#i wanted to also include athletes but i know nothing about sports so if you have better suggestions pleaaase leave them below!! thank you!

[parasocialhq]

mwf?

musicians › lynn gunn, charli xcx, olivia rodrigo, doja cat, chloe moriondo, dua lipa, halsey, rina sawayama, tate mcrae, sunmi, sza, carly rae jepsen, the girlies from twice, selena gomez, chloe bailey, halle bailey, billie eilish, beabadoobee, members of loona & miss madison beer. actresses › alexa demie, olivia cooke, hailee steinfeld, ella purnell, anya taylor-joy, hunter schafer, amandla stenberg, emma myers, maya hawke, amybeth mcnulty, saoirse ronan, margot robbie, lily rose-depp, sadie sink, macarena achaga, florence pugh, emma mackey, sophie turner, natalie dyer, madelyn cline, & joey king. youtubers, streamers & influencers › arden rose, lilypichu, fuslie, bella poarch, amy nelson, safiya nygaard, emma chamberlain, loey lane, parken harbor, marzia bisognin, taylor r, kkatamina, & valkyrae. athletes › naomi osaka, simone biles, alex morgan, skylar diggins-smith, chloe kim, aly raisman, megan rapinoe, mallory pugh, serena williams, coco gauff, ashlyn harris. faceclaims › ig: teafl0wer, ig: vanjajagnic, ig: deviilbby, ig: laurenxburch, ig: hnnhxl, ig: yuuulieta, ig: jessicaclements, ig: laytugce, ig: milkgore, ig: ratskeleton, ig: anittaame, ig: laytugce, ig: juliawolfnyc, ig: _ghostf0x, ig: swancowgirl.

[merrybloomwrites]

I'm Sorry If I Say I Need You (One Direction x Reader - Kidnapped)

Summary: You always thought that getting put into a band with 5 boys would be the craziest thing to happen to you. And then you and those 5 boys all get kidnapped and held hostage. After years of being seen as the strong one, will this experience be the one to break you? Or will the support of your bandmembers be enough to save you?

CW: kidnapping, physical violence, mentions of weapons, inappropriate/unwanted touches, manipulation, gaslighting, injuries (Blood, bruising), hospitals

WC: 6K

AN: Please read the tags, as this is a heavy & violent story. I try not to go in depth with those scenes, focusing instead on the interactions between reader and the boys, but I do include some of the violent parts. Don't read if this makes you uncomfortable, I totally get this isn't for everyone and I understand not wanting to read this.

Also I have Paul Higgins playing a role in this. If you don't know how he is, he was the head of security back in the 1D days and the boys called him their dad on tour.

Back when I was doing whumptober I had a random thought about that "Kidnapped by 1D" trope that's been around forever. I thought about reversing it so it's reader kidnapping them instead. And then decided to write a legit story where reader is also a member of the band and they all get taken together. I'd been seeing a lot of different whump tropes and wanted to test myself and write a story with some aspects I'd never done before. This is the result! It is, of course, filled with the boys being protective and comforting and so there's plenty of that mixed in with the whump!

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Growing up as the only girl with five older brothers had definitely shaped you. You were strong, tough, sure of yourself. You didn’t put up with any nonsense. You never showed fear, or pain, or weakness. 

All of your brothers were athletic, and you’d spent so much time watching different sporting events. And while you played a number of sports as well, you didn’t excel the same way they did. So you decided to follow a different path.

That path led you to audition for the X Factor. You had big dreams of becoming a famous singer and getting away from the shadow of your brothers. 

And then ironically, you’d somehow been put in a band with five older boys. Well, you were only a couple months younger than Harry, but still. You couldn’t believe your luck. It was somehow good, since you hadn’t been turned away, and simultaneously bad, since you once again had to find a way to stand out from a group of boys.

But you quickly learned that Niall, Liam, Harry, Zayn, and Louis were nothing like your brothers. Sure they were energetic and crazy like them, but they were so different when it came to you. Instead of teasing you and ignoring you because you were young, or because you were a girl, they would support you, compliment you, protect you. 

It was nice, but also a little strange. You didn’t know how to accept all of this, so you put up a wall. While you were friends with the others, you kept a bit of distance. They had a way of trying to almost coddle you, and you refused to let that happen. You were just as strong and confident as them. You didn’t need any special treatment.

This is how it started, and how it stayed. You’re now three years into being One Direction, and the boys have learned how to behave around you. Group hugs and high fives are allowed, but other than that, they didn’t enter your personal space. They’d give you compliments but make sure not to go over the top. And even though their instincts had them anxious to protect you when out in public, to put a barrier between you and the paps or the fans, they knew better, and allowed you to walk solo just like they did. 

It made you feel respected, knowing that they were listening to your boundaries even when it felt wrong to them. And you knew that if you let them get closer or treat you differently than they treated each other, you’d be seen as weaker by the public. So keeping up these walls was necessary for your success.

But on late, lonely travel nights, you find yourself wishing you could let them in. Sometimes you do feel weak, or tired, or not good enough. And you wish you could go to them for comfort. On a number of occasions you almost do, but then they make some comment about how well you handle everything and how they wish they could be strong like you, and you hold back once again. 

That is, until the six of you find yourselves in a situation that pushes you towards your breaking point.

You’re halfway through a leg of tour when some sort of illness travels through your crew. Somehow none of the onstage performers get it, and it seems to be hitting your security team the hardest. On this night in particular, every normal security guard calls out sick and you end up with a group of complete strangers.

It’s weird, but none of you question it, as it seems like the only option at this point. And when the show ends and you’re loading into the van, you’re all too tired to worry about it anyway. You figure they must be safe if management hired them to protect their biggest source of income. 

You're in the middle of the back row, squished between Liam and Niall. Your eyes are heavy, and the motion of the car is soothing, nearly putting you to sleep. 

But then Liam turns and asks, “Does this look at all like the way we came?”

You shrug and say, “I haven’t been paying attention,” and Niall adds, “It’s dark, how are you seeing anything out there?”

“I can see enough to know I’ve never seen this before,” Liam responds. 

“Maybe it’s just a different route,” you say. 

“Could be,” he concedes. It’s quiet again in the car, but as the drive goes on you can sense Liam’s growing agitation. 

“It shouldn’t be taking this long,” he suddenly says into the quiet van. His anxiety is rubbing off on you and you lean over him to look out the window. You still can’t see much. 

But looking inside the vehicle you begin to notice something. The six security guards all look agitated by the conversation. You start to think that maybe something is wrong, that these strangers may be up to something. 

And sure enough, after another minute they turn down a road and begin to floor it. There’s commotion, all of you shouting out to slow down, but then one of the men turns around and holds out a gun. 

“You belong to us now. Shut up, and sit still. When we get to the house you’ll calmly walk inside. Put up a fight and we'll shoot. We have more people waiting at the house, all armed, so we have the upper hand. Got it?”

All six of you manage to nod, though you’re all practically frozen from fear. Niall and Liam each move to grab your hands, and normally you’d shift away, but you can tell they need this more than you do right now. 

The car jolts to a stop, causing you all to slam into the seats in front of you, and you’re all a bit disoriented as you’re taken from the van to the basement of a large house. 

It’s straight out of a thriller movie. Concrete floor and walls illuminated by a single hanging light bulb. Dirty mattress in the corner. Various scary looking objects that you don’t want to know the uses of. 

“This is where we have fun,” says one of the men. There are twelve in total. And as promised, each of them carries at least one weapon. 

“You’ll stay in there,” says another man as he opens a door in the corner of the room. The six of you are pushed inside of a small, carpeted but otherwise bare room, barely big enough for all of you to be able to lay down at once. There’s another door off this room that leads to a bathroom. It’s dirty and smelly but at least you’ll have a private place to pee. 

One thing that’s clear, there’s no way out. 

“You’ll stay in here until we come for you. Oh, and if any of you does any funny business, steps a toe out of line or fights back, she gets it,” says one of the men emphatically as he points at you with his gun. 

The message is clear. And smart. Your band members will do anything to protect you. There’s no way they’ll do something that will put you in danger. Just like that, these kidnappers have prevented any pushback from your group. Not that there seems to be anything you all can do, being outnumbered and unarmed. 

It’s truly a nightmare of a situation. And somehow it’s happening to you. 

“We’ll be back soon,” he says before closing and locking the door. 

The six of you stand there for a moment, utterly baffled and terrified. 

“You okay?” Zayn says, and you look up to see him turned towards you. 

Repressing an eye roll you respond, “Of course not. None of us are. We literally got kidnapped and taken to a friggen house of horrors.” 

“Yea, but he didn’t threaten any of our lives,” Louis adds. 

“Pretty sure all of our lives are in danger,” you reply. “We’re being held captive by psychopaths. I don’t think any of us are safe.”

You sit on the floor, tucking your head between your knees. The others follow, and the six of you sit in silence, all trying to think of a way out of this mess. 

Being left there alone is unnerving, but what’s even worse is when one of the men comes back. He scans the room as all of you silently and fearfully watch him. 

“You,” he finally says, pointing to Niall. “You’re up first.” The man leans down, grabbing Niall and roughly pulling him up. Before anyone can even react, Niall is thrown into the other part of the basement and the door is shut and locked once more. 

While the door muffles the sound, you can all still hear the noises of impacts followed by Niall’s cries of pain. Your imagination runs wild with images of what they might be doing to him. 

After a few minutes the door opens and Niall is shoved back inside before two men grab Zayn. They bring him out, and once again the rest of you are forced to listen as they hurt your friend. Meanwhile Liam checks Niall and comforts him. 

The pattern continues, and each time one of the guys is returned, another is taken. Louis is the last of the boys, and you know it’s your turn next. 

But then Louis is pushed back in, and the man closes and locks it. You’re confused, unsure why they didn’t take you. 

The boys are hurt, but nothing too bad. A couple bruises, a few small scratches, but it could’ve been worse. 

Just when you think you might get away unharmed, the door opens again. “Your turn,” says the man as he looks at you, a disturbing smile on his face. 

You see the boys move to block you but you subtly shake your head and stand up and walk towards the door, accepting your fate. 

“Good girl,” he says, causing you to shiver in disgust. Once out of the small room, you’re thrown to the concrete floor and all twelve men surround you. 

There’s a kick to your back and it knocks the air out of you. And you gasp for breath, another kick lands on your stomach. You’re pulled up, held in the air by two men as others take their turns hitting you. 

Suddenly they stop, the men dropping you and you land harshly on the floor. Finally you can catch your breath, but you warily watch the men, waiting for another blow. 

It doesn’t come. Instead, the man in charge crouches in front of you, causing you to recoil, but he grabs you by the hair to keep your face close to his. 

“You’re the one we want,” he says. You stare at him in confusion. “We didn’t want the boys. But it was impossible to get you alone. Oddly enough it was easier to take all of you. But just know, they are in this mess because of you. So you’d better behave.”

With that he lifts you up and pushes you back into the small room. Immediately after the door closes, the boys surround you, trying to ask if you’re okay, but you put up your hands, alerting them not to touch you. They give you space and you tell them you’re fine, and while they know that’s not true, they also know not to press you to talk. 

You sit in a corner of the room holding your head in your hands. You hear the others talk but your mind is too busy to listen to them. 

After some time they all lay down to sleep, but guilt keeps you awake. You notice the way they’re all comforting each other, even as they sleep. Liam and Harry are laying together while Louis is holding both Zayn and Niall. 

You wish you could curl up with them, get comfort from them, but that would be selfish. 

They’re in this mess because of you. They’re hurting and it’s all your fault. So no, you don’t deserve to be held. You deserve to suffer. 

Eventually you fall asleep only to be woken a couple hours later by the door slamming open. Water bottles and granola bars are tossed in the room and the door shuts once more. 

“Guess breakfast is here,” Louis says. It’s not much, but at least you won’t starve or dehydrate. 

All six of you eat in silence, and as soon as you’re done the door opens. Liam is taken first this time, and the pattern from last night continues. You’re all taken three times throughout the day, after every meager meal that you’re given. 

You’re always last. The order of the boys switches up, seems random. But you’re always saved to be the final person. After lunch you’re told it’s so that you can see the pain your bandmates are experiencing because of you. 

It keeps you docile, willing to take whatever beating they give you. 

Which is more than they give the boys. You’ve noticed that when the others come back they only have one or two new injuries each time. Just enough to keep them in line. They boys have also mentioned it’s only two guys there each time they’re taken. 

For you, it’s always the full dozen. And they all take turns. It feels like every inch of your body is covered in bruises. 

But you make sure not to let the boys see. They tend to one another, make sure they’re all eating, and hold each other whenever someone needs comfort. 

As you’re reminded each time the men have you in their grasp, you don’t deserve that comfort. The pain your friends are feeling is your fault. 

The men never explain why they want you, just that they need to have you. It had been their goal for years, getting you in their grasp. 

Another fitful night of sleep passes followed by another nightmare and pain filled day. There is however an obvious shift on that second full day. While you’re all once again taken three times, the boys are brought back after only a few minutes. Their time with the men dwindles, and yours gets longer. 

That evening they take you for nearly two full hours. You know what they want. They’re searching for your breaking point. You refuse to let them find it. They give up out of sheer frustration and throw you back in the room. 

No matter what you’d experienced the last few days, you always landed on your feet. 

Until now. 

You stumble, falling into Zayn. He catches you and gently lays you on the ground. He goes to pull away, knowing you don’t like to be touched, but you grip his shirt in your fists. 

Zayn looks at you questioningly and you murmur, “Stay. Don’t let me go.”

“I won’t, I’ve got you,” he replies. He turns to Liam next to him and says, “Help me get her settled. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Of course, what do you need?” Liam says, altering you to his presence beside you. One of your hands releases Zayn and instead reaches out for Liam. 

“Do you want us to lay down with you?” Liam asks. 

A weak nod is all you can manage, but it’s enough. Zayn settles on one side of you with Liam on the other. 

Louis kneels by your head, and you look at his upside down face hovering above you. “Can we check your injuries, love? Please?” 

You can hear the concern in his voice so you nod once more. Giving them permission to see the extent of the beatings you’ve taken is the last thing you want to do. 

But you’re exhausted. And scared. And in so much pain. 

It’s time to take the wall down. It’s time to let them in, let them take care of you. 

Louis starts with what’s visible on your face. There isn’t much there, but he wipes away the bit of blood on your cheek. 

“Can Harry lift your shirt to check your belly?” Louis asks and you nod again. 

You hear a chorus of gasps as your shirt is moved. You don’t need to look to know it’s not a pretty sight. 

“This isn’t good,” Harry says quietly. His hand brushes one of the bruises and you cry out in pain. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry. Y/N, this is bad. Like, I think you have internal injuries,” Harry states. 

“Who made you a doctor?” You quip weakly. 

“Don’t need to be one to know a serious injury,” Niall says. “What have they done to you?” His voice is laced with horror and sadness, and you start to zone out. You know you’ve taken a beating, can feel it all over. But hearing the boy's reactions to it is even worse. Makes it more real. 

Harry and Niall continue to check your body, wiping any blood they see and pressing cool water bottles to some of the worst bruises. But you don’t react anymore, choosing instead to turn your head and tuck into Liam.

Louis pets through your hair gently and Zayn holds your hand, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb. You focus on these touches and drift off to sleep. 

You startle awake the next morning, and the first thing you notice is that you’re surrounded by the boys. It makes you feel warm, safe. 

And then you realize who else is in the room. 

“This looks cozy,” says the man. You still don’t know their names, but you do know their temperaments. This one doesn’t hit as hard physically, but he knows how to attack you emotionally. “So sweet of them to comfort you, Y/N. Especially considering why you’re all here.”

It’s a brutal reminder, one the others don’t understand but you do. The guilt sets back in, and you do your best to move away from the boys. You don’t deserve to be taken care of, and last night's moment of weakness can’t happen again. 

“Actually, why don’t we have a little chat, make sure you remember the details of the situation,” he adds. 

“Y/N, what is he talking about?” Liam asks, but you play dumb, giving a confused shrug in reply. 

“Good act,” the man says. “Let’s go,” he adds as he moves in to grab you. The boys move to block him, but you go around them. Maybe letting the men hurt you will ease the guilt of putting your friends in this situation. You feel even worse after showing such weakness last night. 

So you follow the man, bracing yourself for the hours of pain you’re about to endure. 

But what happens next is worse than you can imagine. There’s no pain, they don’t hit or punch or kick this time. They don’t even throw you to the ground like usual. They’re gentle. Sure, it’s not painful. But the feeling of their hands dragging along every part of your body practically burns you. Makes you want to vomit, right on them. If you do, maybe they’ll stop. Maybe they won’t keep touching you in places no one should be. 

Before you can do that, they all back away. “We’re thinking of letting the others go,” one of the men says. It takes you a minute to comprehend that he’s talking, and when you finally understand, you look at him in confusion. “That got your attention huh?”

“What are you talking about?” you ask.

“We really only wanted you, remember? We have another house. We’ll be taking you there tonight. The other five will be left behind. We’ll send a message to your security tomorrow so they can come rescue them. You will be long gone when that happens. Isn’t that nice, though? Your friends will be okay. You should be happy, they’re in this mess because of you. And now they’ll be free. Don’t you want that?”

Knowing they want an answer, you nod curtly. And you do want the boys to be free, to be safe. But they’ve been a comfort to you these past days, and the selfish part of you wants them to stay. You can endure what these horrible men throw at you because you have a safe place to return to, even if it is a tiny, gross room. At least you have friends with you.

But you can’t think like that. If they have a way out, of course they need to take it. Even if it means you’ll never get away. That these horrible people will be able to continue doing whatever they want to you. That will be your punishment for endangering your friends. 

“Enjoy the day with them,” says the man as he begins leading you back to the room. “It’s the last time you’ll ever see them.” With that he opens the door and guides you inside before leaving you alone with the others. 

They’re quickly at your side, obviously wanting to comfort you like they had the night before, but you hold out your hands, indicating you want space. 

“Y/N,” Niall starts, “Please let us help with your new injuries.”

“I don’t have any,” you reply.

“What do you mean?” Harry asks.

“They didn’t touch you this time?” Louis says next.

“I didn’t say that,” you state sardonically. 

“I don’t understand,” Zayn adds.

It’s quiet for a moment as you take a deep breath. Finally you look up, your eyes meeting Liam’s. It’s clear the second he understands what happens, his gentle, worried expression shifting to anger.

“I’m going to fucking kill them,” he exclaims, startling all of you.

“What the fuck just happened?” Niall asks.

“They touched her,” Liam says, his voice practically a growl. This time the rest do understand, horror, anger, and pity on their faces. Harry and Zayn move closer, obviously wanting to comfort you, but you cannot have that right now. “Please, don’t,” you say and they all step back further, giving you space.

Louis grows more agitated, walking to the door and saying, “Liam has the right idea, they can’t fucking get away with this.” He grabs the door handle forcefully, fully expecting it to be locked like normal, and gets thrown back when it simply opens. 

The six of you stand there, shocked and confused, and Louis slowly and carefully closes the door again. 

“The moron forgot to lock it?” Niall asks.

“Seems so,” Liam replies. 

“Was anyone out there?” Harry asks.

Louis silently peeks out again, confirming the basement is in fact empty. 

“There’s a window,” Liam says. “They opened it one time when I was with them. Guys, it’s a way out.”

“And then what?” Zayn asks. 

“Then we fucking run for our lives, that’s what,” Louis says.

“They have guns, Lou. What if they’re out there waiting for us?” Harry adds.

“At this point we have to take the risk. We’ve been here for days. What if they never let us go? What if no one finds us? We have no other way out,” Louis answers.

“Yes you do,” you interject.

They all look at you questioningly. You take a deep breath, knowing you need to tell them the truth. That way they won’t risk their lives on this insane break out plan. “It’s my fault you’re all here. They didn’t want you. Just me. But they couldn’t get me alone so they took all of us. Tonight they’re taking me to another location, and tomorrow they’ll tell security where you are and you’ll be rescued. You have a way out, please don’t get hurt now.”

There’s another moment of silence while they process this information. 

“Right, okay, we’re going. Now.” Harry says.

“Didn’t you hear me? You’ll be safe!” 

“Do you think we can just leave you with them?” Liam asks. “No way. We’re all going or no one is.”

“We’re not leaving you behind. That’s insane,” Niall says. 

“Please don’t be stupid,” you implore them.

“You’re the stupid one if you think we’d go without you,” Louis retorts. 

“This is my fault-”

Zayn cuts you off saying, “Y/N, this is not your fault. I don’t know what those awful people told you, but they are the only ones to blame. You did not do this to us.”

“But they-”

Liam is the one to interject this time, “They are terrible people who do terrible things. For all you know they’re lying to you to manipulate you. They could be lying about letting us go.”

You hadn’t thought of that. When you don’t speak right away Louis takes his chance to explain what little plan he has. 

“We just have to run for it. The window is pretty high. Liam you go first, then Zayn. Harry and I will help Y/N. Harry, you're tallest, you’ll be able to reach the best so you’ll go last. Once we’re free, run. We need to find a person or a house where we can call for help. Everyone got it?”

The rest of you nod. Louis peeks out one more time to make sure the coast is clear, then you all spring into action. The first step of the plan goes shockingly well. You’re all full of adrenaline, and getting through the window without a problem fills you with hope. 

After a few minutes of running you start thinking you might actually be in the clear. 

The adrenaline wears off. 

And the full pain of your injuries comes back. 

Running becomes harder, every inhale burning not only your lungs but your whole torso. There’s blood soaking your clothes, and you have no idea if you’ve exacerbated a previous injury or gotten a new one. 

You gasp, stumbling and nearly falling to the ground. Liam catches you, encouraging you to keep going, but it’s like your brain and body are no longer connected. As much as you try, you can’t keep going. 

Liam senses this and puts his arm around you, helping you stay upright and continue moving forward. 

There’s a house up ahead, the obvious destination. You’re close, and then you hear the noise behind you. 

The van that you’d been in when this all started is barreling towards your group. They’ve nearly caught up, and you feel like just giving in, admitting defeat. 

But Liam won’t let you. “Everyone just keep going!” He yells. 

A figure runs out of the house up ahead, followed by at least 20 others. All in uniform. All armed. 

You’re scared at first, not knowing if they’re there to help you or help your captors. And then you see him. Paul Higgins. Your true guardian angel. 

The van has stopped following, now surrounded by law enforcement, but the six of you can’t stop. Can’t understand that the danger is gone. 

Paul, along with a few other members of your normal security team surround you to check if you’re okay. The boys assure them that they only have minor injuries, all saying the same thing: “Help Y/N,” “Y/N’s hurt”, “Y/N needs help”. 

The next thing you know, Paul is reaching for you, picking you up and cradling you to him. “You’re safe now,” he says quietly, and you start to believe that. 

He carries you towards the house, explaining that they’d gotten a tip the night before and were searching the area, the homeowner allowing them to use the place as a base of operations. 

You hear sirens growing louder, and multiple ambulances pull up. Seeing this, Niall says “Paul really, we’re okay. They really only focused on Y/N. We’ve just got some scrapes.”

“You’ll all be going to the hospital and getting checked by a doctor. No exceptions.”

“Yes, dad,” Louis says, but it doesn’t have the normal teasing tone. At this moment, you’re all very grateful for this man you call your tour dad. 

When Paul goes to set you down on a stretcher you begin to panic, clutching his shirt the way you had with Zayn the night before. 

“I’m not leaving you, I promise. But you have to let them take care of you so you can get better,” he says. 

It’s hard to let go but you do manage. As promised Paul stays by your side the whole time. The ambulance ride feels forever, and the longer you lay unmoving, the more pain you feel. 

You don’t realize you’re crying until you feel Paul gently wipe tears off your face. You turn to look at him and he gives you a sad smile, saying “I know sweetheart. It’s all over now. I’ve got you.”

He’s able to hold your hand, and he gives you a reassuring squeeze. It’s the last thing you’re aware of before your world turns black.

The first time you wake up, there’s chaos around you. Doctors yelling about internal injuries and needing scans, nurses hooking you up to different wires and tubes. A doctor gives another order, and something is pushed through your IV, and once again everything fades away.

The next time you wake is much calmer. You’re in a patient room, your body wrapped in gauze. Paul is sitting beside your bed, once again holding your hand. This time you squeeze his, and he looks up, clearly relieved to see your eyes open. 

He tells you about your injuries, the treatments and surgery you went through, and how you’ll be in the hospital for a few days before needing to recover at home for weeks. 

“What about the boys?” is your first question.

“They’re okay. Minor injuries. Doctors are keeping them overnight to be safe but they should all be released tomorrow,” Paul answers.

“Good. I’m glad they weren’t hurt.”

“Louis told me you think this is your fault.”

“It is. They were all taken because of me.”

“Sweetheart, you need to know that’s not the truth. We found a letter from them, after they took you all, and it was clear they always planned to take the whole band.  You are not to blame. You didn’t do anything or make anything happen.”

“It’s not my fault?” You ask. 

“It is not your fault,” he says, his voice strong and sure. 

“It’s not my fault,” you say. 

“That’s right, sweetheart,” he answers as he strokes the hair out of your face. 

A moment later a few nurses and doctors enter. They tell you the injuries you sustained and what they’re doing to treat them. They ask questions that you do your best to answer. Finally they finish taking vitals and leave once more. You’re grateful, as you’ve started to feel tired again. 

“Sleep, I’ll be here all night,” Paul says. With that reassurance, you close your eyes and immediately fall asleep. 

The next time you wake up the clock on your table reads 7:12am. You’d slept almost ten full hours. As promised Paul is there, sleeping uncomfortably on the couch. 

There’s a nurse in the room, and she smiles when she sees you watching her. 

“Good morning, I’m just going to take your vitals,” she says. When she finishes that she and another nurse help you to the restroom, and you're glad your injuries haven’t completely bedridden you. You’re given a light breakfast, and while you don’t have the biggest appetite, you do enjoy a little hot food after days of nothing but granola bars. 

After you’ve eaten, the doctor comes to check on you, making sure you’re doing well and changing some of the bandages. 

You’ve been awake a couple hours when Paul gets an update. 

“Louis and Zayn are getting discharged now,” he says. 

“What about the others?” 

“Should be later today. Apparently their doc was called away before he could get to everyone so they need to wait a bit.”

“Are Louis and Zayn leaving?” 

“We’re figuring that out.”

“Can I see them?” 

“I think I can make that happen. Are you alright here for a few minutes if I go help the boys?”

While you don’t want him to leave, you know the others need him as well so you say, “Yea, I’ll be okay. I’m kind of tired again, can I sleep?”

“Of course you can, darling. Get your rest, it’ll help you heal. I promise I won’t be far, and Ryan is right outside if you need anyone.”

You do feel better knowing Ryan is there, since he’s basically Paul’s second in command. 

Without realizing you’ve even fallen asleep the next thing you’re aware of is voices around you. 

“She’s really going to be okay?” You hear Zayn ask worriedly. 

“She’s going to be fine. It’ll take some time for her to heal but she’ll make a full recovery,” Paul explains. 

“You’re sure?” Niall asks, his voice unsteady. 

“I’m sure. The doctors said she’ll be okay. And you know her, she’s strong.”

Strong. The word most used to describe you. But you don’t feel that way right now. You were hurt, bruised and bloodied. You don’t want to be strong anymore. 

“Can I be done?” You ask. 

They boys all turn to you, gathering by your bedside now that you’ve woken up. 

“What was that? We didn’t hear what you said,” Liam asks. 

“I want to be done,” you reply. 

“Done with what, love?” Louis questions. 

“Being strong. I don’t wanna be strong right now.”

“That’s okay,” Louis answers. “You don’t have to be. Lean on us.”

“Yea, we’ll take care of you!” Niall adds. 

“Thank you. I’m just so tired.”

“I know. You’ve fought hard, now you can rest,” Zayn says. 

You smile softly at them, and then realize someone’s missing. 

“Where’s Harry?” You ask, your voice laced with panic as your heart rate skyrockets. 

“He’s okay!” Louis quickly assures you. “He just needed one extra test before they could discharge him.”

“Why? What was the test?”

Liam answers this time, explaining, “His oxygen was a bit low when they brought us in yesterday so they’re making sure everything’s fine. Which it is. It was just low because of his asthma and all the running we did. He’s fine. He’ll be here soon.”

As though being summoned, Harry walks in a moment later. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks, rushing to your side when he sees how upset you are. 

You take a deep breath, relieved to have all five of your boys with you. 

“Don’t leave me. Please,” you beg.

“We won’t,” Harry replies. “We’re all here. We’re all sticking together. We promise. Right?”

The others all nod, Harry and Niall each holding your hands to reassure you with comforting contact. 

For the rest of your hospital stay, they keep their promise to the best of their ability. None of them are allowed to stay overnight, but all five of them are there with you during every minute that visitors are welcomed. 

When you’re finally discharged, you go to the house the boys have been staying at. Of course their families all wanted them to go back to their respective homes, but they couldn’t bear to be away from you. 

Your parents also hoped you’d be coming home while you recovered, but it would feel strange to go back there. You’re not the same person you were the last time you left. You just can’t go back just yet, not when so much has changed. 

So the six of you, along with Paul and a few other security guards, all live together for the months following the incident. You’re given your own room, but you rarely spend a night alone. At first someone was staying with you in case you needed help at night while you continued to recover from your physical injuries.

They kept taking turns staying with you when it became clear your nightmares wouldn’t go away. The couple of nights that you did spend by yourself you’d woken up screaming and crying, calling out for the boys, panicking that they were gone. 

From then on they had a rotation on who would stay with you. Having one of them in your bed often kept the bad dreams away, and when the nightmares did happen, whoever was there could quickly calm and reassure you that everything was okay. 

After seven months of recovery and planning, it’s finally time to restart tour. Your emotions are going wild leading up to that first show, but the second you get on stage, you feel alive again. For months you hid away, leaning on your bandmates and truly feeling like a diminished version of yourself. 

You’d needed that in order to heal. Letting yourself be vulnerable allowed for others to help build you back up. 

And now you feel like yourself again. You know this experience will stick with you forever, and you’ll be dealing with the mental impacts of this for years to come. But you also know that Harry, Liam, Niall, Louis, and Zayn will always be there for you whenever you need them. 

You turn towards them at the end of the show, right before final bows, and find them all watching you, their faces full of admiration, awe, and love.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Thank you for reading!

After everything that happened recently I knew I needed to give Paul Higgins a moment in the spotlight.

[xo-adeline]

Hello!! How are you? I hope youre doing well!! :D

Could i request reo, nagi and rin having a crush on professional volleyball player!fem reader that is quiet and a bit intimidating?

Have a nice day!! (⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠)

Hii! I'm doing good! So excited for the last week of school but I'm swamped with end of year tests 😭 And I hope you have a great day/night as well!! So sorry it took me a while to get around to writing your request, and I hope you enjoy!!<3

Reo Mikage -> Is most likely a little intimidated when he first met you but when he realized that you were actually sweet and just a little quiet he wasn't as nervous -> Kinda excited that your also an athlete, since you know about the harsh trainings and when he went through the Nagi thing about teammates and things like that -> Will buy you things that you need, even if you make your own money, since ya know being all professional and stuff, but still does try to swipe that card when you're not looking -> Will come to your tournaments, and will invite you to all his games, unless you two have something else going on were you can't make it but he really does try -> Being in the news, both as professional athletes you most likely are in the news together, but it's fine, everybody thinks y'all are cute together, even if they only see the RBF face that you normally have -> When you're done with your games and stuff has actually had to convince a couple of your fans that you're not as mean as you may look -> Overall, y'all are really cute and even cuter behind closed doors after a practice, for either one of you and are just laying together, maybe in silence, maybe the background noise of a TV show playing Nagi Seishiro -> Probably just gave you a weird look when he first met you, I mean you did look a little scary to him, maybe it's just an athlete thing.. -> He kinda related you and Barou in his mind and at first, even if you looked nothing alike besides the fact you had a little bit of an intimidating expression -> A little more intrigued when he realized that you were also an Athlete, I mean somebody else to understand his pain of always being sore and not wanting to go to practice, right?? -> When he finally met you though and realized that you weren't as intimidating as you seemed and were actually quite quiet he was a little off put but soon learned that you weren't anything like Barou -> Has possibly tried to convince to skip practice and stay home, but if you say no, he'll actually get up and try to work on something with you, but if you say yes then he'll cuddle up to you and just sit there in silence -> Both you and Nagi have faces that kinda seem to have faces that don't really tell you what you're thinking on the inside, so you're def a hard to read couple, and most people don't even know your dating -> But once when an interviewer mentioned his need to be somewhat close to you at events he just outright said that you two were actually dating Rin Itoshi -> Also looks pretty intimidating, so y'all work well together -> The media's favorite RBF athlete duo -> Anywho, kinda loves the fact that you are also an athlete, I mean (again) you understand the amounts of training that he has to undergo, and with like ball control and stuff -> Loves when you two talk about what you've been working on, and even when he doesn't fully understand what you mean by "setting to outside hitter" or "Jump serves" he does still try his best to start understanding -> Likes going to your games, and trying to understand what the hell you were talking about -> Also likes when you show up to his games, even if he never actually shows it -> Loves learning about your sport even if you don't always talk about it, and even if he never actually shows it, also tries to include some of the things that you tell him about your sport into his, kinda like a little memento towards you

[officially-jordy]

"You deserve to be loved for who you are, not for what others expect you to be."

"Pookie bookie"

---

📌 Rules & Regulations for RPing with Jordy Winbush 🏀📣

🩷 General Info About Jordy 🩷

- Name: Jordan “Jordy” Winbush

- Age: 2 years younger than Paige (Junior when Paige is a Super Senior)

- Sports: UConn Cheer & Volleyball

- Build: Chubby but fit, strong but soft, shorter than Paige

- Relationship Status: Dating Paige Bueckers 💕

-Family Dynamics: “Adopted” KK Arnold as her unofficial child because KK is always around Paige like she’s Paige’s kid.

---

�� RP Guidelines

✔ 18+ Only for NSFW Interactions– I’m down for spicy text-based RP, but no pictures. If you want NSFW content, you MUST be 18 or older—no exceptions. If your age isn’t listed somewhere, I won’t interact with NSFW asks.

✔ Emoji Anons Are Welcome! – Feel free to interact using an emoji, but please include your age in your first ask. If you’d like pet names (like “baby,” “sweetheart,” etc.), let me know, and I’ll use them in responses.

✔ Respect Jordy’s Identity – Jordy is African American, plus-size but athletic, and proud of who she is. Don’t send weird asks about weight, body image, or race. This is a safe space.

✔ Literate & Semi-Literate RP Preferred – I write in detailed, paragraph-style RP, but I’m flexible with responses. Please try to match effort and avoid one-liners unless it makes sense.

✔ Romance, Fluff, & Angst Are Encouraged – Jordy and Paige have a soft but playful relationship, so expect teasing, bickering, and deep emotional moments. Angst is welcome, but nothing overly dark.

✔ No Godmodding or Controlling Jordy – I control my OC. You control yours. Simple.

✔ No Drama, No Hate – If you don’t like something, just scroll past. Any hate or unnecessary drama will get ignored and/or blocked.

✔ Open to New Connections!– While Jordy is Paige’s girl, she also has friendships with teammates, media personalities, and UConn students. If you want to establish a relationship with her (friend, rival, etc.), let’s chat!

✔ KK Arnold is My Adopted Child 😂

– Any and all interactions involving KK being Jordy & Paige’s unofficial kid are welcome and encouraged. If KK calls Paige "Mom" or Jordy "Ma," it's canon.

---

📩 How to Interact with Jordy

💬 Asks & DMs are Open– Feel free to send in asks for Jordy! I’ll answer in character unless stated otherwise.

💖 Fluff, Comfort, & PDA? Yes, Always. – Jordy is affectionate and loves on Paige both on and off the court. Expect cute moments, sideline cheering, and supportive girlfriend energy.

🔥 NSFW? Spicy but Respectful. – If you’re 18+, we can explore NSFW themes in text-based RP. Nothing extreme or uncomfortable.

🏀 Game Day Hype is Required!– Jordy will hype up Paige (and UConn) every single game. If you interact, be ready for sideline energy, play-by-play commentary, and lots of cheering.

---

🚨 Breaking the Rules = Blocked 🚨

- No Underage Interactions in NSFW spaces.

- No Disrespectful Asks about body image, race, or Jordy’s relationship with Paige.

- No Anon Hate.

- No Forced RP or Controlling Jordy’s Actions.

---

That’s it! If you’re cool with all this, let’s RP! Send in an ask, interact with posts, or DM me to plot! 🩷✨

[formosusiniquis]

diana prince and stevie h.: variations on a theme

Inspired by this post by @secondconcussion cause I saw it earlier this week and couldn't stop turning it around in my mind

also on ao3 for easier reading

It's not Eddie's fault he got lost.

That's the first thing he wants to get out of the way. He'll take his lumps if he has to, Uncle Wayne can be a surly fucker when he's woken up before his alarm, "Not all those who wander are lost, Ed, isn't that what you said. Just wander your way back home." But Eddie's heart is gonna wait to be warmed that Wayne loves him enough to quote Lord of the Rings until after he's back in the part of Hawkins he recognizes.

"It's the ‘not all’ that I need you to wrap your head around old man, cause I, your dearest nephew, am very lost."

"Your my only nephew, and gettin' less dear by the second," Wayne lied like a liar.

He wasn't above begging, not when he'd already walked fuck knows how far to fuck knows where. "Please, Wayne!"

He hears a grumbled sigh and knows he's won, "Where are ya?"

"Um, woods?" He can hear the thunk of the phone being slammed against something hard, but at least Wayne doesn't hang up.

Hawkins is a small town, by Eddie's standards, but it expands in strange ways. Every summer he spent with Wayne it seemed to unfurl in different directions, a flower blooming a little different each year. It was not the gridded out cityscape he'd grown up in.

So when Eddie came down from Indy every summer to escape parents who managed to toe the line of awful just well enough that CPS kept their noses out of the Munson’s business, he would wander but never far. Just far enough to find the park and the playground that Wayne hadn't thought to mention. Far enough to find a corner store where he can pocket the extra candy bar he couldn't afford with the spare change he had -- and he wasn't going to put back the magazine he was buying, Wayne had nothing good to read and he couldn't make a library card yet. Far enough to find an abandoned picnic bench to smoke up at so his borrowed bedroom didn't smell like weed. Far enough to make some friends.

Only now that he's twenty, and some change. Now that he's graduated high school, third time lucky. Now that he’s decided to leave the trouble he could feel stirring in the city for someplace that always felt more like home. Now that he is an official Hawkins resident, he's wandered a little too far.

And it's not his fault, but he's not gonna tell Wayne that.

Cause the thing is, Eddie has always thought better when his feet were moving. After an hour of pacing around his trailer, still full with half unpacked boxes of things he hadn't realized he'd collected -- boxes that make him feel like a caged animal, that he'll be living out of for the next two months at least -- he has to leave. His first mistake, trusting that his feet will lead him around the parts of Hawkins he knows.

His mind twists plot hooks and campaign NPCs around his head, determined to get ready for when his friends come around later that afternoon with the pack of freshmen, now sophomores, that they'd adopted. He won't apologize for wanting to impress a new group of kids and wanting to convince Jeff he wouldn’t be sorry about passing off his DM mantle to a guy they used to only see two months out of the year. As he's thinking about a sect of female warriors -- a mix of barbarians and rangers, buff and leveled way above where the party will be -- and whether it'll just come across as horny the way the DILF-y elven mages he'd tried to include last year did, he sees her. Notices her, more like; a nymph, a dryad, a goddess sprung fully formed from his imaginings.

She crosses his path at a light jog. The shortest green athletic shorts he's ever seen clinging to the shape of an ass he could bounce a quarter off of. He can see the way her broad and muscled shoulders shift beneath the white sports bra she's wearing. It's the cool down portion of her workout, he guesses, from the way he can mostly maintain the small distance between them and the way sweat runs in rivulets down her back and trim waist. He wants to lick it off of her. She looks like she was built to fire a bow or break him in half, a Kinsey Five, it's the women who could kill him that always capture his attention.

He trails behind her, mind still turning over his session prep for the day and maybe thinking a little bit about whether she had a boyfriend. Hindsight will grant him that it's weird, the way he trailed behind her like a stray dog like this. But then, as he's sitting in the cab of Wayne's truck, he'll remember the way her thick, muscled thighs moved, how she bounced on the balls of her toes. He'll remember the way her ponytail swished over her shoulder as she glanced back at him, his first look at the lady's fair face, the way she'd smirked at him before bounding off of the roadside into the woods.

So totally not his fault he got lost. It probably happens all the time. The payphone on the opposite side of the road for sorry suckers like him who fall into her snare. Shit, maybe he should have stayed put, he hadn’t been thinking about why she might have a snare.

Wayne found him eventually, even if he spent the drive back to Forest Hills muttering about how Eddie had even found his way over to that side of town. How next time he aimed to get lost he should bring a map or a compass or a dog, and find his own way back. So he doesn’t ask his uncle about the mystery girl that could snap him over her knee like a dry twig, cause in the mood he’s in right now Wayne might go find her and embarrass the hell out of him.

Later, when Jeff and Gareth and Joey have piled onto the broken in couch that Wayne had given him. When the first teen that he doesn’t know knocks a little too quietly on his door, but grins wide enough to split his face that they’ve got a new campaign and a place to play over the summer. When they’re waiting for the last one to arrive, Eddie thinks about asking about her. She had to have overlapped with them in high school for at least a year or two.

Eddie knows already though that he won’t. Plus there’s a chance they’ll tell him anyway. He’s been on the receiving end of enough ‘Is that supposed to be Ronnie James Dio’s’ and ‘Wait are you describing Sigourney Weaver’s’ to hope that once he starts describing the Amazonian warrior who will hopefully be haunting his dreams he’ll get a ‘Doesn’t that sound just like…’

And yeah, maybe he’s starting to get a little impatient. But with the way he’s got the campaign laid out it will be at least two hours in before he gets a chance to describe her. At least, and he has to know who she is tonight.

“Dude,” Gareth starts, probably sick of the way Eddie’s bouncing his leg, “where’s Dustin?”

Will, the quietest so far of the new recruits looks almost too concerned, “He knows where it is right? Has anyone-”

Sinclair, he thinks the group arrived in mass and he’s not sure he’s partnered faces with the rush of names correctly just yet, pulls a walkie talkie with bells and whistles he didn’t even know you could attach from a backpack on the floor. “Dustin, come in, what’s your ETA?”

The tension in their corner of the room ratchets up enough to have Eddie’s palms start to sweat. Will brings his thumbnail up to his mouth, worrying it enough that it’s sure to start bleeding soon. “I’m sure it’s-” Sinclair starts to say, interrupted by a clattering outside then a bang to his door that yanks on the frayed edges of Eddie’s nerves.

He feels a little like a squirrel trying to cross a highway, the way the babies about to join the party are watching him with the knowing terror you watch something about to die.

Except the thing at his door is not Jason or Freddy, it’s a half-pint with a white hat pulled low over his head. The missing Dustin, who has no problem bullying his way through Eddie’s now open door.

“Ew, dude, why are you sweaty?”

"Because, Michael, I had to bike all the way across town." Eddie, and it looks like half the group, is about to ask some variation on why when Dustin holds up a hand shutting them all up masterfully "Because," he stresses each letter like they're what's wronged him, "five minutes before we were supposed to leave mom catches Stevie gossiping with Robin and she totally flips out about how she didn't take Stevie in just to watch her get herself killed. And then when I asked who was taking me here, Ma said she 'didn't buy me that bike just to have it sit in the garage!'"

The kid is incensed so it doesn't feel like the time to ask what the fuck is going on. Not when everyone else snorts and snickers at Dustin's expense. "Damn Stevie really fucked up if Dustybun got sent out on his own," Gareth jeers.

"Your mom does know what Stevie keeps in her trunk right? And she ruptured Preston's balls when he grabbed her ass last year," Lucas points out.

Hawkins, Eddie is learning, might just be full of girls to fall in love with.

"Stop saying that like it's hot, that's my sister you're talking about. I'll tell Max."

"Max still thinks Stevie's hot, dude."

"Are we gonna have to walk home just because Stevie's done something stupid again?" Mike complains.

"You didn't care about Stevie doing something dumb when she climbed that tree in heels to get you down after you got drunk at winter formal. Or when she took her bat to those… things." Lucas shares a sly grin with Will, who looks torn between feeling awkward at the inclusion and the teenage bloodlust for giving your friends a hard time. "You can just admit you feel weird about having the same taste as your-"

"Oh my god!" Dustin shouts cutting Lucas off and sending the room, Eddie included into a burst of snorting laughter. "Dustin Henderson," Eddie gets himself under control enough to accept the offered hand, "excited to have a DM who isn't a total asshole."

"Eddie, sorry about your hot sister. Not sorry for being a new kind of asshole Dungeon Master. Let’s see them character sheets, kiddies, this ain’t your mommy’s book club, we aren’t just here to gossip.”

Things go off pretty well, for a seven person table where he barely knows half the players. Lucas has an impressive tactical mind, Mike is a passionate role player, Will has a character built so well it’s basically an art form, and Dustin is a wild card who can’t decide whether he wants to win or to walk into the obvious trap just to see what will happen. It’s not hard to adjust, even if the way Jeff keeps looking at him when he describes new NPC's is throwing him off his game a little bit. He can duck behind his DM screen and recollect himself, but seriously what the fuck.

“She stands taller than the tallest of you, bronzed skin and hair, imperious, she looks at you, Sir Jeffrey, and offers you a deal, ‘Best our strongest warrior and you can take him back with you. Fail and his impunity will be punished by death.’” He lets the threat hang heavy in the air, all eyes on him and desperately hanging on to every word. Minus Jeff who was giving him that look again. “And that’s where we’ll end things this week, boys.” Cause he really, really hadn’t expected any of them to just straight up steal the enchanted bow of the Amazons that they needed to fell the dragon; and he really, really hadn’t planned for the botched stealth rolls.

Everyone grumbles as they pack up their things, it’s music to his ears. A four hour session -- if he didn’t count the hour they riffed about character builds and backstory once Eddie had his hands on their sheets -- and they’re still itching for more. It’s almost enough to have him just call a dinner break, so he can hole up in his room and churn something out. But someone is beating out shave and a haircut on his front door before he can change his mind.

“It’s probably Wayne getting revenge,” Eddie says, “woke him up early this afternoon.” He taps back his two bits, swinging open the door, expecting to see Wayne’s smug looking face grinning back at him. He’ll take his ‘Don’t feel too good getting interrupted in the middle a something, does it?’ with grace.

Only instead of an old man with two days of scruff, the door opens on his modern day Aphrodite. A worn, grey athletic shirt bragging about being a 1985 Hawkins Swim Team Region Champ has covered the white sports bra, cropped it shows off a distracting sliver of toned stomach above a short green tennis skirt, and her perky ponytail is down in loose waves around a mole kissed face.

And he’s gaping like a fucking idiot at her.

“Dust, wanna introduce me to your new friend?” she asks, voice bourbon smooth as molten eyes rake down his body from the doorway.

“Eddie, this is my sister.”

Like her brother before her, Stevie has no problem shouldering her way through the door. Where Dustin had slipped through on a size difference technicality like a halfling, she places a warm hand against his shoulder and gently pushes until his feet and brain get it together enough to move with her. Even then they’re still screaming, god he’s positive she could have just picked him up. He really wants her to pick him up, maybe push him against the wall a little.

“Hi Eddie,” she says. Still in the doorway they’re hedged in by boxes marked ‘Kitchen Shit’ and ‘Unpack this first asshole’ breathing the same air almost, all because Eddie in his genius had dropped the last load of stuff from the back of the van right by the door. “Are we going to be seeing more of you around?”

“Obviously,” Dustin cuts in, “we only just finished the start of a totally epic campaign.”

“Obviously,” Stevie repeats, with a mocking tilt to her gorgeous smile. One he recognizes from this morning.

Jeff is still watching him, a set of eyes boring hard into the side of his face. “Eddie just moved to Hawkins, just spent summers here before.”

Something about that softens her. Her expression, her posture, easing into something a little less coiled to pounce but no less flirtatious. “To Hawkins?”

Shit, and she’s looking at him like he’s an idiot; but like a cute idiot that she’ll maybe want to put down on his knees. “Well the best band I ever played with is still in high school here, and a success story always sounds better coming out of a small town.”

“You’re in a band, huh?”

Dustin wrestles himself in the middle again, and it says a lot about his tenacity that he’s managed to rock Stevie back against the cardboard. “Whatever this is, I don’t like it and it needs to stop.”

“Load your bike up in the trunk then, shithead, and you won’t have to see it,” she fires back. He does push past her out the door, trying to let it slam shut behind him when she catches it in lightning fast reflex, “Scratch the paint cause you’re being a dick and your ass is grass!”

The rest of the sophomores are slow to pack up their remaining things, valuing gossip more than trying to comfort their friend on losing another soldier in the war of ‘thinks his big sister is the babest babe to ever hit Hawkins.’ 

“You should come to practice some time, band practice, for the um band."

Somebody behind him snorts, hears a whispered, "For the um band," that's probably meant to be a mimicry of him.

"Eddie's lead guitar," Jeff says, from a place of true friendship or pity. It's hard to tell.

Her eyes light up with a mischief, hair swinging as she cocks her head, and he can hear the requisite, ‘wow you must be so good with your hands,’ as clearly as if she had said it. Instead she says, “Gremlins, go get in the car. Tell Dustin, Ma’s pissed he didn't take his helmet and he should know first hand the dangers of head trauma.” It’s an inside joke, an unfunny one, from the way she grins as they grumble and groan and tell her to fuck off. Trooping out the door between him and Stevie they each let her pat them on the back or ruffle their hair, a little attendance check on the way to the car.

The trailer door shuts behind them with a slam, maybe not an attitude issue then and something to add to his to do list, but Stevie hasn’t left with them. “If you’re interested in what Hawkins has to offer, I could show you around.” She says casually. Conversationally. A comment for the room at large before she leans into Eddie’s space, warm breath against the side of his face making him shiver as she whispers, “I take the same run through town every day, and I always wanted a puppy to follow me home.”

Eddie is lost. In visions of the girl who just twirled out of his place on her heel after completely rocking his world. Has lost. His mind, his heart, and hopefully his status as single. But there are worse things he can think of than being lost in Hawkins.

[corrodedseraphine]

beauty and the freak | one shot

the photo of Eddie which I used here is an edit made by amazing @eddiemunsonsmum 🥰

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: When you accidentally witness a conversation between Wayne and the principal about Eddie's education, you get an idea that could help you both. Unfortunately, he is not thrilled with the idea. Not believing in your good intentions, he takes a defensive tactic that could destroy your dream of winning the competition. Maybe happy ends are reserved only for Disney movies? angst/fluff, super cheesy, some of you might even say it's cringe, school acquaintances to lovers, Eddie is an asshole at the beggining

The one shot is also avaliable on ao3

12 478 words

eddie munson masterlist | general masterlist

when I talk about the song Beauty and the Beast here I always mean the version from the movie because it it has a very special place in my heart, also I know that the movie is from 1991 but can we just preted for now that it was already in 1986?

yes - I got carried away. At some point I think that this story is not good enough, that there is something missing but when I try to add something more I just can't - my brain is empty.

On the other hand I also think it might be a little too much, so I will understand if some of you won't simply like this. Just - my latests works focused more on angst than on fluff, I kinda missed my cheesy fluffs, so you know... thank you for reading.

Also shot out to the best beta reader @i-me-mine ♥

"I'm sorry Mr. Munson, this condition must be fulfilled if your nephew wants to graduate from high school this year." the principal said as he and Wayne walked out of his office into the hallway.

"We really can't include his Hellfire Club?" resigned Wayne asked.

"Unfortunately no. Edward will graduate this year on the condition that he gets involved in the life of the school. A requirement of his graduation is to join another club and actively participate in its actions. We must have proof that he really cares."

"Where the hell are we going to find a school club that is willing to accept him? You know that his reputation is not among the best."

"There are plenty of options to choose from, I'm sure you'll find something, there are free spots in athletics."

"Nothing in the world for any price would force this boy into sports." The man shook his head. He was worried. He was worried because he knew that most of the students would run away from any contact with Eddie, the rumors in town about him being a Satan worshipper were getting more and more frequent, people really believed that the board game was just a cover-up.

In truth, you tried not to eavesdrop, however, it was not quite possible, because this conversation was going on right next to your locker, at which you were standing together with Robin.

Your relationship with Eddie was not very good. The truth was that you only associated with each other only in the school hallways and quick meetings when hellfire took over the room after rehearsals of the drama club of which you were the leader. You never exchanged a single word with each other. You had no reason to help him, but the truth was that the situation seemed to benefit both of you.

Seeing his uncle saying goodbye to the principal, you decided to act before you could think.

"Mr. Munson!" you shouted, approaching him with a quick step.

"Yes?" he asked puzzled raising an eyebrow.

"I want to help." You said trying not to feel strange. "My name is y/n, I'm the drama club president. By chance I overheard your conversation with the principal and thought maybe Eddie would join us?"

"That would be great." he replied, and the surprise on his face turned into a warm smile. He didn't expect to meet someone willing to help, but your reaction breathed some hope into him.

"The boy who was supposed to play the lead role has moved out of Hawkins, I think Eddie will be a great fit to take his place!" you said excited that you had managed to find a replacement.

"You wanna give my boy the lead role?" the surprise on his face looked hilarious.

"Why not?" you shrugged your shoulders. "We have rehearsals on Wednesdays and Fridays at four o'clock," you smiled.

"I'll tell him. Thank you."

Drama club was everything you loved. You loved taking on different roles, covering important topics through art, but most of all it was great fun for you, an escape from the scary reality you were in.

Part of it was also the competition you took part in every year, which was not the easiest, as you competed against much richer schools, which always beat you in costumes and decorations. When you became president this year, you swore to yourself that you would do everything to make sure that in your last year at this school the win belonged to you. As soon as you found out that this year's theme was going to be Disney movies adaptations you immediately knew what to choose. Beauty and the Beast.

From the beginning of the school year until Christmas break, you worked on the script, putting all your heart and soul into it. The whole story carried a very important message that you wanted to get across to everyone through your performance. When at the first rehearsal after your return you showed the script to the other members and it was enthusiastically accepted you got down to work, unfortunately you soon had to stop and look for someone to replace Michael.

Dustin had always praised Eddie and how well he could play characters from his campaigns. This was another reason why you decided to help him. You hoped that he would know how to play the role of the beast and later the prince just as well. In truth, you hoped Dustin wasn't lying, because this was your final lifeline. Chasing the bad thoughts out of your head, you tried to set a positive attitude. Eddie Munson must have been a great actor, and together with his help you will finally be able to win. This thought fueled you to action. Unfortunately, things did not go as well as you thought.

To say that Eddie didn't like the idea is not enough. He actually detested it. When Wayne told him about the fact that you had offered to help him he immediately began to suspect that the whole thing was some kind of bizarre trap that he had to let himself get caught in anyway, or else he would not have graduated from high school once again. The fact that he was forced to do so made his hostile attitude even greater.

Despite the assurances of Dustin, who was also a member of the club, and his efforts to prove to him that taking part in the play would be fun, Eddie defended himself against it by not even listening to the boy.

Nevertheless, he began to show up for rehearsals, eventually having to, because at the beginning of each one Principal Higgins would come to check if he was there for sure.

You tried to be patient. You tried to ignore all the taunting comments on his part, you tried to ignore the fact that he never, even once, looked at the script and didn't even try to do anything when you were rehearsing scenes involving him. He just sat on the stage showing you how much he didn't care. Since you only took him here to turn him into an even bigger ridicule for the whole school, he had no intention of helping you in this. His defense mechanism was to prove to you at every step that you made a mistake in proposing his joining the play, and the biggest one was the fact that you gave him the lead role. Unfortunately, Eddie, blinded by his "mission," did not see how he was slowly ruining everything you cared about. Every mean comment he made about your vision of the play was like a knife in the back, and over time you stopped counting them all, it was too much. From rehearsal to rehearsal you had less strength, all your enthusiasm and motivation disappeared as you silently took another blow accepting the fact that your chance of winning was practically zero.

Many times you offered to stay with him longer and rehearse his scenes together, since you both play the main roles, most of which you had together. Three times he agreed to this, giving you hope that something would change, but each time he purposely did not show up even once leaving you alone in the hall waiting for him for several hours. There was no fourth time. You knew Eddie didn't respect you or your work, but coming to terms with it was even more difficult. You desperately grasped every opportunity to try to change his mind, but in vain. Nothing could talk sense into him.

The contest was two months away, and you didn't really have anything. Eddie still hadn't learned his scenes and wasn't even going to, and because of this the rehearsals couldn't move on.

Another Friday in a row, he was late, but while you were working on Dustin's costume you both jumped when you heard the loud bang of the door.

"What the hell is this?!" yelled Eddie walking heavily toward you. In his hand he was holding a poster ripped from the wall. "Why the hell is my name here?!" he pointed his finger at the tiny inscription.

"Dude, there are the names of everyone who takes part in this." Dustin replied looking at him strangely.

"You have the lead role, Eddie, I guess it's logical that your name should appear there." you replied putting down the needle and thread.

"Your wonderful plan is working, congratulations." he threw a the paper in your direction, surprised you didn't even have time to catch it. "Are you satisfied enough?" his gaze was full of anger, and seeing your surprised face he got even angrier. He didn't believe that you were really going to pretend that you didn't know anything. The problem was that you didn't really know about what plan he was talking about.

"Eddie I don't understand-" you said quietly.

"You're pathetic." he said interrupting you. "You got me into all this shit on purpose just to humiliate me in front of the whole school, but I'm more than that. I don't care about your stupid play, I don't care about some damn competition. I'm only here because I have to and my presence is the only thing you can count on! Fuck you." He replied and walked away to the other end of the room sitting there.

"Y/n, are you okay?" asked Dustin seeing tears coming to your eyes.

Picking up the poster from the floor, you looked at it. The title of the play was crossed out. The word Beast was crossed out with a red marker and now the title looked like Beauty and the Beast FREAK.

Did Eddie really think it was all your fault? You began to wonder what you had done to even cause him to think that way, after all this time you had been trying to be nice to him. You never responded to his nasty comments, you silently accepted them and then tried to forget about them and attempt to communicate with him in some way, but still to no avail. No matter how hard you tried Eddie Munson unjustifiably considered you his enemy, despite the fact that you wanted to be his ally.

"Where are you going?" asked Dustin again, seeing as you had begun to gather your things.

"The rehearsal is over. Nothing will come of it anyway. On Monday I'm going to say that we're quitting the competition." you replied resignedly. "It's pointless."

When you went out into the corridor you saw that all the posters you had hung up were broken. Beauty and the Beast FREAK was hitting your eyes, making you boil inside. You had put so much work into making them, and some douche decided to destroy it just like that. You took a deep breath and started tearing down all the posters, went through the whole school, with your last stop being the gym. Walking up there you saw none other than Jason and his minions standing by one of the posters. Without a word you pushed your way through them tearing off the poster from the wall that Jason was writing on with a red marker, causing the group to laugh.

"What's up princess?" he asked mockingly. "Where is your Beast? Freak couldn't handle the pressure?"

Clenching your fists around the paper, you began to breathe quickly and deeply. "What's your problem Jason?" you asked.

"Nothin', it's nice that you care about me." he smirked.

"You are a piece of shit." you howled. Your patience was running out, Eddie's behavior was killing you, everything you had been working on for the past months was in ruins and you didn't have the strength to believe that everything was okay. "You are a fucking piece of shit." Your words made him laugh even more.

"Could it be that our little drama queen, has a crush on the freak? Is that why you gave him the role? Did you think that since he would have to pretend to fall in love with you on stage, it would be the same in real life?" everyone burst out laughing, which made you feel even worse.

Without answering anything you once again squeezed past them and walked out of the gym to the outside. Holding all the ripped posters in your hands, you walked over to the big trashcan and threw everything away, feeling a strange sting in your heart. Quickly getting on your bike, you returned home where you allowed yourself to drown in the sorrow and sadness that was overwhelming you.

Saturday afternoon at the Munsons' trailer was passing quietly. Wayne was watching the sports channel and Eddie was learning a new song on the guitar. The calm ended when someone aggressively began pounding on their door with their fist.

"Eddie!" a female voice came from behind the door. "I know you're home, I saw your car, and your guitar can be heard at the other end of town!" she shouted without stopping the knocking. "Open the damn door so I can kill you!"

Surprised by the visit, Wayne slowly opened the door only to see a girl with short hair and a furious look on her face. Behind her stood a terrified boy whom Wayne remembered from Hellfire.

"How can I help?" the confused man asked.

"Good afternoon, can I talk to Eddie?" she asked looking inside the trailer. Wayne, completely unprepared for such a situation, did not know what to do. He stood motionless considering his next move. He knew that Eddie had a lot of enemies, he knew that most of the locals wished him badly, but an angry, skinny girl who Eddie could carry out the door with one hand and a frightened freshman didn't look very threatening. Besides, the situation looked serious since they had come to deal with him all the way here.

The man moved slightly away from the door to call out to his nephew, Robin quickly took advantage of the situation and squeezed through the vacant space entering the trailer.

"Robin, holy shit!" shouted a panicked Dustin and ran after her. She impetuously opened the door to his room.

"Buckley? the fuck-" when he spotted her he put down his guitar, but didn't have time to say or do anything else because within seconds she came slapping his cheek. Wayne and Dustin stared with open mouths at the scene taking place in front of them.

"You asshole!" she shouted. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Enough! can someone explain to me what's going on here?" asked Wayne, who had finally recovered from his shock.

"Yeah, Eddie, explain to your uncle what you did." She crossed her arms over her chest sending him a rage-filled look.

"Robin…" Dustin once again said her name wanting to calm her down.

"Shut up Dustin! Y/n didn't deserve to be treated like that!"

"Henderson?" asked Eddie in an angry voice, completely as if he felt betrayed. Dustin in panic looked between the two of them breathing louder and faster.

"Leave the boy alone, you are goin' to give him a heart attack!" Wayne cut in seeing the boy's confusion. "Isn't y/n the girl from the drama club?"

"Yes, she is. She wanted to help him, gave him the role, and he destroyed everything!"

"I destroyed everything? She did it just to humiliate me in front of the whole school!"

"You are unbelievable Munson! All through high school you struggle with the bullies, you mock them, you hate them, but when it comes down to business you act just like them! You did the same with y/n what Jason is doing with you! I think you even went a step further, at least Jason isn't destroying everything you care about!" Eddie listened to her words in shock, he didn't look at it from that side. He had no idea how to respond. "You're not going to answer anything now? You were so talkative when you called her pathetic in front of all the club members! Do you have any idea how much it all meant to her? How much work did it cost her to write the whole script alone? How many things did she have to give up for this damn competition?"

"She really just wanted to help…" Dustin's voice was quiet, but the sincerity in it was loud enough.

"This was supposed to be the first time our stupid school was going to win against all those rich snobs, she finally had everything worked out to perfection, then Michael left and she found you. She decided to trust you and give you the lead role in something she cared about most in the world, but of course Eddie 'I don't giva s hit about anything' Munson once again had to prove how much he din't care." Robin was no longer screaming. Now only disappointment and disgust could be heard in her voice. "All along I thought you didn't deserve the way people treated you, not just me," she said. "Y/n never said a single bad word about you, she always believed when Dustin, Lucas and Mike admired you and praised you at every possible step. She only wanted to help you, and the result is that she is now crying her eyes out because some asshole decided to destroy her dreams. You are much worse than Carver." The last sentence was the seal of the visit. Immediately after, she apologized to Wayne for the disturbance and left the trailer.

"I fucked up, didn't I?" asked Eddie looking at them and patting his still sore cheek.

"Why did you do it son?" asked Wayne.

"I don't know! I presumed in advance that the whole thing was some kind of lame prank, it was weird to believe that anyone would want to help me." he replied.

"You should apologize to that girl," he said.

"It's too late anyway."

"Maybe not entirely too late?" said Dustin. "She hasn't written us out of the competition yet, she didn't want to do it until Monday, so you still have a chance to show that you care."

"How?"

Then the boy took out his copy of the script from his backpack. "If she sees that you're making an effort and have learned a few lines maybe all is not lost." he said, smiling.

Thus, for the rest of the day, with the help of Dustin and Wayne, Eddie learned his lines by heart. In the evening, when he drove the boy home he still stopped by Family Video. The first time Robin saw him, Steve had to hold her by force to keep her from tearing him to pieces. Only after he apologized and explained why he had come there she calmed down. When he got home, he read the script once again before going to bed, adding in pencil minor corrections that he thought would improve some scenes.

He couldn't get Robin's words about being worse than Jason out of his head. She was right. Your relationship had always been estranged, but he never noticed you following the crowd that tried to make his life miserable day after day. He felt like a complete idiot, he preemptively, unreasonably judged you of all the worst things, without even giving you a chance to show otherwise. He did to you what people have been doing to him from the very beginning, and the worst part is that if Robin hadn't barged in here today, he wouldn't have even noticed. He fell asleep hoping to let him apologize and make things right.

Getting your address was a hard task, but after several phone calls to Dustin and promises and vows never to say a single bad word about you again, finally the boy cracked and said so. Without waiting a moment longer Eddie drove to the indicated place. In the meantime, it began to rain, and even though the path from the street to the door was not long, it rained hard enough to get him wet.

The door was opened by your mother, who looked surprised to see a soaked metalhead on her doorstep. He was prepared that she was about to start yelling that he should get out of there, but to his surprise she smiled slightly.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Good afternoon, uh- Is y/n home? I am Eddie, Eddie Munson." he said stressed while extending his hand. He felt like he was making a complete idiot of himself.

"Are you from her club?" she asked, looking at the sticking-out script in his half-zipped backpack.

"Yes." he replied in almost a whisper.

"Y/n went out to the grocery store, but she should be back soon, you can wait for her inside." She replied and opened the door wider letting him inside. Pulling off his shoes and hanging his wet jacket on the hanger, he walked deeper into the house looking around. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you." He replied, putting his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. It was all strange, too strange. He felt uncomfortable, completely like he was violating your boundaries. He definitely shouldn't be here though, he didn't see any other way to fix things.

"I'm glad you came, this visit will definitely make her feel better, since she came back from her last rehearsal she has been so awfully sad." The woman sighed, sitting down on the couch.

"She is?" he asked avoiding her gaze. She probably didn't realize that the main reason for her daughter's sadness was standing right in front of her.

"This play was everything to her, I remember the day she came home saying that she had found someone else to be the prince, she was so excited, she couldn't stop repeating that with this boy in the lead role she was sure to success, in her opinion he was a perfect fit." She smiled sadly and shook her head. "I don't know the details, but all I know is that for some reason you have to drop the competition, I've never seen her so disappointed before."

Eddie wanted to collapse to the ground. He was ashamed. He couldn't get over how badly he had behaved toward you, and now standing in your house talking to your mother as if he had done nothing wrong felt even worse. The woman must have sensed his discomfort, because after a moment of silence she asked if he was okay.

"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "And, uh, I'm here because I have an idea how to fix it, maybe we won't have to give it up."

Her face lit up, but she didn't have time to answer him, because just then you came home. She smiled broadly at the sight of you, but you didn't feel like smiling at all.

"Eddie?" you asked surprised. How did he know where you lived?

"What are you doing here?" you felt your nerves piling up inside you, your last conversation was not one of the best, you didn't think this time could be different.

"I- I came to talk."

"I'm going to Claudia, give your friend some cake later darling, have fun, I'll be back late, bye!" your mother said quickly sensing some tension between you. Wanting to give you some privacy she walked out of the house leaving you alone surrounded by an awkward silence.

"Why are you here?" you asked, unable to bear it any more. You were still not at your best, the whole situation was still hurting you so it was hard for you to pretend to be calm and controlled.

"I came to apologize." he replied sincerely. For the first time he looked at you in a way other than with anger. His big dark eyes even begged for forgiveness. "I acted like an idiot, I really want to apologize," he said.

"Your apology won't change anything Eddie." you replied. Despite the sincerity in his voice, you still weren't sure if you should believe him.

"Here." he said pulling out a script from his backpack and threw it in your direction. "Check me. Ask for any scene - I know them all."

His confidence caught you off guard. Tentatively, you opened the first better scene and slowly read one of Dustin's lines. To your surprise, instead of monotonously reciting from memory, he began to display full theatricality, the kind Dustin always had to mention. In front of you just stood a totally different Eddie, whom you had not yet met. The longer you interviewed him, the more the atmosphere between you softened. It became more and more difficult for you to keep the smile that was on your lips as he played out the scenes without stammering.

"Okay, I must admit that you have prepared very well." you replied no longer hiding your smile.

"So?" He smiled broadly spreading his hands.

"So?" you repeated his question not knowing quite what he meant.

"We don't have to quit!" The glimmer of hope that appeared in your eyes caused a strange warmth in his body.

"Do you really want to?"

"Yeah, 'course I do." he replied, putting his hands in his back pockets. Your reaction almost knocked him off his feet, literally because not being prepared for you to run up and hug him he lost his balance, fortunately you were able to hold you both up.

"Sorry." you said embarrassed. "I got a little carried away."

"No, don't be sorry." he said quietly. When was the last time someone hugged him out of their own free will? He couldn't remember. The feeling of such closeness, which had been foreign to him until then, left behind a nice trace that he focused on as he looked at your red face. He wanted to do it again and this time reciprocate the embrace but quickly gave it up. "I uh- I added a few ideas in the script, what I think we could add or change a little- Not that your idea would be bad, you did a great job here! I just…" he started to panic slightly, because he didn't want to make you upset once again.

"It's okay." you paused him. "We can take a look at it while having a cake?" you suggested.

"Sure." he accepted your proposal with relief.

After you cut the cake, you sat together on the couch and began reviewing the script. You sat close enough to each other that occasionally your knees would touch, including your hands when you accidentally both pointed to a scene at the same time. This always ended in awkward, shy smiles that awakened tiny butterflies in your stomachs.

Trying to ignore it, you tried to focus on Eddie's ideas. Some of them were really good, his creativity really impressed you. All the rumors that his campaigns were some of the best had to be true. Feeling much more confident in his company, somewhere in between you started asking him about them. At first he gave curt and uncertain answers, but when he saw that you were really interested in it he swam away, feeling that he was in his element.

Who would have thought that someday the day would come where the scary and menacing Eddie Munson would be sitting there on your couch laughing with you. As unrealistic as it seemed, it was one of the best moments in recent time, and it didn't look like the end at all. As you ran through the entire scenario, the metalhead took another item out of his backpack.

"At first I thought that as soon as you saw me here you would immediately throw me out the door, but that doesn't change the fact that I also allowed myself a plan B, in case you would show mercy to a fool like me." he said in a dramatic tone. "I thought it would be good to know the original story." He handed you the box with the tape. You quickly took it from him and slid it into the player.

Eddie surprised you even more by completely engaging in what was happening on the screen. You expected jokes and teasing comments on his part, however, none of that happened.

"It's my favorite moment." you said as Belle and Beast started feeding the birds. "This is where everything changes." you said quietly starting to softly sing the song along with the characters.

There's something sweet and almost kind But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined And now he's dear and so unsure I wonder why I didn't see it there before

She glanced this way, I thought I saw And when we touched she didn't shudder at my paw No, it can't be, I'll just ignore But then she's never looked at me that way before

Your gaze was on the screen, so Eddie took advantage of the moments to look at you. Your hair was slightly messy, and your lips moved gently to form the words of a song that seemed strangely accurate to him. Just a few hours ago he was sure you hated him, now you were sitting as close to him as ever, and every now and then he would catch you sending him soft glances, behind which was something he couldn't quite figure out yet, just like Belle was looking at the Beast.

Feeling his gaze on you, you turned to look at him. You only smiled and then immediately went back to watching. He couldn't help thinking that he wanted to see that smile much more often, and it would be even better if he could be the reason for that smile as well.

"So…Something tells me that the choice of this exact movie was not accidental?" he asked suddenly.

"Do you want to know the selfish truth, or should I just make something up?" you asked, leaning a little closer to him.

"Only and only the truth," he said.

"The truth is simple. It's my favorite. I could watch this movie for hours and would never get bored. Besides, I love the way they showed that everyone deserves a second chance. He was the Beast before he became one and this is where the soul of the hopeless romantic in me comes in…" You chuckled. "Despite how terrible he was to her in the beginning she was still able to see something good in him and helped him find it underneath all that layer of monster. Goodness, respect and warmth from another human being was something foreign, so I'm not surprised he was like that. I think to some extent it was his defense mechanism."

Eddie just nodded, thinking about your words. If the Beast deserved a second chance maybe he did too? In the back of his head, a small voice spoke up, representing a secretive desire for your acquaintance to develop beyond the drama club. "I can't tell you the rest so as not to give spoilers, just watch." you patted his knee and put your hand close to his. If he moved a few millimeters your pinkies would touch. Considering the pros and cons in his head, he once again restrained himself feeling only the strange itching caused by such proximity.

"Wait, that's not in the script." he said when the iconic ballroom scene began. "Why?"

"Oh, you know we'll be competing with very rich schools?"

"Yeah."

"They always have their own bands that play music for their live shows, we unfortunately don't, and playing music from an old, shitty stereo would immediately push us into last place, compared to them. Also, we don't have much choice in costumes, and all the ball dresses that are there are too small or damaged. As for sewing, I only know the basics, I wouldn't be able to fix or remake them." you explained.

A plan was already being born in Eddie's head.

When the movie was over he decided that he had to go. You were surprised by a small sting of disappointment when he said this. When you said goodbye he apologized to you once again and then thanked you for a good time. You did the same.

Returning home, he found Wayne sitting there in front of the TV. Halfway to his room he stopped looking at his old man. He sent him a questioning look, taking a sip of beer from the bottle.

"How- Can you teach me how to dance?" Hearing his nephew's question he choked. He had been able to expect crazy things from him in truth, and this counted among the near impossible. But here they were, in the middle of a small living room, when Wayne in a very clumsy way tried to transfer all his knowledge about slow dancing to Eddie, who also didn't have much experience in it.

The rest of the members were relieved to hear that you are not quitting the competition, Eddie apologized to everyone at the start for his behavior and everything was back on track. The most satisfied with all this seemed to be Dustin. Joy gushed out of him seeing his two favorite people getting along and no one yelling at anyone anymore. Everyone also accepted the changes in the script, which meant that you had to rehearse three times a week instead of two to prepare everything carefully.

You and Eddie spent more and more time together, under the pretext of practicing your roles you met after school sitting either at your house or in his trailer. Your friendship became so ingrained in your life that you couldn't remember what it was like before it. The closer you got to know him, the more different he became from everything people said about him. He was incredibly creative and intelligent, watching his behavior towards Dustin you also saw that he was very protective of his friends, he had a warmth in him that was reserved only for a select few. He showed more of it to you every day, whenever he spotted you in the crowd in the corridor he beamed, quite as if the sun was hidden in his smile.

You were sitting at the table with Robin and Nancy but your thoughts were on the opposite side of the room. You watched Eddie talk about something with Dustin and then with the guys he's in a band with, who nodded their heads. When he raised his gaze and your eyes met he smiled broadly showing dimples in his cheeks and waved at you. You abashedly waved back and quickly turned your head feeling yourself blushing.

"Someone's been caught red-handed." Nancy hummed.

"I can't believe that I almost scratched his eyes out for you and now you're drooling at the sight of him." Robin rolled her eyes.

"I am not!" you protested, feeling even more embarrassed about your situation. "And… he changed."

"I'll need more details to believe what you say." she replied unimpressed. Robin was a great friend and very protective. Not knowing why, you wanted her to have a good opinion about Eddie, too.

"He is very helpful, kind and funny! Whenever I feel we are stuck with something he always helps me, no matter how long it takes. He got very involved in the play, and we spend a lot of time because of that, when you get to know him better, you find out that he is not as scary as everyone says, just the opposite." you tried to defend him.

"Oh my god, Nancy, we lost her." Robin dramatically slumped on the table.

"Being in love is not that bad, Robin." she laughed.

"I am not in love with Eddie!" you whispered aggressively.

"Not yet." Nancy shrugged her shoulders.

"Even if not in love, you have a crush on him. That's disgusting." Buckley perked up, just in time to see Eddie heading toward your table. "Your prince is coming." she said loudly, purposely so he would hear it.

"Buckley, Wheeler." He nodded in their direction. "Y/n." he turned to face you.

"Robin!" shouted Dustin from across the room and waved his hand in a gesture to come over to him. She and Nancy left you alone and moved toward the boy.

"Hi." You said when the metalhead took a seat across from you.

"Hi." he replied. "I'll see you at the rehearsal today?" he asked.

"Of course, why not?" you asked surprised.

"I was wondering… maybe we could take a ride somewhere later?"

"Oh, sure, where?" you replied puzzled.

"It's a surprise, trust me." He winked at you and returned to his table, where he exchanged a few more sentences with Robin. Unfortunately, she didn't want to tell you what they talked about, but you didn't feel like thinking too much about it. There was another thought in your head that made your heart beat twice as fast as it should. Did Eddie Munson ask you out on a date?

As agreed - immediately after the rehearsal you got into his van and drove out of the school parking lot. Nerves and a slight hint of excitement bubbled inside you as Eddie still wouldn't reveal where you were going.

Finally, you pulled into the Trailer Park. While you wondered why he took you to the place where he lived he prayed in his soul that you wouldn't get scared and run away. He knew that people react differently to this place, but he hoped that his whole plan would work. Stepping out of the car, you looked around thinking which trailer might belong to him. He once mentioned that his uncle works night shifts, so if he wanted to be alone with you he wouldn't bring you here now, would he?

"Uh…Eddie? Why are we here?" you asked.

"Oh- you said you couldn't sew the ball dress yourself…" he said exiting the car and walked to the back of it. "So I thought we could do something about it, if you are okay with it of course-"

"But why?" So it wasn't a date. Aside from being disappointed, you felt a little ashamed that you could think such a thing at all, you hoped Eddie wasn't able to see it.

"Just trust me, 'kay?" he asked, taking the pile of old dresses from the theater club you mentioned while watching the movie that evening.

Without a word, you approached one of the trailers he told you to knock on because of his busy hands. The door was opened to you by a short older woman with thick glasses on her nose.

"Eddie! Come in!" she quickly let you inside.

"Mrs. Smith, this is y/n. Y/n this is Mrs. Smith, the best retired dressmaker in Hawkins." he said sending her charming smile.

"Sweet as honey," she laughed. "And look at you! As beautiful as he described." she turned to you winking her eye. "Come on sweetie, we have to measure you."

Still confused without a word you moved deeper into the trailer. The woman took a tailor's tape measure and began to place it on your body, then looked at the dresses Eddie had brought, and when the final vision appeared in her mind she sat down at the sewing machine and got to work. In the meantime, she began to question you about the play, eager to tell her about it, even Eddie excitedly talked about some of the moments he was best at playing. You watched him with a smile on your lips, reminding yourself what a big difference there was between your early days and now. Eddie may not have noticed the warm sparks in your eyes, but Mrs. Smith caught them right away. When the dress was finished you went to the other room to change.

"Oh my god." the woman pressed both hands to her chest. "You look like a real princess darling, come on, look at yourself!" she said excitedly as you came back to the living room.

You approached the mirror with your eyes stuck to the floor, not knowing why you were afraid to lift your gaze and see your reflection. You've never been a fan of your appearance, but now you cared like never to like what you saw.

"Come on sweetheart, don't be afraid." she said putting her hands on your shoulders completely as if she sensed your discomfort.

You took a deep breath and slowly raised your head. The material highlighted your waistline, your cleavage was slightly cut out however in your opinion it was just the right size. The delicate material spread out around you, gently lifting when Ms. Smith told you to turn around. Even though you weren't wearing a proper makeup and your hair was a bit disheveled, the sight that greeted you in the mirror was a positive surprise. You felt beautiful, and for the first time in a very long time you felt the positive boost of your self-esteem fill you from the inside.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"I feel…pretty." you answered quietly smiling at your reflection in the mirror.

"As you should." she chuckled.

"Thank you so much." In all your delight, you didn't notice that Eddie wasn't in the trailer, the fact that he had left only reached you when he returned to it.

"Well, young man, you were right - your girl looks just like from a fairlytale." she said as he closed the door behind him.

"Oh she is not-" he started to say however when he noticed you in your new outfit the words stopped in his throat. With an open mouth he looked at every centimeter of your body. For a while he had thought you were always looking very lovely, but now that you were standing in front of him in a beautiful ball dress, smiling from ear to ear, with a sparkle of happiness in your eyes he felt enchanted. Suddenly, all the beautiful princesses he had ever read about or created for his campaigns faded next to you. He also immediately knew on whom he would design his next ones.

You weren't the only one who looked fabulous. Eddie also swapped his hellfire shirt and torn jeans for a prince's costume, keeping the two shirt buttons undone, because when he had them buttoned he could feel himself suffocating.

"Now I'm starting to think that you're the Beauty." you joked.

"nu-uh," he shook his head. "No way." His voice was soft and to some extent intimate, easily taking control of you with it, and you eagerly let him. "Now, m'lady…" he bent down in front of you extending his hand. "Please follow me to your chariot."

Giggling you grabbed his hand, said goodbye and thanked Mrs. Smith again, who handed you your clothes and let him lead you to the van helping you get in.

While on the road, he avoided any questions about what else he had come up with. Every now and then, glancing in your direction, he could feel his nerves slowly gathering inside him. He was afraid that what he had planned would be too much, but there was no turning back. Nevertheless, seeing that you were excited instead of scared, he felt a little calmer.

"Why are we at the school?" you asked when you pulled into the parking lot.

"You have to trust me, please." he said getting out of the car and with a quick step he walked over to open the door for you.

"I trust you." you replied jumping out of the van and following him.

"Can you close your eyes?" he asked when you reached the right place. You did as he asked and felt him take your hands in his and begin to lead you forward. He stopped for a moment and you heard heavy door opening, then his hands found yours again. As you entered the room you heard whispers from other people but you still didn't open your eyes not wanting to spoil the surprise. When you finally stopped he said you could open them. +

Baffled you looked with delight at the scenery and decorations that looked almost like from a movie. There was a background painted on a big sheet and all around instead of big school lamps there were candles lighting up, and white Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. In the corner you noticed his friends from the band, Robin and one girl who played violin in the school band. Everyone smiled in your direction but no one said anything.

"What's going on?" you asked.

"Do you like it?" he asked still not letting go of your hands. He wondered if you could feel him sweating and hoping that you didn't.

"It's amazing!" you said. "But I don't understand."

"Let me show you." He pulled you gently to him and, taking a deep breath, placed one hand on your waist tilting the other slightly positioning you to dance. Later he looked toward the band and nodded.

It all started with the soft sounds of the violin followed by the rest of the instruments and at the very end Robin's voice.

Tale as old as time True as it can be Barely even friends Then somebody bends Unexpectedly

Just a little change Small to say the least Both a little scared Neither one prepared Beauty and the beast

Ever just the same| Ever a surprise Ever as before And ever just as sure As the sun will rise

You let him lead you. Giving yourself over completely to the magic that filled the situation, you wanted to take as much as possible from it. Eddie was internally dying of stress. In his head he was replaying everything as he practiced with Wayne, but his movements were stiff and clumsily, not like his uncle's. Despite the fact that he stepped on you a few times you seemed to pay no attention to it. In that moment only him existed for you. That moment that was too beautiful to be real. Wanting to see that it wasn't fiction you squeezed your hand on his bicep, as you took another step he sent you a questioning look.

"I'm checking if it's not a dream." you replied quietly looking straight into his eyes. You could have killed him with the sincerity he heard in that sentence. In truth it all felt like a dream to you, he could see it in your dreamy expression.

"'s not." he replied gaining a little more confidence, spinning you around and then pulling you close again. Taking advantage of the closeness you leant your head on him still letting him sway you to the rhythm of the song.

Ever just the same Ever a surprise Ever as before Ever just as sure As the sun will rise

Tale as old as time  Tune as old as song Bittersweet and strange Finding you can change Learning you were wrong Certain as the sun Rising in the east Tale as old as time Song as old as rhyme Beauty and the beast

Eddie had always been one of those who believed that magic existed. Now he was almost certain of it. Dancing with you in the semi-darkness, knowing that his plan had succeeded and seeing the soft, satisfied smile on your lips, he felt that he could have had anything he wanted - even the whole world. He had never felt like this before, and it definitely had to be due to magic. He saw no other explanation for the soothing warmth he felt in his heart, it just had to be pure magic.

As the song came to an end, he spun you around one last time and, placing his large hand on your back, he paused. Your lips, which he had been trying not to pay attention to for a long time, suddenly became all too noticeable. He wanted to kiss you so bad that moment - maybe if the others hadn't been watching you he would have leaned toward you long ago, but instead he stepped back slightly and looked at you. At how beautiful you looked in that dress, at how your seemingly messy hair added to your loveliness, at how you kept your hands on him without showing disgust or shame. Trying to read the emotion on your face, he saw nothing there but clear admiration, which suddenly frightened him also scaring away any thoughts of a kiss. Coming back to his senses he bowed to you and placed a small kiss on the top of your hand. For that moment, it had to be enough.

Unfortunately, everything beautiful ends quickly, all magic left and fled to its realm the moment someone turned on the light.

"So? What do you think?" an excited Robin ran up to you.

"It was wonderful!"

"Do you think we can add this scene to the script now?" asked Eddie.

"We have to!"

Eddie and you changed into your normal clothes and returned to help clean up the decorations, meanwhile figuring out how you would add everything to the script. After less than an hour, you all left the school. When he spotted Steve in the parking lot, who must have come to pick up Robin, he immediately offered to drive you home, not wanting you to go with them.

You were glad that your friend slowly began to change her opinion of him, after all, she had agreed to help him with everything, so you took that as a good sign.

All the way home you wondered what you should tell him. Everything he has done for you lately has been beyond your wildest expectations. From time to time you opened your mouth to say something, but each time you gave up, quickly turning your head towards the window. As you pulled up in front of the house, Eddie looked at you when once again you were struggling to find the words of any kind.

"You know you can be honest with me, right?" he said quietly, not wanting to sound pathetic. He didn't want to show that all the way through he saw you trying to tell him something. He didn't want to show that there was already a scenario in his mind where you were saying that what he did was an exaggeration and you didn't really like it. His overthinking prompted him to think that you were about to say that it was a bad idea to engage him in your play in the first place.

How perverse life could be? Just a few weeks ago he would have done anything to get rid of this role, now he was afraid of losing it, and with it he was afraid of losing something much more, someone who was becoming a very important part of his life although he didn't yet have the courage to admit it.

"I know." you replied with a sigh.

"If you didn't like it…"

"No! Oh, god no! That's not it." You said quickly turning toward him. "That's all you did for me…It was amazing. No one has ever done anything like that for me, no one has ever made me feel as special as you did today…"

"So what's the problem?"

"I keep thinking what I can say to thank you, but I can't find the words, my brain is suddenly empty." You chuckled nervously.

"Usually 'Thank you' is enough." He replied feeling immensely relieved. There it was again. That boyish smile that appeared in front of your eyes every time you closed them.

Feeling that it still wouldn't be enough, after a moment's thought and the huge reserves of courage you must have gathered in your body, you leaned over the gearbox toward him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thnak you Eddie." you said, gently brushing your lips against his cheek while saying these words. It was like the touch of a ghost, only instead of cold, he felt like he was about to burst into flames.

"You- you're Welcome." he mouthed in shock.

The way you thanked him was more than enough. It made him think that when Eddie went to bed after an eventful day, falling asleep he smiled like a fool while holding his cheek. That was the moment when Eddie Munson realised he was a goner for you.

The last rehearsal before the competition was just a formality, you all put so much work and effort into it, everyone knew their roles inside out, and thanks to Eddie's ideas the whole play became even more beautiful, especially the dance scene which every time made you feel as if you were transported to a fairy tale dimension where only the two of you could fit in.

You were just about to practice it again, but before Robin could sing the first words the door opened with a bang. Half of the basketball team, headed by Jason, walked in.

"Well, well, well!" he shouted looking around with a sneer on his lips, holding a disgusting-looking green smoothie in his hand. "I never thought there would be a day when I'd see Freak dressed in something other than his torn tatters," he said.

"The hell do you want?" you asked walking up to him. You really didn't feel like or have the strength to waste time on him.

"We came to see how you are doing, after all, you will be representing our school," he said.

"Since when do you care about this?"

"Since now." he replied while looking around once again. "And hey- I thought the title was Beauty and the Beast."

"It is." interjected Dusin.

"So where the hell is the Beauty? I only see two Beasts here so far." his comment drew laughter from the rest of his friends.

"That's enough." Said Eddie stepping forward. "Get the fuck out of here and take your minions with you." He pointed with his hand to the door.

"I don't know, I'd really like to see how you do on stage. Also, maybe it's not too late to ask Chrissy if she'd like to play Belle? It seems to me that for this role you need a person who is at least good-looking, and there is no one like that here."

"Serously Jason, just get out of here before you dirty something with your disgusting drink." You tried to be more composed than Eddie. You knew that was his goal, to get some kind of reaction from you. He wanted to see how he would get you guys off balance.

"Hm." he hummed and took a step toward you. "You mean get dirty…like this?" before anyone had time to react his drink landed right on your dress.

The sound of laughter was drowned out by the noise of your own blood and heartbeat. Feeling humiliated you squeezed through them and ran to the bathroom wanting to hide. You quickly grabbed a paper towel, soaked it and tried to wipe off the disgusting stain, unfortunately, whatever was mixed in that smoothie didn't want to come off so easily. Hot tears ran down your cheeks. You were angry, but also sad. Feeling helpless, you leaned against the sink and looked in the mirror. Your reflection had already stopped seeming to please you. Instead, worse and worse adjectives began to come to mind the longer you looked at yourself. Pathetic. That's what you chose as the best description of yourself and how you looked now. That was exactly what Eddie had called you during your last argument. Maybe he was right?

"Y/n!" Robin ran breathlessly into the bathroom. "Oh my god I am so sorry, son of a bitch I will kill him." she said looking at the ruined dress and then your reddened eyes.

"And I will help you." Immediately behind her, Eddie appeared. "I can go do it right now, just say the word." you suddenly felt overwhelmed by his presence. Overwhelmed that he sees you in such an ugly state.

"Did you know this is the girls' bathroom?" asked Robin.

"And do I look like I care right now?" he snapped at her. "Do you want me to go get him?" he returned with his eyes.

"No." You sniffed. "He was right, I don't fit into this."

"No. Stop." His voice was firm but gentle. "Don't say that. I don't know anyone more perfect for this role, don't let that bastard mess with your brain, please."

"You're saying that just to make me feel better."

"No. I'm saying it because I think so." he walked closer to you. "Look at me." he cupped your face in his hands. His heart suddenly lost its connection to his reason. It was now driven only and exclusively by emotion. "You are perfect for this role. Not only because you are so beautiful that I sometimes run out of breath, but because, like Bella, you are damn intelligent, you do everything to pursue your dreams, you care about others, you make everyone around you feel appreciated and happy, you always try to see something good in others even though they don't deserve it." Your face was still in his hands, and with his thumbs he wiped the tears from under your eyes. "I didn't deserve it, but yet you gave me a chance. Carver is not worth your tears. I'm not either, no one is, because you're too good for all of us. For the whole damn Hawkins. You are something more, much more. And never think in anything that you are not good enough. Because you are the best. Perfect."

Somewhere in the process, he moved close enough to you that his forehead rested against yours. You could feel his rapid breath on your skin. You were so close to each other that the urge to kiss you came back even stronger, but he knew this was not the moment to cross that line. He pulled you close with a hug, completely as if he wanted his arms to become a shield and protect you from everything bad. You needed comfort, and you openly accepted the one offered by Eddie by snuggling your face into his chest, listening to the rapid but steady beat of his heart.

From the sidelines, Robin watched you with a fond smile on her lips. In that moment, she finally believed you that he had changed. Until then, she didn't understand where all your admiration for the metalhead came from. Even when he even begged her to agree to sing a song in your play. Only now she saw that someone who had hurt you so much in the beginning was also the person who could make you the happiest in the world.

When you calmed down, you returned to the drama room, where you changed clothes. Ordering a short break, Eddie took advantage of the slow moment and took the dress to the cleaners, hoping they could save it. When he returned you finished the rehearsal, and then each went his own way to prepare mentally in solitude for the performance, from which you are now only two days away.

Doomsday has finally arrived. Despite the stress and nerves, you were all excited. You truly felt like you had a chance to win, after all, everything about your performance had to be at the highest level.

You were the last to perform, so you had a lot of time to watch your competitors, who were unfortunately great. Beautiful decorations and costumes that looked like they came from a real movie set, all too expensive for an ordinary inter-school competition. Although you loved your handmade decorations and costumes, you couldn't stop the thoughts that told you they would never compare to those in the view of others.

When it was finally your turn, you forgot about yourself, replacing your personality with Belle's. In that moment, you didn't exist, just as Eddie Munson didn't exist either. Portraying how your characters were falling in love with each other was the easiest thing in the world. The initial small and shy gestures came naturally, all the lines designed to direct the audience that the Beauty was becoming enamored with the Beast passed easily through your throat. Deep down you knew the reason for this.

During the iconic ballroom dance scene, you didn't have to fake your enchantment at all. You felt the same way every time, and now was no exception, because somewhere during this crazy journey your characters were not the only ones who fell in love with each other. Somewhere under the disguise of a beast, Eddie was sneaking into your heart, and in that moment it occurred to you that his roots were already so deep that there was no turning back. It was certain as the sun rising in the east, that you were undeniably and seriously in love with Eddie Munson. Something between the two of you allowed you to believe that he, at least in a small way, also felt the same.

As the song came to an end you managed to catch a quick glimpse of the audience, your mom, Dustin's Mom and Eddie's Uncle were sitting in the front row, looking very touched and proud.

In the final scene, the Beast was stabbed. In despair, you fell to your knees beside Eddie's body, beginning to sob and beg him not to leave you.

"I can't lose you." you repeated over and over again. It didn't just apply to the show. It was the one that brought you together and it was the one that could separate you. For a long time you had tried to push those thoughts aside, but now that the end was so close you couldn't defend against them. Despite the moments when you had the feeling that the metalhead reciprocated your feelings, you also knew that there was a chance that today could be the last day before he disappeared from your life, so the sadness that accompanied you was a little more real than you wanted it to be.

Suddenly all the lights in the hall went out, Eddie had less than two minutes to get rid of his beast costume, put on his tattered clothes and become a prince. This wasn't difficult either, because with disheveled curls on his head, he looked gorgeous in the light of the colorful spotlights that symbolized the magic of the enchanted rose. Like a real prince from your fondest dreams. You stood motionless staring at him intensely, your brain couldn't keep up with your eyes, you felt yourself getting hot.

"Belle…" he said, extending his hand toward you. You didn't react. Still unable to shake off the excess of emotions that fell upon you in an instant. Seeing this, he decided to improvise. With a slow step, he approached you and gently grabbed your hand and, lifting it up, applied it to his cheek. "It's me."

Forgetting about the rest of the world and the fact that you were now being watched by more than a hundred people you completely drifted off into the moment. "Yes, it's you." you replied smiling and placing your other hand on his cheek. "It's really you." Without waiting for his response, you made one last change in the script. Instead of the usual hug that was in the original version, you kissed him.

However, it wasn't Belle who kissed the prince. It was you kissing Eddie, and moments later, when he got over the shock, Eddie kissed you while wrapping his arms around your waist. Relief, desire, happiness, excitement. If the feelings could be materialized they would look like little fireworks exploding all around you. His warm lips matched yours perfectly, his taste suddenly becoming your favorite. No kiss you had ever experienced in your life equaled this one. Leaning you back slightly, Eddie deepened the kiss one last time before pulling away from you. Looking into each other's eyes you both smiled like dumb fools.

You were brought back to the real world by the thunderous applause you received from the audience, you reluctantly moved away from each other as the rest of the group joined you. Together, all of you, holding hands, bowed and left the stage. Backstage, your loved ones were already waiting for you. Your mother hugged you tightly complimenting you on everything she could, Wayne patted Eddie proudly on the shoulder, and then came up to you with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and handed it to you saying it was the best play he had ever seen. Later, absorbed in conversations with the rest of the members, you didn't have time to talk about what happened between you on stage. Part of you was dying of curiosity to know what he really thought about it, but the other part, the more insecure one, preferred never to bring up the subject anymore fearing rejection.

Finally it was time for the results to be announced, and you stood between Dustin and Eddie, squeezing their hands tightly as the jury announced its verdict. Unfortunately, the magic you felt on stage did not reach them and you got second place. You were disappointed, but that was not the reason that worried you. Even so, you were proud of you guys, in your mind you were the winners. What weighed on your heart was Eddie's behavior, who as soon as he heard the results completely died down. He silently helped clean everything up, trying to avoid contact with you, finally saying only a quiet "Bye." And together he and Wayne drove home. You went over this scenario in your head a thousand times, but you would never have expected everything to end so rapidly and unexpectedly.

You spent the night staring at the ceiling and analyzing your entire friendship from beginning to end, was the magical feeling just a figment of your imagination? Did you interpret everything wrong? Why once again were you about to lose something you cared so much about?

For a whole week Eddie avoided you like the plague. You still couldn't get over it, and even worse was the missing him. Whenever he spotted you in the hallway he immediately changed direction and looked away. You knew that kissing him would be crossing a boundary to some extent, but you didn't expect that this will be the result. You thought that at least you would be able to talk about it. You also didn't understand why he reciprocated it then, why he was smiling from ear to ear immediately afterwards and everything was fine until the results were announced. Was he disgusted with you and what had happened?

"If you want I'll go talk to him again, but I don't promise to be nice." said Robin seeing your sad sight of the wounded puppy that followed his silhouette in the corridor.

"No. I'll go this time." you sighed, promising yourself that this would be the last time you would dare to look into those chocolate eyes that you now dreamed of at night.

Not wanting to face rejection in the middle of the school hallway, you waited patiently until the end of class. Unfortunately, somewhere in the middle of the day Eddie completely disappeared from the area, so determined you immediately set off on foot towards the trailer park. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating with your quest. Halfway there, cold and heavy raindrops started to fall from the sky. The thought crossed your mind that you should turn back, but your determination did not allow you to do so. Soaked and cold, with mud on your shoes and the bottom of your jeans, you arrived at your destination, looking around. Oh well. You had no idea which trailer belonged to the Munsons, anyway. Stupid. Stupid. You stupid idiot. You scolded yourself in your mind. Your hair stuck to your face interfering with your clear vision. But what did you really want to see? Wandering between the trailers, you noticed his car. It was standing in such a place that you didn't know which trailer you could attach it to.

"Jesus Christ, kid!" you heard a familiar voice from behind you immediately turning to him. "Come inside!" Wayne opened the door wide and, splashing your feet on the ground, you ran to the trailer.

When you stepped inside you were hit by a pleasant wave of warmth, and after a moment a soft, dry towel that the man took out for you from a cabinet that was located in a small hallway.

"Thank you." you said quietly instantly wiping your head.

"The hell are you doin' here in this weather?" he asked, walking over to the stove and grabbing the kettle. "I'm gonna make you some tea to warm you up."

"I wanted to talk to Eddie." you said quietly while covering your face slightly with a towel. You must have looked ridiculous, Wayne must have thought you had lost your mind.

At the same time Eddie was lying on his bed with his walkman diving into the world of music listening to the saddest songs he could find in his collection. For a week you had not left his thoughts even for a second, and the memory of your kiss haunted him at the absolute least opportune moments. The touch of your lips left a permanent mark on him and a void that could not be filled by anything else. He couldn't get out of his head the small, sweet sound that involuntarily emerged from the back of your throat when he reciprocated the kiss. When he closed his eyes he could see the happiness that was painted on your face and how your eyes sparkled in the spotlight. It was all too good to be true. The moment he heard the verdict and saw the disappointment on your face he knew it was over. That you probably didn't want anything to do with him anymore, after all, it was because of him that you didn't win. It was his fault, he let you down and didn't know how he could look you in the face any longer after that.

Lying on his side and staring at the wall he was cut off from the real world when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. Surprised and slightly frightened, he broke off sitting down on the mattress with even more disbelief looking at you soaked in the middle of his room. Had he fallen asleep and it was his imagination playing tricks on him now? He began to blink rapidly, but when you still did not disappear, he pinched his arm.

"Eddie I am real." you said seeing his behavior.

"What are you doing here?" he asked pulling off his headphones.

"I came to talk."

"About what?"

"About that kiss." he only nodded tightening his lips into a thin line, mentally preparing himself to hear how much you regret it. You gave him a moment to respond but he didn't, so you just continued. "I know I shouldn't have. I know I basically did it without your permission, and you may feel bad about it, you have a right to." you sighed. "I was just thinking- Actually I don't know what I was thinking, at that moment the only thing I could focus on was how much I wanted to kiss you. I got carried away, it all looked so magical, you looked so magical that my common sense stopped working." You breathed heavier and heavier feeling the lump in your throat grow. "I'm really sorry for all this and I'll understand if you don't want anything to do with me anymore. Just please tell me about it, because this silence and constant second-guessing of everything is killing me, I miss you Eddie and even if you don't reciprocate my feelings I would still like to have you in my life as a friend, but if you don't even want that… I will understand too."

It definitely had to be a dream. Or he must have smoked one too many joints and was now hallucinating. Whatever was happening now couldn't be real. You couldn't be real. You were too good. Too good for someone who destroyed your dreams.

"Say something Eddie, please." your quiet voice went straight to his heart. The heart you had long had at your fingertips.

"You came all the way out here, in a downpour, to tell me that, you wanted that kiss?" he asked getting up from the bed and walking over to you.

"If I didn't want it, I wouldn't have done it," you said.

"I thought it was you who didn't want to know me."

"But- why?"

"We didn't win because of me."

"Oh, Eddie." you bridged the gap between you by grabbing his hand. "Even though we didn't win the competition I thought I won something much better."

"What?"

"My own prince." You smiled softly.

This time he was the first to kiss you. This time the kiss was soothing, healing all the wounds of insecurity that had been bleeding inside you for the past week.

"Beauty and the Freak, huh?" he asked against your lips, smiling.

"No." you kissed him again.

"Beauty and the Beast?" he asked once again with teasing tone.

"Nope." another kiss.

"Then what?"

"Eddie and y/n." you whispered while hanging your arms around his neck.

"My favorite version." he hummed and snuggled his face into the bend of your neck.

"Hey kids, sorry to bother you, but the tea is ready." said Wayne peeking into the room. Seeing you two hugging he smiled broadly. "About damn time." he commented. "Now for the love of God give her some dry clothes before she gets cold!"

"Oh shit- yes." He walked quickly to the closet looking for something suitable in it. At that moment you were so hot that you completely forgot about how soaked you were. Happiness was working on you like a little internal furnace, but you gladly accepted one of his Hellfire shirts and his old PE shorts.

"You can call your mother and tell her you're staying with us for dinner, then Eddie will give you a ride home." the old man said disappearing behind the door.

As you left the room your attention was caught by a small piece of paper with a drawing on it. On it was a princess in a beautiful dress, strangely similar to you.

"What's that?" you asked, picking it up.

"Uh-oh…" Eddie began to blush. "It's a new character for my campaign."

"Looks nice." you chuckled.

"I had a very good inspiration." he laughed nervously.

"Will you tell me about her?"

"I'll tell you about anything you want."

"Sounds like a plan."

taglist: @i-me-mine @phantypurple @tlclick73

[bravecrab]

I was just listening to a podcast about the Peter Thiel backed Enhanced Games, a proposed alternative Olympics in which doping would not only be allowed but be the whole point. It's not an original idea, as long as doping has been in the conversation about the Olympics, there's always been people flippantly saying that they should just do something like the Enhanced Games, see how far we can push it. What's the harm?

There are plenty harms related in using cocktails of drugs to push the human body past it's natural limits, and there are plenty people who have made these comments in regards to the Enhanced Games. However a harm that I haven't seen mentioned yet, is the normalisation of pharmaceutical drug use and associating it with "peak physical performance". The Enhanced Games would be more than just an exhibition of sport, it would be a marketing platform for the pharmaceutical industry. Each athlete would have their own team to build them into the perfect athlete, more like Formula One, although who knows if the athletes will have to wear the brand logos on all their gear, so the audience know who sells the best steroids.

Let's not beat around the bush, an event that focuses on finely tuning the human body into a "perfect" form, is eugenics. The proponents of the Enhanced Games will deny it, but they want it to be successful and influential. They want it to be more successful than the Olympics. And that will require a normalisation of Eugenics.

A philosophy of domination is behind both the Enhanced Games and the Olympics. It's always been about peak fitness, as well as geopolitical bragging rights. A mindset of domination has always been used to justify eugenics, domination theology stating that God created the Earth for human consumption, and that of all creatures, Man is closest to God. That's been weaponized as white supremacy and as patriarchy, amongst many other oppressive norms, making claims through pseudo-science, that white, cis, straight men are the pinnacle of humanity. Both events are an exhibition of dominance, and while the Enhanced Games is definitely worse, the Olympics still promotes an idea that the winners are just Great Athletes, and their winning has nothing to do with factors like national wealth and resources.

Another concern I have over an event that normalises enhancing bodies beyond human limits, is that it will attempt to normalise it in work places. Despite advances in automation, a lot of physical work is still done by humans, and will remain that way as long as it is cheaper. If one of the biggest sporting events endorses performance enhancers, it's not a stretch for them to become popularly used in physical workplaces. I've done many years of warehousing work, and guys in those jobs are very much into the idea of being the biggest and strongest. Employers will definitely be happy to exploit this.

I think an event like Enhanced Games is easy to overlook. The concept has been the curiosity of a lot of people as soon as they're aware of doping. However it's the involvement of ghouls like Peter Thiel, people with a TESCREAL philosophy (Transhumanism, Extropianism, Singularitarianism, Cosmism, Rationalism, Effect Altruism, Long-termism), who want to control the future of all humankind, that make this worrying. These are billionaires who want to sell you your greatest sci fi fantasies, while maintaining a firm grasp on the controls. A future in which Peak Human Performance requires you to buy a steady supply of performance enhancing drugs, is one in which the Pharmaceutical industry is perpetually wealthy.

I'd also like to include that there is also the potential of a backlash to an event like Enhanced Games, it which all forms of alterations and modifications to the human body are labelled as evil and impure, which will likely be used to endorse transphobia.

[tinystepsforward]

algerian trans women arent able to compete in women sports at all, but yeah its makes no sense to call khelif tme. youre so fucking smart.

(this is a response to this post) i see you don't believe that i'm quoting one of the trans women in my life about that, which is your prerogative. it's also your right to miss my point entirely both about the ways this alienates intersex people and about the rigidity of a binary that comes down to the same shrinking circles terfs draw when they try to quantify what a woman is (speak up for women, the most organised nz group, have now submitted on the human rights act suggesting that all babies be karyotyped at birth and the results be public, bc they can't establish any other definition they agree on. absolutely fucking nobody, not even their christian or conspiracist allies, agrees with them on this one.)

but you don't have to take my word for it! when i was at that consultation with the nz law commission, i was in a room with many other intersex and trans people, including trans athletes and trans women like lexie matheson who consult on trans inclusion in sports at a high national level. i don't think there's a single person in that room who did not name what was happening to khelif as we spoke as transmisogyny, who did not speak of her as part of a group with whom we all shared something.

at the end of the day, prison abolition informs all of my politics. i believe that we must look clearly and carefully at harm and distinguish it from discomfort or disagreement, and identify its structural sources and true perpetrators. i believe that to build a better future we must be capable of imagining one. i believe that we can build a world where suffering is not the metric by which we determine value or punishment or righteousness. i believe that we can build a world where we centre and uplift those who are most hurt, in every arena — black and brown trans women, here; in some of my other work, it's incarcerated intellectually disabled people, or asian migrant sex workers affected by section 19, the list goes on — without then pitting them against other people who share some of the same story and will benefit from the same deconstruction of the systems that hold them down. i believe we can build a world in which asab doesn't affect so much of your life by beginning that work now.

there's a politics of scarcity — you have it better than me, so we have nothing in common. i saw it all the time in brothels, the idea that the new girl is taking money out of your kids' mouths. the viciousness with which people who are struggling are so ready to abandon solidarity. is it so hard to demand better for everyone? to think less about the ways we're alone and more about the ways we're together?

maybe it is. i know that well enough as a prison abolitionist. people get scared. they swing at shadows, they swing at anyone who seems to be suffering less, they — we, i should say, i am certainly not immune — get blindingly jealous of people who seem to have it easier. that's grief! that's grief for the easier life that we deserve. and we get to mourn, and take that time to feel it, and then we can choose if we want to keep working hand in hand with each other toward a world where that grief is dwarfed by the promise of the future.

[tzov]

I saved this as a draft for a long time but I want to share it now:

Boys and men in sports humiliate and injure to prevent girls and women from "encroaching" on what they consider their domain.

I've tried to talk about this many times in my life, and I always get the, "you just can't handle competition, you just expect me to go 'easy,' on you, you're just whiny/weak/holding up the game, this is unavoidable" when it was extremely obvious to me that I was being maliciously targeted by boys in an attempt to humiliate me, not in an attempt to simply win the game.

I recognize common threads between complex individual experiences:

-That the excess violence was CLEARLY not necessary to win;

-That it was done to me/other girls and not boys of a comparable size/skill (or, often, lesser size/skill);

-That it would occur when I was not that great of a threat i.e., they would spend the whole CASUAL game focused on shutting me down even though a lot else was going on; and then, when it was serious and we were actually trying, we would be having fun, getting rough, and then when I was up, the clear moment of a DECISION (with a petulant gleam in the eye) to make it unfun by SUDDENLY kicking/slapping/shoving me EXCESSIVELY hard (in a way I could not prepare for as it had no precedent in the game), PURPOSELY (this is not hard to tell) hurling the ball as hard as they can at my head while I'm not looking, etc. (and this was often on top of disproportionate, unsportsmanlike ridicule/taunting, i.e., condescending/disgusted/impatient that I never saw boys do to each other, instead of the fun shit-talking that I DO understand is part of sport);

-In situations where they would not allow me to play (i.e., ignore me completely as a teammate, refuse to assign me a role, etc.), because they ASSUMED I couldn't before I could prove otherwise, and then when I insist, instantly hurting me on purpose so I still never get a chance to show that I am skilled/competitive;

-And finally, it was ALWAYS in conjunction with specific comments about my femaleness, or comments about how I'm overconfident/need to be taught a lesson (and I would not include this point if I were bragging about my skills or messing up the game, I can tell if I'm holding up a competition).

In the end, all of this DOES result in my being less practiced and skilled, which serves as an ad hoc justification for it

In my memories, it seems like they are angry that a girl has the audacity to try, because nothing is more hammered into our heads than, "girls are weak and it's unthinkable to lose to them or take them seriously." Just because women can't compete with men at certain high level sports obviously does not mean that every individual girl will lose to every individual boy--- and it's so important for me to tell the difference that I am very thoughtful about whether it's "rowdy crazy high level man stuff--" I've never been interested in participating in that because it's scary and feels pointless.

As a lifelong athlete, I also have a lot of experience with accidentally getting hurt, with "intimidation" as a legitimate strategy, with making a beginner player quit because they obviously don't belong in your game; but these are all ways boys will try to pass off their cruelty.

It's also worth noting that boys my age were UNABLE to physically overpower me until about age 14, and all of this still happened (though it happened a lot more after that). I know that sometimes girls can hold up games and be overconfident and I can imagine that would be annoying. But sport is so important to me, and this pain is so deep, and I've been told these things all my life, so there's no way I would not be looking out for such nuance.

For most girls, it really only takes the one experience for them to never try again. For me, I BELIEVED people for a long time that I just needed to accept that things get competitive and rough-- and that's why I put myself through it over and over, only to find that something else, something far more sinister, was clearly at play.

In summary, men and boys are actively unsportsmanlike and unnecessarily cruel to girls and women who want to try to build skill and compete in various sports, and this is nothing to do with biological differences-- just misogyny.

[bichietozier-s]

🕷️Catch You On The Web!!🕸️

An Itafushi spiderman socmed au ❤️

In which Yuuji Itadori, newly a sophomore in college who still has not a clue what he wants to do with his life, gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gains new abilities, stats and powers. He's coasting on his raw athletic ability, a full-ride scholarship handed to him despite his less-than-perfect grades, when he realizes he's got way more ahead of him than he'd ever imagined. Including, but not limited to, a newfound crush that also throws him for a loop.

you are reading:

Prologue | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

notes:

WOOHOOOO MEGUMI MENTION 🗣️ !!! Slow start ik ik but it makes it all so worth it i promise 🫶🏻 This part is a lil written text heavier than social media :') and all of the text chats are from yuta's pov in this part! 🙂‍↕️

Megumi had been laying in his bed staring directly at his blank ceiling for probably the past half hour or more now. How on earth was he expected to sleep with all that commotion down the hall? It was past 4am for god’s sake.

Little did he know, it was Yuuji a few rooms down from him struggling more than he ever had so far with this new sticky-hands development. 

— — —

“What the-” Yuuji grunted out as he positioned his foot against the bedpost, his hand gripping his arm that was now stuck TO the bedpost due to said sticky-hands. “-HELL??” He shouted as he finally managed to un-stick his hand, pulling the whole bed with him. 

His body flew backwards, tumbling into the floor at full speed. His head thunked against his desk on the opposite side of his room as he huffed out a loud and heavy sigh.

He moved his arm to hoist himself up from the floor, but…

His hand was stuck to the floor now. And his other hand was stuck to his wrist, of the hand that was stuck to the floor.

“AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!” he groaned out, borderline yelling. There were no words for the amount of frustration he was feeling now. 

He let his head fall back against the desk heavily, giving in to the fact that he was in fact stuck here, and there was nothing he could do about it.

After that, Yuta, Toge and especially Megumi were finally able to go to sleep.

Yuuji, resigned to the fact that there was no way out of the situation he was shoehorned into at the moment, fell asleep crumpled defeatedly on the hard, cold floor of his dorm room. If he wasn’t so mad, he’d probably cry.

— — — 

The next morning, when Yuuji woke up, he had a stiff neck - but his hands were no longer stuck! What a plus.

Since his phone ended up somewhere in his room post-flailing around, this also meant that Yuuji didn’t have his alarms, and as a result… missed his morning class with Nanami. Boy, he’d be hearing from him now.

First he was consistently late every day he had the class, and now he was missing it entirely. At least his full-ride scholarship came from his ability to excel in sports, and not smarts and good grades.

As Yuuji peeled himself up off the floor of his room, he heard a knock at his door. Rubbing the back of his head and sighing loudly, he trudged over to the door, pulling it open slowly. He was greeted by none other than Yuta’s caring eyes, honestly filled more with concern than anything. Toge in silent tow right behind him.

“Hey.” Yuuji mumbled out, still rubbing at the back of his head - the spot that had so heavily whacked against his desk last night. He felt an egg growing and winced at the feeling. Normally he’d be worried, but… it’ll be gone by tomorrow.

“Everything okay…?” Yuta asked, attempting to peer over the shoulder of the pink-haired man, but not seeing all that much. 

Yuuji sighs again, his eyes falling shut as he rubs his hand over his face. He catches himself as he does it, realizing a moment too late that his hand could literally get stuck anywhere and he’d be in the same predicament as last night. Or… early this morning?

Either way, thankfully, his hand didn’t stick. What the hell determined whether or not it stuck???

“Ah, yeah-” Yuuji began. He was tired, and honestly really exhausted over simply explaining himself at this point. Nobody believed him when he told them what was really happening, so what was he even supposed to say? “Yeah. Everything’s fine. I just had a rough night is all.”

A light blush found its way over Yuuji’s cheeks as he thought about his situation. There was no good way for him to explain it to anyone, so he was left looking like an idiot. He knew that most of the time he already seemed pretty stupid, because he was. But this time was different, because it was entirely out of his control and HE knew what was happening, it was just that nobody else believed him. Besides Junpei, of course.

The blush on Yuuji’s face didn’t escape Yuta, though, who immediately assumed something entirely different from what was actually happening. Apparently Toge, too, because he was tapping Yuta on the shoulder and the two quickly excused sign language. Yuuji had not a clue in the world about what they could have possibly been saying, until Yuta finally spoke, squinting his eyes and a playful smirk finding its way onto his face. 

“Are you sure you didn’t have anyone in here last night…?” He asked cautiously. He wasn’t typically one to feed into gossipy things like this, but with Toge being the devil literally over his shoulder, he couldn’t help himself. 

Yuuji’s eyes widened and his blush only deepened, as he fumbled words quickly to dispute the accusation. “Huh??? No! What??” He shook his head rapidly, his eyebrows knitted in confusion and some sort of desperation to lead the two away from that idea. “Do you even know me? You would know if there was anyone I’d be talking to, and I wouldn’t bring anyone back to my room without at least dating them first. What do I look like?” His usual playful demeanor finally finding its way back to him with the way he spoke.

What an absurd assumption.

Truth is, Yuta knew it wasn’t the case. But he also knew that something was off about Yuuji, and he seemed very stressed about whatever it was, so he knew asking a stupid question would at least distract him or give him an excuse to return to his normal self, even if it was only for a moment.

Yuta let out a small laugh before speaking, “I know, I know. I’m only kidding,” he smiled gently toward Yuuji. “Just was a little worried when you didn’t even show up to class today, was all. Wanted to come check on you.”

Yuuji smiled. “Yeah, I know. I don’t know where my phone ended up last night.” He sighed heavily, once again. “I don’t know, it really is a lot to explain, but just know that I really am trying to figure out the issue I’m having. Hopefully I don’t keep you guys up anymore with so much ruckus,” he finished, offering a halfhearted smile to the pair before him. 

Toge waved him off, signaling “it’s alright” with a small smile, and Yuta said the same aloud. “It’s fine,” he shrugged as he replied. “But if you’re not careful, soon you’ll be facing the wrath of Mr. My Chemical Romance down the hall from you,” Yuta threw a pointed thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Megumi’s room. Yuuji had no idea who he was referring to, but the band reference in itself was enough to tell him what he needed to know.

“I know. Nobody wants to be kept up past 4am by an idiot down the hall, I get it,” Yuuji laughed as he scratched at his head abashedly. “Thanks for checking in though, guys. I appreciate it.”

Yuta nodded his head. “Of course,” he spoke as he began to take his bag from his shoulder, opening it and pulling some papers out. “And, here’s the work from class today. Nanami asked me to give it to you.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks a bunch. I’ll have to thank Mr. Nanami, too.” Yuuji took the papers from his friend's hand, and the pair said their goodbyes, heading off to their next destination for the day. Yuuji simply closed his door, setting his papers down onto his desk before picking up the mess he’d made, searching for his phone in the process. 

He was determined to figure out how to get this sticky-hand thing under control.

author's note:

i promise guys i have sooo many things planned for this au my google doc is already 34 pages long 🤭 this part was a lil harder for me to write cause i have other things planned and i wanna keep things separated in the best way possible 😦

jump to:

Prologue | Previous | Next

taglist:

@meme-ty7 @runfrme @poemeater

[the-sparkling-diamond-satine]

Why Wishverse Buffy Fuels my "Buffy Summers is nonbinary" head canon

I will write my entire Non-binary Buffy meta post someday but it's a lot and for now I've got people asking about my wishverse + gender thoughts so I went ahead and wrote this piece of it. Wishverse!Buffy raises a lot of questions about Buffy's gender identity and gender expression. Like, why is Our Buffy so insistent that's she's Definitely A Girl with a feminine gender presentation when Wishverse!Buffy Who Has No One To Impress And Doesn't Care How She's Perceived presents as butch or masculine or even transmasc?

And this change in presentation isn't just the result of Wishverse!Buffy having nothing in her life outside of slaying. We've also met another Slayer (Kendra) who has no friends, no family, no one to impress except her Watcher who only cares about her usefulness as a Slayer, who still presents as feminine? We also meet Faith who only really has Buffy in her life to care about for a lot of s3 but Faith + gender is a whole other post (and this is not that post haha so we're not going there today).

Wishverse!Buffy is the ONLY TIME in canon that we meet a Buffy who doesn't care at all about how people perceive her, and she drops a lot of her femininity. Since Kendra's Watcher didn't try to take her own femininity from her—I mean, the girl named her own stake because she has nothing to care about besides weapons but her Watcher buys her jewelry and makeup?—surely Wishverse!Buffy also had wardrobe options and she chose THIS. Also I can understand why Buffy's Cleveland Watcher insisted she lose the dresses and skirts and heels from her wardrobe, but Buffy did have athletic wear we saw her training in sometimes in the library, so why did Wishverse!Buffy go out and buy herself completely new clothes? And instead of shorts and sports bras and t-shirts she chose this??? She took the time to buy a cross but no chain for it! That looks like she tied it into jewelry herself. Just...look at her:

Also WHY in season 2 when Buffy meets Kendra for the first time does Buffy suddenly have the queerest outfit she's ever worn in her entire life and Kendra looks so gorgeous and feminine and put together? What were the costumers trying to say?? Buffy looks like a lesbian. Or I know non-binary and transmasc people who dress like that (myself included sometimes). Oversized shirts help so much with chest dysphoria and/or achieving a more masculine appearance I'm just saying.

Actually she kind of looks like Oz and that guy has the most trans guy style and energy ever???

I digress. Wishverse!Buffy is not Buffy simply choosing not to care about hair and makeup and fashion because she's depressed. Look at s5 and s6 Buffy. She is so depressed, so Not Okay, but there's one key difference between these two characters: unlike Wishverse!Buffy, canon Buffy cares SO DEEPLY about what others think of her. She even says as much to Spike:

BUFFY: I guess. Everyone...they all care. They all care so much, it...makes it all harder. SPIKE: I'm not sure I followed you around that bend, love. BUFFY: I don't know. I just, I feel like I'm spending all of my time trying to be okay, so they don't worry. It's exhausting. And then, I... SPIKE: And that makes 'em worry even more. (6x04 Flooded)

MY POINT IS the only time Buffy stops focusing so much on what others think about her and stops performing for others and simply allows herself to exist, she stops performing a lot of femininity and gender stuff as well. And I do think Buffy finds some enjoyment in being feminine and fashion, but how much of it is genuine enjoyment and how much is Buffy earnestly saying "I'm a normal girl and no one can say otherwise, look at how normal I am, I am the girliest girl who ever girled!!!!!" As in, Buffy's insistence that she's a girl isn't actually about wanting people to think she's a girl. It's about wanting people to think she's "normal," and that means them seeing her as a girl. When she actually isn't (a girl), because she's non-binary.

Also I KNOW that gender expression =/= gender identity, but since we are not Buffy and therefore cannot know what she thinks and how she would identify if given the education and label options, we can only look at what she says and how she dresses and acts. Buffy Summers is non-binary TO ME. And Wishverse!Buffy is a piece of why I think so. Meta post incoming one day when I write it all down.

[zingaplanet]

hi new tennis fan here, do you mind explaining the 2011 fedal fallout? I tried looking around but couldn't find much. Thanks in advance!

Oh ho ho mutual, thanks for the question altho I fear this might get too complicated too political too quickly hahaha I'll try to keep my answer neutral. Tennis politics is an underworld of nasty nasty business and as much as it is fascinating, it is unfortunately very different from the clean, elegant, prestigious look the sport is presented as at front, as is expected when big prize money is on the line. This is going to be quite long, as usual, so be prepared hahaha

There's a good NYT article about this whole Nadal-Federer-Djokovic council debacle which I highly reccommend (around their 2019 return to the council), but let me provide a bit of a back story to that as well.

Now this all started back in the early 2010s, Federer and Nadal were still world number 1 and 2 (oh the good old days), and they were also the leaders at the players' council (Nadal was Federer's VP). So the gist of it by end of 2011, there was a bit of a dispute, esentially about prize money, but quickly turned into a bit of everything.

Basically, after the ATP finals of that year, there was talk of changing ATP into a 2 year ranking system. This is a bit unconventional but it's actually related to how points are accumulated throughout the whole tour and the accessibility of the sports to newcomers.

Everyone kinda knows that tennis is one of the most difficult sports to break into, not only because tournament seedings are based on rankings (unlike in football for instance where it's random), meaning top players will always have preference to go all the way to the final, but also because prize money has also been reported as highly unequal. Players at the top level like Serena, Federer, Sharapova, Nadal etc earned a gazillion times more than even the top 20 players, this is because of sponsorship, but also because of the gap in prize money. More reports have been coming out on this recently, where the top 5 players in India and other countries can't even sustain themselves with prize money alone and has to take up side jobs.

The idea is that with a 2 year ranking, points will be distributed more evenly, rankings will be much more accessible and players in the top 50 will have access to better prize money. It's a bit complicated to explain technically but that's the gist of it as far as I understand.

Now the problem starts when in November that year, the players meeting saw all players (including Nadal) except Federer, the president, support the 2 year system. They were also planning to boycott the Australian Open, that they deemed were far too unfair in terms of prize money distribution as all other Grand Slams.

The dispute between the two of them also has another layer into it however. Unsurprisignly, the ranking debate is related to discussions about scheduling, in which Nadal has been strongly advocating for change since the beginning of his career.

I managed to dig up some quotes on this, it's pretty nasty (hmu if you want sources):

“"For him, it's good to say nothing, (His attitude is) "Everything is positive. It's all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,' and the rest can burn themselves. He likes the circuit. I like the circuit. It's better than many other sports, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be better.”

Rafa and some other players are protesting about the number of mandatory events a pro player is required to compete in during the year, arguing this is not actually sustainable for an athlete's physical condition which he himself has felt the brunt too many times.

"I love the game and there are a lot of things I'm grateful for,” Nadal said. “The game has allowed me to lead a fantastic lifestyle. But to finish your career with pain all over your body, is that a positive? No. Maybe (Federer) has got a super body and he'll finish his career like a rose. Neither myself, nor (Andy) Murray, nor (Novak) Djokovic are going to finish our careers like a rose. Tennis is an important part of my life, but it's a tough sport. We're not like him, where it's effortless to play. For all of us, it's a battle."

I believe this is the period Federer was referring to when he said "He used to follow me around with everything but then he grew to be his own person," etc.

Federer and Nadal before this period were strangely civil towards each other, even after those French Open and Wimbledon finals back to back - but this seemed to be the beginning of their souring relations. Federer handled it very discretely and only said he had “no hard feelings” toward Nadal for the comments, and Nadal also later admitted that his comments “must stay in the locker room.”

I'm not saying one player is right and the other is wrong, there is always 2 sides of the coin. A 2 year ranking system will mess a lot of things up in terms of the sport's competitiveness and spectatorship, but there is also a real pay gap problem in tennis, especially in Grand Slams, it's a very top heavy sport. It's very evident that Nadal and Federer's frustrations with each other relate a lot to their different career trajectories and playing style. Nadal said many times from the beginning that his style of play is too physicaly disruptive and I remember him saying he'd be very surprised if he's still playing in his 30s and it's obvious that Federer's injury-free career bothered him a bit, while Federer, I think is always the perfect middle-man between the players and the tournament organisers (he has very good relationship with all of them), and he understood nuances of the sports' politics and that it's never that simple to change everything, something a lot of young players don't really get I think (Nadal is a bit more politically diplomatic nowadays).

The story of the 2019 council dispute is a bit more complicated, and it actually shows how much they've built bridges over their differences as this time it was more the case of Novak vs the two of them, quite literally haha. Nadal and Federer were no longer part of the council then. I think it started with the firing of the ATP chief executive, Chris Kermode (Djokovic was the president at that time I think). Nadal and Federer were very unhappy about this and that they weren't consulted on the decision.

Federer said: “I tried to meet Novak on the deadline; unfortunately, he had no time, That’s hard to understand for me.” Nadal, who met with Federer at that tournament to discuss tour business, also echoed his displeasure.

Very spicy, huh? This actually ended up bringing both Nadal and Federer back together into the council. Federer agreed to rejoin, and he talked about it with Nadal: "I would only do it if you were going too. And he said: I also only participate if you are there too."

See his cute full interview here:

The sweetest cherry on top is actually Andy Murray, bless his little heart (he is unsurprisingly quite uninvolved with the drama hahaha). He also left the council recently and actually was really happy Federer and Nadal the duo managed to get back together into the fray. “Despite the sport’s current success we live in chaotic times,” Murray wrote on Twitter. “My biggest achievement on the council may well prove to be being part of the group of resignations that presented the opportunity for this to happen. Good luck!!!”

Anyhow, there you go, a few thousand? words on tennis politics that you clearly did not ask for but hey! nothing better to start saturday morning than some spicy drama between the world's top athletes, eh?

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (8/15/2024) Episode: Damage Control

Rainy Day’s E-Sports team physician, whom Luigi was sent to see, was an elder who’d retired from practicing orthopedics at the local hospital.

The laid-back old doctor had been quite happy to leave that stressful atmosphere behind and switch to working part-time with the low-intensity “athletes” that played his favorite sport. Everyone got along with Doc Leonard and Luigi was no exception. He found his sullen mood immediately softening in response to the other sims cheerful greeting.

“Good evening, Luigi! What brings you to my neck of the woods? Nothing to bad, I hope. Whatever it is let’s see if I can help.”

“I doubt you can” Luigi sighed. Flopping into a guest chair he proceeded to tell his friend what had been going on with his hand and his attempts to alleviate his symptoms, ending with “my body isn’t what it once was; that’s all. Nothing anyone can do about that”.

“Well, you’re right about one thing – I can’t turn back time,” the doctor replied “but let’s see what’s going on with that sore paw of yours. He stood and motioned Luigi to approach. Once they were facing each other he gestured towards Luigi’s mousing hand “Well come on now, “hand” it over.”

Luigi chuckled, holding out his arm for the other sim to take. With a few simple bends and taps he reproduced Luigi’s symptoms and remarked “Well, that was easy”. Luigi was inclined to disagree “maybe for you… now I’m hurting before practice has even started! Thanks a lot.”

“Sorry son – the test was easy,” Doc Leonard replied, “but then again, the treatment isn’t really that complicated either. Sit back down and let’s chat.”

Once they were both settled, Doc got right to the point “what you’re dealing with is a classic case of Carpel Tunnel. I’ve got a pamphlet that will tell you all about it. It’s a chronic condition…” he waited for Luigi’s groan of frustration to pass, “… but it also responds very well to treatment.“

Luigi sat up with interest as he continued. “Ergonomic hardware like you bought was a great start, for the short periods you need to work hard. But you’re going to need to do a bit more than that to keep things from getting worse, and to slowly improve your situation.”

For the next few minutes, they discussed the disease and ways Luigi could help reverse the damage. This included more frequent breaks from the computer, regular icing to reduce swelling, and wearing a brace while sleeping to keep his wrist in a neutral position.

Doc Leonard accompanied Luigi back to the PR office to brainstorm what they were going to share with the public. In the end the elder’s trusted voice added to Michela’s was enough to convince his not so young patient that honesty was the best policy.

“If you intend to keep playing E-Sports at a pro level you’ll want the freedom to manage your condition instead of trying to hide it.” Doc began.

“We can share my official recommendation that you use ergonomic hardware with the press” he continued “but they’ll want to know why. We could leave your age out of it, but I think it’s the best explanation for not coming forward sooner. Tell the nation the truth – your fans will appreciate it.”

Luigi sat silently for a moment, thinking. Finally, he turned to Michela “Setup the press conference. Its time to admit that I’m not as young as I used to be”. He could only hope that being humble would really work to his advantage.

The next evening Luigi was sitting next to Doc Leonard facing “the firing squad” of cameras and microphones at an official press conference.

For maximum effect Michaela had him wear the new brace doc had recommended for sleep. They were playing up the injury angle to garner additional sympathy since Luigi would be taking some time off for Harvestfest and his wedding soon, and until then he was officially “benched”.

Luigi put on his best “sad face” while the doctor briefly explained his condition, finishing with “Luigi will be taking a short break from tournament participation. We’re all hopeful that some downtime to rest and recover will reverse the worst of the damage.”

Luigi took over then, looking like the poster child for contrite sims everywhere “I’m sorry I didn’t come forward sooner. I was embarrassed to admit my body had let me down. I love what I do, and I didn’t want to give anyone the impression I couldn’t cut it just because I’m getting older”.

Just as Doc Leonard had anticipated Luigi’s admission turned the tide of public opinion back in his favor. He even got an apology from the sponsor who’d started the trouble in the first place and an endorsement deal from an anti-aging cosmetic company!

He hadn’t wanted to admit to getting older, but Luigi had to agree that in the end showing his vulnerable side had been the wise PR decision after all.

Carpel Tunnel is not a current HCR chronic condition as far a I know, but it worked with the events as they randomly happened during gameplay.

When I got the fame pop-up about using the custom mouse, I felt like Luigi would do it and then I needed to explain WHY he did it. Using an ergonomic mouse for wrist strain is something that I’ve known a few of my friends and colleagues to do (I also use one myself 🙃) so it made perfect sense to me. Given Luigi’s unfortunate luck with developing chronic conditions in game, something chronic like Carpel Tunnel fit perfectly.

[agardenofbasil]

before the injury against athletic, pedri received a knock in training just before christmas and was subsequently out for like two games (which is nothing basically and can totally happen), but because he had already been injured from sep-nov 2023, he got a ton of hate and criticism from the media, including people making up stories about him, so he felt the need to go on live stream of a spanish stream to clear things up and tell his side of the story. anyways what i was trying to get at was, that during that livestream he said that when you get injured you go from being around the team all the time to being on your own and that you start to feel forgotten. and that on top of that you have to deal with everyone writing things about you, that they have no clue about. and that it’s tough to mentally bear that at times.

(https://www.tumblr.com/pedripics/738427331694215168/pedri-im-fine-but-not-at-my-best-it-wasnt-the?source=share)

i think this stuck with me for several reasons, first of all because i think it’s incredibly strong to open up about all of that at such a young age but also because it’s an aspect that rarely gets spoken about in the context of injuries. both the injury against athletic and the injury at the euros weren’t that bad from a physical point of view. but i personally think the players reactions towards pedri and their immense support both times show that there’s a lot more to it than just the physical side. and i was honestly quite happy that pedri got to stay with the team at the euros, that they included him in pretty much everything and made sure to remind everyone that it’s his win as much as theirs. like when unai said that pedri is in good spirits and that it speaks volumes about the kind of person he is and that they want to give some of that joy that he always brings them back to him by winning ❤️

(https://www.tumblr.com/pedripics/755457925906153472/how-has-the-family-national-team-taken-pedris?source=share)

Anon friend, you have me busting out the google doc to answer you.

I did read a bit about Pedri’s injury history while I started writing Longing for the Shore because I listened to a reel that was quite critical of Pedri’s absences. It was some guy with a microphone, so I didn’t give his opinion any weight. But I made the mistake of reading the comments and Tweets and, simply put, people are absolutely fucked. There was so much hate for someone who wants to fucking play football. And that was baffling for me. (Mind you, I used to watch casually, for years. I am only watching more seriously now.) But this mentality around injury has existed for years and years, especially when it comes to men and contact sports. 

So when you think about someone, in pain (in whatever definition of pain anyone wants to use), because of an injury. Now think about that someone who plays such a rigorous sport like football. Think of them being young: 20. Think of the mental pressure on them, not just from themselves and their expectations of themselves, but the expectations from the club, media, fans, and teammates. And now that someone is having to go out there publicly and address the vitriol and media… that’s intense. That’s not something that anyone who’s injured should have to do. 

Basically, I am glad Pedri made that comment and did that livestream because you’re right; he’s spotlighting a problem that contact sports has long dealt with: pretending that these are superhuman athletes who are void of any emotional depth. He was brave for doing this, and he was so mature. But he shouldn’t have had to do that, in my opinion. 

I know I am going off the rails here, but to me, a lot of this is tied back to economics and the body. Because people really do believe that if someone is being paid millions of euros to kick a ball around, then they should move past injuries easily. They should play despite injuries. But… If anyone is looking at Pedri, or any player, and thinking, “Man, he’s just making a big deal out of nothing,” I beg you to think of your own body. Would you put your body through all of that for a certain amount of money? How much is your body worth? Just to give perspective, let’s look at Robin Le Normand from Atletico Madrid. After the match with Real Madrid, he got diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (subdural haematoma). Is 30 million euro a good enough price to permanently affect your body, at the age of 27? When you have at least 40 more years left with your body? Of course, people work very dangerous jobs all over the world for much less money, but very rarely do those people have strangers on the internet or media sending them hate, death threats, etc. (And even on the other end of the spectrum: let’s look at my Basque giant. Unai Simon played the Euros with a broken wrist. Now he’s out until January, and while Athletic has great second and third keepers, you can’t have both. You can’t ask for injured players to push through and then be surprised/upset when they’re out for a long time afterwards. And this was Unai’s choice to play with the injury!)

Pedri’s comments here stick with me too. He’s incredibly strong for taking a stand and speaking about his injury. Because let’s face it… as talented as athletes are, it’s much better to talk about your body in the context of victories and matches rather than talking about your body in the context of injury and recovery. So to be that honest and open is admirable, and like I mentioned before, I can see why Barca added him to the captaincy. And I wholeheartedly agree; Pedri’s teammates know Pedri will come back, inevitably. Because physically, Pedri will be fine (which he is!). It’s the mental anguish. It’s seeing Pedri being distraught on the bench. This is a player who is very aware of himself and has very high expectations. Daresay, Pedri seems like a bit of a perfectionist. And when you have that mentality, dealing with loss or injury is so hard because one becomes susceptible to blaming themselves. 

My favorite moments from the Euros celebrations are when they’re all rallying around Pedri. When they’re taking the photos, and they literally carry Pedri into the photo because you just know Pedri was trying to step away. [x] Or Morata carrying Pedri as he sings. [x] Or Lamine and Nico supporting Pedri as he dances. [x] Because all of them know how much this affected Pedri and they still want to include him and celebrate him because he played a huge role in getting them to the final. And it’s easy to forget that when you’re alone, in your house, with limited mobility, reading all the trash the media throws at you day after day. Healing isn’t just physical, it is so mental for someone like Pedri.

And I guess I’ll round this out with 100% agreeing with Unai Simon. When you recognize someone who is a literal beam of sunshine, you begin to rely on them to give you that joy. And Unai would know, considering the own goal fiasco and how it impacted them both. And when that person that brings you so much joy is in a bad place, you’ll do anything to help them back on their feet. And I think the Spain NT and Barca do that for Pedri, as Pedri does for them.

[autisticbokutoenthusiast]

ep 7 stray thoughts:

- thing i’ve noticed is that the opening sequences always give me chills

- ok so zoueyteena was mutualism, nuthphop was protocooperation, captainkeen is commensalism, first/porsche/soong/jump with parasitism, aob and puen with competition, nant and prom? for predation… i’ll keep this in mind

- now why captain looking down the camera lens do NOT perceive me sir… “it’s like im sleeping in the mushroom breeding center” damn …. also first having no courtesy for other ppls space my baby boy

- nont lowkey wishing his brother chose literally any other roommates in the world lmao- oh there he goes setting things on fire again

- once again the 5 baddie bunch are all in the same area but porsche is specifically cut out of each frame… why is he always on the outside????

- hold on how old are they supposed to be??

- i’m excited to get into porsches story, all of his scenes have a sense of like danger to them…

- are there any meta posts floating around out there about the use of older tech, like the boxy tvs and the older video recorder??

- nuthphop continues to have the most breathtaking shots for me idk what it is about their moments but they make so much sense visually and audioly(?? is this the word??) idk what im saying at this point

- gonna try to pay closer attention to the music for zoueyteena scenes, they stick in my memory as bright/les complex not/barely digital instrumentations but that could just be my memory playing with me

- not captain selling out keen…also soemthing i noticed is that while captain and keen were talking earlier the music was bright and jumpy and when their teammate walks in it turns to like *ominous bass* and then eventually sad piano and the scene with keen walking in on captain and the others mirrors that (though the piano the first time is scared and sad and the second time more idk deep and thoughtful [this is how i’ve always had pieces described to me by instructors idk if the emotions match perfectly] so it can lead into zouey and teena’s scene)

- worlds collide…. also phop and nuth and their gender shirts good for them good for them. i know nuth looks like the most likely suspect but they really are so sweet

- i think the reason i like nuth and phop scenes the most is that they are easiest for me to understand, like the whole scene is sending me a clear message and no element is wasted kind of thing (not that the other scenes have unnecessary elements my brain is just better at understanding certain cues over others. just a preference thing)

- yasss dramatic cinematography moment (also i feel like it fits into the vintage tech category) keen blowing the whistle you will always be famous to me

- thinking about captain and keen and the “one person benefits the other gets nothing” bit from the beginning…

- nont: i don’t just want him arrested i want him dead

prom: girl ok…. sorry i asked...

- ok so there’s a boxy tv behind nont that’s just static and this isn’t the first i’ve seen one, what do they mean????

-A GUN?!?!?!

- “i will leave quietly like how i arrived” nont be fr…

- is it just me or does nont always leave his bangs down when he’s alone with prom

- ooo the parallel between soong and porsches lines (i’m assuming i was distracted by the dubbing of first and soongs convo)

- oh… puen and aob… oh… also aob kinda looking a bit wet and pathetic now…

- keen better than me if captain showed his face again it’d be on sight

- wait wasn’t captain not interested in playing whatever sport they’re playing before now… ya know what whatever makes him happy ig if his dream is to be an athlete than good for him

- they’re reprising the captain keen song from earlier- i assume this means that they’ve overcome this issue/ have gone back to like it was before [actually they were included in the revenge sequence but i will interpret this as keen already got his revenge now things can be sweet]

- first throwing the money at soong, ooo he really hurt that boy

- CAPTAIN I KNOW THAT IS NOT A VIDEO RECORDER CAPTAIN PUT DOWN THE CAMERA CAPTAAAAAIIIIN

- ok i caught: nant? holding a sign with his name is neon green lighting, nuth holding a camera in that same lighting, nuth recording nant standing over him in red lighting, swinging feet and a kicked over chair (im assuming it’s someone being hung) in orangey red lighting

- to be perfectly honest the only lighting that i remember that resembles this is in the playboy lounge and proms room (re lighting that is)

- hold on are they framing nuth in a cage?!?

- “ the picture of you i see and remember is better than who you are”… “you’re not perfect like a dream. and i like you anyway” i need a minute

- i think the thought that you will exist in someone’s eyes as better than you are is comforting actually…

- zoueyteena scenes continue to have top tier music let’s gooo

- nuths smiling face when he answers the door for phop im gonna go eat cement what the fuck why would they do that to me i’m genuinely gonna lose my mind oh my good?????

- NOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOO NOOOO

- ok nonts hair is down again- does he let his hair down when he’s not performing as nant, like hear me out in all the nant flashbacks his hair is parted and when nont is with nants friends he adopts the same hairstyle so are the scenes where his hair is down he isn’t keeping up a performance or he can have his own preference ???

- WHATTTTTTTTT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT DID HE KUST WHAT DID HE SHOOT MY BOY PHOP WHAT BITHC WHAT WHAT WHAT I- how could they do this to me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?,!,!,

[daniellesimagines]

Where You Go (Eddie Munson)

word count: 13,130 requested by: absolutely no one pronouns: she/her warnings: lots of swears (sorry), major character death, mentioned character deaths, mentions of murder and dying in a fire, mentions of depression and weed, survivor’s guilt, wildly non-canonical timeline (im serious yall, there are a lot of creative liberties taken with that one), also yn is 18!!! (not tryna commit any crimes here @ fbi) fandom: stranger things au type: high school summary: you have a crush on eddie; the only problem is he’s only interested in your best friend. however, a tragic event brings you two together in more ways than you bargained for inspired by: dream, also heavily inspired by/using scenes from season 4 (i use tvshowtranscripts for exact lines and they don’t put who said it, so i’m sorry if some are wrong!!) authors notes: i’m trying a thing where i don’t split this up into parts, so i hope it’s not too long!!! also this is my first eddie fic so pls be nice to me :((( other parts: none

❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀

Hawkins High School was nothing if not predictable. 

When movies and TV portrayed what it was like to be a teenager, you were sure they’d gotten their ideas straight from your school. Sports were everything, the popular cheerleaders dated the star athletes, the weird kids were outcast from the rest, and you were just...there.

You weren’t a particularly gifted student, nor were you fairly well-known, and you certainly weren’t athletic. To be honest, you only had one friend. You met your best friend in elementary school, her being on your bus route just one stop before yours.

Chrissy Cunningham was everything you weren’t, but she still kept you around. If it weren’t for the fact that you lived so close and were able to create such a strong bond at an early age, you honestly would have thought she just stayed because she felt sorry for you.

But that wasn’t who Chrissy was.

Chrissy was a fiercely loyal friend, and that only grew once you entered high school. She made the cheer squad freshman year – becoming popular pretty much right away – but she never let it come between her friendship with you. Upon entering your senior year, Chrissy became cheer captain and subsequently caught the attention of everyone in school.

And that included Eddie Munson.

Eddie had always been a character, often interrupting lunches with passionate speeches about the popular crowds and how they excluded anyone different than them. You knew he had a club that met after school, though you didn’t know much other than it was about Dungeons & Dragons. You always had a bit of a crush on him – sure, he could be obnoxious and he was on his third try of making it to graduation, but he was friendly and cute and had no problem talking back to people like Jason Carver.

You wish you could say you were surprised when Chrissy started offhandedly mentioning that she’d been hanging out with Eddie every once in a while. You would listen to her talk about something funny he did or said, plastering on the fake interest as she spoke.

Yeah, you were jealous.

But you knew you had no right to be.

Chrissy had no idea you had a crush, and you knew her relationship with Jason only continued to please her overbearing mother, so you wanted nothing more than for her to finally be happy for once.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t sting whenever she mentioned seeing him.

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Chrissy told you after setting her lunch tray down at the spot across from you, “I have to go talk to Eddie about something.”

You barely nodded, but it didn’t matter since she didn’t even look at you before trotting toward the Hellfire table. You kept your gaze on your lunch tray as your best friend’s voice rang through your ears again.

“Eds!” she chirped, “Do you have a second?”

“Chris!” he smiled back, “What’s up?”

Oh, that’s cute. They have nicknames for each other.

You listened to their voices fade out as they walked to somewhere less crowded, Eddie insisting to get some privacy.

Way to go with the subtlety there, guys.

You knew you shouldn’t be this hurt over it – Chrissy was way more outgoing than you, so it was never shocking when someone gravitated to her over you – but you still were. Sure, she was your best friend and she made sure to include you in everything she was a part of, but you just...

You wanted someone to see you as your own person, not just ‘Chrissy’s best friend’.

~

Sunday afternoon

You’d spent that weekend the same as you always did: alone in your room keeping yourself busy with whatever you could until it came time for your weekly hangout with your best friend. You and Chrissy had hung out every Sunday practically since the day you met. Your mom always offered her own to stay and chat, but she never did; Her mother was more than happy to pawn her daughter on anyone willing to watch her. Your mom became more of a mother to Chrissy than her own – maybe that was why she stayed at your place as often as she was allowed.

You had just eaten lunch with your mom and Chrissy and played a few board games as well – you knew Chrissy appreciated the feeling of normalcy it gave her – before you ended up back in your bedroom. She was laying on your bed watching TV, propped up against the wall behind it, while you were sitting on the floor. Your most recent endeavor to keep yourself occupied, you decided, would be learning how to take in clothing too big and repurpose clothing that didn’t fit anymore into things you’d actually use. And lucky for you, Chrissy didn’t mind – you could gossip no matter what you were doing.

“You didn’t hang out with Jason today?” you mentioned after noticing her show had gone to a commercial, “I thought he said he was taking you to Lover’s Lake?”

“Of course not!” she insisted, “Sundays are for us! And you know how I feel about him.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re still with him,” you shook your head, “It’s like he’s gotten so much more oblivious to anything other than his popularity recently. Does he even notice when it’s one of the bad days again?”

“No,” she sighed, “But you know how my mom would be if she found out I broke up with him.”

“As if you don’t already get perfect grades, are the most popular girl at school, and all the teachers love you?” you rolled your eyes, “I hardly think not dating such an ass anymore would change all that.” You smiled slightly when she giggled.

“You know what? Enough about me!” she bounced in her seat, “What’s been going on with you? I feel like I never see you anymore!”

“Nothing new,” you shrugged, “Just trying to get at least one scholarship before graduation.”

“Oh, please! You could get those scholarships in your sleep!” You smiled slightly as she continued. “But that’s not what I meant! I mean, what’s been going on in your love life?”

“What love life?” you scoffed jokingly, “You know better than anyone that guys don’t even look at me.”

“That’s not true! What about Trevor? He told me he thought you were cute! You even went on a date with him!”

“Yeah, but we didn’t end up connecting as much as we thought we would,” you shrugged, “Decided we’re better as friends than a couple. I’m just glad he wasn’t a dick about it.”

“I knew he wouldn’t be,” she said, “That’s the only reason I set you up with him. There’s gotta be someone you’re into though?” Chrissy watched you pause, making her suck in a breath of excitement. “There is someone you’re into!” she squealed, “Why haven’t you told me?! I wanna know everything! Who is it?”

“Well... He’s in our grade,” you chose your wording carefully to not give it away, “He’s in a club and a band. We’ve been to his shows a couple of times. He’s really nice, but...”

“Is he not nice to you?” she narrowed her eyes at the idea this mystery crush of yours would be rude to you.

“It’s not that, it’s just... He likes someone else...” you whispered, “But I wasn’t surprised he likes someone else more; Everybody likes you more.”

“What do you mean?” she seemed genuinely confused, “Who likes me more?”

You didn’t respond, making Chrissy furrow her eyebrows. She took a moment to think about when you started acting a little differently when it came to boys, earning another gasp of realization.

“Are you talking about Eddie?” she asked, taking your small gulp as confirmation that she was right. “Y/N, you know I would never do that to you!” she assured you, “Oh my God, I would be the worst best friend ever if I went after someone you liked!” You looked up at her with confusion, making her smile. “You didn’t have to tell me for me to know,” she shook her head, “You’re my best friend; I know you better than I know myself.” Chrissy sighed softly, moving to the floor so she could take your hand in hers and squeeze it lightly. “I’ve been meeting Eddie so much because I’ve... I buy weed from him sometimes,” she finally confessed.

“You what?” your eyes widened, “Since when do you smoke weed?!”

“I’ve been... I see things sometimes... Hallucinations, I think,” she admitted, “And I know Eddie deals, so I thought it would help.”

“You’ve been seeing things?” you repeated, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought it was just the depression – that it was just something I would have to live with for the rest of my life... I didn’t want to drag you into all that.”

“Chrissy, you’re my best friend,” you repeated her earlier sentiment, giving her own hand a tight squeeze, “Your problems are my problems and mine are yours; We get through it together no matter what.” She gave you a small, tight-lipped smile. You knew she was still holding back, but you also knew that she’d come to you when she was ready.

But neither of you would ever get to have that conversation.

~

One week later; Wednesday

You felt like you weren’t actually in your body anymore. Everything felt foreign and fake and otherworldly. The school felt out of it and it felt like the students were just blips in the universe. People tried to talk to you – offer their condolences – but their voices were all muffled in your ears.

Chrissy was dead; Your best friend was gone.

You’d attended the funeral the previous day – and if you thought the amount of people at school looking at you in pity was bad, you would have prepared better for the service. You humored Jason when he offered his condolences, giving him your own as well – despite how pompous and two-faced you thought he was, he still lost his girlfriend and you weren’t going to be a bitch to him.

You made it through the funeral service and burial before going back home. Your mother tried her best to lift your spirits, but you knew she was having just as hard a time with everything as you were – Chrissy was like a second daughter to her, after all.

You heard about a meeting at the town hall that would take place the day after to discuss those killed recently. You thought it would be a gathering to remember everyone – Chrissy, Fred, Patrick – so you decided to go. Your mother had wanted to attend as well, but you insisted she rest instead. The events of the past week had taken a major toll on her and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days – and honestly, she probably hadn’t. You promised to tell her everything that happened, and she walked you to the front door as you put on your jacket, kissing your head before you left.

And, to be fair, the meeting did start out as remembering the deceased.

Until Jason showed up, that is.

After those who wished to speak offered up memories, the police chief started to speak. He was giving an update on the investigation, and you could feel your blood run cold when he mentioned that they did have a suspect and were looking for information leading to his whereabouts so they could talk to him. But before he could give a name, he was interrupted by Jason.

“With all due respect, Chief Powell, I think it’s obvious who’s responsible,” Jason stated, “That freak Eddie Munson and his Hellfire cult murdered a popular girl as a sacrifice to Satan! It’s about time we band together and rid this town of him for good!”

“Now, son,” the Chief shook his head with a firm tone in his voice, “We only want to talk to Mr. Munson as of right now; We can’t just go around accusing people of something as serious as murder.”

“Don’t you all get it?” he looked around the room, “These satanic cults that are spreading around the country say they’re playing ‘some silly roleplaying game’ when they’re really planning rituals for human sacrifice! That's what the mall fire was really about! That’s why so many people are dead! It’s because of Hellfire!”

“That’s bullshit!” you looked over to see Erica Sinclair practically seething with anger, “The Hellfire isn’t a cult! It’s a club for a bunch of nerds!”

“A club? A club! A harmless club – that’s what they want you to think! But it’s a lie to conceal the truth! And the truth is it’s a cult now protecting their leader! Hiding Eddie and allowing him to continue his sacrifices! We can stop him from killing any more! We must come together and cast the evil out of Hawkins that is Hellfire! We have to-”

“Shut up!” your voice broke as you stood up from your seat, making everyone stare at you in shock.

You were so sick of everyone pointing blame at Eddie – it didn’t matter that they didn’t have proof. You would have defended anyone under those circumstances, but them only choosing him because he’s an easy target made you even more upset.

“It’s bad enough you used Billy and Chief Hopper’s deaths at that pep rally to what, boost morale at a stupid basketball game?! They died in an accidental mall fire; They weren’t murdered in some sacrificial ritual!” you threw your arms up, “But now you wanna claim they were for what, getting justice?! None of you would have even given a shit if someone else died in any other way or if it were anyone but Chrissy, so why do you give a shit now?! You certainly wouldn’t have cared if it were some random student, and you would have celebrated if it were Eddie, so why the hell do you suddenly give a fuck?!”

“Am I hearing you defending that freak right now?” Jason narrowed his eyes at you, “Just because you were Chrissy’s best friend-”

“I am Chrissy’s best friend,” you snapped back, “So I think I know damn well she wouldn’t have wanted this witch hunt! Whether you like it or not, she was friends with Eddie, and she would be pissed at all of you for acting like a bunch of fucking assholes! She wouldn’t have even given him the time of day if she thought he was going to pull some satanic bullshit on her or whatever the fuck you’re bitching about!”

“You’re just as much of a freak as the rest of them,” he scoffed.

“And you’re just as much of the asshole Chrissy thought you were,” you growled, not giving him the chance to respond as you grabbed your jacket and left, letting the door slam behind you.

~

Eddie’s POV; The next day

“Eddie?!” Dustin called out as he and the gang approached Skull Rock.

“I am right here, Henderson,” he reminded him from his makeshift seat, “And I’m sure I will be here until the day I die.”

“You’re not gonna be in here that long,” Robin insisted, “We just have to come up with a plan is all.”

“Knowing all of you? I’ll be here until I die,” he rolled his eyes, earning the same gesture in return.

“Anyway,” Dustin spoke up again, “We brought you some food.” He handed him a bag and Eddie immediately took the contents out and started eating. “Oh!” he chirped, “You know how the town hall had a meeting to remember everyone last night?” Eddie simply nodded. “Well, Erica was there and said Jason came in and started laying it on thick about Hellfire and how we’re a cult and how we perform satanic sacrifices and that’s why everyone’s dying.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better, Henderson?” Eddie rolled his eyes, “Am I supposed to be happy there’s a bounty on my head now?”

“No, man! Erica said someone stood up and told Jason to shut up and that he’s being an asshole for-”

“Language!” Steve reprimanded, earning a middle finger from the teen.

“Dude, she said it was so badass!” Dustin bounced around the dirt path, “The way Y/N didn’t back down when Jason tried to intimidate her for the way she was defending you was so sick! She just totally laid into Jason and his stupid friends and the people going along with it and she didn’t care what they thought!”

“Y/N?” Eddie felt his heart start racing, “She was defending me?”

“Yeah? Weren’t you listening?” he frowned, “Erica said she was a real badass! I wish we could have seen it!”

Dustin kept raving about Erica’s play-by-play of your performance, but Eddie wasn’t hearing it anymore.

Chrissy’s cute friend believed he was innocent?

~

Your POV; The next day

You weren’t at all shocked when you arrived at school the next day to glares and whispers behind your back. You knew Jason and his minions were going to make sure everyone knew what you’d done. When someone said something to you directly, you simply rolled your eyes and ignored them. Jason obviously would have spun the story to make you look even worse, so you didn’t want to waste your time trying to defend yourself with things you knew wouldn’t change their minds anyway.

On your way to lunch, you stopped by your locker to put away a textbook when you saw something poking out of the slot above the latch. You grabbed it and held it under your arm against your side as you opened your locker. You put the books away and reached back for the note. You wondered if maybe it was meant for someone else and they just had the wrong locker, but you knew by what was written in it that it was meant for you.

Meet at Hellfire after school

You stared at the sloppy handwriting for a moment before looking up and around the hall. No one was watching to make sure you received it, so you had absolutely no idea who had left you the note. You flipped the paper over – expecting to see contact info? – but instead found a messily-drawn map of where to find the club in the school’s basement.

~

Three hours later

The moment the final bell rang, you were hastily leaving the classroom and walking to your locker. You’d been internally arguing with yourself all day about whether or not you should listen to this mystery note – you had no idea who sent it or what they wanted or if it was just Jason and his friends trying to get you alone – before you finally defined to just go.

Whatever happened now couldn’t be worse than when you were told Chrissy died, could it?

You shoved all of your books into your locker, deciding to just get your backpack after you were done with whoever you were meeting. You slowly made your way to the stairwell to the basement, wanting to wait until the hallway had mostly cleared out.

Once it had, you went through the door and pulled the note out of your pocket. You followed the practically-illegible map as best as you could, occasionally looking up to make sure you were heading in what you assumed was the right direction.

You finally made it to a door with a piece of doodled-on notebook paper taped to it – drawings no doubt done by Eddie – with the words ‘HELLFIRE CLUB MEMBERS ONLY’ scrawled on it. You opened the door, making the chatter in the room cease as soon as the knob moved.

You came face-to-face with a small group of people – okay, one of them is definitely too old to be in school, right? – stepping back in surprise. It was silent for a moment – the tall man looking at the curly-haired boy incredulously – before someone spoke.

“Y/N!” the boy with curly hair exclaimed before looking at the group smugly, “I told you she’d come!”

“Uh... What’s going on...?” you asked.

The boy – Dustin – then finally introduced everyone to you. You recognized him from the Hellfire table, Max from a couple of your classes, you were pretty sure Robin was in the marching band, and you could have sworn Steve graduated the previous year. You had no idea what was going on – you were only expecting to see one person in here, not four.

“I stole Eddie’s key to the room,” Dustin explained as if he could hear what was going on inside your head, “We need to talk to you.”

“About...?” you trailed off, finally looking around the room.

You could see the Dungeons & Dragons game set up on a table in front of a prop throne with seven other chairs around it. There wasn’t much going on besides the mess of other props strewn about the storage room, but one thing did catch your eye.

Sitting on top of the table was a crumpled-up wanted poster with Eddie’s face on it, a bunch of satanic scribblings all over his face. Next to it, pictures of all the people who had been killed so far – Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, Billy, Chief Hopper, and a few others you didn’t recognize – and you knew what this was really about.

“You know what? I already had this argument with Jason; I’m not interested in another one,” you stated bluntly, turning to leave.

“Steve!” Dustin huffed, prompting him to groan loudly and rush over to you. Steve grabbed your arm and pulled you further into the room, despite how hard you were trying to free yourself.

“Hey!” you started yelling, hitting his forearms as he wrapped them around your waist to keep you there, “Let go of me!”

“Henderson!” he grunted as he struggled to keep you in place while you punched him, “You said she’d listen!”

“Y/N, come on! Just hear us out!” he begged, “We just wanna talk about Chri-”

“I don’t care!” your voice broke, trying – but failing – the keep the tears from falling down your cheeks, “I don’t want to talk about Chrissy! I don’t want to remember she’s gone! I don’t want to think about it anymore! I want to go ho-”

“Chrissy died because Eddie’s trailer is a portal to the Upside Down!” Dustin finally yelled.

Steve’s head snapped to glare at the teenager – he had been so reluctant to tell Eddie what was going on, but had no problem just springing it on you? – but he couldn’t ignore that it made you gradually start fighting back less. Your breathing stunted before picking right back up again, your back hitting his chest with every exhale.

“The what?” you whispered, slouching against the man behind you still holding your waist. Steve relaxed his body as well, slowly moving you to sit on the throne. He finally released his hold on you but remained seated behind you, giving you a weird sense of comfort.

The group started explaining the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down and the portals and Vecna and why those killed were targeted and how the Starcourt Mall fire hadn’t been some tragic accident and how their friend Eleven had powers and what had been going on the last three years, and you had no idea how to even respond.

You couldn’t believe all of this had been happening for three years and you had no idea about it. Sure, you’d heard about all the deaths in your tiny town, but you just assumed what the police were saying happened was true – you had no reason to believe otherwise.

Until it came to Chrissy’s death, of course.

You suspected something more was going on – that, despite being found in his trailer, everyone was just saying Eddie was responsible because it was easy. They already hated him for being different; This was just an actual reason now.

As if he could read your mind, Dustin finally brought you back to the real world.

“-and they all think Eddie did it, but he didn’t! It was all because of Vec-”

“I know,” you choked out, earning surprised looks from everyone.

“You know?” Max asked.

“Eddie could never ki-” you swallowed the word, still unable to talk about Chrissy without crying, “He wouldn’t do that...”

“Thank God,” Dustin breathed out sharply, “That makes convincing you to help a lot easier.”

“Help?” Steve finally spoke, “Henderson, she can’t- Stop dragging people into this!”

“But she’s the only one that can convince Eddie to stop hiding out at Skull Rock! And having one more person would just make it easier to defeat Vecna!”

“That’s not the point!” he insisted, “We’ve all been able to fight whatever monsters came up with just us before! Y/N doesn’t need to be brought into that now too! Eddie’s already been dragged into this by association, we don’t need-”

“I wanna help,” your soft plea cut Steve off, causing the group to look at you, “I wanna help Eddie.”

~

Eddie’s POV

Despite it being close to 5 PM, Eddie was finding it harder and harder not to fall asleep. He was starting to lose track of time being out in the woods for so long, but he was not about to return to a place where he was basically being hunted for sport.

Eddie began to doze off slightly again, only to be jolted awake by the sounds of twigs snapping and leaves crunching as footsteps got closer to his hideout. His body immediately tensed up, holding out the first weapon he could grab – a short, broken tree branch. He peeked around the rock before hopping out and yelling like a madman, only earning eye rolls in response.

“What are you gonna do with that, poke me to death?” Dustin asked, “Put it down; It’s just us.”

“Some warning would have been nice, Henderson,” Eddie dropped the stick, waving the walkie-talkie in his other hand to remind him of it.

“I left it at home,” he shrugged, making him roll his eyes as he sat down on a nearby boulder.

“We brought food again!” Robin chirped.

“It’s just what’s available from the vending machines outside Family Video,” Steve added, “But it’s something.” He tossed Eddie a bag of chips while Robin gave him a can of soda.

“Can we come up with a plan now?” Max interjected, “I’m getting tired of hiking up here.”

“I told you guys already,” Dustin insisted, “That’s why we brought Y/N!” Eddie’s gaze snapped to the teenager before he finally noticed someone new had joined the party.

You were trailing behind Nancy and Lucas, looking at your surroundings. When you finally stopped walking and your eyes met Eddie’s, he couldn’t help but feel sick. He knew you didn’t blame him or think he was guilty of Chrissy’s murder, but something about seeing her best friend made him want to find a new hiding spot – a spot the group would surely never think to look for him. You gulped and quickly looked away from him, nervously training your gaze on the nature around you.

The group started talking about how they were going to get into the Upside Down and get rid of Vecna once and for all. They were all coming up with ideas on how to kill him – how much easier it would be if they could just figure out how to get El her powers back – when Eddie looked over and spoke up.

“Hey, uh... Henderson’s not cursed, is he?” he asked, making everyone follow his gaze to find Dustin pacing around and staring off into the forest.

“Cursed? No, he’s fine,” Steve answered, “Mental? Absolutely.”

“BOOM!” Dustin’s sudden shout made everyone jump and snap to face him. He then pointed at Steve and smirked, “I was right. Skull Rock was north!” Eddie cocked an eyebrow when everyone else sighed and rolled their eyes, preparing themselves for the argument they’d been hearing for the past three days.

“Oh my Go- Are you serious?!” Steve threw his arms up, “This again?! This is Skull Rock! You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong!”

“Yes,” he smiled, “And no.”

“Oh my God,” Steve repeated, his hands on his face muffling his voice.

“This compass worked correctly when we left the school,” Dustin explained, “But it started to slip the further east we went. Now that we’re here, the thing is way off! Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?”

“An electromagnetic field!” he perked up, beginning to realize what his friend was saying.

“I’m sorry?” Robin cocked an eyebrow, “I must have skipped that class?”

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there’s a super big magnet around here, or-”

“There’s a gate!” Lucas finished, making Dustin beam with joy.

“Now we know how to get to Vecna and release Max from his curse!” the teen exclaimed. Eddie noticed you look at the redhead with wide eyes – clearly no one had told you that one of them was currently dealing with what your best friend had been.

“But we’re nowhere near Hawkins Lab,” Nancy reminded him.

“All I know is this compass wouldn’t react if something wasn’t nearby,” Dustin said, “It’ll be small and not as powerful, but it’s still a way into the Upside Down. We just have to find it.” The teenager turned and began walking down the hill, but Steve stopped him.

“Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey!” he practically shouted, making Dustin come back to the group, “Eddie’s still a wanted man! We can’t just go for a hike in the woods like we’re on vacation in South America!”

“This little steel capsule-” He held up the compass. “-might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie,” he stated, “So what say you, Eddie the Banished?” Your eyebrow quirked at the nickname.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor,” Eddie responded lowly, “Gotta be totally straight with you: that’s a really bad idea. But... The Shire is burning...” Dustin started jumping up and down excitedly, knowing he was going to agree. “So Mordor it is,” he finished, standing up from his makeshift seat.

You breathed out a laugh when you heard Steve mutter ‘What the hell is Mordor?’ to himself.

“Let’s split up!” the teen announced, “We’ll cover more ground that way and have less of a chance of getting caught before we find it. We’ll meet back here at sunset to see who found it. Lucas and Max, go toward the Creel house. Nancy and Robin can go west. Me and Steve will go south. And Y/N, you go with Eddie toward the train tracks!” Dustin put his hands on your back and pushed you toward him.

Your POV

Eddie grabbed your elbow when you yelped in surprise and lost your balance, glaring at the teen for nearly causing you to fall. You thanked him quietly as you fixed the hair that flew over your face, surprising him by following him into the forest without protest.

You jogged a little to keep up with his long strides, prompting him to shorten them so you could simply walk. Once the chatter of everyone else died down as they walked in their respective directions, you finally spoke to Eddie for the first time.

“So, uh... This is not how I expected this week to end,” you mentioned, making him laugh.

“I never expected to be on the run from police either,” he said. You let out a small breath of amusement, but your face still fell slightly.

Eddie watched you carefully, his mind racing with what he could possibly say about the loss of your best friend. But the only thing he could come up with was the events that led up to it.

“I really thought ‘86 was gonna be my year, you know?” he sighed, “I was finally gonna graduate and leave Hawkins behind and tour the world with my band. I started making friends outside of Hellfire – a cheerleader even wanted to talk to me...” He noticed you swallow thickly at the mention of Chrissy, but he couldn’t stop rambling. “That night... Chrissy came over to hang out. I left the room to get something and when I came back, it was like she was possessed or something. She wasn’t moving and was just staring at the wall. Then she started just...levitating...or some shit. She started bending all weird and blood was coming out of her eyes... And I begged and begged and begged her to wake up but she wouldn’t, so I... I did the only thing I know how to do...” he mumbled, looking down at the leaves in front of him, “I ran away. I left her there like a coward and hid in that stupid boat house and now Skull Rock and I let everyone believe it was my f-”

“I never believed it was your fault,” you whispered, making his head snap up to look at you. You sniffled as you stared at the ground, roughly swiping your fingertips underneath your eyes to get rid of the tears. “I was mad she was gone because she’s my best friend and the only person who ever really cared about me,” you continued quietly, “But I knew the second everyone started saying how she was found in your trailer that you didn’t do anything to her. I saw how you were with her at school; You liked her way too much to do something like that to her.”

“I didn’t like her,” Eddie told you, “I mean, I liked her as a person, but I didn’t like her. She was my only friend outside of Hellfire, but she... We only hung out because... She was...just...”

“Buying weed,” you finished his sentence with a small smile at the shock on his face, “She told me before she... About the hallucinations and how she was trying to get rid of them... Apparently didn’t work, but... I guess it’s pretty hard to get out of Vecna’s curse once you’re in.”

“You know about Vecna?”

“Dustin told me,” you nodded, “Said he thinks I can help somehow.”

“No,” the firmness in Eddie’s voice surprised you, making you look at him with furrowed brows, “You don’t need to be anywhere near this shit.”

“I obviously agreed to it, Eddie,” you reminded him with a shake of your head, “I want to help if it means saving Hawkins and preventing someone else from dying. I wanted- I want to help you...” You suppressed another onslaught of tears – not even noticing the slight blush he was now sporting – not wanting to cry in front of someone you just met for a second time. “He said I’m the only one that can convince you to stop hiding at that huge rock,” you continued.

“Henderson said that?” Eddie asked. You simply shrugged.

“I don’t know why it would make a difference for me to do it, but he says I have the best shot at it,” you nodded. You heard him sigh, turning your head to find him rubbing his face roughly. “You don’t have to, you know?” you mentioned, “We’ve never even really met before today, so I don’t know why Dustin thought that I could-”

“I mean, I obviously want to stop hiding out,” he admitted, “I just can’t believe Henderson dragged you into it on my behalf now.”

“Well, you were Chrissy’s friend and I know you didn’t do anything to her because she wouldn’t have stuck around if she were scared of you performing rituals or whatever shit Jason’s trying to push,” you offered, making him chuckle, “And I’m already in it, so I might as well do what I can to help. Sure beats writing scholarship essays.”

“With your smarts, any college would be stupid not to take you,” he said without thinking. His eyes widened in horror, but his heart raced when you giggled.

“Thanks,” you replied, “It’s just disappointing I can’t put ‘saved the town of Hawkins, Indiana from an evil curse’ on any of my applications.”

“Well, you could,” he shrugged, “Just don’t expect to get into that college though.”

“I don’t think I’d get into any college after that. They’d probably let all the others know I’m insane.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little insane, sweetheart,” Eddie said, making you snort softly.

The two of you walked for a little while longer in comfortable silence. Eddie had since given you his jacket as it got cooler, admiring how cute you looked in it. In fact, he’d been so entranced with you that he’d actually forgotten what you were meant to be doing in the first place.

“So... How do we know if we’ve found a gate or whatever?” you asked.

“No idea,” he admitted, “But Henderson said it’ll be obvious, so I guess we just...look for the obvious.”

Suddenly, as if Vecna himself heard you, the ground started to shake violently. Eddie grabbed onto a small tree, wrapping his arm around your waist and keeping you close so neither of you fell.

“I think someone found the obvious!” he hollered over the sounds of trees being shaken back and forth, their limbs and leaves slamming against each other.

“What are you talking about?! This is totally normal!” you shouted back, gripping him just as tightly as he was holding you while your legs desperately tried to hold you up.

You started hearing loud cracking sounds in the distance followed by small explosions every now and then. Your gaze snapped up to Eddie, finding him already looking at you with a horrified expression.

“What is that?” you asked as the shaking began to subside. It sounded like it was all going away from you, so you figured the gate must be further than you were heading.

“We have to go find everyone,” Eddie said, releasing the tree and grabbing your hand. You both ran as carefully as you could back toward Skull Rock, hoping that’s what the others had done too.

All of this was happening so fast – you had just been told of the existence of the Upside Down not even three hours ago, and now it seemed like it was all going downhill faster than you could process it. You didn’t even fully understand what the gates were yet, and now it was very likely that one was opening?

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” you grumbled mostly to yourself but felt Eddie squeeze your hand in response.

When the rock came back into view, you could see the group already there, frantically looking around for you and Eddie. Steve was the first to spot you two, sighing in relief.

“Guys!” he exclaimed, making everyone turn, “Are you alright?” He, Robin, and Nancy shared a look when they realized you were wearing Eddie’s jacket.

“Where are Max and Lucas?” you asked, noticing they were the only ones not there. Eddie had yet to release your hand – not that you were going to let go of him either.

“Maybe they’re still on their way? Creel house is pretty far from here...” Robin suggested, but you could tell she felt off about it too.

“What do we do then?” Nancy shook her head, “We can’t just stand here and wait and hope they show up.”

“Well, good news,” Dustin said, “Me and Steve found the gate that was making the compass fuck up at Lover’s Lake.”

“Language, Henderson!” Steve exclaimed, smacking the back of his shoulder.

“We should still go check it out! It could help save Max from the curse!” he insisted. The group reluctantly agreed and started following Dustin toward the lake.

“Hey, are you sure you still wanna do this, Y/N?” Steve asked, “Maybe you should go home.”

“No way!” you frowned, “I’m at least finding out what the hell an Upside Down or whatever gate thing is first!” You felt your heart flutter when Eddie chuckled beside you.

“Alright,” Robin added, “Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

When you arrived at the lake a few minutes later, it looked completely normal. You knew you should be relieved, but you were honestly disappointed – wasn’t this supposed to be some kind of portal to the underworld?

Steve broke away from the group and went into the boat house, reemerging moments later after pushing a boat onto the water. Eddie immediately jumped in, helping Robin and Nancy in as well. He then held his hand out to you, and you knew you shouldn’t – you knew you were biting off way more than you could chew – but you immediately took it and got sat down with everyone else. Dustin started to climb on as well but Steve stopped him as Nancy started rowing.

“Not you, Henderson,” he stated firmly.

“Yeah! Bedtime’s at 9!” Robin chirped.

“What?!” he shouted, begrudgingly handing over his compass when Nancy reached for it.

“Too many cooks rock the boat, you know,” Steve shrugged.

“I don’t think that’s the saying at all!” Dustin rolled his eyes, “I think you’re just an idiot!” Eddie remained silent while you gave the teen a sympathetic smile, promising him you’d be back in no time. “There you are!” you heard his voice again, making you all look over to find the two kids you’d been worried about.

“What are you guys doing?!” Lucas called after you.

“We’ll tell you when we get back!” Steve announced. You assumed the sound you heard next was Dustin groaning loudly again and going on to explain to them what had been said at Skull Rock.

Once Nancy reached where she believed the electromagnetic source was coming from, she stopped. You all listened for something – anything – that sounded different, but nothing did. You looked over when Steve started pulling off his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asked.

“Someone’s gotta go down there and check things out,” he informed you all, taking off his sweater and diving in before anyone had the chance to argue with him.

You waited for what felt like hours, jumping when Steve popped back up only a few moments later. He tossed his flashlight back into the boat and grabbed onto the side for support.

“There’s definitely a gate down there,” he informed you.

“Is that a good thing?” you asked.

But he wasn’t able to respond.

Steve was suddenly yanked back underwater, making you all start shouting. Nancy didn’t waste a second before diving in after him, Robin quickly following suit.

“Are you kidding me?!” you screamed at the water as you stood up – though you knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“Y/N,” Eddie said with a warning tone, “Don’t you da-” He didn’t finish the statement before you jumped into the lake as well. He slapped his hands over his face – he knew damn well he wasn’t about to let you be an absolute moron by yourself – and let out a ‘Son of a bitch, this is so stupid!’ out loud before following you in.

You yelped in surprise as you entered into the Upside Down. You didn’t know what you were expecting to happen, but being literally tossed into the middle of a bunch of flying...things...trying to kill Steve wasn’t it. Nancy and Robin were hitting the creatures with pieces of a broken oar, and Eddie came tumbling into the mayhem with the other one.

“Y/N, duck!” he shouted. You didn’t even hesitate before doing exactly as you were told, feeling your hair fly as Eddie’s oar flew above your head. Your gaze snapped to the side, watching a bat-like creature fall flat on the ground a few feet away from you.

You then looked over at Steve, finding him struggling against one of them choking him. Since you felt practically useless without a weapon, you figured you’d try to help the best you could.

You kept yourself low to the ground as you reached him, helping him pry off what appeared to be a tail wrapped around his neck. Once you were both successful, he grabbed the tail and slammed the thing into the ground as hard as he could a couple of times until he was sure it was dead.

The moment of silence that followed – once the creatures were lifeless heaps on the ground around you – you all looked at each other.

“What the hell were those things?” Eddie asked.

“Demobats,” Steve answered as if it were the most casual thing in the world, “I can’t believe all of you idiots followed me.”

“You’d have been a goner if we hadn’t, you dingus!” Robin reminded him.

“Well, it’s not like I planned to be dragged down here!”

“Guys, can we not fight about this right now?” Nancy held her hand up, “We’ve got more company incoming!”

You all looked to where she was pointing, noticing a new swarm of creatures – now known to you as demobats – were en route. You then looked back down at your now completely shredded weapons, knowing there was no way you’d be able to take on any more of those things.

“We need to get to my house,” she went on, “If this really is just the underside of the real world, my guns should still be in my bedroom.” You looked at her in shock.

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns – plural – in your bedroom?” Eddie cocked an eyebrow. She shrugged with a guilty smile on her face.

“Well, it sure beats being eaten alive by demon bats,” you stated, following Nancy in the direction of her house.

“Demobats,” Steve corrected.

“Does it really matter?!” you huffed, your head snapping to look at him. You could feel yourself doing a double take.

You then turned to shoot Eddie a look and he immediately nodded. You slipped your arms out of his jacket and held it out to Steve.

“Please take this, Prince Hairy,” you stated, “I just met you today and I’m very uncomfortable.” The group snorted softly – Robin snickering and calling Steve a dingus again – as he embarrassingly took the item of clothing from you.

Nancy led you all to her house – well, the Upside Down version of her house – and shoved the side door open. Steve and Eddie immediately wandered off upon entering, but you and Robin decided to follow Nancy to wherever she was going. You ended up in her bedroom, showing up in the doorway just as she was letting out a defeated sigh.

“Crap,” Nancy grumbled, closing the closet doors, “My guns aren’t here.”

“Now what are we supposed to do?” Robin wondered, “We can’t get out of here with those bats flying around.”

“There has to be a way to let someone know we’re trapped,” you shook your head with a frown, “I mean yeah, real life sucks, but I don’t wanna be stuck here forever!” The girls looked at you with concern.

“Are you doing okay after...?” Robin asked you.

“I don’t know,” you admitted, “I haven’t been alone long enough to think about it, really.”

“You know, I know what it’s like to lose your best friend,” Nancy offered, “So if you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

“Me too!” Robin chirped, “All this Upside Down stuff can be a lot to take in, but it sure is better than being kidnapped by Russians.” You stopped what you were doing to look at her incredulously. “Oh yeah! Me and Steve were taken by the Russians hiding out underneath the Starcourt Mall,” she shrugged nonchalantly, “They were a bunch of dinguses though – they didn’t even get the drugs they injected us with right.”

“DUSTIN?!” you suddenly heard Steve shout, making you all jump, “HEY?! HENDERSON?!”

“We’re gonna unpack more of that later,” you pointed at Robin before the three of you ran out of the room toward Steve’s voice.

You entered the living room at the same time as Eddie, all of you staring at Steve in confusion. He was pacing around like a madman, shouting Dustin’s name at the ceiling.

“Are you cursed now, Harrington?” Eddie asked.

“Just listen!” he insisted. You were all silent for a moment, none of you hearing what he claimed to.

“We don’t have time for this, you dingus!” Robin rolled her eyes.

“I heard the kid talking! It was like he was here! Can you just-”

“Steve!” Nancy shouted to grab his attention, only continuing when he looked at her, “You said Will communicated with Joyce through lights, right?”

Steve’s eyes widened and the both of them ran toward the light switch on the wall. You, Robin, and Eddie watched on in confusion, none of you understanding what was going on. Nancy flipped the switch up and down a few times, huffing when nothing happened.

“Shit,” she mumbled, “It’s not working.”

“Uh, guys...” you spoke up. The group looked at you, following your amazed stare at the light fixture in the middle of the room.

It appeared to have some sort of orange sparkles dancing around it, though the fixture itself didn’t even seem to be in working order. Nancy lifted her arm to touch it, all of you watching in awe as the light bulbs flickered in response.

“Does anyone know Morse code?” she asked, earning a chorus of dejected ‘no’s.

“Wait,” Eddie suddenly said, “Does SOS count?” You all looked at him with dumbfounded expressions, making him frown. “What?”

“Just do it,” Robin rolled her eyes, motioning to the light above you.

Eddie poked around the orange glow a few times, and you could hear Erica’s faint voice alerting Dustin and Lucas to it. They stopped speaking for a moment but you then heard Dustin say ‘S...O...S...’, making you cheer at realizing he understood what you were trying to communicate.

“How are we supposed to keep talking to them?” Eddie asked, putting his arm back against his side, “Those are the only letters I know how to do.”

“Hmph,” Nancy began chewing on her bottom lip before sighing in defeat, “I have no idea.”

After a moment of silent brainstorming – and Eddie wandering off after getting bored – you were nowhere closer to a solution than you had been. You looked back up at the light fixture and decided you wanted a closer look, only to be yelled at while doing so.

“Hey!” you heard Dustin’s echoing shout, “Stop! That’s too bright!” The group turned to find you quickly pulling your arm back to your chest.

“Sorry,” you mumbled in embarrassment, “The light got brighter when I got closer to the glass. I thought it was cool.”

“The light got brighter...” Nancy repeated softly to herself before sucking in a breath of realization, “Lite Brite!”

“Lite Brite?” Steve cocked an eyebrow, “Like the kids’ toy?”

“Yes! Holly got one for Christmas three years ago! We can use the lights on that to talk to the kids!”

“How are we supposed to tell them that though?” Robin questioned.

“Y/N,” Nancy said, making you perk up, “Touch the glass again and don’t let go.” You were confused but did as she asked anyway.

You could hear the teenagers start to complain again, all of them whining that ‘the light’s too bright!’. But as they slowly stopped, you couldn’t ignore that Nancy’s plan seemed to be working.

“Hey... Isn’t Mike’s sister playing with one of those Lite Brite things when we go over sometimes?” Lucas asked.

“Yes!” you, Nancy, Steve, and Robin exclaimed simultaneously, following Nancy when she ran down the hall to Holly’s room.

Once she dug the toy out from underneath her sister’s bed, the four of you quickly worked on placing all the pegs into the holes, filling up the entire Lite Brite board in a matter of seconds. Nancy moved her fingers across the glowing rainbow of lights, but you didn’t receive a response like you were hoping.

“Why isn’t it working?” you heard Erica ask.

“Yank it,” Dustin directed, and Lucas pulled the plug out of the socket by the cord. Nancy tried again, writing out a letter ‘H’ followed by an ‘I’. “H... I...” he said slowly before gasping, “Hi!”

“Yes!” you cheered again, making Eddie poke his head into the room.

“What are you guys doing?” he came into the room.

“We found a way to communicate with the kids,” Nancy said, “What were you doing?”

“Found a flashlight for Y/N,” he said, handing it to you. You smiled softly and thanked him, turning back to Holly’s bed. “We can communicate? How?” he leaned over your shoulder, his hands finding your hips to keep himself steady as he sat on his knees with the rest of you. Robin looked at you when she heard your breathing hitch, glancing down and smirking at the situation.

Nancy spelled out answers to the questions you could hear Dustin asking, finally able to let them know you were trapped in the Upside Down and needed help finding a way back out. Everyone listened to the kids try to come up with a plan but you were spaced out, only coming back when Robin nudged you.

“You good, Y/N?” she asked, making the rest of them turn to you.

“I was just thinking...” you sighed, “It’s probably stupid though.”

“Well, if you’ve got an idea, it would be more than the rest of us have so far,” Steve reminded you.

“You guys said that the gates open when there’s a death, right?” you asked, earning nods, “Well... If the lake is a gate because of Patrick, and that road by the fairground is where Fred was... Wouldn’t Chrissy have made Eddie’s trailer a gate too?” The four looked at each other and you watched the smiles grow on their faces.

“Y/N,” Robin grabbed your shoulders, “You’re a downright genius.” You smiled brightly, finally feeling like you were actually contributing something to the group’s efforts to get back to the real world.

“Eddie, how far away is the trailer park?” Nancy asked him.

“7 miles,” he answered instantly, earning looks from everyone. “What?” he raised his eyebrows, “I’ve been to parties.”

“That’s too far to walk,” she shook her head, “We’ll have to take Me and my brother’s bikes – Lucas and Erica’s too.”

“That still leaves one person without a bike,” Steve reminded her.

“I could ride on the handlebars,” you offered, “I used to do it all the time with Chrissy since I didn’t have a bike.”

You made your way outside to where the Wheelers kept their bikes before walking across the yard and finding the Sinclair siblings’ as well. You determined that Erica’s bike would be most comfortable, so Steve straddled the seat so you could hop on. You wobbled slightly as he began pedaling, barely catching yourself before falling off – it really had been a while since you’d done this.

“You need to lean back?” Steve wondered, “You just have to hold my flashlight.”

“I think I can handle that,” you chuckled, taking the device and doing as he asked, no one noticing the boy sulking at the sight of it.

~

7 miles later, you arrived at Forest Hills Trailer Park. Eddie moved to the front of the group to lead you to his trailer, scoffing to himself as you giggled at one of Steve’s stupid jokes. You hopped off of the handlebars before Steve parked the bike with everyone else’s, following Eddie into his home. Once the door opened, you all stood in awe as you stared up at the ceiling.

“Guys!” Dustin was smiling down at you, “How’s it going up there?”

“Up?” Steve asked, “You’re the one that’s up, Henderson.”

“I hardly think that’s important right now,” Max, who was now with the group, reminded everyone, “What’s important is how to they get back here?”

“Well, they just have to climb in, right?” Lucas shrugged, “Just find something to climb.”

“Eddie! How many sheets do you have?” Dustin questioned.

“In the hall closet!” he called back as he walked away. And sure enough, the teen returned a few moments later with an armful of sheets and thin blankets.

“They’ll need something to land on too!” Lucas chimed in, already hurrying out of sight. He called for help, prompting Max to follow him while Erica and Dustin worked on tying the ends of the fabrics together.

The two teens came back, dragging Eddie’s mattress along with them. They let it fall right underneath the portal opening just as the other two finished tying the final knots.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Dustin said, taking the makeshift rope and looking up at the rest of you. He tossed it upwards, all of you watching it fall into a heap at your feet. “Okay, now pull,” he said. Robin grabbed the rope in front of her and put all her body weight into it, and you were all amazed to see that it actually held up.

“This is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen in my life,” Erica commented, “And I’ve seen some crazy shit.” She happily high-fived Dustin when he held his hand up for one.

“Hey, Eddie... What are those-” Robin asked, pointing to some discolored parts of the mattress. “-that we’re going to be landing on?”

“Those are...” Eddie trailed off, “I don’t know what those stains are.”

“Sure you don’t,” you rolled your eyes, “Look, I don’t even care if they’re fresh as long as I get the fuck out of here.”

The four gave you disgusted looks as Robin began her climb as the first guinea pig – her words, not yours – to leave the Upside Down. You watched her fall flat on her back, breathing heavily as she smiled.

“Thank God,” she sat up, getting out of the way as you began your ascent back to the real world. You let out a sharp yelp, not expecting the floor to be as far as it was but happy to be home nonetheless.

Eddie was next to come through the portal, sighing as he sat up on the mattress, “That was fun.” He took your hand and let you help him back to his feet, all of you now watching as Nancy gripped the rope.

But she didn’t climb up and come falling through the portal like you’d expected her to.

You all watched as Steve’s expression changed to a horrified one, grabbing Nancy’s shoulders and starting to shake.

“Nancy?!” he yelled right in her face, “Nancy! Wake up!”

Max gasped softly, her voice coming out as a whisper, “Vecna...”

“Vecna has Nancy?!” Robin started freaking out, “What could he possibly want her for?!”

“Music!” Max spoke again, “Music got me out of it before; We need something for Nancy!”

“I have some cassettes in my room!” Eddie said, prompting you to follow him as he ran toward the back of the trailer. He directed everyone to the various places he kept his collection, all of you practically tearing apart his entire bedroom to find something you thought would work for Nancy.

“Steve says you guys need to hurry up!” Erica shouted as she ran into the room.

“No shit!” Dustin responded, tossing another tape to the side.

“What is any of this stuff?!” Robin exclaimed, “There’s no Madonna, Blondie, Bowie, Beatles – music! We need music!”

“THIS IS MUSIC!” Eddie screamed back at her, shaking a Metallica tape in front of her face.

“Everyone, just calm down!” you yelled over their fighting, “Does anyone know what Nancy likes to listen to? Pop? Metal? Fucking ocean sounds?”

No one was able to respond, hearing loud thuds coming from the living room. You all ran to the door to look down the hall, finding Nancy breathing heavily on the mattress and Steve groaning in pain from landing on the hard floor.

“Nancy!” Robin gasped in relief, but you were the first to break away from the group.

You shoved Eddie and Dustin out of the doorway, running to the two as they sat up. You weren’t even fully on your knees before you threw your arms around the girl, hugging her tightly. You understood why she didn’t hug you back – you had only met her that day, after all – but you didn’t mind; You were just happy she was alive.

“I’m so sorry I did that without even asking, but I’m just really glad you’re okay!” you exhaled sharply, “You are okay, right?” Your eyes widened. “Oh my God, I should have asked if you were okay before I hugged you! I didn’t hurt you more, did I? I’m so sorry; I really didn’t mean to-”

Your rambling was cut short when Nancy suddenly grabbed your shoulders and pulled you back in, hugging you tighter than you’d previously hugged her. You took that moment to catch your breath, allowing her to remind you that she was in fact okay and actually right in front of you.

“I’m fine, Y/N,” she assured you, squeezing you before letting go to look at you, “Thank you for caring.” You gave her a shy smile.

“I’m sorry if I’m being weird,” you murmured, “I don’t- Chrissy was the only person who talked to me before, so I... I’m not really...used...to having friends...” You were looking down at your hands as you nervously played with your fingers, not even noticing the way everyone looked at each other with small smiles on their faces.

“What was that?” Max asked, “Why did Vecna want you?”

“Why me? I don’t know,” she shook her head, “But Vecna, he... He gave me these...visions.. And he wants me to tell El everything he showed me in them.”

“What... What did you see?” Robin asked carefully.

“Things that haven’t happened yet – the most terrible things,” she recounted, “I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins, downtown on fire, dead soldiers, and this...giant creature with...a gaping mouth. But this thing wasn’t alone; There were so many monsters – an army of them. And then... Then he showed me my mom...and Holly...and Mike... A-And they... They were all...” She let out a shaky breath, unable to even finish the sentence, as Steve grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“He was just trying to scare you, Nance,” he tried to reassure her, but he was obviously freaked out as well, “Right? I mean... It’s not real...”

“Not yet,” she shook her head, “But that wasn’t it. He showed me these gates – four of them – spreading across Hawkins; They all looked like the one at the bottom of the lake. But they were growing. And they didn’t stop getting bigger. But it wasn’t the Upside Down version of Hawkins; It was this one – the real one.”

“You said four gates?” Max asked, making Nancy nod, “Four gates... Four chimes... Vecna’s clock always chimes in fours.”

“Yeah,” she nodded again, “I heard the clock too.”

“He’s been telling us his plan the whole time!” Max threw her arm up, “Four kills. Four gates.”

“If that’s true...” you swallowed, “He’s only one kill away from the end of the world.”

~

The next day

“He's a number like Eleven,” Max said, “So he must have come from that Hawkins Lab experiment that got it shut down.”

“Sure,” Robin remarked, “Only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin.”

“My point is he’s super powerful,” she rolled her eyes, “Could turn us inside out with the snap of his fingers. It’s not a fair fight.”

“Then why fight fair?” Dustin spoke up, “You’re right; He’s like El. But that gives us an upper hand. We know her strengths and weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses?” Steve cocked an eyebrow.

“When El did that remote-travel thing to free me from him the first time, she told me her physical body is in some sort of trance,” Max informed you, “I bet the same is true for Vecna.”

“That’s why he’s up in the Upside Down version of the Creel house?” Nancy asked, “Because he’s in a trance to get to multiple people at once?”

“So we have to go back into the Upside Down,” you announced, making everyone look at you incredulously.

“You’re kidding, right?” Steve asked, “Need I remind you we barely made it out of there yesterday.”

“Listen, I know I just joined in on this shit show, but it sounds to me like you have to take out the physical person and not just his mind fuckery,” you shrugged, “If he’s in a trance, he’s basically defenseless.”

“What about his army of freaky-looking bats,” Robin pointed out.

“We just have to find a way past them.”

“Or distract them and lead them somewhere else,” Dustin said.

“The only problem is there’s no pattern to Vecna’s killings,” Erica finally spoke, “Not one I can decipher anyway; We won’t know when he attacks next until someone dies.”

“But we don’t even know who that someone is,” Nancy sighed.

“Yeah, we do,” Max nodded, “I can still feel him; I’m still cursed. I’ll draw his focus back to me.”

“Max... No...” Lucas shook his head slowly, “He’ll kill you.”

“I survived him before; I can survive again,” she said confidently, “All I have to do is distract him long enough for you guys to get into the attic and chop his head off or stab him through the heart – I honestly don’t care how you put that asshole in his grave. Just... Whatever you do, try not to miss.”

~

You grunted as you fell through the gate, landing with a hard thud despite the group’s best efforts to make it a pain-free landing. You assured them you were alright though, following them outside the trailer back into the desolate Upside Down.

“Alright, we’re all good on the plan?” Nancy asked, earning a chorus of affirmations.

“And guys-” Steve looked at you and Eddie. “-if things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort, got it?” he deadpanned, “Don’t try to be heroes.”

“Absolutely,” Eddie nodded, “I mean, look at us: we are definitely not heroes.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what college to attend,” you shrugged.

“And I’m just trying to graduate high school,” he added, smiling at you when you giggled. Steve, Nancy, and Robin began their journey to Creel house, but they turned when Eddie spoke again. “Hey, Steve?” he said, waiting until he looked at him to continue, “Make him pay.” Steve gave him a small nod, silently promising to do exactly that.

You stood still as you watched them leave, not really sure what to say next. Eddie looked over, noticing the weary expression on your face. He remained silent for a moment – he wasn’t sure what to say either – before finally forcing his brain to come up with something.

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N,” Eddie told you, “Nobody would blame you if you went back home.” You stared at the dark blue and grey sky for a moment, your mind racing with thoughts of ‘is this actually happening?’ before you finally looked up at him.

“For Chrissy?” you whispered. Eddie shot you a smile.

“For Chrissy,” he nodded, holding a fist up with the outside of his hand facing you. You bumped the backside of your own hand against it, both of you taking a deep breath before climbing up onto the roof.

He hopped up on top of the trailer before reaching down and helping you. You grabbed his forearms and he grabbed yours, hoisting you up until you were in front of him. He went to let go, but you didn’t. Instead, you were staring at him, your mouth making small movements until you finally found the words.

“You’re sure this is gonna work?” you asked him.

“No better way to lure over a bunch of blood-hungry demon bats than by playing satanic music, sweetheart,” he winked.

You rolled your eyes, shoving him away from you. He chuckled to himself as he grabbed his guitar, bending down to turn on the amp he, Steve, and Dustin had put up there.

Once you turned the volume up as loud as it could go, you grabbed the binoculars and looked up at Eddie. You gave him a small nod and he did the same, yanking the guitar pick off of the chain around his neck.

“Chrissy,” you heard him murmur to himself before he started playing, “This is for you.”

It took a couple moments for you to start seeing results, but when you did... Oh boy, did you see them. The bats were approaching far faster than you’d expected them too, and you couldn’t pretend you weren’t scared to death. Once the swarm was completely covering your field of view through the binoculars, you knew it was time to get to safety.

“They’re almost here!” you shouted over their screeches, “Eddie, we gotta go!”

Eddie quickly yanked the plug out of his guitar and grabbed your hand, pulling you along with him back down off the room. You scrambled to get inside, Eddie pushing you in before slamming the fence door closed just as the bats reached the trailer.

“God, that was so badass!” you panted, leaning against the wall to catch your breath.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he smirked, “I’ll have to play it again for you sometime.”

However, your moment was ruined when you both jumped at the sound of something hitting metal. You and Eddie shared a terrified look before snapping your heads toward the sound. A demobat had made its way into one of the vents of the trailer, weaseling its way inside.

“Oh, shit!” Eddie shouted, grabbing his makeshift shield and killing it before it could get to you, “Get through the portal!” He followed you to the middle of the room, hoisting you up and watching you tumble back into the real world. But when you reached up to help him through next, he just looked at you.

And you knew what he was going to do.

“Eddie...” you said slowly, “What part of ‘don’t be heroes’ do you not understand?”

“They’re going to go after the others, Y/N,” he shook his head, “I don’t want to run away anymore.”

“Eddie, don’t you dare!” you screamed – much like he had the day you dove into Lover’s Lake to help save Steve – but it was no use; He was already running back out of the Upside Down trailer anyway.

Without hesitation, you climbed back through the portal, landing on the bed with a hard thud. You let out a quiet ‘oof’ before springing to your feet and following him back into the mayhem.

You made it to the gate outside the trailer just in time to watch Eddie running with his makeshift sword and shield, leading the bats away from the portal. You grabbed the spiked bat Steve had insisted you take from Nancy’s arsenal of weapons – “just in case everything goes to shit” – and ran after him without a second thought.

Just as you were getting closer to Eddie, you saw a demobat flying up fast behind him. You knew he wasn’t going to notice it until it was too late, so you immediately charged for it. Eddie spun around when the animal let out a pained screech as it was killed, his eyes widening upon realizing you’d followed him.

“What are you doing, Y/N?!” he shouted, “Go home!”

“Not without you, Munson!” you returned just as loudly, killing another bat as he did the same.

“What did I tell you?! You shouldn’t- Duck!” You did so, letting him kill a bat as it was diving for you. “You shouldn’t be here!” he insisted.

“I never got to help Chrissy through her shit, Eddie! I’m not going to just let you die too!” your voice cracked, making him pause for a moment.

He then grabbed your hand and both of you ran back to the trailer, Eddie closing the gate behind you to buy a moment to talk some sense into you.

“You did not let Chrissy die, Y/N,” he told you.

“I didn’t help her!” you shook your head, not bothering to hold back your tears anymore, “I knew something was wrong! I knew she was acting different! I knew it wasn’t ‘just the depression’ this time! If I just tried a little harder, she would have told me what was going on! And I could have helped her and she would still be ali-”

“Stop it,” Eddie stated firmly, grabbing your face and making sure you were looking at him, “You said it yourself: Vecna’s curse is practically impossible to get out of without knowing you’re in it. There was absolutely nothing you could have done differently. She wouldn’t want you blaming yourself.”

“She wouldn’t blame you for running away either,” you whispered, holding his wrists tightly in an attempt to ground yourself, “She would have run if she saw what you did too.” He stared at you speechless for a moment before swallowing.

“You shouldn’t- Don’t sacrifice yourself for me,” he shook his head, “I’m not worth-”

“Yes, you are!” you sniffled, squeezing him tightly, “Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean you’re not worth fighting for! You’re weird and loud and obnoxious, but there’s nothing wrong with being a ‘freak’; It’s what makes you you! People like Jason not being able to appreciate it doesn’t mean everybody wants you to disappear! We just want you to be loved!”

You could tell Eddie was getting choked up by the way his eyes started to glisten. You never wanted this to be the way you confessed your feelings, but you couldn’t let him go on his suicide mission without him knowing.

He suddenly pressed his forehead to yours, breathing in deeply and acting as if you were being converged on by a bunch of monsters.

“Y/N,” he swallowed thickly, feelings your own breathing hitch, “Please go home; Get to safety.”

“I’m not leaving here without you, Eddie,” you repeated your earlier statement, “I go where you go.”

“That is the hottest thing any girl has ever said to me,” he admitted, though he still huffed at your stubbornness, “If we make it out of here alive, remind me to kiss you.” You finally let the corner of your mouth twitch into a small grin, making him smile as well.

“Promise?” you asked. Eddie held up his hand, showing you his extended pinky finger. Your small grin only grew, linking your pinky with his.

“Wouldn’t dare break the sanctity of a pinky promise, sweetheart,” he informed you, “Now let’s go kick some demon ass.”

You were sure you fought those damn things for the next 12 hours. They were a lot stronger than you gave them credit for, often needing two or three good hits before falling to the ground. But you and Eddie still gave it your all. You weren’t backing down this time; You weren’t going down without a fight.

But as soon as it all started, it suddenly came to an end. All of the remaining demobats dropped dead at once, and, after a moment in stunned silence, you and Eddie knew that could only mean one thing.

“Vecna’s dead?” Eddie murmured, both of your eyes widening.

“Vecna’s dead...” you whispered before throwing your bat down and bouncing on your feet, “Vecna’s dead! We did it!”

Eddie joined you in jumping excitedly before he discarded his own weapons and reached for you. He grabbed your waist with one hand before wrapping his arms around you tightly. You didn’t even hesitate as you hugged him back, your own arms around his neck and your face buried in his jacket. You both had cuts everywhere, your clothes were shredded, and your hair was a mess, but you were alive.

He lifted you off of your feet and you let your legs dangle against his. You closed your eyes and squeezed each other, simply reminding the other that you weren’t dead and imagining this entire thing. You could feel Eddie start bouncing on his feet,

“‘86 really is my year, baby!” he shouted at the sky, throwing his arms up in victory. You giggled at the outburst, putting your hands on his chest.

“I think you made me a pinky promise if we made it out alive, Munson,” you reminded him. Eddie didn’t even hesitate before grabbing your face again, this time to kiss you like his life depended on it.

When he pulled away to breathe, his eyes were still closed for a moment before he opened them again. He couldn’t stop himself from giving you one more peck on the lips though, moving his thumb to wipe some dirt off of your cheek.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” he admitted, and you let a soft breath out of your nose.

“Me too,” you nodded.

“Is now a good time to tell you I’ve had a crush on you since the second you stepped into Mrs. O’Donnell’s class?” he asked you, smiling at the way your eyes lit up.

“Is now a good time to tell you I’ve had a crush on you since you told Jason that no one cared how good he was at ‘tossing balls into laundry baskets’?” you returned, earning a small smirk in response.

He didn’t say anything, though; He just returned his arms to your waist, wrapping you up in another tight hug.

“You are crazy and stupid and a total idiot for following me,” Eddie reminded you, his voice slightly muffled by the skin on your neck.

“A crazy, stupid, total idiot who kept you from being some ugly demon bat’s 3-course dinner,” you reminded him with a big smile.

“I think you mean demobats,” he copied Steve’s voice, succeeding in making you giggle.

“Whatever,” you shoved his head playfully. Eddie finally released you, stepping back and holding his hand out to you.

“Would the lady like to go home?” he bowed obnoxiously.

“Are you going to actually follow me this time?” you rolled your eyes as you placed your hand in his and tangled your fingers together, making him grin stupidly.

“I’ll follow you anywhere you tell me to, sweetheart.”

❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀・・・❀

and everyone lived happily ever after thank u and goodnight

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Other high school AUs: Josh / Alex / Ryan / Ian / Nash / Ryan / Ryan / Calum / Cody / Zach / Calum / Ryan / Michael / Ashton / Calum / Calum / Michael / Ashton / Michael / Michael / Calum / Luke / Marshall / Luke / Marshall / Ashton / Ashton / Marshall / Michael / Ashton / Jamie / Ryan / Calum / Michael / Calum / Ashton / Cody / Marshall / Michael / Ashton / Calum / Michael / Calum / Michael / Michael / Calum / Calum / Jamie / Calum / Ashton / Luke / Ashton / Calum / Michael / Billy / Eddie

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