Stuck In The Honeypot

Brian slowly but steadily tailed Eric out of the den, watching as the teen made a direct line for the far side of the lodge. He made sure to stay out of sight, especially as the rest of the teenagers partying hanging around in the distant part of the lodge lessened. After peaking into a few wrong doors, Eric finally located his target, a large set of thick wooden doors. "About fucking time, next time I'll draw you a map," Brian muttered under his breath as Eric moved to the library entrance and peaked into the room for a moment before walking inside fully.

In a flash Brian made a line for the doors, he carefully took hold of the handles and tugged them shut as softly as he could, making sure neither Eric or Anna could hear the action. Then with a soft click, he put a key in the lock and turned it, sealing the two teens inside. He chuckled, tossed the key up in the air and caught it with a sly smile, "Enjoy you two, I'll be back later," He said aloud before turning away and heading off back towards the party. Eric and Anna had privacy, time, and more importantly no where else to go now.

Inside the library, Eric was none the wiser to what just happened and Anna, well, she was in a world of her own. As Eric got further into the room, he couldn't help but admire the the location, sky high bookshelves filled to the brim, dozens of low warm lighting, a center of couches and cozy easy chairs and to top it off a large stone carved fireplace with a fire currently roaring inside of it. Pacing in the center of it all was Anna, the blonde girl fidgeting and speaking under her breath rapidly, "It's okay, just calm down. You did the right thing, don't feel bad. Thoughts are just that...God, Anna, stop being such a fucking idiot,"

Eric couldn't help but warmly smile, even in a panicked state, the blonde was adorable, "You still do that, huh?" He softly said causing Anna to gasp and whirl around, staring back at him with wide eyes,

"Eric!" Anna blurted, "What are you doing here, this place is off limits! You should leave before Brian finds out!" The blonde pointed out, using the first thing she could think of to get him away,

"What are you doing here?" Eric easily returned as he continued to slowly make his way closer to the Anna,

"I...have permission to be here," Anna weakly replied, taking a few steps back the closer Eric got,

"Why are you moving away?" Eric asked, his voice full of hurt, "Did I do something to make you scared of me?"

"No!" Anna instantly exclaimed and stopped her retreat dead, "It's not you its -- Okay, it is you but nothing that you did. Sorta...I guess what you did caused this...ugh," Anna groaned as she cupped a hand over her eyes, "This is so messy,"

"Anna, what are you talking about? You can tell me," Eric assured her, "Remember, it's me, Eric. I was your friend before anything else, you can always trust me," Anna's hand weakly fell away from her face and she looked up at him with apologetic eyes,

"It's not that simple, Eric, I know you are my friend, but that's not the issue," Anna murmured back,

"So what is?" Eric asked again, holding back on the little information Brian had given him. Anna stayed silent, clearly having an internal struggle, but not willing to give in just yet, "Anna, this is the first time I've seen you since everything happened between us. I didn't know what was going to happen tonight, but at the least I was hoping to see my friend again,"

Anna grimaced at the comment and squeezed her eyes shut, "I...can't," She hardly replied before forcing herself to run past him towards the door. Anna was shocked, however, when she found the heavy doors tightly locked, "What the hell?!" Anna exclaimed causing Eric to quickly rush over, "The doors are stuck or locked or something!" The blonde said in some minor frustration and panic as she pounded her fist on the door,

"The hell?" Eric said to himself as he gave the doors a few tough shoves and pulls, "Yeah, they are. Hey! Hey let us out!" Eric called out loudly,

"Don't waste your breath, Brian told me that this room was built with soundproofing so anyone inside would be bothered while reading," Anna explained with a shake of her head before narrowing her gaze on Eric, "Wait, you didn't do this did you? Find me and then trap us inside,"

"No!" Eric immediately replied with wide eyes, "I came looking to talk to you, what could would it do me to trap you somewhere you don't want to be?"

Anna pursed her lips together, uncertain if Eric was being honest but in the end she couldn't find a reason to disbelieve him, "So you came in and something went wrong with the doors...great, I honestly can't believe this has happened to me twice since I got here...at least it's not a bathroom."

"You got trapped in a bathroom?" Eric repeated giving a half-laugh that he failed to hold in,

"Long story, one I'm not going to tell either," Anna sharply replied with a small smile of her own. The blonde then gave the doors another hard yank and sighed, "Fuck, now we just have to hope that someone comes looking for us at some point..."

"Great, who knows when that will be," Eric sighed as the duo wandered back to the library center taking a seat on the few easy chairs. An awkward silence befell them and after a few minutes of shifting in their seats and almost avoiding each others gazes, Eric spoke up, "So...do you...just not like me anymore?"

Anna let out a defeated sigh, "Of course I still like you Eric, we didn't break up out of malice, it's just that my current...situation makes it almost impossible to be near you, okay?"

"What does that even mean?" Eric frowned, "Is someone saying you can't see me?"

Anna immediately thought of Kenny's direct "order" for her to stay away and nearly said "Yes" but she held her tongue, "It's...complicated," She lowly muttered back,

"Anna, please, cut the vague cryptic answers," Eric lightly begged with a hint of annoyance, "Just tell me what's going on, I can take it. If you've...moved on, that's fine, we broke up, I wouldn't be angry with you about that, but please, just tell me,"

Anna body sank down, she never liked when Eric had this tone, it always made her feel so guilty. Eric was always honest and reasonable with her and in return Anna should at least be honest back, "I've...moved on," She admitted as she looked down at the floor, not able to keep her eyes on him,

"Okay, hey, that's fine, totally. I get it, and again, I'm not upset with you over it either. I hated breaking up with you but it happened," Eric sighed, thankfully knowing this knowledge in advance helped him react in a better, more relaxed way. Anna noticed this as well and lifted an eye to look back at him, he flashed her an easy warm smile, "Honest, I'm okay,"

Anna slowly sat back up in her chair, "Sorry...I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Anna softly replied,

"I know, I wouldn't think you did anything intentionally to hurt me, but...but I know I did that to you," Eric said causing Anna's brow to raise in surprised confusion, "I didn't handle our break-up right,"

"What do you mean, we both agreed on it?" Anna asked back,

Eric shook his head and sighed, "We agreed only after I said that long distance would never work," Eric reminded the blonde, "Not to mention that my way of fixing it was to completely cut off all contact with you. I mean hell Anna, I deleted your number, never called or texted you, acted like you didn't exist! And for that, I am so fucking sorry,"

"For some people staying in touch...hurts too much," Anna weakly replied, her voice slightly trembling as she spoke, "But thank you...I...It means a lot to me that you'd say that," Anna honestly added, knowing that Eric's disappearance did send her into a spirally slump that lasted for months,

"It wasn't an easy decision, I promise you that. It hurt like hell to make but every time I would think about you, not being able to see you, hold you, kiss you...it felt like pieces of me were crumbling everyday," Anna sympathetically looked back at him, "I only wish I knew that cutting you completely was going to make things worse in the end,"

"Worse?" Anna repeated, feeling her heart slightly pick up in pace as she heard this,

"Yeah," Eric nodded back, "Cutting you off was the worst mistake I ever made. I regretted it almost immediately, I was dying to just hear your voice, but I couldn't bring myself to reach back out because I figured...you were moving on and I was going to make it worse for you,"

"I wish you would have," Anna immediately replied, internally surprised that she said it immediately after, "I didn't move on for a long time Eric, I mean that,"

"I still haven't moved on, at all...I think about you every day," Eric sincerely said,

"Eric..." Anna sighed while giving her head a short shake, "Stop, please, I can't keep hearing this," Anna got to her feet and attempted to walk away again, her confused mind trying to get some distance from this conversation.

Eric, however, was far from willing to let Anna flee again, this time reaching out and lightly catching her by the wrist. Anna's whole body nearly melted at his tender hold and her legs stopping in place as he pulled himself to his feet. Stepping in front of her, Eric's soft eyes looked back into Anna's, "Wait, just...tell me, do you still feel something for me? And I don't mean care about me like a friend, I'm talking about us. Do you still care about us?" Anna nervously gulped as she looked back at Eric, and after a moment with a crack of her voice she opened her mouth to speak...