#Not so I can cater to you but so I don't have to do any think thonkin

[pomefioredove]

@hxney-lemcn said more cater fics and I am here 2 deliver ✌️✌️

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ friends kiss, too

type of post: short fic characters: cater additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu, friends 2 lovers ON TOP! a little making out

Every time Cater drags you through one of these things, you ask yourself why you let him, and every time, the answer is the same: he's your best friend, and you love him.

It's the very same reason you let him spam you with texts and annoy you with surprise selfies. It's the reason you rarely hang out with anyone else, because you know it makes him jealous, though he'd never admit that.

It's the reason you're here, now, awake in your room well past curfew.

Despite the threat of a Housewarden who would flay you alive if he caught you and Cater sneaking around in the dead hours of the night, your bestie was absolutely insistent on this all-nighter.

It's a trend on Magicam, he said, and he had, of course, pouted and whined like a sad puppy until you agreed to "support him" by keeping him awake.

By two in the morning, you were more bored than tired.

"Pass. Pass," Cater says, swiping through dating profiles on his phone. "Hm... no, pass."

You sigh and slump against the headboard of your bed. "You've said that word so many times, it doesn't sound real anymore,"

"Ughhhh. Is Sage's Island where hotties go to die? I just want a cute holiday romance!" he exclaims. "Think of the pics!"

You roll your eyes. You'd heard that exact string of words probably ten times in the past few days.

"You can't date someone just for couple photo ops,"

Cater pouts. "Oh, yes I can. I specify "nothing serious" on my profile! It's not like I'm lying!"

Another eye-roll. He's technically right, as always, which just makes you even more annoyed.

But you don't want to get into an argument about the morality of flings right now.

"And it's cold out. Who am I gonna hold when it gets even colder? It's cuffing season, hon,"

Something about the way he says that bothers you. You try not to think about it so much.

"Well, you'll always have me," you tease.

Cater giggles, and sets his phone down on the bed, a subtle way of showing you that you have his full attention now. "Oh? What's this? Sounds like you're offering,"

"Not what I meant," you counter. "I'm your bestie, not your bae."

"Boooo. What are you, a nun? Friends cuddle all the time,"

Again, he's right. He likes being right, and you can see that on him now, too. He has that competitive glow on his face.

You smile. "Sure, sure, but we all know that cuddling isn't what you're looking for,"

Cater gasps, feigning offense with a hand placed delicately over his heart. "I am not that easy! I'm starting to think you really do want me all to yourself,"

If anything, it's the other way around. Since befriending him at the start of the school year, you'd always had the feeling that he took up all your time on purpose. But you don't say that.

"Besides," he goes on. "There are a lot of things that besties can do that are perfectly friend-like. The segregation of romantic and platonic is a totally oppressive amatonormative structure, anyway."

You roll your eyes. "You have got to stop reading those infographics. Do you even know what any of those words mean?"

"Not the point! I'm saying that there's lots of cute stuff we can do while remaining besties,"

He's very enthusiastic about this. You can't tell if it's his penchant for being right, or something more.

"Pfft. Okay. So, what, friends can kiss?"

"Obviously," Cater crosses his arms over his chest, giving you that smug look of his. "Friends kiss, too."

"Then prove it,"

The words that had you had been holding in the back of your mouth for the past few minutes escape before your brain can stop them.

Even Cater, who's never surprised, pales a little.

Your mouth opens, then closes, then opens, again without your thoughts offering any support.

"I didn't mean-"

"Okay,"

You blink. Something hot and cold at the same time runs through your body- adrenaline, anxiety, maybe it's just your own blood heating up at the way Cater leans closer, cupping your face in his hand, his fingers curled under your jaw and thumb gently brushing against your cheek.

His hands are kinda sweaty. You don't really mind, and even if you did, it wouldn't have mattered, because his lips are now sweetly pressing against yours.

You fit together quite nicely. As if he was just meant to kiss you.

It's hard not to think about everything all at once; his warm hand moving to cup your chin and hold you close to him, his hair brushing against your face, the way his lips still linger with spice from whatever he'd eaten earlier...

It's not perfect. But it's him, which is close enough.

Cater pulls away, his breath dancing across your lips, but he gives you no time to recover before he's closer, kissing you again with a sort of heat that matched the taste of his mouth.

He holds your face in both hands, shamelessly pinning you against the headboard and sitting in your lap as if he belonged there, always.

Minutes go by. Maybe hours. You wouldn't have noticed, or cared, either way. When you finally part from one another, it's felt like years.

You feel like an entirely different person. As if the world had ended and begun again in the six minutes you had been kissing him.

Cater sits atop your thighs, panting, his face redder than his Housewarden's hair, that of which would have flayed you both if he were to catch you like this.

Luckily, it's just the two of you.

"See?" Cater finally mumbles, dismounting you and scooting back to where he left his phone. "Platonic."

You're too breathless to argue.

You suppose you'll let him be right again.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Could you do the Diamond sisters spilling Cater’s embarrassing childhood stories to his friends (either the other Heartslabyuls or the Pop Music Club)? I like to imagine the first thing they would do is wreak havoc on Cater’s carefully crafted persona, intentional or not.

Decided to combine these all and do headcanons instead of an interaction due to the high number of characters (Heartslabyul + Lilia and Kalim, Cater's clubmates)!

Please note that we don't know exactly how old Cater's sisters are, but here I'm headcanoning them as being only a few years older than Cater.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Oh, the Diamond sisters LOVE Riddle. They hang all over him and squeal about how cute he is, much to his dismay. He’s not used to this much… open affection. It makes him feel weird!

He clears his throat several times and tries to remind them that he is not a boy, he is a young man, and he would appreciate it if they treated him as such. It’s a useless effort anyway—his words fall on deaf ears.

The Diamond sisters love it even more when he gets all red in the face. “Aw, he’s like a little strawberry,” they gush, not realizing that Riddle is this close to snapping and flying into a rage-filled frenzy. (His dorm members marvel at him actually exercising his limited patience; they placed bets with one another to see how long Riddle's temper can hold out for.)

He doesn’t much care for hearing stories from the Diamonds, finding them very frivolous. What’s with this family’s obsession with aesthetics? Riddle wonders. Why don’t they dedicate their time to more worthwhile pursuits like academics? And yet… why does his chest thud with a dull pain when he thinks about Cater in a large, empty house, packing up his life away into cardboard boxes?

The Diamond sisters are all over Trey too—but for completely different reasons than they were with Riddle. They drone on and on about how Trey is “husband material” and needlessly feel up his (beefy) arms, cooing and fluttering their lashes at him.

Trey awkwardly laughs off their jokes and shies away from their touch as politely as he can, making it clear he isn’t interested. He tries to deflect by changing the subject or offering tea and cakes and, if worse comes to worse, asks Cater for a save. (… Unfortunately, this makes the Diamond sisters think he’s playing “hard to get”.)

Trey actually likes hearing stories about Cater’s childhood; clearly, Cater won’t be this open with others himself, so getting this lore from his sisters is Trey’s second best option. Back then, Cater seemed so real and so vulnerable. Mask entirely off. Trey only wishes that Cater could be this unguarded with him in present day.

He has to admit, it’s amusing how flustered Cater gets trying to act unfazed or to play off his most embarrassing moments. Little by little, Trey feels as though the Diamond sisters are whittling away at his peer’s facade. He can’t help but be a little mean about it, taking this opportunity to join the Diamond sisters in teasing Cater. “So that’s what you were like, huh…”

He thinks he’s hot stuff, he could toootally bag Cater’s sisters—just watch him! … And so Ace slicks back his hair and tries his darndest to flirt with them, but to no avail. (The mob students make fun of him for having no rizz, but he defends himself by going, “L-Like you guys could do any better!!”) Man, he’s so jealous of Trey! How come he’s such a chick magnet even though he’s not even actively trying?!

The Diamond sisters wrinkle their noses at him and whisper to one another about how Ace is sooo annoying and cringefail. Think like… mean girls gossiping about you to your face. Real blow to Ace’s ego here.

Though the flirting doesn’t work out, Ace did initially manage to dazzle the girls with a few of his card tricks. The Diamond sisters clap their hands and demand that he “do it again” or tell them how the trick is done. He’d just cheekily wink and say, “Sorry, ladies! I never give away my secrets.”

There’s tea about Cater-senpai’s childhood? Ace is one of the first in line to hear about it!! He’ll memorize the stories and reenact them (including a falsetto voice for young Cater) for the entire dorm later, earning him Cater’s ire. “Ne, Ace-chan~ Don’t you think you’re bullying poor old Cay-kun too hard?”

As the man of the household, Deuce is usually helping out his mom or the other older ladies in the neighborhood, so he thinks it’s only appropriate to maintain that formal, upright behavior when addressing Cater’s sisters! This leads to Deuce calling both of them “ma’am” very loudly, which attracts stares from everyone 💀

The Diamond sisters wail about the whole “ma’am” thing. Like, just what is Deuce insinuating about their ages?! Do they look that old to him?! Is he saying he think they’re hags?! He hurriedly assures them he doesn’t mean anything by it, it’s meant to be respectful (but in the process, he accidentally calls them “ma’am” again and reignites their shrieking).

Appalled by Ace's attempts to flirt with the Diamond sisters, insisting that Ace should "be more of a gentleman, like Clover-senpai!" (He's dense and not fully aware of how uncomfortable Trey is with the circumstances.)

Deuce profusely apologizes to Cater for “hearing something he shouldn’t have” (ie his embarrassing childhood stories). He promises that he’ll act like he didn’t hear anything at all! He wears it on his life!! (This doesn't reassure Cater in the slightest. "Eeeeh, the more Deuce-chan says it, the more concerned I get!")

If there's one thing the Diamond sisters love as much as cute things, it's clout! They fawn over Kalim--well, more specifically, his family's wealth and status. (Some might even call it ass kissing.) Kalim's pretty oblivious to it, though. He thinks Cater's sisters are just being friendly with him, so he's friendly right back to them!

The Diamond sisters start to chatter about all these luxurious items they've been ogling. Designer shoes, haute couture dresses, jewelry heavy with gemstones... Kalim very nearly indulges the Diamond sisters by offering to buy those things for them (as "gifts to commemorate their new friendship"), but Cater cuts in to stop him!! "K-Kalim-kun, put away your wallet! The last thing I need right now is Jamil-kun after my neck!"

Kalim's just as bad as the Diamond sisters when it comes to spilling the beans on Cater. While the Diamond sisters yammer on about little baby Cater's missteps, Kalim tells them about the dumb stuff he and Cater get up to in club! They take turns trading stories and dunking on the poor guy...

But the difference between the Diamond sisters and Kalim? Kalim actually puts a positive spin on many of his tales. No matter how bad a show goes or how big the screw up... "All that matters is that we were in it together and had fun doing it. Cater's great at coming up with creative ideas. It makes me really happy to be able to call him my friend and band mate!"

The complete opposite of Riddle. Lilia adores being told he's cute. In fact, he encourages the Diamond sisters to "keep the compliments coming", because adorable things should be seen and adored! (Riddle huffs; Lilia is so shameless about all of this, especially as an upperclassman!)

He gets super into talking with the Diamond sisters about fashion, hair, and even nail polish colors. Lilia mentions some of his favorite and goes on a long spiel about how fashion trends have evolved over the years, and even gets into giving tips and tricks to the Diamonds. Cater's impressed with how smoothly Lilia's handling his sisters!

Lilia listens attentively as the Diamond sisters share their best (worst) stories about little Cater. He coos and chuckles at how cute Cater was "as a wee lad" and pitches in with stories about his own child, phrasing it as though Silver was someone he babysat frequently rather than his own son to avoid confusing the sisters. They murmur approvingly--not only is Lilia inventive and fashion-forward, but he's also great with children!

The Diamond sisters decide that Lilia is their new bestie and exchange numbers with him. He later lets his online buddy, Gloomurai, know about how he got the numbers of two hot women, which Gloomurai pops off about. "gg man ur rizz is INSANE." (Idia can't believe that a single father like Crimson Muscle still has mad game like this!)

BONUS: Some of the Diamond sisters' stories!

(P.S. If you like Cater + Cinderella stuff, you should check out this Cinderella retelling featuring Twst characters ;9)

Apparently, Cater used to talk to the rats and birds before he got a phone (not that he understood them at that age). After moving around so much as a kid, it became difficult for him to make friends with the local children so he'd practice his personas on the vermin in the community.

Once, they were playing dress-up together using their mother's wardrobe and makeup drawer... but they started fighting over some things that Cater was wearing, and his sisters ended up tearing the dress they wanted into rags, as well as snapping many pieces of jewelry. Everyone got scolded and punished that day, even little Cater, who hadn't done anything wrong.

He didn't like lentils as a kid so he'd pretend to trip and fall, spilling them into the ashes in the fireplace. Cater would have to pick all of them out by hand, but the chore was honestly preferable to eating them.

They used to play a game where they'd try to balance various stuff on their heads while walking. Normally it was various numbers of books--seeing who could stack the most--but once Cater tried a tray with a teapot and cups on it. That... didn't go so well.

Cater liked to pretend he was a celebrity! He'd bounce around singing with his hairbrush as a microphone or act like he was MCing for a ball. He would sing a lot as he scrubbed the floors too, popping soap bubbles as he did so.

[hippiegoth97]

Renegade: Eddie Munson x Reader

Collage by me :)

Master List

Tag List: @keikoraven @ar-jupiter @alcielo1438 @cairro-xx @stolen-in-moonlight

@micheledawn1975 @janiejenn @rafeyscurtainbangs @melodymunson @spacedoutdaydreamer

@veemoon @sariahs-stuff @feral-pumpkin-energy @comeonatmebruh @munsoneightysixx

@morgthemagpie @josephquinnsfreckles @jenniquinn @userchai @cometzombie

@spookybabey @daggerdaggerkitten @nina6708 @sanctumdemunson @yourdailymemedelivery

@person-005 @slowandsteddie @gri959 @elegantkoalapaper @letitgoandletlive

@loserboysandlithium @costellation-hunter @leelei1980 @h-ness1944 @pretendthisnameisclever

@ohmeg @stalactitekilla @hellfirenacht @birdysaturne @oneforthemunny

@prettyboyeddiemunson @eddievanmunson @msgexymunson @rattkween86 @violetpixiedust

@bimbobaggins69 @angel-munson @eldermayfield @munsonsbtch @bimbogorewhore

@mediocredreams @bloodibambiidoll @taintedcigs @ali-r3n @emxxblog

Description: It's spring break of '86, and you receive a call from Dustin after seeing a troubling news story on the television. He enlists your help to find Eddie, a young man you remember was supposed to graduate with you two years prior. The two of you have history, which causes you to willingly volunteer yourself to watch after the unfortunate fugitive. You comfort him in his time of need, in more ways than one. And you end up finding something that's been missing from your lonely existence for way too long...

Content Warning 18+ Only, Minors DNI: swearing, female reader, smut, fingering, oral sex, unprotected sex, squirting, consecutive orgasms, mentions of violence, one use of the F-slur, mentions of abuse/attempted sexual assault, mentions of past underage sex (reader and Eddie are both 19/20 in the actual story), mentions of drug/alcohol use, mentions of minor criminal activity, crying, light PTSD

A/N: This story contains dialogue from Stranger Things season four for context within my story, some of which has been modified. The credit for said dialogue goes to the Stranger Things writers, the Duffer Brothers, and Netflix. I only use it for entertainment purposes, I do not own Stranger Things or any of its characters, and I do not profit from my stories.

Word Count: 25.8k

divider by @strangergraphics

Renegade

You're sitting on the couch in your apartment, watching the early afternoon cartoons. A bowl of Honeycomb cereal sits before you, and you munch away at it mindlessly. Suddenly, in the middle of your animated entertainment, the local news cuts in to deliver a breaking story. You roll your eyes, it's probably another story about how evil Dungeons & Dragons is or some shit. This town sure loves to cater to sensationalism. There's been actual monsters from another dimension terrorizing this town, but all anyone can talk about is 'Just Say No' and 'the threat of satanism'.

A newswoman stands outdoors in the afternoon sun, in the middle of a place you'd recognize anywhere. Forest Hills trailer park, and the scene of the crime behind her is none other than the home of Eddie Munson. What the hell? You turn up the volume, needing to know what's going on.

"This is Channel Nine News coming to you live with a breaking story. We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in East Roane County. We don't have a lot of details right now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the victim's name, although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family. This incident is sure to rock the community of Hawkins, as the town has seen so much loss in recent years. Just last summer, there was the tragic fire at Starcourt Mall that claimed thirty lives. Police have the area around the crime scene blocked off as they are currently investigating, and are advising the trailer park residents to stay indoors, and stay vigilant. It has not yet been determined if foul play is involved, but we'll report back when we receive further details on this story."

You click off the TV, unable to believe that yet another life has been claimed by this bullshit town. The second you put the remote down, your phone begins to ring. You take the receiver out of its cradle, bringing it to your ear. "Hello?" You say.

"Y/N! It's Dustin, have you seen Eddie?" Dustin Henderson, one of the many friends you've managed to make over the last couple years. You'd first become acquainted with him last summer, when you worked at Starcourt before the 'fire'. You worked at Scoops Ahoy with Steve and Robin, both of which you remembered from your high school days. You graduated back in '84, the year Eddie was originally supposed to. You didn't hang out much, but you'd run into each other at times. He was kind, if not a little guarded. But he has every reason to be, given the fact that Hawkins High and the town as a whole absolutely hate him. And now, they're going to think he's a murderer. "Hello? You there, Y/N?" Dustin asks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"Um, yeah. I haven't seen Eddie, but I just saw the news." You reply.

"Yeah, so did I. Can you meet me at Family Video? We should make some calls." He says, seemingly hiding some vital details. But you know just as well as him that someone could be listening to your conversation right now. The government has been keeping a very close watch on Hawkins, screening calls and performing raids. Anything alluding to the upside-down, or Eleven, or any other product of Hawkins lab will send some very scary people your way.

"Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen." You say hurriedly, checking your watch. The line cuts out, and you set the phone down on the table. You jog to your bedroom, hastily changing out of your pj's and into some jeans and a t-shirt. You slip on a cardigan as well as the air is still a bit chilly at times. You pull on your converse and grab your purse as you walk out the door. You get in the car as fast as you can, peeling out of the parking lot of your apartment complex. It doesn't take long for you to show up at the video store, noticing two bicycles leaning against the glass windows. You put your car in park and go inside. You find Dustin and Max behind the counter, having just spilled some newly returned tapes on the floor. Steve and Robin are yelling at the two of them for disrupting their day, noting how hectic the shop has been thus far. "Hey guys." You say to interrupt their squabbling.

"Oh, hey, Y/N. What are you doing here?" Steve asks, giving you a once-over. You roll your eyes at him, he's always had a bit of a thing for you. He knows you aren't into him that way, so he stopped persistently asking you out quite some time ago. He can't seem to control his wandering eyes, though, much to your dismay.

"Dustin asked me to meet him. Eddie's missing, and we need to find him." You reply, going around the counter the civilized way to help out.

"And how exactly do you guys plan to do that?" Robin asks, putting the dropped tapes back on the counter.

"I'm going to look up the numbers of Eddie's friends so we can call and see if they've seen him. Someone must have, right?" Dustin replies, going over to the computer and beginning to push buttons.

"Hey, now! That's property of Family Video, dude. You shouldn't be messing with that." Steve says, trying to get in the way to stop the kid.

"Quit it, Steve! I need to do this! It's important!" Dustin shouts, still pressing on keys to get into the customer log.

"But why? You think Eddie's cooler than me cuz he plays your nerdy game or something?" Steve asks, sounding rather jealous.

"No, dude! I never said that." Dustin says. He looks to Max, needing some assistance here. He can't stop what he's doing to explain every little detail, there's no time to waste."Can you just- fill them in while I do this?" He asks as he types away on the customer database.

"Fill us in on what?" Robin asks, speaking for the three of you who have no idea what's going on. Max proceeds to explain what she saw last night, Chrissy at Eddie's trailer, Eddie driving away, the lights flickering. The pieces begin to fit together as she speaks. Automatically, your mind goes to some upside-down-related nonsense. But there's no way to know for sure until you locate Eddie and hear his side of the story. You truly believe he wouldn't do something like this. He may look intimidating at times, but he's no killer.

You assist Max and Dustin in calling around, allowing Robin and Steve to work on this busy Saturday. One by one, names are crossed off a relatively short list. But the name 'Reefer Rick' comes up as another person who may know of Eddie's whereabouts. It's said that Rick is Eddie's supplier, and he crashes at his house sometimes. No one knows exactly who he is, or his phone number. So, for a moment you think this plan is a bust, a dead end. Until Robin comes up with an idea, after Steve stupidly suggests you go to the police. She takes Dustin's place at the computer, typing in 'Rick'. There's twelve names that match, hopefully you can narrow it down.

"That's a lotta Ricks." Max observes aloud, drawing nods of agreement from all of you. Robin pulls up the profiles one by one, eliminating them due to their picks of musicals, kids movies, teen flicks, and one account with an odd amount of water-themed films. She clicks down to one containing Fast Times and practically every Cheech and Chong movie in existence. Bingo.

"Looks like we've found our guy. Rick Lipton. The address is 2121 Holland Road." Robin says.

"That's out by Lover's Lake." Dustin chimes in.

"Middle of nowhere." Max adds.

"The perfect place to hide." You conclude. With that, Robin and Steve close up shop and the five of you pile into Steve's car to go find Eddie. It's gotten dark by the time you reach the home, and Steve parks the car. You all walk to the front door, with Dustin pressing on the bell. The dinging tone echoes through the interior of the house, but no one seems to be inside. Dustin pushes the bell repeatedly, becoming frustrated at the notion that this idea was wrong from the start.

"Well, looks like he's not here." Steve says, ready to give up. Dustin calls Eddie's name aloud, hoping the sound of a friendly voice will lure him out. Steve keeps trying to shush him, not wanting to call attention to your snooping if anyone else lives out here. The rest of you flash your lights through the windows, looking for any sign of life. You notice there's a boathouse which partially hovers over the lake. The door is slightly ajar, and you call everyone over to see your discovery.

"Maybe he's in here." You say, and your group slowly approaches the boathouse. You search the outside first, peeking in the windows. You can't see much, it's an absolute mess in there. You go inside, flashing your lights into every corner in hopes to find your missing metalhead.

"Hello, anyone home?" Robin asks cautiously. She's not too keen to be out by the lake at night, where a potential killer could be hiding.

Steve notices a boat with a large tarp over it sitting in the water, taking an oar off the metal wall of the shed to poke around. It's really the only good hiding place in here, so he jabs at the bulky tarp with the wooden instrument. "What are you doing?" Dustin asks, thinking Steve has lost it.

"He could be in here." Steve replies casually, continuing his curious prodding.

"Just take the tarp off!" Dustin suggests.

"If you're so brave, you do it!" Steve shoots back. You and the other girls continue to look around, ignoring the usual Henderson-Harrington banter. It's best to tune them out when possible, they spend half their time together going back and forth like siblings.

"Someone was here." Max notices empty snack wrappers and beer bottles, signaling that somebody had been here recently.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran." Robin proposes.

"Don't worry, Steve will get him with his oar." Dustin quips, pointing to the man still poking around in the boat. The tarps continue to rustle, but no sounds of a person emit from underneath.

"I know you think you're being funny, man. But considering everyone here has almost died a hundred times, I don't personally find it funny in the slight-" Steve is interrupted as a figure jumps out of the boat. They grab onto Steve, pushing him roughly against the wall. You all shout at the sudden movements and noise, processing what's happening. You realize the figure is indeed Eddie, holding a broken bottle up to Steve's neck. A frightened yet defensive look sits on Eddie's face, and he's glistening with sweat. His body is shaking, making the broken glass in his grip quiver. His chest heaves, breathing heavily as adrenaline rushes through his veins. Steve looks just as terrified, the glass so very close to puncturing his throat. "Wait! Wait! Wait!" Steve shouts, trying to get Eddie to slow down.

"Eddie! Stop!" Dustin cries, attempting to get his friend's attention. He calls his name a couple more times, drawing Eddie's gaze to him. His eyes change slightly, somewhat confused as to why the kid is here. He's possibly contemplating whether or not his life is in danger. "It's me, Dustin. This is Steve, he's not gonna hurt you. Right, Steve?" Dustin gestures at Harrington, whose eyes are blown wide in terror. Eddie's got an iron grip on his shirt, keeping him pinned to the wall.

"Right, yeah." Steve whispers. He doesn't want his throat to get cut from talking too loudly or too much.

"Steve, drop the oar." Dustin instructs. Steve does so, which makes Eddie move in closer to him, like he might actually hurt him. "He's cool! He's cool!" He tries to explain.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asks in a shaky voice. It's the first time he's spoken, and he sounds like a man who's been to hell and back. You're frozen in place, helplessly watching this situation unfold.

"We're looking for you." Dustin replies.

"We're here to help." Robin adds, and Eddie's eyes snap to her suspiciously. This could be a trap. A trap formed by the cops to draw him out.

"Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band." Dustin points to her, and she imitates playing the trumpet as that's her instrument of choice. "This is Max, the one who never wants to play D&D." He gestures at Max and she gives an awkward wave. "And this is Y/N. I know her from when she worked at the mall with Steve and Robin last summer." You give him a small smile, and Eddie's eyes change again. He definitely recognizes you, from back when he was supposed to graduate in '84. You were really nice to him, unlike most people. "We're on your side, Eddie." Dustin insists, hoping these statements are enough to get him to drop the weapon and talk to your group. "I swear on my mother. Right, guys?"

"Yep, yep, we swear. On Dustin's mother." You all add in various volumes and phrasing, nodding your heads to affirm this. Eddie thinks it over a moment, his face hardening again. On the one hand, the police could be waiting outside right now, waiting for the right moment to bust in here. But on the other, you all seem to want to help him, to listen to the crazy shit he saw last night. He lets Steve go, turning away. Steve lets out a sigh of relief, and all of you do the same. Crisis averted. All that's left to do now is get Eddie to talk. You notice him sliding down the wall, looking absolutely exhausted and traumatized.

Dustin walks over to him slowly, noticing the bottle still in his hand. "Eddie. We just want to talk." He takes the words one at a time, carefully reaching for the weapon in Eddie's hand. Eddie snatches it backwards, not quite wanting to let it go. It's all he has to defend himself with, and he feels far from comfortable enough to drop it. "Okay." Dustin says when he flinches.

You kneel beside Eddie, hoping your familiarity might help ease him a bit more. "We wanna know what happened."

Eddie sniffs harshly before speaking. He turns his head slightly to look your way, while still halfway hiding behind his hair. "You won't believe me." He says meekly, quieter than you've ever heard him talk before. He shakes his head, not wanting to believe it himself. It would be so much easier to believe he lost his mind, and hallucinated whatever the hell he saw to cope with the fact that he did, in fact, kill Chrissy. He knows he wouldn't do that, but what other explanation is there? His silly fantasy games aren't real, so that only leaves the horrors of man as the culprit. Right?

"Try us." Max says simply. The unphased looks on your faces make Eddie's eyebrow raise in questioning. Maybe something else is going on here, and maybe you and your friends can give him the answers. He takes a moment to gather himself, inhaling a few deep breaths before reliving this fucking nightmare.

"Chrissy had come to me at school yesterday, wanting to buy drugs. She wanted something stronger than weed, so I brought her to my place after the game. Things seemed fine at first, but that's when the weird shit started." He says, relatively calm. That is, until he has to bring up the 'weird shit'. His demeanor changes, becoming panicked. "Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh..." He says, his tone laced with fear. The images replay in his head as he speaks, though they haven't exactly stopped since he first witnessed them. You all listen intently as he recounts the events, finding the details utterly gruesome. "And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones, uh..." He whimpers, squeezing his eyes shut at the thought.

He feels sick saying any of this, it's all so horrible. But he knows you just want to help, so he soldiers on. "Her bones started to snap." The echoes of Chrissy's arms and legs breaking like twigs flashes fresh in his mind, making him want to throw up. "And her eyes, man. It...it was like something, like, inside her head, pulling." He makes a pulling motion with his hands to illustrate the point. His voice becomes more unsteady. He feels so ashamed of what he did next, like a goddamn coward. "I-I didn't know what to do, so I..." He stops again, his heart aching terribly. "I ran away. I left her there." His breath hitches, and all of you look at him with sympathetic sorrow. He stares at all of you, scoffing at how bonkers his story sounds. "You all think I'm crazy, right?" He brings his hand to his face, becoming embarrassed for saying anything at all.

"No. We don't think you're crazy." Dustin says.

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds!" Eddie exclaims. His voice cracks, and his eyes fill up with tears.

"We're not bullshitting you." Max interjects.

"We believe you." Robin joins in. Eddie exhales in defeat, shaking his head. This is all too insane, there's no way you all aren't yanking his chain. Sure, people talk like this town is cursed or something. But that's all talk. Hell, he's heard so many rumors about himself, which he knows are lies. So who's to say that anyone claiming there's a curse, or monsters, or any of that crap is telling the truth?

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little...difficult to take." Dustin says, and you all realize he's going to tell Eddie everything. Personally, you're not so sure that's a good idea. Eddie's been through enough as it is, hearing everything else that's happened might push him off the deep end.

"Okay." Eddie says weakly, unsure he even wants to listen. But he supposes if it could clear his name and explain what he saw, he might as well give it a shot.

"You know how people say Hawkins is 'cursed'? They're not...way off." Dustin says. He can't believe he's actually about to drag yet another person into the supernatural shit you've all experienced since Will went missing. "There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes, it bleeds into ours."

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie interrupts, not quite understanding what Dustin means.

"There are some things...worse than ghosts." Max adds.

"These monsters from this other world...we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you." You say, your own nerves beginning to get to you at the notion. Last year was a fight for your lives you'll never forget, and you definitely don't want to repeat it.

"If they're back again, we need to know." Max takes another turn.

"Did you see anything that night? Dark particles, maybe?" Robin asks, going over the usual upside-down tropes.

"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust." Dustin elaborates, hoping that's a bit clearer.

Eddie shakes his head. "No, there was nothing you could see…or touch. You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she was in a trance or something."

"Or under a spell." Dustin suggests, piquing Eddie curiosity. He's making it sound like it's a fuckin' D&D campaign.

"A curse." Eddie replies, leaning into the idea. It's far from The craziest thing he's heard at this point, so why not?

"Vecna's curse." Dustin breathes.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asks, hoping to God it's not another geeky reference to their silly game. The group has named nearly every creature and phenomenon after various bullshit fantasy things, and he's a little sick of it to be honest.

"An undead creature of great power." Dustin replies fearfully, making Steve roll his eyes slightly in response.

"A spell caster." Eddie says, committing to the concept completely.

"A dark wizard." Dustin says with total finality.

"Okay, great. So...we're dealing with another unstoppable force. What exactly do we do now?" Robin asks.

"I don't know, we don't have a lot to go on. Eddie didn't physically see anyone, and the way Chrissy died isn't exactly one we've seen before. We'll have to do some investigating, maybe find Nancy. But until then, we'd better get some sleep." Dustin says. He stands, and the others move to leave. But you stay where you are.

"Aren't we forgetting something?" You ask, gesturing at Eddie who's still crouching on the floor.

"Oh, right." Dustin sighs, trying to think of what to do. "I don't think any of us could harbor Eddie unnoticed, and the police will probably exhaust every lead that connects to him. Even you, Y/N. I think it's safest to leave him here. We can deliver supplies and leave a walkie with him. But there's not much else we can do." He says sadly, hating the idea of leaving his friend behind.

"I'll stay with him." You offer. You don't want Eddie to be alone, he shouldn't have to be after all he's been through. Besides, there was a time where you needed him years ago and he helped you, no questions asked. It's odd, up until now, you'd almost completely forgotten all about it.

It was junior year, and you had kind of fallen in with a bad crowd. Kids that skipped class, did drugs, snuck off to all corners of the woods to have sex. You were seeing a guy named Benji, who was a real creep. He was a year older than you, and often took advantage of your naivety. There was one night in particular, at some popular asshole's house on a Friday night, where Benji tried to take everything you had.

"Hey, babe. Get me another beer, will ya?" Benji slurs, handing you his empty cup for you to refill at the keg outside. You've been doing so all night, bringing him cup after cup while hardly having any time for yourself. It's a party, and you wanna dance and have a good time. But of course, you can't possibly disobey Benji. He's the only one that pays attention to you, the only one that makes you feel alive.

"Sure thing, baby. I'll be right back." You say, turning away to head out into the backyard.

"That's my girl." Benji smirks, smacking your ass. Him and his buddies laugh raucously, and you try to hold back the yelp from the sting of his hand. You hate it when he does that, especially in front of everyone. You go out to the keg, finding quite a few people waiting in line to fill up. There's some couples making out against the side of the house, guys chatting about how many chicks they've laid, a girl crying on the porch steps because her boyfriend kissed another girl. Typical party fare, nothing to write home about. Except for a certain someone you recognize, selling little baggies of weed and coke out of his metal lunchbox. Eddie Munson.

You've seen him around school a lot, he's in the same year as you. He's a bit odd at times, but he's one of the only people that's actually nice to you. You've talked politely in passing in the hall, and you've bought stuff from him a few times. He always gives you a discount, which you highly appreciate as the only money you get is whatever Benji gives you to buy with. You notice Eddie finishing a sale, and his eyes meet yours. He smiles at you, closing up shop for a moment to come say hello. "Hey there, Y/N. I figured I'd see you here. You havin' fun?" He says with a kind smile, moving forward with you as the line progresses.

"I guess. I'm just waiting to get a refill for Benji." You say nervously, looking over your shoulder. Benji is definitely the jealous type, and you really hope he doesn't see you talking to Eddie so casually.

"Ah, I see." His face falls slightly. He knows all about Benji. He's a grade A asshole, and Eddie hates seeing the way he treats you. He's always grabbing at your tits and ass in the middle of the hall, ignoring your protests and swatting hands. And he frenchs you by your locker in front of everyone, shoving his tongue sloppily down your throat. "Can't he get his own drink? He's a grown man, well, legally speaking." Eddie snarks.

"I know. It's fine, gives me a moment for myself, away from the crowd." You reply as you gaze down at your feet.

"Well, it's not really a moment for yourself if you're spending it serving someone else. Right?" He continues, trying to get you to admit how you really feel. He knows you're suffering in this 'relationship', and it breaks his heart. To see someone treat you so terribly, like an object. It makes him sick.

"Why do you care so much?" You ask defensively. You don't really want to discuss your relationship with your drug dealer. He's not really your friend, you're just another sale.

"Because you seem like a nice girl. You deserve better. You should have someone who treats you right, not like a piece of meat." He says, putting a hand on your shoulder.

"What? Someone like you?" You scoff, rolling your eyes.

"I didn't say that. Just...someone that isn't Benji. You don't look very happy when you're with him." He says as your turn comes up to fill Benji's cup. You take hold of the nozzle, squeezing it to release the beer.

"I'm fine, Eddie. He's just...older. More mature. You wouldn't understand." You insist, shrugging his hand off of you. You know Eddie is right, but you don't want to admit it. Because all that would do is make you look like a fool. Until Benji came along, not a single guy gave you the time of day. And now, you've got a boyfriend that's pretty hot, if not a bit rough around the edges. But he protects you, and keeps you from feeling lonely. Who else is gonna do that for you? No one.

"I guess I wouldn't." Eddie says sadly, realizing this conversation is going nowhere.

"You makin' a move on my girl, Munson?" Benji asks as he walks over to you. He puffs out his chest a little, wrapping an arm around your waist aggressively. His movement jostles you slightly, making you spill a little bit of his beer on yourself.

"Not at all, man. Just looking for a sale." Eddie says, averting his gaze from you. His words sting a bit, even though you weren't really responding well to him trying to help you.

"Oh, well, in that case. We'll take a little somethin', whatever you recommend, man." Benji chuckles, reaching into his pocket for some cash.

"Cool. Got a twenty there? I think this will enhance your evening." Eddie exchanges the money for a small baggie of cocaine, putting on his signature smile. You know it's all for show, his eyes read with intense worry for you during the transaction.

"Thanks, dude. See ya later." Benji replies as he slips the baggie in his pocket, before moving to turn around and lead you both back inside.

"No problem, man. See ya, Y/N." He calls to you, and you just nod. You feel Benji's hand press further into your hip, squeezing you to the point where it really hurts. You know you're in for it now, Benji always loses it when you talk to other guys. He takes you into a bedroom in the house, shoving you inside while he slams the door. You stumble forward in your heels, catching yourself on the edge of the bed. You swivel your body to sit on the mattress, finding Benji glaring at you furiously.

"What have I told you about talkin' to other guys?" He growls, his teeth clenched together as he speaks.

"He was just trying to sell to me, Benji. I swear. Nothing happened." You say sheepishly, fearing what he might do next.

"Fuck that, 'nothing happened'! I saw him touch you, when you're mine. You whoring around on me, hm? Fuckin' the freak behind my back? Answer me!" Benji shouts, getting all up in your face. You flinch at his proximity, your heart pounding in your chest as you wait for him to punish you.

"No, I'm not! I told you nothing happened!" You shout back, immediately regretting it once the words leave your lips. Your mouth claps shut, eyes widening as you realize you're really gonna get it.

"Don't fuckin' talk back to me, Y/N!" Benji yells even louder, slapping you across the face. His palm stings against your cheek, making tears spring from your eyes. Your own hand comes up to feel where he hit you, and you meet his furious stare again. He grabs hold of your chin, squeezing your cheeks together. He brings himself as close to you as possible, his hot breath rushing over you. It stinks of beer, and your nose would crinkle if you weren't so scared. "You are MY girlfriend! You got that? You don't talk to anyone else!" He shoves you backwards in his grip. Your head lands on the blankets, bouncing at the force. "You don't look at anyone else!" He slaps you again, harder than before. You yelp in pain, wanting this to stop. "You don't even THINK about anyone else!" He climbs on top of you, weighing you down. "Say it! Say that you belong to me!" He commands, his eyes wild despite his drunken state.

"I belong to you, Benji! Okay? Only you!" You say frantically as tears stream down your face.

"Damn right! I'm gonna show you, make you see that you're mine!" He lifts himself slightly, undoing his belt. He starts to shimmy his pants down, reaching for your skirt. You don't want this, you don't want him. Not like this.

"Benji, stop!" You cry, trying to push him away. But he's heavier and stronger than you, holding you down with one arm while he pushes your skirt up. He pulls down your panties, letting them gather around your ankles. "Benji! I don't want this! Stop it!" You pound your fists on his chest, wanting him to stop. But he doesn't listen, he just keeps getting ready to take you as he pleases. You keep crying for him to get off of you, hoping someone will hear you scream over the loud music that's flooding the house.

"You're mine, Y/N. I'm gonna show you." He says darkly, looking at you with a sickening grin. He yanks his boxers down, and you see his half-hard cock flop out. You try to kick him away, scratch his arms, anything to stop this. But it's no use.

"HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP! BENJI, STOP IT! I DON'T WANT THIS, I SAID NO! STOP!" You scream at the top of your lungs, tears blurring your vision as you kick and squirm with all your might. Benji takes his dick in his hand, bringing it towards you. This is really gonna happen, he's going to rape you and there's nothing you can do. "BENJI, PLEASE! STOP IT!" Your screams only grow weaker as you realize you're utterly helpless. No one can hear you, and no one would care if they did.

"Stop fucking screaming and take it! You're mine! No one is gonna get in my way!" Benji shouts at you, just barely brushing his length against you. The feeling makes you want to vomit, your stomach tensing in warning. He's just about to shove himself into you, when the door slams open. Of course he's too drunk to remember to lock it.

"Hey! I'm pretty sure she told you to stop!" You hear a familiar voice, before Benji is suddenly being hurled away from you and across the room. Benji smacks into the wall, slumping to the floor. You see Eddie standing before you, his eyes burning with fearsome anger. "Are you okay?" He asks, quickly throwing a blanket on top of your legs to cover you up. You pull your clothes back on under the covers, thankful that nobody seemed to see your most vulnerable area on full display. You notice the music has stopped, and a gaggle of heads is poking into the doorway of the room.

"I'm alright. Thank you, Eddie." You say frantically, standing up to run to him. You bury your head in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You fucking whore, I knew you were sleeping with him." Benji slurs from the floor, struggling to get up. He hit his head pretty hard when Eddie pushed him. But you don't mind, he had it coming. His fucking skull can crack open like an egg for all you care.

"Shut up, Benji. You're a fuckin' lowlife, you know that?" Eddie retorts. He's far from afraid of the man crumpled on the floor before him.

"Takes one to know one, Munson. Fuckin' asshole, I'll kill you!" Benji roars, clumsily lunging towards the both of you. Eddie moves you out of the way, taking all of the impact on your behalf. His back meets the wall hard, and Benji starts wailing on him. "Fuckin' freak! Stealing my girl! I always took you for a faggot, guess I was wrong!" Benji screams as he punches Eddie again and again. He lands blows on his nose, his jaw, his eyes. Eddie grunts with every hit, and blood gushes from his nostrils.

"Benji, stop it! Leave him alone! Stop it!" You shout helplessly. You turn to the other party goers who seem to be enjoying the show. "Do something! Call the cops, anything! Help him!" You beg and plead, and a couple guys from the basketball team come in to pull Benji off of Eddie. Eddie collapses, spitting out a mouthful of blood. You fall to your knees before him.

"Eddie, are you okay?" You ask, his eyes drifting open and closed in a daze. "Eddie, stay with me. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, this is all my fault!" You can't stop crying, you're absolutely hysterical. You pull him up to lean against the wall, tapping his cheek to keep him awake. Even while wasted, Benji’s really done a number on him.

Eddie’s eyes meet yours, already swelling up from the bruising. "It's okay, Y/N. I'm gonna be fine. Calm down." He says weakly, reaching out for your hand. You give it to him, and wait with him until the police arrive. Everyone besides the kid whose house this is and anyone involved in the fight quickly disperse before the cops show up. You certainly don't blame them, you're all underage and consuming various substances with no parental supervision. You give your statements, and the paramedics tend to Eddie's wounds. Benji is taken away in handcuffs, and the cops insist you won't have to worry about him anymore.

You stand outside the house with Eddie once the emergency services leave, taking hold of his hand again. You look at his beaten face. The swollen eyes, the cut on his eyebrow, his busted lip and nose. He looks awful, and you feel even worse. "Eddie, I'm so sorry." You say, getting teary-eyed again.

"For what?" He asks, doing his best to raise an eyebrow. When you don't answer, he sighs. He gestures for you to sit with him on the front steps, and you do. "Y/N, he was gonna hurt you. I couldn't let him do that. You were literally crying for help, was I supposed to ignore that? Should I have let him rape you?" He asks, only answered with more silence. You don't know what to say, part of you feels like you had it coming. That you deserved to get hurt. He sighs again, trying his hardest to look deep into your eyes. "What Benji did was wrong, okay? You didn't deserve that, nobody does. I stepped in, which was the right thing to do. I know you're upset that I got hurt, and I'm flattered, really." He laughs lightly, groaning in pain soon after. "But it's worth it, because I kept you from getting hurt. So please, don't feel bad for me. I'm used to getting my ass kicked anyways. At least this time was for a good reason. Promise me you won't blame yourself?" He asks sweetly, putting a kind hand on your knee.

"I promise." You nod, wiping away the streaky tracks on your face. "Thank you, Eddie. I don't know what I would've done without you. I couldn't get him off me. I tried to kick and scratch him, I-" Your mind quickly goes back to that place, images of Benji forcing himself on you playing at shutter speed through your head.

"Y/N, you did everything you could. It's okay." He puts his arm around your shoulders, so much more gentle than Benji did. You can't help melting into his touch a little, your heart fluttering at how sweet he's being. You assume he's just being nice, calming you down from your hysterics. "You mind giving me a ride home? I can't see shit right now." He asks politely.

"Of course, Eddie. It's the least I can do." You help him stand up, holding his hand as you walk to your car. You'd driven yourself and Benji here tonight, as his license is suspended. Benji drives like a maniac, speeding, running red lights and stop signs, almost hitting pedestrians. God, the more you think about it, the more you hate yourself for wasting a single second on a guy like that. You drive Eddie to the trailer park, going so far as to walk him to the front door.

"Wow, such a gentleman!" Eddie jokes, making you both laugh. You stand on the steps for a moment, awkwardly wondering what to say next. You're about to speak, when Eddie breaks the silence. He clears his throat. "Well, I should get inside and ice my face." He gestures awkwardly at the inside of his home.

"Yeah, yeah." You nod, rocking back and forth on your feet restlessly. "Thank you again, Eddie. I don't know how I'll ever repay you, honestly. I know it's cheesy to say, but you saved my life tonight." You lean over to press a kiss of gratitude to his cheek. Eddie blushes at the contact, his stomach filling with butterflies.

"No need, sweetheart. Just doing the right thing. But, um, we should...hang out sometime." He stumbles over his words, which you find really cute. And the name he calls you, 'sweetheart', brings a flare of color to your own cheeks. You might just be starting to like him...a lot.

"Yeah, we should. You're a good guy, Eddie." You smile, deciding that now is the time to finally leave him be. You hate to be alone right now, but you don't know him well enough to ask to come inside. There will surely be other times for that. "I should get going. But I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

"Sure thing, Y/N. See ya there." He waves goodbye, walking inside as you head back to your car. Unexpected feelings at the thought of seeing you again begin to bloom inside his chest. Dangerous feelings that can only mean one thing. He's starting to like you...a lot. Fuck. Leave it to Eddie to fall for a 'damsel in distress'.

When you see Eddie again, he looks a lot better than he did on Friday night. His eyes are far less swollen, mostly circled with dark purple bruises, and he's only got small bandaids on his cuts now. "Hey, look at that. You survived the weekend." You say with a giggle as you greet him in the hall. You've been thinking about him nonstop the last couple of days. How brave he was in defending your honor, how unbelievably caring he acted towards you. That's the way you want to be treated from now on, anything less isn't good enough for you anymore. You've learned your lesson, no more asshole guys.

"Looks like it. How are you feelin', Y/N?" He asks, giving you a smile.

"I'm okay, much better than I thought I'd be." You reply, leaning against the lockers. Eddie mirrors you, his shoulder brushing against yours.

"Good. So, uh...are you busy tonight? I figured we could hang out...if you want to." Eddie curses himself for being so jumbled, but he can't help it. He couldn't stop thinking about you all weekend, replaying you kissing his cheek over and over. It was so soft, and warm. He can't help wanting to get to know you better, and to maybe earn some more of your affection.

"Yeah, we can do that. Your place or mine?" You ask casually, keeping your cool. But on the inside, you're absolutely freaking out. Eddie may have used the words 'hang out', but it feels like he's asking you on a date.

"Yours, if that's okay. My place is kind of a mess." Eddie replies happily. He's over the moon that you said yes. He doesn't necessarily mean it as a date, he doesn't want to push you into anything. But he figures you two can get to know each other better, be friends first. And even if that's all you end up being, he'll still consider himself a very lucky guy.

"Sounds great. Meet up with me after school?" You ask, solidifying your plans.

"You got it." He smiles, just as the bell rings. "Well, I'd better get to Click's class. See you after, Y/N."

"Will do, Munson." You give him a wave goodbye, before heading down the hall to your own classroom. You spend the entire day counting down the minutes until you get to bring Eddie to your place. Time can't move fast enough, and you find yourself frequently staring at the clock to will the hands to move quicker. But you have no such luck. The final bell rings, sweetly releasing you for the day. You practically skip down the halls, getting your stuff from your locker before heading out to your car. You find Eddie leaned against it already, waiting for you.

"Hey, Y/N. You ready to go?" He greets you, waiting for you to unlock the door.

"You know it!" You reply, a bit too eagerly if you're honest with yourself. You both get in the car and make the short drive home, and you lead him inside. "My parents work late, so we have the place to ourselves for a few hours." You inform him, making your way to the kitchen. "You want a drink?" You ask after opening the refrigerator, pulling out a couple beers.

"Uh, sure." Eddie says, leaning against the doorway while you pop the caps off. You hand him one of the beers, and you both head upstairs to your room. You plop down on your bed, patting a spot beside you. Eddie quirks an eyebrow at you, wondering where this is going.

"Relax, Eddie. I don't bite." You say jokingly, hoping to put him at ease. You're not planning on anything in particular to happen, it would be too soon to try to jump his bones right now. Plus, you don't think you're ready to rush into a new relationship. What happened with Benji was really scary, and you need time to build up trust before letting a guy into your heart again.

"Sorry. I just...don't exactly get invited into the bedrooms of teenage girls very often. It has a certain connotation to it, I guess." Eddie replies with a light laugh, mentally kicking himself for jumping to conclusions. Obviously you're not going to try to fuck him. You probably won't try to fuck anyone for a good while after what happened.

"Oh, we could go back downstairs if it's too weird. I'm just more comfortable in here, it's the only space at home that's really mine." You offer.

"No, no. It's okay, I'll get my damn mind out of the gutter." He chuckles, before taking the spot you've left for him. He takes a swig of his beer, hoping to calm his stupid nerves.

"Good. I'd hate for you to get the impression that I'm easy." You reply as he swallows, making him choke slightly. You can't help giggling, though it was a bit rude to go there.

"I promise you, Y/N. I have no intention of thinking of you in any insulting way. Like I've said before, you're a nice girl." He says through a cough, wiping a dribble of beer that's spilled out onto his chin.

"I know. I'm not so sure I agree, though." You reply sadly, before taking a long drink from your own bottle. You know you should take it easy, you're kind of a lightweight. But being around Eddie, and potentially becoming vulnerable around him, makes you very nervous.

"Why's that?" Eddie asks, putting his hand on yours as it sits between your bodies.

"I mean, I was going out with a guy like Benji, who's a total asshole. He was awful to me, to everyone, really. And his 'friends' are just as bad, but they're also mine by association. I drink, I do drugs, I have sex. I skip class, I lie to my parents about everything, and my grades are pretty awful. What about that is good, Eddie?" You ask him seriously, unable to hide how you truly feel about yourself. You're everything your parents claim is what makes a lowlife, though they have no idea you do any of it. You've kept Benji a secret from them, and pay one of the computer geeks to change your report cards every semester so your parents don't flip out. And you come up with excuse after excuse to cover up the parties and other forbidden places you sneak off to.

"Y/N, you do realize that none of that makes you a bad person, right?" Eddie asks, becoming a little sad himself at seeing you in this new light. You shake your head, you don't believe him one bit. You feel heat build behind your eyes, tears threatening to spill out. "I know you probably won't believe me, but I honestly think you're one of the best people I've ever met." Your eyes meet his, and he can see you're about to call bullshit. But he silently asks you to just listen, taking full hold of your hand this time. "You're pretty much the only one who doesn't treat me like shit at school, and you aren't unkind to anyone else either. Even when Benji and his lackeys pick on people, you never participate. Most people go along with the crowd, but you don't. You do what you know is right, Y/N. Everyone makes mistakes, or hides things from their parents to avoid disappointing them. But it doesn't define you."

"I appreciate you saying that, Eddie. Really." You sniffle, you hadn't really thought about it that way before. You suppose, if anything, Eddie knows better than anyone that regardless of what others think, your character says more about you than anything else. People think he's just a dumb drug dealer who plays weird fantasy games. But he's a whole lot more than that. He stands up for others when no one else will, especially the geeky kids like him that need it most. You down the rest of your beer, blinking a couple tears down your cheeks as you swallow.

"You want another?" Eddie asks, reaching for your empty bottle.

"No, I'd better not. I've probably had too much already." You say as the slight buzz begins to run across your brain.

"There's no way you're a lightweight with how much you went back to the keg over and over on Friday." Eddie scoffs, taking your bottle from you to toss away in the small trash can in your room.

"That was all for Benji. I usually don't get to drink at parties or hangouts, at least not enough to have any sort of tolerance. Just one of the ways he liked to control me. He sure as shit got me high off my ass when he wanted me to be 'up for it', though." You say bitterly. You sigh loudly at the annoying thought, falling backwards to lay halfway on the bed. Your legs dangle off the edge still, toes barely grazing the floor.

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I didn't know." He can't help feeling personally responsible for Benji drugging you for sex. He knows damn well that the substances used for such a thing came from his stupid metal lunchbox. He wishes he could take those transactions back, keep you from getting taken advantage of in such an awful way.

"It's not your fault. At least I know your stuff is safe. Other dealers around here love to lace their shit, and fuck knows what would've happened if I bought from them instead." You say it like it's nothing, perhaps shutting yourself off from the idea that Benji has already done what you were so afraid of last weekend. You don't want to talk about it anymore, or even think about it. The hours of clarity after separating yourself from your abusive boyfriend have repeatedly brought so many terrible experiences to light. You're not sure how much more of it you can take.

"I wish you would've told me, Y/N. I could've done something so much sooner." He lays down beside you, scooting a little closer now.

"Yeah, and gotten yourself busted in the process." You retort, finding his suggestion ridiculous. It's not his responsibility to take care of you, he's not your boyfriend. "Can we talk about something else?" You say abruptly, desperate to change the subject.

"Of course. But I'm always here to listen if you ever do want to talk about it. I am your friend now, after all." He gives you a kind smile, which you attempt to return as your lip trembles. "Oh, sweetheart. C'mere." He almost whispers, pulling you into him as carefully as he can. He doesn't want it to look like he's making a move on you, he just knows you need a shoulder to cry on. You let him encapsulate you in his arms, burrowing your head against his chest as you begin to sob. Neither of you say anything else for a while, just laying awkwardly in your bed as you cry. Eddie strokes your back with his hand in the most platonic way possible.

After a bit, you start feeling a little better. You poke your head up, not realizing just how close you are to Eddie. You look deep in one another's eyes, your heartbeats picking up at the proximity. You both know it's stupid, idiotic, even. But you find yourselves wanting to kiss each other more than anything in the world. Your breath fans hotly together, and you start to meet each other in the middle. But just before your lips can touch, you hear a key turning in the lock downstairs.

The front door opens, and you hear your parents walking into the house. You stop what you're doing immediately, shooting up in bed as you lose your romantic moment. "Shit. Get up. I'm not allowed to have boys in my room." You say hurriedly, wiping your face and shooing Eddie out of the room. You make it look like you were just showing him where the bathroom is, and your parents buy it. They always do. Perfect little Y/N would never have a boy in her bedroom. Only whores do that. You tell them you're just going to drive Eddie home, heading outside with him once more.

The drive over is silent, and charged with unresolved tension. Neither of you dare to speak, not yet. You aren't really sure what to even say. You sure as hell didn't intend to almost dive head first into what you can only imagine would be a very messy relationship. You escort Eddie to his trailer again, and it's here that you finally speak. "So, um...about earlier..." Eddie starts.

"Yeah, uh...I was just feeling vulnerable. But I don't want to lead you on, I just can't get into another relationship right now." You practically vomit the words out, wanting to shut this down before it gets too far.

"Oh. Yeah, no, that's- fine." Eddie replies awkwardly, trying to give off the impression that it doesn't bother him. That couldn't be further from the truth. But he knows you're right, it just isn't a good idea.

"I'm sorry, Eddie. I don't mean to play with your feelings or anything like that. But I enjoy hanging out with you, and I'd like us to be friends." You really do mean what you're saying. If the timing was different, you would definitely pursue things further with him. He's everything you want in a guy, the total package. But it's not what you need. What you need...is time...and a friend.

"I understand completely, Y/N." He replies kindly, nodding in agreement. "Hey, look. You should go home and rest, 'kay? And I'll see you tomorrow." He suggests, needing some time of his own to figure out what he's gonna do with all these goddamn feelings he's built up.

"Okay. Goodnight, Eddie." You say as you turn to leave, you can't help feeling like you've upset him. You know he would never say, but you know how guys are. Even the nice ones don't handle rejection in the best ways. You just really hope you haven't blown your chances at having a real friend for once.

"Goodnight, sweetheart." He says, almost too quiet for you to hear. It makes your heart ache, the softness of his voice as he utters the words. You know without a doubt that you've hurt him now. And you wish you could take it back.

The next day goes just as you expect it to. You try to talk to Eddie before class, and he's nice enough. But he keeps the conversation short, eager to get away from you, it seems. You knew this would happen. He stuck out his neck for you, and you rejected him. And now, he doesn't want anything to do with you. You try not to take it personally, but it definitely stings. So you do the only thing you know how. You shut yourself off, and focus on finishing this year and the next. You focus on all the freedom you'll have once you graduate. No parents, no teachers, no assholes. Just you, working for a living, doing whatever you want.

And that's exactly what you did. You kept your head down, stayed out of trouble. You did most of the job for Eddie, avoiding him at all costs. Again, if you happened upon each other, you kept things pleasant. Neither of you blamed the other for how you felt, but it was too awkward and weird between you to try to keep a good friendship going. And of course, you got separated even further when you graduated in 1984, and he got held back the first time. It's strange, it seems like that was a lifetime ago. But being in Eddie's presence for this long makes it feel like only yesterday.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Eddie asks, worried that being in proximity to him might get you hurt or killed.

"Eddie's right. The cops are looking for him, it could make you look like an accomplice." Steve adds, crossing his arms.

"But we can't just leave him here all alone. After what he's been through? No way." You stand your ground. "Look, you guys have parents and other people that would worry about where you are. I don't. My folks moved away after graduation, I live alone. I'll stay with him, I'd want someone to do the same for me." You turn to Eddie, giving him a knowing look. He nods, understanding what you're referring to. The others find this nonverbal communication odd, but set it aside for the time being.

"Okay, fine. But please, be careful. Use the walkie if you need anything. We'll bring you guys food tomorrow, and we can swing by your place to get you some clothes." Robin says, holding out a hand for your keys. You give them to her, and take a seat on an old wooden crate in the shed.

"We'll be alright. We've got an oar and a broken bottle to defend ourselves with." You quip, taking the walkie talkie Dustin gives you. The others say goodbye, and you wish them luck in finding out what's causing the chaos this time. You sigh once they leave, realizing how awkward this is actually going to be. You both sit in silence for a while, listening to the crickets chirping outside. You don't know what to say, or if Eddie even wants to talk at all.

"Thank you. For staying." Eddie breaks the silence, speaking quietly. His eyes meet yours for a moment, before pulling away.

"It's the least I can do, Eddie. I kinda owe you for the favor you did for me." You reply from across the room. You suppose it's best to keep your distance. Not just because of your past history, but Eddie's been jumpy to say the least.

"And here I thought you were just dying to see me again." He chuckles, mostly joking.

"It is nice to see you again, I've missed my friend. I wish it were under different circumstances, though." His face falls slightly at your use of the word 'friend', and you can't help feeling bad about it.

"Yeah, well. Life's a bitch, I've learned that the hard way." He says solemnly. "You can come closer, if you want. I don't have the plague, ya know." He says in a roundabout way to ask you to comfort him. "I've still got a couple beers left, too. On the table, there." He gestures at them, the glass glinting in the moonlight that peeps into the windows. "Fuck knows we could use 'em."

You retrieve the bottles, bringing them over. You sit down next to Eddie, and he pops the caps off the beers. He hands you one, and you take a small sip. You notice his shoulder brushing against yours as he longs for some form of contact. Not necessarily in a romantic or sexual way, he just needs comfort. Any sliver he can get, if you'll supply it to him. "So, um...how are you holding up?" You doubt he'll have a good answer for you, but you don't know what else to say.

"Not well. I keep seeing...her, every time I close my eyes." His voice shakes as he speaks.

"I'm sorry, Eds-" You start, when he cuts you off.

"'Eds'?" He questions, giving you an odd look. No one's called him that before, but he kinda likes how it sounds coming from your lips.

"Yeah...is that okay?" You ask, waiting for Eddie to laugh at you or something. You don't really know why you decided to give him an impromptu nickname, especially now. But it suits him when you really think about it. He smiles at you, nodding his head.

"It's fine. Kinda cute, actually." He blushes, just like the night you drove him home all those years ago. He clears his throat, pushing away the mushy thoughts swirling around his head. "Anyway, what were you saying?" He nudges you, pulling you out of your own mind.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry that you had to see that happen. It sounds awful. Is there anything I can do? Maybe I could....distract you?" You suggest, wanting to help him calm down. He's still plenty on edge from last night's events, flinching at every little sound outside.

"Distract me...how, exactly?" He asks, wondering what you mean by that.

"I dunno, we could play a game, or talk about something besides supernatural shit." You shrug your shoulders.

"What kind of game?" He presses further, liking the sound of that.

"Um...maybe, 'twenty questions'? Or 'truth or dare'?" You suggest while you rack your brain for other ideas.

"Nah, what else?"

"Ooh! I know, how about 'never have I ever'?" You say excitedly.

"Sure, we can do that. Uh, sorry if I sound like an idiot here. But, how do you play?" He asks sheepishly.

"It's a pretty popular party game, Eds. You've seriously never played it before?" You ask with a laugh, unable to believe it.

"Y/N, the words 'popular' and 'party' don't exactly describe anything I'd be a part of. I typically only supply to those things." He smirks.

"I suppose you're right. Well, I'll tell you the rules, it's very simple. Basically, you say a phrase, like 'never have I ever...gone streaking', or something like that. And then whoever has done that thing takes a drink. Easy enough?" You watch him observe you with adoring eyes as you explain how the game works. You've never had someone look at you this way before, and it's certainly a welcome gaze.

"I think so. You go first." He nudges you again, an action you could easily get used to.

"Alright, lemme think. Never have I ever....stolen something." You start, taking a small sip from your own drink. Eddie takes one too, no surprise there.

"What did you steal, if you don't mind me asking?" He inquires, surprised that you've actually done something even remotely criminal before.

"A pack of gum and some lipstick, really lame stuff. One of the assholes I used to hang with dared me to do it." You chuckle at the thought. You were so terrified of getting caught, you returned to the store on your own later that day to put the stuff back. "What about you? Or is it too many things to count?"

"Surprisingly, no. It's more than you, of course. I've got a reputation to uphold." He laughs, before continuing. "Let's see...I've stolen a traffic cone, some beer, cigarettes, a few candy bars, a pocket knife, and a Playboy magazine. Not all at once, mind you. I'm not that good."

"Well, safe to say I'm impressed at your thieving skills, Eds. I'd expect nothing less. Okay, your turn." You pat his thigh, keeping the game moving along. His eyes freeze on where you touched him. It's innocent enough, but it's made his skin flare with simmering desire all the same.

"Right." He meets your eyes again, focusing on the task at hand. "Never have I ever...had sex on the first date." You both drink again, smiling as you bring the bottles to your lips. You spill a little bit of beer on yourself, it dribbles down your chin. "Nice one, sweetheart." Eddie chuckles after swallowing.

"Sorry, I'm totally accident prone." You giggle, wiping the yeasty liquid from your face. You notice he called you 'sweetheart' again, just like he did way back when. It appears not much has changed between you after all.

"It's alright. Your turn again." He says with a grin.

"Hmm, never have I ever...fallen in love." Only Eddie drinks this time, and his eyes widen at this discovery.

"You've never been in love, Y/N? I don't believe that for a second." He scoffs.

"Never, Eds. I've liked people before, and really liked someone once. A long time ago. But it never got far enough to turn into love, much as I wanted it to." Eddie doesn't know it, but you're definitely talking about him. You avert your gaze, not wanting to give yourself away.

"Who was it?" He asks curiously.

"Why don't you tell me yours?" You retort. You don't want to admit this to him. Not now, not yet. Once again, the timing is all wrong. You pick at the label on your beer bottle, unable to hide the unease on your face.

"Y/N, please? Pretty sure I'm a wanted man at this point. Humor a fugitive, will ya?" He pleads, placing his hand on your thigh. You tense at his touch, feeling rather warm in your cardigan. Given your change in body language, he's assuming you were referring to him. He sure as hell was thinking of you when he took his last sip in the game.

"Okay, how about we both say it at the same time?" You suggest, as that might make it easier for you both to just spit it out already. He's right, he may not have a lot of freedom left. You might as well come clean.

"Fair enough. Count of three?" You nod, looking at him intensely. He mirrors you, his heartbeat picking up with yours. The familiar butterflies swarm again, fluttering in a most ticklish way in the confines of your bellies."'Kay, one...two...three." He counts, and your nerves reach a mountainous peak once the final number leaves his lips.

"You." You and Eddie blurt out simultaneously. Gasps leave your mouths in sync at the confession. It's not all that surprising, really. It's more that you're both in disbelief of the other truly liking you the way you wish they would. Your shared admission hangs in the air for a moment, the silence becoming deafening the longer you refrain from saying anything. You both make a couple attempts to speak, opening your mouths, then snapping them shut again. Your eyes wander around his features, taking in how handsome he looks. His doeish eyes, his supple lips, the slope of his nose, and the apples of his cheeks. He does the same to you, wondering if now would be a good time to kiss your gorgeous face. He leans in hesitantly, almost backing away a couple times. You realize what he's doing, and this time you have no intention of denying him.

"Go ahead, Eddie. It's okay." You say softly, your breath fanning in his face from how close you two are. He takes the leap of faith, gently pressing his lips to yours. Your eyes flutter shut at the contact, he feels even softer than you imagined. Eddie takes his time, slowly, repeatedly, pulling away and going back in to feel every centimeter of your mouth with his own. You meet his every move respectively, opening and closing your lips at all the right times. His hand comes up to cradle your head, his large fingers slipping into your hair. You let out a small moan into the kiss, and this chilly spring night is quickly heating up. You grab the lapels of his jackets to pull him closer, and he smoothly maneuvers you to straddle his lap without even looking. You keep hold of his clothes, wanting to be as close to him as you possibly can.

You stay like this for what feels like forever, the only sounds now are the quiet smacking of lips and the occasional moan from either of you. This is easily the best and hottest kiss you've ever had, none prior to this even come close in comparison. It's so warm, and tender, loving, even. Your heads feel light, overcome with passion. Neither of you want to stop, but unfortunately it's getting a little hard to breathe. Eddie breaks away, exhaling shakily at how mind-blowing that was. "Holy shit." He says, opening his eyes to look at you. He's totally awestruck, never in his life has a kiss completely blown him away.

"Yeah, I second that." You reply, just as dazed as Eddie. "I can't believe it took us this long to do that. And during a crisis, of all things. All that wasted time...I'm such an idiot." You lament your foolish decision to turn Eddie away those years ago, wishing you could turn back the clock and get it right.

"Don't say that, sweetheart. I might have felt hurt back then, but I understand why you didn't wanna get involved with me. I wouldn't have either if I was in your shoes." He says seriously, he doesn't want you to beat yourself up over it. "And I may not have a lot of time, but we can try to make the most of it." He adds, cupping your cheek as he gazes at you in adoration.

"You make it sound like you're dying or something." You can't help laughing nervously at the idea.

"Well, we don't know what's going on just yet, so I might." He looks down, hating the thought. But he has to be realistic. Whatever got Chrissy could easily get him, too. He feels himself start to cry, hot tears rolling down his cheeks. He meets your eyes again, his bottom lip quivering in fear. "I'm so scared, Y/N. I-I don't wanna die." He says helplessly, falling to pieces before you.

"Hey, hey. Don't think about that right now, okay? We're gonna do everything we can to keep that from happening. I promise." You hold his face with your hands, giving him another kiss. His arms wrap around you to hold you tight, and you sense some tears of your own joining the mix. You don't want anything bad to happen to Eddie, especially not now. He's such a good man, he doesn't deserve any of this. If you could, you'd swap places with him. To let him go free while you take the fall. But you can't. All you can do is be here for him, and try to love him as long as you're able. You pull back, and you wipe away his tears and yours. You look him over, noticing just how tired he looks. "Did you sleep at all last night, Eds?" You ask in concern.

"No. I couldn't, I was too afraid. I didn't want...to see her again." He says quietly, his eyes darting away in shame.

"It's okay, maybe it'll help to have me here. But you need to rest, baby. You'll only feel worse if you don't." You get off his lap, looking around for anything you can use to make a place to sleep. You take the bunched up tarps out of the boat, layering them down on the warped wood floor. You find a couple life jackets, which you can use as pillows. You set everything up on the other side of the shed, sheltered away from the windows. That way, if anyone comes by, they're less likely to see you. Eddie watches you work from the floor, realizing what you're doing. He feels a little bad for sitting on his ass, but it's like he's paralyzed into this spot. He'll need your help to move away from it. You return to him, holding out your hands. "C'mon, it's time for bed." You say softly, a kind smile on your face.

"Thanks." He takes your hands, and you lift him up. The force and weight of this motion sends you stumbling backwards. You almost fall back into the water, your stomach dropping at the impending plunge. But Eddie manages to catch you by the waist, his strong arm wrapped around you swiftly. "Careful, princess. Wouldn't want you to get soaked." He says with a grin, setting you upright.

"Thank you, Eddie. You're my hero." You reply in a cheesy tone, giving him a warm kiss on the cheek. He blushes again, which is something you can't get enough of. "You're very cute when you do that." You giggle, poking one of his rosy cheeks.

"I dunno 'bout all that, sweetheart. I'm sure I look like hell right about now." He chuckles dryly, carding a hand through his long hair.

"You look handsome as ever to me, Eds. Now, come on. You have to get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning." You lead him by the hand to your makeshift bed. You both lie down, the tarps rustling loudly as you try to get comfortable. You face each other, finding yourselves admiring one another again.

"Well, it's certainly not the Ritz. But it'll do." Eddie jokes, but his face quickly changes afterwards. "Can I...hold you, Y/N?" He asks sheepishly, hoping it's not too weird. He knows you kissed just a little bit ago, but he's still unsure how to navigate the situation. Something he'd left out earlier is that you are the only one he's been in love with. His feelings are tangling up his insides, leaving him clueless about what to do, or not do.

"Of course you can, baby." You reply softly, rolling over so he can spoon you. His arms wrap around your waist, pulling you into him. Your back connects to his chest, your body heat radiating to be shared between you. He's so warm, and he smells amazing. Like tobacco and leather, the scent encapsulates you in his embrace.

"I like it when you call me that, by the way. It's really nice, givin' me butterflies and shit." He smiles against your neck, his breath fanning hotly against you.

"And I feel the same when you call me 'sweetheart'. I could get used to that." You practically whisper. You can feel Eddie's body relaxing as he cuddles you, his heart beating steadily as opposed to racing like it was before. His breaths go in and out of his lungs nice and slow. He's finally able to stop freaking out, at least for a little while. "Goodnight, Eds."

"Goodnight, Y/N." He barely gets the words out, his eyelids falling heavily as sleep takes him in an instant. The adrenaline of the last twenty-four hours has come to an end, his body shutting down into heavy slumber. It takes some time for you to join him, you're not nearly as exhausted as Eddie is. You've only been involved in all this for a short period of time, plus, you're worried that something might happen to him while you're asleep. And that possibility scares the shit out of you. You lie here for who knows how long, lost in thought. You're not sure when it happens, but you do eventually fall asleep. You know this, because you're woken up by Eddie screaming in his sleep as the sun comes up.

"Jesus christ!" You shout when you hear him scream right in your ear. You shoot up in your finagled bed, looking over to see what's happening. Eddie's still asleep, but his mouth is wide open as he lets out the most awful screams you've ever heard. He must be having a horrible nightmare, seeing Chrissy dying before his eyes. "Eddie! Wake up! It's just a dream, wake up!" You shake him as hard as you can, gently smacking his cheeks. But it's not working. His body is thrashing, and his wails only get louder.

You have to act, and fast. You get up, going to the water. You kneel down and scoop some in your hands, rushing back to Eddie to drop it on his face. It lands cold and harsh, shocking him awake. His eyes snap open, and he scurries backwards, his back hitting the wall of the boathouse. He looks around frantically, whimpering and gasping for air at the same time. The water glistens on his face, soaking into the top of his shirt and the hair around his cheeks and forehead. His eyes land on you, realizing he's not in that awful nightmare anymore.

"Fuck!" He exclaims, his chest heaving as he rests against the wall. "Thank you...for that." He says, out of breath. "I...couldn't...wake up." He huffs the words out between gasps. You sit beside him, taking hold of his shaking hand. His head falls onto your shoulder, water dripping through your cardigan.

"Are you okay, Eds?" You ask, knowing full well it's a dumb question.

"I am now." He swallows hard, the horrific images quickly dissolving as you continue to touch him. "Are you alright, angel? I'm sorry if I scared you." He feels awful that you had to see him scream like that, and it's kinda embarrassing for him to be so uncontrollably vulnerable.

"I'm okay, baby. I was just worried about you. Did you sleep alright besides the nightmare?" Another stupid question, no doubt.

"Surprisingly, yes." He says warmly, nuzzling into your neck. His wet face shocks your flesh from the cold, making you squeal.

"Eddie! That's freezing!" You laugh, which just eggs him on to rub himself all over you. The water transfers onto your skin, soaking into your clothes to make you shiver. But he quickly warms you back up with hasty kisses on your throat. You stop squirming, allowing yourself to relax into Eddie. His mouth feels so good against your skin. His teeth nibble a spot just below your jaw, leaving a light purple hickey behind. "Eddie." You sigh, wondering how far this is going to go. His hand cradles the other side of your head, holding you up as you melt in his touch. His tongue soothes the bruise he's marked on you, and he drags the wet muscle down further to make another near your collarbone. He bites a little harder this time, making you moan. A familiar pressure begins to build between your legs. You rub your thighs together in an attempt to relieve it, but it's not nearly enough.

"Gettin' hot and bothered, baby?" Eddie asks lowly, smirking at you brushing your legs against each other. He wonders how wet you are, and if you'll let him see for himself.

"Uh-huh. Your lips feel really good, Eds. C'mere." You pull his head up, and smash your mouth onto his. You're becoming so hungry for him, it's unreal. You let yourself fall backwards, taking him with you. He grunts at the sudden movement, positioning himself to lay over you. His knees rest on either side of yours. Eddie bites your bottom lip, making you gasp. He slips his tongue in to roll against your own, heating you both up further. Your hands slip into his thick locks, tugging on them lightly. He moans down your throat, such a beautiful sound.

Eddie's just about to ask if he can move things further, perhaps to second base. But you both hear a car pulling up in the distance, which makes you freeze in place. "You heard that, right?" Eddie asks, quickly going into panic mode again. You nod, listening for any other noises. The car comes to a stop outside of Rick's house, and you hear doors opening and closing. It could be Dustin and the others, or someone else who is certainly not a friend. Eddie climbs off of you, going back to the corner to grab his bottle. You take the other oar from the wall, and you gesture at him to check the windows, carefully. He nods, taking one side while you take the other. The angle of the windows isn't optimal, as you can't make out who's approaching the door to the boathouse. You both brandish your weapons, ready to fight if it comes down to it.

You can feel your heart pounding in your ears, your body ready to attack any enemy that comes your way. The door swings open, screeching on its rusted hinges. In comes Dustin and the rest of your friends, carrying bags of snacks and your overnight bag. "Delivery service!" Dustin says, making you flinch.

"Jesus! Thank fuck it's you guys." You say with a sigh of relief. You set down the oar, and Eddie puts the bottle away again.

"Long night, I take it?" Robin asks, setting your stuff down on the table where Eddie's old wrappers and bottles are.

"That's putting it lightly." Eddie says sarcastically. "It was a helluva lot better than being alone, though." He looks to you, giving you a kind glance. You smile back brightly, unable to help yourself.

"Well, eat up, you two. You've missed out on some stuff." Steve says, quirking an eyebrow at how friendly you seem to be getting with Eddie. You go over to the table to see what your friends brought. There's nothing very nutritious, but you're not gonna complain. Food is food. You pull out a box of Honeycomb cereal, and two Yoo-Hoos. You bring them over, plopping down beside Eddie. You hand him his drink, and start working on opening the cereal box.

"Thanks, sweetheart." He says without thinking, making your eyes bug out. His utterance of the pet name draws bewildered stares from the others.

"What did you just say?" Dustin questions, he's only heard Eddie use such a term of endearment when talking about his guitar. He suspects you two got up to...something last night.

"Uh...nothing. It was just a slip. Right, Eds?" You pipe up, trying to cover your asses. You don't want your friends to know that while you were technically supposed to be looking after Eddie, you were making out with him instead.

"Yep. Totally. My bad." Eddie agrees. He's on the exact same page as you. He realizes how embarrassing it would be for everyone to know you're essentially hooking up when there's an interdimensional killer on the loose.

"Uh...what is that?" Robin chimes in, pointing a finger towards your throat. Shit.

"What's what?" You reply nervously, swallowing hard.

"That mark on your neck, it looks like a hickey!" She exclaims, her surprise morphing into a sly smile. Eddie, you dog. She thinks to herself. The looks on your faces spell it all out loud and clear, there's no mistaking it. You two are officially in a budding, trauma-bonded romance.

"No it isn't!" You scoff, rolling your eyes. You're laying it on way too thick, stumbling over your words all the while. "I-I fell! Yep, tripped on the...- crate over there and landed on the edge of the boat. Right, Eddie?"

"Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes." He insists, nodding before taking a sip of his drink.

"Hold on, you just called him 'Eds', a second ago...what the hell is going on here?" Steve crosses his arms, furrowing his brow at you both. The others follow suit, holding similar looks of distrust and smug knowing. They certainly don't hold it against you, you're two attractive young people in a distressing situation. It's only natural, really. Scientifically proven to happen, in fact. "C'mon, out with it. We're burning daylight here, and we've got other things to do besides wait for a confession from you...lovebirds." Steve demands, using his babysitter powers to force you to yield.

You sigh, rolling your eyes again. "Ugh, fine! We kissed last night...and we were making out a few minutes ago." You admit, keeping your eyes trained on the floor to avoid making visual contact with anyone.

"We've got, uh...history. We'll just leave it at that." Eddie adds, mirroring your bashful stance. You both feel like scolded children, even though you know you've done nothing wrong.

"Alright, cool. Moving on, we've got some good news, and we've got some bad news." Dustin says. You manage to get the box of cereal open, and you and Eddie dig into it hungrily. Eddie's far more ravenous than you, taking large handfuls and munching them down like a starved animal. You feel a little sorry for him, but at least he's able to eat now. "How do you prefer it?" Dustin asks, looking to Eddie.

"Bad news first, always." Eddie replies with a mouthful.

"Alright, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you." Dustin states. Eddie's face falls slightly, and no doubt yours follows suit. "Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy." He adds as an afterthought.

"Like, a hundred-percent convinced." Max interjects. Eddie's head follows each of them as they speak, his fear dialing up again.

"And the good news?" You ask, needing there to be a sliver of hope in this shit sandwich.

"Eddie's name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about him, it's only a matter of time before others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for him." Robin says, making your heart sink.

"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie asks, a frustrated sadness lacing his tone. Typical hick town, making the weirdo into a scapegoat.

"Exactly." She replies, understanding full-well the gravity of the situation. She knows better than anyone what it's like to be on the outskirts of society, having to hide away for fear of being cast out entirely.

"So..before that happens. We need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence. That's all." Dustin says, as if it's the easiest plan in the world.

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie parrots back, finding the concept utterly ridiculous. You put a hand on his shoulder, drawing his eyes to you.

"We've done crazier shit and pulled it off before. I'm sure we can beat this, too." You say calmly, and he lifts his hand to rest on top of yours. He nods, trying to keep himself grounded.

"She's right. Delusional as it sounds, we've been through this kind of thing more than once. Well, they have. Me and Y/N have been through it once. Ours was like, more human flesh-based, and theirs were more smoke-related." Robin explains, which makes Eddie pull an odd face. She shakes away her poor explanation skills, finishing her point. "Bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this."

"We usually rely on this girl who has superpowers. But, uh, those went bye-bye, so..." Steve trails off, realizing it probably wasn't all that helpful to say.

"So, we're in kind of, uh...more of a...brainstorming phase." All four of them form the odd sentence together, finishing one another's thought clumsily.

"There's nothing to worry about, though." Dustin splutters, which does nothing to put either you or Eddie at ease. You look at each other, and then back to them. They can't possibly be serious. Suddenly, you hear sirens wailing in the distance.

"Quick, you two hide!" Robin instructs. You and Eddie go to your corner where the tarps are laid about, before hopping into the boat and pulling them over your heads. You're kinda squished together under here, but you refuse to leave Eddie's side. You notice him breathing heavily again, putting your hands on his shoulders to calm him down.

"Hey, hey. Look at me, okay? We're gonna be fine." You whisper, just in case any officers are coming around right this moment. He does as you ask, nodding silently. He slows down a little, focusing on your beautiful face. The others peek out the window, watching the cops roll on by down the road, totally bypassing this hiding place.

"Well, that can't be good." Max observes from across the shed.

"Hey, guys. We're gonna go check out what's happening. Just stay here, okay? We'll radio you an update." Steve says, leading the others out to his car. They shut the door behind them, leaving the two of you alone.

"You good?" You ask Eddie, speaking at a normal volume now.

"Yeah, yeah. Just felt like a close call." He presses a quick kiss to your lips, further tuning himself back into his regularly-scheduled brain function. "We should probably stay under here for a bit, right? Just in case?"

"We can do that. You wanna...keep kissing me?" You ask, as it seems your affection tends to calm him down. Not to mention you really like the way his mouth connects to yours.

"How can I possibly say no to that?" Eddie says with a small smile. He kisses you again, slower this time. Your eyes close instantly, and your hands wander over to get lost in his hair. Things are heating up quickly, your lips and tongues playing with one another hungrily. Eddie pulls back for a second, like he wants something else. "Y/N, can I...?" He trails off, his eyes flicking to your chest. It really isn't that hard to say 'Hey, Y/N, can I touch your tits?', he knows that. But as it has been stated before, you make him nervous, in the best possible way.

"You can do anything you want, Eds. I want it all." You reply, finding his sheepish asking very adorable. Eddie doesn't seem the type to be so unsure of himself when it comes to...whatever this is. He must think you're pretty special if his typical devilish charms fly out the window whenever he tries to make a move on you. He still seems unsure, so you take hold of his large hands, bringing them up to your chest. "Is this what you want, baby?" You ask, already knowing the answer. He nods, not saying another word as his palms hover a centimeter away from your breasts. You manipulate them to finally cup your tits, immediately letting out a quiet moan.

"You're so beautiful, sweetheart." He says, his eyes widening slightly at the fact that he's made it to second base. He feels like a fuckin' virgin, it's kinda embarrassing that he needs you to lead him like this.

"You're pretty handsome yourself, Eddie." You say breathlessly. Eddie's hands squeeze the swells of your chest, drawing more lustful noises from you. Everything he does to you feels so good, it's been a very long time since you've been touched by anyone. Even yourself.

"You think it's safe to get out of the boat now?" Eddie asks as this position is a bit uncomfortable.

"I think so. C'mon." You move to stand up in the boat, almost falling over again. Eddie catches you, and you both step back onto solid ground. The second you do, he leads you backwards until you meet the wall. He gets a bit of his confidence back, wanting to take you by surprise. "Is someone coming out of their shell?" You ask slyly as his body presses into yours.

"Maybe a little." He replies with a smirk, moving to slip off his jackets. He tosses them onto the table beside you. You take off your cardigan, letting it fall on the floor. Your hands grip the hem of your shirt, slowly lifting it up to expose your torso. Eddie watches wordlessly as you reveal your body to him, his eyes following the shirt as it goes further upwards. You pull it over your head, letting it join your sweater. You're left standing in your bra, and his eyes practically pop out of his head. "Damn." He exhales, you're even prettier than he thought you'd be.

"Like what you see?" You ask with a sly smile.

"Uh-huh. Can I see more?" He requests, unable to hide the neediness in his voice. The tone of it sends a dark thrill through you, and you reach behind your back to unhook your bra without a second thought. The straps fall loosely from your shoulders, the cups no longer holding your breasts up. The garment slips away, adding to the pile quickly gathering on the floor. "Fuck, Y/N." Eddie murmurs, taking your bare tits into his hands.

"Eddie." You gasp at the cool metal of his rings meeting your supple flesh, your nipples hardening from said cold and your arousal. He grips them firmly, rolling the sensitive buds between his thumbs and forefingers. He gazes at you in admiration while he works, giving you a cheeky grin. Your mouth sits agape to let out dulcet sounds, and you can't stop staring into his beautiful chocolate-hued eyes.

"Does this feel good, sweetheart?" He asks, eating up every little sigh and moan you let out for him. His cock is straining against his jeans, aching to feel you in every way possible.

"Mmhmm, you're very skilled with your hands." As much as your brain has begun to melt, you want to keep up with his mischievous nature. It's been so long since you've been able to play with someone in this way, and you're sure Eddie is more than up to the task.

He chuckles darkly, leaning in to speak in your ear. "I think you'll find I'm very skilled with my mouth, too." He bites your earlobe, drawing a low moan from your lips. "Mmm, your noises are drivin' me crazy, princess. Makin' it hard for me to take my time with you." He says hotly as his mouth travels downwards. Eddie nibbles harshly on your throat, leaving yet another hickey in his wake. Satisfied with his work, he goes even further downward. He kisses the swells of your tits, and the valley between them, every inch of skin he can reach.

"Feels so good, baby." You sigh blissfully. You look down at him as he worships your chest, becoming unbelievably wet with every passing moment. He swirls his tongue around your nipple, before taking it between his teeth. "Fuck, Eddie." You whimper as your hand takes hold of his head. He smirks against you at your reaction, he can't get enough of your little moans and curses. He wants to keep touching you, pleasing you, in every way you'll let him. He'll use whatever time he has left to make you come undone, over and over until he drops fucking dead. If he has any choice in the matter, he might as well go out with a bang, literally. "I need more, Eds." You plead, instinctively bucking your hips forward in an attempt to get your pussy closer to his cock.

"You got it, angel." Eddie pulls away from your chest, tugging his own shirt over his head. You take a moment to drink in his bare torso, and it's certainly a sight to see. His chest and arms are slightly toned, his long hair brushing against his shoulders. Sexy tattoos adorn his pale skin, and a guitar pick hangs on a chain around his neck. A light trail of hair runs down the middle of his chest, disappearing into his jeans. He looks like a goddamn rockstar, if you're being honest. Eddie finds your gawking amusing, letting out a small snicker at your shameless ogling. "Have I rendered you speechless, Y/N?" He asks while you feel him up, dragging your palms along his arms, up and down his chest.

"You're really fucking hot, Eddie." Your eyes flick to his, displaying pure, unadulterated lust. You don't bother to think, all you know is that you want him. Now. You grab him by his belt buckle, whipping the both of you around. The motion takes him by surprise, and you practically slam him up against the wall. He grunts at the impact, and you smash your lips to his before he can respond. His hands grab at your ass, holding you as close to him as possible. You shove your tongue in his mouth to tangle with his, and you clumsily fumble with his belt. You stop kissing him so you can see what you're doing, breathing heavily as anticipation builds between you. You get the belt open, and unzip his jeans with ease. You reach your hand inside his pants, underneath his boxers to take hold of his dick.

"Shit, you don't waste any time, do you?" Eddie asks through a groan. You pump his length in your hand, brushing the bead of precum around his tip with your thumb.

"No, I don't. We can take our time later. But I want you to fuck me, now." You say in a sultry tone, stroking him a bit firmer and faster than before. He moans again, which is music to your ears. "I like how much noise you make, Eds. It's very sexy. Now, you wanna help me with the rest of my clothes?" You ask in an undeniably tempting way, trying to push his buttons.

"Sure thing, princess." He pants, bringing his own hands around to unbutton your jeans. He slides the zipper down its track, hesitating before going any further. "Can I feel you, sweetheart?" He asks sweetly, which makes your heart flutter. He's been quite the gentleman this whole time, always asking permission before doing anything to you. It's highly attractive, no other guy has done so before. Not like this. It's always been one 'yes', which somehow grants unlimited access to your entire body.

"Yes, baby." You answer softly, waiting for him to touch you where you need him most. Eddie slowly slips his hand under the waistband of your panties, and his fingers graze your soaked folds. "Oh, fuck." You gasp at the contact. You knew you were turned on, but this is a whole other level. Everything he does to you feels better than anything you've experienced before. His fingers drag along your soaked cunt, feeling every part of you he can reach.

"You're so wet for me, angel." Eddie observes in amazement. To know he makes you feel so strongly, it's enough to drive him mad. You're still touching his dick with your hollowed fist, and he decides to push two fingers inside you to rev you up further.

"Eddie." You whimper as his digits meet your g spot easily. He curls them to press on it at a slow, torturous rhythm.

"You like having my fingers inside you?" Eddie asks, his own breath hitching as you squeeze him a little harder. You're both doing everything you can to rile one another up, so you'll go absolutely wild on each other when you finally connect.

"Yes, but I think there's something else I'd like even more." You press a warm kiss to his lips, giving him your best 'fuck me' eyes afterwards.

"God, you're so needy. No patience at all." Eddie teases with a smirk. He takes his hand away from your pussy, and you release his cock from your grip. You remove the rest of your clothes, and he does the same. You're left standing naked in front of each other, taking a moment to soak in every little detail. You notice his dick standing at attention, the head swollen and red, leaking pre-release onto the wood floor. Eddie looks you over, becoming very interested in the drips of your arousal running down the insides of your thighs. He wonders how you taste, wanting to make you scream his name while he eats you out.

"Is there something you want?" You ask slyly, realizing he's staring at your crotch like a feral animal.

"I know you said you want me to fuck you, Y/N. But I would really like to go down on you first. I bet you taste amazing, and I just want to make you feel good." He speaks honestly, with no effort to hide his desire. He's practically begging to give you head, which only makes you want him more.

You step closer to him, placing your hands on his chest. You lean forward to speak into his ear, nice and low so he listens to every word. "Knock yourself out, baby. What kind of woman would I be to deny a wanted man?" You take his earlobe between your teeth, just as he did to you earlier. You keep it brief, though, you imagine Eddie wants to get things moving. "Lead the way, Eds." You back away slightly, smiling as you wait for him to put you in position. His hands meet your hips, and he carefully maneuvers you around to the table. He pushes everything off of it, various objects landing on the floor. He lifts you onto the surface, spreading your legs wide while he stands between them. His palms roam up and down your thighs, inching so very close to where you're longing for him to touch.

Eddie's eyes wander over your gorgeous form, committing every last detail to memory. The curves of your waist and hips, the length of your legs, your hands holding tight to the edge of the table as you wait for him to begin. Your chest rising and falling faster than usual, tits shifting slightly from the pace. And to top it all off, the sex-drenched expression spread shamelessly across your face. Expectant eyes meeting his, pleading with him to appease your every desire. "You have got to be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Y/N." He says sincerely, breaking the charged silence.

"You really think so?" You ask curiously. You've never really found yourself all that attractive. After Benji, the guys who look your way have been few and far between. And even then, they never think you're anything special. Deep down, you know your worth doesn't hinge upon your desirability. But it's hard to remember that when society relentlessly pounds the idea into your head.

"I know so, sweetheart. You're perfect." Eddie replies, not an ounce of doubt or dishonesty in his voice. He means every word that comes out of his mouth, and you love him even more for it.

"I dunno about all that, Eddie." You say as your eyes flick downwards. Here you are, completely naked, fully displayed to him. And you're still questioning his liking of you. His hand comes up to gently lift your chin to look at him. His intense gaze burns into you, like there's a roaring fire ignited behind his eyes.

"I'm serious, Y/N. I know I don't know everything about you, but I know enough. Enough to say that I care very deeply for you, because you're an amazing person, in every way." You don't know how he does it, but he's somehow managed to sound even more sincere than before. You're utterly captivated by him. You've never had anyone speak to you in such devotional ways, until now.

"You're pretty great, too, you know." You say with a light smile, color warming your cheeks again at his saccharine declarations. You wait for him to make his next move, keeping your eyes on his all the while. Somehow, sitting here like this, with him standing before you while his thumb and forefinger gently hold your chin, is possibly the most comfortable position you've been in for who knows how long. Eddie slowly leans in, pressing a feather-light kiss to your lips. Your eyes flutter closed, and you enjoy every second of this until he pulls away just as gingerly. "Damn, you are way too good at that." You say breathlessly.

"So are you, baby. Takes two to tango, right?" He grins at you, allowing his less serious side to take hold. You've waited long enough, and he wants to pleasure you in every way you deserve. He picks up where he left off, trailing kisses down your body that set your insides ablaze. Shoulders, chest, stomach, before moving on to your thighs. He kneels in front of you, putting your knees over his shoulders.

"Mmm." You moan as he gently nips on your sensitive flesh, sucking tiny love bites closer and closer to your core. He's still taking his time, wanting to warm you back up before he finally tastes you. His eyes watch your dripping hole, his cock twitching as he can see how wet he's making you with every inch of progress. Your nails dig into the worn wood of the table, scratching deeply as you resist the urge to shove your crotch in his face. You want him to fuck you with his mouth more than anything, and it's taking everything in you to be patient. He finally sets himself before your glistening pussy, his hot breath fanning over it. Eddie lets his tongue slip out of his mouth to make first contact with your clit. "Fuck!" You cry out, your hips jolting upwards off the table.

"Settle down, angel. I'm just getting started." He coos, before dragging the wet muscle along your slit.

"Sorry, it's been a while." You say with an embarrassed laugh. You force yourself to relax, keeping yourself seated on the table as he works on you. It's harder than you expected it to be, every little lick and suck feels too fucking good.

"You taste so sweet, baby." Eddie praises, before resuming his work. He's pulling out all the stops, wanting to make you lose control. He flicks against your clit, and alternately shoves his tongue into your cunt to push on your sweet spot. His pattern and pace varies wildly, never giving you a chance to predict a single move.

"You're really good at this, Eds." You sigh blissfully, thoroughly enjoying everything he's doing to you. You feel an intense knot growing within you, tightening further with every passing second. Eddie's building you up unbelievably quickly, though you figure it wouldn't have taken much to begin with. You emit an endless stream of expletives and calls of his name, your body gradually coating itself in steaming sweat.

"Mmm." Eddie moans against you as he can't get enough of your juices flowing into his mouth. You taste like nothing of this earth to him, so fucking delicious. His dick is leaking profusely as he eats you out, your noises are driving him insane. He wants to make you cum all over his face, and soon, so he can finally fill you up with his painfully hard cock. He pushes his fingers into you again, focusing his tongue on your clit as he quickens the pace.

"Oh, Eddie. Just like that- fuck, I'm getting close." You whimper, digging your nails further into the table. You're surprised you haven't broken any off with how much pressure you've put on them. You sense your oncoming release, the telling ebb and flow of pleasurable waves beginning to collide with you. "Don't stop, baby. Make me cum, I'm almost there." You plead with Eddie to keep doing exactly what he's doing, needing just a little more to make that ever-growing knot snap. He takes heed of your desperate words, not changing a single thing for fear of denying you of your orgasm.

"Mmm." He moans into you again, watching your fuckstruck face as he gets you near the finish line. Your eyes are squeezed shut, your mouth hanging open as you make the most beautifully obscene sounds he's ever heard. Your chest heaves as you breathe rapidly, your skin slicked over with glimmering perspiration. Eddie wishes to save this image in his mind, you look like a total goddess to him at this moment. He's afraid he's not going to last, though, as he's forgotten just how arousing it is for him to go down on a woman. He's certain that the second you lose it, he'll end up falling off the edge right alongside you. He doesn't mind, however. Far be it from him to complain about getting self-satisfaction out of pleasing you.

"Just a little harder, Eds. I'm so fuckin' close." You pant out the words, needing just a little more to get what you want. Eddie grants your request, pressing his tongue more firmly on your bundle of nerves, and fingering your pussy at a harsher speed. "Perfect, right there." You whine as you're just about to cum. Eddie groans against you one last time, he can feel your walls fluttering around his digits. The vibrations from his muffled noises bring you to your high swiftly and completely. "Oh, fuck, EDDIE!" You cry out as your legs begin to shake. Your orgasm rips through you violently, and you can't control your thighs clamping around Eddie's head. You feel your release spilling onto him, and he tries his best to slurp up every last drop. You're seeing stars, absolutely flaming from the inside out.

"Fff." You hear him grunt against you, his breath coming out shakily as he cums with you. His load spills messily onto the floor under the table, some of it landing on his thighs. His hips buck upwards once or twice, he has no idea. All he knows is bliss, and he relishes every last second of it until you calm down. You slump backwards against the wall while you release Eddie's head from your iron grasp. You're absolutely spent, almost gasping for air from how mind-blowing this was. "You good, princess?" Eddie asks from the floor, as you haven't opened your eyes just yet. Your lids flutter upwards to let you look down at him. You find his chin is glistening with your nectar, and you peek down to see that he already came from the erotic display you put on a moment ago.

"Yes, so fucking good." You say sincerely, smiling down at him as your ecstasy wanes away to nothing. "I see you enjoyed yourself, too, Eds." You flick your pupils downwards, hinting at the mess in his lap. You can't help finding his position quite hot. Sitting on his knees, his own release splattered about in sticky streaks on his skin. He just couldn't help himself, you were too powerful a sight for him to handle. The thought alone makes you feel wet all over again.

"I really did. You were so sexy, and I couldn't get enough." He says from below you, and he can't help blushing when you stare at him like this. Lust burns in your eyes from seeing him all sweaty and spent from doing almost nothing at all. He's never had a girl look at him like that, and he definitely enjoys it more than one would expect.

"C'mere, baby." You say softly, beckoning him upwards with your finger. He does as you ask without a thought, standing between your legs. Eddie puts his hands on your waist, waiting for you to speak. You gaze at each other for a moment, gentle smiles sitting about your mouths. "I love you, Eddie." You utter the words so quietly, Eddie almost thinks he's imagined it. Before he can ask you to repeat yourself, however, you take hold of the back of his head to give him a tender kiss.

He's surprised you'd tell him such a thing. Sure, you both admitted to being in love with one another at some point in time last night, and the fact that you've just engaged in sexual activities can also help argue the case. But for some reason, hearing it out loud makes it sound...illogical, irrational. He considers the possibility that you're only saying it because he might die, but he doesn't think you'd be so cruel to lie about your feelings. Honestly, all this contemplation is making his head spin. At this point, he doesn't give a fuck if you mean it or not. He'll take your affection hand over fist as long as you continue to give it to him. You release his lips from yours, allowing him time to respond. "I love you too, Y/N. I've been waiting years to hear you say that." He says sincerely, as he hopes your own words are just as genuine.

"I wish I'd said it a long time ago. You're the only man that's ever made me feel this way. And I know we're pretty young, but I don't think I'll ever feel like this about anyone else." You stroke his hair as you speak, it's so soft, if not a bit damp from what you just finished doing a minute ago. You can't help shivering a little as the cool March air chills your sweat.

"You cold, angel? We should put our clothes back on." Eddie says as he notices your teeth beginning to chatter. He leans down to pick up all your clothes, handing your items off to you.

"Hey, Eddie?" You ask while slipping your panties on.

"Yes, sweetheart?" He looks to you, wondering if something is wrong.

"Is 'Reefer Rick' home? Or anyone, for that matter?" You question, contemplating using the house as a warmer, safer location to hide in.

"Nah, he's still in jail right now and doesn't live with anyone. Why do you ask?" He quirks an eyebrow at you.

"Well, I was thinking it might be more comfortable in there if no one's home. We could shower, wash our clothes, have an actual bed to sleep in. And it would be a helluva lot warmer in there, too." You explain your train of thought, though you wonder if he'd already thought about it.

"I hope this doesn't change how you feel about me, but I hadn't even thought of that. The jackass probably doesn't even keep the door locked." Eddie chuckles, smacking his head at his own stupidity. "But yeah, I think it's a damn good idea. We won't have to sleep on the floor, at least."

"Well, it's a good thing I decided to stay with you, huh? I'm more than just a good lay." You giggle as you finish getting dressed.

"Technically, I don't actually know if you're a good lay...yet." He jokes, making you both share a cute laugh. You gather your supplies to bring into the house, and Eddie takes your free hand in his. You check to make sure the coast is clear, there's a few rednecks that live around here, and you don't want them to see you. You make your way to the house, and try the doorknob. Unsurprisingly, it opens without a hitch. "Thank you, Rick." Eddie says under his breath, and you make your way inside.

It's clear that Reefer Rick hasn't been home in a few months. Dust covers every flat surface, and there's rotten fruit in the bowl on the kitchen counter. Some used dishes sit molding in the sink, and there's a bit of old...everything all about the place. Pizza boxes, beer cans, pints of Ben & Jerry's, other things like that. You would clean up, but it's probably best to let any passerby assume that the premises is still vacated. Plus, all you really need is a bed and a shower at the moment. "God, this place is a dump." You observe aloud at the slight odor that permeates the house.

"Yeah, looks like the maid hasn't come around in awhile." Eddie replies sarcastically, wiping one of the tables with his finger. A thick streak of dust coats the pad of it, and he scrunches his nose as he wipes it on his pants.

You try turning on the sink to see if anything will come out. And sure enough, the water flows from the faucet, plentiful and warm. "Nice, we've got water." You open the fridge, and the little light clicks on. It's full of even more nasty food, but you weren't really worried about it anyway. "And power. So shower and laundry are a go." You say with a smile, moving on to check out the rest of the house.

The heat isn't set, but it's still so much warmer than outside and the boathouse. You locate the thermostat to turn up the temperature a little, and thankfully you hear the system kick on. You avoid turning on any lights to prevent drawing attention from afar, and you find the laundry room downstairs. Underground where no one will hear the machines running, perfect. Eddie follows behind you the whole way, and the two of you strip off your old clothes in the damp basement. You've both seen one another naked, so you're not bothered by walking through the rest of the house without your clothes on. After setting the load to wash, you head back up the stairs and to the second floor where the master bedroom is. There's a bathroom inside it as well, and you let Eddie take the first shower.

While he does so, you check Rick's closet to find some clothes Eddie can wear in the meantime. There's tie-dye t-shirt after tie-dye t-shirt, at least fifty in total. They're a little big for Eddie, but they seem comfortable enough. You take out an orange and red and yellow one, setting its hanger on the bed. You open a chest of drawers, hoping the bottoms will be more in your boyfriend's size range. Lucky for you, Rick seems to be a very lanky guy who just prefers baggy shirts. You pull out some blue jeans, putting them next to the shirt. You don't bother with underwear, you know Eddie won't go for wearing another man's tidy whities. Commando will have to do for the time being.

As for you, Robin was gracious enough to supply you with some jeans, sweatpants, a couple shirts, and...every pair of panties you own. You suppose she wasn't sure how long you'll be in hiding for, and you don't have an answer to that either. Better safe than sorry, you think to yourself with a shrug. "Fuck, I really needed that." Eddie says with a satisfied sigh as he walks out of the bathroom. He's got a towel wrapped around his waist, showing off his v-line. His necklace dangles wetly around his neck, and water drips from his hair and down his front. Damn, he's hot. You mentally observe while biting your lip. "Helloooooo...Earth to Y/N." He waves his hand around, smirking at how you're staring at his body again.

"Huh?" You snap out of it, meeting his eyes and handsome smile. "Oh, was the water warm enough?" You ask as your cheeks flare red.

"Yeah, there should be enough left for you, too. Gonna warn you, it's only guy soap in there." He says casually, walking over to see what you've put out for him to wear. "What the hell is that?" He furrows his brows, pointing at the obnoxious tie-dye shirt.

"It's all Rick has, and it's only for a couple hours. Leave it to you to be picky about fashion in a crisis." You chuckle at his apprehension to wear anything outside his personal style.

"That's easy for you to say! The others brought you your own clothes!" He retorts, crossing his arms. He doesn't know how to explain it without sounding like a child. But he hates wearing clothes that aren't his, it feels...wrong somehow. The few times he has done it, he feels like his skin is crawling beneath the fabric. Because it knows they don't belong to him. It's also one of the ways he gets to express himself, and he sure as shit doesn't like tie-dye.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry. I'm sure they would've brought you something if your house wasn't an active crime scene." You're sympathetic to his distaste, his clothes should be one of the few things he can control in this situation. And wearing things that don't belong to him can't be very comfortable. You stand before him, putting your hands on his shoulders for a moment. "It'll be alright, Eddie. We have to work with what we've got, okay?" You give him a little kiss, hoping to put him at ease. He accepts your offering, grabbing your ass in large handfuls. You sigh against him, it's crazy how easily you fall into a deep pit of lust every time he touches you. Eddie pulls away, taking your breath with him.

"I suppose I can live with Rick's stoner style for a bit." He says unconvincingly, rolling his eyes.

"I appreciate you making the sacrifice." You press a kiss to his cheek, returning to your bag to see if Robin packed any toiletries for you. You find your shampoo and conditioner, an unopened bar of soap, and your toothbrush. No toothpaste, though. Maybe there's some in the bathroom.

"Shit, Robin thought of everything, huh?" Eddie says, taking a peek into your things himself while you head into the bathroom to wash up. Damn, there's a lot of panties in here. Eddie thinks, pushing the slips of fabric around to see what else lies within the bag's contents. Clothes, hair ties, lip balm, tampons. His hand recoils at finding your lady things, before noticing something else beneath them. A deck of playing cards. Well, it's not D&D, but it'll do to pass the time. Wayne's showed him a ton of card games over the years, though he can't remember the last time he played any of them.

The thought makes Eddie's heart ache. Fuck, he misses his uncle so much. And he must be worried sick about him. Does he know Eddie didn't kill Chrissy? He has to, right? Eddie can't help wondering if Wayne has even entertained the idea that he is a murderer. He comes from a broken home, suffering awful abuse, no less. Happens all the time. Lots of serial killers come from environments just like Eddie's, it's only natural to ponder if something went wrong inside his head. A few tears spring from Eddie's eyes. He wishes he could tell Wayne that he's okay (for now), and that he didn't do this. But he can't risk being found, it'll all be over for him if that happens. He wipes his eyes frantically when he hears you shut the water off, sniffing harshly to get himself together. He puts his borrowed clothes on and takes the deck of cards from your bag.

"Mmm, nice and clean and ready to get dirty again." You quip as you walk into the bedroom. You're drying your hair as you walk, another towel wrapped around your body. You bring the towel away from your head, finding Eddie standing in the little outfit you found for him. You can't help smiling at how he looks in it. The pants fit just fine, but the shirt makes him look like a little kid.

"What?" Eddie asks, curious as to why you're looking at him the way you are.

"You just look so cute, Eds." You say with a giggle, plopping down on the bed.

"I do not. I look like a total dork." He grumbles, narrowing his eyes at you.

"No you don't, baby. Whatcha got there?" You change the subject, knowing Eddie doesn't want to talk about it anymore. He seems really upset, but not entirely about the clothes. Maybe he'll tell you later, but neither of you need any more doom and gloom right now.

"Oh, um, looks like Robin packed us some entertainment. Wanna play?" He asks, holding up your playing cards. Your eyes widen when you remember what's printed on them.

"Are you sure, Eddie? Did you look closely at the package?" You ask cautiously, you don't want him to flip out.

"They're just cards, right?" Eddie looks at the box again, wondering what you're talking about. The one side looks like the typical packaging, the traditional pattern and branding. Until he flips it over to the other side. These aren't just any old playing cards, they're playing cards with naked men printed on them. "Oh." He says as his pupils enlarge. "And, uh...why do you have these?" His eyes flick to you.

"They're a gag gift from Steve. He saw them in a sex shop and thought they were, quote, 'hilarious'." You explain, rolling your eyes when you recall just how tickled Steve was by the huge cocks and washboard abs on all the men.

Eddie smiles, finding your embarrassed face rather amusing. "Oh, and here I thought you were some kinda pervert." He says jokingly, climbing onto the bed and laying on his stomach. He pulls the flap of the box up, pouring the cards out to get a closer look. "Jesus! How do you walk around with a dick like that?!" Eddie laughs, showing you the card in question.

"Jealous, are we?" You tease, opening your towel to get dressed. His eyes go to your tits immediately, his breath catching in his throat.

"N-not really, I imagine one that big wouldn't fit anyway." He says absent-mindedly, practically drooling at your naked body.

"Who's the pervert now?" You quip, reaching in your bag for the sexiest underwear you own. Red, lacey, perfect to tantalize Eddie with later. You pull them up your legs, remembering just how good they feel on your skin. You'd really splurged for these when you first bought them. It wasn't for anyone in particular, you just wanted to feel more confident in your own skin. You put your spare jeans and a t-shirt on as well, effectively hiding your body away from his gawking eyes.

"Eddie, Y/N, do you copy? Pick up guys, we've got news." You hear Dustin on the walkie, his voice crackling through the little speaker. You pick it up, pushing down on the talk button.

"Yeah, we're listening." You reply simply, releasing the button.

"There's another body. It's Fred from the school paper. Nancy was with him investigating Chrissy's death and they got separated." Dustin says.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Nance." You figure they're all sitting somewhere together, hoping she heard you. You were wondering what she's been up to this whole time. Typical Nancy Wheeler, always investigating. "Is there anything else? Do you guys have a plan to find out more information?"

"Yeah, I talked to Eddie's uncle, Wayne. He says there's this old guy, Victor Creel, who committed similar murders back in the fifties. It's a shot in the dark, but I'm gonna go to the library to find out more." Nancy speaks this time, and Eddie's face falls a little at the mention of his uncle. He looks at you, holding out his hand for the walkie. You nod, handing it over without question.

"How was he...when you talked to him?" Eddie asks cautiously.

"He was...pretty shaken up. He found the body in the trailer. But he insisted that you wouldn't do this, Eddie. So he knows you're innocent." Nancy says, hoping the words offer Eddie some kind of comfort.

"O-Okay. Thanks." Eddie replies shakily, handing the thing back over to you. You notice his eyes watering, as if some amount of relief has washed over him.

"You okay, Eds?" You ask as the others haven't said anything else yet. He just nods, wiping his eyes. "Okay, is there anything else?" You ask the group.

"Yeah, the rest of us are going to try to talk to Ms. Kelly, the school counselor. Max saw Chrissy talking to her on the day she died, she looked upset. So we're thinking maybe she was seeing things, and talked to Ms. Kelly about it." Steve speaks now.

"Well, I'm glad you guys seem to have this under control. We'll be here when you have more. Be careful out there." You reply to end this conversation.

"Sure thing. You two take care of each other. And let us know if you need anything. Over and out." Dustin says finally, and the walkie clicks for the last time, for now.

"Well, that was cheery." You say sarcastically, reaching for the deck to shuffle it. You may as well move on to something else for the time being.

"At least Wayne knows I'm not a murderer." Eddie replies softly through a sniffle.

"Of course he knows, baby. He practically raised you, right? He knows you're a good person, and I'm sure he's told the police that." You put your hand over his to try and comfort him.

"I doubt they believe him, though." He says sadly, squeezing your hand slightly.

"You're probably right. But we're gonna prove that you're innocent, okay? There's no way in hell I'm letting anyone pin this on you. I'll fight off the entire local police force myself if I have to." You reach over for your purse on the other side of the bed, pulling out the small pistol you carry inside it for personal protection. Eddie's eyes widen at the sight of the weapon, you make it sound like you'll actually shoot a police officer to keep him out of jail. "And if any of the ignorant assholes in this town try to mess with us, I'll get them to back off."

"Are you serious? Why do you have this, Y/N?" He's getting freaked out again, which you don't really understand. The gun is yours, you have the proper permits for it, you know how to use it. What's the big deal?

"Eddie, relax. I carry this for my own protection, in case some asshole tries something. I've had it for years, I kinda needed it when I didn't have a lanky metalhead to fight my battles for me." You don't mean the last comment as a slight, it's just the truth. Until now, you haven't had Eddie in your life in a very long time. You've basically been on your own. Even after coming into the fold of the massive monster-fighting team, you still spend most of your time alone. And being a young woman, living in a shitty neighborhood, you need something to fend off any potential attackers.

"Okay, fine. Just...please don't shoot anyone? I don't need any more blood on my hands." He pleads, he really wants you to put the damn thing away already. Guns make him nervous, he could never imagine owning one, let alone carrying it around everywhere. He's had enough of them shoved in his face to know that they're not to be taken lightly. Such a small thing can do so much damage. One can use it to kill without a second thought.

"I'm not shooting anyone, Eddie. I've never had to actually fire this thing. It's just a deterrent, nothing more. Okay?" You put the pistol back in your purse, and Eddie relaxes a bit. "And I'm sorry for freaking you out."

"It's okay. I get why you have it. There's some pretty scary shit in this town sometimes, apparently." He ends on a dry laugh, unable to hold off on rolling his eyes. He still finds it absolutely insane that this town really has been up to some spooky shit like everyone's been saying. And now he's caught smack-dab in the middle of it. "But anyway, you gonna shuffle or what?" He slaps on a smile, attempting to lighten the mood a little.

"Yeah, what game should we play first?" You shuffle the deck, waiting for him to choose a game.

"Well, since it's a rather dirty deck, how about a dirty game?" He suggests with a devilish grin.

"Alright. Strip poker it is." You smile back, knowing exactly where this particular game will end up. It'll be a relatively short game, though, as you both only have two or three items of clothing on at the moment. But you're guessing Eddie doesn't really care how many rounds you play, as long as you find yourselves fucking like wild animals by the time it's over. You deal out five cards to Eddie and yourself, setting the deck down to see what you have. Three aces, an eight, and a six. Three of a kind isn't bad, but trying for a fourth or maybe a full house would be better. "You want to switch out any cards?" You ask Eddie as he looks over his hand.

"Two, please." He puts two of his cards down, and you give him the new ones. You drop the six, and draw one new card. And sure enough, it's another eight. A full house, that'll be hard to beat.

"Okay. Now, if I win, what will you take off first?" You ask while biting your lip. You've got absolutely no poker face, you're sure he can see how giddy you are about your hand.

"Uh, I'll take my jewelry off, I guess." He replies, cool as a cucumber. You can't read him at all, which is worrying. "And you?"

"Well, I don't think jewelry should count. But it makes us even, I suppose. And I'll take off my jeans, if you win." You smirk.

"I'd rethink that confidence if I were you." Eddie warns playfully. "C'mon, show me what you got."

"Full house, baby. I'd love to see you beat that." You say smugly, laying the cards down neatly on the bed.

"Oof, that's too bad. Looks like I get to have a second look at those panties of yours." He says as he lays down his hand. A straight flush, all hearts.

"You motherfucker!" You scoff, unable to believe he beat you.

"Sorry, sweetheart. You'll just have to get luckier next time. Now, c'mon, off with the pants. Please and thank you." His eyes flick to your lower half, waiting expectantly for you to show some skin.

"Ugh, fine!" You exclaim, undoing the button and zip of your jeans, pulling them off and tossing them to the floor. You lay back down on the bed, your red underwear on full display for him. He stares at them for a moment as you gather the cards to shuffle again. "You really like them, huh?" You ask, drawing him out of his lustful trance. You notice a bulge forming in his own pants, which only builds your anticipation for the next hand.

"Yeah, they look really sexy on you." He compliments, giving you a hungry look.

"Thanks, Eds." You deal out the cards again, and bet your shirt this time. Eddie sticks with his rings and necklace, and you play the hand out. You have two pairs, and he beats you again with three of a kind. "Dammit!" You shout in disappointment as you yank your t-shirt over your head. Your tits bounce as they're freed from the fabric, and you're one loss away from being completely naked.

"You're just all outta luck today, angel." He's feeling cocky, all he needs is one more hand to beat you. You mutter a couple swears under your breath, you're not a very good sport when you lose at games. You shuffle a third time, and deal once more.

The next two rounds thankfully go in your favor, stripping Eddie of his accessories and tie-dye shirt. You're tied now, one more round to put an end to it all. You're both holding your final hand now, having already exchanged cards. You're on the edge of your seat, so to speak, eager to see who wins this erotic game. "You wanna show them at the same time, baby?" You ask darkly, unable to hide just how aroused this game has made you. You've both been eating up every last bit of one another's flesh as it's been revealed, just waiting for the moment when you get to see more.

"Okay." He nods, meeting your anxious gaze with his own. You both place your hands down on the blanket, waiting a second to actually look at them. Once you do, you see that you've just barely beaten Eddie. He has three of a kind, whereas you have a straight. "You win, princess. Congratulations." He says lowly, wasting no time in taking off his pants. His dick slaps against his stomach, waiting for you to take hold of it. "You wanna come over here and claim your prize, Y/N?"

"I thought you'd never ask, baby." You crawl over to him on the bed, ignoring the cards spilling around everywhere. Eddie lays on his back as you prowl, stroking his cock lazily in his hand. You climb over him so your body looms above his. You lower your head to give him a kiss, slipping your tongue into his mouth a moment later. His free hand reaches up to your underwear, slipping beneath the luxe fabric to feel your soaked folds. You moan against him at the sensation. "I want you so bad, Eddie." You say breathlessly, your lips still brushing against his as you speak.

"I want you too, sweetheart. Can you take these off for me?" Eddie replies, tugging at the waistband of your panties. You nod, dragging the fabric over the curves of your ass and down your legs. You kick them away with your foot, and straddle Eddie's thighs.

You replace Eddie's hand with yours, slowly running your hollowed fist along his dick. He groans at your touch, wanting you to pick up the pace or move along to the main event. "You want me to ride you, baby?" You ask seductively.

"Please." He begs, his hands resting at your hips. You lift yourself upwards slightly, just enough to drag his tip against your pussy, spreading your arousal onto his length. His breath catches at you lubing him up, and you let out low moans as he repeatedly brushes against your clit. "Stop teasing, sweetheart. I need to feel you." He can't hide the whining in his voice, and his eyes stare up helplessly at you as you continue your tantalizing actions.

"God, I love it when you beg, Eddie. It's so fuckin' hot." You smirk at him, allowing the head of his length to slip inside your dripping cunt. "Fuck." You gasp, eyes fluttering shut. He's barely in you and he's already stretching your walls in the most delicious way. You slowly sink down, accepting every last inch of him. You bite hard on your lip, savoring the slight burn you feel from him filling you up so completely. "Oh, god." You moan with your eyes still blissfully closed. You lay on his chest as you adjust to his size, pressing your lips to his while you loosen up.

"You're so tight, angel. Holy shit." Eddie says lowly to you between kisses. He can't believe he's actually inside you right now, and you feel like absolute heaven around him. Warm, snug, and perfectly slick. He could stay just like this forever, holding you close as you're connected like matching puzzle pieces. His hands caress your back and sides, worshiping every inch of you he can reach while he waits for you to start moving.

"And you're so big, Eds. You fill me up so well." You squeeze around his length involuntarily, making him gasp.

"I really hope you're not just strokin' my ego, princess." He laughs lightly, his hands pressing firmly into your hips from you hugging his cock so tight.

"I wouldn't dream of it, darling. I'd never lie to you." You keep planting languid, hungry kisses to his mouth while you start to move. You gradually bring yourself upwards on his cock, almost letting him slip out, before sinking back down in one swift motion. Breathy moans leave both your mouths, and you repeat the action a few more times. Up...and down, up...and down, up...and down. You let out muted noises as Eddie brushes against your g spot with each landing.

"Fuck, sweetheart. You're still teasing, I can't take it." He whimpers, rolling your bodies over to take the lead. Your head rests on the pillows below, your legs spread wide with him still sheathed inside you. "Is this okay?" Eddie asks, looking down at you expectantly. He's desperate to get some real speed and friction going. But not without your permission, of course.

You reach up to cup his cheek, and wrap your legs around his waist to pull him closer. "Yes, Eddie. And please, don't hesitate to go as hard and as fast as you want."

"You like it rough, huh?" He questions with another filthy smirk. He says so much with so little, you really wish you knew how he does that.

"You seem to know me well enough, what do you think?" You tease, keeping up with his playfulness again. You enjoy pushing his buttons, hoping it'll make him go crazy on you.

"Is it so hard to give me a straight answer?" He says as he thrusts into you once. It's the perfect mix and deep and rough, just like you wanted. It steals your breath away, making your eyes roll into the back of your head for a moment. "Just tell me what you want, angel. And I'll happily give it to you." He speaks lowly in your ear, thrusting again to draw a low moan from you.

"Fuck, keep doing that. It feels so good, baby." You sigh as Eddie's lips meet your neck. He's marking you again, you're gonna look like a leopard by the time he's done with you. But you'll proudly wear love bites on every inch of your body, as long as they come from him.

"You got it, princess." Eddie picks up the pace, using the same amount of force as before. He pushes on your sweet spot over and over, which makes you all the more wet inside. He slips in and out of you so easily, your arousal dripping onto the bed with every shove into your cunt. "Shit, you're fuckin' soaked, sweetheart. Your pussy feels amazing." He groans, sending a shock of pleasure through you. His words are absolutely filthy, and his tone makes your heart pound in your chest.

"It's all for you, Eds." You moan out, grabbing hold of his back with your hands. Your nails dig into his skin, drawing another vulgar sound from his lips. Eddie continues to assault your neck as he fucks you, leaving hickey after hickey with his every moan. You're clinging to him, trying to keep him as close to you as possible as he ruts you into the bed. His body weighs heavily on yours, encapsulating you in excessive heat. But it's not enough, you want to be even closer. You wish you could crawl under his skin, to somehow fuse yourself to him and never let go. "Fuck, roll over, baby. And sit up against the headboard." You pant out, wanting to ride him like you originally planned.

"Is something wrong, sweetheart?" He asks, his face meeting yours with concerned eyes. His thrusts slow for a moment, and he wonders if he should stop altogether.

"No, definitely not. I just wanna be closer to you, Eds." You reply breathlessly, patting his shoulders to prompt him to obey your request. He does as you ask, managing to stay inside you while putting you on top again. He scoots back to lean against the headboard, and you straddle his lap in this new position. Your arms wrap around his shoulders, your chest pressing against his. "Perfect." You exhale as his tip is kissing your cervix at this angle. You press your lips to his, putting a pause on the sex for a moment. You want to take a moment to taste his mouth on yours, he's so addictive to you. "I love you, baby." You whisper to him between gentle smooches.

"I love you too, princess." Eddie's happy to return the sentiment, he can't get enough of you admiring him in such a way. His hands sit at your waist, slowly migrating downwards to grip the rounds of your ass in rough handfuls. You let out a quiet moan, your pussy flexing around his length at the aggressive action. "Fuck, Y/N. Gonna be the death of me if you keep doin' that." He whimpers. It isn't exactly easy for him to sit still with his dick encased by your soaked cunt, and you squeezing him like that makes it all the more difficult.

"You want me to start moving, darling?" You ask, biting your lip at the thrill of teasing him just a little bit more.

"Please." He says pitifully, it's taking everything in him to not thrust upwards into you right now.

"Mmm, you're so needy, baby. I'll never get over how sexy you sound like that." You smolder, before lifting your hips up to give you both what you want so badly. You allow yourself to fall back down, crying out in pleasure at the feeling of him hitting your g spot even better than before. You set a steady pace, allowing for plenty of sloppy kisses and bites being made on your bodies. You don't know where you start and Eddie ends at this point, and a roiling knot has been brewing inside you from the moment you first accepted his dick into your silk. Eddie's hands lead your hips to roll against him, and he punctuates your bounces with an occasional buck of his hips to steal your breath away. "Oh, Eddie. You feel so fuckin' good, keep doing that." You moan out, increasing your own speed to meet him in the middle. Your arousal continues to flow from you freely, making a small puddle on Eddie's abdomen.

"You're makin' a mess all over me, sweetheart. You're so perfect." Eddie praises, ramming his hips upwards to meet your every landing.

"I'm getting close, baby. Fuck me harder, faster. I need you to make me cum." You whimper the words, with no regard for just how much they affect the man moaning along with you. You feel the twisting ball inside you pulling tighter against its restraints, waiting to snap at any moment. Eddie's not far behind you, you're easily the best sex he's ever had.

"Turn around, princess. Hands and knees." Eddie commands, needing to take control to drive you both off that proverbial cliff. You hop off his lap, scrambling to get in position. He's half a step behind you, giving you a moment to grab onto the blankets before he shoves his length back into your needy hole.

"Fuck!" You cry out, and you feel Eddie's hands digging rougher than before into your hips. He hammers himself into you, the slapping of skin mixing with your obscene noises. His pelvis smacks against your ass, stinging your flesh from the force and wetness from your sweat and juices. "Just like that, Eds. Don't stop, make me cum. I'm almost there."

"I'm right there with you, angel. Your pussy is so fuckin' amazing, best I've ever had, so wet and tight and perfect in every way." Eddie's words spill from his lips haphazardly, he can barely think straight as his stomach begins to tense. You sense he's close, his movements have become unfocused.

"Cum with me, baby. I wanna feel you fill me up, claim me as yours. I can't get enough of your dick, baby. It's so fuckin' good." You allow every passing thought running through your mind to become verbalized, letting him know he's rocking your fucking world right now. Just a little more, and you'll both be in complete and utter bliss. Eddie unexpectedly snakes his hand around your front, his long fingers locating your clit to rub rapid circles around it. "Oh, god, oh, fuck!" You moan helplessly as his touch brings on the rapid buildup you've been waiting for. Your walls begin to flutter around him, signaling loud and clear that you're about to lose it.

"Fuck, Y/N." Eddie grunts, his own high taking over only moments before yours. His breath hitches, and his hips thrust into you even harder while his load shoots into you in thick white ropes. The warmth of his cum, mixed with his harsh bucking pulls you down with him.

"Eddie!" You practically scream as your thighs begin to shake. You clamp down on him, almost making him fall backwards with how mind-blowing it feels. Your vision blurs with stars, your entire body radiating with glowing ecstasy. Eddie stills inside you, allowing you time to ride out the wave of pleasure coursing through you. You collapse onto the bed, your ass in the air as you're still connected to him.

"You alright there, princess?" Eddie asks, exhaling heavily as he tries to catch his breath.

"Mmm, yeah. More than alright. That's easily the best sex I've ever had." You reply, sounding just as winded as he is. Eddie slowly pulls out of you, which proves quite the challenge as your pussy doesn't want to release him. You both let out muttered curses at how sensitive you are as he eventually removes himself.

"Shit, sweetheart. Never had anyone hold on to me so tight like this before." He says in awe, gazing at your glistening body as you still haven't moved from your awkward position yet. Your eyes are shut, your mouth letting out hot huffs of air. Your arms lay limp on either side of your head, and your legs are still spread open wide. Eddie eyes your cunt, licking his lips when he sees your mixed release oozing out of you. You're an impeccably gorgeous sight to him, and he can't resist crawling over to sample the sweet nectar currently pulsing from your slit.

"Shit." You mutter as his tongue makes contact with you. Light vibrations run against you as Eddie moans at the sweet, musky flavor you’ve created together. He continues to lick you clean, drinking up every last drop. You're still sparking from your previous orgasm, and you're dangerously close to having another. "Eddie, you're gonna make me cum again if you keep going." You warn with a whimper, which only spurs him on. He shoves his tongue into your pussy, scooping out every last bit of cum he can. The wet muscle manages to stroke your g spot repeatedly in its quest for bodily fluids, which causes another orgasm to rip through you. Stronger than the one before. "Oh, fuck!" You cry out, trembling all over again as you soak his face.

"Mmm." He groans at you giving him even more to taste, his hands grasping clumsily at your legs to hold you in place while he continues to consume you. He still doesn't stop, your pleasure building on top of itself, folding over in exquisite layers.

"You're so greedy, Eds." You sigh, letting yourself enjoy every second of his relentless appetite thoroughly. You expect to be brought to yet another high very soon.

"You just taste so delicious, sweetheart. I can't help myself." He speaks briefly before returning to his task. His statement is absolutely true, he doesn't know how he's going to eventually stop eating you out. You're like a goddamn drug, and he wishes to receive hit after hit until you tell him to stop. His dick twitches at every little sound you make in response, shining beads of his own release running down his shaft. It appears extending your pleasure has inadvertently done the same for his own.

"I'm getting close again, Eddie. I don't know how much more I can take." You whine, your legs twitching at every move he makes on you. The inevitable peak you're climbing towards is certainly going to be the strongest you've ever had, and you just know it's going to make a huge mess. You've never squirted before, but you have a sneaking suspicion that both you and Eddie will highly enjoy it.

"Just do one more for me, angel. You've been doing so well. Cum for me, Y/N." Eddie begs, before sucking harshly on your clit.

"OH, GOD, OH FUCK! EDDIE!" You're overtaken by white-hot flames, the heat consuming you from the inside out. Your entire lower half shakes violently, and you feel a massive gush of your cum splashing onto Eddie's face and down your thighs. "Fuck!" The sensation is nothing like you've experienced before. You almost feel a little embarrassed, as the only bodily function you could compare it to is...well, not something you'd want to release so easily onto another person. But all Eddie does is attempt to swallow as much of it as he can, as if he's dying of thirst. He doesn't pull away, or say anything judgmental. Clearly he knows more about this phenomenon than you, which puts your mind at ease a little.

"Damn, that was hot." Eddie says as he finally pulls away from you. The rest of your body falls onto the bed, totally spent. You've never cum so much or so hard before. Even the slight flow of air as the heating warms the house makes your cunt twitch in overstimulation. "I think we're gonna need another shower, though." He chuckles as he looks down at your juices glistening on his chest and stomach, not to mention between your legs. You made such a splash, it's not something he's personally seen very often. But, fuck he loves any opportunity to witness it.

"I second that. But I feel like I'm made of jelly now." You let out a weak giggle, groaning as you roll over onto your back.

"That good, huh?" Eddie smirks, meeting your tired eyes with his own.

"Oh, Eds. You have noooo idea." You manage to sit up, scooching yourself closer to Eddie to give him a gentle kiss. He returns it gingerly, leading you to lie down with him. He pulls you in real close, cuddling you in your radiating afterglow. You break away from the kiss, looking deep into his eyes with total admiration. He's too perfect, and this moment represents everything you've ever wanted in a relationship. True love, deep connection, not to mention incredible sex. "I wish we could just stay like this forever." You say, barely above a whisper.

"We can certainly try, Y/N." He replies, a single tear running down his cheek at your words. You both know it's borderline cruel to make such confident statements. Given your uncertain future regarding Vecna, and the police, and any potential lynch-mobs that might demand Eddie's head on a spit. But despite all of this, you want to hold onto hope. Hope that both of you will get what you once denied yourselves, what you both clearly deserve out of life. You've been through far too much in your lives. To find one another again after all this time, only to have your newfound happiness snatched away from you? No fucking way. You refuse to go down without a fight. You've beaten monsters before, and you sure as shit plan to do it again.

"You're damn right we can. I already lost you once, and I'm not gonna let it happen a second time." You speak emphatically, resolving to do everything in your power to keep Eddie safe.

"I love you so much, Y/N." He says weakly, trying so hard to keep from falling apart.

You smile calmly at him, wiping away the tears from his chin. "I love you too, Eddie. I promise we'll get through this. Together."

"Together." He parrots the word quietly, nodding his head. He has no idea what the future holds for either of you, or your band of monster-slaying misfits. But all he can do is hold onto the idea that once this shit is settled, he can have the chance to do the one thing he's wanted for far too long. To be your man, and to cherish you like the world's greatest treasure.

The end.

[blushing-concubus]

Majors and Minors

Request: Yes

Info: Everyone is 18 or older. NRC, RSA, and, NBC are all actual collages. Litteraly just what majors and minors the I think twst cast would have.

Tw: None(?)

I will warn you; this is really long and these might get changed over time. I'm also treating NRC as a catch-all school that can easily clear the way for more advanced courses in specific fields later, weather that be on campus or out sourced.

Heartslabyul:

Riddle was going for a medical degree, but after his overblot and some consideration he made the switch to a general law degree, for now, but is considering where he wants his future to go along that path. He is going to keep himself CPR and first aid certified though. 

Trey, in high school, was part of a dentistry vocational for a year, but had to leave for personal reasons. He's now studying Dentistry full time. He plants on becoming a dental nurse, rather than a dentist.

Cater has changed his degree once, in his first year he was going for a liberal arts degree, before switching to a Marketing major, and Broadcasting minor. He's pretty stuck on what he actually wants to do and feels like it's too late to follow any dreams he had when he was younger.

Ace, as of now, is undecided. I have made jokes about him dropping out and becoming a magician before, and I can genuinely see him doing that. So as of right now I don't actually have one for him.

Deuce is also undecided. There's a ton of options and it's pretty overwhelming for him, especially because he struggles academically. Despite that, I think he'd either end up with an Education or Engineering degree.

Savannaclaw:

Leona, for the longest time, did not pick a major and it was going to get him kicked out. He could've gone for a liberal arts degree, but decided to go for Humanities instead. He's really well suited to it in all honesty.

Ruggie is going for an Economics degree for a multitude of reasons (most of which are monetary), but I can definitely see him with something else, like a culinary arts degree, too. He's got a job lined up with Leona after graduation, but going more in depth on money management never hurts, right?

Jack is going for Sports Science, he's had a plan for years now and he isn't going to let anything stop him.

Octavinelle:

Azul is going for a Business degree, shocker. I don't feel like I really need to elaborate on that (but I will anyway), but I can see him with an economics degree instead. He's also minoring in food science. He's actively running a cafe on campus and his family has a restaurant back home that he will likely take over, and expand, when his mother and step-father retire.

Jade also is going for a business degree, again i don't feel like i need to elaborate on that. He's studying for a biology (Mycology) Minor. His family has something going on, but no one wants to acknowledge what. Out of the two of them Jade is likely to take over the actual business side of things and if not, bothering Azul forever is an option. 

Floyd has changed his degree six times in two years, currently he's undecided. I can kinda see him going for a business/fine arts degree focused on fashion (specifically shoes). He doesn't struggle academically, but does struggle to focus and make long-term decisions. Jade and Azul are doing their best to.. encourage (?) guide (?) Him to a path he could stick to.

Scarabia:

Kalim is studying Business Management as a major and Linguistics as a minor. His family are pretty well-known merchants, and he is going to inherit that business, so equipping himself with those skills is a good decision. Even if most of the time he does find it extremely boring. 

Jamil is also majoring in Business Management, mostly because of his position with Kalim. It's not something he particularly wants, so it's really out of obligation. He's taking Food Science and Fine Arts [Dance] as minors, which he actually enjoys. 

Pomefiore:

Vil has a tight schedule both in and out of school. The degrees he's going for reflect that. He's double majoring in Marketing and Acting, and minoring in Business, Alchemy, and Cosmetology. His career as an actor is very important to him, but he knows that putting all his eggs in one basket isn't the smartest idea, thus his expanded options.

Rook is going for a Biology major, no one is shocked number two. He is also minoring in fine arts (poetry), and has an Archery scholarship that's paying for a good chunk of his tuition. He hasn't told anyone what he's going to do after graduation and most people are too afraid to ask.

Epel is majoring in Agriculture. When college is over he plans on maintaining and improving his family's farm. He currently doesn't have any minors in mind, but I can definitely see him with a fine arts (sculpture) minor.

Ignihyde:

Idia is double majoring in Engineering and computer operations. He doesn't have any minors, but dabbles in other subjects as a personal hobby. He also has an Esports scholarship, not that he needed it.

Ortho is also double majoring, but is going for cyber security and data analytics. He doesn't have any minors right now, either, and he's not officially part of any clubs or curriculars yet. He's trying to figure out his place, but also believes what ge was “made” for is all he can be.

Diasomnia:

Malleus is studying Magic theory and Application & Architecture, he also is taking magic history and world history as minors. He doesn't really need to be studying anything, so this is more of a desire to learn than anything. 

Lilia is going for Magic history and World history. He should be getting a doctorate by this point, but we're not going to talk about that. He thinks it's good to refresh and gain new knowledge every now and again. 

Silver is majoring in World History and minoring in Equine studies. Lilia has told him stories about the world as he grew up and he wants to learn more, even if he will likely spend all of his life in Briar Valley. 

Sebek is undecided as of now, but I can see him majoring in Home Economics later, as odd as it sounds. He already takes pride in what is essentially home making, believing it to be what a knight should do, so taking it to the next step would make sense for him.

Ramshackle:

As a base like for Yuu [Reader] they’re going for a photography major (unless requested otherwise) and Grim is going for Magic theory and Application. Because they count as one whole student this counts as a double major. They are required to take remedial classes, because both of them lnow fuck all about this world apparently, and additional classes that focus on familiar training and care. Grim doesn't like that.

Crowley has “gifted” them a “full ride scholarship” as long as they world as his “errand boy.” In reality this is a deal NRC has always had, if a student is chosen by the mirror and cannot pay tuition at all then they are given the option to work for the school until graduation to pay for their place. 

Royal Sword Academy 

Niege I imagine takes his job as an actor just as seriously as Vil, but in a different way. He also has been shown to be a singer in some capacity. So he's double majoring in Acting and Music theory. 

Che'nya… I don't know much about him, I don't know much about Niege either but I can at least guess with him. All I really have to go off of from Che'nya is his appearance and personality, and from that alone I think he'd be going for a Graphic Design degree with a minor in fashion design. I don't know why, but something about him makes me think he would make clothes. 

Noble Bell College 

Rollo is studying Magic Theory and Application, not because he likes it, but because he feels it'll further his goals to eradicate magic (he's a lunatic, someone punch him). He's also taking religious studies as a required course, but he's taking it seriously and made that his minor.

[bisnes-socks]

my main issue with lips is that it needs to be about six minutes longer.

i'm gonna be honest, when the album dropped and i couldn't listen to it at first, and then the reactions started coming in and everyone was screaming about lips, it got me super hyped going in. and at first, the song did not really do it for me. it was immediately something very different yes, but it didn't get me right off the bat.

and i think the main reason for that was that the whole song feels like it's building towards something that never happens. and honestly still to this day i feel like every other day i like that, and every other day i don't. some days i miss the explosive second part to this song, that doesn't exist, and other days i feel like this is exactly how it's supposed to be.

because it is so different and builds such a specific dark, powerful, haunting vibe, i wish i could stay in that vibe and feeling just a little longer, to really breathe it in and exist in it. but i suppose it is fitting to the lyrical theme of the song, that it feels extremely intense yet super fleeting.

the song is made up of very simple ingredients but they've actually managed to do a lot with those ingredients, which is super cool. there are distinctive different parts in the song, even though the main idea remains very much the same through the whole song. i like that the first verse and second verse don't sound anything alike, it's different parts stiched together in a way that still sounds incredibly cohesive. 

the guitar parts are my absolute favourites, i wish the guitar was a bit more forward and louder in the mix at the end, but i do see the vision of it mixed like this, almost going for a wall-of-sound style. i also love love love the subtle keyboard details that come in around the second chorus.

i wrote here about their incredible ability to make songs that feel instantly familiar and yet still new. this is one of those songs to me. writing this, i have started and erased a list of bands and songs this one reminds me of, and everytime i think of something and write it here, i start second guessing myself, like yeahh but does it really sound like that..? and i think that is super intriguing. i don't know how they do that. it's like you think of a song or a sound you've heard before and the second you think of it, it's gone, it suddenly feels like it doesn't apply anymore. it's just fascinating to me, and i personally don't feel like there is any other artist or band in my life right now, that can simultaniously cater the euphoria of listening to new music for the first time, and the comfort of hearing something you've known forever. and i love them for that, it's super meaningful to me especially right now.

maybe one day there will be lips part 2. that would actually be incredible. but maybe that's not the story of the song. maybe the story doesn't get a part 2.

[hildegardladyofbones]

One of the best things about Disco Elysium by far is that it does not fear ugly women. The world is full of ugly men, but ugly women are so hard to come by.

[vimbry]

"likes don't do anything" they do

"there's no algorithm" there is

"well nobody uses the for you tab" I do

"reblog all art and fics you see" there's no thought put into that. if this does work on people, then it's just pity engagement borne out of guilt rather than genuine interest, which is arguably worse than having none, because it's totally hollow.

[musings-of-miss-j]

'how to write a good character arc' 'follow this act structure for your plot' 'best checklist for worldbuilding' 'the correct way to design a magic system' 'you're boring your readers with long descriptions' 'the correct amount of exposition' i don't know man. what if i do whatever the hell i want.

[b4kuch1n]

I lied I think it’s fun to draw animals sometimes

[carcarrot]

do i really want to make individual drinks again

[kakusu-shipping]

Eepy and overwhelmed with choice

[wreckedhoney]

^^ "coming to the conclusion that positioning the "can people enjoy things that would be immoral IRL in their fiction" debate as a proship v anti fandom debate is akin to pretending that "should we have the death penalty" is a discussion that only matters in Death Note discourse"

not proshipper not anti but a secret third thing (person who has a career in the media and, through covering legislative politics, has watched "associating with problematic fiction or entertainment is an indicator of moral degeneracy" rapidly become a mainstream GOP position that they are encoding in legislation to target the queer community under the guise of protecting children, thus coming to the conclusion that positioning the "can people enjoy things that would be immoral IRL in their fiction" debate as a proship v anti fandom debate is akin to pretending that "should we have the death penalty" is a discussion that only matters in Death Note discourse — the extent and manner to which fiction affects reality is an issue that is immediately relevant to today's US politics, and to summarize my opinions on the matter in fandom terms would be to diminish the ways this debate is affecting america Right The Fuck Now. and i have stopped taking "this person is bad for shipping the wrong anime thing and being horny about it" in any sort of good faith ever since I saw it literally used as part of a GOP smear campaign against a transgender state legislator in an attempt to defend the right from backlash after they used their supermajority in the Montana house to prevent her from speaking on the floor. Anyway I think everyone on this site, especially Americans, could benefit from ceasing to think in proship v anti vocabulary and instead developing coherent political positions on the nature of fiction that do not directly align with current fascist political tactics)

[tododeku-or-bust]

What I need for White Americans (ppl in general really, but I'm talking to the U.S.) to understand about Americans of Color is that You don't know Us, but We know YOU.

We've spent generations upon generations of our entire lives learning YOUR social norms, forced to assimilate to YOUR idea of society. We live and learn entirely separate cultures, but we also learn from birth what it means to have to cater to Whiteness in America. It's why I can name so many famous movies with white casts, but most white people didn't even know where "Bye Felicia" came from. It's why I was raised to professionally Code Switch from childhood, but grown white people struggle to even grasp the basics of the grammar of AAVE. It's why people who speak different languages think they have to give up their own mother tongue just to function in this country.

It's why you all are so uncomfortable with the idea of people of color questioning and rejecting what seems "normal" to you- and to be honest, I actually think older white generations are better at admitting this than younger ones. It's because what you know as normal is usually not "normal"- it's White. Whiteness is just as loud as any other presentation of race in this country, you just don't see it that way because everyone else has been forced to maintain your comfort. The entire system is built around it, and you don't even know it.

It's why it frustrates white Americans of some marginalization- queer, disabled, neurodivergent- because you do not have access to the "norm" as it is shown to you. But that frustration- literally everyone of color (who shares those identities btw) lives under that understanding.

Idk, I didn't really have a direction. I just think it's wild how so many conversations require this... Constant Verbal Leveling of the Playing Field simply because Whiteness blinds white people to what things ACTUALLY look like out here.

[cheapshrimpysheep]

Yuutsum 1

SUMMARY: What if you also have a Tsum? Then your Tsum and the Tsum of the person you like keep giving signs that they like each other?

CHARACTERS: Twisted Tsumderland 1 Tsumsitters (Riddle; Cater; Leona; Jack; Floyd; Epel; Sebek)

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader 

WARNING: Spoilers for the Twisted Tsumderland Event and the Tsumsitter cards Vignettes.

WORD COUNT: An average of 600 words per character.

COMMENTS: This was originally a request from @taruruchi for my 1k celebration. Which you can read here. And since so many readers liked it, I decided to do what I normally do when this happens: Do this for ALL the characters! Grouped by event in this case.

The beginning of the Riddle's part is the same as in the request, but I added a little bit more scenario after that.

I hope you enjoy 😉

Yuutsum 2 (Deuce; Azul; Jade; Kalim; Rook; Ortho; Lilia)

Yuutsum 3 (after going to the English server)

.

With your Tsum in your arms, you find Ace and Deuce, leaning over with their hands on their knees as if they were catching their breath after a run. They look at you first, but quickly the cute little creature you hold in your arms catches their attention. They both have that look on their faces like they think it's the cutest and most beautiful little thing in the world but don't want to admit it.

They say that Riddle also has one of those and it was the one they were chasing and trying to catch, but they lost it. The moment they said Riddle’s name, you felt your Tsum move enthusiastically for a moment.

They hear something, when they look they see Riddle-tsum in the distance and run towards it, starting the chase again. Your Tsum jumps out of your arms and runs with them, which makes you run after them too.

Your Tsum passes Ace and Deuce, which surprises them because they were so fast, and throws itself at Riddle-tsum, rolling together for a few seconds until they both stop. When this happened, Riddle-tsum didn't run away again, and the two were rubbing each other's cheeks happily.

Ace grabbed Riddle-tsum while it was distracted. It seemed upset about being caught. But the moment Deuce grabbed your Tsum that upsetness turn into anger. Riddle-tsum jumped out of Ace's arms, hits him in the face and threw itself right in Deuce's face to make him release your Tsum. Once back on the ground, Riddle-tsum positioned itself between your Tsum and those two. Glaring threateningly at Ace and Deuce.

Once again, it doesn't run away. You finally get close to them and approach the tsums. When Riddle-tsum sees you it relaxes again and looks at you with admiration. As if looking at a royalty.

Ace and Deuce suggest that you try taking them both to Heartslabyul, as Riddle-tsum doesn't seem to like either of them. They were small enough for you to be able to carry them both in your arms without any problems.

You take them both in your arms and Riddle-tsum immediately turns red. It looked like a tomato in white clothes. And it writhed as if it wanted to hide your arms in embarrassment. When you arrive at Heartslabyul, Riddle-tsum's blush had already subsided.

“Ah, prefect.” Riddle says when he sees you, Ace and Deuce arriving. “I see you were the one who managed to catch...” He looks at your arms to see his tsum, but his gaze automatically goes to your tsum instead. “Oh, there is one similar to you too. It looks... as charming as you.” he blushes just a little.

After explaining how you three caught Riddle-tsum, Ace suggests that they leave you and your Tsum with Riddle-tsum to prevent it from escaping again or causing trouble. Or hurt someone else. Riddle hesitates at first, as he is the one responsible for taking care of his tsum. But soon after, Riddle-tsum hits a student for breaking some rule and Riddle starts arguing with it so he stops attacking others.

You place a hand on Riddle's shoulder to try to calm him down a little and at that moment both of your attention went to your tsums. Your Tsum was between you and Riddle-tsum.

“You know, they remind me of the hedgehogs in a way.” Riddle says “And now they are reminding me of when they come closer to smell each other or to rub each other's noses. I can't deny that I find it quite cute whenever they do it.”

And then your Tsum starts rubbing its little round nose against Riddle-tsum's and caressing him to calm him down. And it works. And he returns the affection by staying very close to your Tsum.

Riddle blushes a little again, and says that, reconsidering Ace's suggestion and if you want, you could take care of your tsums together.

You were walking with your Tsum in your arms when you saw Cater and his Tsum on Main Street. Cater-tsum seemed to be curled defensively around something Cater was trying to retrieve.

“Look, you can't have it, okay?!” You hear Carter say to his Tsum as you get close to them.

You greet him by asking what they are doing. Cater gives you a quick glance before turning his attention back to Cater-tsum, as if he's afraid that if he looks away it'll escape.

“Hey, [Y/N]! I'm trying to get my-” He quickly looks back at you, more specifically at the adorable little thing you have in your arms. “Oh!... My!... Great Seven!” He turns his body towards you, his gaze so fixed on your Tsum that he doesn't even blink. “YOU HAVE A TSUM TOO! And it's the most adorable little thing I've ever seen in my life!”

Suddenly you both got jumpscared as something jumps towards you. It was Cater-tsum jumping into your arms! Despite the scare, you manage to catch it and it starts to nestle into your arms and cuddle your Tsum. Cater looks at the floor where Tsum was and sees his cell phone left behind. He retrieves it.

“We HAVE to take a pic of them!” Cater says excitedly “No! We have to do a whole photoshoot! Here! It's a great place to start.”

If you like taking pictures, your Tsum will be very excited. If you are shy, your Tsum will turn around to hide its face in your arms.

“Awwwww~ That’s even more adorable! Pwease! I beg you~" He says to your Tsum. Cater-tsum will also make pleading eyes at your Tsum.

The four of you spend a lot of time taking pictures in different places. Both pictures of the Tsums and of you with Cater. Until Cater and his Tsum have enough pictures to finally let you and your Tsum rest.

You sit on a bench, you with your Tsum on your lap and Cater with his Tsum on his lap, both of them editing photos on his cell phone. However, you feel your Tsum move and leave your lap to headbutt Cater's hand that was holding the cell phone, making it fall against his belly. After that, your tsum just stands there looking at Cater-tsum with a slightly annoyed look. Cater-tsum smiles with its tiny eyes and jumps against your tsum so they can cuddle each other.

Cater looks at the Tsums protecting the cell phone against his chest, watches them for a moment and then looks at you.

“Hey, if you want to do the same, just need to ask, you know~?” Cater says and winks at you.

If you accept, he'll put an arm around your shoulders and edit the photos with you, while your two Tsums cuddle on your laps.

Your Tsum was restless, impatient. It really wanted to go somewhere. So you pick it up and walk around campus trying to understand where it wants to go. Fortunately you don't need to walk far, as the botanical garden is one of the closest points to Ramshackle Dorm.

As soon as you enter, your tsum jumps out of your arms and starts jumping (its way of running) somewhere in the middle of some bushes. And you know that spot well. As soon as you stop seeing it, you hear a patient growl.

“Another one?” You hear Leona's voice. “Hey! What do you think you're doing?!” You follow the voice, pass through the bushes and see Leona lying down with two tsums on top of his torso. Your Tsum and Leona-tsum, cuddled up like two cats sleeping with each other.

“Herbivore, get your stuffie thing out of here and take the one that looks like me with you too. I'm not a nest to have two pesky armadillos sleeping on top of me!”

You kneel down next to him, looking at Leona-tsum with that “HE’S SO CUTE!” twinkle in your eyes. Leona-tsum looks at you and its sleepy eyes suddenly open, almost bulging. And it jumps onto your chest, knowing you would catch it.

“You got one.” Leona said. “Just one more to-” He interrupted himself, looking at his chest and seeing your tsum rising until it approached his face.

If you look at his face, you will see Leona's pupils dilating. And your tsum snuggling against his chest. You comment that you don't think your tsum will want to leave his side.

“Why don't you walk away with that one and see what happens? Maybe yours will follow.”

You are also curious to know what would happen. Leona-tsum was already sleeping in your arms.

You walk away with him, towards the exit of the botanical garden. Halfway there it wakes up and you feel it move in your arms. You stop and look at it. It seemed to have an annoyed look on his face, very similar to what Leona does when things aren't going according to his plans. You open your mouth to say or ask something, but it's Leona's voice that can be heard throughout the botanical garden.

“OI!” You hear Leona growl in annoyance. “Who do you think you are demanding anythin’ from me?!” And then you hear him roar.

You come back with Leona-tsum in your arms, and you find your tsum pulling one of Leona's braids towards you as if he wanted to force him to come to you.

“This thing really takes after you.” he comments, in a tone reminiscent of a father irritated with a child he deep down loves.

Leona tsum jumps out of your arms and lazily approaches your tsum. Your tsum lets go of Leona's braid.

You both see Leona-tsum rubbing his cheek on your Tsum's cheek, and making a movement as if it was licking your Tsum's face. After calming your tsum down, the two of them curl up to sleep together.

“Well, at least they're not bothering me anymore.” Leona says. He closes his eyes, but right after, he opens one of them again to look at you. “If you're also going to stay here with your stuffie thing, at least be useful. This floor isn't the best pillow, you know?” He makes that gesture for you to come closer with his index finger.

And if you let him use your lap to to lie down, he will fall asleep in 3 seconds, just like his Tsum did.

You were in the Ramshackle Dorm Lounge with your Tsum and Grim was in your bedroom, probably taking a nap after eating too much, when you hear someone knocking at the door. You go open the door, leaving your Tsum on the couch. You open the door and see Jack.

“Hi [Y/N]. Sorry to bother you, but this Tsum-” Before Jack could finish his sentence, you saw something near your feet come barreling through the door. You look back in time to see Jack-tsum turn to enter the Lounge. “Ah! Sorry. It won't sit still. Let's catch it before it does any damage.”

The two of you go to the lounge and stop right at the entrance. Jack-tsum was on the couch with your Tsum. Jack-tsum was jumping around your Tsum, its little tail wagging like crazy, and its eyes shining while also rubbing its face against your Tsum’s as if licking it. It was just like a puppy wanting to play.

“OI!” Jack shouted “Don't mess up [Y/N]'s couch!”

Jack-tsum sulked and your Tsum jumped from the couch to the floor. Jack-tsum followed it. Your Tsum approached Jack and smiled at him with its eyes, as if it were greeting him.

“Hum?” Jack’s ears pricked up as he looked down. “You also have a Tsum similar to you.” He didn't realize his tail had started wagging.

Jack-tsum followed your Tsum and you felt the need to bend down to see Jack-tsum up close. It looked at you with big bright eyes and its tail wagging wildly. You comment on how cute it is and reach out to pet it.

“Be careful.” Jack warns you “It doesn't let anyone...” You start to pet its head as it leans in your hand. “... touch it... What's the deal with this thing? Whenever anyone approached it would either move away or growl at them. How did you do that? I can't even catch it to take it to Savanaclaw.”

You say you don't know what you did either, if anything special. And you comment that it seems to like you. This makes Jack blush slightly.

“How would it not?” he says softly, and without meaning to. He clears his throat. “Um, do you mind if we stay here for a while? It seems to have finally settle down a bit.”

Your tsum goes to Jack-tsum's side and they both look at you as if begging you to say yes. You agree and the two Tsums bounce happily for a moment before they start running around the lounge together.

“OI! You two be careful!” Jack warns “Don't break or mess anything up, you hear?!”

You laugh and comment on how much you think Jack and his Tsum look alike.

“It's just the hair and the outfit.” he says a little embarrassed “Do I look round and soft?!”

“Round maybe not but soft...” You laugh and he blushes.

Before he could open his mouth to try to respond to that, the tsums started running towards you and ended up bump into you as they passed, which made you lose your balance. Jack catches you.

“What did I say?” he shouts to the tsums. He looks at you. "Are you okay?" In his arms, and he releases you, blushing a little. “Sorry about that.” he rubs the back of his neck. “It had never done this.”

“Maybe it was a bad influence.” you say and look at the Tsums. From the looks on their faces, especially your Tsum’s, it wasn't an accident.

You were walking down the Main Street with your Tsum in your arms when you hear footsteps running behind you, approaching quickly. You turn around in shock and see a very tall figure right in front of you. Then you realize it's Floyd.

“Boo~” Floyd smiles at you with something writhing violently in his arms. You look and see his Tsum trying to get free. You also notice, by the way he is holding Floyd-tsum, that he is using a lot of force. “Hi Koebi-chan~. Whatcha doin'~?” He sees something in your arms and looks to find your Tsum. “Woo! You have one too! And it looks so small and weak like you, how cute! He he.”

(What you don't know is that what really happened was that Floyd-tsum was loose and took off running when it saw you. The footsteps you heard were Floyd running to catch it before Floyd-tsum caught you.)

Your Tsum made a sulky face, while Floyd-tsum continued to struggle in Floyd's arms. You say Floyd-tsum is also very cute, it stops and looks at you with smiling little eyes.

“Do you wanna play with it?” Floyd asks and you say yes. “Sure, but careful how you handle it. It’s easy to set this guy-” The moment he let his arms go slack for a second, Floyd-tsum jumped into your arms.

With difficulty, but you managed to catch it without letting your tsum fall. Now you had them both in your arms. You saw it squeezing your tsum while it snuggled into your arms. However, your tsum didn't seem uncomfortable, quite the opposite, it felt like a passionate everyday hug.

Between letting Floyd-tsum jump out of his arms, until realizing that it wouldn't hurt you, Floyd stared at his Tsum with that serious face that all students who know him the least bit fear.

“Aw~ Aren't they cute together?” he says with his usual relaxed expression. He sees that you are having difficulty holding both tsums. “Let them go. They can walk on their own. Or hop, I guess.”

You do so. The two Tsums land on the ground and Floyd-tsum jumps up to continue hugging your Tsum. But before it can, Floyd quickly picks up your Tsum in his arms and starts squeezing it too.

“MY TURN!” Floyd says to his Tsum.

This one sulks, looks at you and jumps back towards you. You catch it and it hugs your forearm. You and Floyd laugh, until the pressure in your arm starts to increase to the point where it starts to hurt. The moment you grimace, Floyd's expression changes, he lets go of your tsum and rips his off your arm.

“I warned you.” he says to his tsum, with the same face he uses to threaten students who don't pay Azul. “Someone is not keeping their side of the deal.”

Floyd-tsum manages to escape and hugs your tsum again, but without hurting it. Floyd looks at you, who looks slightly sad, and sees you rubbing the forearm that Tsum was squeezing. He holds your wrist to see better. There is a slight reddish mark. He lets go of your wrist, turns to the Tsums and lifts his foot as if to step on his tsum. Before you could stop him, your tsum does it, getting out of Floyd-tsum's embrace and positioning itself between it and Floyd's sole when he was about to hit his Tsum. He looks at your tsum's fearless face for a moment and laughs heartily.

“HA HA HA HA! It also takes after you, Koebi-chan~” He puts his foot back on the ground and turns back to you. “We were going to Mostro Lounge. Do you want to come?”

With your Tsum in your arms, you were walking down Main Street when you heard a scream. It sounded like someone was being attacked by a dog or something. You follow the sound and see Epel, another Pomefiore student, and an Epel-tsum attacking this student while Epel tries to stop it.

Your tsum jumps out of your arms and runs (or hops) towards them until it stops between Epel-tsum and the student, preventing the tsum from attacking him again. And then, your tsum headbutted Epel-tsum so hard that it even knocked it upside down for a moment. Enough time for Epel to catch it. The other student runs away and Epel-tsum begins to struggle in Epel's arms.

“Stop it!” Epel complained “Ya can't go aroun´ attackin´ students!”

You approach them asking if everything is okay and if he need help. Epel-tsum stops and looks at you. You smile when you see that Epel also has a tsum and comment on how cute it is (like any tsum).

“No! Don't call it that!” The Tsum manages to jump out of Epel's arms and towards you.

He panics, but instead of the Tsum hitting you, it lands in your arms and just looks at you with a sulky face. You say it's still being cute, and once again, instead of it attacking you, its little face turns red with blush.

Epel freezes, completely confused for a moment until he thinks about what could be the possible reason for you being the only person who called the Tsum cute and it didn't attack. And when he thinks of the most likely reason, he also blushes.

Your tsum also jumped into Epel's arms, surprising him. It smiles at him with its cute little eyes and his blush deepens. Your voice is the only thing that makes Epel look away from your Tsum, asking if you could accompany him and his Tsum if they were going to Pomefiore.

In his dorm, needless to say, Rook wasted no time praising the Tsums, both Epel's and yours. But since Epel's Tsum didn't seem to appreciate the comments very much, especially if they focused on the fact that he was cute, Rook ended up turning his attention to your Tsum, which ended up bothering Epel's Tsum even more.

“It looks like someone is jaloux.” Rook says smiling amused.

That was the only thing that made Epel-tsum throw itself at him, to attack. Rook dodged it like a bullfighter with the grace of someone who was expecting it. Epel panicked and quickly picked up his tsum and apologized to Rook.

“There is no reason to apologize, Monsieur Pommette.” Rook says, loving the situation more than he should. “Truly. I must confess that my provocation was premeditated. C'est tellement beau to see your true feelings and emotions through your Tsum's lack of filter.”

“WHA-?! WHAT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!”

Rook just laughs, winks at Epel and starts walking towards the door. Halfway there he passes you, leans over and whispers in your ear: “Could you tame the little beast for us, Trickster?” and leaves.

Epel's Tsum struggled in his arms, angry... with jealousy.

Your Tsum was restless, impatient. It really wanted to go somewhere. So you pick it up and walk around campus trying to understand where it wants to go. You leave Ramshackle Dorm, pass the Botanical Garden and the Alchemy Workshop and arrive at the Hall of Mirrors.

As soon as you enter, your Tsum escapes from your arms and quickly jumps until it enters the mirror of Diasmonia. You follow it, but you realize that you lost sight of it the moment it passed through the mirror.

“Good afternoon, [Y/N]!” Lilia is the first to come and greet you. “To what do we owe such a wonderful surprise visit?”

You tell him about your tsum.

“Ah yes! Sebek also has a cute little lookalike. I can't wait to see yours. Although if it's as adorable or even more adorable than you, we're going to have a cuteness overdose problem in this dorm. Khe he. Well, from what I understand, and despite Sebek denying it, the personality of these tsums is very similar to the personality of those they physically resemble. So if your tsum wanted to come here, where do you think it would have gone? Where would you want to go?”

You don't think about a ‘where’ but rather a ‘who’ and that may have shown on your face, beacuse Lilia laughs amusedly.

“So maybe your tsum went to meet someone? Maybe a fellow tsum? Khe he he. I suggest we look for Malleus. Wherever he is, Sebek and Silver will be there too.”

The two of you head to the lounge, but before you get there you can already hear all the commotion. Aka: Sebek’s thunderous voice.

“Don't look at me like that! No matter who your looks resemble, you're bothering Malleus-sama and meddling in our, I mean my guard duties!”

“Actually,” You hear Malleus's patient voice say. “I am quite enjoying this little one's presence. It's as pleasant as [Y/N]'s own presence. Wouldn't you agree, Sebek?”

“HUM?! Yes! Of course sir! Please forgive me for implying that this Tsum's presence was inconvenient.”

You and Lilia arrive at the lounge and approach those two. Sebek, as expected, was standing very straight next to Malleus, who was sitting in one of the sofas. Coming closer, you see that both your Tsum and Sebek's Tsum are in Malleus' lap. And Sebek-tsum looked like it was... about to cry?

“AWW~ Look at you.” Lilia said, your Tsum turned to him. “You are even cuter than I imagined. *sigh* What an unfair competition. Ke he.”

The moment Sebek-tsum sees you is when it finally starts crying.

“HUM?! What is wrong with you?” Sebek inquires. “You are such a strange creature.”

“I think it's an too much emotion to see so many people it likes together.” Lilia says with a smirk.

“W-Well, regardless, it should learn to control itself!”

You come closer, worried about Sebek-tsum, and ask if it would like a hug to feel better. It looks at you, then at Malleus, back at you, Malleus, you, Malleus, and on until it almost gets dizzy and the indecision seems to make it more sad.

“I think I have an idea.” Malleus says. “[Y/N], would you like to sit next to me?”

You sit down, he asks you to come closer until your thighs touch, so he can place Sebek-tsum on both of your laps at the same time. It, still in tears, seemed to be thanking Malleus with his eyes and head.

“How intelligent and generous, my liege!” Even Sebek himself had a tear in the corner of his eye.

He was about to continue his praise when your Tsum jumped from Malleus' lap into Sebek's hands. He caught it as if he was saving it from a fall. It looked at him and smiled with its eyes.

“How precious.” He said with a tender smile, as he was still emotional about Malleus's act. Then he realized what he had just said and blushed in embarrassment. But he didn't stop holding your Tsum.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[bilbobagginsomebabez]

is anybody else upset that instead of authors' unions and the development of labor power, every ounce of discourse and effort towards writers making a living wage is geared towards digital intellectual property rights and digital theft protection. like i don't know about anybody else but I am actually not excited for major publishing companies to be algorithmically searching for and DMCA striking books that are "similar enough" to their copyright. I don't trust AI to be able to tell when something is adulterated metadata vs when something is just very similar. I fucking hate DRM already. I hate buying a book and either being restricted in use of my property or taking it through multiple complicated steps to remove it for an epub file compatible with calibre, where I can file and tag it appropriately.

and i don't think we're going to find any kind of salvation for writers and writing this way. I think we're going to launch another digital arms race (like with removing DRM) while continuously empowering the already wealthy to consolidate power and crush meaningful change through slap suits and the like.

and this is because digital theft is the only problem that the publishing industry is willing to address. because strengthening intellectual property protections doesn't protect art or artists, it allows the big players to better control the playing field and force it to benefit themselves.

Okay, this may prove useful.

[jytan2018]

I read the comic in one sitting less than an hour after finishing the movie, and wow I have many Thoughts™.

- It's very obvious the two versions were meant to cater to different audiences AND tell different messages. I don't get why people are going "But the comic was better! It had more nuance!" just because Nimona was easier to root for in the movie.

- The comic was written back when ND Stevenson was still trying to process a lot of stuff, so all the characters are morally grey/straight up evil and the climactic battle is between a Ballister who regrets turning against Nimona, even if it was to save others vs. a Nimona who's too hurt to care if her lashing out was going to hurt innocent people.

- By the time Nimona got a movie adaptation, ND was a lot more secure in his sexuality, so the climactic battle was Nimona vs. the Director, the symbol of religious oppression and bigotry. It's not just about your friends turning on you because you're "too much" for them anymore, it's also about a society that would rather bring itself to the brink of ruin than coexist with you.

- (I totally get why people were upset about Ballister's surname change, though. Like come on, the media dubbing him Blackheart just to be mean was RIGHT THERE).

- Nimona's metaphor for not shifting is such a neurodivergent thing. Even in the comic, Nimona's parents insisting she's a monster who replaced their daughter is reminiscent of the changeling myth, which is what many parents thought their neurodivergent kids were—changelings who replaced their "real" children.

- Ambrosius being trained to cut off HIS BOYFRIEND'S WHOLE FUCKING ARM instead of merely disarming him is a very cop thing to do. As much as cops claim they're trained to de-escalate situations, their training still teaches them to treat everyone as a potential threat, and that level of constant vigilance can turn anyone into a trigger-happy/arm-choppy bastard. Even the Director, who can use a sword but probably hasn't actually fought someone in ages, STILL can't see Ballister reaching for the squire's phone without assuming he has a weapon.

- And on that note, the Queen getting killed simply because she was trying to reform the Institution and allow commoners to become knights? That's the best "no such thing as a good cop" metaphor I've seen. Because even if there ARE good cops and they ARE in leadership positions, the system will crush them before they make any meaningful change. It's not a good institution that turned rotten, it's an institution that only exists to spread its rot and refuses to be good.

- That's why Ballister's characterisation is so different in the movie vs. the comic. Comic Ballister had 15 years to come to terms with his trauma and the Institution's evildoing, while Movie Ballister is still freshly traumatised and hasn't found a way to define himself beyond the role he was assigned by the Institution.

- Not to mention Comic Ambrosius was not very noble to begin with and genuinely believed Ballister was better suited to villainy than heroism, while Movie Ambrosius never wanted the glory that came with his lineage in the first place and only antagonised Ballister because of indoctrination he needed to unlearn (which he did, all by himself, after witnessing the lengths the Director will go to just to kill Nimona).

- It really shows how important it is to surround yourself with loved ones who are open to change. Comic Ambrosius can love Ballister all he wants, but he'll still blast his arm off because he thinks Ballister deserved it anyway. Movie Ambrosius will stop to question what "the right thing" even means, even if he didn't love Ballister enough to defend him unconditionally.

I have so many more thoughts bubbling beneath the surface, but I'll probably address them some other day. In conclusion:

[ID: A pink-haired Nimona grinning evilly while holding up a knife.]

Watch Nimona. This is not a request.

Edit: Added more thoughts!