Disclaimer: I do NOT own HoA

2 days later, 8:00pm

Patricia's POV

Eddie has been keeping his distance from me – not that I blame him… He only speaks to me when it's absolutely necessary… And, he's gone out and bought power milk for the kids to drink. When I protested and said it wasn't healthy for them, he said, 'well, neither is drinking drugged milk, Patricia.'

And those words hurt like shit.

"Patricia, I have a meeting now… I won't be back till late, so don't stay up, alright? I've put the kids to bed." His voice came from outside the room.

"Okay." It was all I could manage. I hear his footsteps gradually disappear and know he's gone.

See, the thing is, when you start taking something, it becomes addicting. It's not as bad as drugs or whatever, but that feeling that fills you from the inside is just overwhelming… in a good way…

I made my way downstairs, having a cup of tea in mind. As I put the kettle to boil, I heard feint cries from one of the infants. I let out a frustrated sigh before making my way upstairs again.

As I reached the top, I froze for a second to hear which room the cries were coming from – the boys'.

"Let's do this," I mumbled to myself, before carefully opening the boys' bedroom door. In the first crib from the left side of the door, I made out tiny hands and feet wiggling in the air, his cries getting louder by the second.

"It's alright," I cooed in my 'mummy' voice. "Come on, up you get."

Jerome's cries subsided to whimpers as I lifted him up from his tiny bed – I was going to take him back downstairs so he wouldn't wake up his siblings.

"You're gonna come with mummy, big boy," I whispered, remembering to take his blanket with me at the last second. I reopened the door and walked out, squinting my eyes slightly in the bright light. "You need a nappy change too."

I finally made myself the cup of tea that I was craving so badly. As I set Jerome down on the sofa and swallowed a gulp, I glanced at the clock – 10:45pm… Damn, where's all that time gone to? I shook my head lightly, setting the mug down and picking my son up to put him back in his crib.

Feeling fresh and clean, I lay myself on Eddie's side of the bed. I had missed his sweet yet smoky scent – not smoky as in smoking smoky, rather like a… Eddie-smoky.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I wake up again, it's well past one and I can hear noises downstairs – Eddie must have gotten home.

I made my way downstairs – he was sitting on the sofa with the TV on, watching football, or, as he liked to call it, soccer.

He didn't realise I was there for a long time – I just gazed at him. I felt like I was a teenager again, you know, the kind of love you fall into, but your lover doesn't even know you exist?

"Hemhem," I cleared my throat, in hope that he'd see me.

"Oh… aren't you asleep? Did I wake you? Sorry…" Eddie looks startled – like he expected no-one to be around.

"Can we talk?" I asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. He considers it.

"Sure."

"So… what are you suggesting?" he asked.

"Take a guess?" I tried to thicken the ice I was walking on.

"You… you want to go into rehab?" he asked slowly.

"No, you doofus-" I stopped mid-sentence – I had forgotten this wasn't the old us. "Sorry…"

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean… I think I should… I actually don't know…" I mumbled.

"Tell me one thing – are you still taking the drugs?" Eddie asked.

"Eddie, they aren't drugs-"

"Oh, really? Are you addicted to them? Yes. Do you feel like you can't live without 'em? Yes. Does it give you a pleasurable feeling when you take it? Yes. Patricia, I think that pretty much sums up that it's a drug." He lashes out onto me like I'm some sort of… thing…

I don't say a word. He's hurt me with his words – I'd rather be physically hit by him than him say those things to me…

"I… I'm sorry…" he apologises when he sees the hurt and pain in my eyes – that's what I hate about this boy – he can read me, like an open book, when no one else can do that.

"Don't be. I deserved your rant…"

"I…" he sighed. "Maybe you wanna see a psychologist?" he asked, his eyes suddenly lighting up with… light that I hadn't seen in the past few days.

"Maybe I should…" I honestly replied, looking into his ocean-blue eyes.

"So… are you?" he asked softly.

"I think I am…" I replied, even softer – just audible.

"I love you," he said, pulling me into an embrace. "And we'll get through this, baby. We will."
Normally, I would have punched him for calling me 'baby', but right now, in this moment, the word… felt right.

It sounded right.

Perfect.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long absence, but school reopened and it's been hectic lately… So I hope you enjoyed this detailed chapter…? Anyways, thx for reading, I appreciate your continued support even though I haven't been updating frequently.

-He0524