Be My Escape

Chapter Fourteen

(This took me literally all night to write omg.)

The next night, Billy and Eddie went to their apartment, feeling dead on their feet after running back and forth all night. Their shifts ended minutes ago, and they were tired.

Eddie stripped to just his boxers, taking his tip money and placing it on the kitchen table. "$40," he said, looking over at Billy.

"$52," Billy replied, his tip money being placed next to Eddie's.

Eddie hummed in content. "We made $92 tonight in just tips. Not to mention our actual paychecks. Pretty good night, I'd say," he said, "We've been here for about two weeks and we already have the rent money. Plus we have some time before the first so we'll have some saved up for next month."

"And some spending money, as well," Billy added, arms reaching up to stretch his back, "I'd like to take you out on a date sometime. Maybe our next day off."

Eddie smiled. "I'd love that. But remember Uncle Wayne is coming on Wednesday. So we have to do it either before he gets here or after he leaves."

"That sounds good," Billy replied, wrapping his arms around Eddie's waist, "I have to find somewhere to take you anyway. Maybe Jules has a place he can recommend."

Eddie leaned his head against Billy's chest. "Man's been everywhere; I don't doubt he knows somewhere good." He yawned. "You ready for bed?"

Billy nodded, eyes already nearly shut. "Yeah, let's go, love."

They shut off the lights and climbed into bed, Eddie immediately wrapping himself in the blanket. Billy followed, eyes shut.

The silence in the room was broken as they heard the phone ringing.

Billy sat up, immediately nervous. "Who the hell?" He stood and walked to the phone, answering it. "Hello?"

"Billy?"

Billy grinned. "Maxine! Max, how are you?"

"Billy! I'm good. Sorry for calling too late. I had to wait for mom to leave. I'm better now, that I know you're not dead," Max said, tears in her eyes. "I never thought I'd be able to hear your voice again. It's just...it's a little overwhelming. Lucas and Dustin came over and told me that you're alive. That you're in a better place now." Now that she had Billy on the phone, she didn't know what to say. "I got your letter. I read it over and over when I got back home. And Lucas gave me your number. He told me that you wanted me to call you. He said you wanted to make sure I was okay."

Billy nodded, moving over to the table and sitting down. He was grateful the phone was in the kitchen where he can sit; his feet were killing him. "I'm glad you got the message. And I'm glad you got the note. I hope you know that every word in it is true. I do love you and I did want to protect you. I had Eddie call his uncle to give you my number, but I guess Lucas and Dustin were already there, so it worked out. I just..." he paused, "Eddie showed me the song you played to save yourself from Vecna and the words got me worried about you. I just want to make sure you're in the right headspace. It really made it sound like you wanted to change places with me. I just want to make sure you weren't going to hurt yourself."

Max let out a soft sob. "No, I'm not. I don't want to die. I did, for a long time. Your death affected me more than I thought it would. I know that's hurtful to say, but it's true. I just didn't know what was going on, not the whole picture anyway. I didn't know Neil did that to you. I didn't know he forced you to be such an awful person. So when you died, a tiny part of me was relieved. Then I felt like it was my fault. You sacrificed yourself to save me. It made me realize that you did love me, at least a little. Then Steve read the note to me and it's like the rest of the picture came into frame. It made me think, what if you survived? Would things be different between us? So when I saw you came to the hospital to visit me, risking being seen because you were worried about me, it just gave me a lot of things to think about. You were a good brother, a little bit, at least. I just," she paused, "I wish you could have stayed. I know you couldn't have, but I just want to know what it would be like if you did stay. I want my big brother back."

"Maxine..." Billy's heart broke. He felt the tears stinging his eyes. He wanted so badly to wake Eddie up, to hold him, but he knew the man was tired. "You have no idea how badly I wish I could be there, but it's too dangerous. I can't have people seeing me. It was dangerous enough when I went to the Wheeler's house to find out where you were. Karen looked like she saw a ghost when she answered the door." He laughed softly, remembering her face. "Seriously, Max. I wish I can be the big brother you deserve, but I can't just rise from the dead. Maybe when you're older and you can come visit. But until then, you can call me any time you want. I'll give you my schedule, so you know what time to call."

Max sniffled, pausing to wipe a tear away. "Yeah, give me your schedule. I promise I won't call late like tonight. I can save up money and visit when I have enough. I've been saving for a while, actually. So I can get out of here. I can use some of the money to visit you. It'd be nice to get out of here for a while."

"Max, I would love that, but I don't want you going by yourself," Billy replied, "I promise we'll see each other real soon, just not now." He didn't realize this phone call was going to hurt so much. "Call me when you can, okay? You have Lucas and your friends to take care of you right now. But when you're older, when you can leave, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere."

There was a pause, but Max finally responded. "I understand, Billy. Can you tell me where you are? Even if you can't tell me where, tell me about it. Tell me about what you're doing. I hear you're dating Eddie now?"

"Yeah," Billy replied, smiling sadly as the subject got changed, "I'm back where I wanted to go. Eddie and I are dating. We got an apartment together, and great jobs at the same place. We're making a good amount of money, actually. I'm happy with him, Max. I love him. And he loves me! He tells me every day. That's the one good thing that came out of this whole thing, is me finding him in the Upside Down."

Max smiled. "I'm glad you're in a better place, Billy. I'm glad you're finally happy, and living the life you wanted to live. You deserve to be happy. Listen, I'm tired. It's like, five in the morning right now."

Billy frowned. "You could have called me later! You need to go to bed." He didn't even think about the time difference.

"It's okay, I haven't been sleeping much, so I'm usually up late. It's two in the morning there. Did I wake you up?"

"No," Billy said, "I just got off work. My shifts are from 6 at night to 2 in the morning. We work at a bar. I'm a bartender and Eddie is a waiter. We have the same schedule so we can work together."

Max smiled. "How adorable."

"Oh, shut up, Shit Bird," Billy chuckled, shaking his head.

Max let out a surprised laugh, a tear rolling down her cheek. "You have no idea how much I missed hearing you call me that. I said it when Steve read the note in the hospital."

"Well, I'll be sure to call you it more often. But, you have to go to bed. You can call me anytime before that, or on my days off. If I'm not there, Eddie will be. He'll take the message and I'll call you when I get home, okay?" Billy said, suppressing a yawn. "Give me your phone number."

Max gave Billy the number. "Okay, I'll call earlier next time, I promise. I love you, Billy."

"I love you too, Maxine," Billy replied, smiling, "You Shit Bird."

Max laughed softly, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Billy hung up then, letting the sobs wrack his body. He moved to the guest room, sitting on the bed and crying, to not wake up Eddie. Once the tears slowed to a stop, he washed his face, then went back into the bedroom, sliding into bed.

Eddie, feeling his boyfriend's presence, wrapped his arms around Billy's waist, cuddling into him.

Billy smiled, admiring how peaceful the man looked when he was sleeping. "Goodnight, my love," he whispered, finally drifting off to sleep.