𝚂𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎

𝚃𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.

𝙸𝚏 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎

𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗?

𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍.

𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘.

𝚆𝚊𝚢 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚠.

𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘.

Lennon was quick to jump back but Eddie only turned in question towards the sudden gust of wind.

Their reactions to the intervention said a lot about their personalities.

Lennon was embarrassed and skittish. That could be because she was recovering from a high spike of anxiety or it could be because she was in an environment she didn't know well enough to escape from in case she needed to.

Or, it could be because she was afraid of being caught doing the things she desired with the person she knew she shouldn't desire.

Eddie was nonchalant and casual. That could be because Lennon was giving him all the right signs to show affection or it could be because he was at home, knowing there was nothing that could cause them harm.

Or, it could be because he was expecting someone to come back and the timing was a little too perfect not to show his disappointment. He didn't care what people thought. He only cared about Lennon and her comfort.

Wayne appeared in the doorway and stopped midstep when he realized he might have been interrupting something.

"Well shit," the older man cursed placidly. "Don't look so disappointed. You got a room, boy."

Eddie's uncle had handfuls of plastic bags in his hands as he walked between the two of them and made his way into the kitchen as if nothing happened.

Lennon was blushing but Eddie found his uncle funny. Wayne had turned back towards them and his eyes stayed on Lennon when he did.

"You doing alright, miss?" he asked, taking Eddie by the shoulder and pushing him towards the kitchen to put the food away.

"I'm uh," Lennon huffed out cautiously. "I'm alright, Mr. Munson, and yourself?" she folded her arms over one another and tried to ignore the rising humiliation.

"Please, call me Wayne," he reminded her. "And I'm doing pretty good. Thanks for asking... At least some of us have the decency to ask!" he raised his voice and turned towards the kitchen as he referred to his nephew before stepping back outside.

When Lennon turned over her shoulder, she found Eddie leaning into the freezer with his middle finger raised toward the door. Eddie didn't look to see that Wayne had gone back out to the truck and Wayne didn't look to see Eddie which made the little gesture amusing just for Lennon.

"Can I uh..." Lennon moved into the kitchen to join Eddie. "Can I help with anything?" she asked politely.

"No," Eddie shook his head and finished filling the freezer with several TV dinners. "Thanks though," he crumpled the plastic bag and tossed it into the garbage bin beside Lennon.

She smiled and watched as he landed the basket and out of instinct, she leered.

"Where did you learn to do that so well?" she asked suspiciously.

Eddie moved for another bag and carelessly dumped the contents into the pantry. He quickly crumpled a second bag and picked up another before uttering, "Lots of beer pong, sweetheart," and shot Lennon a wink, throwing yet another bag into the trash.

Wayne had come back inside with four cases of beer underneath his arms and Eddie was turning back into the pantry.

Wayne closed the door with his foot and made his way into the kitchen to join the younger pair he seemed to interrupt in the middle of his own home. "It's Lennon, right?" Wayne called out curiously.

"Yes, sir," she replied calmly, forcing herself not to dwell on being caught in the middle of almost kissing this man's nephew.

Wayne made a noise of humor that sounded almost like a choke before grunting and dropping the boxes of beer down on the floor by the sink.

"Like John Lennon?"

"Wayne..." Eddie addressed with a warning tone, stopping whatever he was doing in the pantry to shoot the older man a look of disappointment and caution.

"Oh," Wayne fell back on his feet and put his hands on his hips as he stared back at Eddie with an authoritative expression written across his face. "So, you're too cool to call me 'Uncle' in front of your girlfriend now, are you? That's Uncle Wayne to you, boy," he knocked his calloused hand against Eddie's skull and hid his aging smile to join Lennon on the other end of the kitchen.

"She's not-" Eddie stopped himself from correcting Wayne about her title but his skin went cold at the thought. He slowly turned over his shoulder and looked at Lennon for some guidance.

She was looking up through her lashes and smiled shyly. She wasn't going to say it but she felt like her ignoring it was enough to confirm whatever Eddie was questioning.

"Yeah," Lennon giggled, looking away from Eddie and turning to Wayne for some company. "My dad has always been a big Beatles fan."

"Oh yeah?" Wayne nodded his head to show her that he was following. "What's he do for a living?" Wayne leaned his backside against the washing machine that sat beside the fridge which let Lennon know he was interested and wanted to continue their conversation.

She warmed up to the idea but she kept glancing over at Eddie every once and a while to reassure herself that she was fine.

"He was a grease monkey," Lennon informed him. "My mom was getting her nursing degree when he made the change but before that, he worked at our old local music shop."

"Interesting career change," Wayne commented. "You folks have plans for Christmas? Or... I should say the holidays. You Jewish?"

"Wayne!" Eddie complained.

"Uncle!" he countered to match Eddie's tone. It seemed mean and aggressive but it was obvious to Lennon that both men were just expressing some sort of complicated love in their bickering.

"No," Lennon giggled and shook her head. "I'm living with my brother. Christmas is just a nice dinner and a stocking full of cheap candy and some cash," she used her hand to express her willingness to share with Wayne despite Eddie's intrusions.

"It's just you and your brother?" Wayne scratched at his short-cropped, almost bald head as his tone turned sympathetic.

"Yep," Lennon nodded and pressed her lips together as her anxiety started to get high again.

"Uncle Wayne..." Eddie sighed, picking up one case of beer and stopping in the middle of the kitchen to shoot his uncle a look of exhortation that looked like he was begging the man to stop talking.

"You shush," he waved Eddie off with a disgruntled look on his face. He turned back to Lennon and his eyes immediately turned soft. "Well, if you aren't having family over, you two are more than welcome to join me and Eddie for dinner."

"Wayne..."

"Uncle!"

Lennon pulled her thumb to her mouth and smiled warmly down at the ground. It sounded nice. It was nice. She just wasn't sure having dinner with Eddie and his uncle was the best thing to do with her brother.

Brontë was acting strange recently. He didn't want Lennon to be friends with Eddie and after learning that they used to be friends a long time ago, she had to wonder what else he was hiding from her about his relationship with Eddie. As if hanging out with him wasn't enough, she could only imagine how many arguments and long, drawn-out fights she and he would have if they had dinner with him and his family.

"That..." Lennon smiled and chewed on her nail in thought.

The longer she thought about the offer, the more she wanted to accept it.

Brontë didn't like Eddie but he knew a lot about him. Lennon had a lot of questions about their history and there was no taking back her feelings for him. Brontë knew it and there was nothing she could do to take it back. She didn't have to hide it anymore; not from him.

"That's very generous, Wayne," she smiled at the kind man across from her and met his sincere eyes. That's when she really looked at his eyes.

They were blue. His eyes looked nothing like Eddie's.

She wondered if he had his mother's eyes when she looked into Wayne's. She started to wonder more about Eddie and her curiosity was growing rapidly.

What did his parents look like? What was Eddie like as a child? What did he look like when he was little? Were Wayne and Eddie always this close? Did he have any other family? Was Wayne ever married? Did Eddie have any cousins? Were the eyes that she loved so much his dad's or were they his mom's?

There was no better way of getting answers than forcing her brother to sit down with the man himself and there was no better way to get to know Eddie and his family than to sit down during Christmas.

"Thank you but, uh... Actually, would you be interested in having dinner at our place?" she chuckled nervously. "That's if it's not too much trouble," she rubbed at her arm for comfort when Eddie's eyes widened with surprise.

"Absolutely!" Wayne cried out happily. "We'd be happy to," he sat in awe. "Do you or your brother know how to cook?"

Lennon smiled as she started to feel giddy and overly happy with the way things were going. "A little... I know how to cook up some mean side dishes, I guess, but we haven't even picked up a turkey or ham or... whatever you guys would want..." she admitted cautiously.

"We've got a ham big enough to serve more than four... And Eddie's mother had a lovely recipe for some pie that we could probably work with..."

There was a flash of something behind Wayne's eyes that made Lennon feel for him. He looked reminiscent. He looked excited. He looked melancholic and far off somewhere. She wondered why he was thinking about that made his face turn smooth and warm.

She wondered how long it had been since they had a Christmas with others. She wondered how she even got herself into this situation. She was standing in a drug dealer's house, talking to his uncle, conversing about Christmas dinner. It sounded insane and if someone had told her this was where she would be two months after starting school, she would have told them they were crazy.

"That sounds perfect," Lennon replied softly, flicking her eyes away from Wayne as he was deep in thought and looked over to find Eddie staring at her in disbelief.

"Eddie," Wayne quickly turned to his nephew and pulled the man out of his confused trance on the girl standing a little ways away from him. "Why did it take you so long to find someone with manners?" he briskly walked past his nephew with a thick cough-like laugh as he moved for the fridge and pulled out a can of beer.

It seemed strange how quickly the man went from being sympathetic and excited to being hardy and joking.

"I uh... heh," Eddie huffed out as he stared at Lennon in utter disbelief. "Didn't know she had any."

"That's rude," Wayne smacked him on the shoulder and moved past them both into the living room. "You make sure that brother of yours is alright with that, sweetheart," Wayne said as he changed the channel on the TV and took a seat on the couch. "It won't hurt our feelings."

Lennon turned to Eddie and smiled at the nickname they both used to address her. Eddie noticed her lingering amusement and smiled at it himself.

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," Lennon turned on her heels and looked to Wayne from over the countertop that separated the kitchen from the living area. "You're both very welcome whenever. Thank you again for the invitation," she sat in wonderous appreciation over the nice gesture before she felt a hand find its way to her shoulder.

Lennon turned towards it and found Eddie staring back at her. His eyes flickered away from the kitchen and he tilted his head in the same direction like he was trying to leave without letting his uncle know before Lennon did.

Lennon shot him a downturned smile but it was enough for Eddie to speak up.

"We're gonna get going, Uncle Wayne."

"We are?" Lennon asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, we have that date. You don't remember?" he smirked down at her and watched how she quickly turned away from him to hide her reddening cheeks.

"The roads are slick so be careful," Wayne called out to Eddie. "And whatever you two do," he cringed, watching as Eddie moved to shrug on the leather jacket Lennon recently returned. "Don't get the poor girl pregnant, Eds."

"Wasn't plannin' on it, Uncle Wayne," Eddie pinched his lips together and threw his arms out dramatically to show his discontent with his uncle's inappropriate request. "She's got herpes anyway," he chuckled before a pair of hands were slapped against his back in protest.

"I do not," she clarified. "That was a joke I had with my brother," she said to Wayne to make sure he knew she wasn't a walking disease.

"Just get out of here," he rolled his eyes and said his goodbyes before the winter snowfall swallowed them whole.