Chapter Text
Chrissy didn’t throw up. She didn’t eat all of the food like she predicted but Eddie kept his promise on eating the rest of it, but she didn’t throw up. She was amazed. Shocked. And a little concerned. She remembered feeling nauseous briefly for a moment before Eddie began distracting her and she completely forgot about it. She went to bed that night without maijuana or a sleeping pill. And she went to bed without nightmares and hearing voices.
It made her feel like a completely different person.
Chrissy opened her eyes when the sunlight through the window nearly blinded her. She rolled onto her stomach, stretching leisurely like a cat basking in a sun spot. She laid there for a moment, admiring the mostly vacant room except for one lone dresser against the wall at the end of the bed with an empty closet to the left of it. Chrissy’s unzipped bag sat on the floor beside the dresser as if saying she should put her clothes in there. The thought actually made her giggle and shake her head.
Chrissy laid there for a moment more when she began to smell something. She lifted her head before sitting up on her elbows as the smell became more potent. That’s when she recognized the smell. Something was burning.
Chrissy threw the covers aside and hurried out of the room, the smell becoming stronger the closer she got. She actually coughed as she entered the kitchen to see Eddie scrambling to prevent a house fire. “Eddie?” she asked with another cough.
“Oh, hey Chrissy,” Eddie said as he placed a smoking fire pan in the kitchen sink. “Uh, good morning.”
“What’s going on?” Chrissy asked as she walked further into the light smoking kitchen.
“I was attempting to make breakfast,” Eddie sighed. “Pancakes didn’t work out but there’s still eggs and bacon.”
Chrissy giggled. “Do you need help?” she asked. She walked past him to open the kitchen window over the sink.
“That might not be a bad idea.” Eddie rubbed the back of his head as he blushed in embarrassment. Having been making pancakes since he was twelve, it was amazing how he managed to burn them when wanting to make them for his new girlfriend.
He watched as Chrissy placed two fresh pans on the stove before opening the fridge.
“I do eggs and you do bacon?” she asked.
“Oh yeah. Trust me I won’t burn it this time.” Eddie jumped in and took the unopened pack of bacon from her, leaving her with eggs. But he paused, staring down at the package before turning to her. “You ah, you can eat bacon right? And eggs?”
Chrissy took a moment to understand the meaning behind his words. It melted her heart at his concern, and she nodded. “Yeah I can eat those. Or, at least try.”
“I actually have a solution for that.”
“What solution?” Chrissy looked at him curiously.
“You’ll see. Just scramble the eggs good, Cunningham.”
Chrissy giggled but didn’t push further. Instead she and Eddie began to cook together. She decided to cook at least six eggs while Eddie went ahead to cook more than half of the bacon. Once the eggs were done Eddie proceeded to take the bacon already cooked and began to chop and cut them up. Chrissy looked on curiously as to what he was planning as his face gave nothing away. She was shocked to see Eddie throw the bacon bits in with the scrambled eggs. She had never thought of that. She and Eddie shared a gentle smile before Chrissy decided to get them drinks for their breakfast. She poured two glasses of what seemed to be a fresh bottle of orange juice and set them in their designated spots.
“Breakfast is ready,” Eddie called playfully from the not so distant kitchen.
Chrissy giggled. “Thank you, chef,” she called back. She walked back to the kitchen to see the plates already prepared with fresh slices of toast and silverware ready. “Do you need help?”
“Nah, I’ve got this. Have a seat, milady."
“Yes, sir.”
Chrissy walked to sit down at her spot for Eddie to gentlemanly place the plate before her. That’s when she noticed chopped up celery bits incorporated into the eggs and bacon, and she smiled in shock. When had he done that? “Is there celery?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Eddie sat down across from her with a shy smile. “Is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay,” Chrissy smiled. “I just didn’t know you were such a good cook.”
“You can’t say that until you’ve tried it,” Eddie warned playfully.
“It’s bacon, eggs and celery. How bad could it be?”
Eddie cringed worriedly as Chrissy took her first bite, albeit cautiously because of her condition. The eggs and bacon were hot and inviting to an empty stomach in the morning. Nauseousness did set in for a moment, causing Chrissy to close her eyes and take a deep breath.
“That bad, huh?” Eddie asked.
“Mm mm.” Chrissy shook her head. “My . . . my stomach.” She carefully set the fork down. “I felt . . . nauseous for a second.”
“Are you okay?” Eddie reached across and gently took her hand. Chrissy didn’t pull away. She squeezed his hand for desperate comfort as she breathed through her nose.
“Mmhm.” Chrissy managed to swallow her bite of food and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m okay.” She lifted her head to smile at him. “It was delicious, Eddie.”
Eddie grinned. “Good.”
Chrissy blushed softly before taking a drink of orange juice. She didn’t feel queasy from the drink at all before she turned her attention back to the food. It intimidated her now, but she squared her shoulders back confidently, not about to let a plate of eggs and toast intimate her. She took another bite without thinking about it. She tasted the flavors now, the nausea gone for her to enjoy the texture and taste of the eggs, bacon and celery.
“Yup,” she said with a nod of her head. “It’s delicious.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So what are the plans today?” Chrissy asked from where she was sitting. She had claimed one side of the couch, fully dressed in preparation for the rest of their day together. With knees to chest she watched as Eddie stared out the window looking over the lake.
“Plans? You got somewhere to be or something?” Eddie joked.
“No. I’ve booked this place for the next two days at least, and I would hate to have wasted my time with boredom.”
“I see. Hmm,” Eddie turned around with his finger to his lips in thought. “Well, I didn’t exactly have enough time to fill out a list or anything, but I was thinking maybe . . . if you’re up for it . . . we could go, um . . . swimming.”
“Swimming?” Chrissy’s eyes widened in surprise and humor. “Eddie, it’s March.”
“And that should stop us from enjoying our spring break?”
“Yes,” Chrissy giggled. “It’s barely 75 degrees outside.”
“No weather has ever stopped me from having a good time.”
Chrissy’s eyes widened as Eddie marched outside, boombox in hand. She stood and followed quickly down to the wooden dock that stretched out a good distance from the shoreline. “What in the world are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m going swimming.” Eddie set the boombox down with a familiar pink cassette tape already placed inside. “You gonna join me?”
The afternoon sun did feel hot enough for a dip in the lake, Chrissy thought. But she knew the lake was going to be a lot colder than they thought. She eyed the blue water in front of her in true temptation as Eddie proceeded to throw off his shoes and shocks but not his shirt or pants. She giggled as he strut confidently toward the edge of the mini dock.
“Eddie, are you sure this is-” Chrissy stopped as Eddie didn’t hesitate to throw himself into the water, head first. She quickly ran to the edge of the dock just as Eddie surfaced from the water.
“Oh shit!” he cried out in shock as he kept himself above water. “Holy shit!”
“What?!” Chrissy cried in panic. “What, what’s the matter?!”
“It’s cold! Shit, it’s cold! Shit, shit, shit!”
Chrissy’s relief was evident just as quickly as she burst into laughter. She collapsed to her knees in uncontrollable giggles as Eddie scowled playfully at her. “I did tell you, Eddie,” Chrissy panted between laughs. “I told you maybe it wasn’t a good idea.”
“You were right, you were definitely right.” Eddie swam his way over to the edge of the dock to pull himself up. “Totally woke me up though.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I feel like I just had the biggest rush ever. Never felt so alive.” The last part was said
Chrissy fell silent at that. She eyed the water again with keen interest before standing. Eddie, still in the water, watched in confusion as Chrissy shed her shoes and socks as well.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m getting in.” Chrissy said simply.
Before Eddie could respond, he quickly ducked his head as Chrissy leaped straight over him and into the water. He turned around as she submerged under water too quickly to resurface with a scream. It was Eddie’s turn to laugh.
“Oh my God!” Chrissy screamed as she tread the cold water.
“I know!” Eddie laughed. “Doesn’t it feel great?!”
“No!”
Eddie laughed again. Chrissy scowled at him as she sent a great wave of water into his face and into his mouth. He sputtered and coughed, Chrissy laughed at him mockingly. But she screamed as Eddie charged toward her into the water. Chrissy turned in a desperate play to get away but only squealed when his arms wrapped around her.
The next four hours were a blast. It had felt longer than that as Eddie and Chrissy simply swam and chased each other in the lake that seemed to be all theirs. Eddie had gotten out once to turn on the boombox that had forgotten about, also bringing out some snacks and drinks for them both before diving back into the water still fully clothed. But their soaked to bone jeans didn’t stop them from having the time of their lives.
Chrissy climbed out of the water to make a canon ball dive back in when a loud vibration came from the sky. She looked up to see dark clouds rolling their way and she huffed aloud. “Seriously?” she asked.
“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked from the water.
“It’s gonna rain again,” Chrissy pouted as another boom of thunder sounded. “We should probably go inside.”
Eddie nodded in agreement, almost a little too quickly as he pulled himself out of the water. He and Chrissy gathered their things before bolting inside just before the downpour started. They both stood inside the screen deck with relief before they both laughed.
They were already soaked.
“Now what?” Chrissy asked, clearly disappointed that their swimming was interrupted. She turned to Eddie with her sad puppy eyes that simply made his heart crack. He hated seeing her sad, upset and or disappointed.
He grinned at her. “I’ve got an idea,” he said. “But how about we get our blood circulating first?”
Chrissy smiled. “Agreed.”
They both hurried inside as the rain seemed to be trying to get them through the screen. They hurried upstairs in their soaked clothes and to their own bathrooms for a hot shower. Chrissy didn’t mean to “take her time” for so long, but after swimming in the nearly frigid lake for four hours felt like wondrous healing. She was thankful for how warm the sun had been those four hours, as she was certain there would have been a good chance she could have gotten sick.
Dressed warmly with her hair damp but dry enough, Chrissy made her way down stairs. She was greeted by the sound of freshly popped popcorn with the tv on. Eddie knelt in front of the VCR, also recessed in fresh clothes but his hair more dry and wild than her own.
“What’s going on?” Chrissy asked but it was obvious she already knew.
“Night, Miss Cunningham, is movie night.” Eddie glanced at the window. “Which has arrived earlier than normal. I rented a plethora of movies. Horror, comedy, action, sci fi, fantasy, you name it.”
“Horror movies?”
Eddie looked up. “You don’t like ‘em?” he asked.
“Oh no, not that I don’t like them, I just . . .” Chrissy held her arms. “I don’t know, I mean . . . they’re scary.”
“That's the whole point.” Eddie grinned at her. “But there are such things as great horror movies and absolute shit horror movies. Would you be willing to experience one of the greats tonight?”
“As long as you watch it with me,”
“And let you witness it alone? Never.”
Chrissy blushed as she joined Eddie on the couch as the movie began to play. On the coffee table in front of them was a large bowl of popcorn and two Cokes which made Chrissy smile. She scooted to place herself against Eddie’s chest while his left arm, hesitantly, wrapped around her.
“So what great horror movie is this?” Chrissy asked.
“Alien, which is indeed one of the greats.”
Chrissy nodded. She had heard of this one but had never seen it, even after the seven years it had come out. She and Eddie munched on the popcorn together, sipping their drinks until the movie began to pick up. Chrissy had abandoned their snacks and now watched in horror as Cane began to choke on the food he had been eating. Her body tensed up while Eddie remained calm with both their eyes set on the screen.
Like watching someone’s chest burst open wasn’t terrible enough.
“What’s happening?” Chrissy asked as she hid behind her eyes. Dallas had entered the vents in order to hunt down the alien monster, which Chrissy found to be the scariest thing in the world.
“You have to watch,” Eddie said calmly as she munched on the popcorn.
“Eddie,” Chrissy whined. But she did peek between her fingers just as Dallas turned the light inside the dark vent for the alien to screech, holding its arm out to greet him. Chrissy screamed and hid behind her eyes again.
Fortunately for Chrissy the movie had a happy ending. Ripley defeated the alien once and for all and was the last survivor of the Nostromo. Eddie didn’t bother to rewind the type as he turned the tv off.
“What did you think?” he asked.
“It was better than I was expecting. No less terrifying though.”
“That’s what makes it great.”
Chrissy giggled weakly but nodded in agreement. She then faced the darkness of the stairs above which told her how late it really was. She didn’t acknowledge Eddie approaching from behind as she waited for the xenomorph to come and attack her. The thunderstorm wasn’t helping her ease her uneasiness.
“Chrissy?” Eddie asked softly. “Are you okay?”
Chrissy was about to nod before she shook her head. “No,” she said honestly as she turned to him. “I really don’t . . . I mean . . . I,” she sighed. “I’m scared.”
“Oh, Chrissy I’m sorry,” Eddie frowned with guilt written all over his face.
“No no, it’s not your fault. I wanted to watch it. I just wasn’t expecting it to be so -” Chrissy sagged defeated. “Could I sleep with you, Eddie? Tonight?”
Eddie’s face suddenly flushed a gentle pink even though that wasn’t what she was implying. Stupid, immature brain, he thought angrily at himself. He snapped out of it when he once again took in Chrissy’s pleading eyes and he nodded.
“Yeah, of course.” He smiled, “Anything you want.”
Eddie followed Chrissy upstairs, not to his room but to hers. He closed the door but didn’t lock it as Chrissy climbed into bed. Eddie, awkwardly of course, followed in after and slid under the covers beside her. They were both stiff as boards as they listened to the rain pound down onto the roof with the thunder encored in the background.
Eddie opened his mouth to speak when Chrissy rolled over and snuggled up to his side rather tightly. “Goodnight, Eddie,” she said calmly.
Eddie laid there stiffly a moment more before he finally began to calm down. He listened to Chrissy’s soft, calm and gentle breathing and he took a deep breath. He looked down at her, his nose inches away from her strawberry blonde hair and he smiled. “Goodnight, Chrissy.”
He carefully reached over to turn off the lamplight to blanket them in darkness.