1-12: 9 Crimes

Leave me out with the waste
This is not what I do
It's the wrong kind of place
To be thinking of you
It's the wrong time, for somebody new
It's a small crime, and I've got no excuse

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The first thing Eden saw when she stepped off the plane, was a tall redhead covered in tattoos, giving dirty looks to everyone that was staring at her for carrying her massive umbrella in the sun. She approached her hesitantly, dropping her bag on the pavement. 

"Hi?"

Kiara nodded, pushing the umbrella a little higher in the air. 

"Wanna join me?"

Eden stood there for a second, calculating. Then she rushed forward, wrapping Kiara in a hug. She broke it quickly, looking up at her.

"I missed you, bitch."

Kiara grinned, her fangs hidden in the shadow of the umbrella.

"I missed you too. No more advice from you. Ever. Good?"

Eden ducked under the umbrella, flipping off a girl who wouldn't stop staring.

"Never again."

Kiara linked her arm through Eden's and walked towards the doors to the airport and the luggage claim. She completely ignored Atticus' stare. There were more important things she needed to tell her best friend.

"We leave Bridgeport in five days, are you excited?"

She turned the conversation casual, waiting for Eden to be in somewhat of a decent mood before she brought anything else up to her. But Eden detected the false casualty in her tone. She raised an eyebrow at her vampiric best friend and turned to face her as the luggage slid by on the conveyor belt.

"What the hell is wrong."

To the point, as she usually was. Kiara hesitated though, looking around as she closed her umbrella, playing with the fastener that kept it closed.

"Well. I sort of slept with Zach."

Eden stared at her. Her face was blank, but it didn't take her that long to find something sarcastic to say.

"Oh. Is that all? Not a big deal. At least you didn't take his virginity like I did."

Kiara grimaced, causing Eden to chuckle softly. Kiara shook her head though as Eden pulled her suitcase to an upright position next to them.


"That's not all. I've been hearing some things about Firecrotch... And none of them are good."

Eden side eyed her, pulling her luggage towards the glass airport doors.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

Kiara grabbed her arm, pulling them both to a stop.

"No. This is bad. The last Zach heard about him, he was strung out and a complete mess. Not only that, no one has heard from him since graduation, Eden.

What you did to him before you left, you walking away, the way you said goodbye... I think it really fucked him up.

Eden, I think the kid really did love you."

Eden sighed, her eyes on the floor. Her chest was heavy, her mouth dry.

"What do you expect me to do about it? If no one knows where he is, I sure as hell am not going to."

Kiara shrugged.

"I just thought you might want to know."

She looked behind them, the rest of the Simon family still gathered around the baggage claim.

"Speaking of wanting to know things... Can we not tell Atticus about Zach?"

Eden looked uneasy, taking her friend by the hand and heading towards the exit again.

"Yeah, about that... There's probably something I should tell you too."

-----------

-You expect me to tell you where he is? It's been three months, and now you decide to care?-

Eden threw another pair of shoes in her suitcase, glaring at the text from Jonas. Kiara raised an eyebrow,  grabbing her arm in mid-throw with the next object she aimed at her bag.

"What's wrong? What the hell is going on on that screen that is making you act like your suitcase needs to be murdered?"

She tossed her phone on the bed and continued chucking random things in. She had to pack one way or another, so why not take her anger out when she was doing it?

"Oh."

She said the word quietly, grabbing a few things of Eden's and handing them to her. Eden didn't want to have a conversation about this. She didn't want to think about it. When she walked away from Nico at graduation, that was supposed to be the end of it. They were both supposed to move on with their lives. Move on from each other.

She half wished that Kiara had never said a damn word to her.

She dropped onto her butt on the bed and grabbed her phone, sending Jonas another text.

-Look. If you don't tell me where he is, I will be missing my only chance to try and fix some of the damage I've done. All I need to do is talk to him, I'm leaving Bridgeport tomorrow and then I'll never bother you, or him, again.-

It felt like an hour before anything came back through. And she spent most of that time doing nothing. Watching Kiara pack all of the stuff she had determined that Eden would need in college. She pulled her pillow onto her lap and her heart jumped when the text tone went off.

-I feel like this is a really miscalculated decision... But he's in the apartments next to the bridge in the city.  I should tell you, though, if you're looking for another chance, it's way too late for that.-

That was the last thing she was looking for. All she wanted was a chance to see how he was doing. Maybe say goodbye. That's all she really planned on saying. She had no idea why she even felt the need to make anything okay at all.

That was supposed to be goodbye. You're blowing it.

Honestly... she'd never been very good at goodbye anyway.

"Kiara, there's something I need to do before we leave."

She got to her feet and stuffed her car keys in her pocket, flipping the lid of her suitcase shut.

"It's 3 am..."

Eden shrugged her shoulder.

"We leave tomorrow. This may be my only chance, Ki."

Her friend hesitated, not sure whether to be sympathetic or concerned for Nico's mental health after this.

"Be careful? You've been drinking all day..."

Eden gave her a thumbs up.

"I'm fine. I can drive. I'm not that drunk."

That was a massive lie, but like she said, it might be her only chance. 

And after all this time she wasn't going to miss it.

---------

Eden slammed the door to her car, the sound echoing in the parking lot. It was the middle of the night, and this was probably not one of her best ideas. But after what Kiara had said to her, and after she'd spoken to Jonas, she knew she had to fix this. At least in some way. She couldn't carry the guilt for something like this for the rest of her life.

She had spent three hours arguing with herself in her bedroom. Going back and forth between going and not going. Trying and not trying. She had drank so much that driving across the city was a dangerous decision, but it was too late now.

What if something really bad happened, and she never...

She rolled her shoulders, walking inside and to the elevator. The wait seemed to take an eternity. Each second that ticked by making her grow more and more apprehensive. She looked down at the slip of paper in her hand, punching in the floor number when she was inside.


It was an ordinary apartment door. There was nothing special about the setting or the number. But as soon as she touched it, tears spilled down her face. She almost turned and left, let whoever answered never know who had knocked. But she stood her ground, trying to get rid of the mess on her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Eden?"

She looked up and her eyes widened. Nico was a mess. His hair and clothes were rumpled, his eyes had circles darker than she'd ever seen them, and his pupils were dilated. Three months. It had only been three months. He looked like he had aged three years.

"Nico."

She shifted her weight and rubbed her palms under her eyes one more time, giving up.


"Nico... I'm sorry."

She never apologized for anything. Since she was ten years old, she didn't. It was one of the things she thought made her strong. But right now...

"I'm just here to tell you that I'm sorry. That I'm leaving Bridgeport tomorrow and I don't know if I'm ever coming back. 

I need you to know that I still care about you. That I probably always will.

I lied to you. When I said I didn't anymore.

I lied to you when I said I wasn't sorry for sleeping with Max, and I lied to you when I said I wanted you to forget me."

Everything spilled out, one on top of the other. Things she'd been denying, things she'd been refusing to feel. To say. To admit.

It all fell into his lap and she couldn't take it back now.

There was more emotion in what Eden was doing in this moment right now, than she had felt or given in years. She was drunk beyond reason, and she was probably making a huge mistake. Nico stood there, not saying a word. Just staring at her while she cried on his doorstep.

Why would he say anything to you at all?

"I'm sorry."
Eden tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and nodded, turning around.

"Eden."

It was the only thing he had said to her since laying eyes on her. Her name. But that was enough for her to turn around.

He stepped out of the doorway, closing the distance between the two of them, pushing a piece of hair out of her eyes. He took her face in his hands and brushed the tears off of her cheeks with his thumbs. For a second, he stood there, just staring down at her. She hadn't realized how much he carried behind those eyes. How much the gray really concealed.

He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, and she could taste the alcohol on his breath, feel the way his hands shook when they touched her. And in those seconds, she realized that's the way it's supposed to be. You're supposed to feel something when someone touches you. Your heart is supposed to race when someone kisses you. Sometimes it's supposed to mean something.

And sometimes... You have to feel. Even if it hurts.

She just never wanted to believe that, would more than likely go back to pretending she never had the second she left. But in this moment, she let it happen. 

He broke the kiss, releasing her face and running his hands down her arms, goosebumps appearing where their skin touched.

"Eden, I love you. I'm gonna miss you."

He pulled her against his chest for a moment, resting his chin on her hair.

 "I'm sorry. For everything."

-----------
It was strange. Being in another city. The finality Eden felt like she carried on her shoulders was heavy. She finally felt closure with Nico, in the very least. It was the last thing she'd done in Bridgeport. Three hours before she had to catch her flight to the other side of California. Away from him, and that city, for at least four years.

She had no idea where she would go after this. She was nineteen years old and it felt like she had been through way too much for someone that age. But, at the same time, she felt like her life was just beginning.

It was a massive contradiction.

Kiara smiled at her, poking her stomach softly. 

"We'll be happy here. It's a new start. New people. This'll be fun."

Eden dropped her purse on the floor of the room she'd claimed as hers and kicked at one of the boxes she needed to unpack.

"Well... Nothing could be as bad as Bridgeport. So you've got to be right in some way."

The place Zach had gotten for them was amazing, and Kiara had paid their rent for an entire year from her trust fund. She refused to let Eden pay for anything, even though her parents had been saving for her to go to college since she was a baby.

"Hey. So. Which one of you is Ed?"

Eden rolled her eyes and turned around to face the voice that issued from the doorway.

"I'm guessing you're Sophie. Since the only person who calls me that is Zach."

She walked forward and almost shook her hand, but it felt too weird to actually carry through and do. She smiled at her instead, sticking her hands in her back pockets.

"I'm Eden and this is Kiara."

Kiara shook her hand, which surprised Eden greatly. She usually was more polite than Eden, but not that polite. She really must be losing her mind.

"I'm Sophie Contessa. I'm sure you guys know my parents own this place and the bakery and stuff, but I'm not here to keep a watch on you or anything.

I'll leave you alone as much as possible. I just wanted to be friendly and say hello."

She ducked back out of the doorway and Kiara and Eden exchanged a look.

Were they that scary? Or was this girl really just that sheepish?

Kiara shrugged and dropped to her knees, splitting the top of one of her boxes open. Eden did the same thing on the opposite side of the room, placing her shoes in the bottom of the space in the closet. She glanced over at Kiara and weighed her words before speaking, not wanting to upset the atmosphere they were trying to maintain.

"By the way, what did you say to Atticus? He seemed pretty upset when he got on the plane this morning, and I haven't really seen him since."

Kiara didn't look up at her, just kept unpacking. Speaking nonchalantly, like it didn't matter, when Eden knew more than anything, it did.

"I told him that if he wants a nasty skank like Kenzie he can have her. And that he should have told me he would rather take her than me. And a whole slew of other nice things."

She smiled at her box, and Eden was sure that they were as nice as can be. Not.

"Don't you want to give him another chance?"

Kiara shook her head.

"Nope. We're over, E. You should probably just accept that."

She made that out like it was easy. She had grown up watching her big brother pine over her best friend. Watched him fall deeper and deeper into love with her. There were concrete reasons behind her advice to Kiara. 

When they finally got together, she thought that nothing would ever be able to break them. 

But she guessed it was just another thing to prove her theory. That love burns everything it touches. And still, people willingly throw themselves into the flames.

She shivered, once again thinking of Nico.

At least it was over now. Behind her. She never had to feel that again. She would never, ever let someone close enough to her to make her feel it again.

Of that, she was certain.

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If I give my gun away when it's loaded
Is that alright
Is that alright with you?