#I do firmly believe that Eddie’s not dead yet

[m-owo-n]

Okay but what if Eddie’s bat tattoo was inspired by the intro of Scooby Doo, the cartoon he was obsessed with as a kid 🥺

[userautumn]

this fandom is annoying me so i'm going to say this once and then fuck off back to my shows.

on the topic of eddie's parents: helena has always treated eddie like he is an unfit parent. both of his parents have, but helena especially has led that charge. yes, his parents love him. i do not doubt that. but i said some weeks ago that i think helena/ramon would have been much happier raising eddie and chris as siblings rather than letting eddie be a father, and i stand by that. throughout the narrative, they have indicated time and time again that they think his choices are wrong—from their unwillingness to accept shannon fully, to coming outright and saying they think eddie is on a downward spiral and that he's going to crash and burn and take christopher with him. this is not an "Evil Parents" buddie conspiracy theory, this is a canon fact.

at every opportunity, helena especially has been trying to pry christopher away from his father. this is also a canon fact. in 2x18, after shannon's funeral, she tried to get eddie to bring chris (and himself, but eddie was most definitely the afterthought in that conversation) back to texas. in 4x14, eddie says to buck that his parents will fight for custody. and while eddie's relationship with his father has changed since the early seasons, this is still very much so a recurring theme in their dynamic.

so it stands to reason that helena would feel gleeful, or satisfied, or maybe even triumphant over the fact that she's finally gotten what she wanted. again, this isn't a headcanon, this is just common sense. she's been wanting chris back in texas for years, and now she's finally gotten her wish. i mentioned earlier that eddie himself is an afterthought in the conversation of the diaz boys' return to texas, and this remains true. helena favors christopher over her own son. this is also a canon fact. in 8x1, she sees her son sitting on camera at the saddest looking birthday party anyone's ever seen, and her response is "oh well! better luck next time! bye!" she doesn't offer to call him back later. she doesn't even look sad that he's sad. she simply continues about her day like her child is not suffering.

now, i still firmly believe that helena diaz loves her son. but if she has empathy for her him and the struggles he's facing—and has faced—she has yet to express it. this is also, unfortunately, canon.

having said that.

christopher is a teenager. he is not a little boy anymore. it was cute when he took an uber to buck's house because his dad made him mad, but this is quite a different situation. we've talked ad nauseam about the kim/shannon of it all because the trauma and betrayal of that is significant. but there are layers here. because it's not just that christopher thought his mom was back from the dead, it's also that eddie did what he (in christopher's mind) does best—he messed up a good thing right as christopher was getting to enjoy it.

9-1-1 is designed so that we, the viewers, are able to empathize with eddie's struggles. we're adults so, on average, we know why he makes the choices he makes and we can, on some levels, relate to them. even if we don't agree, we can understand the logic behind these choices. but christopher does not have the luxury of adulthood. and, if you put yourself in his shoes, his entire life since coming to los angeles has been extraordinarily unstable. some of these things were obviously outside of eddie's control, such as the tsunami and his dad getting shot. but they still happened.

so now, he is this fourteen year old kid who has lived through trauma after trauma, all the while witnessing his dad try to put himself back together after a lifetime of pain. and one of those ways eddie tries to put himself back together is by dating again. first, he dates ana and, objectively, ana was the perfect choice. she was smart. she was beautiful. she was good with kids. she was latina, which his parents/dad would have approved of, and christopher liked her very much. but then, just as it's getting good and looking real, eddie breaks up with her. again, we, the viewers, know why he did what he did. he was having panic attacks at the mere thought of being with her. but if you're christopher it looks like dad is pulling the plug on a good thing for no reason.

same as when eddie leaves the 118. we, adults, know eddie is struggling. hell, even christopher knows eddie is struggling. but we can understand the depths of the layers here. christopher didn't/doesn't. all he knew/knows is that, not only did his dad leave behind his job/his family/his stability, he did all that and cited him as the reason for that decision. which is why christopher said, "i never asked you to [leave the 118]." so now we fast forward to the present and we have eddie and this thing with marisol. they go on family outings, she moves in, and all these things start to feel like permanence. they start to feel like eddie has finally maybe gotten himself on solid ground and can start to enjoy his life again, or maybe for the first time.

and then he goes and cheats on marisol. with christopher's dead mom.

so we can see the multiple layers of this situation.

eddie loves his son, christopher loves his dad, and eddie diaz is a good parent. i will stand by that to the day i die, and all of these things are overwhelmingly evident. but that doesn't change the fact that the most stable home christopher has ever known is the home he lived in with his grandparents. which is sad. it's really sad to say, because we know eddie has tried so hard for that boy in so many ways. as a single parent, raising his kid to the best of his ability was so much more a full-time job than he was prepared for. but he did it. he strapped in and did the work of two people and, in doing so, it became imperative that, above all else, he gave his son a safe place to land and didn't give him reasons not to trust him because, at the end of the day, eddie is the only parent christopher has.

but eddie's broken that trust. and now, he has to live with the consequences. but let's be clear, the consequences in question are christopher's absence. helena's satisfaction over having chris in texas is an enormous insult to painful injury that must be addressed by the narrative if they ever want me to like her or believe she has eddie's best interests at heart. but this situation, in typical 9-1-1 fashion, is one in which multiple things can be, and are, true at the same time.

but relative to the matter of christopher and what he's "allowed" to do? eddie's lucky his son is even taking his calls, and he knows that. so he's going to continue to do the work to earn that trust back because he's never done anything but put in 1000% for his son. and that is also a canon fact.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Part One

Stancy Headcanon Part Two with a Side of Hellcheer and Rovickie with a sprinkling of Jargyle:

• Steve and Eddie bonding over their bat bites while talking about Chrissy and Nancy but also talking about their shitty fathers.

• Nancy and Chrissy bonding over trying be perfect all the time, Nancy talking about losing Barb and Chrissy about her mother blaming her for her brother's death (Chrissy has a brother, it's canon but I think they forgot they gave her a brother.)

• Steve, Nancy, Eddie, and Chrissy getting high as they talk about the difficult stuff. Steve and Eddie talking about being both comfortable in their femininity and masculinity, which led to Chrissy and Nancy talking about it.

• Nancy confesses to Steve about how she feels while Robin and Eddie decide to make it dramatic with a sprinkler. Nancy and Steve chasing them until they manage to push them into the pool. (Stancy still can't get in yet.) I firmly believe in Robin and Eddie being twin menaces.

• Robin finally gets with Vickie, but before Chrissy and Eddie get together, and after Robin comes out to Nancy, she comes out to them. Nancy and Vickie bond over their different writing styles. I believe Vickie wants to right fictional novels. Vickie revealing that she loves basketball and talks with Steve about it.

• Vickie and Chrissy find out they're related. Nancy and Steve meanwhile are loving having so many friends, but they also kind of want to be alone. It's almost comical. Finally, it's Chrissy who realizes and announces loudly that she wants to make out with Eddie in his van, effectively pulling him away from his conversation with Robin, then it's Vickie pulling her out of the room.

• Stancy spending all of the time in the pool once they start to work through their issues. Nancy was even the one to dare him to go skinny dipping with her. It was a different form of intimacy and a different form of freedom.

• A few months into their new relationship and, yes, new. They didn't pick up where they left off. That relationship is dead and buried. They've both changed. Anyway, a few months in, Nancy rescues a dog, and suddenly, it becomes their dog. Due to the fact that Holly is allergic, Ace Wheeler stays at Steve's.

• Nancy and Steve are stupidly in love with their dog and each other. Steve loves to dance around the kitchen with Ace while Nancy lays on the floor with the dog on her back while she reads Ace the rough drafts of her articles. Ace makes a noise. ("You're right, Ace, that's absolutely ridiculous. This sentence needs to go somewhere else.")

• Nancy is, of course, taking a year off from college, but she definitely is going to Emerson. After the hell that occurred, she needed some off of school. But in the meantime, she's free writing for the paper in the next town over. Steve is fully invested and supportive, while Nancy is fully supportive of him not knowing what he wants to do. ("We don't have to have it all figured out.")

• Nancy and Steve getting high with Chrissy and Eddie again, but this time, after discovering their own gender and sexual identities. Eddie and Chrissy accepted it while Chrissy admitted that she always knew about herself but didn't know there was a word for it. Eddie never did anything with a guy before but admits to being curious, which, of course, leads to Eddie and Steve making out. Chrissy and Nancy watch on for a while before doing the same, which leads them with somewhat of a tradition when they got high.

• Of course, there's Robin slipping into bed platonically with Steve and Nancy, as well as Ace, when she has her first fight with Vickie. It causes Robin to do it a lot more often over pretty much anything.

• And of course, there's also Argyle and Jonathan slowly incorporating themselves into the group once they pull themselves out of their love and drug haze. But also, everyone is just being fucking teenagers on the verge of being young adults who are dealing with their trauma and becoming a queer little family along the way. And as much as they love the younger and the adult members of the Party, it's nice just to have people your own age who just get it.

[huffledor-able541]

This story was such an emotional roller-coaster that I even got the touchy feely from just your Author's Note. This is breathtakingly beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Do I wish this fix-it fic was canon? Yes, obviously and it perfectly could have been. The plot and immaculate details of pretty much everything is what makes it such a masterpiece. I LOVE every friendship detail and connection in every interaction. And omg, don't even get me started on the main relationship.

Idk if I've said this in my other reblogs, but I ABSOLUTELY ADORE how Eddie calls the Reader: Monster Slayer. It's sooo freaking cute!

They are soooo meant to be together and I love that you can actually feel the chemistry through the words and the screen! It feels so natural (as I've said a bunch before😅)

Now to talk about specific parts from this chapter:

But there couldn't only be warriors. There had to be healers, too.

Those who mended the wounds from the battle field, who waited with open arms and calming words at the sidelines, who took charge to defend and mend.

Eddie was a healer.

And so were you...

This here broke me. Realizing how they fit into the little monster slaying family and how important each person and role is😭

AND OMG THEN THE PART WHERE EDDIE IS FEELING LIKE A KITE (after being revived and after they come back from the Upside Down) AND THAT THE ONLY TETHER IS MONSTER SLAYER'S VOICE and then MONSTER SLAYER READING THE HOBBIT HOPING HER WORDS GO THROUGH HIS CONSCIOUSNESS AND HOLD HIM FIRMLY.....I'm not okay😭

Eddie telling Monster Slayer that he would've done the same thing for her and not a hesitate for not even a second, like boy we know😭 we know 😭😭😭❤️

Also, 10 MINUTES!? THAT'S HOW LONG EDDIE WAS "DEAD"? It felt like too much and so much longer just reading those parts😭

"That's the beautiful thing of being together. You don't have to do things on your own anymore. And neither do I"

Monster Slayer...you're so right😭 I want and neeeed what they have, please.❤️

"He's on the run Robin," you whispered, the words choked by a silent sob.

"So's your makeup."

The comment did nothing to soothe your heartache.

Don't worry Robin, I found it funny. I like and may do those type of puns/jokes whatever they're called😂

AND CAN I SAY, I love the running gag about Monster Slayer running Eddie over with her car.😂 It's so petty yet bring so much to the writing. It makes their friendship even more believable because you bet I would be the same if this ever happened to a friend of mine (or my friends would definitely keep reminding me if it happened to me😂)

AND OMG-EEEE, forgot to mention this is the previous reblog, but the fact that Eddie told Mind Slayer he WON her heart and didn't STEAL it. Way to make my standards higher than freaking ever.😭

NOW this part:

A wreath of daisies.

Eddie couldn't go into an actual flower shop but it's okay...BECAUSE MY FAVORITE FLOWERS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DAISIES SO YOU BET I SQUEALED IN THIS PART!😭😭😭

Anyway...the green ribbon and guitar pic are held together by an invisible string😭❤️

Also, I love the part where Monster Slayer realizes that the Upside Down might not have been poisonous, but it was Hawkins all along. The Upside Down just lifted the curtain into the ugly truth of how poisonous Hawkins is.

OVERALL 100000000/10. MASTERPIECE. THE LIGHT OF MY EYES. THE REASON I WANT TO BE CALLED MONSTER SLAYER.

Excuse my memes/gifs...I had to. I really did...

Anyway, again, I LOVE THIS SERIES! You did an amazing amazing masterpiece! ❤️ Thank you for sharing your talents with the freaks from the internet🖤

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 - 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔 (𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫)

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏   ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐     ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑  

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒    ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓    ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔  

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕    ▹ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖   ▹ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 |  Eddie Munson x female reader

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 |  THEN. You’re the only survivor among the Mind Flayer’s victims, thanks to your friends - but after the Battle of Starcourt, you find yourself adrift in a sea of nightmares. Until an encounter in the woods with Eddie The Freak Munson offers an unexpected life line and turns your world upside down. NOW. Four months have passed since the winter night you walked out of Eddie’s trailer and his life for good. But when the mysterious headaches and nightmares return full-force and something wicked stirs in sleepy Hawkins, starting a witch hunt against Eddie, you realize that there are two things in this world  that might be more persistent  than you’d thought: Evil…and love. The story is told in two timelines: the past (after the Battle of Starcourt) and the present (during the events of season 4).

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 | angst with a happy ending (I PROMISE!!!), fluff, smut, it turned into a fix it fic for ST4

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | SMUT (you need to be 18+ to read this story!), angst with a happy ending, attempted assault, bullying, canon-typical violence  

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 | ~ 1 hour

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | spiders, canon-typical gore & violence, blood, mention of a syringe (brief), SMUT (oral, m!receiving; p in v; unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it and stay safe in real life!)

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.  

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 & 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 ♡

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 | The day I started writing this story was May 27th - the day I fell in love with Eddie Munson, like so many others did as well. By the end of the first episode, I knew I loved this sweet, tender-hearted, sometimes-brash-and-loud-but-always-genuinely-kind dork with all my heart, and by the time the credits of the second episode were rolling I knew Eddie was my One In A Million, my forever-character. Nothing I’ve ever felt for a fictional character comes close to the love I feel for Eddie Munson, and I know it’ll forever stay that way. I remember how I paused Netflix during the intro to season three, opened a blank word document, and started writing. It was the first chapter of Worlds Apart. Back then, I prayed with all my heart it wouldn’t turn out a fix-it fic - but it did. I promised I’d fix it, and I did, though I’m convinced Eddie will be back and we’ll see him again, alive and happy. Until then, this story will give him - and all of us - the happy ending Edward Munson deserved. This story crossed the 200k-words-mark somewhere in the middle of Chapter 15, and while I have so many more ideas for series and oneshots for Eddie, for so many more 200k-word-marks to cross, Worlds Apart will always hold a special place in my heart. And I can’t thank you all enough for sticking with me, for waiting patiently for the next chapter and laughing and crying alongside Eddie, Monster Slayer and me, and I hope that this story was able to bring you the same amount of joy as it did for me, that every single one of you might have been able to find a piece of themselves in monster slayer. Thank you for all the support on this story, the comments and reblogs and keysmashes and tags and fanart and asks. I don’t know whether I could have done this without you. This isn’t goodbye, I promise - just the final chapter before a new story starts because I’m planning to give Eddie Munson the million happy endings he deserves. So…Eddie, this is for you. I will always, always love you, Eddie Munson.

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏   ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐     ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑  

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒    ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓    ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔  

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕    ▹ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖   ▹ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑  ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒   ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓

[Friday, September 12th, 1986.

Six months later.]

The water was warm as it swirled around your feet with a happy little gurgling sound nearly drowned out by the sound of the waves.

The breeze carried the scent of salt.

The scent of the ocean.

It smelled exactly like you’d always imagined it would.

Dawn was still a while away, the first gentle blush creeping over the clear skies arching above to make the stars slowly fade away and herald the first rays of the morning sun, the promise of another beautiful hot day.

The moon overhead was a full moon, hanging in the sky like a silver dollar coin.

Like the display of a clock.

Keep reading

[jellyfishbeansontoast]

jealous jill

summary: a jealous steve - req

this isn’t edited but i believe it should be gender neutral if there’s any slip ups pls let me know!

Steve - the hair - Harrington was jealous. It wasn’t a problem he usually faced, in fact it was often the other way round. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by him the way girls fawned over him, or his hair. He’d noticed how they’d come into Family video, hovering by the horror section, the area that had the best view of the tills, with no intention of getting the Poltergeist.

But it was different when you came in like clockwork every Friday afternoon. Robin had guessed Steve had a thing for you pretty quickly as always. Every Friday he’d anxiously wait at the tills, usually being sent to do some random job Robin made up as he was too preoccupied to do his job properly.

The first time you’d come in Steve had been tripping over his feet to get to the till before Robin. Usually he was cool in front of girls he liked but something about you just made him stumble over all his words. Robin watched from the back, holding in a laugh when he forgot how to even work the till.

Since then he’d managed to hold conversations with you - barely. Finding out that you came every week to pick a film for your weekly film night. Steve almost wished he could score an invitation.

That was the usual Friday routine, until one time you didn’t show. Robin had teased him endlessly as he watched the door like a lost puppy. When closing time arrived Steve was slumped over the counter dejected.

“Steve” Robin whined, poking him in the back “I need you to help me shut up.”

“What’s the point when love is dead.” He mumbled, throwing a hand in the air.

Just as Steve had managed to pick himself up off the counter the bell rang, signalling a customer.

“Sorry guys we’re -” he was cut off by the sound of your voice, when he looked up the sight made him wish he hadn’t. Your hand was grasped firmly in that of Eddie Munsons. He felt like he’d been stabbed, you weren’t even together yet somehow he felt cheated on.

“Is it okay if we look for five minutes?” You asked, normally if it had been anyone else Steve would have been pushing them out of the door but he always made time for you.

He nodded reluctantly, shooting a withering look to the long haired boy next to you. Your excitable chatter echoed through the small shop, your conversation indistinguishable but he could tell whatever you had found was good.

“Just this, Stevie” you beamed up at him. He blushed at the nickname, heat rising up his neck, he clears his throat awkwardly before completing your order.

“Enjoy,” he waves his hand between you and Eddie “whatever you’re doing.” You make your way to leave and Steve’s head falls into his hands.

“That was painfully awkward, Harrington” Robin pats him on the back, her voice strangled with laughter.

“Love is dead” he repeats, slumping back onto the counter.

“Calm down jealous Jill.”

The week passes slowly and despite the gnawing feeling in his stomach that you’d much rather spend your time with Eddie he still looks forward to your visit.

Once the time has come Steve is unusually irritated and no longer looking forward to seeing you after one two many jokes from Robin.

“For Munson?” He snaps as you pass him the film at the counter. His voice is sharper than he intended and he recoils internally, “sorry, ignore that.”

But the damage is done, he’s shown he’s jealous. You lean across the counter, resting your chin on your hands. “And would you have a problem with that, Stevie?” A sly grin features on your face, Steve finds himself staring at your lips for too long, his eyes tracing the curve of your Cupid’s bow. God how he wished he could kiss that stupid grin off your face. He shakes his head, clearing the thoughts.

“Not at all, enjoy with whoever you want.” He plasters on a fake smile.

You narrow your eyes coyly, a hint of laughter sparkling in them, “So you won't mind if this is for Eddie” you hold up the film in your hand, the cover of ‘Sixteen Candles’ displayed on the front.

“Didn’t realise Munson was the Chick flick type”

“No, but maybe you are?”

“What are you trying to say?” He asks with a grin.

“They’re asking you out, stupid” calls Robin from the back. Steve slams the door to the back room shut, his cheeks flaming red.

Your eyebrows are raised questioningly, “so?”

“I’m more of a Footloose kinda guy” he smirks, “but that’ll do.” He takes your hand in his, leading you out of the shop, leaving Robin to shut up alone but she’ll allow it just this one time if it ‘stops you moping around every week till friday.’

tagging some people who might be interested but no pressure to interact: @x-lulu @sortagaysortahigh @thisismynerdyself

[multifandombitxh]

What Happens in the Upside Down

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem! Reader

Genre: Angst/fluff

Warnings: mentions of blood, violence, and death, slight nudity

Requested by Anonymous: hello! could you write an eddie munson x reader where eddie thinks the reader is dead or something but it turns out she’s not?? sorry if it sounds weird 🙃

A/N: Definitely took this and ran with it lol, a little more in-depth than intended but I hope you like it anon!♥️♥️♥️

Eddie sat on the edge of a nearby rock, his head hanging in his hands and warm, unrelenting tears streaming down his cold cheeks. He had only turned his back on you for a second- only a second- but in the Upside Down, a second was all it took to disappear. One minute he was releasing your hand to rub his tired eyes, and when he reached out to you again, you were gone.

Panic immediately set in the moment he realized you weren't with him anymore. After a few attempts of calling out to you and yelling for the others to turn around, he heard you in the distance. A scream so loud and so excruciating came from somewhere deep in the trees, causing Eddie to go pale in the face and his blood run cold.

Following the sounds of your painful cries, Steve and Eddie both dashed into the woods with Robin and Nancy in tow. After what felt like centuries, your screams abruptly halted, which was somehow more terrifying than hearing them in the first place.

They searched as best as they could until Nancy happened upon a clearing where she found splatters of crimson littering the dead and decaying foliage. Steve had pulled Eddie away from the scene while Nancy and Robin searched around, trying to talk sense into him. He was already hysterical at the sight; completely inconsolable and riddled with guilt. Steve kept trying to bring him back, but to no avail.

Eddie was convinced you were gone.

"We're gonna find her, okay?" Steve had said, firmly gripping Eddie's shoulders. "I swear to you, we are not leaving without her."

Eddie took no comfort in his words; he knew the truth in his heart. He collapsed on a nearby boulder, his emotions taking over and making it nearly impossible to breathe. How could he be so stupid? How could he do something like that in a place like this? His mind swirled with endless blame that showed no signs of stopping.

"Come on, dude," Steve said, "The longer we sit around, the longer it'll take to find her."

"What if we can't find her?" Eddie sniffled, "You know what the monsters in here can do. You've seen it, they did it to you. She's gone, man, I just- I know it- I-"

Steve sat beside Eddie on the rock, placing a hand on his back and giving him a solid pat as sobs shook his frame. "We don't know that yet. Until I see a body, I'm not convinced. She's out there, we just have to find her. But we have to keep it together, yeah?"

Though he didn't believe a word Steve was saying, he nodded, wiping away his tears on the back of his dirty hand. Steve helped him to his feet, patting him on the back a few more times and ushering him back to the clearing. Against his better judgement Eddie's eyes wandered to the spot where they found the blood, his heart rate spiking at the sight.

"Don't look," Steve instructed, guiding Eddie away from the scene. "Let's just find the girls and get the hell out of here."

"Hey, guys!" Robin called out from the edge of the woods, "I found something!"

The group hurried over to Robin, all taking notice of the trail of blood that led through the woods. It was bright against the dead plant life, almost like a beacon that would lead them straight to an answer. The problem was, Eddie wasn't sure he wanted an answer. If you were dead, there was no telling the state they would find you in. The thought alone made his stomach turn over.

"I think if we follow this, we might find her," Robin said, a little out of breath. "Right? That makes the most sense, doesn't it?"

"Could be a trap," Steve said, tapping his foot against the ground and placing his hands on his hips. "I don't like this. We need to find another way."

"You're the one who said we need to find her," Eddie said.

"I know, and we will," Steve said, holding up his palms defensively. "We just need to be smart about this."

"Y/N is out there, Steve," Nancy said, her tone scolding. "This is the only lead we have. She's out there and we are going to find her, trap or not. You can stay here if you want, but we're going."

Nancy and Robin both began to follow the trail, watching their footing as they stepped over dead vines and thorny branches. Eddie was hot on their heels, with Steve reluctantly trailing close behind. Soon they had all slowed to a steady pace so they could keep track of where the trail went. Robin led the search party, spotting patches of blood or gaps in the plant life that showed signs of disturbance.

Before long, the four emerged out of the woods to find themselves at an empty looking warehouse. It towered over them like a bad omen, the clouds in the sky swirling and churning above it. A broken chain link fence stood between them and the building, almost like a warning to turn back.

"I'm serious, guys," Steve sighed, "Something has to be using Y/N as bait. If we go in there, there's no telling what's on the other side."

While the others were busy discussing the best course of action, Eddie was lost in his thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking about how much he never got to tell you. How he never got to tell you just how pretty you looked when you were singing along to your favorite music, or how absolutely irresistible you were when you danced around in his kitchen. You were his best friend, but God, he wanted so much more than that.

Just before everything happened and his life was turned completely on its head, Eddie was planning on telling you how he truly felt. He was going to make it so romantic; taking you to Lovers Lake at night to watch the stars, playing your favorite music through his van, wearing his best cologne. He thought about how he wanted to kiss you under the night sky so tenderly, so passionately that it made his cheeks burn at the thought. Eddie was prepared to move onto the next chapter of his life, and he wanted to do it with you at his side.

Now, he feared he would never get that chance.

"Okay, you know what, fine," Steve said, breaking Eddie out of his thoughts. "But I'm taking the lead from here on out, got it?"

The whole party agreed and followed Steve toward the warehouse, squeezing through a gap in the fence and quickly rushing through the open parking lot. The blood trail had become less and less prominent as they approached the door to the warehouse, but no one could really say whether it was good or bad. With bated breath, the four made their way inside the pitch black building.

Steve decided to pair up with Nancy to look around, leaving Eddie with Robin. They searched one side of the warehouse while Steve and Nancy searched the other, hoping to cover more ground. Eddie ascended a set of creaking metal stairs, taking his time to avoid making too much sound.

"Hey, listen," Robin said in a whisper as she followed, "I know that you and Y/N are like, really close and all, but I was just curious about something."

"Yeah? What's that?" Eddie asked, picking up a stray metal pipe. Flakes of rust peeled off of it and stuck to his damp skin, making him clean his hand off on his jeans. He figured if there was something in there with them, he could at least use it as a weapon.

"Are you guys, like... together?" Robin asked with a hint of hesitation.

"Together, how?"

"I mean," She went on, "Like, are you dating?"

Eddie paused his footsteps at her question, feeling his heart squeeze in his chest. "No, we're not."

"But, you want to be, right?" Robin pressed, "It's just, I see you guys always being really like, affectionate and stuff. I guess I just thought it was an official thing."

"I wanted it to be," He admitted, "I really, really wanted it to be. I've never known anyone like her, she's everything I've ever wanted. But now..."

"We'll find her," Robin said, giving Eddie a small, reassuring smile. "I was just wondering because, well, she kind of told me a while back that she had feelings for you. I didn't know if maybe you guys were like, secretly together or something."

"Wait, she said that?" Eddie asked, turning to face Robin. "When did she say that?"

"Long time ago," Robin half laughed, "Probably like two or three years now. You're all she talks about when you're not around. That's why I thought you guys were official. It's kind of annoying sometimes honestly, she just talks about you and your club and your hair and-"

"I didn't know," Eddie interrupted, his chest tightening. "Why wouldn't she tell me?"

Robin paused, pursing her lips before responding. "She was scared."

"Of what? Of me?"

"She was scared of losing you," She went on, "She told me that if you ever found out how she felt about you, it would completely ruin your friendship or something. She made me swear on my life I wouldn't tell anyone. Like, blood-pact type shit. It was kind of scary."

"Why are you just telling me now?" Eddie asked.

"Just in case," She said simply, "Anyway, we should probably keep moving. It smells awful in here and my feet are killing me."

After a few minutes of finding nothing but decay and vines, Steve called out into the warehouse for Robin and Eddie to come to them. As quickly as they could, they rushed down the noisy stairs to the other side of the room. They followed the sound of Steve's voice into a closed off portion of the big open space where a wall had crumbled down to reveal a boiler room. Inside sat Nancy and Steve, both hovering over something.

Eddie could swear time stopped.

"Hey, Y/N, can you hear me?" Steve was saying, crouched down on the floor. Eddie's heart sank as he recognized your limp body laying before Steve, his stomach churning. There was blood coating your jeans and shoes, making him feel ever sicker than before. For the first time he noticed all of the dark, thick puddles of black goo that were scattered around near you. He followed them with his eyes and shivered when he realized they were still wet.

"Y/N, you need to wake up, come on," Steve said, clapping his hands above your face. Nancy was on the other side of you, applying pressure to a wound that had painted your shirt in bright red.

"No," Eddie whispered, "Please, not like this."

He dropped to his knees at your side as Steve moved out of the way. Nancy helped him lift you into his arms, your head on his bicep and your body in his lap. As Nancy was trying to stop your wound from bleeding, Eddie was cradling you like you were made of glass. In a way, that was how it felt to him; you could shatter at any moment and he would have no way to stop it.

Robin knelt down to help Nancy with your wound, the both of them chattering away about how to get it to stop quickly. Eddie couldn't hear anything, all he could hear was a ringing sound in his ears that grew louder and louder the longer you were motionless in his arms. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to yours, tears flowing from his eyes and splashing against your cheeks.

"Please," He begged in a whisper, "I need you to come back to me, Y/N. There's so much we need to do together. I had so many plans. I never got to show you how special you are to me. I love you, I love you so fucking much. Please, princess, please wake up."

You lay motionless in his arms, his words having fallen on deaf ears. Sobs wracked his body as he clung to you, unable to hold back the agonizing cries that ripped their way from his throat. His whole world had fallen apart, taken from him in just a matter of days, and now he was losing you, too. As he was letting his emotions out, he felt something brush against his cheek, startling him into opening his eyes.

Your hand had reached up and connected with his cheek, blood smearing against his cold skin. When he looked down at you again, your eyes slowly fluttered open and your mouth turned up in a weak smile.

"You're getting my face wet," You whined, your words cracking and your voice hoarse.

The air left Eddie's lungs and he cupped the side of your face, wiping the tears off of your cheeks. Nancy seemed to have been able to stop the bleeding using Robin's jacket as they were now leaning back, giving the two of you some space. You coughed harshly, turning to cover your mouth against Eddie's chest. He didn't mind one bit as you sputtered and coughed blood onto his favorite shirt; he was just so happy you were alive.

"What happened?" He asked cradling the back of your head.

You struggled to sit up but managed with some help, finally able to open your eyes enough to look around at everyone.

"Something just... Grabbed me," You explained, "Something grabbed me and covered my mouth, and then I was just flying backwards through the trees. I... I tried to fight it. But I couldn't see anything."

The group watched in awe as you began to form tears of your own. "It was so strong, and it felt like it was ripping into my skin while it was dragging me back."

You looked down at your bloodied torso before you continued. "It carried me back here and it was just so dark, I couldn't even see what it was. I just remember being thrown down on the ground and something towering over me. It made this-"

You swallowed hard and squeezed your eyes shut before you continued.

"It made this awful noise," You went on, curling in against Eddie as you detailed the events. "I didn't know what to do, so I just... I grabbed something. I couldn't even tell what it was, but it was heavy, so I started swinging at it until I hit it. I think it gave up, because it ran away after I clocked it a few times. After that, everything just went dark."

"Whatever it was, you probably pissed it off, and it'll come back," Steve said, "We gotta get out of here, now."

Steve and Eddie helped you to your feet, Eddie supporting most of your weight while the group made their way out of the building. The plan was to head to the Wheeler's house, but it took a lot longer now that both you and Steve were injured. You took your time, but still tried to move quickly to avoid any more incidents.

When you made it to Nancy's home, Robin had the idea to check the bathrooms to see if any first-aid supplies were in cabinets or drawers. Steve and Nancy went into her parents bathroom while you and Eddie took the hallway bathroom, where he set you down on the side of the bathtub and began searching for anything that might be helpful.

"Hey, Eddie?" You asked, your eyes squinting to see him in the darkness.

"Yeah?" He asked as he pulled some bandages out of a drawer on the sink. He motioned for you to sit up and knelt in front of you, unraveling the bandages and helping you lift your shirt over your head. You could swear you heard his breath catch in his throat.

Whether it was the fact that you were half naked, or the fact that you had a massive gash stretching across your ribs, you weren't sure; but either way, Eddie couldn't seem to look you in the eye.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" You asked, wincing as he began wrapping the bandages around you.

"What did I say earlier?" He asked in return.

You smiled and leaned forward a bit, your noses nearly touching. "That you love me."

"Oh," Eddie cleared his throat, "You heard that, huh?"

"I heard everything," You confessed with a small shrug, "I was waking up while Steve was clapping in my face like a seal. Kinda hard not to."

The air in the dark room became tense, something you expected. Eddie seemed shy regarding his confession, his gaze lowered and his hands busy patching you up. Having lost your patience, you grabbed his hand to halt his movements and let one of your hands come to rest on his jaw. This seemed to work as he stopped to meet your gaze, his eyebrows drawn together causing worried wrinkles to form on his forehead.

"Do you really love me, Eddie?" You asked in a soft voice.

Eddie sucked in a sharp breath at your question, his eyes squeezing shut as if he was bracing himself for the worst. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. So much."

Smiling widely, you leaned forward and captured his lips in a sweet kiss, completely catching him off guard. It only lasted a few seconds as you broke the kiss to lean back and gauge Eddie's reaction. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at you with a deep, longing look in his eyes- almost like he was ready to pounce on you right then and there.

Honestly, if you weren't in unbelievable amounts of pain, you probably would've let him.

He connected his lips to yours in a deeper kiss, his hands coming to rest on either side of your neck. Your hands found their way to his jacket, grabbing fistfuls of the leather and pulling him closer. Eddie sighed through his nose as he kissed you, his shoulders relaxing and his hands carefully caressing your bare skin. The sound of the others coming out into the hallway made you break apart, smiling at each other before Eddie finished bandaging you up and helping you put your shirt back on.

Steve poked his head through the doorway to tell you both that they'd be in Nancy's room, immediately darting away when he was done. The two of you shared a laugh before lacing your hands together. When you pressed a soft kiss to Eddie's cheek, he thought his heart was going to burst.

"I love you, too, by the way."

[urfactual]

(Adding my comments onto here for easy reblog purposes)

I’d even go as far as to say Eddie’s queer journey started all the way back in 4.13, with Carla telling Eddie to follow his heart and not Christophers, which was a contrast to how she approached Shannon (“ a boy needs his mother in his life”). I’m firmly in the belief that he had his “oh” moment when he was shot, because he reached for Buck, and knew that if he could get to Buck/Buck was safe, he would be okay. But he repressed it due to all the trauma that lingers. You can see part of that repression in 6.12, when Buck asks if Eddie remembers anything. I wouldn’t necessarily say Eddie was being dishonest about what he remembers (repression is a hell of a drug), but he was avoidant in that moment, while being open. (Sort of like “I’ll tell you a small secret to keep the bigger one hidden.” )

The biggest sticking out point to me for an earlier development is the Eddieana breakup. Putting aside the rumours that that was originally the start of his arc, the way the entire thing was framed was extremely telling, from the dialogue being word for word from Dani in THOBM, to the costume colours and the poses themselves. While they’re breaking up, Eddie is closed off, holding himself together and trying not to break down. He admits that he will never love Ana the way he’s supposed to, and the ‘ready-made’ family excuse is just that: an excuse. He had been dating Ana for roughly 7-8 months at this point, so he should be open to letting her in, even just a bit, but he’s not. On the other hand, he let Buck in easily, and repeatedly, forming a quicker made family than that with Ana, yet he has no issues with this. This is the point where he’s finally starting to realize something is ‘wrong’ with him.

The panic attacks was never just about his trauma from the military, in fact—it wasn’t brought on by that at all past the panic in S3. Eddie panics both times in 5.01-5.03 because someone assumes Ana plays a larger role in his life (Christopher’s mother/his wife) than she actually does, and instead of correcting them, he panics, and has a freeze response. There’s no need for this if it was just about Ana’s role being assumed further, he could easily correct them, but the mere idea of it makes him scared. This even goes all the way back to Shannon, and the pressure of marrying her and subsequently ‘running away’ from her. (Imo, I think while they may have wanted to do the ptsd arc at some point, the shut down from his queer arc was the reason it was done that season.) We then have Eddie’s breakdown, and while part of it is because his colleagues are dead and he has survivors guilt, another part of it is because he ‘failed’ once more. He believes he is broken, that his job of saving people is not worth it because it doesn’t replace the people he loses. He couldn’t make his parents happy, he couldn’t make Shannon stay, he couldn’t save Shannon, or Buck, or Chris, or Buck again. He almost didn’t save Hayden—nearly died trying—he lost Ana, and now his crew, the people he saved, he never actually did. He pulled them out, but he didn’t save them, and I think that is something he believes 100% about himself, that no matter how hard he tries to fix himself, to get better, to save himself, he never can. All he does is fail.

(The point above about failing, I’ll circle back to, because it’s important with Kim). Eddie gets better, he thinks everything is okay, and then Buck dies. But unlike Buck, Eddie can’t save him, can’t help no matter how hard he tries, regulated to driving instead of helping. It isn’t until the last minute he has with Buck is he able to push air back into his lungs and blood back into his heart, does Eddie finally ‘win’. But even then, it’s not enough. It was very very telling how much Eddie looked like a grieving widow while Buck was in his coma. It hit him that he’ll live in a world without Buck, and if Buck doesn’t live, neither will Eddie. Going back to the shooting, if Eddie can just get to Buck, if he knows Buck is safe, he’ll be safe. This is when I believe his “oh” moment comes slamming back full force. He cannot live without Buck, and so what the hell does that mean? What role does Buck play in his life? Before he can question it, ask Buck, and figure it out, along comes Natalia and “she sees me” and Eddie looking at Buck with such a look of hurt, because here is Eddie, the man who sees him, the man who saved him, but Buck isn’t his. This leads into Pepa pushing Eddie to date so that he won’t be alone. Eddie doesn’t want to be alone, he wants Buck, but he can’t have him, so there is Marisol. She’s another perfect on paper woman to fit the roles that have been set out from him day one. Rules and orders he has to follow, a man he needs to be.

That leads into your point about Marisol and the nun arc, him fighting his catholic guilt, losing his son, etc. Back to Kim however, Eddie sees Shannon, sees how he failed her, and tries to do better. It was never about actually dating her, it was about finding and fixing the only love he knew worked: Shannon. But whether he’s realized it now or not, Shannon wasn’t that. They lived apart longer than they did together, they fought more than they didn’t, they left each other, and on and on. He’s romanticizing a relationship he knows doesn’t exist, but it’s better than looking inward on why exactly he’s doing that. Buck catches him, and like Buck does, he steps in and he helps. He nudges on that Door, and while Eddie doesn’t want to open it yet, he knows that if he doesn’t listen to Buck, Buck will open it for him. The thing about this door though, is it’s bursting at the hinges, and that moment where Christopher says “mom?” it all explodes open.

Now Eddie’s at the point in his life where everything is gone, destroyed, and broken. He is broken, and he hurts everything he touches. And instead of picking up everything, putting it back neatly, he ignores it. Tries to sweep it under the rug. The only reason he’s getting away with it is because the two constants in his life are gone. Christopher—his heart—is gone. He irreparably broke them, and his parents swooped in and nothing he does can fix it. He’s failed Christopher over and over, but this time it’s permanent. He proved his parents right. Buck—his north star—is pulling back. Eddie is likely the reason why, not wanting to burden Buck, because he’s the reason another person left him, and he can’t face that. Buck is trying, but Eddie is pushing him away in fear of breaking him too. But Eddie misses Buck, you can tell in every glance, the stares, and how quick he looks away when Buck’s eyes meet his. He’s now learnt new things about Buck, about his new friend Tommy, and that’s making him think about himself, and again, what Buck means to him.

He has nothing to hide behind now. His son is gone, an elephant in the room with Buck, and his best friend, and his new discovery, is the Issue. It’s why he’s opening up to Chimney and Hen more, why he’s likely to open up to Bobby soon. He can’t talk to Buck because Buck knows him so well, and he can’t deal with Buck seeing something he doesn’t understand himself.

i wonder if most of the pushback with regard to 8x05 comes from the fandom being so sure that eddie is going to figure out he’s gay before he shaves the mustache. i think that belief has led to there being this sense of ‘if gay eddie/buddie doesn’t happen now and like this then it’s never going to happen and we’re running out of time’, which isn’t true. i admittedly did get caught up how the fandom theorized episodes 5-7 would play out (bt fight and breakup in 5-6, gay eddie and mustache shaved in 6, possible feelings realization in 7) and felt disappointed with 8x05 because of that, but after rewatching the episode and reevaluating the expectations i had for it and why i even had them in the first place i feel a lot better about it. eddie’s arc is only just starting! we know the shaving scene is at the end of the next episode, and imo it would be extremely rushed for eddie to realize he’s gay within that time frame based on what we’ve seen from him so far. eddie has clearly been thinking a lot about the situation he’s in but his sense of self is still wrapped up in being a father. my guess now is that he will confide in someone about feeling completely lost without christopher in his life and the mustache being a manifestation of that, and they will tell him that altering his physical appearance isn’t the solution he needs to change his circumstances and encourage him to figure out who he is outside of being a father. the synopsis for 8x06 says a call dealing with a divorced man will open old wounds, so if that's about eddie then i think that he will likely also confess to shannon wanting a divorce and how he’s been lying to himself about the true nature of their marriage and the effect that lie has had on all his subsequent romantic relationships. shaving off the mustache will be what kickstarts his self-discovery arc instead of being the moment he accepts his sexuality like i’d thought previously.

as far as the bt breakup goes — if the show does end up going the route of tommy being abby’s ex and that striking a nerve with buck, i think that could be the catalyst that allows him the freedom to admit all the other things about tommy/the relationship that he dislikes but has so far disregarded in an effort to make the relationship work. the comments buck made in 8x05 (“oh so i am gross?” and “my own boyfriend won’t even kiss me”) point toward him feeling dissatisfied and frustrated with tommy. i also wanted to add on to what the other anons have said about bt’s lack of intimacy and say that i find it to be apparent in the dialogue as well. what stuck out the most to me about the daddy issues joke last season was that although buck and tommy had been seeing each other for a couple months and were presumably fucking, tommy still says “god i hope so” instead of something like “i know you do” which would have established a sense of familiarity between the two. everything about the way they’re physically positioned in scenes and how they speak to each other shows that the writers are not interested in developing tommy or the relationship beyond what’s strictly necessary.

also! something i liked about the episode was how it showcased how much trust and respect buck has for eddie versus how little he cares for tommy’s input. tommy and eddie both tried to talk buck out of believing he’d been cursed, but he only relented because of eddie (the pointed “if you say so”). even tommy recognized that he was incapable of swaying buck and deferred to eddie (“listen to the medic”). buck protested when tommy called him out for picking his skin but quieted when eddie backed him up. tommy doesn’t know best, eddie does. also the way buck kept talking about billy boils despite tommy’s multiple (very condescending and patronizing!) attempts at getting him to stop… buck does not like that man lol

Thank you for sending me such a thought-provoking message. I love this post entirely, but I have one small correction regarding your first piece about Eddie’s journey. From my perspective, it's misconception that Eddie’s gay discovery hasn’t started. I always thought the Buddie feelings realization theories were too fast, too soon since they would be a core couple, and like Chimney and Maddie before, their romantic development would happen spread across the season. However, we’ve been watching Eddie’s gay discovery storyline unfold the moment he said “Tommy’s gay?”, learned he and Buck were on a date, then instead of breaking up, stayed with Marisol. So I don’t believe it’d be rushed if he has a small realization that he keeps privately to himself. Otherwise, I agree with you and all your thoughts.

I don’t want to simply reword everything you said about Buck and Tommy. I will also add that Buck likely believes he owes Tommy their relationship since he’s his first gay relationship. Buck has once remained in a relationship under obligation (Taylor Kelly after they said “I love you”). And he has never made the same mistake twice in his relationships.

[specterchasing-a]

Eddie Carridine & Dani Edwards

A first attempt at analyzing Eddie’s relationships.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Depression, suicidal ideations (in the form of disregard for their own lives), and generally heavy topics such as loneliness and death.

At first glance, Eddie and Dani don’t seem to have much in common. She’s a dedicated slayer with a strict code, someone who values the importance of supernatural secrecy above almost all else. He’s a loose-lipped kid with a camera, preaching about how wonderful supernatural beings are. Needless to say, they clash—hard, but dig a little deeper than surface level and these two have more in common than they might ever know.

SOCIAL LIVES

Dan’s moms kept her on a rigid training schedule with little room for interpersonal relationships to develop. Eddie’s parents, albeit with vastly different motivations behind their actions, tried their best to keep him quiet and obedient. As one would assume, this kinda fucked them both up in a major way. Neither is particularly well-versed in navigating social situations, though that disadvantage presents itself in different ways between them. Dani keeps her emotions to herself and prefers to keep people at arm’s length while Eddie throws himself at whoever shows him an ounce of kindness. Different, yet alike, you feel me?

VIEWS ON DEATH

As a slayer, Dani’s gift is death (sorry, not sorry, for the Buffy reference) and Eddie, being a medium, has been surrounded by death since childhood. They cope with grief in different ways but both view death as something inevitable, maybe they even think that’s a good thing. Dani’s purpose is to die for the sake of humanity. If she doesn’t, she’s a failure. Eddie believes he doesn’t have a purpose outside of shepherding the dead and exposing the truth. Beyond that, he’s just a corpse waiting to happen. Neither Dani or Eddie view death as something to be afraid of. It is what it is, and it’ll probably come sooner rather than later.

STUBBORNNESS 

Yes, Eddie and Dani hold directly opposing views on the subject of supernatural secrecy but, more than that, they’re both assholes about it in the same way. When they first reunited at the grocery store and Dani saved Eddie’s life, Eddie blew up at her. He told her exactly what he thought and didn’t pull punches. It was not the first time Dani had been assaulted with narrow-minded stupidity and probably wouldn’t be the last. Initially, she bit back as she asserted her own views. Neither listened to the other, not really. Both of them were dead-set on believing the other was wrong, leaving no room for growth or understanding. They were like two unfortunately similar magnets pushing each other away.

IDEALS

Another instance of Dani and Eddie being alike, yet different can be seen in what motivates their actions. Clearly, they go about things with oppositional methods, but they are both driven by a need to make the world a safer place. Dani, rough-n-tough slayer that she is, is more interested in protecting humans and ridding the world of supernatural threats. By doing her job, she literally makes the streets of White Crest safer for its squishy, mortal  inhabitants. Eddie, on the other hand, wants the world to be safer for supernatural beings. He sees them as outcasts with targets on their backs, bogged down by unwarranted prejudices and falsely spun bad reputations. In his idea of utopia we’d all hold hands while we sing ‘We Are The World’ and outgrow things like murder and human sacrifice. If you ask me, neither of them have realistic expectations for how the world should treat supernaturals, but what matters is that they firmly believe they’ve got it all figured out and that the rest of the population needs to catch up with their massive brains. I realize this echoes a lot of what I said about their stubbornness but this is my impassioned rant about two idiots and I’ll be redundant if I want to.

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Dani, considering she was raised to be a murder machine with a quickly approaching expiration date, doesn’t see love as a possibility for herself. For other people? Sure, but such luxuries shouldn’t be wasted on someone with a terminal birthright. Eddie, though this is quickly changing in lieu of his budding relationship with Alfie, never saw himself as someone who would fall in love either. Because of repression and guilt, he wanted to be right, too. Romantic love, whatever shape it took, was wonderful for everyone else. Let them fall into each other’s arms and make five-year plans together, Eddie would keep himself busy memorizing gravestones. Love scared him, so he left it alone. From what I can tell, Dani’s not scared of love—it’s just inconceivable to think she might experience it. Still, recent growth on Eddie’s part aside, they used to both be resigned to going through life alone.

LONELINESS

Okay, yeah, they’re resigned to going through life alone but, unfortunately for them, human beings are social creatures. Dani, I believe, might not always be aware of how much she needs other people but, at times, she reads as an exceptionally lonely character. On dash, characters have reached out to her after crises and her initial responses were always heartfelt and, most importantly, crossed out. Her first instinct is to show affection and concern because she does, in fact, know on some level that she needs people in her life but… that’s not supposed to be in the cards for her. Dani shelves her unfeigned distress in favor of lukewarm receptions. Some exceptions might be with Athena or a few other characters at times but, for the most part, Dani tends to isolate herself.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Eddie. If someone says so much as one nice thing about him, he’s prepared to commit atrocities in their name. He’s not shy about it, either. He loves deeply and without prejudice. Recently, people have shown up in his life that give him countless chances to show-off how much devotion spills out of his heart on a daily basis. But it wasn’t always like that. For most of Eddie’s life, the majority of people he met made him feel like a freak. High school was hell for him, not that he’s unique for that. His fellow students tormented and ostracized him, his parents wanted nothing to do with him, and he struggled for a long-time trying to figure out how to love himself when no one else seemed to. That particular obstacle is still an issue but it’s thankfully becoming more manageable. However, even with new friends and old relationships being galvanized, it’s hard for him to believe the past won’t infect the present and future. Yesterday’s heartache comes back to him in aftershocks of loneliness and fear. No matter what, Eddie cannot  completely escape feeling alone. So, he and Dani sadly have that in common as well.

[nighting-gale17]

eddie begins

haha forgot i wrote this lmao. anywho i wanted to add some badass buck but i didn’t wanna take away from eddies moment and strength so this came about! hope yall enjoy it <3 keep your eyes peeled for a part 2 eventually with dealing with the aftermath

Also HERE ON AO3

“Cap,” Buck rushed down the stairs when he spotted Bobby walking by, his heart still beating too fast and his hands shaky with lingering adrenaline. He practically bounced over to Bobby’s side, his brain focused on one goal and one goal only. “Cap, we gotta go dig.”

Bobby sighed, his dirt-streaked face pained as he continued walking out onto the porch with Buck at his side. “We don't have a drill, Buck, and even if we could get another one up here, their access road is flooded.” He stopped when they met with Chimney on the porch, a look on his face that Buck chose to ignore, because if he didn’t—

“Okay, well, then we dig by hand!” Buck answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He tried to rein back his frustration, he knew Bobby was just trying to do his job as Captain, but every second they spent debating this up here and not doing something was another second that Eddie could be—Buck inhaled sharply and shook himself. He couldn’t even say the words in his own goddamned head.

“Not with all this rain,” Chimney spoke up, almost yelling to be heard over the noise of the storm raging around them. There was concern and sympathy in his eyes, too close to the look Bobby was getting him and Buck had to look away. “It could trigger another collapse.”

“How long could he last down there?” Buck quietly demanded of the engineer that had walked up to them.

The engineer looked between him and Bobby before sighing helplessly. “We’re talking thirty feet of wet earth. It fell right down on top of him.”

There was nothing but silence that answered his words. Buck finally looked up, surprised to see the entire team staring at him with varying looks of concern and hesitation written over their features. The realization at that moment hit him like a bag of bricks to his chest, the force of it almost making him take a step back as he looked from Chimney to Bobby, his eyes beginning to burn with unshed tears. “You all think he’s dead.” he breathed out, practically choking on the words as they came out of his mouth.

He saw Chimney and Hen exchange looks from the corner of his eye but his gaze was focused on Bobby. There was regret and grief on his face—had been, for a while, Buck realized, he just hadn’t wanted to accept it for what it was. “Buck…” he said slowly, using the same voice he always used whenever he was trying to calm down Buck from another horrific nightmare. “Listen, Eddie’s been down there—”

“And he’s still alive!” Buck snapped, a fiery anger flaring in his chest, the flames licking around the edges of his words. “I-I can’t believe you guys. It’s Eddie! He’s still down there, and we need to—”

“Buck.” Bobby cut him off, grasping Buck’s arms tightly. “This is a recovery operation now, Buck.” Sorrow and grief darkened his eyes, his face blurring in Buck’s vision as tears started to drip down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, there’s no way he could have survived that. He’s gone, Buck. He’s gone.”

He’s gone.

Buck didn’t even realize the haunting wail that cut through the night was coming from his own mouth until there were steady arms wrapping around him and gentle hands cradling the back of his head. Tears streamed down his face as he clung to Bobby’s uniform, barely able to the comforting murmurs in his ear over his own body-wracking sobs. His heart felt like it was just torn out of his chest. He was forced to watch as hope was crushed and beaten until there was nothing left but an empty chasm in his chest that ached with every breath he took.

“He can’t be gone, Bobby, he can’t be gone, bring him back.” Buck pleaded desperately through his sobs. “Bring him back! Bring him back, please, bring him back to me.”

“I can’t, Buck,” Bobby’s voice cracked with grief, and somehow, that just made it worse. “I can’t bring him back. He’s gone, son, I’m sorry.”

“No!” Buck sobbed, shoving Bobby away forcefully enough that the older man stumbled back several steps. Buck glared at the rest of his team through his tears, his voice cracking as he yelled, “He’s not—dead.” The word came out choked, bringing with it a fresh wave of terror and anger. “He can’t—”

There could be some intersecting feeder pipes down there, maybe some drainage tunnels. 

The commissioner’s struck through his brain like lightning and Buck felt himself freeze with the weight of the realization. The reservoir. The reservoir was only just down the hill. And the drainage tunnels—if Eddie was in the tunnels, then that could mean—

A detached feeling of calm suddenly settled over Buck and he spun around and started marching towards the trucks, ignoring the calls of his team from behind him. Water pelted him, stinging his face with the force and cold but Buck could barely feel it. He had a single-minded focus right now, with only one goal. The feeling was eerily similar to the state of mind he would fall into during SEALs training—the one that had frightened him away—but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered until he got Eddie back in his arms.

Buck tore off his helmet, discarding somewhere on the ground without care. He shouldered his way past firefighters he didn’t recognize as he got to the truck and quickly shrugged off his turnout coat. The process of putting the oxygen tank on and ensuring the equipment was functioning properly, grabbing the correct equipment to dive into the reservoir passed in a blur. It wasn’t until he started heading down to the reservoir that he heard Bobby’s voice crackling over his radio. 

“Buck, where are you going?” the Captain asked, worry in his voice.

“The drainage tunnels underneath us connect to the reservoir.” Buck answered. His voice sounded strange to his own ears—off, somehow, devoid of emotion. “I’m going down there and I’m bringing Eddie back. I’m not asking, Cap.”

There was no answer from the radio as Buck continued his walk down to the reservoir. He didn’t care. Eddie was alive down there and he needed Buck’s help—he’d be damned if he let his best friend drown 40 feet below him without doing anything to help. He’d just discarded his extra gear along the edge of the water when he heard Chimney’s voice shouting for him.

“You’re not stopping me.” Buck warned, a bite to his words that he couldn’t bring himself to reel in.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Buckaroo.” Chimney said, and Buck startled when he felt a harness wrap around him and he glanced back, noting the long line and the multiple firefighters rushing down toward them. “You find him, then tug on this three times and we’ll pull you back up.”

Buck nodded, suddenly unable to speak over the lump of emotion in his throat.

“Hey.”

Chimney’s voice made him look up and he was surprised to see the heavy emotion on his face—grief, worry, determination—and even more surprised when Chimney pulled him into a tight hug. “You come back. I can’t lose another brother tonight.”

They both ignored the tears on their cheeks when they pulled back and Buck nodded as he adjusted the harness across his chest. “We’re not losing anyone tonight.” he said firmly before turning and walking into the water, keeping his breathing deep and even as he put on the oxygen mask and dived below the surface. 

The water was dark and murky around him as he carefully scanned the water with his flashlight, searching for any sign of Eddie or the tunnels that were suspected to be under the reservoir. He didn’t see anything, so he dove deeper. That’s when he saw it—to his left, there was a tunnel reaching out in the direction Buck had just come from.

Hope.

“Found the tunnel. Going in.” Buck radioed before he swam through the water into the tunnel with renewed vigor. The water was the opposite of clear—but as Buck shined his light through it, he could see it continued on and seemed to grow wider as their depth increased.

Please, please be here, Buck thought to himself as he swam. He refused to believe Eddie was dead after the collapse. His best friend was smart, resourceful and he had something to fight and come home to—he would make it. 

He had to make it.

The thought of even trying to navigate his life now without Eddie by his son was impossible. He’d so seamlessly fit into the family unit of Christopher and Eddie that it was his life now. It was a life he’d been craving for his entire life and now that he found it, he refused to let go of it. The world was going to have to pry it out of his clenched hands if they even wanted to try, and Buck would protect it as if it was the most precious thing in his life.

He remembered the first time he had met Eddie. God, he’d been so jealous of the easy way he’d seemed to fit into the family Buck had made for himself at the 118, completely convinced that his presence would kick Buck out of the only family he’d known. But then, something happened. Buck still couldn’t put his finger on what it was that changed, but as soon as they shook hands, Buck knew he was all in—one hundred percent. Then he’d found out about Christopher and, God, that kid, whether he knew it or not, have pulled Buck out of some of the darkest and most dangerous places he’d ever gone. He was like a beam of sunshine that chased away all the storm clouds in Buck’s mind and replaced them with love and family and happiness.

No. The world had taken too much from Buck. He refused to let it take this from him.

“Buck, anything yet?” Bobby’s voice crackled through the mic in his suit.

“Negative, Cap. I—wait. I think I see something.”

There, a few feet away, there was a green light shining through the water. Hope bursting through him, Buck swam faster through the tunnel. He wanted to cry in relief when he saw Eddie swimming through the water—relief so heavy, it took him more than a minute to realize Eddie’s oxygen tank was gone.

“Eddie.” his voice cracked as he swam up to the other man, hooking an arm around him and practically shoving the second oxygen mask into his mouth. Eddie went slack in Buck’s arms, clutching onto him just as tightly as Buck was holding him. When his eyes opened again, they were filled with relief, gratitude, and unshed tears that almost broke Buck’s resolve.

“Cap, I got him.” Buck radioed back, his voice thick with emotion. He pulled once, twice, three times on the line, arms secured tightly around Eddie’s torso as they were quickly pulled back to the surface.

Eddie was almost limp in his grasp but he had his arms locked tightly around Buck’s neck and the edge of the mask digging into the side of his neck. Eddie was here in Buck’s arms—bruised and bleeding but so gorgeously alive—and it was all Buck could do to keep himself together as they finally broke the surface and were dragged onto the shore.

Buck stumbled to his feet, Eddie’s arm slung around his shoulder as he carried the older man through the waist deep water. 

“Eddie? Eddie!” Bobby rushed toward them, wading through the water until he go to Eddie’s other side. “Hey, you okay?”

“Pretty cold,” Eddie answered. That much was obvious—his lips were tinged blue from lack of oxygen, his skin pale and clammy and he was shaking uncontrollably in Buck’s grip.

“Let’s get you checked out, buddy, so we can get you home.” Hen’s voice was filled with relief as they neared, both her and Chimney helping guide Eddie onto the stretcher they brought down with them.

“Yeah,” Eddie breathed out, his head lolling forward slightly as he let himself be carried away. “I got a big date Friday. I can’t miss it.”

Buck couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his chest, all nervous tension and relief—it was either that or he was going to start breaking down in tears. Of course, even after all this, Eddie’s only priority was making sure he could go to his kid’s show and tell at the end of the week.

It was just one of the things Buck loved about him.

They finally managed to get Eddie to sit on the gurney and it took both Buck and Bobby to strip Eddie of all his soaking clothes and quickly wrapped in the several layers of shock and heated blankets Chimney had prepared. Chimney knelt on the gurney while the rest of them pushed it back up to the ambulance and Buck didn’t takes his eyes off of them for a second.

Chimney attached an oxygen mask to Eddie’s face before he started carefully inspecting every inch of his head. “Knocked yourself pretty good there on your head.” he commented, gently parting through Eddie’s hair and shining a light on the side of his skull.

“Yeah.” Eddie mumbled the word like it took all his energy to speak. “Collapse. Think I—passed out. Don’t remember.”

Buck couldn’t help the stark fear that shot through him. That could mean any number of things—Eddie could have gotten a concussion, who knows how long he was out for, and there could be serious brain damage if something had happened inside his head that they couldn’t see or—

“Well, we’ll have them get a CT scan when we get to the hospital.” Chimney promised, his words for Eddie but his eyes met Buck’s. “You’ll be okay, buddy.”

By the time they had gotten to the ambulance, Eddie had stopped shaking quite so violently, laying down flat on the gurney wrapped up in a cocoon of warm blankets. But now he looked like he was two seconds away from falling asleep. His eyes kept slipping closed and Hen had to firmly rub his sternum to keep him awake. “Hey, no, you know the rules. No sleeping yet until we get you to the hospital.”

“Hey, Buck, keep him awake,” Hen asked, her eyes flicking up to meet his. He isn’t sure what she saw, but her expression softened and she motioned for him to get in the ambulance with them. “Come on. No one else can run their mouth like you can.”

Buck had been hovering just outside the ambulance—desperately trying to keep his eyes on Eddie while also trying to stay out of Hen and Chimney’s way—so he wasted no time in clambering into the ambulance, sitting across from Hen while Chimney kept an eye on the oxygen and Eddie’s vitals. Eddie’s eyes had slipped closed again and Buck grabbed his hand, tapping lightly on Eddie’s forehead like he did when he was playing around with Christopher. “Uh-uh. You heard the boss lady—no sleeping. Show me those pretty eyes.”

“Why, so I can look at your ugly mug?” Eddie rasped, the beginnings of a tired smile on his face as he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Buck.

Buck made a noise, pretending to be affronted by the jab, but he couldn’t help but feel relieved Eddie was still with it enough to tease him. “Hey—I’ll have you know many people find this ‘ugly mug’ extremely attractive.”

Eddie hummed in response, his hand tightening around Buck’s ever so slightly with a soft look in his eyes. “Look like Christopher.”

“Eds, you sure you didn’t hit your head too hard?” Chimney joked, a teasing grin on his face. “I think we can all agree Christopher is ten times cuter than Buckaroo over here.”

Eddie’s hand shakily reached up the top of Buck’s head, brushing gently over the wet curls that had fallen in his face. “Curls—like Christopher. Should grow ‘em out.”

Buck tried to ignore the flush in his cheeks when Eddie’s hand brushed over his cheek as it fell back down. “Not a chance. You know how awful curls are to manage?”

“For once, Buckaroo’s not wrong,” Hen agreed, smiling at him as she gently started wrapping a pretty nasty gash on Eddie’s arm. “Why do you think I opt for no hair at all?”

“Nobody rocks the look better than you, Hen,” Chimney said, sharing a grin with his partner for a brief moment. “Something tells me Buck wouldn’t look quite so amazing without those locks.” He paused after he said that, his face scrunching mockingly as if deep in thought. “Hey, you know what, bet that would give the rest of us a fairer chance.”

“Shut up, Chimney,” Buck laughed, letting some of the familiar banter loosen the tension he’d been carrying in his shoulders. “You’re already dating my sister, you don’t need a ‘fairer chance’.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I got the better of the Buckleys.” Chimney teased back, though he became a little distracted looking at something on Eddie’s screen.

“Nah…” Buck looked back down at Eddie when the older man weakly patted his knee. “Y’r the b’st…”

“Hen, his glucose levels are dropping.” Chimney warned, all trace of fun gone.

“Shit, we need to get him warmed up faster. Chimney, get him started on some warm IV fluids.” Hen said, before turning and digging around for something in one of the drawers. She tossed some to Buck, which he managed to catch with his hands before she hit him in the face. “It’s a heat pack. They need to go under his armpits, on his abdomen and groin if we want to get his core warmed back up.”

Buck took a shaky breath and nodded, breaking the heat pack and warming it up between his hands before placing one on Eddie’s groin underneath the blankets and another two on his abdomen and chest while Hen placed two under his armpits.

“Hey, Eddie, stay awake, buddy,” Buck firmly rubbed his knuckles against Eddie’s sternum to make him wake up. He only felt a small measure of relief when Eddie groaned softly and his eyes fluttered open. But now they were glassy and unfocused, flickering around as he stared at the top of the ambulance.

“Chief—two klicks down…” he mumbled, the rest of his words slurring into nonsense.

Buck looked up, panicked as he held tighter onto Eddie’s hand. “That’s the h-hypothermia, right? Making him confused?”

“Maybe.” Chimney agreed as he finished setting up Eddie’s new IV, a deep frown on his face. “But I’m worried about that bump he took to his head. He’s definitely going to need a CT scan when we get there to make sure it’s just a low-grade concussion.”

Buck’s gaze turned back down to Eddie, the frown on his face deepening as his panic grew. His best friend looked so small like this, covered from head to toe in shock and heated blankets, paler than a ghost. The blood from the cuts on his face stood out starkly, the red contrasting with the white in a way that made Buck’s stomach clench and blink back tears. He leaned forward, still holding Eddie’s hand, his other hand coming up to gently brush over his forehead. “You gotta stay with me, Eds,” he whispered pleadingly. “Christopher and I need you.”

“Chr’stpher?” His words were still slurred but his eyes seemed to get a little bit clearer when he blinked, finally managing to focus on Buck’s face.

“Yeah. Yeah, Christopher’s show and tell, remember?” Buck encouraged, his heart breaking a little at the confused look on Eddie’s face.

“D’nt ‘ry.” Eddie’s hand weakly reached up and pressed against Buck’s cheek, obviously too exhausted to do anything else. “M’Sorry.”

Buck exhaled heavily, closing his eyes for a brief moment as the tears he couldn’t hold back dripped down his cheeks. He was still terrified—his body still shaking a little with lingering panic and fear—and there was little reassuring about Eddie’s words at the moment. 

“I have a feeling you’re gonna be real sorry when you get warmed back up and Buck finishes preparing his lecture.” Hen butt in, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Buck tried to give her a weak smile but it falls flat when Eddie’s eyes slip shut again. Before he has time to freak out, though, they’ve arrived at the hospital and Buck is gently held back by Hen and Chimney while Eddie wheeled through the ER. “We gotta let them do their job, Buckaroo.” Hen murmured, placing a comforting hand on his chest to keep him back.

Buck couldn’t quite hold back the distressed noise that came from his throat when Eddie disappeared from view in the trauma bay.

Hen and Chimney had to go back to the ambulance but Buck refused to leave. He plopped himself in the corner of the waiting room in an uncomfortable chair and waited—uncaring of his damp clothes and the mud still drying on his turnout uniform. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes and tried to forget the sound of the well collapsing in his head.

God, Buck doesn’t think he’s ever been more terrified in his life—except for maybe when he lost Christopher when the tsunami first hit. He’d been prepared to spend hours digging Eddie out with his hands if that’s what it took. He knew it wasn’t logical, but, well, no one ever said love was logical. And Buck has been in love with Eddie for a long, long time.

He’s not entirely sure how long he zoned out for, sitting back up and staring at his shaky hands and leg bouncing annoyingly against the floor. But he startles a little when a hand lands on his shoulder and looks up to see Bobby standing in front of him—freshly out of uniform, looking just as exhausted and worried as Buck felt. 

“Any news?” Buck asked anxiously, staring up at Bobby with his heart in his throat.

“He’s gonna be okay, kid,” Bobby promised, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly. “They’ve got him all set up in a room now—he’s fast asleep.”

Buck let out a breath he hadn’t even been entirely aware he had been holding and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands. Silently, he could sense Bobby sitting in the chair next to him and his hand gently slid from his shoulder to rub comfortingly along his back.

“I-I was so scared, Bobby,” Buck felt his voice crack as he spoke, fresh tears brimming in his eyes. God, he was tired of crying tonight.

“I know, Buck, I know,” Bobby’s voice was quiet and soothing. “But he’s alright. He’s alive. A little banged up and bruised, but alive.”

Buck pressed the back of his hand against his mouth as he tried to bite back a sob. “I thought he was gone. I thought I lost him.”

“Hey, Buck, shh…” Bobby’s arm curled around Buck’s shoulders, pulling him closer until Buck’s forehead was resting against Bobby’s collarbone. The older man’s other hand pressed gently against the back of Buck’s neck. “You didn’t lose him. He’s here. He’s right down the hall, kid. He’s not going anywhere.”

“It was like my whole world slipped through my fingers.” he whispered softly, like a confession, his breath hitching slightly on the words.

“I know.” Bobby’s grip tightened slightly. “I know how it feels, Buck. But he’s back. He fought to come back to Christopher, to you, to his family—He hasn’t gone anywhere.”

Buck thought about the Captain’s words and finally realized what had been so strange about Bobby’s expression when it happened—the odd look on his face that Buck couldn’t quite decipher underneath the grief and sorrow.

Worry.

For him.

Because Bobby had been through this before. With his family—taken from him in a blink of an eye and all he could do was sit back, helpless. Just like Buck had felt helpless as he tried to desperately dig his way through thirty feet of dirt and mud and water just to get Eddie back. He’d had that look, just waiting until Buck finally broke down before he refused to accept the unthinkable.

Buck took a deep, shuddering breath before he raised his head to look at Bobby. “Thank you,” he said sincerely, his voice thick with emotion. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t pulled me away when you did.”

“We got him back, Buck,” Bobby leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss on Buck’s forehead, making the younger man’s eyes flutter shut for a moment. “That’s what matters.”

A few quiet moments went by before Bobby reluctantly pulled back and stood up from his chair. “Come on, let’s go see him. I’m sure he’d rather have you there than wake up alone.”

Buck would’ve blushed if he hadn’t been so drained—both physically and emotionally. He slowly stood up, shaking his head to try and block out the sounds of the explosion still ringing in his ears and the sound of his own screams. “I’m not leaving until he leaves.” Buck told him, eyeing Bobby as they started walking down the hallway, tensed in preparation for an argument to try and go home and change into different clothes.

“I know, kid,” Bobby said instead, surprising Buck by patting him on the shoulder before following him into Eddie’s room.

It took Buck’s breath away to see Eddie in that hospital bed, his skin as pale as the white sheets round him. He slowly rounded the bed and gently took Eddie’s hand, his thumb brushing lightly against the pulse point on his wrist. The steady ‘thump-thump’ of his heartbeat was enough to ease some of the worry from his shoulders. “He’s so cold.” Buck murmured, covering Eddie’s hand with his other hand.

“He’ll get better.” Bobby reassured him, taking a seat in a chair across from Buck up against the wall. “Just needs to get warmed up and he’ll be good as new.”

Buck stayed quiet. He remained quiet as Hen and Chimney came in to check on how Eddie was doing. He stayed quiet through the gentle ribbing and concerned glances they gave each other when they thought he wasn’t looking. He only gave a soft ‘goodbye’ when they all left, leaving Buck alone in the quiet of Eddie’s room with nothing but his thoughts.

The adrenaline from the call was beginning to fade, especially now that Buck was here, with his hand resting reassuringly on Eddie’s wrist. The terror of losing him was beginning to fade enough that he could feel himself starting to nod off a little, slumping against the edge of Eddie’s bed without taking his eyes off the other man.

“Bucky?”

Buck jerked up when he heard his name, blinking the drowsiness out his eyes as he turned around in his chair to look over his shoulder. “Christopher. Hey, buddy.” Buck rasped, rising from the chair with a slight ache in his muscles.

Christopher sped over to him, immediately raising his arms up to be picked up by him, which Buck did so gratefully. He held onto the little boy tightly, letting out a shaky breath as he looked up at Abuela. “Thank you for bringing him.” Buck murmured, smiling a little as she walked in the room as well and gave him a tight hug.

“Of course, nieto.” Abuela assured him. She patted him gently on the cheek, her eyes shining with gratitude. “I saw the news. Gracias for staying with him. It eases my old heart to know you were here.”

Buck swallowed thickly, blinking back fresh tears as he nodded. He gestured for her to take his seat and set Christopher’s crutches down at the edge of Eddie’s bed so he could hold the young boy better. 

“Is Daddy gonna be okay?” Christopher whispered in his ear, cheek smushed against Buck’s shoulder as he stared at Eddie on the bed.

“He’s gonna be just fine, buddy.” Buck promised, sitting down in another chair on the other side of Eddie’s bed and placing Christopher in his lap. “Your Daddy was very brave. There was a little boy stuck in a well, so your Daddy went to go rescue him.”

Eddie! Eddie, no, Eddie! “After we rescued him, your Daddy got stuck and had to swim back to us. He got really cold—do you remember what hypothermia is?” Buck asked Christopher, absently rubbing the boy’s back.

“It’s the opposite of hyper—it’s when someone gets really, really cold, and they have to go to the hospital to get warm, right?” Christopher asked, tearing his wide eyes away from Eddie long enough to look up at him.

“That’s right.” Buck gave him a small smile, proud that the little guy had remembered from their little lessons. “So Daddy has hypothermia and he has to sleep to get warm now. That’s why he has so many blankets.”

Christopher was quiet as he nodded, looking over at Eddie before he gently pressed his hand against Eddie’s hand, lying limp on the bed. “So—So he’s gonna be okay?”

“He’s gonna be okay, Christopher,” Buck promised. “The doctors said that he can come home with us in the morning.”

Christopher nodded again before turning to Buck with a large frown on his face. “You’re cold.” he declared, pressing his hand against Buck’s cheek.

“Nieto, you’re still in your muddy uniform.” Abuela said gently, a look of concern on her face. “Why haven’t you changed into something dry and warm?”

“I—uh—I didn’t want to leave him.” Buck admitted, his gaze flicking from Eddie to Abuela. 

Abuela’s eyes softened and she reached into the bag she had brought with her, one Buck hadn’t even noticed until now. “I wouldn’t think so, which is why I brought you some.” she said, handing him a bundle of clothing. “Go, go change. We will watch over Eddie while you are gone.”

Buck took the clothes, hesitating a bit before Christopher rolled his eyes and carefully slid off Buck’s lap. “Go!” his nose wrinkled a little bit, but his eyes were shining with mirth. “You smell, Bucky.”

Buck gave Christopher a wiry grin and ruffled his hair. “Yeah, suppose I do, buddy. I’ll be right back.” As he walked out, he leaned down and pressed a kiss against Abuela’s cheek. “Gracias.”

When Buck finally returned, fresh in warm clothes (Eddie’s clothes, and he’d be lying if the musky scent lingering in the clothing wasn’t comforting) he gathered up Christopher onto his lap and they settled into the chair next to Eddie’s bed for a long night. Buck wasn’t sure how long they sat there, listening to the steady beat of Eddie’s heart on the monitor before Christopher let out a big yawn and started slumping a little more in Buck’s arms.

“Hey, buddy,” Buck murmured, brushing a hand over Christopher’s curls. “You tired?” When Christopher’s only reply was a tiny nod before he burrowed further against Buck’s chest, he couldn’t say he was surprised. He’d lost track of what time it was, but it was still dark outside, which meant it was definitely way past Christopher’s bedtime.

Buck gently rose to his feet with Christopher tight in his arms and slowly moved to the couch pressed up against the back wall. They were still close enough that if something went wrong Buck would be the first to know. But with him laying back on the couch, one leg hanging over the edge and Christopher curled up against his chest, he supposed he could lay down and afford to take a small nap.

Just for a minute.

xxx

When Buck woke up, sunlight was streaming through the small window above him. Christopher was still dead to the world, drooling on his chest a little with one hand loosely holding the fabric of his sweatshirt. He gently smoothed his hand over Christopher’s curls before carefully maneuvering himself off the couch, by some miracle not waking the little guy up as he placed him back down on the couch to keep sleeping.

Glancing at the clock, it looked like he managed to get a couple hours of sleep, but he could still feel exhaustion pulling heavily at his bones. He made his way back to Eddie’s side, noting Abuela’s absence as he held his friend’s hand gently.

Eddie had been moved off the oxygen at some point while Buck had been asleep and it looked like some of the color was returning to his cheeks. He looked less like a ghost and more like himself. It brought a little comfort, but he knew he wouldn’t fully relax until Eddie was awake again and he could hold him in his arms.

God, he came so close to losing him.

He swore he could almost hear the echoes of his screams for Eddie ringing in his ears. When he’d changed, he’d scrubbed the mud and dirt from his hands until they’d turned bright pink and raw to the touch but it still didn’t seem like enough. Even now, he had to fight the urge to claw at his own hands from the memory of the mud thick between his fingers.

Something squeezing his hand broke him out of the trance he was in. He quickly looking down and was flooded with relief that would’ve knocked him on his knees if he hadn’t already been sitting. “Oh, thank God,” he breathed, squeezing Eddie’s hand tightly. “How’re you feeling, Eds?”

Eddie hummed, blinking up at Buck drowsily. “Okay, I think. Head kind of hurts. Little cold, still.”

“The doctor said you had a Grade 1 concussion.” Buck explained, brushing his thumb along the inside of Eddie’s wrist again. “Mild hypothermia, so they wanted to keep you here for 24 hours to make sure there aren’t any complications.”

“Hayden?” Eddie asked, and Buck had to bite back a laugh that probably would’ve bordered too close to tears because of course. Of course Eddie would ask about the boy after being buried alive under forty feet of dirt and mud.

“He’s fine.” Buck assured him, managing something akin to a smile on his face. “Thanks to you. He and Chimney managed to get out right before—”

Eddie! No, Eddie! Eddie!

Buck cut himself off, looking away as hot tears burned behind his eyes.

“I heard you.” Eddie admitted, his voice scarcely above a whisper. His thumb gently rubbed against the inside of Buck’s wrist, unknowingly doing the exact same thing Buck has been doing since they brought him here—trusting that steady pulse to reassure him he was alive. “When the well collapsed, before I was knocked out.”

Buck inhaled sharply, shaking his head as he was unable to stop the hot tears from dripping down his face. “I thought I lost you.” his breath hitched, heart jumping at the reminder. “When the lightning struck, I turned my back on you for one second to keep Bobby safe and—” Buck pressed his lips together to fight back a sob, struggling to keep himself together, keep strong for Eddie.

He finally looked up and met Eddie’s gaze when his friend’s hand gently reached up and brushed the tears off his cheeks, regret and support shining in his eyes.

“Every time I try to help someone I keep losing you two.” Buck said brokenly, his heart aching with pain and guilt. 

“Buck, what do you mean?” Eddie sounded confused, his mouth twisted into a frown as he stared at him.

Buck hesitated, averting his gaze again when he quietly started talking, his voice scarcely above a whisper. “During the—the tsunami, I turned my back on Christopher for one second to help someone and he was just gone. And the same thing happened again.” He finally looked back up at Eddie and couldn’t stop the soft sob that escaped his lips. “Why does this keep happening? Why do I keep losing you two? Is this the universe’s sick way of telling me I need to stay away from you?”

“No.” Eddie told him firmly, grasping the back of Buck’s neck and pulling him closer until their foreheads touched. “Absolutely not. Sometimes bad things just happen to good people. It’s no ones fault, Buck.”

“I know why you did it.” Buck said, closing his eyes as he took a shaky breath. “I’m not mad—I mean, I probably would’ve done the exact same thing. I was just scared, of losing you, of Christopher losing you.”

“I’ll always come back to family, Buck.” Eddie promised, and his words were so soft and sincere that Buck had to open his eyes and make sure he meant it. Eddie just smiled softly at him and brushed his thumb over Buck’s cheekbone. “I’m not planning on going anywhere for a long time.”

When their mouths slotted together in the gentlest of kisses, it wasn’t a surprise to either of them. It was natural—just like everything had been with Eddie, and Buck knows he’s loved this man for a long time. The kiss said everything their hearts were feeling but their mouths wouldn’t say, a quiet promise, an affirmation—not a declaration—of the love they held for each other.

When they broke the kiss, Buck held Eddie in his arms, closing his eyes and resting his cheek on top of the other man’s head. He brought one hand up to gently brush across the side of his head, smiling a little as he felt Eddie relax and slump in his arms. So, okay, maybe everything wasn’t okay right now. Buck knew he was going to still deal with his fear of Eddie leaving him—willing or not—and this was a trauma Eddie was going to have to recover from for the next few weeks.

But this? Right now? Well, nothing was complicated about their love. It was as sure and steady as the run rising in the east every day.

[vampiregirl1797]

When I Stare into Your Eyes

Aro Volturi x Reader

 GIF Not Mine

 Word Count: 1,672

 Click Here For Masterlist

 Summary: Y/N has been a part of the Olympic Coven since she crossed paths with them in Forks in 1945. She lived with them most of the time, but occasionally she’d travel on her own to visit the friends she’d made during the years before the Cullen’s. When Edward decides to leave Bella for her own safety, and then takes off on his own, Y/N decides to take some time to visit her friends. She’s in Budapest when she receives a frantic call from Alice telling her that Edward is on his way to Italy to ask the Volturi for their assistance in committing suicide. Seeing as she’s the closest, she’s their best shot, especially with her gift. However, in her attempt to save her brother, she meets the three Kings of Volterra. One in particular takes a shine to her. Has Y/N just found her one true mate? Or does Aro just see another gift he wishes to add to his collection?

 Of all of the stupid, self-sacrificing, idiotic things Edward had done in the sixty-seven years I’d known him, this one definitely took the cake. Stomping off to Italy to ask the Volturi to kill him because he thought Bella was dead was absolutely ridiculous. Maybe my lack of sympathy was dampened by the fact that I’d yet to meet my mate, and so I couldn’t imagine the pain if I were separated from them, or maybe it was because he was my brother and the idea of him dying sent my over protective instincts into overdrive. Either way, anger was overriding sympathy for the moment, at least until I knew he was safe and not about to get himself killed.

Alice told me that tonight is when he would arrive, and I stood, encased in the shadows as I waited for his appearance. My sister’s assurance that I would find him before he could make his request was the only thing preventing me from nervously fidgeting. I watched as the tourists were ushered from the heart of the city so that the gates could be closed at 8pm promptly. Those allowed to remain were the locals, and the few vampires that eluded the human guards attention. It wasn’t hard to do, while we as a species tended to attract human attention due to our evolutionary advantage of drawing in prey, we could just as easily escape it with the proper motivation. The clock tower that I was stood underneath—which was also the only way to get to the three Kings— had just chimed eleven times when Edward finally reached the entrance.

 My anger simmered down when I saw the empty look in his dark eyes; the heartache was clear on his face and I couldn’t bring myself to unleash the built up anger in that moment.

 ‘Eddie.’ I murmured, taking his hand and pulling him into the alley underneath the clock tower, ‘listen to me.’ My hands gently but firmly gripped either side of his face, ‘Bella is fine. She’s alive, apparently she jumped off that cliff for fun and Alice didn’t see her get pulled out because a werewolf pulled her out and she can’t see their future.’

 His eyes stared into mine and I met his gaze without flinching, knowing he could read the sincerity on my expression as well as he could read any lie I was trying to conceal. I dropped my shield and allowed him to read my mind—I knew he would find it suspicious if I kept it up when I was trying to convince him Bella was alright. Eventually a deep exhale fell from his lips, his eyes fluttered shut and he practically collapsed into my arms as the relief overcame him.

 ‘It’s okay, Eddie. Let’s get out of here and get you back to Forks so you can see her with your own two eyes.’ I kissed his hair as I stroked his back comfortingly.

 ‘Okay.’ He agreed, pulling back but keeping hold of my hand.

 We turned to exit the way we came but the sight of three cloaked beings stopped us short. I looked over to Edward, silently asking him if they were members of the Volturi, or just three random vampires. I got my answer when the female in the middle dropped her hood, her smile wicked and malicious. This had to be Jane, one of the Volturi’s most prized possessions—she could inflict unbearable pain on anyone by simply willing it in her mind. Carlisle had told us about her a few decades ago when those of us who hadn’t heard the story of the three Kings asked to hear it. And this girl fit his description perfectly: if you were to take her in by her appearance alone, you would only see an innocent teenager, an angel sent to earth by god himself. That is, of course, if you don’t notice the glimmer of danger in her eyes or the malice behind her smile. She is one of the most dangerous vampires in the Volturi’s collection; you do not want to cross her.

 I didn’t think her gift would work on me, seeing as I could block Edward’s gifts at will, I believed it would be the same kind of idea. Though, I wasn’t exactly willing to risk it if it wasn’t necessary—unbearable pain didn’t exactly sound inviting nor did it sound like something I was willing to experiment with. But, if nothing else, Carlisle had managed to keep a good standing with this coven for hundreds of years, and I wasn’t about to ruin it by being deliberately antagonistic. So before they even spoke I decided that I would be polite and do my best to refrain from being unnecessarily antagonistic.

 ‘Jane, Demetri, Felix,’ Edward greeted them each stiffly after he gave me an almost imperceptible nod, silently telling me he agreed with my thoughts.

 ‘Edward, Aro is most eager to see you.’ Jane said, her voice soft but it held a hint of enthusiasm.

 My guess? She wasn’t excited for our company, but most likely she was hoping we would resist, giving her an opportunity to hurt us. I squeezed Edward’s hand, thinking he could handle the interactions seeing as I was notorious for letting my temper speak for me.

 ‘Lead the way.’ Edward replied, tugging me forward to follow. I stood closer to him when Felix and Demetri moved to walk behind us.

 We were led underneath the city and back up into the main castle where the three Kings must have resided. I felt my shield expand to cover both Edward and I as we crossed the threshold to meet three men sat on wooden thrones on the far side of the room. I tried to assure myself my shield had only done that as a precaution rather than a defence for impending danger.

 ‘Edward! What a pleasant surprise.’ The man in the middle stood in front of us in a flash, his ink black shoulder length hair swaying as it caught up to his new position.

 I was surprised as a wave of security washed over me, and I deliberated if his gift was similar to Jasper’s in being able to manipulate the emotions of others. I glanced over to Edward and saw him discretely shake his head in a negative to my wonderment. As my gaze returned to the inky haired, beautiful vampire, I found myself wondering if it was as soft as it looked and felt the fingertips of my free hand itching to find out. Edward squeezed the hand he was still holding and sent me a look of exasperation. I ducked my head in embarrassment; he was right of course, now wasn’t the time to ogle the man in front of us. Now was the time to focus on getting out of here alive.

 ‘I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,’ the man said, holding out his hand, ‘I’m Aro, mia bella.’

 ‘I’m Y/N,’ I forced a smile and slid my hand into his.

 I barely managed to hold back the surprised sound that attempted to escape my throat, as his touch generated a fire that travelled up my arm to encase my entire body. The redness in his eyes dulled a little as he stared at me with an intense look of realisation and awe. My skin tingled with awareness, but the cloud of confusion didn’t dissipate from my mind—it was as if my body knew what was happening and my mind was having a hard time catching up.

 ‘Il mio compagno,’ he whispered and I felt Edward stiffen at his words, and most likely his thoughts as well.

 I pulled my hand back from his, a spark of irritation echoing thought my body as Edward and Aro seemed to know something they weren’t being quick about sharing. My brother looked over at me with concern and a hint of relief shining in his dark eyes—that did nothing to quell my perplexity.

 What is going on, Edward? I thought, knowing he’d be able to pick up on my impatience in my mind.

 ‘The connection you feel to Aro,’ he began, his eyes shifting between me and him, ‘it’s the connection of true mates, Y/N.’

 ‘W-what?’ I gasped, but I wasn’t really asking because his explanation cleared the fog in my mind like a brisk wind.

 Mates. Of course, it made sense—the instant attraction, the feeling of security—it all fit. My golden eyes returned to Aro’s crimson ones. I could feel the happiness on my face, the incredulity—I’d never truly believed I’d find the one I was destined to be with, but I’d always hoped. And now here he was, in front of me, looking at me if I were the most important thing in the room. His eyes softened to a ruby shade as he returned my adoring stare and held out his hand to me. I released Edward’s with a squeeze and stepped forward, my eyes fluttering shut at the feel of his rough yet smooth skin on mine.

 ‘I’ve been waiting a long time to find you, Il mio compagno.’ His voice was gentle and when he reached up to caress my face the others in the room faded away—I was overwhelmed with him, his touch, his scent, and his beauty, ‘If you wouldn’t mind, I’d very much like it if you would stay here for a while. I’d like to get to know you better.’

 I didn’t mind in the slightest. After all this time, all these years of wondering if it were ever going to happen, I’d finally found the other half of my soul. I wasn’t eager to leave it, not now that I knew how it felt to be near him—I felt complete, content and safe. Why would I want to leave that? I knew in that moment, that I’d always be truly happy as long as I was by his side. Forever.

 A/N: Don’t know how I feel about this one, it’s a by-product of binge reading a lot of Aro fanfics last night haha. I hope you liked it!

[munsons-maiden]

wouldn't it be really fucking wild if the duffer brothers made us believe eddie died because they knew we'd talk about it for probably months and we'd come back for the last season to see if he stays dead? like if they just absolutely pranked us. we are evidently huge clowns, so of course they could predict us drooling over someone like eddie. that would be really wild i think. or maybe i should go to bed, because it's exactly 7 am were i am and i haven't slept yet. :')

anyway, thank you for being funny and cool and helping so many of us deal with this clusterfuck of a season finale and the absolute scandal that is eddie munsons demise. we needed someone like you. you seem really great :D

I mean, it's not a secret that I'm clinging on to every hope I can get my hands on and I firmly believe Eddie's story isn't over and in 80% of moments I actually feel like this hope is rational. And in the 20% of moments when it feels delusional, I remind myself of one thing: they're all liars. The Duffers, the cast, everyone involved - and that's perfectly fine because I'd do the same thing to protect the twists of my story.

"There will be a body count in the finale" for example. One is not a body count. That was a very obvious lie.

They kept lying about Hopper's death as well, after ST3. And Hopper is very much alive and kicking.

And thank you so much, dear; it means the world 😭🖤

Now I hope you got a bit of sleep!! 🥺

[trashmouth-tozier89]

Welcome to the Loser’s Club Asshole - Ch. 1 | F O U R

warnings: swearing, pretty disgusting stuff (dead bodies) , angst, pretty sad stuff but the next chapter will be worse

word count: 4,748

pairing: richie tozier x reader, platonic!losers x reader

a/n -  fourth chapter in and y/n finally gets her encounter with pennywise... also she takes a big step with richie!! this is quite a big chapter for y/n, so pay close attention and more importantly... enjoy!! 

If you wish to be added to the taglist, send in an ask or pop it in the comments! :)

taglist: @grapesauze​

Welcome to the Losers Club Asshole! Masterlist

Y/N had never been one for swimming. She hadn’t grown up around the ocean, or even swimming pools; there was a quarry on the other side of her hometown, but the idea of swimming in polluted water never appealed to her and her friends. Especially after her father’s accident.

So, of course, hearing that the boys wanted to spend the rest of their afternoon at the quarry swimming didn’t exactly have her jumping for joy. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t go though; they were the only friends she had made so far, and ditching them on their first official ‘hang out’ together wouldn’t have been a good first impression.

As the rest of the boys planted their bikes firmly on the ground, Stanley propping his up with the stand, Y/N had already made her way over to the edge of the cliff. She stared down at the gentle waters below, gulping at the thought of having to jump, beginning to nervously bite her lip. Richie seemed to sense Y/N’s hesitation, as he glanced over at the girl as he began to remove his shirt; “what’s wrong?” he mumbled, not wanting to catch the attention of the other boys who were currently arguing with Eddie about the health risks of going swimming.

“Uh… nothing” she muttered, eyes not even flicking towards the boy who was now stood at her side, also looking over the edge. He had a wide grin on his face, full to the brim with excitement and exhilaration. She needed to come up with an excuse believable enough so that she didn’t have to dip even her pinkie toe into that water; “I just, um- I can’t swim”

“You can’t swim?” Stan piped up from where he was stood, making Y/N jump as she hadn’t realised she had said it loud enough for them to hear. The glares coming from the boys felt like it was burning into her skin, as she tried to explain.

“W-we didn’t have anywhere to swim back in my hometown, so I-I never learnt. Sorry, I should’ve told you before I dragged myself out here” she explained, earning small nods from all the boys except Richie, who wasn’t sure whether he believed her or not. He saw the look on her face, and that was a look of fear; he would never confront her about it though, the last thing he’d want to do was make her uncomfortable.

“It’s n-n-no problem Y/N. There’s a p-p-path leading down to those rocks, if you’d rather just sit there for a while? W-we probably won’t be in the water for too long.” Bill proposed, pointing out the edge of the water where the boys would often sit to dry off after they had been swimming. Y/N considered it; it was better than just going home, and she supposed now would be a good time to do some sketching.  

“Thanks Bill” she grinned, feeling relief wash over her with the fact the boys weren’t judging her. She played with the hem of her dress as Eddie led her back to the path; throwing her satchel over her shoulder and waving goodbye to the boys before heading down the trail. It didn’t take her long at all to get down to the spot, and by the time she arrived, the boys had only just finished stripping down to their tighty-whities. She giggled at the sight, settling herself down on the edge of a rock comfortably and unclipping her satchel to pull out her sketchbook. She was rather glad she didn’t want to swim, considering the day was a perfect one for sketching.

Before she began to let her imagination run free, her eyes drifted up to the 5 boys who were still stood at the top of the cliff, partaking in a loogie contest which Richie was sure to win. Everyone knows it’s about distance, not mass. Who care how cool it looks, if it’s green or it’s white or juicy and fat? What matter is how far it goes; that was Y/N believed anyway. Soon after watching the boys, mainly Eddie and Richie, argue about nonsense, she noticed that someone had finally made the jump; though when said person bobbed back to the surface of the water, she recognised the red hair to be that of Beverly’s.

“What the fuck?” Richie shouted, watching alongside the 4 other boys as the girl made the leap none of them had been brave enough to take yet. “Oh, holy shit! We just got showed up by a girl!”

“Do we have to do that now?” Stan mumbled; he had already been nervous to do the jump in the first place, but after watching Bev, he was now even more uncertain of performing the feat. Maybe he should’ve just joined Y/N where she was perched near the bottom? Though, the other boys seemed just as nervous, but they knew they’d look like absolute pussies if they didn’t. Eddie answered almost immediately, as if it were obvious; “Yes!”

“Come on!” They heard the feminine voice of Beverly come from the below waters, so they at least knew she was alive and hadn’t drowned. Ben waved down at the girl, while Stanley simply mumbled an “oh shit” with a petrified expression on his face. He was extremely close to backing out, until Bill took the first step and jumped down to where Beverly was. Which meant there was absolutely no way they could back out now, so one by one they joined.

Before they knew it, they were all together in the water and splashing about with the widest grins on their faces. Bill suggested a game of chicken, and so Beverly mounted his shoulders and Eddie on Ben’s, Stan spotting the two on top to ensure neither got hurt in the process. Richie, however, stood away from the group with his eyes on something much different; it hadn’t taken long for his gaze to fall onto Y/N where she had sat perched on the rocks in the distance. He watched the way she focused on her art, drawing as if the ideas were just flowing through her; he wished he could have a talent like that. No, all Richie was good at was annoying people. Y/N had decided drawing the scenery before her was something she hadn’t tried, but would like to; she was used to drawing smaller things like birds or insects because she found she was best at capturing the finer details they carried. However, the sight of the quarry sparked something of inspiration in the girl, and she was stirred into a world of art before she knew it.

After about 20 minutes, Y/N’s hand had begun to cramp from the constant movements, and smudges of lead pencil coated the side of her hand. She was happy enough with the sketch to say it was done; she could always go back to it and add more later on. Nevertheless, the girl was eager to take advantage of the summer weather and so she took to sunbathing on the towel she had brought along for some reason. Pulling her dress over her head to leave her in only her underwear, she put her sunglasses on to protect her eyes and lay down. She hadn’t been aware of the eyes which were staring her down; Richie couldn’t find his voice. He felt his cheeks flush hot, and his stomach grow heavy. His heart pounded in his throat, threatening to break out; his eyes stayed locked on her. How many love songs had he heard that said, “She takes my breath away”? Now that line made a lot sense to him. He couldn’t comprehend the feelings taking over his brain; he hadn’t felt anything like it before. Sure, he thought girls were hot, and he found his cheeks blushing when his hand would brush against someone else’s, and sometimes he’d even stutter on his words when a girl asked him the answer to a question in class; but he was a teenage boy with a penis going through puberty, of course he got overwhelmed from time to time. But it was never this intense; he hadn’t ever looked at a girl in this way. Looked at a girl as if he was in love with her. No Richie, he thought, there’s no way!

The boy was pulled out of his thoughts by the sensation of something nipping at his ankle; “Ah fuck! What was that?” he yelped out, catching the attention of the rest of the group who had been too distracted to notice he had zoned out moments before; “Something just touched my foot right here!”

Both Richie and Stanley ducked their heads under the water to see if they could spot the mystery creature, but they were unsuccessful. Eddie tried to help too, asking “where are we looking” and Richie had tried to point it out to the small boy but they couldn’t see anything for the life of them.

Bill ducked under too, and was quick to notice exactly what it was; “It’s a turtle!”

****

This here’s a tale for all the fellas

Tryin’ to do what those ladies tell us

Get shot down cause ya over-zealous

Play hard to get females get jealous

Y/N wasn’t sure at what point the Beverly had lay beside her and began sunbathing, as she had been dozing off for the past 10 minutes; the beams of the sun were surprisingly relaxing. Thankfully, one member of the group had brought a radio, which was currently playing Young MC’s Bust a Move; one of Y/N’s personal favourites. She had soon found herself mouthing along to song, unaware of the fact she didn’t know every word because that didn’t matter.

Her h/c hair had splayed over her shoulders and her skin almost sparkled in the sunlight. A deep curve on her lips made the world stop around her; she has a smile that makes you feel happy about being alive. She was lay on her front, a novel in hand as she scanned the page to find where she had previously been after getting distracted by the music.

Okay smarty, go to a party

Girls are scantily clad and showin’ body

A chick walks by you wish you could sex her

But you're standing on the wall like you was Poindexter

Y/N was yet to notice the sharp glares of the boys, as she had found herself too caught up in the pages of her book. Richie couldn’t tear his eyes from the girl lay in front of him; none of the boys could divert their gaze from the pair really. Stan kept glaring at the boy who had to keep pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose; he couldn’t stop thinking about what Y/N had told him just the night before. She hadn’t had a conversation with Stan about her so-called crush on Richie since then, and so Stan was yet to have the chance to apologise for making her feeling bad. He just didn’t expect someone like Y/N to like someone like Richie. The boys, not used to seeing girls in nothing but their underwear, all sat eyes wide and mouth ajar while admiring the girls; though Richie only had eyes for Y/N and was finding it difficult to disengage his attention.

Next days function high class luncheon

Food is served and you’re stone-cold munchin’

Music comes on people start to dance

But then you ate so much you nearly split your pants

It wasn’t until Y/N started to feel herself getting cramp in her neck from the awkward position that she noticed the boys staring at her. A smirk growing on her face, she began to turn around to watch the boys scuttle around eyes wide, some coughing awkwardly, attempting to make it seem like they hadn’t spent the past 5 minutes preoccupied by the sight of the half-naked girls. Both Y/N and Beverly glanced at each other and chuckled, before propping themselves up onto their elbows to face the rest of the group.

Richie was almost certain he’d been caught checking Y/N out, if not by her by Stan. Thankfully, he distracted himself when he caught sight of Ben’s backpack open, digging his hand in to realise it was probably full of school stuff; he announced to the rest of the group in a comedic voice “News flash Ben, school’s out for summa’”

Y/N couldn’t help but chuckle at the boy, never getting tired of his ridiculous voices and impressions which nobody else found funny; Stan noticed the way he blushed almost immediately, and he would’ve questioned it if Ben hadn’t but in; “Oh that? That’s not school stuff.”

“Who sent you this?” Richie chuckled, a humoured smirk growing on his face as he pulled out a small postcard from the bottom of the bag. He looked to Ben, wiggling his eyebrows up and down teasingly.

“No one! Give it-“ Ben insisted, snatching the card out of Richie’s hand before he had the chance to read it and shoving it back into the bottom of the backpack. The smile failed to fall from Richie’s face as he pulled out a book, filled with old newspaper articles about the Black Spot explosion; it was titled “Easter Explosion Kills 88 Children, 102 Total”.

“What’s with the history project?” Richie questioned, furrowing his brows as he read through the first few lines of the article. Y/N had found herself growing curious at what the boy was reading about, so she pulled herself to her feet and went to sit on the rock between Richie and Stan. Richie gulped slightly as he processed the proximity of the girl, her leaning over him to look at the paper intently before paying attention to what Ben was saying

“Oh, when I first moved here, I didn’t have anyone to hang out with, so I just started spending time in the library” Ben explained, earning a snigger from Richie.

“You went to the library? On purpose?” Richie asked, sounding completely serious with the question. Y/N took a little offence by this as she had always been an avid reader, and the library was one of her personal favourite places to go. She nudged him lightly, scolding him; “Some people enjoy going to the library, Richie!”

“Why? It’s all just books and… well, more book” Richie pointed out, earning an eye roll from Ben and the girl. He stared at them in utter bewilderment.

“That’s the whole point Richie; maybe if you’d learn to actually read, you’d realise it can actually be interesting”

“Oh, I wanna see” Beverly changed the subject, jumping to her feet and grabbing the folder out of Richie’s hand. Sitting beside Bill, she handed it to him without noticing the way his eyes followed her as she sat, his throat bobbing up and down to clear his throat.

“What’s the Black Spot?” Stanley asked, considering he hadn’t had the chance to properly read the paper.

“The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult” Eddie explained.

“The what?” Y/N questioned at the same time as Stan; they were both clueless at this point.

“Don’t you watch Geraldo?” Eddie questioned, and at the sight of Y/N’s head shaking he gasped, pressing a hand to his chest in a joking manner as if he had been wounded. The couple chuckled softly, Y/N shoving Eddie’s shoulder gently; Richie watched on at the interaction with a pit of jealousy growing in his stomach.

“Y-y-y-your hair…” a soft voice pulled them out of their interaction, turning to see two pairs of eyes gazing intently at the redhead; Ben and Bill. As Y/N managed to match the voice to Bill after a few seconds (thanks to the stutter), she let a small smile perk up on her cheek; there was something going on between those two. It was obvious Bill wasn’t going to finish his sentence as about 10 seconds of silence passed by, finally being filled by Ben perking into the conversation; “Your hair is beautiful, Beverly”

“Oh” Beverly smiled at the boys compliment; “Right. Thanks”

There was a hanging tension between Bill and Ben, as Ben grinned towards the ground bashfully; Y/N could tell from the moment Bev joined the group that Bill had something of a crush on the girl, and so she wanted to investigate into a little further. Perhaps it was to take her mind off her own problems with Richie, but that didn’t need mentioning. Richie was beginning to feel awkward, staring at the two infatuated boys who were practically pining over Bev. “Here, pass it” he snapped his fingers, holding his palm out flat for Bill to pass the folder back over. Once having received it, he reopened and scanned the page.

“Why’s it all murders and missing kids?” Richie questioned, passing it to Stan and Eddie so they could read it too.

“Derry’s not like any town I’ve ever been in before. They did a study once and it turns out people die or disappear six times the national average,” Ben explained, not noticing the way their eyes all widened at the statement.

“You read that?” Beverly asked, while the rest shared worried looks. It wasn’t difficult to realise that the conversation had taken a turn for the worse, yet Ben still continued.

“And that’s just grown-ups. Kids are worse; way, way worse” Ben said as Y/N and Richie locked eyes; she gulped loudly at the thought and he could see the ounces of worry in her eyes.

“Well that’s great, my mum decides to move to the one town I could realistically die in” she mumbled, feeling her palms grow sweaty at the notion; this was not what she expected to come from her first summer in Derry. She felt a hand place itself on hers, shooting her head up at the source; Richie. “I-I won’t let that happen.”

Usually Richie would make a joke at this point, or a snide remark about how pathetic Y/N was being; that was if it was any other member of the club. Considering he could tell how spooked she really was, and he felt a little unsettled too, he wasn’t in much mood for jokes. Y/N searched his eyes for any sign of sarcasm or humour laced in his intentions, before nodding slowly and letting the corners of her lips curve up slightly; he meant it.

“I’ve got more stuff, if you want to see it?” Ben suggested, more enthusiastic than everyone else combined. Eddie was quick to deny it, shaking his head as his eyes scanned his friends. They were hesitant, but they knew it would probably be better to know it all than be in the blue. The group packed their stuff away, getting dressed and heading back to where their bikes were left. Eddie was ranting to Y/N about the dangers of grey-water, which she found ironic considering the boy had been swimming in quarry water only an hour ago, when she realised she had forgotten to pack her sketchbook back into her backpack.

“O-oh, guys, I think I left my sketchbook behind. I’ll catch up with you!” Y/N shouted out from the back of the group, watching as they all turned and nodded at her words before continuing their walk to where they had left their bikes. Believing nobody was going to follow behind her, Y/N went in the opposite direction, back to the spot where the group had been sat only minutes ago. She could spot the pastel yellow sketchbook from almost a mile away, and considering she didn’t want to completely lose the others (she didn’t have a clue where Ben lived), she almost raced over to the sketchbook. Placing it in her red satchel hanging over her shoulder, she went to turn away and catch up with the boys, who’s heads were now only just bobbing out of sight; that was, until she heard a voice from behind her.

“Y/N” the voice almost choked out, sounding as if its mouth was gargling ounces of water. Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed almost immediately, confused considering there hadn’t been anyone there before. Not wanting to turn around, afraid of the possibility that there was a random homeless man who had followed her back down to the quarry, she brushed it of as just her imagination. It was just her imagination. “Y/N…?” ‘

That stopped her in her tracks; the voice had become clearer, as if the water had drained out of their mouth, and she knew that voice. She could’ve recognised that voice anywhere. Her whole body turned at the speed of lightning, eyes brimming with tears at the sight before her; “D-dad?”

There stood her father, just how she remembered him; the same high-waisted chinos, which were held up by the same pair of brown suspenders. The same tacky Hawaiian shirt, which she noticed looked a lot like what Richie was wearing the day before, but green; no wonder she liked Richie’s style. The same pair of brown loafers he insisted on wearing every day, whether he left the house or not. The same thick-rimmed glasses he would wear when sat at the dining table with the newspaper and a coffee in his hand. The same bushy moustache which would always tickle her cheeks when he’d give her a small kiss goodnight. It was all the same, except he looked exactly the way he should’ve; a corpse.

The corpse was almost devoid of skin and pitted by burrowing sea insects, and Y/N almost had to turn away as her stomach heaved, nostrils filled with the smell of rotting meat. The clothes were ripped to shreds, drenched in saltwater and algae just like the rest of it. Froth emerged from the corners of its mouth and nose, the sound of spit almost becoming worse than the smell. Its hands were almost down to the bone, the tissues having turned into grave wax, and the greenish black skin blistering over. She didn’t know what this was, but it wasn’t her dad, her dad was dead.

“Y/N, my sweet” The voice choked out, if you could even call it that, it hardly sounded like words. It was as if its lungs were full to the brim with water. She didn’t understand what was happening; what was this thing and why did it know her name? “I’ve missed you”

“What the fuck are you?” She almost yelled out, wanting to back away from the sight before her, but she found herself almost frozen in place; she felt paralysed with fear. Her eyes brimmed with bitter tears threatening to spill as the thing began approaching her slowly. It wasn’t even walking; it was floating through the surface of the water; the hand reached out to grab her own.

“Why, Y/N, you know who I am.” It spoke, so calmly she couldn’t quite help but believe maybe it wasn’t dangerous.

“Y-you’re not my d-dad. He’s dead” She tried to convince it, when really she was only trying to convince herself that this wasn’t real; it couldn’t be real. There was absolutely no way this was real… right?

“Oh, dear, don’t you think I know that. And let’s not forget who’s fault that is” he chuckled at her expense, watching as her head shot up at his words in shock. “Don’t look so shocked, we both know it was your fault. You did this to me, you’re the reason I died that day at the quarry” his voice became louder and harsher with every word, his hand now grasping the collar of her dress so tightly that she was struggling to breath.

“I-I didn’t do anything! I didn’t know!” Y/N defended herself, but her voice came out as mere wheezes, the tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Such a shitty excuse for a daughter, aren’t you? You left me to die, and so now you’ll be next. Come join me, Y/N, come join your old man. You’ll float, float just like the rest of us” he spat, face mere inches away from hers. She tried to fight back, kicking and punching at the monster that wasn’t budging at all.

“D-dad, stop!” she cried out, gaining nothing but a laugh. It wasn’t her dad’s laugh though, it wasn’t the monsters laugh. It had risen in pitch, morphed into laughter that Y/N didn’t recognise. Her scrunched eyes burst open to see a clown, replacing the corpse that was once there. Its grin was wide, rows of razor-sharp teeth sticking out, and eyes an unnatural orange colour. Before Y/N could scream, the clown spoke up.

“You'll float down here. We all float down here.” The clown teased, and in a split second the two were dunked into the deep waters of the quarry. Before she could surface to catch her breath, darkness had enveloped her. The water began to close in around her, filling her with a deep dread. She tried to hold her breath for as long as she could, but it ended up being too long. Red and black splotches danced in front of her eyes and she couldn't really tell if her eyes were opened or closed at that point. The coldness she had felt upon entering the water was completely gone; a desperate hot wave had washed over her, warming even her frosted toes. Her heart was beating rapidly in panic, the urgency for air was more apparent than ever before. There weren't red speckles in her field of vision anymore; it had become all black.

She opened her mouth, gasping for air. She revelled in the sensation of fresh air filling her lungs, rather than the salty, polluted water she had tasted only seconds before. Her vision was still blurred, but she could tell she wasn’t submerged anymore, as the bright light hit her eyes faster than she’d have liked; though she couldn’t have complained. Her ears felt clogged, all sound around her was extremely muffled; she could barely make out the begs and pleads coming from the figure in front of her. Wait; there was a figure in front of her?

“Y/N, breathe… say something… come on, say something”

As her eyes began to zoom back into focus, she could just about make out the shape of the body before her; it was wearing a green shirt over white, what seemed to be patterned grey shorts, and thick-rimmed glasses which sat across the bridge of its bright red nose. Her mind immediately drew back to the rotting body which lured her into the water, and how much it resembled whatever was before her now. With as much strength as she had, she attempted crawling backwards away from it only to find she couldn’t, as her back was perched against the rock ledges. Her hoarse voice screamed out; “get away from me! Leave me alone! I can’t-”

“Y/N, it’s me! Stop moving around, you’re going to hurt yourself; it’s me!” The voice shouted over her, clamping its hands down on her shoulder so that she would stop moving; he was afraid she’d bang her head on a rock or scrape her knees. The girl didn’t calm, still having trouble identifying the individual as anything but the monster; “what do you want with me? What are you?”

“Y/N calm down, please!” he pleaded, feeling tears brim in his own eyes at the sight of the girl in such distress. As she shivered vigorously, she felt herself losing energy being wasted on trying to escape, so she calmed herself and focused on getting her vision to return. Tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, she slowly began to recognise the person as not her dad, not the clown or the monster, but someone she was much happier to see.

“R-Richie?” she croaked out, launching her whole body forward to wrap him in a swaddle of her arms and chest; she was soaking wet and absolutely freezing, but the boy couldn’t care less.  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm. Despite the heaviness in her stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. She sunk into the warmth of his side, finally feeling a sense of comfort.

Then it dawned on Y/N; Richie had rescued her, pulled her out the water and saved her from drowning. He didn’t let her die.

He kept his word.

*****

A/N guys i imagine y/n’s drawing to look something like this ^^

[softest-cinnamon-roll]

F6 +A3?😊

(not sure this is what you expected, but there you go anyway anon! Notsfw under the cut!)

* * * * *

When Eddie had been told by his father that they were going to be welcoming the King, Queen and Prince from their neighbouring Kingdom, he had been less than pleased about it. He had heard all about the elusive Prince Richard, and how he was not only a womaniser, but he was also very crude when it came to personal matters. His mother seemed to agree with him, not wanting to open their kingdom up to scrutiny and bad publicity, but his father had been adamant that they came to visit. After all, King Wentworth was a long-time friend of his.

The thing was, Eddie had never actually seen Prince Richard in person. All he had to go on was the rumours from the staff as well as what his father had told him about. Richard was the same age as him, a few months older. He sported dark curls on his head and his eyes were a chocolate brown colour. He was also apparently really tall and lanky. Before Eddie had even met the other Prince, he had made up a list of assumptions on how he was the wrong person to be seen spending time with.

It was about five minutes after actually speaking to the Prince in person, that Eddie realised just how wrong he was.

Ever since Eddie was born, his mother was breathing down his neck, stopping him from taking part in activities that were considered normal for a Prince, just in case he was injured. No amount of arguing from his father would budge her on that matter; so as Eddie had grown, he had become accustomed to sneaking out of the palace and seeking refuge in the woods where he could practice climbing, sword fighting and other activities his mother deemed ‘dangerous’.

It was on one of these adventures that Eddie was accidentally introduced to Prince Richard. He was half way up a tree when someone cleared their throat from below and Eddie looked down. At first, he thought he had been caught, but when his eyes landed on someone he had never seen before, he rolled his eyes.

“Can I help you?” Eddie called down, placing his footing so he could swing up and over one of the stronger branches. Now that he was sitting, legs swinging in the air he looked down once more to get a better look at whoever interrupted his alone time. “Who are you?”

The man just smiled up at Eddie, moving forward so he was leaning against the trunk of the tree, “You can call me Richie, you Highness.” Eddie’s jaw dropped a little and his eyes narrowed. It didn’t take long for it to fall into place, that this ‘Richie’ was in fact Prince Richard himself.

“How did you know who I was? You’ve never seen me before,” Eddie questioned, glad he was up high so that Richard couldn’t see the flush appearing on his cheeks. No-one thought to tell him that regardless of all Richard’s flaws, he was actually rather handsome looking.

Richard chuckled, shaking his head, “It doesn’t take a genius. I was told Prince Edward was on the shorter side, blonde hair and baby blue eyes. Not very many people fit that description around here. Oh and you’re also wearing the crest of the royal family, dead giveaway.”

Eddie swung his legs more, tilting his head to the side. Already one of the rumours about the Prince being uneducated had a large red line through it. “Can I ask you something, Prince Richard?” He asked, smirking as Richie blinked in shock that Eddie knew who he was also. “Are you anything like people make you out to be?”

“What do you mean?” Richie asked, running a hand through his curls. “If you’re referring to my countless bedding of women, as well as my party habits and crude language, I have but one answer for you, Your Highness. Never judge a book by its cover.” He started to move around the tree, and Eddie followed him with his eyes, quiet and curious. “You know, I’ve heard rumours about you too, but I think that they are all wrong considering the fact of where you currently are.”

“What have you heard about me?” Eddie asked, slowly moving back to the trunk of the tree and climbing his way down. When he placed his feet on solid ground, Eddie realised just how tall Prince Richard was in comparison to him. “What do they say about me?”

Richie pursed his lips, “They say you’re a mother’s boy, uncultured, too fragile to do any real work. They say you never leave the palace and yet…here you are. Climbing trees.” The prince then took another step forward, crowding Eddie against the tree. “I guess we were both wrong in our assumptions of each other. Shall we start over?”

Eddie nodded his head. “I’m Eddie. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Richie, and believe me, your highness. The pleasure is all mine.”  

* * * * *

“Richie, oh fuck, Richie…” Eddie gasped, tugging firmly on Richie’s hair as he was backed up against the wall in the hallway, Richie’s hand down his pants. They were out in the open, where anyone could turn around and spot them, but that wasn’t something that Richie seemed bothered by. “Richie- so-someone could see us,”

Richie pulled away, a grin on his face, “Oh come on, Your Highness, where is your sense of adventure?” he asked, squeezing the base of Eddie’s cock with his hand, making the younger man jump and hold back a moan. “God I want to get under those clothes so badly, Eds. You’re a fucking wet dream.”

Swallowing a gasp, Eddie tugged on Richie’s hair to pull him a little closer, “Then maybe- maybe we should go back to your quarters then.” He watched Richie’s reaction, the way his eyes widened in shock before he smirked and nodded his head, pulling him down the corridor in the direction of his quarters.

Richie and his parents had been in Eddie’s Kingdom for ten weeks now, and in those ten weeks the two of them had done from acquaintances, to friends and now to lovers. The whole thing was giving Eddie whiplash, but he couldn’t care. The way Richie made him feel when they were together overcame any other thought he might have had.

As the door to Richie’s room flew open, the two of them stumbled in, lips locked together in a passionate kiss and hands roaming all over as they tried to get out of their clothes. Richie kicked the door closed with his foot and a moment later Eddie was being pushed up against the wall, Richie’s hands up his shirt. “God, Eds…you’re so beautiful…”

A flush built up on Eddie’s cheeks and he kissed Richie more forcefully, managing to wrangle his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the ground at their feet. He knew just from the heat of the room and the rushed touches that it wasn’t going to last long, and they didn’t have the supplies they needed to go any further, but it was something. “Touch me, Richie…come on.”

At the sound of his desperate plea, Richie slowed down his movements, caressing over the skin of Eddie’s, now bare, stomach in a teasing manner. “What do you say?” He asked and Eddie groaned, moving his hand to deal with his problem on his own. The hand didn’t get far however, as Richie wrapped his free hand around Eddie’s wrists, pinning his hands above his head. “Keep em there,” he warned.

In a second, Richie’s hands were gone and he was dropping to his knees in front of Eddie, pulling down his pants and taking him into his mouth in one go. Eddie closed his eyes, a whine leaving his lips as he kept his hands were they were above his head. All he could do to urge Richie on was to cant his hips forward into his mouth occasionally, earning him a pinch to the thigh from Richie’s fingers.

“Rich- Rich m’gonna come,” Eddie breathed, feeling that coil in his stomach as Richie bobbed his head faster, gripping Eddie’s hips tight. He looked down, meeting Richie’s eyes as the other Prince nodded once. A few moments later, Eddie was coming hard down Richie’s throat, hands moving into his hair to ground himself. “Fuck- Fuck oh my god.”

With a pop, Richie pulled off and wiped his mouth, grinning up at Richie. “Did I blow your mind, Your Highness?” He asked and Eddie shoved him backwards. “You don’t have to worry about me either, I came in my pants like a fucking teenager.”

Once they were all cleaned up, the two of them snuggled up on Richie’s bed, holding onto each other close. This was the only time they could do this, when there was no-one watching. There was no possible way that the two of them could be together. After all, they were both the only heirs to their respective Kingdoms. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Richie…” Eddie breathed after a while. “And I’m scared.”

Richie looked into his eyes, moving a hand to cup his cheek, “I’m scared too, because I feel the exact same. I am falling for you too. Don’t worry though, one day, we’ll be able to be together. I promise.”

Eddie just smiled, relishing in the moment, unable to breathe the words that were plaguing his mind.

Don’t make promises you’re unable to keep.

* * * * *

@3tothe1 @anellope @annxmatron @appojoos @are-you-reddie-for-it @atownofeggs @beepbeeprichiellc @bi-bi-richie @billdenbrough @bitchbrak @callmechee @dadbodrichie @derrylosers @disneyfan567 @eddiekaspprak @eds-trashmouth @eduardoandale @girasol-eddie @gloire-celeste @halfway-happy353 @hawkinsbabe @inthebreadbinwrites @itfandomprompts @its-stranger-than-you-think @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @kat-ships-everything @lifesucksheres20bucks @loserslibrary @losers-gotta-stick-together @madi-artist @mars-14 @marsisaplanetyall @moonlightrichie @nancynwheeler @no-she-wasnt-reddie @oldguybones @pattysblum @photoboothreddie @pink-psychic @purplepoisonedgem @queen-sock @ransonelovebot @rebecca-the-queen @reddie-for-anything @reddie-to-cryy @reddieforlove @reddiesetandgo @richietoaster @roobarrtrashmouth @rreddies @s-onora @s-s-georgie @sashadrowned @sedanleystanley @sloppybitchreddie @sparklingrainbowdragon @spirited-marvel @stellarbisexual @studpuffin @takeourpure @that-weird-girls-blog @thegoshdiddlydangdoor @thejadeazalea @thorn-harvester-ven @tinyarmedtrex @tozier-boy @tozierking @toziesque @trashmouthtozierr @twoidiotsinl0ve @ultrapaninibred @vanity190 @violetreddie @virgo-luthie @wilding-throught-thehallways @xandertheundead 

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

Scars That Heal || Eddie Kaspbrak x Reader Series

• Ch. 8: Somebody's Watching Me •

     Since the day of the rock fight, the Losers had been inseparable. And not only had that day come to be known as the day their bond had been forged but the day they had found a place to call their own: the clubhouse. A small subterranean dugout that Ben had found while playing in the Barrens one day. After many a reinforcement, he had transformed it into a habitable space for him and his six, now seven best friends. After their defeat of the Bowers gang, Ben had taken them into the Barrens, and just across the Kenduskeag Stream to the aforementioned fort where their bonds were furthered forged.

     And apart from their dark confessions at the park and the overcast of fear looming over their heads, Y/n had suggested another trip to the clubhouse as a morale booster. They each found themselves there with one another quite a bit, particularly when things were looking gloomy. It had quickly become a sanctuary for the children. And since their taking residency, the dingy little dugout had filled with trinkets and treasures of their own, slowly but surely growing far more homely with each visit.

     This particular trip to the clubhouse was less than exciting, everyone was still fairly unsettled from their conversation at the park earlier that day. And the journey through the barrens and across the Kenduskeag was considerably silent apart from the trickling stream and the singing birds. And every so often they would hear the scuffle of Ben readjusting his backpack over his shoulder.

     When they had left the park, he had suggested stopping by his house to pick something up and the others complied, curiously. Before they could debate on whether or not to follow him inside, he had returned from his house with a thick brown burlap cloth folded up under his arms. He was unzipping his backpack as he walked across his front lawn, tucking some more unseen things inside before storing the large piece of cloth and ropes in as well.

     "What is that, Ben?" Y/n had asked, balancing herself on her bike as it stood still on the pavement, her toes reaching for the concrete.

     He had closed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before grabbing his bike.

     "Oh, it's our old hammock." Everyone's face's lit up at his words, the first they had perked since the park. "We had it at our old house, but, we don't really have a good place to hang it here, so I figured we could find a spot in the clubhouse."

     "That's a great idea," Mike beamed.

     Ben smiled at the comment and turned a little pink. He had always found it odd his interest in architecture, the kids at his old school always gave him grief for it. And over time it became an instinct to bury his interest, to never bring it up. But when he showed the Losers the clubhouse, they were enthralled. With the structure and his abilities. Ben was still getting used to their fascination and support in his passions, but he sure did enjoy it.

     And soon enough, the eight Losers found themselves descending the ladder into the place each and every one of them could call home. From the moment they entered, their noses were filled with the overwhelming and concentrated aroma of dust, and fresh layers of earth still damp from previous rains.

     It was intoxicating to the Loser's as it became the smell they associated with the clubhouse, their hideaway. Their hideaway from the Bowers gang, their hideaway from the world, and if they believed hard enough, a hideaway from It. A place where they could be stronger than the world told them they were, a place that reminded them that they were stronger than the world told them they were.

     But even this trip didn't seem to quite do the trick for each of them.

     "I don't see why we're here," Richie snorted, waltzing over to the crooked beam and slapped it gently - learning from Ben's mistakes. "Unless this fucker is demon proof or whatever the fuck that thing is I don't see how this is gonna help."

     "Doesn't mean we can't try and have fun while we can," Y/n argued. "Or at least try and clear our heads, calm down a little bit and collect ourselves. We can work something out some other day if we want, but not today. I mean, look at us,"

     Y/n gestured around the small circle the Losers had formed at the center of the clubhouse. Apart from Y/n, everyone was quiet and closed off, arms either tucked at their sides or they were wringing their hands. It was not the same seven misfits that stood together against Bowers, but the seven lonely children that were isolated and afraid when It had found them.

     "Look, I'm scared too. But somethings telling me we need to enjoy this while we can."

     Y/n sighed, her waving arms falling to rest at her sides in exasperation and her eyes fell to the dirt floor. For some unfathomable reason, she would never be able to explain, the turtle from that day at the quarry popped into her mind, and a faint ghost of a smile dusted her cheeks. She looked around at her friends with a reassuring sense of confidence and some of them seemed to take to her words.

     A similar thought crossed Beverly's mind and she smirked at her best friend and nodded, hands now tucked into her back pockets.

     "Y/n's right, let's just enjoy the rest of the day while we can. It's summer!"

     Bill fought the urge to roll his eyes at the familiar argument, but even he couldn't deny the whole idea of forgetting sounded tempting to him.

     Poor Eddie - who had been clutching his inhaler tightly to his chest in between puffs of the device - looked around the circle, then up at Richie. Richie looked down at his best friend and shrugged, slapping the kids back and the inhaler nearly flew out of his tiny grasp.

     "Whatdya' say, Eddie Spaghetti, you up for some good ol' fashioned repression and denial? Shouldn't be too hard for ya pal, that's what - every Wednesday night for you huh?"

     If Eddie wasn't still holding the albuterol captive in his swollen lungs, he would've snapped at Richie for saying such things, and above all that God-awful nickname again! But instead, he rolled his eyes and looked to Y/n, ignoring that his heart was beating just a twinge faster, and hesitantly nodded.

     "Great" Y/n smiled, relieved Eddie agreed.

     She less than gracefully twirled around - her ankle ached in reply - to look for the boombox Bill had brought last time. Swallowing a wince, Y/n reached the boombox and turned the radio on, giving the room a lighter ambiance already. They soon quickly recognized the song New York Groove, by Kiss as it was fading out.

    Y/n turned to Ben and gestured to his backpack.

     "So, should we hang up the hammock?"

     "Oh! Uh, yeah sure."

     Ben took the faded backpack from his shoulder and unzipped it, retrieving the thick burlap cloth as the radio station announced the next song of the previous decade.

     The Losers dispersed, making room for Y/n and Ben as they unfolded the hammock, the ends of the ropes trailing in the dirt after them. From the boombox in the corner, came the gentle tune of a piano, and a soft voice spilled into the atmosphere as the last rays of the sun shone through the entrance to the clubhouse.

     Ben gestured between two beams structured across the room and the pair made their way over as the song, Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young swelled, giving the rest of the Losers the sense of home and comfort.

     "I'll light the fire

You put the flowers in the vase that you bought today"

     "Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good"

     Ben began instructing Y/n on how to hang the hammock, and the two set to work. Stan and Bev had begun gathering stray leaves that made their way into the clubhouse while they had been gone and set to tidying up. Between the two, it wasn't long before a competition formed to see who could get the most leaves and twigs out.

     Meanwhile, Eddie, Richie, and Mike had begun playing a game of cards with a deck that Richie had left last time. Of course, a game hadn't been decided yet. The three boys - mainly Richie and Eddie - had begun arguing over what to play. It was between Bullshit, Sevens and Mike just wanted to play Palace.

     "Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated by the

Sunshine through them, fiery gems for you, only for you"

     Ben, Y/n, Bev and Stan had finished with their respective tasks before the trio could decide on a game. Everyone's attention was drawn back to Y/n and Ben when they put the finishing touches on the hammock.

     "Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard,

Life used to be so hard,

Now everything is easy 'cause of you and our—"

     "Alright," Y/n said, dusting off her hands after pushing herself off the dirt floor. "The hammock's all-"

     Before she could finish her sentence Richie had leaped to his feet - cursing profusely under his breath when he bumped his head on a low beam - and ran for the hammock. Making sure to go out of his way to shove Eddie to ground for no particular reason and his small frame hit the dirt with a rather loud 'umph'. Protests were thrown across the room but Richie merely stretched out his long lanky legs and rested his head under his folded arms, sighing in content.

    "Welp," Richie sighed, popping the 'p'. "You were right, toots. Coming down here wasn't so bad after all. And good thinking with the hammock, haystack. You got a good nugget in there."

     Richie winked at Y/n and nodded firmly at Ben. The Losers rolled their eyes in near-perfect sync - a feat easier around one another than one might think - and Richie closed his eyes, ignoring their glares. Eddie was extra furious given he was still feverishly dusting several spots of dirt off himself.

     "Alright, wake me when It's dead."

     "Enough, Richie." Y/n warned, before turning to Ben. "Ben, what I tell ya? Within the minute."

     Ben chuckled and Stan stepped forward.

     "Richie, we're sharing the hammock, you have to get up one way or another" He warned.

     "Yeah, yeah, sure thing, Stanley the Manley." Richie retorted, still never opening his eyes.

     Stan rolled his eyes and stepped around the hammock. Catching Y/n's eye, he gestured silently to the hammock and an unsuspecting Richie. Smirking, she made her way around the hammock and gestured for the others to continue talking. About what, she didn't care. They caught on almost immediately, but Eddie choked. Mike was quick to cover.

     "Eddie, if you really want we can play-"

     THUMP

     "THE FUCK?!"

     Stan and Y/n had flipped the hammock and Richie was pulling his dirtied face from the ground with a wince.

     "The fuck was that?"

     "We all know you weren't m-moving otherwise, Richie." Bill shot.

     "Hey, don't throw a fit just cause you guys were too slow."

     Richie turned to see Stan sat in the hammock, smirking at him.

     "You were saying?"

     "Oh, come on! That's not fair!" Richie gestured widely at Stan, looking desperately around the room for scraps of sympathy.

     Ignoring Richie's protests, Y/n turned to the others and raised a brow.

     "How about we each have ten minutes? That way it's fair."

     The Losers looked at one another and a chorus of agreement rang out.

     "S-s-sounds good."

     "Okay." Mike nodded.

     "Yeah, alright."

     "I call next!" Bev called.

     "Oh, for fuck sake! Don't I get a say in this? Wasn't I the one just violently thrown from the hammock? Eds, come on! Back me up!"

     Eddie wore a deadpan look as he met his best friend's eyes, bits of twig that Beverly and Stan had missed unknowingly caught in tufts of his hair.

     "Oh, don't try that with me, dickhead!" Eddie shot back. "You're the one who threw me in the dirt, why the fuck would I help you, and for fuck's sake stop calling me Eds!"

     Eddie took a deep breath after his small rant and glared at Richie. Scattered chuckles bounced across the Losers, Y/n's loudest of all.

     "Good for you, shrimp" Y/n giggled.

     "So just fuck me then, right?" Richie grumbled from the ground.

    Richie was not quite expecting a chorus of agreements echo off the Losers though he couldn't say he was surprised.

     "Pretty much."

     "Yeah,"

     "Uh-huh,"

      "Yep,"

     Huffing, he sat near the hammock and began finding ways to make Stan's turn in the hammock unpleasant. Stan didn't take this, of course, having many years under his belt of dealing with the loudmouth. Y/n looked at the pouting Tozier boy and felt a smile creep up and a twinge of guilt. She maneuvered around the hammock, and knelt down next to her friend, resting her ankle on the dirt floor where it wasn't strained.

     "Oh, don't look so glum, Tozier. It's not a good look on you," She rested her elbow on the boy's shoulder and he quickly scoffed, brushing off her words.

     "Oh please, everything looks good on me, toots, and you know it." Richie shot back, turning to meet her eye. "And I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted a piece of this either."

     Y/n guffawed, grabbing the attention of the Kaspbrak boy across the room, who was now watching them curiously. Her laughter bubbled into a small chuckle that would be bouncing around Eddie's head for the rest of the day like a catchy song. He watched fondly as the two engaged with one another and he noted how well they always got along.

     Y/n shook her head, trying at no avail to shake the smile from her lips. "You wish, Tozier."

     Richie held a smile of his own as he looked to her, that was until he glanced past her head and across the room to see the captivating gaze Eddie was held in. His big brown eyes focused on the girl beside him and that familiar pang that always returned when he caught Eddie staring at her like that. Richie swallowed thickly, his quick wit and sharp tongue taking over and he returned his attention to Y/n as if nothing happened.

     Richie shrugged, clicking his tongue. "No need to be shy, babe. Everybody wants a slice, and there's plenty for you."

     He puckered his lips and exaggeratedly smacked his lips at her and it was enough to do the trick. Her smile was gone, quickly replaced by her lips pressing into a firm line as she shoved his head away playfully. The Losers chimed in almost immediately. Various disgusted and disgruntled 'Beep beep, Richies' rang out after that comment and Y/n finally rose to her feet with a simple grunt.

     "Ech, I told you not to call me that, you dick." She grumbled, though she bit back a defeated smile, as she walked away.

     "That's my name, don't wear it out-" They said in sync, Y/n joining Bev on the bench on the far wall. "Yeah, yeah, I walked right into that one."

     Richie sniggered triumphantly, and with his new burst of confidence, he returned to his attempts to aggravate Stan. Ben meanwhile, had begun making plans for another seating arrangement in his head, to divert some attention away from the hammock. He remembered he had some spare rope he kept with him in his backpack for such occasions - spur of the moment projects - and there were some sturdy enough boards laying around the place. By the end of the day - hopefully, with help - he could fashion a small swing seat for him and his friends. Not to swing, of course, there wasn't enough stability for that, but for sitting.

     He shared his plan with Bill and the two got to work. Bill thought it was a terrific idea, given how much fuss was being made over the hammock. Occupying the far corner of the room, was Mike and Eddie sat at the low coffee table the Losers had found last Wednesday. Mike had made the discovery, passing through one of the smaller neighborhoods in Derry when he saw someone had left it out on the street for the taking. The Losers gathered that morning and hauled it to the clubhouse, took all day to get it there but at least they had a surface for cards and such. Between Mike and Eddie, it was a bit easier to decide on a card game. They landed on Palace, and Eddie was finding he was having loads more fun than he did with Sevens.

     In between turns, he would find his eyes wandering past Mike at the bench on the wall. Y/n was thoroughly invested in Beverly's story, she was nodding along eagerly with a smile creeping up on her face. Eddie hadn't realized one was creeping up on his own, but he jumped slightly when she burst out laughing. Perhaps he was startled by the noise or he was just on guard from staring. Eddie looked away but he cursed himself when he realized she was looking at him.

     She had seen it.

     As for Y/n, she felt her stomach do a small flip when she felt a certain pair of brown eyes on her. Still smiling, she looked past Beverly, and on the ground, sitting curled up on a mat at the coffee table, blushing profusely and attempting desperately to avoid eye contact was Eddie.

     A small hum of a laugh vibrated through Beverly's chest, and without looking at him, she knew.

     "Is he looking at you again?" A smirk painted her face.

     Y/n hummed a response she knew Eddie wouldn't notice. With a fleeting burst of confidence, Y/n looked at the small boy, meeting his eye, and winked. She returned her attention to Bev, smirking yet she couldn't help but keep an eye on him. The poor boy blushed instantaneously, his neck and face grew hot and when Mike returned his attention to his friend - he had been too caught up in what cards to play - became very concerned. Eddie was now completely red. But this time he didn't look away, and despite his racing heart and raging blush, he allowed himself to meet her eye once more and much to his surprise, the ends of his lips even twitched into a smile.

     Y/n was attempting to hide blushes of her own, but not much time passed until the topic had changed along with the music. Each of them was swept back up in their own conversations in no time, though their minds replayed the small moment over and over. By now, several songs had come and gone, filling up the minutes of the time that wasted away in the company of the Losers.

     The eight misfits were not fully immersed in their own activities, but still very much engaged with another. And it wasn't long until the looming threat of their previous subject at the park was briefly forgotten. For now, they were safe, tucked away in their own private corner of the world, lost in the blissful moments of childhood.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

     Bill inserts the last tack into the wall, the large map reading 'DERRY SEWER SYSTEM' now hangs in the garage. As usual, the Losers had arrived at slightly different intervals. Mike and Stan arrived first, and Mike helped set up the projector while Stan was hanging blankets over the windows to prevent as much light as possible from entering. Ben had arrived shortly after, be had brought the slides that Bill had requested, and the last to show was Bev and Y/n who had left their complex together and ran into Richie and Eddie on the way.

     He could hear their conversation coming up the driveway, and the sounds of Bev eagerly greeting Ben and the others - seemingly happy to get a break from being the fourth wheel.

     "What's the matter, Eddie? Don't tell me you're afraid of the shape-shifting clown, are ya?" Richie spoke, as the three came to a stop near the garage where they discarded their bikes.

     "Oh, fuck off, Richie!" Eddie huffed.

     Y/n laughed, but it was very weak and sounded almost forced. "Don't worry Eddie. Richie and I have your back. Right, Richie?"

     Instinctively, her hand found Eddie's back and she pats him gently. Y/n smiled weakly, and it was clear she was just as nervous. Her hand fell from his back and immediately, Eddie missed it being there. Eddie didn't know how to respond, all he could muster was a shaky smile in thanks. It wasn't much, but he knew she had gotten the message.

     In turn, Richie began ruffling Eddie's hair and the boy flinched trying to escape his friend's grasp.

     "Hey! Hey, what the hell are-?"

      "Why, of course, we got to protect ol' Eddie Spaghetti! In fact," A light bulb went off over Richie's head and he looked to Y/n who was listening amused. "Y/n and I, are the proud co-founders of... P.E.K.S"

     Eddie finally manages to escape from Richie's torment and he huffed, attempting to adjust his hair. Eddie looks up at Richie, giving him an odd look, unknowingly Y/n was just as taken aback.

     "The what? What the hell are you talking about?"

     Richie swung his arm around Eddie and the three continued their journeys into the garage, finally joining the others. The rest of the Losers were just finishing laying out chairs and pillows for them to sit on.

     "You don't know? It's P.E.K.S, that is 'p', 'e', 'k', 's' my friend, P.E.K.S. Protect Eddie Kaspbrak Squad and we take our job very seriously, don't we toots?"

     An honest laugh escaped Y/n and for once she was relieved she had stayed quiet and went along with Richie's antics to find out, cause she agreed wholeheartedly. Swallowing her surprise, a smile found it's way onto her face and she looked to Eddie.

     "Damn straight, shrimp."

     Mike reached the garage door and reached for the handle, he paused taking one look around the room at his friends.

     "Everyone set?"

     Mike was met with scattered confirmations and with one swift tug of his arm, he pulled the door shut. All remaining sunlight - apart from a few weak rays peaking through the roof slats and the edges of the blankets - had vanished. All that illuminated the garage was the pale white light of the projector where Bill had just put in the slide Ben had brought of Old Derry. The same slide he had found in Ben's room the day they had gone to the quarry.

     The group dispersed, getting situated around the projector. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find many seats so that left Mike and Bill standing near the back and Y/n opted for a floor pillow in front of the projector where she could see.

     It also didn't hurt that she was near Eddie. But she did feel a bit exposed, she was front and center and the others were tucked in with one another in a way. However, it did give her the benefit of stretching out her bad leg. And yet, Y/n could not quite shake the feeling rooted deep inside her. To her it felt eerily similar to a common phenomenon experienced by millions of people around the globe, to her it felt as if she - and her friends, in their anxious huddle - were gathering around preparing themselves in front of their screen. Accompanied by the sickly feeling of dread and anxiety, mere butterflies - the special kind of butterflies - in her stomach that migrated only when a scary movie was about to start.

     And decades in the future her brain would tell her it was nothing more than that. That that awful, nauseating feeling that had bubbled in the pits of her stomach that day was nothing more than a product of special effects and a cheesy plotline. And anytime coworkers would talk about movie nights they had as kids, and engage with her about such things, her mind would show her nothing more than a hazy ersatz memory it had painted for her.

   Of her, under blankets and pillows, surrounded by kids - she would never stop to realize the faces were fuzzy, people she didn't know, she always felt alone in these memories. Her at the front of the pack, all crowded around a white television screen, her and the blurry kids, jumping back in fright at the blank white picture of static. This is all she would come to remember. A scary movie, with some blurry faces, five or six at least - one of the faces always stuck out stronger than the others, just a little bit clearer and wildly familiar but the thought would never linger long enough for her to recognize them. Y/n wouldn't remember that she was in fact with Stan Uris and Beverly Marsh, or even Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon, and Ben Hanscom all stuffed in Bill Denbrough's garage on a hot summer day in July, investigating the darkest mystery of their small hometown.

     But at the moment, all Y/n knew was that they were simply looking at Bill's projector, and he was sharing his theory and where It lives. Truthfully, Y/n did not know what to expect beyond that, but she could not shake that pit in her stomach. The pit that reminded her of the sickly feeling one gets when they are about to watch a horror movie. When the harsh violin plays, and the thunder strikes and one can feel the adrenaline coursing through their veins and they're trembling in all the excitement.

     Y/n didn't like that she felt this way, but she tried to dismiss it. Even if there was credit it to it - she didn't want to admit there was but if she did at least she was surrounded by her friends. The slide came into the focus, and the words 'MAP of the city of DERRY' appeared in the corner. Suddenly, all the details of Derry were splayed out perfectly in line with the Derry Public Works system Bill had hung up. The children could now see the entire town of Derry, including the interconnecting pathways and tunnels below, represented by a strangely ominous bright red line. It branched out from the far left corner of the map, skewing off into many different branches, touching every corner of Derry.

     "Look," Bill said, gesturing to something he had scribbled on his map. "T-T-That's where G-G-Georgie disappeared."

     Everyone's eyes fell on the small 'x' marked on a red line on Jackson street. Scratched in black ink next to it were the words, 'Storm Drain'. Bill gestured to another familiar location that overlapped a red line.

     "There's the Ironworks. And The Black Spot."

     Sure enough, sprinkled across the map of Derry were the mentioned locations of Derry's biggest disasters. Each of them bordering the sewers.

     "Everywhere it happens, it-it's all connected by the sewers," Bill said.

     Every red branch, every red line, all came from one spot, one source on the map where everything overlapped. The pits in everyone's stomachs bloomed and they all knew.

     "And they all meet up at the-"

     "The well house." Ben realized aloud.

     Eddie looked back slowly and tentatively towards the screen. Much like his friends his heart was pounding faster and faster. But Eddie could feel the familiar grasp around his lungs, and it only tightened at Stan's words.

     "It's in the house on Neibolt Street," Stan said, in a similar realization.

     Eddie remembered all too well the last time he had been there. But part of him had hoped it was all a nightmare. Some sick and cruel elaborate scene his mind had conjured up.

     "You mean that creepy-ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Richie asked.

     Shakily, Eddie pulled out his inhaler and gave it a good shake before bringing it to his lips. He tried his best to keep the medicine in his lungs long enough for it to take effect but he choked down a gasp, as he hunched over. Y/n moved closer to Eddie and her eyes fell to his free hand. Cautiously, she took it, looking to him for silent confirmation, he seemed too involved with steadying his breathing to notice it seemed.

     "I hate that place," Beverly mumbled nervously, unaware of the pair in front.

     Y/n assumed he was too frightened to notice her acts of comfort. That was until she felt the muscles in his hand relax, only slightly, and gave her palm a gentle squeeze in thanks.

     "It always feels like it's watching me." Bev continued.

     Letting out a shaky breath, and slowly but surely regaining his composure, Eddie sat up. Though he neglected to release Y/n's hand, and he was sure in any other moment he would be a blushing mess but this felt stable to Eddie. It felt like a lifeline, a reminder he wasn't alone. Not like Neibolt.

     "That's where I saw It." He gulped. "That's where I saw the clown."

     Y/n hadn't realized immediately that she had been tracing circles into the back of his hand with the pad of her thumb. It was a habit she had developed since that first night of summer, anytime she was nervous she would tuck in her legs against her chest, and her fingers would absentmindedly find their way to her bandages. The pads of her fingers fidgeting with the frayed ends just to satisfy the creeping feeling of restlessness.

     "Tha-That's where It lives," Bill said.

     Eddie took another sharp breath of his inhaler, and this time around had better luck holding his breath. Y/n continued to stare at the big red dot on the map, it almost felt as if she were to look away it would disappear. Like finding a spider and leaving the room to find something to kill it with, only to return to find it had crawled away.

     "I can't imagine anything ever wanting to live there," Mike said shakily.

     Eddie jumped from his seat suddenly, his hand leaving Y/n's and they all watch as he scrambles to front, the projector illuminating his small frame.

     "Can we stop talking about this?" Eddie yells, gasping for air his arms waiving desperately as panic overwhelms him. "I-I-I can barely breathe. Th-This is summer. We're kids. I can barely breathe, I'm up here having a fucking asthma attack. I'm not doing this."

     Eddie whirls around and grabs the map of Derry's Sewer System and rips it off the wall.

     "What the hell? Put the map back." Bill snaps.

     Eddie shakes his head firmly. "Mm-mm."

     A loud click grabs their attention, and the screen over Eddie darkens briefly before it changes to another slide.

     Y/n turns around to look between Bill and the device.

     "Bill, what are you doing?"

     "N-nothing, that w-wasn't me."

     Another click.

     And another.

     The projector began clicking forward on its own, and it had now reached the beginning of the reel. Photos of the Denbrough family on vacation began to play, the photos changing at a regular pace.

     "What's going on?" Stan asked impatiently.

     Eddie backed away slowly, his eyes never leaving the projector. Y/n cautiously shifted back on the pillow, farther away from the wall.

     "I got it. Hold on." Mike offered gently.

     He fiddled with the projector, he pressed every button several times but it was no use. It must have been jammed. At the very least, he hopes it was.

     "Guys," he mumbled nervously, words dying on his tongue.

     Several photos had come and gone, and the projector now focused on a shot of the four Denbroughs in their Sunday best. They were all holding hands and Mrs. Denbrough's red hair was being whipped around in the wind, blocking her face.

     The projector clicked again, but the scene did not change. The shot was brought closer to Georgie, and Ben was instantly reminded of his trip to the library before he met the rest of the Losers.

     "Georgie," Bill croaked, as the image zoomed closer and closer to boy's toothy grin.

     "Bill?"

     By, now Y/n had risen from the pillow and scrambled back into the stool Eddie had previously occupied.

     The speed picked up and the pictures grew faster and faster as the projector flew through the slides. The picture moved more like that of a stop motion animation than a movie, every other movement caught on film. The camera angles itself up and changes focus to what is supposed to be Mrs. Denbrough. The red tendrils of hair begin to move, rapidly increasing until it isn't every other fragment but more like a regular picture movie.

     And to their horror, the hair is cast aside and underneath is the painted white face of the clown. It's unnaturally buck teeth sinking into the flesh of It's own bottom lip. A wicked smirk drawn all the way up to past It's yellow eyes.

     Y/n jumped back, her arms outstretched behind her and she began herding Stan, Eddie and herself away from the wall.

     "What the fuck is that? What the fuck is that?" Richie hollered, pulling Eddie and Y/n toward him.

     Eddie nearly tripped over Richie's chair as he was pulled into his grasp and Y/n still had her arms out herding them backward. She could hear Eddie's shrieks clearly from behind her.

     "I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!"

     "Stan!" Y/n cried.

     Stan had somewhat frozen in place, much like Ben, Bev and Bill had but even they were backing away slightly. He didn't seem to hear her and looked around frantically at her friends. Beverly, Stan, and Richie had not seen the clown before even though they had each encountered it. It had never appeared to them before as a clown and if she wasn't in immediate danger Beverly would have stopped to think about how this thing was in the living room with Y/n while she was asleep.

     "Turn it off!" She shouted quickly. "TURN IT OFF!"

     Y/n's top priority was ensuring Stan's safety, so she lurched forward and grabbed Stan by the back of the shirt, and yanked him back. He crashed into Mike and Eddie she glanced at the projector, trying desperately to bury the overwhelming thoughts and possibilities. Her eyes landed on the cord and she ripped the plug from the socket but the picture kept moving and she could feel the clown's eyes smiling at her, smugly. Her now in It's direct sights, It began to mimic that night, the clown blinked and the white's of It's eyes had disappeared. Nothing but dark chasms and two glowing yellow irises floating in the center.

     It all became infinitely more real to Y/n. And It pissed her off. She raised her good leg, and with a forceful grunt, she kicked the crate and the projector toppled onto the ground. Light from the machine had bounced all around the room on its journey to the floor and it landed upside down, picture crookedly aimed at the wall behind her and to the right of the four boys.

     Everyone froze, too fearful to move. Y/n most of all. She had gotten Stan to safety - she could only hope - but now she was in his place when another click echoed throughout the silent room. Frozen on the screen was the clown. It was blurry and It almost looked stuck but all Y/n could do was try and catch her breath, and calm her racing heart. Another click. She felt as if she was stuck, her body not her own and just like a nightmare no matter how much she was begging her legs to move they wouldn't budge. Another click. The image went blank, and several shaky breaths were released.

     Another slow click and the gigantic clown popped out of the picture, barely missing Y/n. She shrieked, and only then did her limbs catch up with her brain's signals. She cursed herself and her dumb fucking luck when she felt her footing slip out from underneath her. One of the dozens of slides had scattered the garage floor around her and caused her fall. She landed squarely on her backside and she scrambled back as far and fast as she could as the clown crawled forward after her. It's unnaturally giant size took up the entire garage.

     There wasn't a Loser who didn't scream after her. Richie snapped into action and while Y/n had made it pretty far on her own for It's speed and her aching leg, Richie quickly hooked his arms under hers and dragged her across the garage, not bothering to waste time by stopping to drag her to her feet. The others were tumbling across the garage to get the door tripping over one another as they ran and Y/n watched in horror as the clown reached out it's long and thinning twig-like arm after her. It's sharp talon-like claws soaked with her blood - as it had been that night - reached for her and as her legs were scrambling across the pavement. Trying desperately to retract them from his grasp and the last thing she saw before a flood of light engulfed her vision was the clown's black eyes glaring at her as it reached for her legs.

     Y/n felt as if her lungs might explode from how fast she had been inhaling air. Before she could process what had happened she found herself looking up at the ceiling of Bill's garage, several faces looking down at her. Sunlight was flooding into the room and she could barely register that the garage door was now open.

     "Y/n!"

     "Oh, my God"

     "What the fuck was that?"

     "Y/n? Y/n!"

     "I don't know, man!"

     Y/n could feel herself shaking horribly, and she suddenly noticed several hands on her shoulder and back and she realized she was sitting up. She flinched at their touch and she looked around the room quickly, afraid she would find It lurking somewhere.

     "Y/n, are you okay?"

     "Jesus, fuck!"

     "Y/n?"

     Blinking several times she looked around and saw the scattered faces of her friends. Everyone was panting heavily. Her face collapsed in the palm of her hands and she was breathing frantically, reminding herself to at least try and slow her lungs and heart. Her body rocked back and forth slightly, her adrenaline still pumping, needing an outlet. Needing to move. Finally, her breath began to slow and she looked up, nodding at her friends to ease their minds.

     "Thanks... Richie," she managed between breaths.

     "No problem," he panted, just as jarred. "Just for fuck sake, run next time, will ya?"

     Beverly and Eddie came into view and extended their hands for her and she gladly accepted both. Y/n hissed slightly at her aggravated leg and when she looked down she was relieved to see no further damage had been done. Shakily, Stan spoke up.

     "T-thanks, Y/n," His eyes held relief, but also a hint of guilt.

     A weak and broken smile was all Y/n could manage. Eddie had finally gathered enough air in his lungs to speak and he did just that, albeit quite shaken.

     "It saw us." He panted. "It saw us, and it knows where we are!"

     "It always did," Bill said, striding out towards the pile of bikes in the driveway. "So, let's go."

     "Go?" Ben asked, dumbfounded.

     Bill turned to see his friends still in the garage, rooted in place and looking at him incredulously.

     "Go where?" Ben asked again, this time his voice wavering.

     Bill couldn't believe what he was hearing.

     "Neibolt." He shot. "That's where G-G-Georgie is."

     Stan angrily threw his arm back, gesturing to the remains of their previous encounter.

     "After that?"

     "Yeah, it's summer. We should be outside." Richie said timidly, a tone they had scarcely heard him use if at all.

     Bill felt anger boil up in his chest at the words, his stutter flaring up with it as it usually did.

     "I-If you say it's s-summer one more f-f-fucking time..." He snapped, and he felt the anger redirect itself.

     Neibolt. He was going to Neibolt with or without his friends. He was going to get his brother. Bill shook his head, dismissing the conversation. He picked up his trusty bike and hopped on. He took off down the long driveway, leaving his friends behind.

     "Bill!" Beverly called. "Wait!"

     The seven friends look around at one another in disbelief, as Bill disappears around the corner on the back of Silver. He was going to face it alone, and in turn, he gave the Losers no choice less they surely lose their friend.

     They had to follow him.

+++

Tag List: @seasidecrowbar​​​ @milliehatespeople​​ @supernovavisionary​​ @readyforitbitch​​  @geniedocroe​​ @sivords​​  @ravenclawsprincess​​ @pigwidgexn​​ @kricketwritesstories​​ @mitchs-bad-bitch​ @plum-duels​ @edmunds-torch​ @eddiegaykaspbrak​ @rosi3e​ @welcome-to-derry​ @beepbeep-pennywise​ @candycorntroll​  @bibliophilesquared​ @ongaku-ato-kakikomi​ @cocastyle​ @peachysinnermon​ @cloudymotel​ @captainshazamerica​ @kaitlynjones12​ @songbird-writes​ @traceylader​ @eggytozier​ @annimalq​ @lexylovesfandoms​ @russian-romanova​ @paigey-mcfreedomly​  @whitetrash12345  @witch-of-all-things-soft​  @thatsjoemazzellosbbg​ @blogforhoes​ @darkcrystal-wolf​ @astrobre​

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

Shadows in the dark

A/N: this was requested by anon, I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think! If anyone has any requests, please let me know! 

Summary: can you do a reddie x teen daughter where she thinks she sees a shadow figure but it’s just bc she watched a horror movie, n she screams so richie n eddie come n automatically assume it’s IT n go into fight mode but she reassures them she was just seeing things, but then she’s suspicious af bc of their reactions so they try to like explain the whole pennywise thing but rlly vague and like half bs so tht they don’t scare her n they acc get away w it.  

The thunderstorm pours heavily outside of Raina’s bedroom window, drenching everything in sight. It was the first night of the year that this happened, and she had forgotten just how scary it is, to be faced with this kind of . The horror movie she watched a few hours prior doesn’t help her case either, the images of dark figures stalking girls outside in their backyards flashing through her mind every time a bolt goes off.

The window is located on the left side of her bed, above a cozy seating arrangement Rania uses to read and indicate that she requires alone time. Though it usually symbolizes her calm, it now appears ominously, something she should be scared off.  

She fumbles with her phone, trembling impatiently until the screen lights up, illuminating the room so she can see. She groans in frustration when she looks at the time, barely three am, falling back into the bed and burying her head in her pillow.

The storm croaks outside, loud and un-bothered in it’s intensity, making Rania wonder if anyone else is awaken by the weather phenomenon.  ‘Shut up’, she mumbles stupidly, as if it’s going to listen to her, but it reminds her of the times when her pops used to stay up with her when she was little and afraid of the storm, and that causes her to chuckle.

She’s older now, and not so easily spooked, except when she watches a scary movie. This particular movie was called hush, and even in the light of day it frightened her. The idea of not being able to hear whether or not someone was breathing down your neck, or calling out for you seemed manifested straight out of one of her nightmares.

The storm rings loud enough to drown out any other sound that might emit, but that’s only her brain talking, tricking her into being queasy of nothing. There’s not a thing that’s going to happen, and logically she knows that, so she tries to shut her eyes and will herself to sleep.

It’s not going to happen, the three am hour sign burned on the back of her eyelids. She taps her fingers against the edge of the bed restlessly, shifting and twisting in her blankets until sweat starts to build above her eyebrows and she frustratingly kicks the comforter off of her.

Glancing at the window, firmly shut and the curtains drawn over it, Rania debates if it worth opening her window to let some cool air in. The hot summer sun is unforgiving these days, so scorning hot that it feels like your skin will burn right off the flesh if you stay outside for too long.

A bit of relief of the heat would be welcome, yet she almost falters, then curses herself with how foolish she’s being. Her pops is famous, and they’re living in an expensive neighborhood with a security guard, no one can harm her. She opens the window up an inch, and before heading back to bed, Rania shuffles towards the living room to grab a glace of water.

It isn’t uncommon for her to wake up, usually around the same time too, so she learns to deal with it, eating or drinking something or trying things like yoga. Though rarely helpful, Rania does discover new things and interests, so she takes it as a win.

An explosion of lightning brightens up the room, so she leaves the lights off as she shambles towards the fridge. It’s dead quiet, everyone having gone to bed, which makes her feel like she’s alone in the house. Another thunder crack causes her head to whip up from where she was ducked down to grab the water, eyeing the room twice, but coming up empty handed.

Rania hurries to pluck a water bottle and run up the stairs back to the safety of her room, peeking over her shoulder multiple times to ensure that there’s no one watching her. When she reaches her door, she throws it open, duks into the room, and then promptly shoves it closed with a loud bang.

She winces, the noise way too loud, though thankfully neither her dad, nor her pops stir. The rain ticks away on her window, some of it slipping through the opening and spattering in her room, resulting in a wet puddle being formed.

‘Fucking great’, Rania mutters when she notices, the pool extending right before her eyes. She turns halfway to her closet on the right side of the room, a wooden terra cotta colored one that uncle Bill got for her when they moved in, searching for an item that is allowed to get wet.

Towels aren’t at her disposal right now, and she’s not jumping at the idea of leaving her room again to go get one, so she improvises, by using a cloth that will be washed in the morning.

She takes hold of an old sweater that’s non usable right now anyway, and then circles in the direction of the window. A scream tears from her lips as she does, a shadow looming by the window leering at her as he sits on the window seat.

Screeching, Rania trips over her feet and falls on the ground, the sweater dropping from her hands, then scrambles back towards the door in an effort to get away from the silhouette. Her hands cover her face, like she wants to protect herself even if there were no visible weapons or the person preparing to attack her.

With burning eyes, tears that threaten to push themselves over the edge, she squints one eyelid open at the lack of movement. The room is empty.

Rania’s heart beats a mile a minute, her breathing fast and erratic, yet she manages to laugh manically. It was only a catch of the light, induced by her own imagination, petrifying her within an inch of her life.

She inhales and holds, then exhales slowly, controlling her breathing so she calms down. Several footsteps thunder on the laminate flooring in the hallway. Not fast enough to dodge the unlatching door, she receives a blow to the head, knocking her down once again.

‘Auw’, she complains, cupping the back of head in one hand and rubbing over the bump.

‘Rania, are you okay?’ Her dads pile into the room, switching the light on, searching frantic until they see her, and scurry beside her.

‘Rania talk to us, are you hurt? What happened?’ Eddie, her dad, clutches her body, half hanging over her, and pulling her as close as possible.

Richie, her pops, is standing on her other side, holding a lamp tightly in his one hand, while the other one latches on to her shoulder.

‘Nothing dad, I thought I saw something, but it’s not real.’

Up close, she can detect the tremors originating from her dad, and the hand of her pops shakes too.

‘You need to tell us alright, even if you think we won’t believe you, we will,’ Eddie promises, Richie nodding along vigorously.

The strangeness of their responses causes an alarm bell to go off in the back of Rania’s brain. She tilts her head sideways, peering up at her dad’s with a quizzical look in her eyes.

‘Okayy..’, she draws up, her voice taking on a questionable tone. She makes an attempt to inquire why they’re acting the way they do, but Richie and Eddie engage in their own conversation now.

‘She won’t tell us, we never told anyone either.’ Eddie says, still keeping Rania close at bay.

‘Well Eds, all the adults in our town fucking sucked, especially your mom.’

‘Fuck off Richie. Do you honestly want to joke about this right now? What if it’s IT asshole? What if the clown returned?’ They’re rushing through the sentences like they are hunted on by the devil himself, complete with wild gestures and raising voices as panic and hysteria seem to control them more and more.

‘I didn’t intend for it be a joke Eddie, I mean it. She was a fucking bitch so yeah, you obviously weren’t going to tell her shit,’ Richie responds irritated.

This wasn’t the usual bickering her parents did on a day to day bases, this time both were annoyed with the other, and Richie being vexed was a rare thing.

The storm rages on outside, three crying out thanks to the wind that blows strongly, but entirely the last thing on Rania’s mind right now.

‘Dad, pops it’s fine, leave it.’

‘It’s not fine, stop saying it’s fine.’ Eddie snapped, staring at Rania with poorly concealed terror. Her dad never snaps at her, ever, furthering suspicion in Rania that something was really, really wrong.

‘Sorry, sorry’, he relented, ‘that was rude.’ It is, but Rania is more concerned than angry anyway. She’s anxious that her dad might have a panic attack, even if he hadn’t had one in years. His face is red, and his hand digs in his pockets, aiming to find his inhaler.

‘We have to call Stan’, Richie distracts, seizing both Eddie’s, and Rania’s hand.

‘Wait what? why?’ Rania asks, pulling her hand out of his grip. Uncle Stan lives in Atlanta, which is a plain ride away, he’s not easily accessible.

‘And Bill. Maybe Mike too.’

‘Guys’, Rania yells out, frustration getting the upper hand. Why won’t anyone listen to what she has to say?

‘I watched a horror movie, I just got spooked. Nothing happened. I opened the window and the curtains moved in a way that looked like there was someone sitting there. But there wasn’t.’ She pointedly fixes her gaze on both Eddie and Richie, to get her point across.

‘Is someone going to tell me what this is all about? Why would we need anyone to come here?’ The tension dibs out of Richie and Eddie, albeit slowly, and they nervously communicate in silence.

‘Hello, is anyone gonna fill me in?’ Rania repeated, as she is not used to being kept in the dark. She thought Eddie and Richie told her everything, so it comes as a shock now she reckons that there’s something hidden.

‘There was a clown.’ Eddie starts, despite the shaking of Richie’s head. ‘And every year at the carnival, he scared us half to death by mean pranks.’

Rania blinks once, then twice. ‘That’s it? That’s what terrified you guys enough to want to call your friends?’

‘I guess we’re just traumatized’, Eddie chuckled uneasy, flatting a curl on the top of her head to keep his hands busy.

‘Psst,’ Richie draws her attention, ‘your dad is spooked because we’re the clowns in high school too. He’s just afraid to admit it.’

Rania giggles, always counting on her pops to make light of a situation, making her instantly more calm.

She misses the thumb Eddie gestures at Richie, gratitude flowing through him that the topic has been avoided, mostly.

They’re both still on high alert, the trouble Pennywise cost then a long way from forgotten, but outwardly they come across as composed.  

A tree branch slaps against the window, starling all three people of the family, although they all pretend that it didn’t.

‘Is anyone up for watching a movie?’ Richie suggests, shoulder shimmying to draw the attention his way.

Rania wisps her head towards her dad, applying the puppy dog eyes her pops had taught her to convince Eddie to do something he most likely won’t approve of.

This time, he relents without any type of resistance.

‘Yeah, come on, I’ll get the hot chocolate milk.’  With a last, lingering hug, Eddie releases his hold on Rania, getting up from where he’s sitting on the floor.

Richie hugs Rania as well, smiling brightly at her with the giant smile. ‘Come on,’ he says, then ushers Rania out of the room.

The suspicion still lingers, the story her dad made up not making much sense, but Rania allows herself to follow them downstairs anyway. It’s late, and though she’s aware that no one hung around her room, she’s apprehensive all the same.

She’ll find out what all of this is about, for example by exploring and question one of her uncles or her aunts, but that can wait. Right now, all she’ll watch a movie, and slip off to sleep under the watchful eye of her parents, who outside of her knowledge, don’t dare the blink away from her once.  

[lu-undy]

Chapter 8 - SBT

Here it is :)

"G'day, mate."

"Oh hey M! What brings you here? Need somethin'?" 

Mundy had found Eddy in his shop. 

"Nah, not really. I mean I don't need stuff so far. I just wanted to apologise." 

The short man behind the counter raised surprised eyes to his tall friend. 

"Why would you apologise?"

"I was a bit harsh with you maybe. You didn't deserve any of that." 

"What're you talkin' about? Nah man, it's fine!"

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah! Though uh, I'm glad you remember where my shop is, eh?" Eddy said and smiled wide. 

"Yeah, don't worry, I can't forget. Roight, better get going. I got stuff to do." Mundy answered and walked back to the front door of the hunting equipment shop. 

"Hey, M?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Good luck, but you won't need it!"

The Aussie nodded with a smile. 

"Thanks, mate." 

Back in his van, Mundy took a deep breath and turned the key in. He heard his campervan roar decidedly and started driving around in town. He had a few names who he knew could help. The first of them was a certain Phil Baxter. The man had ears everywhere for animal goods circulating around. Mundy drove to the pier. Phil had a small import/export business. Most of his activity had to do with bringing to Australia lamb derived products from New Zealand. But, there always was a but, it happened that sometimes his crates contained more than mere lamb chops��� 

The Aussie parked his van and walked to the building next to the port where the seagulls flew by the dozen, trying to see if this tall man had anything they could snatch off of him. Mundy entered and took the stairs to the third floor. He went through a corridor, crossing paths with men in suits and ties as much as local fishermen. He finally stopped in front of a door and gave a short few knocks. 

"Busy!" The voice answered. 

Mundy pushed the door anyway and looked at the desk. Phil was giving his back to him, on his office chair and spun around to face him. 

"I said I'm bu--oh, bugger… I'll have to call you back." He hung up the phone and Mundy stepped in, shutting the door behind him. 

"Mundy, is that really you…?" The man in the light blue shirt and dark blue trousers and tie stood up and went to him.

"Yeah, it is."

"My God! How long has it been!" 

They exchanged a dear friendly hug. 

"Quite a few years now, I think." Mundy answered.

"More like a decade! What brings you here? Oh, and sit down of course, want anything to drink? Coffee? Tea?" 

"Coffee would be nice." Mundy answered as he sat down.

"Alright, just a second…" Phil resumed his seat and took his phone. He quickly composed a single digit number. "Vanessa? Yeah, 2 coffees in my office. One for me and one just black. You still like your coffee black, right?" He looked at Mundy who nodded. "Alright then. Ok, thanks." 

He hung up and raised his eyes and his attention to his guest. 

"Alright then, to what do I owe the pleasure?" 

Mundy removed the hat off his head and lowered his head.

"Uhm… I guess I should start by explainin' m'self a bit. I kinda disappeared for a bit of time." 

Phil listened carefully. 

"I uh… Things happened that meant that I couldn't continue doing what I used to. So I just stopped and uh… Yeah, well, I stopped everything. Sorry I didn't say it properly or anythin'."

"Whatever happened must have been pretty serious, eh?" Phil asked but before his guest could answer, Vanessa the secretary entered and put the two coffee cups on the desk. "Thanks Vanessa." 

She nodded, her eyes never leaving her boss's guest and exited. 

"Alright then, that's your cup, and that's mine." 

"Thanks, mate." 

"No problem. So yeah, go on…" 

Mundy took a sip and resumed his speech. 

"Yeah, I stopped everythin' and went off the radars." 

"Took a break?" Phil asked. 

"Kind of. I thought I wouldn't step in again but…" 

"But your sitting here in front of me and sharing a coffee means that you had to take a break off your break, hm?" 

Mundy nodded. 

"Yeah. Look, it's been ten years and I disappeared without sayin' anything which I guess makes me the worst kind of professional partner you could think of."

"But?" Phil anticipated. 

"But I need your help like before." Mundy said, embarrassed.

"What is it you need?" 

The tall man raised his eyes to the office worker. 

"Why the surprised look?" Phil asked. 

"I didn't expect you to accept helping."

"You think I'd hold a grudge or somethin'? Mundy, it's been ten years! I thought you'd got caught and died!"

"What?!" 

"What else d'you want me to think?! One day you're here, running after God knows who and then radio silence for a decade!" Phil exclaimed and raised his arms to the All-Mighty. Mundy sighed. 

"I-I'm sorry." 

"Mate, I'm just relieved you're not dead. You're doin' Nature's work in this country where no one else cares. If folks understood the importance of what Mother Nature is giving us, if they could understand that they're drawing more than her very breath, if they could see that they're bleedin' her dry, they'd bloody thank you at least."

Mundy shrugged. 

"'m not doin' this for the praise or the applause, mate. Not that I'm gettin' it anyway." 

Phil looked at him gently. 

"I'm bloody well aware. I don't know why you decided to stop and why now you're here in front of me. But if you need me, it'll be like the good old days for me." 

Phil stood up and went around his desk. He extended his hand to his partner. 

Mundy raised his eyes to the hand that was offered to him. 

"So, what d'you say?" 

The Aussie stood up and grasped the hand firmly before Phil hugged him dearly.

"Good to see you again, mate. So nice to see you alive and well…! You haven't changed a bit!"

"Well, I have a few more lines on my face now."

"But still no grey hair, eh? Lucky you!" Phil answered, carding his hair that had barely started turning grey on his temples.  "Alright then…! What d'you need?" 

The office worker regained his seat and faced his friend. 

"Have you heard of 'gators recently?" Mundy asked.

"Alligators?" Phil repeated. 

"Yeah."

"Nah, sorry mate. We've had sharks, snakes, kangaroos, dingoes and countless others but no 'gators… Actually, now that I have the M in front of me, can I ask you somethin'?" Phil looked his friend in the eye. 

"Sure." 

"Alright then." Phil rolled on his chair closer to his friend. "There's been a recent uh… spike let's say, in stuff that we were asked to transport." 

"From Oz? To where?"

"From New Zealand to Oz and, well, from Oz to itself."

"What?!" Mundy asked. "I thought you transported sheep stuff from New Zealand and back?" 

"That was true ten years ago mate. Now we also do internal shippin' within Australia." 

"Oh, wow, had no idea…" Mundy answered. "But yeah, tell me more."

"Basically, a lot of our trucks are hired here and there. It's not something we should be doin' strictly speakin' but as long as the client pays the gas and returns the trucks in good conditions, we're fine." 

"I see."

"Recently, it's not just mine but also the competition's trucks that we've seen drive along, side by side here and there. I've had a few employees tellin' that. Imagine, our trucks and theirs, drivin' side by side, what the hell…?"

Phil took a sip of his coffee. 

"So I thought the competition's been messin' with us. I took the phone here and gave a few calls. Turns out they were under the same impression as us. They were thinking that we were playin' with their nerves! Now, they might be bluffin' but…"

"Don't believe it?" Mundy asked. 

"Nah, not really. Somethin's fishy about it."

"I see. But what's it got to do with me?" 

"Well, they returned the trucks and they were spotless clean but, the other day, I had one of my men sent in one of them and as soon as he stepped in, he started sneezin' like crazy and couldn't breathe."

Mundy's eyebrows jumped up. 

"He's allergic to cats." 

"Cats?" Mundy repeated.

"Yeah." 

"Well" The Aussie chuckled. "What d'you want me to do with that?" 

"I don't know but it all seems to fall a bit too well. First we're asked to get some more things from New Zealand, then the cat's fur, and now you here…"

"Mate, you might be overthinkin' it. I can't possibly see how any of that is related. Alright, you got a bit of a bump in yer business, which is good, right? More means more money, isn't it? And then one of yer men is allergic to cats, hell, even I used to be like that when I was a kid. And besides all that, I'm enquirin' about alligators."

"You might be right…" Phil massaged his own brow with his fingers. "Might need a break." 

"Yeah, 'specially if you've had a lot of work recently." Mundy confirmed. 

"Yeah, nah… I'm really glad to see you back in the business though. I'll let you know if I hear more from your alligators."

"Thanks mate." 

Both stood up and shook hands. Mundy went to the door. 

"Oh wait, I got a new phone number for, y'know, special business. You might use that one if you ever need to see me. Here's the number." 

Phil scribbled it down on a post it note and handed it over to Mundy. 

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind, mate. Thanks. See ya!"

"See ya and stay safe!" 

The Aussie soon found himself in his van again, driving back to town. 

"Roight… If Phil hasn't heard about my 'gators, they can't have left Oz. Not yet. That's good. I still have my chances." 

He looked through his rear view mirror quickly and continued driving. 

"Then, next stop is to the usual reserves. The one to the west has swamps and water facilities so if the gators were caught, they should be there." 

He had worked with them before too. He just hoped they would remember him.

The Australian drove decidedly for a good hour or so. He felt a bit nervous as he came closer to the reserve. He was ashamed of his own self. Phil thought he was dead. Was he wrong? 

Biologically speaking, of course not. The man breathed and was in good health. But in his mind, not really. Mundy had been much closer to dead than he was to being alive back then. But could anyone blame him, after everything he had gone through? 

He didn't have the time to think further as the van stopped in front of the reserve. He stepped out and walked to the door where he knocked. 

"Oh, hello there, how can I help?" 

Mundy removed his hat and lowered his head in front of the lady at the reception.

"I uh… I was wonderin' if Matt was still workin' here?" 

"Yeah he is. Do you need me to call him?" 

"Yes please. Uhm, tell him that M is at the door, will ya?" 

"Sure!" 

The blond lady took her walkie-talkie and said. 

"Matt, there's a gentleman to see you here." 

There was a second of silence before a voice answered. The quality of the sound wasn't the best but Mundy could still clearly understand. 

"Who's that? I'm not waitin' for anyone." 

"The gentleman's name is M…?"

"Holy shit!" 

Matt cut on the spot and Laura seemed surprised.

"He must be on his way. Take a seat and wait for him if you want." 

"Uh, yeah, sure, thanks." 

Mundy sat on one of the orange plastic chairs in the hall and waited. A few minutes had passed when the sound of a car woke him up from his daydreaming. He heard it stop and its door was slammed shut. An instant later, a man flung the door open.

"M? Is that you?" 

"I don't know, d'you do remember me, eh?" 

"Mate, it's been so long… We thought the worst had happened to you, or that maybe you just stopped."

Matt threw himself at the Aussie who had just stood up and hugged him dearly.

"Well, I kinda did, yeah." 

"Come in, come in! The rest of the team's busy, we've been super full of work y'know but -- holy shit, mate, it's really you!"

Mundy raised his eyes and he realised that the young black man who worked there was now a full blown adult, no doubt about that. 

"Bloody hell, you grew up so much, Matt. It's hard to believe it's still you… Look at you now, big and strong, with a beard…!"

Matt looked up at the taller man. 

"And you haven't changed a bit, even your clothes are the same style…!"

It was all so strange. 

"How old are you now?" The Aussie asked.

"Twenty-five, man. It's been ten years!" 

They walked out and both embarked on Matt's jeep. 

"C'mon, I'll give you a tour!" 

Mundy nodded and accepted the invitation. The young man drove him around the wide area of natural decor that countless species shared. 

"Bloody hell, is this all of the reserve? It used to be so much smaller…! You guys used to have only reptiles, snakes, crocs, alligators and the like…"

"Yeah but we managed to get more land and more animals."

"Still have the reptiles?" Mundy asked. 

"Oh, yeah, heaps more now. We even got new generations of them." 

"Ah, that's nice. Been workin' hard then, eh?" 

"Yeah, kinda, but I'm not complainin'. It's a beautiful job." 

Mundy smiled. The young man next to him had grown indeed but some aspects of his character had remained, among which the passion he had for animals. 

Matt stopped the jeep in front of a big house. 

"Is that yer headquarters?" 

"Nah, more of a small one. Let's get inside and we can have a chat, yeah?" 

Mundy nodded and followed the young man. 

"So what's your job title now, Matt?" 

"I'm in charge of the crocs!"

"Really?! I remember you were terrified of them!"

"Yeah but I was taught how to handle them and I grew to like them. And I think they like me too!"

Both entered a room with sofas, a big table and a TV. It resembled a classic living/dining room. 

"Please M, sit down. Want anything to drink?" 

"Just water please."

"Alright, gimme a minute." 

And a minute later Matt came with two glasses in his hand. 

"Here you go…!"

"Ah, thanks mate." 

They both sat next to each other and took a good sip of their drinks. 

"Anyone else apart from you who's still working here?" Mundy asked.

"Yeah, most of the team is, I think. Oh, actually Dave retired."

"Ah, fair, the man was already too old back then." Mundy said. 

"Yeah, and Kate, she's havin' her third kid, she's out on maternity leave!"

"Kate? She's got kids?!" 

"Yeah, mate! Oh you've missed so much… We can do the catchin' up later. I'm curious, what brings you back?" 

"Well, business… I'm lookin' for 'gators and I wanted to know if you had heard anythin' about them." 

"What kind of 'gators?" 

"There's this bloke called Johnson. He owned some-"

"Yeah, Johnson, I know him. He called us a few times and we went there to help him out when he first got his alligators. Oh  shit… Don't tell me those ones got stolen?"

Mundy grimaced and nodded.

"Yeah… Yeah, they did."

"All of them?"

"All of them. Stolen right under his nose." 

"Bloody hell, M, those were the last ones!"

"I know, that's why I'm here with you."

Matt drank more of his water to digest the information. 

"So, heard of anythin' about them?" Mundy asked.

"No, I'm sorry, no one came with more animals. If anything we were super busy because of poachers ourselves."

"What happened?" The tall man asked. 

"They've been visitin' us more and more lately and they only take the good stuff eh. They know what they want these ones… I'm sorry, M, I'm probably adding to your problems here."

"Nah, nah, go on." 

"It started with some crocs. I was furious and felt absolutely powerless… Then came the antelopes, some birds, and even some panthers." 

"When did that all happen?" 

"In about a few months now, two, maybe three. We're seriously concerned now and standing guard durin' the night doesn't really help. The reserve is huge and we're not enough to cover it all entirely, even with volunteers…" 

"D'you have any leads about the thiefs?" Mundy asked. 

"No… Not really. You're gonna laugh but…" 

Matt hesitated. 

"Go on, mate, it's the same old me. You can talk." 

"Yeah… Well I've been prayin' for you to come back. Each Sunday when I'd go to church. I'd add a prayer, asking for you to not be dead and come back. I even thought of… I thought of quittin' my job here and takin' up yours basically."

Mundy's eyebrows jumped behind his glasses. 

"Someone has to scare the poachers away, we can't let them come and go like that, takin' whatever they want! And I remember how you'd always come and bring back the animals that had been stolen. It was magical, really. One day they were gone, the next day we'd call you and poof, they would re-appear…"

Matt smiled in nostalgia. 

"But then I realised that I had no idea where to start to be the new M, so I abandoned and just stuck to prayin'...."

"Well then I guess you have to go this Sunday and say thanks to the one up there, eh?" Mundy answered and his young friend smiled. 

"Yeah, guess so…"

Silence fell for a moment and Mundy downed the remainder of the water in his glass. 

"M?"

"Hm?" 

"Are you really back?"

The Aussie took a deep breath. 

"S'ppose I say yes, then what?" 

"Please find my crocs. They were a family… The bastards even broke the eggs they had laid…"

Mundy saw Matt's pleading eyes and found it hard to refuse. It was a grown man who was asking him but he saw the very young adult who would come and help during his holidays… 

"I… I can't promise, mate. But I'll keep you in mind. If I hear anythin' about them, I'll give you a call, ok?"

"Yeah… Actually, let me give you the phone number. They had it changed a few times I think since you were gone." 

Matt rose from the sofa and took a newspaper lying on the table. He tore the corner of a page and scribbled his name and the number. 

"There, if you call that, you'll have Laura at reception. Then ask for me and she'll call me on my walkie-talkie, same as she did today."

"Alroight, thanks mate."

"Let's get to the jeep, I'll give you a ride back." 

"Yeah, thanks." 

After a few minutes, Mundy was back in his van. He rolled the window down for Matt to speak. 

"Good to see you back, M. It's been too long. We've all missed ya here." 

The older man smiled. 

"Thanks, mate. I think I've missed it too somehow."

"See ya, M!"

"See you too, Matt!" 

The Aussie rolled his window back up and drove away, his thoughts still rolling. Matt hadn’t heard about his alligators so they weren’t in any reserve or zoo. Right then, Mundy needed to visit another person. It all felt a bit unsettling, walking back in his own steps, reviving friendships like dead plants. Now he was feeling the weight of the past decade. Time had continued passing, even though it had stopped for him. People had continued growing, Matt was now a man. Companies thrived, Phil was very successful. Mundy raised his eyes and looked in his rear view mirror. All those changes and he had stayed the same, like the gear of a clock stuck on midnight.