Influences
It should have been in his parents. They were the ones were who supposed to raise him, teach him, mold him into an upstanding person. But. They were killed in a car accident before he could even remember them. (His grandfather was always straight forward about that. Eddie had asked when he was ten what had happened. And it was just a stupid accident where two cars lost control and his parents were the one who didn't walk away. He'd even told Eddie the real truth, not just the happy lie that they'd both died instantly, but that his mother had died almost straight as far as they could tell and his father had been trapped for six hours before they could get him out, when he'd died after four hours. His grandfather always said there was no room for lies in the country, and especially not in a small town. The truth had a tendency to get found out anyway.) So he grew up with his grandparents, who never pretended to be his parents and in fact were quite clear that they weren't. He didn't make them cards on Mothers and Fathers Day and they didn't expect him to.
Eddie's grandfather taught him how to fish and hunt and how to work the farm. Eddie was never a talkative kid, he liked to do his own thing. He never had a wide circle of friends, even in high school when he was kind of one of the jocks and girls tried to flirt at him. Just his sweetheart, his best friend, and a few guys he didn't mind hanging out with. His grandfather made him look like a chatterbox sometimes. He wasn't gruff, because that implied affection or words that were left unspoken. He just didn't have anything much to say to anyone besides his wife.
He was like a stone, he was so solid and unmoveable.
And for years and years no one made that much of an impact on Eddie. They left their marks and scars, superficial wounds that faded over time, but never anything that went bone deep with hooks that snagged so hard in him, he didn't know how to begin to free them.
Then there was Jason.
Eddie didn't realize it, it wasn't a conscious effort, but he exuded a stand-offish, arrogant demeanor most of the time. He had an aura that demanded a certain amount of personal space and a tendency to look like he'd rather be doing anything than talking to you, that he was being as polite as he had to be but he was really just waiting for you to go away. More like his grandfather than he knew.
Jason ignored that demand or didn't even notice it. Jason had so much life that he filled all the space Eddie kept around himself, so Eddie couldn't ignore him. And Eddie was always a sucker for a great smile.
It seemed like every step in their relationship happened the hard way, they bickered over the most ridiculous things, and Jason had hooks in Eddie so deep they were never going to come out.
Eddie's grandfather taught him how to fish and hunt and how to work the farm. Eddie was never a talkative kid, he liked to do his own thing. He never had a wide circle of friends, even in high school when he was kind of one of the jocks and girls tried to flirt at him. Just his sweetheart, his best friend, and a few guys he didn't mind hanging out with. His grandfather made him look like a chatterbox sometimes. He wasn't gruff, because that implied affection or words that were left unspoken. He just didn't have anything much to say to anyone besides his wife.
He was like a stone, he was so solid and unmoveable.
And for years and years no one made that much of an impact on Eddie. They left their marks and scars, superficial wounds that faded over time, but never anything that went bone deep with hooks that snagged so hard in him, he didn't know how to begin to free them.
Then there was Jason.
Eddie didn't realize it, it wasn't a conscious effort, but he exuded a stand-offish, arrogant demeanor most of the time. He had an aura that demanded a certain amount of personal space and a tendency to look like he'd rather be doing anything than talking to you, that he was being as polite as he had to be but he was really just waiting for you to go away. More like his grandfather than he knew.
Jason ignored that demand or didn't even notice it. Jason had so much life that he filled all the space Eddie kept around himself, so Eddie couldn't ignore him. And Eddie was always a sucker for a great smile.
It seemed like every step in their relationship happened the hard way, they bickered over the most ridiculous things, and Jason had hooks in Eddie so deep they were never going to come out.