⚠️ Warning ⚠️ : There will be homophobia, bullying, foul language. So if that bothers you do not read this chapter.
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Friday has finally arrived and all the teens in town were preparing for the party. Some were dressing as if they were meeting with royalty and others stuck to T-shirts that had unrecognizable designs on them.
Steve didn't put much thought into his outfit. He threw on his Jean jacket to finish off the finished look which was a white shirt and jeans. Grabbing his car keys he swiftly left his house after locking his front door. He got in the car and sat there while whispering comforting words to himself.
"Everything is going to be just fine, tonight will be fun." Steve took a deep breath before starting the car and driving to Eddie's trailer to pick him up. He was nervous to say the least but the adrenaline in his blood was flowing all throughout his body.
When he pulled up to Eddie's trailer the door swung open before he could even notify that he was outside. Eddie's attire was a short sleeved white T-shirt that had some band on it, black jeans, and thick black boots. Steve noticed that Eddie's tattoos were visible because of the shortness of the sleeves. They looked good on his soft and porcelain skin.
Steve's thoughts were interrupted by his car door opening. Eddie made himself comfortable in his seat and put on his seatbelt. Steve could smell that sweet fragrance that he smelt last time he was around Eddie. It was so captivating to Steve and he couldn't figure out why.
"How do I look? Is it to much?" Eddie asked gesturing towards his outfit. Steve examined the outfit closer and honestly he liked it. Every piece of clothing complimented each other and complimenting Eddie as well.
"Is it that bad, Harrington?" Eddie joked making Steve realize he was looking a little to long.
"No no you look... good." Steve said meeting Eddie's eyes. There was something in the air that was quite indescribable. Neither of them knew how many minutes has passed as they continued to look deeply into each other's eyes. Steve could feel his heart beating slightly fast and his mouth becoming dry. Eddie wasn't knew to this feeling especially when he was around Steve, this was normal.
"R-right, the party." Steve quickly looked away and began to drive in the direction of Charlotte's house. After passing a few houses the right one was easy to spot. Kids from their school were on the front lawn and some were running to the back of the house.
Steve parked the car near the sidewalk that was in front of Charlotte's house and prepared himself to go inside. He looked over at Eddie and patted his shoulder.
"It'll be fun, ok?" Steve said in a soft voice while smiling. Eddie smiled back and nodded his head confirming he was ready to go. The pair got out the car and headed towards the front door that was wide open. Steve could hear people shouting his name and greeting him as he walked past them. Eddie followed his lead, not really familiar with any of these people.
As they entered the house Charlotte spotted them in an instant. She smiled widely while making her way over to Steve specifically.
"Took you long enough, you were going to miss dancing with me." Charlotte grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him towards a crowd of people dancing. Eddie watched Steve go with Charlotte and left him alone.
Eddie started getting dirty looks as soon as Steve left his side. He was standing there awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with anyone that looked his way. That failed miserably because a group of guys and girls began to walk over to him and he knew that they had an issue with him.
"I think we should tell Charlotte that she has a rat in her house!" One of the guys spat at Eddie slightly pushing him and making him stumble. They laughed in unison while watching Eddie lose his balance.
"Guys I wouldn't make him angry, I heard drug addicts can get real crazy after midnight." A girl chimed and she poked his chest aggressively. They continued to laugh at him.
"All I want to do is enjoy the party, man." Eddie tries reasoning with the group in front of him. One guy shook his head in anger.
"Freaks like you don't deserve to enjoy anything in life!" The guy got closer to Eddie, making the stance of someone who wants to fight.
Steve sees this in the distance and Charlotte is contouring dance in front of him.
"I think I should go over there." Steve said out loud as he kept looking in Eddie's direction. Charlotte huffed as she danced. She tries to take all of Steve's attention off of Eddie but that was impossible.
"He's fine, he can handle himself." Charlotte put her hand on the side of Steve's face to make him focus on her. Steve still managed to keep his gaze on Eddie and Charlotte was getting sick of it.
"Jesus Steve. First you invite him and now you want to keep an eye on him like you're his babysitter." Charlotte said clearly annoyed with Steve. She turned around and started walking towards the group of people that was in front of Eddie and Steve followed behind her.
"Alright guys leave him alone," Charlotte made the group back away from Eddie and the relief on his face became evident. "Eddie here is going to be playing some songs for us tonight."
Everyone looked at Eddie with not so pleasant looks and mumbled some disrespectful words about him. The silence piercing through Steve but the main person it was affecting Eddie.
"Come on guys. Steve has said nothing but good things about Eddie. I think it's time for him to show us a good time." Charlotte got the crowd to cheer and head for the backyard where the instruments were set up.
Steve quickly walked past a few people that were walking in the opposite direction as him to get to Eddie. He owed him an apology for leaving him alone.
"I'm so sorry Eddie-"
"It's fine Steve, I'm just lucky it didn't get violent. I am no fighter." Eddie tried to make light of the situation and his way of doing that is humor. Steve still felt bad for leaving Eddie alone even for a minute was too long.
"Hurry up you two. Everyone is waiting." Charlotte yelled at the two of them. They hurried outside and saw the instruments with a microphone on a mini stage with lights around it. Eddie really started to feel anxious about now, hasn't preformed with his band in months and he had no clue of how to do it in front of so many people.
"I don't think I can do this Steve." Eddie started to shake because of his nerves. He felt his hand being held and was shocked when he realized it was Steve.
"You got this." Steve whispered as he smiled at the nervous guy in front of him. No one told him to hold Eddie's hand but heart felt like this was the perfect time to do so.
Before getting on stage Eddie smiled back at Steve and gently removed his hand from his. When he got on the stage two guys followed one of them getting of the drums and the other getting one of the guitars. Eddie picked up the last guitar that was on the stage and stood behind were the microphone was. All eyes were on him, as nervous as he was he wanted to make Steve proud. So he did.
The drummer started it off with a simple melody and the other guitarist followed his lead. Eddie recognized the song immediately, he started to strum the guitar and eventually he got the hang of everything. He hesitated before singing into the microphone. From the looks of it the crowd looked like they were actually enjoying the show.
Steve watched in awe. Of course he knew that Eddie was good but he was more than good. Amazing.
Music filled the atmosphere as the band continued to preform. Everyone was in a good mood letting the music flow through them. As always, something had to go wrong.
"What the fuck!" A voice yelled from behind the crowd. Steve turned around and recognized the person immediately but he was also shocked.
It was Johnny, Charlotte's brother and he wasn't alone. Nancy was with him. The music had stopped completely when the focus was now on the pair that had just arrived. Steve was very confused about what was happening right now.
"Johnny let's go back inside please." Nancy begged the raging boy who was as red as a tomato. He ignored her and went straight towards the stage.
Steve ran over to Nancy now that she was by herself. "Nancy what are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming."
"I wasn't but-"
"What the fuck is this freak doing touching my instruments!" Johnny yelled at his sister. Eddie put the guitar down and tried to leave as quickly as possible.
"Johnny calm down, it's not that serious." Charlotte's attempt at calming down was a difficult task, often it never worked.
"I can't calm down Charlotte. I don't want fags touching my shit!" Johnny's voice echoed throughout the back yard. Eddie stopped in his tracks as he felt his face burn with embarrassment. Everyone stared at him in shock and disbelief.
"Ok that's enough!" Steve made his way through the crowd while Nancy followed behind. Johnny sucked his teeth before letting out a devilish laugh.
"Of course! Harrington being the fucking hero he thinks he is. Let me guess, he sucked you off and that's why you want to protect him." Johnny was pushing Steve's limit right now if anything else came out of his mouth there was going to be a problem.
"If you don't shut the fuck up going to make you!" Steve was stepping closer to Johnny. Eddie couldn't take it anymore, he ran through the crowd.
Steve watched him run and followed right after him. Nancy did too. Everyone at the party stood still watching the three leave abruptly.
"Eddie wait-"
"Just leave me the fuck alone!" Eddie turned around and yelled at Steve. His face was red with tears building up in his eyes. Steve has never seen this side of Eddie before and it was breaking his heart to watch him like this.
"And you!" Eddie pointed to Nancy "I know you fucking planned this!" Eddie felt like the only reason he was invited was because they wanted to humiliate him in the worse way possible.
"I was just trying to help." Nancy tried to explain to Eddie but her words wasn't changing his mind.
"I don't need you're fucking help, everything you've done has hurt me Nancy." Eddie's voice was becoming raspier with every single word. "And I'm not a fucking child, I can handle my own battles." Eddie walked towards the front door.
"Eddie wait." Steve grabbed Eddie's wrist to try and stop him but Eddie snatched his wrist away.
"Steve, don't." Eddie left through the front door and completely disappeared out of sight. Steve felt like an idiot. He should've known this wasn't Eddie's scene.
This sucks.
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I would like to say that I am apart if the lgbtq+ community and the language/ actions in this section will never be tolerated in my eyes, I added a harsh reality to this chapter because I felt that it would highlight a big problem in society. Be respectful to everyone you meet and take care of others as well. I hope you all are enjoying this book. (And I promise it doesn't get this dark again) :)