"Rosie!"
"Not listening."
"I am begging you."
"Not listening."
"Just reconsider -"
"I told you: no."
"But -"
"End of discussion."
"I -"
"End of discussion, Claudia."
Her cousin reached her hands out imploringly. "I'm only trying to look out for you, Dear."
"I don't need it."
"Mom, stop. Eddie's not going to hurt her!"
Rosie silently shooed Dustin back into his room. She wasn't getting him caught in the crossfire.
"Teenagers died, Rosie." Claudia Henderson went on. "One was a pretty young girl, just like you."
"I'm not a teenager."
"He brought her back to his place and broke all of her bones."
She shuddered. Eddie had witnessed it. Twice. "No, Eddie did not."
"Well, his friends did."
"STOP IT, CLAUDIA!"
"I'm just stating facts."
"You're not. You're spouting rumors. Rumors that he was cleared of a year ago. Eddie wouldn't hurt a fly."
"You don't know that"
"I know him far better than you."
Rosie slammed the door shut and locked it. Returned to her bag, fuming as she folded a change of clothes into it. She was so angry she shook, frustrated tears clouding her vision. How could her cousin say those things? How could she believe them? Madness.
She had planned on having dinner before she left. Instead, she huddled on her bed and counted down the hours. A little after six, someone tapped softly on her door.
"Rosie?" Her nephew hissed. "It's Dustin. I saved you some meatloaf."
She opened the door and let him in. Dustin perched on the bed while she ate, like he was ready to guard her from his mother.
"Do you think she'll ever change her mind," He asked. "About Eddie?"
"I don't know, Dust. I really thought meeting him would help."
"Yeah. Same."
"You ok?"
"Fine. I just…it's weird. I always thought my mom was good. Now I'm not so sure."
"She's trying to be, in her own way. She's just…misguided."
"I told Eddie not to ring the door. I'll go keep a lookout."
Eddie arrived almost as soon as she finished her food. Rosie hugged Dustin good-bye and ran to the van. He'd saved the front seat for her. The others were crammed into the back with their instruments
"We're cutting it close." He announced. "No rest stops. Anyone needs to piss, use Henderson's"
No-one spoke up. The engine chugged.
"Ok. Don't say I didn't warn you."
They drove for over 90minutes, passengers and equipment jostling around. Rosie felt slightly bad for Sarah, who was sitting on the bean bag next to a dented snare. They would have to swap on the way back. She even tried to talk to her, but Sarah didn't seem very chatty, so she gave up and stared out the window.
Fort Wayne was a lot bigger than Hawkins. Rosie thought it was nice, as they drifted past the square buildings through regular streets. Not too busy, just a nice little city. The bar they were going to was just on the edge of downtown, with the motel on the next block. Eddie pulled into the bar parking lot, and Sarah and Garret hopped out to go "check their room", leaving the rest of them to unload.
"You don't have to help, Rosie." Warren obliged.
"It's no problem. This isn't heavy."
"Yeah, but it's not your bass." He replied. "Not your band, either."
"Ah. I don't mind."
The event had already started, she discovered, stepping into the boom of disharmonious noise. Going to gigs like this was always interesting. Some bands would be great. Others, like the one now playing, very green and…not so great. They got a polite applause, all the same, when the lights came back up and they had to disassemble their own set. Then they simply hopped back down off the stage and melded into the crowd.
"Ok. It's gonna be Tin-Top, U-Turn, and then you guys." Some sort of organizer wove towards them with Eddie. "20minute set. And I mean twenty minutes."
"Yessir." Paulie responded.
The stage was stripped and set up. The next group of hopefuls struck up. From the way Eddie and his friends talked, they knew them. They weren't bad - much more melodic than the band that had played before, if a little rigid. Eddie perched Rosie up on a stool and stood beside her, one hand drifting to her knee as they watched. She sipped nonchalantly on her whiskey & ginger.
"Is that a new dress?" He asked in between songs, squeezing gently.
"Not really. I just haven't had a chance to wear it."
His eyes roamed her freely. "Red really suits you."
She grinned, running her hand around his waist. It wasn't anything special, really, just another sundress with white flowers. It's effect, however, was undeniable. "Glad you like it."
It wasn't long before the organizer appeared again, pushing Eddie and his bandmates forward. Like the others, they had no roadies to help. A few people from the audience lifted the drums and amps up with them, and that was all. There was something more professional to their set this time, and Eddie made more of an effort to rile the crowd. Starting with Paranoid helped, of course, but just his stance, his expression, the way he moved was better. Like he had more confidence. Rosie had to admit, she felt something when he put his boot up on his amp during the intro to For Whom the Bell Tolls. That only increased the more he started to sweat under the harsh lights. His eyes sought her out in the crowd and Rosie dramatically fanned herself. He liked that.
Five songs. That was all they managed. Rosie was sure they went over time, actually. So her surprise, their final one started with a riff she only vaguely recognized. After all, she had only heard it once, in a trailer a few months prior. The song itself definitely had a Sabbath vibe, though Eddie sounded more like Hetfield. It was good, though. She felt a rush of pride when it ended to cheers.
"Amazing!" Sarah gushed, throwing herself at Garret. Eddie politely edged past them and accepted the drink Rosie held out. He chugged the whole thing, gasping for air at the end.
"Well?"
"You wrote that?"
"Some of it." He nodded. "Paulie helped with the lyrics."
"I'm impressed."
Eddie smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah." Rosie tugged his arm, urging him to lean into her, and whispered. "You looked really sexy. Up there."
"I-I did?"
"Very."
His fingers ran up her calf, pausing only because he knew they were in public. "Finish your drink."
"What?"
He gripped her knee now, gaze intense. "I want to get to the motel."
Rosie spluttered. "But… the competition."
"The guys will tell me. You done?"
She was already jumping off the stool, wrestling with her coat. He pulled her through the crowd by the hand. Rosie followed happily.
I am pushing to get these chapters out because if anything happens to Eddie in Pt.2 I'll be in bed for a month