Then and Now

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

May 28, 2018

"Oh that one's nice," Fabian said pointing to one of the sparkly engagement rings at the 6th jewelry shop they'd been to this week.

"Yes, because Patricia is totally into sparkles and glitter," Eddie said mockingly in his high-pitched voice.

"I'm trying to help you," Fabian said, gritting his teeth. He loved Eddie to death, really, but after going ring shopping 6 different times, he was getting a little on Fabian's nerves.

"If you were really trying to help we would've been able to get one at the first store," Eddie said with attitude as he turned around and went to the next section, which was filled with multiple silver, diamond rings.

Fabian rolled his eyes, but kept calm. If either of them lashed out, it would only take longer. "Eddie I only have 5 more minutes and then I have to run," he reminded him.

"Fine, I'll look without you," Eddie replied without bothering to look up, which only made Fabian wonder why he was in such a bad mood.

"Look, I don't know what's got you in such a bad mood, but whatever it is, you either need to fix it, or tell me so I can help."

Eddie sighed and looked over at Fabian. He figured he had been a little distressed lately, and since he'd dragged Fabian along with him to find one pesky little ring, he felt kind of bad.

"Sorry... I just have to make sure it's perfect. I mean... What if she doesn't like it?" He said hesitantly.

Fabian stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously Eddie? I didn't know you were so insecure," Fabian teased.

"I'm not," He growled back. "But it's Patricia we're talking about here. Who knows how she'll react?!"

Fabian had to hold back his smile, because for some reason, he found angry-Eddie-in-denial just plain hilarious. "Exactly, it's Patricia we're talking about. She's going to like whatever ring you pick out, because she will be marrying you," he said putting his hands on Eddie's shoulders. "Stop stressing out."

Eddie sighed. Fabian was right... again. Somehow this whole ring thing had turned him into one of those guys who stressed over every little thing. He wasn't like that. He was the confidently cocky guy who could be serious when needed, and just simply wanted to get married, to Patricia of course.

"You're right. I'm just gonna turn around, and the first one that catches my eye is the one," he decided, counting down from 5 in his head.

When he spun around, the first one he saw was a solid gold ring, but instead of a jewel sitting on top, there was the kind of nut you use to bolt something together. "Okay... Maybe the next one." He whispered to Fabian, who laughed silently, making sure the lady behind the desk didn't hear.

The next one that he saw was just a simple gold ring, but it seemed rather familiar. It looked just like one he remembers Patricia saying she liked a long time ago, when they had passed a different jewelry store. It had obviously been a hint for her birthday present, but he had already bought her concert tickets that year.

"Excuse me," he said to the lady behind the counter, "what is this one?"

"That is an 18k Yellow Gold 2.2mm Wire Basket Solitaire Ring," she giggled. "It comes with that 2.3mm Curved Wedding Ring."

Eddie tried his best to hide his confused look with a smile, for he had absolutely no idea what any of that meant. "How much?"

"$1,225."

He turned to Fabian, who gave him a nod. "I think she'll love it."

"Well, then this one it is," Eddie smiled, pulling his wallet out of his pocket while the lady wrapped it up in a little box.

He couldn't stop smiling to himself as he exited the shop, and said his goodbyes to Fabian. He had finally taken the first step, buying the ring. Yeah sure, it wasn't that big of a deal, but the thought that Patricia could soon be his wife couldn't do anything BUT put a smile on his face.

"You coming with me?" Patricia asked, throwing on her shoes as Eddie walked through the door.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "To where?"

"The airport, Doofus. Ben and Piper are coming today."

Eddie mentally scolded himself for not remembering. Ben's work was going to be over here in New York for two months, and he started tomorrow. Eddie didn't want to make Patricia go by herself, but he wasn't about to go either. It would be way too awkward, considering he hadn't talked to his half-brother since he found out that important piece of information.

"Uh... No thanks," he said, heading over to the couch.

Patricia raised her eyebrow at him. "You two still haven't spoken since March, have you?"

"Of course we have," Eddie scoffed, trying to laugh it off, but Patricia knew better.

"Whatever, your problem, not mine," She muttered, and with that said, she was off.

"Hey Eddie!" Piper exclaimed, giving him a hug. "Good to see you again!"

"You too," he said with a smile. "Can I help you with your uh... bags?" He said trailing off at the end, realizing she didn't have any bags.

"We decided to stay in a hotel instead," Piper explained. "Which is where Ben is now. I mean, we didn't want to bother you guys too much," she teased, awkwardly.

Piper was about to say something else, looking uncomfortable, but then she crinkled her nose. "What is that smell?"

"It's probably Eddie," Patricia said nonchalantly, reaching for a coffee mug from the cabinet.

Eddie smirked. "Funny, Yacker. Despite what you think, I don't actually smell bad," he defended.

"Yeah well if you think I'm going to go to that Memorial Day cookout with you if you haven't showered, you'd better think again."

"Fine then, I'll go right now," he said turning away and sulking off to the bathroom.

"Okay, spill," Patricia said, smirking, once Eddie was out of earshot. She picked up on Piper's signal. When they were younger, Piper had liked to come up with little signals between the two, so they could have 'twin telepathy,' as she called it. When she says "What's that smell," it almost always means she needs to get the other person out of the room, so she could tell Patricia something. It was silly, and most of the other ones didn't stick, but this one did for some reason, and Patricia had become really good at making people leave the room.

"Well?" Patricia questioned, when she realized that Piper hadn't said anything yet.

"I think... I think I'm..."

"Oh would you just say it already!" Patricia said throwing her hands up in frustration.

"I think I'm pregnant!" She huffed, while still making sure to keep her voice low.

Patricia nearly spit out her coffee, "You're what?!"

"You heard me."

"Are you kidding? Piper, you and Ben haven't even been dating for a year yet! Heck, you're not even married!" She whisper-yelled.

"I know!" She spat, on the verge of tears, and quickly made her way to the living room.

Patricia felt bad now. She shouldn't have yelled at Piper, after all, she was engaged. Patricia followed Piper into the living room, to see her on the arm chair, with her knees to her chest and her face buried in them.

Patricia sighed and flopped on the couch. She didn't know why, but she found herself...bothered by the fact that Piper was possibly pregnant. Patricia was the one who had been with her boyfriend for 5, nearly 6, years, while Piper and Ben had been dating for about 11 months. She was the one who should be getting married and starting a family.

In other words, she was jealous.

She hated that feeling, though. She had tried so hard to be happy with her life, no matter what Piper had, and she had done a pretty good job of doing so, until now.

"Piper..." She started, waiting for her head to pop up. When it did, she continued. "I'm sure everything will be fine. I, uh, didn't mean to yell at you."

Piper sighed. "I know, it's just a bit stressful, and I don't really want to tell him yet..."

"But you hav-"

"I will! Just not yet." She promised. "But in the meantime, please don't tell anyone?"

"Alright, alright, I won't," Patricia muttered, quickly shutting up as Eddie came back into the room, fresh and clean.

"Does it smell better now?" He asked teasingly, plopping down next to Patricia and tossing his arm over her shoulder.

"Sure does," Piper responded with her sickeningly sweet smile.

"Speak for yourself," Patricia scoffed, causing Eddie to shove her slightly, and she rolled her eyes.

As Eddie and Piper went into conversation about whatever stupid show was on TV, Patricia found herself thinking to a few years back when Piper had been the one behind on relationships.

"Can I, um... ask you something?" Piper asked from the opposite side of Patricia's bed. It was Thanksgiving break, freshman year in college, and Patricia and Piper were in England with their parents. Eddie was currently visiting his dad, having some father/son time, and was going to be back at at the Williamson's later.

"You just did," Patricia stated, keeping her attention on the magazine in her lap.

"I'm serious Patricia," Piper huffed, scooting closer.

Patricia rolled her eyes and set the magazine down. "Fine, what do you want?"

Piper opened her mouth to say something, but then quickly closed it. "Never mind, it's silly," she said dismissively, as she got up to leave the room.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Patricia said as she stood up to stop her. "You can't just say you have to ask me a serious question and then walk away."

Piper looked over, wary, and Patricia gave her an impatient look to urge her on. "I just... I don't know how to... do it."

Patricia raised her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?!"

"You know..."

"Oh my God, Piper, are you asking me about sex?!" Patricia said, completely shocked.

"Shh!" Piper exclaimed, "Mum and Dad could hear!"

"They're at the store," she said with a wave if her hand, before she started laughing, "But honestly, what were you expecting me to say to that?!"

Piper shrugged, looking down in shame.

"Wait, you were serious?!"

"Well, yeah! I'm a freshman in college and I haven't had exposure to anything except dorks and fancy music halls!" Piper exclaimed, upset that her whole musical talent thing had taken up basically her whole high school experience, and she wanted to make sure it didn't ruin her college experience.

"So you came to me for advice? Piper I only had my first kiss, like, a year ago!" Patricia responded, rather disgusted by what Piper was asking her. Yes, she would do anything for her sister (although she wouldn't admit it), but this was a little much.

"You're telling me that you and Eddie have neve-"

"Okay! That's enough!" Patricia exclaimed, stopping her sister at just the right time. "Fine, you want an answer? You just do it. Now can we please talk about something else?"

Piper, still unsatisfied with her answer, yet knew she wasn't going to get a better one, laid back on the bed in a huff, grabbing the magazine Patricia had discarded earlier. Lucky for Patricia, Eddie picked the right time to come home, leaving the conversation unspoken ever since.

Patricia couldn't help but crack a smile at the silly memory. Just look at where they were now.

"You walk too slow," Patricia complained as they walked the suburbs of New York, heading to Eddie's co-worker's house. They had taken a train, and his house wasn't far from the station.

"First you criticize my odor, and now the way I walk? What's next Yacker?" He teased.

"Technically, the first was Piper," she pointed out, glancing behind her. Ben and Piper were not too far behind, snuggled closer together than there was probably room for. Patricia rolled her eyes as she looked ahead again. It wasn't even cold.

"Excited for the cookout?" Eddie asked her.

She shook her head and crinkled her nose. "I'm gonna have to socialize. Teachers are so boring."

"I'm not boring!" Eddie defended.

"That's for me to decide."

"Ah come on, Yacker, it'll be fun!" He insisted, grabbing her hand and bringing her closer to him on the sidewalk. "They're even going to have those floating lanterns! I've always wanted to try them!" He said excitedly.

"You're such a doofus! What is this, High School Musical?" She retorted, rolling her eyes at his child-like behavior, which seemed to happen more often then it probably should.

"You know you want to try it!" He provoked. "And by the way, it was High School Musical 2."

Patricia was about to question him on how he knew that, but lucky for him, they had arrived at the house.

"You got mustard all over you face Weasel," Patricia pointed out, laughing slightly.

"That's what eating 7 hot dogs, can do to you," he replied, leaning back in his chair, obviously stuffed.

"I still don't see how you can eat all of that," Patricia said, as Ben and Piper sat down next to them.

"Um, Eddie, you got a little somethin-"

"Yeah, I know," he said, seeing Patricia's smirk out of the corner of his eye.

They four of them engaged in friendly conversation for a while, but then Patricia decided it was time for some meddling. "Hey Piper, why don't we go get these pigs something to drink?" She said, shooting Piper a look, and soon it was just Eddie and Ben, sitting in silence.

"I should've told you," Ben said after a while. "About the whole brother thing. It's just... It wasn't really my thing to tell."

Eddie waited a minute, before he asked the thing he wanted to know the most. "How long have you known?"

"Not that long, I promise. Only about 3 months? I'm really sorry that he didn't tell you but-"

"Nah it's fine," Eddie said. "Don't sweat it, really."

"So... We're cool?" Ben asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we're cool."

"There you are!" Eddie said, approaching Patricia who was leaning against a tree, looking at the ocean down below. Henry, his coworker, had a yard that backed up to the sound, and it was really quite the view.

"Here I am," Patricia confirmed, with a smirk.

"They're gonna be doing those lanterns soon," Eddie said, walking over to her.

"Do we have to?" Patricia groaned.

"Not unless there's something else you'd rather be doing," he said huskily as he put his hands on her hips and rested his forehead on hers.

She bit her lip and tried to hold back her smile, yet she couldn't help but smash her lips to his, feeling the fiery contact neither of them could ever get enough of.

Piper searched around, three lanterns in hand, as the sun went down. She learned that Ben wasn't the best to be around when he had a little too much to drink, and after some words were exchanged, she had gone off to find Eddie and Patricia. She could've sworn she saw Eddie wander off this way not too long ago...

She nearly tripped over a tree stump in the dark, but she finally found them, practically swallowing each other. "Whoa!" She said covering her eyes. "I didn't realize this was feel-you-up forest," she joked.

"Piper, what are you doing here?" Patricia spat, removing herself from Eddie's grasp.

"Bringing you these," she said handing the lanterns to them. "Now come on," she motioned to the water below, and started the trek down the hill with the others.

"Guess we have to listen," Eddie shrugged, a sky smirk plastered on his face. Patricia rolled her eyes, following her sister down the hill, Eddie right behind, with his hand low on her back.

When they reached the bottom, Patricia saw Ben had found Piper again, and kept kissing her cheek sloppily as they let their lanterns float up into the night.

Patricia cracked a smile, and thought back to what Piper had told her earlier. Seeing them together like that made her feel genuinely happy for them. She didn't need to be jealous, because what she had with Eddie was just as perfect.

"Ready?" He asked, intertwining her fingers with his own as she nodded.

"1..." He started, looking down at her.

She rolled her eyes playfully at her boyfriend's usual cheesiness, but continued nonetheless. "2..."

"3!" Eddie finished, and they both watched their lanterns fly up into the black sky. Even Patricia had to admit, it was pretty cool, watching all of the lanterns fill the world above them. As Eddie wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, it was as if all their worries were floating up, up and away with the lanterns, never to be seen again.

If only they knew that four of them had fallen way too soon.

Finally finished the fifth chapter! I don't entirely like the beginning/middle of this one, but it grows on me more towards the end, as I hope it does with you! Thanks so much for all the reviews! You guys truly are the best! I got one review saying that I should add a big plot twist, but don't worry, I've got plenty up my sleeve :)