Chapter One
Ding!
Eden Richard was studying for midterms when she got a text. She checked her phone and sighed. It was him.
"Mom, I'll be back," she said, leaving her room and heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Richard asked.
"To meet a friend."
"What friend? Is it Ol-" she was cut off by the slamming of the door as Eden exited.
*****
By the time Eden got to O'Riley's Pub, she was fuming. This was the second time this week and it was only Wednesday.
She parked her car in the parking lot and went inside. She immediately found Oliver. It wasn't that hard, after all.
'Just look for a horde of women and he'll be in the middle of it,' she thought, not for the first time.
She pushed her way through to the middle. Some of the girls pushed back, but when they saw her face they backed off. She couldn't blame them. She could only imagine what her face looked like right now.
Sure enough, in the center of the crowd was Oliver. He was laughing, two women next to him, one arm around each. He was clearly drunk.
Eden walked right up to him and cleared her throat. He glanced back at her and his face broke into a huge grin.
"Eden! Glad you could make it!" he said, tossing an arm around her shoulders. "I was starting to think you weren't coming."
Eden shrugged his arm off her shoulders. "Yeah, well, I was wondering whether I should."
"Aw, don't be like that," he smirked. "Did you forget to take your nap?"
The last part he said in a baby voice and all the women snickered. Eden stiffened. This wasn't the first time he'd humiliated her, but today she didn't have the patience. She was hungry, tired, and sick of seeing him like this: drunk, with women up to his ears.
"You know what, I'll let you solve your own problems today." She turned around and started pushing her way through the crowd again.
"Eden, wait," he called after her. She stopped. Curse him, she always stopped. And he knew it. "I'm sorry, Richie." She flinched. He apologized AND used that name. This couldn't be good.
He got up shakily from his bar stool and made his way over to her. She didn't turn around. He put his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Take me home?"
She sighed. "This is the last time," she said for the millionth time.
He stood up straight and gave her a sarcastic salute like always. "Yes ma'am."
*****
On the way out of the bar, Oliver had insisted that he couldn't walk without help. He had put his arm around her shoulder and leaned heavily against her all the way to the car. She still struggled under his weight, but not half as much as she had before. Thanks to him, she was starting to build serious muscle.
Now, as she drove him home, she waited for him to ask his usual question.
"Where are you taking me?" he finally asked.
"To your house." Her usual answer.
"Which one?"
"The one you live in."
"I can't go there!"
She sighed. Sometimes he followed this ritual a little TOO closely. "You can and you will."
"You don't understand! They'll kill me!"
"Shoulda thought of that before, ya think?"
"You're mean."
"You better believe it."
Annnnnnnd, cue the silence. Except this time there was none. Eden made sure of that.
"You know what, Ollie? I'm tired of playing this game with you. Shape up before you destroy your liver."
"My liver's fine," he said groggily.
"Okay, then stop before you get HIV."
Oliver stared at her, clearly surprised. "How did you..."
"How did I know you've been sleeping around?" She glanced at him. "I'm not stupid, Ollie. You think I don't know about all the nights you DON'T ask me to pick you up? About the girls you've gone home with? Or did you already forget that you give your little hook-ups MY number so that I can break up with them for you?"
She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She didn't realize she'd been yelling until after she stopped talking. She glanced at him again when he didn't respond. He was staring at her in shock, mouth open.
"What? Did you also forget me and your parents are friends? I know more than you think."
"What's WRONG with you, Richie?" he said at last.
Eden tensed. "Excuse me?"
"Are you on you period or something?"
She pulled over to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes.
"Get out."
"What?" He had the nerve to look genuinely surprised.
"We're a mile from your house. If you want to insult me so badly, you can walk the rest of the way home."
"Why?"
"I SAID, GET OUT!"
"Okay, okay, I'm going!"
She watched as he opened the door and all but fell out. He stumbled, trying to regain his footing. Normally, she would've given in and driven him the rest of the way home. But not today. Not right now. Her little speech had done more than surprise Oliver. It had riled herself up, too.
Before he could close the door, she called after him, "Little tip. NEVER ask an angry girl if she's on her period."
He looked back at her and grinned. "Aye, Aye, Cap'n."
And with that he closed the door.
She watched Oliver stagger down the road a ways before she sped off. The rest of the way home was spent thinking of Oliver and the way things used to be.
*****
Eden made it home around 1:00 a.m. Her mom was already asleep so she went straight to bed. She checked her phone one last time for notifications. Just as she was about to put it away, she got a text.
'Sry'
Eden responded. She always did.
'It's ok'
She waited. No answer. She plugged in her phone and went to sleep.