights were off. He must have turned them off while I was still sleeping.

"Please don't—"

I looked over at him and scrutinized his face. He was burning up and his breathing was uncontrolled. What is he dreaming about? He continued saying my name over and over again, but it each time the moaning became more distinct. I laid there frozen with my heart pounding rapidly.

"I want you."

He whispered in frustration. He dived deeper into my neck and his hand rested on my thigh. I became conscious of the fact that my leg was in-between his and I felt something hard bulging out his pants. My face heated up and I shook the thoughts away trying to concentrate on something else. I looked up at the ceiling and put all my effort into finding anything that would distract my mind from the current situation.

"Scream my name again."

My cheeks turned into a more intense red hue if that's even possible. My body tensed up and his went rigid. I closed my eyes and prayed that he wasn't having one of those dreams. I bit my lip and I felt his cold hand trail up on my stomach. I looked down and it was making its way to my breast. His icy hand sent shivers throughout my body. He cupped one breast and gave it a soft squeeze.

Eddie, what are you doing? How am I going to get off this? Should I wake him up? No; he'll see our positions and another awkward situation will resurface. My chest rose up and down indomitably and I looked at Eddie. He had a smirk on his face as he gently held my breast, ever so often he would grope it. I pulled my shirt up and carefully untangled his hand away from them. Moving slightly away from him, I attempted to get my leg out of his. I failed.

I kept moving my leg slowly and stopped when Eddie began moving. He was looking for my body. His expression showed frustration and disapproval. I sat there frozen and scooted away when he almost grabbed my arm. I was still very well aware of his hard member pressing against my leg. I closed my eyes. Please let it be a dream. I'll just awake up and nothing ever happened. Opening one eye, I sighed in relief as I watched Eddie stop moving completely. This time with success I was able to get my leg out. Eddie frowned. I closed my eyes again like that's going to do anything. Please don't wake up, I repeated over and over again in my head.

Then with a sudden movement, Eddie grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. I was now on top of him. My face was flushed as I stared at him confused. He didn't seem to mind the weight on him. Instead, he had a peaceful smile. With my arms, I pushed myself up only to have Eddie pull me back down to him. One hand was on my thigh and the other on my back. This is not comfortable at all, I thought but then sighed. Well, this is better than our previous position. I rested my head on his chest in defeat and decided it wasn't that bad. He smells nice and the small rubs he was giving my back were soothing. I found myself smiling in content and falling fast asleep.

I wake up again due to a sudden flash. I flinched at the bright light and my head elevated upwards. I lost my balance on top of Eddie and fell flat on the floor.

"I'm leaving now!" The person whispered.

I was still in pain from the fall to decipher the voice and the person left rapidly before I was able recognize her. I rubbed my eyes but they are still tingling from the light. I sat there hopelessly waiting for my vision to return to normal.

"Loren?"

I looked up at Eddie with one eye open. I smiled cheaply and he looked down at me with clear amusement. I slowly and massaged my head, making a mess of my hair. He sat up and observed me from head to toe. He smirked. "Hot."

I smiled at him and fixed my messy hair. I turned around towards the bathroom but he drew me to him. I ended up sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I around his neck pulling him into a small chaste kiss. I giggled when he groaned as I pulled away. He leaned back in and pressed his lips on mine. I smiled between our kiss. I don't mind every morning to be like this; confined in his arms. We pulled apart and Eddie was smiling brightly.

"This is nice, waking up with you like this." He kissed me again. "I should kidnap you, so I have the privilege to wake up with such a beauty every single day." I giggled lightly whilst nodding. I caressed his arms and looked at his brown eyes. "How did you sleep?"

"Phenomenal." I'm sure you did. I mean, after that dream you must feel good. Or the opposite. But that's not the point. I cleared my jumbled thoughts. Eddie traced my lips with his finger and smiled. "Your lips are addicting." He lifted my chin up and gave me a slow kiss. When we pulled away, he looked at me in the eyes with a serious demeanor. "Loren…" His eyebrows were pressed together and his body tensed. "Did I do anything to you while I was sleeping?"

I turned scarlet. Should I tell him the truth? No, I should not because that'll make it awkward and he'll feel bad. And I can't blame him for reacting like that in his dreams. After what I did to him yesterday, he's still pretty hiked up. "Um, I don't think so… I mean, if you did I was too busy sleeping." He sighed in relief and flashed me a smile. "Good." I smiled at him before unwrapping my arms around his neck. I attempted to get off him but he held my waist tightly, keeping me in place. I looked at him questionably.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom…"

"Can I join you?" He asked suggestively.

I shook my head and said sweetly, "No." He pouted and I kissed his cheek while giggling at his antics.

"Well, stay with me like this then." He embraced me tightly and my head rested on his chest. His essence was still strong and accentuated. I closed my eyes and a smile formed on my face at the peace we both felt right at this instant. I heard both of our hearts beat in unison. One like the other.

"I want to hold you like this, let us stay like this forever." He kissed my head. I clutched his arm, feeling the moment and words whispering in my mind, I love you. Sighing, I sat up straight, kissed his lips and wrapped my arms around him. He embraced me back.

A few moments later, I got off him and stretched my arms. He got up and smiled at me. "I'm going to check on my mom." I shivered at her reaction when she saw us like that. She must've been the one to take the picture. A picture? I sometimes wonder what goes on her mind and how it functions. But nonetheless, I still love her.

"Can I use your bathroom?"

"Yeah, sure."

He gave me one last smile before he walked towards the bathroom. I made my way to the kitchen hoping that my mom had left to work. I was about to turn around when I saw her facing the stove. Panic quickly striking; I can't face her now.

"Loren, where do you think you're going?"

Shoot. The woman has eyes on the back of her head, nothing ever gets by her. I stopped and slouched dejectedly. Well, it's going to be now or never. I turned around and smiled nervously. "Going to sleep?"

"You didn't get enough of Eddie yesterday?" She turned around and looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

I blushed and shook my head. "We didn't do anything."

"Loren, the door was locked."

"So…" I laughed nervously walking to the table. My mom put the heat down on the stove and walked towards me.

"So? I unlocked that door and found the sweet surprise of my daughter on top of a man."

"It was you who took the picture?" I said with the intent to change the direction of this conversation. She knew what I was trying to do and shook her head.

"Don't change the topic. And yes I needed proof if you were to ever deny it." She clasped her hand and smiled at me. "You want to see it? It's wrong but it looks so cute." She walked excitedly to the small wall with the concave corner.

"What?" I looked at her in disbelief. "Weren't you yelling at me right now because you found Eddie with me asleep? Which we didn't do anything but talked. That's it. Nothing else." If I ever tell my mom what actually happened, she would drop dead and strangle Eddie. And then she would lock me in a cage never letting me out.

"I wasn't yelling at you. There's a major difference between being politely concerned and screaming your lungs out." She grabbed the camera and walked back to me. "Look, yes it surprised me when I saw both of you like that. But it was an innocent thing, I guess… It looked that you two only slept on top of each other and not-How do say this? Um, I trust you. I know you're not stupid to do anything that you will regret later. And I know you have a good sense when it comes to the right decisions."

She nodded liking what she said and turned to the camera. I stared at her. Oh, yes. She would be disappointed in me if I tell her how I was so close to giving in. I already picture her ranting over how she knew this would happen. Our pace in this relationship is abnormal. If I ever tell her this, it'll be in the far future like millions of years from now.

She placed the camera down and looked at me. "And I know Eddie is a gentleman. He won't force you into anything. He respects you." She put her hand on top of mine and stared at me with warning. "Honey, just be careful. He is still a guy, and the number one thing that's always on their mind is sex. Don't lead him on, making him think that you want it and then it turns out you don't. You'll only confuse and frustrate him more. Okay?"

I nodded and smile weakly. If only you would've told me this before. Things would've gone differently. But it's my entire fault. I should've known better. I didn't put a halt in time and let it get too far. Now the fact that I know that he dreams of me only makes this worse. How long has he been like this? How long has he wanted me? Those dreams are anything but innocent and cute.

"Oh! My eggs!"

I smelled the strong odor of burnt eggs. My face scrunched up and I watched my mother sprint over to the stove and hectically put the pan on the sink. I laughed mockingly and she threw a towel at me. I dodged it and after I was able to quiet down, I grabbed her camera. As the picture came in view, I smiled and a blush was soon plastered on my cheeks. Our faces are sincere in peacefulness and just plain happiness of holding each other. My head is resting on his chest and I'm softly clutching his shirt. His right hand lies on my back, and the other is gently on my arm. A smile on both of our faces. Our body relaxed with the presence of each other. I kept staring at the picture and the smile on my face never ceased to leave.

"Good morning."

I turned around to the unsure and nervous voice coming out of Eddie. He looked at my mom with a neural look and scratched the back of his neck. He's nervous. I glanced at my mom and waited for her reaction. She spun around to Eddie surprised. I sighed in relief when my mom smiled warmly at him and waved the spatula to him.

"Morning!" She said enthusiastically.

He grinned at her and nodded politely. He was standing there on the small doorway of the kitchen, not knowing what to do. My mom smiled at him and pointed to me with her infamous spatula. Eddie looked at me and a smile spread across his face.

"Make yourself at home."

He complied and followed the direction my mom was pointing to. He walked towards me and placed his hands on my shoulder, kissing the top of my head. I inhaled his new scent. Fresh mint. I noticed my mom shaking her head with a smile etched on her face. She went back to the stove and set the pancakes, hash brown and bacon apart and began cracking new eggs.

"Loren was just telling me how much fun she had yesterday."

"Really?" His gaze drifted down to me and I shrugged.

"Yeah. She gave me full on details about everything. May I add you were a complete gentleman and treated her like the lady she is." She smiled and stirred the eggs in the pan. When did I fill her in? I just remember her cornering me up.

"About everything…?" He glanced at me confused and his body quickly tensed up. I rapidly shook my head. If she knew, Eddie, you would've been dead already. He got the message and his body relaxed. He gave me a soft squeeze on the shoulders before sitting across from me.

The camera caught his attention. Oh, shoot. I fidgeted nervously when he picked it up and stared at it confused. His expression turned into a small smile and he chuckled lightly. "No wonder why I slept so well." He averted his gaze to me with a smile and winked at me. I glared at him but reciprocated his smile. If only you knew what happened before that. I shivered at the thought and a small blush appeared on my face. Let it go, Loren. Don't think about it.

"Oh, that picture! Isn't it cute? I walked into the room and saw you guys like this. I thought, this is a Kodak moment."

I face-palmed and Eddie laughed heartfully at my mom's lame joke. A few minutes later, we were all sitting on the table eating the delicious breakfast when Eddie asked a question that led to more questions and embarrassing memories.

"So you take pictures just randomly or…?"

"I'm not that of a freak."

"Yes, you are." I intervened.

"I am not."

I turned to Eddie. "Listen to this: she has somehow taken a picture of me and my past boyfriends at the most random times. I could be at a café and just one turn, I see her snapping pictures."

"I do that so I can show you later after years have passed, and say, Hey do you remember when you dated that math geek? It's a good laugh." Nice. Thanks for bringing him up. I liked 'the math geek', he was good to me. We dated for a year, but I soon ended it up for various reasons that I don't like to bring up.

Eddie turned to me surprised. "You dated a math geek?"

I blushed feverishly. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Because it's funny." I shot a glare to my mom and she shrugged whilst ignoring the daggers I sent her way. "And yes. She dated him for… I think one year, right?" She looked at me for approval. I sighed; I nodded and took a bite of the pancakes.

"One year? How many boyfriends did you have?" He looked at me curious. I exhaled and ran a hand through my hair. He gazed at me waiting for my response.

"Three including you." He smiled at my response and down casted his eyes to his food.

"I still remember her first date at the fresh age of fifteen with the geek."

"His name was Aaron, Mom."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, that day she was going insane over what to wear, and you know how she is a pessimist sometimes. She was worrying over being stood up; what if she spills something over her clothes—"

"Can we please stop talking about this?" I looked down at my plate. She always has to do this, put me on the spot. Eddie laughed and urged my mom to continue. She was on the edge of her seat. I placed my head's weight on the palm of hand and watched them talk.

"She wasn't stood up. He actually came 10 minutes earlier and Loren was already dressed up thirty minutes before he came. And she had a blast with him. They went out for a year. I think it was cute. You see that picture right there." She pointed at a certain photo that I always wanted to burn. I groaned and covered my face with my hands. Eddie turned around and picked up the frame.

"A rainbow threw up on me that day."

"Colorful!" He smiled brightly and held it up for me to see. "But you're rocking those knee high socks. Aren't you a cutie?" He winked at me and I groaned again. My mom laughed and continued eating her food. I glared at her and stood up from my sit.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting away from you two." I walked towards my room.

"Excuse me." I heard Eddie's chair slide back and his footsteps trailed behind me.

I entered my room and went straight to the bathroom. His laughter was behind me, and I suddenly felt a shock of electricity run down my spine when he stepped in front of me and cupped my cheek. He still has this effect on me. I blushed as he pressed his forehead on mine. "Are you okay?"

I look at him and nodded. "I'm okay now."

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into an embrace. "Oh, are you?" I stared at his auburn orbs; I caressed his cheek and smiled. "Yes." He leaned in and trailed kisses up my neck. He found his way to my mouth, kissed me forcedly and bit my lower lip. He let go of me and pushed me towards the bathroom.

"Go get ready. We're going back to my place. I want to show you something."

"What?"

"You'll know when you're there."

I complied and closed the bathroom door. I stood leaning on the door with a smile plastered on my face. Every day I fall in love with Eddie more and more. The feeling is so foreign, but if feels good... He's my happiness. I'm finally not afraid to fall in love. The pain I always thought it brought is now nonexistent. With Eddie is only joy... I nibbled on my thumb and chuckled. Who's the idiot now?

"Can you tell me now?"

"No."

"Not even a small hint?"

"No."

"Miniscule."

"No."

I sighed in defeat and leaned back on the car seat. Eddie chuckled lightly and placed his hand on my thigh. For the past minute, I have been trying to get Eddie to tell me what he wants to show me. The man is hard as a rock. My annoying attempts don't faze him. I looked at him and was about to protest when his phone rang.

"Can you see who it is?"

He was making a left turn and I nodded while picking up his phone. As soon as saw who it was my body tensed up. I stared at the screen for a few good seconds and I clutched it firmly.

"Babe?" Eddie looked at me from the corner of his eyes.

"Um," I looked away from the screen, not completely disdaining the call. "It's Chloe…"

"Hang up." He said quickly.

"Are you sure? You can talk to her…" I casted down my eyes back to the screen.

"I can, but I don't want to. I have nothing to say to her."

I looked at him and all I see is pure abhorrence in his eyes. I tapped the end button and placed the phone back on the small container. Sighing, I leaned back on the seat; Eddie's hold on my thigh tightened. He parked the car and turned to look at me. All of the sudden ,I'm conflicted over what Chloe and Eddie. Rumors say that she cheated on him and used him. But they're just that, rumors. They broke up three months ago. But is that enough time to get over someone. Eddie loved Chloe. I know that, but still… I don't know what to think.

But I trust him.

"Loren, you can ask me anything regarding Chloe and I. I have nothing to hide."

He lifted my chin up and I looked straight at his eyes. I gave out and exasperated sigh and smiled weakly. I grabbed his hands and held them tightly with mine.

"What happened between you and Chloe? All I have heard are rumors involving another guy and secrets revealing."

"You're reading the right source then. Yeah, she cheated on me with Tyler Rorke and it turned out that she was a complete lie."

"What do you mean?"

"She lied about everything. Her name, where she came from, her parents, her history. Everything. The trust I had for her was gone. Everything she told me, I had to think it over before actually believing her. I opened my eyes and saw the real Chloe Carter, deceiving and cunning. She used me for my money and all I could do for her…" He sighed. "Tyler Rorke was my last straw. I broke off our engagement, ended things with her and ever since I have despised her."

"Do you still love-"

"God no. I see her walking around and all I see is my worst nightmare. The living proof of how stupid and blind I was. I don't love her, Loren. I don't think I ever did."

"Why does she still keep bothering you?"

"She's delusional. She thinks that I will get back with her; she thinks that following me around and begging on her knees giving a display will make me go back to her." He laughed bitterly. "I'll never forgive her. She doesn't deserve it and all the love her mother gives her... she doesn't deserve anything." He sighed frustratingly.

"Eddie…" I squeezed his hands and he smiled at me.

"She ruined me. After all she did to me, I was left broken and lost. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go from that. I was a mess for three months. I couldn't get anything written down, piles and piles of crumbled paper stacked in my living room. I lost my motivation to keep writing. I couldn't find myself." He shivered at the memory and I scooted closer to him. I cupped his cheek and smiled gently, reassuring him I was here for him. It was now my turn to comfort him. It was my turn to save him. "But then I met you." He closed his eyes and smiled sweetly.

"You saved me, Loren." He opened his eyes and held my wrists. "You found me and I was able to get back up. You helped me get back to my old myself. I was lost, but then you came along, my light, and found me."

He pressed his lips on mine, and they moved quickly. It was rushed, almost desperate like he was trying to prove something to me. My hands run through his hair and I pulled his head closer to deepen the kiss.

Need. So much need shown with just one kiss.

He dropped his hands to my waist and heaved me closer. His lips exerted force on mine and I returned it with as much passion. I cupped his cheek and slowly, our kiss became sweet and gentle. We parted and he looked at me. I smiled and caressed his cheek. He ran his fingers gently around my rosy countenance. He smiled warmly and sighed. My heart beat increased as he kissed me one more time, and then he let go of me.

"You have no idea how much I need you."

I nodded and the tears began to roll down. "Me too," I whispered and he gently wiped the tears away. He exhaled and inhaled; and as he says those three words, my heart stopped beating.

"I love you."

AHH! About time Eddie it took you long enough (well one week, that's not really long to be speaking off). What am I talking about? It took me long enough to make him say that (I would've made him say in the first chapter, but that wouldn't have made sense). Anyways, I hope you liked it. I reached 100 reviews the day I wrote this chapter! Thank you so much for reading this story, following, favoriting and all that good stuff. All you're reviews are so sweet and makes my poor fangirling heart flutter. It means the world that you guys like it. Happy reading!