#halloween came early and so did eddie
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xgumiho · 1 year ago
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"I can do both" - Steve Harrington, 1987.
© xgumiho | do not repost/steal/edit/crop
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undreaming-fanfiction · 7 months ago
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Party Animal
Steve hated parties. And who could blame him? The infamous Halloween party of 1984 left more scars on his heart than he carried from all his other misadventures. Alcohol made people say thinks they buried deep inside, but then instead of owning up to them, they'd say "I was drunk", as if that was any excuse. So yes, Steve and parties didn't go together anymore.
And yet he stupidly decided to throw one anyway.
Look, they deserved it. All of them did - Eddie, Nancy, Robin, even Jonathan and Argyle, they all earned acting like actual teenagers for one evening. Steve wanted to see Eddie, now miraculously his boyfriend, just have fun, laugh, be silly. So a party it was.
It all went great - dancing, drinking, nibbling on mountains of Argyle's homemade pizza - but eventually they all got drunk. Not Steve, he just sipped one beer and kept an eye on everyone. Jonathan and Argyle were smoking outside, Nancy and Robin flirted in the most embarrassing way possible and Eddie...
Steve heard sniffling from the bathroom and his heart sank.
He didn't want to go there. He didn't want to be told that this was all a misunderstanding, that he pressured Eddie with his flirting, didn't want to hear he's bullshit again.
But no matter how terrified he was, he could never abandon Eddie. So he went in.
Eddie was leaning over the sink, wiping at his face and trying to control his breathing. "Shit..." he muttered and turned away from Steve. "Sorry, I...uh. I'll be there in a sec."
"Eddie..." It came out as a whisper. "Are...are you okay? Did I do something?"
Eddie just chuckled and pulled hair in front of his face. "Sure did," he mumbled.
And it made horrible sense to Steve. Of course he was the reason Eddie was crying. He couldn't help fucking up, he'd tried so hard to change but apparently it was 1984 all over again. So he took a deep breath and waited for the final blow.
"You're just perfect, Stevie."
Oh.
That wasn't what being broken up with sounded like. In fact, Eddie didn't seem angry at him at all. "...sorry?"
Eddie laughed, wet and high in his throat. "Like, you...you are too good to be true, you know? You throw a party for us and then you even don't drink so we're all cared for if anything happens? You...you give your best friend a green light to date your ex who shredded your heart to pieces? You invite the guy that your ex cheated on you with and his friend? You're just so good about it. And you're funny and so bitchy that I want to kiss you all the time. And I just...I love you so much, you know? And I've never felt that way about anyone and it's fucking scary, man."
Steve's racing thoughts came to a screching halt. Where he was too busy panicking and praying he'd still have time to fix whatever he did, now his brain settled on maybe I'm not getting broken up with? "So, uh..." he muttered as he watched Eddie try fix his eyeliner, "...there's, like, nothing wrong? Or maybe...do you want me to go slower? I know I can be a lot."
His boyfriend gave an incredulous laugh. There was no salvaging the eyeliner now, it was getting caught in Eddie's early crow feet, and Steve had never seen a more beautiful sight. "No, Steve. You're not a lot. In fact, you're just enough in every single way, but knowing that you're it for me, that good things can happen...it makes me terrified. I've never put all my drugs in a single lunchbox, or whatever metaphor you want to use for it, but with you I'm just throwing all the caution into the wind. And for the first time, I..." he stopped, chewing on his lip, "...I don't want to run away when I mess up. I want to stay, face the music and fix it. You're re-writing the Munson doctrine again and again and I just...I don't want you to settle for me, Steve. You are the whole package and I'm still cleaning all my messes. I guess today showed me that and I...yeah. Sorry about all this," he pointed at his tear-streaked face.
Eddie suddenly seemed so small, so insecure, and that wouldn't do. It woke Steve up from his frozen state and he took a step forward, cradling Eddie's face in his palms. "I'm not. Settling for you, that is." He was probably smudging the black even more, but Eddie would have been beautiful to him even fully covered in grime, and there were more important things to focus on. "Eddie, you keep talking about the Munson doctrine and being work in progress, but you don't see how you've thrown all the stuff I used to do out of the window, and I'm better for it. With you, I don't feel rushed, I don't have to perform or pretend. I can just live in the moment."
As he continued his speech, something strange started happening. Seeing people cry normally had a guaranteed effect on Steve - just one tear, quiet sob and he pushed his emotions down to be dealt with later or possibly never, someone needed him, and that was the priority. But now, staring at Eddie's wet eyes and shaky hands? He felt his own face crumbling and what better place to hide it than in Eddie's Metallica t-shirt. It smelled of cigarettes, pizza and the cheap laundry detergent that had come to mean home to Steve. "Sorry," he choked out. "Shit. I was...sorry, I'm supposed to be...you know. Consoling you. But I heard you crying and I thought...I..."
Eddie shook his head and tightened his grip on Steve's waist. "Oh Stevie. Whatever that pretty head of yours thought of, it's not happening. Unless it's kissing me, which duh, that's happening, if you want to of course, and staying with me to the point that you're sick of me."
Steve just whimpered into Eddie's shoulder, something that suspiciously sounded like "Now who's perfect, huh?"
His boyfriend just chuckled. "I guess that in a way, we both are. Maybe for each other?" If he'd aimed for self-deprecating tone, he failed. Instead, it was hopeful.
Steve didn't answer, but his embrace said it all.
They remained wrapped around each other for a long while, until Eddie whispered in Steve's ear: "how about we let the others celebrate on their own, hm? They won't be driving, their stuff is already in the guest bedrooms, and I hear your bed is wonderful this time of the year."
There was a muffled "yes" coming from Eddie's shoulder, and a few adjustments and "Good night!"s later, they found themselves in Steve's bedroom. Eddie managed to remove most of the rogue eyeliner, which was lucky. The time in the bathroom wasn't the last time he shed a tear that day, because as they were falling asleep, Steve said:
"You might be the first person who is dating the real me, and I'd like you to be the last one as well."
Tomorrow, he'd hold a funeral for the Munson doctrine. But today, he was going to wrap himself around Steve like a cuddly octopus and know that even if he doesn't manage to hold on tight the whole night, Steve would be there in the morning.
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oneforthemunny · 4 months ago
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summerween |modern!eddie munson x reader|
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prompt: eddie is itching to decorate for halloween. the only problem is, it's still summertime.
still on my fall shit, and still on my fluff shit. very fluffy and sweet for these two (i love them). short little fall ficlet. all fluff. language, that's really it. just fluff.
“It’s not even August.” You stare him down from your place behind the counter, arms crossed your white tank top, adding emphasis to your statement. It was hot, late July hot, too hot for Halloween decorations. 
“Getting started early this year, sweetheart.” Eddie grinned, flashing a dazzling smile that had your chest swelling, cheeks tingling with warm rushes of emotion. “Never too early to get started.” 
“This feels like too early.” You scoffed, rolling your eyes. Despite your protests and snide comments of how many weeks away October was, you still helped Eddie clean. Vacuum and mop, wipe down everything the way you always did before decorating. 
“Kids aren’t even back in school, and you want to decorate?” You lifted a brow, cringing at the thud of the totes collecting a cloud of dust in the air from the dusty storage unit they’d been homed in since last November. 
“Yeah, c’mon, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Eddie trilled dramatically, tearing the lid off the first box. A plethora of black and orange and purple figurines poked out, a waxy, plasticky scent following from the stored heat. 
“Besides, everyone’s started putting stuff out. I keep seeing it on Instagram, people are finding all this cool shit. I wanna get what we have out, and then I was thinking we could go shopping tonight. Or tomorrow, just dependin’ on when we get done.” Eddie rambled excitedly, pulling out the tangled garland, eyes meeting yours with a sickly sweet pleading gaze. 
You rolled your eyes, snatching the garland in dramatic irritation, sitting down on the couch to unravel it. “We’re putting all of this out today? What if I had other plans today?” You challenged, lifting a brow. You didn’t have any, of course, Eddie had already asked you that yesterday when he’d planned this.
“I’ll help you do them, baby. I promise. We don’t have to go shopping tomorrow if you don’t want to.” Eddie hummed sweetly, brown eyes rounding in the most adorable way towards you. “I just thought we’d go to Fort Wayne tomorrow. Take you shopping over there.” 
Your lips pursed, too stubborn to relent so easily, but melting under his affection the way you always did. “There will be a million fuckin’ kids there tomorrow, Ed, school starts back in a week.” 
“We can go first thing in the morning.” Eddie countered, proudly setting a plush ghost pillow next to the others. “Before it gets insane. I’ll wake up early for you.” He winked playfully. 
Your lips rolled, fighting back a grin, chin ducking towards the garland. “Yeah, right.” You muttered. “You’ll sleep ‘til noon.” 
“Nope. I’ll set twenty five alarms if I have to.” Eddie declared, unwrapping the glass figure carefully, wadding the paper back up. “You have my full consent to dump cold water on me if I don’t wake up after the third snooze. That’s what Wayne always did, and it always worked.” 
You snorted lightly, facade breaking and a grin taking over your scowl. “Cold water? Like in a Disney Channel movie?” You lifted a brow, a snarky tease still in your tone. 
Eddie grinned, dimples creasing deeply. “Yeah, I was a heavy sleeper. ‘Specially after I hit puberty, ya know? I think it was my seventh or eighth grade summer, I started playing Neverwinter Nights and would stay up all night. Then when school started, I didn’t stop, and I’d stay up the whole night and Wayne would be so pissed at me in the morning.” He shook his head lightly. 
“One morning I wouldn’t get up, and I thought he’d finally just left me, was letting me stay home, and he came back, like, five minutes later with this popcorn bowl of ice water and dumped it on me.” Eddie snorted in laughter. 
You barked out a laugh, an edge to your giggle that had Eddie blushing, his own laughter bubbling thick in his chest. “So that’s how he got you to get up?” 
“Worked like a charm.” Eddie nodded, a half grin pulling at his lips. 
“Good to know.” You lifted your brow, lips curled in a devious little grin. Eddie’s knees weakened at the sight. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time you sleep through my cousin’s gender reveal.” 
Eddie rolled his eyes lightly. “Baby, that was- c’mon, even you agreed that it was insane that they had it at ten in the morning. Who has a party that early?” 
“Parents, Eddie.” You huffed. “Adults.” 
“Alright.” Eddie shook his head, trying to diffuse a fight he could sense was looming. “Hey, look, I forgot you got this.” He pulled the bright pink ceramic ghost out of the tub. 
“Oh, I forgot about that.” Your face lit up, pulling the final knot loose of the garland’s chords. “Put her on the shelf- no, on the other side, Eddie.” You clicked your tongue in annoyance, nodding harshly towards the empty shelf on the TV stand. 
Eddie flicked on the switch, the dim bulb fluttering to life before sticking it on the shelf, proudly. Normally, he thought pink decor- especially Halloween- killed the vibe. It was supposed to be scary and dark and gloomy and moody, not pastel. Until he met you. Then pastel pinks, oranges, purples, all made their way into his dark and gorey decor. Happy, cute ghosts with his grim reapers and skulls. 
“Did you get this at Target?” Eddie pushed the ghost so it was center, spine straightening as he stood. 
“Mm, I think so.” You hummed, hooking your foot on the edge of the tote, sliding it closer to you. “Maybe Home Goods.” 
“I think they have that huge Home Goods in Fort Wayne, don’t they? We could go there tomorrow. Look for more.” Eddie slid beside you, throwing a hand over your waist, squeezing your hip gently just to feel you squirm. His lips pressed to your jaw, soft and pillowy, leaving a burning heat of excitement in their wake. 
“Fine,” You relented, melting into his affection, letting him pull you into him victoriously. “But I want to go to Anthropologie too. I want to see if they have those cute witch glasses I saw.” 
“Yeah, we can do that. We’ll hit the mall first then Home Goods.” Eddie muttered, nose nuzzling against your cheek. 
“I think they’d be so cute on the bar cart, don’t you?” You hummed, nodding towards the tiny gold bar cart in the corner of the kitchen. 
A new edition to the apartment. Eddie had searched high and low, finally found the one you wanted on Facebook Market and drove all the way to Muncie to get it. You had been so excited when he showed it to you, beaming in a way that was rare but felt exhilarating to be the reason for it. Right now, it was donning a tequila theme, one you saw on Pinterest and had to match. 
“Yeah that would be. You know, Gareth used to date this girl, Ayesha, and she always got this wine called Witches Brew. It had a cool lookin’ label on it, that would be cool to add to it too.” Eddie tucked his chin down to look at you. 
“Ooh, that would be cool.” Your eyes lit up, just enough to have Eddie’s chest swelling with pride. “Isn’t there a Total Wine near the exit? We can stop and look there.” 
“Sounds like a date to me, baby.” Eddie squeezed you closer to his chest, fingers barely brushing your sides so you squirmed. He paused for a moment. “Are you sure you’re ok with me putting this up? I-I can wait if you really don’t want me to, I just, I’m just excited ya know-” 
“-I know.” You turned, shifting in his arms to look at him. “It’s fine.” You sighed dramatically, a teasing in your tone. 
“At least if we get it up now, we can see what we need to add. Get it before it sells out.” You muttered, spinning the tiny fake spell book in your hands. Eddie grinned, eyes shining with excitement. 
“But,” You lifted a finger, face dropping back to something serious. “Not outside yet. Only inside.” You pointed your nail at him threateningly. “Don’t want the neighbors to think we’re total freaks.” Eddie snorted, arms wrapping around you, pulling you closer to his chest so you were chest to chest, nearly nose to nose. “Please, a little late for that, babe.” Eddie snorted loudly. “They already know we're total freaks, what do you mean? They’ve definitely heard us being total freaks before- oof!” You cut him off, smacking him with a bat shaped pillow.
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queenimmadolla · 1 year ago
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𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: You surprise Eddie with your baby's first trick-or-treat costume. Spoiler alert: she's adorable.
a/n: for maisie 🩷
more penny and Eddie here
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“I’m waitiiiiiiiiing.” Eddie sang out from the couch, tugging at the neck of the cream colored turtleneck you’d guilted him into wearing. It wasn’t as bad as the sweater he had to wear with it. Truly the ugliest thing he had ever seen. 
  It was so ugly, it offended him and he was a little grumpy about it, which you teased was appropriate considering he was supposed to be dressed as Bert from Sesame Street. 
  Yeah. Sesame Street. 
  The (totally) gay puppets.
“You’ll have to get close.” Eddie had threatened when you pulled out eyeliner, not to line his eyes like you did before one of his shows or a date night, but to link his brows together in the most unrealistic looking unibrow ever. 
  Once upon a time, up until like two Halloweens ago, Eddie had used this day to be completely and thoroughly chaotic. Messy. Well, as messy as the social pariah could be on Halloween. So just really drunk, maybe high—sometimes both—making out with someone who wouldn’t acknowledge his existence the following day (and he was very grateful for you for breaking the curse on that last carefree Halloween). But that was the old Eddie Munson.
  Gone was the Eddie Munson that either went all out–in leather, eyeliner and fake blood–or barely tried with some devil horns and a bad sense of humor for halloween to deal weed and drugs, smoke weed and drink til he threw up, or get fucked. Granted, he wasn’t going through this change alone. 
  Your opportunities to party on Halloween night with your friends–having all gotten ready together for the big, slutty night out–drinking ‘til you were stupid only to wake up on your bedroom floor (sometimes not even yours and on one year, the top of your neighbor’s car) with no real repercussions were no more.
  Your days as primarily careless teenagers and now young adult were over, replaced with enjoying the night in a way you were both surprised to find that you didn’t hate, even as early twentysomethings. 
  Hell, the both of you were eager–even if Eddie had to wear a lame costume. He’d wanted to be Ernie, at least.
  “Shut up!” You called back from the bedroom. Eddie snickered at the amusement hidden under your voice and shifted until he was lounging on his side, arm propped up with his hand.
  “Still waitiiiiiiiing!”
  You’d been hiding a certain costume from him for the past three weeks, and the anticipation was killing him.
  “You are the most impatient man I have ever met.” 
  “I just gotta have you, baby.” Came his immediate response and his grin widened when he realized he didn’t even have to think up replies for your quips, it just came natural now. He knew you that well. Still made him giddy and want to kick his feet in the air.
  He loved being married to you. Sue him.
  “Okay, here we come!” You announced and Eddie scrambled to sit up straight, eagerly leaning forward to get an early peak. 
  You walked down the short hall, dressed in a striped sweatshirt, jeans with the bottoms rolled into cuffs and a pair of red converse. Ernie. But Eddie already knew what your costume was, it was a couple’s costume and you were indeed a couple. 
  It was who you were glancing back at, just out of his line of sight, that held his curiosity. 
  “C’mon, baby. Go show daddy!”
  At your prompting, your baby–just a couple of months over a year old–came waddling out, footsteps awkward as she got used to the orange duck feet covering her own and the padding and stuffing of her yellow duck costume, clutching a bottle you’d given her to keep her from fussing while you got her dressed. Her curly little head and chunky cheeks were framed in the hood of the costume, with the duck’s  head resting on hers.
  “Are you kidding me?” Eddie asked, mouth dropping open as his eyes darted from his cute little spawn in her adorable costume to your smug expression and back, “Are you joking? OH MY GOD!”
  Eddie reached his arms out to Penny, fingers curling into his fists as he made grabby hands, “You are so precious, my little baby, come to daddy!”
  Penny was delighted with his praise, drooly mouth dropping open and big brown eyes sparkling as she rushed forward. Her lack of coordinated motor skills paired with the duck feet and the padding of her duck bottom throwing her equilibrium off meant she immediately lost her balance and you and Eddie both inhaled sharply, quickly rising to attention as she wobbled forward briefly, then fell back on her cushioned tail feathers.
  It was far from a dangerous fall, so you and Eddie stood frozen, waiting for her response so as to not sway her to have a certain response, having taken her to the doctor’s after a fall once only to learn she was perfectly fine and had only started crying because you had. 
  You both learned real quick to wait for her response after falling, sometimes she cried and had a boo boo that Daddy and Mommy could fix with some first aid and a kiss, and other times she'd run right into the wall, get up, and walk away (albeit while muttering in angry baby gibberish).
  Penny blinked once, eyes flying from your face to her dad’s before she wiggled her bum against the floor, set her bottle down next to her and tried to stand up. 
  You both let out matching sighs of relief before Eddie darted forward to scoop her up.
  “Are you rubber ducky?” Eddie asked once he had her situated in his arms. All she did was give him that big, beautiful smile of hers (no longer gummy with the teeth she had coming in but thinking about that made Eddie teary eyed) before her attention strayed to his long curls and her chunky little fist flew out to grab some of it, staring it down before she put it in her mouth.
  “Say, yes, baby.” You encouraged her after picking up her bottle, hand tucking in one of her curls peaking out.
  “Yesh.” She parroted, mouthing aggressively at the hair in her fist. While she was distracted, Eddie took the opportunity to press kisses into her cheek, smothering her in them until she grew annoyed and snapped her head in his direction, mouth wide in protest.
  “Sor-ry!” He huffed, still grinning as he pressed another one into her soft cheek. She was all talk  and no bite. Mostly.
  “What does the duck say, baby?” You asked, trying to prompt her. She could do some of the animal sounds and she’d gotten the duck right a few times.
  “Moooo.” And sometimes she moo’d.
  “That is one interesting duck.” Eddie commented and you shushed him.
  “No, baby. Quack.”
  “Cack.”
  Your heart dropped into your stomach. “Okay, that’s a little too close to–we’ll stick with moo.”
  You grabbed her trick-or-treat bag, a disposable camera and a couple of other things you thought you might need to take her trick-or-treating for the first time, while Eddie continued to coddle her, only putting her down when you were all ready to go. 
  Penny was little miss independent until she caught sight of the steps outside of the trailer. Then she whimpered, dropped her bottle and turned to Eddie, shoving herself at his legs as she reached her little arms up to him.
  “Up! UP! Up!”
  It was mean of him, really it was, because Penny was genuinely afraid of the steps but that also meant she demanded her daddy hold her in his arms, and that wasn’t really a loss for him so he hoped she’d hang onto that fear for a while before she got inventive and found another way to climb down them without him.
  Eddie picked her up and she curled into his chest, chin on his shoulder as she clung to him with the duck head on her hood hitting the side of his face. He was trying to hide his smile but it was much too large to conceal and you glared at him with no malice, more amused with Eddie than anything.
  “It’s okay, sweetpea. Daddy will protect you from those big, mean steps.”
  He cackled as you shook your head with a smile. 
  “You are so messed up, capitalizing off of her fear.”
  “Hey–it’s easy for you, she still demands and needs your boob. Did you see her refuse my kisses in there? I’m fighting for her affection here. And I’m gonna keep doing it, as soon as she gets over her fear of steps, I’m telling her a monster lives underneath them. Now, let's go get some candy I’ll also eat on her behalf.”
  He bounded cheerfully out the door, Penny bouncing in his arms while you locked up behind him and called out in your laughter.
  “And using your baby for candy–oh, you’ve got to choke tonight. I’ll save you, but you’ve got to choke.”
  Eddie paused, waiting for you to catch up as his lips curled into smirk in a very Grinch like manner and you groaned, eyes squeezing shut as you realized what he was implying without having to verbalize it. 
  “I mean, I’d be happy to arrange that–”
  “Keep walking, Bert. We only have an hour and a half so we’d better get a move on if you want a decent amount of candy to steal from your own baby.”
  “I’m not above taking candy from any baby.” He confirmed leaning down just as you leaned up to meet in a kiss, the both of you smiling into it. It was brief, ending when Penny accidentally pecked the both of you with the head of her costume.
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carolmunson · 1 year ago
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it's like sugar sometimes.
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(older!modern!dad!eddie)
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welcome back to the: orange colored sky setlist a/n: this can be read as a stand alone, give or take some references. but as a pre-cursor: you and eddie are about twelve years apart, meeting in late twenties early thirties, his late thirties early forties. you're deeply in love and we're fast forwarding a bit and now you have a kid. shout out to my nephew because without countless videos of him being the same age as the baby in this fic i would not now how babies baby. cw: pure fluff. pure dad eddie goodness. pretty tame. some mild arguing and swearing. some saucy kisses at the end. a new entry for the fall frenzy extravaganza. this fall frenzy is in honor of @jo-harrington who said i could do whatever, so here we are lmao.
songspiration: how sweet it is (to be loved by you) | james taylor
The ride to the orchard is going much better than you were expecting after such a rough morning. Tears from the moment Gwen came into your room just before four in the morning because she had a bad dream. Then it was too hot for her in bed with both of you, then she was too cold, then Ed’s snoring kept you both awake until she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. Then there was the kicking and stretching and rolling around. Aren’t they supposed to sleep like logs? She just turned three. Ed woke up refreshed, frowning when he turned over to see you sitting up against the headboard reading with puffy tired eyes. “Hey,” he says softly as to not wake Gwen who was curled up into his side, “She come in last night?” “Another bad dream,” you shrug, looking at him over your book, “I don’t know if she’s really having them or if she’s just starting to have a little regression period. Maybe we can get her a new night light or something.” “Why don’t you try to go back to sleep for a little and I’ll get her ready,” he asks, voice still raspy from sleep, “I’ll just take her into the shower with me.” You smile lazily at him and nod, looking over at the clock on his night stand – a little past six. Maybe an extra forty-five would do you some good before you went to the orchards upstate. Gwen’s eyes open up to her dad awake, her face contorting when she sees him. “Had a bad dweam,” she sniffles, reaching her arms out. “Poor Gwen, you had a bad dream?” Eddie coos, pulling her up out of bed with him, “Tell me all about it, angel.” Her babbles echo down the hall even after Ed closes the door behind them.
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Piercing sobs woke you up instead of your alarm, though that went off right after to remind you that there’s a whole day you have to start. You rub your eyes and groan, sliding out of bed and stepping into your slippers. You grab your robe, shrugging it on as you leave the bedroom and wincing while another cry pours out of your toddler and goes straight to your chest. “I know, honey, I know,” you hear Eddie soothe, “But we’re gonna go do something so fun. You wanna go pick a pumpkin, right?” “No pumpki-i-in,” she sobs, deep and guttural. You open the door to her room slowly, a very teary Gwen stands in the corner, hair wet in a new set of pajamas. You look at Eddie, pulling out an outfit for her and laying it on her toddler bed. “What’s goin’ on, in here?” you ask gently. “Gwen doesn’t wanna get dressed to go apple picking,” Eddie says quietly, “She wants to watch Blue’s Clues.” “Wan’ see Bl-blue, mommy,” she sobs, “Pwease.” “Hey, hey,” you try your best to settle her, “Thank you for saying please, honey. We can still see Blue but daddy has to get you dressed first.” “Did she eat?” you ask, pulling Gwen up to your hip while she cries into your shoulder. “Yeah, she had some mini waffles and a banana,” he opens her closet and fishes out a tiny pair of Chuck’s to go with her outfit – a little black sweatshirt screen printed with the Halloween movie poster paired with a set of leggings meant to look like jeans. “Did you eat?” you smile, coming over to him to plant a kiss on the cheek. “Yeah, her leftovers,” he laughs, “There’s a cup of coffee waiting for you on the counter.” “Thank you,” you nudge him, feeling Gwen squirm and whine while she tries to shimmy down from your hip, “Okay, okay.” “Gwen, please,” Eddie begs with a twinge of frustration in his voice when she makes it to the door, on her tiptoes to reach the handle, “Let’s just get you dressed and you can watch Blue’s Clues while we do your hair.” She stomps, wet curls bouncing with her when she does, “Wanna watch now, pwease!” “Thank you for asking nicely Gwen, but that doesn’t always mean you get your way,” he explains. She shrieks, loud enough that your eyes squint, stomping again onto the fluffy white carpet below her, “I wanna watch Blue’s Cwue’s!” “Why don’t you take a deep breath for me, huh?” Eddie asks her, he pats your lower back on the way to the door. A silent way of letting you know to just go get yourself ready, he can handle the rest, “Do we need to take a time out?” “No time out,” she starts to cry again when you slip out of the room. More frustrated whines and wails boom down the hall, dissipating while you make it down the metal staircase to the coffee on the counter. Your heart swells when you notice that he already emptied and reloaded the dishwasher. 
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After you’ve packed some snacks for later and gotten yourself dressed, you make your way back upstairs. You approach the bathroom with your coffee in hand, Gwen’s sippy cup full of water in the other. Her bubbly squeals respond back to whoever is talking to her, barely looking up from Eddie’s phone to look at you when you open the door. 
“Who’re you talking to, miss girl?” you ask, putting her sippy cup next to her on the bathroom counter. “Steeb,” she says, eyes glued to the screen, much happier than she was before. “She’s watching 90s Blue’s Clues?” you laugh at your husband who’s busy splitting her Gwen’s hair into a middle part, looking in the mirror that she’s sat in front of. “No, she’s FaceTiming with Steve,” he shakes his head, pulling one section back into a high pigtail. “Hi peach!” Steve’s voice rings from the phone, he lowers it back down to parentese to address Gwen, “Is that mommy? Can you say hi to her for me?”  “Steeb say hi,” Gwen says, lifting the phone up, showing the screen to the ceiling of the bathroom. You take the phone for a second, seeing Steve’s annoyed face in the frame. 
“You’re on thin ice,” he says, his fiancee’s laugh ringing out of frame, “I can’t believe you’re going this week when we’ll be there in two. You always go before we come to visit.” “There will be plenty of apple picking trips to do together when we move, I promise,” you assure, “She starts gymnastics and swimming next weekend, we won’t have another time to do it.” 
“Gymnastics?” he asks, “Does she have tights? Leotards? What can I get her?” 
“She has like, I don’t know Steve – forty leotards? She’s gonna grow out of half of them in six weeks,” you explain, “Don’t worry, your husband got it covered.” Eddie snickers, wrapping an elastic around one of the ponytails in his fingers. “Well if she’s gonna grow out of them then she’ll need more,” he scoffs, “I’ll get some sent over.” 
“You’re impossible,” your eye roll is something Steve is just as used to as Eddie is. Gwen whines again, reaching for the phone with grabby hands, a quiet ‘Steeby’ escaping her. “I can hear her asking for me, gimme back to my girl,” he sighs. You hand the phone back to Gwen who giggles when Steve makes a funny face at her through the screen. “Look how pretty those ponytails are. Daddy did such a good job,” Steve coos at her. “We payin’ be-yoo-dee sawon,” Gwen explains. Eddie looks up at you, whispering ‘Can you grab her bows for me?’ You nod, reaching into the bottom drawer to snatch a basket full of bows, holding them out to him while he picks. 
“Beauty salon,” Eddie corrects softly, “Orange or black bows?”  “Bwack,” she says, waving him off like you do when you’re busy, “I’m on da phone, daddy.” “Yeah,” you say, meeting her sass, “She’s on the phone, daddy.”
He lets a ‘pfff’ push out of his lips while he grabs two black bows from last halloween, little sparkly spider webs parked in the center. You leave them to it, heading down to get the car packed up and make sure you have Gwen’s bag set up before you leave. 
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Despite the dramatics, the ride is going well. Gwen happily eats an apple sauce packet in her carseat while the two of you sip on coffees and eat breakfast sandwiches from a drive thru off the highway. It’s nice to get out of the city for a while and get Gwen used to the idea of not being in it anymore. The drive consists mostly of James Taylor’s greatest hits because Gwen is her Grandpa Wayne’s baby before she’s anyone else’s. She hums along to Carolina and sings only the chorus of Mexico. Her favorite song is Mockingbird even though it’s Carly Simon featuring James Taylor. The two of you throw it on the record player every other day to sing it to her, even if she doesn’t ask for it. It’s selfishly your favorite song, too, just ‘cause you get to see your husband play along with you. “And if that better way ain't so, I'll ride with the tide and go with the flow, And that's why, I keep on shoutin' in your ear, Saying (yeah, yeah) whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, whoa-oh.” You lean your head back on the passenger’s side to make eye contact with Gwen through the visor mirror who giggles back at you. She mimics your ‘whoa-whoa-whoa’, shimmying in her carseat with her shoulders. Gwen’s no stranger to shimmying, always finding some way to dance off beat to Ed’s music when he plays at a venue she can be at or practices at home. His number one fan. 
“Oh-wange twees, mommy,” Gwen says, tiny finger pointing out the window at the foliage lining the road. “I see them, aren’t they pretty Gwen?” you nod back at her. Eddie’s head turns slightly to watch her watch the trees, eyes shining at each change of color hits her. His heart beats a little quicker knowing she’s able to make those distinctions between orange, red, and yellow – too smart, getting too big. “Daddy’s git-tah,” she yelps, pointing hard at a tree covered in dark red leaves while Eddie slowly turns down the entrance of the orchard. Gwen lets out a tiny ‘woah’ when the car jostles that makes him laugh, he wishes she’d stay this little forever. “Yeah, that’s the same color as daddy’s guitar, good job sweetheart,” he smiles back at her, “Are you ready to pick some apples so we can make Uncle Stevie a pie for when he visits?” “Ya!” She nods, happy and excited. She doesn’t know what he said, but whenever he talks to her with a smile she’ll do whatever he asks and vice versa. Still ‘sort of rockstar’, definitely ‘meant to be father’. Parking is less of a nightmare than expected since it’s early in the day – most families come after the first morning nap, at least that’s what the mom groups told you on Facebook. Gwen hardly naps anymore, but you won’t be surprised if she knocks out earlier than usual tonight. Eddie gets the backpack full of Gwen’s essentials and you grab the baby. “I have to carry you through the parking lot, babe,” you say when she starts to bounce in your arms, eager to run on the grass in her sneakers. “Wanna walk, please,” she begs, her hands on your cheeks while you make your way towards the entrance. “You can walk when we get inside but there’s lots of cars out here and no stop lights,” you say, batting her hand out of your hair when she reaches for it, “I’ll put you down in a little bit.” “You think we should take the stroller?” Ed asks from the trunk. “They have wagons, we can just pull her around,” you shrug, “I don’t think the back up stroller is good for this kind of place, we’d need the one at home.” Eddie shrugs, joining you on your walk to the entrance to get your empty bag and your wagon, putting Gwen at the back as you get to the trees. “Walk, please,” she begs again. You hesitate, it’s just too big of a place and she’s a runner, “Honey, I would love it if you–” “Let her walk,” Eddie says, “She’ll get bored after a few minutes and wanna watch anyway, just let her walk.” “Come here Gwen, hold my hand,” he says, offering a tattooed hand to her pudgy one. She clumsily crawls out of the wagon, bouncing over to her dad to put her hand in his. He pulls her up once, making her squeal and giggle as she floats next to him. “More, more!” she laughs, letting Eddie swing her ahead a few more times while you all make your way through the trees. 
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She likes apple picking more than you expected, arms up constantly to be lifted onto the branches to grab some off of every few trees. Gwen had a good eye, better than you and Eddie, for super crisp ones – pointing up and jumping to get at them. If she was a little bigger you wouldn’t be surprised if she climbed up the trees with the ease of a jungle cat. Your husband encouraged it, climbing up the branches like he was still twenty – sitting with his legs dangling off and having you pass your toddler to him. “Please be careful,” you warn, passing her up to him. “Babe, I know what I’m doing,” he scowls, a hint annoyed before changing his expression for Gwen when he helps her onto the low branch with him. “You don’t have to be a jerk, I just want her to be safe,” you snap back. “And I’m keeping her safe,” he says with a smile as to keep your daughter none-the-wiser. Still looking at Gwen while she reaches for another apple. She hands it to Eddie who hands it to you, your fingers brush. “Sorry,” he says, looking down at you, “I’ll be careful. We’re not very high, but you’re right. I’ll be careful.” “Thank you,” you nod, taking the apple and pressing a ghost of a kiss to his knuckles. He blushes red, red, red. Red like the leaves, red like his guitar. “Why s’pink, daddy?” Gwen asks, passing him another apple. “I just love mommy very much, honey,” he smiles, pressing a kiss into her hair, “She makes me turn pink like a heart.” “Like on da phone,” she says, clinging to him like a koala when he slides down off the low branch with her. “Yes, like on the phone,” he nods. You’re not Peach 🍑 in his phone anymore. You’re The Wife 💗. Right now he’s Gwen’s Dad in your phone because you got in an argument two months ago and haven’t changed it back to Rockstar Husband 🎸❣️because ‘Gwen’s Dad’ makes you laugh too much. He hates it. “How you like them apples, G?” you ask when Eddie puts her down in the wagon, she looks up at you confused and shrugs; brown curly pigtails bouncing at she does. “Kids today,” you shake your head at Eddie while you press onward, “No culture.” 
“No culture,” he agrees enthusiastically. 
You peruse, the bags you bought are filled to the brim with apples. Some red, some green, a few yellow so Gwen can try them and see if she likes them. It’s a calming walk, the chatter of other families, the squeaky roll of the wagon, the rustle of the trees when the early autumn wind catches them. Eddie holds your hand loosely, always needing to keep touching you in some way, always wanting to keep you close to him. You look back, Gwen going between looking around at the other families and playing with her V-Tech phone. Eddie goes from walking slow to speeding up to make the wagon jostle just to hear Gwen’s giggles peal through the trees. After about an hour of walking and picking, you’re about as pooped as your toddler should be. Once you get to the tree line you see the farm and market down at the base of the hill, a little relieved that you’ve all made it to the end of the road unscathed. 
That is, until Gwen climbs out of the wagon when it comes to a stop and without warning, books it towards the edge. 
“Gwendolyn Rose!” Eddie’s call is rough and loud out of fear, but it sounds like anger. Gwen stops short, startled, falling backwards onto the seat of her leggings. Like clockwork the first whine starts, building up into a needy, sad wail. You know they’re crocodile tears so you keep your pace with the wagon behind you. Your husband however, despite the constant reminder that she knows he’s easy, rushes forward without a second thought. “Oh no, my baby girl, shh, shh. I’m sorry,” he coos, reaching down to hoist her up onto his hip, “I didn’t mean to yell, sugar. You just got daddy scared is all. I’m not mad.” Gwen wipes her face, pushing away tears that never fell, sniffling and hiding her face in his neck. He rubs her back while she settles, guilt tugging on the lines between his brows. 
“No baby girl,” Gwen pouts, “I’m big girl.” 
“Oh that’s right, you’re my big girl,” Eddie grins, kissing her cheek. She’s not amused, frowning down at him while she pushes up against his shoulder to squirm out of his hold. “That’s a very grumpy face, Gwenny,” you giggle.  “Hey, are you mad at me?” he asks up at her before popping her back down onto her feet at the edge of the tree line, “Why’re you lookin’ so mad?” 
“I’m big,” she announces, little foot stomping on the grass below her. Eddie lets a sigh out through his nose and kneels down to her level. She takes several deep breaths and you both know it’s the beginning of what could be a very long second tantrum of the day. “I know, you’re a very big girl,” he nods, “But what do mommy and daddy say you have to do when we don’t have you in the stroller?” “Hode hands,” she repeats back in a whine. “That’s right, we hold hands – and if we’re not holding your hand you’re supposed to stay close, right?” He watches her nod, tucking a finger under her chin to make sure she’s absorbing what he’s saying. Her lower lip juts out, cheeks puffing while her shoulders sulk. “I walk by - by mysewf,” she urges, sniffling, “Pwease.” “Not today, sugar. I’m sorry,” he sighs, cupping her cheek in his palm, “I have a fun idea, do you wanna get on daddy’s shoulders and you can tell us how far we are from the farm?” She brightens up a little, giggling when he reaches down to tickle her sides before scooping her up to lift over his shoulders. He groans the way old men groan when they lift something and you stifle a laugh, smiling up at Gwen when she smiles down at you. “Hi mommy,��� she beams, waving her tiny hand.  “Hi baby,” wave back lazily, the shoddy sleep you had last night starting to settle into your eyes. “Do you see the farm, Gwenny?” Eddie asks, she nods enthusiastically, “Maybe we can go get you a donut, how does that sound? Will that make you happy?”
“Ed,” you click your tongue, “She’s never gonna get to sleep later.” “We’re making memories, babe,” Eddie says, reaching up to hold Gwen’s hands to keep her steady, “Some extra sugar won’t hurt her.” 
“Yeah, you love extra sugar, don’t you?” you laugh. 
“Matter of fact, I do,” he smirks, shooting you a wink. He laughs when he sees two of those twelve foot Home Depot skeletons posed outside the front of the market, promoting their haunted hayride with signs and other silly decor, “Shit, that’s fuckin’ metal – s’ridiculous.” 
“S’dic-yoo-liss,” Gwen repeats. “S’ridiculous, Gwennifer!” Eddie repeats back in concurrence. “Sss’tick-you-luss,” she bounces, laughing when he laughs. They have the same one, though his has years on hers, gruff with age, with cigarette stains. 
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Pumpkins get picked, warm donuts devoured, the morning finally feels like it’s coming to a close. You park Gwen down at a picnic table while Eddie goes to get the goods, hanging out with your threenager who can barely keep her eyes open. You’re thankful you still have the wagon because there was no way you’d be able to carry all of it back to the car. Caramel apples, cider donuts, three gallons of apple cider, honey sticks, pumpkin pie, and anything else Eddie thought was good enough to bring home for the season weight heavy in the brown paper bags in his arms. He comes back sheepishly, biting his lower lip when you look at the bags and then at him. 
“Hm,” you hum pointedly. 
“I just really like fall flavors, peach,” he shrugs, “And the old lady at the front was so sweet telling me about the deals I couldn’t not get everything.” “You’re such a sucker,” you laugh with a roll of your eyes, “You ready to head out?” He nods, ticking his forehead at Gwen whose cheek is smushed against your chest, eyelashes brushing the tops of her cheeks, “Looks like this pumpkin’s ready to go.” 
“She’s out,” you say softly, brushing her hair away from her face, “Lasted five minutes on my lap.” 
“Let me get a picture to send to Steve,” he says low enough that it doesn’t wake her, “The background is perfect.” “Ed you have a thousand pictures of her from today,” you complain. “Shh, shh, come on,” he smiles, taking out his phone – you know he’s only snapping Gwen by the way he lowers the camera to your lap. He puts the bags in the wagon while you slowly stand with her wrapped around your front. You wait at the entrance for him to pull the car around, leaving the wagon behind. She doesn’t wake up when you pop her back in the car seat, slowly rolling out of the parking lot with the rest of the afternoon in your wake. 
“I got her a little gourd painting kit, somewhere in those bags,” he says, “She can make some decorations.”  “Oh she’ll love that,” you nod, peeking at her sleeping face in the visor mirror again, “I’ll do it with her before dinner.”
He pulls in slowly at a stop sign, hand reaching out to snake into yours, pulling it to his lips to bless you with soft kisses on the back of your hand.
“Thanks for such a good day, baby,” he murmurs.
“You’re very welcome.” 
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Later on, just before dinner, Eddie hears a tiny knock on his office door paired with two giggles from his favorite girls. 
“Yes?” he calls out. The door creeps open and he hears you whisper, ‘Ask ‘Are you busy, daddy?’ 
“You busy, daddy?” Gwen pipes up. He shuts his computer, moving away from the two additional screens. “No, honey, never too busy for you,” he smiles, creases by his eyes showing up through his glasses, “Do you have something to show me?” 
“Yeah,” she nods, pulling on your hand to pull you into the room. He uses the same candles he always has, deep spice, like his cologne. Warm like the way he holds you. Still in his hunter green Dickie’s overalls from this morning. 
You give Gwen her little pumpkin that she painted to present to her dad, beaming with excitement while he looks it over. 
“Such a good job, Gwenny,” he coos, “Are these –” 
“I did bats,” she grins, finger touching the sparkly black sort of bats adorning the outside. Covered in glitter and sequins, falling onto his office floor. 
“You did bats? For Halloween?” he asks. You shake your head no, smiling big when Gwen goes on to explain. 
“No cause, daddy, cause you have bats,” she hurriedly explains, “Issa daddy pum-kin.” She reaches to his left arm, pointing at the bat tattoos on the inside when he was a kid. She runs her finger over them, “See, bats like daddy.” 
“That’s so sweet, honey,” he coos, “Is it for me?” “Yeah,” she squeaks, “For here.” “For your office,” you say for her, trying not to giggle when his eyes shine with tears. She could give him a piece of trash and he’d cry over it, “‘Cause you have so many Halloween decorations in here.” He laughs, looking around at all the tour posters he has from bands he’s seen over the years – to a three year old they probably are a little scary. “And what did you say it was when you were done, Gwen?” you ask, “What did you say daddy would think the pumpkin was?” “Fucking med-oh,” she giggles. “Oh my god,” he sighs, thumb and forefinger immediately going to temples. “Fucking metal,” you repeat back him, knowingly, “Wonder where she got that.”
He tries not to laugh when he looks down at Gwen, “Don’t say that word, baby, that’s a bad word.” “Sowwy,” she whispers. “It’s okay, you didn’t know,” he grins, pulling her in to kiss her all over. She shrieks the way babies shriek when they’re excited and runs out of the office toward her bedroom at the end of the hall. You turn to go after her before feeling Eddie’s hand on your shoulder. “Hey,” he says quietly in your ear, you shiver, “Remember when you said I like a little extra sugar?” 
Your cheeks burn hot, turning to him, “I do.” He leans in slow, lips capturing yours in a way that they only do when you both get to be alone, “Don’t forget to keep givin’ me some.” “I won’t,” you murmur back, letting him kiss you deeply one more time before pressing a slow kiss to your favorite place under the hinge of your jaw, “You’re bold, Munson.” He shrugs, breaking away, “Needed somethin’ sweet.” 
As if he isn't sweet enough. Eddie spends the rest of the night looking up ways to preserve a painted gourd. 
masterlist | fall frenzy | ko-fi
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jo-harrington · 1 year ago
Text
Team Building (Eddie Munson x Store Manager!Reader)
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Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader
Summary: No one does Halloween quite like the Hellfire Club, and you just so happened to have promised to join them.
Previous Part: Closing Time
Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Reader works at the Claire's at StarCourt. Eddie works at TapeWorld. Mutual Pining and Slow Burn, Fluffy Fluff, Trick or Treating
Note: HAPPY HALLOWEEN and welcome back to the Store Manager Verse. I actually wanted to be further along with my chronological releases but it just never happened. This one is definitely probably one of the best timed releases with the holiday but there's a minor note that there's...maybe a reference to a yet-to-be published installation of the story. Eddie and SM are gonna be going on a little road trip at some point and will meet some of SM's family. DONT EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT FOR NOW. Just enjoy the shenanigans.
You can find my masterlist here for more featuring our resident Store Manager and all of my other writing.
Please do not interact if you are not 18+.
Enjoy!
---
"You look cute today."
"Thanks!"
"You need to look less cute next week. We're doing zombies, remember?"
"Got it."
Every day.
"Did you pick up that fake blood from Melvalds like you promised?"
"Yeah it's at home."
"Ok great because...because I was a little afraid you were gonna forget about our plans."
"Don't worry Eddie."
He reminded you every day.
"Ok so we're meeting at Gareth's at 4 on Thursday."
"Alright I'll be there."
"No, uh, glitter makeup? We're going for realism. Shock and awe."
"I swear to god!"
Every day for an entire week, whether he was scheduled to work or not, Eddie showed up at Star Court to remind you that you had promised to go Trick or Treating with him and his friends.
It was cute endearing.
October--and more specifically Halloween--was one of your favorite times of the year at work. It was laid back and fun. No pressure from either Back to School or the Holiday rush, you could "dress up" with little costume pieces or fun makeup every day, and you could have a bowl of candy at the cash wrap that made everyone's day a little bit brighter.
And outside of work, you'd really embraced the season.
Correction, Eddie made you embrace the season.
Before moving to Hawkins, Halloween had always been incredibly...commercial. Costumes and decorations from the little seasonal aisle at the drugstore. The biggest display of candy at the grocery store that you needed to stock up on unless you wanted your house egged.
And your social life consisted, mainly, of outings with your coworkers. Pumpkin patches and haunted hayrides almost always became team building activities. That wasn't to say your coworkers--new and old--weren't your friends too.
But with Eddie...it was different.
A harvest festival outside of Muncie, horror movies late at night during a thunderstorm, warm apple cider at Merrill's Farm while looking for gourds that were shaped like your heads. Pumpkin carving on the porch at the trailer, cutting out bats and cats from black construction paper, and now Trick or Treating with his friends.
You thought, early on in your friendship, that it was just some throw away comment. But knowing him as well as you did now, you realized that he really meant everything he said.
Every promise was purposeful, especially when it came to the people he cared about. Which was why you were sure he was determined to make the night perfect. Not only for you, but for everyone.
Especially the handful of little sheep that were newcomers to Hellfire.
"The freshman," he explained on Sunday as you worked on your costumes together. "They're little turds but...I dunno, they have potential."
You'd already heard about them at the beginning of the year as Eddie gushed about his new recruits; younger brothers that Eddie sort of always wished for but was thankful he didn't actually have.
"They're not gonna think I'm some like...weird old person right?" you laughed self-consciously, thinking back to Jeff's comment when you said you wouldn't buy them beer. And sure you were not that much older than Eddie, but you were sure you were ancient to a bunch of 14-year olds.
"You're the coolest person I know. And I'm the coolest person they know."
"You saw how my brother is though," you waved your hand dismissively. Jimmy's words--who would have guessed your boyfriend's not lame like you--wouldn't stop echoing in your head though.
Boyfriend. Boyfriend. Boyfriend.
Eddie still wasn't your boyfriend.
They must have echoed in Eddie's too because his cheeks flushed and he immediately became bashful. He ducked his head into his shoulder a little bit and refused to meet your eyes as he hacked away at the sleeves of the old flannel in his hands.
"Your brother," he finally replied, "is a little turd too. I'm sure the kids will worship you. More than they worship me. I promise. Everything will be alright."
---
Before you knew it, Thursday rolled around.
You were running late to get to the Emerson's to get ready thanks to a last minute visit from your DM. Who knew that pictures of you and your team for the company-issued costume contest would take so long?
Still, to save time, you decided not to change costumes until you got to the house. Seeing as Eddie had grand plans for everyone's face paint to make them look as close to Day of the Dead as possible, you figured you would be fine.
However, you were not expecting the entire gaggle of boys to stare at you with stars in their eyes as you stepped out of your car, duffle bag full of torn old clothes and gallon of fake blood in-hand, done up like a glam metal superstar.
Or as close to it as you could get with the accessories you carried at the store. Rainbow hair extensions and glitter spray, layers of chain jewelry, and too much cheetah print.
"You," Eddie began as he pushed through the group to get to you. His face was already a ghastly pallor thanks to a layer of facepaint from melvalds, exactly as he had envisioned. "Are a traitor and a turncoat, a disgrace to the uniform, and your status as Corroded Coffin's number one fan."
"I've literally never heard you guys play," you rolled your eyes at him.
"Did my lesson about the different types of metal mean nothing to you?" he clutched a hand over his heart and then reached out and fiddled with your jewelry. "And didn't I say no glitter."
"I just need to use the bathroom to wash it all off. Then you can make me gross and moldy like you."
"It's not mold. It's rot. Get it right." You flipped him off and he grinned. "Hey sweetheart."
"Hi."
"Nice of you to finally join us."
Eddie threw an arm around your shoulders and led you into the garage. You said hi to Jeff, Gareth, and Dave, and then he introduced you to the sheep.
Mike and Lucas and Dustin and Will.
They were all a little bashful as Eddie went down the line; it was reminiscent of when you met the others, except less fun facts and more silly tidbits meant to embarrass the kids.
Will the Wise whose worst stat was intelligence. Dustin who had a girlfriend in Utah--
"She's real, I swear."
--Mike who had already gone through two new characters because he couldn't roll to save his life. Literally. And Lucas who liked sports.
"Oh my god," you scoffed at Eddie. “You make it sound like sports are a scourge."
"They are."
"You like hockey."
"I," Eddie paused. "Tolerate hockey."
You grinned triumphantly and said hello to each of the boys before ducking into the house to get changed.
"Dude, she is way out of your league." you could hear Mike whine, followed by a dull thud of a fist hitting an arm.
"That's what we've been telling him the whole time," Dave cackled.
---
Eddie and Will were the masterminds behind the zombification process--bickering back and forth about what scar went where and how gross that pus should look as they applied facepaint--but all the boys tossed in their creative input.
"Oh my god, do you still have that rubber eyeball from lunch? We can glue it to Jeff's hand."
"What if--don't touch my hair--what if we--don't touch my hair."
"More blood! More! MORE!"
Before you knew it, two hours had passed, it was dark out and gaggles of Trick-or-Treaters were already filling the streets. Gareth's mom had set herself up on the porch with a bowl full of fun-sized candy and wished you all farewell as you took off down the sidewalk.
A veritable hoard of the undead, with ripped clothes, foaming mouths, blood-soaked hands, and pillowcases to double as treat bags.
To your surprise, there was a lot more to Trick or Treating than you had initially thought. All your childhood, you'd just gone door to door for a few blocks, rang a bell, got some candy, and at the end of the night traded treats with your brothers or your friends.
To Hellfire, it was just as involved as any of their DnD campaigns. And it's how you learned more about each of the boys, and surprisingly, more about their fearless leader.
Lucas and Mike were the perfect strategists and, as you began your trek, listed off neighborhoods that gave the best candy. You got the in-depth analysis between full-size and fun-size candies, chocolate versus peanut butter versus nougat, and you made a mental note to be more mindful of the choices you put out at the cash wrap for next year.
Dustin and Eddie were the navigators mentally mapping the distances between each neighborhood and how quickly and efficiently the group could get around.
"We should have just taken the van," Eddie scoffed when Dustin suggested Loch Nora first, the furthest trek of the night.
"No, then we'll end up back at Gareth's by 10. We just need to walk fast, it'll be perfect."
"And my mom is making a casserole for dinner," Gareth piped up. "She said you're all welcome to stay."
"Why don't we end at my place," Mike suggested. "We can just hang out in the basement and my mom will order pizza."
"No one wants to sleep in your dusty ass basement Wheeler," Dave scoffed.
"We're definitely skipping school tomorrow," Eddie pointed at all of the kids. "I hope you all know that."
Dave and Jeff, much to your surprise, were the "war generals" as they so graciously called themselves. They had a few rolls of toilet paper and a carton of eggs tucked away in their pillowcases, in case they came across--
"The enemies!!!" The older boys hollered into the starry night sky, quickly earning glares from other kids and parents as they passed.
"And who would that be?" you asked. The entire group looked at you like you'd grown a second head. "I'm sorry I'm not well-versed in Halloween mischief."
"Oh it's gonna be fun corrupting you." Eddie laughed wickedly, and started ticking off examples on his fingers. "People who tell us we're too old to trick or treat."
"I thought you said no one cared!" you exclaimed.
"Most people," he clarified, "don't care. But someone called the cops on us. What was it? Last year? Year before?" He looked at the older boys for confirmation.
"Mrs. Peterson who likes to sic her dogs on the kids who get too close to her rose bushes," Lucas offered next.
"If someone has their porch light on, but doesn't answer the door."
"When someone gives raisins instead of candy," Will supplied, ignoring Dustin's quiet, I like raisins.
The list went on: people who made fun of their costumes, the one house where the guy sat on his porch and douse kids with "holy water" for engaging in devilry.
"And Jason Carver," Eddie finished with a flourish.
They all looked at you for some kind of objection...or maybe your approval? You weren't too sure.
But at your soft nod, they all whooped and hollered and a few of the younger boys even took off running so they could jump and scare some of the kids who were just minding their own business.
"See?" Eddie asked and grabbed your hand in his as you followed at the back of the group. "And you were afraid they were gonna think you were some gross old lady. They're trying to impress you."
"Impress is a stretch."
"Ah ah ah," he shook his head. "I will hear none of it. I told them all that they were to be on their best worst behavior. Make sure you have the best time. That they are mere peasants here to serve the Queen of the Undead."
You let his hand go and pushed him away from you, even though your heart beat a little faster knowing he wanted them to behave around you.
"Go before I gnaw on your brains."
"You promise?" he waggled his eyebrows at you suggestively.
"Go!"
---
It was an eventful night.
You moaned and groaned and shuffled your way across Hawkins, just like the zombies in Romero's movies, to get all sorts of sweet treats. Candy and popcorn and fresh-dipped caramel apples that someone was making in their yard in Loch Nora.
The group successfully TP'd one house, and you'd even personally egged someone's front door after they called the gang delinquents. You were not athletic in the slightest, but you hit your target dead on, and basked in the boy's gleeful war cries.
You were grateful for Eddie's suggestion of sneakers because you'd walked more in those 4 hours than you had during any Black Friday or Christmas Eve double shift in your entire career. You were sure even a day at Disneyland couldn't hold a candle to the Hellfire Club Whistle Stop Walking Candy Tour of Hawkins.
The boys all took to calling you mom pretty early in the night after you stopped Jeff from chomping into a handful of starbursts.
"Your braces," you reminded him, motioning to your teeth. "You're gonna snap a wire; you hate the orthodontist."
He groaned and all of the boys started snickering. Eddie, of course, was quick to shame him.
"Listen to your mother!"
And the nickname just stuck.
Of course Mike--who you noticed tried to emulate Eddie most out of the group of freshman--had a retort.
"If she's mom," he said smugly. "Does that mean you're dad?"
The boys all started making kissy faces and you had to laugh as Eddie got a little flustered.
After watching him flounder for a comeback, you decided to help him out, so you crossed the distance and pressed a quick peck to his cheek before you turned and shook your finger at the boys in a disappointed way.
"Next person to sass your father," you started. "And you're all grounded." They all looked a mixture of confused and worried for a second.
"What does that mean?" Lucas asked nervously.
"It means you start the next session with half of your hit points," Eddie finally recovered, voice growling in a threat. The boys all clammed up and turned to head to the next house.
"Sorry about them," he shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Nah, it's ok," you smiled reassuringly. "They meant well. Still...til death do us part, I guess."
You both froze and you started panicking.
Why had you said that?
Still, Eddie was able to make it all better. He shuffled his feet and cracked a smile, then gestured to your costumes.
"Or uh...undeath. Considering."
Still, you had butterflies in your stomach every time one of the boys called you mom and dad for the rest of the night.
---
By the time 10 rolled around, you were back at the Emerson's house. Gareth's mom greeted you all excitedly with sodas and plates of hot buffalo chicken casserole with crispy tater tots on top, and you all sat in the garage to eat and divvy up your haul.
"So," Eddie slumped on the sofa next to you at some point after dinner was finished. You were tiredly watching Lucas and Dave argue the merits of Three Musketeers versus Milky Way and glad for the distraction. "Did you have fun?"
"Of course."
"Enough to do it again next year?"
"Is this your way of telling me you guys trick or treat every year?" you joked. "Because I kind of picked up on those hints all night."
"More like...I don't know," he sniffed awkwardly. "You still planning to be my friend next year?"
"Stop asking me that," you hit the back of your hand against his chest. "If I got to see you be a big dork with your gaggle of kindergarteners--"
"Hey!" came Will and Mike's whine from a few feet away.
"--and I'm still here, nothing's gonna scare me away Eddie."
He grabbed your hand to stop you from hitting him again, but stayed silent for a moment, eyes darting back and forth between yours as his tongue worried his lip.
You got nervous the longer he hesitated to say something, and once he did, you had the sneaking suspicion it wasn't exactly what he'd really wanted to say in the first place.
You hoped it wasn't what he wanted to say. Hoped it was just something he couldn't say in front of his friends.
"Then you don't mind if we do Alien next year. And before you say anything, I think I would make a great Ripley. I already have the hair for it and I'm pretty sure I have that same underwear."
"Sure Eddie," you agreed a little stiffly. "Sounds perfect."
He smiled, but it didn't quite meet his eyes.
Still, the two of you stayed huddled together on that couch for the rest of the night, surrounded by friends.
Hands held comfortably together.
Next Part: Promotion
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bloodibambiidoll · 1 year ago
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Living Dead Girl
(Steve Harrington x Early 00s Goth!FemReader)
Spooky collab with my baby @reidsbtch here is her part Dripping With Sin🎃🖤🦇
Summary: You just moved back to Hawkins and your bestfriend is having a Halloween party, you’re excited to meet all of her friends, but especially excited to meet one in particular. Wk: 5K (divider used is by @firefly-graphics)
Warnings: Reader is dressed as a catholic school girl, Spanking(with a belt), choking (he also chokes her with her rosary at one point oops.) unprotected sex, outside sex (but it’s secluded), use of “sir”, mentions of alcohol, Oral (m receiving), also just some cutie cheesy fluff. 18+MINDI!!
You smiled at yourself in the mirror as you put the finishing touches on your costume. You spent hours altering your old school uniform and it turned out perfect. The skirt that used to go almost to your knees now barely covered your ass, the white button up top that used to fit a bit loose was now snug against you and tied in the middle to reveal your midriff and the top of your red push-up bra.
You finished off the look with some black thigh highs, the old rosary you had tucked away with your uniform stacked with your signature choker and platform boots.
You were both nervous and excited for tonight. You had just moved back to Hawkins a few weeks ago to be closer to your lifelong bestfriend, Iris. Even though your parents forced you to move states and go to an all girls catholic school when you were 13 your friendship never wavered. You spent hours chatting on the phone, sending each other countless IMs through AOL, and even going as far as to write each other letters if one of you was grounded.
It’s something you had been considering for a while, holding out hope that your college life would get better over time but friends came and went and so did guys. The only constant in your life being Iris from thousands of miles away. She had been suggesting it for about a year now, telling you how amazing her boyfriend and all her friends were and how much they’d love you. So after you had a falling out with the closest friend you had back home you finally decided to pull the trigger.
You’ve been back a few weeks now and while you’ve of course seen Iris several times you hadn’t had time to meet her friends or even her boyfriend Eddie yet. She’s told you a lot about all them but the one that you’ve been most excited to meet was Steve. She’s been talking him up to you since before you even moved, and you were hoping he would be just as good as she made him sound.
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When you arrived at Iris’ house the party was already in full swing, you weaved through the crowd in search of your bestfriend. Your eyes finally land on her in the kitchen, filling orange and black plastic cups with the punch you were sure had a generous amount of alcohol in it.
“Pookie!!”
Her head shot up at the sound of your voice and a huge smile spread across her lips.
“Pumpkin! Oh my god! You look so sexy!”
You prance over to her and wrap your arms around her like you hadn’t seen her in ages even though you saw her yesterday.
“Me? Look at you, you look good enough to eat! The uniform turned out perfect!”
You watch her eyes wander towards the door and then light up in a way you’ve only ever seen when she sees NYSNC on MTV. You follow her gaze to the person she’s looking at that you could only assume is Eddie.
“Eddie, baby! This is Quinn.” She gestures towards you like you’re a prize on the price is right and it makes you giggle.
“Hi Eddie, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Our girl here has told me so much about you, I feel like I already know your whole life story.”
“Oh my god, shut up.” She playfully slaps your arm and laughs.
“But I thought you were my girl sweetheart?”
Eddie wraps himself around your bestfriend with a pout on his face and a knowing smirk spreads across yours. Iris told you how clingy he is and you have to stop yourself from laughing as you watch it happen in real time.
“Yeah but technically she was my girl first.”
The pout on his face deepens and his arms around her tighten a little and it makes you laugh.
“Aww don’t be so dramatic, she’s totally obsessed with you.” You tease.
“Me? She’s obsessed with you. She never shuts up about you either!”
“Well I guess that just makes us the two coolest people alive then.”
“Hey Harrington! Come over here, I want you to meet someone!” You abruptly halt your banter with Eddie at the sound of his name.
You look behind you and you swear you believe in love at first sight for a second, because holy shit this man is beautiful. His chestnut hair is shiny and slicked back, a leather jacket adorning his broad shoulders, the white tee he’s wearing underneath is tight against his abdomen and those jeans hugged him in all the right ways. When he approaches he leans on the counter next to where you’re standing, up close you can see that he has a toothpick hanging from his lips, his lips that looked extremely fucking kissable. His face looked like it was made with Greek gods in mind, his brown eyes flecked with green and his nose and jaw prominent, and also perfect for kissing. Damn, he hasn’t even said a word to you yet and you’re already thinking about leaving lipstick marks all over him.
“Steve, this is my bestfriend.” She tells Steve your name before winking at you and letting Eddie drag her off into the crowd.
“Hi, I’m Steve.” He smiles at you sweetly and you can’t help but notice that he seems a bit nervous, which makes you want to laugh because he’s standing in front of you looking like that.
“Hi Steve, it's nice to meet you. Iris has told me a lot about not just Eddie, but you too. She’s been really wanting us to meet.” You giggle and turn towards him, resting your hip on the counter so you can look at him better.
“Yeah? She’s uh - she’s told me a lot about you too. She told me you were pretty but wow.” It would’ve sounded like a douchey pick up line if his face wasn’t red as a tomato, his eyes wide and roaming, but bashful.
“Me wow? Look at you.” Your eyes look him up and down while you bite your lip. “I like your costume, a greaser, right?”
“Yeah, it was kind of a last minute decision because I waited too long and this was easy to throw together. I borrowed one of Eddie’s jackets. But I think it turned out okay.” He put his hands in the pockets of the leather jacket before spinning in a circle to give you the full effect.
“I think it turned out great, I like your hair.” You really wanted to tell him that you wanted to take a bite out of his ass but that seemed a bit forward, for now.
“Thanks honey, I like your costume too. Naughty school girl?.” His eyes roamed your whole body now and you didn’t miss the way they lingered on your cleavage and thighs just a little longer than the rest of you.
“Yeah? It’s my old school uniform that I altered. But I think it turned out okay.” You smirk at him before throwing his actions back at him and giving him a spin, your skirt going up just long enough for him to get a view of your ass.
“Your old school uniform? Fuck…Yeah, I like it. I like your shoes. And your necklace.” But what he really wanted to say was that he wanted to worship every inch of your body and kiss you until he couldn’t breathe anymore but that seemed a bit forward, for now.
You look down at your combat boot clad feet and giggle, your hand subconsciously reaching up to touch the studded choker that adorned your neck.
“Pumpkin!!! It’s our song!!” You hear Iris a second before the fact that Living Dead Girl had just started playing through the speakers.
“Sorry, I’ll be back! Duty calls!” You give him a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving behind a dark red lipstick stain before skipping off to the middle of the living room.
You felt eyes on you as you and Iris’ bodies moved closely together to the beat. You had glanced over your shoulder once to see a very pouty yet adorable Eddie staring directly at your bestfriend but you couldn’t stop looking at Steve. His eyes were locked in on you as your hips swayed and your short skirt lifted with each movement. You look him directly in the eyes and smirk as you back against Iris, grinding your ass against her. Your staring game abruptly ends when Eddie walks over demanding your bestfriend’s attention. You wave her off with a knowing smile before finding your way back to Steve.
“Eddie is such a baby I swear, I can’t believe he was jealous of that, that was fucking hot.” Steve snorts, teasing his friend and complimenting you at the same time.
“Iris told me he was clingy, but damn, that boy is attached. It’s cute though, they’re really cute together. Opposites attract and all that.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure I believed in that until I saw those two. But I definitely do now.” The look in his eyes said more than his words and you felt your cheeks flush.
As the night went on you and Steve got closer, getting to know each other, having a few drinks together. You eventually found your way into his lap on the couch and all you wanted to do was shove your tongue down his throat and grind down on him but you didn’t feel like having your first kiss with him in the middle of a crowded living room.
“You wanna go somewhere with me Stevie?” You bring your hand to his face, running your thumb over the apple of his cheek.
“Yeah. Anywhere.”
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“What? Scared of a little trespassing, pretty boy?” You smirk at him as you hike your leg up on the fence that you’ve climbed countless times before.
“Don’t worry, me and Iris used to sneak back here all the time when we were kids, it’s safe, promise. Now come on.”
You climb the fence and drop down on the other side before he even has a chance to respond. The fence rattles and you see Steve’s large hands grasp onto the top, you watch as he pulls himself up and jumps over in one swift motion. Hot.
“Show off.” You snort and roll your eyes.
“I can’t help that I’m not only devilishly handsome but naturally athletic.” Steve smirks and you can’t help it when you bust up laughing.
“Okaaay, someone’s been watching too much Zoolander.”
“Hey! You know what… actually, you’re probably right.” Steve’s face settles in his attempt to pull off “blue steel” and it sends you into a second fit of laughter. His deep laughter joins yours and you can’t help but think you’d like to make him laugh like that again and again.
“Oh noooo, he’s found my greatest weakness!! However will I resist the blue steel? Looks like my only choice is to run!!” You take off running, weaving through the apple trees like you have dozens of times before, platform boots be damned.
“You can’t get away that easily!!” You hear Steve’s converse clad feet crunching the fallen leaves as he chases after you.
You take a sharp left and halt when you see your destination, your favorite tree, quickly ducking behind it.
“Pretty little girls always think they can hide from big bad wolves but that’s often not the case.” He dropped his voice octave and you know it’s meant to sound goofy but it makes your thighs clench.
“Ohhhh cute little school mouse, come out, come out wherever you aaaare.” You hear his footsteps approaching the tree and you feel anticipation grow in your belly.
“GOTCHA!!!” Steve pops up behind you, his hands grab your shoulders and you let out a yelp.
“Oh my fucking god! You scared the shit out of me asshole!!” You turn around and land a playful slap on his chest.
“Maybe next time you’ll think twice about teasing me and then making me chase you through a giant apple orchard.”
“I don’t know… I don’t think I’d mind if you chased me around, Steve Harrington.” You bite your lip as your eyes roam over his body. He looks good enough to eat.
“Yeah? You like getting chased, baby? Want me to stalk you like my prey?” He steps closer to you, so close that you can feel the heat radiating off of him and smell the mix of beer and cinnamon gum on his breath.
“Yeah. I think I’d like that.” You bite your lip and your thighs subconsciously rub together.
“Maybe some other time…” He closes the small amount of distance remaining between the two of you and reaches his hand up to push a piece of fallen hair off your face. “Right now, I’d really like to kiss you.”
“Yeah? I think I’d like that too.”
One hand cups your jaw and the other comes to rest on your hip so he can pull you flush against him, Steve’s lips meet yours and he kisses you with passion, he kisses you like a boyfriend would and it makes your knees weak. You bring your hands up to fist the collar of his jacket as he guides you backwards until your back hits the tree. His body presses against yours and you can feel that he’s already starting to get hard.
“Mmm I’ve been wanting to do that all fucking night.” He groans as he pulls away for air, both hands now resting on your hips as his body traps you between him and the tree.
“I’ve been waiting for you to do that all night.”
“Looks like I’ll have to do it again then.” His lips met yours again but this time the kiss was more desperate, his tongue swipes against your bottom lip and you dart yours out to meet his, the taste of him making your pussy throb. You feel his gum glide over your tongue and take it into your mouth before pulling away.
“Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to have gum in class, Mr. Harrington?”
“Mr. Harrington, huh? Don’t the teachers make the rules? If that’s the case then I say we can have gum in class…” He licks his lips as he watches you pull the end of the gum from your mouth and twirl it around your finger.
“You want me to do what you say, Mr. Harrington? Is that what you’re saying?” You swirl the gum all the way around your finger before inserting the digit in your mouth to pull it off.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Have you been a good girl? Did you do last night's homework?” He presses you up against the tree, his cock rubs against your inner thigh and you can feel that he’s huge, his caramel eyes that were flecked with hues of green before look black in the light of the moon while he’s looking at you like he wants to eat you alive.
“No… but…” you bring your black pointed acrylic nails up to his face and drag them lightly down his neck to his chest. “Isn’t there something I could do for extra credit, sir?” You give him your best ‘innocent girl’ pout and bat your eyelashes at him.
“I’m sure we can figure something out… but first I have to punish you for not doing your work.” He grabs your jaw in his large hand and squishes your cheeks together while he shakes your head from side to side. “Hmmm… what am I gonna do with you, huh little mouse? Maybe I should spank you with my belt till you cry?”
Your eyes roll in the back of your head and you moan, the way he quickly transitioned into this dominant role making your head spin.
“You like the sound of that? You’re such a naughty girl.” He has no idea how crazy this is making you, not only were you getting fucked by a boy dressed as a greaser outside on Halloween in your old school uniform that you altered to show way more skin than would be school appropriate but he was basically role playing with you.
Steve was in a similar boat, he genuinely couldn’t believe this was happening. He was mostly just playing it up, maybe testing the waters a little bit, but if you actually let him spank you right here right now he thinks he might fall in love with you.
“If that’s what you think I deserve, sir…” you give him that look again and Steve actually moans, he hasn’t felt like he was going to cum in his pants for years but right now, with you looking at him like that, he thinks he could.
“Turn around and bend over.” His tone is stern and matter of fact and you wouldn’t dare disobey him, even if you wanted to.
You spin around and place both your hands on the tree with your ass sticking out just enough that your tiny skirt rides up to reveal your ass cheeks and a sliver of your red lace panties.
“Jesus fucking christ, baby, you look so sexy like this fuck.” Steve momentarily forgets about your little game, his brain feeling like it was about to short circuit. “Too bad I have to punish you… I’d love to just throw you down in the dirt and have my way with you right now. But you still have to learn your lesson.”
“Yes Mr. Harrington, please teach me a lesson.” You whine and wiggle your ass, causing your skirt to ride up further. The anticipation is killing you as you wait for him to do something, but then you hear it… the sound of his belt clanking open.
He pushes your skirt further up your ass and he rubs his hand over one of the soft cheeks before harshly smacking it. He bites his lip at the little whimper that escapes your mouth and the way the fat on your ass jiggles. A second smack comes down on the other cheek and you let out a loud moan. His hand leaves you and you almost want to cry but then you’re crying out for a different reason when you feel it snake around your hair and yank your head back.
“You gonna be a good girl and count for me? How many do you think you deserve? I say ten.” You feel him bring his belt up to your ass cheeks and run it across them, he swipes it between your thighs and over your pussy, rubbing it along your slick panties.
“Whatever you think is best, sir.” Your voice comes out syrupy sweet.
He leans over you so his lips are grazing your ear “If you want me to stop say red. Now count.”
He stands back to his full height and without warning a loud smack lands on your ass causing you to yelp and surge forward.
“One.”
“Good girl. Again.” Another smack comes down on the same cheek and the sting is delicious.
“Two.”
Another smack on the same cheek followed immediately by a third on the opposite cheek.
“Three - fuck - four.” He releases his grip on your hair to rub his large hand over your ass before landing another smack.
“F-five!”
The next three came swiftly but you still counted each one.
“Good girl, you’re doing so good for me. Just two more, okay?” The bark of the tree was digging into your hands and your ass was burning, Steve’s hand came up to rub over your reddened cheeks and you sigh.
“Yes please.” Is all you can muster and you hear him practically growl behind you before the ninth smack lands on your ass.
“Nine!”
“Good girl baby, that’s my good girl, just one more.”
You brace yourself for the last smack on your ass but it doesn’t come, instead the belt comes up between your legs and smacks against your pussy through your wet panties.
“Ten! Fuck!” You clench your thighs and throw your head back and Steve immediately steps up behind you, wrapping you in his arms.
“Mmm you were so good for me little mouse, I think you deserve your reward now, what do you say?” His hands wrap around you and come up to grab your tits through your shirt while he rubs his hard cock against your ass.
You turn around in his arms and take his face in your hands, kissing him urgently.
“How do you want me, Mr. Harrington?”
You’re still giving him that look and you have this smile on your face like he just got you the gift you wanted most for your birthday. He’s pretty sure you’re his dream girl.
“First, let’s get this off of you.” He reaches for the knot on your shirt that’s keeping it held together and pulls it, the shirt easily falling open to reveal your red lace push-up.
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”
The way he was looking at you could only be described as romantic and loving, which was a stark contrast from how he was smacking your ass raw just moments ago. His hands reach up and ghost over your collar bones and down your arms, he snakes them around your back before looking at you with a question in his eyes and you nod. As soon as he gets the go ahead he’s unclasping your bra and letting it fall down your arms in one swift motion. Goosebumps rise on your skin as the cool air hits it, causing your nipples to harden immediately.
“The most perfect tits I’ve ever seen.” He leans down to press hot wet kisses along your throat and collar bones. You feel him sucking a bruise into your throat and you gasp, both at the feeling and at the thought of being marked by him. Without warning you pull away from him and drop to your knees in front of him, looking up at him with big eyes that shone in the moonlight.
“Can I suck you off? Please?”
“You don’t have to say please, pretty girl.”
He smirks down at you as he undoes his button and zipper, pulling his boxers and jeans down enough for his cock to come out. When it springs from his pants you can’t hold in the gasp that leaves your lips. It’s big, long and thick and veiny with a well trimmed patch of brown curls at the base. His tip is leaking precum and he is so fucking hard it almost looks painful. You meet his eyes with yours again, spitting in your hand and bringing it to his cock, pumping him a few times before you lean in and lick the salty cum from his head.
“Fuck baby, you’re so sexy like this. On your knees for me in the middle of an orchard in nothing but that little skirt and those socks.” That fucking choker and those boots that he was sure could crush him, he’d let you crush him if you asked.
You take him in your mouth as far down as you can, letting your throat restrict around him before pulling off again for air. You take as much as you can in your mouth and use your hand to glide along with the movements of your mouth. Spit is dripping down your chin, his cock and all over his balls. When you pull off and look up at him he has to physically stop himself from cumming. You’re still jerking him off when you lean in and take one of his balls in your mouth and hum around it. You switch to the other side and he swears he’s losing his mind, he’s never had someone pay attention to his balls like this and your mouth is so warm and wet and if he looks close enough he can see that drool has started to drip down onto your chest.
“O -oh fuck - fuck - shit!” He grips onto your hair to pull you off of him. “God damn, you’re so good, such a good girl. Why don’t you get on your hands and knees for me so I can reward you?”
Instead of responding with words you turn your back towards him and rest your hands on the soft dirt and leaves that covered the ground, you arch so your ass is in the air and look over your shoulder at him. You bite your lip as you watch him take off the leather jacket followed by his shirt and discard them on the ground. He comes up behind you and gets down on his knees, shoving your skirt up over your ass once more. There’s a moment where he pauses and you figure he must’ve noticed your tattoo. You and Iris went to the tattoo shop a few weeks ago and while she got her nipples pierced, you got a tramp stamp.
“Look at these pretty marks on your ass honey, they go so well with your pretty little tattoo, you’re going to be thinking about me for days after this.” He runs his hands over your hips, hooking his fingers into the band of your underwear and pulling them down so they pooled at your knees.
“I’m gonna be thinking about this for the rest of my life, pretty boy.”
“Yeah? And I haven’t even fucked you yet.” He runs his cock through your slick folds, tapping it on your clit a few times before lining it up with your entrance. He pushes his tip in and out a few times before he starts to slowly thrust into you.
Normally you would appreciate him taking his time to let you adjust but right now he has you outside on your knees in the fucking dirt and you want him to ruin you.
“You don’t have to be gentle, I want it rough.” You push your ass back towards him causing his dick to go a few inches deeper. He thrusts the rest of the way into you pushing his hips flush against yours before starting to fuck into you at a brutal pace.
He’s gripping your hips so hard that you hope you have bruises tomorrow, and the noises coming out of him are making you insane. If anyone heard you guys they might think wild animals were fighting.
“You’re so fucking good little mouse, letting me fuck you on the ground like this? God - fuck!”
You don’t think it can get any better than this and then he proves you wrong, you feel his hand wrap around the beads of the rosary on your neck and tug, choking you with it.
“Oh my god - god Steve, fuck! S-so good it’s so g-good.”
He changes his pace slightly, hitting the exact right spot inside you. He drops the rosary so he can snake that hand around the front of you to rub your clit.
“I’m gonna - I’m gonna c-cum Steve, I’m gonna cum.” Your eyes roll in the back of your head and your pussy clenches around him as your orgasm crashes through you.
“F-fuck FUCK! You’re so fucking good, so so good, fuck!” His thrusts turn sloppy and then he’s spilling into you.
“God fucking damn Harrington, you really know how to introduce yourself to a girl.” You giggle as you turn around, letting his cock slip out of you. After you pull your panties up you stand up with shaky legs, looking down at him with an adoring smile.
“I swear I’m usually more of a ‘take her to dinner first’ kinda guy but that whole ‘Mr. Harrington’ thing you did really got me going. I can't lie.” He chuckled, standing up and buttoning his pants. He reaches down to grab your bra off the ground and does a spinning motion with his finger, indicating for you to turn around. You oblige, and you’re pleasantly surprised when you feel him guiding your arms back through your bra. He does the same with your shirt, spinning you around so he can redo the tie. He gives you a sweet kiss and then picks up his shirt and jacket to put them back on. You smile bashfully at him, after all that the thing that makes you blush is him treating you sweetly.
“Thank you Steve, you’re very sweet. It’s also not too late for you to take me to dinner.”
“You’re right little mouse, it’s not, would you like to go to dinner with me? This weekend? Maybe we can catch a movie. Iris told me you like vampires and I saw that a new one is coming out, damned queen or something?”
“Queen of the damned? I really want to see that! I would love to, Stevie!” Your heart swells at the fact that he remembers that little detail about you and you remind yourself to thank Iris later.
“Shall we head back to the party?”
“Ugh, if we must.” You sigh dramatically and playfully roll your eyes. Knowing damn well you are about to walk back into this party looking absolutely wrecked. Your socks were covered in dirt, your ass was bright red and your skirt did little to cover it, and you hadn’t seen it yet but you know with the way Steve was sucking on your neck you have one or two hickies there. But you couldn’t bring it in yourself to care, you would do it all over again.
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When you walk back into the party Iris immediately catches your eye, bounding over to you and whisking you off to the bathroom. You observe her and you can tell you weren’t the only one who just got fucked in the middle of a party.
“Soooo… you took him to the orchard, huh?”
“Oh, I took him there alright, Harrington is a freak. But I guess Eddie is too, huh?” You point to her legs and she looks up at you with flushed cheeks when she sees you’re pointing at the obviously dried cum that had dripped down one of her thighs.
“Well Eddie reaaaaally liked the piercings. It looks like Steve really liked your costume…”
“Oh, you have no idea…”
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upsidedownmvnson · 2 years ago
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the challenge | eddie munson
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warnings: angst, hurt, kinda eddies pov, stupid long & tropey, barely edited
AN: i just love the angst sorry :) also this is the worst trope ever but I LOVE IT. I eat it up. also i know i overuse italics its my fatal flaw. willing to do requests & taglists btw <3
i'm not sure how many words per se but it looks really long so
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"I'll give you a hundred bucks if you can get any of the cheerleaders to go on a date with you."
After band practice, the conversation had devolved into who had school the band thought was hot.
"Please," Eddie tried to scoff off the idea. "When has that idea ever gone well?"
"I'll also give you a hundred," Jeff said, adding to the fire. They probably didn't expect him to go for it. But he could use two hundred bucks...
Eddie rolled the idea around in his mind. Who would he even ask? There was Chrissy Cunningham, she's sweet... but he was pretty sure she was dating Jason, and the last thing Eddie needed was more problems from that guy. But there was you.
You were different. You were still a cheerleader at Hawkins, sitting with the populars and shaking your pom-poms at every game. But you smiled at Eddie in the hall sometimes. And he'd noticed you'll talk to anyone. You weren't mean. So he could probably charm his way into one little date, and then after the date inevitably goes terribly, he'll collect his easy money and you will go on, blissfully unaware.
It's not like you guys would get along or anything.
"What happens if I lose?" Eddie asked.
"You have to put on an embarassing show in the cafeteria," Jeff said. "And easy one."
"Okay," Eddie said after a long silence, "I'll take your money."
The next day at school, Eddie was sitting on the stairs across from your locker like a predator. It was still forty minutes until first bell, so there were very few people in the halls. He had this whole plan in mind. First, he'd wow you with his natural charm, and then leave you lingering in mystery. Easier said than done, when you came walking down the hallway with a skip in your step and a smile on your face.
It made him feel guilty about this whole thing. But you would never know, so what was the harm?
He approached you slowly, slowly panicking about the idea of bothering you. What if you told the basketball team he was bothering you? What if you acted like he grabbed you, or something...
He fears were cut off by you casually saying, "Hey Eddie."
You knew his name? Why did it sound so nice coming from you?
It's because secretly you were always aware of Eddie. There was something about him that always held your attention. After seeing him for a days, you'd become a closeted metal fan. It started to impress him, but you actually did start to like it. You'd always tried to catch his eye, but it was like he didn't really see you.
"Hey, morning," he said, mind focused on his objective. But it was harder when actually looking down at you. You were pretty cute. You had beautiful eyes.
"Good morning," you said, pleasantly confused at the situation. You noticed Eddie had gotten up when you got closer. "Were you waiting for me?"
"Oh, ha, you noticed that," he said, grabbing your locker door as you opened it, and leaned on it, unintentionally making a show of his hand gripping the edge of the locker.
You felt a flutter in your chest, "Well, what can I do for you?"
"I've seen you here early before," Eddie mused, as if he'd ever been here early, but he had his intel. "Thought I could give you a little company."
"That's sweet," you said, smiling like you were hiding a laugh. "I've never seen you around before class. Only coming in late."
"I'm shocked at such an accusation," he said, leaning closer. "It hurts to believe you think so lowly of me." There was a level of teasing in his tone that made butterflies erupt within you.
"You know," you started, "I was supposed to go see Halloween 3 tonight but my girlfriends chickened out..."
"Oh yeah?"
"Well I still want to go," you said. You couldn't hint anymore if you tried. "Are you looking for company tonight?"
"What?" Eddie couldn't mask his surprise. He was supposed to come over here and charm you into a date, but... you asked him?? "Uh yeah, I can take you to the movies."
"What time is your club done? We can go after that," you said, smiling. You were just trying to be considerate, but you were making Eddie weak in the knees. Were you really this aware of him? If anything, he was wondering why you cared more than how you knew.
"I'll see when the late shows plays and make sure we'll be there," he said, "just give me your address, I'll pick you up."
The blush on your cheeks made him smile, but the gentle touch of your hand as you grabbed his arm and pushed the sleeve up, using a marker to write down the street and and number. Eddie was totally at your mercy by this point, but you just had to make worse by bringing his arm up to your face to kiss what you'd written, looking up at him with the devil in your eye.
"Kiss from a maiden has to boost luck, right?"
Suddenly, the terms of the game changed. You asked him out. It was not what he expected. He expected it would take several days before he finally asked you out. He had this whole plan in his mind, and you just... you kissed him on the arm, like it was a normal thing for you to do to him. Now he didn't really want the money, he just wanted you to that again. Feel your soft touch. Anything that would put that look back into your eye.
Everyone at Hellfire could see that Eddie was distracted. His campaign was nothing less than infallible as per usual, but his theatrics were toned down, and he was fumbling over the dice as if he wasn't always paying total attention.
After the session, Jeff and Gareth hung around. Mainly to check on their friend.
"I have to go," Eddie said, fumbling with his bag. He didn't want to tell the guys about you. He didn't want to pop the fantasy of having you all to himself. Not yet.
Eddie still had it in his mind that the date would flop. What chance did he have to impress someone like you? This whole situation was spiralling quickly. And he fucking knew better than to take a stupid bet issued at midnight after a bunch of beers. He should've called it off right there, he should've said it's stupid and objectifying the cheerleaders and that was mean, but he said nothing. He just packed his things, and told his friends he'd see them later.
He didn't have time to go change, he didn't want you to miss your movie because of him. And he was just really anxious to see you again. There was a small part of his brain, a little nagging brain cell, telling him that maybe... just maybe, this date will go well and he can get you to look at him with a sparkle in your eyes.
Your house was right in the middle of suburbia, which had Eddie losing his cool slowly. You were different, and he knew that already, but it was a comfort to remind himself as he drove passed identical, picket fenced houses. Your house was no different. Picket fence, flowers in the window sill, green grass mowed to the same height.
He parked the van and got out, walking through the gate and up the short cobblestone path leading up to your front door. He brought a knuckle up to your door, tapping lightly twice. Maybe you would bail and he wouldn't have to be the bad guy anymore. He looked at the flowers beside the house, and mentally kicked himself for not bringing you anything for you. You deserved flowers.
But you were there, waiting to answer the door a few moments after he knocked. You had counted to ten in your head before he answered, not wanting to seem too keen.
"Hey," you said, dazzling him again with an innocent smile. His voice was stuck in his throat as he looked at you. Eddie hadn't expected your cheerleading outfit or anything... but what didn't expect was a cropped Slayer shirt. It looked like you had cut it yourself, but he couldn't let himself get caught staring at the frayed edges, because that's where the exposed skin was, tempting him to look. Or worse, tempting him to reach out, running his calloused fingers over the skin that looked painfully soft.
"Hey," he say quietly, still trying to wrap his head around what was happening. How had he managed to fuck this up before talking to you for the first time? "Sorry I didn't get flowers or change or do anything all at to impress you. I kinda rushed right from school."
"You want to impress me?"
Eddie's mind was reeling. "Is there anyone out there who doesn't?"
You giggled, and Eddie didn't think he could take it anymore. If he just spilled his guts right now, he could stop himself a world of confusion. After this, he'd probably be stuck with the image of you for weeks. He's probably caused him heartache and pain when this doesn't work out. Or... worse... it does work out and one of his idiot friends tells you how this started, and then he was still heartbroken and fucked.
Eddie said nothing as he led you to the van.
On the way to the movies it was quiet, but not uncomfortable. You asked him about his day, which made him blush because, it's a simple that people never really asked him. Especially beautiful cheerleaders.
He didn't know how he was supposed to forget this. How could he continue to drive Jeff and Gareth around while he's seen you in his passenger seat... with a Slayer shirt on.
"Can I pick something?" you asked, finding a small stash of cassettes under the seat.
"Sure," he said. He's pretty sure he would've let you do whatever you wanted, as long as you stayed beside him in this van forever.
You slipped the current tape out, and slipped in Metallica. Fight Fire with fire came on and you sat back in your seat.
"Why this one?" he asked. He wanted to know. He wanted you to give some cheesy answer so he could figure out an excuse to not like you, to fight all the reasons he was starting to like you anyway. It was just a shirt, maybe you didn't listen to them at all.
"For Whom the Bell Tolls is my favourite right now," you said casually.
"What about Slayer? What's your favourite?"
"You quizzin' me?" you quipped, laughing as Eddie widened his eyes. You cut him off before he could apologize. "Die by the Sword." You drummed your fingers absentmindedly against your jeans. "Always had this fantasy about riding into battle, yaknow, Lord of the Rings style."
"Who are you?" Eddie asked, fingers gripping the steering wheel tighter. "You like Lord of the Rings and Slayer." He said it as a fact, not a question. With every casual answer you gave, a knife was turning in his stomach, reminding him that he was the bad guy. He took a stupid bet, from his stupid friends, and it was keeping him from enjoying this moment fully. There was a little voice reminding him that what he's doing, is shit people like Jason Carver would do.
"Yes, and?"
And nothing. You were just casting a spell on Eddie that he would need a miracle to undo. "So you're a hidden freak."
"Being hidden is lame," you said, "I wouldn't lie if they asked."
"Who is they?" he asked.
"The other cheerleaders, the jocks, anyone at school really."
"You don't get along with the other cheerleaders?"
"No, I do. They're my girls. <3" You smiled, biting the skin beside your thumb. "I just don't talk about fantasy epics with them, they're not really interested."
"I don't know," he teased, pulling into the movie theatre parking lot. "You don't really seem like any cheerleaders I know."
"And how many cheerleaders do you know?"
He laughed, parking the car. He was starting to ease into it a little more. Enjoying your presence while he can. "Fair enough."
"Shaking those pom-poms is going to get me a scholarship, and a scholarship will get me out of here." The words were less airy and playful than the rest had been. He'd taken note of your serious tone when talking about getting out of here. There was hardly a line, most of the movies started a couple minutes earlier, there were just a few Halloween stragglers.
"In a rush out of here?" he asked. He wanted to know everything about you.
"You could say that," you said. "I don't have a problem with Hawkins but my parents are... I just..." you trailed off. "Let's not ruin a good time."
He nodded, not needing to hear anything else. After light squabbling about who would pay for the tickets, Eddie passed his money over to the ticket guy, who had an obvious line of sight to your stomach. Or maybe it was your chest he was staring at, either away, Eddie was finding it really annoying. He used his arm to gently guide you behind him, blocking most of the box office employees view.
He felt protective over you. Which is ironic, because at the start of the day he had a plan to woo you, to take you on a date for a bet. And now, he wanted to protect you from hurt.
The worst kind of hypocrite.
The conversation died when the two of you shuffled into the little theatre. The movie had been out long enough that it wasn't too busy. It was nice, being in the dark together, silently watching the movie. You weren't really scared, but you still liked it. Eddie however, wasn't loving it as much as you.
Eddie was having such a nice time, that he was able to push the bet out of his mind completely.
After the movie, pretty much everything was closed, except the 24 hour diner a little bit down the highway, so that's where he took you. He drove about twenty minutes just to eat greasy cheeseburgers and sickeningly sweet milkshakes because he just couldn't bare for this night to be over yet.
"Guess I gotta get you home," Eddie said after the food. "It's already passed midnight."
"Oh that's okay," you said, leaving money on the table for food. "They'll be gone until next week anyway. I don't they'd care when I got home."
Eddie wanted to ask, but he could tell your parents weren't something you liked to talk about.
"Well, if we've both nowhere to be, maybe we should stick together."
"Why don't you take me home anyway and we can watch another movie."
"I'd like that."
The ride back to your place seemed shorter, or maybe he was just excited to see where you live. He wanted to see your room. He was so curious about you. He just wanted to know everything.
Your house was quiet, pitch black and lonely... like it always was. You let him in, and he awkwardly shuffled in behind you. He copied what you did by taking your shoes off by the door. Your house opened into the living room, with stairs right beside.
"Can I see your room?" he asked, half expecting you to say no but you answered with a quick "sure!" and led him up the stairs. He watched your ass the whole time you walked ahead of him.
"It's kinda boring," you said, opening the door. There wasn't really much to it. A few posters on the wall; a couple were bands he liked and there were a few movie posters too. Your cassettes were all stacked on your desk neatly, and there were vinyls beside that, a small table there to hold the record player. He was talking and poking through them, while you sat on the bed, watching him intently. He was shocked to see you actually had some of the same things he did. And you... you had bands he didn't know. One day, he was totally going to borrow those.
He kept chatting as he poked around. This morning, neither one of you could have predicted being here like this. He stopped talking mid sentence, and you could see him looking more at the desk than the music now. You curiously tried to peak at what he was looking at.
"Is this a dnd character sheet?" he asked.
"Oh!" you laughed, standing and joining him by the desk. "Yeah, it is. I'd been trying to work up the nerve to ask you to teach me, but, I guess I didn't have to."
And just like that, you had him.
You had him totally and fully and he wished he'd never taken that stupid challenge with his stupid friends about the stupid money. His mind was emotional soup.
"You were gunna ask me to teach you dungeons and dragons?" he asked, totally stunned into silence, again.
"Well..." you blushed, turning away from him. He saw it though. "I kind of have a crush on you, Eddie. Maybe before tonight it wasn't like... real, because I didn't actually know you but..." You smiled, so soft and sweet, it made Eddie feel warm and vulnerable. "Now I know it is real."
What was he supposed to do? Look at you while you're vulnerable like that and just tell you what he's done? No shot. No fucking way would he let any of his dumb choices get in the way of, whatever this was going to be.
"I like you, too," he said finally, smiling back at you. The problem was, while it was true, it didn't feel as genuine. He did like you, but that's not how it started.
And what was he supposed to do when you looked like you wanted a kiss? Not kiss you? That would be rude.
Eddie leaned in slowly, and so did you. He brought his hand up, coddling your face and brushing a thumb over your cheek. He said, "you're so beautiful," before closing the gap and putting his mouth on yours. It was small, mouths parted and puckered, moving slowly. It was a short kiss, but a tender first one.
Until you said, "sorry if I'm not a good kisser, I haven't done much kissing," with a blush.
"You haven't done much kissing?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm so... inexperienced."
"No, it's okay! I don't really get to kiss anyone either."
"You can kiss me whenever you want," you said, bounce in your step as you grabbed his hand and led him back downstairs.
You let him pick a movie while you set up the couch with some blankets. He settled beside you one the couch once the movie started, and you snuggled into his side as if you owned it. Which may as well be true already, and passed out within five minutes of the movie starting. He told himself sternly that he would leave when the movie was over, and he did mean it. But he also rested his head on yours and tried to fall asleep before he saw any credits.
Which he did.
Monday morning rolling around was another one of Eddie's punishments. The bliss of his imaginary life came hurdling towards the end, and it was filling him with anxiety. Like, so fucking much anxiety.
At school, he'd be unable to avoid his friends. Eddie had spent much of Saturday morning lounging at your house with you. You two made breakfast, listened to some music, and then watched a movie. He had to leave eventually, since he didn't want to kiss you with morning breath. But he'd called you that night... and the one after that. He just couldn't get enough of you.
Eddie had avoided his best friends most of the morning, mostly by just being late. Unfortunately, that also had meant he'd avoided you. He'd hoped you'd come into the cafeteria first. He was biting his nails, his leg rapidly shaking up and down. You had said he can kiss you anytime... did that mean school, too? He hoped so. He hoped you would come into the freaking cafeteria.
But his fantasy bubble had officially popped when Jeff grabbed him by the shoulders from behind, scaring him.
"Bud, you've been holding out on us."
"What are you talking about?" Eddie asked. Gareth and Jeff sat at the table with him.
"Same thing that everyone is talking about, you and y/n."
"What?" Eddie had been so focused on not talking to anyone that he hadn't heard anything.
"Someone's sister saw you leaving her house on Saturday, and I distinctly remember you rushing out of Hellfire on Friday."
"What are people saying?"
"Some are saying drugs, some are saying you guys have sex. Did you? Did you have sex with her?"
"No," Eddie said, effectively wiping the smile off Gareth's face. "But I may have slept there."
His friends looked at each other, and then at him, and Eddie took one selfish moment to be excited about it. It was his fatal mistake.
"Are you guys gunna go out again?" Jeff asked. Eddie grinned, and nodded.
"Well, a deal is a deal. Here goes all my savings on some dumb bet," Gareth said.
They should've had a sign, some bat signal that Eddie could show above the entire student body that would get his best friends to shut the fuck up because you were behind them, walking closer and smiling at Eddie with that same sweet smile on your face.
You must have slipped in when he was talking to the guys. He tried to shush Gareth without being obvious, but Gareth was being so fucking loud. If he didn't shut up soon you were going to hear him. Eddie's heart was racing. Jeff kicked Gareth, but apparently not hard enough because he just kept talking.
Eddie's heart was going to beat out of his chest... like in Alien...
"I can't believe you got y/n on a date in like, one day." Gareth scoffed. "Maybe you let her in on it for some of the money. Last time I make a bet with you losers."
And it was like watching a star die. Your beautiful smile gone, replaced with a quivering lip and a look in your eye that reflected agony, instead of the little bit of trouble he loved so much. Eddie was going to throw up. For a second you two just looked at each other, Eddie had his hands an inch off the table, he was shaking.
He fucking knew this scenario never worked out for anyone.
And then you were running out of there, and he was hot on your heels. It must have looked bad, you running out crying while Eddie chased you. After rumors of drugs deals and scandalous sex, the fire was most definitely stoked.
Eddie shouted after you, following you all the way outside. Out there, where no one was really lingering, you turned around. There were a few tears rolling down your cheeks, and you chewed on the skin of your lip.
"Please tell me that it doesn't mean what it sounds like," you begged, stepping closer. The hurt tone of your voice sent a dagger into his chest with every word. He did this. "If you can just-" you hiccuped, "tell me that. Then we can go to the diner and we can go, we can go wherever you want. Anywhere. Just tell me that it wasn't what it sounded like."
Eddie didn't say anything. He couldn't.
He didn't have anything good enough to say.
You just watched him with tears in your eyes. It seemed like you were begging him with your eyes. He wished he had anything to tell you. It wasn't what it seemed like, or maybe it was for a good cause. But he didn't have anything.
"But," you cried, "but you said you liked me."
"I do like you," he said quickly, his voice surprisely hoarse. Being able to say something true made him spring into action. "I like you so much. I'm so sorry, I'm really so so fucking sorry, but please. Just let me make it up to you. Obviously I don't want the money, I was going to tell them it's off but I just... I didn't, I don't know why. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"What was the bet?"
"What?"
"What were the terms and conditions of the bet?"
"Is that... really productive..." he trailed off when he looked at you. Eddie sighed, and looked to his feet for some kind of comfort. He found none. "Two hundred bucks for a date with any of the cheerleaders. If I fail I embarrass myself at purpose at school."
"You were right that wasn't productive," you said.
"I'm so sorry," he said, "I can still fix it."
"Do what you want. I'm going home."
"Let me take you."
"No, no... you've done plenty, thanks."
And against what he really wanted, he let you go. If you didn't want him around right now he wouldn't push it. Eddie would just have to fix this. He had a plan to woo you once, he could do it again. But this time it would be because he knows he can treat you right. He can be the guy you deserve. He would bring you flowers. He'd never hurt you.
...this was just a really bad example... that's all.
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kennahjune · 9 months ago
Text
Teen Dad AU
PART 5 IS HERE!!!
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Thanks so much for all the support on this series!! Without further ado:
.
September came and went and then Steve was getting ready for Halloween in Hawkins.
Which was fine, except he was busier than ever with work and school.
It definitely helped that he didn’t always have to take Louie with him. Yes, Steve liked keeping an eye on him, but it was nice to just exist for a little— you know? Louie was his pride and joy, but being able to go to school and work without having to step out of the room every 20 minutes to check on him was refreshing.
Gran had to drive the twins back up to their parents’ today though, so Steve was stuck with taking Louie to school with him. Which was fine, he’s pretty sure the entire town knew of Louie’s existence at this point.
It was fine; he’d met up with Nancy and Jonathan (when the hell did that happen?) and went to first period early to chill with Louie. Steve remained fine throughout the day until lunch.
Steve sat in the empty science hall for lunch. He didn’t like going in the cafeteria after his fall out with Tommy and Carol. Little Louie didn’t like it either, it was too loud and crowded.
So Steve took Louie and sat in the hall.
He made sure Baby Louie was fed and well taken care of before placing him back in his car seat and letting him take a nap. But before Steve could even think of eating his own lunch (a bag of chips because he ran out of time) a pair of shoes stopped in front of him.
Steve jolted and looked up to meet the eyes of, once again, Eddie Munson.
“We really need to stop meeting like this, Harrington.” Eddie practically purred. Steve valiantly ignored the swoop of his stomach.
Eddie was stood leisurely, lazily. His hands tucked loosely in the pockets of his black jeans and his vest hanging off his shoulders a bit (shoulders that were hugged surprisingly well by a simple black tee). Steve took a moment to marvel at the expanse of curls— before he was overcome with the urge to /touch/ and snapped his eyes back to Eddie’s and—
Ok. Steve did not swoon. Steve Harrington does not get swooned, he swoons others.
But Eddie Munson’s eyes made him want to swoon.
He didn’t. Instead he said, “Well I’d say so too if it didn���t seem like you liked it, Munson.” Steve quirked his lip.
Eddie smirked down at him and wow wasn’t that a sight. “Can’t blame me for enjoying the view, Your Highness.”
Steve needed to put an end to this before he did something stupid like flirt back. Because that’s what this was, right? Eddie flirting with him, probably to get something out of it like another use of his lighter or answers to their shared history homework.
So, Steve stood. “What can I help you with, dude?”
Eddie seemed, put out? by his question. Like he was hoping for their interaction to go longer. Steve pushed that to the back of his mind and threw it in the box labeled “Wishful Thinking”.
“Right, yeah— was just wondering if you had a lighter on you. Broke mine earlier today.” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck, his leisure aura gone and replaced by something akin to hesitance.
Steve tilted his head and smiled. “Using my lighter once not good enough for you, Munson?”
Eddie blushed— a faint pink on the high of his cheekbones and the tip of his nose, as if he was simply cold. But he grinned sheepishly back at Steve.
“ ‘fraid not, Your Majesty. This humble court jester requires your assistance in his aid once more.”
Steve found himself giggling at the faint British accent Eddie pulled. His antics were fun. Eddie was fun to talk to.
“Let it be known—“ Steve squatted to dig in his bag. “—that your ruler is a gracious one.” He handed Eddie the lighter and mourned the lack of brushing fingers.
Eddie snickered, delighted with Steve playing along. Honestly, Steve pulled the line out of his ass; but it got the desired reaction of gleeful delight.
Eddie didn’t even hesitate to light a cigarette, right there in the school hall. He took a drag. “Our King remains benevolent as such, aiding a poor worker such as I.”
Steve snorted. “Thought you were a court jester?” He raised an eyebrow, his smile coming easier than it had in months.
“Ah but that is where His Majesty is wrong.” Eddie grinned wolfishly and grabbed Steve’s hand. Steve was stunned to silence, feeling the heat rise to his ears. Eddie leaned in close to Steve’s ear;
“I am a man of many faces.”
Eddie left the lighter in the hand he’d grabbed, stepping back and walking casually down the hall and out of the front doors to presumably finish his smoke.
He left Steve in his wake, a lighter in his still-hovering hand and a blush overcoming his face.
.
Steve was still thinking about it at work that night.
He’d been able to drop Louie off with Gran who’d gotten home just before Steve left. So he would be able to focus entirely on his job and earning tips because rent was being a bitch.
But he couldn’t focus entirely on his job because Eddie fucking Munson was occupying his every thought.
Steve’s hand still tingled from when Eddie had grabbed it, his ear still burning from Eddie’s husky voice whispering in it.
Jesus Christ.
“Steve!” Mason shouted at him.
Steve startled, nearly dropping the tray of glasses he’d zoned out carrying. He felt his heart leap into his throat until he steadied them and successfully carried them back to the sinks.
Steve sighed and put his head in his hands, elbows propped on the counter. Everything was getting to be too much; the customers were too loud, the glasses clinking giving him a headache, his apron straps squeezing his waist and hips in all the wrong spots.
He wanted to crawl out of his skin.
Mason came over after washing his hands, placing a still wet hand gently on Steve’s shoulder. The physical contact was usually welcomed, but when these kinds of overloads kicked in he needed his personal bubble.
Mason seemed to understand this immediately, taking his hand off and speaking lowly and gently to Steve.
“Do you need to take a break? I’m sure I can get George out here if you need a minute.”
Steve wanted to say yes. He so badly wanted to take the out and sit in the silence and dark of George’s office and just calm down.
But the Robinsons were coming in and Steve loved interacting with the kids— Julia, Maya, and Geo. They were a rowdy bunch but still some of the sweetest kids Steve had ever met, despite most other 6 year olds being demon-spawn.
So he waved Mason off, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes and standing straight.
“I’ll be ok, Mace. I’ve got the Robinsons up next.” Steve gave him a small smile that he hoped was convincing enough.
Mason studied his face for a long moment, so long Steve felt himself begin to flush.
“Ok,” Mason sighed. “But you take a break the moment you feel like it’s too much, you hear?”
Mason raised an eyebrow and Steve smiled sheepishly. He had a track record of working through headaches and migraines that he really should sit down and rest through.
“Yes, ok. Loud and clear.”
The Robinsons were a delight, as always.
Julia, Maya and Geo locked onto him immediately, shouting a unified chorus of “Stebe!”
And no, that’s not a typo. They genuinely call him ‘Stebe’ since they can’t pronounce their Vs yet. Steve loves it.
“Hey! How are you guys doing today, huh?” Steve greeted.
Maya gave him a gummy smile, having lost her two front teeth at once to a carrot the last time they came in. It was about time, to.
“Yeah! We went outside for recess today and Niall pushed me on the swings!” Maya happily exclaimed, folding her hands over her chest dramatically and falling inter her sister who huffed.
Geo giggled next to Julia, his own missing bottom tooth showing. “Yeahhhh, Maya wants to kiss Niall!” He teased.
Steve snickered at the kids, letting them have their back and forth while turning to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson.
“Hi, Steve.” Ryan, Mr. Robinson, smiled. Next to him, June, Mrs. Robinson, grinned and waved.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Robinson!” Steve greeted cheerily back. “What can I get for you guys today?” Even though he already knew the order by heart.
“Just the usual please dear.” Mrs. Robinson answered. There was something about sweet old ladies calling him things like Sugar and Dear that made Steve simply light up.
“Of course, same drinks as well?” He didn’t even bother getting his notepad out, knowing everything word for word. He knew Mason did too.
“Yes that’s right sweetie.” She smiled sweetly. Steve grinned back.
“Oh! Stebe! Mrs. Orlando told us that baby frogs don’t have legs. No legs! Can you beliebe that?” asked Julia loudly. She looked genuinely flabbergasted that baby frogs didn’t have legs.
Steve chuckled. “That’s right, they don’t have legs until later on. Do you know what a baby frog is called?” He humored her.
All three of them shook their heads.
“They’re called tadpoles, and they don’t get legs until they’re about 5-9 weeks old.”
They gasped, Geo’s hands even flying to cover his mouth. Steve laughed to himself and left to inform Mason of the order, leaving the kids to their shenanigans.
The Robinsons came and went, leaving a hefty tip that Steve was most thankful for. But the pounding behind his eyes was worse than ever and he was ready to take a break after cleaning the table.
But of course, the universe had different plans.
“Waiter!” A very shrill voice yelled. Steve ignored her, assuming she was speaking to Gwen who was more than open to helping her out.
But alas.
“Waiter boy! Don’t ignore me, I know you heard me.”
Waiter boy obviously meant Steve, so he stopped and turned to look confusedly at the lady demanding his presence. She was a squat old lady with thin blonde hair and wrinkly skin.
“Sorry, ma’am. I’ve got my hands full—“ he gestured to the tray of glasses and dishes he held. “—but I’m sure Gwen over there can help you out.” Steve smiled apologetically.
The old lady huffed. “No I don’t want that girl. You’re right here so I want you.”
“I understand that, ma’am, but I’m preoccupied—“
“I didn’t ask if you were preoccupied!” She slapped the table with an open palm.
Steve winced, the pounding behind his eyes shooting through his skull at the loudness. He turned heel and simply walked away to the kitchens.
Steve heard the lady squabbling behind him, absolutely bewildered that Steve would simply walk away like that. He payed her no mind and took care of the dishes he held— they really needed to hire a dishwasher.
“What’s the word baby bird?” Mason called to him from the stove. Steve snickered and immediately hissed when pain shot through his skull.
“Just an asshole old lady who doesn’t understand that most people have lives outside of her,” Steve called back.
Mason snickered, plating an order and calling for Gwen. Steve could hear the lady squawking in the diner area, probably giving poor Gwen a hard time.
Allya huffed and glared over the server window.
“That woman needs to shut the fuck up and put a bra on. Gwen looks like she’s about to cry.”
Mason hummed. There was a twitch in his brow and he scrunched his nose. When Gwen failed to come pick up another order Allya groaned and threw her towel at Steve before going out to rescue her.
Steve shared a small smile with Mason, a bit of a knowing look passing between them before the girls came back.
.
Ultimately, George had to take over the floor from Steve because his headache had worked itself into a migraine. He insisted it wasn’t that bad, but nearly toppled over the moment he tired to stand.
But they couldn’t let him drive with how his eyesight was fucking up due to the migraine.
So Mason drove him and Louie home while Allya worked her ass off alone in the kitchen.
The ride was silent for the most part; Louie was asleep and there weren’t many other cars out on the road. Mason seemed to understand that Steve needed silence to function.
Until Mason broke the silence in a whisper: “You have someone to watch Louie while you rest?”
Steve didn’t open his eyes or lift his head from the car window. He thinks Gran should be home by now— it was nearly 8 at night. He hummed his affirmation quietly.
Mason stopped in front of the trailer and took the still-sleeping Louie inside first, giving Steve time to adjust before coming back and helping him.
It was rough, Steve’s head aching in ways it hadn’t in a while and every small movement nearly sending him ass-over-teakettle. But Mason made the call over to Gran while Steve slept.
It would only be a few days later that Steve would have his world turned Upside Down once again.
.
AND THATS A WRAP!!! Next part has Upside Down lore?? You bet your pretty ass it does!! I’m so hyped to finally get into writing the supernatural part of all this shit.
Tag list is closed!! But keep an eye out for part 6!! I’m trying to keep this to a maximum of 15 but wanna keep it to maybe 10 if I can.
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foundtherightwords · 1 month ago
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The Dark that You Lit
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Pairing: Hellcheer (College AU), Blind!Eddie
Summary: After months of dating, Chrissy is finally comfortable enough around Eddie to take the next step in their relationship, but can she let go of her fears to become truly intimate with him?
Warnings: non-explicit sex, loss of virginity
Word count: 7.5k
A/N: This was written for Day 5 of 2024 Hellcheer Halloween Week, with the prompts "first time" and "run". The title is taken from Snow Patrol's "Talking About Hope", and I took some inspiration from the poem, "First Poem for You", by Kim Addonizio as well. I gave Eddie's tattoos new meanings to fit this version of his character better. We never got an explanation for them in canon anyway, so I figured it would be OK.
Sequel to This Is the Sound of Your Voice, but can be read as a standalone.
It's my first time (ha!) writing such a detailed sex scene (not graphic, but more detailed than my usual), so please let me know what you think!
The rain started the moment they stepped out of the train station. Spring came early that year, and this was a warm, friendly rain, big, fat drops that fell on pavements and rooftops with a cheerful sound. Still, Chrissy was annoyed.
"Shit," she mumbled under her breath. "I know we should've brought an umbrella."
Behind her, Eddie gasped in mock consternation. "Is that a swear word I just heard from you, Miss Cunningham?!"
She grinned. "That's your bad influence rubbing off on me, I guess."
They had just been to Jackson Park to see the cherry blossoms—well, to see them in Chrissy's case, and in Eddie's case, to enjoy the sunshine and the petals drifting over his face whenever there was a breeze. In the five months since they started dating, it had never ceased to amaze Chrissy that Eddie always found his own way to experience things, things she'd thought one would need to see to fully appreciate. Eddie never let his blindness stop him from reveling in beauty. It was what she liked most about him. 
"How about this?" she said. "You wait here, and I'll run to the dorm and get an umbrella, and come back for you."
"You don't have to go through such trouble for me." Eddie shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it over her head, before motioning to her with his cane. "Come on."
"But you'll get soaked," she protested.
"A little rain never hurts anyone," Eddie said and started walking down the street, seemingly unaware of the rain splattering over his hair and shoulders.
Shaking her head, Chrissy lifted the bag containing the remnants of their picnic lunch to her shoulder and ran after him. She may admire Eddie's love for life, but sometimes he had no survival instinct.
"Fold up your cane," she told him, holding the leather jacket over her head with one hand and grabbing his elbow with the other, "and let's try to outrun this, or you'll catch a cold. I don't want to spend the entire spring break nursing you."
"I wouldn't mind that." A teasing smile lifted the corner Eddie's mouth, but he did as she said.
And so, hand in hand, they ran down the street, keeping to the awnings when they could, dodging between umbrellas and people with newspapers and briefcases over their heads, giggling when they splashed across a puddle. Chrissy had to admit it was rather liberating, almost exciting, to feel rain falling on your skin, especially when you know that there is a warm and dry room waiting for you at the end of it.
Still, for all their hurry, they were dripping wet by the time they arrived at the dorm. The woman at the front desk peered at them disapprovingly over her glasses, as Chrissy signed Eddie in.
"You know that an overnight guest may stay no more than three nights," she told Chrissy.
"Yes, I know. Thank you!" Chrissy pushed the sign-in sheet back and quickly led Eddie away, hoping he hadn't heard. They hadn't discussed the possibility of him staying overnight. The plan was that they were going to hang out for the rest of the afternoon and maybe get some dinner before Eddie went back to his apartment. As they had done plenty of times before.
Some people would say that five months of dating was definitely long enough to spend a night together, but somehow Chrissy and Eddie never managed to find the time. Between their studies—Chrissy was applying for nursing school, and Eddie was getting his teacher certificate—and their jobs, they were lucky if they saw each other a couple of times a week. Chrissy had taken to walking from her lecture halls in the West Campus of UIC all the way to the English department in the East Campus, so she could see Eddie between classes and have lunch with him. And there were always people around as well—her roommate, Nancy, and his roommates. Eddie lived with his bandmates, and although they were perfectly lovely, Chrissy couldn't think of anything more dampening to romance than having three guys hang around like three enthusiastic puppies.
Admittedly, some of their failure to spend a night together was of Chrissy's own making. She always had some excuses ready—she had an early class the next morning, she had to work the late shift, she couldn't sleep unless it was in her own bed. She and Eddie had never talked about sex, and Eddie never pressured her into anything, never questioned her hesitation, but a barb of shame always pricked at Chrissy's insides whenever she thought about it. The truth was that she was afraid. Not of the sex itself, but rather of what it would mean for her and Eddie. She was afraid of taking the plunge, of committing to such permanence. And afraid of disappointing and being disappointed as well. She had only had one boyfriend before and no experience further than some kissing and cuddling, while Eddie had mentioned a few ex-girlfriends. Besides, he was in a band. Not a hugely popular band, but they played in local bars, and Chrissy had seen the way some of the women in the crowd looked at Eddie. Rather than making her jealous, such looks only made her more insecure. No doubt he was used to casual hook-ups.
But during Christmas break, she had missed him so much that some of those fears had faded considerably. Three long weeks without seeing Eddie, and if she wanted to talk to him, she had to drive into town to call him from a payphone, because she didn't trust her mother to not listen in. Her mother would throw a fit if she knew Chrissy was seeing someone like Eddie. The fact that he was attending UIC on a scholarship wouldn't mean anything to her mother. She would only see that he was blind, that his childhood home was in a trailer park in a small, inconsequential town, and that his mom was dead and his dad was out of the picture. None of those things bothered Chrissy, but she wanted to protect Eddie and herself, and if that meant keeping their relationship a secret for now, then so be it.
And when they came back from Christmas break, when she jumped into Eddie's arms and he dropped his cane to lift her into the air, Chrissy had decided it was time to take the plunge.
Of course, deciding to take the plunge and actually doing it are two different things. Even though she no longer made excuses for herself, the usual problems still stood. It wasn't until now, during spring break, that they had some time for themselves. Nancy had gone home, and Chrissy told her parents she was staying to study, which wasn't entirely a lie—she had to get her grades up if she wanted to get into nursing school that fall. Her other plan she told no one, not even Eddie.
To be fair, calling it a "plan" would be an overstatement, because her plan didn't extend further than inviting him back to her dorm room and asking him to teach her how to play D&D. This was no ruse either—she had wanted to learn for a while, since Eddie was so passionate about it. In preparation, she had bought a set of dice and borrowed a player's handbook. Eddie also brought his special set of tactile dice, with raised dots—Chrissy's Valentine's Day present for him, for which she had had to scour several hobby stores—and his Braille notes of past campaigns. Now he stood at the doorway to her room with his binder in his arms, looking a little lost, almost in awe even.
"So this is your room," he said.
"Yes."
"What does it look like?"
"Oh, just a standard dorm room." She took his hand and guided him through the room, keeping her pace slow and steady so he could count his steps, which Eddie told her was how he familiarized himself with new surroundings. "Here's the closet, here's the door to the bathroom, there's Nancy's desk and bed, and here's mine." She didn't mention that Nancy's side of the room was straight out of a Sears catalog, not a piece of paper or a pencil out of place, while her side of the room always looked like it had just been hit by a hurricane. She quickly straightened up the textbooks on her desk, cleared away the dirty plates to make space for Eddie to put his things down, and bustled about turning on the radiator and looking for towels.
"We need to get you out of those wet clothes," she said and winced as soon as those words came out of her mouth. They were so corny, so obvious an innuendo, which she didn't mean at all. "I'll find you something to wear while they dry," she added and winced again at how awkward she sounded.
She had nothing Eddie could wear except for her bathrobe. As she handed it to him, Eddie suddenly looked shy. "No peeking, OK?"
"I'll be in the bathroom," Chrissy said, trying to bite back a grin.
Despite that promise, she couldn't help a backward glance. Eddie was peeling off his wet T-shirt, and she caught a glimpse of his back, slim and wiry, lean muscles rippling under the skin that hinted at a lissome strength. Then he started to unbutton his jeans, and Chrissy turned away, cheeks burning up with a heat to rival that of the radiator. She beat a quick retreat into the bathroom, afraid that her blush was so vivid that even Eddie could sense it.
When she emerged a minute later, clad in a baggy UIC sweatshirt and an old pair of shorts, Eddie had wrapped himself in her bathrobe. His discarded T-shirt and jeans would have flustered Chrissy and sent her scurrying back to the bathroom, had it not been for the sight of his gangly limbs poking out from the pink, fluffy robe, which made her burst out laughing.
Unfazed by her laughter, Eddie struck a pose, like he was a supermodel on the latest haute couture runway. "How do I look?" he asked.
"Quite cute, actually," said Chrissy, picking up his clothes and putting them on the radiator to dry.
Eddie pouted. "Just cute?"
"OK, you look ravishing," she said. There were still some cherry blossom petals stuck in his hair. She plucked them away. "These pink petals go very well with the robe." And because he was still pouting, and because she could never look at his lips long enough without wanting to kiss him, she did just that.
When they first started dating, Chrissy had often had to tell Eddie she was about to kiss him, so he wouldn't be caught off-guard. Now, they were comfortable enough with each other and he could sense her well enough that she no longer had to, but she still liked to touch his face first, to let him know.   
The moment she put a finger to his lips, Eddie smiled in anticipation. As their lips touched, he embraced her in the way she liked, with one hand on the small of her back and the other caressing her face, as if it wasn't enough to just kiss her with his mouth, he must feel her with his entire being as well. The kiss went from sweet to hungry, and Chrissy could feel her body rising to his touch, straining against the fabric of her sweatshirt, seeking relief, while heat pooled between her legs. It scared her. It wasn't the first time she felt this way when Eddie kissed her—in fact, she always felt that way whenever he kissed her—but this was the first time that she planned to do something about it, and it scared her. They were moving too fast. She wasn't ready yet.
Gathering all her willpower, she broke off the kiss and took a step back. "Sit down," she told Eddie. "I'll dry your hair." She thought he looked slightly deflated, but he sat down on the floor and crossed his long, boyish legs without protest. He'd kept his boxers on, she saw to her relief.
Sitting above him on the bed, she toweled his hair before blow-drying it, gently running her fingers through the long strands to loosen them. Eddie closed his eyes and arched his neck under her hand like a cat, and Chrissy had to fight the urge to kiss him again.
"Do you want to get started on the D&D now?" she asked, putting the dryer away.
He put his head back, his curls, now dry and fluffy, spreading over her lap. "No," he said languidly. "I'm too comfortable to move. I've melted into the floor. You're going to have to scoop me up."
Seeing his face turned up at her like that, Chrissy's willpower cracked. But she didn't succumb to temptation just yet. Leaning down, she only gave his nose a little peck. It would have to be enough for now. But clearly that wasn't enough for Eddie, because he grabbed her and pulled her, amidst protesting squeals and giggles, off the bed and to the floor with him, where he sought her lips again and again, until Chrissy was out of breath from kisses and laughter.
Their tussle had pulled the robe open across Eddie's chest, showing a couple of tattoos. Chrissy knew he had tattoos, but she had only seen two of them—the flock of bats, "because they're blind", as Eddie had once told her, hovering around his elbow, and the demonic puppet on the inside of his forearm, for "Master of Puppets", the first song he and his band had played together. These she had never seen before.  
"What are these on your chest?" she asked, extending a hand toward the tattoos, only to pull back at the last second. She realized this was the first time she'd ever seen Eddie with his shirt off, and blushed again.
"My tats?" He pulled the robe down a bit to show her more clearly and pointed to one of the tattoos, the one lower down, a decaying skull or a demon with a blood-speckled mouth, Chrissy couldn't tell. "This is Eddie," he explained. "He's the Iron Maiden mascot. The guys convinced me to get it, so I thought, why not? My favorite band, and my namesake too. It's fitting."
"What about this one?" she asked, pointing to the one closer to his collarbone, a spider with spindly legs.
"It's a Kaua'i cave wolf spider. They live inside volcanic caves in Hawaii, so they're born without eyes."
Chrissy was quiet, thinking about how much Eddie was shaped by his blindness, and yet how much he refused to let it define him. She reached out, lightly brushed the tattoos with her fingertips. Eddie's breath caught the moment her fingers touched his chest, and she could feel his pulse hammering just beneath his skin. Somehow, it calmed her, knowing that he was also nervous. She was sure that if she kissed him now, he would welcome it.
Which was precisely why she didn't kiss him. Instead, she asked, "Do you have any other tattoos?"
"Just this one." He pulled his right arm out of the robe and showed her his bicep, where a half-dragon, half-bird creature writhed and brandished its claws. "It's a wyvern. A D&D monster."
"Let me guess," said Chrissy, tracing the undulations of the creature's body. "Looking at it can turn you blind?"
Eddie laughed. "No. I just like it."
He lifted her hand from his arm and started dropping little kisses on her fingers, one by one. Trying to ignore the fluttering in the pit of her stomach and lower down, Chrissy asked, "Who did all these for you?"
"Friends, anyone who can draw and wield a tattoo needle, really. I described what I wanted, and they did it."
"But how would you know that they would tattoo the right thing?"
Eddie shrugged, pulling the robe back up. "You gotta trust the person whose hands you're putting yourself into, and let go."
Those words seemed to speak to Chrissy's heart. Can I trust your hands? she wondered. Can I let go?
"Why did you get them?" she asked.
Eddie gave her a gentle smile. "Even though I can't see them, is that what you mean?"
She had been meaning to ask him that for a while, ever since she first saw his tattoos, but she was afraid that it would come off rude and nosy. Now that Eddie had put it so bluntly, she admitted, "... Well, yes."
"I know they're there. I think they're cool. And, not to sound like a dick, but I think tattoos are mostly for other people to look at anyway."
"How so?"
"Think about the person with wings tattooed on their back, for example, or a girl with a rose on her ankle. How often do they see those?"
"But why mark your skin in such a permanent way? Aren't you afraid you're going to change your mind?"
"Not really." Eddie shook his head. "This"—he tapped his temple—"is much more permanent."
She wondered what he meant. But before she could ask, something else he'd said caught her attention.
"How would you even know that a girl has a rose on her ankle?" she asked suspiciously. "That sounds oddly specific."
Eddie's dimples made a sudden appearance on his cheeks, then vanished again. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice, Miss Cunningham?"
When he teased her like that, Chrissy could never stay annoyed for long. "Maybe," she said, a corner of her mouth quirking up.
"I'm not a total dork, you know," Eddie said. "I may be blind, but I still play guitar in a band. Some girls think it's cool."
His tone was jokey, but his words went through Chrissy like a shard of ice, turning her insides numb. It was exactly what she was afraid of, and to hear Eddie joke about it only worsened her fear.
Eddie must have noticed that she had gone silent, because his cocky grin disappeared and he squeezed her hand. "Chrissy?" he said, concern in his voice. "What's wrong? I was just kidding. It's not like girls are throwing themselves at me or anything."
Chrissy tried to pull herself together. Her insecurities were her problem, not Eddie's. "No, I know, it's fine," she managed to say. "It doesn't matter. It's just—"
"What?"
She might as well come clean now. "Well, when I was dating Jason, he insisted that we waited until marriage," she said.
It took a moment for this to sink in for Eddie. When it did, he only let out a soft "Oh", almost inaudible, like a breath.
"At least you have some experience," Chrissy said, her voice muted. "I have none." She turned away from him and put her forehead on her drawn-up knees.
Eddie was quiet for a long time. Then his hand felt about her back, her shoulder, and her head, until he found her chin and lifted it. "Chrissy," he said. There was no longer any trace of jokiness in his voice. "I don't mind any of that. We can wait until marriage too. If that's what you want."
Relief and affection flooded Chrissy's heart. How could she have ever doubted him? She put his hand to her cheek, so he could feel her smiling. "Is that a proposal?" she asked.
A faint blush colored Eddie's face. "Oh—I don't—I mean..."
"Relax, Eddie. I'm teasing you."
She kept his hand on her cheek, feeling the warmth against her skin, looking at his large brown eyes that saw nothing yet still took in everything, at his lips so ready to smile and to kiss, watching his face that bore no judgment, no irritation, only tender with affection for her. And she made up her mind.
The only question was how to tell Eddie what she wanted. They were touching each other, he was practically naked, and she didn't know what to do. For a confused moment, Chrissy tried to remember girls' nights in high school, when she and her friends used to giggle together about boys, but she had always blushed and laughed nervously when the talk turned dirty. She just didn't have it in her to be a seductress. 
"I meant what I said though," Eddie was saying. "I'm not asking you to do anything—"
She nodded. "I know you're not—"
"—we don't have to do anything—"
"—I know, it's just—"
"—not until you're ready—"
"—but I am ready!" she blurted out.
Eddie's mouth went slack.
"... What?" he asked blankly.
Chrissy took a deep breath. "That's what I've been trying to tell you," she said. "I don't want to wait."
Turning her face, she trailed her lips across his hand, kissing his palm and knuckles, before pulling him close and sealing her mouth over his. Eddie's hand moved from her cheek to behind her ear, fingers winding through her hair, pressing her to him, while his lips moved between hers, soft and delicious. She could feel her body relax under that kiss, tension draining out of her like snow melting in the spring rain. Why hadn't she done this? Why waste her time worrying, when she could have simply kissed him and let things run their natural courses?
When she slipped a hand under the bathrobe and touched him, her palm scorching against his cool skin, it was Eddie who pulled away this time. "Are we doing this now?" he whispered.
Oh no. Had she completely misread him? Was he not interested—now or—or—ever?
"What's wrong?" she asked, without letting go of his hand. It suddenly occurred to her as to why Eddie was hesitating. "I have condoms here if you don't," she said.
"I'm not worried about—" Eddie stopped, an eyebrow raised quizzically. "Why do you have condoms anyway?"
"I bought some after we started going out. Just in case." She didn't tell him that it had actually been Nancy who advised her to do so. "Why, do you have some too?"
Eddie's impish grin flashed across his face. "Yeah. I bought them after we started going out too. You know, just in case."
Laughing, Chrissy leaned over to pick up from where they left off, but Eddie gently took her wrists to hold her back. "Wait," he said. "There's something I have to tell you."
Something in the way he said it made her grow cold again. "What is it?"
Holding her hands in his lap, Eddie bent down until his face was buried in her palms. "I lied," he said. Chrissy's heart dropped, and she clutched at Eddie, silently screaming at him to continue. "When I said I'm not that experienced," he explained, "I meant I'm not experienced at all."
In her confusion, she didn't understand what he was saying at first. Then it dawned on her. "What, you haven't—" With his head still in her hands and his hair tickling the inside of her wrists, he shook his head. "I thought you dated before?"
"I've gone out with a couple of girls, yes," Eddie said, his voice muffled. "I just went out with them. That's all."
"But—you know what to do, right?" she asked.
He lifted his head. Under his hair, she could see his face, all crimson, sheepish, miserable, a schoolboy having to confess his crimes. "In theory, yes," he said. "In practice? Only with myself."
"Eddie!" She swatted at his arm, but the tension was broken, thanks to his bad joke.
His dimples dipped and rose again. "Sorry. TMI."
"Those girls don't know what they're missing, do they?" she said, matching his playful tone.
"Oh, there have been opportunities. But I couldn't. I don't know why—it feels wrong, doing it with someone who's only interested because she thinks I'm this bad boy rocker or whatever, as opposed to..." He trailed off.
"As opposed to what?"
"I don't know. Maybe I was saving myself too."
"For marriage?"
"For you."
A part of Chrissy melted at that, but her insecurities were rearing their ugly Hydra-like heads again. This meant she would be his first too. She hadn't thought about that. What if she was no good? What if they were no good together?
Eddie squeezed her hand again. "Look, I'm really sorry, OK? I'm sorry for not coming clean with you sooner. If it made you feel any better, I'm pretty sure the cashier at Walgreens thought I was buying the condoms on a dare, so..."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"When we first started going out, I was kind of—terrified of you, a little."
"Me?" Chrissy asked, incredulous. If only he knew how nervous she'd been on their first date...
"I mean, you were the most popular girl at your school, you were a cheerleader—"
Chrissy shook her head, impatient. "'Were' is the key word here, Eddie. I'm not that person anymore. And even if I was, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"I know. I just thought I'd be no good for you. I didn't want you to know that I am a total dork after all."
Chrissy supposed she should be angry with him for lying—or at least for exaggerating and omitting the truth—but any annoyance she had with him faded away at that. For all his bluster and confidence, he was just like her, full of fear and self-doubt. Perhaps that was why they were drawn to each other, why she felt so safe around him.
"You are a dork," she said. "But I forgive you."
A smile broke across Eddie's face, small and unsure, like the spring sun coming out after heavy rain. "So you don't mind?" he asked.
"Of course not." She put a hand on Eddie's cheek, cradling and caressing his jaw. "We can show each other. I mean... if you want to."
"I always want to."
Those words opened the floodgate that Chrissy had been keeping locked inside her. Lunging at Eddie, she kissed him with abandon, her mouth and body and heart open, hungry for him. She pulled him stumbling to his feet, so they could get into bed. Eddie yanked impatiently at the hem of her sweatshirt, and she broke off the kiss just long enough to pull it over her head and toss it aside.
The moment the sweatshirt hit the floor and cold air hit her bare skin, Chrissy paused. She looked at Eddie, his face clouded with desire, his chest heaving with anticipation, his lips, plump and red from kissing—those lips, always those lips, they were going to be the death of her—and she had to fight a wild urge to laugh, because he was still wearing her pink fluffy bathrobe.
But this was too important, too meaningful a moment for laughter.
Gently tugging at the belt of the robe, she undid it and let it fall from his shoulders. They stood facing each other, the air between them humming with desire. Eddie extended a tentative hand toward her, and Chrissy met him halfway, catching his wrist and placing his hand on her. They had been frantic a minute ago; now they moved slowly, with great care, as if afraid that any sudden move may cause the other to dissolve into the air like soap bubbles.
Eddie had once told her about something in D&D called the Theater of the Mind, which he used a lot in his campaigns because it didn't rely on visuals. Now, he was touching her, gentle fingers skimming over her skin like he was building a version of herself in his own Theater of the Mind. Chrissy wondered what she looked like to him. Her face he had known well, but this would be the first time he touched her body.
Chrissy had always hated her body. As Eddie's hands moved, she could only think of what was wrong with it. His hands lightly stroked her shoulders, which were never elegant enough for the dresses her mother wanted her to wear. They brushed along her arms, which were never strong enough or graceful enough to lift the pompoms into the air. They circled her waist, which was never slim enough, and glided over her stomach, which was never flat enough, before coming to rest on the underside of her breasts, which were never big enough.
"Can I—?" Eddie asked, fingers fluttering over her chest.
"Yes." She took a step forward, pressing herself into his palms. His hand closed over her breast, one side and then the other, before letting go again.
"You have nice breasts." He sounded almost reverent.
"They're kind of small."
"No. They're perfect."
He took her breasts in his palms again, and the way his thumbs and fingers grazed them sent such liquid fire through her that she thought she would burst into tears or into flames, just from his touch alone. This was enough. She was enough.
He continued to touch her until the fire was too much for her to bear. The dreamy, almost wary touches forgotten, she put one of his hands on the waistband of her shorts, and together, they pulled until both the shorts and her underwear slid down her legs, and she could kick them away. His boxers followed. The back of her knees hit the edge of the bed. She fell backward into it, drawing Eddie down with her. He slipped a hand between her legs, almost by accident, yet even that brief touch was enough to fan the fire inside her higher.
"Kiss me," she whispered.
And he did. But this was no lingering kiss like the ones they'd had before. Eddie pulled at her mouth in gasping, grasping little kisses, as if he couldn't trust himself—or her—to stay long enough. She didn't know where to put her hands and where to direct his hand, wanting to feel him everywhere, on her, in her, all at once.
"The condom?" he reminded her.
Chrissy reached into a drawer in her bedside table, drew out the package, and handed one to Eddie with a nervous giggle. He fumbled with it, before settling himself between her thighs again. "You ready?" he asked.
"Mm-hmm." She didn't trust herself to say anything else.
His first thrust brought reality crashing back, as sharp and glaring as the pain that shot up inside her. She gasped, from shock as much as from pain, and Eddie immediately stopped.
"What is it?" he asked, voice tinged with panic. "Did I hurt you?"
"No," she managed to say, through gritted teeth. "Just give me a sec."
"Do you want me to stop?"
"No." She shifted her hips, trying to find a more comfortable position, to get used to the alien feeling inside her.
Eddie lifted himself up on his elbows to ease the pressure on her. With one hand, he caressed her face, trying to find evidence of her discomfort.
"I'm all right," she said, without feeling it. "I think I'm ready now."
Eddie started moving inside her, each thrust accompanied by a quivering breath. The pain dulled to soreness, and Chrissy lay still, afraid any movement would bring it back. Some vague pleasantness started to form at the edge of the pain, but before she could grab it, Eddie gave a shudder and collapsed on top of her, where he lay gasping quietly, and it was gone.
So that was their first time. Was this how it was always going to be? Where had they gone wrong? Chrissy wanted to push Eddie away so she could draw a deep breath, so she could curl up within herself and die, but she couldn't move. The pain in her body turned into the pain in her heart, and a void opened up inside her, where Eddie had just been a minute ago, and widened until she was nothing but a hollowed-out husk. She couldn't even cry.
Eddie edged away and moved to lie next to her. "I'm sorry," he said. "It was no good for you, wasn't it?" When she didn't answer, he said, in a small voice, "Is this a bad time to tell you that I love you?"
Chrissy turned to look at him in the dimming light. His hands were drifting toward her but not quite touching, as if he was afraid his touch would offend her. Although she had fallen for Eddie since their first date—and she was sure he felt the same—they had never said "I love you" to each other. With Jason, who had been free with his words and said so often, she had always replied, "I love you too", because that's what you're supposed to say when someone says "I love you". She had said those words so much that they had lost all meaning. With Eddie, it was a different matter.
"You've just been inside me, so I guess there's no better time," she said with a small laugh.
Eddie didn't laugh. He cupped her face, his way of focusing on her when he couldn't do it with his eyes, and said, simply, honestly, "I love you."
Like magic, her pain disappeared, replaced by a joy so fierce it was almost like another pain, only this one she didn't want to ever go away. The void inside her began to fill up. This wasn't the end of the world. They were young and ignorant. They still had time. And he loved her. That was the most important thing.
He loved her. She wished she could say it back to him. She wished she could say it with such ease and sincerity and passion as he had. But when she opened her mouth, it was only to say, "Perhaps we can try again."
"I don't know why you would ever want to try again after—after that."
But Chrissy found, to her surprise, that she did want to try again.
"I said we could show each other," she said. "But we didn't show each other anything that time. So yes, I'd like to try again."
He sat up, giving her his full attention. "Show me then."
Chrissy looked around, thinking. Her eyes fell on the opened drawer of her bedside table, and an idea occurred. Reaching into the drawer, she pulled out her sleep mask and slipped it over her eyes.
"What are you doing?" asked Eddie.
"Putting on my sleep mask."
"Why?"
"I want to feel you as you feel me."
As the mask plunged her into darkness, she heard Eddie take in a sharp, eager breath. His hand brushed down her side. A soft gasp escaped her when she felt the smooth undersides of his steel rings on her skin.
"What is it?" Eddie sounded frightened. "Are you still in pain?"
"No. I just—I wasn't expecting it, that's all."
"Do you want me to take the rings off? Do they bother you?"
"No!" She grabbed his hand and put it back where she wanted it. "Not at all."
The rings were warm from his skin, so she'd barely noticed them before, but now, with her eyes covered, the sensation seemed to increase tenfold, the smooth, firm touch of them, so different from the quivering softness of his palms and fingertips, yet still pleasurable in its own way, pleasurable because it was unquestioning Eddie's touch. No other hand would feel the same. Oh, she should have thought of this earlier! There was vulnerability in not being able to see, yes, but there was liberation in it as well, not having to worry about what she saw, and a certain exhilaration in not knowing what to expect while still trusting him with her entire body, her entire being. Let go, Eddie's words from earlier echoed in her mind. Let go.
Reaching out, she found his face and drew him down to her for a long, slow kiss. Just as he'd done with her before, now she ran her hands over him, building a map of him from her remaining senses. The smoothness of his skin, the scent of his 2-in-1 shampoo and body wash—such a boy, she would have to get him to switch to something else that wouldn't damage his lovely hair—mixed with the tanginess of his sweat, and the faint trace of mint in his mouth—she didn't like his smoking, so he'd been trying to quit. She traced her fingers over his tattoos, committing them to her own Theater of the Mind.
"You want to know something funny?" Eddie said, lips grazing her jaw, her throat.
"What?"
"Before we met, when I—touched myself, I never imagined anyone specific."
"And after?"
"I imagine you."
She didn't tell him that had been precisely the same for her as well. She only asked, a little hoarsely, "How do you imagine me?"
"When we kiss, you always make this cute little noise in your throat." He imitated it, like a pleased, breathless "hmm". Chrissy wasn't even aware that she had been making such a sound. It would've mortified her, but she heard the smile in Eddie's voice and knew he delighted in it, just as he delighted in everything about her. "So I would imagine that. And I'd imagine your soft skin, your sweet mouth, your hands on me..." He gave her a little kiss with each thing he listed off. "But I never imagine this."
"What, this?"
She slid a hand below his waist, and he made that noise again—that small, excited inhale. But she was determined to take it slow this time. Grabbing his other hand, she pressed it between her thighs, showing him how to touch her as she'd touched herself, as she'd only been able to do furtively, in her old bedroom at home or in the bathroom here, with the door tightly locked and without making a sound, for fear of discovery. But here, now, there was no fear. There was only the feel of his hand on her, the soft sound in his throat, and her own quickening breath. The fire was rekindling, sparkling embers spreading from low in her belly all the way down her thighs, concentrating where their hands met, at her core.
"Like this?" he whispered, his fingers supple and obedient under her hand, touching and stroking where she wanted, how she wanted.
"Yes," she panted. "Please."
Without pulling his hand away, he trailed his mouth down her throat and her chest, before closing his lips around her nipple. His tongue flicked against the sensitive bud, making her whimper, and when he nibbled at her, it was like a bolt of electricity that went through her, connecting his mouth to his hand, fusing him to her. She cried out as her body arched toward him, asking for more.
This time, there was no need to ask if she was ready. They both groped for the condom on the table, and before she knew it, their bodies were melded together. There was a twinge of half-remembered pain, but it went away the moment Eddie started to move against her. With each thrust, the fire inside her flared into life, scorching, demanding. She clung to him, her arms across his back, her legs around his waist, and her face buried in his shoulder, as her hips lifted to meet him, to move along with him, to urge him on. More. Harder. Faster. More. More.
She yanked the sleep mask down. Through blurry eyes, she could see Eddie looking down at her, his hair framed by the light coming through the window like a halo, and she thought he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
"Tell me you love me," she begged, fingers digging into his back as if she was trying to make a new tattoo there. "Please, Eddie."
He leaned down until their foreheads were touching. "I love you," he whispered. His breath blew hot and sweet across her skin, and as those words settled in her heart, the fire finally burst, sending flames of pure ecstasy over her. She thought it would drown out all sensations, but, like a lightning strike that threw the storm cloud into sharp relief against the dark sky, her climax only allowed her to feel him more closely, clearly, and strongly than anything she had ever felt before. When his own release came, a moment later, she triumphed in it, in the pleasure they had given each other.
Afterward, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her softly.
"Was that better?" he asked.
She smiled into his kiss. "Oh, totally."
He chuckled, a rumbling sound deep in his throat. "You don't really want to learn how to play D&D, do you?" he said. "This is what you had in mind all along, bringing me back to your room so you could seduce me."
"Seduce you?!" she said, laughing.
"Not that I'm complaining."
"How dare you imply that I may have ulterior motives?" she said, in mock outrage. "I do want to learn how to play D&D!"
He smiled and kissed her again. "I guess we can do that later then."
But they never did, not that day. The dice and the rule book lay forgotten on her desk, while they spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, exploring each other's body, mapping every dip and curve like two intrepid travelers discovering the hills and valleys of some unknown, magical country. She learned his tattoos, tracing the strings of the puppet, the claws of the wyvern, counting each and every bat. He learned that her front teeth were crooked, that her nose was slightly upturned, and that one of her calves was bigger than the other, something Chrissy hated because her mother pointed it out constantly, but now, under Eddie's touch, felt like an adorable quirk. She learned that he had a scar on his forehead, curving like a half-moon under his fringe, the result of an accident in the early days of his blindness. They both learned how to touch each other in other, different ways, finding out what they liked and what the other liked, becoming so perfectly in tune with each other that, when their bodies were joined, it was impossible to know where one ended and the other began.
When they got hungry, they finished the picnic leftover, sharing the food as they'd shared the pleasure. Then they continued their journey until exhaustion set in, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.
At some point during the night, Chrissy woke up. The radiator, set on a timer, had turned itself off, and the room was chilled. She gently got out of bed, wrapped herself in her bathrobe—which still smelled faintly of Eddie—and went to the radiator, where Eddie's clothes had dried. These she folded and put on a chair, before turning the radiator back on. Then she crossed to the window, lifted the blinds, and looked out.
It was raining again, a fine drizzling mist that turned the asphalt into specks of gold under the streetlights. It must be quite late, yet some lonely souls were still trudging on the pavement, hunched under umbrellas or with their collars turned up against the cold and damp. Chrissy wondered where they were going, whether they had somewhere or someone warm waiting for them, like she did.
Behind her, Eddie stirred in his sleep and made a noise that was half-whimper, half-whine, when he reached out and found her not there. Chrissy let the blinds fall, so the room was shrouded in darkness again, and made her way back to bed.
But she didn't go back to sleep right away. In the dark, she leaned over Eddie and traced his tattoos with her fingertips, seeing him as he saw himself, pleased that she was beginning to memorize them, just as she was beginning to memorize his body, his scent, the feel of his skin against hers. And that was when she finally understood what Eddie had meant earlier—this was the true permanent thing. Even when the ink had faded, this memory, this feeling would remain, lighting her up like a glow in the dark.
"I love you," she whispered. It didn't matter that he was asleep. She said it to fix the memory of this night in her mind, like Eddie fixing his memories with pictures on his skin. And now that she'd said it, she would be able to say it again, when he could hear her.
But he'd heard her. "Love you too," he mumbled into her hair, sleepily, easily, as if they'd said it to each other hundreds of times. With a smile, Chrissy slipped under the warm blankets and fell into Eddie's warmer embrace, where she slept again.
THE END
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forever-rogue · 1 year ago
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happy haunting
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AN | Okay, this is purely self indulgent but this is totally me and I wish I had an Eddie to do fun fall and halloween things with! So enjoy a little early Halloween shopping fun 🥰
Warnings | Mild Language
Pairing | modern!Eddie x Fem!Reader
Word Count | 3.2k
Masterlist | Main, Eddie 
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
“Do you know how much I love you?” you kept your attention trained on the pretty autumn flowers that the florist had on display outside of the shop. Eddie was holding your hand, fingers laced together as he followed you around like a lovesick puppy. You turned to him with a big, soft smile on your face, “because it’s a lot. I love you so, so much it’s not even measurable.”
He softened, a grin on his face that mirrored your own as he pulled you closer to him. Before you could protest he took your face in his hands and pressed a gentle kiss to your soft lips, “I love you…but you’re up to something.”
“I am deeply offended and upset, sir,” you playfully clutched at your chest as he snorted in amusement, “that you would think I’m up to something! I just love you and wanted to let you, the love of my life, know that I love you.”
“Mhmm,” he hummed as he reached for your hand again before he pulled you inside of the shop, “whatever you say.”
“Eddie-”
“Come on,” he was already heading to the counter, “I saw you eyeing those flowers out front.”
“Edward.”
“I just think the flowers would look in the kitchen,” he played it off like he was the one that had wanted the flowers in the first place. It was one of the many things you loved about him; he was so kind and always giving, giving, giving, “let me get my girl the things she wants, yeah?”
“Yeah,” you sighed wistfully, “okay.”
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
“Are you gonna tell me what you’re up to?” Eddie took a sip of his beer as you sat on the kitchen counter, sipping on a cider, “because I will get it out of you one way or another.”
“Nothing,” you insisted, knowing full well that he absolutely did not believe you. He put his bottle down and stood between your legs, his arms caging you, “you’re bullying me! Don’t bully me, meanie!”
“Come on Barbie,” he leaned in so his nose was brushing against yours, his lips so close but so far away. Butterflies fluttered around your stomach at the use of his sweet little nickname for you. 
The first time he called you that, long before you really knew him and even longer before you started dating, you’d thought he meant it as an insult. You were the opposite of him, so literally in so many ways, and he loved it. You were the pretty, sweet little thing and he was the rough metalhead. He still loved seeing the reactions people had when he came up to you and you reached for him without even thinking about it. It was especially amusing to him when some douchebag tried to hit on you. You were everything, and he was merely your humble servant; god knows he would have done anything for you. 
“Eddie,” you were practically willing him to kiss you but he still refused, “kiss me, please.”
“So polite,” he gave in, just a little bit with the lightest of kisses, “my little Barbie. But you won’t get any more until you tell me what’s going on.”
You leaned back, sighing loudly and dramatically, raising a pink manicured hand to your forehead as he laughed affectionately, “fine. Fine. Will you, my love, come me with tomorrow to go Halloween hunting?”
He paused for a moment, clearly not expecting that to be what you had been so dramatically concealing with him. But then, when he saw the expectant look on your face he couldn’t help but tut gently at you, “what the hell is Halloween hunting, Barbie?”
And then you scoffed. You scoffed and that made him laugh. You crossed your arms over your chest and attempted to give him a serious expression, “you cannot be serious, Edward Munson.”
“I...why not?” he raised an eyebrow, brushing his knuckles across your pinked cheek, “is this some weird internet thing I don’t understand?”
“You’re such an old man sometimes,” you reached for his hand and gently clutched it in yours, “I mean it affectionately. But how have you not heard of this?”
“Alright, tell me what’s so important and magical about this hunting you would like to do.”
“Basically…we hit up the home stores and look for all the Halloween and fall stuff!” your eyes lit up so much that even Eddie felt himself grow excited at the prospect. He was so gone and weak for you that if something made you happy, it made him happy. But then -
“It’s summer,” he stated suddenly as you looked at him sheepishly, “it’s like…the middle of summer.”
“And…?” you blinked at him in confusion with big, wide eyes, “it’s going to be Halloween-”
“In like three months!”
“But,” you stopped for a moment, a pout on your pretty pink lips that he wanted to kiss away, “it’s my favorite time of year. A-and I this is our first Halloween living together so I thought it would be fun to decorate and go all out..”
He hated seeing you even slightly upset. Nope, nope, nope. You wanted to decorate and go all out? He’d buy you anything and everything that you wanted. He’d turn the whole apartment into the spooky home of your dreams. He gently shushed you before any tears could run down your face, “then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll make this the best place ever - we’ll make everyone jealous. You want to go and do this halloween hunting? We’ll go tomorrow.”
You made a small sound of excitement as you beamed at him, “really!? Wait, are you sure? I don’t wanna make you do something you don’t want to.”
“I want to,” he promised softly as you leaned into the warm touch of his hand, “we’ll go and get brunch, and then we can get some of those fancy iced coffees and go look at all the stores. How does that sound?”
“Perfect,” you threw your arms around him and held onto him tightly before pulling back to press a kiss to his cheek, “you’re perfect to me. I love you so much. We’re gonna have the best day ever!”
“Every day with you is the best day ever,” he kissed, fully and sweetly this time, letting his lips get properly reacquainted with yours, “I love you.”
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
Eddie took you to your favorite spot for brunch, which was a cute little place with a garden patio. He thought you looked so pretty, but then again, he thought that every day, and even managed to snap a few pictures of you. He wasn't big on social media even though he was in a band, but often kept the pictures he took for himself. Although if you did look at his IG you'd find it filled with mostly photos of you or his guitars (but let's be honest, you were the bright, pretty star of his account).
After you were both thoroughly stuffed, the two of you went for a walk and ran a few weekly errands like getting some groceries for the week. Once all the boring adult stuff - as you had dubbed it - was completed, the two of you went off to the cafe down the street from your apartment.
You were mildly disappointed, but not surprised, to find that summer drinks were still in full swing and it would be a few weeks before the fall menus were out. Eddie had chuckled fondly before pressing a kiss to the side of your head and promising to get you all the pumpkin coffees you wanted as soon as they came out. And just who were to say no to that?
Once you were situated with your silly little iced coffee, Eddie took drove the two of you to the first of the stores you'd suggested. Even something as simple as driving around with you was fun for him; you made the mundane exciting. He always kept a hand on your thigh or held your hand. You always got to pick the music, but you knew that while your tastes overlapped on some things, you had varied tastes. You often picked music that he preferred, just to hear him sing along. Today you settled on something in the middle and Eddie listened to you sing along happily, only stopping to point out cute dogs. 
"Okay," once Eddie parked, you turned in your seat to look at him, "this is serious business. Gotta keep our eyes peeled for all good stuff."
He shook his head before leaning over the console and settling a sweet kiss, "serious business. Noted."
"Oh Eddie," you reached for the collar of his shirt and pulled him back for a few more kisses, "I love you so much. Thank you for putting up with me."
"Baby, it's never putting up either you," he insisted softly, "I love doing you and doing all of these things with you. There's nothing that could make me happier."
"Ugh," you scoffed softly, "you're perfect. You always know what to say."
"Flattery will get you everywhere, Barbie," he tenderly bumped your chin with his knuckle, "c'mon now - we've got serious business!"
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
The first thing that Eddie noticed as soon as you were in the first store was the looks that the two of you were getting. He was dressed in his normal choice of ripped skinny ripped and a band shirt, topped off with a flannel and a pair of heavy combat boots, chains jingled at his side. His hair was in a messy bun, a few curly tendrils falling out and framing his face. He looked so ridiculously good that it was almost unfair. Meanwhile you were in a pretty pink sundress and sandals, skin glowing from the summer sun you'd been getting, with your hair soft and loose. A walking juxtaposition that always garnered a few looks, but you almost never noticed and Eddie just found it amusing.
Your coffee was in one hand, the other already entwined with Eddie's as you headed towards the aisles where you caught glimpses of Halloween décor. 
"Ooh," there was a bright smile on your face as you made a sound of delight at the freshly stocked aisles, "look at all the things!"
"So many things," he agreed as you headed over to a section with wall and door signs. He could see the joy reflected in your face, this was definitely your favorite thing. He always found it amusing that you were so soft and dainty but you had a love for all things spooky and dark and gory. One of the first things you'd bonded over was your love of horror movies after all.
"Eddie," you picked a sign off the shelf that boasted it's not a haunted house, it's a haunted home with cute little ghosts decorating it, "it's so cute! It would look perfect near the front door!"
"Hmm," he looked at some of the other signs and grabbed one that read welcome to our haunted house, "this one is also pretty cute!"
"Ugh, yes it is," you were looking back and forth at them, serious contemplation on your features, "they're so many cute signs! We could even decorate the outside of the door. And then - ooh! Skulls!"
How could he have forgotten your skull collection? It was pretty impressive. This was, as you liked to remind him, not just seasonal decor but year round decor, "maybe they'll have some promising ones to add to the collection."
"I sure hope so," you delicately put the signs back and took his hand to lead him to the next display, "there weren't a lot of good ones last year."
"Well, the season is young," he grinned as you held up your hand dismissively, "plenty of time to find the perfect ones."
"And we can get started early," you turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek before holding up a pastel pink and gold skull, "everyone will be talking about us!"
"Don't worry, they already do," he took the skull from your hands and set it into the basket hanging from his arm. Yeah, he knew to be well prepared.
"Duh," you gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, "that's because you're a rockstar!"
"I'm hardly a rockstar," he played you off, feeling his cheeks grow hot from your praise. Corroded Coffin was getting bigger all the time, but he still remained humble and thankful, and kept his day job as a mechanic, "that's definitely not why."
"Hmm," you turned back to him and studied him intently, "I think you're wrong, but I still love you more than anything. You'll always be my rockstar, even when we're old."
"Of course," he loved when you talked about the future; the idea that you wanted him forever made him feel so warm and loved. He already knew that you were his future too - he was going to make you his wife one day, "you'll always be my queen and I am but your humble servant."
You turned back to him with the softest expression that made his knees weak, "you, Edward Munson, are my dork and I adore you more than anything."
"I adore you too," his cheeks pinked as he looked at his feet, finding it almost impossible to look into your eyes, "anything else catch your eye?"
"So much!" You grinned as pointed at a portrait of two skeletons lying together and slowly being consumed by moss, "look! It's us one day!"
"That's metal," he reached for it and added it to the handbasket, "that's one going in the bedroom!"
"Now you're getting into the spirit!" You paused for a moment before giggling at your own joke, "it makes sense that you like me so much, you know."
"Oh?" He reached up and tenderly brushed off a few stray pieces of flutter that had fallen onto your cheeks, "why's that, Barbie?"
"Because I'm hilarious!" 
"Mhmm," the two of you exchanged sweet smiles as you gently squeezed his hand, "I love you for so many reasons."
"And I you," you grabbed another little table decoration and held it out to show him, "enough that you'll go to a couple of other stores with me?"
"Of course," he would do anything for you, "of course."
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
By the time the two of you made it home, it was already late but you were so happy. After shopping around for what seemed like hours, Eddie suggested two of you just go out for dinner, which you had no problem with, and you decided you would go to his favorite spot for dinner. Plus, this time you were able to get the bill before him, insisting that this was a small thank you for the wonderful day he had given you. 
You’d shared the collective duty of hauling everything into the apartment, which consisted of several large bags of fall and Halloween goodies. You’d tried to be good and only get an item or two, you really had, but Eddie had insisted on getting the things you wanted. You wanted the ultimate spooky and cozy apartment for the season? Eddie was going to give it to you.
“Today was so fun,” you were sitting at your vanity, going through your skincare routine as Eddie laid in bedroom, working on his laptop. You caught his eye in the mirror and he offered you a toothy grin, “thank you.”
“I had fun too,” he promised, shooting you a quick wink, “everything is fun with you.”
“Eddie,” you finished applying your moisturizer and turned around so you were facing him. You definitely had his attention now, and he closed his laptop and put it on the nightstand to look at you. You were wearing a set of silky pink pajamas, ones that he definitely wouldn’t have minded getting off later, and a freshly clean face. You were so beautiful, even at the end of day without a stitch of makeup on, which you often didn’t fully believe.
“C’mere,” he motioned for you to join him on the bed and you did so with a dramatic huff at you sat cross legged at the end of the bed, “what’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“You know…you know I’m not just with you for money or whatever, right? I don’t wanna make it seem like I just want to be with you because you do all these nice things with me and for me,” his eyebrows raised in confusion as you played with a loose thread on the edge of your pajama shorts, “I feel like you’re always doing things for me and I love and appreciate it, but I just wanna make sure you know I love you. I just want you, the other things don’t matter.”
“Of course I know that,” his easy answer made you relax slightly, “I never once doubted that. I never would have thought of that.”
“Okay,” you let out a small sigh of relief, “I just…I wanna do things for you too, you know? I want to make sure you know that you are the most important thing to me.”
“I know that,” he held out his hand to you and you put your hand in his and let him pull you into his lap. He settled his large hands on your waist as you wrapped your arms around his neck, “you do lots of things for me too, even though you apparently haven’t noticed. On top of all that, I like doing things for you and taking care of you. You’re my girl, Barbie. Always will be, and I like spoiling you. Even with silly little things like this halloween hunting you love so much.”
“Maybe it is silly,” you pressed your forehead against his, “but you had fun too!”
“I did,” he nudged his nose with yours, “I always do. I love you.”
“I love you,” you kissed him softly, in a way that left him yearning for more. He could never get enough of you, “you gonna let me take care of you?”
“Whaddaya me…oh,” you loved that you were still able to make him get all shy and flustered, “you don’t have you to.”
“I wanna,” you insisted, giving him a kiss that slowly turned more hungry and needy, “let me love on you since you’ve been doing it all day for me.”
“I-I if you’re sure,” you put a finger to his lips and gently shushed him.
“I’m sure,” you promised, “my love.”
“Okay,” he swallowed thickly, his eyes practically the embodiment of heart eyes, “okay. Fuck, I’m so in love with you.”
“Funny,” you whispered, peppering his face in kisses, “I’m so in love with you, Eddie Munson.”
“Always?”
“And then some more.”
279 notes · View notes
elizabethwritesmen · 11 months ago
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𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜
chapter 4: with or without you
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pairing: firefighter!steve x reader
summary: steve’s coma drags on and you drag on with it. you learn a lot, though, in his absence and get a glimpse into how he really feels about you.
warnings: completely inaccurate medical knowledge and descriptions (don’t come for me i’m not a doctor), pining, angst, idiots who can’t admit their feelings. smut to come. jealous and violent steve. (not violent towards you!)
a/n: eddie’s a mechanic for halloween, which is a little nod to @pinkrelish <3 love you and typ!! there SHOULD only be one more chapter but if it drags on there will be 2. i know for sure the next chapter WILL be a Christmas chapter! (:
chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3
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The next morning, I woke up bright and early and went straight to the hospital. My parents showed up soon after me, worry a mask on their faces.
“Y/N, sweetheart, are you okay?” My mom asked, fretting over me momentarily out of nervousness.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“I know how much you love him, I’m just worried about you. He’ll be ok, he’s a strong boy!”
“I know,” I smiled politely, but she was more optimistic than I was.
“Honey, why don’t you let her breathe? She’s stressed enough already,” Dad stepped in, pulling Mom away. “How is Steve, anyway?”
“Stable. Still in a coma. That’s all I know,” I shrugged, “They’ve told me more than anyone else but I’m not family so there’s only so much they can share.”
“That’s ridiculous. Where is his actual family at?” Mom outbursted, “I bet they’re not even concerned. They couldn’t care less about their own son! God, I’ve been more of a mother to him than that dreadful woman!”
“I know,” I sighed, “I’m not happy about it either, but it is what it is.”
“Maybe I could have his dad call the hospital and tell them to treat us as his family in their absence?” Dad suggested.
“Not a bad idea, they could sign a release or something.”
So he pulled out his phone and dialed Mr Harrington up, getting him after a few rings. He walked out of the waiting room and into the hallway to talk to him and Mom sat beside me, stroking my hair.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” she asked me, “You’ve got that look in your eye.”
“What look?”
“The guilty look.”
“I don’t have a guilty look.”
“You’ve been my baby for decades, I think I know your looks. Spill!”
I sighed, “I saw Steve yesterday, before he got called into work and got hurt. He came to the music shop and brought me flowers, then took me out to eat. We went back to his house to hang out and, Mom, he has this huge picture of me on his dresser. Not me and him, just me. Like I’m his wife or something. I got overwhelmed when I saw it and I went off on him.”
“Why’d you go off on him for having a picture of you? I’d imagine that’s a good thing!”
“Because I’m sick of being lead on,” I shrugged, “Or at least I was. But now I’d let him lead me on forever if it meant he wakes up healthy and happy.”
Suddenly, a thoughtful look crossed her face. She bit her lip as if she was holding something back, and furrowed her brows.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You need to talk to your father about this.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows Steve better than you think, and I think he’d know exactly how to make you feel better about all this.”
“I will later,” I nodded, leaning back in my chair and waiting for Dad to get off the phone.
Only a few minutes later, he did exactly that, walking back into the room.
“They’re calling the hospital now and asking about faxing a release. Y/N should be informed of everything from now on.”
“Perfect!” Mom clapped, a small smile crossing her face.
“I’m gonna see if we can go in there with him.”
I walked to the nurse’s desk and asked, and she said yes, so I lead my parents into his room. He looked just as rough as the day before and my heart shattered a little bit.
“Oh,” my mom sighed, and I could tell her heart was breaking as well just looking at him. She and Dad really did care a lot for Steve. They always had. He was included in family trips, family photos, everything. They basically adopted him the second we became friends. I think at first they just felt bad for him, but it didn’t take long for pity to turn into love. He had that affect on everyone, everyone but his own family.
I sat in the chair by his bed, grabbing his fragile hand in my own and squeezing lightly.
“Hey Steve,” I quietly greeted, “I brought Mom and Dad to see you. I knew you’d want them here.”
My naive heart waited for a response, but of course, there was none. I could feel the pitiful eyes of my parents burning into my skull.
About an hour passed of them simply sitting with me. A couple other people dropped in, some of the firemen and Robin to be exact. Eddie was at work and wasn’t able to make it yet, but he had called me to see if everything was okay.
“You guys don’t have to stay here all day, I’m okay,” I told Mom and Dad.
“We’ll stay here until they make us leave.”
I smiled lightly at that, turning back to Steve. “You hear that? I think they like you more than they like me.”
“I’m gonna go get something to eat from the cafeteria,” mom got up suddenly, “but I think you two should talk.”
“About what?” Dad asked, but I knew.
She didn’t bother answering him, just shood him my way before making her exit.
“Tactful,” I scoffed, smoothing out Steve’s sheets and making sure he was covered up enough to be warm. If my dad noticed, he said nothing, watching in silence as I doted over the closest thing he had to a son.
“What’s going on, Y/N?” he asked.
“Well…. nothing, really, it’s just I feel a bit guilty because I went off on Steve yesterday before the accident. I yelled at him to stop leading me on and then I left even though he begged me to stay. I wouldn’t even let him get a word in.”
“I see,” he nodded in understanding, “And I heard from one of the firemen that he was on the way to the cabin when he got called in. Is that why?”
“Yes,” I nodded, “I mean, I’m assuming. I’m sure he wanted to make things right. Steve never could leave well enough alone.”
“Not when it comes to you, at least.”
“I can’t help thinking I messed things up for good. What if I never get to apologize?”
“You will, but you don’t have to. He forgave you before the words even came out of your mouth. He loves you that way.”
“I know, I know. I’m his best friend, he’d never hold anything against me.”
“No, Y/N, you don’t know,” Dad sighed, “Steve and I go golfing every month. It started as a way to cope with you being gone, both of us missed you and honestly I missed him. He’s like my own son and when you stopped being around, he stopped hanging around. We golf all day and then head to the house and your mom makes us a great spread of dinner.”
“I know that already, Dad. He told me.”
“What you don’t know is that the fifth or sixth time we golfed, he’d gotten real comfortable with me and started talking to me. He told me, ‘Mr. L/N, if Y/N ever comes back I swear I’m gonna marry her.’ I asked him what in the world he was on about and he told me that he knew you were the only woman he’d ever want the second he laid eyes on you at Scoops Ahoy. Nobody ever compared for him. None of those girls meant a quarter as much as you. Why do you think he hasn’t had a girlfriend all these years?”
“Are you saying Steve is in love with me?”
“Steve has been in love with you just as long as you’ve been in love with him.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? I would’ve come home right then!”
“Because, sweetheart, you were chasing a dream bigger than me or Steve or anyone. You flew away and I didn’t know if you wanted to come back, you seemed happy where you were. I didn’t wanna burden you with things that would make you feel guilty. Besides, I promised him I wouldn’t tell.”
“But you just did.”
“I don’t think he’d mind,” he winked, “I’m gonna go meet your mom in the cafeteria. You say your piece. He can hear you, you know.”
I smiled lightly as he walked away, turning to my handsome, bandaged up boy the second he was gone.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me, Steve?” I implored, sadness overtaking me. “This could’ve been so different. I never would’ve left.”
My parents stayed the whole day, just as they said they would, and they came back every day to check in. They really were worried about him, and about me as well. I never left his side. I was there every day, all day. And nobody seemed to mind. They all just respected me for what I apparently was; the girl Steve was in love with. But was I, though? All those things my dad said, I believed them but a lot of time had passed since then, and a lot of anger and distance had built up. There was a chance he didn’t even feel that way anymore. There was a chance he didn’t even mean it when he said it.
Two days before Halloween, Robin asked me what I planned on doing. She told me she was set to go trick or treating with Eddie and Candy, and they both wanted me to tag along. Apparently it was a tradition for all of them, and then afterwards they’d leave her with Wayne and do whatever adult activities they could find.
“Oh, Robin, that’s sweet but isn’t that you guys’ thing? I don’t want to intrude,” I spoke into the receiver of my cell phone from Steve’s bedside.
“Y/N, shut up. You’re just as much a part of this group as any one of us. And Candy specifically asked for you. She said she thinks you’re nice.”
I sighed, “Okay. Fine. It’ll have to be after visiting hours, though, I can’t leave Steve here alone until I absolutely have to.”
“Great! We’ll all meet at Eddie’s after visiting hours and go from there, sound good?”
“Yeah, where does he live now again?”
“He has a trailer, not far from the cabin. I’ll send you the address. Oh, and you have to dress up. Participation rules!”
“Robin, I am not in a dress up mood,” I scoffed.
“Y/N,” she sighed, “Nobody wanted to talk to you about this because we didn’t want to make you feel worse than you already do, but everyone agrees that you need a distraction. Something to cheer you up.”
“Who is everyone?”
“Me, Eddie, your parents. Wayne. My parents. The other guys from the station. Everyone. Steve is in a coma, but you’re not. You’ve got to carry on living.”
“So you’ve all been talking about me?” I asked, “Robin, if this is about me not being at the music shop I-“
“It’s not,” she assured, “Don’t even worry about that. I told you, stay with Steve however long you need and come back when you’re ready. Your job will be there. I’m not hiring anyone else, even if you don’t come back until he wakes up.”
I sighed, “Fine. You’re right. I’ll dress up and try to have the best time I can.”
We hung up, and I couldn’t help but feel the faintest spark of excitement, followed by guilt. I desperately needed something, anything besides a stale coma ward room. The only company I’d had that whole month was the people who visited Steve, never surprised to find me there perched beside him.
I didn’t have a lot of time to throw a costume together, but I managed. I was quite proud of it, actually.
I changed in the en suite hospital room bathroom, looking myself over in the mirror, cringing at the awful fluorescent lighting. I still looked cute though, or at least I thought I did.
I walked out of the room and did a little spin for Steve’s lifeless form, pretending he could see me for the sake of it.
“How do I look?” I asked, then followed up with, “I’m gonna pretend you said I look great.” I giggled at myself and sat back down beside him, “Only about five minutes until they kick me out. I wish you could come with us tonight, it would be so much more fun with you. This is my first Halloween here in years! Remember the last one we spent together? Oh, it was so much fun. Much better than that year’s Christmas party. I still cant believe you punched that guy!” If he’d been awake, he would’ve laughed at that, and I would’ve loved the sound. “I dressed up as an angel again. You liked my costume so much that night, I just had to recreate it for you, even if you won’t see it. You always did like me best in white. If Robin was here, she’d say it’s because white makes you think about us getting married. I don’t know about that, though. But I know I like that look you give me when you see me in it.” I sighed at the dead air between us, giving his hand a tight squeeze, “I wish you were awake, talking back to me. I can’t make it much longer without you, Stevie. I miss you, so much it’s killing me. I wish I hadn’t screamed at you that day. I should’ve just been honest about how I feel instead of lashing out about it. I know that now, but it’s too late.”
“Y/N,” the nurse, an older woman I’d become quite familiar with, interrupted, “Finish up as quick as you can. Visiting hours are over.”
“Yes ma’am,” I smiled as she walked away. I turned back to Steve and left him with the words, “I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow” and a kiss on the forehead.
Once I got to Eddie’s, I was struck with a bolt of pride at what I saw. He didn’t live in a trailer park, he owned his own trailer on about two acres of land. It was a nice one, too. One of those remodeled units with nice painted shutters and clean vinyl. And beside it was a little shed, overflowing with Candy’s toys and such. I imagined it was supposed to be his before she overtook the space with her things and smiled.
He opened the door, a grim look on his face and his daughter crying in his arms.
“Oh goodness, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“All month she’s wanted to be a fairy. Now, the day of halloween right before we go trick or treating, she wants to be a princess. The costume store is closed, there’s nothing that’ll make her happy.” He sounded simply exhausted, and my heart squeezed with pity.
“Hold on,” I offered, running to my car and rifling through a bag in the backseat full of rejected costume items. In it was a golden tiara with pink jewels on it, cheap but cute and it matched what Candy was wearing. I brought it back and presented it to her with a, “Tada!”
Her little eyes widened, taking in what I handed her as Eddie helped put it on her head. “Thank you!” she squealed.
“You wanna take the wings off or leave them on and be a fairy princess?” I asked.
“Leave them on,” she smiled, “Why don’t you have wings? You’re an angel! We could match!”
“I was supposed to but they were itchy,” I cringed and she giggled, reaching out for my hand. She jumped out of her dad’s arms and dragged me into the living room.
“Come look at my bag!” she ordered sweetly, and I obliged, taking in the pumpkin shaped monstrosity with a smirk. 
“She’s showed me her bag ten times already, wonder how many times she’ll show it to you?” Robin chuckled, and I followed.
“It’s cute!” I assured.
We all piled into Eddie’s car, me in the back with Candy because she wanted to sit by me.
“How’s Steve?” Eddie asked on the way to whatever neighborhood we were going to.
“Same as he was a week ago,” I shrugged, casting my eyes down.
“Well same is better than worse, right?”
“I suppose so.”
Robin and Eddie exchanged a look, but then they dropped the subject as if they were silently agreeing it was better not to talk about it.
We arrived at a small park a few minutes later, parking next to a bunch of other cars and getting out. We looked silly, for sure. An angel, Jessie from Toy Story and what Eddie called a “sexy mechanic” but was really just him in blue coveralls and a wife beater, except the cover alls were tied around his waist. I suspected he pulled a couple random items from his closet and threw them together, but I had to admit, he looked nice. The short hair worked better for him than I would’ve ever thought, and while I missed his curls, he looked handsome and grown up. I was struck again with that bolt of pride for him and all he’d accomplished.
Candy wanted to stick beside me, so I held her hand as we walked from house to house. One house we came to was particularly nice, a sign out front that said “the Byers” in a nice cursive font. We knocked and, once the door opened, I gasped at who I saw.
There was Nancy, a baby in one arm and a bowl of candy in the other. The baby was cute, too.
Her eyes got a little wider when she saw me, “Y/N!” she exclaimed, “You’re the last person I expected to see tonight!”
“Hey Nance,” I grinned, “I know! I moved home a couple months ago!”
“That’s great! For good?”
“I think so, yeah,” I nodded. Things between Nancy and I had always been a bit awkward, granted I hadn’t talked to her in years or seen her. When she dated Steve, I tried to like her but she was always a bit cold towards me and then when she cheated on him I just gave up trying. Now, I didn’t know the dynamic, but it didn’t feel awkward at all. Just unfamiliar.
“Oh Steve must be thrilled about that. Does he know or did you get here after the accident?”
“No, he knows. I was with him that day, actually, until he got called into work.”
“Oh… Me and Jonathan went to the hospital to visit, but the nurse said a girl was there and I didn’t want to interrupt. That must’ve been you?”
“Yeah, I’ve been there every day. But you wouldn’t be interrupting anything! You should come by tomorrow, I think he’d like that!”
“Okay! We will!” she smiled, handing a chocolate bar to Candy. I couldn’t help but notice the flashy ring and band on her hand as she did so, and I grinned, happy they made it.
“That was weird,” Robin mumbled as we walked away.
“Not really,” I shrugged, “I figure it’s time we buried whatever hatchet there was. Guess we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
We hit a few more houses, and Candy got some really great stuff. Full sized bars, stuffed animals, all the fancy little treats. I was actually impressed. Finally, we reached the end of the street and she looked exhausted.
“Tired?” I asked her, giggling as she leaned into Eddie and almost fell over. She nodded, reaching up for him to pick her up but he was already carrying her bag and a separate bag full of extra stuff.
“Here, I’ll get you,” I sighed, and she nodded, reaching up to me instead and letting me carry her back to the car.
Once we were all settled in and on the way back to Eddie’s, we all breathed out a sigh of relief.
“I love doing this every year but I’m so glad it’s over,” Robin stated, and we all nodded in agreement.
“At least it passed faster than last year. Steve always wants to stop and talk to everyone he sees, it’s so exhausting,” Eddie chuckled.
“Yeah but I missed him, though. I wonder what he would’ve dressed up as?”
“Probably whatever Y/N told him to.”
I perked up at that, “I would’ve forced him to be a devil. Cause I’m an angel.”
“That would’ve been some freaky se-“
“Robin!” Eddie scolded, “Candy is in the back seat!”
“She’s sleeping, you nitwit. Obviously I would never say that if she could hear me.”
I looked over and, sure enough, she was dead to the world, her head reclined against her car seat.
We made a quick stop at Wayne’s, and Eddie gently carried Candy inside then returned to the car. “Where to now?” he asked us.
“24/7 liquor,” Robin perked up and suggested, eliciting smiles from both of us.
“Wanna get drunk in the hospital parking lot so Steve can kinda sorta be with us?” Eddie asked me, smirk on his face, and though the idea was admittedly flawed, I couldn’t help saying yes.
Eddie got a case of beer for himself, Robin bought a bottle of rum and I settled on two bottles of wine. I was positive none of us would drink all of what we had, but regardless, we were prepared.
Once we pulled into the parking lot, we all settled in comfortably, seats leaned back and limbs thrown wherever they fit. Surely there was some camera watching us and we’d get in some kind of trouble. None of us cared much. Eddie was a fireman, so he went hand in hand with the hospital and the law, and he had our backs. The whole fire station had our backs, really. They’d all grown a liking to me over the time I’d spent in that hospital room, visiting and talking with them like they were family or old friends.
I unscrewed the cap of my moscato and started with a big gulp, earning a giggle from Robin. “I know things are tough, Y/N, but they can’t be that bad.”
“I gotta drink double in Steve’s honor!” I exclaimed, taking another gulp. They followed suit, taking big swigs of their own.
“So. When the dingus pulls out of this coma, what happens?” Robin asked me suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well you had that whole falling out with him and now he definitely knows beyond the shadow of a doubt how you feel, and I hope by now you know how he feels too.”
“I’m still not convinced he sees me that way, guys. A couple of cryptic comments does not a love story make.”
“Yeah, but it’s not just cryptic comments. He’s flat out told people how he feels and they tell you and you don’t believe them.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged, thinking it over, “I don’t know, I’m hoping he’ll get better and we’ll just forget all about it and pretend it never happened.”
“What if he does something crazy like propose marriage?” Eddie mused with a chuckle.
“Nah,” Robin shook her head, “Steve wouldn’t do that. Not right after getting out of a coma. My bet is they date for a year and he has us help him plan some extremely elaborate proposal and he’ll get me to help him pick the perfect ring.”
“Probably. What do you think the wedding would be like?”
“Guys!” I huffed, “I’m right here!”
“Well then tell us, what kind of wedding would you want?”
“Are we seriously talking about this?” I scoffed and they nodded, so I sighed and gave in. “I want a Christmas wedding with lots of red and green, lots of Christmas lights, a big beautiful tree. Christmas themed food and drinks. I want it to be like a winter wonderland.”
“I think Steve would like that. Then again you guys have never disagreed on anything.”
“That’s not true!” I half shouted, “We disagree all the time!”
“About what?”
“Well… about…. things!”
“What things?”
“Well I can’t think of them off the top of my head.”
“Sureeeeee,” they laughed as we all drank some more.
The night passed by entirely too quickly, but it was the most fun I’d had since Steve got hurt. I really appreciated being invited, and the fact that they’d been there for me in what was such a hard time.
The next morning, I showed up at the hospital bright and early, dressed comfy and warm. I looked a little worse for wear from the tiny hangover I was sporting, but it wasn’t bad at all. Just a little messy hair and dark circles under my eyes.
“Morning Steve,” I grinned as I sat beside him, grabbing his hand like always. I proceeded to tell him all the details of the night before, sparing none on the off chance that he could in fact hear me and wanted to know how Halloween went without him. “I’m probably gonna have to tell you all this again when you wake up, huh? Well it’s a good thing I never get tired of talking to you.”
“Y/N?” a voice called from behind me, and I turned to see Nancy, baby in her arms.
“Hey Nance,” I smiled.
“You look better than I expected. No hangover, huh?” she returned the polite gesture.
“No, not today. I’m surprised, I drank a lot!”
“I’m glad you all had a good time! A few years ago I would’ve offered to join the fun but those days are over for us.” She gazed sweetly at her baby and I couldn’t help but grin.
“Well, I think it’s great that you’re focusing on your family! I always knew you’d be a great mom. You just have that way about you.”
“Yeah, well, I hope so! It gets difficult sometimes and I feel like I don’t do enough but then he smiles at me and speaks his baby gibberish and the world fades.”
“He’s so cute,” I pouted just looking at his smooshy face, and she raised a brow at me.
“Wanna hold him?”
“I - I couldn’t,” I shrugged sheepishly.
“Believe me, you could. I hold him all the time, I love giving other people a turn!”
“Well… if you’re sure,” I reached out as she placed him securely in my arms. I melted instantly, rocking him gently back and forth. “He’s so perfect, Nance. I just adore him.”
“Just wait til you and Steve have one. It’s gonna be a whole different level of adoration.”
“Oh - me and Steve, we’re just friends,” I laughed her words off like they were nothing.
“You’ve both been saying that since high school and it’s not any more believable now than it was then.”
“You, you dated him in high school. Why would he date you or anyone else if he liked me?”
“Because he’s stupid. Believe me, he wished I was you. Why do you think I hated you so much?”
“I just assumed you didn’t like my personality.”
“Y/N, you’re like, the sweetest girl ever. Hating you was hard because you never gave me anything to work with. But I knew how he felt about you, so I couldn’t exactly like you either.”
“Well, I think you’re exaggerating. He loved me as a best friend. Or a sister, even.”
“Best friends and siblings don’t sneak off in the middle of the night to skinny dip together, you weirdo.”
I laughed at her bluntness, “I guess that’s true. But either way, your feelings for Jonathan are what broke you guys up. Not Steve’s feelings for me.”
“You’re right, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but you should know that when I started caring about Jonathan, I stopped disliking you. Mostly because I finally understood how Steve felt. How awful it can feel to be with the wrong person. But I acted on it, and Steve never did. I think that says a lot about the kind of man he is.”
“Well I never disliked you. Not even when you cheated on him. I mean, I wasn’t thrilled with you, but I didn’t like, curse your grandchild’s cow or anything.”
“You’re so weird,” she laughed, walking over to Steve’s bedside. “I hope it works out for the two of you, I’d love if you stayed. Maybe we could finally have a chance at being friends?”
“I’d like to be friends,” I nodded.
“I hardly get to have intelligent conversations these days, with Jonathan working all the time. Let alone girl talk!”
“I have Robin but sometimes girl talk is hard with her. She’s very… unconventional. In the nicest most loving possible way!”
“I know what you mean. All of my friends have kind of embraced the party girl life, and the few that settled down have more kids than I do so they’re always busy.”
“Well I’m always here. And I never do anything after visiting hours, so I could come over one night if you wanted and we could have a good old fashioned sleepover?”
“That would be perfect! Maybe you could bring Eddie’s daughter? I have a feeling she never gets girl time and I bet he’d love the break!”
“Oh, that would be fun. And she likes babies so she’d definitely keep him occupied.”
“How about next week sometime?”
“That works for me.”
We made some more small talk, and we even included Steve in some conversations, though he couldn’t respond. But then the baby got fussy and she had to go. The next week, though, we had a sleepover just as we had planned, watching silly movies and doing a makeover with Candy. And after that, Nancy and Jonathan were invited every time we hung out.
Another month passed and suddenly it was Thanksgiving. My parents tried to convince me to spend it at home and not the hospital, but I wouldn’t budge so instead they just moved their celebration to evening instead of day so that I could join in.
I hung out with Steve for the whole day, then headed to my parents’ house to see the entire family already there.
“Y/N!” They all exclaimed when I walked in, and I gave everyone a quick hug. It was nice to see them all, I just wasn’t in much of a people mood, so I immediately sat down on the couch when greetings were over and leaned back into the cushions.
“How’s Steve?” Mom asked me.
“He’s okay. Still the same.”
“Oh honey, he’ll wake up soon. I just know it!”
“Maybe,” I shrugged, resting my eyes and waiting for dinner to be served.
Finally, a few minutes later, everyone piled their plates high with food and settled into the living and dining room.
I was interrupted in the middle of eating, though, by my phone ringing. It was the hospital. I dropped my plate on the table abruptly and answered, “Hello?”
“Miss Y/L/N?”
“Yes!”
“I was just calling to let you know that Steve has just woken up. You’re welcome to come and see him, the doctors are in with him right now but we’re allowing you to visit when they’re done if you’d like.”
“I’ll be right there!”
I didn’t even hesitate, grabbing my things and heading for the door. “Steve is awake,” I rushed out an explanation to my expectant mother, “I have to go.”
“Well do you want us to come with you?” she asked.
“No, stay and enjoy the holiday! I don’t want everyone to have to go home early!”
“Okay, well… call and update us! Give him our love!”
I nodded with a quick smile and left, gunning it to the hospital.
I rushed up to the coma ward, and the second the nurse saw me, she smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for you! The doctors are almost done, you can sit in the waiting room while they finish up!”
I nodded, walking to the small waiting room and eagerly pacing back and forth. It felt like it took forever for the doctors to walk in the room, but when they finally did, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“What’s going on? Is he okay?”
“He’s doing remarkably well. The only issue is that he doesn’t seem to remember the day of the accident at all. He says the last thing he remembers is putting up your Halloween decorations.”
“Oh,” I furrowed my brows, “But thats normal, right? And not a bad thing?”
“Not bad at all, and completely normal. With the kind of trauma his body went through, it’s natural that his brain suppressed it. It could eventually come back, or it could stay in a vault forever. But regardless, you’re welcome to see him now for a few minutes. He’s perfectly healthy from what we can tell, but we’ll be keeping him for the next two weeks just to make sure he doesn’t fall back into the coma.”
“Of course. Thank you, doctor,” I grinned, racing past him and into Steve’s room.
“Stevia!” I squealed as his eyes landed on me. He gave me a smile, the million dollar kind, reaching his hand out for me.
“There’s my girl,” he sighed, voice as content as can be and his eyes settled on me like they never wanted to look at anything else.
“I can’t believe you’re awake!” I grinned from ear to ear, sitting in my regular spot beside his bed and grabbing his hand.
“I’m so glad to be. I didn’t know how much longer I could listen to you talk and not be able to answer.”
“You could hear me?”
“Vaguely. Like it was a dream, but I caught some of it I think.”
“Oh, that’s so good! That means I wasn’t talking for nothing!”
“The doctors told me you didn’t leave my side the whole time I was here. Is that true?”
My cheeks flushed red and I stared down at my lap, “Yeah, I suppose it is.”
“There’s nobody else I would’ve wanted here.”
I couldn’t help the giddy look on my face, “A lot of other people visited too, you know. The whole fire station rotated in and out. My parents came a lot, and Robin and Eddie. Even Nancy stopped by with her new baby.”
“Nancy, huh? How is the baby anyway?”
“He’s the cutest thing ever.”
“I bet he just loves you,” he smirked, giving my hand a slight squeeze.
“I think he does,” I shrugged.
“My parents didn’t come by?”
“No. I’m sorry, they didn’t wanna interrupt their vacation. They called the hospital and put me in charge of everything.”
He nodded, “I expected as much.”
“Let’s talk about happy things, you just woke up!” I sighed, “Happy Thanksgiving!”
“Happy Thanksgiving,” he responded, “Wait, it’s Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah, and my entire family sends their love. They wanted to come but I didn’t wanna overload you with people.”
“Well… I’m really glad I got to spend it with you. Our first Thanksgiving together in what, 7 years?”
“Yes,” I nodded, “but you did miss Halloween. It was a lot of fun but I wish you’d been there.”
“I wish I’d been there, too. I bet you looked good in your costume.”
“Oh, shut up,” I laughed.
“No, really. You gotta wear it for me one day so I can see what I missed out on.”
“Well, you always did like me in white,” I smirked, batting my eyelashes at him.
“Oh, it was white? Damn, I really did miss out.”
“I’ll put it on for you as soon as you get out of the hospital.”
“Or you could wear it here tomorrow?”
“Wear a halloween costume to the hospital? That’s silly!”
“But it’s what I want!”
“Ugh,” I groaned, “Fine, but you owe me!”
“We can just call it even since, you know, you left for seven years and all.”
“But I also completely ditched my life so I could sit by your bedside crying over your lifeless body for two months, so…. We’re already even. You still owe me!”
Just then, the nurse walked in with an abrupt knock, “I’m sorry Y/N, you gotta go. You can come in again tomorrow during visiting hours. We’ll update you if anything happens tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll just say goodbye and be gone in a second,” I politely stated, and she nodded, leaving us in privacy. “Guess I have to go for the night.”
“It’s okay, I’ll see you in the morning, right?”
“Of course. And you can always call me if you need to,” I gestured to the bag in a corner of the room. His phone and charger were in it, and I quickly retrieved them for him, plugging the device in.
“Thank you. I - I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what I did to deserve you staying with me this whole time.”
“Steve,” I stopped him while he was ahead, “I’m never leaving you again.”
He looked like he might cry, overwhelmed with emotions and the stress from the coma. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, as I had been every night, and left.
Senior Year Christmas
The music was loud, drowning out all rational thought. I heaved out a deep sigh, wondering again why I let Steve talk me into having a party at the cabin. “It’ll be so much fun!” He’d said, his words a clever guise.
Now, where was he? Off in a corner talking to some guys he knew, while I sat on the couch, bored out of my mind, sick from the smell of shitty booze. He’d spent most of the night with me, as he always does, but I sent him away. After all the party was his idea, and I didn’t want to ruin it for him just because I wasn’t in a social mood.
“What’s got you so down, Y/L/N?” Danny Bolen, a boy from my grade, asked me, planting himself on the couch beside me. Danny was nice, the kind of guy who lent me pencils and complimented me in the school hallway.
“Just dreading cleaning all this up,” I shrugged, clinking my solo cup to his and taking a big swig.
“Harrington is gonna help, huh? And that band girl you always hang out with? And maybe that Munson kid too? I always see you around him.”
“Yes, of course, but they’re all drinking more than me, so..”
“Well I’d be more than happy to stay and help, too, if you’ll let me.”
I glanced at him to see only sincerity in his face, and I smiled, “That’s really sweet, Danny, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense, I want to. Especially if it’ll get you in a better mood, this is your party after all! Now what do you say we get you a fresh drink and try to have a good time?”
I nodded slowly, letting him grab my hand and hoist me off the couch. He walked with me to the kitchen and, once in the doorway, the people around us started to whoop.
“It’s mistletoe!” a girl yelled out, and I looked up to see that it was, in fact, mistletoe. I let out a sigh, glancing at Danny, and he looked just as awkward as I did.
“Who even put that there?” I asked him with a small giggle, and he shrugged. My mind drifted to Steve, wondering if he was witnessing the spectacle. I didn’t see him in the group crowded around us. “We don’t have to kiss, it’s just a silly tradition.”
“Yes you do! You HAVE to, those are the rules!” a random guy said, and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m fine with it if you are,” Danny said, low enough for only me to hear. After glancing at the eager people around us, I gave a curt nod.
He leaned in, and his lips touched mine just long enough for me to know it didn’t feel right, but I didn’t have to suffer it for long. There Steve was, pushing us apart, ripping down the mistletoe and throwing it in the trash.
“What’s your problem, dude?” Danny furrowed his brows and angrily asked Steve.
“No problem, it’s just a dumb tradition. I don’t think Y/N should have to kiss someone just because of a plant.”
“Is that it? Or do you just wish you’d been the one under it with her?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I just… I want her to make her own decisions.”
“Steve,” I interjected with a hand on his arm. He turned to me sharply, expectantly. “I did make the decision. I told him it was okay.”
“You what?” he spat, “So what, you’re just kissing everybody now? Did Eddie get a turn? Bobby?” He turned to the closest guy to us, “What about you? Did you get a turn?”
“Steve!” I hissed, “Stop!”
“Seriously, man, just back off,” Danny spoke up, stepping between me and him.
“Oh, what a hero,” Steve rolled his eyes, shrugging off my arm, “The party is over, go home.”
“The party is over when she says it’s over,” Danny challenged.
“Danny, stop. Just go. All of you, please. Everybody.”
People filed out in droves at that, Danny lingering until the place was nearly clear and pulling me gently to the side.
“Are you okay here with him?” he asked me, nodding his head at Steve who was glaring intently in his direction.
“I am. He’s just angry for some reason, he’ll calm down when I talk to him.”
“I think I should stay here, you shouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m not alone.”
“Just in case he tries something, I-“
“Hold up,” I scoffed, “What are you trying to imply? I told you he’s just angry, he would never do anything to hurt me.”
“I’m sorry, I just don’t trust it. He’s not a good guy Y/N. I know you’re close or whatever but, listen, I’ve liked you for a long time and if you’d just realize he’s a piece of shit you’d see I could be so much better.”
“Get the fuck out of my cabin,” I growled, taking a step back.
“I’m just trying to-“
“I know exactly what the fuck you’re trying to do, you’re trying to weasel your way into my pants by being a hero. Well I don’t need a hero, I’m perfectly safe here with Steve and you can go the fuck home,” I went off. He looked taken aback for a moment before it turned to anger and he aggressively grabbed my arm, pulling me into him.
“I’ve been nothing but nice to you and you’re going to treat me like this? Do you even realize how much better I could do than you?”
“Let me go!” I squealed, trying to shake off his hold but failing. Steve once again interrupted us, though, pushing Danny roughly off of me.
“She said go the fuck home. Do I have to make you or are you gonna do it on your own like a big boy?”
“Fine, fuck this. She’s not pretty enough for me to care.”
He tried to storm out, but Steve grabbed him by the arm and yanked him hard, forcing him to turn around. Once they were face to face, Steve landed a hard right hook on the shorter boy’s jaw.
Danny grabbed the side of his face roughly, spitting out blood and glaring as he left. Steve turned to me, giving me a once over, eyes landing on my very red arm.
“He grabbed you that hard?” he asked, voice soft and sweet just for me, “Let me see.”
I pulled roughly out of his reach, “You need to go home too, Steve.”
“What?”
“It was your idea to have this stupid party and you ruined it! Why? I don’t understand what the big deal about me kissing him was!”
“I just-“
“Don’t even! You slut shamed me, too. YOU slut shamed ME! You have girl after girl falling at your feet and I haven’t dated anyone, not one single person, since the day I met you but you’re slut shaming me like I go around kissing ever man I see? Fuck you! Leave, now!”
“Y/N, please,” he huffed, hand resolutely on his hip.
“Steve, you made a scene. You embarrassed yourself and you embarrassed me by acting like a complete idiot. Thank you for getting him off of me but I don’t want you here.”
Our screaming match ended there, as he sadly cast his eyes downward.
“I’m sorry, I just… I just wanted to help,” he sighed, “I’ll see you later.”
As he walked outside, I was hit with a pang of guilt. I turned to Eddie and Robin and they both had shocked looks on their faces.
“I’m doing the right thing, making him go, right?”
They shrugged and I groaned, my head falling back. I knew I couldn’t go through with it.
I ran outside, just as Steve was climbing into his car. I was surprised to see it was raining, somehow I hadn’t noticed. I suppose I’d been distracted.
“Steve!” I screamed over the storm. He turned to me, expectant. “Come back!”
He did as I asked, “You changed your mind?” he inquired as he approached me.
“I know it’s bad at home. I’m not sending you back there. Not tonight.”
“I can go. I know you want me to.”
“No, I really don’t, I just want to know why you acted that way.”
“I don’t know why,” he shrugged, cupping my face in his hands and I shoved him off again.
“That’s bullshit, Steve,” I scoffed.
“I’m sorry, I just… I don’t know what came over me. I just got so angry when he kissed you, I don’t know why. I shouldn’t have said what I said. I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
“Well you need to figure it the fuck out because I don’t want this complicated mess. And if you can’t, I’ll leave.”
“What?”
“I’ve applied to a lot of colleges, Steve. Not all of them are close. I have my pick of them, too.”
His jaw hung open for a moment before complete melancholy overtook him, all the light draining from him. “Please,” he whimpered, “Don’t leave me. I promise I won’t ever act like that again. I swear, I’ll be better, I’ll do better for you. Please don’t leave me.”
He pulled me into a crushing hug and I sighed, giving into him like I always did. He was shaking against me, his clothes soaked and I was sure mine were too. He seemed so close to breaking down, terrified I would really leave him. Terrified to be without me. Despite it all, there was nothing better than his warmth wrapped around me.
“I’m not going anywhere, Steve.”
He held me for a while longer before pulling away slightly, “You’re freezing,” he commented, “Let’s go inside and get you some warm clothes.”
I nodded, following him back into the cabin and into my heart.
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oneforthemunny · 1 month ago
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evieee i’m feeling soft and mushy and i had a thought... what was the eddies’ “oh. OH.” moment, like the exact moment they realized that reader was it for them and they actually wanted to marry reader :') i mean i know some eddies are not into the idea of marriage but that’s fine! but what about the others :') (also ily MWA)
omg this is so cute (ily2 mwahhh!)
so older!eddie you can actually read his because it’s the moment in don’t be cruel where they’re both with brielle and reader is just so happy and getting along with her and they’re actually getting along. that’s the first time he’s like yes i could marry her, i want to spend the rest of my life with her.
mafia!eddie it’s definitely after one of his more vulnerable moments. maybe after a particularly draining day when he lets the mask fall, so to say, and is open about how emotionally draining what he does is. the way she validates it and listens, tells him she doesn’t think less and just stands by him and supports. he’s looking at rings that next day.
boxer!eddie there’s an angst blurb with him about how he’s using steroids (found in vivis writing challenge masterlist) and the aftermath of that, when he sees how much she really cares and how passionate she is about him and his health and career. that’s really when he’s like, “damn. she does love me. and i really want to be with her forever.”
dom!eddie’s is definitely super simple and sweet, pretty early on too. they’re out listening to a band play somewhere, and she’s just all over him- very publically and unashamed. it’s not her usual scene but she goes for eddie. they’re both a little tipsy and he’s just absolutely love struck. feels like he wants to do everything and anything with her.
cowboy!eddie it would be the first time she came to one of his competitions. he told her not to come, didn’t want her to travel and move things around just for him, but she did anyways. didn’t tell him, just showed up and surprised him. it really meant a lot, and he’d tell her that much later, because normally he’d just say not to come bc no one ever showed up even if he asked. a defense mechanism for him really. so when she did it just meant the world to him and he wanted her to show up for everything for the rest of his life.
rockstar!eddie it was in nantucket. set after dark shadows when they take their trip to the summer house on the east coast. there was feelings there before with both of them, but they were still trying to fight them and hide them but this is where things change and they decide to try and date. but a specific moment would be during the fourth of july. there’s a firework show on the docks, eddie stands out from all the others clad in ralph lauren and linens and nb couldn’t love it more (such a stark contrast from the first meeting lol). it’s really mundane and something just flips and all eddies feelings come out and he’s just like ok i want to be with her.
janitor!eddie’s is really early on, really cutesy and simple. shortly after they start dating. his birthday, the first they celebrate together. she goes all out, gets steve’s help in planning a party at the hideout with all his friends. “even tried to reserve a room, munson. like we have a fuckin’ private room.” the owner cackled and told him. she got his favorite cake, even a gift, and he was so overwhelmed with affection and love and just was in love.
hockey!eddie it was pretty early on honestly. during the start of the season, their first together. he’s bummed because he’s out of town for halloween, his favorite holiday, and won’t get to celebrate. she flies out and surprises him, books a stay at a hotel for the holiday as a long weekend and the two go out. brings a costume (a special festive lingerie too for later) and they go out after eddie’s game to a bar that’s celebrating the holiday, they come back and spend the next day watching the halloween movie marathon on tv, splitting a bag of candy. just so casual and sweet, but eddie is head over heels.
modern!eddie, i mean he’s in love from the first moment lol but honestly, when she’s vulnerable with him. when she’s soft and shows a side of herself to him that feels so personal and special to see. he feels just overwhelmed and special to get to see it and is in love.
bouncer!eddie it’s so dumb but it’s true i’m sorry, and it’s the first time she lets him cum inside lmao. he’s been in love before but like she let him creampie her??? he’s never felt more connected and in love ever. genuinely. he’s so obsessed after that just infatuated.
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you're gonna go far
eddie & wayne picture fic based on this post
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(long post ahead, but bear with me)
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4/10/1984 Eddie,  I’m starting this letter after you came home with the letter from the school saying you’re not graduating this year.  I could tell you didn’t believe me when I told you it’ll be alright, that it’ll all work out in the end. That it did for me when I had the same talk with my pa.. but you eventually stepped back from the edge, I think, you’re in your room now. There was something else there too, which is really why I'm writing this now. You have the same look in your eye that I saw in my own reflection long before I got drafted, the look I saw in your dad’s when Lizzie told us she was pregnant.  You’re already planning your escape.  And I won’t hold it against you when you do kick rocks, I just pray you give me a little warning so I can say goodbye. And I ain’t a praying man. I’m tucking away some cash with this for when you go. Don’t have much, but I have you. And I wanna make sure you have the best start you possibly can.
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10/11/1984 It’s been rough for you again. Working at Merrill’s has been good for you. Getting fresh air, sunshine, shit, even your gangly noodles you call arms are looking less noodley. But they just sent you home early today.. something wrong with the crop and they won’t need the extra hands this season. That, starting school again, even Ronnie leaving last week.. I know you two kids were close. You ain’t even getting all excited for halloween! Adding some more cash for you, little more than I could last time.  Just hang in there kiddo. 
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6/5/1985 I think you think you don’t know, and I’m willing to let you pretend for a little while longer, but shit, Eddie, you think I wouldn’t know when graduation was supposed to be just because you weren’t the one to tell me? You know I won’t be mad at you. If you don’t say anything for another week, I will. 6/7/1985 - There it is.
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7/22/1985 I was able to talk you down again that night, and you ‘re getting back to your old self again. I still can’t believe you had your whole room all packed up like that. I’ll give ya that speech all over again as many times as you need, but I’ll write it down here for you: You’re gonna go far, Eddie. You’re gonna tear outta here next year and you’re gonna knock ‘em all dead. You are so talented, you are much more than any of us Munsons have ever been or will ever be, and you’re gonna be the biggest star in the world. You mark my words. And I know you’re gonna fight leavin’ when the time comes, thinking you need to take care of me or some crap but I promise you: The birds’ll still sing, the trailer will still creak, the leaves will die and fall like they do every year, but I’ll be here whenever you need to come back. I’ll be here as long as you need. If that’s forever, so be it.
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8/15/1985 I’m taking you up north this weekend. Just to get away, y’know? Before your LAST senior year starts. Might be cutting it a little close on funds, happens when you’re trying to survive, but we’re overdue for a change of scenery. We ain’t living just to die. Only a little going in this time, but I’ll be damned if I don’t add something along with a new note.
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10/5/1986 Been a while since I added to this, huh? Well, it’s finally happening. You are leaving tomorrow and boy did you make a stink before you did. Went on a whole tirade about needing to get out of this damn town, about not being able to get anywhere when everyone except me is against you. I wanted to point out that you’ve got your band guys and that Harrington boy in your corner too, but I didn't think you’d like me interrupting your whole big speech about who it is you love and being queer and all that with a “Yeah. I know. You and Steve make moon-eyes at each other all the damn time.” I’ll make sure to pass on your info to him when I get it. He doesn’t seem like one to hold a grudge (or at least not hold it long), so I'm sure he’ll be the first in line to greet you the next time you find yourself in our neck of the woods. Those kids’ll miss you too y’know. They’ll be college age before you know it. I’m gonna pack up this envelope and stash it in your stuff somewhere I know you’ll find it again. so you can find it when you need it. Can’t believe I managed to save you close to a grand. Not enough by a long shot, but it’ll help ya for a while. Been saving for a years now, y’know..  Now Eddie. I told you all this last year, and just now before you slunk off to bed, but here it is again, just in case you need to hear it: - I’m proud of you. - I love you more than you’ll know. - You love whoever it is you want to love (as long as i’m on that list somewhere) - I’m glad you’re getting out of here when you can. And I’ll continue to be glad that you did even when things get hard. When I’m doing all the chores around here myself, when I go visit Al in county even though I know all we’re gonna do is fight… I’ll be so grateful you’re making your own way in the world far from here. I’m not angry at you, Teddy. But you’ll be the greatest thing I’ve lost. I’ll always be here if you need me. Wayne
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some notes!
-i hc wayne as a military man ofc and bc of that, my own sloppy, all caps, post military handwriting is perfect for him!
-i like to think eddie thinks he's slick and wayne didn't know he liked boys until he was about to leave but wayne knows. of course he knows. al told him why he kicked eddie out, wayne just didn't think it was his place to bring it up before eddie did.
-didn't think too much farther after this, but let's just say that steddie happens when eddie comes back to hawkins in a couple years when the shitheads graduate.
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cacoetheswriting · 1 year ago
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pearl: october 1980
pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 2.2k summary: eddie has a conversation with the girl of his dreams.
content warnings: best friends to lovers, part of a slow burn, a lil mutual pining, adult language, use of pet names, oblivious idiots, self-doubt / insecurities - if i missed anything, pls let me know!
pearl masterlist <- part of this lil series, but can definitely be read as a standalone.
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When it came to starting a conversation with people, Eddie sure as hell was not the confident type.
Middle School didn’t allow for a lot of practice, especially since as a person with interests that differed from the norm, he was shunned quite early on into a category he couldn’t, and often still can’t get out of no matter how hard he tries: freak.
People weren’t lining up to spend time with him even in a platonic capacity, and they sure as hell didn’t want to get to know him in a romantic way.
But with time, Eddie learned to be okay with that.
Especially since, as it turns out, most girls in Hawkins had some sort of ‘bad boy’ fantasy they liked to keep a dirty little secret and he was happy to oblige.
Plus it’s not like he badly needed anyone to actually call his own. High School was apparently a time of self-discovery and what he discovered in the last month was that honestly, he really didn’t mind being the almost invisible freak.
That all changed when you came around.
Your entrance into his life was rather unexpected and Eddie quickly realised that he needed to up his game. Yeah, perhaps he still wanted to be left alone, but that thought took a back burner whenever you laughed.
Honey, the sound of your laughter. Every time he heard it, his heart would skip a beat and his palms would start to feel clammy, sweaty, as he gravitated towards the sound instantly. As he gravitated towards you.
Unfortunately for Eddie, so did everyone else in this godforsaken town. 
Who could blame them? Your arrival right at the start of the school year was perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in Hawkins since that maniac Creel murdered his entire family in the late 50s.
You had quickly become the new it girl and in the blink of an eye, you two were running in different circles. Your reality had become so far removed from his own, any hopes or dreams he had of getting to know you on a deeper level had become just that: dreams.
God knows he still thought about you often.
“Care to share with the rest of the group, Mr. Saltzman?” the teacher calls out, causing all heads to turn simultaneously in the general direction of the distraction. 
This includes Eddie's and he's glancing up from the scribbles in his notepad to focus instead on a few rows ahead where you, the girl everyone wanted to be friends with, sat.
The boy sitting next to you shifts uncomfortably in his seat, shaking his head. 
“We were just discussing the history of Halloween,” you chime sweetly. The teacher doesn’t seem to believe you for a second, but with such a likeable personality like yours, there’s not much else to say.
“Blake here doesn't believe Halloween dates back to the Celts, and the ancient festival of Samhain,” you continue with the quite convincing lie and Eddie's surprised you know these obscure facts, “He thinks I’m bluffing when I say the day marked the end of summer for the Celts, who believed on the night of October 31st the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, thus what we now know and celebrate as Halloween.”
Your confidence certainly is admirable, although why you choose to protect the douche you called a ‘friend’ was beyond the young metalhead.
“I guess the conversation probably could have waited till after class so, won’t happen again. We’re sorry,” you add with a soft smile.
When the teacher returns to the blackboard, resuming the lesson no one was really paying attention to anyway, Eddie observes as you mumble something to Blake before turning your head ever so slightly in his direction. 
The air hitches in his throat as he awaits the standard "What are you looking at, freak.", but it never comes.
Instead, you smile at him and Eddie can feel his face turn a gleaming shade of red — pathetic. He quickly ducks his head down, but can still feel your eyes on him. It takes everything he has to stop himself from looking up again, afraid of somehow making a fool of himself.
Luckily, he manages to keep distracted till the bell rings, but he's not completely in the clear 'cause as everyone disperses in a hurry, you approach him.
“What you doodlin’?”
When he doesn't immediately answer, or meet your gaze for that matter, your hand appears in his field of vision. Your moves are hesitant at first, but since Eddie doesn't protest, you twirl the notebook around on the desk.
“Well shit, Eddie. These are really fucking cool.”
He snaps his head up, possibly a little too quickly, a little too eagerly, but he couldn’t help the act of surprise 'cause he didn’t realise…
“You know my name?”
Your pretty eyes latch onto his momentarily and a smile circles your lips. “Of course I do. As the new kid in town, I had to make it my business to know who’s who since y’all ogled me and my family from day one as if we were from outer space.”
He let out a semi-nervous chuckle as you pause, glancing back down at the notebook. 
“Plus, you’re pretty much the only person in this entire school who’s got a good taste in music,” you state casually, as if it’s no big deal. And to you it’s not. Though for Eddie, your admission causes his heart to flutter inside his chest since no one's ever admitted out loud to liking the same shit as him.
“Anyway, are you going to this Halloween party tonight? I’m thinking of dressing up as Janis Joplin and I could really use someone to be Peter Albin…”
“I’d love to!”
You giggle at his excitement and Eddie's thanking some lucky stars that his rather abrupt reaction doesn’t scare you off.
“I-I mean, I love Peter Albin. Janis too. Dressing up as them with you would be cool," he rambles.
“Cool,” you say and flick through some pages of his notebook and bend over slightly to scribble something down. “This is my address. Come by around six if you wanna make it for dinner, my mom’s making lasagna. Also, if you wanna stay over after the party, we have a spare room so bring a change of clothes or somethin’.”
Stay over at your house... Eddie swallows and does his best not to show how his insides are literally shaking at the thought of: a) going to a party with you, and b) this casual invite to what one could only call a sleepover.
The bell rings, signalling it’s time for next period.
A small part of the metalhead is angry since it means the two of you have to part ways, at least for now, but as he stands to gather his things, to his pleasant surprise, you wait. 
A certain envious feeling spreads through Eddie because he was never good at making friends, yet it seemed to come so naturally to you. Then something crosses his mind. What if this is some elaborate joke? After all, you are friends with some of the worst people this school has to offer, however, he does his best to shake the thought away for now and follows you out into the crowded hallway.
“So, are you a big Joplin fan?” Eddie asks, his best attempt to continue the conversation.
“Pearl is my favourite album,” you reply, “I know that could be a little tame to someone who wears a Judas Priest t-shirt, but I promise I also take devil worship super seriously.”
He snorts at your joke and when your eyes meet his once again, his priorities shift and he swear he's willing to do quite possibly anything to become your friend.
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To say you checked your appearance at least forty times wouldn’t be a gross over exaggeration.
You had the outfit planned long before you were even invited to this Halloween party, you knew it was perfect and something Janis Joplin herself would likely wear, yet ever since you asked Eddie Munson to not only join you, but also compliment the costume with his own, you were suddenly feeling nervous.
The curly-haired teen was by far the coolest person in this stingy town — although it didn’t seem like he knew that or like anyone else shared your belief.
His metalhead vibe reminded you a lot of the kids you grew up around, which is exactly the initial reason why you were so drawn to him. Though it took you weeks to finally approach him. Partially because you were scared he’d brush you off, but mainly because ever since you moved to Hawkins with your parents at the brink of August and September, the more popular kids latched onto you like leeches.
“Don’t waste your time with Munson,” Blake would say repeatedly, “He’s a freak.”
Unfortunately for your new group of friends, you didn’t care about social status and it also helped to know Eddie was just as fascinated with you as you were with him. His secret glances and soft smiles when no one else was looking only affirmed that belief.
So you bit the bullet and invited him out.
Bold move on your part. One you were almost starting to regret as you nervously flattened the crinkles of your loose shirt, glancing at the clock on the wall in anticipation.
Eddie doesn’t show up for dinner.
You try to hide the disappointment in front of your parents and eat the meal while actively listening to your dad retelling the events from his day at work.
“Kid, I tell ya, moving here was the best idea your mother’s ever had. Aside from marrying me and havin' you, of course. Wanna know the most exciting thing that’s happened? There was a mixup with our lunch order. Can you believe it?”
You help mom clean up after before going to quickly freshen up, brush your teeth, and grab your set of house keys. After saying a quick goodbye, still thinking about the boy that never showed, you walk outside and are about to begin your journey to the party you no longer wanted to go to when a figure emerges from the shadows.
“Shit,” you exhale and place a hand over your heart, “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” Eddie says sheepishly, running a hand through his brown locks. “I-I wasn’t sure if you were still home so…”
Your brows string together as you take a step towards him.
“How long have you been out here, Eddie?”
“Uhm, at least the last half hour,” he answers, “I noticed the light was on upstairs, but I wasn’t sure if that was your room or not. Figured I’d hang around and you’d either show up or I’d head home embarrassed.” He pauses. “Sorry I didn’t come for dinner.”
“It’s okay,” a white-lie. “Still wanna go to the party?”
“If you want to.”
Eddie slides his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and you notice then how good he looks under the dim street lamps. Peter Albin, eat your heart out.
“I like your outfit,” you compliment him with a genuine smile and you swear you can see him blush.
“Thanks,” he says with a little more confidence than he’s displayed thus far, “but you arguably look a hundred percent better than me.”
Heat rushes to your cheeks. “Thank you, Eddie. That’s very sweet.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two of you never make it to the party.
Instead, Eddie offers to show me Skull Rock and that’s how you end up laying down on the cold ground, arm-to-arm, somewhere in the middle of the forest. 
Truth be told, if you were with anyone else, you wouldn’t have agreed to this in the first place. An eerily quiet night and the deep dark woods are like a recipe for disaster in most horror movies.
Things felt different with Eddie.
Despite only having three conversations in the span of one day, the doe-eyed boy made you feel safe.
The few hours hiding from the world under this rock also made you realise how much you actually have in common. The conversation flow was incredibly natural. You drifted from topic to topic as if you had known each other a lifetime and in the space of two hours, you went from sitting across from one another to being in the formerly named position — pinkies gently grazing.
His presence next to yours is soothing. It’s also exciting, thrilling even. You hadn’t experienced this sensation before, with anyone, and you quickly find yourself thinking perhaps this could be more than just a friendship.
Until Eddie says, “Friends are hard to come by in Hawkins. I’m glad we’re here and I hope we can hang out more.”
Darkness hides your disappointment.
Short lived, the idea of dating the boy next to you so it’s easy to extinguish the flame inside and convince yourself that perhaps this was for the best.
Relationships end. Sometimes they do so quite badly.
Friendships however, well, they have a tendency to last forever.
“From now on, Eddie, we’ll never not be hanging out.”
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pearl masterlist
thank you for reading <3
& tagging some cool people that expressed interest in this lil series: @cactusangie , @spenciesprincess , @capitanostella , @ashlynnkennedy , @ms1oftheboys
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bloodibambiidoll · 1 year ago
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Purple Houses and Paranorman
(Single!Dad Eddie Munson x Single!Mom Reader)
Summary: Eddie asks you and Oliver to go to a special screening of Paranorman with him and Charlotte. WK: 3.9K
Series Masterlist My Masterlist
Warnings: Basically none, modern AU, mention of a dead family member (readers aunt), There’s like one second where Eddie is checking reader out and his thoughts get a little carried away, readers son has a speech delay, reader is implied to be alternative and have tattoos but I don’t talk about it much besides her outfits, fluff fluff and moreee fluff. But as always my blog is 18+MNDI
A/N: So I might have gotten a tiny bit carried away talking about the house, it wasn’t something I originally planned out but it kind of just came to me as I was writing, I’d like for them to all live there together eventually. I’m trying to make it a lil slow burn but I suck at that so hard so we will see how much longer I can go without making them kiss LOL. Also I said these were blurbs and this is almost 4K sooo Oopsie. As always my requests for these guys are open and feedback is greatly appreciated.💜💚
Your phone vibrated and the screen lit up, the contact reading “Eddie🎸🦇” you smiled to yourself before pushing the green accept button.
“Helloooo Edward, what can I do for you on this fine autumn morning?”
“Hey weirdo” He let out a laugh, one you’ve grown to find comfort in over these last few weeks. “What are you and Oli up to today? The theater is doing a special showing of Paranorman and I was wondering if you guys would wanna go with us later?”
“What’s in it for me?” You joked.
“Ummm you get to spend time with your bestfriend and do something Halloween related, which I know you love.”
“Bold of you to assume you’re my bestfriend.” You laughed, knowing he definitely had become the best friend you have but still wanting to fuck with him a little.
“Me? I’m talking about Charlotte, you are her new self proclaimed bestfriend and also you do her hair better than me, apparently. Can’t believe my own daughter likes you more than me.” He sighed dramatically and you could practically see him faux fainting.
“Awww I love her, she’s my new bestfriend too. Verdict is still out on her dad though.”
“WOW I can’t believe you would betray me like this, I thought you loved me.”
“Don’t worry, you’re better at playing monster than me apparently sooo I think we are even. What time do you want to go?”
“I guess we can call it even, for now. How about around two? Gives us a few hours to get the goblins fed and ready to go.”
Jokingly teasing each other had become the norm for you and Eddie, easily falling into flirty banter since the day you met.
“Okay, perfect.”
“Want to meet us there? Or I can come get you guys and we can ride together.”
Something you had noticed about Eddie is how perceptive he was. He picked up early on that you’d avoid going places you’d have to drive especially if you’d never been there before, which in those first few weeks was essentially everywhere. So he always offered to pick you and Oliver up whenever you all did something together.
“Could you pick us up? If that’s okay.”
“I wouldn’t have offered it if it wasn’t okay, babe.” Babe, was something he only started calling you recently but it made you giddy every time.
He was also constantly reassuring you that he didn’t mind helping you when you needed it. He knows how hard it is to do this alone so he was always offering to do anything to make things easier on you. Even if it was something as small as picking you and your son up for a movie. At first you declined his help every chance he offered, used to doing things alone, not wanting to burden him. But he’s told you over and over how he doesn’t mind, that it makes him happy to be able to help you.
So who could blame you if you had developed a not so small crush on him? You tried not to, but he was all kind gestures, big brown eyes and chunky jewelry. So how could you not? It’s not your fault it was like he was your dream come to life. You weren’t positive but you were pretty sure he felt the same. Hugs started lingering just a little longer than they should have, hands started brushing when you followed behind your rowdy children on evening walks, the cute little pet names he would always call you that made your stomach flip, the kisses on the cheek you had started giving each other.
So after you got Oli ready you gave him his tablet and spent a little extra time getting ready. You did your hair in your favorite style and added just a tiny bit more makeup than usual, both turned out perfect. But now you were standing in front of your open closet, staring at it like the perfect outfit was just going to jump out at you.
The October chill had set in throughout Hawkins, the days still sunny but the breeze cold, not quite bone chilling like in mid December, but cold enough that you needed some layers. You were also going to be sitting in a movie seat for two hours even if they were the reclining ones you didn’t want to spend that amount of time sitting in jeans.
After trying on several outfits, you ended up deciding on a black long sleeve skater dress, the neckline scooped just enough to make your boobs look nice. You layered some thigh high socks and leg warmers before pulling on your boots. You grabbed a plain zip-up just in case you got cold in the theater and gave yourself a once over in the mirror.
You couldn’t deny the fact that you looked good, and you hoped Eddie would think so too. He had never seen you this dolled up, usually wearing more comfortable clothes and simpler make-up.
You felt butterflies erupt in your stomach, a mixture of emotions going through you. Excitement to see Eddie was in the forefront, but the nervousness was lingering in the background. Are you reading things wrong? Is it smart to get involved with someone that your son has already started to form an attachment to? You took a deep breath, checking your hair one last time before shaking your head as if it would erase those feelings like an etch-a-sketch, willing yourself to enjoy something for once.
When you decided you were as ready as you’d ever be you got on Oliver’s shoes and jacket before grabbing your purse and taking him outside on the porch to wait on the swing. You smiled to yourself as you looked at the porch you spent many summers drinking lemonade with your aunt. The various wind chimes that hung moons and stars and zodiac symbols chime in the mid October breeze.
You loved this house, it belonged to your late aunt who left it to you in her will when she died. It was beautiful but eccentric, kind of like your aunt herself. It stuck out among the many suburban style houses in your neighborhood. It was a late 1800s Victorian style home, with beautiful arches and various types of windows, a wrap-around porch, and a beautiful backyard with a garden that your aunt cared for until the day she couldn’t anymore. You and Eddie had planted pumpkins back there with the kids in her honor, she’s the reason you love them so much after all. They were almost ready to be harvested and carved, a Halloween movie on in the background and the smell of pumpkin seeds baking in the oven.
But what really made the house stand out was that your aunt had it painted a deep purple color, the shutters and roof black, matching the porch. The door was black but it had a beautiful stained glass window in the middle of it, depicting the same kind of crescent moon and stars that dangled from the wind chimes. Inside there were four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living and family room that held a mixture of her old and your new furniture, and your favorite part, the kitchen. It had been updated since the house was built, but still held a vintage feel. Your aunt had the cabinets and drawers all painted the same purple as the outside of the house, wallpaper with those same moons and stars adorned the walls. The only modern thing about it being the fact that she had replaced all the appliances with shiny new ones.
It was a lot of space, too much for just you and Oliver. But you couldn’t bring yourself to sell it, some of your happiest memories were spent here. So you decided you’d take this opportunity and get the fresh start you’ve been needing. You didn’t have much keeping you back home anyways. You and your mom weren’t particularly close but when she found out your aunt left you everything, not just the house, but her money too, she was furious.
Now that you’ve settled you know it was the right choice. Oli started school and despite his struggles with communication he was thriving in class, you got a job at a local diner where you made pretty decent tips, you had this beautiful house, and last but not least you had Eddie and Charlotte.
A large smile stretched across Eddie’s face when he turned down your long driveway and saw you and your son sitting on the porch. He loves your house, he used to drive by it when he would deal to the rich kids in highschool and always admired it. But when you stood up his jaw actually dropped. He had never seen you in a dress before, you always looked beautiful but right now you were fucking radiant.
He got out of his SUV to help you get Oliver’s seat in and you were even more breathtaking up close.
“Wow. You look… wow.” Eddie shamelessly lets his eyes wander your form for a moment, his cheeks turning red when he reaches that little sliver of skin between your socks and your dress.
“Thanks, babe. You’re not so bad yourself, I guess.” You repeated his words from earlier back to him and he cackled.
“Ha ha veeerry funny, brat.” He stuck his tongue out at you.
“Reaaaal mature, nerd.”
“Hi Eddie!” Oli ran over to hug Eddie’s legs and smiled triumphantly, having recently gotten his new friend's name down.
“Hey little dude! How’s a going?” He gave your son a wide smile while he affectionately ruffled his hair.
“Where Char?” He tilted his head to the side, more concerned with where his friend was than answering Eddie’s question.
“She’s in the car buddy, you wanna to say hi to her while I get your seat in?”
He just nodded, grabbing your hand and dragging you around to the other side of the car where Charlotte was, knowing he’s not supposed to walk down the driveway without holding hands.
Eddie couldn’t help but watch you walk away, internally groaning when he saw that same sliver of skin from the back. The dress is long enough to cover your ass, but not by much and he can’t help but imagine flipping the skirt of it up and-
“Eddie? Are you gonna put the seat in the car or are you just gonna stand there and ogle me?”
You couldn’t help but tease him when you turned around and he was just standing there holding the car seat with his mouth hanging open.
“Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah- yeah sorry.” His face turned beat red and he turned his back to put the seat in to try and hide it, but you saw it. At least you know he thinks you look cute, mission accomplished.
Once the kids were all buckled and ready to go you got in the passenger seat and flashed him a smile. He turned towards you and reached under your seat, his leather jacket covered arm going across your thighs where your dress rode up. You tried to act like your heart wasn’t beating a thousand miles a minute whenever you were this close to him, hopefully succeeding.
But Eddie caught the tiniest little squeak that came out of the back of your throat when he first touched you. Feeling satisfied with himself that he had any kind of affect on you because you made him feel like he was in highschool with a crush on a girl he didn’t have a chance with. But you were constantly showing him that maybe he did have a chance with you.
He pulled a bag from under your seat, plopping it in your lap.
“Me and the princess stopped at the dollar store and got your guys’ favorite candy. I figured since the movie theater candy is like crazy expensive we could get the candy before and get popcorn and drinks at the theater.” He said it so casually, like it wasn’t a big deal that he remembered you and your son’s favorite treats. But to you, it was. Every single time you saw him he gave you another reason to fall for him.
“Wow, thank you Eds. That’s really thoughtful of you.” You smiled at him sweetly, the kind of smile that made him feel like he was going to melt into a puddle in the driver's seat.
“Of course Darlin’ anything for my favorite dude and my favorite girl.” He smiled back at you, the kind of smile that reminds you of sunshine that you wanted to bottle up for a rainy day.
He put the car in reverse and of course he had to put his hand on the headrest of the passenger seat while he pulled out. You just wanted to tilt your head up and kiss his wrist where his jacket rode up. You wanted to be close to him so badly, you’ve been trying to find the courage to ask him to hang out, just the two of you but you keep psyching yourself out. You didn’t have anyone to watch Oli anyways and if he wanted that he never hinted at it. Always suggesting things for you to do with the kids. Which you love, having someone think of both of you the way Eddie does is something you’ve never really had. But what you wouldn’t give for just a few hours alone with him, no kids, just being yourselves. But maybe he didn’t want that?
Eddie glanced over at you as he turned onto your street, you were staring out the window, chewing your lip that way you always did when you were thinking hard about something. Usually something that was upsetting you, so he did what any good friend would do and reached across the center counsel to grab your hand.
You whipped your head around at the feeling of his larger hand engulfing yours.
“You okay?” He ran his thumb over the top of it before intertwining your fingers. He had never held your hand before, and you felt your insides grow warm at the feeling. His palm was surprisingly soft against yours, but his fingers were calloused from years of playing guitar and working on cars. The juxtaposition of rough and smooth was more soothing than you ever could’ve imagined.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just got lost in thought for a second. Thank you for checking on me.”
You smiled at him sweetly, squeezing his hand in yours. Expecting him to let go after he knew you were alright but he just held on tighter. One hand on the wheel, the other in yours, hidden from the kids by the center console.
“DADDYYYYY! I want an icee, a blue oneeee!” Charlotte said in a sing-song voice.
“Okay baby, we can get a blue icee.” Eddie smiled at her in the rearview mirror and she clapped her hands in triumph.
“Oli, do you want an icee?” His eyes moved over to the other side of the backseat as he addressed your son.
“Yuuppp! Blueeee!” He said in the same sing song tone as his friend. He was always parroting her and saying things she said back to her and it warms your heart. He’s come so far with his communication skills since he started school and started spending so much time with Charlotte, you couldn’t be more proud of him.
Eddie held your hand up until he parked the car and took the keys out of the ignition. Squeezing it before placing a quick and sneaky kiss on the back of your hand, giving you one of those goofy smiles you love so much and exiting the car like he didn’t just make a bomb filled with butterflies go off in your stomach.
You got the kids out of their seats and walked into the movie theater, Charlotte and Oliver insisting on being in the middle so they could hold hands too. Eddie showed the guy at the ticket booth the barcode on his phone that had the tickets on it since he insisted on paying for everyone.
“Icee! Icee! Blue!” Oli jumped up and down as he pointed at the machine spinning the different colored slushy ice.
“Yeah baby, I’m gonna get you an Icee.” You chuckled at how cute his excitement was, letting him drag you toward the concession stand with Eddie and Charlotte in tow.
You ordered two small and two large blue Icees and a large popcorn. You go to pull your wallet out of your purse to pay since Eddie bought the tickets but you feel a large hand on yours, pushing it back down.
He already had his card out before you even open your purse, handing it to the woman behind the counter.
“Eddie… you paid for the tickets, it's the least I can do.”
“Nope. My treat.” A triumphant smile spread across his lips and he sent you a wink.
He always did this, paid for you, drove you, brought you little things he saw in the store that reminded him of you or Oli. It’s not like you didn’t have money, your aunt left you plenty of it and you had your job at the diner. But you knew Eddie did well for himself, he had told you some about his childhood, how he grew up with very little and he didn’t want his daughter to ever feel like he did as a kid. So after he finally graduated he and his uncle opened their own mechanic shop. It was fairly successful, their lower prices and more efficient work times drawing in and catering to the less wealthy people of Hawkins.
“Dada I have to go potty!” Charlotte tugged on Eddie’s hand, pouting toward the bathroom sign that was on the way to your designated theater.
“Alright sweets, let’s go potty. Oli and your bestie will go get our seats.”
She shook her head and pouted, looking at you with big round brown eyes, asking without verbalizing, something you’ve became an expert at understanding after having Oliver. Ever since you had all started going on outings together more often she had been asking you to take her to the bathroom. She had hardly ever gone in the girls room, always having to have her dad take her, so after you took her that first time, she always asked.
“Do you want me to take you potty honey?” You smiled at her sweetly, titling your head toward the bathroom.
“Yes! Please! I like going to the girl potty room!”
“Alright little dude, looks like it’s you and me with the snacks and the seats. They have lady business to attend to.” He grabbed the drink carrier from your hand, guiding Oli to walk in front of him into the bright colored double doors that led to dimly lit theater.
You stood outside the stall while Charlotte used the restroom, “standing guard” as she called it.
“Have you ever seen Paranorman before?” You asked her as you helped her wash her hands.
“No but my daddy said it’s a lot like Coraline and I love Coraline so I hope I will like this one too!” She smiled at you in the mirror.
“I’m sure you will, Oli loves it!” You helped her dry her hands before leading her out of the bathroom and into the theater to find the boys.
“Mommmmyyyy! Sit!” Oliver patted the seat on his left, signaling for you to sit down next to him. Charlotte sat to his right and to her right sat Eddie.
You knew you wouldn’t be able to sit by him before you even got here. But he felt like he was a world away with two reclining seats between you, it made you miss the old movie seats, at least then you’d be close enough to reach behind the kids to hold his hand over their heads. You missed his hand in yours the minute he let go, it still felt empty now even as you held the large cup filled with sugary blue slush in your hand.
The movie went as smoothly as it could’ve with two five year olds. You had to shush them both more than a few times and twenty minutes in, Oliver had to go to the bathroom, Eddie took him, he liked going in the boys bathroom just as much as Char liked going in the girls.
When it ended you corralled the kids back into the car, Eddie offering to drive through McDonald’s on the way to your house to get the kids happy meals and they cheered.
The ride was filled with small talk, jokes, and all four of you singing along to different songs on your playlist because Eddie even let you pick the music in his car. He never let anyone pick the music, it didn’t hurt that you had good taste.
When you were a few minutes from your house, just like before Eddie reached over to grab your hand. You took it instantly, intertwining your fingers and looking over at him with a shy smile.
“I had a lot of fun today, thanks for coming with us.” He glanced over at you at a stop sign, his smile sweet and his eyes filled with affection.
“I did too, thank you for inviting us. Next time I’m paying though.” You ran your thumb along his, the soft gesture contradicting the teasing tone in your voice.
“Yeah, we will see about that sweetheart.” He sent you a wink as he turned onto your street, giving your hand one last squeeze before getting out of the car to help you with the seat.
He got Oliver and his seat out of his car, you grabbed your son's hand and he held onto the car seat as he walked you a few feet to your door. He sits the seat down on the porch before turning to Oli and asking him for a high five, he happily obliged, even offering to bump knuckles with him in return.
“I really did have fun today, I love hanging out with you guys, it’s nice… to have someone else to do things with.” Eddie rocked on the balls of his feet with a bashful look on his face.
“It is nice, I’m glad we have you guys. I love spending time with you, both of you.” You were sure the smile on your face was lovesick and dopey but you couldn’t bring it in yourself to care. “The pumpkins are almost ready to harvest, would you guys want to come over and carve them next weekend? We can put a Halloween movie on, make some popcorn, make a whole thing of it.”
“I’d love that, and I’m sure she would too. It’s a date.” His eyes widen as he realizes his choice of words and you can tell he's about to correct himself so you cut him off.
“It’s a date.” You nod, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him into a hug that he immediately reciprocates, his arms wrapping tightly around your waist, his chin resting on the top of your head. You give him a final squeeze before pulling away and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.
“Goodnight Eddie, get home safe.”
He was beat red with a flustered look on his face, you had kissed him on the cheek a few times now, but something about this felt different, more intimate.
“Goodnight sweetheart, sleep tight little dude!!” He waved at Oli before giving your forearm a squeeze and walking back towards his car. You sigh as you watch him drive away, knowing you’ll be counting down the days until next weekend.
Taglist: @comic-harley @yujyujj @witchwolflea @ali-r3n @bmunson86 @ineedtosusoutmyreadinglist @sheneedsrocknroll92 @melodymunson
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