Chapter Eight

Polite And Spite

Smoke. It smelled like smoke.

Patricia crinkled her nose when Fabian closed the door, leaving her alone in what used to be Jerome and Alfie's room. Fabian had said that he needed to talk to the police about the cottage and their belongings that burned in the fire. He insisted that Patricia would take a rest so that they could explore the house later at night.

Patricia, instead of heading to the bed to do what Fabian insisted, headed off into the bathroom hoping to wash off the burning smell off her. She was only in the crime scene for a while but the odor clung onto her skin, making her feel disgusted. She set the shower into a scalding temperature before going back to the room to grab a towel.

Tying her red hair in a bun, Patricia stripped off, leaving her discarded clothes on the floor of the room, deciding to clean it up after she took a shower. She then headed into the steamy shower and sighed in contentment as she felt the knots in her muscles loosing at the hot water. She stayed under the water for a few minutes before deciding to dry off.

Realizing that she didn't bring any clothes with her in the bathroom, Patricia wrapped the fluffy towel around her torso before leaving the bathroom.

She was kneeling by her suitcase on the ground, trying to find something suitable to wear, when she heard the door open behind her.

"What the-?" she nearly screamed as the immediately stood up to face the intruder.

Eddie faced the nearly naked woman in front of him with a blush gracing his cheeks. He tried to gather his wits to form a coherent thought.

"It is considered polite not to stare," Patricia snapped, clutching the towel tighter.

Clearing his throat, Eddie finally took a good look at Patricia's similarly burning face. "Well, it is considered polite to wear clothes."

"Well, I would've been wearing clothes if you didn't just barge in the room," Patricia said as a matter-of-factly. "You should've knocked! Bloody hell, do you do this to the children as well? You enter their room while their changing?"

"Oh, I didn't know you were changing!" Eddie said defensively. "It was an accident."

"Still, you should have knocked." Patricia said, crossing her arms against her chest.

Eddie visibly gulped, avoiding looking past down her neck especially when her actions caused her cleavage to be more pronounced. "You should've locked the door." His voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

"I thought Fabian did," Patricia suddenly felt conscious of his gaze on her. "What are you still doing here anyway? Shouldn't you have left when you saw me indecent?"

"Well, I would've told you immediately but you just kept yacking about what is considered polite or not," Eddie rolled his eyes. "Jeez, I should call you Yacker or something."

"Well, this conversation can wait until I'm decent," Patricia concluded, gesturing the blonde leave. "Now, go outside."

"Okay, okay," Eddie held his hands up in defeat, moving to leave when he slipped on a skirt lying on the floor. "Whoa!"

Eddie braced himself as he fell forward onto the redhead, immediately interchanging their positions so he wouldn't fall on her. Still, Patricia felt gravity pull her down and she fell on top of the blonde. Soon, the two were in tangles on the floor, eyes both closed and holding their breaths.

Patricia, feeling her towel slip open, she immediately warned. "Don't you dare open your eyes!"

Eddie followed her orders, despite his curiosity. "Why not, Yacker?" He liked the name on her. "Are you naked?" Eddie grinned but still kept his eyes closed.

"Shut up," Patricia snapped, a little embarrassed. "I bet this was your plan all along. You're such a weasel." Patricia pushed herself up to try to fix the towel only to freeze when the door opened once again.

"Patricia, are you here?" the familiar voice of Benjamin Reed floated through the room.

The two figures lying on the ground cursed profusely.

Eddie couldn't get over the feel of the snarky little redhead's soft skin even as he walked down the hall, escorted by his childhood nemesis.

"I couldn't believe you!" Ben continuously berated Eddie. "That isn't gentleman behavior! For goodness sakes, you just met the bird and you're already practicing your playboy moves on her!? Unacceptable!"

Eddie stopped at the entrance. "Don't you think you're overreacting, Ben?"

"Overreacting?!" Ben scowled. "She was naked on top of you save for a towel! I don't think that I'm overreacting one bit."

"I mean, she's not your girlfriend. Hell, she's not even your friend yet," Eddie started. "If there's someone who should be doing this, it should be Fabian."

"It's just indecent, Edison," Ben snapped. "It's just as you said. She has a boyfriend."

"You wouldn't think that way if it were you, Ben." Eddie scoffed. "I think you would have ravished her right then when you had the chance."

"How could you imply-"

"Katie, remember?" Eddie blurted out angrily. He was angry but not just at Ben but mostly at himself because he knew this was what Ben wanted. "I could imply all I want because that's what you did."

"Can't you get over that? It's been years," Ben rolled his eyes.

"Get over which part, Ben?" Eddie's eyes flashed in anger. "Is it the part where you betrayed me to get my girl or the part where you did it on my bed?"

"Oh come on, Katie's easy," Ben gave a chuckle only to let it falter as he saw Eddie's expression. "Patricia is different."

"She is," Eddie agreed, visibly softening at the mention of the redhead. "That's why I'm not allowing you to play her."

"Ooh, smooth words from the playboy himself," Ben chuckled.

"You know I changed for Katie," Eddie said quietly. "I was never the same after her."

"C'mon, man, move on. Life goes on. You can't keep dwelling in the past."

Behind them, hidden at the corner of the hall, the words stung deep to a redhead girl with icy gray eyes, bringing unshed tears to them. She fled to the sanctuary of the kitchen and left the two oblivious men who were still arguing.

"It's easy for you to say. It wasn't you that got hurt."

"Oh please, it's not like you would've lasted forever anyway. Think of what I did as a favor."

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated at the man. "We're going off topic now."

"I didn't bring up, Catherine," Ben smirked, using the girl's full name. "You did. Forbes got you all soft now, huh?"

"Stay away from Patricia, Ben," Eddie went straight to the point, ignoring his taunts.

"Why? You're interested in her, aren't you?" Ben's smirk grew.

"You know I am," Eddie sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with someone who knows him so well. "And you knew that right from the start."

"You're actually not denying it," Ben sounded surprised. "Well, this is interesting. How about a bet, Millie? If you win, I'll stay away from Patricia."

Eddie nodded, urging him to go on.

"However, if I win," Ben grinned. "You have to be the one to stay away from her."

"And how do we settle this?" Eddie asked cautiously.

"You know the school dance next month?" Ben asked and Eddie nodded. "Whoever gets to dance with her first wins the bet. So, what's it gonna be?" Ben offered his hand to Eddie.

Eddie pondered for a moment before taking and shaking the hand. "Deal."

Ben gave him a mischievous smile before opening the front door. "Remember, Eds," he said using his old nickname, "all's fair in love and war."

As the door closed, Eddie closed his eyes, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He gave a sigh, running a hand through his hair, heading to the sitting room to take a nap for his head throbbed.

As he lay down on the sofa, he muttered under his breath. "How could I forget the words you used when I caught you and her?"

All's fair in love and war, Eds.

AN: Hi! Hope you like this chapter! No Fabina here yet. Sorry. I did throw in a little OC by the name of Catherine "Katie" Forbes as Eddie's ex-girlfriend. Both Eddie and Ben are kinda OOC in this chapter but alas, their 'dark' past is revealed! What do you think? Hmmm, can you guess why Patricia was so affected by Ben's words? :) Hihi.

Next chapter is a little more serious :)

Please review!