Page 29 of Watch Over Me

"I'm worried about my brother," Eddie heard himself say. "He can be a real asshole, but he's still. You know. My brother. Doesn't deserve this."

"Your brother's going to be fine. Corner admitted that he was hard to influence, right? So it's not like anything will happen overnight. We have time to warn him."

"I wanted to be the one to tell him, but I don't…" Eddie tangled his hands in his lap and rested his head against the window, closing his eyes. "This sucks."

James stayed quiet for a while, and Eddie itched to turn to him, but his body wasn't cooperating.

He was so, so tired. With everything.

Finally, James spoke up. "I think it's easier, coming from a stranger in a professional setting instead of from a family member."

"It is in this case, for sure," Eddie whispered.

Then the car stopped and he realized they were there already.

His stomach rolled again.

"Could you…" He hesitated, but in the end, he was too tired to resist asking. "Would you like to come up? I don't think I can handle being alone right now."

Which sounded awful. Pathetic. Or as if he was trying to trick James into something.

It was all true, though.

James glanced between him and his building, then at the street in front of them before facing Eddie again, his gaze warm and understanding.

"Okay. Let's go in."

"Really?" Eddie asked, unsure if he could believe his ears.

"Yeah." James turned away, pocketing his phone and the keys. "Those crashes can suck, so I get it."

Eddie slowly got out of the car, and thankfully avoided the humiliation of James needing to help him on the way up the stairs onto the second floor where his apartment was located. It was small for a one-bedroom, but cozy and comfortable, with asreasonable rent as one could get in DC, which immediately made it the greatest place ever.

"Sorry for the clutter," he said as they walked in.

James looked around as Eddie locked the door.

"Don't worry about it, I've seen far worse." A corner of his lips turned up. "I'm sure I've done far worse."

"Oh, I've done far worse, too," Eddie told him as they both shed their coats. "This is pretty much my standard, though." He headed towards the refrigerator. "What would you like to drink?"

"Water, please." James walked up to the shelf with Eddie's music records. "Vinyls, huh?"

The question was vague, but there was a genuine curiosity in his voice, not a tease, so Eddie shrugged and smiled.

"Yeah, I collected them for a while in college and right after. My roommate at the time converted me." He handed James his glass and gestured him towards the couch. "These days, it's mostly digital for me, although I may still buy one from time to time."

"It's all digital for me," James said as they settled on the couch, with enough space between them to avoid giving Eddie heart palpitations while he was hyped up like this. "But I've never had even one vinyl, not to mention a record player," he added, pointing at the one in the corner of the room.

There was an invitation at the tip of Eddie's tongue, an offer to play James something right now, but he stopped himself just in time. Playing music would be a date move. And, regardless of what Eddie might want, this wasn't a date.

This was a friend helping out a friend, nothing else.

He took a sip of his water, wishing he had grabbed a drink for himself instead, even though he knew it would've been a bad idea, considering everything that had happened.

Fuck. What a night.

"What's bothering you?" James asked quietly, and Eddie looked up to see his concerned gaze and the small line between his eyes.

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