Who Else Will Love You?

After the party, Echo and Eden didn't speak for a total of seven days. Not a text sent, not a word spoken. It really bothered Eden, almost to the point of tears. She told Gramma about it, and even mentioned her distress to her mom. Of course Gramma told her not to worry and her mom told her to initiate conversation, but she couldn't do either of those. She was convinced he never wanted to talk to her again because of something she'd done at the party. But on the seventh day without communication between her and Echo, she cracked and texted him, which took a lot of courage for her to do.

To: Echo
Hey

And not even a full minute later, her phone buzzed letting her know that Echo had texted her back.

From: Echo
Finally. Hey! What's up?

To: Echo
Finally? What do you mean?

From: Echo
I was waiting for you to text me. 7 days? Really Eden? Am I really worth a 7 day wait?

To: Echo
I thought. . . I don't know what I thought. I'm sorry.

From: Echo
Don't worry, Kit. No need to be sorry.

To: Echo
You need a nickname

From: Echo
I have one, it's "your bae."

To: Echo
haha very funny. Really though, you need a nickname.

From: Echo
Uhhhh

To: Echo
Well I guess nicknames come from experiences so it can wait

From: Echo
That means we need to hang out more

To: Echo
Exactly

From: Echo
How about right now?

To: Echo
Yeah, sure.

From: Echo
Come over. I'll come get you.

To: Echo
Okay.

Sure enough, exactly fifteen minutes later she heard Echo pulling into her driveway. She snatched her sweatshirt from her bed and traipsed through her house towards the front door. She paused before opening the front door, taking a deep breath. She opened the front door and let out a small shriek. Echo was standing right there in front of her, preparing to knock on the door. He let out a small giggle upon seeing her jump like she had.

"Not funny." Eden pouted, which only make Echo laugh a bit harder.

After Echo's little fit of giggles he grabbed her wrist lightly and led her to his car, which appeared to be cleaner that before.

"Clean your car?" Eden asked

"Yeah. My baby needed a bath." He said, giving a small kiss to the hood of the car.

Eden got into the passenger side while Echo got into the drivers side and started the engine. Like always, soft indie music flowed through the speakers and it was enough the keep the pair content and conversation-less for the duration of the car ride. Once they arrived at Echo's house, he paused before getting out of the car after cutting the engine.

"My brothers are home. Wanna meet them?"

"Sure."

Echo nodded slightly and got out of the car. Eden followed suit and they both went to the front door. Echo pushed the door open with ease and they were met with chaos. Two boys about middle school age were playing video games with the television at maximum volume. Phoenix and Chance were arguing over the volume and the house smelled strongly of pot. Echo let out a long deep sigh. He went over and turned down the volume of the TV, interrupted the girls' fighting, and opened a couple of windows to air out the house.

"Eden, these are my younger brothers: Dawson, Declan, and Merrick." He said pointing them out.

"Hey." Eden said with a small smile.

Two of them mumbled a small hello, while the other just waved a bit.

"Merrick is what they call 'selectively mute.'" Echo explained.

Eden nodded, with a bit of curiosity as to why he had chosen to be mute. Things like that had always intrigued Eden: why people had chosen to be mute or why they chose to do certain things of that nature. It was usually caused by some sort of trauma, but Eden knew it wasn't her place to ask what happened that made him do that.

Echo led her through his house and the smell of pot got progressively stronger as they neared Echo's bedroom. Echo muttered a string of curse words under his breath as he opened his bedroom door.

"What the hell Gage?" Echo yelled into his room.

"Bro, you're home!" Someone yelled from in his room.

"Gage, get out." Echo said calmly.

"Whatever you say bro, but this is dank." The person, who was clearly not sober, replied.

A tall man walked out of Echo's room, patting Echo on the head and winking at Eden. Eden shuddered and Echo rolled his eyes. He immediately opened his window while Eden sat on his bed.

"Who was that?"

"My brother, Gage."

"His name is Gage Page?"

"No, his name is Gage Lucas Woods."

"Woods?"

"Yeah. That was my mom's name before she married my dad. Gage, Chance, and I were born out of wedlock."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Echo said as he sat beside Eden.

She laid her head down on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. He always smelled so good.

"Quit smelling me weirdo."

"You always smell so good." Eden said, smelling him again to add emphasis.

Echo laughed a bit and placed a chaste kiss on Eden's forehead. He like her. He liked her more than he should.