Stolen Hearts (Slow Updates)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Two Weeks Later 

We were back in Hawkins. We had been staying with my dad while we looked at houses with a realtor. When we finally found one that was set back from the road a ways and had a gate to stop people from just walking onto the property we bought it and started to move in. Eddie insisted that we buy all new furniture and just keep the house we have in Los Angeles for now. I agreed but told him to be prepared to sell it one day. 

Things have been doing a little better with us. He has kept to his word with no drinking and getting high. There have been occasions that he's had one beer here and there with my dad, but he hasn't been getting drunk. We've been over to see Wayne a few times, having dinner with him and making sure everything was going okay with him. We got to meet his girlfriend Tracy the last time we were over. We also caught up with some people from high school. Eddie learned that his D&D club is still a thing. Four boys had taken over the club once they started their freshmen year back in eight-six. 

Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will were their names. Billy Hargroves sister Max was dating Lucas, Will was Jonathan Byers younger brother, and Mike was Nancy Wheeler's younger brother and Dustin Henderson lived on the same street. I remember meeting them all after Robin Buckley, someone that I had gravitated towards, had become friends with Steve Harrington while working at Starcourt Mall. They were all sweet boys. They all graduated last year from Hawkins High School. They knew about the club from the kids that were in it after we graduated and made sure to keep it alive. Eddie was ecstatic to hear that his club was still a thing after all these years. He hasn’t played the fantasy game in a long time, not since his music career took off; he just hasn’t had the time and he was also too busy bathing in his fame. 

I stood in the kitchen, putting things away when Eddie walked in the front door. “Sweetheart!” his voice traveled through the house. “Kitchen!” I yelled back to him. Arms wrapped around my waist from behind a few seconds later. He rested his chin on my shoulder after kissing my cheek. “Whatcha up to beautiful?” he asked. I glanced at him and kissed his lips. “Putting everything away where I want it to be.” He hummed, reaching his arm around me and took the plate I had in my hand, setting it on the counter. “How about you take a break from that so we can christen this room, hmm? We already got the bedroom and living room. The kitchen sounds like a good place next.” He kissed my neck, sliding a hand up under my shirt. I pushed his hand down and stepped out of his hold. “Not right now, Eds. I want to get this finished so I don’t need to do it later. There is still a lot of stuff that needs to be put away. So behave.” He frowned and gave me those stupid puppy-dog eyes. “Not going to work. But…” I walked towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck, and gave him a quick kiss. “If you help me we could get it done quicker and then you can have your way with me.” That got him to smile and he started to put things away, making sure to check where I wanted them. I was going to need his help anyway with the thing that needed to be put up higher. 

Later on that night I was curled on the couch with a book waiting for Eddie to get home. He was supposed to be out getting dinner from the burger place we went to after prom and many times after that. But that was an hour ago, it shouldn't take that long when it was only ten minutes away from us. I wasn't even focusing on the book I had resting on my lap. My mind was running wild of all the possibilities of why he wasn't home. They ranged from cheating to a car accident. I didn't want to believe any of the bad thoughts that reared their ugly heads. I wanted to believe and was hoping he just ran into some people from our past or some fans and lost track of time. 

I closed the book and set it on the coffee table in front of me, stood, and walked into the kitchen. I was fucking striving so I grabbed the bag of chips out of the top cabinet and sat up on the counter. Scenarios of what Eddie could possibly be doing flashed through my head; It's like I had a whole dewey decimal system of them locked away deep in my mind. All nice and organized alphabetically. 

I looked at the green light from the clock on the stove. The numbers on it glowing told me it was almost seven. Sighing, set the bag of chips on the counter, jumped down, and walked towards the door. I slipped on shoes, grabbed my keys, and headed out to the car. I was going to the burger place and getting what I had asked Eddie to get for me. When I pulled in I saw Eddie's van, yes, the van that he had back in high school. Wayne had kept it all these years and even had it fixed up a little and kept it running. The parking lot was full of cars. Bicycles were all parked closer to the building. I parked, got out of my car, and walked around the building. 

What I saw made me stop dead in my tracks. There was a crowd of people surrounding one of the picnic tables out front. There were kids wearing white hellfire shirts with black sleeves, the same one Eddie wore in school. That was the name of his D&D club, Hellfire. The crowd parted enough that I could see him signing stuff. His head turned and I met his eyes. A wide smile spread across his face and he jumped up and ran over to me. “Shit, I'm sorry, sweetheart. There was a line and then some kids showed up asking me to sign some of their D&D stuff and give them some advice on campaigns. Then more people started showing up. I'm sor…”

I place my finger against his lips, stopping his rambling. I smiled at him and shook my head. “It's fine, Eds. I was worried and hungry…” he gave me a sheepish look and pulled me closer to him. “I know. I'm sorry. But can you believe this? Look at all these kids! The older ones were or are in Hellfire, and the younger ones want to join when they get to high school. Some people are here for the band, but most are here just because of Hellfire. They wanted me to join in on the next campaign, but I told them…” I stopped him again but this time with a kiss. “That sounds great, Eddie. You should do it.” He smiled, leaned down, and kissed me. “I fucking love you!”