change of pace

beloved

chapter fourteen

We pulled up to a dark little building near a bowling alley that was closed. The sign reads "The Hideout" in bright LEDs and bold lettering. Ironic. Eddie rushes to my side and opens the door me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. Jeff's car slowly pulls up, a much better driver than my beloved here. The boys open up the back of the van and start pulling out their equipment and I lean against it watching. Eddie crawls in and pulls out a wide guitar case, I'm assuming it holds his beloved. I walk close next to Eddie while he carries a back pack over his shoulder and his case in his hand on the opposite side. The others bring the drum kit and their respective cases. The bartender sends a welcoming nod but with a straight face. Drunks aged around early 20s to late 40s gather around the bar barely holding themselves up. I grip Eddie's hand while examining everything.

Corroded Coffin starts setting up the stage. I stand near the side of the stage watching them. Jeff takes out his guitar and begins tuning it to the perfect pitch before calling me over to him.

"Hey, Jess, I just wanted to apologize for how everyone acted that day you sat with us." he says kneeling down preparing a pedal he pulled out of his bag.
"Thanks, Jeff. That means a lot." I say giving a genuine smile. Gareth clumsily drops his bag to the ground which catches our attention. He flips his reddish blonde hair up.
"Keep it together, man." Eddie says looking annoyed with him. "Come, Jess, let's go grab a drink." I follow him.

As we walk towards the bar, I feel the eyes of everyone on me and I slowly start to shrink down. Eddie notices and wraps his arm me giving everyone dirty looks. Suddenly, no one was looking.

"A pack of Banquet, boss." Eddie says lightly pushing me onto a seat at the bar. He stands behind me with his hands on my shoulders. The bartender slides over a few tan cans of Coors.
"What do you want, babe?" he bends down and says next to my ear.
"Uh...that." I say pointing to the cans just slid over to us, confused as I've never drank before.
"Alright then." he smiles opening one of the cans for me. He does the same for himself and starts to chug it.

I watch as his head moves upwards to reach the last remnants of the cans. My first, small, sip of mine was not how I expected. I thought maybe it would taste like soda pop, but it was very bitter. My eyebrows furrowed at the confusion and Eddie chuckled.

"Keep an eye on her?" Eddie says to the bartender while grabbing the rest of the cans. He nods. Eddie bends down to my ear.
"If anyone fucks with you, tell me." he whispers before kissing my cheek and heading up to the stage.

I watch as he places his beer on one of the amps. With careful hands, he picks up his jagged edged guitar and tunes it. People start making their way closer to the stage. I take another sip and continue with the same face. Definitely an acquired taste. The bartender notices and slips me a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. "Free of charge." he smiles at me. I'm so embarrassed. I chug the rest of the beer before drinking the soda.

Eddie's hair bounces as he gets closer to the mic to introduce the band. Watching them perform was a different experience. I've never been to a concert, so this environment was very new to me. Each member of Corroded Coffin got into the music they were blaring from the amps in their own way, but Eddie was so completely mesmerizing to watch. The beer starts hitting me a bit, must be a lightweight. He carefully leaned back and allowed the Warlock's sound to take full control of his body. His fingers quickly slid across the neck of the guitar with each note he hit. The crowd starts head banging before jumping into each other and pushing. Eddie's soft curls that I thought were sprayed in place hopped with each head bang. His body suddenly let out all his adrenaline as he bounced around the stage, screaming into the microphone. I laughed a little watching him out of amazement. He announces the Skull Beneath the Skin by Megadeth cover they would be doing and Gareth and Grant give each other an evil look before going crazy.

They end and I hear the light tuning of their instruments from the amps before I see Eddie lock eyes with me smirking. He begins playing a few familiar notes. It's the same song he showed me how to play, At Dawn They Sleep by Slayer. I smile watching him which causes him to get shy a little bit and turn around, but quickly switches back into that frontman energy. Their set lasts for about an hour and everyone dispersed back to the bar. I run over to the stage smiling which causes Eddie to grab me and squeeze me tight. His sweat drenched skin felt disgusting but I didn't mind. I high fived Gareth, and Jeff gave me a side hug. Grant only wanted a fist bump. Everyone starts packing up their instruments and taking them back to the van, which I help by carrying Eddie's heavy backpack full of pedals and cables. He ruffles my hair.

"Let's grab a few beers!" Gareth's squeaky voice says after finishing the load up.
"Nah, you three enjoy 'em. I gotta take this one home." Eddie says pulling me in for a hug.
"Alright, see you later Jess!" Jeff says smiling.
"Yeah see you on Friday!" Gareth says.

The others walk away and Eddie watches them go back into the bar before whipping around and embracing me in a heavy kiss. I smile under the kiss which makes a grin form on his face too.

"You were so cool!" I say excitedly pounding his chest.
"Thank you, baby." Eddie gently showers me in kisses all over my face.
"Let's get home." he says opening my door for me.

Eddie's drunk driving was slightly better than his normal driving. He jumps out of the car and runs to my side. His hands travel to my side to unbuckle the seatbelt.

"Eddie, what are you doing?" I laugh.
"Ssshhhhhh!" He drunkingly shushes me. His arms travel to my back and he flips me over his shoulder.
"Eddie!" I yell shocked. The alcohol was making me dizzy.

He carries me into the house, messily unlocking the door. Heavy steps carry me to the hallway where he places me down. I laugh and open my bedroom door as he shakes his hair back in place. I picked up some pajama pants and an old faded shirt to wear to bed.

"I'm gonna go take a bath." I say stepping out. I can feel his grin as I exit out the room.

The faucet turns on and I wait for it to warm up. I quickly undress from my sweaty clothes and pull a hand towel out from under the sink for my makeup. The warm water relaxed my aching head. The door creaks open and I turn my head to see Eddie.

"Everything alright?" I smirk while washing my hair.
"I missed you." Eddie says smiling, taking his clothes off.

I laugh as he hops in the bath, somehow knowing he would do this. We sit across from each other in the bath filled with bubbles. He turns his back to me. I grab some shampoo to start washing his hair and watch as he slowly leans back, laying down me. My arms wrap around him as I examine each of his messy tattoos. We stay in the tub for over an hour before eventually climbing out and wrapping ourselves up in towels. I change into my pajamas and he wraps the towel around his waist having forgot his and we make our way back into my bedroom.

I sit at my vanity brushing my hair and see Eddie from the corner of my mirror changing into his sweatpants.

"Sit." I say, standing up from the chair. Eddie follows directions and seats himself down, crossing his arms and leaning in the the back of the chair. I start with smooth strokes down the ends of this hair and make my way up his scalp, lightly scratching it with the brush. He closes his eyes in relaxation.

Eddie brings my medicine to my room and starts gently applying the ointment to the cuts, which are healing really quickly. The bruising was the only thing taking its time. He follows me to my bed and tucks me in before laying himself down on the floor.

"Eddie?" I ask once he turns the lamp off.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can you lay with me?" I ask.

"Of course." he says and I hear the smile in his voice.

The bed softly creaks as his weight is added. His warm arms wrap me and I turn around to face him. I look into his eyes in the light of the moon coming through the window.

"I love you." he whispers.

"I love you too."