Hard Habit to Break

Chapter 12

 "I got that," Eddie told Nancy, reaching out to take the garbage bag from her hand.

The last guests had finally cleared out of the house about an hour ago and some of them had stayed back to help with the clean up. Gathering garbage, wiping down the furniture, putting away extra chairs and folding tables, doing dishes, sweeping the floor, trying to make sure there was no extra work left for Tori and her family who looked absolutely wrung dry after the day they'd had.

Nancy smiled at him appreciatively, "Thank you, Eddie. I'm just going to dry up the rest of these dishes."

"I got it, babe." Jonathan snatched the towel from her hand, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You've done more than enough today." Eddie had to agree. Every time he saw Nancy she was bringing out more food or wiping away a ring from where someone had set their glass or gathering empty plates. "Why don't you go find Tori and Robin and the three of you have a little glass of wine and relax? My mom hid a bottle just for you guys. It's in the cabinet next to the fridge."

"Have I told you how much I love you lately?" she grinned, already opening the cabinet to pull out the glasses.

"Yes but it never hurts to hear it again." He grinned, leaning in to nuzzle his nose against hers.

Eddie lifted the bag, heading out the back door to put it in the can, needing to escape the nauseating show of affection. It was nothing against Nancy and Jonathan. He was happy for the two of them. It must be nice. To have your person, to be comfortable in the assuredness that this was it for the rest of your life, that no matter what went down you wouldn't ever have to face it alone because they were going to be by your side for the rest of time.

He'd thought he had that once but he'd simply been a naive, lovestruck idiot. Younger him would never have believed where he was now. Not just the rock star bit, though that would have blown his mind, but the bit where he and Tori were a thing of the past. He'd never seen it coming, never expected to simply be her past and not her future. He'd been so sure that they were written in the stars, meant to be, that nothing could ever come between them. He'd been certain that no matter what path life took them on they would always find their way back to each other. He'd been a fool.

"Hey man," Steve greeted, walking toward the cans with his own bag of garbage in hand. "Nancy insisted that we do the bathrooms too. Scrubbing a toilet that dozens of people have used, nothing I ever wanted to do in life."

"Gross," he laughed. "Didn't you have to do that when you worked at Scoops?"

"Scoops didn't have their own bathroom. That particular job did not fall on me. Thank god. That fell to the janitorial crew of Starcourt Mall." He shuddered. "I can't even imagine the horrors they saw within the confines of the cesspool that is the men's restroom of a shopping mall."

Eddie lifted the lid so Steve could drop his own bag inside. Letting it fall, he reached into his pocket for his pack of smokes, placing once between his lips and lighting it. Jesus, he needed that. That first hit was a moment of release, a brief relief from the weight of the day. The smoke hit the back of his throat and loosened the tension in his muscles while the rush of nicotine cut through the haze of stress he'd been wading through all day. He knew it was fleeting. It wouldn't last. The stress and anxiety was all still there, just waiting to return after the smoke cleared but in this moment, it was sheer goddamn bliss.

"Still on the cancer sticks, huh?"

Eddie's eyes rolled toward Steve, "If I remember correctly, Harrington, you used to smoke in high school."

Steve snorted, "That was short lived, man. I quit after junior year. We had that assembly where they showed us that lung that was all black and shriveled. Scared the shit out of me, let me tell you. Never touched another one."