#Eddie munson conflict

[ericaand]

Why is JQ not as attractive anymore?!

Ok, I KNOW I'm going to get hate for this but why isn't Joseph as attractive as he was? Like, did I have some freaky rose colored glasses on or some shit?

I cannot be the only one who feels this way. Help a girl out. I'm so confused rn. But he just seems different to me. IDK jfkengkso;

[paperbackribs]

werewolf steve, werebat eddie (ch3)

🐺🛌🦇🥺

It’s the quiet conviction that he’s in the wrong bed that wakes Eddie the next morning. The mattress too soft, the pillow too thick, and the boy next to him is an unwavering, giant red flag too. He sighs, hand under his cheek and contemplates the sleep-creased face of Steve Harrington next to little old Eddie Munson.

And he thought turning into a bat was going to be the only weird part of this weekend.

Steve snuffles, twitching his nose before falling back into a steady breathing rhythm again. And Eddie would like to deny how cute it is, would like to refuse to see how handsome Steve is, and would very much like to pinch the thin river of greed winding through him that would like the chance to have a fun, kind guy too. Someone who stirs Eddie, makes him laugh. But that’s not his fate in this lifetime.

He turns onto his back, staring directly above at the bubble pattern of the ceiling and determinedly focusing on more important matters.

Like the fact that he’s a bat now.

Apparently.

Rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, he wonders what the hell to do with that knowledge. It’s not going to get him anywhere; there’s no big corporation that wants to hire bat services. Last he heard, the ability to squeak wasn’t going to land him a record deal. Eddie huffs out a laugh, maybe he can get into acting. Take this gig out on the road.

No, just like having to watch a girl be brutally murdered in front of him and only barely scraping past that hack job Hawkins PD called an investigation, Eddie is going to have to take his lumps and keep moving.

He peers at the awful plaid wallpaper of the bedroom. Unsurprised by the banality of it, the hint of wasted money on lack of taste, but he is surprised by the pleasant abundance of greenery across the whole space. Potted plants crowd every available surface, some with trailing vines flowing over containers hanging from the ceiling. Even with the window closed, the room smells fresh, a clean sweetness to the air that matches the shiningly healthy and obviously well-cared for leaves, flowers and, he peers closer, herbs.

He wonders whether Steve dug these out of the woods with his big furry paws or if he’d bought them at the local nursery. Looking at the array of sizes and colourful patterns on the clay pots he figures that Steve shelled out a decent amount of money for his botanical set-up.

It twinges something in Eddie. Steve, just as taken in by the Upside Down, doomed to forever be a half-man and half-beast too, but sleeping peacefully within an oasis of his creation, sheltered by the tall walls of the Harrington home, with friends who love him, who don’t care about the monster within.

It feels unfair.

Because what is Eddie now? A monster? Maybe. A creature? Definitely. This new change in his life won’t make it any better, it won’t give him any advantages. It’s just one more thing he’s going to have to hide. To squirrel away like a tender thing lest the soft belly of it be exposed to the type of people who would hurt him.

Hurt, he knows, comes in many different forms. From a father believing your best value is in using small hands to boost a car, in the indifference of a mother leaving you on your uncle’s doorstep, on your best friend pushing you to the floor when you try to kiss him.

He looks over at the effortlessly handsome features of Steve, at his expensive and beautiful room, and thinks that whatever risk Steve carries, it is nothing like the one Eddie would be exposed to if his new secret got out.

He spots a familiar animal on the cover of a book on the bedside table. Curiously, he picks it up, flicking his eyes over the types of bats in the world, their characteristics, advice on care, and other little random facts.

Steve stirs, smacking his lips his eyelashes flutter before his gaze opens to land on Eddie bent over the book. He’s under the blanket that Eddie lays over; his bat version must have crawled out of the hoodie at some point but remained on top of the bed. Last night had been a blur and he doesn’t remember much except panic followed by Steve’s warm hands.

“Hey,” Steve smiles sleepily, “You came back to us.”

Eddie grunts, “Yeah, not sure exactly how that happened, but small blessings and all that.” He scans the feeding behaviour header, noting that blood is indeed amongst fruit, insects, and nectar as their preferred diet. Pausing, he tastes his mouth like it’ll suddenly reveal an obvious craving for bloody flesh. Meeting only morning breath, he grimaces and continues reading.

Finally realising that Steve has been silent for an unusually long pause, he glances over only to be startled by the intent look in his eye as he regards Eddie. “Are you okay?” He asks quietly and Eddie bristles at the concern, resentment stirring that Steve gets to be the kind one. The guy who cares despite being similarly afflicted. Why can’t he be just as resentful and mean as Eddie?

“Well, it’s not a giant dog, but I suppose you should welcome me to the club.”

Steve purses his lips thoughtfully, “I’ll ignore the canine dig for now since I know you’re going through something. But I get it, you know? If you can talk to anyone about being suddenly faced with the oddity of waking up in a body that no longer feels like your own, it’s me.”

Eddie rolls his eyes down at the book, “Our life experiences are vastly different, Steve. I don’t think you could get where I’m coming from if you tried.”

“Maybe not all of it,” Steve admits carefully, sitting up so he and Eddie are on the same level, “But I can try. And it’s got to be better than holding it in. You’re a pretty verbal guy, Eddie. I figure’d you’d want to talk about this.”

“What’s that mean?” Eddie glares at him and Steve raises his palms, saying, “Just that you seem to like talking your thoughts out, and that I’m here, willing to listen if you want to get anything off your chest.”

“Yeah, well, you can keep that hairy chest to yourself,” Eddie mutters darkly, looking at a bat’s mouth held open, exposing sharp fangs from front to back like a deadly, serrated knife. He presses his tongue against his molars thoughtfully; he doesn’t remember there being a lot of sharp tools in his mouth.

“Right,” Steve huffs out a frustrated breath, “You’re obviously in a mood. But fair, you’re allowed to take a beat until you get your feet under you.”

“I’m allowed,” Eddie mocks under his breath.

Steve cocks his head, “Yeah, you’re allowed. Just like I was allowed to take a beat too, once I figured out that turning into a wolf wasn’t a hallucination or a mental breakdown.” Eddie ignores him and Steve says with frustration, “What’s your problem?”

As he does, Eddie’s eyes catch on a fun fact section, and he can’t help the grim laughter that escapes. Of course. Of fucking course. He hears the mounting irritation in Steve’s voice as he calls his name again and latches on to it, happy to smack back. “Did you know, Steve,” Eddie starts, meanness fuelling his smirk, only he has a feeling that the petty feeling is directed inwards. “That bats have the highest rate of homosexuality out of any mammal?”

Steve watches him warily, “Are you saying that the shift turned you gay? ‘Cause I’m not sure it works like that,” his lips tug up cautiously, “It didn’t for me, anyway.”

Eddie sees the invitation to share the joke in Steve’s expression and it fuels the bitterness, “Yeah, well, you being a straight dog isn’t going to surprise anyone.”

Invitation dropping accompanied by eyes narrowing, Steve says, “That’s fucking condescending.” Eddie sees the insult across his face and rolls his eyes, conviction spreading that Steve has never had to think about how he presents to the world for one fucking minute before being afflicted with their shared infection.

“All I’m saying is that the wolf stuff may have made you a bit weird, but you were never gay-boy-in-Hawkins weird to begin with. Let alone the shitty kid from the shitty family with parents who don’t give a fuck.”

Steve’s eyes harden and he sucks his breath between his teeth consideringly, “I’m not sure whether I should share with you how wrong you are or simply tell you to fuck off.”

Eddie stares back just as hard, “You can’t tell me that you were ever the weird guy, Mr Popular Jock. What? Did you get ostracised from the team when you wore the wrong lucky jock strap?”

Rolling his lips, Steve nods his head decisively, “Yeah, you know what? I am going to tell you to fuck off.” Any hint of warmth in his expression shutters away and Eddie blinks, not having realised how open Steve had been with him even while they bickered. Steve continues, voice flat and unfriendly, “You know what your problem is, Eddie?”

“What?” He tries to sneer but the feeling of being wrong-footed continues and it lands with less force than he wants.

“You think you’ve got everyone worked out,” Steve trails his eyes over Eddie's face leaving his skin feeling flushed and burning, “What was it you said in the Upside Down? The Munson Doctrine? I was barely enough for you to approve of even then, right?”

The ground beneath Eddie’s feet shudders slightly, shaking his gut into an uneasy feeling but Steve doesn’t notice his suddenly shaky equilibrium as he bitingly continues, “I suppose I only met the bare minimum when you said that I was a good guy: I wasn’t a massive asshole that would allow you to take the rap for Chrissy’s murder or, I don’t know,” he laughs with very little humour, “Let Max be killed by Vecna? So that must mean I was scarcely half decent, right?”

Eddie frowns: he had meant what he said in the Upside Down — he’d seen Steve care for the party, chase after Max and make sure the kids were safe. He’d been a steady port in the storm who Eddie had looked to more than once while feeling unsafe and unsure, and Steve had always been looking back, with either a reassuring nod or a helpful explanation in the sort of plain speak necessary for a newbie to their wretched adventures.

Steve rolls out of bed and Eddie can’t even be mad that he might use his height to his advantage because he heads straight to the doorway, pausing with his hand steady on the frame. He shakes his head looking down, “I thought that you saw me. It didn’t have to be every part, but I thought that you at least saw that I’m trying to be a good person.”

He looks up and Eddie is pierced clean through by the hurt in his eyes, the walls falling briefly to allow this one sad glimpse, “But ever since I showed you who I really am, what I am, I’ve realised that your approval comes with conditions.”

“That’s not true,” Eddie protests, furiously thinking, but his gut sinks below his feet when he can’t work out a counterargument to the accusation.

The walls over Steve’s eyes swiftly build up again, leaving only a cold man in its wake. “You assuming how easy I’ve always had it tells me that you never cared enough to look below the surface anyway.” He regards Eddie for one last long second as if taking him in for the final time, and Eddie is unsure how to respond when the ground is rumbling so strongly under his feet.

Steve leaves.

Quietly and without looking back at Eddie. No fanfare in the movement as if he’s decided that he’s not worth the fight. He realises now that he’d expected Steve to push back, to argue for Eddie to do better, but—having left him behind—Eddie doesn’t know what to do other than to quietly take his book and leave.

No one sees him out.

If you enjoyed any of this, I hope you'll consider leaving a message over on Ao3 because you would make my day. :)

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Supernaut (Chapter 2)

Ahh here’s the next chapter to Supernaut! I’m so excited to share it with everyone and here’s the link to the ao3 :)

“Hey kid,” Wayne’s voice is rough and gravily as he talks. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, that movement alone causing the trailer to make loud creaky noises. Wayne leans over at a slight angle, on the same side he was leaning most of his weight on, to peek into Eddie's room.

Eddie knew Wayne wouldn't just push his way into his room without permission. They each respected the other's boundaries too much to do that. Wayne had always preferred just peaking into his room to see if he was alright or needed anything, and if the door was closed Wayne knew not to bug him. It had been a working system for a while now.

”Yeah, Wayne?” That was the go-ahead for Wayne to slightly push the door open so he could talk to Eddie face-to-face. 

“I'm about to head out, need anything?” He asks as his eyes wander the room like he always did. It was a habit he had picked up from the army, always scanning a room to confirm that there was no danger. This is why Eddie wasn’t surprised when his Uncle raised an eyebrow at the numerous medical books and articles on his bed.

Similar to the door situation, they had created a system of just not asking. It would be much harder to explain than just ignoring it. Typically Eddie was doing research like this for a DnD campaign. Not for someone whose life depended on it. (He was being dramatic, but from how Steve Harrington looked he wouldn’t be surprised if his everyday life depended on what to do and not to do with the information this book was giving him.)

Eddie furrows his eyebrows, moving a hand to rub at his face. His eyes are beginning to strain from spending numerous hours reading. He had a small headache and his stomach growls from not getting up to grab lunch. He was starving but was too focused on the research to pay attention to such human problems. But he didn’t need to bother Wayne about that, Eddie knew how to fend for himself.

“Nope, not that I can think of.” Eddie hums gently. He wiggles around in his spot when he begins to feel what parts of his body fell asleep, such as his ass. 

Eddie offers a small smile to his uncle, who simply gives him a hand gesture to get the boy to go back to whatever he is doing. “Alright, see you in the morning kiddo.” 

When Eddie knows his Uncle is safely in his truck and out of the driveway he dives back into his research. Chewing his lip and pencil as he kept scanning and reading intensely when he found something that could mean something and be understandable.

As time progressed, he was beginning to realize that some medical stuff contradicted itself. One paper said not to sleep for twenty-four hours after a concussion and the next said to get as much rest as possible, even within the first twenty-four hours. Eddie makes sure to take note of this.

“Keep an eye on the patient for repeated vomiting, worsening headaches, visual problems, problems sleeping, trouble balancing, dilated pupils, and problems walking. To have a speedier recovery make sure the patient avoids any physical activity that can lead to another concussion, along with driving, watching too much television, using any illegal substances, or consuming alcohol. If anything worsens you should see a licensed professional immediately.” 

The more he read the more concerned Eddie was for Steve Harrington. He hadn’t paid much attention to the guy but from the short time he had talked to him, he was checking off a decent amount of things that were “noteworthy” and serious enough for a doctor to get involved.

Eddie doesn’t even bother writing that all down, instead he pulls a highlighter out and highlights the entire paragraph to read to Steve when he sees him next. 

He didn't care if the library yelled at him for "Ruining" their book. He's sure that the next person who would be checking this out would be another Steve Harrington. Another Steve Harrington who didn't have time to read over three hundred pages worth of nonsense that doesn't even give any new knowledge. Just common sense like avoiding getting hit in the head. It didn't take a supersonic genius to figure that one out, Sherlock.

Eddie secretly hoped the next person who needed this book, like Steve does, could just skim through the book and find that paragraph.

He figures that he has done enough for the night, and learned all he could to help Steve Harrington. So he allows himself one dramatic flop into his bed before grabbing a leftover joint off his side table. After all of that reading, he deserved one.

However, what he didn’t like to admit was how much anxiety he currently felt over Steve Harrington.

*****

The next day Eddie got up and ready for school much faster than normal. On average, he was out the door by the second period and on campus for the fourth. The perfect time to show up to school as his lunch was fifth.

Today though he had some motivation to get to school on time. He had finished his research the night before and was eager to share it with Steve. (And collect his money of course.)

He had all his research collected and in a normal schoolbag, an item he rarely brings to school. Before he started dealing his drugs from his lunch pal, he used to carry them around in a bag. But it had clashed with the whole metalhead image and was more inconvenient.

He was only bringing one now because of the number of research articles he had snatched. He was a clumsy fool and probably would lose everything if he didn’t secure it in a bag. 

Eddie was eager to share all the information with Steve as soon as possible. It had only been a week since he made the deal with the other in the library, but with everything he learned that still felt like it was too long of a wait.

So he sucked up it and woke up much earlier than he typically would and raced himself to school. He was hoping if he got to school early he would be able to catch Steve in the parking lot and pull the bandaid off quickly. Then afterward drive back home to sleep until lunch period.

Much to his disappointment, Steve’s car was nowhere. Eddie groans as he taps his fingers on his steering wheel, distracted by looking for Steve to notice a familiar figure walking up to his window. 

Gareth's loud knocking makes Eddie jump, completely startled by the sudden noise. Eddie snaps his head to look out his window to see an agitated Gareth peering up at him. His fists were clenching tightly around the straps of his bag and Eddie was confident he could see the flames of hellfire in his eyes.

Eddie makes an over-the-top face at the other as he turns his head back to look behind him before pointing at himself. “You want me?” he mouths out to the other.

"Munson!" Gareth's yell could easily be heard through the glass, which was just a little scary as Eddie had ‘Escape’ by Metallica blaring at full volume. 

Eddie quickly moves to lock his door but the boy seems to catch onto what he is trying to do and quickly pulls the door open. Eddie nearly falls out head first but quickly regains balance by grabbing Gareth's shoulders.

When Eddie was confident he wouldn’t get a concussion, he looked back up at Gareth who was visibly annoyed.

"Hey there buddy!" Eddie's soft accent pops out from the current excitement at hand. 

"Eddie, why are you here?"

"Where?-" Eddie tries to start but Gareth begins to scrunch up his nose, which is never a good sign and Eddie is quick to change what he's about to say, "Oh here! In this fine establishment? Well, I am here to learn Gare bear like any other kid here. You know this is going to be the year I graduate you know? I should take it a bit more seriously shouldn't I?" He was pulling all of that out of his ass and Gareth knew that as well.

Gareth keeps a blank expression on his face and now Eddie isn’t so sure his chances of avoiding a concussion were one to none. He needed to defuse whatever this bomb was and quick.

“Eddie you never show up to school before the fifth period.” Gareth squints at him, “Hell you haven’t woken up past fourth period since the first day of school. So tell me, why are you here this early and why the hell did you not pick me up? I live just up the road from you dude.” His face was a light red, from either being incredibly angry with Eddie or from the mile walk between his house and Hawkins High.

Eddie opens his mouth to say something but is quick to put his most charming smile on as he hops down from his van. He was secretly grateful he didn’t toss his bag in the passenger seat or else Gareth would have been even more suspicious of him.

“Gary, if we drop this and never bring any of this situation up again I shall award you with whatever you want in the campaign tonight.” That was a pretty steep offer but Eddie really didn’t want to seem like a dick friend. He honestly forgot Gareth this morning. 

His offer seems to work in his favor as interest sparks in Gareth's eyes. Gareth is about to say something when from the corner of Eddie’s eye he sees the exact vehicle he was hoping to see moments prior. 

Eddie can’t help but visibly cringe when he realizes that the book recommended a person with a concussion doesn’t drive for a couple of weeks. And from context clues, Steve Harrington had a concussion.

“Eddie?” Gareth speaks louder this time, moving his head in front of Eddie's vision so that he could see him. “Hey did you hear me?” His voice is now growing slightly concerned as he turns his head to look where Eddie is looking. It was very out of character for Eddie not to pay attention to what he was saying. They were best friends after all.

Gareth also sees Steve, the only person Eddie could be looking at step out of his car. From the limited view Eddie had, Gareth looked even more confused. Which was exactly what he was hoping to avoid by getting this whole transaction done sooner rather than later.

Eddie quickly glances back at Harrington, who is stumbling over his feet as he places a hand over his right ear wincing about something. When it was clear the other wasn’t going to fall on his face Eddie turned his attention back on Gareth slightly confused. 

“Huh?” 

“You alright dude? You're not normally this distracted,” Gareth points out warily as he keeps glancing between Eddie and in the direction of Steve.

“Yeah, yeah. I am completely fine my dude.” Eddie awkwardly sticks up two of his thumbs before he moves backward to shut his door. Cursing when he realizes he just locked his key in the van. 

“Fuck!” he curses as he quickly turns to smack at his door. 

“Eddie!” Gareth groans loudly. Moving to the back of the van to kick the back door at a slight angle resulting in it popping open pretty easily. A trick that Eddie purposely implemented just in case of emergencies. (Just like this one) Don’t ask him how he did it, not even he knows.

“I forgot about that.” 

“Eddie, are you going to tell me what's seriously going on?” Gareth squints at his friend. Eddie opens his mouth to only shut it again when he remembers Steve didn’t want him bringing anyone else in on this whole thing.

Taking the hint that Eddie wasn’t going to tell him Gareth sighs, “You aren’t dealing again are you?” He asks in a hushed whisper, his right hand gesturing to the backpack that was on the van floor just a few inches from them.

Eddie opens his mouth trying to act offended but he can’t. If he was Gareth he would think he was dealing again too. Opening his mouth again, he groans loudly when he realizes the only way he could convince the other boy he wasn’t selling was to bring him in on the whole Steve Harrington ordeal.

He moves quickly and shoves Gareth into the back of the van, like he has done multiple times in the past. When he was sure the other was safely in the back he hops in and joins him. Grunting gently as he feels a rip in his pants grows bigger. He quickly shuts the van door and looks back at Gareth. He was being dramatic but boy did he enjoy putting on a show for people

“You can’t tell anyone else what I am about to tell you, not even Freak or Jeff,” Eddie says seriously. 

“Oh my god, did a deal go wrong with Steve Harrington?” Gareth gasps. “He’s not going to snitch on you, is he? Oh my god Eddie you can’t afford to go to jail.” Gareth hisses out as he stays in a hunched stance, already coming up with the scenarios that Eddie could have possibly gotten himself into.

“I did not partake in any sort of drug deal with Steve Harrington. There was a deal but it didn’t involve drugs, it involved books.” 

“Books?” 

“Yeah, you know? The thing with pages and you're supposed to read?” Eddie says partly sarcastic before he moves to the bag to unzip it. Not bothering to pick it up off the floor, he just peels the bag back a little to show Gareth the book Steve had requested him to read and the pages of notes he took to share with Steve. 

“He’s going to pay me a hundred dollars to read this, which I already did and is the reason why I missed practice last night,” Eddie explains. 

“Why?” 

“Gareth have you not seen that boy's skull, It's two dents away from being a crushed can.” Eddie exaggerates. 

“No, I mean why help him read a book? He’s an asshole jock?” Gareth's eyebrows are pinched together, there is no malice behind his words just curiosity. 

“Well young Gare, sometimes you will have to help a jock in need. In this case, dire need, and hope it can benefit you in the future. And I’m getting a hundred dollars, I would be a moron to say no.” Eddie comments before pausing as he answers more seriously.

 “And I don’t know, he looked pretty pathetic in the library. And you noticed how he was walking. He nearly fell on his face just from getting out of the car. What would make me and any other jock different if I didn’t help him learn more about his injuries? If I can possibly prevent him from accidentally killing himself by giving him the information he needs then I’m willing to do that.” Eddie rambles out. 

Gareth listens intently, before pointing out the obvious., “Why doesn’t he just go to the doctor?” 

Eddie shrugs, “No clue.” He admits before an Idea pops into his mind. 

“Hey, is your mom still a nurse?” 

“Is your mom still a whore?” Gareth shoots back.

Eddie squints at the other boy before commenting, “You know you could have just said yes like a normal person.”

“Eddie, when has this friendship ever been normal?”

***

Throughout the day it seemed like some invisible figure was shoving Steve and Eddie closer than normal. Eddie was slowly becoming convinced that they had their own personal invisible man afoot.

When Eddie happened to be going down one hall Steve happened to be coming up the same hall. When Eddie was leaving a class Steve was awkwardly entering it. (Eddie had completely forgotten that Steve was in his third-period class, maybe if Eddie showed up to school more often he would remember small details like this.)

For one, Eddie was glad he was seeing the other everywhere but on the other hand, he was nervous the other was going to figure him out. After all, it was in their contractual agreement that Eddie didn’t tell anyone what he was doing for Steve. And what did Eddie do? He blabbed his mouth to fucking Gareth. Who wouldn’t tell anyone, but it still nerved Eddie that he broken an agreement.

When it was finally his lunch period he was more excited about getting to his table than what he normally was. He purposely swings his metal lunch pal back and forth with a relaxed and cheerful smile as he skips his way to the designated nerd table. 

He had a great campaign planned out for tonight and was excited to share it. He pulled up a chair, even though there was enough room to sit on one of the benches. If he could he would drag the homemade throne from the musical room and sit on that instead. But he’s already gotten in trouble for that.

As he waits for the other boys to join him he pulls out his lunch, carefully pushing his stash of weed to the side in there. Most of the kids in the area smelt like weed anyway so he wasn’t too worried about being sniffed out. Though he had always been worried about being jumped by the basketball team at one point. But other than that, Hawkins High was one of the safer sides of town he could get away with just carrying his stash around. Surprisingly. It also wasn’t like the teachers knew what they were sniffing out for. And if they did know they didn’t care as most times they were buying off from Eddie anyway.

“Hey, Eds.” Jeff greets as he sits down in his normal spot, leaving the seat right next to Eddie free for Gareth. If anyone loved routine it was Gareth. 

“Hey Jeff,” Eddie hums back with a mouth full of pbj. With each bite, he could taste small little flakes of weed that he didn’t bother cleaning out from the sandwich bag before placing his food in it.

He has the great thought of possibly turning a PBJ sandwich into an edible when he catches sight of Steve coming into the cafeteria. Steve was shakily holding a lunch tray as he walked away from his normal seat with Tommy Hagen. Which was a strange behavior as the two had been two peas in a pod for as long as Eddie could remember. 

What was also out of the ordinary for the Harrington boy was how he avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. From across the lunchroom, Eddie could see that the boy's color was still very off, the bruises on his face had only gotten worse with time instead of better and he was still stumbling over his feet a little.

Eddie doesn't stop staring, figuring that enough people are watching Steve that Harrington wouldn’t make eye contact with him. He keeps watching as Steve’s head lifts and he begins to glance around the room, looking for a place to sit. Eddie doesn’t get a chance to look away, caught off guard when Steve’s eyes meet his. They make intense eye contact for a couple of minutes, and Eddie nearly drops his sandwich in the process.

Steve looks away before Eddie can and sits down at an empty table as if he’s never seen Eddie in his life. Or currently had a deal with him. The entire interaction was weird. 

Eddie relaxes a bit before Gareth and Freak finally join them. 

“Hey boys,” Eddie grins. “You ready for tonight?” He can't sit still as he's reminded of the exciting campaign he has in store. He doesn’t stay seated in his chair for long as he climbs into the chair and crouches awkwardly. He keeps eating his sandwich as if he wasn’t acting like a fucking Goblin, and listens to the boys ramble excitedly.

It doesn’t take long before he hears a tray being dropped across the lunchroom. The banging noise echoed over everyone’s voices. He tilts his head curiously to see who the victim is. He almost lets out a groan when he realizes it's Steve Harrington. 

From where Eddie sat he could see Steve bending over and picking up the tray. A decent amount of eyes were back on him again as he waddled to put the tray at the tray station. From the corner of Eddie’s eye, he could see Gareth's head turning to look at him. Eddie knew what the other was going to tell him to do, there was no point in looking at the other but he still does. 

Gareth's face was pulled up in concern as he glanced between Jeff and Freak to make sure they weren’t looking before mouthing out a “Go help him.”

Eddie squints at him, mentally sending Gareth the reasons why he shouldn’t go help him. One is the fact that if he left after Steve that would give the other two boys a bad impression of what Eddie is doing. Like Gareth, they would most likely assume that this was another drug dealing situation and freak out at him. And when they found out that wasn’t the case they would next assume that Eddie was in some weird homoerotic relationship with Steve Harrington and he is pretty sure that would be pushing the line of their acceptance to his queerness. 

Even though he had remotely no interest in the guy.

Eddie rolls his eyes when Gareth just glares at him more. He tries to think fast about what excuse he could use to get away from the table. He glances at Gareth's drink and thinks it's the perfect escape. He purposely reaches over while the two guys aren’t looking and pushes the open bottle of water to spill all over the table and into Eddie's lap. 

Eddie jumps up with a groan, putting on a show. “Gareth, you clumsy bastard,” he says dramatically as he tries to wipe the water from his shirt and his crotch area. Jeff and Freak look between him and Gareth, completely clueless as to what is happening. Dare Eddie say, unexpecting even? 

Eddie was mentally hyping himself up after that stunt, believing that if this was a dexterity check he just rolled a goddamn d20 like a total natural. In his mental gloating, he nearly forgets that there was a purpose behind dumping Gareth's water all over himself. 

“Uh, I’ll be right back. Imma go to the bathroom—” 

Fuck. Eddie may have mastered dexterity but he sure didn’t master common sense. He simply could have just said he had to go to the bathroom. Instead, he made a mess of things and now had wet pants for no reason. From how Gareth looks at him now, it’s fair to assume he was calling Eddie some creative name choices. And a dexterity god was not one of them.

Eddie chuckles, smiling awkwardly before speeding out the lunchroom doors and away from that ungraceful situation. He prays to the metal gods that neither Freak nor Jeff brought up what just happened during DnD tonight.

He glances up and down the halls quickly, hoping to catch sight of Steve. It doesn’t take long to find him as Steve appears around the corner to head towards Eddie. Good, great–this was very convenient. Eddie could tell him what the book said, get paid, and be on his merry way. 

He eagerly moves down the hall, “Hey Harrington,” He says a bit louder so that Steve can catch what he is saying. There is no response from Steve, who hasn’t looked up from the floor since turning the corner. As Eddie moves closer he notices how the boy is holding his ears, as if he were trying to squish them into his skull.  

Eddie pauses for a second and mentally revisits some of the symptoms of head injuries. Some hearing loss was one of them, along with random sporadic ringing noises. He wondered if that was the issue Steve was having now. Eddie keeps walking towards the boy carefully, not wanting to spook the other. When he was in reaching distance he carefully poked the other's shoulder to grab his attention. But even being that careful Steve still jumps and flinches away from him.

Steve looks up, appearing very disoriented. His color is off, and he looks seconds away from throwing up all over Eddie’s new sneakers. “Hey, you okay?” He asks concerned.

“What?” Steve asks loudly. “Sorry can’t hear you over the loud ringing,” his face pinches up, looking even more distressed. 

Eddie was starting to feel uncomfortable, his anxiety was rising in his chest and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do to help the other now while he couldn’t hear him. He glances frantically around the hallway as if anything could help Steve, before deciding the best thing to do was to stay calm.

He turns his attention back on the other as he moves his hand in a ‘follow me’ gesture, and leads the other to his van. It probably looked suspicious, but he was sure that being outside would help the other a lot more than being cramped inside. 

Steve looks even more confused as Eddie gestures for him to get in the back of the van. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.” Eddie snorts as he hops into the van first. Hoping that would ease some of the other's anxiety. 

Eddie sits on the ground, watching the other curiously. Steve looks around for a moment, and at this point Eddie’s confident that the confused goldfish was his new signature look.

Steve awkwardly climbs in and Eddie moves forward just in case. Watching the other stumble in clumsily before Eddie closes the door behind him. Steve shifts his body around as if he didn’t know what to do with it and Eddie is quick to take the lead again. Waving his hand for the other to sit down once more.

Steve looks around the van, taking in the setting while Eddie waits for the other to be able to hear again. Hopefully, it would be soon, but he was willing to wait if necessary. 

When Steve finally turns his head back to Eddie he opens his mouth, wincing a little before he points to his ears. “Sorry, my ears tend to ring louder when I'm in loud places,” he comments as he rubs at them again. 

Eddie nods his head and takes note of that before it quickly grows awkward. “So, why did you bring me into your van?” Steve asks confused. A light chuckle falls from his lips when Eddie starts to move around to grab the bag. Remembering what they were in here for. 

“I finished the book,” He says simply. “And I did take some notes, figured I could tell you the summary if that's cool with you?” He says as he grabs the stack of notes he wrote. 

Steve has an unreadable look on his face as he nods his head carefully. Eddie takes that as his queue and takes a shaky breath as he begins to read off all of the information. Even pulling out the book to read the highlighted section. By the time he’s finished reading it all Steve’s face was pale again. His eyes looked watery and Eddie couldn’t tell if he was going to be sick in his van. 

Steve's hands shake in his lap a little like he was somewhere else. Eddie pinches his eyebrows before hesitating over his words. “I think it would be a good idea if you went to see a Doctor Steve,” he comments. “I know a guy, his mother is a nurse and I can easily take you over and get you checked out and-” Eddie rambles but Steve shakes his head no with a slight sniffle that they both choose to ignore. 

“Nah, I’ll be fine. Handled worse than this.” He laughs bitterly. Eddie furrows his eyebrows, concern taking over him again as he opens his mouth again but shuts it again when he realizes there is no point in trying to persuade Steve Harrington. He had already made up his mind.

“Alright, I see I can’t change your mind.” Eddie chuckles, unsure what he's supposed to do in this situation. But he can’t help himself as he comments, “But please, for the love of god don’t play any sports this season man. I don’t want to hear about how Steve Harrington died on the court.” He was fidgeting with his rings as he said this, shifting his eyes anywhere but on Steve. 

“I’ll be fine, no plans on dying either.” Steve laughs gently. His whole demeanor had changed, from being the most vulnerable Eddie had ever seen him to being the most closed-off a person could be. 

Those were the last words Steve said to him before he hopped out of the van and left to go back into the school. And in his place, where he had been sitting were two one hundred dollar bills.

[astriddestelle]

Harringrove is so much better than steddie. The gag is I hate Eddie and Billy but at least the harringrove stories are more interesting because Billy is an asshole. Steddie is kind of mid idk.

It’s just weird for me to actively think a character is an ass and yet still want to read about him. (Billy) like that hasn’t happened like ever.

Or maybe I’m in denial about liking him hmmmm

Or maybe I just dislike Eddie that much, which he’s not even a bad character I just find him very annoying.

Or maybe I think Billy’s hot and eddies not. But I don’t think Steve is hot. Hmmm

I think I’m too high for this rn

[tinytalkingtina]

Logical imperfection - Chapter 3 (Steddie Star Trek AU)

Chapter 3 is now live! In which Eddie is leading his first away mission, and we get to hint at S'tevan's Tragic BackstoryTM.

Eddie continued to fuss with the machine for several minutes before his anxiety and anger finally boiled over. “Stupid hunk of junk!” He growled, kicking it in frustration. In response, the water purifier sputtered to life and kicked out a cloud of sand directly into Eddie’s face. Coughing, half blind, he flailed around wildly before losing his balance and falling flat on his ass. Truly the picture of a calm and collected senior officer. “I see your decade of experience in engineering has well prepared you for desert survival tactics.” S’tevan commented dryly, leaning against some rocks a distance away. Eddie glared at his pointy-eared rival. Some security officer he was, letting his crewmates injure their bodies (and egos). But after months of jabs about how planetary missions were the only real work in Starfleet, Eddie didn’t want to give S’tevan the satisfaction.

Read the full chapter on Ao3!

[hellcheerficdatabase]

His Dungeon Master Throne

Author: LittlePine

Rating/Warning: Explicit

Chapter Count: 1/1

Description:

Searching for Dustin's lost wallet in the Drama room AKA Hellfire club room, Steve accidentally stumbles upon an unlikely couple as things get steamy. He can't do a lot but watch.

Uh oh.

Tags: Alternate Universe- no vecna, accidental voyeurism, smut, Steve is conflicted, it's so hot, but tender, Steve having an awakening? Maybe so, outside POV, one-shot, status: completed

[sundaynightlive]

Fools (Steddie)

First Part | Last Part | Next Part

Steve’s losing his mind. Not losing it, actually—it’s actively being stolen from him every second he spends with Eddie Munson.

At first, he considered it just… fooling around. Or a school girl’s crush. It had been easier, then, to talk himself out of saying stupid things, doing stupid things—being altogether that mushy, maudlin guy he starts being when he actually likes somebody. 

It’s getting harder and harder by the day. Maybe even by the hour.

“Dude, that’s the third time you’ve tried to hand me back a tape without tagging it,” Robin says, incredulously, “Where’s your head at?”

Where’s his head at? 

Swimming pools, living rooms, a little house on the hill, and children’s names. That’s where his head’s at—creating asinine fantasies of the life he and Eddie might live someday in a world which does not even exist for them. He doesn’t usually fall so quickly—he and Eddie aren’t even really together. Hell, they’ve barely been fooling around two-weeks and he’s obsessing over a life with the guy.

Maybe Eddie doesn’t even want that, but they haven’t talked. They don’t talk. Suddenly, something they used to do so easily has been replaced by constant, mind-numbing affection. Steve isn’t complaining, but he aches to just talk about it.

Talk about the fact they spend every moment of free time together.

Talk about the fact it feels like fucking magic.

Talk about the fact Steve’s never liked someone this much, ever.

Talk about what the hell is going on.

But no, Steve is stuck in “will they won’t they” limbo, wishing the guy who used to never shut up would just fucking say something. 

“Steve?”

He snaps his attention back to Robin. He bites his lip, opens his mouth to say it, and closes it again. She stares at him expectantly, arms crossed over her chest.

“Can… you keep a secret?”

[candied-cae]

And Who Are We At The End Of The World? -Family Video's Booming Business

Chapter 19/? - - - Read it on AO3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Word Count: 9,603

Summary: The doors of Family Video start seeing quite a few newly familiar faces. Eddie Munson, Vickie Nelson, Nancy Wheeler... They all show up looking for different things though.

More ST Fics

-----------------------------------------------------

The weirdest things happened over the next few days.

Well, it wasn't necessarily weird on the scale they'd all somewhat become used to. Just weird on the scale of their regular lives and what they'd come to expect from those.

Eddie had gone back to crashing with his uncle after the first sleepover he'd shared with Steve, but then he started to come by Family Video. Often. And he was really good at being there right when Robin wasn't. When it was just him and Steve and not even a single other customer in the building to focus on.

The first time it happened was on Sunday. Robin wasn't in for opening - her parents were still pushing hard on the early-morning-Mass-thing - so it was just Steve. Thumbing through the newspaper and wondering if the folks at the corporate office would fund an ad for hiring since the sign out front wasn't doing much legwork to fill the hours.

And then, without any real warning, Eddie was there.

He pushed open the door, and the bell rang through the shop. Steve was on his way to snap into customer service mode and tuck away the paper when he looked up and realized who it was. The infamous metal-loving, drug-dealing, half-dead outcast…

“Oh. Hey, Munson.”

“Well, that was a bit of a bitter welcoming from an employee,” Eddie noted.

And that's how it started.

Eddie made a game of it on that very first day. Who knows if he really classified the game as “Annoy Steve Harrington” or if that just happened to be the result of all the pestering, but that was essentially how it worked. Eddie would walk into the store, see he was the only one, and then start slowly bumbling around. Wandering in circles through the isles with no real intention. Like it was all just to waste time. Maybe it was.

And then he'd start asking Steve questions. And not questions about Steve, or the certain secret situation they were both a part of. No, they were questions about the movies. But not the kinds of questions anyone really asks. Not the kind Steve ever really had an answer to.

He'd pelt Steve with an inquiry about almost every movie on the shelves. Despite how many times Steve would tell him that he hadn't seen most of them. Eddie would just pick up the most obscure-looking tape and ask something like…

“Do you find the prominent themes in this film in line with the state of American politics today? Literal or metaphorical, I'm not picky about the presentation of the ideology.”

Since it was about the fifth question like it he'd asked, Steve rolled his eyes,“ So, the joke here is that you’re trying to sound like a pretentious asshole. Right?”

“Steve!” Eddie threw a hand over his heart. Shock painting his features as his voice rose an octave higher,” I can’t believe you would say such a thing to a PAYING CUSTOMER OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT! I am simply asking a relevant question in relation to this business you run so I may improve my overall customer experience.”

And then it happened again on Monday too. Turned out that Eddie decided to skip the first two days back since he had that concert Tuesday anyway and could get away with it. He was still resting up, as far as the front office was concerned. And somewhere around his stroll through the horror section, Eddie called to him from the display.

He held up a copy of Halloween, pointing to it while he asked,“ Would you call this one a classic for any old family of five to watch together, or would you recommend a more private viewing for mom and dad without their little one’s peering eyes?”

Steve only shrugged and flipped the page of his magazine,“ I don’t know, haven’t seen it.”

And maybe in a more practical conversation, Eddie would've been focused on the fact that Steve Harrington hadn't seen Halloween yet. Would've more honestly insisted that he needed to as soon as possible. Would've made a fit about “How can we really be friends if you don't know about Michael Myers?” But Eddie was playing a game. And his character was more like a suburban mom than the alternative guy he actually was.

So, instead, he set the movie back down and demanded,“ Well, you must know! You are an employee of this company. If I can’t come to you to make sure I don’t let my little Timmy, dear sweet Sally, and… my… my little guy…” he struggled for a third name,” Reginald?” It'd have to do. “If I can’t trust you to advise me so I don’t expose them to something untoward, then who can I trust in this world?”

“The only babies you have are named Dustin, Mike, and Lucas.” Steve counted them off on three fingers,” And they’ve seen way worse stuff than any of these flicks might have.”

“Excuse me! I also have a claim to Erica and am going through the legal procedures to gain custody of Max, Will, and El to make them my own too.” Eddie was starting to lose focus on the game, but he didn't mind that much.

“Yeah, yeah, good luck with that.” Steve hummed with a stretch of his tense shoulders.

Eddie drifted over to the counter. “I’ll win ‘em over,” he declared, leaning on an elbow and narrowing his eyes at Steve,” Won you over, and that was supposed to be the impossible part.”

Steve finally straightened up from his magazine,“ Oh? You think you’ve won me over?”

“You think I haven't?”

Eddie was even there on Tuesday. He'd mentioned the show was that night, and he had a whole drive up to Indy to make, but the rest of the band had to get let out of school before they'd head out. So, of course, he pulled that '71 Chevrolet into the parking lot right outside the store windows and set about killing time with the game that never seemed to get old.

He threw open the door, Steve greeted him with a familiar “Again?” and then he nosedived for the inspiration to kick off the day's questions. It all went how it usually did. Eddie would ask something, talking way too fast in convoluted phrases that Steve didn't even have any hope of figuring out. They were practically setting a routine.

And it might've bothered him more if it was someone else doing it, or someone doing it in a different way. If the game felt like it was about making Steve seem stupid. But it was obvious he wasn't supposed to get it. The joke wasn't “Steve Harrington is unintelligent.” The joke was that Eddie was being obnoxious and Steve was unable to walk away since he was the only one running the register.

He was “trapped in the clutches of capitalism” and “the bearer of lonesome responsibility” Eddie had said once when Steve asked how he was getting his kicks out of it.

It made the time pass by, at least. Eddie had already been running around and playing his game for over half an hour when he'd migrated back to the scary movie section. He hung around that part of the store most often, to no one's surprise.

That time he'd grabbed The Shining off the shelf and deemed it his latest victim (aside from Steve himself).

“How would you rate the special effects? Is the fake blood too runny or too bright or does it look pretty accurate? What about the madness- or even the violence itself? Does it look real enough to make someone like you squirm in your seat?”

“Don't know, don't care,” Steve said, pretty much automatically. Then his face scrunched up as he thought,” And I've seen real violence, I don't think I'd be squirming over something playing on a tv screen.”

Eddie's arms fell down and he rubbed his nose bridge. “Okay, come on. That one was a total bait pick. You're seriously telling me you haven't sat down to see the rivers of blood drown out the hotel's hallway?”

“Well, it sounds like to me you just spoiled the whole thing, so I guess I'll never need to.” Steve reasoned.

“Steve! That is not a movie-ruining giveaway and you need to watch some of these!”

“I watch some of 'em…”

Steve was getting grumbly when, just as Eddie was gearing up to demand a horror-movie-marathon or something in that vein, a customer walked in.

A high schooler. Even though there was still some time before classes let out. But it was Ashley Brahms and she was sort of known for finding ways to skip out at the end of the school day. She strode in under the bell, her purple sweater puffing around her hands where they pushed open on the handle of the door. She quickly noticed both Steve and Eddie being at the same place at the same time. Something to be considered an oddity in the days of Old Hawkins before its latest tussle with monsters.

Course, the common people didn't know how much had really changed.

So she just looked at the two of them. A slight wideness to her eyes as she took in the strange sight. “Huh, first time to see the twin victims together,” she commented. Quietly, almost under her breath. Something she was saying mostly to just herself as the glass door came to close behind her.

There was also that.

They became the “twin victims” to explain the scars. Everyone had figured it’d only be a matter of time before Steve got with a girl and she’d notice the massive expanse of newly traumatized tissue he'd collected over the last few weeks, so they started a story to excuse it. Said he was camped out in the woods with everyone during the whole Eddie-on-the-run thing, and they ran into a bear. A black bear, Dustin had insisted. Course, he “fought it off,” but not before it did some damage. They added that Eddie fought it with him too, seeing as he had the same scars, and it could only help his image to have nearly died protecting sweet girls like Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley.

Well, that was one rumor circulating around town. There was a second that started just after saying that they’d just gotten so drunk that they passed out and something more like a badger tore into them before they woke up, and the bear was just a coverup to make them seem cooler. Which was fair, seeing as they don’t really get bears anywhere in Indiana or most of the states around it. Plus, the point of the bear story was specifically for people to discredit it with a more truthful idea to make smaller rodents like what they'd told the hospital seem that much more likely.

But, surprisingly, there were a few faithful girls who would whisper about how even a bear migrated across some great distance for a taste of Steve Harrington. Which was a compliment. And probably should’ve boosted his ego a lot more than it actually did. It didn’t do much except remind him how uninterested he was in meaningless sex those days.

But that whole train of thought was way beside the point.

The point was, Steve and Eddie had sort of been tied together that way. In the eyes of public opinion, they were paired together as the reckless boys who went into the woods and got themselves fucked up before the earthquake. It was a fine cover story. But it did feel a little awkward just having some person say it like that.

Eddie pushed off of the counter and said he should probably head off. It was almost time to pick up his crew. Steve just gave him a wave as he went out the door, empty-handed. He never really rented anything, no matter how much time he spent asking fake questions.

Whatever. Eddie Munson's business was Eddie Munson's business. At least it made a couple of shifts go by faster when Steve was without Robin.

It was never about movies. There was never any intent from Eddie's side of things to check one out. It was about not being alone.

Eddie didn't want to go back to school yet, but he also didn't want to be alone. Sitting on his ass, waiting for something to happen to give him a reason again. He might've been going a little crazy, but there were a few times he was laying in that hotel bed, empty room because Wayne was still pulling overtime shifts, and he sort of missed the way he felt when everything was falling apart.

Not the bleeding out. That part didn't feel good. But everything leading up to it...

He was scared out of his mind. Thundering heartbeat and sweaty palms. Terror was at the forefront of every thought. But… there was purpose. He had something to do, something important. Something that mattered. People counting on him.

And in those minutes before the bats circled up, he'd have been lying if he said he didn't sort of want to laugh through some tears. It was a confusing blend of adrenaline that pumped through his bloodstream. But there was that tiny little part of it that felt good.

But it probably wasn't a good idea to linger on too much. Becoming an adrenaline junkie wasn't really a good life plan. As if that was even the only part of it that Eddie remembered fondly.

When the bell rang through the building, echoing into the tiny teacher's parking lot out the back, there was something else to think about. The sound just barely leaked beyond the school's walls, but it wasn't very long until the double doors were thrown open. His merry band of freaks poured out with backpacks slung over their shoulders and radiant smiles spread across their faces. Only took about five seconds of freedom for Bruce to shake Jeff by his shoulders and let out some kind of battle cry as they made their way over to Eddie.

The Corroded Coffin team was trailed by the young members of the wider Hellfire Club. They all circled up on the van and beat open hands against the outside until he climbed out. They were all hyped up and bursting with energy and excitement. Eddie almost felt bad for the teachers that had to deal with them towards the end of the day.

“Duuuuuude!” Gareth yelled, grabbing Eddie by the arm and yanking him the rest of the way out onto the asphalt.

“Duuuuuude!” Eddie responded with the same inflection.

“It's happening!” Gareth continued, wide-eyed like a kid on Christmas morning.

“I know it is!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!” he screamed with the biggest grin while Josie slung an arm over Gareth's shoulder and started yelling with him.

It was going to be one hell of a road trip on the way up to the concert, that was for sure. Eddie was close to accusing them of robbing a candy store and riding a sugar high the whole way. Well, the five members with tickets were smiley and sweet. Some others were a little more sour.

“It's so not fair,” Dustin said from the side. Grumbling. Standing between Mike, Lucas, and Will watching the older kids start to celebrate their plans for the night. The plans they didn't get to join in on.

To be fair, the freshmen weren't on the guest list for the evening. They hadn't really been invited, so sure, they had a little right to be grumbly. But, come on, it was more of a field trip for the band. It just so happened that every member of the band was also in Hellfire Club.

So they'd only been, like, halfway excluded.

“Hate to break it to you like this, but none of you kids even showed up to auditions. Much less make the band and scored an invite.”

Plus Eddie was considering this a little bit of a send-off before he buckled down and finished off the year to break for the graduation stage. And with Jeff, Gareth, Josie, and Bruce, he'd known them more than a couple of months.

He liked his little sheepies, yes. Didn't mean they got to come to a show on a school night with him. He didn't want to play babysitter with all his free time.

“Well, do you have concert money?” Jeff countered the kid's bad mood,” And not just the amount we paid in advance, you kids would be paying door prices if they even still have any left.”

“And it'd be rude not to pitch in for gas and road trip snacks,” Gareth added.

“And you'd need to get last-minute permission from all your parents. Cause I am not getting hit with a kidnapping charge after all the shit I just got off my record.” Eddie leveled the last of any complaints they might've had.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if there might be an opportunity for something with The Party. A closer show with a lot more notice. He'd keep his ear to the ground. But that night was not about palling around with the kids who almost watched him die. It was about getting away from all the shit for just a few hours.

“Grow up a little in time for the next one, and then we'll talk.” Gareth teased.

Mike only huffed when Jos told him that going green with envy wasn't a good color on him.

Will didn't have much dog in the fight. He was still new. Finding his footing. And Lucas didn't seem to be getting as much of a kick out of Dustin's play protests. He was probably more focused on getting back to Max's bedside than earnestly going to a rock show.

“I just said it wasn't fair.” Dustin bristled.

“Dusty, Dusty, you'll survive.” Eddie chastised him, his hand finding the boy's head of curls,” It's not even really your scene, lil' man. Study up until you stop wanting to change what I play in the van and maybe-”

“Who cares!” he was getting defensive. “Well, we're all going to hang out, and you should really be jealous of our plans!

Bruce was the only one that didn't really bite back his laugh. Eddie just nodded for them and started trying to turn them around. Point 'them back to the school so they could go, find their bikes, and head off for home. Behind him, the bandmates started climbing into his van.

“Send tonight's babysitter my condolences. And ask your folks to spring for a raise for the poor fucker, yeah?”

“Lucas, Will, you're our shining roses between the thorns! Don't forget that and get crabby like the other two!” Josie yelled, hanging out from the back door while Eddie ran to hop into the driver's seat.

“They are plenty crabby!” Mike argued. “They just act nice for you!”

“And we thank them for that.” Bruce agreed with the slam of Eddie's door,” See ya!”

Eddie only turned around long enough to promise “We'll tell you all about it and show off our merch tomorrow! Make sure you're all tucked in by bedtime!” before peeling off from the school.

The boys were still yelling after all of them. And they erupted in laughter in the van as Eddie made for the highway. Josie was fanning her face, saying she didn't want to laugh so hard she cried and ruined her eyeliner so early in the night. Jeff was Eddie's co-captain in the passenger seat, twisted around to look at the other three in the back and picking which tape they were going to begin the drive up on. Bruce mused about poor Mr. Hank bartending at the hideout. Having to make it through the night without his usual Tuesday entertainment. They all laughed and agreed he was probably going to make some comment the next week about not really missing his usual headache while they were out of town.

“It was weird, Rob. We were just having our usual banter-”

“Still getting used to the idea that you and Eddie have “usual banter” when I'm not around.” the girl commented from her perch on the counter.

“Whatever.” Steve moved on,” It was just any other day, he showed up to annoy me - had been doing so for a little while - and then Ashley walked in. Like twenty minutes before school let out.”

“Brahms?” Robin quirked her head to the side.

“Yeah, obviously Brahms. And she just paused, looked at us, and whispered under her breath 'Oh, look at that. First time seeing the twin victims in the same place. That's new.' Or whatever. And then Eddie turned tail and left me alone to fend for myself. I swear she was just silently staring at me the entire time she pretended to browse.” Steve feigned a shiver,” And she only got out of here right before I needed to close shop for a few to run and pick you up.”

Robin put on a big pout,“ Did scary Ashley give you the heebie-jeebies?”

“Ugh. You could at least have a little sympathy for me. Turns out I'm a 'twin victim' now. A victim. They made me sound like some weak pushover.”

She could only shrug,“ We knew our story would run wild through the rumor mill and probably change a little. Word of mouth is hardly a sure thing to bet on.”

“Fine. I'm still mad about it.”

“What were you hoping for? Something more like Steve 'The Bear Slayer' Harrington?”

“No. But being twin victims with Eddie Munson was not my idea of a happy ending.”

“The unforeseen consequences of postponing the end of the world.” Robin hummed to herself. “You were looking for a change of pace with how people usually regarded you anyway. I think this is an opportunity-”

But Robin's thought was quickly swept away when the bell above the door rang. Immediately, she started to slip off of the counter and welcome the customer, but then she saw that it was Vickie. Her Vickie - well, not exactly her's - but Vickie Nelson. And the girl walked in like a vision, backlit by the sun streaming in through the windows. Her short red hair sticking out from her face in its cute little curled-up-at-the-ends sort of way.

Steve was still just beside her, but she almost forgot. Because Vickie was there. Smiling. Cheeks dusted in a red-tinted flush. Her teeth just barely peeked out as she tried to control her grinning lips. Big doe eyes looking up at her with a pretty shade of blue.

“Hey, Robin,” she said as she came closer. Stepping up to the counter that separated the two of them.

Okay, Robin. Don't ramble. Try to focus and keep it together.

“Hey. Hey, Vickie. So you found where I make a living.”

That was a dumb, dumb thing to say. Why couldn't she think of anything cool to say? Why was she so woefully understocked on witty one-liners? Was it too last-minute to ask God to throw a couple down for her?

“Well, yeah.” Vickie nodded slowly,” You did mention it on Saturday.”

“Right. Of course, I did. Sounds like me. Always talking about my job with my bestest buddy.” She elbowed Steve with more force than she was trying to, speaking over his low grunt,“ Welcome to the video store. The Family Video store, to be specific.”

It just kept getting worse.

Vickie looked a little put-off. Maybe not exactly displeased by the welcome, but more like it wasn't what she was expecting. Maybe it wasn't what she was looking for after showing up.

She tried to cover up her expression of slight confusion. “Thanks? I'll, uh, I guess I'll take a look around…?”

Vickie had just gotten around the corner of their rom-com display when Steve grabbed Robin's arm and yanked her a few more feet away. “You're crashing and burning, Buckley,” he whispered behind his hand.

“Don't say that to me right now!” her hushed tones came over fast and panicked, just dampened enough to not be overheard. “She surprised me! I haven't planned for her ambushing me here! What do I do? What if she wants to check out a tape and I have to cash her out and then I accidentally touch her hand in a way that's too much or not enough and she figures it out-”

“Chill out.” Steve's hands squeezed tight on Robin's shoulders.

She didn't have a game plan, and she was already spinning out of control. She wanted a strategy and to have it all figured out before she did anything, but Steve was starting to think she was only getting in her own way. He took a quick glance at Vickie before making his own decision.

Something about momma birds having to push their babies out of the nest to make them fly.

Steve shoved her away so they weren't so crowded into each other's faces. “Uh, hey, Robin?” he said, loud enough to reach across the store.

“Yeah?”

“Don't you think it's time for your fifteen?”

“What? I just got here-” She didn't get the hint until Steve's eyes widened to a worrisome degree, and she realized he wasn't blinking. “Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I could take it now.” She finally got on the right track and started to walk back toward the counter.

But then she turned back around to him,“ You good here?”

He could've almost rolled his eyes. “We're still a downtown deadzone. I'll be fine.” Steve told her, unwilling to let her talk her way out of it.

“Okay. Okay.”

Vickie was back beside the register by the time Robin turned away from her co-worker and started shrugging off her work vest,“ So, you're getting off for a few?”

“Yeah. Fifteen-minute break. Gotta take one every shift. Sometimes two if it's a long one.” Shut up, Robin. She got that part.

She smiled wider and Vickie let her eyes wander a little to the side,“ Well, since you're free, if you don't already have plans for-”

“I don't.” Robin sounded a little too eager. “No plans. I'm free for anything. Anything that takes fifteen minutes or less. Obviously.”

Short statements and strict posture. All her effort trying not to ramble through run-on sentences before she really planned where they were going was making Robin sound snippy. And she didn't want to sound snippy. But it felt like the only two modes she had were the hyperaware quips or the mindless rambles.

If she and Steve could just fuse together and even out their personalities already, she have let the Steve half take control for that part. But that science fiction dream wasn't a reality yet. She didn't have the option to step back and let someone else carry the responsibility of her love life.

She just had to try on her own. Win or lose, it was going to come down to her. And that was scary. Really, really scary. But at least Vickie sort of seemed to be helping out. Making the first move.

“Okay. We could go on a stroll down the boardwalk then? In-In case you need to stretch out your legs?”

Vickie reached her hand up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. Robin had the passing thought that she wished she could've been the one to do it. But, more importantly, she needed to accept the offer.

“Yeah. Totally. If you're cool- I mean, if you wanted to get a movie first then we could do that and then-”

“Not really. I more so just came for the company.”

Was that…?

“Cool. Uh- yeah. We can go on a walk then.” Robin had to get out of there. “I'll be back, Steve!” she called over her shoulder, following behind Vickie as she pulled back the door.

“Yeah, I know you will. Now get out if you aren't going to stock shelves.”

And that comment felt as close to a proper send-off as she was going to get. Robin waved behind her without looking. Trying to focus on the girl in front of her, and just trusting that her best friend would watch her back while she stepped up to the high dive.

What? So, she picked up a couple of competitive swim references? Big deal.

The two girls stepped out onto the sidewalk together. Letting the door close behind them with the quiet jingle of the bell. Most of the businesses on the strip were still pretty empty. The Downtown Deadzone, Steve hadn't been wrong. It was a pretty apt name for the time being.

They walked alongside the street. Robin on the outside, between Vickie and the road. Passing by the arcade and its vacant parking lot. The laundromat across the way. The newspaper office was back behind them by the sandwich shop and general store. Further down sat a pizza parlor on the corner and a local butcher. A UPS store. A hair salon.

They were all these little points of contention for the small town. Spots that used to be lively and bustling, but faded from view when the mall opened up. And then that went out in a blaze, so their downtown came back to life. Like a little shock from the defibrillator. And then it all died down again. Because the world ended for like forty-seven seconds, haven't you heard? Most of the city got scared back into their homes.

So it was quiet. Almost felt private, despite being on a city street. Cars used to pass by these buildings all the time. But at that moment, none of them were.

“Thanks for stealing me away from work for a bit.” Robin eventually said. They'd both gone a little quiet after they left the store. Maybe Vickie hadn't planned it all out beyond getting Robin all to herself.

“Well, you were going to get the break anyway,” she excused,” With or without me.”

Robin curled the hand in her pocket into a tight fist. She told herself she'd only get so many chances. She had to be a little bit brave with some of them.

“I definitely prefer it this way, though.“ she said.

Was the water steady enough? Was her taped-together boat going to capsize or survive the current? Was she going to be ripped to pieces by the rapids? Lose, to the rushing river, all the parts of herself she'd barely scraped together enough to hope with?

“I do too.” Vickie returned.

Maybe she wasn't. Maybe there weren't any rapids at all. And it was more like a smooth summer lake. Like Lover's Lake, when it was being used as an actual date spot and not as a hub between planes of existence.

“Well-” Vickie started to backtrack,” I stole you away from your job, so you aren't doing the same thing for me - I didn't really have anything better to do right now in comparison. Not to say that I just see this as something to do over having nothing to do and that's all - and if I did have a job, I'd be more than happy to let you convince me to take an early break!”

When Vickie looked back at Robin, she was blushing. Furiously.

“Sorry. My point is, I prefer spending my time this way too. With you, over not with you.” She paused, rucking in a gulp of air before she dare asked,” You know?”

“Yeah. I know.” Vickie's face softened in response,” I agree. I agree to your agreeing with me. Because I've started liking spending my time with you too. A lot.”

“Good. I feel bad, I'm taking up all your time bumbling on about technicalities-”

“Don't. I'm trying really hard not to become a runaway train of words too.” Robin assured her,” But it's really cute when you do it. I feel like I sound like a skipping record when I really get going. Buzzing around and jumping between my sentences before I've really finished any of them. I can really become a mess that's hard to nail down or keep up with.” Robin laughed through her words at herself,” I was just talking to Steve about it the other day. We were saying it'd be good for the both of us to split the difference between the two of us. I could take some of his cool, suave, impressive traits- and he'd get my dashing good looks. Obviously.”

Robin was anticipating a laugh. Or a chuckle, or a giggle, or some kind of sound to tell her that her comedic timing wasn't off. It was only when she didn't get any that she turned her gaze back to Vickie. To see the girl watching her. Seriously. Eyes full and attentive.

“I don't think you need to split any difference with Steve Harrington.”

Wow. How was Robin going to survive Vickie saying something like that?

She felt her chest swell up. Warmth settled into her lungs and she wondered if she was breathing right. If her face was about to go blue because of the short circuit making her switch to manual efforts. Every step, every breath, every blink, every move, every beat of her heart was pulling her attention.

Did she need to pinch herself and make sure she wasn't dreaming?

“He's just better at the whole 'talking to pretty girls without digging yourself into a deep hole' thing than I am. Sometimes I want to steal that skill of his.”

Okay, she might've been focusing a little too much on the blinking part, because that was more than she meant to say. It was more direct than she intended. More outwardly sapphic than she planned.

But it was out there. And it was up to Vickie how it landed.

“Pretty girls?” she asked,“ I'm a pretty girl you need to worry about impressing?”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a more scared Robin was warning her it was a trap. That it could all go wrong. But louder than that little version of herself, there was a newer version pushing her to go for it. A Robin she didn't know she could be until recent months.

So Robin slowed her stride and she said to the sweet little redhead next to her,“ Would it be bad if I said you were?”

“No.” Vickie spun around on her heels to look back. And there was this look that Robin had never seen before. Never been the recipient of. It was hard to define, but it was so, so special.

She stepped a little closer, daring herself to get to that big question she'd been advised to ask.

“Vickie, where is this-“

But before she could get the rest of it out, before she could ask where that thing between them was going, her lips were stilled by Vickie's. She had suddenly rushed in on Robin to steal a kiss. Edging onto her toes, eyes closed, hands on Robin's arms. It wasn't much more than a peck, but for Robin, it stopped time.

It was her first kiss.

Her whole world turned over in an instant.

And, when that instant passed, Vickie stepped back onto her heels. She opened back up her eyes and seemed to take a second to realize what she just did. She let go of Robin's arms while the girl was still love-struck and dazed. Mind slowly working over the incredible news that being kissed by Vickie carried. And then Vickie started panicking.

“Oh my god-” her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open, her jaw shaking just the slightest,” I-I am so sorry, that was-“

But then Robin kissed her.

Deeper. Sweeter. Longer.

To stop her from regretting or retracting what she just did.

Robin cradled Vickie's face in her hands. Feeling her burning cheeks on her fingertips. Reaching back to just barely touch the little wisps of her hair where it came untucked. Their noses pressed beside one another's. Vickie leaned her head over, and they both heard the little plastic clack of her earrings.

Robin swept the girl up in the moment as they turned further around the corner of the building at the end of the strip. And Vickie pushed harder back against her lips. Soon onto her toes again, despite Robin ducking her head down to make them the same height. Vickie's arms wrapped around her shoulders, wrists crossing behind her neck as the two of them came closer and closer together.

Robin's second kiss was pretty great too.

It was amazing. It tasted like strawberry chapstick. It smelled like powdery floral perfume. It felt like the sun on her skin and Vickie in her hands.

And Robin had never been so thankful that an earthquake cleared half the city to make it all possible.

Nancy Wheeler could feel each of her limbs hanging heavily off her body. Every inch of her was exhausted. Her eyelids kept trying to fall, her eye bags had to weigh almost ten pounds, and soon enough her eyeballs were going to burn so bad she'd entertain stupid, senseless, insensitive thoughts like “I'm almost jealous of all the Vecna victims” because at least none of their eyes had the ability to hurt anymore.

Yeah, she was sort of reaching her limit.

Sleep still wasn't coming easy. If she managed to fall asleep at all, it was restless, and she was back up, covered in sweat, after just a few hours. It was wearing her thin.

A person needs sleep. Especially when that person likes to usually have a good attitude about things. Or, at least, when that person likes to seem like the kind of person who has a good attitude about things.

In any news, Nancy was in a bad mood and feeling the full brunt of so many sleepless nights layered on top of the stress of responsibility hanging over her head.

She was starting to run out of hope. But, the one thing she knew was that she was tense. She was freaked out, and on edge every time she started to doze off. Even more so every time she snapped back up. So, her tactic - since the hot baths and counting sheep, weren't working at all - was to try something that might not have been relaxing, but shouldn't let her stay all tensed up.

Maybe something funny would help?

That was the latest theory, at least.

So she decided to swing by Family Video before she went home. To find a comedy she could push into the tiny tv in her bedroom and watch on low volume until her eyes finally closed again. Honestly, maybe she was going to be so delirious by the time it happened that it'd be funnier than anything she'd ever seen.

She pulled her car into the lot between two others. One was Steve's and the other looked a lot like the car she saw Vickie drive just a few days before. She really needed to get her faculties straightened out if she thought she was seeing the same car all over town all of a sudden. What was that called? Synchronicity?

Nancy climbed out of the station wagon with a huff, brushing back her bangs from her face and setting her mind to its task: find a funny movie, say 'Hi' to Steve and Robin, get home, make it through the next few hours, and crash.

She really, really wanted to crash already.

“Oh. Hey, Nance.” Steve greeted her. A friendly face, if not a little surprised, as she walked in the entrance.

“Hey, Steve,” she responded politely,“ Got anything good around here?”

“Well, that depends. What're you looking for?”

“A comedy. Something funny. Light-hearted.” And something in the back of her mind said she needed a reason. An excuse. Something to blame her need on. “The Wheelers are setting a new family tradition. Movie night.”

“Ah. After all the running around, your folks decided they wanted to keep an eye on you and Mike on a… Tuesday night?” Steve's voice peaked at the end. Like he just thought about how Tuesdays were a bit of an odd day to start something like that. Fridays or Saturdays would've been the most obvious pick. Obviously, Nancy.

She resisted the urge to rub away at her tired eyes and just shrugged,” My dad said he got the idea from a guy at work yesterday and told me to pick something up this evening.”

“Fair.” he nodded and eyed different parts of the store while he thought,” Okay, moving on, so we're also looking for something age appropriate for Holly…”

“Maybe,” Nancy grumbled, thinking that a flick more Holly-themed might just be a drag to put herself through.

Steve smiled and laughed a little,“ Well, I'm assuming she's invited to the family movie night?”

“Of course. Duh. She gets to come. She just- uh- she falls asleep like five minutes into anything on the tv after seven. So if it's a little less kiddish, that's fine. Don't need cartoons to cater to her or anything. Just… something funny. For a change.”

“Okay. Sounds like we'll be checking out this section of tapes then. You guys want something new or one that's been out for a while?”

“It's fine if it's been on the shelves. Maybe something with some nostalgia would strike the right note.”

“Alright…”

Steve sorted through some of the tapes for a few minutes. Picking one up and weighing it against another, offering Nancy a couple that seemed to fit the bill. Eventually, they settled on Freaky Friday. Steve walked them over to get her checked out. Punching in keys on the computer and opening the register. He was handing Nancy back her change when she realized something.

“So, where's Robin? Thought you two said you were pretty much always on the clock together.”

“Oh, we are-”

“Is she not working today?”

“No, she is-”

And then the bell behind her rang. With a glance over her shoulder, Nancy found Robin. Right next to Vickie. So that was Vickie's car out front.

Good to know she wasn't losing it.

And Nancy couldn't tell why she felt more annoyed than she did five minutes before. But she did.

The two of them strolled in together. Looking at each other and giggling with bright red cheeks. Maybe she was just in that kind of bad mood where people in good moods seem that much more irritating. Maybe she just didn't have the bandwidth to have a good attitude or pleasant disposition anymore. Maybe she just needed to get some goddamn sleep so she could be a good person again.

When Robin tore her eyes away from the girl at her side, she finally saw Nancy standing there at the counter.

“Hi, Nancy!” she greeted.

“There she is. Just getting back from her break.” Steve finished his thought.

“Ah. Makes sense.” Nancy responded. Trying for as much energy as she could muster at the moment. “Hi, Robin.”

“Picking out a flick for the night?” she wondered,“ Hosting a get-together?"

“The Wheelers are going under house arrest for at least… “ Steve checked the back of the tape case before handing it over with Nancy's receipt,” Ninety-Five minutes tonight.”

Robin nodded wisely,“ Ah. A family movie night. Supplied by the Family Video store. Adds up.”

“Yup. We're a pretty sensible bunch.”

Vickie didn't wait very long to chime in,“ Anyway, I better be off.”

Steve was just starting to ask,“ Are you sure you don't want something?" when she insisted otherwise.

“I'm good. Have a good shift guys.”

“Thanks! See you tomorrow?” Robin wondered, a sort of soft lilt to her voice as she did.

And Vickie glowed as she agreed,“ Sounds good.” Sparing just a second to extend the goodbye to the other girl in the store,” Bye, Nancy.”

“Bye, Vickie.”

Nancy returned the sentiment. It would've been bitchy not to. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to remind herself of that before she did. Maybe she really, really was at her limits with her no-sleep thing.

But she was still attentive enough to catch the way Robin and Steve eyed each other. Like they were speaking without words. She sort of felt excluded. But immediately after, Robin shook out her shoulders and looked back at her.

“So, what's on the night's docket, Nance?”

She held up her purchase without further delay.

“Ooh! Freaky Friday, I haven't rewatched that one in forever.” Her mind ran for a moment before she continued,“ You know, as unrealistic as the whole prospect is, we see insane stuff so often enough that I feel the need to worry. About being in that spot myself. All the money in the world wouldn't be enough to make me okay with switching bodies with my mom.”

She leaned against the counter beside Nancy. Probably envisioning the chaos Miss Theresa would wreck spending a day in her shoes. Steve wasn't far behind in entertaining her hypothetical. Equally displeased by the idea.

“Agreed.”

“Obviously it'd be even weirder for you, mister.” she reached forward to shove his arm. “Mrs. Harrington in your teenage boy jeans? That's gross. But, more similarly, what about body swapping with your dad?”

That was all it took for Steve's whole face to twist up in a cringe,“ Ugh, please don't ever put that idea in my head ever, ever again.”

“What? It's a fair question! Keeps the stakes the same, anatomically, I mean. Don't you think so, Nance?” Robin looked to her for backup.

“It's reasonable enough.”

“See! And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Getting cursed with the big switcharoo with your mom. Sound like the worst day ever or just kind of an inconvenience?”

Nancy let out a weak, pitiful, awkward sort of huff,“ I think I'd rather fight the demobats again than watch my dad lean in for a kiss with his morning coffee.”

“Oh my god, I wasn't even thinking about that part.” Robin practically squealed. Diving her face into her hands to try and block out the idea. The sight made Nancy laugh something a little bit more real.

“You know,” Steve posed,” Now that we're all unpacking this, maybe that movie belongs in the horror section. Nance, want to find something that actually counts as a comedy?”

“I think I'll just take my chances with this one. Thanks.” Nancy smiled,“ So what movie did Vickie get?”

“None. She just kept me company on my break for a little bit.”

“Oh. Sounds nice.”

Then, from behind her, Nancy heard the doorbell ring again. Steve smiled past her and welcomed the customer that just came in. It was some adult she didn't recognize. Whatever. She got what she'd come for anyway.

“You know, I should probably head out too. Have a good one.”

“You too. Hope the movie's good!” Robin called after her as she backed up to the door.

“I hope so too. Bye.”

Nancy waved and pushed herself outside. Turning around and tossing her tape into the passenger seat when she got into the car.

She was having a bit of a time putting a word to it. How she was feeling. Whether it was better or worse after coming to the store. Maybe it was more like a rollercoaster with a couple of lifts and dips to her mood. Maybe she was just stuck feeling all muddled in her emotions until she got some rest. Maybe this was her new normal.

She threw that thought away and turned the keys in the ignition.

Her current state lasting much longer? That sounded like the real nightmare.

It took a little while for the store to clear back out. But, once Steve knew they were alone, he couldn't very well help the fact that he had to know what happened when Robin and Vickie went on their little walk down the street. He say the way she absolutely glowed when they walked back in together. Steve had never been good at waiting for what he wanted, and what he wanted was an update on what was possibly the first lesbian love story blooming in their small town.

“Spill.” That was all he needed to say. Demanding tone laced with so much pure excitement it couldn't come across even a little bit mean. There was so much hope and optimism.

And in the most surprising turn of events, Robin had the ability to live up to that optimism.

But, she still liked to tease.

“A girl doesn't just kiss and tell.”

Steve almost got mad. He had just enough time to start gearing up to push and insist otherwise when it clicked for him.

“No way.”

His best friend looked back up at him, a smile sitting brightly on her lips, cheeks bunched up at the apples, looking just about as happy as she could possibly get. And she started to spill. Going over every detail and the way it lit her up. The way it sent a buzz through her whole body. Made things start to slip into place. Some things at least.

Robin, by some miracle, wasn't going to die unkissed anymore.

And they laughed, and he cheered her on. She told him that about five minutes after that first and second kiss, where she was gushing to Vickie and asking if it was okay to tell him it happened. She couldn't keep such a big thing from her most favorite person in the world. And Vickie giggled in her sweet little Vickie way. Then she gave her permission to talk about them with Steve Harrington, as long as they kept a lid on things. Which Robin absolutely understood and agreed with.

But it meant so much to not only have that perfect moment between them, but to know she'd have just one other person she could talk about it with. Telling Steve that she got to kiss Vickie Nelson made it real. It happened. Just down the road, around the corner of an empty building. Recklessly out in broad daylight, but luckily out of view of anyone else.

Just secret enough and just real enough.

She did mention it was a little stupid to have let it happen right there in the open. She wasn't going to get away with that sort of play again. Probably, at least. But Steve said he was happy she got to experience a little bit of some classic teenager, hormonal, loss-of-thought, stupid-in-love, impulsivity. She deserved some.

Just one taste of getting caught up in the moment and letting a dream take you right to the edge.

He kept saying stupid romantic stuff like that. Maybe under different circumstances, Robin would have walked that back and brought it around Steve's love life. But for that day, the moment was hers. Her love life was the topic of conversation. And not in just the length of a few wistful sentences. Not of only wishes and small limits of hope.

There was substance. There was something to say. There was a future to think about, and events to be excited about, and so much to discover for herself. So much to experience and feel and finally know for herself.

Robin's love life was something to talk about. Fully. And that was so much to have for the first time.

Steve was the first person Robin got to even have honest conversations about crushes with. And on April 8th, 1986, she got to tell him about her first kiss. And the one that came after. And all the others she was looking forward to having.

At least, she got to tell him all about it until the next customer stopped by. Then it was time to get back to the work that paid them.

The van hauling Corroded Coffin up north spent about three hours on the highway before they hit Indy. They didn't even have an hour to spare before the show was set to start. So they all sped and clambered around for food in the city right before they ran over to the Market Square Arena. Proudly displaying their tickets at the entrance and getting let inside for the big event they'd been looking forward to for weeks.

And before Ozzy was set to take to the stage, there was Metallica as a special guest. The opening act. Eddie couldn't really explain why he screamed as loud as he did when the end of “Battery” turned into the beginning of “Master of Puppets”. The guys didn't know it was a song he'd sort of bet his life on twelve days before. But it was a fan favorite, so at least the crowd ramping up around them helped distract from the fact that he might've gotten just a little emotional during the instrumental.

And through the rest of their set and into Ozzy running out, they yelled and sang along, and jumped and jostled against each other. Bumping arms into sides and knocking shoulders into their neighbors. Sticking out tongues and banging their heads. Howling into each other's ears, and still unable to drown out the amps and speakers buzzing on full blast.

Each person fanning the flames of everyone else's burning energy and excitement.

It was a rock show of epic proportions. It was adrenaline and sweat and life mixing together in a cauldron and being thrown all over the place in visceral ecstasy. It was a dizzying frenzy of pure uncensored existence.

Or, halfway uncensored, at least.

There was this moment. It was during “Killer of Giants”. Eddie stopped swinging his hair forward and whipping it back. He slowed down long enough to look back at the people next to him. Jeff, Gareth, Bruce, and Josie. They looked younger than he remembered.

Younger than he thought they looked before he faced everything he faced.

It was almost like an out-of-body experience. He just stopped moving and watched them have fun. There was so much joy just coming off of them in waves. Like that show, that moment, was the only thing on their minds. And Eddie thought he felt like that before. Even just minutes before when he let himself get swept up in the event. But… there was also this other part to him now.

The part that's seen death, seen people narrowly evade it, seen the world around him when he thought he was done. Seen the look in Dustin Henderson's eyes when the boy thought it was over for him.

And that stuff changes a person.

Eddie Munson could still have fun. Could still put in the effort to pretend like the world was as simple as he thought it was before Spring Break. But there was also this gnawing at the back of his mind that reminded him otherwise. That it wasn't still so simple. And he had to push it down.

Censoring himself.

Which was weird in some ways. Because Eddie Munson hasn't censored much of himself since he was a middle schooler. Since he decided he would take the title of “town freak” and wear it with pride. Since he decided anyone who cared about his bad reputation wasn't worth having around.

Eddie said pretty much whatever he wanted to say. But he couldn't say some things.

Supernatural trauma joined the short list of “things we don't talk about” that he held quietly behind his ribs. Secrets cradled gently in the space next to his heart. 'Course, he got to talk about it with The Party.

He was keeping a few other secrets too. Ones that only really had one or two other keepers. So the Upside Down wasn't the smallest whisper he had to his name.

Jeff was cheering when he turned and saw Eddie processing. He must've been thinking on all of it for a while. His eyebrows creased together. And Jeff asked him, quiet under all the rumble of “Iron Man” being covered on stage and the audience's ecstatic reaction,” Hey. You okay, man?”

His hand found Eddie's shoulder. Clamping down with enough pressure to remind Eddie where he was.

“Yeah, man. Just got thinking about stuff for a minute.”

“Do you need to get some air?” Jeff pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the exit.

“Nah… nah. I just- things were crazy you know.” Eddie decided that was a good enough way of putting it. “Just appreciating that we all made it here after everything.”

Jeff dropped his head like the idea was ridiculous,” Even if you croaked in that hospital bed we woulda made Wayne come up with us on your ticket and bring your ashes with or something. We wouldn'ta let you miss this.”

Eddie reached over and shoved Jeff back by the chest.

“Shut up. And thanks.”

“Of course.”

The song faded out from the band. And then Ozzy brought the mic up to his lips. Throwing his head back as he bellowed out through the stadium “ALL ABOARD!” followed by his wicked, throaty cackle.

Jeff's eyes lit up. “Oh my god! Fuck yes!” His mouth fell open as he wrapped an arm across Eddie's shoulders and turned his attention back on the performance. “Come on, dude!”

And Eddie was pulled along with the joy. With the excitement. With the electricity.

“Crazy! But that's how it goes!” he sang along with the crowd.

Deciding to try and get lost back into the haze of the regular people again.

[pedgito]

𝐃𝐎 𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄 | Eddie Munson x reader

↝ masterlist | requests? | ao3 | update blog | fic rec | ko-fi

summary | Eddie had taken on the responsibility of watching over you when you were younger. But, now back home after dropping out of college, watching over you seems to mean something entirely different. Alternatively, seducing your dad's best friend who just so happens to also be a virgin.

author's note | this is as close to writing eddie as i think i can get anymore hdsjfk. thanks to my wives (@gracieheartspedro, @amanitacowboy & @chaotic-mystery) for the beta & support!

content warning | 18+ MDNI, set in the early 2000s, older!eddie, virgin!eddie, the double whammy everyone needs in their life, age gap (20s & mid 30s), DBF!EDDIE!!!!, eddie knew reader as a kid but nothing nefarious, internal conflict, money issues, dropping out of college, flirting, eddie catching you half-naked, confident!reader, screwing and screwdrivers amirite, fingers, couch sex, eddie comes in a millisecond, pull out method

word count — 9.5k

The email comes through Friday night.

The college name and yours bolded at the top and a sigh slipping from your lips as you’re already anticipating the inevitable.

This email is to inform you that your enrollment is being terminated due to outstanding financial obligations on your student account, payments must be continued in a timely manner for the issue to be resolved.                       —  Warm regards

You’re packed up by Saturday afternoon and back home by midnight, settling back into the small and cozy childhood bedroom you were so desperate to leave, begging to escape the stuffy trailer park the moment you turned eighteen.

But, here you were, stuffing your feet into your fuzzy slippers as you took out the kitchen trash to the dumpster at the end of the short driveway, the frigid wind biting at your skin as you tugged the blanket tighter around your shoulders.

It was the time of year where mornings were unbearably cold and by noon, you were sweating.

The problem was that you had tried.

You sacrificed a few assignments picking up extra shifts at the diner near the edge of campus, barely minimum wage with the few and far between tips. It felt like life or death sometimes, deciding between studying, paying for a few items to enjoy a decent dinner, or paying on your tuition.

Eventually, it all became uncontrollable. It was like a giant, looming monster hovering over your shoulder at every turn, threatening you with the power it held. What came now was relief, but still the slightest hint of worry.

You had to find a job, pick up the slack—the trailer was, to no surprise, a mess.

Your father worked grueling shifts at the factory in Hawkins, twelve hours days that wore him out, enough time to grab a quick meal and shower before he was turning in for the night on the worn-out recliner in the living room despite his perfectly good bed.

He wasn’t working today, but he was having breakfast with a friend.

You got an invite but decided against, determined to make the place spotless by the time he returned and you do as much, picking up the mountains of growing trash, starting laundry, vacuuming, every possible task until the place smelt somewhat pleasant and livable, propping the windows open as the air started to warm, hearing the faint laughs coming up the drive as we’re spraying down the deck with a hose, washing away the caked up dirt between the slats of wood.

“She lives,” His voice is easily recognizable, married with the shake of metal from his litany of jewelry and trademark jacket, jingling like a cat with a bell on their collar, you’re smiling before you turn around, though it quickly fades as he continues, “how’s college been treatin’ you?”

Your dad isn’t slick, but he makes an attempt, his hand mimicking a slice over his neck as a warning for Eddie to cut the conversation dead, though he’s more focused on your face and the way it falls.

“Er, or not?” he guessed, “Or not, yeah—you doing alright?”

“I’m surprised dad didn’t spill the beans,” you admit, “an hour together and he didn’t mention his college dropout daughter and how she’s unfortunately back home, wasting away her genius,”

“Honey, you know I’m happy to have you here—if I could pay to put you through, I would,”

“I know, I know,” you soothe his worry, “so much for scholarships when schooling still costs a fucking fortune, I should’ve tried selling shit on the black market like everyone else, I can live without a kidney,”

Eddie chuckles at your efforts to lighten the mood, “Tough break, squirt,”

“Hey,” you retort quickly, “I’m not five anymore, quit it,”

“She’s all stuck up now,” your dad jokes, your mouth dropping in offense,

“Am not,” you quickly snap, “is this fucking open season on bullying me?”

“Sorry, princess,” Eddie offers a half-smirk as he shoves his hands into the pocket of his jacket before nodding a goodbye to your father, then you, softening you with a wink that has the same effect as it did on fifteen year old you, swallowing hard behind the unusual swell of nervousness in your throat.

“Language,” your father warns as he approaches, kissing the top of your head as he walks by, “and thank you, kiddo, for being’ here—cleaning up the place,”

You nod quietly, offering a smile as your eyes drag back toward Eddie’s trailer, the same one you’ve wandered toward many times before, his uncle Wayne sitting on the steps offering out a pre-packaged lollipop or candy that he never told your father about, so easily becoming a second family to you and your father, him raising you by himself from such a young age.

Unfortunately, Wayne had passed a while back.

You were nineteen now, a couple years older than your father was when you were born, kidless, and relationships nowhere near your radar for the time being, it felt odd. But, you were settled and secure with yourself in that regard, praying that things would fall into place in due time.

But, more urgently, you needed a fucking job.

–

As much as you don’t physically see Eddie the first few weeks you’re settling back in Hawkins, he’s everywhere; posters plastered on brick walls or taped up on the glass windows of stores in town, shoutouts on the local radio as you drove down the backroads to town, he’s a small celebrity around town no doubt, but to you, he was annoying Eddie Munson.

He’s the guy who liked to scare you as a child when you were giving your father a hard time about falling asleep, making up convoluted stories about monsters that came after bad kids that still had you checking over your shoulder some nights. He’s the guy who liked to tease you for being tone deaf but still insisted on teaching you how to play guitar despite you not retaining any of it.

You admired him more than you could admit—he’s never cared what people thought of him. Eddie made a habit of standing out and being confident in his choices, going against the fray of students fighting tooth and nail for college admissions.

It didn’t matter that Eddie was a super senior by the time he graduated, he’s made a name for himself now, kept to his roots, and was still the same person you knew before you could even reach his kneecaps.

It was the rare nights as you grew older, just on the cusp of seventeen and listening to your father and he relive the times before you—how wild and carefree Eddie had encouraged him to be.

It wasn’t that he’d lost his life when you arrived, he just had different reasons to be happy.

Their mouths worked in tandem as they talked through their food, enjoying a shared dinner on the couch watching an old comedy from the 70s that you couldn’t remember the name of, the men finding great humor and joy in a movie you could care less about. 

You remember the moment it happens, the skip in your heart as the smell of Eddie’s cologne wafts to your nostrils, admiring the straight edge of his defined jaw as he ate, the dimple that deepened as he smiled.

It was the same feeling you had when you found out you had a crush on sixth grade on a boy who was just as nervous to talk to you as you were to him, but this—it was in a league of its own, making you seek asylum in your room as you escape from dinner with a lazy excuse.

Eddie goes touring for the next few months after you arrive back, in and out of town, but you’re lucky enough to miss him by minutes, seconds, occasionally. Because as much as you had hoped that schoolyard crush would go away, it hadn’t.

The same sinking feeling in your gut returns with every appearance of his face, even the presence of his empty trailer, his voice echoing in the back of your head like he’s there.

You spent the most of his absence applying for jobs and praying for anything at this point, even if the pay was absolutely shit. You end up at the grocery store in town as a stocker, nothing crazy: the hours were flexible, the job was distracting, and you could keep to yourself. 

The last thing you wanted was a familiar face from high school wondering how girl genius had dropped out of college, not that it was anyone’s business, but the judgement was the last thing you needed.

When you arrive home after a longer shift, feet scraping tiredly against the pavements as your keys jingled in your hand, trying to move quietly because you knew your father was sleeping after an equally long day, you hear the whistle from a few feet away.

You could mistake it for a bird, but given the time of day, you knew it was Eddie, the melodic hum to the whistle that has a smile tugging at your face.

“Finally pullin’ your weight I see,” he remarks with a grin, arms resting over his hood as he stares, you with no response other than your lips pulling into a tight line as you slump your shoulders, “tough crowd—‘lright, fair enough.”

“Gotta start somewhere,” you respond, gravitating toward the arm of the stairs that led to the porch of the trailer, “not all of us are gifted with the ability to perform, remember?”

Eddie chuckles at the thought, watching you fumble with his guitar, “Yeah…yeah,” he nods, fiddling with his keys and the chipped guitar pick on the key ring, “but—seriously, you’re doing okay? Your dad didn’t tell me much about what happened, so…”

“There wasn’t much to tell him,” you admit, “I’m broke, stressed, and life isn’t very forgiving to some of us,”

Eddie’s eyes squint in thought, averting awkwardly.

To you it seems as if he’s trying to think of how to comfort you, campaigning his next words on his head.

But internally, he’s fighting the thoughts that this wasn’t how he pictured you ending up; not because he thought you were above it, but because he'd always imagined you running far from this place—admittedly, you tried; away from the faded street signs and rusted trailer roofs. He stops himself from saying something stupid, knows that even if the words feel gentle or caring, they'd sting.

He can’t help but admire you either, despite that nagging feeling in his chest.

You’ve changed, grown into the permanent scowl on your face that matched your feisty personality, aware of how you carried yourself with a confidence that mimics his own, fake it ‘til you make it.

“Hey,” he says finally, voice softening. “If you need anything…well, you know I’m like—down the street.” He motions vaguely toward his own trailer, and you nod knowingly, “well, across…the grass, I guess. You get the idea, dollface,”

That was a new one.

You chew at the inside of your lip to hide the grin brought on by amusement and delirium from your long shift, wondering how you were still on two feet and listening to Eddie ramble, somehow you manage the energy to be teasing, easing back into the familiar playfulness you both threw at each other when you were younger and more naive.

“And what do I owe the great Eddie Munson for his generosity?”

He gives a dramatic sigh, flicking his wrist like he's dismissing the idea, “I’m all for charity, helpin’ out the needy.. Why? You feeling needy?”

It’s your turn to squint now, the skepticism easing into a smile. There’s a comfort in this banter and it lifts the weight off your chest in a way you can’t describe, rolling your eyes at his growing smirk.

“Careful,” you warn him, a glint in his eyes, “I’ll take advantage of you if you’re offering, just like old times,”

You wrap your grin up in a perfect bow of innocence, palms meeting at your chin to frame your face up with a picture perfect smile before you’re leaving him, yearning for your bed.

Eddie recognizes you, he thinks.

It was you, personality and mannerisms to match.

But, you’re different now.

He couldn’t admit it out loud though or even begin to linger on the thought out of fear and a sudden guilt that pinged in his gut, chastising himself over it.

–

A weekend and privacy came with a much needed bath, lounging in the comfort of the tub until your muscles stopped aching, eventually wrapping yourself in a towel after a quick shower as you walked through the living room, spending most of Saturday and Sunday alone as your father had escaped for his own getaway—the only difference this time was that you didn’t need a sitter.

It was a designated job of Eddie’s for many years, always offering to keep an eye on you.

But, you are an adult now. Fully grown, filled out. The towel is shit and thin but you hold it tight to your body anyways, readjusting it over your bare chest as the front door squeaks open on the rusty hinges and—

"Jesus!" you gasped, clutching the towel tighter.

“Oh, shit!" Eddie practically jumped back, hands up as if he were surrendering. "I thought you'd be gone. Sorry, sorry!"

You’re standing wet and unsteady, staring at him with a mix of embarrassment and amusement while he’s caught red-handed, looking increasingly guilty as he covers his eyes with his hands.

“Sorry,” he repeats, “Your dad wanted me to check in on the place, figured you’d be gone,”

You force an awkward laugh, the tension dipping into something easy and familiar despite the situation, “Well, I’m not..”

He turned to look away now, the tips of his ears burning red. “Seriously, I didn’t mean to, uh—”

He uncovered his eyes slightly, peeking at you with a crooked grin as you responded with a teasing, “Obviously, Eddie.”

You swore he was blushing—you’ve never seen it before. Not like this. You raised an eyebrow, shifting your weight to one hip, watching him squirm as the towel parts slightly, revealing a risqué sliver of skin by your inner thigh.

Eddie clears his throat suddenly, looking up at the ceiling with a finger pointing randomly, like he’s doing an inspection of the place before he’s stumbling over his words, “I’m—gonna…go? Place is good, you’re good—I mean,”

“I know what you mean,” you interject, walking toward him as your fingers press against his chest on his backwards trek outside, pointing lazily toward his trailer as he fumbles for the doorknob, “now, if you don’t mind?”

Eddie knows he deserves a special spot in the worst parts of hell now, finding himself curious of how you’ve grown, something that has never plagued him until recently, seeing you back in town and nothing like the young girl he used to know.

Of course, you’re still you, but then again—not at all. 

He can’t quite place it, but he knows this is bad.

Not good.

And he returns home to take a shower of his own, longer than necessary for a number of reasons.

–

Later that night, you perch yourself in the old, plastic chair on the side of the trailer and light the rolled joint, savoring the soft hum of nature as you wrapped the blanket tighter around your body, curled up barefoot and closing your eyes as you inhale the smoke until it burns, blowing it out through your nostrils.

"Didn't know you smoked," Eddie chirps, cigarette in his mouth as he approaches quietly, startling you slightly. He’s dressed for bed—a loose, tattered old band shirt and sweats hung low on his hips, black socks with a growing rip on the side of his left foot.

He’s always been broad, but the defined muscles of his biceps were new. Thicker, a little tanned, tendrils of muscle stretching underneath the skin as he crossed one arm over his chest.

As your heart settles, you smirk and add darkly but joking, "College changes people."

"Yeah?" He exhaled a slow cloud of smoke. "Guess I never really changed, have I?"

"You still play with the band?"

You already knew the answer, making conversation.

"Yeah," he grinned. "Not famous yet, though. Maybe next year. We’re just doing shows around Indiana—pays the bills and then some."

Eddie was well enough off, you knew that. There wasn’t a single person in Hawkins who didn’t know his name, negative connotation or not—you would have to be living under a rock to not know who Eddie Munson or Corroded Coffin was.

The conversation eventually drifted into quieter places, dragging the equally dilapidated empty chair beside you, closer, knees knocking.

He asked about school; you asked about life on the road. He admitted, too easily it seemed—that he never really caught up with most of the kids he graduated with. "Most of 'em settled down," he said. "Married. Kids. Guess I just... never did."

He'd never been shy, but something in the way he said it felt more vulnerable than usual.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” you shrug, puffing quietly as his eyes track the movement, his cigarette long forgotten before you’re offering him the joint, the corners of his mouth turning upwards quickly as he snatches it from your fingers eagerly.

“Right,” he doesn’t entirely believe you, haunted by the idea of never being able to move on—stuck in this revolving circle of trying to make it big but just coming up short.

It’s been almost twenty years, something had to give way. 

"You're much better company than the guys, by the way," Eddie smirked as he took a long drag, his eyes finding yours through the haze of smoke, “you should come out to a show, too—I’ll comp your tickets.”

“I’ll make an effort,” you tell him honestly, “but—with work and trying to make sure my dad isn’t running himself into the ground…I’ll—I’ll try, I promise,”

“Do you have plans to go back?” Eddie asks, passing the joint back to you, “Like, to college?”

You shrug, “I want to, but money is tight. I’d need a fucking miracle to happen before—”

“I can pay what you owe,” he responds like it was the easiest thing in the world to offer, “if—I mean, if you want. Or, at least a chunk to help you out. It helps, living in Wayne’s old trailer. Everything is paid, I just keep the lights on and the water running.”

You stare at him, momentarily speechless.

“Eddie,” you’re unsure how to continue as his name falls out like a breath that’s been held too long, “that’s not fair to you,” you tell him, unable to ignore the weird, twisting feeling in your chest that makes your heart flutter nervously, “I can’t let you do that.” 

You knew Eddie wasn’t the type to expect anything in return, but the idea—just the thought of him helping in such a way, it was tempestuous. But, you’re stubborn.

“I think I need to give myself time,” you decide, “find out if going back is something I want to do—if it’s even worth it.”

Eddie never even attempted college, so he figures his opinion is null and void.

Instead, he pokes you with a finger to your ribs as you squirm, giggling softly.

"You should come on the road with us then. Be our groupie, for all intents and purposes." 

You laugh, not sure if he's joking or serious or somewhere in between. "You’re asking me—the daughter of one of your oldest friends, to be your groupie?"

Eddie considers how it sounds, pausing as he tries to work it out in his head before he laughs, shaking his head with amusement, “Fine—bad way to describe it. You could just…come and help, or not. We don’t really have a manager, either. We’re wingin’ it. Weren’t you going to college for something in that field?”

“A minor in music management, yeah, but—”

Eddie’s eyebrows raise in intrigue and you look away with a flurry of emotions.

Amusement, forthright. You laugh, the sound bubbling around the joint between your lips, but his eyes fall so easily on you, wide and glazed over and it makes you nervous in a way you’ve never felt.

“Your dad asked me to keep an eye on you, take care of you when I could—” Eddie begins, legs spreading out as he leans back in the chair, memorizing the subtle curl pattern to his hair and his bangs that begged for a trim.

“I’m not a kid anymore,” You remind him, tilting your head to meet his eyes as he lazily pivots his head to look at you, a distant but genuine smile on his face.

“I know,” Eddie responds, his hand rubbing gently over your knee, the cold press of his rings into your skin as his knuckles curled around the bone, “doesn’t mean I don’t care or worry about you.”

It was such an innocent touch, reassurance wrapped in a perfect bow. 

But, his hand doesn’t move immediately, slowed, almost as if hindered by the weed in his system. He watches the way your legs part, his hand slipping further to curl around the bend of your knee and around the inside of your thigh, fingers tucked between the space.

Your reaction is delayed too, eyes locked on the movement of his hand before you’re forcing yourself to kill the tension, wrapping your fingers around his own and returning the gesture with a gentle squeeze.

“I appreciate it, Ed,” it bleeds sincerity, “thank you—but, that is something I’d really have to think about.”

“No rush, dollface,” he grins, slipping his hand away casually.

He moves to stand, but you stop him, hand pressed against his chest.

“Don’t—don’t tell my dad,” even if you were an adult, your father still had his ideals, “that I—that we, you know…”

Your finger circles the general area before you pick up the small remnants of your impromptu smoke session with Eddie and his tongue pokes at the inside of his cheek as he nods.

“Seems hypocritical considering how much weed we used to smoke in high school.” Eddie reminisces and you only persist, hand still pressed against his chest until he gives you the answer you were looking for, “Oh, come on—I can keep a secret. Don’t worry.”

You nod slowly, unsure. Eddie grins again, a half smirk as his fingers wrap around your wrist and gently push your hand away, “You seem a little…agitated,” Eddie ponders, “are you sure you’re alright?”

His look is smarmy and cocky, a mixture that gets under your skin like nothing else can.

You shake your head dismissively, stumbling slightly on your feet as you stand with him.

“Sick of me, aren’t you?” he teases.

“I mean, we’ve seen more than enough of each other today.”

“That shit wasn’t intentional and you know it,” Eddie defends, not an ounce of bite in his tone. It’s rather playful, feels like a mirage as his eyes crease at the corner and he smiles again, a trademark look for him but you since the admiration in his gaze, beyond what it should be for his best friend’s daughter.

And you catch yourself thinking about it, too. Looking, considering any other possibility that could have happened—a slip of your towel, if Eddie had gotten worried and progressed further into the trailer, if you had forgotten the towel entirely.

This wasn’t innocent and it wasn’t a crush.

“Watch yourself, Munson,” you warn, flicking a finger at the necklace hanging over the soft cotton of his shirt.

Eddie can’t describe how it feels like quicksand at his feet, unable to move as you corner him where he stands, intimidated but enticed by every single aspect of you.

He’s in such deep shit.

–

Eddie disappears for a few weeks—not without warning, though.

It was a short stint of shows around Indianapolis and he had asked you to watch over his place while he was gone despite there never really being any worry around this side of town—it was quiet anymore, eerily.

Still, it integrates into your daily schedule. A quick glance inside before work and another check after your shift, taking a couple days to throw out any moldy food in the fridge or water his dying plants, surprised by the fact that he even had any—though, the cactus seemed to thrive amongst the death and decay, centered at his kitchen table with a small figurine buried in the dirt resembling a mystical dragon.

It always makes your smile so big that your nose crinkles.

Eddie hadn’t changed at all, really.

A few days before Eddie’s due to arrive back, you hear a concerning sound coming from his fridge and immediately enlist the help of your father who had the magic touch for everything. There wasn’t anything that he couldn’t fix, really. And this was no different.

You tried calling, but Eddie never answers.

He was busy—understandably. You leave him a note on the fridge indicating that your father had fixed the condenser fan and you could thank him another time.

When he does arrive back in town, he does so quietly and in the middle of the night.

You hear the roar of his engine around midnight but don’t stir, followed by the crack of metal as the driver’s side door closes, some rustling of keys, and then you’re succumbing to sleep again.

“Sweetheart, I think I left my screwdriver at Ed’s,” your dad tells you from across the trailer.

“Got it,” you answer swiftly, “I’ll bother him later.”

Later that night, you do.

Eddie looks tired upon first glance, hair tied up loosely but it is a welcomed change to his usually untamed mane.

He invited you in, beer in hand as he returned to the couch and laid his guitar across his lap, an unspoken and hefty amount of empty bottles lining the table.

“I’m fine,” he reassures your silent thought, catching his glance as you stand, arms tucked behind you back loosely, “gotta unwind somehow, right?”

You shrug, indifferent. You weren’t going to judge him.

“Uh, my dad said he left a tool here,” you finally say, “did you see a Phillips laying around anywhere?”

“Drawer at the end of the counter,” Eddie instructs, not looking up as he fiddled with the strings on his guitar, “gonna have to give it a good tug, it likes to stick,”

You nod, moving toward the draw and giving it a sharp pull, watching as the screwdriver rolled toward the front.

Perfect.

“Did you want a beer?” Eddie ask offhand, “I’ve got a few left in the fridge,”

It was a silent invitation—but for what, you weren’t sure.

Eddie often seemed lonely back home, no real purpose when he wasn’t on the road and performing, attempting to fill his days with anything that wasn’t band practice or sound checks.

“I’m not twenty-one,” you respond, laying the Phillips screwdriver on the counter.

Eddie shrugs, hands held up in defense.

“I’m not the police, dollface,” he jokes, “I won’t snitch.”

It wasn’t like you hadn’t drank in college.

Fuck it. 

The fridge cracks open as the seal separates and you reach for the bottle, finding that Eddie has approached in the flurry of motion to reach for the beer.

You watch as he brings it to his belt buckle, using it as a makeshift bottle opener before passing it back into your waiting hand.

“Show off,” you tease with faux disdain, taking a small sip from the beer as Eddie leans against the counter, one hand curling around the edge while the other nurses a bottle.

You both drank, talking about nothing in particular, until his words slurred a little and his smile turned softer, a faint flush to his cheeks.

“No plans?” he asks curiously

“It’s Friday,” you shrug, “I should make some, but I haven’t reconnected with anyone since I’ve been back.”

Except for Eddie, obviously.

“You’re all dolled up,” he notes, though there isn’t much to be considered notable aside from the dress shifting mid-thigh and your bare shoulders on display, bare-faced.

“I showered,” you laugh, brows knitting together in confusion, “but—thank you, I guess?”

He’s terrible at this, isn’t he?

Eddie clears his throat, chin tilting down as he his shoulders square and you feel the undeniable urge to tease him, though your eyes are stuck on the way the muscle moves underneath his shirt.

“You should wear your hair like that more often,” you suggest, nodding toward his messy up-do as you sip at the beer, “it’s…cute.”

“Cute?” Eddie throws his head back and laughs, watching a few strands slip from the bun as he shakes his head.

You reach forward, invading his space, brushing a hair away from his cheek as he tenses slightly, reveling in the subtle effect it had on him.

“Undeniably…adorable,” you reiterate, patting his cheek gently, his eyes trained on the way your eyes linger over his face before you smile, stepping away. 

“So, you tease me and ask me to keep your secrets,” Eddie says, counting on his fingers.

You feign innocence, looking him up and down in a way that Eddie could easily misconstrue, part of you prays that he will.

"You know," he said, gaze sliding lazily over you in a similar manner, "I always knew you'd grow up to be trouble."

"Trouble?" you laughed, but something tightened in your chest.

"Yeah." He drained the rest of his beer and set the bottle down with a thunk. 

It was like a silent challenge, begging him to elaborate.

But Eddie just smiled, lopsided and knowing. 

He leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms, nodding a subtle invitation for you to follow him to the couch, your task forgotten as Eddie shoved his guitar aside to make room for you beside him.

“How were the shows?” you ask curiously, one foot pressing to the couch as the other crossed behind your heel, separating your dress and exposing your skin, barely attempting to cover the slip of your panties underneath as the fabric fits between your thighs, your hand pressing against the cushion of the couch to keep it in place.

Eddie watches it happen, how easily you’ve slipped out of your shoes and made home on his couch, like you were always meant to be here, like this had always been your home, too.

He sinks into the couch beside you with a deep sigh, the furniture shifting with the weight.

Tipping his head back, he shrugs.

“Same old,” he replies easily, fiddling quietly with the thick skull ring on his middle finger, flexing them, your eyes watching the insistence of his movement, “things are weird though, lately—like we’re all feeling stuck but no one wants to bring it up.”

“Complacent?” you inquire and Eddie nods with a smirk.

“Complacent,” he tries the word out on his tongue as he looks over at you, an immense amount of appreciation on his face, “that’s the word—smart ass.”

“I think the words you’re looking for there are—thank you.” 

Eddie shakes his head nonchalantly and the corners of his mouth turn down, “No…no, I think you enjoy being a smart ass.”

Your fist digs into your cheek as you lean against, “Okay, well—go and run to my dad and tell him how you’re being bullied by his daughter,” you reach a finger forward and poke at the dimple in his cheek, “that you’re feeling oh so threatened by me.”

Eddie has a limit—a bullshit meter if you will.

Before, it would end with him sending you on your way back home, a smug but annoyed expression on your face. But, as you sit here now, he doesn’t feel the urge.

He reaches forward, dexterous fingers attacking the sweet spot underneath your ribs before he’s tickling you into submission, jumping forward to latch onto his right shoulder, attempting to wiggle away from his grip.

He’s relentless, though.

One hand turns into two and soon enough you’re leaning over his lap with your hands on the empty cushion beside him and panting, begging for mercy.

“Stop—stopstop,” you plead, “Eddie—fuck, please,”

Something there lingers, trying desperately to shove his hands away but finding yourself slipping backwards in the process. A soft yelp rips from your throat as you slip back, but Eddie’s already got a hand on your thigh, tight and harsh as it digs into your skin to keep you upright.

Your face morphs from momentary fear to frustration, a harmless scowl forming on your face as you shove at his chest.

“Sorry,” Eddie responds playfully, trying desperately to ignore how warm your skin feels against his palm, maneuvering you back into your spot beside him, “shut you up though, didn’t it?”

“I think if you wanted me bent over your lap you could have just asked,” you retort with a fire in your chest as you readjust your dress, fixing the straps on your shoulders.

Eddie looks surprised at your outburst, eyes wide.

You shoot him a look that tears right through his ignorance, “What? It’s not like you’re some sexless virgin, we’re both adults, aren’t we?”

The silence is especially deafening on his behalf.

You quickly come to the conclusion on your own, “You’re the lead singer of a metal band and you’ve never had sex?”

Eddie avoid answering outright and instead attacks, “Okay, now you’re just being a little shit and judgy.” 

He won’t meet your eyes as you stare at him, the faintest hint of a smile on your face, finding his innate shyness over the topic immensely endearing.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just—seriously? There’s no one just throwing themselves at you?” you ask curiously, “All this time and you’ve never once got caught up with a groupie?”

You sit back on your legs, having never been more interested in a conversation in your life, helplessly curious.

“Not ones that I want,“ Eddie admits, “besides, one thing or another happens and it just…doesn’t work out.”

Huh. 

You’re quiet, processing the information.

You’re not sure why it shocks you, but it does.

Any idea or assumption you’ve ever had about Eddie was completely shattered, like you were staring at him for the first time, eyes averted. The chain on his wrist jingled as his knee shook anxiously. 

You curl your fingers around his kneecap, similar to how he had weeks before, calming him. 

“I’m sorry…for assuming,” you apologize, “it’s just…you’re—“

“Old,” he says deadpan and you can’t help but laugh.

“You’re not old,” you reply in defense, “what do you consider old?”

“I’m the same age as your dad, dollface.”

“My dad hasn’t worn an Iron Maiden shirt since ‘95, so I think you’re still safe,” you tease, squeezing his knee.

Eddie smirks, but there’s a touch of vulnerability in his eyes that makes your chest feel strange and soft. He’s silent for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

He should cut the conversation short, but then you’re opening your mouth again.

Another question, another step further.

“So, I mean,” you pause, adjusting yourself to sit criss-cross to face him, hands resting in your lap, “what qualifies?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Eddie replies like an empty threat, wincing at how eager you look to receive the information, a split second away from a sticky situation. 

“No sex,” you start to recite to yourself, thumb jutting out as you count on your hands like he had earlier, “oral is a no-go, I’m assuming,” pointer finger out as Eddie watches you work through the list in your brain and he’s nothing short of mortified as his lips part and he stares at you with a wild gaze, “fingering? What about fingering? Have you ever kissed anyone?”

You look up eventually to find him speechless, his cheeks reddening as you continue and you shrug so nonchalant he can’t believe this is reality, “What? I’m curious.”

“Well, get un-curious,” Eddie retorts with a lazy chuff of laughter.

“You were the one who asked me to be your groupie, remember?” 

Eddie scoffs, slapping your hand down gently where it was lingering near him, fingers still laid out in count, “Bad choice of words, remember? This is—”

“What? Am I not your type?”

And, there it was.

Eddie gulps, his hand curling into a fist as his knuckles dressed into his thigh, the fabric creasing under the pressure and he doesn’t answer outright.

You hold your hands up in surrender, “Okay, fair—I’m not offended if I’m not—”

“No,” Eddie quickly interjects, “it’s not that.” 

He flattens his hand against his leg, tension slowly loosening as he huffs out a breath.

So, you were his type?

“Is this a morality thing?” you cut through the tension, “Because if we want to go down the list of things that make us adults I think I might have you beat, you know—graduating, college, relationships, a steady job,”

Two of those were a shaky defense at best, but you were trying to prove a point.

Any qualms Eddie had were built solely around his hesitancy to defile his best friend’s daughter or even suggest the implication that he might want to—that he might even find your the slightest bit attractive now, grown up and incredibly sure of yourself, oozing a raw confidence that Eddie has learned to fake.

With you, it was genuine. 

You knew exactly what you wanted.

“Is it?” you repeat.

“No,” Eddie breathes out, “I mean, yes—kind of. I just don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Oh god, Eddie,” you say, exasperated. “I’m not a fucking kid.” 

“That’s not what I meant,” he says desperately.

“Then what?” 

Eddie’s mouth opens and closes twice before giving up altogether and just staring at you.

You stare back, unyielding.

He sighs again and shakes his head, “You really don’t get it.”

“I think I do,” you insist and then you hear yourself say, the words just tumbling out, “I’m into you too.”

Eddie’s eyes widen comically. “Shit,” he mumbles.

You can see the shift in his features, the way he’s chewing at his lip like he does when he’s working out a new song or trying to find the right chord.

Eddie always had this way about him—passionate, intense. 

Your lips curl into a teasing grin, but there’s understanding behind it. 

He’s struggling, caught in the moment, unsure whether to take you seriously or play off your relentlessness with humor and break the growing tension.

“Can I try something?” you ask curiously.

“Try what?” His voice is wary, but there’s a glimmer of intrigue underneath.

You pause for the briefest of moments and then decide to seize it. 

You lean forward, resting your hands casually on his knees where he’s angled his body toward you. It’s enough to make him freeze, his eyes locked onto yours with a flicker of panic, like he’s suspended mid air and unsure if he’s going to survive the drop. 

“Don’t freak out, okay?” you murmur and Eddie nods as you grin every so slightly on your approach.

His breath catches when you close the space and press your lips to his.

It’s tentative at first, slow and steady like testing the heat of running water, but sooner than later you feel his resolve slip. His hand ghosts upward almost involuntarily, right where it should be, finding its place at the back of your neck and pulling you closer.

He inhales sharply and parts his lips to meet your tongue with his own.

Alright, he’s not clueless.

You sigh softly into his mouth as your fingers dig into his thighs, an eager pace growing as you lick into his mouth, the faintest hint of beer on his tongue and thick layer of lust invading your collective brains before Eddie was pulling you fully into his lap from where you’re already halfway leaned over him, taking his silent guidance in stride as your thighs spread out over his and your arms fall over his shoulders, taking his face between your hands as you slow the pace of the kiss.

You pull back eventually, just slightly to gauge his reaction. 

His eyes are still shut tight, as if he’s afraid that opening them will make you run for the hills.

Instead, when he finds that you’re not returning, he does.

It was tentative, a peek through one eyelid before he decided to open both.

You’re not smiling, rather observing, a curious wonder on your face.

“Your dad,” Eddie gulps, “he’s waiting for you, isn’t it?”

You nod quietly, his face still cradled in your hand.

A man you’ve admired for years suddenly feels small in your hands, delicate.

“You’re gonna go home,” Eddie instructs softly, “we’re not gonna talk about this, alright?”

Your shoulders slump in defeat but you understand—there were too many cons, too many worries. 

“Say it,” Eddie encourages.

“I’m gonna home,” you appease him, “we’re not gonna talk about this.”

“Go on, dollface,” Eddie nods toward the door, helping you off of his lap like a gentleman despite the rejection he’s throwing your way, unknowing of the immense amount of self-restraint he’s using to end this before it starts.

He watches you leave, but not before pressing a kiss into your hair.

He’s done it before, a gentle gesture.

The door locks behind you and the blinds are quick to shift closed, the lights to Eddie’s trailer turning off soon after—from your point of view, he’s resigned to bed, kicking you out for the night.

But, for Eddie, it was an attempt to control himself.

To not let things ramp up so far he couldn’t find a reason to come down.

Usually, he’ll relieve himself in the shower but his cock was straining hard under the confine of his dark-washed jeans, belt jingling loudly as he struggled to rid himself of the fabric until it pooled at his ankles, sinking back into his couch with his shirt pushed halfway up his stomach, letting out a sharp curse as he wraps his hand around his cock.

He can’t deny the fact that he’s thought about you before like this, almost a constant paint imagine of you in his head after he’d caught you at home, a few quick flashes before then that he couldn’t even bring himself to admit—ever since you had showed up in town again, you were everywhere.

He felt you in the similar sense that you did with him, but the problem for Eddie was that he didn’t have a reason for any of this—and it was a suffocation of guilt trailing his immediate need for release before he blew his load in his jeans like he was a goddamn teenager.

It was long, hurried strokes with an iron grip; Eddie knows your hands would be softer, gentler. But, he doesn’t allow himself that thought for longer than a moment, white knuckling his cock until his head looks bruised, red and pulsing. It’s embarrassing, the melody of skin against skin matched with his pathetic grunts, chest heaving with hurried breaths until his cock twitched violently, pearly white strips of cum spurting over his stomach in mindless pleasure, eyes slipping shut.

“Gah—fuck,” Eddie says in a guttural groan, “fuck!”

He’s not sure how long he lays there in the dark, breathing heavily with a slick mess coating his front and jeans still pooling around his ankles. But, he knows one thing—he couldn’t let you near him again.

–

You don’t hear from him for weeks and that’s fine.

Sort of.

Not really.

He’s been aorund the entire time, coming and going, but he’s been home.

He sees you when you’re coming back from work or when he’s leaning against the railing of his porch as he smokes his morning cigarette without anything more than a nod of acknowledgement.

Maybe you had pushed things too far, been too forward, overstepped some boundaries.

But, you know Eddie—he would have told you.

It was the weekend of your twentieth birthday when his silent treatment festers to a head, invited over by your father for a small cookout—it was only ever the three of you anymore, aside from a few lingering friendly neighbors that your father was more than happy to pass a plate or two of food too.

When you weren’t looking at him, he was always looking at you.

You feel it.

It was a heat that prickled the back of your neck and every time you turned to catch him in the act, Eddie was already haphazardly engaged in conversation with your father—talking about work or music or whatever.

An intentional silent standoff that lingered into the night, the summer bugs buzzing in the grassy courtyard as the two men and a small group of neighbors laugh amidst their supposedly riveting conversation.

You didn’t like the cake or big celebrations, so by the end of the night you were curled up on the stairs and staring down at the trail of ants that traveled through a crack in the pavement, bare feet against the grass and not hearing the voice that calls for you until the fifth try.

Your father tossed Eddie’s keys into your hand as you looked up, barely registering what was happening but able to snatch them before they hit you square in the face.

“He’s on a call,” your dad mouthed to you, “beers?”

Uninterested but compliant, you stand and make your way across the yard.

The kitchen is still close enough with the chattering of your father’s friends that you don’t hear Eddie trailing behind you until you’re stopped at the fridge, fingers curled around a handful of cold bottles.

“I got it,” he interjects and you pull a face out of habit, annoyance overtaking your features as you pull the beer away from him.

“So now you decide to talk to me?”

“I’ve been busy,” he replies defensively, scratching at his jaw. “I didn’t think—”

“You know, if you’re scared of me you could just say that—”

“Scared?” Eddie chuckles, “Of you?”

You drop the bottles on the counter, one nearly toppling over but Eddie catches it before it hits the floor. He sets it back upright and just stands there, contemplating. Eventually, he holds up a finger.

“Don’t leave, alright,” he tells you, scooping the beers into his arm, “I’ll take these to your dad and come up with some excuse—just, stay, alright?”

He’s standing there, waiting for an audible response before you eventually throw your hands up in frustration, urging him to move.

Eddie scrambles then, gone and back in under a minute, slightly out of breath as he closes the door to his trailer behind him and locks it, “I told him you needed some quiet,” Eddie explains.

“Are we…okay?” you ask impulsively, hand twisting anxiously around the edge of the counter.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?” Eddie asks, taking a seat on his couch and placing his guitar carefully against the adjacent wall.

“You haven’t spoken more than a word to me in almost a months,” you confront his facade, “I kissed you and suddenly you wanted nothing to do with me, sorry if that gave me the wrong impression but—”

“It…wasn’t that,” Eddie explains, “things have been picking up for the band lately...kinda, out of nowhere. These big record companies in LA are interested in signing us but we’re all…older and they’re hesitant. I’ve been busting my ass trying to prove our worth, but,” he throws his hands up, “seems kinda pointless.”

“That’s good though, right?” You ask, seating yourself on the arm of the couch near him, whatever frustration you had toward him dissipates quickly, “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Eddie leans his head back, eyes tracing the ceiling. “Yeah. Just didn’t think I’d have to sell my soul for it.”

“That’s a little dramatic, besides—s’kinda your brand,” You try to catch his gaze, but he’s staring to the side, lost in thought, “so you’ve just been busy?”

“Yeah,” Eddie insists, “busy.”

You study his face, trying to decide if he’s lying to you or himself.

And when he turns to you his eyes are sincere, pleading almost.

“And the kiss?” you press, unable to stop yourself. “You didn’t freak out because of that?”

Eddie sighs, his foot tapping anxiously against the leg of the coffee table. “I didn’t freak out,” he says. “I just—didn’t want to ruin things for you. I mean—your dad, and sweetheart, I’m twice your age.”

You roll your eyes and cross your arms over your chest, looking down at him, “Well—if you make it out in Hollywood you might finally find the right one,” you tease him, “they can snatch that illustrious title from you.”

Eddie chuckles softly, “I don’t care about that,” he admits, “I never have. I don’t think about it…or talk about it. I’m not ignorant about it, you do understand that, right?”

“The way you kiss, I would fucking hope not,” you admit in a crass manner.

“Frankly, I think you’re only interested in defiling me,” Eddie jokes, your brows perking up at the mention before a laugh bubbles from your chest, “I feel like you’ve had it out for me since you got back.”

His eyes are focused on the bare skin of your thighs under your dress now, exposed by the way you were sitting, the back of your calf resting over his knee as you leg bounces idly, his hand grazing over your shin to stop that insistent movement.

“You know, I used to think it was because of what you were,” you explain openly, “I thought you were cool—cute, out of my league obviously and off limits. I dated and every time I thought I found the right one—I couldn’t help but think…well, they’re not as cool as Eddie. I had a huge crush on you but I almost admired you.”

“So, s’just because you think I’m cool?”

“I think you’re sort of an asshole now, actually,” you admit, “But, I know you think about me, too—I know you kept staring at me tonight. You always are…and the way you touch me,” your eyes linger on his hand now, his fingers molding against your skin.

“What about it?” Eddie asks.

“You’ve always taken care of me,” you remind him, ”let me take care of you.”

His thumb press gently into the sinew below your knee, his hand curling around the back of it.

Eddie slowly guides your legs apart, revealing the thin fabric covering your cunt.

His hand lingers on the inside of your thigh as if he was weighing his options. 

You know that he is. 

Too considerate and focused on all the other things surrounding you both to actually be present in what’s happening now. Always worried about the right thing to do, always considering everything.

His eyes flick up to look at you briefly, your hand pressing into the back of the couch as you lean back, balancing on the arm of the couch as you take a small breath.

“I’m just saying…this is a terrible idea,” Eddie sighs out, his voice low as he feels like a rabid animal, watching your skin tense under his touch, “we shouldn’t.”

“Suit yourself,” you tell him lazily, aware of how he hasn’t bothered to stop touching you, “but I think you’ll regret it.”

Quietly, you reach for his hand and cup your hand around the back of it, pressing his palm flat against your cunt, the heel of it adding a delicious pressure against your clit under the fabric.

Your mouth parts in anticipation, watching him repeat the action on his own a few times before he’s pushing the fabric aside on his own volition, fingers drifting through the short, but coarse patch of curls as his middle finger drags down the seam of your folds, the digit glistening with a sticky slick.

“You’ve done this before haven’t you?” you ask curiously.

“Specifically, this?” he asks, “A couple times...I’ve been told my fingers are like magic if that helps.”

You pull your lips together and let out a soft pfft as you laugh quietly, gasping when his finger breaches your hole, pressing inside with gentle pressure, wrist angled so his thumb can catch over your clit in the same, sinful motion.

“I…like more,” you direct him with a soft voice, “like, uh—”

“Like what?” he asks, genuinely curious.

“Just…more,” you explain, “I like the pressure, the stretch…it—”

“Feels good?” he finishes for you and you don’t have to look to know he’s smiling.

You nod jerkily and feel his pace quick, your head dropped back and eyes closed as his unoccupied hand holds your thigh open, the fingers digging into your flesh occasionally when you squeeze around his fingers.

“I like..the feeling,” you gulp quietly, “of being filled, you know?”

“Uh huh,” Eddie answers idly, focused intently on your pleasure alone as he pumps his finger, then two, eventually three, until your fingers are tight around his wrist and he has no other option than to focus on your clit, rubbing over it in tight, quick circles until your letting out a sharp gasp, his hand pulling away in an instant as you cunt spasms around nothing, thighs shaking as your orgasm washed over, completely unsatisfied but overwhelmed with momentary euphoria.

When you finally resurface, there isn’t a moment lost.

Eddie moves with you, just as eager. 

You quickly unbuckle the belt to his jeans, bunching your dress up and lifting it over your head as Eddie shifts his pants down, cock bobbing free against his stomach as you pause, noticing the flush in his cheeks as a smile grows on your face, his eyes locked on you.

“This is probably a bad time to mention I don’t have condoms,” Eddie jokes, your hand reaching forward to wrap around his cock, thick and uncut, pulling the skin back as your thumb swipes over the slit of his head, rubbing the precum over the top.

“You’ll pull out,” you assure him with a smile, “don’t worry.”

Eddie nods obediently, suddenly aware of how fast his heart was racing, watching you position yourself over his lap, his hands raising up to squeeze at your hips nervously, chin tilted down in awe.

“Waitwaitwait,” Eddie interjects, eagerly waving you forward with a hasty motion of his hand, “c’mere.”

You’ll bite, leaning forward obediently, he latches his lips onto your neck, gentle kisses that trail slow until he’s reached the valley of your breasts, tongue curling around your nipple before he captures it between his teeth, squeezing dutifully at the other, squealing quietly at the sharp sting of his teeth.

Slowly, his cock presses inside with your guidance.

He chokes out a gasp into your skin, wet and hot against your breasts.

“Shit,” he curses, turning his head to lean against your chest, his hands returning to your hips as you begin a slow, gentle, and manageable pace for him to adjust, but also to allow yourself to adjust to the stretch of him.

Eddie was trying so desperately to not blow his load right there, focusing intently on the steady beat of your heart, fingers tangling into his hair as you kept him tight against your chest and moving your hips in slow circles, occasionally raising your hips for the inevitable descent that made Eddie’s chest tighten. 

His moans are broken, soft gasps as you bounce on his cock with an eventual quickened pace, his hands roaming insistently for anything to anchor him, met with your softer gasps and the gentle murmur of his name, “Oh, Ed,” you whine, “you’re doin’ good, I promise.”

He nods dumbly, barely acknowledging your praise as he felt you squeeze down, a cry ripping from his chest as he squeezed tight at your hips, turning his head to look up at you, cradling his face in your hands as he stared you with glazed over eyes, lips flush and parted.

“Baby, I—” He breathes, eyes squeezing shut as your heart clenches at the sight and sound of his voice, “I’m not gonna last, m’sorry—I can’t—you’re so fucking…god,” he groans, his head falling back as he relaxed in your grip and let you take control, controlling the pace until it was nearly unbearable for him, the small hint of tears forming in his eyes as he desperately, but gently shoved you back.

He’s been in this position before, not so long ago, hand gripped tight around his cock and wish you were there—but this is reality even if it seemed like a fucking dream, jerking himself until the pressure at the base of his cock swelled and pushed to the head, coming in long, thick spurts over your stomach, his head rubbing against the skin as he squeezed from base to tip with a fucked-out expression, groaning through the high of his orgasm.

“That was fucking close,” Eddie says after a long pause, watching as you grabbed his hand—specifically a finger and dragging it through one line of his cum and gathered it on his finger, bringing it to your mouth with your tongue presented out, licking the digit clean, “oh, fuck—”

He laughs so hard it makes him cough.

“Fuck, I’m sorry—I didn’t even get to…while we…” Eddie begins, but is quickly silenced by your palm over his mouth, shaking your head insistently.

“I’ll survive,” you tell him, “seriously.”

Eddie laughs again, mostly out of disbelief.

“And here I was, thinking I’d be taking advantage of you.”

You smirked, leaning until you were a hair's breadth away from Eddie’s face, taunting, “Not a chance.”

[lesservillain]

dream a little dream of me.

sleep demon!eddie munson x afab!reader

cw: SMUT. breeding kink, monster!eddie, readers body is “changed”(I think thats it?)

You’re tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep thanks to the ache between your legs. You already tried getting yourself off to no avail, so sleeping it off was your plan b.

You didn’t know why you’d been so horny lately. All day you’d be thinking about being taken over your work desk or in the coffee shop bathroom. Wet dreams plagued your mind every night of a beautiful man making love to you had left you with wet sheets from how hot and bothered you were getting even in your sleep.

But no matter how much you tried to satisfy yourself, it just wasn’t enough.

Just as you were about to drift off, the mattress dipping caught your attention. You lived alone, besides your cat, so you just assumed it was them joining you in the bed. That was until it continued to dip, pushing down deep indicating that whatever was on your bed was much heavier than your cat.

You froze in fear, trying to regulate your breathing to make it seem like you were still asleep. Your mind raced as you tried to think of what to do.

“I know you’re awake.”

You stopped breathing. You felt your heart pounding on your chest as you panic.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you,” the voice said, sounding less distorted and more like the voice of…

Slowly you turned to look behind you. Sitting on the edge of your bed was the man of your dreams. His soft eyes met yours, his smile turning toothy when you realized it was him.

Were you dreaming right now? It didn’t feel like it. Maybe you were lucid dreaming?

You didn’t have much more time to think about it as he placed a hand on your cheek. It felt as if he really were touching you, and you felt conflicted with that fact.

“I missed you, sweet girl,” he coos at you. “I hate it when you leave me.”

He leans down, stopping just short of kissing you. His eyes flash for a moment, looking almost red compared to his normal color.

When you don’t protest, he closes the gap between you, letting your lips slot together perfectly in a deep kiss. His mouth moves against yours and you reciprocate, feeling as if its the natural thing to do.

As the kiss deepens you feel his hands slowly start to roam your body. He feels you up, his hands landing on your breasts, squeezing and fondling until you hum against his lips. The man smiles against you.

He pulls away, lidded eyes stating down at you as his lips start to kiss down your jaw, your neck, between your breasts, down, down, down, until he’s positioning himself between your legs.

“Mmm such a pretty sight,” the man says, looking at your pussy with lovesick eyes. “Prettiest I’ve ever seen.”

He runs a finger through your folds, making you gasp at the sudden contact. He takes his finger to his mouth, his tongue wrapping around it to lick off your juices.

“Mmmm, like the divine nectar,” the man hums. You watch in anticipation as he brings his face closer to your pussy. His long tongue darts out again, your hands flying to his hair as he gets to work opening you up.

All of the times he’s spent with you in your dreams gave him plenty of practice to know exactly how you like it. He lets his tongue flick and rub against your clit as his fingers work diligently inside you. You feel your legs start shake as he brings you closer and closer to your peak.

Just as you feel yourself tipping over the edge, his tongue and fingers switch places. The pads of his fingers rub against your clit roughly as he sticks his long, thick tongue inside you. The muscle penetrates you deep, until you feel him hitting against your cervix.

Your vision goes white, little stars dancing behind your eyes as you cum hard on his tongue. In your blissed out state, you almost dont feel the way something is pushed deeper inside of you. It feels like a slight pinch, but almost immediately after your body feels like it’s on fire.

Whatever the man put inside you with his tongue begins to spread over the walls of your womb, coating it in a thick lining. Any arousal you had in your body was turned up to a hundred as you turn into a bitch in heat. Slick begins to pool on your bedsheets as it leaks from your pussy.

The man watches your body’s changes with delight. He licks his lips at the sight of you, his sharp teeth suddenly very noticeable to you.

“How do you feel?” He asks you, eyes still settled on your soaked cunt.

“H-hot?” You stutter, looking up at him with pinched brows. Was he always naked? Or had you not noticed his huge, hard cock until just now?

“That’s normal,” he says softly. He gently places a hand over your womb, his pointes nails grazing your skin. “How do you feel here?”

You look at his hand on your lower stomach. It’s huge when compared to the size of your body.

“Feels fine, maybe a little crampy?”

He coos down at you, leaning in to give you a kiss.

“That will get better once I’m inside,” he assures you. His hand leaves your stomach to cradle your face lovingly. You lean into his touch, nuzzling against his large palm.

“What-what did you do to me?” The last word came out as a squeak as you feel the tip of his cock slid through your folds.

He leans into you, his hot breath on the bare skin of your neck as he rolls his hips. Once he’s satisfied with how wet you’ve gotten his cock, he finds your entrance and slowly begins to push it inside of you. He feels even bigger than he looks, and you start to panic as he continues to stretch you out. You grab at his broad shoulders and he shushes you.

“It’s okay,” he says, “your body will sense my size and adjust accordingly. Give it just a moment.”

There’s a slight strain in his voice that wasn’t there before. You can see his brows pinching together as the head of his cock nestles against your cervix. He pauses, looking down for a moment to observe how little of him your body had yet to take.

Suddenly, you feel a tingle between your legs, and a wave of slick pushes out of you. Your body felt like a raw nerve, becoming sensitive to even the smallest shift that the man makes. You begin to squirm beneath him out of desperation, seeking any bit of friction to give you some relief.

“Oh, fuck me,” the creature moans above you, watching the way you try and fuck yourself on his cock.

“Can I move?” He whines. “I need to fuck you.”

You realize you’d been staring down at where the two of you connected. When you look up to the creature’s face, he looks just about as fucked out as you feel.

His disheveled hair falls around his horns and into his face. His mouth is slack, his long tongue hanging out between his parted lips. He’s staring right at you, waiting.

“Please.”

You realize he must not be able to move unless you give him verbal permission. So when you manage to squeak out a “yes,” the creature lets out a sigh of relief. A devilish grin spreads across his face as he gets himself situated.

He pulls out of you agonizingly slowly, before thrusting sharply back inside of you. Your legs straighten at the sensation, his cock hitting your sensitive spot with ease and sending a shock wave through your body.

Suddenly you were cumming on his cock, never feeling a sensation like that before. He continued to move, fucking you through your orgasm without slowing down.

Dark tendrils of hair clouded your vision as he brought his lips to yours again. His long tongue began to lick into your mouth, filling it until you felt it trying to breach your throat. The size and thickness of it had you sucking on it out of instinct. The creature seemed to enjoy this, moaning into your mouth in response.

It was almost too much to be so full of this monster. The haze of lust made it hard to tell where your body began and his ended. Every thrust felt like a spark of lightning through your body that traveled to your finger tips.

When the creature pulled away from you, you audibly whined at the loss, even while gasping for air. He leaned back, angling his hips in a new way that had you seeing stars. Your back arched off the bed as you began to cum again.

“Dammnit,” the gruff voice of the monster breathes out. “You’re like a vice around me.”

“Feel so good,” you say breathlessly.

“Mmm, told you I would make the pain go away.”

You couldn’t think straight, let alone understand what he was talking about. All you could think of is your monster lover and the way he was moving inside of you.

And cum.

The thought of him cumming inside you became all consuming. The need for him to breed you was overwhelming to the point where you began bucking your hips into him again in a feeble attempt at expediting the process.

“Mmm you’re getting so needy aren’t you?” The monster cooes above you. You nod loosely, head bobbing but your eyes lazily fixed on the creatures deep brown ones, pupils big and wide enough you can see your own reflection in them.

“I never did tell you what I did to you, did I?” He says, still moving at a brutal pace.

“Nuh-uh,” is all you manage to say, gasping again at a particularly sharp thrust.

You look down at where the monster and you meet. For a brief, lucid moment your eyes go wide as you see the monsters cock fully disappearing inside of you, a small bulge pressing against your abdomen with every thrust the monster makes.

“I think you can tell by now that I am not like you,” he says. “But, the only way my kind can reproduce is with humans.” His hands roam your body, almost in awe of your form as he continues to speak.

“The only problem is that your kind,” he places a hand above your womb, “are only compatible if we…make it that way.”

Your cloudy thoughts make small connections between his words and his actions. If you were in a right state of mind, you’d probably have loads of questions you wanted answered. But right now, you only had one goal.

Grabbing the monsters arms, you use all of your strength that you can muster and manage to flip him completely only his back. The confident, sure creature becomes wide eyed and blushing as he stares up at you in a state of shock.

“Wh-what are you—“

“Shhh,” you shush him. “Want you to cum. Please?”

You waste no time as you begin to bounce up and down on his hard cock. He was deeper than you could ever imagine possible, but there was no pain. If anything, you couldn’t hold yourself back from cumming again and again.

“Holy shit,” the creature says, mesmerized at the way you use him for your own pleasure.

“Name.” It doesn’t come out as a question, rather a command.

“Wh-wha-You want to know my name?” The creature stutters.

“Yes, yes, please!”

“Eddie! It’s Eddie!”

“Oh, fuck, Eddiieeeeeeeee!”

That pushed the creature over the edge. His large hands grab at your hips to hold you in place. Hot ropes of thick cum begin to fill you up until you start to feel it leaking out of you.

When you can finally open your eyes, you find the creature—Eddie—tongue out and panting as he catches his breath. Before your eyes you watch as he shifts from his monstrous form back into the man you’ve been seeing in your dreams.

If everything wasn’t so real, you’d almost think you were dreaming after all. But the slow circles that Eddie was rubbing into your hips was confirmation enough that all of this was very real.

“Hi,” Eddie says with a dimpled grin when you land next to him in the bed.

“Hi,” you say, looking at the handsome man next to you.

“You okay?” He asks, caressing your cheek.

“Yeah,” you sigh, turning to fully face him. “I just have a lot of questions.”

thanks for reading!

[keeryhours]

wildflower chapter ten

Eddie Munson x Henderson! female reader, Steve Harrington x reader

Main Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Eddie Munson Masterlist

Steve Harrington Masterlist

Summary:

No more answers are had, and some news comes out.

Warnings:

Pregnancy, secret baby, kissing, conflicting feelings, angst

Word Count: 4.1k

A/N:

I’m so excited for the final joint chapter of Wildflower! Please be sure to let me know if you want to be on Eddie’s list, Steve’s, or both! I truly hope this doesn’t suck. Thank you @punkrockmlchael , @lesservillain , and @the-witty-pen-name for your help!! I love all of you!

Being pregnant changed everything.

For one, the guys were so far up your ass now you could hardly breathe. Someone was at your apartment constantly - usually Steve - like you couldn’t take care of yourself anymore. You’d think they’d forgotten you’d already been through this once.

Before you knew it it was time for your ultrasound. Steve insisted on taking you, Asher at your mom’s.

“Do you think they’ll tell us anything?” he asked nervously, fingers tapping at the steering wheel.

“About the father?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

He didn’t say anything else. He could tell you were irritated with him, and he didn’t want to push it. He drove you to the office, parking the car close to the door so you didn’t have to walk far.

You walked in without him, and he trailed after you once he got out of the car. You checked in at the front desk and sat down to wait.

“Are you nervous?” he asked quietly.

You didn’t really know the answer to that question. Were you? Maybe a little. You were certainly nervous to know who the father was, but this appointment might not even tell you that. You shrugged in response.

He looked dejected. You felt bad - you knew he was just excited at the potential of being a father. “I don’t know, Steve. I’m a little nervous. I just want to know.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I…I understand.”

The nurse called you back, and Steve followed. “Are you dad?” she asked with a smile.

“Maybe,” you answered, which made Steve blush and the nurse stop talking real fast.

The appointment went on as usual, checking your vitals and weight, then the ultrasound machine came in. You were nervous - would this tell you anything? Were you ready to find out if the baby was Steve’s or Eddie’s?

The nurse squirted the gel on your stomach and began moving it across your abdomen, the picture appearing on the screen. You saw that little blob appear - and it was like all your worries went out the window. That was your baby. You pictured Asher with the tiny bundle in his arms, playing with a little brother or sister.

Steve looked at the screen with awe. He had seen Asher’s ultrasounds, but this was different. He was acutely aware that this could be his child - the thought was so exciting. He wanted that more than anything.

“Is there a way to tell, uh…when the baby was conceived?” you asked, feeling awkward.

The nurse looked at you with something like pity. “Not for sure. It’s not exact.”

That was pretty much what you’d been expecting to hear, but it was still disappointing. You could tell Steve was disappointed, too.

You left the appointment with a strip of ultrasound photos, a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and a card with your next appointment. There was an awkward silence as the two of you sat in the car.

“…Are you okay?” you finally asked Steve as he started the engine of his BMW, pulling out of the parking lot.

“I’m fine,” he said. “…Are you?”

“I mean…it would have been nice to know.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed immediately. “It would have.”

Another awkward silence settled over the car. You watched the scenery as you drove past.

Steve thought about having a family with you, a real one. You, him, Asher, and the new baby. He let himself picture the baby with his hazel eyes, your lips and his nose and a head full of brown hair. Signing the birth certificate as the father - the last name Harrington on the document.

He imagined Eddie’s face when the baby turned out to be his. Then maybe he’d finally back off. Not out of Asher’s life, but as out of yours as he possibly could be.

But what if the baby was Eddie’s? He could feel the ache in his chest already at the thought of you having another one of Eddie’s babies, now with Eddie here wanting to be involved and, let’s face it, wanting you back. He couldn’t handle that. He pushed the possibility from his mind.

“You know I’m going to love this baby either way, right?” Steve spoke up, looking at you with his big sad eyes. “Even if it’s not mine. I love Asher like he’s my own, so if this baby is Eddie’s again…I’ll love them just as much.”

You smiled sadly at him. His words did make you feel better. “I know. I know you will.”

Steve dropped you off at home. Asher would be spending the night with your mom and Dustin, and you were relieved to have the time to yourself, to think about things.

Steve watched you walk into your apartment, desperately wanting to go after you, to be with you. To kiss you again. But he gave you your space - it was what you needed.

Halloween rolled around, and it felt like chaos. You got Asher into his ninja turtle costume - Leonardo - with great effort. Your back and feet were killing you after a long day at the diner, and you were grateful you didn’t have to leave the house tonight.

Eddie had asked to take Asher trick or treating, which you gladly said yes to. He’d never gotten to take him and you did not feel up to it. Steve was coming over to watch some horror movies he was bringing from Family Video, and you were attempting to paint your belly like a pumpkin.

It was a lot harder to do by yourself, but you had missed out on this with Asher’s pregnancy and you weren’t going to miss it this time, even though the bump was still small. You painted the cool orange paint over your stomach, and you were attempting the black parts when there was a knock at the door.

You went to the door, wearing your leggings and a sports bra, leaving your belly and the wet paint exposed. Eddie’s eyes widened at the sight, then a grin spread across his lips.

“Whatcha doin’?” he asked.

“Attempting to paint a pumpkin on the belly,” you said, looking down at yourself. “It’s not going great.”

“Need some help?” Eddie offered. “We’ve got a little time before me and Ash meet up with the guys.”

“Really? You want to help?” You raised your eyebrows at him. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I missed out on this stuff last time.” He walked past you into the apartment, and you closed the door behind him.

“Daddy!” Asher cheered, jumping up from where he’d been watching TV. He ran into Eddie’s arms, and he laughed as he lifted his son in the air.

“Hey, buddy! Look at you!” Asher showed off his swords. “Woah! So cool!”

Asher went back to the TV as you and Eddie headed for the paints spread out on the kitchen table. He picked up the orange paint and repainted the mess you’d made of your belly, the strokes much more even and pumpkin-like.

“You sure this is how you want to spend the first part of your night?” you teased with a raised eyebrow, watching Eddie work with his tongue poking out between his lips.

“Of course,” he said again. “Like I said, I didn’t get to do any of this with Ash. And this one might be mine, too, so…” he winked up at you, and you rolled your eyes.

He moved onto the black paint next, painting a face on the pumpkin. When he was done, it looked perfect.

“I didn’t know you could paint,” you said, looking down at the art on your body. He’d done an amazing job.

“Just something I picked up in my free time on the road,” he smiled gently, eyes still on the bump, like he was lost in thought.

“What’s up?” you asked him, head tilted to the side. “Something’s on your mind.”

He shook his head. “I just…I’m just thinking about stuff.”

“Like the new baby?”

“Yeah,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I just…I hope it’s mine, you know? It would be a second chance. To do things right.”

You looked at him sadly, reaching forward to take his hand. “I know, Eddie.”

He looked over at Asher with a wistful smile. “He’s a cool kid.”

“He’s the most important thing to me. He made me a mom,” you said, smiling at Asher playing with his toys.

“Well, actually I made you a mom,” Eddie said, a goofy grin on his face.

You laughed - “I guess that’s true.”

Eddie smiled at you, then, as if he were snapping out of his reverie, looked down at his watch. “Shit. We need to get going.”

You turned - “Ash, you ready?”

You didn’t have to tell him twice, as he came galloping to meet you both. He had his plastic pumpkin in his hands, pretend swords strapped to his back.

Eddie picked him up and sat him on his hip. It made you smile how natural he looked with his son. “We’ll be back by 9:30. Tell mom bye!”

“Bye bye!” Asher said, excitedly bouncing in Eddie’s arms. You walked them both to the door and watched them leave, shutting it softly behind him. The room felt immediately lonely in Asher’s absence.

You didn’t have to wait long before there was another knock at your door and Steve let himself in. He had three movies in his hands, holding them up as he dropped his jacket over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

“I got us A Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Evil Dead,” he said. His eyes dropped to your stomach - “Did you do all that yourself?”

You looked down at the artistry on your skin. “I started it, but it wasn’t looking too good. Eddie did it for me when he came to pick up Ash.”

Steve was struck with a pang of jealousy. He had wanted to help you with this. That could be his baby in there. Just because Eddie wasn’t around the first time shouldn’t mean he gets to take over this time. “It looks cute.”

You smiled. “Thanks. I wanted to do something special. The bump isn’t even that big yet, but…”

“I think it’s adorable,” Steve said, giving you a reassuring smile. “Very festive.”

You put together all the snacks you’d prepared for the two of you while Steve picked a movie and put it in the VCR. 

“Fuckers didn’t rewind,” he muttered to himself as he hit the rewind button. “Now I get to watch the whole movie backwards first. Awesome.”

You laughed as you placed the various bowls of snacks and candy on the coffee table. You had decided to do something actually fun for Halloween, since Eddie was taking Asher and you didn’t want to mope around the apartment alone.

But you weren’t sure you were going to get that. Steve looked distracted, lost in thought. When you’d question him about it he brushed you off, insisting he was fine.

He started to warm up about halfway through the first movie. He scooted closer to you, both sharing a blanket in the cool living room. Your bowl of popcorn rested on the baby bump like your own personal table. 

“You really like these movies?” Steve asked, wincing as Leatherface killed his next victim. 

“Of course,” you said, popping a piece of popcorn into your mouth. “If I want to relax after a long day…”

“You find this relaxing??”

You laughed at him - “You get used to it.”

At some point, you dozed off leaning against Steve’s shoulder. The knocking at the door startled you both.

“Do you want me to get it?” Steve asked.

“No, I’m sure it’s just Eddie and Asher. You can go turn his white noise on?”

“Sure,” Steve said, leaving the room just as you opened the front door.

Eddie smiled at you with Asher asleep on his shoulder. He looked so cute, so peaceful.

“How’d he do?” you whispered as the two of you transferred Asher into your arms. He barely stirred, continuing to sleep on your shoulder now.

“He was great. We had a lot of fun.” Eddie leaned forward and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Asher’s head. “Thanks for letting me take him.”

“Of course,” you said. “Look, I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Oh yeah, sure. I know you had plans.” Eddie’s eyes scanned behind you, like he was looking for Steve and signs of what you’d been doing. “He’s here?”

“Steve?” you furrowed your eyebrows. “Yeah. He’s getting Asher’s room ready. What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, like he was clearing it. “Nothing. I’ll see you later - goodnight, buddy,” he whispered the last part, even though the boy wasn’t awake to hear it.

You closed the door as you took Asher to bed. He stayed mostly asleep as you changed him out of his costume and into some pajamas, and Steve tucked him in when you laid him in bed. He was so peaceful. Worn out.

Steve followed you back into the living room. You rubbed your tired eyes. “I don’t know if I can do another movie,” you admitted.

“That’s okay,” Steve said. “Do you want me to go? Or I can stay?”

“You can stay the night if you want,” you offered. “But I’m probably gonna go to bed now. Sorry, I’m not as much fun these days.”

Steve smiled gently. “Hey, I get it. I’ll head home.” He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I’ll see you.”

You had barely seen Steve go when you went into your own room. You cleaned the pain and makeup off your skin, the most effort you had as you passed out in bed right after. 

You dreamed of both Steve and Eddie - your heart had never been good at choosing.

You hated going to the grocery store. Especially now with a toddler on top of being pregnant and exhausted. But you had to do what you had to do.

You pushed Asher in the cart through the store, gathering the things you needed. He reached for the candy when you got to the checkout counter. “Candy!”

“Okay, one candy,” you conceded with little fight, moving to the rack to pick out a chocolate bar for the toddler. But just as you began to reach for it, a magazine on the rack caught your attention, making your stomach sink.

Corroded Coffin Frontman Eddie Munson’s Secret Baby?

Below the headline were photos of Eddie with Asher on halloween. Holding hands as they went from house to house, Eddie holding Asher with the baby’s arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Eddie laughing with the guys as he held his son.

This could not be happening.

How had paparazzi made it to Hawkins? It’s not like people local to Hawkins didn’t already know Eddie was Asher’s father. But someone absolutely could have snapped the pics to make some money.

You felt sick as you paid for your groceries, grabbing one of the magazines. You hurried from the store, getting Asher into his seat and heading back home. You plucked the phone from the receiver as soon as you got Asher settled.

It rang a few times before a sleepy “Hello?” came from the other end. 

“Have you seen what’s in the tabloids?”

Eddie groaned. “What this time?”

You picked up the magazine. “Corroded Coffin Frontman Eddie Munson was spotted Halloween night with a child sources say is his son-“

“Shit,” Eddie hissed. You could hear as he sat up in bed, practically see the blankets pooling at his shirtless waist, lithe tattooed body with his disheveled hair hanging down his shoulders-

“Fuck,” Eddie said. “I have like 50 voicemails from the label. Can I, uh, call you back?”

Before you could say anything the line went dead. You cursed as you slammed the phone back down onto the receiver.

You had wanted to keep Asher away from this. You didn’t want his face plastered all over the whole country, the whole world. With everything, it had been so easy to forget who Eddie was now - famous. Really famous.

You knew you had no right to be mad at Eddie, but you were anyway. You were furious, and you had to take it out on someone. You looked at Asher, playing with his toys on the living room floor - and realized his life was about to change.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Eddie muttered as he paced his room, the ringing phone held to his ear. When his agent answered, there was no relief.

“Eddie, what the fuck?” he said in lieu of a greeting, his voice angry. Eddie had a headache already.

“Look, I can explain-“

“Is that kid yours?”

“Just let me-“

“Is. That. Kid. Yours?”

Eddie ran his hand over his face. “Yes, but I swear-“

His agent let out a laugh that sounded more fed up than joyful. “Just typical, Munson. Do you know how much of a disaster this is for us right now? The phone has been ringing off the hook for you all day. Why have you never mentioned this?”

His head was pounding. “I haven’t known myself for very long.”

A sigh. “Well, congratulations, I guess.”

“There might also be another one?” he added on, wincing as he said it.

“Another…what?” Another disbelieving huff. “Eddie, what the fuck are you getting into over there?”

“Long story,” he mumbled.

“But this one is yours? In the media?”

“Yes.”

“We’re going to need to make a statement,” he said. “We’re going to have to spin this and say you’ve been trying to keep him out of the spotlight.”

“That’s the truth.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll leave out the part where you’re just now finding out the kid exists at all.” He scoffs. “I can’t believe you, Munson. You’ve been more trouble than anyone I’ve ever worked with. Better be glad you sell records.”

The call ended abruptly, Eddie letting the phone dangle from his fingers as he buried his face in his hands and thought. This was bad, but it wasn’t the worst thing to happen. The fans were bound to find out about Asher eventually, with the way cameras followed their every move. This was okay. He could handle this.

It wasn’t the end of the world.

The end of the world came the next day.

Eddie woke up again to his phone ringing off the hook, a million missed calls from the label and from you. This time he jumped up in a panic, preparing to snatch the phone when there was a loud banging at his door.

Panic struck him. What if someone had happened? He threw the front door open to see you, looking absolutely furious. “Eddie.”

“What…?” he asked, utterly terrified of what your best words would be.

You didn’t say any. You slapped a magazine against his chest instead, pushing roughly past his shoulder and into the house, phone still ringing. Eddie reluctantly looked down at the magazine in his hand - and felt like he would be sick on the spot.

“So, another baby?” You said from behind him, hands on your hips. “You sure do get around, huh?”

Eddie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A woman he didn’t particularly recognize, holding a small brown haired baby. The words below her picture - “Another woman steps forward with a baby claimed to belong to Corroded Coffin’s Eddie Munson.”

His hands shook as he numbly walked back into the house, collapsing onto the couch. You were about to say something, but the phone began ringing for the millionth time. He picked it up this time. “Hello?”

“Another one?”

Eddie could hear his heart beating through his ears. “I don’t know anything about-“

“Did you sleep with this girl? Linda?”

Eddie gaped down at the magazine, examining the girl’s picture. “I…I don’t know.”

You snorted.

“You don’t know. He doesn’t know.” His manager laughed humorlessly over the line. “God damnit, Munson.”

Eddie was trembling. He really couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen this woman in his life. It was possible. He’d woken up plenty of times on the road unable to remember who, if anyone, he brought to bed.

The way he’d drown his emotions in alcohol, until every girl throwing themselves at him looked like you. Your name tattooed on his body as he slept with these other women, poor substitutions for the real thing. The thing he’d given up, and now probably ruined for good.

“The girl wants money,” his manager continued. “So the next step is a DNA test. You better pray, boy, this isn’t looking good for you.”

The phone call ended abruptly. Eddie lowered the phone from his ear, not looking to forward to facing you, either.

“Did you sleep with her?” you asked him, and the hurt in your eyes broke him more than anything.

“I don’t know,” he said again, feeling like the biggest dumbass in the world. All these things he’d done, these stupid mistakes he’d made, ruining the one thing he’d wanted more than anything. Even if he hadn’t always seen that.

You shook your head. “Eddie, if that woman’s baby turns out to be yours, that’s it. I don’t want anything with you, I don’t want to be your friend. I’ll finish this bullshit in court and co-parent with you as much as I have to. But I’m done with you.”

Eddie’s heart kept breaking into smaller and smaller pieces. Even if he had slept with this woman, he didn’t care about her. He wanted you. He would do anything to have you.

He was about to say something else when you left the trailer with the door slamming behind you. He was left alone with nothing but his thoughts, his heart having followed you out the door.

You hadn’t even realized you’d started crying until you were knocking on Steve’s apartment door, tears streaming down your face that you wipe away as you wait for him to open the door.

When he did, his expression immediately changed from confused to concerned. “What are you doing here?” he asked, pulling you inside. “Are you okay? Is Ash okay?” His eyes darted down to your stomach. “The baby?”

“We’re okay,” you sniffled. “Have you seen the tabloids today?”

“No?” His eyes widened. “What do they say?”

“Some other girl has come out and said she had Eddie’s baby. And he can’t even remember if he slept with her or not.” You scoffed as the tears began to fall again.

“Jesus,” Steve said. He pulled you into a hug. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

You shrugged, crying as your head lay on his chest. “I don’t know. I figured he probably slept with other girls on the road, but I didn’t want to know. I don’t want him to have a baby with some random girl.”

Steve wished you didn’t care what Eddie got up to, but he knew you did. He knew a part of you still loved Eddie, and there was nothing he could do about that.

When you looked up at him, it was with red puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. He still thought you were so beautiful like this. So beautiful, that as you stared into each other’s eyes, feeling your hearts beating against one another’s chest, all he could think about was kissing you again. So much so that he leaned in, so so slowly, until he was pressing his lips against yours.

He was surprised when you kissed him back, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him closer. His arms slid around your waist as you kissed deeply, picking up in intensity quickly. When you pulled back slightly he instinctively chased after your lips, pressing two quick pecks to them as you pulled away.

“I love you,” Steve said, and then he opened his eyes and he saw the look on your face - the horror, guilt, and panic.

“I should go,” you said, pulling away and out of his reach, even as his hand reached out towards you.

“Please don’t,” Steve said. “Please just talk to me.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry, Steve,” you said, and he watched you leave, heart breaking as the door shut behind you.

You were nearly hyperventilating as you reached your car. Your thoughts were spinning so fast you couldn’t keep up, you thought you were going to be sick. It was like a ride you really did not want to be on. You hated how much you liked the kiss with Steve. You hated how much you still loved Eddie. Why were you always fucked?

Chapter 11 Eddie’s Route - coming soon

Chapter 11 Steve’s Route - coming soon

tag list

@awkward00noodle @american-idiot-jpg @georgeweasleyslostearhq @fandom-princess-forevermore @emxxblog @hopesicle @hellv1ra @whimsiwitchy @kellsck @toomuchbucky @sashaphantomhive @losingmygrasponreality @eddiesgirl1944 @ashcal99 @richardsamboramylove55 @ilovetaquitosmmmm @allhailtheslothoverlord @micheledawn1975 @browneyes528 @costellation-hunter @taccobelle @hellmastereddie @siriuslysmoking @princessadriana4-blog @littlemissholy @punkrockmlchael @sadiea20 @seeigotyoubaby @heyyimmisunderstood @xplrnowornever @fandomsearcherforcuntymen @alhaithmss @mastermindmiko @hazydespair @crispystarfishhottub @katethetank @4everdweeb @eme929 @arabellagreenleaf @itsmytimetoodream @leather-n-velvet @jeangeniex @wendyxox @ches-86 @prestinalove @r3dskywaterfall @hotdhoe

[justmeinadaze]

Bite To Break The Skin (Steddie X Plus Size Y/N)

A/N: The more the days past the angstier this got. Please enjoy <3.

Warnings: Vampire Toxic Steddie X Human Fem Plus Size Y/N, SMUT, dry humping, male masturbation, degrading (whore, slut, little brat, etc) loss of virginity, choking, light spanking, biting, mentions of blood, crying (due to pleasure) I think that's all. Oh and aftercare always.

ANGST, Both boys struggle with their change, Eddie is beaten up by jocks, Steve has a fight with someone in his store, Metalhead feeds from Y/N and puts her in the hospital (goes to visit, was an accident), Steve feeds from her after school in her car.

Main event is at her house, they scare her while she's home alone before they use her (their words), Y/N cuts Eddie's arm with a knife but it heals quickly, a bit of jealous steddie near the end. Lots of conflict through out the story within them about becoming "villains".

Word Count: 7808

Steddie Masterlist/ Donate to Me

Your pencil moved effortlessly along the sketchpad as you watched Eddie Munson sleep soundly on his desk after finally finishing his test. Students threw grumbled paper balls his way but he didn’t once stir. 

You, like everyone else, knew of Eddie and everything that had happened in March of 86. The people in Hawkins wouldn’t allow him to forget it as they whispered words like murderer and killer as he passed by in the halls. 

Before all that though, you were aware of him only as the metalhead who seemed to show no fear as he stood atop tables yelling or screamed about mythical fights during his club meetings. You never showed anyone but you had so many drawings of his smiling face especially when he was laughing with the younger boys at his table. 

When schools finally reopened after the earthquake that shook the town, everyone was surprised (and angered) that he was allowed to try and finish his last semester so he could get his diploma. 

He remained to himself which didn’t surprise you after everything he went through but what killed you was seeing that spark you enjoyed within him seem now totally absent. Eddie’s long hair would constantly block his face as his head hung while he stalked from class to class. His arms remained folded to his chest and he tried to stay as close to the shadows as possible. 

A BMW would pick him up after school that you soon learned belonged to Steve Harrington. The windows of his car that used to be rolled down constantly were closed tight and tinted as dark as they could go. You had some sketches of the former jock from his time at Hawkins high; the way his lips pouted out when he was trying to study in the library, him smiling with Nancy as he danced at a party you snuck into with your friends, and your personal favorite, Steve in his Scoops Ahoy uniform. 

Now adays, even his energy seemed to shift to a sad, darker tone that broke your heart. 

You couldn’t help but wonder why The King and The Freak of Hawkins were now spending so much time together but you ignored those internal questions as you continued to focus on your own boring life. 

The bell rung aggressively causing Eddie to shoot up and rub his eyes with his large, ring covered palms before absently pushing all the loose paper off his leather jacket. 

His beautiful brown eyes briefly met yours and you quickly looked away, grabbing all your books and backpack before scurrying out the door. 

***

“What movie should we get?”, your friend asked as her fingers lightly crazed the VHS tapes on the shelf of the Family Video. 

“Doesn’t matter.”, you shrug absently. “Whatever makes your heart happy.”

Your friend giggles as she picks up a box and begins absently telling you something you couldn’t care less about as the sound of gruff voices caught your attention. Gradually moving towards the noise, you paused to hide behind one of the racks as you watched Steve talking with a customer. His entire demeanor was rigid as he stood up tall seeming to tower over the man you recognized as a former student. 

“Get the fuck away from me, Harrington. We both know a pussy like you won’t do anything.”

“Talk about my friends again and I’ll show what I’m capable of.”

“Friends? What friends? That murderer who killed Chrissy or the whore who left you for that freak Byers?”

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, Steve pushes the boy into the wall so hard the VHSs in the case beside him fall loudly to the ground making you gasp in surprise. The pretty boy’s head tilts slightly in your direction but his eyes never leave the man in his grasp. 

“Ok, Steve, come on.”, a girl with an identical worker’s vest murmurs as she comes around to place her palm on his bicep. “Let him go.”

His chest rises and falls rapidly as his knuckles tighten before shoving the kid to the side where he falls to the floor by your feet. Your gaze shifts towards the wall and your eyes blink in surprise at the slight dent made within the concrete that wasn’t there prior. 

Steve glances in the same direction and as his eyes meet yours, you duck your head and back away to find your friend. 

#################

“Fuck… fuck, fuck, fuck!”

The sound of shouting and loud banging on the lockers down the hall from where you were sitting caused your head to snap to attention as your neck craned to find the source of the sound. 

Eddie’s forehead was leaning against the metal as his hand banged on it again before descending to the floor beneath him. 

“E-Excuse me? Are you alright?”

“Do I look fucking alright?”, he answered gruffly without opening his eyes to bother to see who he was speaking to. “I’m not in the mood to be spit on today so go the fuck away.”

“I…I’m not…I just wanted to make sure you’re ok. I can get you some water if you need it…”

When he finally bothers to look your way, every muscle within him freezes as he takes you in. You weren’t one of the popular kids and definitely didn’t seem to be a part of any clique he’d recognize judging from your exceptionally generic wardrobe. 

Your black jacket clung to your curvy form as if you were hoping it would shield you from everyone else around you. 

“I know you. We have a class together.”

“That’s right. I’m Y/N and you’re Eddie. Here, um, drink some of this. You look dehydrated.”

As you hand him your water bottle, his eyes never leave you as he absently chugs it back before coughing hard and throwing it down the hall. 

“Are you ok?! What happened?!”, you ask as you try to pat his back, pulling back abruptly when you feel how cold his skin is even through his shirt.

“Fuck! No…I’m…I’m—shit—I forget sometimes…I can’t…”, he coughs out as he gestures towards your bottle. 

“Munson! Where the fuck were you? I’ve been waiting—” Steve stops his rant when he realizes you’re standing next to his friend. “What are you doing here?”

“Huh?”

“You heard me. What the fuck are you doing here?! Are you following us?! Who are you?!”, he yells as he stomps forward, walking you backwards into the lockers behind you. 

“Steve she’s not…she goes to school here…”

Just as he had with the boy in the video store, his eyes remained on you but instead of doing the same, you searched his features realizing then that he seemed almost identical to Eddie in the since that he was shaking, sweating, and incredibly pale. 

“I’m sorry.”, you whimper. “He seemed sick and I was trying to help.”

Blinking, Steve took a step back as his head hung. 

“Stay away from us or else.”

Your jaw dropped at his threat, flabbergasted as you watched him grab his friend’s wrist and tug him out the door. 

***

Eddie wasn’t in class the following day and you couldn’t help but be worried. When you found him, he seemed incredibly ill and unlike everyone else in the town you wanted him to be ok. 

After school you thought maybe you could wait for him outside just to get visual confirmation he was ok without bothering him or being seen by Steve but as you took a step outside thunder banged loudly above you, barely covering the sound of laughter that echoed around the corner near the gym. 

“Yeah? Does it hurt, Munson?!”, someone shouted followed by the sound of a loud grunt in pain. “About as bad as you hurt Chrissy?!”

Rounding the corner, you found some of the kids you knew as basketball players for Hawkins High kicking and punching Eddie while he laid their bleeding on the gravel. 

Why wasn’t he fighting back?

“HEY!”, you screamed as another boy kicked him in the face right as the rain began to fall. “Stop that! You’ll kill him!”

Dropping your backpack, you ran forward surprised when the other kids ran off. 

“Eddie? Are you ok?!”

Just as you fell onto your knees, he pushed up onto his palms; his breathing heavy like Steve’s had been as you noticed his back rise and fall. The rain dampened his hair allowing it to hide his face from your view. 

“W-What can I do? Should I get Steve or—”

A loud growl cut you off as Eddie suddenly surged towards you knocking you onto your back and straddling your waist with his knees on either side as he held your arms down above you by the wrist. 

You still couldn’t see much of his face but you could swear you saw fangs as he flashed you a small smirk before lurching his lips towards your neck. Something sharp pierced your skin but your scream was muffled by the storm and his palm as you suddenly began to feel heavy. 

Feeling your body go limp, Eddie let you go but to his shock instead of fighting back, your fingers tangle in his hair as your other arm wrapped around his back to hug him tightly. 

All too quickly, he’s pulled off you and you vaguely see two figures through your hazy vision and hear deep grumbles of anger before the world goes black. 

*** 

Later that evening, you woke up in a hospital with your parents sobbing at your side. You told them and the doctor you couldn’t remember what happened which was partially true. You remembered protecting Eddie but then he pushed you down and…something stabbed your neck… it hurt at first but then…it didn’t…

The next couple of days were a blur as your body recuperated from whatever happened. You slept pretty much 24/7 with the doctors giving you some medicine to help. 

Your dreams were so vivid that you could swear they were real.

The first night, you thought you heard Steve Harrington beside your bed.

“I told you to stay away. Why didn’t you listen?” The hospital mattress beside you dipped and you felt a large palm pet your head. “Why did you help him? Why aren’t you like everyone else?”, he sighs. “He said your blood made him feel better. I…I don’t know if I can do that… I don’t know if I can…A part of me would rather die than hurt someone but…honey, I’m so…HUNGRY.”, Steve growled as he exhaled. 

The second evening, the smell of cigarette smoke had your eyes fluttering as you struggled to keep them open, vaguely seeing long hair and a leather jacket in the chair by your bed. 

“E-Eddie?”

“No, sweetheart. I’m not here. I need you to try and forget about me ok? I don’t…I don’t want to hurt you again.” After a while, you thought you had fully fallen back asleep but you still felt rough hands reach for yours to hold them in their grasp. “I’m so sorry, Y/N. You have no idea what this is like. We’ve been trying for so long not to give into that need but…it’s like I couldn’t control it…You have no idea how bad I wanted to kill them…and then my stomach felt like it was on fire…

Even now…I want to…I can feel that pulse in your neck…Fuuuuuck…it’s so overwhelming.”

 Fingers lightly brush the bandage against your skin before you whine as its roughly removed. 

“I know…I know it hurts. Can I…Can I kiss it and make it better?” A deep sigh leaves your lips as your head turns towards the feeling of a mouth gently pressed against your skin. “You tasted so sweet, Y/N… You don’t know how good it felt to have you hold me.” At his whispered words, his tongue lightly darted out to touch your wound as his palm tenderly cupped your face but everything in him paused as you listened to silence. “Holy shit…I didn’t know…I didn’t know I could do that…”

The heat of his humid breath warmed your face before the muscle between his teeth licked along your throat to your cheek.

“Wow.”

That morning when you woke up the doctors were baffled that the puncture wounds on your neck were suddenly gone. No scar or cut of any kind and even your pain had subsided as if nothing had ever happened. 

A couple of days later, you were finally able to go back to school but you felt eyes on you constantly. 

Entering your first class, within your usual seat, you found your backpack and your sketchbook waiting for you. Blinking in shock, you glanced towards the man who was normally sullen with his head hanging low doing anything to avoid eye contact but today his gorgeous chocolate hues locked with yours as a smile painted his lips. 

Eddie had a bit more color in his face than he normally did and he seemed a lot less agitated.

Choosing not to address him, you took your seat and flipped through your book. The pages were a bit worn due to the rain it had been out in but what gave you pause was some of the red stains along a few of the pages that looked like fingerprints near the corners. 

Once you got to the last sketch you drew of Eddie slumped over in his desk, a pink colored rose that had been smooshed between the pages fell into your lap. Next to the image of him someone had written lyrics to a heavy metal song you very much recognized. 

When you swiveled your head to look his way again, his smile had widened as he watched you go through your things, giving you a little shiver as he tossed a not-so-subtle wink your way. 

“Screams and nightmares

Of a life I want

Can't see living this lie, no

A world I haunt

You've lost all control of my

Heart and soul

Satan holds my future

Watch it unfold.”

***

“Y/N, seriously, your work is phenomenal.”, your teacher praises as he walks you to the long-abandoned parking lot and hands you the painting you had displayed for your art club after school. 

During your time in the hospital, you still sketched absently (or so you thought) and when you finally made it back home painted what you drew. Everyone was amazed and slightly horrified at the image of you asleep in your bed with an angel holding your hand. The angel’s face was distorted as his head rested on his arm but his halo above was tilted, almost being replaced by horns that were obscured by his wavy long hair. 

Beside him was another boy who didn’t have a halo or horns but wings with feathers that were shedding and being replaced with what appeared to be bat wings. His head hung as his palm touched the angel’s shoulder and the light colors that surrounded them were slowly being invaded by red. 

“Thank you, Mr. Fox. I, um, I’m not sure where it came from but I had some really weird dreams.”, you giggle. 

“I can imagine after what you went through. I want you to consider submitting that to the gallery I mentioned!”, he calls after you as you continue to walk to your car. 

“Yes, sir.”

 Smiling, you watch him drive away before a sudden swish sound above you has you looking towards the sky. The night was clear and honestly quite beautiful as the stars began to paint the darkness. When your eyes tilted back down to earth they were met with a tall broad figure who was panting heavily as his hair blocked his own. 

“S-Steve?”

You gasped at the abrupt feeling of someone else behind you as their chest pushes you forward towards the other boy. 

“It’s ok, Steve, trust me. You’ll feel so much better.”, Eddie murmured seductively. “Can’t you feel it? The pulse of that vein her neck…her shallow breathing…the way she smells…fuck…better than any other high I’ve had, man.”

The former jocks head tilts as your forehead presses against his. 

“I warned you…”, he whispered before rushing towards you and promptly biting into the flesh of your neck.

You squeaked at the sudden action as your fingers immediately clamped down on the back of his head but as that now familiar draining feeling overtook you, the metalhead’s lips tenderly kissing down the other side of your throat had your eyes fluttering closed as a small moan escaped at the feeling. 

With his friend unwilling to let you go, Eddie opened your car door and helped guide you both into the backseat. Your legs were bent at the knee on either side of his lap while his fingers bruised into your waist holding you to him while his free hand cradled your head. 

It felt almost involuntary when your hips began to grind against his. There was a heat coursing through your veins down to your core that desperately needed to be satisfied and when the bulge in his jeans pressed against your center, you knew he felt it to. 

Your movements were sloppy as your body weakened and you began to feel dizzy but the grunts mixed in with the slurping sounds coming from Steve’s lips were enough motivation to keep you going. 

“Atta girl. Fuck, I told you, Harrington, you’d feel better.”, Eddie murmured with a strain in his voice. 

Somehow managing to open your heavy eyes, you could vaguely make out his head lulled back as he watched you and his friend move while stroking his cock at a now rapid pace. 

“Please…”, you whimper and at the sound, Steve grabs your hair and yanks it back allowing him a good look at your face. 

His eyes seemed so much clearer and most if not all of the color had returned to his face. 

“You have to help her. Run your—fuck—tongue along the bite.” Steve turned to glance towards his friend before focusing on your weak form. “Lick her clean.”

Your eyes practically rolled out of skull when his large tongue swept from the exposed skin on your chest up to your neck. Your own pace hastened as your pressed down against him and fell against his shoulder when you felt your body tremble as the coil snapped. 

His limbs circled around you tightly as his own hips took over till his breathing stuttered and you felt the dampness moisten his jeans. Eddie grunted at the sight, leaning against you both as you felt him shudder and his pants warm your skin. 

That following morning you jolted upright in bed, trying to catch your breath as you try to figure out where you were. You were still in the same clothes you left school in minus your shoes and socks. 

Had it all been a dream?

Pushing up onto your palms, nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for your backpack that was placed by your bedroom door and your sketch book on your bedside table. 

Placed on top was another pink rose and when you flipped through the pages, you noticed more blood-stained fingerprints smeared along the pages. Touching your throat, you didn’t feel any wounds and for that you were thankful but when you changed out of your clothes, you noticed light purple bruising along your hips and upper back.

After running downstairs to grab some breakfast, you stopped when you noticed a note taped to the fridge. 

“Hey sweetie, 

Glad you got home alright. We were already in bed when you got in I guess so we weren’t able to tell you that your father and I will be out of town until Sunday. 

Food is in the white containers and if you need anything feel free to ask Mrs. Jenkins across the street. 

Love you,

Mom”

Noticing some imprints from a pen, you turned the paper over to find something written down in handwriting that definitely wasn’t your mothers. 

Fuck… if what happened yesterday wasn’t a dream…then they know I’m going to be alone this weekend…

“I am the Antichrist

It's what I was meant to be

Your God left me behind

And set my soul to be free.”

####################

Friday you skipped school entirely, staying up all night with a butcher knife in your hand, waiting for something that didn’t happen. Saturday you slept on and off throughout the day, jolting awake with every little sound within the house.

That night, you triple checked all the locks before deciding to take a bath to calm your nerves.

“I’m probably overreacting.”, you mumble as you climb into the warm water and allow your muscles to relax. 

As your eyes closed, you mind naturally wondered to the two men you had come into contract with more so within these couple of weeks than the past 4 years you had at school. Eddie and Steve were never mean or rude to you unlike the other student body could be on occasion. 

Steve’s reputation as a king followed him up until his senior year where he seemed much less…angry…than he had been before. You had many little random sketches here and there of the popular kids and looking back on one you did of him his junior year; he had been smiling but something seemed off about it. It wasn’t as natural as it seemed to be with Nancy Wheeler. 

The past four years, you had noticed so many bumps, bruises, and black eyes on his face making you fear for his safety at home but when you found out the Harringtons were never home, you didn’t know what to make of it. 

Eddie had always kept close to his Hellfire club which consisted of the people within his band so neither of you had any interactions if at all. You did see him play guitar once on stage and even had a drawing of it somewhere absolutely loving the way his face and body came to life. When everything with him happened, you never believed he did it. 

You heard through usual town gossip he had been found and was in the hospital for while with other kids including Steve. With the town now running a bit more smoothly you saw them more and more, always together and always dragging or sickly looking. 

Until last week when they…bit you…

Laughing to yourself, you rose to your feet and dried yourself off, wrapping the towel around your body as you ran to your bedroom to put on some shorts and a long sleeve shirt. 

Grabbing the brush by your stereo, you pressed play on the settings and waited for the radio to flow through. 

“Screams!

From a life I live

Torment

Is what I give”

You freeze, turning slowly to face the device as the song Eddie had been writing to you blares through. 

“Torture!

Is what I love

The downfall

Of heavens above.”

Rushing forward, you quickly turn it off with wide eyes before hearing a loud knock on your front door causing you to drop the brush in your hand. 

Hastily you grab the knife by your bed, holding it out for defense as you tiptoe down the stairs.

“W-Who is it?” 

No one answers.

“WHO IS IT!?”

The only response is another loud knock and shakily, you gather the strength to look through the peephole before an exasperated sigh leaves you and you open the barrier to find your neighbor on the other side. 

“Mrs. Jenkins, you scared me.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. Did you ask who was there? You know how bad my hearing is. A downfall of getting older.”, she laughs. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I heard you were in the hospital last week and I told your mom I’d keep two eyes on you.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m fine. It was just…low blood sugar I think.”

“Oh? Your mom said you were cut or something.”

Flashing her your skin, you smile as you reply, “No…no cuts.”

“Well, good. Have you eaten?”

“Yes, ma’am and I just took a bath so I think I’m just going to relax.”

“Alright, sweetheart, if you need anything just give me a call.”

After reassuring her, you close and lock your front door, shaking your head at your own jittery nerves. 

The phone blares startling you and you scold yourself once more as you reach to answer it. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, pretty girl.”

“I’m sorry…who is this?”

“Oh, don’t break my heart and tell me you don’t know my voice. You’ve spent so much time drawing me I guess you never took the time to listen to me speak.”

Your eyes widen as you grab your knife and hold it out into the air while taking a quick scan around the room. 

“Eddie?”

“Good girl. I actually like your work. Last night Steve and I found some of your other books. Are you just like obsessed or what?”

“I-I-I draw what I see.”

“Hm…so…are you telling me while you were in the hospital you saw horns and a halo on my head?”

“I don’t know what I saw. When I paint…I paint what I feel…I dreamt about you a lot…”

“You and I both know that wasn’t a dream, sweetheart. I didn’t know if you were dead and we just needed to make sure you weren’t. Or that you didn’t become what we are.”

“What are you?”, you whisper as the tears begin to fall and you hear him chuckle. 

“I used to be a good man but then this town took that all away. I died for them and they didn’t fucking care!” Eddie growled loudly at his last word, sounding like an animal untamed. “Steve found that out later after everyone abandoned us. They kept insisting we could be good. ‘Don’t drink blood. Don’t hurt anyone. We’ll find a way.’. Well, IIIII found a way…through you…

Y/N, you have no clue how weak I was when those dicks were kicking my ass. I was losing blood and I was starving… and then there you were…”

“Please, Eddie, don’t do this.”, you beg but he continues as if he didn’t hear. 

“Jesus and then you held me…fuck, baby. To have someone nicely touch me again… When I found out I didn’t kill you or turn you, I knew. We forever have an untapped resource.”

“Haven’t you hurt me enough!? Just leave me alone!”

“Did we hurt you, honey?”, Steve replied with mocking taking over the call. “Your pussy grinding against my cock says otherwise.”

“I…I didn’t…I…”

“Are you a virgin, Y/N? Have you ever done that with anyone else? Dry humped them with your body so fucking close but not really touching?”

“Fuck you!!”

“That’s a yes on the virgin, Ed. Good…I like them better when they aren’t spoiled.”, he laughed. 

“Fuck you! I’m…I’m not…”

“Oh, yeah? You’ve had your cunt played with till you’re begging them to stop? Fingers so deep, reaching places inside you your little fingers could never hope to reach? A cock so far down your throat that you gag and choke cause you can’t handle the size but you don’t pull away because the little whore in you is desperate to make your partner feel good?”

While he spoke his husky, breath filled words, you continued to look from left to right prepared for one of them to pop out at any moment. 

“You’ve had a thick, hard dick stretch your pussy till you feel him in your stomach, fucking you so hard you’ll be sore in the morning?”

“I…I…”

“Didn’t think so.”

The line suddenly went dead and you screamed as the power went out. Tears streaked your cheeks as you exited the kitchen, searching everywhere for any sign of them but finding nothing. Something loud crashed in your parent’s room down the hall and you ran so fast up the stairs, slamming and locking the door for good measure. 

On your bed you noticed the phone was off the hook beside your sketch book that was open. 

They had been up here while talking to you…

How long had they been in the house??

Movement on the other side of the door stops you as you listen to footsteps bang loudly up each and every single step before ceasing just outside in the hallway. Covering your mouth, you silence the whimper that wants to escape as you watch the doorknob slowly turn left to right but fail to open the door. 

Quiet falls around you but as you take a couple of steps towards it, your door shakes as if any moment it will break off its hinges. Running towards the window, you open it with the goal of sneaking down the pipe and running to the neighbors. 

“Going somewhere?”, Steve replied casually as you scream and fall to the floor. 

While he hovers outside, you take in his large gray and black wings that allows him to suspend in the air as he smiles widely your way to showcase a set of fangs that had your mouth dropping in horror.

Entering your room, his bare feet touch the carpet and his wings make a sharp fluttering noise as they retract into his back. As you back out of his way, Steve saunters towards your bedroom door and opens it to allow Eddie entry. 

Both men seemed a bit paler than the last time you saw them with that hollow ring around the metalheads eyes that told you he was a lot more worse for wear than his friend. 

“I’m fucking starving.”, he growled, taking a step towards you before hissing loudly as he falls theatrically against your dresser. The knife in your hand had gashed a deep cut into his forearm, trailing blood as it dripped from the wound. “God fucking damn it! Ugh! Still fucking hurts!”

“Don’t be a baby.”, Steve laughs, holding up his friend’s arm to show it now fully healed. 

“Doesn’t make it not hurt, dick. How about a I let her slash you with the sharp ass knife next time! Come here, you fucking brat.”

You absently swing the knife but hit nothing as Eddie takes hold of your wrist and forces your fingers open to drop the weapon before pushing you down to your knees. With a firm grip on your hair, you watch as he unbuckles his pants and shimmies them down to free his cock from its confinement. 

You barely have time to comprehend what’s happening as he shoves his length into your open mouth. 

“Oh my God.”, he groans through clenched teeth as his palms clutch either side of your head while he thrusts his hips. “That’s it…keep your tongue flat…Y-You can take it.”

Falling to his knees beside you, Steve delicately moves some of your hair behind your ear. 

“Was that the first time you’d ever cum, Y/N? On my lap in your car?” Your eyes squeeze shut as you gag around Eddie’s cock before pulling your hair to yank you back and allowing you to breathe. “It’s ok, honey. You’re doing so good for us.”, he softly coos as his friend pushes you back onto him and grunts as he fucks your face. 

A large hand slides under the waistband of your shorts and you push your head back against a ringed palm when a long finger grazes your clit. 

“No panties? Naughty girl. It’s like you knew we were coming for you. Are you not wearing a bra either?”

Without waiting for an answer, Eddie roughly tugged off your shirt and both men mewled at the sight. 

“Jesus, baby. Why were you hiding in the shadows all this time?”, Steve whispers, pressing his forehead against your temple and your breathing stutters as his finger breaches your entrance squeezing tightly around him. “Don’t worry, Y/N. We are the shadow now.”

The metalhead smiles wickedly and shoves your mouth onto him again. Your senses were completely overwhelmed as Eddie’s cock continually hit the back of your throat and you gaged while feeling the heat rise along your body as the other curved his finger inside of you. 

Prepared, Steve wrapped his arm around you and tilted back slightly to watch your face as his ring finger joined his middle. Your back pushed against him but he was much stronger than you as he held you in place. 

“Don’t run from it. We got you. Fuck, Y/N, my favorite thing about virgins is how tight you are. We are going to ruin you, little girl. Who do you want to actually take you? You drew Eddie the most…”

The metalhead fully released you from his grasp and backed away as he began to tug off his clothes. 

“I may be a bit gentler than he is though.”, Steve laughs as his fingers thrust faster inside of you making you whine as you fully fall into his chest. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to pound you into that fucking mattress. Oop…she liked that, Ed. Her pussy just clenched tighter around me.”

“Oh yeah? You like it rough to, sweetheart?”

The former jocks free hand pulled your hair as he gritted his teeth. 

“Answer him.”

“I…I can’t…I…”

“You better try!”

“I…I like…like it…mmm...rough.”

“Close enough.”, Steve scoffed as he abruptly removed his hand from between your legs and pushed you against the carpet. 

Without saying a word, Eddie lifts you off the floor, tossing you onto your bed as if you weighed nothing and effortlessly ripped your shorts in half before throwing them to the floor. 

“Oh my…God.”, you moan as his head dips between your thighs and his mouth envelopes your clit.

“Mmm…fuck! You taste so fucking good.”, the metalhead growls, leaning back to spit between your folds and uses his cock to stroke it everywhere he needs it to be. His fingers bruise your legs as he yanks you closer and brings one of them over his shoulder before he gradually begins to push into your core.

“Wait…ow…”

“It’s ok, baby, you can take it. I’m—fuck—you’re lucky I’m going as slow as I am right now. Goddamn, Steve, you were right…so fucking tight.”

You felt like you were being split in half as the sheer size of him overwhelmed you. He thrust his hips gradually, allowing every inch of him to carefully fill you but as he clung to your thigh and muttered obscenities, you could tell he was right… you were lucky he hadn’t lost all will and just snapped his hips to push himself deeper into you. 

Something wet poking your lips caused you to turn your head to find Steve’s leaking cock prodding at your mouth.

“No.”, Eddie growled making his friend freeze. “I’m not done watching her face.”

Steve made a small pfft sound as he continued forward, licking his lips when your tongue lightly grazed his tip but the metalhead’s palm pushing at his chest startled even you as you began to back away. 

“Don’t fucking move!”, he hissed, keeping a firm grip on your thighs and yanking you closer to him before glaring at the pretty boy. “I said…I’m not done…”

“She doesn’t just belong to you, Munson.”

“Fine.”, he spat. “But I want you out of the fucking way entirely when I eat.”

“Noted.”

Now amped with angry energy, Steve’s fingers tangled in your hair as he guided his cock between your lips, mewling loudly as you moaned at the feeling of Eddie no longer being gentle, thrusting his length so deep inside you, you knew you’d be sore for days. 

“God, your tits are perfect.”, the former jock panted as his large hand kneaded your breast. “I just want to slide my dick between them…play with them with my new teeth--Shit, Y/N—how does his cock feel now?”

“G-Good…”, you moan when he pulls out to allow you to answer. 

Steve growled prominently when Eddie pushed him backward, dropping your leg to the mattress so he could hover over you. 

“It’s about to get better.”, he announces before bearing you his fangs causing your eyes to widen in fear. “Right when you’re about to cum…I want to hear you moan my name. Do you understand?” When you only nod, his palm wraps around your throat as he presses his lips onto the shell of your ear. “Tell me you understand, you little whore, so I know I’m being heard.”

“I understand.”, you whimper tilting your head to kiss his cheek. 

The action startles him slightly as his eyes scan over your face. 

For just a moment, you see the boy you drew so many times before. The soft but loud kid that would walk on tables and spend time with the underclassmen…

But that was short lived as his pupils turned black and his teeth bit into your neck. 

“Ah…Eddie.”

That dizzy feeling you felt before began to overtake you but was immediately overpowered when his hips rolled hard into yours punching his cock deep into the soft spot inside you that had your eyes fluttering shut. It felt almost like a dream again when your arms lifted to drag your nails down his back and he growled softly at the feeling. 

“Eddie…”

Your legs wrapped around his waist as his pace quickened and the headboard began to slam into the wall at his intensity. 

“Edd—ie…”

The man’s muscular arm shot out to grab the wood above you, trying his best to hold it still and it was then that you realized he was doing that so he could hear you better. 

That feeling that had been building in the pit of your stomach shot down to your core and you practically screamed his name as your body trembled against his. His teeth retracted as his tongue ran along the soreness in your neck and you instantly felt better as he chased his own high. 

“Beg me, whore. Beg for my fucking cum.”

“I…I don’t…I’ve never talked that way…”

Eddie’s palm grips your throat as he growls like a feral animal in your ear. 

“It’s not that fucking complicated. BEG. ME. FOR. MY. CUM!” Between each word, he punctuated it with a rough slam of his hips and you whined at the feeling. 

“Please, E-Eddie, I want you…want you to cum. I-I want to feel you cum.”

“Fuck…where, baby? Where do you want me to cum?”

“O-On…On me…on my tits!”, you hurried when you could tell you weren’t answering correctly but when you finally did, he chuckled. 

“Bad girl. You chose that to make Harrington jealous, huh? Alright.” After a few more rough pumps, Eddie hastily pulled out and climbed up your body, stroking his cock till he painted your chest with his release. Smiling cheekily at his friend, he climbed off you and pat his shoulder. “Your turn.”

Steve growled but to you his always sounded different; deeper. As if it came from his stomach whereas Eddie’s came from his chest. It oddly sounded…angrier…more protective. 

“You wanted to make me jealous? Get a rise out of me?”

“No, Steve, no.”

His eyebrow raises sarcastically as if he doesn’t believe you and he firmly grabs your arms, manhandling you onto hands and knees. Swatting your thigh, he makes sure your legs are as far as they can go in your current position before one of his hands clings to your shoulder while the other guides his cock inside your entrance. 

Your mouth falls open as you push up onto your palms and he gradually thrusts his hips.

“Goddamn… look how wet you fucking are. Munson made you feel really good, huh? Fuck, your pussy is just making a mess all over my dick.”

One he found a good rhythm, your head hung as he aggressively slammed his body into yours. Feeling something wet land on his fingers, he pulled you to his chest and your head leaned against his shoulder as he slowly rolled his cock past all your sensitive areas into your stomach. 

“Why are you crying, little girl? Does it hurt…my cock ruining your cunt?”

“N-N-Noooo…Mmph… feels…feels good.”

You felt him smile against your cheek as his hand slid from your throat down to your collarbone. 

“I know, honey, I know.”

That now familiar pain of something sharp digging into your flesh had you screaming his name as one of your hands tangled in his hair. Steve’s fingers surprised you as he pushed them into your mouth and along your tongue before sliding them between your legs to play with your clit. 

“STEVE!”

The man grunted at the sound of his name as your body began to shake. That dizzying feeling swept through you and you couldn’t help it when through your own tears a little smile painted your lips. 

“Steve…please…”

Just as Eddie had done, his tongue licked along your pain and as soon as it disappeared, your cheek was pushed into the mattress as his massive palm remained against your head holding you down with your ass still in the air as he slammed into you. 

“That’s it…fucking whore…keep your pussy open for me till I’m…fucking done using it.”

With every ah that left you, his pace increased as if your pleasure was egging him on. Moaning his name, you cling to the sheets underneath your hands as you came. Grunting at the tight feeling, you felt his hips stutter and you would be lying if you said a part of you wasn’t giddy at the thought that he may cum inside you. The notion that you made him lose control enough that he couldn’t help but do it had your pussy continually quivering as if she were begging on your behalf. 

Just at the last second, Steve pulled out and you watched over your shoulder as he rapidly stroked his cock till his spend landed on your behind that he promptly spanked for good measure. 

You weren’t sure what happens now but all you knew was your brain and body felt incredibly heavy as if you had just run a marathon.

The lights in your room snapped on and you hissed as you blocked your eyes behind your hand before you were suddenly lifted by Eddie who carried you to your bathroom. He tried placing you on your feet but your eyes rolled as you tilted forward and he promptly caught you guiding you to the tile floor. 

“Is…is she ok?”

You knew that voice…it was soft and kind yet filled with worry. You hadn’t heard it since high school.

“Steve?”

“I think so. I think maybe we took too much?”, Eddie answered in a concerned and uncertain way that had you unsure this was even the same two people you were just with.

“Eddie?”

“I thought you said the licking helped?”

“I said it cures the bite. I’m not sure what it does when we feed.”

“Goddamn it, Ed.”, the man growled cause the metalhead to do the same.

Pushing at his chest, you crawled to the toilet and the sound of you vomiting echoed through. A ringed hand tenderly pet you head and as you leaned back against the wall, you notice Eddie’s eyes were no longer black but the brown you remembered. 

“I know you.”, you slurred, reaching out to touch his cheek. 

“Go get her some water and make sure there’s no blood on her sheets or floor.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, Munson.”

“You’re the one who said you didn’t want to kill anyone, Harrington. If you had let me kill those fuckers that beat the shit out of me then we maybe we wouldn’t be here.”

You jumped at the sound of something banging loudly and when you narrowed your eyes to try and see better, the bathroom door was open and Steve was gone. Silently, Eddie put together a bath and carefully placed you in the water. 

Your eyes remained closed as a rag was run across your body before being casually tossed to the side. You thought you were alone after a while, hearing nothing but your own breath until fingers lightly traced down your cheeks to your lips. 

“I wish we had met you before all this. I would have talked to you if you came up to me at lunch or in class. Maybe taken you out on a date…fallen in love… but then maybe that would mean you would be dead… like Chrissy. Then again, maybe if you had come home with me that night everything would have been different…”

Heavily sighing, Eddie takes you in his arms and sits you on the edge of the porcelain as he dries you off. 

“Eddie? Am I dreaming?”

The metalhead snorts out a laugh as he collects you once more and carries you to your bedroom. 

“Yeah, sweetheart, you’re dreaming.”

“Oh…”

When he places you down on your bed, a new set of warm hands pull a baggy shirt over your head before something cold is placed near your lips causing you to flinch away. 

“No, hey, this is just water, honey.”

Nodding, you sip the liquid back with loud chugging slurps that has Steve chuckle through his teeth. When your finished you try to hand it to him but it falls from your grasp. While you wait for the sound of glass to shatter you open your eyes to see he had extended out his arm to catch it.

Your glassy eyes scan along his face that has more color in it now than it did before but even you can feel the intense dark energy still radiating from them both. Your hands shake slightly as you reach out to touch the red indent along his neck and he sighs as his forehead leans against yours.

His eyes close as your fingers trail down his hairy chest to his stomach but just as they begin to graze what appears to be a deep scar, the glass in his hand breaks on the floor as his palm aggressively reaches out to grab your wrist while that gruff growl escapes him. 

“I warned you, Y/N…”

“It doesn’t matter right? Because this is a dream…”

Again, he laughs as he releases his hold on you long enough to tilt you back into your bed and pull the covers over you. 

“Yeah, baby, it’s all a dream except for that soreness between your legs. That’s real. Do you know why?”

“Because you belong to us now.”, Eddie answers for you when you shake your head. “Steve was right, Y/N, we are the shadows…”, he whispers as he kneels down to pet your head and place a fresh smelling pink rose on your bedside table. “So don’t you dare dream of anyone else, pretty girl, or else we’ll make you both regret it.”

#################

@debkk16 @myherometalhead @veemoon @hardladyheart

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Steve craved something that not a lot of people were willing to give him with out him instigating a bit. As much as he loved being loved, and taking care of he enjoyed the feeling of being struck against the face. Being reminded that he was a piece of shit, just like his father. He needed to feel something, he didn’t feel anything with the girls that he found himself being with and that upset him more then anything his father could say at him. Then there had been a slight spark with Nancy but it was gone just as fast as it had lit, and for those very few seconds Steve felt alive.

Even after that feeling faded he still carried hope that someday it might return. If he stuck it out long enough for Nancy Wheeler then he might get somewhere. That hope satisfied that itch under his skin for a while. Up until Jonathan Byers beat the shit out of him near the movie theater. The feeling of his fist against his face, the pain throbbing through his body making the numbness leave. All he could do was hold back the laughter as he takes hit after hit. Like a addict he wanted more, though he fought through the withdrawal to be the best boyfriend he could be. Nancy Wheeler held the key to whatever fucked up lock was wrapped around his heart and he wasn’t allowed to be self destructive knowing that information.

Then he met someone similar to him. Someone that he hated but couldn’t help but notice that same glooming black shadow that followed them everywhere. Billy Hargrove came into town with something larger then Steve’s ever had. If they had a contest to see who was more fuck up Hargrove would have won by miles. The way he carried himself looking for trouble reminded Steve of himself and he hated it. Then he met Dustin. Whatever he had been searching for in Nancy was there. Not in a romantic way of course. The light he craved was there and was sticking to him the longer he stood by it. He waits, expecting it to go out. But yet as he stood in front of the kids to protect them it’s still there.

He fights Billy and watches the way he laughs at him. As if he was enjoying getting hit. Steve knew the feeling, and though Dustin’s light was pushing him through he fell down and found himself taking hit after hit. Enjoying the way it got rid of any numbing feeling he had left through his body. Sure, Dustin made him feel without physical pain and got rid of most of it. But some of the darkness was lurking around his heart and the only way to get rid of it was pain. After everything settled down, the darkness had left Steve for a while. Then it returned when Dustin left for camp and he got a job.

Desperate to find something he throws himself at every female around his age. Some being a little older if he was desperate. As the you suck tallies started to build the more he started to see a spark in Robin Buckley. That was slowly getting brighter and brighter the longer he stayed around her. Then Dustin returned and he now held twice the amount of light he normally would. That should get rid of that numbing feeling right? Wrong. It stayed. Sticking to his lungs like cancer and not wanting to leave no matter how hard he tried.

As he sat in the chair in front of a group of Russians he knew the only way to get rid of that icky feeling. Desperately pleading for it, a sick part of him craving it more then he wanted to protect Robin. Though, the need to protect Robin finally took over completely when they stared a stall together. And he doesn’t feel as guilty anymore. This was his light and it was as platonic as it comes. Its been a long time, and nothing satisfied his itch. He found himself going to bar after bar getting into fights, just for the hell of it.

That’s how he finds himself standing at a random bar on a random night of the week, a tad crowded as he watches a band play their hearts out. Watching the familiar singer throw himself around on stage. Laughing and playing guitar. Steve went blind in that very moment, he’s pretty sure it was a nuclear bomb that took out all of the darkness that lived in him in that very moment. His hands shook as his heart went crazy, discovering a secret that he never knew he was even hiding. Eyes watching the way Eddie Munson moved gracefully at the start and then in a stumbling bambi like motion. After that night he didn’t need the itch to fight. Even though everyone in the bar kept an eye on him, knowing his rep for bar fights. Already banned from most in Hawkins. Though he was on his best behavior as he brings Robin to share what he discovered. Beaming as he shared it with her and watches her get excited about it as well. If they were Corroded Coffins biggest groupies that was for them to know.

The light was starting to fade, the longer Steve realized Eddie Munson couldn’t be his. He was a greedy bastard. The itch in his skin was starting to act up again, though he stayed on his best behavior. Up until he heard a slur being yelled out from some drunk asshole in the front. Causing Eddie to freeze in his tracks and Robin to go pale and close to tears. The word upset her more than anything, and before Eddie could say anything Steve was already over pulling the guy to look at him. Robins already yelling at him to stop. And for the first fight ever he doesn’t get one hit on him. He swings and knocks the guy out with one punch, before he’s grumbling under his breathe to sit back with Robin who was hugging him and crying. She hated fights, and after the Russians she hated it even more.

Steve was to busy focused on Robin to notice that the light on stage was growing brighter and brighter. Coming closer to him until there was slight tap on Steve’s shoulder. There only a few inches behind him was Eddie Munson. Looking at Robin with a knowing look, before grinning at Steve. And fuck, the light was worst then before.

“Did you punch a little old homophobe for me big boy?”

Robins head poked out from Steve’s chest as she looks shocked to see Eddie standing there. “For us,” she says gently. And in that second Steve knew, no matter what he was going to gather every single light in this world and hold them as close to his heart as possible.

[the-witty-pen-name]

The Love Triangle From Hell (3)

Steve Harrington x F!Reader / Eddie Munson x F!Reader

Synopsis: Following PART TWO, Steve feels even more distant from his friends- especially you; Eddie reflects on memories he has of you two; Nancy and Jonathan work together for the paper; Robin does her best to navigate what being friends with you and Steve looks like; you seek comfort in one of the only ways you know how- calling Eddie

Series Masterlist

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: messy messy feelings; unrequited love; cursing; arguments; crying; angst angst angsty angst; allusions to violence; miscommunication; jealousy; kissing; implications of smut; horniness

A/N: You guys are literally the absolute best. I am having the best time writing this- I'm so inspired by all of you. The love you have shown this fic so far has me overwhelmed. Thank you for your kind words, you have helped me work through some serious writer's block. Your comments and reblogs are keeping me going fr

This is unedited; please let me know what you think and if I missed anything I should include as a warning.

This series with be 18+ in later chapters MINORS DNI

His hands are tangled in your hair and he’s pulling you in close for another searing kiss. He can’t catch his breath, but he’s just so desperate to stay close to you like this. Your lips are so soft against his and your mouth is so inviting as you yank him closer. You whimper against his lips and it makes him shiver. He feels weak in the knees as you feel so pliable to his touch. You melt into his embrace and sigh happily as his lips trail down your neck. 

“Want you,” you moan softly, tugging his hair. He groans at the sensation. “Need you so bad.” 

“‘M gonna take care of you,” he promises, bringing his lips back to yours. 

“Love you,” you moan.

Before he finds out  if he says it back, his alarm goes off and he’s brought back to his reality. He groans disappointedly, covering his ears with his pillow- desperate for a couple more minutes with dream you. There’s a bang at his door. 

“Steve! Turn that shit off!” Eddie calls from the other side of the door. He’s yelling but his tone is playful. Steve hits his alarm off and drudges out of bed finally. Eddie has coffee made and Steve forgets anything is wrong at the moment. 

“Did she say anything last night?” Steve asks groggily as he pours himself a cup. 

“Um, not really,” Eddie replies, taking a moment to think about it. “I mean, yes but not about anything that we don’t know already. She’s conflicted, she doesn’t know what to think or feel. She just wants time.” 

“Okay,” Steve replies, leaning up against the counter. He takes a sip of his coffee. He needs to get to work. He can talk about this with Robin when he gets there. 

When you called Eddie, you didn’t expect Steve to answer. You thought maybe he’d say something- you wanted him too. But he didn’t. You couldn’t read him anymore.

Eddie was thrilled to hear your voice. He’d missed you, and he’d missed talking to you. He wanted that piece back as soon as he could get it. He reveled in the way his name sounded coming from you. 

“I’m so sorry,” you apologize, “I didn’t mean to upset Steve- I heard the way he dropped the phone down…” 

“It’s okay sweetheart,” he says compassionately. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

He’s met with a sad feeling of silence. 

“I’m happy you called,” he says gently. He hopes the sentiment makes you feel better. 

“I’ve missed you,” you admit, and Eddie feels like his heart might swell out of his chest. 

“It’s hard when the two people who you talk about everything with are the people you want to talk about,” you joke, and he laughs with you. 

“You can talk shit about me,” he teases and he hears you groan. He bites his lip, holding back a smile. 

“How are you doing?” You ask, changing the subject. 

“Much better now,” he flirts. 

“How are you doing, really?” You ask again, your voice sounding more fragile. 

“I meant, honestly- not great. But not worse than anyone else is doing right now.” 

“Yeah…” 

“I miss you a lot too,” he admits. He runs a hand through his hair, and it reminds him of how amazing it felt the last time you played with his hair. He’s craving that touch so badly. 

When you both were in high school, Eddie went out of his way to make sure you always had a seat at the table. He’d notice as you stood with your cafeteria tray, waiting for Steve to realize there was no open seat for you at his table. He’d wave obnoxiously to catch your eye and he’d smile at the way you’d get shy from the attention. He’d point at the empty seat next to him, and he’d grin as your eyes light up in realization you had a spot. You’d shuffle through the crowd and take your seat next to him. You’d take a seat and ruffle his hair in your hands. 

Eddie was always a creature of habit. As much as he exudes chaos, he actually thrives in having a routine. Don’t get him wrong- it’s never been a good routine… but it’s routine nonetheless. In high school it was a lot of the same. Tuesdays, Corroded Coffin played at The Hideout. He would get home way too late and never get in bed until close to 3am. Wednesday mornings, he’d sleep through his alarm and stroll into first period consistently 10ish minutes late. Thursdays he prepped for Hellfire, and then of course, the piece the resistance was Friday. Hellfire. An epic campaign that would run several hours and ensure the most recent shit week had been worth it to make it to that moment. 

He remembers that he was paralyzed when the group proposed to postpone Hellfire one time his first senior year. It snaps him out of his thoughts, as he was so wrapped up in you- and how close you were sitting. Eddie knew that hypothetically, it shouldn’t matter if the date changes. However, he couldn’t wrap his head around change. He hated it- still does. A disruption from his status quo throws off his entire week and it will take him too long to mentally recover. He knew that he came off as a hard ass, but he prefers it than trying to explain his mind to his friends. He had felt  his jaw tighten as he tried to rationalize with himself that it can be okay to switch it up. He unclenched his fists once he realized that he was making his knuckles white unintentionally. 

“Uh yeah, no problem. Saturday’s fine,” he was able to manage through gritted teeth. He relaxed when he could look past himself and see his friends smile, thanking him and happily chatting about the campaign. He smiled when he observed that his decision made everyone happy. That for him outweighed the internal struggle. 

He didn’t really listen to the reason everyone wanted to reschedule, but he picked up on after the fact that everyone is talking about the Snow Ball. He couldn’t help but recoil back into himself as his friends talked about their plans to go- who they’re asking, what suit they’re getting, what songs would play, and whatever. He couldn’t have cared less. Unless… 

His eyes wandered to sneak a glance at you. He wondered if you had plans- maybe you're hoping someone asks you. Maybe, he’s lucky and you were hoping that someone would be him. He wondered if you had a date. Maybe you already had been asked. It’s not like you had been aware of the way Eddie’s felt about you- unrequited feelings that tugged on his focus constantly since he’s known you. You caught his eye and offered him a shy smile and he could crumble. 

Eddie immediately averted his gaze, and focused his attention back on his friends. He ignored the way his face suddenly became so warm and he ignored the butterflies that were swarming around in his stomach. He couldn’t allow himself to dwell on these feelings- he knew that there’s no way you feel the same. Who could possibly like him? 

He felt a pressure when the freshman looked at him, one of them having asked Eddie about his own plans. Eddie sees the way the kids look up to him, they idolize him. He knows they think he’s cool. He can’t let that go just yet, he loved it too much. He needed it. He wanted to have them hang on to this version of him for as long as they’d believe in it. 

So, despite his usual distaste in school sanctioned functions, he did not want to allow the kids to think he couldn’t score a date. He could only blame society so much before they realized it’s actually his own fear of putting himself out there that cramped his dating life more than anything else. He then resolves that he needs a date to this dance. He tells himself that it’s for the freshman, to keep up the cool facade or whatever. But in actuality, he just wanted to ask you because he wants to ask you out. It’s his perfect window of opportunity. 

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about it, honestly,” you said, when one of the freshmen asked you if you had plans. “I’d been so busy with the play, I haven’t had a chance.” Eddie watched as you glanced over to Steve’s table. “Steve and I usually would go to this kinda thing,” you said quickly, and Eddie could see your apprehension despite your best attempt to hide it. “We’ll probably go as friends again.” 

He said nothing. 

A few days later, you called Eddie and he could immediately tell you’re upset. You’re doing your best to hold it together but he can tell you’re almost at your breaking point. 

“Hey,” you say, your voice straining as you try not to cry. “I know this is totally not your thing, but I’m kind of in a bind.” 

“What can I do?” He asked, sitting up straight on his bed. He was getting ready to locate his shoes or his keys- thinking you’re in trouble somewhere. He’ddrop anything to come get you. 

“I know you’d probably rather do literally anything else, but um, I have two tickets to the Snow Ball and I already bought a dress…” 

“I thought you’d be going with Steve?” He asked. You sniffled. 

“Um, yeah I kind of just assumed he’d take me. I didn’t realize that he asked out Nancy Wheeler,” you choked back tears. “I mean it’s not like that,” you lied, maybe not to Eddie but more to yourself, “we’re just friends. But I still thought He and I would be going together like as friends again- you know? But, uh, yeah- he is taking like a real date.” 

“I know you’d hate it, and I will make it up to you. But, I already bought the tickets and I can’t get my money back. It’s like not a date or anything, just like a friend thing…” 

“I’d be happy to take you,” he replied, sincerely. He can tell you were expecting him to fight you on it. When would you catch on that he’s willing to do anything for you? 

“Eddie, thank you so much,” you sniffled, still trying your best to keep it cool. “I owe you one,” your voice cracks and you hang up quickly before he gets a chance to say anything. 

Eddie didn’t really understand back then why you were even friends with Steve to begin with. Eddie thought Steve, frankly, was a total douchebag. However, once he actually got to know Steve- it was a different story. He couldn’t resent Steve. He loved him like a brother now. And once Eddie got to know the Steve you’ve always known, your feelings for him made sense. But at the same time, Eddie held his tongue for all the things Steve did or didn’t do for so long. Steve was good guy at his core, Eddie understood. But his actions didn’t reflect that in Eddie’s eyes. But it wasn’t his place to tell you that. It didn’t seem right. You’d known Steve so much longer than him. 

Nancy and Jonathan invited you and Robin to go with them to watch Lucas’ basketball game. You were excited to get out of your little apartment and support Lucas. Jonathan was photographing it for The Hawkins Post. Jonathan paced up and down the court side to get photos, and you sat up in the bleachers with Nancy and Robin. You were never one to go to school things really, but it was Lucas’s senior year and it was a big game- of course you were going to be there. 

“It feels weird, Steve not being here,” Nancy whispers to you and you nod in agreement. 

“Yeah, everything just feels weird right now,” you agree. “You and Jonathan are okay?” 

“We’re good. We’re doing good, um, still working through stuff but we’re going to just work through it.” 

“That’s good.” 

“Robin?” Nancy asks, and Robin turns her head to pay attention. “How’s things with Vicky?” 

Robin’s face turns tomato red. “Fine,” she mumbles, happily. “I’m gonna hang out with her tomorrow.” You elbow her teasingly, making her blush redden. 

“How’s it feeling? Being the best at all of this out of us?” You tease. 

“I don’t know,” she’s so embarrassed, it’s so sweet. “We both just like each other- it’s not that complicated. She’s so great.” 

The three of you turn your attention back to the game at the sound of the whistle. You clapped and cheered the loudest whenever Lucas had the ball. He tried to plead with the lot of you to tone it down, casting weary looks in your direction. You couldn’t help yourselves. You felt so proud of him. 

You decide to take a walk to the concession stands and get some snacks for everyone. You order four sodas and two large popcorns- one for Jonathan and Nancy and one for you and Robin. You fish the cash out of the front pocket of your jeans, and hand it to the kid working the window. You thank him, and balance it all in your hands to navigate carefully back to the stands. 

You see a familiar face coming down the hallway, sprinting. For a moment, you can’t help the smile that forms across the expanse of your face until you remember what’s been going on. Your face falls, and you feel so stupid for being excited to see him when it hits you again all at once. 

You don’t think Steve knew you’d all be here, because he looks just as surprised to see you. He stops and his sneakers squeak across the polished gym floor. He looks at you with an expression of pure panic. He totally didn’t think you’d be here. And you’re surprised he came alone- but of course he did, he’s Steve. Of course, he’s going to show up to every game for Lucas. You shouldn’t expect any less. It still takes you back. 

“Can I help with those?” he asked, gesturing for you to pass some stuff to him. You nod, and tilt so he can take some of the things from your grasp. 

“Where are you sitting?” He asks, and you nod your head towards Robin and Nancy. His face deflates. “Ah, okay.” He walks over with you, and he passes the items in his hand off to Robin. He moves aside so you can walk back into your spot. 

“Thanks, Steve,” you offer him a soft smile, appreciating the effort despite the circumstances.

“Yeah of course,” he mutters, backing away, lingering for a moment because the seat that’s usually there for him between you and Robin isn’t there. He quickly pulls himself out of his thoughts and just heads over to the next row of bleachers, finding a seat next to a couple of his old basketball teammates that are here for their little brothers. 

Steve can’t even focus on the game,  he keeps trying to steal glances of you from his peripheral vision. He wants to know what Robin said that made you laugh like that, and he wished he could have heard your laugh- but you’re too far away from him. He watches as your jaw drops at something Nancy tells you, and he watches how you cheer so happily for Lucas. He wants to know if this is bothering you the way it’s bothering him. You look like you’re keeping it together and he wants to know if that could truly be the case. 

Even when you’re carrying so much hurt, you give off such a radiance that Steve and he’s sure everyone else is just drawn into. Your pretty smile and your bright eyes are all he can think about- he only knows when to cheer when he feels the people around him move. He smiles when you stand up and pose, pointing to Lucas- then Lucas matches it, giving it back to you. He watches as you both share that moment of just pure joy, and his heart aches. He doesn’t know if he could ever make you that happy. 

When the game was over, you looked to see if you could find Steve but there was no sign of him. You all invited Lucas to go out for celebratory pizza for his big win, but he wanted to go with his teammates. The plan fizzled pretty much after that. Robin wanted to get home so she could call Vicky and Jonathan and Nancy wanted to head home so Jonathan could start developing his photos. When you and Robin are walking out, you see a familiar van. 

“I’ll bum a ride from Nancy,” Robin assures you, pushing you in Eddie’s direction. She waves to Eddie from a distance and then jogs to catch up with Nancy and Jonathan. 

“What are you doing here?” you ask with a smile. He pushes himself off of the hood of his van and walks over to you, his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. 

“I thought you might be here,” he quips. “Plus, I had to poke my head in- Sinclair is some big shot apparently?” he jokes, “I had to check out for a few minutes.”

“He’s really great,” you agree. 

“Was Steve here?” Eddie asks. 

“Yeah I saw him. He didn’t really stay either- I mean he stayed for the game, but we didn’t talk really.” You shrug. 

“Well,” he says, trying to optimistically change the subject, “Do you wanna get out of here? I could give you a ride home or we could get food or something- or even just drive around and not talk. I’m not picky.” 

He looks so beautiful like this, you observe. The sky is pitch black but the lights in the parking lot illuminate him perfectly with a soft glow. His hair is wonderfully messy and his smile is making it hard for you to breathe. Has he always looked like this? You wonder, astonished as it hits you all at once. He’s gorgeous. Your eyes linger, taking in every little detail you’ve overlooked before. He waves his hand in front of your face to snap you out of your trance. 

“Stop looking at me like that,” he tisks. 

“Looking at you like what?”

“Like you’re trying to jump my bones,” he chuckles. Your face warms, and suddenly you realize how long you must have been staring. 

“Ha, right,” you joke sarcastically, or at least, trying to joke sarcastically. You walk past him and get into the passenger side of the van and try your best to compose yourself in the few seconds it takes for him to follow suit. 

“Okay, sweetheart,” he says, turning over the ignition, “where to?”

“Can we just drive around like we used to?” you ask- the circumstances of tonight making you feel so nostalgic. 

“Of course we can,” he hums, passing you the case of his cassettes- a familiar and welcomed sight for your tired eyes. 

You watch Eddie as he drives, and observe the way the muscles in his arms flex ever so subtly as he turns the wheel. You watch his ringed fingers tap across the top of the steering wheel and you can’t help it the way your mind wanders. You’re so wrapped up in the way his hair sways so effortlessly and the movement of his jaw as he sings, you don’t even notice that Steve was leaving the gym just in time to see you both drive away. 

After a little while of aimless driving, and hitting up the drive thru, Eddie ends up parking at Lover’s Lake when neither of you are ready to go home just yet. 

“Eddie?” You ask absentmindedly, finishing off the milkshake he got you. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” he replies, also finishing his, but with an obnoxiously loud suck of his straw- determined to get every last sip. 

“Why do you like me?” you ask, cringing almost immediately. You think you sound like a middle schooler or something- you’re so embarrassed. His eyes widen for a brief second, contemplating his answer. He tosses the empty cup into the back. 

“First off,” he criticizes teasingly, “I did not say I liked you- I’m in love with you. Get your facts straight, ma’am.” 

“My apologies,” you giggle, holding your hands up in defeat.

“I mean- I love everything about you; always have,” he starts. “You’re sweet and kind. I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re incredible, and sometimes I can’t figure out why you wanted to ever be friends with me in the first place.”

“Eddie?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Would you kiss me?” 

Eddie’s a goner when you’re looking at him with those doe eyes. More than anything he wants to lunge across and close the space between you. It’s everything he’s ever wanted. It takes every fiber of his being to hold himself back..

“I don’t know if I can kiss you without knowing if I could ever kiss you again,” He whispers, but it doesn’t stop him from leaning in towards you. His hand lifts to hold your cheek and suddenly he’s so close. Closer than the two of you have ever been. His lips are tantalizingly close to yours when his forehead touches yours. A huge bang on the side of the van scares you both away from each other. 

“Give her time, my ass, Munson! Get the fuck out here! Get your fucking hands off my girl!”

PART FOUR

Taglist:

@sunshinepeachx @downbear @fanlifeaamt @exploding-bonbon @losingmygrasponreality @skiddypiddy @andvys @djodirt @moonlightsolo @kyga01 @sheisjoeschateau @melaninjhs

[steddie-island]

Scheduling Conflict

Written for @steddiebingo Kissing Booth mini event Prompts: Boyfriend, chocolate Rating: E | WC: 1,278 | No CW | Tags: Minor rockstar Eddie Munson, anniversary fic, Eddie is a mess, make up sex (sort of), Porn without plot ao3 | Divider credit

It was obvious as soon as Steve opened the door that someone had been in his house. His house was never messy, but it was even more clean than usual.

He frowned, lifted his bag up beside his head in preparation for using it as a weapon. The mystery person had cleaned, but that did nothing to convince Steve that he wasn't getting ready to be robbed.

He rounded the corner into the kitchen at the same time the intruder headed for the living room.

"Stevie—" There was a yelp as Steve's bag came into contact with someone's hand.

"Eddie?" Steve dropped his bag where he stood and reached out for his boyfriend's hand immediately.

"Who else did you think it would be?" Eddie shook out the muscles in his hand and gave Steve an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to scare you, sunshine."

"I thought you couldn't make it home." Steve brought Eddie's hand to his lips to press a kiss to his palm.

"I was trying to surprise you." Eddie gathered Steve close. "I'm so sorry, Stevie. I tried to get here in time, but there were so many fucking delays. I'm so sorry you had to spend our anniversary by yourself."

Steve blinked at him, but before he could say anything else Eddie was kissing him, slow and sweet enough to make him shiver.

"I'm gonna make it up to you." Eddie tipped his head to the side and began kissing down his throat. "I said this tour wouldn't be able to keep us apart for important shit and I fucking meant it."

Steve's mind went hazy as Eddie's teeth dragged against the sharp edge of his jaw. "Ed…"

"I'll make it up to you," Eddie said again. He took one of Steve's hands in his and pulled him towards their bedroom.

It took Steve's eyes a few moments to adjust to the dancing of the candle light. There were rose petals strewn over every available surface and in a trail leading from the doorway to the end of the bed. On the bed was a small pile of petals that held a heart shaped box of chocolate.

"Eddie, sweetheart—"

"Shush." Eddie pecked Steve's lips, killing his arguments before they could even begin to take root. "Let me do this for you. Please."

Steve felt a little guilty, but the guilt started dissipating as soon as Eddie's fingers slipped beneath his sweater. "…If you insist."

Eddie gave a triumphant little whoop, then pulled Steve in to kiss him again.

Kissing Eddie never failed to make his head spin and his knees weak. Kissing Eddie after weeks of not seeing him was something even more heady. He couldn't help but moan as calloused fingers trailed through the hair on his chest before brushing over one of his nipples.

"Fuck, I've missed you." Eddie repeated the movement and relished in the way Steve's entire body responded to the contact. He pulled his hand away to start tugging Steve's soft red sweater off over his head. "We have reservations later, I'm gonna take you out on the town, show you off, but I needed to have you first, to show you how sorry I really am."

"Eddie…" Steve felt all thoughts flee his mind as Eddie's lips left a trail of fire from his shoulder to his throat. He was sure he would have bruises that he would need to hide tomorrow, if Eddie's teeth against his skin had anything to say about it, but he didn't have it in him to care. He loved having secret marks beneath his clothes, where only he and Eddie knew about them. He liked feeling owned, feeling like he belonged to and with someone else. "Fuck…"

"We're going to." Eddie tossed Steve's sweater towards the hamper. His mouth was on Steve's chest, ghosting over the guitar pick that Steve wore all the time. "I'm gonna make it up to you."

"Eddie—" Once again Steve's thoughts fled his mind as Eddie's teeth dug into his chest, his tongue flicking lightly over Steve's nipple and sending electric shocks through his body.

He reached back to move the box of chocolate before falling onto the bed. Eddie was on him. As their mouths met in another deep kiss, nimble fingers worked Steve's pants open and slipped in to tease him through his underwear.

"So fucking wet, always so wet for me."

"Eddie—" Steve gasped as Eddie squeezed his cock.

Steve had no time to adjust to Eddie's hands on his body. Eddie sat up and curled his fingers around Steve's waistband before pulling both pants and underwear down together, until Steve was naked and spread out before him.

"Goddamn, I'm a lucky man." Eddie lowered his head. His teeth sank into the meat of Steve's thigh, making him cry out as his tender skin was worked over.

Eddie sucked and bit his way higher, reveling in every gasp and whimper and plea for more. By the time he had Steve's thighs over his shoulders and his mouth around his boyfriend's cock Steve was a shaking mess.

The shaking didn't stop as Eddie's lips and tongue worked his cock over, or as Eddie worked two fingers into his body. It didn't stop as he spilled down Eddie's throat, or when Eddie was finally over him again, pressing inside of him and stretching him even more.

"Fuck— Eddie—" Steve panted. He hitched his legs higher around Eddie's waist and held on tight.

Eddie buried his face in Steve's throat again as their hips came flush together. "I love you. I fucking love you."

Steve nodded, gripped Eddie's hair tight as Eddie started moving inside of him.

Eddie's thrusts were long and deep, deep enough to drive the air out of Steve's lungs. Just when Steve thought he couldn't take any more, when he thought he was going to topple over the edge, Eddie pulled out and flipped him over.

The change in position had Eddie driving deeper, had Steve begging even louder as he buried his hand in his boyfriend's hair again.

More bruises were worked against the back of Steve's neck, against his shoulders as Eddie fucked into him hard and fast.

When Steve came it was without warning, with a cry of Eddie's name and his entire body shuddering.

Eddie kept going, trying to stretch it out long enough for his own orgasm to crash over him and for him to spill deep into Steve's body.

"I know that doesn't fix anything," Eddie said when they had pulled apart and sat up against the headboard. The box of chocolates rested, open, between them on the bed. "I just want you to know I did try to get here on time."

It came rushing back to Steve why Eddie had been so adamant about getting into bed, about why he'd set all of this up— beyond it being a special occassion, even.

Steve pushed the chocolates away before moving to straddle Eddie's lap. Eddie's skin glowed with the flickering light coming off of the candles, making his eyes even darker than they usually were. "Eddie… sweetheart… I appreciate everything you did today." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of Eddie's mouth. "I love how hard you tried to get here, and how much work you put into this. It's— beautiful. But…" Steve brought his hands up to cup Eddie's cheeks before pulling him in for a warm kiss.

"But?" Eddie murmured, sounding almost nervous.

Steve smiled and reached for his phone. He pushed a button, making the date light up, before turning it towards Eddie. "But.... our anniversary isn't until tomorrow."

[plussizefantasia]

Hi! I was wondering if I could request a reader x eddie munson oneshot where reader is very touch starved but is very nervous about asking to be held/be touched by another person or to touch them. Maybe they just started dating so they are still trying to get to know each other's love languages and things they're shy about but Eddie notices that reader is acting stranger and is trying to figure out why.

I personally was thinking like a non-smut story if that's okay, just plain fluffy romance to help me feel some comfort in my life.

I love your writing BTW! As a plus sized girl it's so nice to read stories about people my size. I feel like I can just relate to your characters. Thanks! Have a lovely day :)

eddie munson x reader wc: 1.7k a/n: I'm just going to leave this here and pretend like I didn't disappear for literal months hehe

cw: cursing (not a lot)

You and Eddie hadn’t been together long but the time you had been together was some of the best of your life. He got you in ways that nobody else did, he had a devil-may-care attitude about a lot of things, but not you. From the very first time, the two of you talked you knew that he was going to mean the world to you someday, you just didn’t expect that day to come weeks later with a stolen kiss under an oak tree in the back of the school. 

That had really been the only kind of affection you two had had, Eddie had a tendency to express himself with his words more than his touch which was okay with you. Both your parents were the same way, they would tell you they were proud of you and give you compliments and things like that but neither of them really ever offered up physical affection. You had grown up with it, you were used to it. 

Eddie’s compliments were different from the ones you got from your parents and they were a lot more cheesy that's for sure, but they were never in short supply. Eds practically showered you with his sweet words every time he saw you and you left every interaction with him more sure that this was the guy for you.

That didn’t mean that you didn’t crave to be held, and now that Eddie and you were official that craving had ramped up in your mind. You couldn’t be in the same room without thinking about what it would be like to be wrapped up in his arms. You wondered what it would feel like for the two of you to hold hands in the hallway, or to sit right up next to each other on the couch in the Munson trailer while the two of you watched the same three movies on repeat. 

Movie night at the Munson place started long before the two of you were dating, Eddie had invited all of the Hellfire club to hang at his place during lunch one day and you being the “unofficial mascot”- a term Eddie had coined for you after you stumbled into the room they were playing in and decided to stay and watch- were of course invited.

Weeks went by and slowly more and more of the guy bailed on Movie night until it was just you and Eddie left, you two had long since exhausted the stash of VHS’ that either of you owned but at this point you weren’t really there to watch the movie at all. Just sitting next to each other and talking was the real best part of Munson Movie Night.

Movie nights were on Friday nights, as it didn’t conflict with the DnD schedule and your parents had a more lax curfew on the weekend. Plus now that the two of you were “together-together” you could stay the night and all the adults were chill about it (your dad was not on board at first but your mother told him to relax).

“Alright Angel, what’ll it be this time? Grease, Rocky Picture Horror Show, or Star Wars?” Eddie asked, placing a bowl of popcorn down on the low table in front of the couch and walking over to the bookshelf that held more board games, VHSes, and Vinyl than actual books.

“Well you’ll get too invested in Star Wars and we watched Rocky Horror last week so Grease it is.” You leaned forward and grabbed a handful of popcorn. 

“I resent that accusation, mostly because I know you’re right.” Eddie grabbed the box for Muppets in Space and popped it into the player before joining you on the couch. A good ten inches in between you.

You handed him the bottle of coke you had grabbed for him and relished in the way his fingers brushed you when he took it. All too soon though, his attention was snagged by the movie’s exposition and yours was left to ponder and wish for more.

It wasn’t that Eddie was a bad boyfriend, that was far from the truth he was one of the sweetest boys you had ever known and he was attentive in a lot of ways the past boys you’ve been with haven’t. He just wouldn’t touch you. And (not so) deep down you craved his warmth, you craved the closeness that came with being able to put your hands on him and vice versa. It wasn’t just about the touch, it was about the connection that came with letting someone close to you like that.

Apparently, while you had been musing, Eddie had shifted his gaze to you, and he had certainly caught your thousand-yard stare and the way you were practically gnawing on your lip as you thought.

“Hey.” He threw a piece of popcorn at you, it landed in you hair but didn’t pull you out of your head.

Two more pieces of popcorn, one on your lap and one down your shirt (lucky shot) before Eddie got seriously worried.

“Hey,” he moved closer to you, “Earth, to Angel, what’s going on?” he waved his hand in front of your face and snapped once, twice, three times before your head shot to the side and you looked into his eyes.

“Wha? Oh, Nothing.” You shook your head as if to expel the thoughts from your ear. “Just this stupid math quiz in Donahughe's class.”

“Oh man,” Eddie clicked his tongue, “You’re lying.” He said simply.

“Am not.” You crossed your arms over your chest.”

“Are too, you're doing that thing that you do when you lie.”

“What thing?” You furrowed your brows and looked back at him, pulling your legs up onto the couch and in front of you, shifting your whole body to face him.

“You do this thing with your lips, you pull your front lip in between your teeth, imakes you look a little like Kermit.”

“I do not!” You think for a second. “Holy shit, I totally do! How’d you even catch that.”

“I pay attention, Angel. I pay attention to a lot of stuff about you, which is how I know that something is wrong.”

You inhaled a big breath and let it fall out of you as a sigh, “It’s really nothing Eds, I promise.”

“If it was really nothing then you wouldn’t be sitting over thinking about it instead of watching Danny lose the best thing that ever happened to him.” Eddie nodded his head towards the TV, on which the movie was still running. “Sooooo, what’s wrong?”

“I-” You took a deep breath. “I- fuck why is this so hard to say.” You stood from your place on the couch and stepped back so that you could have room to pace. “I want a hug.” You finally let out.

“A hug? What?”

“Well not just a hug, but that would be a nice place to start. I- God I want to hold hands with you in the hallway and rest my head on your shoulder. I want to sit next to you at lunch close enough that our things touch, I want to snuggle up next to you when we watch movies, I want to kiss you goodbye, and hello and whenever the hell I want to. I want to be in your arms and I didn’t know how to ask because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable and- I don’t know.” You let it all out as you walked back and forth in front of the low table. Not looking at Eddie once during your tirade only for your eyes to land on his when you peter off at the end.

“Angel.” Eddie stood up, walking closer to you. “If you wanted a hug all you had to do was ask,” In one move Eddie pulled you into his chest, your arms curled up and trapped between your bodies. His arms came to rest behind you, one draped around your shoulders and the other resting comfortably at the small of your back. He continued talking, the vibration from his words rumbling his chest and into your own. “I’m sorry, I guess I don’t even realize that I don’t hug you as much as I should. If I’m honest I think it’s because I like looking at you too much to pull you in this close. But now that we’re here I think this might be better.”

“It is nice.” Your voice is quiet but he hears every word.

Eddie hummed in agreement and rested his head on top of your own. You’re not sure how long you two stood there but you savored every moment. The warmth of his arms seeped into your skin and the smell of the laundry detergent you bought him last week clouded your nose. He placed a couple of kisses on the top of your head and you could feel yourself melt each time. 

“Angel?” He asked.

You hummed.

“The movie is over.”

You looked up and sure enough, the credits were rolling and the tape was about to end. “Oh, I actually kind of wanted to watch it though,” Your lips pushed into a little pout. It only graced your face for a second before Eddie let go of you and moved back towards the TV.

“That’s okay, I’ll rewind it and we can watch it for real this time.”

“Really?” You asked, “It’s already late and I dont want to make you-”

“Shush.” Was his reply. He rewound the tape and got back up to face you. He held his hand out and you took it immediately. He pulled you back towards the couch and into his side, grabbing a blanket that was resting on your arm and spreading it out over the two of you.

You got as close to him as you could, not even bothering to hide the smile that shone across your face. 

The two of you spent the rest of the night like that, leaning against each other and watching the movie. And when Wayne walked out to the two of you sleeping on top of each other the next morning he just adjusted the blanket that had fallen in the night and went on his way.