To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Five

Steve laid in bed staring at the ceiling once again. He glanced at his alarm clock. 2:13 am. He looked back at the ceiling and felt his chest get heavy. He turned to look at Eddie who was asleep next to him. Eddie started breathing quickly and heavily like he was having a nightmare. Steve rolled towards Eddie and put a hand on his shoulder. "Eddie. Eddie, wake up."
He shook Eddie gently then a little quicker. Eddie's eyes shot open. He saw it was Steve in front of him and started to cry.
"I thought I was there again. I felt stuck. But nobody could save me this time." Steve scooted closer so they were both on Eddie's side of the bed.
"You're not back there. You're here with me." He moved Eddie's hair away from his face. Steve took Eddie's hand and placed it on his face. "See? I'm right here."

Steve had eventually dozed off. He woke up and looked around to see Eddie still asleep in his arms. There was a faint smell of bacon from downstairs. He slid his arm out from under Eddie and walked to the door. Slight chatter rang through the downstairs. He quickly ran back in his room and grabbed the spiked baseball bat out of his closet and started to tip toe his way down the stairs. He saw Dustin and Robin in the kitchen making breakfast. Nancy, Max, Lucas and Mike were on the couches having a conversation with a pile of books in front of them. "What are you guys doing here?" He looked at the group of people on his couch.
"It's Wednesday." Robin yelled from the kitchen. She peeked around the corner to see Steve wearing nothing but a hellfire club shirt and his boxers. Her eyes got wide as she looked him up and down. Before he could do anything about it, Mike turned around and saw his shirt.
"Hey, nice shirt!" He smiled and bobbed his head up and down completely unaware to the fact that it was Eddie's shirt. Nancy looked up and saw the shirt then looked back down at her book. Steve set the baseball bat down against the wall. "It's Wednesday. It's the day we all hang out." Mike looked back down at the shirt and started to put two and two together. Max and Lucas looked at each other and laughed.
"Todays not a great day for this guys..." Steve said looking right at Robin. She shrugged and went back to making breakfast. Steve eventually gave up all hope for them to leave and went and sat next to Mike on the couch. "Well what are we doing?" He looked at the books on the coffee table and furrowed his eyebrows.
"We we're going to throw a party for Eddie. Kinda like a you didn't die party. We thought it'd be nice for him." Max explained looking right at Steve's shirt once again. She realized it was Eddie's shirt and leaned over to say something to Lucas. Lucas choked on his drink then looked at Mike. Mike looked at the shirt then back at Steve then back at the shirt. His eyes suddenly got wide and he looked at Nancy. Nancy was still flipping through a magazine full of party decorations. Eddie walked down the stairs to see what was going on. His long curly hair was pulled back into a bun and he was wearing Steve's hoodie and sweatpants. Lucas looked at Eddie's outfit and started laughing through his coughs. Steve looked around confused.
"BREAKFAST IS DONE!" Robin yelled carrying out a tray of plates. She looked at Eddie with gigantic eyes and set the tray of food down on the coffee table. Dustin came running into the living room with a pitcher of orange juice and some plastic cups he found under the sink from Steve's partying days. Eddie sat down on the couch next to Steve and grabbed a piece of bacon off the tray of food. "It's literally just bacon and toast so just use your hands because Steve doesn't have any clean plates." Robin looked over at Steve with disgust.
"I'm a very busy man. I don't intend to spend my days cleaning my house." He took a piece of toast off the tray. Eddie put his arm on the back of the couch where Steve was sitting and Nancy glanced up. Everyone had their eyes on Eddie and Steve and they were both minding their own business. "I like your hair like that, Eddie. The man bun suits you well."
"Holy... shit..." Nancy mumbled under her breath as she looked at the two together. All the puzzle pieces were falling into place now. Steve took the last bite of his toast as he looked up from the books on the table. He met Nancy's eyes then looked at the outfit that Eddie was wearing. His eyes got huge as he darted his eyes over to Dustin and Robin. Robin shrugged and looked over at Nancy who couldn't take her eyes off Eddie's clothes. "Is that the hoodie you let me borrow the night Barb died?"
"Steve let me borrow his clothes." Eddie took a drink of orange juice and glanced over at Steve's shirt. "Shit." Eddie's eyes darted back to Nancy who stood up and grabbed her back and headed for the door. Steve ran after her and closed the door behind him.
"Nance where are you going?" Steve grabbed her shoulder and she turned around with tears in her eyes.
"I'm not stupid, Steve. That's the sweatshirt you gave me after we slept together." She pushed him away and wiped under her eyes.
"That doesn't mean I'm sleeping with Eddie. And why do you care? You're with Johnathan." He waved his hand through the air.
"Because it was our thing. Don't you ever think about what we had together? I'm not with Johnathan anymore. We broke up three months ago and you would know I still loved you if you took a minute to open your eyes and look around you, Steve." He backed up and looked around.
"Nancy, I'm gay." He said it loud enough to where only Nancy could hear it. "Well, I'm not gay gay but..."
"You're gay?!" Nancy yelled choking back tears. Steve clapped his hand over her mouth.
"Please, shut the fuck up." He slowly let go of her mouth. "I don't know. I don't know what I am but I've never felt that way for someone." Nancy rolled her eyes and walked in the other direction.
"I'm done, Steve." Steve sighed and walked back up to the house.
"I don't even have any pants on. It's too early for this shit." He opened the door and went back in a Mike high-fived Eddie. He scoffed and went to sit back down. "I hate all of you."
"Are you guys throwing a party?" Eddie looked down at the magazines. Steve grabbed a magazine.
"This is a casket catalog for a funeral homes." He flipped through the pages.
"That was for before we found out he was alive." Max grabbed the magazine out of Steve's hands. Lucas flipped through the catalog. Steve stood up and took one last drink of his orange juice before he turned to go up the stairs. Robin followed him up.
"Steve, you okay?" She asked closing his bedroom door.
"Yeah. Just you guys plan the party. I have to put clothes on." He pulled a pair of jeans out of his closet and put them on. Robin watched as he buttoned and zipped them. "Nancy got in my head. But it's fine." He went to take off his shirt to change it.
"Hey Steve. Try again." She looked down at his pants. They were black jeans with a chain hooked from one pocket to the belt loop.
"Goddamn it." He took off the jeans and put them back in the closet then grabbed a pair of blue jeans. He put them on then grabbed a sweater and put it on. "We have our clothes kinda mixed up in the closet." He looked in the mirror and sprayed his hair down with hairspray.
"What did she say to you?" Robin sat down on the bed and watched as Steve combed through his hair.
"She's upset with me. She broke up with Johnathan and still loves me. I told her I didn't feel that way for her anymore." He looked over at Robin who was looking at the shirt on the ground. She looked back up at Steve with a goofy smile. "Listen, Robin. You can't say shit because you. Like. Boobies." He turned back around with a huge grin on his face. She groaned.
"Please don't say that. It's so gross." She laid back on the bed then quickly sat up. "Nothing happened on this bed right?"
Steve quickly turned and threw his comb at her. "You know just for that snarky comment I'm gonna keep saying it. Boobies. boobies. boobies!" He smiled and sat on the bed next to her. "I don't know what id do without you." He turned to her and grabbed his comb.
"Yeah. I know." She reached up and messed his hair up.
"You have got to be kidding me, Robin." He stood back up and continued fixing his hair in the mirror.