To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Twelve

TW: homophobic Slurs
Steve pulled up to family video and turned off his car. He looked in the rear view and attempted to fix his hair. He got out of the car and walked up to the front. He watched as Robin perked up behind the counter. "Well?" Robin looked Steve up and down. "Holy shit, rough night?" She was referring to the state of Steve's hair. It was hairspray free but also had not been brushed. It didn't help that he was in Eddie's clothes too.
"Not a rough night but a little crazy." Steve slid over the top of the counter and started putting on his vest. The door dinged and he saw a customer enter. "Hi, welcome to Family Video. Let us know if we can be any assistance to you." Steve smiled and looked back at Robin. "I got home from work and he had this whole thing planned with rose petals and wine." Steve fiddled with the last button on his vest that he couldn't get closed. "Well actually it looked like he got one rose and just used those petals. Anyways, he" the customer sat down a stack of movies on the counter. Steve stopped talking while Robin scanned them and put them into a bag. She handed them to the person and they walked out the door. "He was like 'I know you have it.' All dramatically then he went on this whole big rant about how much he loves me."
Robins eyes were huge. "That is a lot of process in such little time. He said he loves you?" Robin put her hands over her heart and smiled.
"Yeah. It's a promise ring. That like I'll marry him or something but it's not as big a commitment as an engagement ring." He held out his hand so Robin could see it. The door bell rang again and Dustin opened the door to see Robin admiring Steve's ring.
"YOU SAID YES?" Dustin screamed as he ran over. Steve explained the concept of a promise ring to Dustin. "Oh that's a little more lame then I thought."
"So what happened next?" Robin was now leaning on the counter waiting for the next bits of the juicy gossip she had longed for all night.
Steve looked over at Dustin and clapped his hands over Dustin's ears. "Then he made me a mix tape and we had sex to 'Like a Virgin.'" Steve removed his hands from Dustin's ears. Robin had a look of pure horror on her face. Dustin was just confused. The bell rang again and all three of them turned around to look. It was Eddie holding a small bag. Robin shared her horrified look with Eddie.
"You ruined Madonna for me." She said to Eddie who was completely confused. Eddie watched as Steve hoisted himself up onto the counter and slid across it.
"I thought you would want lunch. We didn't eat dinner last night." He handed Steve the bag and Steve set it up on the counter. He put his hands on Eddie's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "I'll see you at home." Eddie leaned in and whispered, "I love you, lover boy." Into Steve's ear. Steve shuddered at the soft voice in his ear and smiled.
"I love you too." He turned to see Robin and Dustin watching like it was a tv show. Steve rolled his eyes and looked away from them. Steve turned to go back behind the counter.
"Bye, guys!" Eddie waved as he walked out the door.
"Disgusting." Robin slipped away and disappeared into the back.
"As much as a I hate it, seeing all this gross stuff happen..." Dustin leaned against the other side of the counter. "I'm happy for you and Eddie. For real."

Steve left Family Video and went to go get in his car. He went to put on his seat belt. Tommy and Carol walked to the hood of his car. "Oh hey, I haven't seen you two in forever." Steve leaned out the window.
"Oh yeah, Steve. It's great to see you." Tommy walked over to the window and grabbed the door handle. He yanked open the door and pulled Steve out by the collar of his shirt.
"Hey, what the hell, man?" Steve stumbled before he was shoved against the side of his car.
"Nancy Wheeler let it slip that you're a fruitcake now. Isn't that right?" Tommy wrapped his finger around the chain on Steve's neck. He pulled down, ripping the necklace off Steve. "And your little boyfriend is that freak that killed Chrissy Cunningham." Tommy took the necklace in his hand and threw it into the nearby road. Steve struggled to get loose and glanced over at Carol who was uncomfortable with what Tommy was doing.
"What do you want, Tommy?" Steve yanked away hoping to break Tommy's grip on his shirt.
"I want to know, if a fag bleeds, is it rainbow colored blood?" He threw Steve down onto the ground, smashing his face into the ground. Steve sat up to try to run but Tommy had already grabbed his collar again. "Look at that... it's red." He slammed Steve's face into the ground a few more times then kicked him to finish it off. He grabbed Steve's hand and took the promise ring off. "Aw, congratulations, Harrington." He tossed the ring into the road with the necklace. Steve tried to stand up but couldn't bare to move without feeling excruciating pain. Tommy and Carol watched as the door to family video opened and Robin walked out. They both bolted away, hoping she didn't call the police. She ran over to Steve and looked at him in horror.
"Holy shit. Holy shit. Are you okay?" She grabbed him and flipped him onto his back. He lifted his arm and wiped his nose which was covered in blood.
"He threw my ring into the road. Go get it, Robin. Please, go get it."

Robin pulled up to Steve's house with Steve in the passenger seat. He looked down at hands. He was holding the ring in his fingers. A small chip was missing out of the side of the dark stone. "He's going to kill me..." Steve ran his finger along the chipped part. Robin gave Steve a sorrowful look.
"He won't." She got out of the car and went to the other side of the car to open the door for him. He got out and looked down at his shirt. The blood from his face was stained onto Eddie's shirt.
They went into the house and Eddie was sitting on the couch watching a movie. He glanced over at Steve then stood up and ran over. "What the fuck happened?" Eddie was less asking and more demanding. He used the sleeve on his shirt to wipe blood off of Steve face.
"It was nothing..." it wasn't nothing but Steve was to embarrassed to say it out loud. He should have fought back. He should have done something to stop it. Robin followed Steve in and closed the door.
"Tommy Hagan." Robin went into the kitchen and grabbed a washcloth. She brought it back and began to wipe the blood off Steve's face.
"I'll kill that mother fu-"
"Everyone just back off and let me do it myself." Steve pushed Robin out of the way and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. He felt bad for wanting to push them away but he refuses to cry in front of his best friends. He stood in front of the mirror and wiped the blood off his split lip and under his nose. He grabbed it or he sided of the sink and just broke down. He gasped for air between his sobs, trying not to be heard. He covered his mouth and leaned his head down.
"Steve..." Eddie opened the door to the bathroom. He grabbed Steve and pulled him into a hug.
"I couldn't do anything! He was on top of me and I could do anything. He took your necklace and the ring and the ring is chipped now and I could have stopped it but I couldn't move." Steve pushed his head into Eddie's shoulder. Eddie put his hand on the back of Steve's head and held him like a baby.
"It's okay... it's fine..."
"You spent so much money on it just for me to break it the next day."
"You didn't break it... it's not your fault. If I need to I'll buy a new one. Just because the ring is broken doesn't mean the promise is."

Eddie knocked on the oak door as he adjusted the rings on his fingers. "Hello?" A man said at the door. Eddie looked up and smiled.
"Tommy Hagan?" Eddie pushed open the door and knocked Tommy to the ground. Eddie slammed his knuckles into Tommy's nose. He reached down and grabbed the collar of Tommy shirt as he cried out in pain. Blood oozed from Tommy's nose.
"HELP!" Tommy screamed out as Eddie hit him again, this time with his rings.
"Listen you little shit. You come near Harrington again and you'll end up with more than a broken nose."
"You're crazy, man! I didn't do anything." He breathed heavily as Eddie kicked him in his side. "You're gonna kill me just like you killed Chrissy, you psychopath." Eddie pulled Tommy up by his collar and pinned him against the wall.
"You know I had nothing to do with Chrissy." Eddie punched him a final time. Blood shot out from Tommy's mouth.
"You knocked out my tooth!" Tommy put a hand up to his lip which was already swollen. Eddie dropped Tommy.
"Like i said before, it'll be much worse if you mess with me or Harrington again. Got it?" Tommy nodded in fear. Eddie took a deep breath and left Tommy's house.