Original Sin

“So your friend Zach is our age,” Sin looked at Eddie across the kitchen table in her apartment while they ate dinner. “And he has a five year old?”

“Well, technically,” Eddie gave Sin a teasing grin. “He’s my age. You are a bit of a cradle robber in this relationship, if you’ve forgotten.”

Rolling her eyes, Sin stood up and brought her empty plate to the sink. “Yeah,” she replied sarcastically. “However do you deal with dating an old woman like me? I mean, those fourteen months really make a huge difference, huh?”

Picking up his own plate, Eddie walked up behind Sin at the sink. Reaching around her, he put down his plate. Sliding his arms around her waist, he put his mouth to her ear. “Well, you know,” he whispered to her. “It is every boy’s fantasy to nail the hot older woman.”

Trying to not laugh was too hard a feat for Sin, and she ended up leaning back into Eddie and chuckling. “You’re an ass,” she said.

Kissing Sin’s neck softly, Eddie murmured a wordless agreement. As his hands slid up from her waist to cup her breasts, though, Sin pushed him back. “Na-ah,” she shook her head as she turned around. “Your friend’s due here in, like, ten minutes. His first impression of me doesn’t need to be when he knocks on the door mid-fuck.”

Grabbing Sin’s wrists and pinning them down on the counter on either side of her, Eddie leaned close to her. “You have a dirty mind,” he chided jokingly. “I wasn’t trying to fuck. Just to cop a feel.”

Wrestling her wrists from Eddie’s hands, Sin placed her hands on his chest and shoved him back. “So what happened to that sweet, innocent midwestern boy I met back in November? You’ve become this letch with wandering hands.”

Trying to nod solemnly, Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “I guess it’s all the bad influence I’ve been associating with lately,” he told Sin. “Now, who do you think has been affecting me in such a negative way?”

Picking up a dishtowel, Sin wrapped it up and snapped it jokingly at Eddie. “Away,” she insisted. “Now.”

“Fine,” Eddie gave Sin a little frown. “Be that way.”

Laughing, Sin followed Eddie into the living room. Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Sin watched with amusement as Eddie’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. He rushed to answer the door, swinging it open. “Zach!” he greeted the man standing on the other side of the door.

“Dude, Eddie,” Zach smiled, entering the apartment. “It’s good to see you.”

Sin watched as the two guys greeted each other. She looked at Zach, taking him in. While he definitely looked all-American – football t-shirt, white sneakers, husky build, short pale hair – he didn’t give off the air of innocence that had originally attracted Sin to Eddie. He seemed somehow more arrogant, more self-assured than Eddie ever had, although his looks were nowhere near as good as Eddie’s.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie smiled apologetically at Sin a moment later. “I didn’t mean to ignore you. Sin, this is my friend from back home, Zach. Zach, this is my girlfriend, Sin.”

“Hi Zach,” Sin gave the man a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Zach looked incredulously at Sin for a moment, making her feel self-conscious. It was clear he was surprised by her appearance, and his eyes just moved over the tattoos that decorated his arms. “Hey,” he finally looked into Sin’s face, a perplexed expression still clear. “Gotta say, not what I expected. Your name is Sin?”

Folding her arms in front of her chest, Sin bit back a nasty retort. ‘This is Eddie’s friend,’ she reminded herself. ‘Be nice for Eddie.’ Forcing a small false smile, Sin nodded. “Cynthia, actually, but everyone calls me Sin.”

Staring at her for another moment, Zach looked like he was bored with her and turned his focus back to Eddie. “So how are things going, man?” he asked, taking a seat on the couch.

Eddie could already feel the tension in the air between Zach and Sin, and suddenly realized why his gut reaction had been that these two shouldn’t meet. Zach could be incredibly closed minded when he wanted to. In fact, Eddie’s friendship with Zach had begun disintegrating shortly after Meredith had announced her sexuality. Zach’s snide comments had quickly grown to be too much for Eddie, and they almost came to blows a few times. If not for the fact that Zach had dropped out of school and begun working at his father-in-law’s tire dealership, making it so that the two didn’t see each other very much, Eddie was pretty sure they would have ended everything with a huge fight.

“Well, there’s lots to talk about,” Eddie replied to Zach. “But let me grab a couple beers first. Sin, can you show me where you put the beer I brought by earlier?”

A little smirk on her face, Sin nodded at Eddie. “The beer, amazingly enough, is in the fridge,” she said as she and Eddie entered the kitchen. “See, a recent phenomenon occurred where people thought making beer cold might be a good-”

Sin’s teasing diatribe was cut off as Eddie walked up to Sin and took her face in his hands, pressing his mouth to hers. He felt Sin’s body tense with surprise for a moment, and quickly relax as she fell into the kiss. As Eddie finally pulled back a minute later, he looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I forgot that Zach isn’t really… used to people from the city. If you want to leave…”

Rolling her eyes, Sin leaned forward and kissed Eddie’s lips softly. “And you forget,” she smiled at him. “I have a pretty fucking thick skin. Look, the guy’s in town for one night. I think I can handle someone making fun of my name and looking at my tattoos like they make me a freak for four or five hours, if it’s for you, of course.”

“But I don’t want that,” Eddie insisted, reaching up to run his thumb over Sin’s cheek. “That’s not cool.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Sin smiled. “Let’s just go out there. You find out all the bullshit gossip about the people from your hometown, Zach will think that you’ve turned into a weirdo for dating such a fucked up girl, and I’ll laugh at him silently in my head. Sounds like a party to me.”

Shaking his head, Eddie looked at Sin with an expression of pure admiration. “What did I do to deserve you?” he asked with a grin.

“Well,” Sin raised her eyebrows suggestively. “You give very good head.”

Laughing, Eddie pulled Sin into a hug. ‘We can handle this,’ he thought. ‘We can handle one night – together.’

-----

Tolerating Zach wasn’t too hard an achievement for Sin, but mostly because he paid her absolutely no mind. He bragged about his job, talked about his wife being pregnant again, and mentioned his ‘awesome’ new truck about ten times. Each time Eddie tried to bring Sin into the conversation, mentioning her photography or her time in Australia, Zach looked over at her like he had no idea she was sitting there. Every time.

“Well, Mary’s dad’s business is going fine,” Zach was saying. “I mean, it’s going to be way more successful when he kicks it and I get to take over, but for now, it’s pretty good money. In the meantime, I’ve been thinking of joining the Army.”

“Really?” The question came out of Sin’s mouth before she could sensor herself. When Zach looked at her with annoyance, she tried to explain herself. “I mean, it’s just surprising with you having a five year old, and your wife being pregnant. Plus, the military landscape is pretty dangerous nowadays.”

For the first time all evening, Zach turned to face Sin. “I happen to love this country,” he gave Sin a disgusted look. “I’d look at it like an honor to serve in the military. But I should have guessed, just by looking at you, that you’re a die-hard, left-wing, feminist America hater.”

“Excuse me?” Sin couldn’t bottle up her annoyance any more. “You should try occasionally not judging a book by its cover. If I had done that when you walked through the door, I would have guessed you were a closed-minded, bigoted, small town hick. Oh, wait…”

Eddie cringed as he watched in horror as the argument began to escalate. He couldn’t even get a word in edgewise, though, as Zach started shooting back at Sin.

“In case you forgot,” Zach looked at Sin with his eyes blazing. “Eddie’s from the same small town I’m from. Does that mean you think your boyfriend is so terrible?” At the word ‘boyfriend’, Zack looked so annoyed it truly pissed off Sin.

“My boyfriend,” Sin repeated the word just to bother Zach some more. “Happens to be one of the most open minded, intelligent people I’ve ever met. And just so you know, I don’t hate America. I just think it’s stupid for a married twenty-three year old guy with a five-year-old son and a pregnant wife to enlist in the middle of a highly volatile time. You could be sent away from your wife and kids for years; you could die out there. What would happen to your family then?”

“They would be proud that I died doing something heroic,” Zach yelled at Sin.

“Heroic?” Sin asked incredulously. “Leaving them behind, dying – that’s heroic? That’s idiotic!”

“What?” Zach sneered. “Eddie never told you about his uncle? Yeah, he had an uncle that died in the Persian Gulf. He was like a brother to Eddie – to me too. And I tell you one thing; he died a hero, not an idiot. Our whole ‘hick town’ as you seem to see it, grieved over losing him. Eddie was inconsolable for a year. But we all knew that he was a hero.”

Taking in a sharp breath, Sin tried to collect her thoughts. Eddie hadn’t ever told her about his uncle. Looking over, she hoped Eddie hadn’t taken offense to anything she said. “I’m sorry,” she looked sadly at Eddie. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Of course you didn’t,” Eddie’s blood began to boil when he saw Sin looking so dejected. How was she supposed to know about his uncle when he had never told her? “And nothing you said was insulting to his memory. Please don’t think that for a second. I’m sorry I never told you.”

Shaking his head, Zach didn’t seem to know what to make of the sight before him. “I can’t believe you’re apologizing to HER,” he told Eddie. “God, what has happened to you, man? I mean, I get that Meredith turning into a dike probably affected you pretty bad-”

“Quit it,” Eddie said to Zach, his voice low and warning. “I didn’t accept you saying shit like that about Meredith then, and I don’t accept it now.”

“Look at you,” Zach said in amazement. “You’ve been, like, infected by this city. You never come home anymore, you forget what really matters, and you date some chick who looks like a sideshow act and insults the way your uncle died.”

Standing up, Eddie had to use all his self-control to not ball up a fist and punch Zach in the face. “This city didn’t change me,” Eddie said through clenched teeth. “And neither did Sin. You and I turned out to be very different people when we were still back home. I guess I just forgot about that; I let the memories of us as kids drown out the bad times as we got older. My mistake. But now I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Whatever,” Zach stood up and started walking towards the door. “You know, you’re right. We were different before you left; I forgot that too. You were already thinking you were better than everyone we knew then. And now you’ve got your freak cheerleader here, telling you how right you are. You know, I wish I hadn’t come here. At least then, I would have remembered you how you used to be when we were kids.”

“That makes two of us,” Eddie gave a hard stare to Zach. “Because I wish you hadn’t come here, either.”

With one last disgusted shake of his head at Eddie, Zach turned his eyes on Sin. “I can’t believe he’s giving up our friendship for you.” With that, he turned and walked out the door.

Sin turned her eyes slowly to Eddie to see how he was doing. “I’m sorry,” she said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. “I didn’t mean to start a fight. He was just so-”

“Stop,” Eddie said firmly, giving Sin a small smile. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I can’t believe how long you put up with that asshole without saying anything. I’m the one who should be sorry, for brining him here in the first place.”

“But what I said about your uncle-”

Closing the space between him and Sin quickly, Eddie pulled her into a hug. “First of all, you didn’t say anything insulting about my uncle, or any military personnel for that matter.” Sliding one hand into the hair at the nape of her neck, he pressed his lips gently to Sin’s temple. “And secondly, I never even told you about him.”

“I know,” Sin buried her head into Eddie’s chest. “I just wouldn’t want to say anything fucked up about someone you cared about.”

Pulling back, Eddie looked Sin in the eyes and gave her a small grin. “Which is why I asked Zach to leave,” he slipped a piece of Sin’s hair behind her ear as he spoke. “Because he said more than a few fucked up things about someone I care an awful lot about – you.”

Biting her bottom lip, Sin felt an unfamiliar ache in the back of her throat. She was not used to being the type of person who ever got emotional – unless that emotion was anger. “You make it very hard to not be crazy about you,” she told Eddie.

“So my evil plan is working,” Eddie smiled at Sin as he raised his eyebrows. “Excellent.”

Rising on her toes, Sin pressed her mouth to Eddie’s for a warm, passionate kiss. Finally pulling apart after several minutes, both people were breathless. “You want to go to bed now?” Sin asked Eddie.

Nodding, Eddie touched Sin’s face. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s been one hell of a night. There’s nothing I would rather do than curl up around you and hold you close all night.”

-----

It bothered Eddie for days, the way Zach had acted on Saturday night. Even midday on Tuesday, Eddie was having a hard time concentrating on his schoolwork. “Earth to Eddie,” he heard someone say.

Turning, Eddie blushed slightly. “I’m sorry, Sue,” he told the girl next to him. “I’m just really out of it today.” Sue and Eddie were supposed to be working on their presentation, which was due the following week, but Eddie had spent most of the class time staring off into space. “I kind of suck as a project partner right now.”

“Don’t tell me there’s trouble in Honeymoon Land?” Sue looked surprised. “I thought once the rock star got back on a plane, things with you and Sin were hunky-dory.”

“Damn,” Eddie replied. “Zip. I forgot completely about him. He’s due back in a couple weeks, too. No, actually, things between Sin and me are fine. The things that are JUST between us, that is. Whenever other people get involved, though, things seem to go to hell in a hand basket.” Eddie went on to explain to Sue whom Zach was and what had transpired during his short visit. “He was such a fucking asshole to Sin,” he concluded.

“You curse a lot more than you used to,” Sue smirked. “But listen, if you and Sin are good when you’re alone, screw what anyone else thinks or says. All the best romances are based on the idea of opposites attracting, aren’t they?”

Giving a begrudging smile to Sue, Eddie shrugged. “I know you’re right,” he told the brunette. “But it’s still hard. I feel bad that Sin had to deal with all that just because my former friend was an ass.”

“Well,” Sue tapped on her chin while she thought about the situation. “Since Sin went through stuff for you, why don’t you return the favor? You are always saying that you guys stay in all the time, watch movies, whatever. Why don’t you make a date – a date she will love, with all her favorite stuff? That will remind you both that your differences don’t matter as long as you both respect them.”

“You’re going to make a great therapist,” Eddie told Sue with a grin. “That sounds perfect. Thanks.”

Unfortunately for Sue, Eddie was still not paying attention to his schoolwork. Instead, he was trying to figure out what he could do that coming Friday on a date with Sin to make her feel appreciated and special.

-----

“A date?” Sin asked incredulously later that night. “I don’t do dates, Eddie. I actually don’t think I’ve ever had a stereotypical ‘date’.”

“Stereotypical?” Eddie scoffed with a smirk, leaning close to Sin on the couch. “Absolutely not. I’m planning on taking you out and giving you a great night. Won’t you let me do that for you?”

Eddie looked at her with such hope in his puppy dog eyes, Sin started laughing. “Fine,” she leaned over and kissed him softly. “That sounds great. I appreciate it. So what are we doing on this ‘date’?”

“You could try saying the word without sounding like your eating something that tastes bad?” Eddie scolded, but his eyes were dancing with excitement. “Anyway, it’s going to be a surprise.”

“I’m not big on surprises,” Sin looked warily at Eddie.

Rolling his eyes, Eddie shook his head. “Just trust me, okay?”

-----

“How very ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’,” Sin gave Eddie a smirk as they walked into the art gallery on Friday night. It was closed, and everything was dark. “But you know, if you give me a pair of diamond earrings, I’ll hoc them for new camera.”

“Can’t you ever just say ‘how nice’ or ‘thanks’?” Eddie shook his head in amusement.

“No,” Sin said simply, walking over towards a painting on the wall. “So how’d you get the keys to this place, anyway?”

Walking up behind Sin, Eddie wrapped his arms around her waist. “The wife of one of my professors owns the place,” he told her. “And you always talk about how much you like looking at art, but how you can’t stand the pretentiousness of most people that go to art galleries. So, here you are. All the art, none of the pretense.”

Turning her head slightly to look at Eddie, Sin gave his a small smile. “You know, this was really sweet,” she said, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I was just kidding earlier. This means a lot to me.”

“I’m glad.”

For the next hour, Sin and Eddie walked around the gallery. Eddie was glad to see that Sin truly seemed to be enjoying herself. As they came to the end, Eddie reached for the doorknob on a door marked ‘Private’. “What are you doing now?” Sin asked suspiciously.

“Well, we haven’t eaten yet, have we?” Eddie asked, opening the door.

Even as she tried to keep cool, Sin couldn’t help but smile when she saw the room. It was a storage room obviously, with crates and boxes in one corner, but Eddie had set up a picnic on a blanket in the middle of the floor. “Look at you,” Sin grinned at him. “All romantic and shit.”

Letting out a warm laugh, Eddie led Sin to the blanket. “All romantic and shit,” he repeated. “But I know you’re not a wine and cheese type of girl, so I brought something else.” Reaching into the cooler, Eddie pulled out two beers. Then, from a small bag next to it, he removed two wrapped sandwiches, still warm. “Italian sausage and peppers from Carlo’s deli,” he presented one to Sin proudly.

“This is so great-” Sin tried to tell Eddie, but he cut her off.

“No talking,” Eddie told Sin, standing up and walking across the room. “Not during the movie. That’s rude.” With that, Eddie flipped off the lights and turned on a projector that began showing an image on the wall before them. Taking a seat next to Sin again, he smiled at her in the darkness.

“Harold and Maude?” Sin turned to Eddie, excited as the film started.

“Eat your sandwich and watch the movie,” Eddie instructed in a whisper, as if they were in a crowded theater. “I still have someplace I want to take you after this.”

Leaning into Eddie, Sin opened her sandwich happily. How he had managed to get movie reel of ‘Harold and Maude’, which she had told him a week earlier was as close to a romantic film as she liked, was beyond Sin. But the fact that he had gone to all this trouble to make her feel special tonight wasn’t something she had to think hard about; it was something she was getting used to, after years of being with men who never put her first.

“Thank you,” Sin whispered softly.

Turning slightly, Eddie kissed her forehead. “Anytime.”

-----

“I can’t believe you were able to get tickets!” Sin exclaimed excitedly as they walked onto the street. Eddie’s crowning achievement of the evening had been to take Sin to see her favorite band play. “This show has been sold out for months – before we ever started dating. Who did you have to blow to get them?”

Laughing, Eddie slid his arm around Sin’s waist. “There were no sexual favors involved,” he told her. “I just had to sit on eBay twenty-four hours a day for three days. And use half my savings.” When Sin’s eyes widened, he shook his head. “I’m just kidding. They weren’t too expensive. Plus, we never go out. I actually had a little money put aside.”

“Well, tonight was great,” Sin told Eddie with a grin. “Thank you so much.”

“Sin!” An excited voice suddenly called out. As Sin and Eddie looked around the crowd leaving the club, they tried to find the person calling to her. “Sin, over here!”

“Oh my God!” Sin rushed over to the girl calling to her. “I didn’t even know you were in town, you bitch!”

“Great to see you, too,” Allie replied wryly. “Oh, Eddie, right? Good to see you. You guys remember my girlfriend, Dina, right?”

“Sure,” Sin smiled. “Hey Dina. Good to see you again.”

“Okay,” Allie smiled, looking between Sin and Eddie with a wicked grin. “As far as I remember, the last time we saw you two, you were both insisting that you weren’t dating. But unless I’m getting flashbacks from high school acid trips, I just saw you with your arms around each other.”

Smiling a bit shyly, Sin looked at Eddie and then back at Allie. “Yeah, things kind of changed,” she told her friend. “In a good way.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Allie said sincerely. “You guys seem good together. Hey, do you want to go somewhere and grab a beer?”

“Allie,” Dina’s voice was heard for the first time that evening, sounding annoyed. “Could I speak to you for a moment?”

Sin and Eddie watched with confusion as Dina and Allie stepped away from them for a moment to speak in hushed tones. It was hard not to notice how bothered Dina looked, and the way that Allie kept looking back at Eddie and Sin. Finally, Allie was the one with the annoyed expression on her face, and it seemed like she was saying something fairly harsh to Dina, who’s expression turned to one of relent.

“Sorry about that,” Allie said as she and Dina rejoined Sin and Eddie. “Anyway, are you guys up for a drink?”

Sharing perplexed expressions, Sin turned back to Allie and shrugged. “Sounds good. Where to?”

As Allie and Sin discussed the pros and cons of a few nearby choices, Dina stood aside silently with her arms crossed over her chest. ‘What is that about?’ Eddie thought to himself. Little did he know, he would soon find out.

-----

I AM SORRY IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG TO POST. I’VE GOT SOME SHIT GOING ON IN MY LIFE THAT HAS GIVEN ME MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK. HOPEFULLY THIS CHAPTER DIDN’T BLOW TOO BADLY.

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO REVIEWED. I WILL TRY TO BE MORE DILIGENT IN MY POSTINGS, I PROMISE!