Again

Chapter 4

Two weeks later, Steve is pulling up to the library again. However, this time his and Zee's (the new name change Mackenzie has adopted) emotions are totally reversed. It's Steve, who is nervous and in need of reassurance, and Zee, who is excited by the prospect of something new. Entering the same room as last week, it looks mostly the same, with three long tables with five seats around each one and a suitable amount of space between them. Steve's eyes scan around the room. They were the first ones here. Some polo-shirted kids from last week are the only people wandering around.

"Ok then, Dad, see you later." Zee smiles up at Steve and looks over to the door again.

Steve looks at her, surprised, "You, er, you want us to leave? You don't want me to stay like last time?" he folds his arms, desperately using them to cage in his disappointment.

"Well, like you said. Eddie will be here. I'll be fine." She tilts her head and gives him a warm smile, "Besides, what are you gonna do here for the next few hours?"

"Yeah, Harrington. Whatever will you do for the next few hours whilst your daughter embarks upon an adventure of the most incredibly dangerous proportions?" A voice rumbles playfully from behind him. Steve turns a little to open up their circle of conversation to him. He doesn't think he's been this relieved to see Eddie since they found him at Skull Rock all those years ago, and it must show because Eddie scans his face offering the sweetest smile in return. For a few seconds, time sort of pauses, and something shifts within him. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it again because the sounds have got lost somewhere.

"Well", Eddie springs from living statue into action as he grabs for the backpack behind him, "I thought maybe you could help me out. Can the great King Harrington wield a paintbrush?"

Eddie pushes the backpack towards Steve and gestures with his head to the bookshelves behind him, "I set us up a table out of the way. You know, so we don't cramp their style."

"King Harrington?" Zee laughs at the impossibility of Steve ever being anything more than a massive dork of a Dad.

Steve can see that face of mischief bloom on Eddie. His wide eyes dart to the side at Zee, the excitable smile tensing on his face, and his cheeks suck in a little. Steve's memory throws him back in time, standing next to Eddie, draped in his vest. He was the centre of attention, being the answer to everyone's prayers in Max's Trailer before they were about to steal someone's vehicle and home. The face was exactly the same, just a few more creases here and there, and Steve couldn't help but feel how privileged he was getting to see Eddie's wrinkles, something, at one point, no one thought would happen.

"You don't know about the great King of Hawkins High?" Eddie rubs his hands together and giggles, and Steve knows he should absolutely put a stop to this, but then the penny that Eddie's suggestion was embossed in drops, and Steve finally realises.

"Wait...what? You aren't running the game?...you won't be in the game?" Steve blinks rapidly at Eddie

"Just take the bag, Steve", Eddie laughs gently, nudging him with the bag again. Steve looks between Eddie and Zee before, unwillingly, his body walks through the shelves to a smaller table. Steve selects a chair that means he isn't directly looking at the game table Zee has sat at, but if he cranes his neck, he can see her clearly. He tests it out and sees her sit at the table with her book and binder. She was chatting with some of the boys around the table, but most importantly, she was wearing that big smile. That might be Steve's favourite thing he shares with his daughter. It's much easier to read a smile when it's your own. The shape of her eyes, nose and face were all her Mom. But that smile, eye colour and hair were all like his.

He leans back in his chair, takes his cell phone out of his pocket, checks the battery level, and puts it on the table where he can see it. His fingers tap on the table a few times, and then he quickly reaches for his phone again and straightens it a little before folding his arms for a few seconds only to unfold them again. He puts the bag Eddie gave him on the table. It's got some weight to it. Steve wonders what kind of paints they'd be, oil, watercolour, maybe even acrylics. Was it even safe to have paint in a library? When would something as simple as potential destruction stop Eddie from doing anything? What would they even paint? Maybe there were some photography books around here? Steve looks around at the bookshelf behind him. FICTION, well, so much for that idea. His eyes get drawn to a lower row with brightly coloured spines, and he picks one up. A Firey Baptism, the protective cover of the book, has a white piece of card where the cover should be, making Steve frown at the book. Do they keep damaged books here? Weird. Steve opens the book at random and starts reading. He's a few paragraphs in when it suddenly dawns on him that the reason this book had something covering the front was that it was one of those romance novels, a spicy one.