eastside

chapter thirty one

It's a weird thing, sleep.. Lying there motionless until you eventually pass out, which is weird in itself.. Then you throw in all these strange images and sights that usually don't make sense. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they're memories, both good or bad.. Sometimes they're subtle hints from your subconscious.. Sometimes they're not so subtle.. Like the one where they were at the pond again, on the dock. Eddie had just professed his love and was being swamped with Pipers kisses. Everything played out exactly the same except this time, the moment was cut short by Jason Vorhees really coming out of the water and snatching her away.

As if he needed another reminder of what he had lost..

After that dream, the Friday the 13th movies were banned from being played while on tour, no matter how much Mike begged.

The weirdest thing about sleep though was being in that small plain of consciousness where you know you're sleeping but you're still aware of what's going on in the outside world. It's almost like hallucinating, just lacking the psychedelics.

As he laid there, Eddie could feel where every part of his body was. His head laying slightly off the pillow and more into the middle, making his neck crink. His hand wrapped gently around Pipers forearm and were moving up and down slowly every time she'd breathe in and out, the rhythm almost lulling him in a way. His feet were somewhere in the tangled mess of the sheets and Pipers legs as she laid sprawled out next to him. Her soft breaths came like waves, drifting him further into full unconsciousness when a muffled noise broke and caught his attention.

Between reality and his dream, he wasn't sure of where it came from at first until it sounded out again, this time louder and in what sounded like a tangible word.

"Stop.."

Eddies eyes creaked open, thinking maybe he were doing something weird while he slept and it was annoying Piper. After all, the movement of their conjoined parts had translated over into his sleep.. Something about making a clay pot on a spin wheel. Even more of a reason to not let Mike pick the movies anymore.

He waited for a moment to see if she'd say anything else or maybe even for a slap to come, but all that happened was a soft snore. A soft snore that slowly crescendoed into something that resembled a werewolf hocking a loogie.

Despite the loud growls beside him and the fear of what those noises would become in his dream, Eddie could barely keep his eyes open but managed long enough to make out the time over on the nightstand, a bright '4:06 pm' flashing across the analog screen. They still had time left before Chris would call, thankfully so because he were beyond exhausted. Whether it was more mentally or physically, it was hard to say..

What he was sure of though was that his eye was throbbing, his hand felt weird every time he moved his thumb and he needed to pee but Pipers comfortable bed had a grip on him.

At least it had a grip, he felt like he were losing the last shred of his. There was just too much shit going on, so much so that it slipped his mind that he had the next nine days off.. Which in turn, he also forgot to tell Piper when he had originally planned to surprise her before they left New York. That was all shot to shit since his arrest.. Stone made them catch an earlier flight, just to keep everyone separated until 'they could talk'..

Which was fine, the less time she spent around Dave, the better..

But now whenever the rest of the circus flew in, those nine days would probably be spent having meetings about where everyone stood as a band.. That was if Eddie could be around Dave long enough without beating the shit out of him again.

But that was a worry for then.

For now, Pipers breathing was finally settling out, the snores got quieter and soon, the rhythmic flow began lulling Eddie again.. He could almost hear the spin wheel starting up when a pitiful 'No' pulled him out into the real world, sending a chill through his body as she whined. He leaned up slowly and found that Pipers eyes were closed.. She was still sleeping.