To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Seventeen

Steve pulled up to Family Video and looked over at Eddie. He was tired but forcing himself away to be there with Steve. "You know you don't have to come to work with me." Steve pointed out as Eddie sat up. It was already Monday which meant their weekend was over and Steve was back at work.
"I want to be here with you." Eddie smiled and looked at himself in the rear view mirror. The truth was that Eddie just didn't want to be alone. He didn't want to wake up with a craving for blood or brains. He didn't want to not wake up and leave Steve to deal with that. Eddie smiled and grabbed Steve's hand. "You should talk to your boss about getting me a job so I'm at least being paid while I'm here with you."
"I am the boss, Ed." Steve got out of the car and walked to the front as he put on his vest.
"Hello, Dingus. Hello, Doofus." Robin watched Eddie and Steve walk in. Steve immediately slid across the counter and grabbed his punch in card.
"I'm doofus now?" Eddie put his hands on the counter.
"Yep! You've upgraded from Dingus' boyfriend to doofus." Robin fist bumped Eddie then turned to Steve who was smiling and humming Like a Virgin. "Gross, why is Dingus humming? You guys didn't do anything before work, right?"
"He's happy." Eddie smiled and looked at Robin who took a long drink of coffee. "I introduced him to my uncle a couple days ago."
"Oh? How did that go?" Robin leaned forward like she was waiting for more gossip. It wasn't really gossip at this point because Steve had already called and told her maybe ten minutes after it had happened.
"My uncle was chill about it." Eddie smiled and looked at Steve then tapped the counter.
"Oh that's all? You're not planning anything? With like a union?" Robin raised her eyebrows and leaned forward.
"Steve already talked to you, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did. Guilty as charged. He just wanted me to find out if you're planning anything."
"No, he said he's not ready and I respect that. Even though I'm..." he laughed and tapped the counter again, "lovestruck."
"Gross." Robin stood up and went to help Steve with a box he was struggling to carry to the front. They set the box on the counter. "Did you lose your box cuter?" Robin watched as Steve checked his vest pockets then the drawers near the register.
"I got it." Eddie pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket and cut the tape on the top of the box.
"Thanks, Ed." Steve opened the box. "Any guesses on what it is?" Steve looked up, shielding the sides so Eddie and Robin couldn't see inside.
"Uh... a shit ton of movies?" Robin shrugged. Eddie leaned forward to try and peak.
"A new register?" Eddie looked at the old one and smiled.
"Nope." Steve started to pull pieces out of the box. "A popcorn machine." Eddie pulled the pieces out and smiled.
"Sick!" He grabbed the pieces and pulled the box onto the floor. "Can I put it together? I like this kinda thing. It's like a puzzle."
"It's not a puzzle if you read the instructions, doofus." Robin picked up a magazine and started flipping through the pages. "Oh! Here's a quiz. Is your best friend bad news..." Steve looked up and gave her a dirty look. "There's no option for 'dragged you into living hell and made you fight monsters for two years of your life.'" Robin smiled and looked at Steve who was unamused.
"You chose to do that." Steve corrected.
"Um, no I didn't. I was drugged by Russian spies and forced to fight whatever Billy Hargrove turned into." She raised her eyebrows and rolled up the magazine to hit Steve with it.
"Billy was a dick." Eddie said from the floor. Robin and Steve laughed.
"You have no idea, Ed. No idea." Steve continued to take inventory of returned movies.

Steve looked at Eddie next to him in the car as he put it in park. Eddie looked around confused. "Skull Rock?" He smiled and got out of the car.
"Yeah I thought I'd be a good place to go." Steve got out and followed him over to the rock. "It's weird to be back here." He looked at the old broken boat that sat across from them in the water.
"Yeah, you're telling me." Eddie laughed as he picked up a rock and skipped it across the water. "I need to talk to you about something..." Eddie turned to see Steve sitting on the grass. He wandered over and sat down next to Steve.
"Okay. What's up, Ed?" Steve grabbed a piece of grass and played with it while Eddie's entire demeanor changed.
"Um... I don't know what this means for us. The whole being dead thing." Eddie rubbed his hands together and looked at Steve who was still carefree. "If something happens to me and I go feral or try to eat you or something, then I want you to kill me."
Steve laughed, "yeah right. Stop playing around." Steve looked out into the water.
"I'm being serious, Steve." Steve turned to look at Eddie to see he was very serious. Steve felt the pit forming in his stomach again. "If I get worse and I'm not me anymore, then you need to kill me."
"Shut the fuck up. That won't happen," Steve's face got hot and his stomach was now a massive pit.
"But if it does. You never know what is going to come out of this. I mean, look at this realistically, Steve. My blood cells are dead, I don't bleed, my heart has stopped pumping. It's only a matter of time."
"Eddie, stop." Steve's face was serious but he couldn't help but think Eddie was right.
"Wayne has a gun. You could take it. I could get it for you and you can wait until I get worse then just...put me down." Eddie's eyes got watery as he reached for Steve's hand. "I love you, Harrington. That's why we had to have this conversation."
"No. I won't kill you. If you get worse then we can get you help. I'm not going to sit here and talk to you about murdering you!" Steve threw his hands into the air, breaking away from Eddie's grasp.
"Well what if I get worse and I kill you!" Eddie yelled towards Steve as he stood up and started to walk away. "I can't do that, I can't sit here and know that I could hurt you."
"I'm not going to kill you!" He turned to Eddie with tears in his eyes. "I'm not going to kill you..." Eddie stood up and walked to him. Steve collapsed into his arms and let soft sobs out. "I just got you back, Ed. I just got you back."
"I know. I'm sorry." Eddie held Steve and guided him down to the ground. "Hey, look at me," Steve pulled his eyes up to look at Eddie. "I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I didn't love you. It won't happen anytime soon but if it does..." Steve looked away from Eddie. He couldn't look Eddie in his eyes as he asked him to do such a horrible thing. "What happens when I'm not me anymore? What happens when my entire personality changes and I'm like evil or something? What if I turn into this monster and I hurt you?" Eddie pushed Steve's hair out of his face and wiped the tears out from under his eyes. "I don't want to hurt you and you're pretty face, are you kidding me? If it's up to saving me or saving you... I'd save you."
"Eddie..." Steve tried to hold back the rest of his tears. "You think my face is pretty?" Steve laughed through the pain in his chest.
"Yeah, I do. Now stop crying so I can see your gorgeous eyes without tears in them." Eddie wiped his eyes again and kissed his cheek where the salty tears once were. "It'll be okay."
"I'm not going to kill you. I'll make Robin do it," Steve pushed his face back into Eddie's chest, his heart felt like it was on fire. But it wasn't a good kind of fire, it wasn't the fire he felt when he kissed Eddie for the first time. It wasn't the fire he felt when he was in the shower with Eddie. It wasn't the fire he felt moments before this when they were sitting in the grass watching the water. It was more of the fire you feel when part of you dies. It was a fire that meant he could lose everything at any moment. It was the fire that meant he could lose Eddie.
"I love you. Even if I'm dead I'll always love you." Eddie brushed his fingers through Steve's hair as the waves crashed against the shore. "I think we chose the wrong spot to sit." Eddie said referencing his pants that were now wet from the waves coming on shore.
"Then marry me." Steve mumbled into Eddie's chest.
"W-what?" Eddie looked down at Steve who glanced up to him.
"If you think you're going to die... whether it's in the next week, the next month, the next year, or the next ten years..." he took Eddie's hand and looked down at his fingers. "Then I want it to be with me by your side."
"You just said a couple days ago that you- Steve, we've only been together for a couple months."
"Well, it's not like we'd need to get a divorce. It's not legal for us to get married. It's just a promise."
"Are you sure? Are you sure you'd be ready for that?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"Because you just turned twenty, Steve."
"Eddie, shut up." Steve laid his head down on Eddie's chest and felt the water splash up against them.
"Well... I have a point." Eddie continued. Steve looked up with a emotionless face. "I have a po-" Steve interrupted him with a soft kiss.
"Just shut up and sit here in the water with me, please." Steve laughed as the water splashed up against them again.