In the Beat of a Wing {boyxboy}

Chapter Seven

~Friday 18th January 2013~

"Are you gonna get laid?" Eden chuckled, rolling his eyes whilst he finished styling his hair, glancing over his shoulder to see his sister hadn't even bothered to look up from her magazine.

"Why would you want to know? Isn't that weird to ask?" Eden sprayed some cologne on himself, slipping on Archer's ring and putting his phone in his back pocket.

"Nope, I don't want the details. I just want to know if you're gonna be calmer, you're always calmer when you get laid."

"You say that like I'm some stressed out junkie," Eden hadn't been out drinking with his friends in a long time, nor had he even pondered the thought of getting laid. He didn't have time for a boyfriend and he wasn't the biggest fan of one night stands. Not to say he had never had one, or that it was completely out of his options for the night, he simply preferred to build some sort of relationship with a man before he got intimate.

"You are stressed out, not a junkie though," Audrey turned the page of her magazine, "you haven't answered my question," Eden smiled, taking Archer's old leather jacket that he had commandeered after his death off the hook on the back of his door and slinging it over his shoulders.

"I don't know, Aud, depends if I meet someone who catches my eye."

"Like Malcolm?" Eden froze, his wallet slipping from his fingers and clattering to the floor, "don't act shocked, Leon and I were talking about it the other day. You let him touch your wings, you like him," Eden cleared his throat, bending down to pick up his wallet, putting it into his jacket pocket along with his set of keys.

"It's complicated," Eden muttered, a little frustrated with himself that he couldn't think of a better excuse. Audrey wasn't an idiot, and Eden wasn't a great liar.

"Edee, I've had boyfriends, y'know? I'm not stupid. It's only complicated when you make it complicated. Malcolm clearly likes you too, what's so complicated about that?" Eden remained quiet, busying himself with checking the cash in his wallet, "is it because you screwed Rei?" Eden's gaze snapped to Audrey, a deep frown darkening his face, "Leon is really easy to talk to."

"OK," Eden took a deep breath, counting to five in his head, "Audrey, first, we don't talk about Rei, alright? And I'm serious with that, don't ever bring it up," it wasn't often that Eden was truly stern with his little sister so that definitely caught her attention, their eyes finally meeting, "second, Malcolm is our lawyer, alright? If I even thought about trying something with him it could jeopardize Archie's entire case. Me saying 'it's complicated' isn't just code for I don't wanna talk about it, it really is complicated. Even if I did seriously want to try something with Malcolm, I'm not sure it would work, and I'm staying as far away as possible until Archie's case is over. I'm not putting his justice at risk for some pathetic jab at happiness," Eden bent over, pressing a chaste kiss to his sister's forehead, "if I don't text by one am then I'm staying somewhere else for the night, make sure you get up early enough, love you," unlike usual, Eden didn't wait around to hear Audrey reciprocate her love, simply wanting to get out of the situation swiftly.

He strode down the hallway, intending to inform his mother that he might not be home that night, but instead finding her passed out in some alcohol-induced state. Sighing, he tucked her in, removing the bottle of vodka from her hand and turned off the lights, leaving her to sleep with the silent hope that she might not drink anymore that night. Hope was all he had with that thought.

Despite preferring the streets during the day, Eden didn't really have too much of an issue walking places. He liked to walk, and he certainly didn't have the money to spare to buy a car in the first place. Admittedly, he was nervous being out at night, which was to be expected, but it wasn't too uncomfortable. He had never truly been afraid of the dark, not until Archer had died, but even then it was only a slight discomfort.