Be My Escape

Chapter Thirteen

Eddie sat on the bed, back against the headboard, strumming his guitar. The set list was sitting beside him, deciding to start finally practicing it. He knew the songs; it's just been a while since he's played them. He wanted to sound good for the crowd, for Cherry, for Billy.

Billy was sitting next to Eddie on the bed, a hand on his thigh, tracing random shapes into the skin absentmindedly. "Can you play the song you did in the Upside Down? I want to hear the rest of it."

"Sure, sweetheart," Eddie replied, taking a moment to crack his knuckles, getting ready, "It's Metallica, so I have to prepare."

Billy frowned. "It is? I don't think I've heard that one." He's been a fan of them for a while, but that song sounded foreign to him.

"It came out a few months ago. Master of Puppets, it's called," Eddie explained, "It's the title track. I heard it and knew I had to learn it. Drove Uncle Wayne crazy doing the solo over and over until I got it right." He laughed quietly at the memory. He missed bugging the man by being too loud. He missed just being in the trailer, hearing Wayne groan as he fell onto the couch after a long night of work. He just missed his uncle.

Billy moved to sit behind Eddie, spreading his legs out so his boyfriend was between them. "Well, it sounded like you were a professional back there. Like you wrote it."

Eddie smiled, pressing his back flush against Billy's chest. He felt the soft kiss in his hair and it made him melt. "Well, you didn't hear the actual record. They're way better than I am. but, I tried by best. I'll show it to you sometime. It's in the box over there somewhere." He motioned to the box of records on the floor, next to the record player.

"But first, I want to hear you play it." Billy moved his hands up and began running his fingers through Eddie's hair. It was incredibly soft; he just wanted to bury his face in it.

Eddie couldn't help but to laugh. "Fun fact, I love when people play with my hair. It's the number one way to make me fall asleep. It's just so relaxing." He loved the feeling, the intimacy of it. It was just something that calmed him down. Maybe that's why when he's nervous, he would twist his hair in his fingers. "Okay, are you ready to rock?"

"Yeah, baby!" Billy replied, doing the rock and roll symbol, before returning his hand back to his boyfriend's soft locks. He had begun to braid it, well, his attempt at a braid. He's never actually tried to do that to someone's hair before.

Eddie sucked in a breath, closing his eyes, before starting to strum. It was a fast song, relatively harder compared to the rest of the songs he knew. As he played, he began to sing, knowing he wasn't nearly as good as James Hetfield, but he did it anyway because he knew Billy liked his voice. His mind began to drift, remembering being in the Upside Down with Dustin by his side, the pride he felt when he saw the boy headbanging to the song. He felt the fear, the panic, as he played, reliving the memory. He would get attacked soon after. Dustin would leave him soon. He opened his eyes, forcing himself out of the memory and back into reality; he was in his apartment, Billy behind him, probably creating knots in his hair, but he didn't give a shit. As the solo came up, he smirked. "Watch this," he said, launching into the solo, hand flying up and down the fret board, fingers jumping up and down as he nailed each chord. He heard the soft gasp behind him, and it made him grin. Showing off to his boyfriend was something he didn't know he would like doing, but it made his heart swell anyway. Once the song ended, he let his hand fall to Billy's thigh, squeezing gently. "So? What did you think?"

"You're incredible," Billy replied, arms wrapping around Eddie's torso to hug him from behind, "You were so metal just now."

Eddie laughed, turning his head back to look at Billy. "Thank you, sweetheart," he murmured, leaning in for a kiss.