𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚜.

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑.

𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔, 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚌𝚢𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕.

𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍.

𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙰𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗.

𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎.

𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎.

𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 , 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎.

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎.

𝙼𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑.

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚎.

"I... May or may not have told my brother... some stuff... about... you... and... what I wanted to do... with you... and... Now, I don't know what to do to fix it," she winced and expressed her concern with theatric guilt and regret.

Eddie tried stifling a smile but it kept growing stronger the longer Lennon stuttered.

Eddie's neck and ears started to turn red with restraint and the corners of his lips were severely creased into a forced frown as he tried to hide his amusement.

Lennon looked up and noticed his rising humor and all she could do was smile in defense. "It's not funny!" she hissed passively, causing Eddie to choke out his suppressed laughter.

His giggling felt nice to hear despite Lennon's disbelief. She didn't know what else to do but Eddie's sign of amusement made her feel better about the situation. Letting it dwell and stew inside her brain made it feel much more intense and serious than it was. It felt easier to handle being accompanied by Eddie's unfiltered laughter.

"Eddie!" she dropped her hand from her shoulder and used it to softly punch him in the arm.

"Please tell me what you told him," Eddie begged humorously. He was still sputtering out little giggles as he tried to stifle them. His cheeks were beginning to turn crimson and his eyes were bright and beaming with joy as he faced Lennon who only smiled because Eddie was smiling.

"Fuck off..." she said sweetly, dropping her head in defeat and smiling at the ground.

"What did you say?" Eddie chuckled and threw his head back before taking a step forward and leaning back in pure elation.

"Too much," she joked, looking up and seeing the day-old scruff outlining Eddie's chin before he peered down and caught her staring.

He hummed humorously and crinkled his nose affectionately. "I bet he loved that," Eddie smiled cheekily, poking fun at Lennon's blushing.

She was burning up at the thought of confessing her infatuation with the geek in leather. She hated it but he loved it.

"Oh," Lennon widened her eyes and scoffed. "He was so excited to talk about you, Munson," she informed him with a comical tone in her voice even though she was telling the truth.

"Me?" Eddie pressed his hands to his chest and smiled radiantly. "I'm honored," he rolled his eyes and let his hands run up his chest to rest on both his cheeks as if he were a girl fangirling over a generically hot heartthrob.

"You should be," she raised her eyebrows sarcastically. "He had a lot to say about you, actually..." she started to sway with insinuation.

"I'm sure he did," Eddie continued to comment as if he hadn't noticed her change in tone.

"Uhm... He said some interesting stuff about you which I thought was funny considering he's a dick and you're you and you two haven't been to school together in... four years?" She could feel her ears heat up under pressure and her heartbeat was beating heavily in her fingertips as she tried to transition into what was bothering her most.

She wanted to share things with Eddie but she was too afraid, and she was asking questions about the past as if she didn't deny him any answers of her own.

She didn't know what was scarier: Having her questions answered or answering his.

"I have that effect on people," Eddie smiled warmly when replying sarcastically.

"He was telling me why he doesn't want me hanging out with you..." Lennon finally spat out nervously, not sure as to how to break the light-hearted tone in the room.

"Oh yeah?" Eddie glowered with a darkening look on his face. "He tell you about the illegal paraphernalia in my van or the cult meetings I have in the basement of the school?" Eddie joked.

"He told me about your mom... actually," Lennon grew timid and started to fiddle with another spot on her lip.

Eddie's face was wiped clean of humor and something in his eyes went dim. Lennon tilted her head slightly and wondered if it was as bad as her brother said it was. She could tell it ailed Eddie and she wasn't even interested in the story itself but rather if it were true.

She wanted to know how Brontë knew something so painful to this man that the light vanished from his eyes at the mere thought. She didn't need to know what hurt him. She just wanted to know why he would share that with someone like Brontë; someone as popular and egotistical as he was.

"What'd he tell you about her?" Eddie asked dauntingly.

He knew from the two things she strung together that she was referring to her death. If Brontë was talking about wanting Lennon to stay away and he mentioned his mom in the same breath then he knew what this was about. He just didn't want to admit it.

Lennon started picking at her cuticles as she watched Eddie grow with anticipation and dread. "He told me a story... About her, your dad, your friend..." she trailed off nervously. "I uhm... I won't believe him until I hear you say it's all true but I'm not gonna ask about them either. I just wanted to know... I wanted to know that if it is true, then why does he know all that when I've never even seen you two hang out before," she furrowed her brows pensively and waited patiently for a response.

Anything from a blink to a verbal response, she just wanted something to go off of. But it took a few seconds for it all to sink in before he blinked and washed the growing fear behind his eyes with a thin coating of tears.

"I don't think that's a question you should be asking me, Clever One," he sighed, turning his head to the ground to shield himself from her analytical gaze.

"I asked him and he wouldn't give me a flat-out answer. He responded with those stories," she explained thoughtfully. "Why are two acting like it's some big secret?" she wondered softly, not trying to accuse Eddie of anything but trying to provoke some kind of affirmation out of him.

"You would know," he sang out regretfully as his eyes ran toward the ceiling, avoiding hers at all costs in case she was capable of seeing through his protective stance.

Lennon furrowed her brows in question and silently begged to be looked in the eye for comfort but Eddie wouldn't oblige.

"You and he aren't so dissimilar, you know," Eddie scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. "I attract Seagraves apparently," he chuckled but in a melancholic manner that sent Lennon into a state of contemplation.

"Okay..." she groaned and unclasped her arms from around her chest. "At least tell me if you two have been sleeping together because every time one of you tries to avoid the question, it's the only thing I can think of."

"No," Eddie snickered and scratched at the back of his head in discomfort. "No, I'm not his type but..." Eddie drew out apprehensively. His belly was tightening up and his mouth had gone dry before he realized his hands were a little shaky and all he could do to hide them was to shove them into his pant pockets. "But uh... Doesn't mean he wasn't mine... at the time..."

Eddie took a moment before looking up through the brush of his lashes to find Lennon already staring back at him.

She stared at him in question, not quite understanding what he said until all of a sudden, it did. Eddie watched when her eyes relaxed and the realization set in. He feared she would be disgusted and absolutely repulsed. She was one of the only people he truly did not want to hate him. He had a terrible gut feeling that there would be a time that she would, but he didn't think a random Sunday afternoon was going to be the day.

"Oh..." she whispered conclusively. Her eyes kept flickering between his in question, wondering if she had drawn the right conclusion or if he was pulling her leg. "Okay," she softly nodded her head and continued to stare at Eddie like she was still trying to piece everything together.

Eddie's brows furrowed briefly before his eyes ran away from hers skeptically. "Okay?" he pondered, finding her eyes again and narrowing his with suspense.

She hummed affirmatively and began to look at him with a tinge of worry in her curious gazing.

"That's it?" he asked in disbelief.

She nodded her head. "Boys... and girls?" she pondered innocently, realizing she could've been taking it wrong and he actually wasn't interested in her at all. A sudden thought crossed her mind that that was why he wanted to be friends with her in the first place; to get close to Brontë, but he was quick to smash that insecure thought.

"Men, and women," he corrected her. "If high schools taught me anything, it's that age does matter."

Shit... Okay... Okay... Boys and girls... Men and women... Okay. That was... unexpected... Okay. Shit. He just came out to me. Shit! He just came out to me! Holy shit. Where the fuck did the conversation go? How the fuck did we get here? Okay. Okay. This is a big deal, isn't it? It usually is. That's why Brontë wasn't responding. Surely. If it weren't big he would've outed him, wouldn't he? Is that why he doesn't like Eddie? Did he make him uncomfortable? Shit. Okay. Okay. Eddie's bisexual. Eddie's bisexual. Eddie likes men and women. Eddie's liked Brontë?! Eddie's liked a lot of people though. Is that weird? That's weird. That's a little weird. Okay. It's fine. Okay. Shit. Is he okay? I hope he didn't feel pressured. By the angels, I hope I didn't just manipulate him into coming out to me... I hope he didn't feel obligated to do that. By the angels... Shit. Okay. Okay. It's fine. Okay.

It made sense to her.

Men often despised male homosexuals over females due to the underlying fear of being sexualized in the same manner as cis men do to women. She didn't know if Brontë was one of them but being hit on for the first time by a man was sure to be added to his list of reasons not to trust Eddie.

In her head, when Brontë knew Eddie liked either gender, that stark contrast was scary for him to accept being around his sister; especially with all the taboo conversations, rumors, and misinformation being spread about homosexuals.

She still had to wonder how much time those two spent together to have learned that but she was more than taken back by Eddie's confession and the thought left her mind entirely.

"Is that why he doesn't like you?" she asked.

"He uh..." Eddie refused to meet her eye for fear of rejection or judgment. "I think there's a little more to that..."

"You two didn't... I'm not secretly falling for one of my brother's exes, am I?" she asked despite her assumption.

"No. He still doesn't know I had a thing for him when I was younger actually... He uh- he never found out and it doesn't matter anymore," he scoffed and scratched at the nape of his neck in thought.

"We used to hang out a little bit when I was a freshman... Nobody ever knew though which is why I think it's funny you come rolling into town doing the same thing... And he only knows I'm not entirely into women because he walked in on me with someone... who wasn't a woman... He hates me and that was a long- wait. I'm sorry. What did you say just a second ago?" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her which caused her eyes to widen with surprise.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she stated quickly.

She knew what he was talking about the second his eyes found hers. She knew when she said it that it was something she hadn't meant to say. But when Eddie started explaining himself, she thought she had gotten lucky and he didn't notice. Her skin turned crimson in an instant but she felt cold and deserted by her warming blood flow. He caught it, he caught her and he wasn't letting it go

"No, no, no," Eddie grinned with a look of mischief in his eyes. "I heard you say something. What did you just say?" he smirked and leaned forward in a teasing manner.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she started to smile, knowing there was no way out of skimming past what she said earlier.

"Nah. You know what you said," he smiled charmingly and gazed down at her with a loving stare. "I just told you I'm bisexual and all you have to say is 'okay'?" he lavished the sight of her blushing cheeks and shining eyes for a moment as he considered the truth behind it. "Do you mean it?" he pondered innocently, wanting to be confident and playful but still finding her response a little alarming considering he was waiting for the worst.

"What?" she smiled roguishly.

She knew what he was referring to but she didn't want to stroke his ego. Eddie was audacious enough. He didn't need her to admit to falling for him. He knew that. She knew that. He was just trying to get her to say it again and she was just trying to toy with him.

Eddie leered. "Tease," he snickered lowly, causing his voice to come out a little deeper than usual.

"So," she wagged her head and giggled. "From the wise words of Eddie the Banished," she furrowed her brows and put on a deeper voice as she addressed him as a fictional character. "Don't let me tease you," she smirked lasciviously and tilted her head towards him, feeling the distance between them dwindle most satisfyingly.

"You are unreal, Lennon the Endurer," he whispered lovingly, leaning in and nearly pressing his lips to hers before the front door swung open and forced them apart.