After a horrific accident that left him with splintered bones and a traumatic brain injury, doctors told Todd Barcelona that he’d likely never run again. So he and his wife decided to run farther than they ever had before.
Issue no. 152, “The Extra Mile,” is now live:
Sometimes, Todd’s determination almost outweighed his capabilities. In January 2016, the Barcelonas ran the Herb Parsons Trail half-marathon. Todd typically ran on flat surfaces, but this was a trail race. Because he still struggled with mobility in his ankles, it was difficult to maneuver his feet over rocks and roots. Again and again, he tumbled to the ground—so often that it scared him. But he picked himself back up, and after three hours he and Allison finished together.
In April 2016, the Barcelonas ran the Tanglefoot Trail marathon in Mississippi, Todd’s first full marathon since the crash. He finished in about five hours—remarkably, that wasn’t too far off the time it took him to complete the last marathon he ran before the crash. But the Barcelonas were a little bored by the course. They decided that they needed a bigger goal.
Their new plan was to run an ultramarathon.
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I just think Eddie would add the nickname 'Slugger' to his roster of pet names for Steve when he finds out about the nail bat...
Eddie awakens to a scratching sound at Steve's bedroom window.
He thinks it must be the trees. God knows the isolated Loch Nora has enough of them to make a consistent amount of noise 24/7. But his heart skips a beat when he comes to enough to remember that there is in fact, no tree directly outside Steve's bedroom window.
He flips over to face his boyfriend, sending their blankets flying and starling with enough movement he rattles the set of framed baseball cards Steve has on the shelving of his headboard. But the fanatic himself doesn't move, still fast asleep. Looking all angelic and cute as he steadily breathes in and out with only the faintest hint of a snore.
"Steeeeve," he panics, slapping his shoulder, "Steve, there's something at the window!"
Again, nothing.
He groans and leans forward, pressing his weight on him as he speaks directly in his ear, "Steve, wake up and put your goddamn ears in, I'm scared."
He doesn't care that it all sounds a little dramatic. Steve knows he's a total scaredy cat.
"Eds," Steve murmurs, sounding very grumpy, "What is it?"
"There's something outside."
Steve pushes him off, snapping to and hopping straight out of bed in one swift move. Eddie scrambles, spluttering as he struggles against the, now tangled, bed sheets. He looks up just in time to see Steve duck down and retrieve something from underneath his side of the bed…
It's a baseball bat.
A baseball bat covered in large nails. Nails that have been haphazardly hammered in, sticking out every which way and making it quite the deadly weapon.
He watches as Steve spins it around in his hands before gripping it tight and standing at the ready. Oh.
Steve cocks his head and quirks a brow in the direction of the frightening window in question.
The noise is still there, tap, tap a-tapping on the window.
But Eddie really couldn't give a shit anymore because now he is solely focused on his boyfriend creeping towards the window, waving his bat like he geeing himself up to hit a homer. His hands clench with every step, exposing all the veins on his hands and spider up his forearms. All the while the guy is sporting his impossibly voluminous bed hair and skulking along in his loose and tantalisingly-thin sleep shorts that leave nothing to Eddie's filthy imagination.
Well, maybe he can think of a few things…
"Step back against the wall," Steve commands, not tearing his eyes away from the window.
Eddie nods, backing back and clutching at the wall for support as his heart beats faster as Steve whirls the bat around again. He palms along the wall, feeling around until his shaking hand hits the bed and he stumbles onto it.
But Steve isn't paying attention to his immediate disobedience. He is too busy looking out the window.
"Oh, fuck," he curses before groaning with abject annoyance, "Eds!"
"Huh?" Eddie mumbles, watching Steve's bare shoulders flex and then drop as he allows the nail bat to fall by his side.
"It's a raccoon!" Steve whines, stumping the bat into the carpet with a solid thump to punctuate his frustration.
He whips around and starts off for the bed again, dragging his weapon along behind him. As if in a reverse move, Steve rolls the bat back to its hiding spot and flops onto the bed.
"Eds, I was dead asleep!" he complains, dry-sobbing. He helicopter-kicks his feet in order to propel his legs back onto the bed properly, "Why couldn't you have checked it out first?"
"Excuse me," he protests, raising a hand to his chest in offence, "I was terrified."
"You woke me up!" Steve retorts, pulling the covers about without a great deal of finesse - if anything, his technique makes their bedding situation worse.
"Could'a used that weapon up against a colony of flesh-eating bats, my dear," Eddie grins as he attempts to smooth out the crumpled covers before quickly abandoning the futile task.
"Yeah, no shit," Steve snaps. He really is a bitch when he's sleep-deprived a grouchy, "But I didn't exactly have time to come here and get it. You being a wanted fugitive and all."
"I apologise for the inconvenience," he teases, holding out grabby hands, "Come here, Slugger, and I'll make it up to you."
Steve smirks, thoroughly perking up at the new pet name. And before Eddie knows it, his baseball bat-wielding boyfriend is lunging straight over their mountain of twisted blankets for him.
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