Original Sin

“Come in. It’s unlocked!” Sin called out when she heard a knock at her apartment door. From her kneeling position on the floor, she was facing away from the entrance. “Did you bring the proofs with you?” she asked over her shoulder.

“I think you’re mixing me up with Ava,” Eddie’s voice came behind Sin, making her jump. “I’m sorry, are you working? I’ll get out of your way. You’re obviously waiting for Ava.”

“No, I’m not,” Sin told Eddie, rising from the floor. “She mentioned that she might drop by this afternoon with some proofs from the magazine, but it wasn’t a definite thing. And I’m not working; this is just for fun,” she motioned towards the floor. Spread out was a sheet with a large canvas in the center. Pictures were arranged on the canvas, and paint and other decorations were being added.

Eddie took a sharp breath in when Sin faced him entirely. She was in a pair of jeans and a white wifebeater, with her black bra fully outlined through the thin fabric. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she had paint on her clothes and face. She looked beautiful. “So what are you working on?” Eddie forced himself to ask finally.

Looking back at the canvas, Sin smiled. “One of the editors at the magazine is retiring, so I’m making a little going away present for her,” she motioned for Eddie to walk over. “I know it’s kind of grade-school, but I know she’ll like it. We’ve got pictures from the last twenty years, while she’s worked at the magazine, and I put them together in a collage. Then I added clippings from the biggest stories she has worked on over the years, and now I’m just putting some decoration on. What do you think?”

Smiling, Eddie looked at the item on the floor. Upon closer inspection, it didn’t look childish at all. It looked almost like a piece of pop art, stylistic and original. “I’m impressed,” Eddie told Sin. “Of course, you do realize you have more paint on yourself than you do on the canvas, right?”

Giving Eddie a smile, Sin nodded. “I was just getting into this,” Sin said. “The woman who is retiring is the one who hired me at the magazine in the first place. I’m really going to miss her. But anyhow, what are you doing here? Don’t you have a class?”

“My professor was sick,” Eddie told Sin. He watched her take a seat on the sheet – probably aware that sitting on the couch while covered in paint would be a bad idea – and he joined her on the floor. “So I thought I’d check out what you were up to.”

“Well, this is it,” Sin motioned toward the mess again. “You’re welcome to stay and help if you want…” For the last couple weeks, Eddie and Sin had been spending time together, but they knew things were still off. Sin did appreciate that, despite any discomfort, Eddie still kept coming back, kept trying to fix things.

“That actually sounds like fun,” Eddie smiled at Sin. “Although I must warn you that I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”

“I believe that,” Sin teased, laughing when Eddie shot her a withering glare.

Eddie removed his button-down, leaving him in just a t-shirt. When Sin handed him a paintbrush, he smiled and moved closer to the canvas. “So, anything in particular I’m supposed to be painting?”

“Go wild,” Sin told Eddie, her eyes sparkling. “Or as wild as a boy from the mid-west can go.”

-----

“Shit,” Sin said a couple hours later. She had lifted her paintbrush to look at the completed piece in front of her and Eddie, but had accidentally gotten blue paint on Eddie’s white shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s no problem,” Eddie told Sin, looking down at the splotch.

“No,” Sin stood up. “Give me your shirt before the paint sets. I have remover, but it won’t work if the paint is dry.” Standing up, she hurried towards the kitchen to get the solution. When she turned around, she swallowed hard. Eddie had followed her, removing his shirt along the way. And Sin was surprised just how good he looked standing there shirtless in front of her.

“Here,” Eddie handed over the article of clothing, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. Sin was looking at him in a way he couldn’t quite decipher. Eddie knew that he was in pretty good condition, slim but toned, but he wasn’t sure if Sin was looking at him with approval or amusement. He knew that, at the least, he didn’t have the array of tattoos over his chest, arms and back that Zip often showed off in Broken Dynamite’s videos and photo shoots. ‘And that’s probably what she likes,’ Eddie thought sadly.

Taking the shirt from Eddie, Sin had a hard time catching her breath. She was so used to the men she dated being covered in tattoos, it had taken her by surprise how attractive she found Eddie’s sculpted, toned, unadorned upper body. “Thanks,” she finally forced out, taking the shirt and forcing herself to turn around and face the sink. ‘Cut it out,’ Sin chided herself. ‘You’re a fucking grownup. You can handle seeing your guy friend without a shirt on without getting all pubescent horny.’

After a few minutes of scrubbing, Sin was able to get the paint off of Eddie’s shirt. Turning around, she prepared herself this time so she wouldn’t be surprised to see Eddie’s torso again. “Well, I got out the stain,” Sin told Eddie, who was sitting at the kitchen table. “But it’s soaking wet. Why don’t you let me wash it, and I’ll get it back to you in a couple days?”

“That would be great,” Eddie told Sin, feeling relieved that she at least wasn’t making fun of him for his body. “Um, I can just wear the overshirt I was wearing earlier.” He stood up and started heading into the living room to get said shirt. Sin just watched his back as he did, chewing her lip. He looked so good, she almost wanted to find an excuse to tell him to keep his shirt off, but she couldn’t think of one.

“Well, it looks like the collage is done,” Eddie motioned toward the floor as he buttoned the sleeves of his shirt, the front still open as he did so.

“Thanks so much for helping me, buddy,” Sin gave Eddie a smile. “And look… I know things still feel off, and I’m sorry if that’s my fault-”

“Funny,” Eddie interrupted. “I was about to say the same thing.”

Nodding, Sin continued. “But I had fun today, despite whatever weirdness is going on.”

“Me too,” Eddie agreed. “Listen, you want to go to dinner?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Taking a step towards Eddie, Sin looked up with a seldom-seen look of shyness. “And Eddie, I just want you to know how much you mean to me. You’re the best friend I’ve had in a long time.”

Grinning, Eddie put out his arms to give Sin a hug. “You, too,” he told Sin. Only when she moved closer to him to embrace him did he realize his shirt was still unbuttoned in front. He had suddenly felt the skin above the neckline of Sin’s tank top pressing against him, her cheek against his bare chest.

Sin could have melted when she felt Eddie’s skin against hers. His chest was warm, radiating heat, and her skin was cool against his. His neck was right there next to her lips, and for just a moment, Sin almost gave in; she wanted so badly to place soft kisses along his throat and run her hands over his bare chest. “Well, enough of that,” Sin pulled back, trying to sound like she was joking. “I’m going to take a five minute shower, and then we’ll grab something to eat. Sound good, chief?”

“Sounds good,” Eddie told Sin, hoping she hadn’t pulled away because of his body’s involuntary reaction to having her so close to him. Once Sin left the room, Eddie sat on the couch and tried to will away his half-hard erection as he buttoned his shirt. ‘This is getting ridiculous,’ he told himself with annoyance when he finally began to feel his body relax again. ‘I’m going to have to learn to be around Sin without getting a hard-on whenever she touches me. Otherwise, I’ll lose what is probably the most special person in my life.’

At that moment, Sin entered the living room. Her hair was soaking wet, she had changed into a clean tank top and jeans, and her skin was glowing from her shower. Immediately, Eddie felt himself growing hard again. “I’m just going to use the bathroom real quick,” he told Sin as he hurried by her.

“Okay,” Sin blushed as Eddie passed her. ‘Hopefully he didn’t hear me in the shower just now,’ Sin thought. ‘Because THAT would be embarrassing.’

-----

“Okay, I’m just not getting this,” Ava was laid out on Sin’s couch the next day. She had brought over the proofs from the magazine that Sin had to look over, which she was doing on the floor. “You are admitting that you’re attracted to him. You are admitting that you think he’s fun. You are admitting that you two have been having weird shy vibes around each other for weeks now. But you DON’T think that you and Eddie should try going horizontal together?”

Glaring at her assistant, Sin looked back down at the proofs in her hands. “You’re really fucking annoying. Did you know that?”

“Mature,” Ava rolled her eyes, sitting up. “And not a very impressive avoidance tactic, either. Come on, Sin! I know you like this guy; why don’t you go for it?”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Sin looked at Ava again. “Okay, I’m only repeating myself this one last time,” she told the blond girl. “First, Eddie and I are good friends, and I have no desire to ruin that. Second, Eddie and I have nothing real in common, which, as friends isn’t too big a problem, but in a romantic situation, it would be. And finally… he just wouldn’t be into me like that.”

Biting her lip to keep from breaking the promise she had made Eddie to keep his secret at the party the night she met him, Ava let out a frustrated groan instead. How on earth did these two people manage to miss how crazy they were about each other?

“Besides,” Sin continued. “I thought you were all about getting me together with Zip.”

“No,” Ava explained. “I wanted you to have sex with Zip. Because you needed to get laid. Badly. And it worked. But now… now you’ve got this awesome person who you’re into and who obviously adores you, and it is really fucking annoying as your friend to sit back and fucking wait to see if anything fucking happens between you two!”

Sin’s eyes grew wide as Ava’s volume (and annoyance level) raised, and suddenly Sin let out a loud chuckle. “I’m sorry,” Sin tried to control her laughter, to no avail. “I’ve just never seen anyone get so wrapped up in someone else’s love life – especially considering that there’s no love life to actually talk about!”

Her eyes turning to slits, Ava crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re trying to avoid what I just said by laughing,” she accused Sin.

Finally able to calm herself down, Sin looked at Ava and shrugged. “Okay,” she asked her assistant. “What do you think I should do? Should I just jump the poor kid the next time he comes by? Should I say ‘the hell with our friendship, let’s screw’? What do you want from me, Ava?”

Thinking about this for a moment, a sly smile slowly spread across Ava’s lips that made Sin nervous. “I know,” Ava told her boss. “Invite him to the benefit as your date.”

About to object, Sin paused. She did have to attend some annoying, snobby benefit put on by the magazine in a few weeks. Up until now, Sin had always attended these occasions by herself, although dates were welcome. Maybe bringing Eddie wouldn’t be the worst idea. At least he would keep Sin in a good mood while around all those annoying people. “Okay,” Sin told Ava, who grinned in response. “I will, but only if you promise that you’ll mind your own business regarding my love life from NOW ON.”

“If you bring Eddie as your date to the benefit,” Ava nodded. “I promise to back off.”

“Thank you,” Sin told Ava, turning her attention back to the proofs in her hands. But Ava could still see the small smile curving over Sin’s lips as she sat on the floor in front of her, thinking about Eddie.

-----

“I’ve got a favor to ask,” Sin said to Eddie on the phone later that night, not even giving a greeting first.

“Name it,” Eddie told Sin, nonplussed by her immediate request. He was sitting at his small kitchenette table, working on a paper, when Sin had called him. She had been a pleasant distraction.

“A week from Saturday,” Sin began, trying to sound normal even though it was taking all her effort to spit out the words. Effectively, she WAS asking Eddie out on a date, although she hoped to not make it seem that way. “I have to go to some boring, stuck up benefit put on by the magazine. It’s going to be a bunch of rich people congratulating themselves for something or other that they think is so great that they did. It’s going to suck, really. I was wondering if you’d come with me.”

“Make it seems appealing, why don’t you?” Eddie joked, but his stomach was tying in knots.

Going to a formal event with Sin? Wouldn’t that be like a date? ‘Don’t be an idiot,’ Eddie chided himself. ‘She’s asking as a favor.’

“I’m just kidding. Of course I’ll go.”

Letting out a breath of relief, Sin relaxed a little. “Thanks,” she told Eddie. “I just didn’t really want to go alone to another one of these things, and I thought you and I might actually have funny ragging on people.”

“Absolutely,” Eddie replied. “Oh, is it black tie? Do I need to get a tux?”

“It is,” Sin grumbled. “I actually have to get a dress, too. And I hate shopping.”

“Well, why don’t we get the shopping part over with this weekend?” Eddie asked Sin. “We’ll go out on Saturday, go shopping, and then spend the evening doing something that doesn’t make your skin crawl quite as much.”

“Sounds good,” Sin laughed. “And thanks, guy. I owe you one.”

“No problem,” Eddie replied, and then hung up the phone. Staring at the receiver for a moment, he shook his head and smiled wryly to himself. “You’re a glutton for punishment, you know that?” he told himself. “A glutton for punishment.”

-----

It only took Eddie about twenty minutes to pick out a tuxedo for the benefit. To Sin’s approval, he hadn’t chosen an old-fashioned bowtie version that always made men look like waiters. Instead, he had gotten a more modern version of a tuxedo, black with a vest and normal tie. And Sin had chosen the color of the tie and vest – a dark red that somehow managed to bring out the gold flecks in his eyes. While Sin had never been the type to be attracted to a man in a tuxedo before, she had to admit to herself that Eddie looked damn good.

Choosing a dress for Sin turned out to be a more daunting task. First of all, Sin hated dressing up. Secondly, she wasn’t sure how the stuffy wealth at the party was going to respond to her tattoo-laden body in an evening dress. And finally, the idea of being around Eddie in revealing clothing was making Sin’s heart pump hard in her chest. This objection she did not voice to Eddie.

“Everyone should dress up once in a while,” Eddie responded to Sin’s first objection as they walked around a department store. “Not to impress anyone, just to… try something different every now and then. Think of it as Halloween.”

“And I’m going as a hooker?” Sin asked incredulously, pointing at a dress on the rack that was easily cut down to reach a woman’s navel. “Come on, Eddie. Look at this stuff! It’s ridiculous. But it figures, you know. Guys get to go all James Bond, and women have to be Pussy Galore.”

Shaking his head, Eddie picked up a dress. “This is nice,” he said, handing it to Sin. She wrinkled her nose, but put the dress over her arm. “Anyway, just look at this as a grown-up version of prom. You went to yours, didn’t you?”

“Nope,” Sin looked at a dress in front of her. “The guy I was dating got arrested the week before.”

“Seriously?” Eddie’s eyes were wide.

Nodding, Sin laughed at Eddie’s surprise. “How about you?” she asked. “Let me guess. You went with your high school sweetheart, and you both won prom king and queen, and then you went on a hayride afterward.”

“Ha, ha,” Eddie replied sarcastically, handing another dress to Sin. “If you paid attention to the things I’ve told you, you would remember that my girlfriend figured out she was gay six months before graduation. But yes, we did go together as friends. I couldn’t have imagined going with anyone but Meredith; she was such an important part of my high school years.”

Biting her lip, Sin wasn’t sure how to respond. Eddie could be so sweet without even intending to be. “Well, I promise I won’t make out with any girls at the benefit, if that helps,” she teased Eddie. “Okay, this is enough! I have, like, six dresses here. I just want to try them on, pick one, and get the fuck out of this store.”

Rolling his eyes, Eddie began following Sin towards the dressing rooms. “You are such a drama queen,” he told her.

“Fuck you,” Sin smiled. She watched as Eddie leaned against the wall outside the fitting rooms. “You’ll wait here and let me know what you think of the dresses, right?” Sin asked, suddenly a little nervous.

“Of course,” Eddie told her. “I’ll be right here.”

Within a few minutes, Sin came out in the first outfit. From the look of disgust on her face, Eddie burst out laughing. “I take it you don’t like it?” he asked her.

“I look like a mermaid,” Sin grumbled.

Four or five more tries failed. All Sin had left in the dressing room was the first dress Eddie had picked out. She had to admit, even she thought it was pretty. It was long and slinky, silver in color, with spaghetti straps and an empire waist. After putting it on, Sin looked at herself in the mirror from several angles. The dress was definitely nice, but she wondered what other people would think. After all, it showed all the tattoos on her arms, shoulders and upper back. “Fuck it,” she told herself, and walked out of the dressing room to show Eddie.

As soon as Sin walked out of the fitting room, Eddie turned to look at her. He didn’t even know what to say. The dress fit Sin like a glove, accentuating all the curves on her slim body. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, looking soft and shimmery like the dress itself. Even her tattoos, while clearly visible, seemed elegant. But mostly it was Sin’s eyes that caught Eddie’s attention. The color of the dress had somehow transformed Sin’s eyes into two pools of shining platinum.

“Well?” Sin finally asked, wanting to know what Eddie thought. “Is it okay? Or do I need to keep looking?”

“It’s more than okay, Sin,” Eddie told her softly. “That’s the one. No doubt about it. You look gorgeous.”

Blushing slightly, Sin looked down at herself. “Are you sure?” she asked nervously.

“I don’t think I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Eddie told her. Suddenly, his own face filled with blush. “I’m sorry, I know how lame that sounded. You just… you look… that dress… okay, now I’m a muttering idiot.”

Laughing, Sin couldn’t help but be pleased by Eddie’s admiration. “Okay,” she said. “Well, at least we’re done here. We can get the hell out of here and go do something fun – something that doesn’t involve shopping for clothing, okay?”

“Okay,” Eddie agreed, trying to even out his breathing. As he watched Sin return to the dressing room to change back into her own clothes, he cursed at himself under his breath. Why had he just reacted like a stuttering horny teenager in front of Sin? He had been a complete loser! ‘I wouldn’t blame her if she tries to think of a way to get out of taking me to this thing after the way I just acted,’ Eddie thought to himself.

But when Sin emerged, she quickly gave Eddie a smile that help alleviate his fears that she thought he was a gigantic dork for the way he had responded to seeing her in that dress. Within minutes, they were back to joking and laughing as they always did. After Sin paid for the dress, they left the store and headed towards her apartment to drop it off.

-----

After the shopping excursion, Eddie and Sin had gone to a movie and then to eat and have a couple drinks. Eddie did have work to do on Sunday for school, though, so the night had ended early. And while Sin did have the option of going out without him, that just didn’t seem very appealing to her.

Sitting on her bed with the TV on, Sin kept stealing glances over at her closet, where her new dress was hanging on the door. Unable to stop herself, Sin smiled as she ran Eddie’s reaction earlier that afternoon when he saw her in the dress through her head. ‘Well, I guess he doesn’t think I’m a complete freak,’ Sin admitted as she thought of his expression when she had emerged from the dressing room. ‘He has to at least think I’m not hideous.’

“That’s the one. No doubt about it. You look gorgeous.”

Eddie’s words kept running through Sin’s mind over and over, making her feel warm inside. ‘Maybe Ava’s not TOTALLY off base about me and Eddie,’ Sin mused to herself. ‘Maybe there is something there. Maybe we could try something…’

Not wanting to spend the rest of her night thinking about maybes, Sin tried to shake her head of images of Eddie and concentrate on the television. A few minutes later, though, when she heard her cell phone ring, she leaped up, knowing she hoped it was him.

ASSHOLE

That’s what the caller id read, meaning Zip was calling again. Chewing on her lip, Sin glanced up and saw the dress hanging from her closet. ‘I have to let this go,’ she thought to herself as she turned the ringer off on her phone and put it back down. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen with Eddie, and I don’t even know what I want to happen. But if there’s any chance… I have to let Zip go completely.’

-----

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED SO FAR, AND ALSO TO THOSE WHO RESPONDED TO MY AUTHOR’S NOTE. IT MEANT SO MUCH TO ME.

AS I SAID, I AM GOING TO START CONCENTRATING ON ORIGINAL SIN, BUT I WILL PUT AT LEAST ONE CHAPTER OF WHY BOTHER? UP A WEEK.

PLEASE KEEP LETTING ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. AND YES, SOMETHING IS FINALLY GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. WILL IT BE BETWEEN SIN AND EDDIE? WILL IT BE BETWEEN SIN AND ZIP? WILL IT BE GOOD? WILL IT BE BAD? YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE!