Chapter Thirteen

Eddy trailed his way through the snow cover towards the trailer park. He hopped the fence at the lane and started the trek a few minutes ago. In the past, he never would have admitted the number of times he'd made this trip by himself. In fact, he'd be hard pressed to admit it after all this time.

They hadn't been home for more than a few days, but he was determined to come through on a promise he had made to Lee. Going out on a night before finals was a stupid idea, Lee had made sure that point was drilled into his head after her initial reaction to his request. When she had burst out laughing at him, he felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. But when she calmed down, she accepted his offer on the condition that it wasn't going to interrupt her academic endeavors.

Eddy had to admit that he liked that about her. She was the most determined person he knew, minus Double D. She had a lot more on his smarter friend, however, as most of what came to him was natural or well honed after years and years of studying and adapting to the sort of lifestyle that made way for academic success. Lee was fighting an uphill battle in her education and was winning at that. Eddy grinned to himself. He admired the type of person Lee was. She was so much different from anyone else he knew, but also so much like to himself.

He trotted across the makeshift bridge over the stream and wondered how the worn out board was still able to hold someone's weight after all these years but he pushed the thoughts aside as the red haired girl entered his thoughts again.

It was a place she had taken up residence in more and more as of late. If confronted about it Eddy would have said it was because of his guilt at how he treated her at the Halloween party. The truth was far more insidious, and he never would have admitted that he was falling for her, not that he even knew he was at that moment.

Love was something he knew next to nothing about. His parents had been married for years and were well beyond the stage of demonstrating their love. They had no need to, and if either of them acted romantic around the other they would be more suspicious than lovestruck. Of course, his brother hadn't helped him any in that field either. He had instructed him on outdated and misogynistic techniques that were destined to fail. He had less success in love than a young Eddy realized at the time. Not that his brother had the capacity to love anyway. No, his brief flings had nothing to do with love.

So, Eddy ran ahead down a path unknown to him and braved uncharted waters along the way. This was new territory for the young man, no matter how much he knew he was doing or not. In truth, this would be his first proper date. He and Lee had more of a behind closed doors relationship in the past where they would liaison in secret and either talk for hours and just enjoy the other's company and their willingness to listen and be there or resort to more primal, but still just as passionate, exchanges.

A part of him didn't want this evening to end that way. He wanted to make Lee feel as special as she deserved. Hell, she earned it after everything she'd been through. Some of it because of Eddy, but most of it for more obvious reasons. She had raised her three sisters by herself, supported them along the way, and made sure that they were okay and didn't fall down the same pitfalls so many others in their situation had. All things considered, Lee and her sisters had turned out amazing with only minor infractions in their records and nothing that would facilitate serious lifestyle changes.

In a way, looking back, Eddy was proud of her. Not that he had any reason to be. Lee was self made and she was blazing ahead on the trail with college. She was so determined to get out of that trailer so that she could have the sort of life she wanted. Not one where she was dependent on a mom who was too far gone. One where she could enjoy the basic benefits so many, like Eddy, took for granted.

With Lee in his thoughts, he moved through the trailer park, the snow had hit the area and turned it into a muddy mess thanks in no small part to the lack of asphalt. His winter boots stomped through the slush as he made his way to the notorious trailer, he would have chastised himself for walking up to it without protection in broad daylight like this only a few short years ago.

He rapped his fist against the metallic door. Behind it, he could hear the chaos ensue from within and a brief feeling of dread washed over him as his mind flashed through the memories of his childhood. All those thoughts were dashed out the moment the door opened to reveal Lee, who had been the victor in the scuffle to get to the door first.

She eyed him for a moment and inspected his sweater and muddy galoshes. This wasn't how a date was supposed to go, but she knew Eddy was leagues behind the fictional representations of romantic men that frequented the movies she watched. But who was she to judge? She wasn't the typical dumb, lovestruck girl that paired with the guys in those films.

"Lemme get my coat." she said as she spun around and leaft the door open. Eddy took this as an invitation to get out of the cold. He walked into the Kanker's trailer and stood at the entrance, not bold enough to go trouncing in with muddy boots considering he was already on probation because of his previous actions.

He bounced on his heels, his nerves were getting the better of him, but before he could say or do anything stupid Lee had returned. She was now clad in a heavy winter jacket and snow boots of her own. She stared at him for a second and when everything kicked into place Eddy sputtered out an "Oh." before he turned around and opened the door for her, he smiled as he gestured for her in what had to have been the most chivalrous action the boy had ever shown in his life.

They didn't walk out of the trailer park hand in hand, neither of them had the forethought to acquire gloves, be it from overexcitement that caused it to slip their minds or from the simple fact that they didn't have any. However, as they strode out of the trailer park and onto the sidewalk that led into town, Lee encircled her arm with hers and hid her hands away from the cold inside her pockets mirroring the shorter boy.

The downtown diner wasn't much. It was a simple joint that was opened almost every day at almost every hour. It had a long forgotten layer of nostalgia about it that had transformed into tacky after years of neglect and the standard mileage that came from operating such a business. The floors were grimy, the walls stained yellow, and the old, wooden benches in the booths creaked under their patron's weight. But the tabletops glistened from a liberal application of cleaning supplies. The food, while greasy, was good. It was the perfect sort of meal for both of them. Reminding Lee of a childhood lost and Eddy of the late night bingers he'd had here with his friends.

The two of them ate, talked, and overall had fun. They reminisced about old times and confided in each other their thoughts and fears of the future. When one spoke the other listened and looked into the other's eyes placed into a near hypnotic state as they nodded and interjected when they needed to. It was quaint and comfortable. It was how things had been between them in private for so long, but this time they didn't have to hide behind a closed door or talk in a low whisper so that no one else could overhear them. All that weight was gone and the load on both their shoulders lightened. It was refreshing, it was relaxing, it was what they both had needed for longer than either of them had known.

When it was all said and done, and they had argued over who was going to pay for the bill, the sun had set, and the temperature had dropped several degrees. But both Lee and Eddy carried inside them a feeling of warmth, a feeling of happiness, that kept the cold out. On the walk back home they laughed, they teased one another, and they may or may not have entertained a makeout session under a streetlamp for longer than might have been innocent.

But when Eddy returned Lee to the trailer, he wore a genuine smile as he asked her a simple question that had been playing at the back of his mind for most of the night. "Wanna do this again some time?" he asked.

She looked at him. Her strange, funny, stupid, little man. To her, the night had been perfect, and Eddy had more than redeemed himself for his past infractions. He wasn't perfect by any means. He was as flawed and as damaged as she was. But over the course of the night, he had reminded her of what she cherished most about him, and to her that was everything. Who was she to judge anyway?

"Absolutely." she smiled back at him.