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caxde · 6 months ago

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disposible heroes | 𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

summary Eddie is assumed to be dead, you belived it, until music found his way into your live again, and a promise he's still alive is evident (7.2k)

warnings fem!reader, fluff, hurt/comfort, mutual pining, yearning etc, slowburn, idiots in love!!!, english is not my first language so I apologise if there’s some mistakes, not proof read!, canon-ish complaiant?

a/n: thank you to @sage-glowstick for all your help as I was writing this <33

“You know I’m here if you need me, right?” Robin’s voice felt as if it were coming from a thousand miles away, even if she was beside you, her fingers running through your hair, petting you softly.

“I know” Your voice came out croaky, heavy, raspy. Tears were still falling from your eyes, you felt them, the coldness of the salty water running down your reddened and hot cheek.

“Anything you need.” She repeated, wiping it away, her finger on the apple of your cheek a bit longer, trying to make you feel seen.

“It just doesn't feel real.” You whispered, not being able to actually say it fully out loud.

“I know.” She imitated your low tone, standing up from the bed as she looked out the window. “It’s a lovely day out, we could go for a walk.”

“In a bit, maybe.” You gave her a forced, half smile to her. She imitated it before nodding, standing up to finally leave the room, leaving the door ajar.

It was a good day out, sunny and without a cloud, the leaves on the tree outside your window moving slowly.

But he wasn’t there.

As far as you knew, his body still laid lifeless on the fractured darkened ground of the upside down.

And you hadn’t saved him.

Guilt consumed you.

It was worse, you had to lie to Wayne, you had to lie to the only person that knew him as much as you did, that cared for him as much as you did.

You buried an empty coffin a couple of weeks ago.

And all you had was an old shirt of his, and his guitar pick necklace you had once gifted him.

Your hands closed around it, one last tear falling down as you did so. I miss you, i’m sorry were the only thoughts running through your mind.

After a long time of just thinking, your eyes vacant and your thoughts going a bit too fast. As soon as Robin came to check on you once again, she knew where you were headed off to.

The mix he had made you was still in your car, playing his music as if he was next to you. If you concentrated enough, you could still hear him sing them, in his usual chaotic goofy voice and tone he always used to get you to laugh, though if he was being sirius or was in his own little world he actually had a beautiful voice, an angelical one if you were the one listening.

A weird combination of crying and laughter was now consuming you, as you finally parked your car in the same spot you had for the last few weeks.

It was a weird feeling, you became more yourself the closer you walked to his grave, the closer you came to seeing his name carved in stone, the fuller you felt, as if he was walking beside you.

The wind rustled in the leaves, as birds stopped singing, the sun still shining, your skin soaking it in, your puffy eyes squinting harder because of it.

It was a very scenic moment, you thought as you sat down in front of the carved stone.

“Hey Moon.” You whispered with a heavy heart. The stinging coming back to the back of your head as you looked at the faded graffiti you had cleaned yesterday. “I brought you a bit of music, I thought you might like it.” You fumbled through your bag, trying to find the little portable cassette player you had saved up for, that he had drawn in the back of with one of his markers. EM was here could still be seen in a faint white ink. “I finally got you the Metallica cassette you wanted.” You half smiled, trying not to break down again.

The first guitar notes from the song battery filled the air, you let your body hit the ground right as the bass started, your feet stomping at the melody.

“You’d love to play the guitar solo of this one.” You teased him, mumbling to the sky, your eyes closed, your body relaxing a bit more.

The little portable player was starting to make that funny noise it had been making for the last couple of days, that dirty interference that made you angry every time, interrupting your time, it only infuriated you more now that you were here, trying to be close to him once more. Your arm reached to it, your eyes yet unopened, spanking it a bit, hopeful that it would go away.

It didn’t.

It started going in and out of focus, as if something was tampering with it, or water had crawled in, making the switch to the next song sound as if it was coming from deep underwater, as if a wave had just engulfed the speaker.

“Fuck’s sake.” You complained through gritted teeth, grabbing it and holding it up, wiggling it a bit. As you did, the muffled sound went away, and the thing that should not be started playing.

You lowered the volume, and let the speaker sit next to your ear, letting it sing only for you.

It didn’t give you any trouble for a while, until it started acting up again. This time, the volume went up and down. At first you thought it was random, until you started paying attention. It seemed like a message, and grief invaded you enough to make you believe impossible things.

Your shaking hands grabbed it, pulling it a top of your lap, looking back at where his name was carved before whispering “Don’t fuck with me” as you played the backwards button. Letting the song start from the beginning once again. “I swear to god Eddie if you’re fucking with me I’ll kill you again.” You spat as you mumbled angrily at the air, hoping to be right.

To your astonished surprise, it seemed to work.

The volume went up, as if it was a code, as if he was screaming. If you were honest, you could feel him screaming and yelling the lyrics in that chaotic voice you learned to love and miss.

The very first word of the song spiked up messenger, it felt obvious enough, though it could just be a dumb coincidence. lurking beneath the sea made the volume go up, lowering immediately after it. You kept listening, writing it on the sketch pad you always carried in your bag.

Once the song ended, the previous blank paper had sparesed lyrics over it.

It read a confusing mess that you had to bring to Dustin as soon as possible. You recited it over and over again while you were speeding on the car.

The motor of your car was louder with every gear shift you made, the little orange arrow in your speedometer kept rising, but you payed it no mind. In a similar manner, you didn’t care if your car skidded anytime you made a left turn, the only thing in your mind where the little words you had heard louder than the others.

You didn’t care if your car blocked his driveway, or if the keys were still in the ignition. The bag on your left shoulder felt havier now that it was guarding the little instrument that felt magic. You hands where still shaking and you could stop fidgeting with his necklace, moving it one swipe left and two right as you made your way to Dustin’s front door, not sure what to say, not sure what to do. You were now anxiously looking down at your feet, and the way they moved through the cobblestone, the bumps that they left on your feet.

You gathered enough courage to bang on his door.

But he was taking a bit too long.

Bang

He still hadn’t come down stairs.

Bang Bang Bang Bang

“Jesus what?” He finally opened the door, the usual annoyed look on his face disappearing once he the way your lips were pressed together.

“Upstairs, now. Code red.”

“Can you read it again?” Dustin asked, a pen in his own hand.

“Messenger. Lurking beneath the sea. Forbidden site. Shadows. Underground. Fallen city, living death.” You looked at him, sharing a deep breath. “Then it repeats, Lurking beneath the sea, and ends with not dead”

Dustin stood up, pacing around his room while his hands fidgeted with the pen he had.

“And you’re sure it worked normally before you arrived at the grave?” He inquired, his words pausing between them as he usually did when he was trying to figure out something.

“Look I know it sounds stupid, but… I… It can’t be a coincidence.” He acknowledged just how hopeful and defeated you were, and he gifted you a smile.

“I wanna believe it too, I just, can I hear it now?” You nodded, while you took the little player out of the bag and played the song again. It sounded crystal clear, no interference, no change in volume. “And it changed volume once you were…”

“Yeah, I told you.”

“We should go there, I’ll ask the others to join us there.” He grabbed the talkie while he handed you the phone, letting you call into family video, the number already dialed up.

“Family Video this is Steve how may I help you today?” He sounded as bored as he always was, you could tell he was playing with the telephone chord.

“Steve, can you take your break now?” Your voice was quieter than usual, and that pulled him in, you heard how his elbows hit the table, and the receiver was caught between his cheek and his shoulder.

“Hey honey, everything okay?” His tone was sharper now, you felt the way he was measuring his words, he had become rather used to spreading kindness and handling you with care ever since you had come back, you had no time for that kind of nonsense right now.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking you to skip work in the middle of the day.” Your words were coming out sharper and colder than you intended for them to. Irony stinging like a dagger.

“A simple no would also work, y’know.” He answered, a bit hurt, but mostly worried. He knew the number was coming from Dustin’s house, and the only reason you had to go over his house was for one he didn’t dare to think about.

Mostly because the last time you had barged in with Dustin into Family Video he ended diving into cold water, and with a few scars to remember those days by.

“Can you take your break or not? We kinnda need both of you.” You were impatient now, you were speaking faster, snappier, quicker.

“What the hell is going on?” You could physically see him holding the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed while he loudly breathed out into the receiver.

“Steve! Please?” You were begging now, the frustration of wanting to let him know everything all at once, while trying to be careful to not say too much, the fear that someone might listen to you, the impotence of not being able to do enough, it was all enough to create tears that wouldn’t fall.

“Breathe out.” He reminded you. He didn’t know what was going on, or why you seemed to be so aggravated, but he could tell that it was important enough, a sense of urgency clear in your voice. He took a second, looking at Robin while his eyebrows raised she called the ‘the decision look’ and she knew better than to oppose it. “Is this a code red?” He finally asked, wanting and needing you to say no, his head falling deeper once he heard your muffled yes. “Where are we meeting?”

“Graveyard.” You answer quickly, the iron taste in the inside of your mouth becomes more prominent now that you are speaking again. “Pick Nance up.” You told him before hanging up.

You gave a quick glance over your shoulder to check on Dustin. His words were fast paced, he started the second one while the first was still finishing in his mouth, he had no time to lose, which in a weird way, was reassuring for you. Someone cared as deeply as you did, it made you feel not that alone, seen in a way.

You found your way downstairs, your feet feeling heavier and your chest tightening, a fast thought entered your mind, as it grew bigger so did the worry that accompanied it. What do we do if he is alive?

If Eddie really is alive, and he has been there, all by himself for the last weeks he must be pissed off. Not only that, as far as you remembered he was incredibly injured, so he could be right at death's door, a slip away from being actually gone. And if that was really the case, and he was bloodied, starving and a whisper away from death, you’d never forgive yourself if you didn’t at least just try, you had to try.

But then again, that panic was shared.

Dustin did not talk while you drove. He didn’t complain while you smoked one of his cigarettes that he had left on your glove compartment, he limited himself to stay still, biting his thumb as a response to the nervousness that was now deep inside his body.

You parked where you had a mere hour ago, and the birds sang until you found your way next to his gravestone. You looked at Dustin, needing reassurance, he just nodded. Weirdly enough, you were both in a lost for words.

You sat in silence, looking at his name with clear sandness in both of your faces, you hid a whimper, culpability making its way into your body.

“I feel insane.” You confessed as you buried your face into the palm of your hands. Needing just a second to process it all.

“You’re not the only one.” Dustin added, looking back as soon as he heard a familiar car pull into the secluded place you both were, he gave you a soft pad on your shoulder, his head nodding to it so you’d look.

Steve emerged from the burgundy car, closely followed by Robin, Nancy and Jonathan.

Robin’s eyebrows were raised in concern as she ran to where you were, she wasn’t a fiscal touch person, but lately she had been giving you hugs every chance she had, and this time it was no different. It felt familiar, a sense of reassurance you desperately needed.

“What’s going on?” She whispered into your ear, pulling away slowly, looking deep into your eyes. You waited for the other three to make their way up hill, Nancy’s knuckles were white with how much strength she was holding Jonathan’s hand.

“He’s alive.” Is all you could bring yourself to say, before breaking down.

You weren’t even sure why you were crying this time, maybe it just felt good to say it outloud, maybe it was just too much to manage, or maybe you just needed to relise your bottled up emotions. It didn’t matter.

Nancy’s eyes widened, as Jonathan looked at her, not really understanding why you’d say that. Meanwhile, Steve’s arms crossed in front of his chest, he was having a hard time following you.

“What are you talking about?” Steve’s voice was not only lower, his tone had never been as serious, not a trace or irony or sarcasm in them.

“Dustin?” You plead for help, you didn’t think you could manage to explain it all again. Your hands were busy fidgeting with the cassette player, tracing over the speaker, wishing that it would happen again.

“She uh… Well…” Dustin was having a hard time, the possibility that you might be right was a bit overpowering for him.

“I came over, and played him the new record.” You gestured to the empty cassette case with the white crosses on it, Robin picked it up and looked at it closely, smiling in that that’s sweet way that she does when she finds something charming. “And uh…”

“She says that the cassette player started going wild, the volume going up and down by itself, interference, water sound in it. But we played it again at my house and it sounds perfectly clear. And well… The words that were actually louder were like a call for help and if we look at this logically-” Steve cut the explanation that Dustin had started, a crease in the middle of his forehead.

“That’s insane. You’re seeing things where there are none.” He exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands.

“Steve…” Robin pleaded calmly, her eyes asking for him to consider the situation.

“It’s not!” You screamed. You needed them to understand, weirder things had happened to all of you in the last couple of years, this was nothing new. “Will was able to communicate with you!” You looked at Jonathan now, trying to make him understand, trying to win him to your side of the argument.

“Yeah but… He actually… It was his voice.” Jonathan mumbled, trying really hard to believe what you were saying, trying to see your side of the story, but the look of desperation on your face was too close to Joyce’s, and that gave him a bad feeling in his stomach.

“He’s alive.” You repeated, looking back at the way his name was carved into the gray stone, how long it took you to be able to accept it, and how it hopefully would be destroyed, as if it never had happened. “And he’s down there, alone, injured and with no strength, do you really think he’s going to start chatting?” With every word you said your tone became higher and higher.

“Look, there is no way he’s alive…” Steve’s voice sounded defeated as he crouched down, closer to your eye level as you were still sitting down at the floor. “We all saw him down there, bloodied and… I get that you want him back, but you shouldn’t make it our problem.” his cheeks were red, as the vein in his left temple became bigger with every breath he took.

“Your problem?” That made you lose it, it was one thing to not believe you, it was an entirely different thing to call you crazy and accuse you of being delusional. “You were the last one out, if he is alive, it’s your fault.” It had been like poison, hearing you say such things. You knew far too well that you were hurting him, his lips were pressed against each other, his left hand holding on thigh to his arm.

“Guys…” Robin tried to calm you both down, exchanging looks between the both of you, knowing full well this could blow everything up. Knowing that pain can be spread around faster than any disease.

But before she could say anything else, her ears perked up, as she heard the way the wind was rustling through the trees, she was a bit too sensitive to these kinds of things, over vigilant after everything she had seen.

“That’s way out of line…” Steve whispered, with clear guilt creeping in through his voice. “You know that if I could trade it… You know I don’t…” He was truly at a loss for words, not being sure what he could say, an extremely defeated expression rested on his face, his eyes avoiding eye contact with yours, looking at the ground, and the way the grass moved thanks to the wind.

“Guys!” Robin screamed at all of you now, as she picked out a rusting coming deep and low from the little player you were still holding.

Silence broke through all of you, as you looked down and started hearing the beginning of a song you hadn’t hit play for, the red light that usually shined bright when it was on was absent from it.

“Did you–?” Dustin started to ask, you shook your head, as a hopeful smile invaded your lips.

You went quiet, looking down at it, a guitar solo started, before you heard the tape playing backwards until the last phrase of the song was found, volume creeping louder and louder reaching out again could be heard from it, you let out a chuckle, a nervous giggle that went around the group as everyone had now experienced what had happened to you.

“What song is that?” Nancy asked directly at you, her face still in clear shock, mouthing the first words since she got here.

“Welcome home” You mutter, with glee in your eyes. “He is here.” You tell her, knowing that she fully believes you, by the way fear was creeping into her body.

“That could just be a coincidence…” Steve was still cautious, not wanting to fully give in. If he did, that meant that you were right, and that he left him for dead, and he couldn’t handle the guilt that came with it.

“Eddie!” Dustin started screaming, directly into the little player that you would not let go of, repeating his name with urgency. “Buddy, are you really there?”

“It’s changing again.” Robin pointed out, as her fingers traced a pattern on your leg, reassuring you that this was actually happening.

It was exactly as it had happened a few moments ago, when you were by yourself, as if water had creeped inside, mumbled and far away it sounded as the song changed to another one, before becoming crystal clear to your ears. The heavy thumping of the guitars starting again, quieting down before abruptly going up once the lyrics Twenty-one, only son, but he served us well could be heard.

You were tearing up now, and you weren’t even capable of hiding it any longer.

But panic came quick once you heard the next highlighted set of words.

Finished here, greeting death, he’s yours to take away

“What’s this one called?” Jonathan asked this time, his head whipping fastly from Nancy to you.

“Disposable Heroes.”

You wasted no time.

Dustin held on tight to his car seat every time your foot pressed the accelerator, everytime you swerved the car you could feel him holding his breath just for him to release it in a nervous manner.

They were all gathered around Steve's kitchen table, arguing over themselves.

You weren’t all there, the only thing going over your head was him, and the promise of actually being able to hear his voice once again.

Your foot kept on tapping the ground, a repetitive pattern that you weren’t able to stop, your hand still playing with his necklace. The chatter of them talking was overwhelming you, they were wasting time and that was infuriating. They were arguing, and you were frozen in the spot. They kept talking and you remained quiet.

Nancy sat down next to you, she still hadn’t said anything either.

Her hand traveled to yours, a top of your thigh. She squeezes your hand, you knew it was her way of telling you i’m here, i’m sorry.

“They’re wasting time.” You finally whispered, your voice hoarse, a trace of sadness in it.

“I don’t think I can go back.” She said at the same time, a trace of guilt in hers.

“You shouldn’t.” You reassured her, not only with your calm voice, but with the same squeeze she gave to your hand, now on her’s. You didn’t have to tell her that you planned on going alone, she had already noticed.

“You can’t.” She finally looked at you, deep into your eyes. You noticed the way her eye twitched before shaking his head. “We barely made it out of there, there’s no way you’ll make it by yourself, and having to carry Eddie or…”

“His body?” She snorted a laugh, trying hard not to giggle, thought the nervous laughter got you too. “This has to be one of the most insane days…” She nodded while you both laughed, catching your breath before she talked.

“I’m watching over you, I’ll stand at the gate. That I can do.” she stood there for a second longer, her lips pursed in that shy smile she usually gave people, the ones she actually cares about.

“Thanks Nance…” You let go of her hand, to give her a playful bump on her shoulder. She nodded as she saw you finally stand up.

Robin looked at you with curious eyes, as she saw you finally leaving the couch. She watched in a quiet manner as she saw you grab the car keys and put them in your pocket, and how you looked around as you put your hair up in a messy ponytail, bumps caused by shaky fingers. She only put her hand around Steve’s arm, her eyes still trained on you, once she saw you pocketing the vodka bottle and the old rag to light it up.

Steve looked at Robin first, following her eyesight until she saw you, trying to not look suspicious as the rag poked out of the pocket of your brown leather jacket.

You knew you were being caught as soon as you heard the sudden silence.

“Woah, woah, hey…Where do you think you’re going?” Steve pointed out, one hand on his waist as the other one gesticulated widely. Confusion and worry evident in the way he spoke, his voice coming up and down like a rollercoaster.

“What do you think?” The frustration was clear in the way you not only looked back at him, but in the way your words sting. “You’re wasting time…” You were now defeated, your hands now buried deep into your jacket pockets, fingers playing around with what you had in them, a way of distracting yourself.

“We’re not.” Dustin tried to make a point, though his furrowed brows read as sadness. “We need a plan, so we’re just trying to come up with one…”

“What plan? We go in, Nancy guards the door, we get him, we come back.” Your shoulders scrunch up as you simplified it all, their eyes switched from you to Nancy, who was still sat down at the sofa, a bit tenser than when you were beside her.

“Nance, you’re not coming?” Steve inquired, his whole body turning to face her from a distance.

“I… I can’t…” Her eyes crystalised as shock emanated from her body.

“She doesn’t have to, I’ll be with her, we’ll keep watch. Right?” Jonathan jumped in, reassuring Nancy, as Steve took a step back. “You’re not leaving my sight.” He whispered in her ear once he got by her side, their foreheads touching.

You smiled to yourself, a sweet moment between them. The world stopped for them, you could tell, and that’s exactly what you were craving right now, and worrying you might never get back.

“Fine, but we still don’t know how to get in.” Steve added, his arms flexing in front of his chest as he shook his head in defeat.

“Watergate.” You mutter.

“You’re insane.” Robin snapped as soon as she heard you, pausing in between words. “Even if we did manage to get down there and it was still open, how do you plan on coming back with him? What if there’s more rabies infected bats around? What if you get stuck there this time? We need to find another gate!” She was now talking in full speed, cascading words as her thoughts entered her mind.

“So we go to the woods!” You whine, frustration and impatience invade you once more.

“The woods?” Steve asked.

“She’s right.” Dustin added, his eyes finally leaving the ground shining as they did so. “Vecna killed Patrick and that created Watergate, so maybe there’s a gate near Fred’s death, like the one in the trailer…”

“What?” You questioned him as you saw him losing the train of thought. “We go to the woods and we get in and out, what’s wrong?”

“We killed Vecna, so the upside down should be collapsing since he isn’t alive and isn’t there to power it so…” He continued as he thought out loud.

“So what?” Steve asked as his voice went higher in tone.

“So it’s crumbling down.” Dustin pointed out as if it was overly obvious.

“So we have to go, now.” You said at the same time, heading to the door, no time to waste.

You heard their footsteps following you as you found your way to your car, you were finally getting somewhere.

You thought you would feel relieved once you saw you were right, what you weren’t expecting was your jaw to clench at the sight of the hidden gate.

It wasn’t big, it was small and weak.

The same thing that happened back in the graveyard started again. The wind picked up, hollowing through the trees replacing the chirping of the birds.

“Take care.” Nancy said with a trembling voice, while her hand was holding tightly with Jonathan’s.

Steve’s grip on his bat changed, firm and steady now, before twisting it a bit, readjusting it so he’d be more comfortable. Dustin’s hands fidgeted with the end of his jacket, patting his pockets checking once again that he wasn’t missing anything.

“If we’re not here in an hour, check in with El, she’s with the others guarding Max, but she should be able to…” Dustin recalled for the hundredth time, going over the plan he had been yelling about in the car drive over here.

“Yeah, one hour. Got it.” Jonathan nodded as he spoke, waving bye as you stepped in.

You just pressed your lips as you heard him.

If you only had an hour, you had to make it count. And it had to start now.

You had never just walked into the upside down. You had always fallen into it, so you didn’t have time to actually feel the veil breaking as your skin found its way in, the viscosity of the red hue, and the dryness that could be felt immediately after that. Your eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of colour and light, as you became hypervigilant, looking up at the sky before the others found their way.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing there.

A cloudless sunless grey sky welcomed you, with no thunder or lightning.

If anything, that nothingness was just more unnerving.

Every step they made echoed through, and made you look around, hoping to find something that would make you keep your hopes up.

You agreed on walking to the graveyard, if there was nothing there, you’d find your way to the trailer park and go back.

“Something’s weird.” Steve pointed out, as he looked around.

“Not weird, decaying.” You added, nodding to a grey crumbled up vine. The hole in it seemed to get deeper and bigger by the second.

“Quiet.” Robin said, as she looked up. “There’s no bats, no thunder either.”

“You can still trip though.” You told her as you held her from stepping into a fallen tree branch.

You walked, you weren’t really sure for how long, yet she was right, it was oddly beautiful now. A stuck in time version of Hawkins where nothing seemed to change, where everything looked as if it was straight out of an antique photograph you had found hidden in a cupboard.

You could see the iron gate from the cemetery, the bars on it starting to fold down, as if they were wilting flowers of an old bouquet. You felt as you collectively held in your breath.

It wasn’t long after that that you started hearing someone yelling unintelligible things.

While you were slowly making your way in, Eddie lied there.

He was right where you thought he’d be -unaware that you were near him- an empty space between gravestones, his body falling into the floor, exhausted from getting there, starving and malnourished. He had been talking nonsense for a while, he started whispering it into the heavens, until now, his voice was loud, and even if he didn’t intend to, panic found its way in it.

“Just one more song? Please? I need to know you’re there. I’ll sing along again if you want!” He had been looking at the void in the sky for a long time, he wasn’t sure if it had been an hour or two, to be honest, it felt like he had been there for days. “C’mon baby, please? Just a bit more, a guitar solo, or just… your voice would be nice…” He started begging now, pleading with some force he didn’t quite believe in for something that would indicate you’re there, near. “For fuck sake! I know I’ll die here, at least you could play some music while I do so!” Themix of desperation and tiredness was now getting into him, he looked at his hands and realised how his rings looked bigger, then now danced and moved with more ease. “Or just… Maybe if you light one up?”

At the same time, you started hearing his screams, and you started picking up the pace, running through the maze of granite carved stones, with different names and dates.

Dustin was the first to start screaming his name, while you just focused on running near where the voice came from.

You’d know it was him even if you hadn’t heard him in thirty years.

Adrenaline came over your body, so you rushed until your legs stopped, all of a sudden once you saw him.

He was there, his hand on his stomach, where blackened stains in his shirt layed wrinkled.

He was there, his hair laid perfectly still in a careful knotted mess.

He was there, his chest raised up and down as he breathed.

He was there, and he was alive.

“Moon…?” The nickname you had for him fell from your lips, your tone shaking as you still couldn’t believe it.

He slowly stood up, a grin of discomfort from pain evident in his face. He looked at you, his eyes barely opening up. He was still sitting on the ground, you felt your lips curving upwards as relief invaded you, seeing him smiling at you in recognition.

“Eddie?!” Dustin screamed as he ran up to him, falling to his knees as he hugged him, his head hitting his chest, Eddie’s arms slowly wrapped around his body. “I thought I… We lost you…” His voice was muffled, still you could tell he had started crying.

“I thought I lost you too.” Eddie’s voice trembled as he looked directly at you. His eyes crystalised once he saw the first tear jump from your eyes.

You felt Robin’s hand on your shoulder, a thigh squeeze letting you know it was real. He was okay, and you were getting him back.

She nodded, letting you know it was okay if you wanted to interrupt.

You walked slowly to him, the back of your hand wiping away your tears. You let your body hit the floor, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of him.

“Hi” You whispered as soon as you were a breath away from him.

“Hi” He gleamed back as soon as he got you close.

“You’re okay?” You asked, as your voice quivered, desperate to hear him again, talking directly to you.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” He nodded as a trembling hand found the back of your neck.

Dustin smiled before stepping back, leaving you both alone for a moment, a much needed moment.

You gave in, melting into his arms. You were both crying quietly now, his hands stroking your hair politely, afraid that you were nothing but a mirage, while yours held on thigh to him, scared that you would cause him pain from needing that close.

“You scared me to death.” You half joked as you chuckled through the crying.

“I’m the one dying.” He added on to the joke, his lips finally kissing your temple, drinking your perfume in as he did so.

“Shut it.” You shake your head as you slowly pull back, your hand now cupping his cheek, as your thumb slowly graces the high points of his cheekbone. “I’m getting you home.”

You thought about kissing him, your lips touching his, melting completely under his touch. But once he leaned in to do so you saw how blood stained his shirt again, your eyes darted from his as you looked down, the red growing wider by the second.

Fear invaded your body again, a sense of urgency creeping over both of you.

“Yeah, we should really go” He grunted through gritted teeth.

It had been a blur.

Nancy grabbed your car keys from your hand, as you helped Eddie inside the car, sitting on the back with him. Cradling him as you talked to him, trying to keep him calm even if you were panicking deep inside.

Steve arrived at his house before you, opening the door wide open, Robin helping you bring Eddie in.

They were downstairs now, phoning Hopper, and El and finally Wayne.

Steve’s bedroom guest had a big window where sun creeped in, a soft breeze helping him cool off as cold sweat dripped from his forehead. You helped him lay on the soft mattress sitting next to him carefully.

You had enough supplies hidden under the bed, you knew you could stitch him up enough so he would stop hurting, you had enough experience patching people up.

“Can you take your shirt off?” You asked him with a slight raise of your eyebrows.

“You already want me naked?” He joked. He tended to do that when he got nervous. You tilted your head as you bent over so you could take the little box full of supplies out of underneath the bed. He chuckled once he saw the box in your hands. He started trying to take his jacket off, with a grunt in his face he shook his head. “I might need help.” He admitted, a grunt on the back of his throat.

“Thought so.” You muttered under your breath.

You scootched over to him, your trembling hands becoming steadier as they found the neck of his jacket, pulling it down slowly. At first, Eddie moved, tried to help. Once he felt your hands against his arms however, he stood still, his eyes not letting go of you, and the way your hands moved with such carefulness and tenderness.

The tips of your fingers were now in between his skin and his shirt, soaked in dirt and blood.

You looked at him before pulling it up, he nodded, his eyelids halved opened, a cautious smile in his lips. He sucked to his teeth as his skin separated from the stiff cloth, your fingers brushed his abdomen with care, avoiding to trace his skin as soon as you saw the grin of discomfort he had on his lips. His arms ached once they were up in the air, the shirt falling off of them slowly.

“It looks worse than I thought.” Eddie grunted as he finally looked down. You guided his torso against the cushions that were prepped up, his hand lingered to your arms, the tip of his fingers burrowing into your skin.

“I’ll clean it up, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” You tried to play it off, a kind smile curved your lips upwards, a little gesture he imitated.

“You must really like me” He started in a soft whisper. “You keep lying trying to make it all better.”

You laughed it off, a short chuckle coming out of him. You started soaking the cotton swab with alcohol, the odor of it filling the small gap between the both of you.

“You know I do.” He smiled in a soft manner, his teeth showing as he tilted his head. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

You smiled kindly before starting to clean his wounds. They were as if someone ripped and crumpled a paper sheet. They weren’t deep, just repetitive bite and claw marks over the same spot. The big one was on his lower abdomen, another one near his collarbone, a gash on his neck. His arms were full of scratches and deep cuts you had to keep clean.

He didn’t complain. He just let you do whatever you thought you had to, deep down he knew that if he let you take care of him, you’d feel better. And if he was being honest with himself, he enjoyed you dotting and caring for him, you knew it was because he won’t trust anyone else but you.

“You know you could just wait for Hopper to come right? He’ll probably make me go to a hospital or something.” He whispered in an attempt to get you to look back at him, his eyes not leaving yours.

“I know, I just…”

“I’m okay.” He started, reassuring you, trying to get you to stop overcleaning the same spot on his chest. “Hey.” You kept overdoing it, a blank look on your face. “Darling, please…” He begged now, the way his lips said the nickname snapping you out of it.

“I thought you were dead.” You crumbled down, nervous tears threatening to jump out, your lips quivering as you started to talk. “I thought you were gone, Moon…”

“I’m not.” He reached out, his hand finally holding yours. “You really think it’s going to be that easy? You’re not getting rid of me.”

“I buried you… Well there was nothing in there but… I just.”

“I know, I heard you and Wayne talking.” He confessed, his eyes changing, now they were full of melancholy, and a hint of guilt. “I’m sorry by the way…”

“What the fuck are you on?” The words fell right out of your lips, tilting your head as your tone went higher.

“I just… I heard you crying. Begging and all that. I’m sorry I almost died and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything I wanted to, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I loved you before, I’m sorry I left I-” You interrupted him, as soon as you heard the big word. Your hand tightening around his.

“You do?”

“I do what?” He tried to brush it off, the confession had fallen out of his mouth without him thinking too much about it.

“Love me?” You were embarrassed by how hopeful you sound. His free hand travelled to your cheek, slowly stroking it as he looked deeply into your eyes, falling deeply into them.

You gave in, your head now resting in the palm of his hand, he slowly pulled you closer to him. Finally closing the distance between the both of you, slowly, then all at once. His lips met yours, a smile appearing on both of them. It was a careful kiss, a needy and soft kiss. It said more things than you both could ever tell eachother. His lips begged for yours to never leave him again, to let him stay by your side. Yours were yelling for him to be patient, and let you love him in a quiet and slow manner.

You pulled away slowly, your forehead touching his.

You both knew each other understood. Still, he whispered low enough for you to barely hear him, right before you were interrupted by the door opening. “Of course I do.”

“Happy you’re back kid.” Hopper’s voice interrupted the both of you, moving your heads so you could look at him. “I’m sorry but you’ll have to answer a couple of questions, then go to the hospital”

“Stay?” Eddie asked, a promise in his voice.

“Yes. For as long as you let me.”

He kissed the tip of your nose, before talking again.

“Forever then.”

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supercap2319 · 8 months ago

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"So, you know on St. Patrick's Day, how you're supposed to pinch people who don't wear green?" Y/N asked.

Dean looks at him. "Yeah? So?"

"Well, Sam didn't have any green on, so I pinched his cheeks."

"How? He's taller than you. How'd you pinch his cheeks on his face?"

"Who says I pinched his face cheeks?" Y/N smirks with a wink.

"Ah, that's just gross!" Dean makes a face.

#x male reader #male reader insert #male x male #supernatural #sam winchester #Sam Winchester x male reader #jared padalecki #jensen ackles #dean winchester #st patricks day

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i-heart-slashers · 11 months ago

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zafirosreverie · 11 months ago

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The Brightest Star (North x F!Reader)

Every year since I have this blog I have written at least one fanfic for North when Christmas is close, I couldn't let this one be the exception, so I hope you like it.

______________________________

You sighed as you tried to control your shaking hands, you really didn't want to ruin another machine, but nothing seemed to work. You couldn't help it, not when he was so close, even if you couldn't see him, you could feel it in your bones, that terrible, ancient fear that stabbed into your skin like a million needles, seeming to inject those horrible shadows into your being.

You shuddered when the memory of that terrible day suddenly came to your mind. You had blocked out most of the details, but you remembered perfectly the feeling of a deathly cold hand wrapping around your throat, stealing all the air from your body, the darkness slowly filling your senses and the screams of children echoing in your ears.

Pitch Black had escaped, but you could still feel his grip on you.

"Are you ok?"

You jumped when you felt a large but warm hand on your shoulder and thanked everything in your mind that you hadn't screamed when you saw blue eyes filled with concern staring at you.

“Yeah, I’m fine” you lied.

The man didn't seem to believe you, but he was kind enough not to push, so he just gave you a gentle squeeze and took a seat next to you. Internally you were grateful that he was so easy to work with, because you were sure that your teacher would already be questioning you.

You silently passed him the toolbox and returned to your own project, allowing muscle memory to take the reins and letting your memory wander back to that day, though not to Pitch's terrible memories, but to the bright light that you had next to you.

Nicholas St. North, retired bandit, loud but kind man, Santoff Claussen's savior. Again, you didn't remember the details, but you did remember the way the blanket of darkness around you was suddenly broken with the clean cut of a sword, and the cold that seeped into your bones slowly melted with the warmth of a pair of big arms. You felt safe even without knowing who the man holding you was.

North had saved you, he had saved your home, your children, magic, and because of that he had not only earned a place as Ombric's apprentice, but, without knowing it (and you wouldn't admit it), he had earned a permanent place in your heart.

He was a brilliant man, with surprising ingenuity, his inventions surpassed anything that had been created before in the town, and a heart of gold. Ombric had given him a place in his house, and since you were also technically his apprentice, it was a matter of time before you struck up a friendship with the former bandit, to the point that your teacher joked that you couldn't live without him anymore.

Not that you cared, you liked North more than you were willing to admit, and the man in the moon knew that man needed a family, a home to belong to, and you hoped, deep down, that somehow you could be part of it.

You just wished he could see how special he was, that he could see himself the way you and Katerine saw him. Despite his carefree attitude and the confidence he projected in front of others, especially in front of children or Ombric, you knew that guilt and memories of his past life still haunted him, that he often questioned whether he really deserved a place as a guardian.

"Do you think I'm worthy?" he asked

"You are" you smiled, reassuring him "you're a really bright star"

________________________________

You smiled as you watched the elves running around, getting between the tables and getting in the Yetis’ way, who were already too used to it to really bother with them. You loved this time of year, the bright lights, the decorated trees, the colors, the warmth of the fireplaces, the cookies, the gifts, and in the middle of it all, him.

In the end, Ombric had been right, you couldn't stay away from North, so when he formed his alliance with the Yetis, moved to the North Pole and built his magnificent city where his inventions brought joy to everyone, you had naturally been at his side.

It had been a long time since you had finally admitted your feelings for the man, and with Manny's blessing (who had made you age as slowly as North did), you had sworn to share his mission of protecting wonder in children for whatever centuries you had left.

"Mrs. Claus" a cheerful voice sounded behind you.

You smiled as you turned to him. In front of you was Santa Claus himself, as imposing as the legends said, with the years reflected in his face, which still retained its childish warmth and as handsome as the day you met him.

"Mr. Claus" you replied "ready for your big night?"

Christmas Eve was always a busy and difficult night for North, but you knew that, like you, he would never change the children's joy at seeing that Santa had visited them for anything.

He simply smiled and offered his hand to you, escorting you down the hallway as you headed to the reindeer shed. You never accompanied him on deliveries, preferring to wait for him with a cup of hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies, but you were always there to watch him leave. He had said you gave him luck, and you never questioned it.

"Tell me, darling" he whispered "do you still think I'm worthy?"

Oh, so it was one of those nights. Despite everything he had experienced, despite how much he had done for children and for the world, there were still echoes of his ghosts walking through his mind. It wasn't as frequent anymore, maybe once every few years, but sometimes, he still needed you to remind him how special he was.

"North" you said softly "look around you. Look at everything you've created, the wonderful ideas you've made come true, look how much this place has grown"

Carefully, you let go of his arm so you could take his hands instead, making him look at you with an intensity and fragility reserved for you.

"But most of all, look at what you have become, everything you represent" you said "You are not only the guardian of wonder, you are more. Christmas is not only about gifts and beautiful lights, it is the memories that are created, the love that is strengthened, the joy that is shared, the illusion that is reborn even in adults. You represent all that. Even when the magic seems lost, people find it again in your figure, in your celebration"

North smiled and closed his eyes, savoring the feel of your palm as you caressed his cheek gently.

"You are the most important guardian, protector of magic" you continued "and you are the brightest star of Manny's new golden age."

#x reader #reader insert #imagine #rotg north #north x reader #rotg north x reader #nicholas st. north #nicholas st north x reader #rotg x reader #rise of the guardians x reader #guardians of childhood #rise of the guardians #rotg

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alloftheimaginesblog · 2 years ago

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damaged goods {e.m}

plot: you and eddie have been seeing each other for a while but just as things are getting good, he self destructs and pulls away.

character: eddie munson x reader

As soon as you see his black van parked at the school, you're determined to hunt him down. He's clearly been avoiding you for the last two weeks and you want to know why. Was he not interested in you anymore? Did he want things to end? Was he going through something? You didn't know but you needed to; you couldn't just have nothing from him so you were going to do whatever it took, whether it meant missing classes or even skipping school completely, you'd do whatever it took to get to the bottom of this.

Things between you and Eddie had just been getting good, you were getting to the stage where you were hoping that he'd ask you to be his girlfriend and then he just... left. Whatever the reason, you needed to know. You liked Eddie, god you really liked him and that's why you were pissed. You wanted this so bad, you wanted him so bad and maybe he didn't want you and honestly, it hurt a lot more than you'd care to admit.

You didn't know where he'd be so you found someone who would. It didn't take long to find the rest of the Hellfire Club, they were tucked away inside their dedicated room ranting about the new campaign that they were starting. When you barged in, they immediately shut up.

"Where is he?"

They glanced around at each other, stammering and red in the face.

Rolling your eyes, you put your hand on Dustin's shoulder, "Dustin," your voice turned from hard to sticky sweet, "Can you tell me where he is?" Poor Henderson. He was clearly under instruction to not let you know his location but as soon as you fluttered your lashes he spluttered out that Eddie was in Mr Muchnik's class prepping for a test that he'd previously failed. You patted Dustin on the shoulder, "Thanks, kid," as Mike Wheeler hissed 'dude he's gonna kill you'.

On the walk to Muchnik's all you could think was that you hoped he didn't have a class first thing because you wanted this all sorted with Eddie, you didn't want to have a bunch of kids walk in on your - what you presumed would be - heated discussion.

When you walked in, Eddie was hunched over the table, scribbling things down, "Henderson, I told you not to bother me-"

"Munson!" The roar of your voice startles Eddie, making him jump and cower like a dog who's being scolded for chewing on the couch cushions.

Quickly, he jumps up, "I-I gotta go, sorry, really gotta run!" He excuses himself and tries to scuttle away.

"And you're just abandoning all your work, huh?" You ask, arms crossed over your chest. Eddie looks back to the mess he's left on the desk, the important mess on the desk, "You won't mind if I just tear it all up, would you?" Eddie's eyes narrow as he weighs up the situation in his mind. Would he really let you destroy his hard work just for the purpose of avoiding talking to you for even longer? Seriously?! "I just had to flirt with a goddamn twelve year old so you're going to fucking speak to me, Eds!" You hiss, annoyed and still slightly mortified with flirting with Dustin.

Eddie almost laughed, he would've had the tension not been too much, "Fuckin' Henderson man..." He mutters under his breath before realising that right now is not the time for jokes. He relents with a heavy sigh, "Okay, let's talk."

You're standing, arms crossing frowning at him. He's looking at you as though you're the one who needs to do some explaining and your patience wears thin, "Well?" It's harsher than you really intend it to be but Eddie doesn't flinch, instead he shrugs one shoulder, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't really know what to tell you."

You're fucking pissed and he knows it. It takes every ounce of self control to not rip him to shreds, "Start with why you've been avoiding me." Your voice is sticky sweet but with an edge; a knife dipped in honey.

His composure changes from that of being skittish to being... indifferent? "I'm damaged goods, sweetheart," he says, hands spread out in a 'what you gonna do about it' gesture, "what more can I say?"

"The fuck are you talking about?" You're angry, he sees it burning in your eyes and he doesn't blame you. He'd be angry too if you'd avoided him for two weeks with no sort of rhyme or reason. It's like he doesn't care, like it's fun to mess you about but the real reason is that he does care; so much, maybe even too much, "What does that mean?"

"Damaged goods," he repeats, voice more serious this time, "I'm broken, fucked in the head, a mess... Any of them work better for you?" He sounds bitter, annoyed at himself almost.

You roll your eyes, "I know what it means, Munson, I just want to know why that's reason enough for you to avoid me for two weeks when things were just getting good."

It's Eddie's turn to be confused, "Because I'm a mess. Why would you care about me? I'm not worth it so I decided for you."

You roll your eyes, "How about you let me decide what I can and can't handle? Eds..." At the sound of your nickname for him, his face softens and he suddenly can't look directly at you anymore. Shame burns in his stomach. Could you really care about him? Has his insecurities caused him to push you away? Your demeanour changes and all of your anger vanishes. You're not angry. Your heart aches for him in this moment. You reach out for him, he doesn't react, "I thought things were going really well, I stupidly thought that you were..." You trail off, shaking your head with a bitter laugh.

"That I was what?" Eddie presses quietly.

"That you were gonna make it official soon," you say with a shrug, "I don't care if you're broken or if you're a mess - have you met anyone who's not a bit of a mess or a little fucked?! I have issues too, Eds, I struggle as well. You just have to trust that I care about you because..." he finally raises his head to look at you, "I do. I do care about you."

He laughs humourlessly, "Why? Why do you even care about me? I'm a freak, no money, no friends, nothing."

"Because you're you, Eddie. You're funny, always making me laugh even when I'm mad or upset. You're so sweet. When we started this thing I didn't really see you as a sweet or caring guy but my god you are. You came and picked me up at 3am from Olivia's party, drunk as a skunk and then I puked in your van and you didn't care. You still called me pretty and helped me get home safe, didn't complain about the state of your van or anything. Spending time with you is so fun. Before we started hanging out, I don't remember when I'd had this much fun. Eds, you mean so much to me and I don't get why you don't see how fast and hard I'm falling for you!" The last part was a secret that you'd meant to kept locked up and as soon as you say it, you take a sharp intake of breath, "I-I- fuck."

Eddie smiles, a real smile that reaches his eyes and crinkles the corners, "You mean all of that?" He steps towards you.

Your cheeks burn hot, "Yeah, I do."

"All of it? You accept me for my flaws and all?"

Again, you agree.

"You promise?" He asks, "I'm giving you an out right now. If you're not sure, if you don't think this is a long term thing... get out while you still can because I want you and once I have you," he's standing right in front of you, chests centimetres from touching, "I'm never gonna let you go." His breath fans over your face and you find yourself closing the gap between the two of you.

"I'm all in," you whisper, eyes boring into his.

He grins but you barely get a chance to see it before his lips are on yours, warm and fast. It's not a long kiss, no those tend to happen in the back of his van, but it's enough for now.

He pulls back, pressing your foreheads together, murmuring an apology to you, "I'm sorry," he starts, "I- I got kinda in my head. Couldn't understand why someone like you would date someone like me." Instead of replying, you kiss him again. He tastes familiar - cigarettes and coffee.

"Oh," he says, pulling back, "we're totally in a relationship now by the way if you didn't know." He speaks quick before kissing you again. Your hands tangle in his hair as he backs you against the wall. You missed him; you missed this. You just hoped that you'd be able to prove to him that no matter what he was - damaged goods or not - then you'd be here to help repair the pieces.

#one shot #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x you #reader insert #stranger things #os #prompt #eddie #eddie x y/n #eddie x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things fic #st #st imagine #imagine

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vivwritescrappythings · 7 months ago

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silence

eddie munson x reader

the five times you asked eddie to be quiet (and the one time he was)

tw: ANGST, but also fluff?, hurt no comfort, blood, death, trauma, reader is gender neutral (i think), kissing, alcohol, mentions of drug use, reader is shorter than eddie.

wc: 8.5k

masterlist

—

The first time you discovered that Eddie Munson was an unstoppable force of nature all bottled into the lanky body of a nineteen-year-old boy, it was at work.

The Hawkins Library was not frequently visited on Friday evenings, your shift often filled with the sound of you restocking books on shelves and the squeaky wheel of the cart you pushed around. So you instantly noticed the loud, raucous voice interrupting the calm evening like a knife through butter.

It fired you up, your brow furrowing as you abandoned the cart of returned books to discover the source of the noise. There were a few people lingering in the plush chairs scattered through the atrium that looked up at you as you stormed past, the jingle of the keys around your neck punctuating your steps.

You were young to be working at the library, you were the only person there who was under the age of forty, let alone just nineteen. You liked books, didn’t mind a quiet workplace, and the Hawkins Library had an opening that you managed to squeeze into. There weren’t any other plans in your future, so you figured the library wasn’t a horrible place to end up.

It wasn’t hard to recognize Eddie Munson. He still wore his denim vest over his leather jacket, the patches haphazardly sewn on in uneven stitches. He made it during your senior year of high school… well, his first senior year of high school. You thought he was on his second round, at least that was what you’d heard from Nancy. The frizzy, curly hair on his head was the same, but he had it pulled into a loose bun at the nape of his neck. Hellfire club was seated at a table, the actual boys having changed but they still wore the same shirts.

“Roll for initiative!” Eddie’s voice had a theatrical fullness to it. There was an authenticity to him that you envied.

“You can’t shout like that in here,” you barked in your best attempt at an authoritative tone, crossing your arms over your chest as you stood behind Eddie. You said it a bit louder than was acceptable, wanting to make sure you were heard over the clatter on dice on the wooden table.

He looked like a kid that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar when he turned to look at you, a kiss-ass smile on his face.

“You need to quiet down,” you said, looking at the minions before their ringleader. The boys shied away from your gaze, looking down at the hands and the hand-drawn map in front of them. Eddie, their fearless leader, approached you and took the full heat of your stare.

“Aw c’mon,” Eddie softly whined, clutching his hands to his chest as he started to plead with you. You noticed that his eyes were puppy-dog brown as his lip jutted out far enough to cast a shadow from the overhead lighting.

You scoffed slightly, rolling your eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the drama room, Munson?”

Hellfire had taken a residency there your sophomore year of high school, meeting every Friday night to play Dungeons and Dragons. Eddie had even gotten himself a throne, the self-declared king of the misfits.

“They’re repainting it and threw us out,” he finally sighed, stopping his approach when he was just a foot away from you. “Please, take us strays in. We’re cold… winter’s here…” His voice trailed off pathetically as Eddie pretended to crumble to his knees in front of you.

You managed to stay stoic for a few moments, your arms still folded over your chest in disapproval as one of your eyebrows ticked up. Eddie had always been talented at making a spectacle of himself.

He finally broke you, pretending to sob as he lightly tugged on your cardigan. His little whimper for your mercy made you roll your eyes despite the fact that you cracked a smile. A soft laugh huffed from your nostrils, making you shake your head.

“Fine,” you sighed, hoping he would get up sooner rather than later. “But you owe me.”

He clambered to his feet, adjusting his vest and leather jacket as he flashed you a sincere, boyish smile. Your heart stuttered at the sight of it. His pink lips briefly shut, his tongue pressing into his cheek as he looked you up and down. “How about I make it up to you with dinner? Maybe tomorrow?”

Your cheeks heated up as you slid from bossy to bashful. “Dinner? Um, sure,” you murmured, your fingers reaching up to press at the nape of your neck as a small smile formed on your face. You’d never considered dating Eddie, but as soon as he offered you found yourself readily agreeing.

The Hellfire boys giggled amongst themselves and elbowed one another. The sound of their chuckles reminded you that you were at work, making you draw yourself up once more.

“But keep it down!” you reminded him sharply, some of your composure returning as you started to turn away from Eddie and his retinue.

“Of course we will,” he said in an exaggerated whisper, winking as he placed a finger against his lips. You knew it was a complete lie, even as he crossed his fingers over his heart and jostled the buttons pinned to his breast pocket. After a moment you nodded, leaving the group to themselves as you made your way back to your cart of books.

As soon as you rounded the corner you heard what you came to recognize as Eddie’s Dungeon Master voice booming out across the library.

ii.

It was only your third date when you’d learned that Eddie was thoughtful: an evening spent walking around the new shopping mall completed with seeing a movie in the attached theater.

You didn’t think your dinner would end so well, ending up with you two talking late into the night before you’d parted ways. You found yourself calling him to ask him for a second date, having to leave an awkward message with his uncle.

The second was even better, the two of you watching movies you’d rented from Family Video on your thrift store couch in your too-small apartment. What started with awkward smiles each time your hands touched or knees bumped morphed into Eddie clumsily pressing a kiss to your lips in the blue-tinted darkness.

He started this date with a kiss, curling an arm around your waist as you walked up to his van and pulling you in for a quick stamp of his lips on yours. It was so easy, it felt like you’d been kissing for months rather than the first time a few days prior. You melted into it, finding yourself a bit lightheaded as he opened the door for you and ushered you into the passenger seat.

Walking around the mall included his fingers wrapping around yours, splitting a milkshake in the food court, and a long excursion to the arcade.

You were amazed with just how boisterous he was. Eddie was so expressive, moving your hand with his as he talked about his band and his hopes to someday leave Hawkins. You listened like a disciple, wide-eyed and enamored. Life exuded from his every movement, a broad smile on his face as he jumped up to walk on the rim of one of the planters.

But he surprised you by actually steering the conversation your way, making you go into Waldenbooks to listen to you talk about your favorite books and Tape World so you could pick out your favorite songs. You didn’t know until later that he had gone back the next day to buy everything you’d picked up so he could surprise you–that’s how smitten he was.

You told him about how you liked the library but wanted to feel like you were really doing something with your life. He listened as you rambled, his eyes taking in the way you smiled and looked around when you talked and how you swung your intertwined hands even more aggressively to make your points.

He told you later that it was that moment he knew he was in love.

But, nevertheless, you two found your way to the movie theater and sat down in the back of one to watch The Breakfast Club with a blue raspberry ICEE shoved into the cupholder between the two of you. Eddie had only asked the boy at the snack counter for one straw, forcing you to share it.

He talked through every movie trailer, his sarcastic commentary making you laugh under your breath as the two of you looked at one another like co-conspirators. Eddie went out of his way to ask which ones you wanted to go see when they came out. He planned outings with you in barely-hushed whispers, already asking if you liked midnight premieres or Tuesday afternoon movies and if you liked to sit in the middle or the back of the theater.

Midnight premiers. The back of the theater.

Eddie made sure you never missed a movie you’d been talking about, showing up at your apartment at half an hour to midnight to whisk you away to the Starcourt Cinema. He always made sure you sat in the back, once even making some kids he knew from Hellfire club move out of the way so you two could have a seat. You saw so many movies that you could hardly keep track of them.

But this one was special because it was the first. When the lights went dark he didn’t change his volume, his hot chocolate eyes focusing on you like you were the only person in the world.

“Eddie, the movie’s starting,” you whispered, nodding your chin toward the screen as you leaned toward him. You reached around the cup to hold his hand, the cool condensation clinging to the outside of it smearing along your forearm as your temple nudged his shoulder. “You gotta be quiet.”

“Hmm?” He turned to look at the screen, letting out a soft ‘oh’ as he squeezed your hand once.

It only took him a moment to talk again. “Detention s’not like that, you know,” he informed you, his voice still well above a whisper.

iii.

It was early for a Monday when Eddie had imprinted himself on your heart like the tattoo on your hip.

It was your day off and Eddie’s as he hadn’t started school quite yet. He was still asleep, probably sprawling out on your bed like an overgrown starfish and snoring into the pillow on your side of the bed. You’d discovered that you were the early bird of your pair, you often rose well before Eddie was ready to be cognizant. You held your breath and tiptoed while getting out of bed to brew coffee and watch television with the volume turned down low.

You were clad in his Iron Maiden shirt, having staked your claim on it when you started keeping it in your dresser drawers. It was the tail-end of the dog days of summer, loose sleep shorts on your legs as you sat in front of a fan you’d set up in your living room. Eddie was hogging the one in your bedroom, conveniently setting it up on his side of the bed.

Your coffee had long gone lukewarm, the unforgiving August sun stretching in your living room through the curtains as you sat on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. The television provided white noise, some game show playing while you idly sketched on the notepad in front of you.

It was a monster for Eddie’s campaign, he’d been describing it all night and you couldn’t get it out of your head. You didn’t consider yourself much of an artist, but Eddie always praised you like you were Picasso reincarnate. You drew his monsters all the time, he kept the loose pieces of paper tucked away in the beaten-up notebook he always carried around.

The groan of your air conditioner ruined your perfect morning, the machine finally giving out like it had been threatening to for the past few weeks. Cool air stopped trickling through the vent in your kitchen as you fished a partially burnt piece of toast from the toaster.

“Fucking of course,” you sighed, dropping the toast on the chipped Snoopy plate you refused to get rid of. The motions of buttering the bread and spreading jam kept your hands occupied, your bare foot tapping against the tile as you wondered who to call to fix it. You had the landlord’s phone number written somewhere, rifling through your mental checklist of places it could be.

Eddie emerged from your bedroom as you’re rifling through your junk drawer, emptying the contents onto the kitchen counter. What possessed you to keep all this crap? There were too many odds and ends to count, loose batteries and bobbins of thread and scraps of paper and a spring rolling across the ivory tiles.

“What’s got you in crazy tornado mode this early in the morning?” Eddie asked, approaching with slow, groggy steps as he rubbed his eyes. He stood behind you, an arm wrapping around your waist and his chin on your shoulder.

“Air conditioner broke.” You jolted when you found the crumpled slip of paper where you’d scrawled the phone number, holding it up like treasure you’d dug out of the ground.

Eddie chuckled, letting you go with a kiss to your temple before he disappeared into the bathroom. Your gaze followed him as he did, noting that he’d taken his shirt off at some point. The swirling black lines of his tattoos were on full display as you dialed the number, twisting the phone cord around your finger.

Seeing Eddie without all his garb felt like a special privilege. The first time he slept over he’d stripped to just red checkered boxers and his socks, letting you stare wide-eyed at the tattoos that littered his skin. The two of you had stayed up talking about them until the sun was rising, Eddie’s cheeks tinted pink every time you reached out to trace the designs.

You particularly loved the wonky stick and poke tattoo he’d given himself above his left knee, big block letters that said DUNGEON MASTER but were slightly wobbly. He was embarrassed when you’d asked him to give you one.

There were no tattoos on your skin when Eddie had you lay down on the floor of his room in the trailer, kneeling over you with a needle shoved in the end of a pencil eraser. You noticed he stuck out his tongue when he concentrated, worried about messing up the placement of the lines. It stung, the first poke making you squirm and forcing him to smooth a big hand on your stomach to keep you still.

You traced the shape of the healed star tattooed just above the waistband of your shorts as you leaned against the wall near your phone, some of the lines were a little crooked but you didn’t care.

“Mr. Frask’s Office.” The shrill voice brought your attention back. Mr. Frask was one of the biggest landlords in Hawkins, some rich investor from Indiana who owned a bunch of buildings they constructed near the outskirts of town.

“Hi, um, my air conditioner broke down and I need someone to come out here and fix it,” you said, turning so your back was to the bathroom door as you twisted the spiral phone cord up and down your index finger. There was a crackle of static on the other end of the line, you could hear the woman shifting around papers on her desk.

She asked you which complex you lived in, making you stretch the phone cord as far as it could go as you leaned toward the big window in your living room. “Um, Appletree West?” It sounded like more of a question than an answer despite the fact that you were staring at the wooden sign at the entrance of the parking lot.

You hardly could process what was happening before your instincts had you moving. A cold, wet press to the nape of your neck made you yelp straight into the receiver as you twisted away from it. Drops rolled down your spine, the cool water making your skin erupt in goosebumps.

Eddie snickered behind you, letting the ice cube he was holding slide down the back of your shirt. You made a strangled noise, completely forgetting about the phone as you yanked your shirt with your free hand and let the ice cube fall to the carpet.

“Are you okay?” The voice on the phone was quiet, fighting over the short distance to your ear as the woman reminded you of her presence.

You narrowed your eyes at Eddie. “Yeah, sorry about that. There’s some crazy guy running around outside, caught me by surprise,” you said, shooting Eddie a glare over your shoulder. He grinned wide, dimples showing as you rolled your eyes.

You smothered the receiver with your palm. “Eddie, I’m on the phone,” you hissed, scolding him as you returned to where the phone hook was on the wall.

He followed amiably like a puppy, standing right behind you as you turned away from him in an attempt to hide your smile. Lanky arms curled around your waist, nuzzling his nose into the back of your neck. His fingertips drummed a beat against your abdomen.

“What unit number?” the woman asked, sounding bored.

“Unit 1-12.” Eddie licked a long, wet stripe up the side of your throat, his warm tongue pressed flat and wide against your skin. You made a strangled sound, his arms keeping you from squirming away as you pushed his head away with your free hand.

“Ask if they can make your upstairs neighbor stop fucking that lady so loud,” he whispered in your ear, making it hard to concentrate on what the woman on the phone was asking. Your upstairs neighbors had been going at it pretty loud as of late, their yowls making them sound more like crappy pornstars than an actual couple.

You covered the microphone with your hand, turning to glare. “Eddie, I’m on the phone. Can you please be quiet?”

He smirked, loving to get a rise out of you. “You never pay attention to me.”

You rolled your eyes, trying to wrap up the phone call as soon as possible as Eddie continued to mutter nonsense into your ear. The property manager would be coming by in a few hours, the woman rattling off information that prompted you to hum and nod as though you were in the room with her.

Eddie’s hands started to snake beneath the hem of the shirt you wore, his calloused fingertips snapping the waistband of your underwear lightly. He pressed wet, noisy kisses down your throat and beneath the spot on your ear that made you shiver.

“Thank you!” you squeaked into the phone, a blush creeping up on your face. You hung up before the woman had time to respond.

You turned in Eddie’s embrace, his shit-eating grin was wide as he backed you up until you were trapped against the wall. “You are incorrigible, Edward Munson,” you scolded, lips scrunching to one side and nose wrinkling in an attempt to hide the smile on your face.

He snickered, his chocolate brown gaze taking in your expression before he leaned down to worm his way into a kiss. It was quick and chaste, when he pulled away you found yourself following his lips as though an invisible string connected you. He tasted minty like your toothpaste. “I love when you talk librarian to me,” he murmured, a huff of a laugh breathing over you.

“Library assistant,” you corrected, tracing the spider tattoo just beneath his left collarbone.

It was already starting to get warm in your apartment, soon the two of you would be too hot to even talk to one another if the air conditioning didn’t get fixed.

He hummed his understanding, nodding. “Library assistant, that’s wicked hot.”

iv.

New Year’s Eve was when Eddie had promised you a future.

The party was a whirlwind.

Hawkins parties tended to be on the stranger side, especially during the holidays. No one had anything better to do, and everyone was back home with their parents for the break. The annual New Year’s Eve house party was an amalgamation of high school and college students crammed into an unsuspecting family’s home. The family of 1985 was the Perkins family, their respectable home in one of the more spacious neighborhoods. Apparently Carol’s parents had gone out of town to celebrate, letting her and her younger sister have run of the place.

Eddie forced you to come along, he had spent the past day rolling joints to sell at a ridiculous markup and didn’t want to go alone. You’d wanted to have a night at home, maybe invite some of your friends over for something small. But he begged, using his sweet puppy-dog eyes against you until your resolve crumbled. Ever the dutiful girlfriend, you went with him under the stipulation that he had to drive.

The music was loud inside the house, the lights were dim and people were everywhere you looked. Eddie had melded into a corner, his metal lunch box at his side. You could feel his gaze on you across the room as you talked with some of your friends, giggling over red solo cups filled with drinks that were too strong.

You’d found your way back to Eddie nearly every ten minutes, his gaze on your spine pulling you over to him like a moth to a flame. It didn’t matter if he was in the middle of a deal, you always clambered onto the couch next to him and nuzzled in close.

It was getting late when you’d flopped onto the couch that time. “Hi Ed,” you whispered into his ear, your voice getting a bit wobbly as the tipsiness settled into your bones. Your drink swirled dangerously in the cup, making Eddie confiscate it with a chuckle and set it on the end table next to him. He pocketed the cash, the teenager scurrying away with a newly purchased joint between their fingers.

Eddie turned to look at you, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek as his arm curled around your back. “Hey, how you feeling?” he asked, his voice low as he gently knocked his forehead against yours. You practically beamed under his affection.

Your friends were watching, smiling to one another as they watched Eddie smooth a piece of hair behind your ear. The whole conversation that evening had been focused on how good he was for you, and how you seemed to blossom in a way they had never seen with your previous relationships. Despite his rough exterior, Eddie was the sweetest person you’d ever met: empathetic and kind and boisterous. You’d never been with anyone like him.

“M’good, just missed you,” you mumbled, your fingertips tracing along the borders of the patches on his vest. It was close to midnight, the two of you just a little over ten minutes away from 1986. The energy in the party was already starting to buzz, more and more attention focused on wristwatches and the clocks on the walls.

He grinned, his free hand pulling a strand of his curly hair over his mouth as he started to look bashful. “Yeah? I’ve been right here the whole time, no reason to miss me,” he said, making you roll your eyes.

Another teen approached, making Eddie wave them away with a flick of his hand as he stood. You moved with him, your fingers twined together as he tucked his lunch box under his arm and started to weave through the crowd. “Just wanna spend time with me and you,” he said as he brought you up a flight of stairs off the living room.

You agreed, nodding as he started opening doors in the long upstairs hallway. Bedrooms were full, most of the doors locked or really should have been locked. A fit of giggles erupted from the two of you when you opened a door to see a tangle of limbs on the bed, an embarrassed yelp from the pair and profuse apologies spilling from your lips as you slammed the door shut.

“Maybe I should just start doing that to you out here in the hall,” Eddie suggested, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively as he cornered you against the wall. He set the lunch box at his feet.

“Shut up,” you said with a laugh, your hands finding his biceps as you stretched up to kiss him. His lips were soft as always, your tongue darting out to taste him. Cigarettes and beer and your strawberry flavored chapstick he kept in his pocket just in case you asked for it.

His hands found your waist, smoothing to the curve of it as he shuffled forward, his Reebocks nudging against your Converse as he pressed the length of your body against his. “S’all dark up here, no one would even know.” He was halfway between teasing and telling the truth, his umber eyes sparkling with mischief even in the low light.

You giggled again, shaking your head. “You can just take me home if you want to do that, Ed,” you said softly, biting your lower lip.

Excited whispers began downstairs. One minute left until midnight.

The thrill of New Year’s Eve had often been lost on you, it was just another day, just another year. It never meant anything to you besides the passage of time, crossing days off the calendar as the clock ticked. New Year’s Eve was just a night where you got a little too drunk and maybe kissed a stranger if you were feeling bold.

But the last day of 1985 was different. You had plans, goals for the first time in a long time. You had college lined up in Indianapolis in August, you and Eddie were going to move out of your hellhole of a small town and actually start your lives. He was going to graduate, find a job at a record store in the city and keep making music with Corroded Coffin. He’d make it someday, you could tell from the tapes you’d been passing around at your college tours–people really liked them.

“I love you,” you whispered in the dark, looking up at Eddie with adoration written clearly over your expression.

A sweet kiss to your nose followed, making you scrunch it up. “I love you too,” he murmured, leaning in further so his frizzy, curly hair blocked your view of the rest of the dark hallway. “Eighty-six is our year, right?”

There was a hint of nervousness, you could see the seedling of fear in him that you would disagree. You didn’t understand how Eddie could think that you’d ever doubt him, not when you looked at him like he had single-handedly hung the moon and the stars.

You nodded instantly. “Of course, nothing’s gonna stop us.”

Everyone was counting down, voices shouting and the shuffling of feet as people figured out who they were going to be with when 1985 morphed into 1986. This was the first year since you were a little kid that you didn’t have to scramble to figure something out, content as you and Eddie blended into each other in the shadows of the upstairs hall.

Your voices were hushed, whispering numbers to one another in a way that was so sappy and soppy that you thought it couldn’t possibly be real. He couldn’t possibly be yours.

Eddie kissed you at midnight, so eager that your noses mashed together and your teeth collided. You were smiling into it, holding him as close as you could as your mouth melded to his. You’d kissed him often, dozens of times a day, but it always felt just as electric as the first time he’d kissed you.

And that was how your New Year’s kiss felt, giddy and eager and had your heart swelling in a way that made you think it would explode. He pulled away first, smiling down at you for another moment. “Eighty-six, baby!” he whooped, so loud that it pulled a startled laugh from you.

“Eddie!” you squeaked, your fingers pressing over your mouth. “You gotta be quiet.” You were never serious when you asked him to hush, he always knew that.

“Eighty-six is gonna be our year,” he said again, albeit much softer as he stooped down to pull you into another kiss.

It was March when you learned that Eddie thought he was a coward.

A fist pounding on your front door pulled you from the clutches of sleep. You had a long day and had passed out early, the bright red numbers on your alarm clock informing you that it was only a few minutes after ten.

It was hard to get out of bed, your mind still swirling with the confusion of waking up abruptly as you sat up and rubbed your eyes with your palms. The knocking didn’t stop, if anything it had increased in tempo. Another moment later your feet were shoved into slippers and you were blinking sleep out of your eyes as you made your way across the tiny apartment.

Your movements were slow and languid until you looked through the peephole: you’d never seen Eddie look so terrified in his life. His eyes were wide, every speck of color drained from his face and his expression gaunt.

It only took you a second to wrench open your door after panic made you fumble with the lock, Eddie’s arms immediately wrapping around you as he nearly knocked you onto the floor.

“Eddie, what’s going on?” you asked, your voice raspy from sleep as you managed to catch yourself. The majority of his weight was leaning on you, his face tucked into your neck as he pulled in labored breaths. You ran your fingers up and down his sides, your arms trapped against your body as he clung to you.

It was Hellfire night, the end of his big campaign. He’d been talking about it for weeks, ranting and raving about Vecna and how hard it would be for the Hellfire boys to beat him. You couldn’t think of anything that would make him react like this.

“Chr-Chrissy Cunningham,” he finally muttered against your neck, pitching you even further into the deep end of the pool. Your brows drew together as you nodded in an attempt to get him to talk more. He’d told you about the weird request she had for something stronger than weed, how he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to sell to her. The two of you had met up after he got out of school, sitting in the back of his van as you shared a bag of chips before you had to work. You’d just shrugged, telling him to go with his gut.

“Did something happen, Ed?” you asked, your voice soft. Worry took root in the pit of your stomach as you whirred through scenarios. It could’ve been anything, really. She could’ve taken too much, or could’ve had an accident or ratted him out. Or said something to him, she was a cheerleader after all and Eddie was sensitive beneath his carefully constructed exoskeleton.

The thought that something else could have happened spiked through you, the recesses of your mind reminding you that Chrissy Cunningham had always been a cute, sweet girl whenever she checked out books at the library. She had stunning eyes, and always asked you about yourself. That could be something Eddie wanted, a girl much sweeter than you. You pushed the thought away.

You swallowed thickly, reminding yourself of the situation at hand. He still held you close, your front door wide open and revealing the clear night outside. “Eddie, you gotta talk to me,” you whispered again, squirming in his tight grip.

He shook his head, a pathetic whimper pulling from his throat in a way that broke your heart. There was desperation in the way he pulled you closer, crushing you into his chest. You didn’t protest, letting him work through his thoughts. A breeze floated through your door, carrying in the chilly March air and making you shiver in your flimsy pajamas.

“She’s dead,” he said, and the floodgate opened as your heart stopped. “I don’t know what happened. I was in my room getting the ketamine and I came out and she was, like, in this trance. And I know it sounds crazy and you won’t believe me but she literally lifted off the ground and her eyes rolled back and–oh fuck–her bones started breaking like it was a horror movie and she fell on the ground and her eyes were sucked out of her head. Idon’tknowwhathappened.”

He didn’t breathe once as he rambled. All the air sucked out of the room as you processed what he was saying. Dead. The kind, sweet cheerleader was dead. Poor girl, cut down her senior year just before life opened up to a whole world outside of Hawkins. She was the town sweetheart, known by all and loved almost as much.

And the last person that saw her was Eddie.

Your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach. “We need to go,” you finally said, snapping back to yourself. Normally Eddie was the one who took charge, he figured out the plans or solved the problems caused by your neuroticism. But in his time of need you found yourself naturally taking up the mantle.

“What?” he whispered, seemingly caught off guard as he pulled back and looked you in the eyes. His huge hands were on your shoulders, you could feel him trembling. “What do you mean?”

You gently placed a hand on his face, watching how Eddie flinched before he leaned into your touch. It made you want to bring him to your room and bundle him up in your quilt to protect him from the world. “Did this happen in the trailer?” you asked, your thumb stroking on his cheekbone.

He nodded, not quite grasping what you were saying. “Then we need to go, whoever finds that body is gonna think you did it.” His eyes widened in a way that told you he hadn’t considered that. “We need to get out of here.” There was urgency in your tone as you slipped from his hold, moving in a blur.

You were dressed with a backpack in hand in minutes, working Eddie’s keys from his pocket as you grabbed his wrist and pulled him after you. He was in shock, clumsy and slow as he followed you. There was the soft whisper of him talking to himself under his breath as you charged down the stairs to your second-story apartment. There was no argument as you got into the driver’s seat of the van, peeling out of the spot as soon as Eddie buckled into the passenger side.

“Reefer Rick’s out of town,” Eddie mumbled after a few minutes of driving, looking out the windshield in the dark. You didn’t know he could seem so empty, like someone had cracked him open and spilled all of his joy out. It made you feel helpless. You nodded, driving toward Lover’s Lake like you had stolen the van, cutting corners and running lights the further you got from town.

The description of Chrissy’s body was stuck with you, her limbs akimbo as she cooled on the carpeted floor of the trailer. You thought about what Eddie said, your brow furrowing as you tried to piece it all together to make a picture that felt like reality. It made no sense, sounding like something out of a Stephen King novel. But you believed that he didn’t do it.

There was no way your Eddie could do something like that. He cried when he accidentally ran over a squirrel that crossed the street at the wrong time, he wasn’t a killer.

The two of you left the van parked a ways into the woods, hiking the rest of the distance to Reefer Rick’s in silence. Eddie startled every time a stick cracked under your feet, nearly jumping out of his skin as you reached out and slotted your fingers between his. You could tell his nerves were frayed as he barely held it together, your bottom lip pulled between your teeth as you gently guided him forward.

The house was locked, leading the two of you to the boathouse for shelter. Eddie tested to see if the door was unlocked as you looked anxiously over your shoulders as though the police had followed you there. There was no way they could have, the only people who knew Chrissy was dead were you and Eddie… you kept repeating it in your head. Wayne would find her in the morning when he got home from work, you would have until then to figure something out.

The door swung open and Eddie stepped out of the way to let you in. The boathouse was full of crap, boxes and small boats strewn about, tarps thrown over various items and disguising their shapes.

“We’ll figure out what to do next,” you breathed with a sigh as Eddie shut the door. You realized that you were trying to soothe yourself more than him as you pulled on the chain for an overhead bulb, setting your backpack down as you looked around.

“I didn’t do it.” Eddie’s voice was quiet, he nervously stood in front of you. His rings flashed as he wrung his hands together, brown eyes wide as he settled his gaze on a boat. You traced the silhouette of his throat and Adam’s apple, his pale skin standing out against his dark hair as you looked at his profile.

You walked over to him, pulling him into a soft embrace. “I know you didn’t, Ed,” you whispered, guiding his head into the curve of your neck. “Never thought you did, I promise.”

The sob he let out was devastating, he took big lumbering steps that moved the two of you to one of the boats that had been discarded. He guided you back onto it, crushed beneath his weight as he started to cry into your neck. The tears were hot against your skin, rolling over your throat and soaking into the collar of your sweatshirt as you held him.

You shushed him softly, running your fingers through his curly hair as you tried to soothe Eddie. “I-I didn’t do it, I swear,” he pleaded against your neck, his voice loud enough to make you nervous as you looked out the windows dotting the living room walls.

“I know, I know,” you murmured, pressing your lips to the side of his head. “You gotta keep it down, we don’t want anyone to know we’re here.”

He huffed, nodding against you as he pulled you even closer. “I just ran away like a coward,” he sighed, voice cracking as he started to hiccup. “How… how could I do that? Just leave her there? I should’ve done something, should’ve called the cops.”

You shook your head in disagreement. “Ed, anyone would’ve been scared. It’s not like something normal happened.” You didn’t know what else to say, there was nothing you could tell him that would make it better. No matter what, there was still a dead girl on the floor of his trailer. “There wasn’t anything you could do.”

There wasn’t a moment of silence until Eddie fell asleep, you whispered platitudes to him in the dim light. The rough wood of the dinghy dug into your back, but you didn’t dare move a muscle as you felt Eddie start to relax and fall asleep in your arms.

It was only a few days later when your whole world fell apart.

Buying more time.

Your heart pounded in your ears as you burst from the Upside Down version of the Munson trailer, a sickening crunch and Dustin’s scream echoing behind you. The sound of the poor kid getting hurt almost made you stop and turn around. Almost.

But you couldn’t, you could only keep going as you thought about your sweet idiot of a boyfriend. How dare he risk himself like that? Didn’t he know that you couldn’t make it, that you couldn’t live without him? If he did, he didn’t seem to take it into account when he cut the rope connecting the Upside Down and Hawkins, running off into battle.

You screamed as the column of bats took Eddie to the ground by his neck. They were pulling at his limbs, scratching and biting him. What did he think that fucking trashcan lid and broom spear would do? Your legs were moving now, sprinting faster than you ever even knew you could. The ground was rocky and uneven, but you somehow kept planting one foot in front of the other. Some distant part of your brain heard Dustin behind you, his shouts matching your own.

Eddie was screaming so loud.

It was the ugliest noise you had ever heard in your life, each one cutting through your heart.

Then the bats fell, the sudden swarm dropping out of the sky like pathetic rubber toys as you reached where Eddie was sprawled on the ground. You stepped on their carcasses in an effort to get to him faster, almost slipping as their thin bones crunched beneath your feet. Blood covered his face and neck, soaking into the white fabric on his Hellfire shirt as you fell to your knees next to him.

“Eddie!” Your voice was too loud, too tight in your throat. Tears were already leaking from your eyes as you knelt over him, your hands vibrating in the air as you hesitated to touch him. It was like everything was frozen as you took in the sheer amount of crimson. There was so much blood, it pooled in every nook and cranny of his body as he slowly looked up at you.

Dustin was soon to follow, limping as he fell on Eddie’s other side. Eddie’s brown eyes rolled in his skull a little as he looked at Dustin, the teen’s face crumpled in anguish. “Bad, huh?” Eddie asked, films of blood bubbling at his pink lips as he spoke.

Yeah. The worst.

Dustin vehemently denied it, speaking where you couldn’t. There were promises of a hospital thrown out there along with the idea that Eddie would get better. He helped you hoist Eddie up, your arms cradling his torso as you pulled him into your lap. You knew it was over when Eddie cried out for a second, but you nodded, your free hand falling to his cheek as you looked down at him.

God, why did he have to be so selfless?

It only took Eddie a moment to smile as he looked up at you. But you could see the tears forming at the corners of his eyes, the way they slid down his temples and into the frizzy mess of his hair. “I didn’t run away this time, right?” his voice was tight and strangled, the sound of it so foreign coming out of Eddie’s mouth. Rowdy, boisterous Eddie, reduced to raspy whispers.

“No, you didn’t,” you managed to gasp, your voice wobbly as you found your breath. It came in harsh inhales, like you were about to drown. “You didn’t run.”

“You gotta do everything we said we would,” Eddie said, watching as you started to cry. It was still stoic enough, a few tears running down your cheeks. “You gotta go to college and live in Indianapolis and become a writer.”

It was impossible to even imagine your dreams, Eddie was there in every single one. You shook your head, your throat closing as you pressed your lips together in a stubborn line. “I can’t,” you sounded so pathetic, “I can’t without you, Ed.”

Thunder cracked over your head, red lightning illuminating the roiling, stormy sky. It sounded like Eddie was choking with each breath, blood bubbling in his throat. Dustin reached out to you, his hand clasping your shoulder as your heads bowed together, temples knocking as you both tried to keep your misery at bay. At least for now.

“You’re gonna, you’re gonna do it all for me,” Eddie argued, his breaths shortening. “You never needed me for any of it, anyways. You were always too smart for me.”

You whined, hardly even able to breathe. “Shut up,” you mumbled, your trembling fingers tightening on Eddie’s jacket in some desperate attempt to keep him with you for longer. “I need you, I need you with me. I don’t know…” You couldn’t even finish what you were saying.

“Dustin, you promise me you’re gonna take care of everyone, the little sheepies.” There was an unspoken promise that Dustin would be taking care of you as well. He denied Eddie the same way you did, mumbling that he wouldn’t have to because Eddie would be there to do it himself. But, Eddie was just as smart as he was stubborn, forcing a promise out of the teenager.

“I love you,” Eddie said, his gaze shifting back to yours. He was starting to look hazy, his brown eyes having trouble focusing on your face. His vibrancy was slipping away.

“I love you so much, baby,” you whispered, molars digging into your cheek as you tried to keep the tears stinging at your eyes from falling. The iron taste of your blood filled your mouth. “I love you more than anything in the world.” Your bottom lip wouldn’t stop trembling, your entire life falling out from under you as your blood-streaked fingers smoothed the hair curling out from under Eddie’s bandana.

Eddie’s breath turned into choking, Dustin saying his name over and over again. You watched his eyes slip from yours, the furrow in his brow smoothing out. The awful choking sound continued, his throat struggling for hair as his head turned to match the slope of your thigh. “Eddie…” you sobbed as you let the knot in your throat release, watching the last glimmer of light disappear from him, the sound of his labored breath fading to nothing.

You’d never heard a silence so deafening.

He was so quiet, so still. Eddie had never done anything quietly in his life. Everything about him was vibrant and genuine, he spent every moment pouring himself out into the world for greedy people like you to gobble up. There was never a moment Eddie wasn’t trying to make someone laugh, bending over backwards for just a smile. He spent hours dreaming up songs for his band, writing down stories he would then perform for his friends over the Dungeons and Dragons table. Hell, he even talked in his sleep.

It had always been you who told him to quiet down, but you never meant it. A world without Eddie was a world devoid of color, of life.

Now that you knew his silence, you regretted every second you’d ever asked him to be quiet.

Dustin was crying, the noise bringing you back into the present. You didn’t realize that you had been speaking, begging Eddie to come back to you, to say something. It felt like you were falling, tumbling end over end as your whole life was ripped from your fingers.

Did you ever stop falling? Was there ever Wonderland at the end of the tunnel, or did it just go on forever?

You clutched Eddie’s still-warm body as close as you could, rocking back and forth as you screamed your throat raw. You didn’t know that anything could hurt so much, almost convinced that the gaping hole in your chest was real. Dustin was right there with you, an arm across your back as he sobbed into your shoulder.

You wished it was you instead, that Eddie was cradling your dead body on his lap. He would be able to recover, to move on. In your fantasy you could see him becoming a huge rockstar that wrote sad ballads about his past lover. Time would heal his wounds.

But for you? Time felt like it had stopped, the entire world paused to mourn the death of one of its best and brightest alongside you. There wasn’t even thunder overhead, just the sound of you and Dustin.

There was no way to tell how long had passed when Steve pulled you off of Eddie, shouting that you needed to go. Nancy and Robin had already yanked Dustin to his feet, Eddie’s guitar pick necklace dangling from his fist as the teen struggled against them.

“Just… just let me…” you mumbled, flinching away from Steve’s arms as you plucked Eddie’s gaudy costume rings from his cooling fingers and hastily shoved them in the pockets of your jeans. You lifted him just enough to slip his vest from his shoulders, easing his limp arms through the holes where the sleeves had once been as gently as you could. It was bloody, there were rips in the fabric.

You could see where he’d stitched your name beneath the flap in the collar, the embroidery haphazard and clumsy and so genuine that it hurt. Another scream ripped from you, your arms curling around Eddie’s shoulders on instinct as you pulled his limp form back to you.

Maybe if you held him long enough he would come back, laughing about how it was a misunderstanding of some elaborate prank he’d decided to pull. He would promise you that he was okay, making you taste the costume blood just to assure you that it was fake. Then he would grab your face between his hands and kiss your forehead and nose and lips, and you’d make him swear to never do something like that ever again because it felt like a part of you had died with him.

But he didn’t do any of those things.

It took Steve forcing you off of him, arms locked around your waist and hauling you up from the ground. You thrashed and screamed and kicked, fighting him every step of the way as he dragged you back to the trailer. He was talking to you, but you couldn’t understand a word he said over your cries.

Even as Steve forced you back through the gate to Hawkins, you could only think about how you’d never seen Eddie so quiet.

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x gn!reader #eddie munson angst #eddie munson imagine #reader insert #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #this one hurt #cried while writing it #stranger things season 4 #joseph quinn #st s4 #eddie munson fic

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robinbuckleyluvr · 2 months ago

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once st s5 drops and the robin buckley fangirls revive you people wont be ready... just wrote 7k words on an unfinished robin buckley scenario. real writers r still alive guys i got u

#robin buckley #stranger things #robin buckley x reader #reader insert #steve harrington #robin buckley imagine #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #maya hawke #st incorrect quotes #natalia dyer

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aloneinthehellfire · 10 months ago

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Chapter Fourteen: We're Running Out Of Time

Gates Of Hell [Masterlist]

Word Count: 3.9k

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, horror, blood, this is not proof read and that's probably the biggest warning

[A/N: I rushed through this entire chapter so I'm so sorry if it is terrible but I just wanted to write one specific scene and- I'll shut up now. Enjoy :)]

We're Running Out Of Time

“... what?”

Everything was frozen in a compressed motion, only the erratic beat of your heart ensuring you were still living, breathing, in the moment.

Three weeks ago, you had followed El through the mothergate, a silent promise to find your sister when she was nowhere to be found. You had fought your way through the Upside Down, slaying monsters, collecting scars and bruises.

And three weeks later, you find out it was all for nothing. El didn’t need to be found.

She was never missing.

A voice that undoubtedly belonged to her was telling you all of this through the radio gripped tightly in your hand, feeling like your mind was drifting in and out of consciousness. You had been tricked so easily. A shapeshifter- a mirage. It knew exactly what buttons it needed to push, the nuclear code that led to your heart, your guilt. And now, three weeks later, you were sat on the floor of the Radio Shack in the darker version of your home, beside a boy that didn’t deserve this. Steve didn’t deserve your foolishness.

Maybe he was right, back in that arcade mere days before freshman year. You could only ever ruin people.

“Y/n.” Steve reaches out to take your hand, gently rubbing his thumb across your knuckles. You look up at him, frowning.

Rather than speak, you silently hand him the radio and slip away, resting your back against the very wall he had broken down on earlier.

“Hello? Anyone there? Over.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re-” Steve pauses, eyes widening. “Henderson?”

“Son of a bitch!” Dustin responds in a gleeful tone, striking a smile on his face. “I knew you weren’t dead! Over.”

“Yeah, man, all safe and sound down here.” Steve risks a glance over to you, but your eyes are focused somewhere else, glazed. “Wait, how the hell is this possible right now?”

There’s a long pause and he thinks the radio must have lost contact until Dustin’s disapproving tone drops in.

“You didn’t say over. Over.”

If Steve wasn’t so happy right now, he’d find a way to reach through that phone and tackle him. “Whatever. Over.”

“Okay so basically I have been playing around with the idea of creating my own ham radio. That’s a big radio for longer distances by the way. Over.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, get to the point. Over.”

“Well, we weren’t sure if it was gonna reach down to you. Cerebro, that is. Like in X-Men? When Professor X needs to locate other mutants- Ow! What the hell Mike?- Oh, right, yeah. Anyway, I recorded a message on this thing maybe two weeks ago and we’ve been broadcasting it ever since. Pretty sweet, right? Over.”

“Pretty, uh, pretty sweet, man.” Steve praises, running a hand through his hair as his concern centres on you. “Any chance you’ve built a portal back to the real Hawkins?… Over.”

The static blares into the silence again and Steve tightens his lips. You finally meet his eyes, offering a small smile with all the willpower you could muster. He really can’t imagine how you out of everyone must be feeling right now. He understands it, at least. Being strong enough to sacrifice and protect, but too unprepared to deal with the consequences.

“Hey, Mike here.” Mike speaks and Steve returns his attention, taking a deep breath to recentre. “So, it’s a long shot, but… we might have a way to get you both out of there.”

You’re beside him in a flash, gently taking the radio into your own hands with determination. “Seriously.”

“The gates haven’t completely disappeared.” Mike explains, a faint sound of rustling in the background. “They’ve just been opening and closing one at a time. Hopper has been trying to track them down but they haven’t stayed open long enough to catch ‘em.”

“There’s no pattern?” You ask, scrunching your face. The last thing you want to do is run around Hawkins hoping a gate would appear, especially not with the demons lurking down here.

“Actually, yeah. They’ve opened at Lake Jordan, Lover’s Lake, even the community pool.”

“So it’s water-based?”

“Exactly. Except the thing is, we’ve ran out of water-based gates- what? - I’m not saying that, it’s stupid- No- I… ugh, fine. - The watergates hit every lake and pond. We’ve pretty much ran out of water so, we have no idea where it’s gonna hit next. - What now? - No, go away, I already said your stupid name. - Beca-”

You assume the boys are continuing their fight as you let out a breath, brows scrunched together.

“Great.” Steve mutters, shaking his head. “Now we have to figure out where the next gate is gonna be and, I’ll be honest, I’m not great at hide and seek. Not the hide, and especially not the seek.”

Something clatters in the distance and you both turn, on high alert.

“Sorry, Mike again. Dustin was… Dustin.” He returns, panting slightly. “We’re gonna keep working on it but at least we found you now. Hopper should be back soon and I know you’ll probably have a lot to talk about.”

The static blares out, feeling heavy in your hand as Steve slowly stretches from his crouch to peer over the top of the shelves. Nothing was in here with you, thankfully. But he can just make out a shadow outside, growing bigger and bigger…

“Hello? Guys?”

Steve’s head whips to the radio, stomach plummeting. “Shit, turn it-”

The shrill sound of glass shattering makes him duck down in an instant, something breathing in heavy and uneven intervals, crashing between the shelves and hurtling towards you.

You scramble to shut off the radio, cutting off the cries from the kids and shoving it into Steve’s bag. You could deal with it later when you weren’t dead.

Steve swoops up the backpack and holds a finger to his lips, the other hand pointing down the aisle furthest to your left. You both keep low, eyes on the ground to avoid stepping on anything that could announce your location to whatever was hunting you. And, just as you follow Steve around the corner, you both hear it searching the aisle beside you, grateful to have made the right decision.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t as slow as the other things you’ve battled and, much like everything else, you figured it depended on hearing. You and Steve weren’t amateurs in this game of prey and predator, especially since finding literally everything down here wanted to eat you. Escaping was your speciality, and right now you feared it was the only option.

As you take slow and silent steps, crouched on the opposite aisle, you can just make out its dark black shape stalking between the shelves.

You don’t feel like you can breathe, hands balled into fists as you use your peripheral vision to guide you towards Steve, eyes never leaving the shadowed figure. You’re scared that if you look away, it would immediately find you when you were distracted.

That was a crucial mistake.

Your next footstep landed directly on a musty wrapper, a sharp sound of a crinkle echoing out when you accidentally crush it with your boot.

Steve’s eyes go wide, head snapping back to you as your blood ran cold, a fearful gaze meeting his. Fuck.

You anxiously look back between the shelves.

Pale white eyes are staring directly at you, unwavering as terror slices through your spine.

And then it screams.

Its wail is ear-piercing, inflicting pain on you both as you tumble over, trying to cover your ears to muffle out its sound. You couldn’t run if you wanted, feeling completely paralysed by the high-pitched drone of this creature’s cry.

Steve feels something damp against his palms as he groans against the relentless stabbing against every nerve in his brain. Whatever this thing was, its screech was damaging you both beyond repair. He needed to get you both out. He needed to stop it before there was no coming back.

In a split second decision, Steve bears the pain long enough to prop himself up on one knee and use his free leg to kick as hard as he can against the shelves, boot shaking the frame. The display topples over, landing with a heavy thump against the creature and cutting off its cry.

Steve sighs in relief, blinking back into the blissful silence. His headache was booming as he clicks his jaw, desperate to relieve the stress on his eardrums. He turns back to you, noticing how you’ve brought both hands in front of you, staring down at the red dye with a tired concentration.

There were trickles of blood coming from your ears and down your nose, the aftermath of the screech. And, judging by how wet his upper lip felt, he knew his own face matched.

He sees the body beneath the shelves start to twitch, trying to regain consciousness below the rubble of trinkets.

“We have to go.” He tries saying, his own voice muffled by his ears.

You don’t hear him and he groans, steadying himself by gripping onto the fallen wooden frame and pushing himself to his feet. The world span as he wrapped an arm around you, pointing to the exit.

Steve wasn’t sure if you would both make it to safety stumbling away from the crime scene, and that thought stayed with him even when you were both out of view of the Radio Shack. It lingered, like the thought always did whenever you both set out for your search.

Mostly, he was just afraid he was going to lose you at any second.

Never before was Steve so relieved to be stood in the murky Motel 6 bathroom, staring at his worn expression. Every time you both make it back here, he can’t believe he’s still alive.

He had torn up an old t-shirt you had found rummaging through what would have been the Byers house, the fabric easily wiping away the larger chunks of dried blood on his face. How many new creatures did that make now? 10? 11? He lost track too many fights ago.

Feeling much better, he takes the moments to simply breathe, flexing his fingers against the ceramic sink. This was a lot harder than he thought. Mentally. Physically. He couldn’t be more grateful he wasn’t doing this alone.

His head snaps up, suddenly aware of the ghost of your presence.

“Hey,” He peers around the door, walking out. “Bathroom’s free if you…”

Steve stops. You never even made it to the bed, back against the front door, eyes drooping.

“Shit. Hold on.” He rushes over to you, grabbing your face in his hands. He knows you were slightly closer to the blasted scream, but not far enough to be affected any worse than he was. But you looked physically weak, your attempted speech slurring as you have to blink yourself back into consciousness.

Steve helps you to your feet, guiding you towards the bathroom to sit you at the toilet so he can tear another rag from the tee, constant glances of worry being sent your way.

By the time his hands found your face again, you were wide awake, frowning around you. You didn’t even recollect making it to the motel.

One hand cups your chin as the other gently wipes away the blood from your upper lip. You try to protest, claim you could do this yourself, but Steve wasn’t taking objections. He tilts your head to the side, swiping away the trickle of blood from your ear down to your neck…

He pauses, breath hitching. Your eyes squeeze shut.

Black veins were creeping up out of your collar, slithering along your throat and stopping just below your chin, marking you cursed. Steve should have known your ail wasn’t from the monster you just encountered.

“It’s okay.” You say, trying to meet his eyes.

“None of this is fucking okay.” He says, but it comes out as a whisper despite the endless echo of screams raging through his mind. He tries to go back to finishing up on your nose when you gently lower his hand, holding it between both of yours.

“Steve.”

“I thought we had more time.” He admits, a sad laugh falling in a broken sob, trying to hold it together.

“Maybe we do.” You try, smiling up at him. But your eyes were telling a different story.

Steve had been noticing it but never acknowledging it for as long as you’ve been trying to hide it. The breathless exhale of excursion any time you had to face a beast. The way you’ve only been able to hit two locations before your body screams for rest, muttering excuses to get back to the motel. And that smile you always gave him, slowly losing its shine like a lost star plummeting from the sky. He ignored it all because some part of him was stupid enough to think it wasn’t going to end like this.

“This isn’t fair.” A single tear rolls down his cheek and your breath hitches. “You don’t… you don’t deserve this.”

For a moment, you don’t speak, mouth opening and closing with words scratched away before they could hit the air.

“Do you remember the day this all started?” You suddenly ask, looking up at him. His brows are furrowed, nodding his head. “I remember… I remember being sat in that chair dreading ever leaving it. I, uh, I thought detention was going to save me from facing my problems. That’s why I was in there in the first place. I found an opportunity and I exploited it enough to bide myself some more time before I had to realise what a shitty human being I was.”

“You’re not a shitty human-”

“But I was.” You shrug, pushing the hair away from your face. “I was so selfish. And arrogant. And before those screams echoed out, before Holloway disappeared, before you even walked into the room, I was realising that I had ruined myself. I was so adamant on proving I didn’t need anybody that I was completely and utterly alone.”

“And then,” You look up at him, a small smile tugging at your lips. “And then the freaking apocalypse started and as awful and wrong as it sounds… it’s starting to feel like it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because I found reasons not to be selfish anymore, and- and to realise I didn’t have to alienate people just because I was afraid they were going to leave.”

Your hands start to intertwine themselves with Steve’s.

“Even though that thing bit me… I’m perfectly happy knowing that I was becoming the person I always should have been. You made me not want to be a shitty person anymore.”

His hands squeeze yours, his body leaning forward to rest your foreheads against eachother. Tears start to escape your eyes in silent paths, feeling completely and utterly comforted by the boy you once called an enemy.

“I was starting to wonder when you’d say something nice about me.” Steve eventually quips and you laugh, pulling away from him.

“Don’t get used to it, Harrington.” You chuckle, your hand involuntarily reaching up and brushing away the hairs that fell in the path of his eyes. You notice a look in his eye you had never caught before, smiling. “What’s that look for?”

He flickers between your eyes, softened and sad, his thumb reaching up to brush against your cheek. You weren’t sure what you were expecting, but your heart starts to race. You’ve grown used to a pit in your stomach since being down here, a dread. But this was different. Butterflies. And the way Steve was looking at you sent them soaring.

Steve leans in closer, glancing down at your lips. Every nerve in your body was alight, the incomprehensible tension building when you don’t pull away to the moment he finally speaks, words feather-light like you were the only one who deserved to hear them.

“I’m not ready for you to leave me.”

The first touch of his lips against yours was tentative, a feather-light connection that sent shivers down both your spines. It was a sweet and slow, the world around you fading away as if you and he were the only two souls in existence.

The kiss deepened once Steve realised this wasn’t a dream, pulling you impossibly closer with his hands cupping your cheeks, a mixture of passion and vulnerability woven into the embrace. Only the sound of your heartbeats could remind you time wasn’t truly standing still.

When you finally pulled away, both of your eyes still remained closed, trying to live in the moment as long as you could before reality could pull you back into its cold embrace. Steve wanted to stay here for as long as it could, holding you. He would willingly bend time to relive this moment over and over until it was the sweetest broken record.

“We, uh…” You start in a whisper, chest rising and falling in desperation for his lips to fall against yours once again. But you couldn’t fall back into it from fear of never leaving it again. “We should probably get some rest.”

“Yeah.” He whispers back, barely a breath away from you with a hand resting on your cheek. “I, uh… I’ll take first watch.”

It took his manual control of every muscle in his body to step away from you and not pull you back into him once more, choosing to leave the room before he imploded. He exhaled a long breath, a hand running through his hair as he smiled against the warmth of his flushed face. Part of him still couldn’t believe this was reality. Perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps it truly was in his greatest dreams.

You leave the bathroom a few seconds later, hiding a smile behind your hair as you lay on the bed. You watch as he settles himself on the ground, back against the bed frame and preparing for a long night of staring at the door.

You felt light-headed in the most wonderful way, giddy. It was almost impossible to have a rush of these emotions fluttering in your chest, but it was there, acting as a safety blanket around your heart. But once you close your eyes, its like they’re being snatched away from you as the fear comes rolling in.

The virus was almost at your brain and soon, you would be nothing but a mindless monster hell-bent for the thirst of blood. And no matter how many times you convinced Steve you were okay with it, never once had you managed to convince yourself.

“Steve?”

Your small voice was a surprise, calling out to him in the darkness. He twists himself to find your form, resting his arm on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah?”

“Can you…” You pause, striking his curiosity with your hesitancy. “Nevermind.”

“Tell me.” He says softly, propping one of his legs up as he shifted on the floor.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

It took all of five seconds for Steve to abandon his post and walk around the bed, propping his bat against it as he lowered himself next to you. He felt nervous, unsure of what you truly meant by your request.

And then you roll over, slotting into him perfectly as he automatically wraps his arms around you, holding you.

Steve was the first to wake up, blinking up at the ceiling before mentally punishing himself for falling asleep in the first place. He was meant to take the shift tonight.

Gently shifting out of your embrace, he moves to the small mirror in the bathroom and pushes his hair back, taking a deep breath. And then he remembers, a smile spreading across his face with a small yet noticeable dimple denting his right cheek.

And then the reality hits, blinking him out of his own happiness. He promised himself he would get you out of here, back home.

He grabs the forgotten radio after rooting through his backpack, switching it back on and spewing out tiny curses under his breath. Shit, would this even reach them anymore? How would he even contact them? What if that was your only chance to-

“This is Echo Base, come in Falcon. Over.”

The familiar recorded message almost brought a tear to his eye as he brings it to his lips.

“Hey, it’s Steve. Anyone there?”

Static blares through and then the message starts again. Another muttered curse.

“It’s Steve. We’re here. Over?”

He waits all of five seconds before the static cuts out again, this time answering his call with a voice he never wanted to hear ever again.

“Well if it isn’t Harrington. We all thought you were roadkill.”

A shot of anger festers in his chest. Billy.

“Where the hell are the others?” Steve asks through gritted teeth, not in the mood for Billy’s antics.

“Busy.”

“Great.” Steve mutters to himself, taking a deep breath and reminding himself he only needed to get through this one conversation. “We, uh, we got cut off last time. We were trying to find out how to get the hell out of here.”

“Yeah, I can probably help you with that.”

“So?”

“So, I’ll give some instructions.” A pause. “Only gonna tell ‘em to Y/n, though.”

Steve’s blood boiled.

“Tell me what?” You showed up, looking sleepy but mostly confused.

You were using your fingers to brush through your hair, a hazy smile on your face as you met Steve’s eyes. His shoulders relaxed, admiring how he could feel this deeply about you even barely 3 minutes out of consciousness.

“Uh,” Steve clears his throat, holding out the radio. “Billy wants to speak to you.”

You roll your eyes, taking it from him and making him chuckle at how uninterested you seemed.

“I’m here.” You say, waiting for the response.

“Hey, princess.”

Steve wrinkles his nose in disgust and you pinch the bridge of yours, shaking your head.

“I told you not to call me that.” You sigh, leaning against the door frame. “What have you got for me?”

“Damn, I don’t think I can say when there’s kids around- ugh, fucking hell, fine. Take it.” He scoffs. “Later, princess.”

“Later, princess.” Steve mocks under his breath, looking back in the mirror. He catches your smirk in the reflection.

“Hi, it’s Max. Sorry about that.” Max cuts in and you find yourself smiling. “We’re currently on shifts so the boys aren’t here but Dustin did leave a message. He wanted us to tell you that they’ve been tracking some kind of signature using… shit, I don’t know, fancy technology or whatever. It can detect when another is gonna appear except it uses some kind of tracking in the water? Does that make sense to you? They know the gates appear at the heart of the bodies of water… okay, this makes literally no sense, I’m gonna kill him.”

Steve frowns. Heart of the bodies of water? They had already ran out of lakes in Hawkins, ponds were few and far between, there was no other possible options-

You gasp and he looks at you inquisitively while you bring the radio closer.

“I know where the next gate will be.”

Chapter Fifteen: Sattler's Quarry ->

taglist: @toomanyfandomsimfanvergent . @sheisjoeschateau . @kthomps914 . @curled-hair-red-lips . @nix-rose . @palmtreesx3 . @kryztalglear . @sattlersquarry . @hey-barnes-stole-a-jeep . @sadslasher13 . @iliveonteaandbooks . @innercreationflower . @newyorkangelbaby

#stranger things #stranger things x reader #fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #stranger things reader insert #steve x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x fem reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #apocalypse au #st

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lamelycool · 2 years ago

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Annoy Me

Spock x Reader

A/n: this is my first fanfic so go easy on me. Just thought there needed to be more Spock fics out there! Also this isn't a specific version of Spock I just liked this gif. Also the reader is a wee bit bratty and of a southern persuasion just a warning.

Summary: You can't help but to love hitting on Spock. Much to his annoyance. Anyday now he'll airlock you. And if not him then space hr would surely. But he comes to realize he looks forward to your teasing and even encourages it. The only thing is that it takes you dying for him to realize :(

Warnings: fem reader, angst, fluff, flirting, character death?, blood, injury, drowning, throwing up.

"Whats up hot stuff, what do ya need?" You say laying your pad down with an easy going grin. After all you can't help but to smile, it is a pleasant surprise that is Spock standing in your doorway.

Spock quirks a brow up, "I am neither an item nor is my temperature high." Crossing the threashold he stops about five feet in front of you. But even that is too close and brings butterflies to your belly, jitters to your hands, and makes your cheeks feel flush.

"Of course of course. Anyways, what's up?" You respond quickly to distract from your flustered feelings.

"I am here to remind you of the away mission scheduled today." He says stoicly, hands pressed firmly behind his back.

"Away mission? Today? I don't remember being told about this..."

"You were messaged about this an hour and fifteen minutes ago." Spock furrows his brow slightly. Had you really been so careless as to not see the message? Or had you read it and forgotten. Spock isn't sure which is more irresponsible. He finds it odd for you to do so. You are normally very hardworking and punctual.

"Oh... I must have over looked it. Not that I'm complaining. I got an excuse to see you." Your eyes scan him from head to toe suggestive yet filled with jest. "After all your company is always more than welcome. But uh could you summarize the mission for me? Since you're already here and all?"

"It is a standard mission. Simply a small away team to the surface of the planet to gather samples and scout the area."

"Yes I will be on the away team. There will also be two other science officers, three security officers, Dr. McCoy, and yourself. Does that satisfy all of your inquiries?" Spock states with the slightest hint of exasperation.

"Nothings simple or standard when it comes to away missions on the Enterprise..." You mutter under your breath.

"Oh also, who all is on the away team? And more importantly will I have the pleasure of you accompanying?" Oddly enough you finding yourself hoping he will be. When had your teases and jokes turned into genuine feelings? You can't help but to wonder...

"Yes it does, thank you very much! You're a lifesaver." You beam at Spock.

"I fail to see how my summarizing of an away mission is saving lives." He dead pans.

He finds himself thinking, ' Why am I dragging this conversation out further? She obviously did not mean her statement in a literal sense. I'm only encouraging her teasing. I must meditate on this later.'

"I look forward to seeing you then." You say genuinely. The only statement you've said so far that wasn't paired with a joke, jest, or tease.

Spock responds only with a curtious yet stiff nod. And with arms tucked behind his back he leaves with a whoosh of the door behind him.

You breathe easy now that he's gone. It's not that he intimidates you. Well... At least not in a bad way- You just don't know how to behave around him. He makes you forget how to act. Around him you feel like a young dumb girl again.

'Snap out of it, we got a job to do!' You think with a sigh and check your messages. You must prepare for the impromptu away mission.

~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•

"How much longer are we going to be scanning this area?" You ask Spock. You guys had been walking around and scanning for hours now. And you were quickly losing patience. How many unique plants could possibly be on this ice chunk of a planet?

"As I said two times previously only a moment longer." Spock sighs out continuing to scan the evergreen plant in front of him. He had long given up on acting like your whining was anything but annoying.

"Pphff it's too cold! Please hurry up before I lose my limbs to frostbite." You plead to him while shivering.

"I assure you that you still have at least 2.34 hours until serious frostbite would be a concern. As well as the fact complaining will not change that you are cold." Spock barely spares you a glance as he continues moving from plant to plant and scanning some rocks.

"Mr. Spockk I know you are a hotty, but how are you not even the least bit cold right now? The temperature on this planet is ridiculous!" You whine arms crossed like a petulant child.

"I never said I was not cold. I simply have control of my body and can handle it. It is an issue of the mind over matter." Spock calmy states and stands brushing the snow off his pants.

"Now come on, let us begin to our rendezvous point." Spock orders you already walking ahead.

"Hey wait up! Not everybody has pretty long legs like you do you know!" You scurry to catch up to him and luckily he is kind enough to slow his gait for you.

"My legs are not long they are proportional to my body." He says ears flush a twinge of green.

After that comment a silence falls between you two. Only the sound of crunching snow and howling wind can be heard. Said wind is whats responsible for the low visability. You have to be careful to watch your step. Because it's nearly impossible to see much further than a couple feet ahead of you.

'This is going to be a long trek back,' you think with a sigh.

~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•~°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~

You finally reach the point where snow meets ice and sigh out a puff of air. Definitely not looking forward to crossing the frozen sea again. Just looking at it gives you the creeps. Despite the fact the ice is thick you can still see the murky black nothingness of the waters below. There's no telling what lurks beneath either.

"Uh Mr. Spock is there any life on this planet we should be worried about?" You anxiously inquire.

Spock pauses for a moment then responds carefully, "There is a possibility of dangerous alien life yes. I will not tell you otherwise. Information on this planet is rather limited at this moment."

"Oh... Okay. " You can't help but feel a wave of dread flow over you as you continue to look at the murky sea below you. You can't wait for this trek to end.

Spock glances over his shoulder at you. You look... uncomfortable. For some reason this bothers him. "We are almost to extraction. Also allow me to remind you we are equipped with phasers. "

"Oh trust me I have not forgotten about my phaser..." You mutter tracing the phaser on your hip attempting to soothe your increasing anxiety. Spock only nods in response not pushing the matter.

~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•~°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~

Spock in a daze scrambles for his phaser. Fumbling with the settings he changes it from stun to kill. Not sparing a moment he locks on to the beast in a burning rage and continuously pulls the trigger. Giving it no chance of getting up. The beams hit the beast in rapid succession and it collapses in a heap dead.

You and Spock continue the long walk in silence quickly nearing your extraction point. Despite this your anxiety hasn't eased. In fact your heart is now racing. Your eyes pry away from the icy ground to glance around trying to clam down. But what you see scares you shitless.

"Spock! Look out!" A massive mangy beast akin to apolar bear with a set of knarly horns charges towards Spock. There's no time to grasp for your phaser. So you quickly push Spock out of the way. The beast collides with you instead ramming into you with the might of a freight train. It knocks the breath out of you. Narrowly misses lodging deep into your abdomen only slicing your sides. Your body is thrown across the ice and the beast immediately charges at you to continue the assault.

Urgently he speaks, "Bones! There has been an accident. My partner has been hurt and is under the ice we will need immediate medical attention." Spock commands urgently.

All Spock can think about is you.

"Ensign? Ensign?!" Spock looks around frantically. A chill runs down his spine once he sees a hole in the ice. He rushes to the hole and hits his com badge.

"What did you say!? Shes hurt? What do you mean under the ice? Whats going on Spock, what happened?! You green blooded hobgoblin expl-" Spock cuts off his com. He rips off his jacket and dives in the water hoping to find you before it is too late.

He swims down quickly and begins feeling around blindly for you. He searches frantically until his lungs begin to burn begging for air. Only then is when he finally latches on to an arm. Without a second to spare he drags you to the surface with him and heaves you guys back onto the ice.

"Ensign? Can you hear me? Stay with me!" Spock begs brushing your hair out from in front of your face. He lays his head against your chest to hear for a heartbeat. He listens closely for any sign of life. Spock begins to feel sick to his stomach when cannot find any and begins to panic.

"I implore you to please breathe. Please..." He begins cpr while his thoughts race. He cannot simply let you die like this. He cannot.

"Please do not do this. I do not give you permission to die. You should have never been so reckless as to do this! You are human and fragile. It was stupid! I could have taken the damage much easier-" he cuts himself off by giving you mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Not long after he started to try and breathe life into you do you jolt up and twist to the side to spew out dark water. The slightly acid water burns and hurts about as much as it did when you first gulped it in.

Spock let's out a chocked gasp of relief and worry. He moves closer and rubs your back through all of your heaving while speaking gently to you. You can only make out bit and pieces of what he says. Mummurs of reassurance and comfort. And whether it's more for you or him is debatable.

When you are done gagging up water you cough out to him, "if you wwantedd tto kiss mme you coulve jus saidd so." Shivering violently you let out a breathless laugh you say, "II'd ddrown more offten if I knew II'd gget a kiss ffrom yyou. Mmakes it worthh iit."

Spock allows a small laugh of suprise to slip from his lips as he wraps you in his discarded jacket. He begins to massage feeling back into your frozen hands. "No, please refrain from doing such a reckless thing. I will kiss you as much as you wish without such an action." He begins to apply pressure to your wound with his unoccupied hand. You wouldn't die today and he'd still have to listen to your teasing and deal with your flirting. But he's grateful and he would have it no other way.

A/n: hope you enjoyed the fic! If you have any suggestions or criticism feel free to leave a comment. I'm very much a noob to fanfic writing especially on tumblr. Thanks for reading!

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