Who Else Will Love You?

Eden haphazardly threw clothes into a black duffel bag that she would be taking to her father's. She had risen before the sun, mostly due to nerves. She was afraid to go stay with her dad and his family (that she had never met before). She was afraid they would isolate her, even though she wanted to be no part of their family unit, she still didn't want to be completely isolate. Or left to sit in an attic. . . She definitely didn't want to sit in an attic for her couple of weeks with her father. She let her mind wander as she packed her bags. Going over a physically printed packing checklist, she threw in a couple of last minute items, including the stuffed fox that Echo had given her into the bag before zipping it and dropping it by her bedroom door. She plopped down on to her floor and curled into a ball. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to be away from her mom. Despite not seeing her much, Eden still loved her mom very much. She might not have always showed it, but she did. And she was being taken from the safety her home and her mom and forced to stay with her father. And she certainly didn't want to be away from Echo. Sure she would see him at school, but they didn't have any classes together, didn't see each other in passing. They didn't even have the same lunch period. Eden didn't want to live for the next couple of weeks without "the love of her life," the one and only, Echo Cyrus Page.

The more she thought about him, a sudden question popped into her head. If Echo, Chance, and Gage had all been born out of wedlock, why had only Gage gotten his mom's last name? And then she thought about him some more and another question popped into her head. When she told Echo that her father had raped her, why didn't he question that she told him she was a virgin the night they first slept together? Maybe he'd missed it. . . That was so unlike him. She brushed the thoughts aside as she plopped down on the floor. She pulled the plastic bin out from under her bed and gently removed the lid. Pulling out several folders, she sighed deeply. She hated looking through these things, but she did it every once in a while to reminisce. Taking out her art folder, she took out some of the drawings she had done and laid them out on the floor in front of her. She examined every drawing in front of her thinking about what had been going on in her life when she drew them. The memories flooded and few of them even brought tears to her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. The tears would ruin her work. She tidied the drawings and put them back in the folder, replacing the art folder with an envelope marked "To Hayden." She pulled out several hand written, tear stained letters. One by one, she read all the letters she had written to her brother since he passed away. This time she let the tears flow freely all over the pages. It smeared some of the words but she always fixed it afterwards. After all of the letters were read and all of the painful memories subsided, she jammed the letters back into the envelope, dropping it back into the plastic bin. Next she pulled out her letters to Echo. She only had two, but after reading them, her dazzling smile seemed permanent on her lips. She placed the letters back into the bin, carefully placing the lid on top and sliding it back under her bed. She had made a ritual of going through the contents of that bin every couple of months. She was waiting until the letter to Hayden didn't hurt anymore before she quit going through the bin like that.

"Hey, Eden, I'm off." Her mother said gently from the doorway.

Eden scrambled to her feet and ran over to her mom, wrapping her up in a hug.

"Mommy, don't leave." Eden pleaded.

She may not have liked her mother at all times, but it was still her mom. It was still the woman who took care of her.

"Oh, Eden," Her mother began, getting choked up, "It's best for both of us if I go."

"I know." Eden whimpered.

"I love you." Her mother whispered, not being able to say it any louder without her voice cracking.

"I love you too, mom." Eden whispered back.

They held the embrace for several minutes but eventually, Eden's mom let go.

"Your father will be here to pick you up at exactly one thirty." Her mother said, wiping a couple of tears from her eyes.

Eden nodded and walked her mother to the front door. They said their very sorrowful good-byes, and Eden went back to her room to wait for her dad. To pass the time, she texted Echo.

To: Echo
I'm leaving in a couple hours

From: Echo
It's not like you're moving across the country. Calm down kit

To: Echo
I'm not that upset. Just won't see you as often. That's all.

From: Echo
Oh, I know. I'm gonna miss spending every day with you

To: Echo
Same:(

From: Echo
Want me to come over until your dad gets there?

To: Echo
Sure

From: Echo
Okay:) See you in 15.

Eden tossed her phone onto her bed plopped down on the floor. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her right knee. She focused on her breathing, manually taking in each breath then manually exhaling exactly four seconds after inhaling. It was strange, but it passed the time.

Echo knocked on the front door, then promptly stuck his hands in his pockets. Eden was all too quick to open the door and let Echo in.The second he walked in, Eden could smell alcohol on him.

"Have you been drinking?" Eden prompted.

"I had something earlier." Echo said, rolling his eyes.

"No, I can smell it on you."

"Okay so maybe earlier was right before I left." Echo shrugged.

"That's dangerous Echo." Eden warned.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"Whatever? Echo you can fucking die by drunk driving!"

"But I didn't. Calm down."

"No, I won't calm down! Echo I care about you and I don't want you to like die over something as stupid as drunk driving."

"So you would rather me die some other way?"

"I would rather you not put yourself in position in which you could die." Eden mumbled.

"Well, I'm okay, and I'll be okay. So calm down." Echo said tensing up. Eden could tell he was getting mad.

"Okay, fine. Just please don't do it again."

"Okay."

"Promise?" Eden asked.

"Promise." Echo nodded.

"I love you." Eden said hugging him and pecking his cheek.

"I love you too." He whispered.