Chapter Thirteen

Eden told Gus everything. Well, almost everything. Okay, not even close to everything.

The only thing she told him about was how her parents thought she should stop hanging around Oliver. She didn't tell him that they were suspicious of her. She didn't tell him that her parents, her dad especially, didn't like the idea of her dating Oliver. Gus didn't know they were "dating," and Eden had no intention of telling him. That hadn't worked out well the last time.

Gus didn't say much. As soon as Eden was done talking, he just left. He didn't give his opinion. Didn't tell her to leave Oliver or to stay with him. But Eden thought she saw Gus clenching his jaw as he left.

Eden went back inside and removed her coat. As she walked back to her room, she contemplated whether she should have told Gus about the other thing bothering her. The thing her mom had said, almost under her breath. The thing she probably wasn't supposed to have heard.

She'd never told Gus about her mom's past, and by association, her own. She'd never even told Oliver, though she'd hinted at it. If he had caught on, he didn't let Eden know. She had never told anyone about it. She only talked about it with her mom, and even then, it was very seldom. She never talked about it with her dad. Once, when "he" was mentioned, Mr. Richard had gotten so angry Eden thought he was going to leave and never come back.

As she closed the door to her room, she noticed her phone was buzzing. She must be getting a call.

She was ready to ignore whoever was calling her when she checked the screen. Instead, she picked up.

"Oliver," she said evenly.

In her head, a jumble of emotions were fighting to take custody of her attitude. She was angry at Oliver for not calling sooner, but also sad. Sad for everything that was unsaid. She was happy he WAS calling her. Lately, he'd only texted. She was also cautious. Even though she put on a big show defending Oliver in front of everybody, she'd lost some trust in him. It wasn't that he'd pushed her. It was that he left without saying anything that day and that he hadn't said anything since.

She decided to stay neutral. Try not to show emotions until Oliver revealed why he was calling.

"Eden," came Oliver's voice from the other line. His words were slightly slurred. He was drunk.

Eden sighed. She knew how this conversation would go.

"I'll be there soon," she said. She moved to hang up.

"Wait!" Oliver shouted. "Eden, wait."

Eden waited.

All she heard was silence.

"What?" she said impatiently.

"...Nothing," Oliver finally said. "I'll wait outside." He hung up.

He would wait for her outside, huh? That was a new one.

*****

Eden pulled up in front of Oliver outside O'Riley's. He was sitting slumped against the wall, next to the steps. He looked awful. His hair was a mess, and not the floppy mess that it normally was. His clothes were dirty and wrinkled, like he'd been rolling in dirt. His head was in his hands. He looked broken, all traces of his usual swagger and confidence gone, vanishing behind a veil of sorrow.

All the anger that Eden felt on the way to the pub disappeared when she saw him. She parked her car and ran to his side.

"Oliver!" she said, crouching down to his level. "What happened?"

He lifted his head and looked at through her, like she wasn't there. His eyes were dead.

"She has a boyfriend," he said.

"Who does?" Eden asked soothingly.

"Saffi." He banged his fist on the ground. "I'm such an idiot!"

"Oliver, what did you do?" Eden was thoroughly alarmed. In the dark, she hadn't noticed the blood on his face. But when he moved his head, the light from inside hit it just right. Someone had beaten him up.

"I made a move on her. Her boyfriend came back. Saw me," Oliver took a shaky breath. "He's big, Eden. Really big."

Eden couldn't help herself. Seeing Oliver like this, beaten into the ground, she couldn't stand it. This wasn't like him. Oliver didn't get into fights. Not physical ones, anyway. There'd only been two other times he'd fought someone. Both times with Gus. Once two weeks ago. Once six years ago.

Eden hugged him. Tight. She'd never been the one to touch him first, not like this. She surprised Oliver, she could tell. He stiffened in surprise, but gradually relaxed and hugged her back.

If Eden hadn't been so sad for him, she would've been excited that Oliver was hugging her. For real. Not one of those side hugs he gave to annoy her. A full-on, chest-to-chest hug, nothing in between.

"What were you thinking?" she murmured.

Eden could feel his ragged breathing on her neck. "I didn't know," he replied quietly.

"Why didn't you just stick with our plan? Why'd you make a move so early?"

"I didn't think-I thought that-maybe you-" Oliver struggled for words. He took a deep breath and tried again. "I thought you wouldn't want to see me anymore." He spat out.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I pushed you! Because I just left you there on the floor! You were bleeding and I-I-I didn't know what to do."

Eden pulled back to see his face. Oliver had never acted like this before. He was near tears. She wondered just how many nights Oliver had been at the bar in the past two weeks. Maybe that had something to do with him being so emotional tonight.

"I left you there," Oliver continued. "Gus shouted at me, he hit me, told me to get out. And I listened to him! Why did I listen to him?!"

"Oliver, calm down," Eden said, hugging him tight again and stroking his back. He was starting to get loud. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

"But it is!" Oliver pulled away from Eden and tried to stand up. He would have fallen if Eden hadn't supported him.

"Let's get you in the car, okay?" Eden told Oliver, leading him there.

When she sat him down, Eden kneeled in front of him and took his hands. "What's going on?"

"I saw you move in front of me. I shouted at you to move." Oliver looked away but kept his hold on Eden's hands. "I wish I could say I wasn't in control of myself. That I didn't know what I was doing." He turned back and looked Eden straight in the eye. "But I did. I knew exactly what I was doing. I was just so mad at Gus I didn't care.

"It scares me, Eden. You were the one person I was never supposed to hurt. And now I screwed that up, too. Without even thinking about it. Just like I screwed up my life."

Eden had no idea he felt like that. For years, he'd kept his emotions bottled up. Whenever anything got serious, he'd make it into a joke. He was really good at easing tension by making people laugh.

But now she knew how he felt. It might have been the drink that made him talk, but still, what Oliver had just shared with her was from his heart. She knew it. Looking into his eyes, seeing the tears come spilling out, holding him while he cried, shaking so hard he rocked the car, Eden felt more connected to him than she'd ever felt before. With any person, actually. Ever.

She wondered when the last time he had cried was. She'd never seen him cry before. At least, not since they were kids. Eden herself hadn't cried for a long time, either. But in this moment, she shared Oliver's burdens with him. She cried with him, mingling her tears with his as they fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, Eden," he repeated over and over again. "I'm so, so sorry."

Despite the pain, Eden felt sort of happy. This was the first time he'd apologized and meant it. The first time they'd held each other. The first time in a long time he'd been totally honest with her.

Though it hurt in the moment, and might've been kind of selfish, Eden wouldn't have had it any other way.