To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Eighteen

"Hey, how was your vacation?" Robin walked into Family Video as she buttoned up her vest. Steve pulled his eyes up from the binder of papers he was looking at. He smiled and looked back down at the book.
"It was okay." He closed the book and huffed.
"Your three month long vacation was just okay? Are you kidding?" Robin walked around the side of the counter and sat down on a stool.
"No, I'm not kidding. Eddie asked me to kill him." Robins eyes got wide. She laughed nervously,
"What?"
"Eddie told me, if he gets worse, he wants me to kill him. Like with a gun. He wants me to shoot him.. in the head." Steve tapped his finger tips on the counter.
"And what did you say?" She was at a loss for words.
"I called and told Keith I'd be out for a couple weeks. Here we are months later, and Eddie isn't dead. I asked him to marry me though." Steve opened the book back up and looked through it.
"You what?" Robin waved her hands in the air. "You asked him to marry you? You proposed?"
"No, not officially. But I told him that I wanted to marry him before he got worse," he leaned on his elbow.
"When are you going to do it?" Robin moved closer to Steve.
"I'm not sure. I'm probably going to wait another couple months. We've been together for like what four months already? I don't want to do it yet." Steve looked back into the book.
"And it's a mutual agreement that you are going to do it and not him."
"Yup." Steve flipped through the pages while he typed into a calculator that was next to him. "Well... I'm not sure." He looked at Robin and shrugged then looked back down at his book.
"Wait..." Robin counted on her fingers. "Steve... it hasn't been four months, Dingus. It's been like six."
"No, I don't think so." Steve smiled and looked down at the book trying to ignore Robin so he could do his job.
"Steve. You pulled him out of the upside down six months ago. You kissed him like a week after that."
"Robin, there's no way." Robin was right. Steve didn't want to admit it because he had lost track of time while he was at home with Eddie for three months.
"Anyways, wrong or not, it's been a while since I've seen you. I can see that you stopped shaving but what else have you been up to?" Robin was referring to the small amount of stubble around Steve's jaw. She looked at his hair which was a tad longer. "You also stopped cutting your hair. You've really let yourself go, Harrington."
"Okay, listen, Buckley. I'm allowed to change my appearance." Steve looked at her and laughed. "I haven't had time to cut my hair, it takes a lot of focus and I've been focusing on Eddie's health and if he's going to croak." Steve closed the book and turned around.
"No I'm just saying, patchy stubble and long hair?"
"I'll shave when I get home. Leave me alone." He laughed again.

"Ed! I'm home!" Steve closed the door behind him and walked into the house. He tried to take off his shoes while walking so it was more of a hop. "Did you know it's been like six months since we pulled you out of the upside down? Isn't that crazy? Ed?" Steve looked around and didn't see Eddie who was usually waiting for him. "Eddie?" Steve walked to the back door and opened it to see if he was outside. Steve felt his heart beat increase as he closed the back door and walked upstairs. He felt like his heart was going to explode. "Eddie?" He opened up his bedroom door to see Eddie laying on the bed. "Ed? Are you okay?" He walked to his bed and grabbed Eddie's shoulder. Eddie opened one of his eyes and smiled.
"Hey. How was work?" Eddie opened his eyes slightly and grabbed Steve's hand.
"You scared the shit out of me." Steve sighed and laid next to Eddie so he was facing him.
"I'm just a little tired." Eddie put his hands on his face and rubbed.
"Do you know it's been almost six months that we've been together?" Eddie blinked then smiled.
"No shit. Really?" Eddie interlocked his fingers with Steve's.
"Yeah. I lost track of time."
"I can tell. You stopped shaving." Eddie laughed then his smile faded as he stared at Steve. He loved the symmetry of Steve's face. The lines on his cheeks when he smiled. The brightness is his dark eyes. He loved the pinkness in his lips and the darkness under his eyes. He especially loved the tiny freckles sprinkled across his face.
"Yeah, I thought I'd try something new. You don't like it?" He smiled and kissed Eddie.
"You poked me." Eddie joked as he rubbed Steve's cheek with his thumb. Steve rolled off the bed and went into the bathroom to shave.
"I get the message." He laughed then started shaving off his six day old five o'clock shadow. Eddie sat up and coughed hoping Steve couldn't hear him over the water running. He looked down at his hand. He was coughing up blood. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and wiped off his hand as Steve walked back into the room. "How do I look?" Steve smiled and rubbed his jaw.
"Do a spin so I can see it all the way around." Eddie joked as he let go of his shirt. Steve rolled his eyes and did a full spin then threw his arms out to the side like he was saying TA-DA!
"I need to cut my hair but it takes a while and I don't want to bother with it." He sat down next to Eddie and sighed. He turned to look at Eddie and forced a smile. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah! I feel great!" Eddie lied. Steve knew Eddie was lying and Eddie knew if he did tell Steve he wasn't feeling okay then they'd be on their way to Illinois. Steve fell backwards onto the bed, exhausted from work. He turned slightly to see little drops of black liquid on this sheets. He gulped and pulled Eddie down onto the bed with him. Steve took a moment to caress Eddie's hand in his. He couldn't help but think of all the things he loved about Eddie that he would miss when Eddie was gone. All the small details about their relationship, the feeling of Eddie's cold rings against Steve's skin, the times that Eddie would hold down Steve so he put his hair in a ponytail. Eddie leaned over and pulled Steve against him. "I feel fine." Eddie repeated. Steve felt his heart beat increase. He knew Eddie wasn't okay, but what's new.