Staying

"Mom! Wake up!" Someone yelled, pulling the sheets down, immediately allowing the cold air to hit her. "I'm going to be late!" 

"I'm up! I'm up!" Y/n repeated, rubbing her droopy eyes to try and properly wake herself up. It only half worked but it would have to do till she got her morning coffee. Once she sat up, Caleb gave her a hug before running out the room. 

Lifting her legs over to the side of bed, she moved them around till she found her pair of slippers. She then stretched, before getting ready herself. There was still a while before school so he over exaggerated being late. Once she was changed, she went downstairs into the kitchen to make some quick and easy breakfast for the both of them. 

"Hey mom." Caleb said, moving his spoon around in his cereal, the metal tapping against the bowl every time. Y/n looked up from her breakfast waiting for him to continue. "There's a bring your dad to school day next week and I'm the only one who won't bring one." 

Her heart sunk to the bottom of her chest. Times like this reminded her that being a single mom didn't always work out, or wasn't enough. Most of the time everything was ok, she didn't need any help, but now her own son had to go to class and sit there. Watching all the other kids bonding with their dads. 

Caleb's father wasn't completely out of the picture, but sometimes it felt like he was. While she was at home, working her ass off to provide her son the best possible life, he was far away, travelling, performing or whatever kind of shit. Y/n didn't care much for it so she never asked. 

Caleb was eight years old and Y/n was twenty seven so she was only a teenager when she had him. It was unexpected and not at all what was planned. Nevertheless Y/n decided to keep him and raise him. His father on the other hand, didn't want to give up on his plans. She understood why. They had their whole lives full of fun and adventure ahead of them and then it was pretty much ruined because they had to take care of a child. Therefore she wasn't surprised when he left. That's not to say it didn't hurt. Hurting was an understatement, he broke her heart.

But that wasn't the part that angered her the most. It was the fact that he had made his choice to leave and chase his dreams yet he couldn't stick to it. That he always had make an appearance again when everything for Y/n was going great. Just when she would think that life was really getting better, there he'd be. Ruining everything, causing her to start over again. 

Although last time he showed up out of the blue, Y/n had made it clear that if he wasn't going to stay she didn't want to see him again. So hopefully he listened and was going to stay away from now on. It wasn't an easy decision because she didn't want Caleb to not have a father around but it was what was best for him. 

"I'll come instead?" 

"But you're not a boy." 

"Well then we can just take a day off and spend some time together?" She offered, smiling at him before grabbing the dishes and putting them into the sink. Of course she didn't want to influence the idea of skipping school, but she didn't want him to be sad. He definitely liked the idea of skipping though. "Alright, well now you're going to be late if you don't hurry up, go put your shoes on!" 

He ran out into the hallway just as a knock on the door was heard. Y/n rushed to the door as Caleb put on his shoes and tied his laces behind her. She unlocked the door opening it to be met with a very familiar face. It was the last person she'd been expecting to see on a Friday morning and the last person she'd want it to be. The universe had heard their conversation and delivered it seemed. 

"E-Eddie, um what are you doing here?" She stumbled on her words, trying to breath since she wouldn't if she wasn't reminding herself to. "This isn't a good time, Caleb's late- and you know what. It's never a good time sorry." 

Y/n was about to shut the door on his face but he wedged his foot in between to stop it from closing completely. At this point Caleb had finished putting his shoes on and saw who was at the door.

"Dad!" He called, sprinting over as Eddie swung the door open with his hand so he could hug him.

"Hey kid, how have you been?"

"Good! I missed you." He answered, jumping up into his arms, being spun around by Eddie. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I missed you guys too so I came to see you." 

"Does that mean you're going to stay?" He asked. There was a glimpse of hope in his eyes. Having a full family with all three of them was all Caleb wanted. "There's this bring your dad to work day next week, could you come?" So many questions were being asked, Eddie didn't even get a chance to answer any of them. 

"No darling, he's not staying and you need to get to school." Y/n cut in, gently grabbing his hand when Eddie put him down. 

"I can take him?" He said, ruffling Caleb's hair. "We can catch up on the way, plus you look like you haven't had your coffee yet." It wasn't the worst idea and she definitely needed her coffee so she agreed. Eddie was his father in the first place anyways. Saying goodbye, they left so Y/n went to go get some coffee as well. Once Eddie got back, he managed to convince her to go get lunch with him so they did.

"So, how have you been Eddie?" Y/n asked, picking up a couple chips, dipping them into the tomato sauce before eating them. 

"Uh, great, yeah everything I wanted it to be." He looked up at her, a smirk appearing in the corner of his mouth. "But it gets lonely, you know without you."

He was such a flirt sometimes. This time Y/n wasn't going to fall for it though. Every time he showed up, she would tell herself she was over him. That there were no feelings for him anymore because she had moved on. But then he would somehow squeeze back into her heart and she would fall in love all over again like in high school. After that he would say he was staying, and she was a dumb fool for believing him. Because he would always end up leaving again. But it wasn't going to happen this time. She wasn't going to let her guard down and she wasn't going to let him back into her life. She deserved better than this. 

"Well that's great, I'm really happy for you." 

"What about you Y/n?" He felt a bit hurt that she ignored his flirty joke. Although he hadn't forgotten what happened last time and apparently neither had she. 

"Good I guess, Caleb's been doing great at school, getting awards for his good grades." 

"He gets it from you sweetheart." 

"You know how I feel about the pet names Eddie." She choked on a chip after what he said, glaring at him. It wasn't that she hated it, in fact she loved it and that was the problem. He always used to call her sweetheart in high school so it brought back old memories. Ones that she pushed to the back of her mind to ensure no old feelings for him would rekindle. 

"Right, sorry."

After they finished their food, they drove back to her house before school ended. She actually enjoyed herself, it was good catching up and having him as a friend. They mostly talked about Caleb and how school was going. It made Eddie feel terrible for missing so many important things in his life and Y/n's too. If he could go back, he wouldn't have missed everything. 

"Thanks for lunch, it was nice." 

"Of course, it's the least I could do." He replied, taking his jacket off and putting it on the chair. Y/n walked into the kitchen, leaning against the counter as she was deep in her thoughts. Eddie could tell and joined her, standing right in front of her. "You ok?"

"I've been thinking, you can sleep in the guest room if you still want to stay?"

"Uh, yeah of course, I'm fine with that." He nodded, a smile spreading across his face. It made him so happy that she had changed her mind and let him stay. Now he could go to the bring your dad to school day and be there for Caleb like he always should've been. "Thank you Y/n, it means a lot and I'm so sorry for everything."

"It's ok Eddie, it's in the past." She assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it. God he missed her touch, he never wanted her to let go of him. But he knew she didn't have any intentions of having a relationship anymore with him, it killed him inside. 

He looked up from his shoulder up into her eyes. His gaze then traveled down to her lips and back up into her eyes. They were so hypnotising and had a glint of sadness and longing. He wanted to kiss her more then anything in that moment.

Slowly he began to lean in, moving closer. Y/n was about to close the gap until she stopped herself. She couldn't do this, she couldn't let him win again. Not after she tried so hard to get over him and all the time she took to figure out what to do with her life. 

"I've got to go pick Caleb up, make yourself at home." She didn't waste another second, leaving the kitchen and grabbing her purse and keys. Behind her Eddie hit himself repeatedly for being so stupid. He didn't want to hurt Y/n anymore then he already had. Especially if he wasn't staying.




I'll be making a part 2 for this at some point ☺️




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