Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 5

Eddie took Loren to his place, but Loren politely refused to go in there. She wanted the comfort of her own bed after the long, painful day she had. Eventually, Eddie gave in, never being able to say no to Loren. They sat and talked for a while about everything, the car wreck, who they think caused it, and even Nora's funeral. Eventually Eddie helped Loren into comfortable clothes, which caused Loren's face to become bright red, before sitting her gently in her bed.

"Thank you," Loren smiled softly at her boyfriend, "for everything."

Eddie had been unbelievably great the past few days. He helped her move some of her stuff into Melissa's house, where she stayed until the funeral. He even helped her plan some of her mother's funeral, especially when she would just space out and couldn't make a quick decision. She would have Melissa bring her stuff by later; she knew it was time she had to start staying at the house until she figured out what she was going to do with it.

Eddie's eyes softened, caressing Loren's cheek before kissing her, "You don't have to thank me."

Eddie made a move to leave, but Loren pulled on his hand. He turned back around; his raised eyebrows indicated that he was curious as to why she did that.

"Stay?" Loren meant for it to sound strong, but it still came out as more of a whisper than anything else.

Eddie nodded, crawling around her to get to the other side. Loren sighed, laying her head on his chest.

"You should get some rest," Eddie said softly, rubbing her arm as he spoke.

Loren looked up at him, "I couldn't sleep very well last night. Memories just kept flooding my brain. I couldn't stop thinking. By the time I realized that I hadn't gotten any sleep, it was like four-thirty in the morning. So, I just stayed up."

Eddie sighed, holding her a little tighter. Just as soon as he closed his eyes, Loren spoke again.

"Do you want some more comfortable clothes?"

Eddie smiled tiredly, he had been up all night worrying about Loren, "Thanks, but I don't think I could fit in your clothes, Lo."

Loren rolled her eyes; loving the playful banter instead of the sad talk she had been accustomed to all day.

"Adam actually left some clothes here a few weeks ago, but he keeps forgetting them. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Loren lifted her head from his chest, letting him get up from the bed.

She told him where the clothes were located and rested her head on the pillow as he went to change in her bathroom. Eddie came out, his funeral clothes in his hands and set them on the dresser before making his way to Loren.

Loren couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry," She laughed, "but his clothes are so much shorter."

Eddie smiled, loving hearing her laugh. He climbed into bed, rolling his eyes until he heard her stop laughing. She had a solemn look on her face, wringing her hands, a sign that she was worried about something.

"It's okay to laugh," Eddie said softly, "It's okay to be happy, Loren."

Loren looked up at him, not even saying a word. She gently moved herself so she was lying on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat.

"I could stay like this, you know." Loren muttered, eyes finally closing as she drifted off to sleep.

Eddie smiled to himself, pulling Loren a little closer before he too fell to sleep.

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For several days, visitors came and told Loren how much they would miss her mom, bringing casseroles along with them. Loren had smiled politely, but secretly wished they would all just stop coming. Their bringing food was nice, but it just reminded her that her mom was gone. Loren finally just stopped answering the door, having grown tired of having to explain what happened. Loren was sitting in the living room, thinking about what she should do with the house. She couldn't afford it on her own, even with the money her mom had left her. Her job at the coffee shop definitely couldn't pay for it.

"I'm back with dinner. Look who I found." Mel had been staying with her the past few days, helping her get dressed and getting her dinner. Loren had been really grateful for everything.

Loren looked up, smiling when she saw both Eddie and Adam entering behind Melissa.

"Hey, guys," Loren greeted, "Sorry, it's a little messy. I can't really move around and Mel doesn't really understand the concept of cleaning."

"You know I could spit in your food right now, right? I could totally do it." Mel joked.

The boys laughed, Adam following Melissa to the kitchen while Eddie sat down on the couch.

"Hey," Eddie gently kissed Loren before pulling away, "how's it going?"

Truthfully, it wasn't going well at all. Loren felt like she had to be brave in front of Melissa because she didn't want to scare her like when Eddie had gone missing. However, now she had to suppress the urge to scream, hit something, cry and not have to be so brave anymore. She felt like at any moment she could explode, but obviously, she didn't tell anyone that. Not even Eddie. So, when he asked her how it was going, she quickly avoided his question.

Loren shrugged a little, "It's been okay. Um, hey, I got to ask you something. Do you know a good realtor?"

Eddie's eyebrows raised, "A realtor?"

Loren nodded, "I've been thinking about what I want to do with the house, but there isn't really a lot that I can do with it. I don't really have the money to pay for it."

Before Eddie even opened his mouth, Loren knew that he would offer to loan her the money. She immediately shook her head, "No, Eddie. I... think it's time to just let go."

"Here's dinner!" Melissa came pouncing into the living room with a tray of Loren's food.

"Why are you so peppy tonight, Mel?" Loren squinted at her friend suspiciously, picking up her fork and pointing it at her, "You didn't do anything illegal, did you?"

Mel laughed, "Of course not, what do you take me for?" Loren gave her a look, which made Mel roll her eyes, "Not today anyway, alright?"

Melissa strutted back into the kitchen to get her and Adam's food ready. Loren and Eddie laughed at Mel's antics; she was quite the character.

"Yum, Chinese food," Eddie commented, looking at Loren's dinner.

Loren nodded, having not really eaten much at lunch, but she still wasn't hungry. She moved the food around on her plate a little bit, causing Eddie to take notice.

"Hey," Eddie said softly, "are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Loren looked up from her plate, "I just don't really feel like eating, that's all."

"Are you sure that's it?" Eddie questioned, not believing Loren's story at all.

"It's just, " Loren put down her fork as she spoke and looked to Eddie, with tears in her eyes, "I don't really know what to do anymore. I don't feel normal. I feel like this is all a dream that I'm going to wake up from, but... the pain reminds me that it's not."

Eddie's facial expression softened, moving closer to his girlfriend. He caressed her cheek before kissing her softly.

"Loren, it's all going to be okay," Eddie comforted her, putting his arm around her.

Loren shook her head, no longer feeling sad, but feeling angry, "What if it's not?"

She angrily turned away, not wanting anything to do with the food in her lap or her boyfriend at the moment. She didn't know why, but all she just wanted was to be alone. Away from her friends, away from Eddie. She needed to do some serious thinking and crying. She couldn't pretend to be brave anymore, like she had been the past few days. It was eating her alive. Eddie raised his eyebrows at her in surprise; Loren hardly ever got angry with him.

"Anyone up for a movie? I'm in a cheesy romantic comedy kind of mood." Melissa came bouncing into the living room, unaware of what was going on until she sat down and looked at the couple on the couch.

Loren put her fork down on her plate, "I think I'm just going to go to bed. I'm exhausted."

Eddie started to help her but Loren shook her head subtly and asked Melissa to help her. Melissa put down her dinner and helped Loren get into her wheelchair before wheeling her towards her bedroom.

"What was that about?" Adam asked, sitting in Loren's empty seat.

Eddie shrugged, "I'm not really sure. She's just going through a rough time."

Adam nodded, not saying anything about how when Loren got hurt, she tried to push away those closest to her. He didn't want to see that happen to Eddie, but he didn't want to get in the middle of it.

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AN: hope that was worth the wait! I have a little bit of writer's block, but don't worry! I will start updating sooner!