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sundaynightlive · 2 years ago

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Fresh Night Air [Book was there, it was there…](Greatwise)

Disclaimers: No age gap shit. They’re 16 and 17 respectively.

Also: I do not hate Mike or any of Will’s friends—I’m just exploring the way they might tip toe around him after all the shite he’s been through.

Realistically: I ship Byler. But I like healthy love interests MOST and whatever’s going on in ST right now is not that, so why not throw a Gareth in there?

If it’s not your thing, I get it :) I only wanted to write a sweet little happy-Will fic with LIGHT angst for like two seconds. If you’re going, have a good rest of your day <3 peace and love darlings.

If you’re staying, enjoy :)

“Gareth Emerson,” the boy introduces, and Will shakes his hand over the table. He’s still a little pissed about his friends joining another party while he was in California, but when’s the last time Mike took anything Will said seriously, ever?

He shouldn’t be surprised.

They sit back down—across from each other, no less—and turn their attention to Eddie now that they’ve all been decently acquainted. The DM claps his hands together and rubs his palms excitedly—despite Will’s initial annoyance at being completely and utterly betrayed, he actually really likes Eddie, fangs and all. He’s cool, he’s nice, and he’s the only Upside Down monster that doesn’t wanna kill or eat any of them, save for the occasional half-cup of blood that seems to satisfy him completely.

They had all been astounded at the convenience of that—blood being so filling.

Or maybe Eddie’s affliction hadn’t fully taken by the time they got his body out of the Upside Down and a troupe of federal scientists pumped him full of drugs—they aren’t totally sure.

Either way, he’s a sad excuse for a vampire, and a completely awesome dungeon master.

“Good evening, intrepid heroes, and welcome to my eighth,” Eddie pauses, as if he’s in awe of that number himself, “And best campaign yet. Drumroll, please!” Will starts a little as the boys around him (plus Erica) begin to pound on the table with their fists. Will joins them after a moment, allowing himself to grin both at the nerdiness, and the undeniable giddy excitement that’s filling his chest and shoulders.

Eddie uses his hands to push his feet up on his seat—his throne, really—and then stands, throwing his arms out wide—

“Plight of the Hellwalkers!” A cheer rises up from the table, as if any of them know what that means other than tieflings and devils and the sort. Maybe something celestial, if any of them are feeling particularly combatant. Will’s already got all these ideas forming in his brain—he’s known for being pretty creative when it comes to PC’s. Will the Wise hadn’t exactly been the height of ingenuity, but Mike hadn’t always wanted to DM a complicated character—he just wanted to run impossible dungeons and make his players sweat.

Eddie’s a different story.

Will’s running all kinds of characters through his brain when he notices Gareth looking at him. Will would’ve thought he’d be chatting with all the other boys, or even with Eddie since the two of them seem to be pretty close—but no. He’s looking at Will.

Hesitantly, Will makes eye-contact with him. Gareth doesn’t seem bothered about getting caught staring. Will’s brows furrow—this is… weird. They just met not even five minutes ago.

What? He mouths.

Gareth holds up a finger, like he’s gonna tell Will in a second. Will’s confused by this (because when are they gonna have a second?) until Eddie announces today’s session is all about working on PC’s, and in order to keep the campaign interesting and fun, he’d like them all to leave the room and come back in one by one so he can get a brief idea of each character, by the end of today, and hopefully by next session, have everything ready to go.

And then he says—

“Gareth, you first. And then Mike. And after that I don’t care who goes when—figure it out.” Gareth gives Will one last glance. He raises an eyebrow. Then, he absentmindedly looks over at Eddie, and finds he’s staring daggers into the side of Gareth’s skull.

What is happening?

Still perplexed, he leaves the auditorium with his friends, unable to shake the feeling that he’s being discussed in the room they left behind. He picks at his clothes—his nice, plaid button-down and his khakis. He feels kind of stupid—everyone else has a Hellfire t-shirt of some sort—all his friends in a baseball tee, and some of the older members in what are probably older t-shirts. All Eddie’s school-allocated budget must go towards them—Will’s certain they probably don’t get more than fifty bucks, if that.

“So?”

Will starts as Mike throws an arm around his shoulders, completely oblivious to how that affects him.

“Isn’t it fucking awesome?”

Will snorts at the profanity—Mike’s been cussing more and more since he started tailing Eddie like a lost puppy. Will assumes he thinks it makes him sound cool—not that he has anything against cussing, it’s just a little funny to him that Mike never talked like that before.

“Totally,” Will says, letting a little sarcasm seep into his tone, “You just couldn’t resist breaking your promise, could you?” Mike’s eyes widen—deer caught in headlights.

“I–it’s—you never said anything about extracurriculars!” Mike tries, and Lucas and Dustin burst out laughing at the lame attempt at an excuse. Will rolls his eyes, shrugging off Mike’s arm.

“Asshole,” he mumbles. Lucas and Dustin roar with more laughter as Mike looks for other excuses—Eddie this, Dustin that—

“Dustin didn’t promise me anything,” Will points out, and Mike groans.

“Dog house!” Erica is teasing, “Mike’s in troooooubleeeee.”

Truth be told, Mike’s not in trouble. There was certainly an initial sting—the only thing Will had asked of him had not been honored—but beyond that, Will’s not fond of holding grudges, especially given he knows full well how quickly life can go from bad to worse.

It’s just fun to watch Mike squirm.

“I’m sorryyyyyy,” Mike whines, “But Eddie’s just so cool and I couldn’t say no!” He puts both hands on Will’s shoulders, shaking him lightly. Will bites his lip to stifle his grin—the way Mike is pouting at him for forgiveness is equal parts adorable and hilarious.

“Forgive me?”

Will shakes his head, still biting back that grin.

“Figure out how to make it up to me—then we’ll talk.”

Mike straightens up, puts two fingers against his forehead, and dramatically salutes. Will loses the ability to stifle his grin and fully laughs at this ridiculousness.

They’re alive, they’re friends again, and Will’s desperate crush is dwindling by the day seeing how happy his sister is. Will couldn’t stay mad at his best friend for anything, and he won’t go on liking him, either.

Things are okay. Things are on their way to good, again.

“Wheeler—get your bony ass in there.”

And that’s Gareth.

“You—” he points directly at Will, exactly like Will figured he might, “Can I steal you for a second?”

Will stands. He doesn’t miss the confused look that Mike gives him, but he does choose to ignore it, mostly because he’s equally as confused. Gareth motions for Will to follow him outside, and sensing no danger or malintent, he decides there’s no point in saying no, especially since he’s not certain how long he’s gonna be sitting bored on this bench otherwise.

“Okay,” Gareth says, once the doors are shut firmly behind them. The night air is cool and nice on Will’s skin. He wants to take a deep breath—relish in all this comfort of being home, of being able to breathe—but he doesn’t know if Gareth would clock that weird reaction to just stepping out. So he tells himself he’ll take that moment later. “I had a crazy idea, and I wanted to know if you’d be down.”

Will raises an eyebrow.

“I’m listening.”

“So, totally shoot me down if you have a better idea, but I think it would be sick to play as angels—you know, since it’s a hell campaign—but specifically an Angel still in line with Heaven’s order, and a fallen one. So, they like, know each other super well, but also are at odds with each other, and like, one’s trying to convince the other to fall and vice versa.”

Gareth looks at him expectantly. Will stares back, trying to comprehend how Gareth even…

Gareth must have read his mind.

There’s no other explanation for how spot on that idea is compared to all the concepts he’d had running around in his own head mere moments ago. And not only that, but Gareth is looking at him like… how did Will not notice he looked like that, before? Why is it only now that—

“Hello? Earth to Byers?” Will starts. Right—he has to answer.

“Yeah—I mean, that sounds awesome,” he manages, cheeks growing pink in embarrassment. He looks away from Gareth’s cool gaze, unsure how to handle the feelings he’s feeling at this moment. Excitement, anxiety—and a myriad of other things he doesn’t feel right naming yet.

“Awesome,” Gareth repeats, slugging him lightly in the shoulder. Will’s whole stomach jumps into his throat.

This cannot be happening.

“So, if you’re down, I’m free tomorrow night. We could kick it at my place and talk background and logistics and shit.”

That’s a terrible idea.

“Sounds great,” Will says, and in his mind he’s repeatedly kicking the shit out of his own kneecaps. He wishes he were a stronger man, but the idea of playing a character that’s not only complex in his own way, but has a strained relationship to another PC? It’s too good to pass up. Plus, Gareth already talked to Eddie, so Will get’s to play under a DM who’s capable of managing that kind of storyline—it fills his chest with something downright palpable.

“Fuck, I’m excited,” Gareth says.

“Me, too.”

Will wonders briefly if his internal criticism of Mike’s cussing was spoken way too soon.

Gareth’s bedroom is a dream—Will would call it a loft, but that’s not exactly what it is. It’s adjacent to the attic, an alcove that sticks out from the roof and makes the house look both magical and completely ridiculous. All sides of it are fitted with windows, and in between those, the walls are a deep, navy blue. For the most part, it’s immaculately clean apart from misplaced shoes and a sock or two.

The slivers of walls which are not windows are covered with intense shelving that holds both an extensive collection of cassettes and vinyls, and books. Will wouldn’t have guessed Gareth was a reader, but by the looks of it, he’s practically a library.

The carpet is soft, the bed is big and covered with an enormous quilt. There are soft white Christmas lights hanging throughout the space, creating an inviting glow. Gareth tells Will to drop his bag anywhere, so Will finds the most out-of-the-way corner he possibly can, and sets his stuff down gently. He’s absolutely enamored with the space, but he’s trying not to show it. He could only imagine the teasing that would ensue if he told Gareth the bedroom he spends every night in is like Will’s own personal heaven.

To Will’s further dismay, Gareth plops down on his bed and pats the space next to him. Never in his life did Will expect to be sitting in bed with a cute boy who’s also basically a stranger, but here he is, swallowing his own nervousness and settling down. It’s unbelievably soft. Will let’s his mind wander to what it must be like to sleep there, and then quickly snaps himself out of it.

That’s creepy, he scolds himself. Stop.

“So, did you think of anything in the last 24-hours, or do you wanna start with just the general idea I had?” Gareth asks—and it’s so impossibly normal for how abnormal Will feels. He’s so stiff he might as well be made of wood. Jesus—even his fight or flight is starting to act up.

“Well,” Will says, deciding he’ll force himself to relax by talking, “You know how angels are, like, usually a patron of something? Like, they have a specific purpose, or whatever? I thought we could use something like that to determine our proficiencies, and stuff. I was also thinking that I could be the straight-edge angel and you could be the fallen one? But that’s totally up to you—your idea, your rules.”

Will fidgets nervously with his own hands. Gareth is… actually listening to him. His expression is attentive. Will’s not used to that—so he keeps rambling.

“Also—I like the idea of a sibling dynamic but I thought it would be better if it was strictly a best friends thing? I feel like a lot of D&D overdoes the, like, “you were my brother” thing but meaningful friendships or whatever can be so much more impactful because you choose your friends and stuff, and for a character to choose their person and then lose that person and find them again but still be at odds is just—Sorry, I should shut up. I just realized I’ve been talking for way too long.”

Will wants to melt into the bedspread—hell, he just might.

Gareth grins at him, shaking his head.

“No, totally keep going. You’re brilliant.”

Yup. Melted. Absolutely a liquid. Will doesn’t think he’ll ever be a solid again.

Will starts spending an ungodly amount of time with Gareth, but it’s not his fault. His own friends are great, and he spares them every moment he can, but it’s been a long time since being with them has ever felt like this—totally and completely void of tension. His friends… they haven’t been giving him attention freely. It feels weighed down by this notion that they’re forced to hang around because everything they’ve been through.

It’s not fair to think of them that way—he knows they’d still care for him, regardless.

But that pity is stuck behind their eyes. And they won’t talk about things in front of him, like how they’re feeling, how they’re doing. Once, he was hanging around Lucas and Dustin, and they left the room after uttering some lame excuse. Curious and a little hurt, Will had pressed his ear to the door to find Lucas venting about Max, and how she was doing, and how he’s trying to hang out and have fun but she’s all he can think about—half-paralyzed and totally blind, all alone at home when he’s not with her.

It’s selfish, he knows, but he couldn’t help feeling offended. He can be a shoulder—he knows he can be a shoulder. He’s not going to break down the minute someone else needs a hand. They’ve been plenty good for him—he can do the same.

He just needs a chance.

But they won’t give him it, so he loses himself in the simplicity of a brand-new friendship. He and Gareth start just talking over the campaign, and the D&D stuff, but it soon evolves into much more than that. It starts with a book—

“Gertrude Stein,” Will muses, slipping the collection of poetry right off the shelf. He lets it fall open in his palm to a random page. Gareth had gotten bored of devising background and trying to locate biblical information without a bible—so he’d flopped over on the bed and hidden his face in his pillows.

Will had rolled his eyes at him, and went looking for something to entertain himself.

This is where he finds himself, now.

They read a little Gertrude Stein in English, and Will remembers it fondly. He’s not a huge poetry guy, but Stein’s poetry is so ridiculous it actually manages to interest him. It was also generally impossible for most of the class to read aloud, because of it’s insanity, but Will excelled at it. He read it so well, and so succinctly in class, the teacher herself had been shocked.

Maybe his trauma had rewired his brain for nonsensical poetry.

Book was there, it was there. Book was there. Stop it, stop it, it was a cleaner, a wet cleaner and it was not where it was wet, it was not high, it was directly placed back, not back again, back it was returned, it was needless, it put a bank, a bank when, a bank care.

Gareth looks up at him from the pillows curiously, and Will grins in his direction. He begins reading with the utmost conviction, as if anything he’s reading makes a lick of actual sense.

Suppose a man a realistic expression of resolute reliability suggests pleasing itself white all white and no head does that mean soap. It does not so. It means kind wavers and little chance to beside beside rest. A plain.

Suppose ear rings that is one way to breed, breed that. Oh chance to say, oh nice old pole. Next best and nearest a pillar. Chest not valuable, be papered.

Cover up cover up the two with a little piece of string and hope rose and green, green.

Please a plate, put a match to the seam and really then really then, really then it is a remark that joins many many lead games. It is a sister and sister and a flower and a flower and a dog and a colored sky a sky colored grey and nearly that nearly that let.

Will finishes the poem—called Book—and looks back up at Gareth, who seems to be stifling a laugh. Will raises an eyebrow.

“What?” he teases, “Didn’t get that? I’ll read another one.”

Suppose it is within a gate which open is open at the hour of closing summer that is to say it is so.

All the seats are needing blackening. A white dress is in sign. A soldier a real soldier has a worn lace a worn lace of different sizes that is to say if he can read, if he can read he is a size to show shutting up twenty-four.

Go red go red—

Suppose and Eyes is cut off abruptly by a pillow smacking into Will’s chest and falling over the book he’s holding out—an accident which has Gareth absolutely howling with laughter. Will retaliates immediately, tossing the book to the floor and going after Gareth with a pillow.

The rest is history.

They hang out after school, they go to record stores and diners and swimming in the pond behind his house. They have an absolute blast role-playing ex-best friends while becoming best friends, all the while, Will’s fondness growing exponentially every time they share breath. They spend nights at each other’s houses, they talk for hours, they read together, they listen to music together—Will even get’s a little bit into metal, even though it’s not totally his vibe. Weeks and weeks pass—then months. They know everything about each other like the backs of each other’s hands. Will’s friends start making comments about it—Mike especially—and light-heartedly complain that Will is “replacing” them when that is certainly not the case.

They could never be replaced.

But being around Gareth is like magic, up until the moment it’s not.

“Hey… can I talk to you about something?”

Famous last words, but Will is so full of pizza and so content with his back pressed into Gareth’s bed, head resting lightly against the outside of the boy’s knee, that he doesn’t quite grasp the connotation.

He wishes he had—that there had been warning.

“Sure.”

“So… after the earthquake—”

Will should’ve known then and there this was headed in a foul direction, but he was none-the-wiser. He was still half-engrossed in Emily Dickinson, who had grown to be his absolute favorite poet over the last few months.

“Eddie told me everything that happened. And he told me what happened to you.”

This is where it hits him. Will jerks away from Gareth’s knee like it’s scalding, hurt painting over his face as it all crashes over him.

None of this has been any different.

“Will?”

“Are you serious?” Will asks, horror growing in his chest, in his tone. Gareth’s face screws up, a look Will knows all too well—a look he only sports when he’s thoroughly confused.

He must be stupid—Will’s reaction shouldn’t be confusing to him at all.

“I just wanted—”

Everything is tainted. The way Gareth looks at him, acts with him, the way he chose Will out of everyone from that stupid table that first day of Hellfire—he knew. The whole time.

Will is some pathetic charity case who needed a real friend. And he let Will think, this entire time, that he actually liked Will for himself. Not because Will desperately needed to be liked, not because they were bonded by some shared hell, not because Will had suffered, but because Gareth liked him.

It had all been a lie.

“How could you?” Will asks, shakily. He feels tears gathering in his eyes, and he hates himself for it. Now he’s gonna cry like the broken, traumatized baby he really is. The one Gareth has always seen in him. He’s just proving a fucking point.

That’s all he ever does.

“How could I—”

“I can’t believe I let myself be another fucking charity case,” Will hisses, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand as he scrambles to his feet. Gareth seizes his wrist.

“Will—”

Will’s stronger than Gareth—he doesn’t look it, but there’s a lot of muscle beneath his clothes. He makes sure of it—he doesn’t wanna be the victim of anyone or anything ever again. He wrenches his wrist out of the boy’s grasp, pointing at him accusingly with the other.

“You. Suck,” Will snaps, doing his best not to yell. He doesn’t wanna get worked up enough that Gareth sees just how deeply this has stricken him, and part of him, a naive part of him, hates how devastated Gareth already looks. “I can’t believe I thought you actually liked me. I’m so fucking stupid.”

And with that, he snatches his bag up off the floor, and gets the hell out of there.

It’s only when he’s home, past his mom and his brother, and in his bedroom with the door shut tight, that he crawls into his closet and muffles his sobs with his teeth bared into a sweatshirt.

Heartbroken.

“Hello?”

“Don’t hang up!” Will should absolutely hang up. It’s been three days of nothing—avoiding Gareth at school, refusing to speak to him, neglecting to answer the phone even when he was nearest to it.

And now, just when it so happened that nobody else was home, Gareth was on the other end of the line.

“I should so hang up,” Will snaps, already angry. He didn’t wanna be reminded. He’s been so fucked up the last few days, it’s almost like Gareth dumped him. In a way, he kind of did. Or, Will did.

Whatever, the details aren’t important. What’s important is that Gareth lied to him. Extensively.

“Listen—I need to talk to you, but I wanna do it in person, okay? Please—just ten minutes of your time, and if it’s not fixed, I’ll never talk to you again. Except at Hellfire. But that’s it! Okay?” Will wishes he had the balls to say fuck no, but it’s too difficult. He allotted months of his life to Gareth, and as much as he hates it, can attribute a ton of his recent healing to him. Being carefree and spending time with Gareth had been exactly what he needed most days to get out of his own head, to stop thinking about things that couldn’t be helped.

A breath of fresh night air, one might say.

Looking back at that now makes Will nauseous, but he swallows it down. He doesn’t exactly want his and Gareth’s time being good friends to forever be tainted by the fact that it had all been out of pity, but Will doesn’t know what he could possibly say to make that better. He sighs into the phone.

“Get here ASAP. And ten minutes is all you get!”

“Sir yes sir!”

“Thank you for letting me talk,” Gareth says. Will crosses his arms over his chest. He’s got no intentions of letting Gareth step foot over the threshold, and Gareth seems to be able to tell.

“Ten minutes,” he says firmly, and Gareth nods quickly.

“The first thing I should’ve done when we started hanging out is tell you I knew about the Upside Down,” he says quickly, and yeah, he’s got that fucking right. “I’m really sorry that I hid that from you—I guess I didn’t think you’d wanna talk about it, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have talked about it. I’m sorry.”

“Decent start,” Will says begrudgingly.

“Second, I did not choose you as my D&D partner because I felt bad for you,” Gareth says, and then his face get’s all screwy, and he starts shifting his weight back and forth, like whatever he needs to say is really hard for him to say. He looks left, and then down at his shoes, and then crosses his arms over his chest and let’s out a breath he’d been holding—

“Spit it out.”

“I thought you were cute!” he says, all his words running together, so much so that it takes Will a second to process what he’s even just said, “And I wanted to hang out with you and I thought that if our D&D characters shared a backstory then we’d spend a lot of time together and I’d be able to make a move but I felt bad about making a move knowing stuff about you you hadn’t shared with me so that night I wanted to kiss you so bad but I wanted to talk about what I knew first so that I wasn’t kissing you and then bringing up your childhood trauma because that wouldn’t be smooth at all, but then I messed everything up and—”

Will’s not sure what happens to his body. First of all, he’s absolutely floored at the notion that he wasn’t a charity case or anywhere near that at all—this boy was attracted to him and wanted to be around him. That’s so far out in left-field it’s practically a home run. Second—Gareth likes him? Like that? In small-town, middle-of-nowhere Hawkins, Indiana, a cute boy likes him? And it’s not Mike Wheeler, feelings-denier extraordinaire, or someone Will would rather eat glass than hang around with?

God, it’s Gareth?

He completely loses track of his ability to command his own body—he steps forward, puts both hands around Gareth’s face, and kisses him right on the mouth to shut him the hell up. Will’s never kissed anyone in his life, save for one girl in California, just to prove his own disinterest, but he makes it work. Gareth certainly doesn’t seem to be complaining, the way his arms move securely around Will’s waist and he kisses back with fervor.

They break, both void of breath. The kiss wasn’t exactly long, but all the excitement has Will’s ribs heaving. He presses his forehead into Gareth’s, blushing like crazy and avoiding the eye-contact Gareth’s trying to prompt from him.

“You’re such an idiot,” Will manages between breaths.

“Kiss me again.”

“Definitely.”

It was only a few weeks later that things started getting bad again, but they were heavenly weeks of sneaking around, sharing looks when no one was paying attention, and kissing in dark corners. Will started feeling whole again, like the places and things that the Upside Down had stolen from him were things that Gareth could replace, curling up on couches with him, meeting his mom, holding his hand, and treating him like someone who was already whole.

And though he wished, ached to ignore the warning signs, he told Gareth immediately when The Mind Flayer felt like it was slithering closer, lifting the hairs on the back of his neck and tugging at the corners of his mind.

And Gareth had been there, as fresh as summer night air in his lungs, all the way until the end.

#will byers #greatwise #stranger things #fluff #hurt/comfort #angst #gareth emerson #gareth x will #fanfiction #fic #fic rec #ficlet #gertrude stein #emily dickinson #poetry #friends to lovers #lgbtq #gay

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kennahjune · 1 year ago

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An Idea That’s Been Brewing Around My Head For A While Now

Stepbrothers Steve Harrington and Gareth Emerson. Steve’s mom finally realizing how much of a dick her husband is and finally divorcing him. Steve being very happy about it but also not knowing what to really do now because he was their main source of income.

Or maybe there’s some real shit there and Steve’s dad dies somehow. Maybe to something upside down related. Idk. Either way— Steve and Cynthia move to the trailer park because Richard is gone.

And Cynthia picks up a new job at the bank and meets Craig Emerson— Gareth’s dad. And they hit off really nicely and Steve is honestly just happy that his moms finally able to be happy again.

Gareth isn’t as open for a while but as he finally meet Cynthia he starts to warm up and is happy that his dads happy.

Until Cynthia and Craig get serious about each other and Steve and Gareth have to meet each other. Then it’s only a matter of minutes until they hate each other.

Well— Steve’s more than ok with Gareth. He’d seen him quite a few times over the summer whenever Eddie Munson would stop by Scoops. But Gareth has a problem with Steve from high school.

But obviously they end up warming up to each other in the end. And it’s a delight to Gareth to find out that Steve carts around 5 kids and keeps in touch with 2 others. He’s like the Ultimate Mom (TM) and Gareth finds absolute joy in teasing him.

And maybe Gareth is dragged into the Upside down with Steve and Eddie and we get a side of Steddie.

Idk. Steve and Gareth being related has me in a chokehold lol

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cielie-voss · 1 year ago

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A will to live.

~Gareth x Henderson!Reader

Summary: the world's been crashing down on y/n Henderson again. Her brother was desperately looking for help from one of his sister's best friend, Gareth.

Warning: depression, self doubt, bad jokes, cringe pet names.

If you want to be tagged in coming fanfics or if you want to request something, feel free to send me a dm or an ask. 🥰 Likes, comments and especially reblogs are always welcome. 🤗

Song mentioned is Metal Health (bang your head) by Quiet Riot. Absolutely recommend listening to that song.

Masterlist

Once again the world seemed to weigh me down. Sunken in a swamp, surrounded by negative thoughts, self doubt and hopelessness. My body felt empty, numb, but my head was buzzing with racing thoughts. So many and so fast, even if I tried to catch them, they slipped out of my hands like smoke and vanished.

I pushed the door open and as soon as it closed behind me with a click, a sigh left my body from deep down. My tensed shoulders relaxed and slumped down, my back pack glided to the ground. Plomp.

Lazy I kicked my shoes into the corner and threw my jacket on the hanger. Luckily it stuck to one of the hooks. Otherwise I could've prepared myself to be awfully bawled out by my mum.

"Hey, Y/N! You're pretty late! You hungry?" My brother's voice echoed from the kitchen but barely reached my ears as I instantly put on my headphones I dug out my bag.

"Okay?!" He mouthed as he watched me prowl into my room. With furrowed brows he followed me.

Mother says that I never never mind her, Got no brains I'm insane, Teacher says that I′m one big pain, Kevin's voice fought forcefully against the buzzing voices in my mind, overstimulated my brain, encapsulated myself from the world around me.

The door slammed shut behind me and before I could notice, my body plumped down on my bed and buried itself in the blankets and pillows.

"Dude, what happened at school?" Dustin hissed through the phone.

"I don't know, man. Only thing I know is, she and Eddie fought over some shit and Eddie left. Something about next Saturday." Gareth ran his hands through his stubborn hair, pacing back and forth after Dustin told him about his best friends not so well-being.

"Next Saturday?" Dustin repeated.

"Yeah, next Saturday. Why?"

Dustin rubbed his face, leaned back and peeked his head through the doorway, making sure my door was closed.

"Yeah, our mom's birthday." Dustin sighed. "Mom is kinda … putting her under pressure and mocking her because she is still single. No boy would like her and bla bla, you know? Y/N said she had a date for moms birthday. I suspected she was trying to prove herself to mom. Never thought she was going to ask Eddie. That would've scared the shit outta Mom, kinda revenge for the way Mom treated her."

"And Eddie didn't want to go.", Gareth added. "And with that he somewhat confirmed her concerns and self doubt."

"Does she even want me to come?" Gareth broke the silence.

"Y/N?" Dustin's voice shrilled through the hallway.

"No." I screeched back.

"Do you want Gareth to come over?"

"No!"

"Okay!" He turned back to the phone and whispered "God, please come over."

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes. Just gotta do the groceries first. Does she need anything?"

Carefully Dustin opened my door and stepped inside.

"He needs to go grocery shopping first, do you need something?" Dustin repeated Gareth’s question.

"A will to live.", I groaned before turning back into my fort of pillows, blankets and plushies.

"Okay, got it.", he said to Dustin through the phone and hung up. Dustin knelt down next to my bed, a worried expression on his face. "He'll be here in no time, promise.", he said and gently ruffled my hair before he left my room.

To silence the thoughts in my head and distract my busy mind I turned on the TV. With the sound of a random game show in the background, I crawled out of bed and started to do anything. Sorting my socks, carrying my stack of books from one place to another, cutting dried leaves from my plants, carrying the stack of books again across my room only to realize some moments later that they’re in my way again. Completely powerless I let my arms drop in defeat, realizing I’m in a never ending circle. A sigh escaped my lips and I simply sat down on my floor, overwhelmed by everything around me.

Without me noticing it, the doorbell rang and Dustin let Gareth in.

“Thank god.”, Dusting said, relieved to see his friend.

“Is she in her room?” My brother nodded and stepped aside to let Gareth past him.

As Gareth stepped into my room, he found me crouched down on the floor, the game show still playing in the background.

“Hey, Y/N/N.”, he sat down next to me, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “Sadly they ran out of fresh will to live this morning, but I got something similar for you.”

His joke, even if unintended, brought a soft smile on my lips. He leaned to his side, digging in his bag. With curiosity glimmering in my wide eyes, I leaned forward, trying to see what he got there. But as I leaned forward he tried to cover his bag with his body, as if he didn’t want me to see what’s in there. I pressed my back against my bed again in defeat, waiting for him to show me what he got.

“Okay, so here we have some chocolate.” He placed the stack of different kinds of chocolate in front of me. Chocolate bars with nuts, with caramel, dried fruits, dark chocolate, with cookies. “And if that’s not the right will to live, I got some crackers too.” The pile of chocolate was upgraded by some packs of crackers. “And if that isn’t enough, I’ve got ice cream and sodas too. And some warheads.” He placed the rest on the mountain of wills to live and looked at me. “Wanna start with the ice cream?”

Baffled by the amount of sweets he got, it took me a second to nod.

“Yeah. Sure, ice cream is great.”, I stammered. “Let me get us some spoons.” As I got up to get the spoons, he got up too and arranged my pillows and blankets so that we could comfortably sit on my bed.

With two spoons in hand i got back to my room, Gareth already found his place on my bed, the pile of snacks and sodas carefully sorted in front of him.

“You want cookie dough or cherry garcia?” As I plumped down next to him, I grabbed the cherry garcia one and handed him his spoon. For some minutes we just sat there, eating our ice cream and looking at the TV from time to time when the music indicated something exciting would happen. I was halfway through my cup of ice as he carefully asked “You wanna talk?”

For a second I froze, sorting my mind, deciding where to start. “I don’t know.”, I declared hesitantly.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I can simply sit here right next to you, you know?”

I let out a sigh, rubbed my feet nervously against each other like a cricket. “Lately it’s been simply too much for me.”

“What?”, he wanted to know, cocked his head and looked at me.

“I don’t know. Everything.”, I shrugged and looked at him. “Simply everything is too much. Waking up. Going to school. Talk to people. Hear them talking bullshit about me. About you and Eddie and Jeff and … I can’t stand this anymore. I don’t know. I’m just so overwhelmed by everything right now. I feel like no one likes me. Neither my friends, nor my family. You know what? Mom always tells me after I get something else but an A+ 'I guess your brother got all the good brain cells'. Like what mother says that? I’m scared of the future. Where will I end up? I don’t even know what I wanna do after school! Mom wants me to go study somewhere. But what if I don’t want to study? What if I just want to get a simple job? But what kind of job would I wanna do? I don’t know.” The more I let my thoughts out unfiltered, the more my eyes filled with tears. I sniffed as I continued.

“I know so much, but why do I don’t know what I want? I don’t even really know who I am anymore! And I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me but everything just doesn’t feel right and I have no idea how to change that!” I ran my fingers through my hair and wiped away the few tears that rolled down my cheek.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry.”

“Please don’t ever apologize for crying again, okay?” Gently he grabbed my chin and turned my face towards him. “And there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with you, not even close. It’s okay that you don’t know yet what you wanna do. There is so much time to figure it out, you know? You are a teenager, how are you supposed to know how you wanna spend the rest of your life?” He looked at me with his big round eyes, boring into my soul.

“Come here.” Gareth took my cup of ice cream and set it aside with his. Like a warm and soft blanket, he wrapped his arms around me, held me tight and gently stroked my hair. I melted into this embrace, my head pressed against his chest, my fingers clasped around the woolen fabric of his flannel. The steady pounding of his heart had a soothing impact on me. It’s hard to explain, but I kind of felt safe.

“You just have to test out what you think you would like to do, you know? And if you don’t like it, try something else until you find something you like.”

“You’re right. And I absolutely hate to admit that.”, I groaned, as I buried my face in his chest.

“I know.”, he laughed and gently squeezed me tighter.

"And we do like you. Very much to be honest. Sometimes even more than your little, idiot brother."

"Liar." I grumbled and buried my face deeper into his chest, inhaling his scent, feeling his heartbeat.

"I would be lying if I told you I don't like you the most out of all of us." His giggles were vibrating through his chest.

It took me a second to comprehend what he just said. But when I understood, a wave of a warm, unknown feeling washed over me. I tried to press my arms against him to push me away from him so I could look at him properly.

"Wait, what did you just say?"

Even though I tried to push me away with all my strength, his strong arms held me close to his body, squeezed me against him. "Oh, nothing. And now come here my little snuggle-puggle."

"Snuggle-puggle? Oh my god, now I know you're completely insane!" I laughed out, but hugged him tighter as the new feeling of warmth spread through my whole body, painting a soft smile around my lips.

xxx

Thank you for reading! 🫶 If you want to be tagged in coming fanfics or if you want to request something, feel free to send me a dm or an ask. 🥰 Likes, comments and especially reblogs are always welcome. 🤗

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1lostsoul0fishbowl · 11 months ago

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Half-formed ficlet idea: Gareth and El doing homework together (perhaps on a rainy Saturday morning, just like today). El is struggling and starts to spiral a bit, wishing she could just be “normal” and “not stupid”, and by the time Gareth looks up from whatever he was absorbed in she’s crying while unconsciously scratching at the tattoo on her wrist as if trying to scrape it off. He immediately grabs her hands in his, holding them against his chest, against his heart, not saying a word but simply letting her count each beat while she tries to catch her breath and calm down. He presses the gentlest of little kisses against her wrist. Then he picks up his pen and draws a heart around the tiny 011, and writes more numbers above it: 143. What does that mean, she asks him, and he answers, it means I love you. It’s the number of letters in each word. Numbers don’t always have to be a bad thing.

#greatmage #el hopper #gareth emerson #losty headcanons #deleted scene?#comfort #fluff #schmoopies #143 means i love you

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little-annie · 2 years ago

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All I Want | Ch8

Steddie | Little_Annie | Ao3

Ch.7 ⤵️

---

Eddie's POV

There's skin on his, soft, warm, a palm on his cheek and heat searing into his flesh.

It feels like sunshine.

The sun's bright. Golden. Rays of liquid honey streaming through the dust of the air.

There's weight in his lap. Steady. Rocking. Grinding. His body sings with a warmth of euphoria and need, a flicker of fire in his veins and roll of ecstasy through his bones.

Breath beats like a symphony in his ear, rough, raspy. Beautiful. Akin to an orchestra by the stars. It sings so sweet and settles in his soul.

The air's bright with light when lips meet his own. Gasps falling on his tongue and breath flooding his lungs, he can feel the cling of a hand in his hair and nails on the skin of his back. Scraping, scratching, branding like a scar to his very being.

The moment's passionate, intimate. So much so that his nerves pulse with a flutter and a heat that rolls through his veins, settling like butterflies to the rear of his lungs. A flutter that feels like wings, from the very beings that spread beauty through the world. Bringing life to flowers, bright and beautiful with the help of the sun.

A nose brushing his own when lips part for a breath, there's a palm to his cheek, soft, warm, heat searing into flesh. There's words whispered into the heat of the air between them, "You're my everything, Eds."

It feels like something else, like three words left unspoken but known to be true. Three words left to settle along with that flutter in his chest.

The light's bright, gold and glowing, speckled like the stars in the sky when he pulls back and tries to get a glimpse of the man in front of him.

A shiver runs down his spine and there's a flash of white in his eyes before everything fades back to reality.

He's still there. Sat on the hood of Steve Harrington's BMW with the man's hand on his cheek and the sting of a cut on his brow.

The first thing he sees is the honey of Steve's eyes and the golden glow of his speckled skin.

There's an ache in his chest, a pull in his gut and an all encompassing want. It's painful. Dreadful and riddled with a piercing sense of longing. It's unbearable.

Burning like a brand on his cheek remains Steve's hand. Hot and searing. Iron melting flesh. The need that accompanies the action is too much.

Eddie grits his teeth and turns away.

It's too much.

It's too much even as Steve whispers his apologies, takes a step back and leaves Eddie with the urge to follow. To reach his hands out and pull Steve Harrington into his chest with a crash.

A crash that would without a doubt shatter Eddie. Pulling Steve's body into his fragile bones and pushing them to splinter with the force behind it.

It's inevitable that he'd come out of it broken. Shattered to pieces of rubble and debris. Turned to nothing but a pile of wreckage.

But he wants to reach out and risk the devastation. Take the chance, the absurd, miniscule possibility that things wouldn't burst into flames upon impact. That maybe they'd flourish. That maybe they'd burst into love and light and sunshine and give way for a beauty so rare that few find it.

But he can't.

So he doesn't.

Instead he grits his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut until they hurt. Until all he can see are the flashes of stars against a dark shy. The vast blackness behind his eyelids shielding him from the absurdity of finding sunshine in one Steve Harrington.

Because that's all it is.

Absurd.

It's a thought that should have never had the grace to enter Eddie's mind and make a home in the cracks and crevices of his being. A thought that should have been eradicated upon first notice.

Because his want of Steve Harrington is absurd.

It's ridiculous.

It's laughable.

It's insane that even for a moment Eddie entertains it.

Because he shouldn't.

He fucking can't.

—

Steve's POV

They stand there in silence for a while. The rustle of the leaves and the quiet rasp of Eddie's breath the only sound to be heard. Steve still stings with the need and want to reach out and feel Eddie beneath his fingertips, to feel the warmth of pale skin and the scratch of stubble under his palm. But he resists.

Eddie keeps his eyes trained to the side as he whispers a 'thanks' and finds a bandaid to press to his own skin, stretching it over his brow and another over his cheek.

Against all instinct, Steve gives the man his space. Not giving into the deep seeded need to inspect Eddie's entire body for any unseen damage. He's sure it's there, it's blatantly obvious by the wince the man lets go as he slips from the car's hood to settle his feet on the ground. It's a hardly concealed thing when Eddie's knee buckles and he catches himself with a hand on the car.

Steve wants nothing more than to reach out and hold him.

But he can't.

He can't, so he distracts himself by putting the first aid kit back in the car, taking the time to suck in a grounding breath and count to three maybe a few more times than necessary.

It's only when he hears Eddie's voice that he's able to steel himself and move back to the front of the car, "I'm- uh, I'm gonna head back in… T-thanks again, for, you know, patching me up." He gestures with a ring clad hand to his face with a tight lipped smile and hunched anxious shoulders.

Looking at the man and the obvious exhaustion that's settled deep into his bones, Steve can't help but think that Eddie should go home. He should go home and lay in bed and let Steve take care of him. Let him hold an ice pack to his sore knee and let him kiss every bump, every bruise, every impending scar.

Steve shuffles uncomfortably, trying to meet Eddie's eye as he asks, "You sure you don't just wanna go home? I- I can drive you."

It's a dangerous thing to ask, mostly for the fact that Steve knows it'd hurt like hell to leave. To drive away and know Eddie's in the trailer alone, tending to his wounds without someone by his side.

Eddie shakes his head and Steve watches as a mask of nonchalance slips over his face. Once scared eyes shift to something indecipherable and finally meet Steve's, Eddie speaks, tone level and teasing, "I'll be fine Harrington. Plus, I wouldn't want to disappoint those kids of yours, now would I?"

There's something like a smirk teasing Eddie's broken lip when he turns around and heads for the school not bothering to wait for a response. Trying to disguise a limp and his anxiety that's so blatantly obvious to Steve, Eddie walks away, never once chancing a look back to the man following close behind.

Back inside, walking through the doors of the drama room, it falls silent. The chatter stops and the kids twist their heads around to look while Gareth stands with worry in his eyes as he takes in what he now knows to be an injured man before him, "Ed, man, you alright?"

Eddie continues into the room with a self-deprecating laugh, "I'll be fine Garbear. Just those fuckin' Bible Thumpin' Jocks again."

It's just an act, the humour, the carelessness, the way Eddie plasters on a smile like he hadn't just gotten the shit kicked out of him less than an hour ago. Steve wonders if anyone else notices. Notices the slightly too wide smile, the scared eyes, the way that fake grin slips the second Eddie's lips are out of sight. Notices the poorly constructed mask Eddie's been known to hide himself behind.

Gareth probably does. He's always been attentive like that and by the look of concern still creasing the man's face, Steve's sure he does.

Steve tries to not think too much about it as he settles in for the evening. Falling into the chair where he sat no less than a couple months ago, tucked away in the corner. He takes in his surroundings, the familiarity of it all. He thinks back to the first time he sat in this chair, how he was just as sceptical as anyone else, there purely for the fact to keep an eye on his kids.

He never expected to fall in love. Especially not with Eddie Munson of all people.

But he did.

He did and now he sits here watching Eddie introduce himself to the kids as if it's the first time, a genuine smile and bright eyes as he welcomes them to Hellfire with a flourish.

Gareth and the guys pretend to do the same, shaking Dustin's, Mike's and Lucas' hands, sharing smiles of their own.

Steve's thankful for them.

They weren't part of the fray lost to the vastness of Eddie's mind, but they were more than willing to help Steve and the kids reenter the man's life.

He'd grown fond of them in the last year and was glad to have them as support along the way for whatever was to come next.

Next being the very real possibility that things may never be the same as they were a couple months ago.

Next being the very real possibility that Eddie may never fully recover.

That Eddie, for all Steve knows, may never love him again.

Never hold him again.

Never call him Sweetheart or Love or Sunshine ever again.

Steve shudders a breath and tries to will away his spiral as shuffles in his chair, trying to find comfort in the loneliness he feels weighed down by. He wishes he could be sat next to Eddie. Sat next to the man he loves and longs for once again. Sat next to the man with a hand in his own and words of endearment whispered against the shell of his ear.

Watching the introductions and handshakes come to a close, Steve settles in for what feels to be a long night.

Shifting in his own chair Eddie twists with a wince to see Steve sat away from the group. His brows furrow and he looks like he's mulling something over before he speaks. Tone calm and maybe a little nervous, he invites Steve over with a crick of his neck, "Harrington, you patched me up man. I'm not gonna make you sit in the corner."

With a flutter in his chest Steve nods, flashes a tight lipped smile as pulls his chair closer to the group, choosing to sit between Dustin and Eddie.

He can allow himself this he thinks, being sat so close to the man he loves, relishing in the smell of Eddie's cologne, breathing it in like a drug, hoping it'll sustain him until the next time they see each other.

Struggling to keep his eyes elsewhere and not locked onto the man next to him, Steve snags Dustin's character sheet, the young boy squawking in protest. Holding the paper in his lap, pretending he understands anything that's written down, Steve skims the page. It's not a moment later that he feels Eddie's eyes on him.

"What?" He asks curiously, quietly, voice just above a whisper, looking to his right to find Eddie with his big beautiful eyes and rosy cheeks staring right at him.

Eddie coughs into his fist, ripping his gaze away from Steve and mutters a quiet, choked out, "Nothing."

On the other side of the table Steve watches as Eddie's friends whisper back and forth, Gareth suddenly jumping with a yelp as Eddie most likely kicks him in the shin with a hissed and not so quiet, "Shut. Up."

Their evening continues like so. Eddie's friends antagonising the poor guy over lord know what, the man himself sending Gareth what Steve knows to be a weightless death glare and the kids having the time of their life. It's in those moments that Steve watches Eddie's once plastered on and calculated grin turn into something unbridled and beautiful. Something he remembers falling in love with.

It's in those moments that Steve drinks in every ounce of Eddie Munson that he's allowed.

He thinks back to the start of everything. Their everything. To when he first brought the kids to Hellfire and sat in the corner for what felt like weeks, watching Eddie from afar, falling more and more in love with the man by the minute. The manic energy, the glimmer in his eye, the way he voiced every character and planned his campaigns out to a 'T'.

Those memories run like a reel through his mind as Eddie does much the same. Granted he's a little slower and wincing in pain every so often as he tries to act out the motions of a very boisterous bar keep that the adventurers have encountered, but he's still a beautiful thing to watch.

Again Steve finds his eyes tracing the figure before him. The animated movements, the way Eddie's lip twitches with a smile when he has something hidden up his sleeve. The rosy hue to his cheeks, the sharp look in his eye, the way, when Steve looks long enough those dark eyes meet his own.

He's sure he's staring, but at the moment he can't bring himself to care.

–

An hour and a burning vastness in his chest later, Steve watches as the guys pack up and Eddie has a quiet conversation with the kids at the door. Dustin's beaming, Lucas' eyes are wide and Mike has a greatly out of character grin spreading across his face.

Whatever it is that they're talking about, Steve's sure he'll hear about it on the way home.

It's nearly dark when they make it outside, the sky a wash of pinks and oranges, fading to black. The doors to the school crash against brick walls with a bang as Dustin flings them open with a flourish. There's chatter and laughter and Steve's heart soars with the familiarity of it all.

Through the chaos he can make out Eddie's laughter, the rasp and roll of his words as he struggles to sputter out something in reaction to whatever it was that Dustin's said.

Nostalgic is what comes to mind when warmth fills Steve's chest and he savours the sound as it meets his ears. He hasn't heard Eddie's laughter in over a month and the realisation of the fact is shattering in its own way.

Shattering much like the happiness in this moment that they've created when the sounds of a window breaking trickles into the air.

The group falls silent, halting in their tracks as they try to single out the source of the sound. Maybe it's the years of monster hunting, the trauma that it's caused, but Steve can see how the kids are on high alert, ready and waiting for the worst case scenario. Even if it was just a few weeks ago El confirmed that the Upside Down had essentially imploded, they're still on the ready for the 'what if'.

But the source proves itself soon enough as three silhouettes run out from behind Eddie's van and down the street to a parked sedan, jumping in with haste and squealing their tires on their abrupt getaway.

Anger fills his chest and he wishes he would have done something more than just stand there and watch. But maybe it was the relief that it was people and not monsters that left his feet rooted to the steps of Hawkins High.

But than a gutted whisper comes from behind him, a breathless, broken, "What the fuck?"

He turns to see Eddie, the joy that'd finally found its way to his face is gone and it's like he doesn't even have the energy to pull on a mask as he stands there in shock. Brows furrowed, eyes glassy, he doesn't move for a moment, not until Steve watches Gareth clasp his shoulder and offer a comforting squeeze.

It's a slow, cautious thing from there, Eddie making his way to the van, Gareth and the guys in tow as Steve tells the kids to get in the car with a hardly audible hiss.

The kids are quiet, concerned and the look on Dustin's face nearly breaks his heart. Steve ruffles the kid's hair, trying to offer some reassurance before he ducks into the car and Steve finds himself moving to join the four that now stand with shattered glass at their feet next to Eddie's van.

Eddie's still speechless, it's a stark comparison to how Steve knows him normally to be. Though that's not to say he hasn't seen the man in silence before; contemplative, considering, content. But Steve's never seen this. The devastation, the exhaustion. The way Eddie begins to shake and he brings clenched fists to wrap around his waist while still remaining silent.

Steve wants to say something, wants to reach out and take those tightly clasped hands in his own and soothe. He wants to be the voice of reason and reassurance. But he can't.

He can't so he looks to Gareth with pleading eyes for him to do something, say something.

The man shares a glance and Steve watches as Gareth's hand tightens on Eddie's shoulder and the eldest man chokes out a whisper of, "Gar I - I can't afford this."

In the meantime the other guys are silent, surveying the wreckage before them and slowly beginning to wander with cautious steps over broken glass and what Steve can see to be a can of spray paint on the other side of the van.

He bristles at the sight and hopes to anyone that's listening that Eddie doesn't round the driver's side to see the remaining damage. It's obvious by the look on Jeff's face that it isn't anything good.

The younger man who he's only grown to know in the last year moves to stand at his side. Eyeing Eddie to ensure he doesn't overhear, Jeff leans nearer and whispers, "Both driver side tires are slashed and they spray painted 'Murderer' across the whole side."

Steve's stomach plummets but all he's able to offer in response is a nod.

The guys don't know about all the shit that went down, but Steve knows they believed Eddie's innocence from the beginning. They're good guys and great friends to Eddie and even after profusely apologising for being a prick all throughout high-school, Steve still feels guilty when in their presence. Even after Eddie lost his memory, they still treated Steve as one of their own. Maybe they didn't check on him in the last weeks, but from Wayne, he knows they've at least asked about him. Offered their help.

Plus, he's sure at the very least that Gareth has an inkling as to what he and Eddie have been up to in the last year. He's never said anything, but Steve's sure the man knows something, if the sideways glances, eye rolls and teasing smiles are anything to go by.

After a moment Steve finally speaks, "Just, uh, don't let him see it okay?"

Jeff offers a tight lipped grimace, shares a sad glance and nods to where Eddie and Gareth are standing a few feet in front of them, "You able to take him home? I would man, but I've got the other two plus a shit ton of band gear." There's a quiet self deprecating laugh before he adds, "We hardly fit Gareth in the back."

"Y- yeah. Not a problem. I'll uh, I'll just go let the kids know."

Jeff's nods and makes his way to the guys at the same time Steve's turns to go back to the car. He can see the concern on their faces as he approaches. Upon opening the door and bending to cock his head into the cab, he's met with Dustin's immediate inquiry, "What happened?"

He contemplates lying, telling them it's nothing, but these kids have seen enough shit, something like this won't bother them too much. It's just unfortunate. "I think the same guys who beat him up trashed the van too. Broken windows, slashed tires, Jeff said there's some spray paint on the other side." He doesn't know what else to say for a moment, not until Lucas speaks up, asking, "There anything we can do to help?"

To that Steve nods, asks them to cram into the back and lets them know that they're taking Eddie home. Normally asking Dustin to vacate the passenger seat would be a fight, but he goes willingly, though be it scrambling over the seat instead of using the door.

Making his way towards the four standing near the van, Steve watches Jeff lean in and speak to Eddie, the older man looking to his friend with a confused expression and furrowed brows, but as Jeff nods and cricks his head in Steve's direction, he can't help the swell of warmth in his chest seeing the look in Eddie's eyes. There's confusion, but there's warmth and something he's yet to decipher.

"You sure Harrington?" Eddie asks, sounding just a touch breathless and all the bit exhausted.

Steve nods, looks towards the car where the kids seem to be arguing in the back seat, pushing and shoving when he's sure he hears Dustin yelp.

"Yeah Munson. Now get in before Dustin decides to commandeer the front seat and you're stuck in the back with those two."

—

They're about a mile down the road and Eddie hasn't moved an inch from where he settled with his head against the glass and his shoulders curled inward, arms wrapped around his waist, hiding his face behind a veil of dark curls.

The kids are quiet, uncharacteristically so, reduced to whispers and shared glances. Many times through the rearview mirror does Steve catch their concerned expressions sent in Eddie's direction, especially so when they quietly vacate the vehicle one by one.

Once the kids are gone and the car's even further filled with uncomfortable silence, Steve regrets his earlier decision to not bother putting in a tape when they left the school. The silence and the faint, occasional sniffle from Eddie's side of the vehicle is too much. He wants nothing more than to reach out, lay his palm on Eddie's thigh and squeeze. Just something simple, let him know that he's there if he needs him. But he can't.

He can't, so he does something that he knows at the very least will distract Eddie. Keeping his eyes on the road, Steve blindly digs through the centre console, eventually coming out with a tape in hand. With little struggle he ejects what was in the player, not bothering to look at it as he pops in his 'Tears For Fears' cassette.

Thirty seconds into the first song and Steve hears a snort come from the other man. He can't help the warmth that fills his chest at the sound.

"'Course you listen to Tears For Fears." Eddie huffs to the glass of the window, his smirk left visible through the reflection looking back at him.

Steve smiles to himself, feeling warmth in his chest, knowing at least in this moment he's making Eddie feel something other than dread.

The first song plays through and when the cassette reaches 'Head Over Heels,' Steve can't help but snicker, "Guess I'm Head Over Heels for Tears For Fears."

Eddie snorts a laugh and sits up enough to lull his head to the side to face Steve. His cheeks are rosy and his eyes are rimmed red but Steve can't help but think he's still beautiful.

They're silent for a while, a few more songs playing through while Steve obnoxiously taps his fingers to the beat trying to pull another smile out of Eddie. He's successful after a moment and it's then that Steve builds the confidence to finally ask what's been wearing on him since earlier in the evening, "Hey, um, back at the school you'd said something about 'it's just the Bible Thumping Jocks again'."

Eddie's eyes search the side of Steve's face for a moment, he can feel them settle as he continues to drive and Eddie asks cautiously, "What about it Harrington?"

"This happen to you a lot?"

There's a contemplative hum from the passenger seat and in the same instant the tape turns to silence, Eddie answers, "Nothing like the van, but yeah. Getting the shit beat out of me is a pretty regular occurrence."

Steve hums in response, it's nothing he doesn't know, when he and Eddie were together he'd been told as much, but still, he can't help but ask, "Lately?"

While Eddie worries his cheek and he chances another look at Steve, gravel begins to crunch under the tires as they turn into the trailer park. It's only when they're pulling up to the Munson home that Eddie answers, something hesitant in his tone, "Been worse since I got out of the hospital."

Steve nods, slowing the car to a stop and throwing it in park before he responds with a faint, "Sorry."

Sitting in front of the Munson trailer with Eddie quiet and at his side, Steve tries his hardest to not let his emotions get the best of him. He tries to not think of the hundreds of times he's been here before. Not the date's, not the kisses shared on the roof in the dead of night, not the times they danced in the kitchen or the umpteen unfortunate occurrences when they got caught on the couch doing the one thing Wayne explicitly asked them not to.

He tries to not think about any of it.

Especially when his chest begins to tighten and he can feel tears beginning to well.

He'd unlocked the door when they pulled up, half expecting Eddie to run for the hills upon the vehicle coming to a stop, but the man stays sat in his passenger seat, looking back at him with something akin to concern in his eyes.

And Steve can't fucking take it. He grits his teeth and tries to reign in his composure, but it damn near crumbles when Eddie so sweetly asks him what's wrong and he has to feign something that's not devastation when he answers, "Nothing ya need t' worry about Munson."

---

Ao3 link ⤵️

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resident-gay-bitch · 2 years ago

Text

My Starboy

summary: Gareth loves Eddie. Always has, and always will. But, his best friend likes girls, and Gareth is content with that… sorta, well, until Chrissy Cunningham comes along and Gareth has to hear all about how great and perfect she is. And everything begins to slowly fall apart, piece by piece… and then it implodes.

- this fic follows the point of view of gareth, primarily, however, deeper into the fic, a select few chapters are from eddie’s point of view.

warnings: mature, swearing, cigarettes, weed, alcohol, graphic conversations about sex, mentions of past underage drinking/drugs/sex?, depression, self deprecation, suicidal themes, a secondary character attempts suicide, blood, alcoholism, mentions of domestic abuse, i don’t know if that’s everything.

16 parts, 46.1 k words

you can find this fic here \/\/\/

ao3:

wattpad: (i like the commenting system, okay?)

you can also find the link to the playlist i curated for this fic, here:

playlist is all period accurate. it’s made up with songs that make a feature in this fic, primarily songs that suit the theme of these two idiots, as well as songs that make me feel gareths angst on a whole other level. all metal and old rock - besides the one beatles song that makes a feature

if you would like to read more fics by me, you can find them all here :)

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darkyuffie-blog · 1 year ago

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You Can Do Better

A Stranger Things ONE SHOT

CW: Mentions of being cheated on. Breakup talk. Brief name calling by the ex towards Tessa. Very mild violence. Brief mention of Alcohol.

As Tessa ran out of the doors of the hideout, fall breeze catching her red hair as she ran, she could only think of Her no ex boyfriend's cruel words ringing in her head. "Been cheating on you for a while babe, think it's time I break this...whatever it has been for the past year off with you. I wanna be with Tina way more than I ever have you." SMACK! she had slapped Andy so hard it left a bright red handprint. Tina went to hit Tessa but with a quick right fist jab to her jaw she hit the floor, Andy yelling out "You stupid bitch! You're sucha sore loser Tess!" and Tessa hit the door running out as fast as her legs would carry her. She slipped into an Ally a block from the Hideout and slid down the wall with her knees pulled to her chest as she finally allowed herself to cry. She felt so humiliated. He did that in front of all of his friends and some of hers to.

~~~~~~~

Corroded Coffin had just finished their set and the guys were all at the bar drinking their free beers. He heard Andy talking back behind him turning around just in time to hear the loud SMACK ring out and a moment later watched Tess slam her fist straight into Tina's smug jaw before she ran out. Eddie, Jeff, and Grant watched it all go down as well. "Fuck Lady Tessara has one hell of a right hook huh. Tina's gonna feel that shit for a week at least." Eddie said from behind Gareth. Gare stood up and took off without a word after Tessa, shooting daggers at Andy who picked up Tina from the floor. She deserved that right hook for whatever had made Tess go off like that. She was usually calmer and more collected unless it came to one of the Hellfire Club getting bullied.

He saw her silhouette down a block disappear into an ally It was dark so he couldn't see her but he knew she was there. He always seemed to know where she was. They had been friends for so long it was like they had an ethereal chain that tethered them to one another. The other always seemed to know when they were having a bad day or if the other was angry. He sighed and called to her as he stepped into the darkness of the Ally. "Tess! Tess come on talk to me I know you're down here sweets..." He took another step forward, waiting for her to respond. She didn't need to be alone right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She heard footsteps nearing the Ally and knew who it was. She heard him turn into it and his voice called to her. She lifted her head when he called her sweets, the nickname he had been calling her since they were twelve. "G...Gare? I'm h...here... by the fence." She heard him walk to her and he sat down beside her. "You wanna tell me what the fuck just happened in there with ass wagon and Tina, Sweets?" She sniffled and looked up at Gareth. It was dark but she knew he looked back at her. The moon giving just enough light to see the shine of his eyes. "Andy... Andy broke up with me and told me he has been fucking Tina for three months..." She sniffled again and more tears fell. Gareth wrapped an arm over her shoulder pulling her against his side lovingly. He hated to see her this way. He loved Tess so much and every time a guy broke her heart, he wanted to break their fucking faces in. "Hey, shh shh, It's okay sweets. I know you were dating a whole year but listen to me. He was a dick Tess. He hated all your friends. He told people you guys fucked even though I know you didn't do more than hand stuff cause you told me so and I know you never fuckin lie t'me. He never tried to be interested in the things you adore. He wouldn't even take you to the dance two months ago and then had the BALLS to get jealous when I took you instead because you didn't deserve to miss it when I know how bad you wanted to go... You had more fun that night than you had the entire year you've been with him sweets... You... You deserve so much better than ANDY." He huffed and kissed her forehead gently.

She giggled a little between sniffles. "Jeez Gare. You're so passionate when you get angry. It's...kinda cute." She smiled up at him the tears finally stopped. It was just her and her favorite person. Everything else in the world didn't even matter now. She reached up intertwining her fingers with the hand that was draped over her shoulder and pressed her cheek against his chest. Calming herself by listening to his breathing and heartbeat. She felt so warm being here like this with him.

"Hey...Remember who you are sweets. You are TESSARA of the light of Eldath. Cleric and Light of Hellfire! In our darkest moments you are there to close our wounds and keep us fighting, and when you need us we are there to lift you back up onto your feet. We have fought through Vecna's army, hoards of orcs, vampires, goblins, kobolds, mind flayers, demogorgons, and even a DRAGON together and when we thought we were surely going to perish you brought us back from the brinks of death. Lady Tessara the brightest light of all of Eldath's chosen." He grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah....you're right! All be damned if I am gonna let some NPCs like Andy and fucking Tina take me down. Hehe I floored her ass with one hit, shows how weak she is huh Gareth the Great?" She giggled and nuzzled her face against his chest with a smile, breathing in his scent. He always smelled like pine needles, rain, and cedar. At least to her anyway and it was a smell she adored. One day she was going to confess her feelings to him but right now, right now she just wanted to stay in this sweet moment with him.

(thanks for reading loves!)

#gareth emerson #stranger things #gareth x oc #fluff #comfort

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potatoesenpaii · 18 days ago

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Me everyday with Gareth 😔

#gareth #gareth stranger things #gwydion lashlee walton #gareth x reader #gareth emerson #prev tags #writing #writer #fanfic #fanfiction #comfort character #fandom

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steddieas-shegoes · 6 months ago

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a lot alike

for @corrodedcoffinfest prompt 'gareth'

rated t | 997 words | cw: mention of shitty parenting | tags: side steddie, gareth and eddie are best friends, post vecna

🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Gareth Emerson is born on July 25th, 1968.

Gareth's parent's divorce is finalized on August 8th, 1968.

Gareth's dad leaves town and never looks back on August 12th, 1968.

***

Eddie Munson is a lot of things, but first and foremost, he's Gareth's best friend. He's more like an older brother at this point, and an annoying one at that.

But he's always there for him, even when things go to absolute shit.

***

On March 29th, 1986, Gareth's dad decides to visit him.

It's not great timing considering the town is in shambles and his best friend is still technically facing murder charges. Steve Harrington says they'll be cleared, but he isn't sure he trusts Steve Harrington much. Robin Buckley backs him up, though, and he had a little bit of a crush on Robin for most of his Freshman year, so he supposes he can find it in himself to trust her.

No one is allowed to see Eddie except for his Uncle Wayne, and Wayne barely leaves his side.

So when Gareth's father comes into town, he doesn't know who to turn to.

Jeff and Frankie would probably be understanding about how confused he is, but they wouldn't get it. Not like Eddie would.

Eddie's dad came and went in his life more times than anyone could count, finally being forced to stay away thanks to a lengthy prison sentence and protective order keeping him away for nearly a decade. He knew what it was like firsthand, and knew Gareth well enough to know that most comforting words wouldn't help.

He's walking up and down the neighborhood, stepping over the cracks that make it seem like the town may splinter into pieces at any second, when Steve Harrington pulls up next to him in his BMW with his window down.

"You wanna go see him?" Steve asks.

"They'll let me in?" Gareth asks back, a little stunned to even see Steve in this part of town. He had no reason to be here as far as he knew.

"Hopper convinced them to let him make a guest list of a few people. You're on it. Hop in."

Gareth had no choice but to believe him.

***

"Nice to see you, son," Wayne patted him on the shoulder just outside of Eddie's room. "Doing okay?"

Gareth shrugged, pretty sure Wayne already knew the answer to that question.

"Well, Ed's on the upswing now. He's still in a lot of pain, so maybe keep your visit today short so he doesn't push himself." Wayne sighed. "Heard your old man was in town."

"You got some great hearing, then."

"He botherin' you and your ma?"

Gareth knew he was just looking out for him, but Steve was standing just on the other side of the door talking to Eddie about something before Gareth went in and he didn't need the King of Hawkins High to hear about his daddy issues.

"Nah. Just heard about the earthquake and decided to check on us for the first time ever."

"You let me know if he starts causing a problem for you two."

It was sweet of him to offer, but probably not necessary. His father was a piece of shit, but he never actively caused problems with them. He just...left.

"Can do."

Wayne squeezed his shoulder before walking down the hall and getting on the elevator.

When Gareth walked into the room, Steve was sitting on the side of the bed, arguing in a hushed tone. His head snapped up when the door closed behind Gareth.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt," he said as he stood awkwardly by the door. He was trying not to gawk at how bruised and scarred Eddie was, but failing. He'd assumed things were bad, but he didn't realize they were this bad. "I can wait outside."

"It's okay, Stevie here was just heading out. He's on a top secret mission to get me some burgers and fries so I don't have to eat another nearly expired fruit cup for dinner." Eddie smiled, or tried to, his mouth falling down into a frown when it seemed to pull on stitches holding him together.

"You gonna hang out a bit? I can grab you something too," Steve offered as he stood, his hand brushing against the back of Eddie's. "I could stop somewhere else if you don't want burgers. I think the pizza place is open again."

"A burger's fine, man. Thanks."

"Cool. Be back soon."

It didn't look like he wanted to leave, but Eddie gave him a small smile and nod and Steve did.

"Not King Steve, man. Anyone but him," Gareth groaned as soon as he was sure Steve was gone. "How?"

"He's not so bad. He's buying you lunch, right?"

"I guess, but I need the whole story soon."

"Maybe after you tell me about your dad being in town."

Gareth gulped. He didn't think Eddie would've heard, but maybe Wayne had warned him.

"Not sure what to say about a guy I don't know." Gareth sighed. "Just wish he hadn't bothered. We're fine. We've been fine this whole time."

Eddie nodded. "He being polite?"

Gareth smirked. That was Eddie's nice way of asking if he needed to get Wayne to take care of someone.

"He's fine. I promise. He probably won't stick around for long. Not with the way half the town isn't even here anymore and the other half is barely functioning." Gareth nudged Eddie's unbandaged hand. "You gonna be okay?"

"If this didn't kill me, nothing will!" Eddie grinned, wincing after a few seconds. "But man have I got some ideas for our next campaign."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. Steve offered his place when I break free if you want."

"Harrington's house used for DnD instead of parties?" Gareth couldn't quite believe it.

"Won't be the first time," Eddie said as he winked. "You in?"

"Sure."

Eddie went off on a tangent about some new monsters while Gareth sat back and smiled.

#corrodedcoffinfest #gareth stranger things #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie #wayne munson

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sp0o0kylights · 2 years ago

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Part Two

Gareth Emerson had no clue what the hell Eddie was thinking.

There was “adopting lost sheep” as he called it, and “being the nest baby birds needed before they fly” for some of the other poor, mid-year transfers, and all of Hellfire was used to both these adoptees.

People showed up, always looking a little hesitant, always a little careful, and all of them were welcomed until they found their place in Hawkin’s High.

This though? This was neither of those things.

No, what Eddie had done was taken a wolf, or a--fucking tiger, that had gotten hurt fighting other fucking tigers, and decided to keep it as a pet.

Even if said pet was looking very pathetic, with a face full of bruises that apparently, Billy Hargrove caused.

That did not make sitting across from the fallen King and current senior, Steve Harrington, any easier.

Judging by the rest of Hellfire’s constant uneasy glances and uncomfortable, awkward joking, no one else was comfortable with it either.

Except of course, for Eddie.

“Dude can we like, talk for a minute?” Gareth asked, motioning at Jeff and Grant to distract Harrington. Not that it was hard, the jock was too busy staring at his pathetic packed lunch to notice much.

(The guy brought soup to school and was drinking it cold. What the fuck.)

“Ga~ary.” Eddie sing-songed, but it was in warning.

A warning very much ignored, as Gareth stood, and moved to tug Eddie up with him.

“Now, Eddie.” He said, his own tone a manic, if suppressed version of his own warning.

Gareth was not known for keeping his temper, but he also wasn’t keen on getting his ass kicked this early in the day if Harrington took offense.

And considering they had all finally caught a look at Hargrove, and the way he fucking stopped and turned on his heel the second he saw Harrington, there was no doubt in Gareth’s mind that Harrington could kick his ass.

Even in his current, beaten to shit state.

Eddie huffed a dramatic breath, making sure at least some of his hair moved with it, but stood nonetheless.

“I’ll return shortly, friends!” He called jovially, before letting himself be dragged backwards several feet.

Just fair enough away where they could still see the table, but not be heard.

Particularly not by any invading jocks.

“What were you thinking!?” Gareth started, hands crossed over his chest tightly. “You didn’t even talk to us first!”

“Garebear, look at him.” Eddie said, placing both hands on his friend's face, turning it to look at Steve’s hunched form.

“Those big, sad, puppy-dog eyes.” Eddie continued, leaning in to whisper in Gareth’s ear. “The pathetic way he slouches.”

Eddie leaned even closer, lips tickling Gareth’s ear and making the latter swat at him.

He dropped his hands to Gareth’s shoulders, shaking him lightly.

“His giant empty house we can use for Hellfire meetings.”

“Is that seriously why you dragged him over here?” Gareth demanded, a little louder than he’d meant too, if Eddie’s abruptly tight grip was anything to go by.

“Of course not.” Eddie scoffed. “Rumor has it the guy throws money around for his friends and if we play our cards right, we can be the receiving end of that gravy train.”

Eddie grinned theatrically while he said it, staring into Gareth’s eyes like his smile alone would convince him to play along.

It was the fakest thing Gareth had ever seen on his best friends face.

“Don’t bullshit me man.” He said quietly, eyes narrowed. “What’s the actual reason you decided to go against your own doctrine and adopt Steve Harrington, of all people?”

Eddie’s eyes flicked to Harrington and back. “There’s no other--”

“Eddie.” Gareth snapped, a flash of his temper breaking through. “You’re my best friend. Don’t fucking lie to me like that.”

“Has anyone told you you’ve been using the word ‘fuck’ a lot, Gare?” Eddie muttered, but it was more subdued, the playful mask falling from his face.

As a matter of fact, Ms. Click had called him out on it that very morning, but Gareth knew better than to admit that and derail this conversation.

“Edwin Dale Munson.” Gareth growled, enjoying the way Eddie flinched from his full, government name.

“Sssh!” Eddie dropped his hands from Gareth’s shoulder to wave them in his face. “Fine, fine, look. Rumor has it he got cheated on, blew up his friendship with Hateful Hagan and Cocky Carol, and then took a beating from Hargrove. All in the same like, week.”

Eddie tugged at his hair, the movement harsh.

“I found him walking home in the dark the other day. Said something was wrong with his car, but Gareth.” Eddie paused, gnawing on his lower lip, before he stopped close once again, voice barely above a whisper.

“I had to coax him in my car and when he got in he kept flinching.”

“Flinching.” Gareth repeated.

“Like I was gonna hit him or something.” Eddie explained. “Worse Harrington’s house was dark when I got home. I mentioned to Wayne it didn’t look like anybody lived there and he said he was surprised anyone did. He thought the Harrington’s moved.”

“Okay.” Gareth said, not quiet following this part of the conversation.

“He thought they moved because some coworker of his wife worked for them as a house keeper or some shit. Said they bought a place in Chicago. She helped them pack.”

Another look, but this time Gareth had picked up on what was happening.

The flinching.

Not going with his parents.

Staying in Hawkins, when Harrington had a chance to get the hell out.

It didn’t paint a pretty picture.

“Shit.” Gareth said finally.

Eddie nodded. “Exactly.”

Together, they turned to stare at Harrington, who had hunched further into himself now that Eddie was gone from the table.

“If he turns on us I’m blaming you.” Gareth grumbled finally, and tried not to let the smile that broke out on Eddie’s face effect him.

“Glad to hear you’re on board, Garebear.” Eddie said, patting his shoulder hard.

“You’re a fucking teddy bear, you know that right?” Gareth continued as they turned to walk back to the table.

“Shut your mouth.” Eddie fired back.

“I don't think I will. In fact, Harrington!” Gareth spoke the jock’s name loudly, making the dude jerk and spill some of his soup.

Bruised eyes looked up at him and Gareth fired a smug right into Harrington’s face. “Wouldn’t you agree that Eddie here is a giant teddy bear?”

“Don’t answer that.” Eddie cut in, as Harrington blinked slowly, a puzzled look overtaking his face. “Gareth here has a big imagination.”

“Let the man give his own opinions. I’m sure he has some!”

Steve looked between them.

“I think I’ll plead the fifth.” He decided on.

“Smart man.” Jeff muttered, causing the rest of the table to snicker.

For the first time since he sat down, Gareth witnessed a small smile appear on Harrington’s face.

#hellfire adopts Steve #i just love the idea of steve being hellfires mean girl his senior year #like you cant look me in the eyes and tell me Eddie Munson wouldnt be argueing with himself constantly about #Sad Boy Hours Steve #steve harrington #steddie #eddie munson #stranger things #0o0 fanfics #steve x eddie #pre relationship #i just wanna see them in school together dammit #gareth emerson #i love him so much

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punkrockmlchael · 1 month ago

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Just Thinkin’ About You

Masterlist | Eddie Munson Masterlist

Eddie Munson x GN!Reader, some Gareth Emerson x GN!Reader Comfort

This fic is for: the twelve days of promptmas event by @littlexdeaths ; the prompt is a bonus prompt “I'll be so blue, just thinking about you...” this idea came to me and I’m just, I’m sorry..

Warnings: Fluff, Mentions of Eddie's death, Gareth comforting the Reader, Sadness I am sorry, Drinking, gn!reader (some mentions of jewelry but I think that’s all that could be considered ‘gender specific’), no use of pronouns

Synopsis: Christmas used to be your favorite holiday. But now it will never be the same without Eddie by your side.

Word Count: 2.9k

December 24, 1983

“Eddie,” you smiled, shaking your head as you followed him through the hall of his trailer to his bedroom. “I thought we agreed on no Christmas presents,” you added, smiling at your boyfriend of two months.

“You might have agreed to no Christmas presents, but that doesn’t mean that I did,” Eddie smiled, walking into his bedroom. You followed after him, rolling your eyes playfully as you sat on his bed.

“You can’t give me a present if I didn’t get you one,” you argued. He grabbed a box from his desk and turned around, smiling at you.

“I can and I will, you don’t need to give me anything, baby,” he said, placing the poorly wrapped box on your lap. Spots of cardboard were poking out underneath the blue colored wrapping paper that was covered in white snowflakes.

“Eddie, I just... it doesn’t feel right taking a gift from you and not giving you one back,” you sighed, looking at the box before you looked up and met his eyes.

“Baby, please,” he begged, sitting down next to you on his bed. “Just open it, I don’t need anything for Christmas; I have you. And, having you here with me tonight is enough of a gift for me.”

You sighed, knowing that you were fighting a losing battle. You slowly began to tear off the wrapping paper, looking down at the box on your lap. You opened the cardboard box and looked inside, smiling to yourself.

You picked up the white teddy bear that wore a small Hellfire shirt on and held it in your hands, looking at it. You turned it over in your hands a couple times before you looked up at Eddie with a raised eyebrow. "What's this?" You asked, smiling at him.

"A teddy bear, look! It looks just like me!" He smiled back, wrapping his arm around your shoulders. "Now you can always cuddle with me, even if I'm not there with you at night!" You smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly.

"Thanks, Eddie," you giggled, pulling the teddy bear close to your chest. “This teddy bear might be better at cuddling than you are,” you teased, receiving a pout back from him.

“Want to test that theory?” He asked, pulling you closer to his body.

December 24, 1984

“What do you mean there’s two parts to this present?” You asked, looking at Eddie with a raised eyebrow as he placed a gift on your lap.

“I mean, there’s two parts to this present,” Eddie repeated, looking at you with a nod. “Open that, and then I’ll show you the second part.”

You looked down at the box on your lap, running your fingers over the wrapping paper. Blue with snowflakes; the same wrapping paper Eddie had used last year for your teddy bear.

You tore the paper off of the box, lifting the lid gently and you looked in it. On top of some red tissue paper sat a picture frame… a picture frame with a piece of notebook paper in it framed neatly.

“You’re the sun to my moon.

The light of my life.

When you walk in the room, all eyes are always on you.

You can turn any darkness into light.

Because, baby, you’re the sun to my moon.”

Eddie’s sloppy handwriting looked absolutely gorgeous as it sat perched in the black picture frame perfectly. It was as if it was meant to be there on display. You ran your fingers over the glass gently, looking up at Eddie with a confused look.

“What’s this?” You asked, watching him move around his room towards his guitars.

“A song,” he simply replied, grabbing his acoustic guitar. He turned back towards you and pulled up his chair, sitting in it. “A song that I wrote for you, baby,” he added, getting the guitar to sit on his lap comfortably.

“You… you wrote me a song?” You asked, looking back at the picture frame that was sitting in your lap.

“Yeah, I did,” Eddie nodded, smiling softly at your reaction. “And, part two is me playing it for you,” he added, strumming his guitar strings to ensure that they were in tune.

“No,” you said softly, looking at him as you shook your head. “You’re not going to play it for me..”

“Yes, I am,” he replied, nodding again as he began to strum at the strings more rapidly, ignoring your words as he began singing to you softly.

You sat there in awe, watching your boyfriend sing the song he had written for you with so much passion. Your eyes watered slightly, watching him do something he loved… for someone he loved.

“You’re the sun to my moon, the light of my life. When you walk in a room, all eyes are always on you; you can turn any darkness into light. Because, baby, you’re the sun to my moon.” Eddie sang, looking at you as he continued to strum away on his guitar.

You couldn’t control the tears that were falling, smiling as you watched Eddie play and sing. When he was done you stood up, setting the picture frame on the bed as you walked towards him. You leaned in and kissed his lips gently, smiling into the kiss.

“I love you, Eddie,” you said as you parted from the kiss. He smiled up at you.

“I love you too, baby. You’re the sun to my moon; I’ll love you forever and always. You bring so much light into my life... I don't know where I would be without you."

December 24, 1985

"Eddie, where are we going?" You asked as he pulled you towards the back door of Gareth's house.

"Outside," Eddie replied, smiling as he tugged you out the door into the snow covered backyard.

"But, honey, it's absolutely freezing outside..." you whined, shivering instantly as the cold air hit your body.

“Relax,” he said, smiling as he pulled you closer to him on the back porch of Gareth’s house. “I just, I wanted to give you your gift but I didn’t want to do it in front of everyone,” he added, motioning towards the house where your friends were all inside drinking eggnog and exchanging gifts along with laughs.

“Why not?” You asked, looking up at him as you wrapped your arms around his torso. You clung to him gently, feeling the heat radiating off of his body in the cold of the night.

“Because, this one is special and I didn’t want any of the boys to laugh,” he admitted, looking down at you. He moved his left hand to the pocket of his leather jacket before he pulled out a small box.

He handed you the small box and you smiled when you saw the wrapping paper. Blue with white snowflakes. You took the small box in your hands gently, unwrapping it carefully.

“Blue with snowflakes, huh?” You asked, looking at the same wrapping paper Eddie had used the two years before. Twice in a row is a coincidence, but three times? That seems like it was on purpose, as if Eddie had a method to his madness.

“Yeah, it was one of my favorites when I first bought it and now I think I need to wrap every single Christmas present I give you in this paper for the rest of my life,” he smiled, nodding towards the box in your hands. “Open it.”

You opened the box itself, revealing a silver sun pendant hanging on a beautiful silver chain.

“You got me a necklace?” You asked, smiling at the necklace. You moved it around slowly, watching it shimmer and shine in the moonlight.

“Yeah, remember the song I wrote you last year?” He asked, you nodded, looking up at him.

“Yes, of course, the lyrics you hand wrote are framed by my bed.” You replied, softly.

“Right,” he nodded, blushing softly. He cleared his throat and looked up at the sky before he looked back at you. “Well, I wrote how you’re the sun to my moon… so, it just… seemed fitting to get you a necklace with a sun,” he added, smiling nervously.

You looked up at Eddie and smiled more, literally, you were smiling so hard it felt like your face hurt. Or, maybe it was because it was so cold you couldn’t feel it anymore. Either way, you smiled at your boyfriend and wrapped your arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“Eddie,” you said, sighing into his neck. “I love it,” you added, looking up at him. He smiled, wrapping his arms around you as he kissed your head softly.

“You sure about that, baby?” He asked, looking at you.

“Absolutely,” you responded, quickly. You leaned in and left a soft kiss on his lips. “I love it and I love you.”

“I love you too,” Eddie smiled, kissing you again.

“Come back inside, you two; it’s freezing out there!” You heard Gareth yell from inside the house through the door. “And, gross. Get a room,” he teased, winking at you both.

You looked back at Gareth and shook your head, looking back up at Eddie. You leaned in and kissed his lips one more time before you pulled him back inside into the warm house.

December 24, 1986

You sat on the couch at Gareth's house, sipping on your spiked eggnog. The rest of the Hellfire club moved around the living room, laughing at the small television as A Christmas Story played in the background.

You held the mug of spiked eggnog in your left hand, periodically sipping it as your eyes moved around the room to your friends. They all looked so cheerful, so happy, as they exchanged gifts and laughs with each other.

It was almost as if none of them were affected by the fact that the room had one less person in it. One less Hellfire member, one less friend, one less person that you loved...

A sigh escaped your lips as your right hand moved up to your neck, playing with the small silver sun pendant that sat perfectly on the silver chain.

The sun necklace Eddie had given you as a gift last Christmas; the third Christmas you had spent together in a relationship. You ran your fingers over the sun pendant again and again, your eyes moving down to the mug of eggnog in your hands.

You didn't even like eggnog, truly. You just wanted something, anything, to drink pain away; something to try to fill the hole in your heart that had been there since March of 1986.

Normally, this is when Eddie would look up at you from the floor in front of the television. He'd lay on his back and look up at you, classic grin on his lips as he wiggled his eyebrows, looking at the mug in your hand. "What're you drinking, sweetcheeks?" He'd ask, watching as a blush would appear on your cheeks, giggling at the nickname he used for you.

But not this year.

Instead, Dustin and Mike were sprawled out on the floor where Eddie usually sat playing a game of Battleships. The two bickered back and forth, accusing the other of cheating whenever they landed on a spot that held a ship.

You took a big gulp of your eggnog, finishing it all in one go before you stood up from your spot on the couch and made your way to the kitchen.

Gareth stood in the kitchen, laughing and talking with Jeff. When they heard footsteps, they looked up and smiled at you. “Hey,” Gareth said softly, your name rolling off his lips in the same breath. “How’re you… holding up?” He added, wanting to show his care for you as a friend but also not wanting to overstep your emotions and boundaries.

“Hm?” You hummed, looking up at him as you grabbed some more eggnog. “Oh, I’m doing fine, thanks,” you nodded, lying through your teeth as you sipped more of the eggnog. You reached for the bottle of rum that sat on the counter and poured it into your mug, adding a bit more holiday spirit.

Taking another sip, you made a face before your eyes met Gareth and Jeff again, a slightly concerned look on their faces. Jeff and Gareth exchanged looks before Jeff grabbed his drink and nodded, “sorry, I’ve got next game at Battleships,” he mumbled before turning on his heels and walking back towards the living room.

Gareth watched as Jeff walked away before he looked up at you. He grabbed his cup of eggnog, looking around the kitchen before his eyes made their way back to you; you stood there in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as you stared into the mug, watching the bubbles move around the rim of the mug as you swirled it gently. Your other hand found its way to your necklace, playing with the sun pendant again.

This really had become a bad habit for you. Shutting yourself out and being alone with your thoughts about Eddie. It’s not that your friends didn’t help you, in fact, it was quite the opposite. They did everything in their power to help you through your emotions and thoughts.

Staying with you constantly, always trying to keep you engaged in any activity, always asking you to tag along with them even if it was just a quick trip to the record store. You loved your friends, you really did; and you know that you would be lost without them.

But, as much as you loved them they just… weren’t Eddie.

And, no one really talks about how it feels to lose the person you truly loved more than anything in the world. Nothing can prepare you for that heartbreak; and it is something you wouldn’t wish upon your worst enemy.

Gareth said your name softly, snapping you out of your thoughts. You looked up at him and hummed, your fingers still working on your necklace.

“I have something for you,” Gareth added softly, walking towards the stairs. “Follow me.”

You looked at him a bit confused but followed him nonetheless. As you ascended the stairs to his bedroom, you looked at the pictures that hung on the wall. A nervous habit of yours was always to look at your surroundings, studying every detail of everything around you.

You stepped into Gareth’s room, watching as he walked towards his closet. He opened the door and dug around for a bit, grabbing a small box that was wrapped in light blue wrapping paper with snowflakes on it… the same wrapping paper that Eddie had always used for your Christmas presents. He turned around and walked towards you, handing you the box.

You took it in your hand, examining it as you set your mug down on his dresser. You turned the box over in your hands multiple times, looking at the gift tag on the top.

It was addressed to you, from the Hellfire Boys.

You looked back up at Gareth and raised an eyebrow slightly, shaking your head. “You didn’t have to get me anything,” you said softly, trying to hand the box back to him.

“I know that,” Gareth replied, nodding back at you. “But, collectively, we wanted to. It’s from Grant, Jeff and I. We know how much you miss Eddie; hell, we all miss him. But, while we lost our friend, you lost your boyfriend.” He added, pushing the box back into your hands. “Please, just, open it,” he said softly.

You sniffled a little, already feeling the tears form in your eyes as you looked back down at the wrapped box. You lifted the paper up gently, careful not to tear it as you unwrapped the small box. You opened it carefully, a pair of silver sun earrings looking back at you.

You couldn’t help it at this point, tears were actively streaming down your face as you looked from the earrings to Gareth and back to the earrings. Not only had the boys picked out jewelry for you, but they picked out earrings that matched the necklace Eddie had given you a year before perfectly.

“What,” you started, wiping your eyes as you closed the box, looking at Gareth. “Why?” You asked softly, stepping towards him. You hated crying in front of him, and anyone for that matter, but you couldn’t help it at this point. “You didn’t have to do this,” you said softly, looking up at him through tears.

“Yeah, we know,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around you gently as you continued to cry softly. “But, we wanted to. You deserve the best in the world, and I’m so sorry that you’ve lost so much. We know how much you love that necklace because Eddie gave it to you, and so, we figured we’d get you something to match it so you always have an excuse to wear the necklace.” He added, rubbing his hands up and down your back gently as you buried your face into his chest softly.

“Thank you,” you mumbled, sniffling as you looked up at him. “You guys have been some of my best friends because of Eddie and… I don’t know where I would be without you,” you admitted softly.

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Gareth said softly, pulling you a little closer to his chest. “Once a Hellfire member, always a Hellfire member,” he mumbled against your hair.

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tbmunson · 2 years ago

Text

Escape - Gareth Emerson x Reader pt.2

Summary: You attend Corroded Coffin's practice and feelings are confessed.

Warnings: Talks about diet, talks about absentee parents... A little steam but not much, yet.

Word Count: 5,619

Notes: Honestly this is less slow burn than I intended, but we're not there yet. Thank you guys for your patience in my writing. I'm a perfectionist and I like to make sure everything is done right

Taglist: @depressedacidtest @nana90azevedo @alanamarie @lizzziekatt and of course @ashes-writing Bestie you are the love of my life. Thank you so much for always being there and helping me. You're amazing.

1 / 2 / 3

Once you’d gotten up to your room last night you did as you promised and called Gareth. Though it had been a short conversation, you learned a little more about him, like he actually enjoyed watching his sisters and he volunteers to watch them on Friday’s because, and you quote, “I’m their best friend, they don’t need some random teen that doesn’t know or care about them to watch them.” That line made you smile a little.

Gareth picked up on how much you enjoyed watching his sisters too and that made it harder to convince himself that you were too opposite and it would never work. Once he hung the phone up by the kitchen door he went up to his room to get ready for bed. His eyes went immediately to the pile of clothes at the end of his bed. More specifically, the pale pink bra. He stood frozen in the doorway of the room, just looking at it. Many thoughts raced through his head, the most prominent being you’d been in his shirt without a bra on for the last hour and a half, as if his previous fantasy needed anymore fuel. He let out a shaky breath and stepped over to the heap, debating on what to do with it. The perv in his brain told him to pick it up, keep it, and never give it back. You left it after all. The rational part told him to fold your shirt, put it in his chair, and hide the bra under it so he wasn’t tempted to let the perv part win.

He went with the second option, although the feeling of the silk and lace between his fingers had the perv side going insane. He still put the bra into the folded cotton and went to bed.

Gareth was woken by the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. He knew his parents took his sisters to Lori’s gymnastics competition in Indianapolis so he wasn’t sure who it could be. “Yeah?” He called out, which was answered by the door swinging open and a smug looking Eddie walking in.

“How was your date, Emerson?” He quirked a brow as he walked across the room to sit in the chair.

“Whoa! Don’t sit there!” Gareth jumped up and made it over to the chair to move your clothes from it.

“I sit on your clothes all the time in that chair.” Eddie rolled his eyes at his friend and finally sat down.

Gareth settled at the end of his bed and held the neatly folded fabric up. “Not mine.”

Eddie’s brows raised but what dropped his jaw was the bra falling out of the cotton. “Dude! Did you guys..?”

Gareth scrambled and grabbed the item in question before shoving it under his comforter. “No! No, we didn’t. She uh, she helped give the girls a bath and got splashed. I gave her one of my shirts.” And he knew he shouldn’t have said it because as soon as the words left his mouth Eddie’s face split into the biggest grin Gareth had ever seen.

“You gave her the Crue shirt, didn’t you?”

Gareth turned so red that he was practically glowing like the neon signs around town.

“Didn’t you?” Eddie prodded, leaning closer with the most shit-eating grin he’d ever had.

“Stop talking, Ed.”

“I knew it!” Eddie yelled as he pointed and pushed himself back into the chair excitedly, his boot clad feet stomping the floor repeatedly.

“Fuck off. Where are Jeff and Grant? Aren’t we supposed to be practicing?” Gareth stood and walked over to his closet.

“We’re supposed to be practicing at 12. It’s 11.” Eddie pointed to the alarm clock on his side table.

Gareth groaned and flopped back onto the bed. “Then why are you here?”

“Gareth, I'm nosy. And more than that, I like to prove I’m right. I told a certain someone we were practicing today and that she should come by.”

As if on cue the doorbell rang, signaling someone’s arrival.

“I hate you.” Gareth grumbled, getting out of bed again. He opened the door and just about had to pick his jaw up from the floor.

You stood there in the shirt he’d given you last night, only now there was a knot tied in it just above your belly button. You’d paired it with a pair of jean shorts that were cut dangerously high and a pair of white sneakers. What caught his attention the most was the red plaid bandana wrapped around your head to keep the baby hairs that fell out of your bun at bay. It was the same red plaid of his battle vest. “Morning, sleepy head.” You smiled, lightly glossed lips shining in the sun.

“Morning.” He replied almost breathlessly.

Eddie came up behind him and smirked. “Nice shirt, short stuff.”

You beamed and looked down. “Thanks. Gareth let me borrow it. My mom won’t let me have one because Crue is ‘unholy’ or some shit.”

Gareth couldn’t see your eyes roll due to the sunglasses on your face, but he knew they had by the tone in your voice. “You actually listen to them?” He was surprised to say the least.

“There’s a lot that you don’t know about me. I’m more than short skirts and pom poms.” You reached out and patted his chest as you stepped into the house, brushing your body with his as you did so.

Gareth tried, he really did, to keep himself at bay. He was unsuccessful. “I need to go shower. Eddie, entertain, please.” He was pleading, which gave Eddie an ungodly amount of satisfaction.

“Yeah, of course.” Eddie’s face was taken over by a shit-eating grin.

Gareth groaned and walked away. He regretted giving you the shirt and even more so, asking Eddie to hang out with you because who knew what he was going to say.

“Eddie, what am I doing here so early? He obviously just woke up.” You asked as you settled onto the sofa.

Eddie shrugged, sprawling himself over the recliner. “Figured I’d give you two some extra time together. Get to know each other more, for the project, of course.”

You knew he was lying, or at least not telling you the full truth. You thought about calling him out on it, but you also didn’t want to be wrong, let alone have Gareth hear that you liked him. “Thanks, buddy.” You replied sarcastically, rolling your eyes.

The two of you sat silent for no more than a minute before you spoke again.

“Can we smoke later?”

“The Princess of Hawkins partakes in the devil’s tobacco?” Eddie raised a brow at you, honestly stunned at the request.

You laughed and shook your head. “Never have, but I think it’ll be fun. I hear it lets your true self out and I kind of want a reason to get some heavy shit off of my chest.”

“Gonna let your secrets spill, Princess?”

“I don’t have secrets, just things not everyone knows.” You replied, picking at your nails before looking up to Eddie’s smirking face. “Grow up Munson. You’re not right about everything, okay?”

“But I’m right about this.” He replied, pushing himself to stand so he could walk into the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink?”

You rolled your eyes and got up to follow him. “You’re smug, you know that?”

He laughed as he grabbed two cups from the cabinet. “I can afford to be smug, Sweetheart.”

“Just don’t say anything else about it.” You rested your elbows on the counter and watched Eddie scoop the ice into the cups.

“So, I’m right and I can’t say anything about it.” He pretended to think hard about it before speaking again. “Fine, but you're both stupid and blind.”

“You really know how to make a woman swoon, don’t you Munson.” You pushed off of the counter and grabbed one of the cups. “It’ll happen if and when it’s supposed to. Don’t meddle in it.”

“I won’t, but it’s so obvious, just so you know.”

“What’s obvious?” Gareth walked into the kitchen scrubbing his head with a faded blue towel.

Eddie glanced at you before looking at Gareth. “The Princess's crush.”

“Munson.” You glared at him, eyes squinted in a way that dared him to say another word.

Gareth nodded and walked through to drop the towel in the laundry room, leaving you to glare at Eddie until he returned. “Well, that’s her business.”

“See!” You more or less yelled, glad Gareth wasn’t going to press for details.

Eddie rolled his eyes and jumped up on the counter as he mumbled something about “blind and delusional” under his breath.

It was your turn, again, to roll your eyes.

Gareth walked back out and rested against the counter as he looked between the two of you. “Well it looks like you two had a great time. Scowling is usually a good sign right?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, frown turning up into a smile and eyes lighting up. “Yeah, absolutely. He just thinks he’s right all the time.”

“Oh, I know exactly what you mean, Doll.” Gareth chuckled, sending you a smile that made you melt.

Before anything else could be said the front door swung open and the two other members of Hawkins most metal band walked in.

“My men! We ready to get started?” Eddie asked, drawing all of the attention to himself.

Grant and Jeff share a confused look which made you laugh a little. It was obvious that they hadn’t expected you to be sitting on the kitchen island with Gareth leaning next to you.

Gareth, who gained bravery by his friends' presence, pushed himself up and rested his hand on your thigh. “Ready?” He asked, giving it a quick squeeze.

You swallowed down the whimper you wanted to let out and nodded.

Gareth gave you another squeeze before offering you a hand to help you down, which you took before mumbling a small “Thank you” to him. He rested his hand on the small of your back to lead you to the detached garage where their practice was held. “There’s a couch if you wanna sit.” He nodded to the old floral couch that had no doubt been in the house previously.

“Thanks, Gare.” You smiled as you stepped away from him. You settled onto the couch as he and the boys took their places to start practice. You watched Gareth twirl the drumstick in his hand and subconsciously squeezed your thighs together, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie.

“So I think we can start with the cover of Live Wire. Yeah?” Eddie looked around as the boys nodded in response.

You loved that song, it was the one you played and danced to alone every time your parents were out. You bobbed your head and mouthed the words along with Eddie but your eyes stayed on Gareth, watching the sweat glisten off of his cheeks and nose and how his hair bounced as he headbanged along.

Gareth felt your eyes on him the whole time which encouraged him to do his best to impress you, making this one of the best practices they’d had in a while.

Once practice was over and they started packing up Eddie watched Gareth walk over to the couch, pick your feet up and sit with your feet in his lap. Gareth rested his hand on your shin, rubbing his thumb over the smooth skin. “I think you’re our good luck charm, Princess. These fools haven’t made it through a practice without a fuck up in weeks.” Eddie smirked, carefully carrying his guitar case out of the garage.

“I’d be happy to watch you guys anytime.” You replied before turning your attention to Gareth. “You were amazing, Gare. Watching you is fun, the way you get so into it. Like nothing else matters. That’s passion.” You wanted to tell him how attractive it was, but you held off on that for the moment.

“Thanks. I love it. It gets the emotions I don’t know how to express out in the open somehow.” He squeezed your leg, something you could get used to for sure.

You giggled and sat up to scoot closer with your legs still over his lap. “That’s really deep. I’m glad you have a way to express everything on the inside. It gives me an idea for our project.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” He reached over with his other hand and tucked a loose hair behind your ear.

“Well, I think most people are going to just do something that shows the other person. I think we should do ours to show we’re the same, but we present differently. Like on the outside you’re this scary metal head that’s into the dark and scary stuff and doesn’t care about anything but on the inside you’re sweet and funny and caring. And I’m the opposite. On the outside I’m all sunshine and rainbows and happiness but on the inside I like all the same dark and scary stuff you do. So I propose that we do paintings. Mine for you would be dark around the edges and as it fades into the middle it gets lighter and happier. And yours for me is the opposite. I’ll be all dark on the inside but it gets lighter and brighter as you go out.” You explained, waving your hands and changing your face in ways that Gareth thought was absolutely adorable.

“That sounds really great. We could do actual rainbows for the color and fade it all into each other and use the whole scale from lighter pastel shades to the darker ones.” He replied, hand resting on the side of your thigh close to your knee, far enough down to be respectful.

You squealed and threw your arms around him. “That’s genius. I was thinking we would just use our favorite colors but that gives it so much more depth! Like every color provokes an emotion and no one feels the same all the time. I just know ours is going to be the best.” You hadn’t even realized that in the process of hugging him you had drug yourself more into his lap, in turn making his hand slide up your thigh. When you did realize it, you made no move to separate or create any kind of distance.

Gareth didn’t either, he instead looped his free arm around your back to keep you close. “You’re the genius, Doll. You came up with the idea, I just built on it.”

You looked up at him and smiled before resting your head on his shoulder. “Stop it. I’m not good at taking compliments.” You mumbled before hiding your face in his neck.

He chuckled and rested his head on yours. “Hey, the truth is the truth.” It’s all he could think to say that wasn’t over stepping any imaginary boundaries that might be set.

The two of you were so wrapped up in each other that you didn’t notice Natalie’s car driving by or the way she was watching you cuddle up to Gareth. But Eddie noticed. And he watched her drive by, flipping her off when she noticed him.

“Well, Princess, looks like your cheer buddies are gonna hate you on Monday.” He stated as he walked into the garage, seeing what Natalie must have seen to cause the twisted look on her face.

You lifted your head and dragged one of your arms from around Gareth’s neck. “Fuck ‘em. There’s five weeks left in the school year and I’ll never see those uppity bitches again.” You replied with yet another roll of your eyes. It was one of the habits you’d picked up from the cheer team and the only one you didn’t mind. Attitude could be a great asset.

“Whoa, Princess, those are some really mean words. Didn’t know you were so angry.” Eddie teased lightly.

“I’m just sick of being told what I can and can’t do. Who I can and can’t hang out with.” You sighed, resting your head once again on Gareth’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be, Doll.” He pulled you the rest of the way into his lap and held you as the other two members joined you in the garage.

“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Jeff asked, stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

“My parents will be getting home with the girls soon. They’re gonna throw a fit to show me the routines so I’m stuck here. You guys are welcome to stay and hang though.” Gareth said, resting his chin on your head. The scent of your shampoo was intoxicating to him.

Grant and Jeff shared a look.

“Yeah I think we’ll go hit up the mall for a little bit and come back later. You coming, Ed?” Grant asked as Jeff fished the car keys from his pocket.

“Yeah, but we’ll come back for Princess’s first smoke sesh tonight.” Eddie said as he reached out to flip the hoop in your ear.

You raised your hand and flipped him off, which caused Gareth to laugh a little.

“Sounds good.” Gareth then looked down at you. “You staying or going?”

“I’ll stay. I’d love to see the girls and we can start on the project since we have an idea.” You replied with a smile before turning your attention to the other guys. “You guys are really great, by the way. Like I know the people I hang out with are assholes to you so I’m thankful you didn’t just write me off with them.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. You stopped them from coming after us more times than we can count. We knew you weren’t like them.” Jeff said, twirling the keys around his finger.

“Yeah, you hung with who you did for survival. It’s not like you were the one chasing the freshmen down in your car.” Grant stated, which caught your attention.

“I’m sorry, what? Who chased them down in their car?”

The guys shared a look, one that said he probably shouldn’t have said that. “Jason, Andy, and I think Tiffany and Natalie were in Jason’s Jeep last week and the freshmen were biking home.”

You nodded, deep in thought about what exactly you would say come Monday morning practice. None of it was pretty.

“I think on that note, we’re gonna head out.” Eddie clapped his hand over Grant’s shoulder and the three of them walked off towards Jeff’s car.

“You didn’t tell me about that.” You said softly, turning to look at Gareth.

“I know, but the kids didn’t want anyone to know. It hasn’t happened again, and if it had I promise I would have told you. The kids were embarrassed, I think.”

You nodded and moved to stand, only Gareth’s grip on your hips tightened and he pulled you back down, making you giggle a bit. ”Gare, we gotta go get the painting stuff.”

His arms wrapped around you, keeping you pressed to him. “I know, but this is really comfortable.”

You couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Eddie had been right. Maybe Gareth did like you. Maybe it would be okay that you liked him. You laughed when he buried his face into your neck and relaxed into him.

The two of you stayed like that for a moment, thoughts buzzing around your heads about the other.

You ran your hand down his arm before you slipped your fingers through his. “You know once the girls get here we aren’t going to be able to go.” You hummed into his ear as you squeezed his hand in yours.

“I know. They’re gonna take you away from me.” He mumbled into your neck. He felt the way your lips morphed into a smile against his ear. “But I bet you like them more, huh? It’s not like you cut up my food for me last night.” He teased, snuggling into you a bit more.

His voice vibrated against the sensitive part of your neck causing you to sucks in a fast breath, which he didn’t miss. “I would have fed it to you if you'd have asked.” You moved so your lips were against his ear. “I’d do anything if you asked.” You smiled, hoping more now than ever that Eddie was right and not just saying it.

Gareth picked his head up and looked down at you. “All I have to do is ask, hm?”

You nodded and opened your mouth to reply, only to be cut off by the sound of a car coming into the driveway. “Well, looks like we missed our opportunity for a quick escape.” You chuckled, moving just enough to get off of his lap and settle next to him. You didn’t miss the pout on his face when you moved.

He laughed at the joke and watched the girls run from the car, yelling about how Lori’s team won their division and showing off her sash.

“Ooh! You look fancy with that, girly. Why don’t you show me your favorite trick!” You beamed at them.

Lori took her sash off and handed it to you before showing you back walkover.

“Wow! That was perfect, baby doll! What about you, lil bit? Are you in gymnastics?”

Clara perked up at her new nickname and nodded before she did a cartwheel.

“You guys are so good. You’re way better than I was at that age.” You smiled as they climbed onto the couch.

Gareth watched you with pure adoration.

“Can you do tricks?” Clara asked, looking up from her spot on your leg.

You smiled and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “I actually can. I do gymnastics on Mondays and Wednesdays after school. It helps with cheerleading.” You replied, watching the girls' faces light up.

“Can you show us something? Please!” Lori asked, latching onto your hand.

As much as you would have loved to, the jean shorts you were wearing were so tight, you thought you wouldn’t be able to move properly. “I can’t right now because I’m not wearing the right clothes, baby doll. But when Gareth and I get back from the supply store, I’ll show you a few things. I promise.” You held up your pinky to her.

She wrapped hers around yours and smiled. “Okay!”

Gareth slipped his hand behind your back and rubbed his thumb up and down the exposed skin between the shirt and your shorts. “Why don’t you guys let us go ahead and go so we can come back faster? Huh?”

“Okay bubby!” Clara said, sliding down from your lap and reaching out for her sister's hand, which Lori took.

“We’ll see you guys in a little bit!” You called after the girls as they made their way inside.

Gareth, against his better judgment, wrapped his arms around you and settled his chin onto your shoulder. “You’re so great with them. They love you.” He said in a low voice that sent chills down your body, which he noticed and smirked at.

“I love them too. They’re the sweetest kids.” You replied, resting your hand on his.

“I love them, but I can’t wait to have my own, you know?” His hand subconsciously rested on your stomach for a moment as he pulled his hands back.

You watched him stand up, lost for words for a moment as images of Gareth and your kids playing in the yard swam through your head. “You want a big family?” You asked, taking his hand that was waiting.

He nodded, letting you pull yourself up. “Yeah, four or five, maybe more. There’s just something about taking care of another person, showing them how to be people that gets me.” He looked down at you, a soft smile on his face. “What about you?”

You nodded, resting your hands on his shoulders to keep yourself up. “Yeah, I want a huge family and a job so I’ll always be around. My parents are always gone on business and I never get to see them.” You explain, with a bit of a somber look.

“You’re going to be an amazing mother one day. Any kid would be lucky to have you, Doll.” Gareth instinctively wrapped his arms around your body and rocked you a bit.

You buried your face into his neck and fought the urge to kiss the skin under your lips. “Thanks, Gare.” You slowly pulled away from him and smiled. “You ready to go?” You asked as you gripped his hand in yours.

“Yeah, Doll. Let’s go.”

***

Once the two of you finished gathering the supplies you decided to go back to your place to paint since it would be quiet.

“So, the spare office is my studio. Upstairs, end of the hall to the left.” You said as you opened the door. “I’ll grab us some snacks and bring them up.” You smiled as he looked around.

“I’ll go get set up. See you in a bit.” He almost stepped up to kiss the top of your head, but he caught himself. He went up the stairs and into the room you’d directed him to. Paintings and drawings hung around the room. He took time looking at each one, stopping on a pencil drawing of him. He smiled, knowing that you’d looked at him long enough to draw him.

You made your way into the room with a tray of small sandwiches, grapes, and a sleeve of Oreos. “It’s probably not the best combo, but it makes my brain work.” You followed his eyes and blushed. “Oh, um…”

Gareth turned and smiled at you. “It’s really good. When did you do it?” He reached out and took the tray for you.

“Last year, chemistry. I finished an exam early and the way the light was hitting you was perfect. I’m sorry if that’s creepy.” You cringed a bit, clutching the Oreos tighter.

“It looks great. You got my good angle.” He said, looking over at you.

“Thank you.” Your voice was small, timid.

“What’s wrong?” He stepped over and put his hands on your upper arms.

You scanned the floor and shrugged. “I guess I’m just not used to people telling me my art looks good. When I was a kid I’d show my parents and their response was usually ‘That’s nice honey.’ and then they would go back to whatever they were doing. It’s just different I guess?” You explained, bringing your eyes to finally meet his. “Plus, I don’t want you to think I’m some weirdo for drawing you.”

Gareth couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped at your last comment. “I’m flattered you decided to draw me. You have a real talent for this stuff, Doll. You just have to find the right people to appreciate it.”

You smiled up at him and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Thank you.” Everything inside of you was telling you to kiss him, but you stopped yourself.

“Any time, sweet thing.” He couldn’t have stayed like that for hours, your body pressed against his, your scent lingering around him.

“C’mon, let's get started on these canvases.” You smiled as you hesitantly pulled back.

He nodded and let go of you to empty the bags filled with tubes of paint, brushes, and palettes.

“Do you mind if I put on some music? It helps me focus.” You looked over at him from next to the small stereo.

“Yeah, go ahead.” He was organizing the tubes so that it matched the color wheel, making it easier to grab what was needed. He was a little shocked when Quiet Riot started playing through the speaker. “She just keeps getting better and better.” He mumbled as he watched you bob your head to the beat as you began setting up the canvases on easels.

“Come on, feel the noise. Girls, rock your boys. We’ll get wild wild wild.” You sang under your breath as you measured the canvas, looking for the exact middle. When you marked it, you worked your way around making lines that lead from the middle to the edge, to make sure the brush stroked wouldn’t look wonky and crooked. When the lines were done you grabbed an Oreo and marked where the colors would fade into one another and transition from darker to lighter.

Gareth sat back and watched you, deciding that he would marry you on the spot if you would have asked. The focus on your face, the attention to detail, the mumbling of one of his favorite bands, even the Oreo that was between your lips and you figured your next mark, it was all driving him crazy in the best way.

“Do you want me to mark yours too?” You asked, peering over at him to see him leaned against the desk with his arms folded over his chest, eyes on you.

“Uh, yeah, if you want. It’ll probably be better, like if we want them the same, you know?” He was nervous that you’d just caught him staring, you didn’t seem to mind as you agreed and went to work on the second canvas, following the marks from your own.

Once you’d finished you walked over to the desk and grabbed one of the sandwiches. “Lunch break, then we’ll get started.

Gareth chucked and grabbed one of his own. “Good, I thought you were just going to have Oreo’s for lunch.”

You laughed and shrugged. “Wouldn’t have been the first time. My diet isn’t the best.” You replied with a smile.

“Mine either. Honestly, last night was going to be pizza, not that Benny’s is any healthier, but that’s on you.” He joked, making you roll your eyes.

“Fine, next time I’ll bring salad and water.” You replied with a teasing smile.

Next time. You wanted there to be a next time. “You can bring whatever you want as long as you come back.” He replied before popping a grape into his mouth.

“I’ll come back anytime you want me to.” You don’t know what made you brave enough to say it. Maybe it was the fact that it was just the two of you, or maybe it was because you were tired of keeping your feelings at bay and you just wanted to know how he felt.

“You could live there if you wanted to, I wouldn’t mind. I know the girls wouldn’t either.” He reached over and grabbed your hand, which you took and let him pull you close.

“You mean that?”

“Yeah, Doll. Can I be honest with you?”

You nodded and looked up at him.

“I like you. A lot. I have for a really long time. I’m sorry if that makes this weird.” He looked down at your hands that were intertwined with his.

You smiled and let go of his hands, which scared him until he felt your hands on the side of his face. “Thank god. I was gonna go crazy if you didn’t feel the same way.”

His eyes darted up, looking at you, trying to figure out if this was some joke. “Are you serious?”

You rolled your eyes and pulled him to you. “I’m serious.” You whispered, your lips brushing over his.

He grabbed your hips and pressed his lips to yours, savoring the feeling of the kiss along with your hands slipping down his neck and around him, bringing him closer to you.

You felt his tongue lick across your bottom lip, prompting you to open your mouth at the same time his hands slid around your hips and settled into the back pockets of your jean shorts. You whined into his mouth when he squeezed the fat of your ass.

He pressed kisses down your jaw and onto your neck before latching on at the base and leaving a mark that wouldn’t be easily hidden.

“What are you doing?” You asked, words coming out in a rushed breath.

“Making sure everyone knows your mine.” He answered as he pulled back to examine the mark.

You reached up and smiled when your fingers slid over the tinder part. “I thought they would get it when they saw me kissing you in the halls, but I can go for this too.” You giggled, letting that hang drop down to his chest, the other arm was still hooked behind his neck.

“Yeah? So you wanna be my girl, officially?” His hands migrated from your pockets to your sides, thumb running over the exposed skin.

You nodded and moved to stand on your tiptoes to give his nose a kiss. “Yeah, I do. I always have.” You replied.

“Honestly, I didn’t think that I’d thank Mr. Greely for anything, but I think he deserves a gift or something.” Gareth stated, taking your hand from his chest and slipping his fingers between yours.

“Yeah, I think he does.” You smiled, laughing as Gareth used his hold on your hand to spin you around. “What are you doing?”

“Just seeing what my girl looks like all the way around.” He answered, scanning over you with a satisfied smile.

“Your girl. I like the way that sounds.” Your hand rested on his hip and your eyes flickered between him and your hand. “We would get started, yeah?”

Gareth nodded, mouth gaping open. He was shocked when you pulled away and walked over to the canvas. “Oh, right. Yeah. Let’s do… that.” He took a few deep breaths and followed you to his so you could explain your vision for the pieces.

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