To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Steve and Eddie sat in bed, startled by the sound of glass shattering downstairs. Steve's hand held tightly onto Eddie's, refusing to let go. Steve sat up in bed, prepared to go down stairs and give the asshole that broke something a piece of his mind. "What was that?" Eddie sat up, his hand linked with Steve's. Steve kept his eyes focused on the bedroom door. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. Quiet footsteps sounded from the stairs, creaking closer and closer. Eddie turned to Steve, his eyes were wide. He opened his mouth to say something but Eddie covered his mouth so he couldn't talk. He shook his head to tell Steve not to speak. Steve was terrified. They were two queer men in a house alone. There's only a list of reasons why someone would break in. Steve was also the child of one of the wealthiest families in Hawkins. Eddie glanced up, the lock clicking on the door. "Just be quiet, Steve." Eddie whispered to him as he slowly removed his hand from Steve's mouth. "As far as they're concerned, we aren't home." Eddie glanced up to the light switch, the light shutting off at his command. Steve's hand squeezed Eddie's hand harder as the sound of moving objects sounded from his parents room. There was more glass shattering then a quiet bang. Steve squeezed his eyes shut. Eddie had his arms around Steve, their legs tangled around each other.
"There's no phone upstairs. We can't call the police." Steve glanced over to Eddie. A look of panic shifted onto his face.
"That's alright. We can just wait it out until- until they leave." Eddie brushed Steve's hair away from his face.
"B-but your guitar is downstairs. My mom has things in her room she hasn't taken with her yet. My g-grandmas antique plates are downstairs. W-we have valuable things here, Eddie. I-I bought you a g-gift for C-Christmas and it's in the trunk of my car, and so help me G-god if something h-happens t-to it-" Steve rambled before Eddie grabbed the sides of his face, stopping his words.
"It's going to be fine. We can replace that stuff, I can't replace you." Eddie's eyes were wide, serious. Steve pushed his face into Eddie's chest, soft sobs coming from him as he hid. Eddie tightened his arms around Steve's torso. Steve pushed away from Eddie, his eyes wide.
"I have an idea." Steve whispered towards him. He scrambled off his bed, towards the window above his desk. "The roof connects around to my window, the one I sit on in my parents room. If I climb out this then I can g-get to that one and I can get downstairs." Eddie shook his head.
"No! Absolutely not!" He angrily whispered towards Steve. Steve didn't listen, he slid open the window and started to climb over the desk. "Steve!" Eddie got off the bed, being as quiet as possible, and started towards Steve. By the time Eddie got to the desk, Steve was already on the roof. He crawled across the roof, careful of windows. He peered into one, seeing a black figure messing with things in Steve's parents room. Steve ducked down, hiding from the black figure as well as he could. Steve looked behind him, Eddie's head poked out of the window that he crawled out of. Steve lifted a finger and pointed towards the room to signal that the person was in there.
"Hey!" An older man shouted from inside the room. Steve panicked, looking for a way off the roof. The pool. Steve quickly stood on the roof, his bare feet cold against the shingles. He turned to the pool and jumped, plummeting into the ice cold water below.
"Steve!" Eddie screamed out the window. He slid back into the room and rummaged through Steve's drawers, looking for something to use as a weapon. He grabbed a pair of scissors out of Steve's desk and started towards Steve's door.
Meanwhile, Steve pulled himself out of the water. His skin felt like it was on fire. He looked up to the window where the black figure was. "Shit shit shit." Steve said as he started to run. He got to the front door of his house. The door was locked, he couldn't get in. He looked around. He ran towards the neighbors house, water dripping off him as he ran.
Eddie opened the bedroom door, tiptoeing his way towards Steve's parents bedroom. He gripped the scissors in his hand. "Hey!" He yelled towards the shadow figure as he lifted the scissors.

Steve and Eddie sat on the couch in the living room. A police officer standing in front of them with a notepad. "I strongly advise you stay somewhere else tonight, because the backdoor is shattered. It's gonna get cold tonight and you don't want to freeze." The officer let out a quiet laugh. He quickly cleared his throat when he saw the two were not amused. "We talked to the old man who broke in here, he's not going to press charges for being stabbed with a pair of scissors in his own home. He was convinced this was his house and he wanted to sleep. Just some old man with dementia. So none of your guys' stuff should be missing." The officer flipped through pages in the note pad.
"Wait, he doesn't want to press charges because we defended ourselves? He charged me, I have a right to defend myself." Eddie snarled towards the officer. Steve put his hand on his face and shook his head. "And what if our stuff is missing? Are you going to replace that?" Eddie pointed to the backdoor.
"Eddie, it's fine. I can get the backdoor fixed. Nothing looks like it's missing." Steve stood up and shook the officers hand. "Thank you." He watched as the officers left. As soon as the door was closed Steve turned to Eddie and threw his hands out. "Are you stupid? You can't just yell at officers."
"They're not doing their job." Eddie stood up and pointed towards the shattered back door. "For all we know that person could have killed us. He could of killed you!"
"Ed, it's not a big deal. He was just a confused old man and went home to the wrong place. We'll call someone and go stay somewhere else or get a hotel room." Steve put his hands over his head. He couldn't process everything that was happening. "Not too long ago you were a wanted man. I don't know if you remember that... you can't mess with the police by yelling at them. We're also two men living in the same house. People will draw conclusions."
"So what?" Eddie murmured.
"What?" Steve leaned back on his heels.
"So what if people know about us?" Eddie furrowed his eyebrows towards Steve.
"I think it's self explanatory why I don't want people to know." Steve gulped as he turned to go up the stairs.
"Because you want to protect your reputation or because I'm not a woman?" Eddie leaned back onto the couch, waiting for a response.
"Pack a bag." Steve had that look on his face. The one that was slightly disappointed but slightly pissed off. He used it with the kids all the time so Eddie's seen the face before.