Original Sin

“This is really something I should do face to face,” Sin sounded incredibly apologetic. “And Eddie, I’m so sorry for being such a fucking coward for doing this over the phone…”

Leaning forward, Eddie rested his elbow on his knee and held his head up with his hand. The beating in his chest was growing so hard, it was beginning to make him dizzy. “Sin,” his voice sounded small but resolute. “Just… just say whatever it is you need to say.”

The emotion was clear in Sin’s voice as she spoke. “I know… I fucking know… It’s just hard. You’ve been so good to me; you deserve to hear this from me in person. But I just don’t think I can do that.”

‘Is she actually trying to torture me to death?’ Eddie wondered to himself, his feelings of fear and hurt turning into annoyance as a self-defensive mechanism. “Sin, you’re not here, so just say-”

“I am here,” Sin interrupted Eddie, her voice soft. “I’m in the hallway. But please don’t come out here,” she added quickly. “I’m just not… I’m not ready to see you.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Eddie glanced over at his door. Knowing Sin was just on the other side of it was too much. He felt tears burning at his eyes. Looking back down at the carpet, he paused. “I won’t come out,” he promised gently. “Just… just say what you called to say.”

Silence came from the other end of the line for several moments, before Eddie heard Sin clear her throat. “I love you.”

Suddenly, Eddie felt dizzy again. ‘I could not have just heard her right,’ he told himself, glancing over at the door for a second time. His feelings were so mixed up at the moment, though, he couldn’t even find the words to ask Sin to repeat what she had just said.

When Eddie said nothing in response to the admission that Sin had used all her strength to offer, she pushed on. “I haven’t told anyone that since I was thirteen,” she confessed to him, her voice catching in her throat. “But you… you deserve to know. I love you, Eddie.”

Once again, Sin’s difficult admission was met with silence. Leaning her head back against the wall in the hallway, she closed her eyes and tried to not let herself cry. ‘Maybe it’s not enough,’ she thought sadly. ‘Or maybe it’s too late. Maybe I expected him to wait too long…”

Suddenly, the door to Eddie’s apartment swung open. Rising from her seat on the floor, Sin looked at Eddie standing in the doorway. His eyes were glassy, looking at her as if she were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “I’m sorry I broke my promise and came out here,” he finally said, taking a few steps towards Sin. “But I knew that if I didn’t see you right away, that this would all turn out to be a cruel dream.”

“So, you still…” Sin took a cautious step towards Eddie, meeting his eyes nervously as her voice shook. “You still want to be with me? I haven’t fucked up so bad that-”

Before Sin could finish voicing her thought, Eddie took one more step towards her and pulled her close by the waist. His mouth captured hers, his lips pressing against her with more emotion than Sin had ever felt. Overcome with relief, she wrapped her arms around Eddie’s neck and kissed him back with all the passion in her body.

Eddie’s mind was a blank at that moment as he gently pulled Sin into his apartment and kicked the door closed behind them, never breaking their kiss. In fact, he never wanted to stop kissing Sin. Her lips were so soft as they pressed against his, and her breath was warm as it passed into his mouth. As their tongues moved together, Eddie couldn’t remember a moment that had ever felt so perfect.

Feeling Eddie guiding them towards the bed, Sin paused momentarily when she felt the mattress behind her knees. Then she sat, pulling Eddie down with her, and finally laid back with his body covering hers. She couldn’t believe she had actually told him she loved him just then, but at the same time, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t done so much earlier. As Eddie’s hand wandered under the fabric of her shirt, tenderly massaging her skin, Sin finally knew that this was what love was really like.

Finally pulling back and breaking the kiss – only so that he and Sin could quickly shed themselves of their clothing – Eddie situated his lower body between Sin’s thighs and held his upper body up on his forearms. He did nothing for the next minute, though, except to study Sin’s face intently.

“What?” Sin asked quietly, wondering what was going through Eddie’s mind as he looked down at her.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Eddie said calmly but firmly, eliciting a confused look from Sin. “Don’t ever make me think that you are going to break up with me if you don’t plan to. I don’t think I could handle that feeling ever again. That was, without a doubt, three of the most agonizing minutes of my life.”

Her eyes growing wide, Sin thought about what she had said to Eddie on the phone. “Holy shit,” she looked up at Eddie. “I am so sorry Eddie. I didn’t think that you would even imagine that I would break up with you. I was just trying to get up the nerve to tell you…”

“To tell me…?” Eddie looked into Sin’s eyes deeply, silently begging her to say it again, to help him believe that it was really true that she felt for him as deeply as he felt for her.

Swallowing hard, Sin looked into Eddie’s brown eyes, transfixed by the golden flecks. “To tell you that I love you,” she said simply, running her hands over Eddie’s back gently. “It was so fucking hard for me to admit it, to be that exposed, to get out the words finally, but now…” she smiled up at him a little. “It’s easy now, because it’s so clear. I don’t know what I was so scared of. I love you, Eddie.”

“And I love you, Sin,” Eddie told her, closing his eyes and dropping his mouth to hers once more. Within moments, the two people were lost in each other, lost in their thoughts and their emotions and their desire to be close. As Eddie’s body finally moved into Sin’s, both people felt more connected to the other than they ever had to any other person before.

Leaning her head back against the bed, Sin felt Eddie’s hot, moist breath as he placed sensual kisses across her throat. Her hands were in his hair, her fingers tunneling through the silkiness, as her body rocked in sync with Eddie’s deep thrusts. It was as if he were trying to climb completely inside her, to be one with her, and it felt incredible for Sin.

‘She loves me.’ It was the only thought going through Eddie’s mind at the moment, but each time he repeated it silently to himself, he was overcome with a feeling of pure bliss. Tasting the saltiness of Sin’s skin, Eddie let his mind wander momentarily to just enjoy how incredible their physical connection felt.

Eddie’s body moved in time with Sin’s, each person holding the other as close as they could. Sin’s thighs wrapped tightly around Eddie’s waist, pulling him to her, as her breathing grew shallow and soft moans began escaping her lips. Eddie eagerly brought his mouth back to hers, wanting to taste her moans, as he sped up his movements, his own lungs feeling short of air. A moment later, he felt Sin’s body begin to tighten below and around him, and he released her lips just in time to allow her to let out a quiet cry of pleasure. The intensity of the moment was too much for Eddie, and with just one more thrust, he felt heat waves move through his body as he released himself inside Sin.

Both people were panting heavily, their bodies slick with perspiration, but neither wanted to pull apart. Instead, they just lay in bed like that for several minutes, not saying anything, just holding one another as closely as possible and knowing that this was how it would be from now on.

-----

“I love you.”

Blinking at the intruding sunlight stinging his eyes the next morning, Eddie could barely be considered awake, but he had certainly heard Sin’s words. Smiling, he reached over to where she lay beside him on her side, obviously having been awake for a while. Stroking her cheek, he shook his head gently. “I love you, too. But you don’t have to keep saying that,” he told her softly. “I believe you.”

“I want to keep saying it,” Sin moved closer to Eddie, resting her head on his shoulder. “I want to say it over and over until I make up for not having said it sooner. And for having scared you last night. I am sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie kissed Sin’s forehead tenderly. “As long as you’re here.”

“I am,” Sin looked up into Eddie’s adoring eyes as her fingers ran over his bare chest. “And I do love you.”

There was no denying the sincerity in Sin’s eyes, and that thought made Eddie feel warm all over. Still, there was one thing he was curious about. “Would it be wrong if I asked you what happened last night?” he questioned Sin. “I mean, when you left here last night… I was so scared that something might happen between you and Zip. I don’t mean physically,” he was quick to clarify. “I just… I thought you might talk to him, and realize you still had feelings or something. What happened to make you realize… your feelings for me?”

Sighing, Sin thought back to the night before. “It’s okay to ask,” she told Eddie, biting on her bottom lip. “The truth is, I did talk to Zip. And he was incredibly sweet and sincere with me – nothing like any way I’ve ever seen him before. We were talking for a while, and I told him your theory on love being about wanting the other person to be happy. Then he told me his theory that love means not wanting to be apart from somebody ever.”

When Sin just paused for a moment, Eddie considered what she had said so far. “So how did you decide… how did you figure out you wanted to be with me, and not him?”

Slowly, Sin moved her body onto Eddie’s until she was able to look down into his face. “Well, I started thinking that I had my own theory on love,” she told him. “For so long, I was never able to trust anyone completely – even people that had never been anything but wonderful to me, like Joseph and Tavian. I never trusted them entirely and absolutely. But, when you and I were in Ohio, the morning after you told me you loved me… That was when I started trusting you completely. I knew then that you would never do anything to hurt me. I guess, in my own way, that’s the moment I fell in love with you.”

Searching Sin’s face, Eddie reached up and pushed some loose hairs behind her ear. “You have no idea how much that means to me,” he told her honestly. “And I won’t, you know – I won’t ever do anything to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“So, after you figured this all out…” Eddie wasn’t sure how to phrase his question to Sin. “I mean, did you say any of this to Zip, or did you say something else? How did he react?”

Tracing the curves of Eddie’s face with her pointer finger, from his hairline, over his forehead, down his nose and across his lips, Sin sighed. “I didn’t say any of that to him,” Sin admitted. “I just had all those thoughts going through my head. I only really said one thing to him. I told him that I love you.”

“What did he say?” Eddie hoped he wasn’t pushing too hard.

Looking a little sad, Sin shook her head slightly. “At first, he looked a little shell-shocked, but then he said… he said ‘okay’. He said that he never thought he would hear me say those words about anyone, but that if you made it possible for me to admit such deep feelings…” Sighing, Sin rested her head down on Eddie’s shoulder again. “He said that he guessed it would be wrong for him to try to interfere. And then he went back inside the club, and I came here.”

Running his hands up and down Sin’s back gently, Eddie buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent deeply. “Wow,” he finally responded to Sin’s story. “I never would have thought that Zip… but I guess that does fit in with my theory of love. You know, letting the person you love do what makes them happy, even if it makes you miserable.”

Sighing, Sin thought about Eddie’s words. “You really think he loves me?” she asked, sounding every bit like she wanted an emphatic ‘no’ from Eddie in response. Sin had no need to have her ego stroked; knowing that she had affected Zip so much – and hadn’t been able to return his feelings – just made her feel a bit guilty.

“I told you,” Eddie kissed the top of Sin’s head. “You are incredibly easy to fall in love with… But maybe it’s not such a terrible thing for Zip. I mean, now he knows that he’s capable of caring about someone that much. Maybe he can find someone who will feel the same way for him now.”

“Maybe,” Sin replied softly. “Hopefully. I mean, after all the shit he put me through in the past, I end up being the one in a healthy, loving relationship, and he’s left alone. I guess I just feel kind of bad for him.”

“Hey,” Eddie’s voice was teasing now. “What happened to that bad-ass I started dating months ago? When did you go soft on me?”

Smirking, Sin pulled herself up a bit so that she was straddling Eddie’s thighs and looking down at him. “Seems I’m the only one going soft here,” she joked, taking his half-hard erection in his hand. “And don’t worry. I’m still a bad-ass. I’m just a bad-ass in love.”

Eddie was about to respond to Sin, but instead he let out a soft moan as he felt her begin stroking him.

-----

“Now, you’re sure it’s okay that Sarah and I stay at your place while she’s here?” Eddie repeated his question to Sin for what felt like the hundredth time. “I mean, we can totally fit at my place; we did last time she visited. She just stayed on the couch-”

“Shut up,” Sin interrupted Eddie with a smirk, taking his hand and leading him towards the arrivals waiting area of the airport. “I told you it’s fine. I have an extra bedroom, and that just means you’ll be staying with me, too. See, I win.”

Not replying, Eddie just smiled over at Sin as she led their way through the crowd. He couldn’t believe how happy he was at that moment. It had been over a month since Sin had told him she loved him, and a day hadn’t passed since that she didn’t repeat the sentiment at least once. In truth, Eddie couldn’t get enough of it. Sometimes at night, he would just lie beside Sin and watch her breathing as she slept, wondering if she was dreaming and what she was dreaming about at that moment. Never in his whole life had someone mattered to Eddie as much as Sin did, and the fact that she felt the same…

So much had happened in the last month besides that, too. Finals had been rough for Eddie, but his hard work paid off and he did well in the end. Sin had been getting more offers with her photography than ever before, thanks in part to mention of her in an article in the Village Voice. Additionally, both Eddie and Sin, along with Tavian and Madison, were trying to spend as much time as possible with Lianna now that Joseph was away on tour.

Lianna planned on joining the band on tour a couple times over the next few months – until she was too big to travel, at least – and Joseph already had plane tickets to New York for every chance he could get back. He would be back indefinitely in three months, and until then his friends had all taken it upon themselves to make sure Lianna’s life was as easy as possible as she made her way through her second trimester.

“When’s Sarah’s plane due?” Sin asked Eddie, looking up at the board that announced arrivals and departures. “I don’t see her flight up there.”

Before Eddie could even respond to state that the flight had already landed, Sarah answered that question for him. “OH MY GOD!” she pushed her way through the crowd, running up to Eddie and throwing her arms around him as he rose. “I am SOOO excited to be here!”

Laughing at the younger girl’s exuberance, Sin stood and gave Sarah a small hug. “We’re excited, too,” she told Eddie’s sister, winning a big smile from Sarah. “We are going to do so much, you’re going to need a vacation from your vacation.”

Walking over towards the baggage claim area, Eddie and Sin asked about how things were back in Ohio. “Mom and Dad are the same as always,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “You know, nice but WAY too controlling of me. Hello, I turned twenty last month! I don’t need babysitters.”

Smirking at each other but not saying anything in response, Eddie and Sin just exchanged a silent look and allowed Sarah to continue. “Oh, and I saw Meredith last week. I think she’s seeing someone new. There was this woman at the coffee shop late one night, real pretty, new in town, and she seemed to be waiting for Meredith to get off work. Then I saw her again a few days later sitting there, and they were making eyes at each other across the coffee shop.”

The threesome approached the baggage claim area and waited for Sarah’s bags to arrive. “So what about what’s-his-face?” Eddie asked, feeling bad that he actually couldn’t recall the guy’s name. “Your boring-as-hell God-friendly body-builder friend. Have you cut him loose yet, or are you still dangling him at the end of a string?”

“Dave,” Sarah’s distaste was evident as she supplied her boyfriend’s name. “I told you when you visited – I keep breaking up with him, and he keeps getting all weepy till I get sick of it and take him back. Really, I am MORE than excited to be getting away from him right now. If he tries to drag me to another of his church’s functions, I’m going to kill him. Yeah, he’ll make me commit one of the Big Ten sins. Ass.”

When Sarah pointed at a big black suitcase with a red ribbon tied around the handle, Eddie leaned over and picked it up. “Damn,” he grunted at the weight of the suitcase. “What did you bring with you? Bricks? Are you sure Dave didn’t sneak in here to follow you?”

“Wait,” Sarah said quickly as Eddie and Sin went to walk away. “This bag is mine too,” she told them as she grabbed another large suitcase from off of the conveyor belt. “There, that’s it.”

“That’s it?” Eddie looked incredulously at Sarah as the three of them started heading outside towards the taxi stand, weighed down with two humungous suitcases as well as two medium-sized carry-on bags that Sin had relieved Sarah of. “You brought a ton of stuff, Sarah! How long are you planning on staying here anyhow?”

“Actually,” Sarah’s big brown eyes lit up as she stopped and looked between her brother and his girlfriend. “I’m planning on staying. Period. I only bought a one-way ticket. I’m moving to New York!” With that, she swung quickly around, her long dark ponytail flying behind her, leaving Eddie and Sin staring after her with their mouths gaping open.

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The End… for now.

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OKAY, EVEN I NEED TO HAVE A WARM FUZZY ENDING NOW AND THEN. MY NEXT STORY IS GOING TO BE ABOUT SARAH, AS IF YOU COULDN’T GUESS FROM THE ENDING OF THIS ONE. ANYWAY, THAT MEANS THERE WILL STILL BE A LOT OF EDDIE AND SIN, PLUS SOME JOSEPH AND LIANNA AND THE REST. AND YES, THAT INCLUDES ZIP, TOO. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO READ AND ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO REVIEWED THIS STORY. A FEW WORDS TO REVIEWERS:

WOLF: I DON’T USUALLY LIKE KILLING OFF CHARACTERS BECAUSE THEY GET IN THE WAY. PLUS, I KIND OF DIG ZIP. NO HARM/NO FOUL, RIGHT?

CARIAD: YOU KNOW MY LOVE FOR CLIFFIES BY NOW, DON’T YOU? THEY’RE A MUST!

TEMPLETON21: YOU GOT JOSEPH AND LIANNA IN THE LAST CHAPTER, AND HAPPY HAPPY IN THIS ONE. GOOD?

AFICI0NADA: IT WASN’T WHAT YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT, SEE? I JUST LIKE MESSING WITH YOUR HEAD!

LEYLIA: BREATHE NOW! NO CLIFFHANGER THIS TIME. WELL, NOT REALLY – JUST AN INTRO TO THE NEXT STORY.

VLAD_THE_IMPISH: ALL REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED! AND I’M GUESSING YOU ARE HAPPY NOW.

FOAMYFAN15010: LONG LIVE THE QUEEN? HEE.

YING: THANKS FOR ALL THE NICE COMMENTS.

THANKS ALSO TO ADAEE, IOTC247, MIZTIKAL_DRAGON, PIKACHEESE, ANGEL, CECILLE, EBONI, KEZ, LKN, TG, HOMAN, AND TAYE, AS WELL AS EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME TO JUST READ THIS STORY. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!