fourteen.  you were right !
real life...

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THE PARTY ENDED UP BEING A LOT more boring than the dance had been, after way more than a few drinks, shawn practically forgot she even existed. leaving her to awkwardly sit on a couch next to a couple who hasn't stopped making out since she sat down, which had been  about half an hour. she honestly just wanted to go home but shawn was her only ride. and now that she was thinking about it, it felt like a trap. he wasn't going to be able to take her home even if she wanted to. was that supposed to be his plan all along? after a few minutes of thinking, she decided to go confront him, suddenly outraged by his carelessness.

"shawn!" she called for him the second he was in her sight.

he turned around at his name, locking eyes with eden. "what, baby?" he said, reaching his hands out to grab her when she walked up to him. she subtly pushed him away, the nickname giving her an ick. she wasn't even his girlfriend, and she most definitely was not his baby.

"uhh... i was just wondering how the fuck we're supposed to get back if you're going to be blackout drunk?" she spoke with a hint of sarcasm, crossing her arms to accentuate her anger.

"don't worry, baby. i'll be fine in like a few hours." his constant carelessness was starting to really aggravate eden.

"can you not?" she blurted, hating how he kept calling her baby. it disgusted her and sounded like literal nails on a chalkboard.

"what?" he looked at her with exaggerated confusion, like he had not a single clue about what she could be referring to.

"call me baby? we're not even dating." she wouldn't have been saying stuff like this if she hadn't been completely enraged, afraid of how shawn would react under the influence, but she didn't give a fuck anymore.

"what do you want me to call you?" she caught him looking her up and down, stopping in places that made her severely uncomfortable.

"noth—" she tried to get out before he was speaking over her.

"nevermind... you're actually so hot, i just wish that ugly dress wasn't in the way, y'know? isn't this dress fucking ugly?" he looked around to get his friends reactions, in which they all either nodded or gave some kind of verbal agreement.

"huh?" she said with disgust. the moment struck another nerve in her, how did he get people to just agree with everything he says. he basically just got more than ten people to call eden's dress ugly in the matter of seconds, and it hurt a lot.

"that dress doesn't flatter you at all, baby." he held one of the flowers attached to the bodice in between his fingers before ripping it off in one quick motion.

eden was completely appalled by the sight, watching him toy with the detached flower as it fell apart in his hand. tears began to fill her eyes and she was more than outraged by this simple but powerful action, he just ruined her dress because it wasn't good enough for him. which ultimately made eden feel worthless and not good enough for him either.

"is that all your worried about?" she spoke up, looking at him with disbelief, yet she should have expected this. "th— that it doesn't hug my curves? or show off my tits?"

"i don't see the problem, am i not allowed to want my date to look good? isn't that what this whole thing is about?" he turned to the guys who were surrounding him for confirmation, in which they all agreed—once again, shocker!

eden pointed her finger straight at shawn, making sure he got her message. "you telling me to change my fucking dress because it makes me look like a child, isn't what this is about."

"but eden—" he started to argue, but eden was done with him, quick to shut him up.

"by the way if it wasn't clear, i don't want to speak to you ever again." the assertion in her voice matched her movements as she spun around and walked away from shawn and his bitchy minions.

all she heard as she was trying to find her way out of the house, was shawn's little baby of a voice yelling, "well, fine! be a bitch! i don't even care... i didn't want you anyway... i have a whole line ahead of me, sweetheart." she could tell he was upset that she ditched him so quickly but she didn't care enough to comment on it.

eden rolled her—now tear filled—eyes letting out an exasperated "ugh." as she found her way out and away from shawn.

✦

EDEN MADE HER WAY OUT OF THAT house, tears streaming down her face. after what had happened, the whole house suddenly reeked of assholes and alcohol, and she couldn't stand to breathe the same air as shawn another second. she didn't know what do to with herself, she felt disgusting and wanted to strip everything from her mind. somehow she ended up sitting by herself on the front lawn, wrapping her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. she continued to sob, not knowing what was going to happen to her. how she was going to get home, because the only fucking person she knew at this party was shawn.

her mind suddenly flipped a switch, and chris' words came to the front of her thoughts. she must've been so disoriented from shawn's comments that the idea hadn't even crossed her mind.

she didn't want to burden him like this, what was he going to do? it was a lot to just call someone at eleven o'clock at night for help with such a minor inconvenience, it made her feel bad if she ended up calling him over something like thus. but what else was she supposed to do? she was stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no car and no one to bring her home. she was finally starting to realize the kind of situation she was in now.

the phone ringed a total of three times before chris answered with a questioning, "hello?" the sound of his voice instantly put her at ease, and she realized how safe he made her feel without even needing to be near her.

she was already crying so when all she was able to respond with was a weak, "chris?" he was very quick to catch on.

"eden, what's wrong?" he was suddenly worried as he paused waiting for her answer. but eden was incapable of answering at that moment, needing a minute to recollect herself.

chris was getting impatient, needing to know the cause of her tears. "what happened? why are you crying?" he tried again and she acknowledged that she'd have to speak up and say something.

"i just—" but nothing came out. she just still couldn't believe what shawn just said about her and her dress, and the thought of telling chris was kind of scaring her. he needed to know though, she was sure of that much.

"can you just tell me where you are? i'll come and get you?" chris asked her instead of waiting for a response, because he knew he wanted to be there for her just then.

the thing was though, was the eden had no clue on where she was at right now. she didn't know a single one of shawn's friends or any of the other students in her grade. there was no way she'd be able to know who's house she was currently at.

"i— i don't know."

"are you inside?" he had a huge suspicion that the problem was shawn, if if that was the case he didn't want her anywhere by him.

"no..." a long beat passed and eden had the perfect amount of time to think back on what happened now. she eventually said, "chris, you were right." knowing it was nothing but the truth. shawn was a douche and chris was right but she didn't listen. why didn't she just listen?

"about what?" she was pretty sure he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he really had no clue at the moment, only worried about eden and her safety.

"i'm sorry i didn't listen. about shawn." she suddenly started to pour out, tears and all again, admitting to her faults. she went on to explain but she ran out of speaking time as her tears flooded her thoughts once more. "he— he—"

chris caught on quickly that she wasn't able to even voice what had happened. "eden. i swear to god. what did he do?"

"h— he ruined my dress. he said i wasn't good enough to be his date in it, and that he never actually wanted me anyway." eden could pretend that his last few sentences hardly affected her, but she'd be flat out lying. the fact that shawn never truly wanted her, was just enough to throw her overboard. it made her wonder what his true intentions were all along, and she genuinely didn't want to think of that at all.

"that dick—" chris mumbled through his teeth. he knew shawn was a fuck up, but there was a sliver of hope that wanted him to treat eden differently. this was only confirmation that he couldn't change no matter the person he's with.

"i'm on my way."

eden heard the sound of a car unlocking coming from her phone, suggesting that he was getting ready to leave. she really didn't want him to go yet, asking him, "umm... can we stay on the phone?" before he had a chance to hang up.

"yeah, we can." his voice was reassuring.

she had this overwhelming feeling of regret, not wanting to feel like a burden, so she clarified, "i don't wanna talk i just want you to be there."

"understood."

after a little over fifteen minutes, chris pulled up into the driveway. eden immediately noticed the change in the scenery and ended her phone call with chris and stood up. chris already had the car shut off by the time she started to make her way over to him. they collided in the middle of the unfamiliar driveway in a deep hug. eden's face disappearing in his chest, and his hands securing her in this position.

eden was still sobbing over everything that had happened and the now overwhelming feeling of being in chris's arms, it was a bit much for her to handle at the moment. he was smoothing out her hair with his hands in an attempt to comfort her.

after a few more seconds, chris pulled eden away from him, meeting with her beautiful brown eyes. they were filled with tears and it only made them more sparkly. her foundation had tear streaks through it and black smears trailed down from her eyes.

he attempted to wipe the makeup from under her eyes with his thumbs, but it just smeared even more, "that's cute." he said in an attempt to make her laugh. and it did. with tears running down her face, chris had easily made her laugh.

"you should have seen me this morning." her joke from the other day making a comeback, and chris noticed immediately. a smile growing on his face, because of it and he also simply loved looking at eden. even with the tears and makeup running off her face, she still managed to be the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

"i bet you looked just as beautiful as you do now."

"don't lie, chris. im such a mess." eden avoided making eye contact with him, trying to remove her face from his view in the process. the idea of him looking at her like this somewhat embarrassed her. though she was glad that, if anyone had to see her like this, that it was chris.

"im not." his words sent unexpected butterflies to eden's stomach. she didn't know where they came from but she wasn't mad at either.

"i don't like how nice you're being to me. i mean— i didn't listen to you when you told me about shawn..." she trailed off, trying to give him reasons to see all the flaws in her, but he just kept denying them.

"don't worry about it." he said with a shake of his head.

she couldn't take anymore of his acceptance, she wanted to feel at least something for letting herself go through that with shawn (as if that wasn't enough torture in itself). "no, can you like scream 'i told you so' in my face a few times? i think that would make me feel better."

eden was on the verge of laughing at herself, but chris stayed dead serious when he responded, "i wouldn't do that."

"but you should."

"but i won't." chris held her head up by her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes when he said it.

and there were the butterflies again.

eden just stared at him in silence for a solid minute, taking in ever little feature of his face. from his faint freckles to his blue eyes. she could honestly sit here and examine him all day if she could. "chris?"

"yeah?" he responded, looking over her questioning expression. he loved the little sparkle that formed in her eyes whenever she looked at him. he never wanted to look away from them.

when eden spoke, it was barely a whisper, "i'm glad the only seat available was the one in front of you." and chris understood every word, making his heart skip a beat.

"i'm glad you decided to move here. really glad actually."

a huge smile spread across both of their faces, just looking at each other wondering the others next move. they both didn't want to move, but after a while eden said what both of them were thinking at that moment, "would it be weird if i say i want to kiss you?"

"n—no... not at all." chris stuttered, not quite sure if he heard her right, but if it's what he thought she said, he wanted it more than anything. he just couldn't get the words out fast enough.

eden carefully cupped both of his cheeks in her hands, looking him in the eyes with the signature spark, before guiding his lips right onto hers.

the moment they connected it felt like everything eden had hoped for even if she wasn't exactly thinking about it and hour ago. it was like a hidden jem to her. something she didn't know she, for sure, needed.

they moved together with such harmony that eden was sure that chris was the only one that could possibly ever complete her.

chris, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. and not in the sense that he didn't feel like they belonged together, but in the sense that he was absolutely terrified. he had no clue what he was doing, worried that one little movement would ruin the whole thing. he just didn't want to fuck any of it up. it seemed to be all in his head because even multiple seconds later she was still kissing him like it was going to be their last. so he must've been doing something right.

it finally came the dreaded time where one of them pulled away. eden being the first to initiate it. of course, it immediately caused chris to panic. worried that he was the reason she pulled away.

"i'm sorry," he said almost immediately.

eden found it funny how he was apologizing for something so silly, causing her to chuckle slightly before prompting, "for what?"

"it's my fault it sucked. i didn't know what—"

he was cut off by a quick little peck from eden, causing him to just want more and more. he would honestly get down on his knees and beg if he had to.

"chris, it was perfect," she told him with a smile on her face, before pulling him into another passionate kiss.

and for the rest of the night, the only person that existed to eden was chris. moment after moment, all she could think about was the kiss, and she couldn't wait for the endless kisses that were to come. after all, did you really think chris could wait any longer to be her boyfriend?

✦
nat's notes !

DRIVER CHRIS HAS ENTERED THE CHAT!
but on a real note i'm bouta cry.
but also notice how i didn't say the end? 😣