#i’m very proud of mike’s shirt

[sleepyhutcherson]

sleepy?

mike, who usually shies away from physical touch in public is suddenly touch starved.

pairing: mike schmidt x gn!reader

word count: 0.8k

contains: established relationship, mike struggles with physical touch, fluff and nothing else really :)

a/n: i restarted this several times but finally got a version i liked. anyway, thank you for requesting ⭐️ anon!! i accidentally deleted your request so i hope you find this <3 also i’ve not seen “anyone but you” so there’s no mention of the movie at all, sorry but i hope you still enjoy it <3 im currently working on everyone’s requests, i have about like 3 mike requests and a billy one soo expect that soon :p

Mike wasn’t usually very affectionate, you didn’t mind that, you understood that it was harder for him than for you. He wasn’t completely drawn from touching you, though, but only when you two were alone, he never really felt comfortable being touchy out in public.

Leaving the theatre room he’s quick to pull you to his side, wrapping an arm around your waist and planting a chaste kiss on your cheek. You immediately tense up, surprised by the sudden touch, you giggle in response. “What?” He asks, a shy smile on his face now, his cheeks tinted pink slightly.

“Nothing,” you reply, a little flustered yourself, honestly. You both walk out of the cinema, Mike’s arm never leaving your waist. Once outside he stops you, positioning himself in front of you, both of his hands on your waist to keep you still.

“What were you giggling at in there, hm?” He asks, raising a brow, trying his best to keep himself from just leaning down and kissing you right there.

Sure Mike wasn’t comfortable enough showing much affection in front of crowds but it didn’t mean he didn’t desperately crave your touch, your lips, your skin every passing second he was around you. He always kept himself contained nevertheless but something about the way you continuously touched him while watching the movie made him absolutely weak. It was dark in the theatre room, barely any people inside, so he was more relaxed when he felt your fingers playing with the end of his curls, or the way traced his arm with your finger…it was too much for him, but of course he didn’t stop you—he loved it.

“It’s just you’re usually so…you know,” you reply, allowing your hands to rest behind his neck. He melts into your touch, you catch the way his body softens from the bit of tension he had from being this intimate outside. It was late out so there was really no one outside but it was still a lot for Mike, he never understood why it was so difficult for him to be affectionate around people but it is, and he feels incredibly lucky to have someone like you who doesn’t pressure him.

“I know,” he replies, sheepishly. His hands are still on your waist, he kneads at the soft skin there covered by the fabric of your shirt feeling a sudden comfort. “I just…” his words fail him, feeling too embarrassed to say anything now.

“It’s okay, Mike. I wasn’t teasing you or anything,” you tangle your fingers with a few of his curls knowing this always eased him. “I’m really glad you felt comfortable to kiss me inside. You did really well, I hope you know that.” You smile with such a proud look on your face that Mike nearly comes undone at your praise.

He turns a bright red and it earns him a laugh from you. “You’re so flustered!” You point out which just makes it worse. He smiles, tucking his face into the crook of your neck wanting nothing else but to hide right now. God, he was so easy to tease, you loved it and you knew he secretly loved it, too.

“You’re going to kill me, you know?” Mike says, you can feel his smile brushing against your skin, it sends shivers throughout your entire body. If anything he was going to kill you.

You run your hand through his hair the way you knew he liked it. You plant a kiss on top of his head before pulling him back to get a better look at him. Your hands are softly pressed against his cheeks, and you notice how hazy and sleepy his eyes look due to you playing with his hair.

“Sleepy?” You ask, staring into Mike’s eyes that look so soft, well, softer than usual. He nods, a small tired smile on his lips. “Let’s go home then and sleep.”

“Okay.” He agrees. He doesn’t let go of you immediately, tucking some of your hair behind your ear, his eyes never leaving you. You were so lovely to him. You were so great, so perfect, and he felt so fortunate to have you all to himself. Without another warning his hands travel up to your jaw, gently holding you for a moment before pulling you in for a small, innocent kiss. His lips are soft against yours in that brief moment, despite wanting more you feel rather pleased by the kiss. There’s a huge smile on his face when he pulls back, eyes still droopy with sleep, and before you know it he’s leaning back in this time for a more passionate kiss, it’s soft, short, and somehow still innocent like the first but it’s so ineffable.

He pulls back with a small laugh, brushing his thumb against the bottom of your lip. “Let’s go home.”

[octuscle]

Aye Chronivac? I’m glad I found you. See, I have a bit of a soft spot for rugby, despite being a scrawny nerd, so I was at a game for my local team. It’s not great rugby, they’re kind of just a bunch of chavs getting out some energy haha. Well one of their props got injured today and the coach looked through the spectators and then came up to me saying meet him in the club after the match. I did and saw your guys’ logo on his phone before he played with it for a while, and then said we’re done and to call him in 2 days giving his number. Do you have any idea what happened?

That was really a bit crazy now wasn't it? You leave the clubhouse. And even though you're not really a pub-goer, now you feel like a Coke…. But as you stand between the Chavs, still wearing their sweaty jerseys, you prefer to have a beer like them. You don't know the guys, but you can still drink with them… And after two or three beers you know Michael, Wayne Gaz, Mike, Darren, Tom, Luke, Liam, Adam and Tom as if you were in kindergarten together.

It's pretty late when you stagger out of the pub together…. And it takes you some effort to unlock the lock. Fuck, these guys are really hard drinkers. With effort and difficulty you make it to the bathroom and vomit a whole row of pints into the toilet. Nevertheless, you feel surprisingly well the next morning. So well, in fact, that you go for a run before work. Amazingly, your running shoes are in the hallway and your running clothes are hanging over the chair. You didn't even know you owned such a thing….

At work today, you're not quite on top of things. You surf through the sports pages on the Internet. Reading the news about your team's opponents in the next games. Discussing the last games in internet forums. Chatting with the guys on WhatsApp. At the end of the day you really have a guilty conscience. When your boss asks you when you leave the office what you thought of yesterday's game, you feel caught. But obviously your boss really just wants to talk about rugby. He's never done that before.

After work, you go straight to the pub. A few of the guys are there, too. Someone says that your team played like shit yesterday. Without thinking, you hit them. Nobody insults your team. And the first bar fight of your life begins.

The next morning, after running outside the office, you just jump in the shower. Instead of your usual white shirt, you're wearing a rugby jersey. But that's okay, you're not doing an accountant's apprenticeship anymore. You work in the warehouse. You are certainly not an idiot. But you prefer to work with your body. That's why you're so grateful that Coach wants you on the team.

During the lunch break you call Coach. He says that you are welcome to join the training today, he could imagine you in the team.

Rugby has always been your sport. You are very proud to be a real team with the others, not just drinking buddies. And tomorrow you will crush the opposing team!

[chrisgotitall]

Hii!! Love your work, you're one of the very few people that writes about Mike (thank god). I'd love to read one of them in the work environment. Maybe they did a movie together and now they have a press tour to do where they're cheeky and literally so in love!!

Hii, thank you so much! (crying honestly)

They work together from the very beginning. They met at her audition for a very important musical, I’m thinking of Hadestown. They got to play each other’s love interests and on that very stage they fell in love with each other.

After the play they were fully on dating mode. Mike then decided to audition for another project and she searched for another job. They actually ended up landing their roles on the same project so here they were again playing love interests on set. Their characters’ love story was tormented, totally the opposite of theirs in real life: while they played two people who fought and screamed at each other on set, behind the scenes they were the most in love lovebirds you could ever imagine. They would bring each other coffee on turns every day, sit next to each other while waiting for their time to shoot, running through the lines together. One time after a scene where he was supposed to scream at her during a fight, after the director called cut, he took her hand and kissed it, feeling so bad for some reason.

Then the press tour started. They’re always seen hugging or touching each other in some way, always giggling. She made these events that were so difficult for Mike, so bearable and actually nice to attend. If she was with him, then interviews and pictures and people shouting at him weren’t that bad.

During the première in New York, they spoke a lot about each other. A lot of questions were about them two as a couple. The more they answered the more it was evident how they were destined to find each other in life.

“Yeah I always thought about that,” she said. “We actually talked about this once”

Speaking about the fact that she played Graziella in a West Side Story theater production and he played Riff in the movie adaptation or that she played Zoe Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen three years back and he played Connor in the original play.

“So yeah I’m 100% sure we were destined to play in something together”

“Well thank god, we were in DEH not at the same time cause I wouldn’t have wanted to play your brother” he said smiling. She chuckled.

“Oh come on, we are like brother and sister after all…” she teased him. He chuckled, shaking his head because reminding her of the night before wouldn’t be right.

On the red carpet, he was stopped for a little interview.

“So Mike, who’s your date tonight?” the interviewer asked him.

“Oh I brought my girlfriend, she’s… right there taking pictures” he answered pointing at her.

“Oh she looks gorgeous tonight”

“Very. Very gorgeous, yeah” he tried not to look completely head over heels as he watched her but his eyes were deceiving him.

When an interviewer stopped her for a talk, the same question was asked to her too.

“Who did you come with tonight?”

“I came with my boyfriend tonight” she said feeling so proud to tell everybody he was her boyfriend.

“Let me tell you, you both look so good tonight and as a couple” the interviewer said.

“Oh thank you so much,” she said, smiling widely.

A lot of pictures of them were taken that night, even one of them outside sharing a kiss. But in most of them they were smiling, even laughing, and alway close and touching, whether it was his hand firmly around her waist or her hand on his chest.

Before taking a picture she noticed his shirt was a little wrinkly so she flattened it for him with her hands.

During a group picture he stood in front of her to cover her because she had to adjust the bodice of her dress.

[pluckyredhead]

Since we are FINALLY getting a new Green Arrow comic next week, I wanted to talk about my favorite GA story in a very long time: “Earn It Back” by Dave Wielgosz and Mike Norton, which was part of last year’s DC’s Saved By the Belle Reve anthology. I picked up this comic because the solicit mentioned Super Sons and Gotham Academy stories, but the solicit, cover, and variant cover gave zero indication that there would be any GA content at all, let alone maybe the best Ollie + baby Roy story...ever??? (Side note: this is why I am Comics Georg. If you read EVERYTHING, you will eventually find treasure.)

The story takes place “years ago,” when Roy is in 8th grade. (For non-Americans, that means 13 or 14, depending on when exactly in the year it is. Roy’s birthday is in November so he’s probably 14 here.)

It starts with Ollie being called in to Roy’s school to speak to the vice principal, and oh man, Ollie is a disaster here:

There is so much to love already:

1. Mike Norton’s art! I always enjoy his work so much. Take it as given that for every page I am loving the art, so I won’t keep saying it. (Also this is a tiny detail but colorist Steve Wands picked just the perfect shade of green for Ollie’s shirt.)

2. “He’s not an idiot.” Already Ollie is in a defensive panic and absolutely flailing. It’s worth noting that Ollie has always and will always be someone who says the very first thought that comes to mind, and this is before he lost all his money and grew a social conscience so he is using thoughtless, offense language. But also, as will be made explicit by the end of the story, Ollie is not someone who did well academically. When Ollie uses the word “idiot,” he means himself. Roy himself once said Ollie is both proud and ashamed that Roy is so much like him and the fact that Roy phrased it that way makes my heart hurt, but it’s probably more accurate to say: Ollie recognizes that Roy is very like him and it worries him because he is intimately familiar with his own faults.

3. This story sits pretty completely within pre-Flashpoint continuity and characterization - it doesn’t match Roy’s New 52 or Rebirth backstories at all. And as a pre-Flashpoint fan, I do love that. But one thing that emerges from the mess of contradictory versions of Roy’s backstory in the New 52 is that it’s really easy to headcanon that version of him - eternally bored in school, miles ahead of the class and unable to sit still, eventually seeking solace in acting out and substance abuse - as neurodivergent, potentially ADHD. And this story also hints at those tendencies, which there is zero indication of in pre-Flashpoint. I just think it does a great job gracefully combining multiple characterizations of Roy so that no one’s is “wrong.”

Ollie: “Hey Barry. you’re a fucking nerd, right?” Barry: “...Yes. 😔”

ANYWAY LOOK HOW MUCH OLLIE LOVES ROY!!! HE THINKS ROY IS AMAZING!!

My single solitary issue with this story is that it posits that Bruce is someone it would be logical to turn to for parenting advice, but I guess this early on, before Dick started butting heads with him - let alone before Jason showed up - both Bruce and Ollie could be dumb enough to think he was.

I will never get over how cute Roy’s little face is when he’s talking about shooting Wally. I kiss him! I pinch his cheeks!

Weeks go by. Roy’s grades improve, but he’s miserable:

Truly Mike Norton is just drawing my headcanons at this point. Yes, that is what Ollie’s house looks like. Yes, that is how he dresses. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Look how mad the Titans are! Look at Garth stomping off! This is so cute, I’m dying.

Again, BRUCE IS NOT A MODEL PARENT. He’s so condescending here, too. AT LEAST OLLIE'S KIDS ALL MAKE IT OUT OF ADOLESCENCE ALIVE, BRUCE.

(The Dinah cameo is interesting, since she and Ollie don’t interact. It makes this story tricky to place in any prior continuity, since pre-Crisis she didn’t join the League until after Ollie had already grown his beard. I guess this could be the post-Crisis continuity established by JLA: Year One, because Ollie is clean-shaven in that book, which has the pleasing implication that she is a veteran founding member here and Bruce and Ollie are rookies.)

Anyway, it’s the VP calling to let Ollie know that Roy has been cutting school:

BABY IS ANGRY. Baby also has impeccable aim (of course), because oh man, telling Ollie he’s a tyrant and a fake and flaky is one THOUSAND percent hitting him where it hurts. “You gave up on me” oh BOY the abandonment issues started early.

Other things I love: how incredibly daddish Ollie sounds in the “Keep going, Roy” line. Also, “Being his friend didn’t work.” DAVE WIELGOSZ IS ALSO JUST WRITING MY HEADCANONS!!! I have said for literally decades at this point that Ollie’s early parenting style was permissive to a fault because Roy is his buddy! His pal! His little fella!

Like I said at the beginning, Ollie’s panicked “He’s not an idiot!” was not about Roy, it was about Ollie. He doesn’t want to see Roy make the same mistakes he did. (He should probably have told Roy about contraceptives then, but...) (Actually he did tell Roy not to get Donna pregnant in Teen Titans: Year One, but probably he should have been clearer about the means.)

Panel three makes me want to sob. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MU-HU-HUCH. (Ollie and Roy, I mean. Not Ollie and Vice Principal Parks.)

P.S. The posters on Roy’s wall! What a nerd!

😭😭😭

This is such a complicated little emotional beat and I love it. Roy has been so angry at Ollie but his immediate uncomfortable forgiveness and the way Ollie recognizes it for what it is is so good. (Also of course Robert went along with it, Robert Queen was trash.)

THEY LOVE EACH OTHER! OLLIE THINKS ROY IS THE GREATEST PERSON ALIVE! ROY SHOWS HIS FORGIVENESS BY ROASTING HIS OLD MAN!

(We don’t need to discuss the part where I’m pretty sure Roy never finished high school. It’s a happy ending for now, okay?)

Anyway, I love this story very very much and just wanted to gush about it. if the new GA book is anywhere close to this high quality, I will be very happy indeed.

[josendlessmonolouge]

my oc intro except I’m super tired so they’re incoherent.

Johnny manygoats

born: 1950

job: odd jobs, mostly does rodeo gigs and works his sheep

physical description bc I’m too lazy to draw him: big ass dude like 6’5 and he wears riding boots so it’s scary. He’s got Hooded Big brown baby cow eye and a broad face. Really warm undertone skin idk how to describe it other than like you would use burnt umber paint when mixing it. Very tan bc he constantly claims that bc he’s native he won’t get burnt “I’m dark already I can’t burn��� (he can) when before the war he had really long (mid back length) hair but when he enlisted he cut it to military standard. The story has important parts pre war and post so it’s anywhere between long and kinda shaggy when he first started growing it back out. He doesn’t wear any pants other than wranglers. He wears either a western shirt or a really ratty redbone T-shirt that Sara hates but he will wear it until it’s shredded. He has basically two expressions; 1) I’m going to kill myself, you or punch a wall or all of the above and 2) beautiful dimpled ear to ear smile with squinty eyes and crooked teeth, that is pretty well reserved for his niece and nephew or his animals.

likes: summer treats. Like idk he just would live off watermelon and icecream if he could. He was eating frozen grapes way before y’all were. His niece and nephew, his older brother, Michael. the rodeo. reading western novels when he doesn’t have a headache. His horse. His wife, Sara. Marty robbins, Johnny cash, and hank Williams. (so jo core) Throwing shot-put. Marlboro reds. Black coffee. His dog. Sitting on his porch at night. Working on his family’s ranch. =. horseback mounted shooting.(pre war) when he had long hair he liked doing it in the same style as sara (he doesn't have much spiritual identity in his hair but his grandfather did he just liked it long because that's how his grandfather his, also he thinks it looks nice on him. he doesn't enjoy the racist comments he gets on it though obv) western suits. (actually part of how he met his wife) dancing (boy loves line dancing sm)

dislikes: any clerical/business work. Itchy fabrics. being cold, people assuming he’s just a stupid country boy. Literally anyone he went to high school with except for his best friend. Gilah monsters, He knows they don’t often bite people but they scare him still. Coyotes. Really fast talkers. Alcohol. Lyndon Johnson. Being touched without asking first. doctors. physical therapy. dark chocolate (opposite of me) the beatles (again so not jo) running. horseback mounted shooting (post war)

personality: gentleman, always wants to be polite and helpful but also extremely blunt and doesn't realize it's rude/funny/awkward he comes from a family where men are pretty open with their feelings masculinity? bitch his dad cried over hitting a barn cat with their truck. even though he's not really someone to hide his emotions because of like any societal or familial pressures, he doesn't like to be a problem or in anyone's way, so he isn't always too open. really good with kids. he really wanted kids but was exposed to agent orange and was advised to not have children, it broke his heart more than being a pow. genuinely terribly traumatized obv but especially just heart broken by the fact he'll never be a dad. protective of his friends and family to a detrimental degree, wouldn't ever hurt anyone except for when they say something cruel about mike (brother), sara (wife), theodore (best friend). only really became reserved in his emotions after the war, where he felt kinda ashamed and struggled with survivors guilt. can be a show off but he's honestly just earnestly proud of himself. likes to learn new practical skills, he was so excited when he learned to sew.

[solar-tl-27]

your oritel has a lot of a girl's father vibe in my opinion

He’s super proud of his daughters

My oritel is a very gentle guy he’s kind hearted and overal positive

I don’t see any like dispute happening between marion oritel vannesa and mike

I think they would be very accepting of the situation in a way and have great contact

Mike and Vanessa instantly go oh you’re our family now and oritel and marion do the same

Oritel is definitely the guy to go to every small event his kids might be a part of and then cheer the loudest like “THATS MY DAUGHTER!” while bloom is like playing tree 2 in a play

I also see him as a guy that reads a lot and i will HAVE TO DRAW HIM WITH READING GLASSES ONCE cuz i feel like they would look great on him.

He’s protective of the girls but he is aware that they are like way stronger than him so he knows they don’t need protection but the thought is nice.

I will have to get oritel a shirt saying’ have you seen my daughters *picture of daphne and bloom* now you have I’M THEIR PROUD DAD’

Get this man a world’s best dad mug STAT.

He sadly didn’t get to do tea parties with the girls but he would have put on a cheap dollar store princess dress and poor make up on IN A HEARTBEAT.

[trivialbob]

Back home after a fun weekend.

Saturday during the day I visited downtown Chillicothe. That afternoon our clan went out to a country house and wedding venue for my cousin Kate’s daughter’s wedding. (There was some discussion about 2nd cousins, or cousins once removed, etc. I stuck with the bride’s name, Molly). This is my mom’s side of my family.

The property had a horse stable that had been converted into a two bedroom, one bath man cave, complete with a huge bar. I want one for myself now. It would be so cool to park my motorcycle outside my bedroom door. I assume Sheila would get an equal thrill parking her scooter there too. Or we could park them in the second bedroom. Those sliding horse doors are HUGE.

The ceremony was held outside, under bright sun and a perfect 72°F temperature. The bride was beautiful. The groom was handsome. Tissues were necessary.

After a not-too-long ceremony we all moved over to an open sided building for the reception. This is farm country. Many of the men had large, fancy belt buckles, western shirts, cowboy boots, and best of all -- cowboy hats. I loved it. I’ll be on Amazon later tonight.

My branch of the family occupied two large tables. We had a great time together. My uncle Bob and his wife Debbie were there, along with Bob’s son Greg and his wife Melinda. It’s always nice catching up. Not only do Bob and I share a first name, we have a mutual interest in beer.

Because the wedding and reception were outside, a porta potty was the closest place to pee. Melinda, who is a little older than me, literally had never set foot in a porta potty. Not even once, not in her entire life.

There was plenty of drink on hand. Eventually Melinda had to pee. One of my sisters told her to just use the porta potty, because ti was close by. Reluctantly, Melinda agreed. Somebody should have done one of those “first day of school/first time in a porta potty” photos. Had I been right there I would have insisted on it!

As I heard the story, Melinda entered, then exited very quickly. She can retain her claim to having never peed in a porta potty. Not even once, not in her entire life. She found indoor plumbing to complete the task.

The father of the bride, Mike, shares my enjoyment of saving money. Note to self: Sometime ask him about pizza-flavored Goldfish crackers.

Along with some kegs and cans of beer, there were wine bottles everywhere. Rumor had it the wine was sourced from the Aldi region of Chillicothe and was not expensive. My cousin Jenny asked Mike if it was five dollar wine. “Oh goodness no, Jennifer. This is the $3.50 wine!”

Frugal and proud of it!

Jenny told Mike she was going to be sure to drink $10 worth of his wine. I’m not sure if that pleased Mike or made him want to put a donation jar on the table.

This morning a group of us ate breakfast at our hotel then hit the road. My dad and I took a shorter but more scenic route out of Chillicothe to the Interstate. The pretty landscape was covered by farms, horses and some three-person towns. We had to cross a single-lane bridge along the way. There was a lot of driving. I’m tired now, though I had plenty of good conversation with my dad.

Below... cousin, cousin and mother of the bride, cousin, brother, sister, sister, cousin, and me! I have two more cousins, but they couldn’t be there.

[underthecitysky]

IT was a real family affair when Stella McCartney showcased her autumn/winter collection at LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) yesterday. ECHO Features Editor Jane Haase had a front row seat ...

“GRANDAD,” shouted the little boy in delight as he ran over to the man in the grey suit with the flowery shirt who leant down and gave him a hug.

He might be one of the most famous men in the world but he was just grandad to the toddler who wanted a cuddle.

The McCartney clan were out in force for a special fashion show by Sir Paul’s designer daughter Stella, held just a few hours before the Beatles legend rocked a 36,000 strong crowd at Anfield.

Stella had chosen to unveil her autumn/winter collection at Lipa as a celebration of the city’s Capital of Culture year.

Her children – son Miller, three; 18-month-old daughter, Bailey, and four- month- old son, Beckett – were at the family event, joined by their excited cousin (lol, aunt), four-year-old Beatrice (Sir Paul’s daughter with ex-wife Heather Mills). When not sitting with her relatives the pretty blonde-haired youngster could be seen bouncing on her father’s lap.

Photographer Mike McCartney (Paul's brother), famed for his intimate portraits of The Beatles, was snapping away inside the auditorium.

On the front row were Sir Paul, with his son James on one side and Yoko Ono on the other. Next to her was George Harrison’s widow Olivia, who was in the city for a special tribute to her late husband at FACT on Friday night, as well as Beatles producer Sir George Martin.

They were being watched more than the models on stage by some members of the audience who had paid between £100 to £500 for a ticket for the event, with all proceeds going to LIPA. One keen female fan in the balcony even had her opera glasses out and trained on the A-listers.

Badges saying “Stella” with a shape of a heart and the words “L’Pool” below were given out at the entrance to guests who included Sir Peter Blake, who designed the iconic Sgt Pepper album cover, and number one WAG Coleen McLoughlin.The same message was spelled out in silver balloons suspended from the ceiling above the stage.

Liverpool singer Candie Payne, looking stunning in a thigh- skimming black mini dress, opened the afternoon show. The singer from West Derby obviously impressed Sir Paul who was spotted taking a picture of her on his mobile phone as she performed.

The fact this was no ordinary fashion showcase was evident when the models took to the catwalk. Instead of strutting their stuff these statuesque visions in dresses of varying hues of blue, grey, black and taupe played musical chairs while tottering about in what looked like 7ins platform wedges.

Amid laughter from the 380 seater auditorium, they entered into the spirit of fun as they battled it out to the thumping beat of That’s Not Your name by the Ting Tings.

As balloons descended onto the stage (with “Uncle Mike” retrieving a heart-shaped one for Beatrice) Stella appeared with a present for the winning model and thanked everyone for coming.

She joked: “I seem to have 50,000 members of my family still in this city.”

And proud dad Sir Paul, wearing his trademark suit and trainers and a Stella badge, shouted out: “Three cheers for Stella.”

Before heading off to her father’s Liverpool Sound concert with the rest of the family, Stella explained why it was important to showcase her new fashion range at LIPA, which was co-founded by Sir Paul in 1996 in the grounds of his old school, The Liverpool Institute.

She said: “It’s been a great day, especially with the concert tonight.

“I wanted to do something for LIPA because it’s my dad’s old school and I’m very proud of what he’s done here and the way he’s made the school survive.

“This show was a lot of fun and it’s great to hold it in the Capital Culture year and do my bit for the city.”

Describing her collection as “naturally sexy, naturally confidant and modern”, she added: “I don’t design for one particular woman, but I try to pick up what I think is happening around me and on the streets.

“I don’t get a chance to spend much time in Liverpool but I think Liverpool can compete with other cities.”

And what does the acclaimed fashion designer, who counts Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow as pals as well as clients, think of Liverpool girls’ style?

“I think they are great but I would say that because I’ve got a bit of Liverpool in me,” she laughed.

The Scouse gliterrati were out in force yesterday. Former Emmerdale star Sheree Murphy, wife of footballer Harry Kewell, was there along with friends, Cricket owner and ECHO columnist Justine Mills and celebrity stylist Lorraine McCullough.

Coronation Street star Alison King, who plays Carla Connor, was among the guests as was Radio City presenter Pete Price.

Dance group Flava, who were semi finalists in the TV show Britain’s Got Talent, also performed at the event.

Stella had said she had wanted to do her bit for the city in Capital of Culture year. I think the McCartney clan certainly did that yesterday.

Text copied from ohnotheydidnt on livejournal here

[winderlylandchime]

I’ve been waiting for 2x04 bc it’s one of my faves so i should say this ep was watched after his check up where he told a nurse about it and the nurse told him he actually watched it when it aired. To which my brother went ‘well watch it again bc I have to talk to someone about it man, she *points to me* is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle.’ Anyway: ‘oh it’s pride weekend? Wait WEEKEND? Don’t you fuckers get a whole month? *points at me* dont start, that was meant lovingly’.. ‘so Godiva is like the Trixie of Libery Avenue? That reminds me i gotta watch her new youtube video..’ ‘maybe.. the reason your drink isn’t selling is that hair, sir that is outrageous!..why is he helping a homophobe. Although he’s just an employee so i get it, ill allow it one time Bri Bri’ ‘oh she has a motorcycle? I do too! Maybe this is how i start to like Mel..but mine is broken bc i fell..*he is currently sad over the motorcycle*’ at this point he was so angry at Mikeys coworkers that he paused the ep, went outside for a smoke, came back looked at the tv and went ‘not cool guys, that’s just tacky’ ‘who’s godiva again?! THE LIBERTY VERSION OF TRIXIE IS GONE?! OH NO POOR TRIX- i mean godiva’ ‘OKAAAY TED GET YOURSELF SOME DICK! Good for you! Maybe less talking bc it doesn’t seem to be your thing’… ‘is he making the drink gay? well that’s- WHY DID HE PUT ON THE GOOGLES TO SUCK HIS DICK? SIR YOU WILL CHOK- well i guess that the point’ he got very sad at the scene of Justin painting the sign. He forgot Justin was an artist and now he’s sad bc he can’t do it anymore..’ITS JEN! AT PFLAG! I knew i could count on you! She reminds me of our mom (cut to me saying our mom is a black woman) well..i didn’t specify HOW she reminds me-you know what? Leave me alone, I’m clearly going through something..oh god the shirt. I’m happy for her but Michael would not make me proud…unless he changes like 60 things about himself overnight’ btw he is feeling so proud of himself rn bc he swears that he is “chill” all while bouncing his leg so much my house is shaking. ‘IS THAT THAT BAT FUCKER?!! AT A GAY HOSPICE?! IS THIS SOME KIND OF A FUCKING JOKE?! HE DID NOT JUST WISH AIDS ON HIM AND DURING PRIDE?! oh kid i am your biggest fucking enemy right now, i hope you have an explosive diarrhea’ ‘okay so Mel used to be fun? What happened? Where did she go wrong?…A PITY FUCK?! TED DESERVES BETTER! WHAT KIND OF FUCKED UP JOKE IS THIS! That guy wasnt even that pretty so don’t worry Ted’ he got mad again here but less mad then before so no smoke break! ‘Oh he sobered up fast when he realized it wasnt a dream. Bri bri we need to talk about how youre in love. I swear I won’t tell anyone! OH FINALLY I AGREE WITH MIKE, IT WAS A SICK JOKE! Oh..i just know if that fucker did anything, Brian would be fighting right now..now i want to see Brian throw a punch, do you think he knows how to?..OH NO JUSTY, WE ARE GOING TO PRIDE! You are supposed to be proud of..wait what is he supposed to be proud of? Dick sucking skills? *looks at me genuinely* id be proud of that if i was him’ ‘oh my god! The ugly hair homophobe! NOW WHY DID HE SAY THE F WORD?! HE ISNT ALLOWED TO SAY THAT WHAT THE HELL! AND DURING PRIDE?! FUCK YOU!’ And we are back outside for a smoke break.. not to make my brother a liar from the last ep but he is NOT calm. ‘Okay im cool again..as long as no hetero pisses me off anymore. I love that big flag! Do you think they filmed this during actual pride?..WE ARE NOT LETTING BAT FUCKER WIN! Okay seriously now, how bad is Brians mom because he keeps making people march with their moms.. is that bc she wouldn’t do it if she kne- oh god i am now sad for Brian wanting to march with his mom but cant. This is too much for me to handle on a random Friday!..oh brian knew about that fucker? You know what? Hes a little rude but he keeps wanting everyone to just be them. I fuck with that! I shall do that too! But after i get back to my normal life bc this *waves hands* is not it’ 1/2 of 2x04

ANON I AM SCREAMING.

Your brother being pissed about Brian working for a homophobe... wait until he gets to Stockwell arc.

Does your brother watch...drag race? Is he a Trixie Mattel fan? I am seriously dying over this. Comparing Godiva to Trixie... bless. I don't know how accurate I feel that comparison is but I would need to sit with it to think of a better comparison. I take my drag race comparisons seriously.

Mel used to be cool... what happened? Lindsay! LOL

And that bat fucker! I love it. He's so protective over Justin and Brian. He's so worried about what Joan did to Brian and your brother is in for a sad sad shock.

And his take on Brian and Ted - "He keeps wanting everyone to just be them" is so so so accurate.

Your brother may be high off his butt on painkillers but he's very accurate in his takes.

[briamichellewrites]

8

Bria and Brad quietly purchased a home together for them and Tiny. She had to go through a probate lawyer to sell her mother’s house because it was willed to her. Since Brad had some knowledge of contracts, he researched what she had to do to put the house on the market. She and Brad followed his advice. It was a year since they started dating. The band met him after he was invited over to hang out at Mike’s apartment.

They saw what Bria loved about him. He didn’t care about his fame. That wasn’t who he was. He was overwhelmed by Hollywood and he hated the media coverage of his life. But, without the paparazzi and the tabloid’s attention, he wouldn’t have a career. It was a double-edged sword. He wasn’t a guy who liked going out. Rather, he liked being at home.

He was her first serious relationship. She dated Mike for six months, but that was puppy love. They pushed each other to be their best. The band thought it was adorable how much in love he was. Bria was one of a kind and the type of woman you only met once in your life. She didn’t take herself too seriously and she wasn’t afraid of keeping them in line. Outside, she was beautiful. The kind that made people do a double-take.

Inside, she was kind-hearted towards her kitten and the people around her. Tiny was like her child. She loved and cared for her with her whole heart. In return, Tiny gave her cuddles and purrs. Brad came home to find her curled up on her chest fast asleep. She laid down to look at her phone when she came over and curled up to her.

She was afraid of moving and waking her up. He got his camera and took a picture because it was so adorable. Their house was located in Los Feliz. It had six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. What they loved about it was the privacy. It was also inexpensive at only one million, seven hundred thousand dollars. That was a price they could both afford. Before moving in together, they relegated duties. She was learning how to cook, clean, and do other housewife chores.

She didn’t mind being a housewife because he was often working on different projects. Linda was becoming ever more proud of her. She did everything she could to teach her everything about taking care of a household. Watching her grow up was an honor. She always felt like a daughter to her. Her father would also be incredibly proud of her for the woman she was becoming.

She was introduced to Brad and she thought he was a classy guy. Did she approve of the relationship? She did. As a mother figure, all she wanted for her was to know she was happy. He thanked her. They were introduced to his parents, who were hesitant because of her very young age. As they talked to her, they found her to be well-educated, humble, and a woman who loved their son for who he was. They also appreciated she had her own money.

It meant she wouldn’t be living off of him. If they ever separated, she wouldn’t be taking him to court over money. Linda was the only parent she had left and she talked about how she had watched her grow up. How did she meet her?

She was hired as her father’s assistant in 1990. Bria was nine years old at the time. When her father died, she hired her as her assistant. Over the years, her role had become less and less as she was learning how to do more things for herself. She didn’t mind because she wanted her to become less dependent on her. They learned the circumstances of her parents’ deaths. Her father raised a great young woman. What was her last name? Was it European?

“It’s French. My dad’s side of the family is from Alsace. I’m a first-generation French immigrant.”

“What about your mother?”

“I don’t know. Though my guess is she was also European. My dad never liked talking about her because it was too difficult due to his grief.”

Linda didn’t know either. She and Brad could tell how hard she was trying. His parents were not easy to impress. She dressed conservatively while still being fashionable. Her button-up shirt didn’t show anything when she bent over and her skirt went down to her ankles. She braided her long brown hair to keep it out of her face and she wore minimal makeup. He thought she looked beautiful as always. William and Jane learned she was fluent in French, Japanese, and Spanish.

She could speak Chinese, though only at an elementary level. Her two main languages were English and French. Did she speak French at home with her father? Yes. It was his first language so he was more comfortable speaking it. Why did she learn Japanese? It was a language used in business, as was Chinese and Spanish.

When they got home, Tiny had just finished one of many naps. She yawned and stretched before going to greet the humans. Hi, humans! Brad picked her up when she meowed at him. There’s my girl! Linda said hello to her. Did she have a nice nap? Yes, she did! She scratched her head. That feels good. Thank you, human! She wanted to go play, so he put her back on the floor. They followed her over to her toys and then sat down.

She loved being a cat because she could do whatever she wanted. The humans were here, there, and everywhere! She wondered where they went. Humans were strange creatures. They walked on their paws and didn’t use the litter box like she did. She didn’t understand them. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to or maybe it was something she would find out when she got older. For now, she played with her toys and pretended that she was hunting her prey.

Bria, Brad, and Linda thought the meeting went well. He gave his parents credit for trying to have an open mind about her. They were hard to impress sometimes and had conservative values. He made it clear that this was not just another relationship but a very serious one. Linda could also tell they were trying to keep an open mind.

“Japanese”, Brad asked her.

“It will come in handy someday. I just know it.”

He laughed. Did her ex-boyfriend know Japanese? He knew some of the language. His brother knew more than he did because he was learning it in college. His father was fluent, though so they could have conversations. Mike and his brother were second-generation immigrants. What about his mother? She was European. She didn’t know if she knew any languages.

He would have to ask him. Meow! I’m hungry! Meow! The three of them went into the kitchen where Tiny was demanding her dinner. Brad and Linda stood back while she dispersed the food onto the plate. After setting it down, she sniffed it before eating. Yum! Thank you, human! This was just what she wanted! Bria joked that her ADHD ass didn’t want to cook dinner, but she was going to anyway. They laughed before she went to the refrigerator to see what they had after putting on some music.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia

[perexcri]

Aaaa yay!! They’re going to go together!! They’re getting so good at communicating with each other! (Also I remember you talking about drinking that plum wine!! :O I now understand!)

“His breath snares in his throat as he takes in the sight of his love: sweat makes his bangs curl and bend in all directions and his shirt stick against his shoulders; his mouth is pulled into an affable grin, and a fistful of flowers blossom out of his hand, stalks of lavender, creamy dahlias, twilight purple orchids, carmine and honey blanket flowers. There’s just enough shadow from the roof’s overhang that they pulse faintly with light, their colors dancing against Mike’s irises.” Got me Screaming into my pillow at this, rhdjeidj they’re so In Love and you continue w the magic words!

Also! Matching necklaces!!!! Love that for them!! It’s lovely of Will to make sure it’s the same kind of charm that he uses. They’re just. Aaaa I’m running out of words with which to express how much I love this story and these characters and just!

I’m so glad they’re gonna get their happy life of freedom together, even if it took them a few more years than they expected when they were 12.

I hope u are having a very lovely day and your week is going good so far:)

YESSSS they're finally getting their runaway arc!! i told you i'm committed to a happy ending, and i mean it :]

and yes - the plum wine i briefly mentioned was an actual plot point in this thing aldfjasklf i'd had plum wine once or twice before, but i couldn't quite remember how it tasted and wanted to make sure i'd described it correctly in the chapter. i'd mainly just forgotten that it's a little on the tangy side, so i'm glad i decide to refresh myself on how it tastes haha

they are!! so in love!! almost unbearably so i swear. perexcri's finally beating the "why do they never kiss" allegations with this one, folks.

yeah the matching necklaces has me 🫠 i've loved writing this fic and i'm very proud of it, but also it's the one that if anybody i know irl who isn't a close friend of mine found it i'd have to drop off the face of the earth and resurface in like,,,Norway under a different name. i love it but damn, i am not beating the sentimental allegations. i want to be so cool and cold and emo, but i'm really just a big sap at heart i guess 😩

i am too!! i really liked the idea of this fic of them trying to find healing for themselves rather than trying to take on the world and save the day. maybe it's selfish, but i feel like the show deals with similar contradictory themes (i'm mainly thinking of the idea of running away - Will running away in the upside down and from the mind flayer was always kinda framed as him doing the correct thing, whereas Eddie facing the bats - while noble - resulted in his death. something something there is no shame in running??)

i am wishing you a lovely day (well,,,night now lol) too, Vee!! i hope you're having a good week :] i know mine's been made better by being able to post these chapters and getting to talk with you 💜💜💜

[lgbtqforeverything]

watching stargirl: frenemies episode 12

- we’re back baby!!!!

- oh my god she used the friend technique

- she’s gunna kill him with the award

- FUCK YEAH I WAS RIGHT

- i support women’s rights but more importantly i support women’s wrongs

- god i hate this bitch

- DOES SLYVESTER DIE. PLEASE.

- barbara this is incredibly gay behavior i hope you know this

- artemis in the gym :(

- artemis should beat up slyvester. as a treat <3

- my son!!!

- he took it off!! shit.

- the art of lighting my beloved <3

- he wants to take it off. he wants to be back to the rick tyler he knows he should be. but he can’t.

- mr deislinger </3

- slyvester you leave them out of this.

- you can’t put that on them bitch!!!

- love that mike is excited about the room where cindy plotted to kidnap him

- MIKE’S SHIRT SAID TRANS RIGHTS

- oh jakeem. you sweet sweet idiot boy.

- oh cameron. you idiot boy.

- OH THIS IS SMART. FUCK YOU JORDAN MAHKENT.

- the makeup team did a fantastic job on jordan

- slyvester i am punching you rn.

- the lighting in this scene went OFF

- poor pat :(

- go off courtney. fucking get him.

- anyway mike and pat are very very similar and that blinds them from each other. in this essay i will-

- I DONT KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE THE CW. AND I DONT FUCKING CARE. my dad does tho apparently

- beth chapel you are the best person on this show

- there’s no way they don’t run into the ultra humanite right?

- zeek i love you

- look at my boy asking for help!! i’m so proud <3

- pat this is so idiotic

- pat’s wearing the stripesy shirt :’)

- wow that’s a lot of guilt

- pat that’s gay

- CAN WE STOP BRINGING PEOPLE BACK PLEASE

- ITS IN JORDAN MAHKENT

- YESSSSSSSSS

- WHEN I TELL YOU I YELLED

- I FELL SO HAPPY AND VINDICATED RIGHT NOW

- I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO BE WRONG

- cindy should get to kill her dad again. she deserves it <3

- OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD

- joel mchale you have done such a good job

- OH MY GOD STARMAN IS BURYING PAT IN THE STRIPESY SHIRT

- i’m sorry does geoff johns actually know what he’s doing??? did he create a plot that arced multiple seasons and tricked the audience???? what the fuck????

- i want to kill this bitch so bad.

- WHAT IS HAPPENING

- i am in shock. like it has been so long since a tv show did this to me i an in shock and don’t know what to do with myself. how am i going to survive an entire week i need answers NOW

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

Okay, another hour and a half long episode.

1.) Brenner missed the sad CGI and also baby El was very good at sealing the upside down.

2.) Brenner should have been a tattoo artist instead. I mean, a tattoo artist for adults, not kids. He’s got very steady hands and can tattoo numbers very exactly.

3.) THIS IS MUSIC.

4.) Honestly so far the only one who’s been a snob about music is Robin. But also I still don’t think Eddie would like Taylor Swift.

5.) Henry really wants to villain monologue at you, Nancy. Take a seat for this cliche.

6.) Damn, the CGI on those restraints is…bad.

7.) These images are going way too fast.

8.) Damn, Steve. Your arms are nice.

9.).”Written and directed by the Duffer Brothers”. I Know. That’s the Problem.

10.) What’s the point of keeping Yuri quiet at this point?

11.) Hopper, we super had a funeral for you.

12.) El is actually doing really badly.

13.) Why is anyone surprised that demogorgons can climb? Look at those fuck off legs.

14.) DID NONE OF THESE GUARDS PAY ATTENTION TO HOPPER USING FIRE?

15.) Okay the soldiers can unload their clip into a demogorgon and nothing happens but Hopper can shoot a demodog once in the head like Ol Yeller and it works.

16.) Okay but for real, where are the Russians getting all these bastards? Fun tubes, but WHERE ARE THEY FROM? Are they from Hawkins? How did they transfer that shit?

17.) HOW’D THEY GET THE CGI DUST MONSTER TO RUSSIA?

18.) Okay she can lift a thing.

19.) Will, I’m so sorry, but I did not care about your speech to Mike.

20.) I still don’t understand how Henry survived El’s attack or why the upside down didn’t turn into anything for him or what the fuck he did for like a decade floating in a void.

21.) Why is everyone whispering

22.) El got to hear at least some of the plan, at least.

23.) The War Zone is a hilarious name for a shop.

24.) Eddie, you moron. Wearing a mask doesn’t help if you’re wearing a shirt emblazoned with your club.

25.) BIG BOY.

26.) My roommate pointed out the RV would have been hooked up to water and sewage so driving it off like that would have fucked up the ground and the vehicle.

27.) I do not understand why Henry is so powerful or why him killing people would give him their powers when it doesn’t do that for El.

28.) I still don’t want Steve and Nancy together. Also I don’t think he actually said he wanted her there.

29.) that helicopter is hilarious

30.) “The KGB will be listening to this call” Oh what a change. This time it’ll be agents of someone else’s government that will be listening in.

31.) Oh, okay, Steve got the jacket from War Zone. Where’s the vest though?

32.) Ah, the boyfriend reveal.

33.) I still hate Jason Carver. Also, buckshot has a pretty good range, dipshit.

34.) Tire tracks. Ah yes, the plot happened here.

35.) IDK why El told Sam to check Max’s place. The bit she heard did not make it seem like they were staying there. And so Sam asking that woman for that was kind of stupid.

36.) What? Brenner double crossed Sam Owens? Who could have predicted this twist? Surely only the greatest psychics.

37.) I am proud of El for saying to Brenner’s face that he’s a monster.

38.) Baby girl, kill Brenner anyway.

39.) YOU KNOW WHO WOULD LOVE TO KILL BRENNER? KALI. THE GIRL NO ONE IN THIS FACILITY TALKS ABOUT.

40.) Robin and Steve are sweet.

41.) goddamn it, brenner, just remove El’s collar.

42.) I am glad Brenner got shot so many times though.

43.) Oh shit, it’s the script.

44.) oh no the psychic child is using her psychic powers to stop your from badly shooting at her? Who could have predicted this?

45.) oh my god el, do something real already.

46.) the payoff wasn’t worth it.

47.) “Yeah, it’s cool, but it would have been better if it’d happened about 11 seconds earlier.” My roommate is hilarious.

48.) Brenner turned off the collar as a last act. Okay whatever.

49.) BRENNER SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DIE ALREADY.

50.) this heartfelt conversation makes no sense and was not earned.

51.) brenner you were shot like 5 times by a sniper rifle, how are you still talking, let alone alive?

52.) SHould have run over his corpse with the pizza van

53.) god they held on that brenner shot for way too long

54.) WHO’S GONN DIE????? Just say everyone.

55.) moody shots.

56.) LMAO THIS SONG. GOD. DUFFERS, STOP SUCKING YOUR OWN CODCKS FOR FIVE SECONDS.

Oh god I looked ahead and the season 4 finale is 2 and 22 minutes long. I hate the duffers.

[thomasxking]

I’ll raise you my pants That was a trap. A very obvious, very plain trap. Thomas could see it as clear as day and even if his expression betrayed his surprise – his hand was absolute and utter garbage that round – a part of him wanted to toss all caution to the wind and raise it yet again. They were having fun. So what if he would lose some items of clothing to Mike? Mike had already lost his shirt in the previous round. In the end, there could only be one victor while the other would be left completely naked. Might as well make the fucking game interesting while they were going at it, right? “Fine. I���ll raise you both my shoes alongside my shirt and my belt.” His hand was shit. Absolute shit and Thomas knew that Mike was aware of this. Why else would he raise his pants if not to lure him out and make him go harder? To hell with that. Thomas knew he lost but he still flipped his pair of sevens, giving Mike a very casual shrug regarding how bad his hand was. Who cared, really? He wasn’t averse to getting naked with another man and he did win the previous round. “I know you won this round. And… I don’t care.” But he did care about Mike’s words. About him being proud of the things he did rather than trying to impress someone that saw him as nothing more than a mere object. It was easier said than done, really. What did he have to feel proud about? There were no big accomplishments in his life. All he had now was given to him on a golden platter ( cause silver was too cheap ). Even the Haus he now ran with Alexander was given to them both. And in his personal life? What personal life? He had never had a fucking boyfriend ever. And the only time he had deep feelings toward someone, they ended up drunk and marrying in Vegas only for him to ask for an annulment a week later because he was too damn terrified to end up heartbroken. What was there to be proud of? His looks? His intellect? Thomas sighed and shook his head, his eyes moving from Mike to the glass of wine that assisted in making his tongue slightly loose. “What if I don’t have anything to feel proud about? What if… I have done nothing that makes me feel good about myself in the morning? Maybe that’s not for me. The whole… proud of my actions things.”

However, as deep as the conversation was pending on his side – the same could be said about Mike’s. The admission that he had never actually thought of being there – retired - because all he had expected was to die in the line of duty was… well… shit. Thomas had no idea how those things worked but he knew enough that people that did what Mike had done were always surrounded by the chance of catching a flying bullet. Those that came out alive were fewer in between but that didn’t make it less serious to actually hear someone saying that they didn’t expect to live until today. “That just means you were good at what you did. You’re alive now.” Thomas’s eyes returned to Mike and in a moment of complete insanity – or maybe having a sudden display of kindness – Thomas reached out for Mike’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. He had no idea what he could say that would make any sense. To just say those vague words that everyone did because they sounded nice was not his style. “For what’s worth? I’m glad you are here. I wouldn’t have a handsome poker player buddy if you got shot out there. As for the future?” Now that was a massive question – not just for Mike but everyone. “How about just living it up? There’s beauty in not having expectations. Even I who have the tendency to control everything need to stop sometimes… and just let things happen. Takes a fucking load off your shoulders, I’ll tell you that.”

He smiled at Thomas' comment, and he flicked his brows, "Touche." Mike mentioned softly. No one enjoyed getting shot, there was no doubt that about that. His glass of wine was steadily dwindling but Mike was pretty sure he had a bottle somewhere in his kitchen. There was a bottle there when he arrived as like a welcoming gift, he was pretty sure, that he just hadn't drank. Again, he wasn't much of a wine guy, but maybe he would be after tonight.

Hearing Thomas raise his shirt, Mike kept his face neutral and nodded his head. He knew Thomas was bluffing. It was easy to see from the slight twitches in his jaw. Mike was entirely confident in his hand and he just wanted to see Thomas' reaction to this next statement, "Oh, wow. Okay." He smiled a bit, "I'll raise you my pants." He was sure that was going to get the King to fold if he wanted the game to keep going. There was no way that Thomas had a better hand than him. He made major note of that when he swapped his cards and didn't look much happier. However, he knew that the man was having a good time. Mike was having a genuine blast. He felt like he was back with Paul and the team. It was...really nice. Mike didn't know how much he missed it until it was gone.

Holding his wine glass close to his chest, he listened to each and every word that Thomas spoke. It was interesting to hear about his life and how different it was from his. But it didn't sound like an easy one, no matter how much money he had. It sounded like Thomas just wanted his father to be proud of him and his brother and it just didn't happen. But he came out on top, didn't he? And that's what really mattered in the long run. Putting your effort into something or someone that could care less just wasn't worth it, "Good." Mike said sincerely, "You shouldn't. You should just focus on what makes you proud." That was all anyone should care about, "That's what I was told when I first started in the FBI." It stuck with him all those years and it would stay with him. It was why Mike was currently working on himself now. He wanted to be proud of himself again.

His question from Thomas didn't come to a surprise but he wasn't quite sure how truthful he should answer it. But Thomas had opened up to him. Mike should return the gesture. Downing the rest of his glass of wine, he placed the glass back down and he shook his head, "I didn't have a backup plan." Mike admitted, "I didn't expect to make it to retirement." He fully expected to die out on the field. Every case he took on got harder and harder. At the rate he was going, Mike didn't expect to make it another two years, "The shit I did and the people I...worked to take down, you're not meant to make it that far. They're vengeful people." He shrugged, "So, I guess I'm trying to formulate a backup plan."

[fxckadoodledoomunson]

Breaking The Cycle |2/2|

Previous

Summary: Eddie tries to win you back, only to have it backfired. Can he make amends with you?

Warning: swearing

Tagged: @digital-charlie @sadbitchfangirl @sister-cirice @imbringingsexycrab @marianita195 @silky-luxe @bimbobaggins69 @eddiemunson4life420 @zahra10999 @maidenofartemis

Friday evening had arrived. You were in Family Video, practicing your punches in your gym outfit, when Steve grabbed your fist, chuckling, “Easy Rocky. Save the punches for later.”

You lowered your arms, before you started doing neck stretches when Robin told you, whilst leaning on the counter, “I get worn out just by watching you exercise .”

You laughed, when Steve told you, while stacking tapes, “You should be proud. I’ve seen tough guys go in that gym and they don’t come back after one time.”

“I’m surprised that you haven’t joined, Steve,” Robin said to him. “It’s probably a new hotspot to pick up the ladies.”

She winked at him, as you giggled.

“Nah, I doubt he’ll be able to flirt,” you told her. “Some of the instructors are very strict, so he won’t be able to get a chance to ask for any of the ladies’ names, let alone ask for their numbers.”

Suddenly, you noticed Chrissy and Samantha, as well as Jason and Patrick, heading to the gym.

“Oh, they’re over there,” you announced. You then grabbed your gym bag from the back, as you said, “I’ll see you guys later.”

You ran out of the door, as Robin and Steve said goodbye to you.

You then ran across the street and into the gym, catching up with Chrissy and the others.

“Hey!” Chrissy greeted you as she hugged you.

“You’re in your gym clothes already?” Samantha asked you.

“Yeah, my friends had let me get changed in the toilets at work,” you replied, as you all walked up to reception to sign in and collect your locker keys.

You and the girls then went to the changing rooms.

A moment later, you took out your boxing gloves and pads, as well as your water bottle from your bag, while the girls were finishing getting changed.

After putting your bag away, you left the locker room and made your way to one of the studios.

After you had showed the others where the spare gloves and pads were, you were chatting and laughing with Patrick when you heard the door open, expecting the trainer to come in.

Your face fell, as you saw who was really coming in. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” you said in a hushed tone.

It was Eddie, followed by the rest of Hellfire, who wore their signature shirts and Hawkins High gym shorts.

“What they doing here?” Jason asked. “And what are they wearing?”

As they came in, Gareth pulled his shorts down a bit, as he told Eddie, “I can’t believe you cut the campaign short for this.”

“I don’t think this is gonna win her back,” Jeff chimed in.

“Will you two shut up?” Eddie hissed, as he put his hair in a low bun. “We’re not backing out.”

Suddenly, the trainer, Robert came in. “Oh, you guys must be doing the trial?” He asked the Hellfire boys.

“That’s right,” Eddie replied, as Grant and Gareth tried to sneak out, when Eddie managed to grab them by their shirts, preventing them from leaving.

As he took their names, Robert looked at Lucas, Mike and Dustin before asking them how old they were.

After confirming their age, Robert informed them, “Sorry, you’re aren’t allowed to take part in this class.”

“Why not?” Eddie asked.

“This session is mainly for adults. It wouldn’t be fair for juniors to take part. Health and safety and all. They need to be at least eighteen to take part in the class.”

“Oh shoot, I’m only sixteen,” Gareth sarcastically said. “I guess I can’t take part either.”

“Damn it,” Eddie muttered.

Suddenly, Chrissy raised her hand, as she told the instructor, “I turn eighteen in June, am I still allowed to be in this class?”

“Well, I’ll make an exception this one time,” Robert replied. “Anyone else not eighteen?”

Jeff and Grant were about to raise their hands when Eddie glared at them.

“Well, before you pair up,” Robert began to shout as he put on some music. “Let’s start warming up! Starting with running around the room! Go!”

After a minute of running, Robert instructed everyone to do squats, followed by mountain climbers, and finally burpees.

The Hellfire members groaned as they watched you and the jocks and cheerleaders doing burpees, while the three freshmen and Gareth were watching with amusement.

By the time Robert told everyone to rest, Jeff and Grant were still lying on their fronts, struggling to get up.

“She doesn’t really enjoy it, right?” Grant panted as he and Jeff helped each other up.

“That was brutal, I hope the actual session isn’t gonna suck,” Jeff groaned, as Eddie got to his feet, when Jason told them, “It’s not too late to back out, boys.”

Eddie knew that he wasn’t going to back out, even if the session was going to kill him. He knew that he had to find a way to make it up to you.

Robert went up to the black board, as he announced, “With your partner, you’ll be starting with one hundred jabs, then ninety jumping jacks, eighty uppercuts...”

While Robert was announcing the other exercises, the three older Hellfire guys groaned.

“I knew that I should’ve stay at home,” Grant moaned.

Eddie suddenly looked over at you showing a couple of the older women alternative exercises to do, if there were some that they couldn’t do.

He couldn’t help but admire you. That you were doing something that made you happy. He had never thought that the same shy girl he met and introduced to Hellfire a year ago, would become this confident person who enjoyed doing fitness.

Suddenly, Robert announced, “We have even numbers tonight, so everyone needs to get in pairs.”

At once, Chrissy and Samantha paired up, as well as Jason and Patrick. You saw that most people were already paired up, except you.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t have a partner?” Robert asked.

You raised your hand, when you noticed Eddie raising his. “Munson, you can pair up with her,” Robert told Eddie as he pointed at you, before telling Eddie. “This one’s feisty, so be careful.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Eddie chuckled.

You huffed, as you watched Eddie grab a pair of gloves and pads from a box.

You were putting on your gloves, as Eddie made his way to you.

Eddie was about to put on the gloves when you sternly told him, “Pads.”

“Huh?” He exclaimed.

“You need to wear pads. I’ll be doing the punches first.”

“Oh, right.” Eddie was about to put on one of the pads, when you told him that he needed to take his rings off first.

“You’re not serious,” he said, as he furrowed his brows.

“I am. Do you want swelled up fingers?” You retorted.

He groaned, as he reluctantly took off his rings and gave them to Dustin to look after, before putting on one pad on.

As he struggled to put the second one on, you sighed, slipping off your gloves and helped him put it on.

You were still pissed off with him, but you didn’t want him to get injured.

“Thanks,” he said as you quickly slipped your gloves back on, while Robert started counting down.

“Three...two...one...go!” Robert shouted, before everyone started the first round.

Eddie had his pads in close to his chest facing you. Before you could throw a punch, you told him, “You need to straighten your arms a bit. And you need to change your stance.”

You straightened his arms and helped him get into his stance, before you started throwing jabs while counting them in your head.

Eddie was at awe watching you focusing on your jabs. He couldn’t believe how fast you were throwing punches.

He was so fixated on you that he didn’t realise that you had finished throwing punches until you shouted, “Eddie, come on! Jumping jacks now!”

You turned your back to him as you were doing the next exercise, when you noticed Grant and Jeff struggling with the jumping jacks. Once you caught their attention, you showed them how to do low impact jacks.

As soon as they started doing them, you went back to regular jumping jacks.

“Come on! I want to see you all moving!” Robert shouted.

As soon as you finished the jumping jacks, you waited for Eddie, who looked like that he was about to faint, to finish.

Eddie noticed that Jason was snickering at him, which made him stop doing the exercise. He was about to approach Jason when you got hold of him and told him, “Don’t.”

As you pulled him away, you turned to Jason and glared at him as you mouthed, “Pack it in.”

You turned back to a coughing Eddie, positioned his arms and hands, ready for the uppercuts.

As you threw some uppercuts, you noticed Eddie’s arms kept flapping about.

“Keep your arms firm,” you told him, as you repositioned his arms.

As you continued to throw more uppercuts, you told Eddie, “Maybe you should leave the class and let me spar with Robert. You’re not taking this seriously.”

“Of course I am,” Eddie retorted, taking your punches.

“If you’re doing this just to impress Samantha or Chrissy-“

“I’m not trying to impress either of them,” he told you as he unintentionally moved arms down. “I’m only doing this class to win you ba-“

Before Eddie knew it, you punched him square on the chin, causing him to fall to the mat.

“Shit, Eddie!” You yelled as you kneeled by an unconscious Eddie, as everyone circled around him...

By the time Eddie opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a hospital bed.

He started to wince, as he felt a pain under his chin, as well as the back of his head.

He looked over to find his uncle Wayne sitting by him.

“You’re finally awake, son,” Wayne told him, as he put down his cup of coffee on the table.

“How long have I been in here?” Eddie hoarsely asked.

“Over twelve hours. This one hasn’t left your side.”

Wayne pointed at you to him. Eddie turned to find you sleeping with your head resting on the edge of the bed, while you were holding his hand.

“She’s been here this whole time?” Eddie asked, as he gazed at her.

“Well, I had to make her leave to get food or go to the bathroom. Your other friends came by to check on you, but she’s the one who stuck around. She was adamant on staying.”

Wayne pressed the buzzer on the wall, as he told him, “That Robert guy said it was lucky that your head hit the mat. Otherwise it would’ve been worse.”

Eddie sighed, “It was my own stupid fault. I let my guard down.”

“That Dustin kid mentioned that to me. Which reminds me.” Wayne patted his pocket as he continued to speak, “He gave me your rings back.”

Suddenly, a doctor came in. “Ah, Mr Munson, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve had my jaw broken by Vecna,” Eddie replied.

The doctor chuckled, even though he had no clue what Eddie was talking about. He grabbed notes from the end of the bed, and looked through them as he began to speak, “We’ll do some more examinations and once we get the all clear, you can go home.”

Suddenly, they heard you quietly moan as you slowly woke up.

As you raised your head, Eddie smiled as he said, “Hey sleepy head.”

You were too drowsy to respond. Wayne asked the doctor, “So, when do you think will Eddie be well enough to come home?”

“Depends on the results. If he’s lucky, he’ll be able to leave tomorrow.”

You were rubbing your eyes, when the doctor told him, “Now Mr Munson, I must advise you to rest at home, so no activities, no lifting anything or use heavy machinery. You will also need someone at home with you at all times, in case you’re still unwell.”

“Well, the thing is, Doc,” Wayne began to explain. “I work nights at the plant, and I can’t afford to take time off at the moment. I could ask someone at the park to look after him, but some of the folks ain’t kind to my nephew.”

“Well, I’m sure his girlfriend can look after him,” the doctor replied as he looked at you.

Eddie was about to say something when you quickly told the doctor, “I’m not his girlfriend.”

Eddie sadly gazed at you. It was true, you weren’t his girlfriend, but he still felt hurt by your response.

“But,” you continued to speak, as you turned to look at Eddie. “I can stay while Wayne is working nights.”

You smiled at him, before saying to Wayne, “If that’s okay with you.”

“Of course,” Wayne replied. “You know that you’re always welcome at our place.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Eddie told you, whilst smiling at you.

A couple of days later, you were cycling to the trailer park from your place, carrying your backpack filled with yours and Eddie’s homework and essential toiletries and clothes, along with a sleeping bag clipped to your bag. Luckily you didn’t live far from Eddie and Wayne. As soon as you reached the park, you got off your bike and leaned it against the trailer.

You took off your cycling helmet as you walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

Wayne opened the door and greeted you, “Hi darlin’, come on in.”

You thanked him as he let you inside. “I’ll let him know that you’re here,” he told you, as you put down your bag and helmet next to the front door.

“How is he today?” You asked as you took off your hoodie.

“Well he’s been sleeping nearly all day, but he’s okay.” Wayne replied, as he made his way to Eddie’s room.

You heard Wayne letting Eddie know that you were here.

“Woah! Easy, son,” you heard Wayne say. “I know you’re happy to see her, but the doctor said to take it easy, remember?”

A moment later, Eddie was slowly stepping out of his room, wearing his Dio shirt and plaid pyjama bottoms, as he greeted you.

Eddie ambled into the living room and onto the couch, while Wayne told you both that he was going to dish up the dinner.

“Gretchen from work made us vegetable lasagna,” Wayne told you as he put on oven mitts before taking out the dish from the oven.

“Do you need a hand?” You asked.

“If you wouldn’t mind, just grab the cutlery and plates for me please.”

You grabbed the plates from the cupboard and put on the counter for Wayne, before getting some cutlery from the drawers and putting them on the table, while Wayne dished up the dinner.

After setting the table, you grabbed a couple of plates and put them on the table. Eddie was making his way to the table when he grabbed a chair near the coffee table.

He was about to take it to the table when you stopped him, as you said, “No lifting.”

You moved the chair to the table as Eddie retorted, “It’s only a chair.”

“You heard the lady, son,” Wayne chuckled, as he grabbed the last plate and took it to the table.

After finishing your dinner, you offered to wash the dishes while Wayne got ready for his shift. Meanwhile, Eddie was still sitting at the table, doing his homework.

By the time you had dried up everything, Wayne was heading to the door as he said goodbye to you both.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Wayne joked, before he left the trailer.

You were hanging the tea towel on the drawer handle, when you noticed Eddie massaging his forehead.

“Are you okay?” You asked him, as you grabbed a couple of glasses.

“Yeah, I’m just struggling with this history assignment,” Eddie replied, as you filled up the glasses with water.

“I wrote down notes from the lesson if you want to look at them.”

After turning off the tap, you grabbed the glasses and placed them onto the table when you noticed that Eddie was reading some notes that weren’t school related.

Eddie turned to you, as he showed you notes containing different exercises and things on nutrition.

“Did you write all these down?” He asked, as you sat down.

You looked at the notes, as you replied. “Yeah, I took notes from a couple of books I borrowed the other day. Some of the other stuff on there are exercises I did before in the classes.”

Eddie astonishingly looked through the contents of the notebook as he told you, “Jesus, you really take this fitness stuff seriously.”

“Well, it’s not different from you taking campaigns seriously.”

Eddie chuckled but quickly stopped when he suddenly remembered how he treated you recently.

“Listen sweetheart,” Eddie began to speak, as he put his hand on top of yours. “I don’t deserve to have you looking after me.”

You silently gazed at him for a moment before telling him. “Well, it was my fault that you ended up in hospital.”

“No it wasn’t. I let my guard down, sweetheart. I only did the trial so I could try and win you back.”

“Win me back?” Suddenly, you moved your hand from under his own, as you continued to tell him, “Eddie, I wasn’t even yours in the first place. You were besotted with Samantha, remember? And before her, there was Tracy, Clare, and Lauren. Not to mention that you had a crush on Chrissy-“

“Exactly, I had a crush on Chrissy, and that was back in middle school. And I stopped liking those other girls after I saw them picking on you. As for Samantha, it was never gonna happen.”

You silently looked at him, as he explained, “She told me that even if she was single, she wouldn’t date me, especially after the way I treated you.”

Eddie sighed before he began to apologise, “Look...I’m sorry that I’ve been an asshole to you recently. It’s just, after I rejected you, I started to regret it. And then you spent less time with us and more on doing those classes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you found something that made you happy. I guess I was just...bitter.”

Before you could say anything, Eddie got up from his seat and went into his room.

You followed him, finding him rummaging through his closet when his picked up a small box.

“Eddie,” you began to speak.

“Relax, it’s very light,” Eddie replied as he turned to you and passed the box to you.

You looked at him with confusion as Eddie told you, “I was gonna give it to you after the class, but uh...Anyway, you can open it.”

You put the box down on the bed, and opened it, revealing a small teddy bear in a Hellfire shirt. As you picked it up, you noticed something else inside the box too. Eddie took it out for you, revealing a new Hellfire shirt in your favourite colour.

“I know you said that you’re not part of Hellfire anymore, but I, well....we want you to have it.”

“Thank you, Eddie.”

“Although, we would like it if you came back. It’s not the same without you,” Eddie told you, as you looked at the shirt, before turning your attention to the teddy bear, when Eddie said, “I thought I would make use of your old shirt.”

You smiled before you looked up at Eddie’s doe eyes, when he asked you, “Can I ask you something?”

You silently nodded, before Eddie began to ask, “Would you’ve told me how you felt if I didn’t make that bet with you guys?”

You sighed, before replying, “To be honest...I wasn’t sure if I was going to confess to you at all.”

Eddie gazed at you with confusion, before you explained, “Whenever I split up with somebody or get rejected by a guy I like, I get into this vicious cycle. I would stay in bed for days, not wanting to do anything or I would just eat and eat until I would get sick.”

You sat on his bed, holding onto your bear, as you continued to explain. “The last time I was in that cycle, I confessed to a guy called Daniel. Do you know what he did?” You looked up at Eddie as you told him, “He laughed. He and his friends laughed, right in my face.”

“Shit,” Eddie said as he sat next to you. “When was this?”

“This was...about three months before I met you guys. So, over a year ago.”

Eddie bit his lip, as you told him, “That’s why I didn’t confess to you until that day. Then, it nearly happened again, after you rejected me. But something in the back of my mind told me not to do it.”

You both sat in silence, as Eddie was processing what you told him. He now knew how hard your worked to break your cycle.

He cleared his throat, before he began to speak, “Listen, I don’t want to say or do anything that would ruin all of your hard work, but could you tell me how you feel about me?”

You silently stared at him for a moment, when Eddie said, looking down at his feet, “Unless you’re now into someone like McKinney-“

“No.”

Eddie looked up at you, when you said, “I mean, I don’t like Patrick in that way. He’s nice and all, but I don’t have feelings for him.”

“Oh, I thought you two would-“

“Get together? I doubt he would be interested in me, especially after I nearly knocked him out with that soccer ball.”

Eddie chuckled, when you confessed, “I told you that I liked you as more than a friend, but that wasn’t strictly true.”

Eddie furrowed his brows, when you continued to confess, “The truth is...I love you.”

Eddie gaped, when you admitted, “I’ve been in love with you for ages, Eddie. I couldn’t tell you that in front of the guys because I couldn’t bear the teasing. Besides, you said it yourself, you don’t like me in that way-“

Suddenly, you were cut off by Eddie cupping your face and planting a kiss on your lips. Your eyes widened as Eddie continued to kiss you.

Suddenly, you pushed a confused Eddie away. “I don’t get it,” Eddie began to speak. “You just told me that you love me-“

“I know Eddie,” you interrupted. “But you didn’t have to do it.”

“Do what?”

“Kiss me out of pity-“

“That wasn’t pity. I told you before, I regretted rejecting you.” He continued to speak as he stroked your cheek. “Sweetheart, knowing how hard you worked to break your cycle had got me thinking.”

He chewed his bottom lip, before he continued, “It’s time that I broke mine.”

You furrowed your brows, when Eddie told you, “Instead of pining over cheerleaders or any other girls that I don’t stand a chance with, I should take my chances with someone who really wants to be with me. What do you say?”

You sighed, as you moved his hand away, “Look Eddie, this is going to take more than a couple of gifts, a kiss and a romantic speech to win me over,” you told him, as you put down the teddy bear on the bed. “You were a real dick to me.”

You stood up, about to leave the room when Eddie grabbed your hand as he replied. “I know, I know.” He then stood up and hugged you as he continued to speak. “And I’m really sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me for that. But just give me the word, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

You sighed and reciprocated the hug, as you thought what he and the others could do to make it up to you.

“There is something. But it can wait until you’ve fully recovered.”

A week later, Eddie had recovered and returned to school. You told him that you had something special for Hellfire, as you had decided to return to the club.

However, you told them to meet you at the gymnasium instead of the auditorium.

As soon as the Hellfire boys walked into the gymnasium, they had no idea what horrors were waiting for them.

“What the hell is this?” Mike asked as Eddie dropped his metal lunchbox, before quickly picking it up. Thankfully, none of the contents fell out.

In the middle of the gymnasium were a few gym equipments.

You greeted them, wearing your new Hellfire shirt, as you stood in front of the white board and foldable table, “This, gentlemen...”

You moved to the side, revealing a list of exercises. “Is a special Hellfire bootcamp class.”

“D1... one lap around the gymnasium,” Dustin read aloud.

“D2... two generals,” Lucas read aloud.

As they all read the board, Gareth noticed the final exercise, “D20....twenty...burpees?!”

The boys groaned, when you told them, “Robert gave me permission to use the equipments from the gym, so please don’t damage them.”

“I should’ve expected something like this when you told me that you had a surprise for us,” Eddie chuckled.

“Well, you said that you wanted to make it up to me,” you retorted. “Well you can. All of you in fact.”

“But why us too?” Mike asked. “We weren’t assholes to you.”

“True, but you all did nominate me to confess my feelings to someone,” you told him as you approached him. “So, consider it your punishment.”

You then turned around to walk to the board, with your hands behind your back, rolling a D20 dice in one hand, as you announced, “However, if one of you wins, you’ll be rewarded.”

“What kind of reward?” Jeff asked.

You turned to face them, before telling them, “Can be anything. Ice cream for a month on me, a new Nintendo game...”

“A trip to New York?” Gareth asked.

You glared at him, as you told him, “Don’t push your luck.”

Gareth looked down at his feet, as you told everyone, “Right, get changed and then we can get started.”

A few moments later, the boys were standing in their gym clothes, panting after running a lap around the gymnasium for a warmup. They were drinking some water provided by you, as they listened to your instructions, “So, you guys will have ten minutes to do the exercises as quickly as possible. You will roll the D20 dice and whatever number you will get, you will do the exercise that matches with the number.”

You quickly showed them the exercises, before telling them, “I would show alternative exercises, but that would be cheating.”

The boys moaned while you continued to give instructions. “Once you’ve completed an exercise, you will receive points. So doing a lap will count as one point, generals count as two points and so on. Everyone understand?”

The boys nodded, before you placed the D20 dice on the table and told them, as you set up an alarm on your watch, “Get ready in three...two...one...Go!”

Dustin was the first to roll, getting eleven. As he started doing squat jumps, Lucas rolled, getting fifteen before doing press-ups. Not long after, Gareth and Grant did a lap around the gymnasium, while Jeff did eight deadlifts, as well as Mike doing three tuck jumps. Finally, Eddie did twenty burpees.

Halfway through, Lucas was in the lead while Eddie was close to second. You were surprised that Eddie was in the top three, along with Dustin.

“Five more minutes! Keep it going!” You shouted. “Mike! Gareth! No dawdling!”

After Eddie completed eighteen kettle bell swings, he took a sip of bottled water from the table as he rolled the dice, landing on twenty.

He had put the bottle down, before he started doing burpees.

Like the rest of the boys, Eddie was getting tired. But he was determined to win, not for just any reward. But for you.

To your surprise, Eddie finished doing burpees quickly.

“For someone who hates exercise, Eddie’s doing well,” you chuckled to yourself. After Gareth rolled six and started doing tyre flips, Eddie quickly rolled, as you heard him mutter, “Twenty...twenty...”

Eddie rolled nineteen.

“Close enough,” you told him, as he made his way to a barbell and started doing ground to airs.

“You’ve now got under two minutes!” You shouted.

You heard some of the boys groan, before telling them, “Come on! Push through it!”

After completing ground to air, Eddie ran quickly ran to roll the dice, which landed on twenty again.

Immediately, he did burpees again.

“You’ve now got thirty seconds to go! Keep moving!” You shouted.

After the boys were finishing the exercises, you shouted, “Three...two...one...rest!”

Some of the boys collapsed from exhaustion, as you started counting points.

“Dude, that was brutal,” Gareth groaned.

“I can’t feel my butt,” Mike moaned, as he got off the bike.

The boys went up to the board, as you continued to add a few more points. “So, who won?” Dustin asked.

As you finished counting, you informed them, “According to the board, the one with the most points is Lucas...”

“Yes!” Lucas gleefully cried. “I can take Max to see Kate Bu-“

“And Eddie.” You interrupted.

The boys gaped before Lucas and Eddie yelled, “What?!”

“It’s a tie,” you told them, as you put the marker down.

“So what now?” Eddie asked.

“Do we have to do it again?” Lucas asked.

“No, but you will need to do a sudden death,” you explained. “You two will have to do a squat hold. The person who can hold their squat the longest will be the winner.”

You started setting up the timer as Eddie and Lucas prepared themselves.

“Three...two...one...Go!”

You started the timer, as the two boys started to do squat holds.

A minute had passed. Eddie and Lucas were breathing rapidly, trying to hold their squats, when a confused Max came in.

“What’s going on?” She asked Dustin and Mike, as she took off her headphones. “I thought you guys had Hellfire-“

The two boys shushed her, as Lucas repeated, “Gotta get those Kate Bush tickets. Gotta get those Kate Bush tickets.”

“Keep dreaming, Sinclair,” Eddie chuckled. “I’m gonna win.”

Suddenly, Jason and the jocks, as well as Chrissy and Samantha walked in. Jason spotted Lucas, as he called out, “There you are, Sinclair. We need to...What’s going on here?”

The jocks looked at the gym equipment, as Jason scolded, “Hey! We’ve got to practice. Get out-“

“Will you shut up?!” Dustin shouted. “They’re in a middle of a sudden death.”

As Eddie and Lucas still held their squats, Andy was about to pick up a barbell, when you started to threaten him, “Touch that barbell and I’ll stick it where the sun don’t shine.”

Patrick turned to Andy and told him, “I’d listen to her if I were you.”

A few more minutes had past, and the boys were struggling through with their squat holds.

Jason was looking at his watch, waiting for them to stop when suddenly, Lucas groaned as he slowly stood up and rubbed his thighs, “I give up...I give up.”

Eddie was still in a squat hold position, when Dustin told him, “Eddie, you can stop now.”

Eddie didn’t listen to what he said, as he was focused on holding his squat.

Jason huffed as he grabbed the basketball from Chance and threw it at Eddie, hitting him in the chest.

Eddie stumbled and fell back.

“Eddie,” you cried, as you knelt down, before helping him up.

As he got to his feet, an angry Eddie picked up the basketball and threw it back at Jason.

“Jesus Christ, Carver!” He stomped towards Jason as he scolded him. “What did you do that for? I was so close to winning, and you ruined it-“

“You won, freak!” Jason shouted.

Eddie slowly moved back, as he asked, “What?”

“You won, Eddie,” Chrissy said, smiling at him.

“It’s true,” Lucas confirmed, as Eddie turned to him. “You beat me.”

Eddie turned to you, waiting for confirmation, as you smiled.

“The winner of the Hellfire bootcamp is Eddie the Banished!” You announced, before nearly everyone started cheering and clapping.

“I won?” A dumbfounded Eddie asked himself.

He started grinning, as he shouted, raising both arms in the air, “I won! I really won!”

He immediately lowered his arms, before running up to you and wrapping his arms around you.

He spun you around, laughing rambunctiously. You giggled, as he stopped spinning you and put you down.

“Well, have you thought about what you want as a reward?” You asked him, as Eddie had let go of you.

He nodded before replying, “Yeah, I have.”

He suddenly cupped your face as he leaned in to kiss you.

You gasped, as he continued to kiss you. Deciding not to resist any longer, you closed your eyes and wrapped your arms around his waist as you reciprocated the kiss, while the cheers continued.

Eddie pulled away as the cheers died down, when you asked him, “Was that what you wanted?”

Eddie shook his head, before telling you, “Not just that.”

As he moved his hands from your face, he told you while he held both of your hands, “I meant what I said before, about breaking my cycle.”

Eddie turned his head as he started coughing, before he continued, “And I really hope that doing this bootcamp has proved how serious I am about us. Otherwise, you might as well call an ambulance for my poor heart.”

You rolled your eyes, as you giggled. “You’re so dramatic, Eddie.”

You gave him a peck on the cheek, before telling him, “But that’s one of the reasons why I love you.”

“So...” Eddie began to ask you. “Does that mean that you’ll be my girlfriend?”

You silently smiled at him when you heard Jason shout, “Just give him an answer already so we can practice!”

Suddenly, Chrissy elbowed Jason, causing him to wince.

Eddie chuckled before turning back to you. “Well?” Eddie asked you. “Will you be my girlfriend, Sweetheart?”

You suddenly let go of his hands, before cupping his face, pulling him in for a passionate peck.

“Yes. I will,” you replied, as you smiled at him.

Eddie smiled back, before leaning in to kiss you, as he wrapped his arms around your waist, while the Hellfire club, Max, Chrissy and Samantha clapped and cheered. Even Patrick and Chance clapped for you both. Jason reluctantly clapped while Andy just walked away, as he gagged, “Eugh! Come find me when this is over.”

Eddie gave you another kiss, before holding you close to him.

“Eddie?” You whispered in his ear.

“Yes sweetheart?” He replied.

“You really need to shower,” you giggled.

Eddie chuckled as he held you tightly, knowing that he was never going to let you go again.

[athena-writes-i-guess]

Mixtape - Part 4 - Life Could be a Dream

Series Summary: You’ve just moved from Los Angeles to Hawkins to finish your senior year and you meet Eddie Munson, who offers to help you find a place in your new school.

Chapter Summary: Eddie decides that he is going to ask you on a date finally but his plans get derailed by a visitor from back home.

Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3

Masterlist

Pairing: Eddie Munson X Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff, slow burn, very slight angst, friends to lovers

Warnings: Language, anxious thoughts, insecurities, pet names used(Sweetheart, doll, dolly, princess, darling, babe) 

Word Count: 4.8K

Author’s Note: Hello! Welcome to the true part 4! I posted the other one, Mistletoe, in a panic when I had no ideas for how to get the story to the next point. But I wrote this instead and this will be the true next part to this story. I left the old one up but relabeled it as a one shot.  

There will be one more part before I incorporate the reader into S4!

I hope you all like this chapter, I loved writing it. 

Let me know if you want to be tagged in the next one! 

Let me know what you think! and if you would like to request a one-shot.

(Please see Author’s note) 

Friday December 27, 1985

“It’s your roll Lady Echo,” Eddie said with a smug smirk from his spot at the head of the table. 

“We’re counting on you Y/N.” Dustin said from his seat next to you, arms crossed anxiously.

“Oh no pressure there Dusty.” You shot back sarcastically. 

“Sorry.” He mumbled. 

You took a deep breath and shook the D20 in your hands before letting it drop to the table. It bounced around the game map dramatically before landing on its side. “19 plus 8. 27 to hit!” You said excitedly, receiving cheers from around the table. 

“And how much damage?” Eddie asked with a proud grin. 

“16 points of damage!” You practically yelled after dropping your dice. “In your fucking face Munson!” 

The man laughed as the table erupted again, your friends yelling excitedly and high-fiving at the victory. “Good job, Lady Echo! You have defeated Strahd and you and your party become heroes of Barovia!” 

The trailer was loud with the sounds of the animated Hellfire members, each congratulating you and each other for the parts they played in the campaign as they helped clean up. 

“Good game Eddie! Good job saving the day Y/N.” Gareth said as he and Jeff were headed out of the door. 

“Thank you!” You smiled as you were throwing some Mountain Dew cans away. “See you around!” 

You walked up to Eddie who, with Dustin’s help, was breaking apart the folding table you had been using to play on, “I’m gonna use the bathroom and then we can head out?” 

“Okay, sweetheart.” He replied with a soft smile. You returned it before making your way to the back of the trailer and into the bathroom. 

“So, you’re going to ask her tonight?” Dustin asked quietly once the bathroom door closed. 

“Yeah. After we’re done, you nerds are going to go wait in the van and I’m gonna ask her.” The metalhead said confidently. He had finally decided to ask you on a date where he was going to tell you exactly how he feels. 

“What were you going to do on the date?” The freshman inquired as he helped Eddie put the table away.

“Go to the arcade, get food at the diner, see that new Clue movie, then rent a movie to watch back at one of our houses.” He responded. 

“But don’t you guys normally do that?” Mike asked, confused, as he walked up with Lucas. 

“Yeah but that’s cause she likes those things!” Eddie replied, “Now you dorks go wait in the van.” He said quickly, practically pushing the younger kids out of the trailer. He wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans as he waited for you to come out of the bathroom. You came out a moment later and Eddie had to stop himself from biting his lip as he watched you walk down the hallway, now that you were alone for the first time since that morning. You were wearing your cropped long-sleeve Hellfire shirt and your new belly button piercing was peaking out from the top of your black jeans as your hips swayed. He had taken you to get it just last week so he was still getting used to seeing it. 

“You send the kids out to the van?” You asked as you shrugged on your new sherpa lined jacket. 

“Yeah, told them to wait out there.” He smiled as you put on the new jean vest he had made for you for Christmas over your jacket. 

“It’s cold out there, Eds!” You lightly scolded as you walked up to him, slinging your bag on your shoulder as you did.

“It’s cold to you, dolly. We’re used to this weather and it’s not that cold, Miss California.” He teased. 

“Not that cold.” You grumbled, “It snowed the other day Eddie!” 

“Thats normal, you big baby.” He said, taking the beanie you had taken out from your hands and pulling it over your colorful hair. He chuckled when you stuck your tongue out at him. He took both of your hands in his, lacing your fingers together. His rings were cold against your skin. “Hey doll, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me tomorrow? I was thinking we go to the arcade, then go to the diner, see that Clue movie you’ve been talking about, then rent a movie and come back here?” He asked quickly, trying to sound as casual as he could.

“That sounds great Eddie!” You beamed, “Oh I can’t wait to see the movie! Tim Curray is in it!” You said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of your feet. “Remember him from the Rocky Horror Picture Show?” Bringing up the trip you and Eddie had taken to Indianapolis the other week to see the shadowcast* perform. 

“How could I forget? You said that next time we go you were gonna make me dress like Meatloaf does in the movie!” The metalhead exclaimed. 

“His name is Eddie! You have to! And I’ll dress like Columbia, I’ll be your groupie!” You laughed as Eddie leaned in to press a kiss to your cheek. 

“Aren’t you already my groupie?” He joked against your cheek.

“You wish, Munson!” You scoffed, pushing the man from you lightly as you turned to walk out the trailer. 

“Oh but I would love to see you in that little party outfit, princess, with that gold top hat and those shorts!” He said following you out of the building. 

“You dress like Meatloaf and you just might, Eds.” You smirked at him from across the van.

“Fiiiiine.” He sighed as you both jumped in.

“Dusty! I brought my Weird Al tape!” You said happily as you shoved the tape in the player. 

“Sweet!” You heard from the back of the van as Eddie groaned next to you. 

“Not again! You played Eat It on repeat last time!” He laughed as he made his way to the first stop. Feeling light as air becauae the girl of his dreams agreed to go on a date with him. 

~

“Eat iiit, just eat it! Get yourself an egg and beat it!” You sang loudly as you and Eddie walked up to your front door hand in hand. 

“Are you going to be singing that all night, doll?” The man teased as you opened the door. 

“I just might Eddie!” You shot back with a smile. 

“Hey you two!” Your dad said coming out of the living room. “We have a surprise for you pumpkin!” 

“Hey babe.” You heard from the doorway to the kitchen. Both yours and Eddie’s head shot to the sound. Standing there was a man, he had firetruck red hair, a lip piercing, and was wearing a Doors shirt. 

“Holy shit! Ryan?!” You shouted, dropping Eddie’s hand as you ran up to the man and jumped into his arms. He spun you around as both of your laughter filled the room. 

“Hey beautiful! Oh I missed you so much!“ Ryan said as he squeezed you tightly to him. 

Eddie was still standing by the front door, locked into his position as he watched you and this seemingly unknown man hug. The guy looked familiar but all Eddie could focus on was how bright your smile was. He felt a pang in his chest seeing you look like that because of someone else. 

“I missed you too! How is everyone?” You asked quickly as you pulled back to look at your friend. 

“We’re good, everyone is good. We all miss our bassist though.” The redhead said with a soft smile. 

“Oh Eddie!” You called, turning your attention over to the man by the door. “Come here!” You beckoned him over. 

Eddie walked up, trying not to show how nervous and surprised he felt. Oh and jealous, he was really trying to push that one down. He stood somewhat awkwardly next to you as you smiled up at him.

“Eddie, this is one of my best friends from back home, Ryan. Ryan, this is Eddie!” You introduced, excited to have two of your best friends meet. 

“I’ve heard so much about you, man. Nice to finally meet you!” Ryan said with a friendly smile, extending his hand for Eddie to take. 

“Yeah me too. Y/N talks about you guys a lot.” Eddie said with a small, forced, smile as he shook the man’s hand. 

“What are you doing out here?” You asked happily. 

“Well we all wanted to come out for Christmas, but I was the only one who had enough money for the plane ticket.” He laughed, ”Sorry it’s a little late, mom didn’t want me to miss actual Christmas. But I worked it out with pops. I’ll be here for a few days, Ducky.” He said, nodding his head towards your dad who was watching you all with a big smile.

“Ducky?” Eddie asked, confused. He noticed the shy look you got.

“Just a little nickname I had.” You said trying to waive it off.

“I’ve been calling her Ducky since the first grade, she didn’t have friends when we started school and she followed me around like a baby duck. So, Ducky.” Ryan explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Well, I can’t wait to show you around! It’s no L.A. but it’s really cute!” You said excitedly trying to quickly change the subject, “Mind if Ryan joins us to hang out tomorrow Eddie?” You asked the metalhead with a sweet smile. 

“Oh.” 

You thought he just wanted to hang out like usual. Eddie felt so stupid suddenly. You didn’t think about him like that, you didn’t even know he asked you out. 

“Yeah, of course.” He said, trying to sound casual. 

“Great! We’re going to the arcade and the diner, then we were going to go see the new Clue movie!” You said quickly. 

“That sounds awesome, I can’t wait to see the Pinball Wizard in her element again.” Ryan replied, causing you to roll your eyes at the title. 

“Well, we were about to watch Empire Strikes Back. Let’s go do that while you tell me everything I missed.” You said as you grabbed both mens hands and started to pull them towards your room. “Eddie, Ryan and I saw this movie 5 times in theaters, we know it practically word for word.” You laughed. 

Eddie didn’t budge as you pulled lightly on his arm, “Hey, I’ll let you two catch up tonight okay? We’ll be together all day tomorrow.” The metalhead said as casually as he could, adding what he hoped was a sincere smile. 

He noticed your expression drop just a fraction at his words. “Oh okay! Thank you for taking me home. I’ll see you tomorrow!” You chirped with that sweet smile Eddie loved so much. 

“I’ll be here at 3. It was nice meeting you.” He said the last statement to Ryan. 

“Yeah you too, see you tomorrow.” The redhead smiled back. 

You dropped Ryan’s hand as you leaned up to leave your usual goodbye kiss on Eddie’s cheek. “MUAH!” You giggled to yourself when you saw the automatic grin that appeared on the brunette's face. “Get home safe.” 

“Will do, dolly.” He said back, squeezing your hand before letting it go and heading out the door. Missing the amused look that appeared on Ryan’s face as he watched you two with raised eyebrows. 

Eddie sighed deeply as he sat in his drivers seat, slamming his skull on the head rest as he did. “Fuck.” He felt so ridiculous and dumb, thinking you had actually said yes to a date with him. Why would you even look at him like that when you had someone like Ryan waiting back ‘home’, as you called it. He thought this was your home now, that he had helped make this your home. With him. He let out another sigh as he started the van, driving back to the trailer park as your Weird Al mixtape played quietly through his speakers.

~ 

 “So that was the Eddie we’ve all been hearing about.” Ryan said as the opening music started on the movie. You were both seated against your headboard, hands joined as the text scrolled across the screen. 

“Yeah that’s Eddie.” You replied with a bright smile. 

“I will say, he’s cuter than I thought he would be. That picture you sent did him no justice at all.” Your friend said quietly, just so only you could hear him over the music. 

“Oh I know, it’s so hard to get a good picture of him. He never wants to stay still.” You giggled. 

“You two seem…close.” He decided on with a smirk. 

“Just as close as you and I are Ry.” You responded with a squeeze of your hand. 

“Right, right. Close like us. You know I don’t recall ever getting those love-sick eyes you send him. Or that dreamy smile.” He teased. “Unless your feelings for me have changed while you’ve been gone, babe.” 

“Oh, you wish!” You said, shoving your shoulder into his as he laughed.

“It certainly would be easier if we could, wouldn’t it?” He sighed, leaning his head on your shoulder. 

“Yeah, it definitely would.” You rested your head on his. “But hey, you know that I love you the way you are right? I wouldn’t want what we have to change at all.” You squeezed his hand.

“I know, Ducky. You have no idea what that means to me. I love you too, all of you.” Ryan said, returning the squeeze.

“Good, because you know we think you’re perfect. Exactly. As. You. Are.” You punctuated your words with kisses to his head causing him to chuckle. He nodded against your shoulder. 

“Speaking of love, how is Alex?” You asked quietly. 

“He’s good. He wanted me to say hi and that he’s been working on his pinball skills. You still have the high score at the arcade though. No one can get close. But he misses you and he can’t wait to see you this summer.” He whispered back. You both knew your parents would have no problem with Ryan’s sexuality but he still wasn’t ready to tell them, so you chose to keep your voices down. “You are coming for a visit, right? After graduation?” 

“I am. I still have to talk to Eddie about it though, ask him if he wants to do the trip with me. I don’t want to drive all the way to California by myself. And I want to show him L.A. so bad. I know he’d love it there.” You said, biting your lip at the thought. “My dad got us all tickets to the Megadeth show on June 28th so I really hope he’ll say yes.” 

“No shit? Pops got the tickets?” He asked, lifting his head to smile at you. 

“Yeah, he still has connections in the music scene out there, was able to get us 8 tickets.” You smiled back, “I can’t wait for the show, gonna get a patch for my vest.” 

“Yeah, speaking of the vest, I saw this.” The redhead said, tugging on a corner of your vest as he pulled back to look at you fully. “I love it, where did you get it?”

“Eddie made it for me for Christmas.” You flushed, not being able to keep your smile at bay. 

“Oh, did he now?” Ryan asked with a knowing smirk. “I saw he added the Zeppelin shirt to the back, thats not your shirt right?”

“No, he said pops helped him find one.” You said as you absentmindedly ran your fingers along one of the bats Eddie had painted to the front right corner. “I think pops just gave him his old spare.” You said conspiratorially.

 “What’s with the bats?” He gestured to your fingers.

“Oh Eddie added them, he has a tattoo that looks like this on his arm. He said he added it so I wouldn’t forget about him and so I can have him close.” Your smile grew even wider.

���Oh, I see. You know, it sounds to me like that man might be a little bit in love with you, babe.” Your friend suggested with a large grin.

“He just wants to be my friend Ry.” You sighed.

“Oh yeah, because that’s just how friends talk to each other.” He scoffed. “Y/N, I swear, I know we were only in the same room for a couple of minutes, but from what you’ve said in your letters and over the phone, and from what I can see with my own eyes, I think Eddie might have more…romantic feelings for you.”

“One of our friends said he’s had a crush on this really popular cheerleader at our school for years. Sometimes I think there might be something there between us, but then I catch him looking at her again. So I wouldn’t get your hopes up for us.” You chuckled sadly. 

“Weren’t you like in love with Josh Philips from 6th grade until…hmmm let me remember,” He said with faux thoughtfulness.” wasn’t it until you met Eddie? Hmmm, seems like long held feelings for middle school crushes can change when you meet someone special.” He added almost sarcastically. You rolled your eyes with a small groan. “Just think about what I said okay, Ducky?”

You nodded with a small smile, “Now lets watch Han gut that Tuantuan.”

~The Next Day~

You walked through the doors of the arcade hand-in-hand with both Eddie and Ryan. “Where do you guys wanna start?” You asked.

“We should probably start with pinball, might as well get my ass handed to me sooner rather than later.”  Ryan said with a chuckle.

“That okay, Eddie?” You asked, squeezing the hand you were holding. He had been quiet most of the ride around town as you showed Ryan Hawkins. You were a little nervous something was wrong. 

“Yeah of course, doll.” He said, trying to sound light.  

You led the men to the back corner where the pinball machines were located, you walked up to your favorite one, second to the left, the 1979 Star Trek cabinet. 

“I see you already made your mark.” Ryan said, dropping your hand and looking up at a high score board that Kieth had put on the wall after he first saw you play, saying something about ‘needing to document such an amazing score’. Yours was higher than the next highest by over 100,000 points. 

“Yeah I don’t think anyone is going to beat it.” You heard from behind you, you turned and saw Keith, hand deep into a cheeto bag. 

“Hi Keith.” You said with a friendly smile. 

“Hi Y/N,” He said with what he must have thought was a charming smirk, “You’re looking as hot as ever.” 

You and Eddie both rolled your eyes, used to Keith at this point. Ryan however, couldn’t help the chuckle he let out causing the man to turn his attention to him. 

“Who’s this Y/N? Your new boyfriend? Tired of Munson already?” Keith said with a condescending smile directed at the metalhead. You didn’t  notice Eddie clench the fist of the hand that wasn’t holding yours. 

“Not that it’s any of your business, Keith, but this is my friend Ryan from back home in California.” You said, rolling your eyes again. “Now go away.” You turned back to the cabinet as you heard the man scoff before walking away. 

“I can’t believe you bewitched another one.” Ryan laughed as he watched you pull a quarter out of your jacket pocket. He turned to Eddie, who had his eyebrows furrowed slightly. “The dude who runs the arcade we go to, Johnny, is absolutely in love with Y/N. He asked for her number every single time we went for the last 2 years.”

“Johnny is a loser.” You smiled as you shoved the quarter into the machine, dropping Eddie’s hand you were still holding to free up yours to play. The music and lights in the machine came to life and you pulled back the plunger, shooting your first ball out onto the playfield. Just like every other time you play, you dulled out the world around you, only concentrating on your fingers hitting the buttons and the ball as it bounced around the machine. You barely even noticed as Ryan started to sing next to you as he watched, singing a song you hadn’t heard since you were back in your home arcade. 

“I’m sure The Who would love your rendition of Pinball Wizard.” You teased once you had sunk your final ball, a respectable score appearing on display. You looked around and noticed that Eddie was nowhere around. “Where’d Eddie go?” 

“He left a couple minutes ago, not sure.” Ryan said, looking around the room to help you find your friend. You walked down the rows of machines looking for the metalhead, you finally saw him in front of the DigDug machine, his back to you. You got within earshot as Dustin bounded up next to him. 

“Hey Eddie!” The younger boy said, clapping a friendly hand onto his the brunettes shoulder. “How’s the date going?” You froze. “Date?”

“It’s not, Henderson.” Eddie said in a monotone. Pretending to concentrate solely on the game in front of him. 

“What do you mean? I thought you asked her out for today? Wasn’t this part of the date you planned?” Dustin asked, confused. 

“Yeah, well it was supposed to be but she didn’t know I had even asked her on a date. And her friend is in town so she asked for him to join us.” He said as he pounded on the buttons of the machine with a little more force than was probably needed. “See Henderson, an amazing girl like that isn’t gonna want to be with some trailer park loser like me from a hick place like Hawkins when she has a cool guy like him waiting for her back ‘home.’ Told you she would never see me that way.” 

You were frozen as you processed Eddie’s words. He had asked you on a date? And he thought Ryan was ‘waiting for you back home’? You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Not only were you pretty much positive that Eddie Munson felt the same way about you, you were pretty sure he was also jealous. Something you never thought you would see on him. You felt a sharp jab in your side, and looked to see Ryan gesturing towards Eddie with his head, “Now or never, Ducky.” He mouthed.

“This was supposed to be a date?” You asked as you took a step towards your friends. 

It was now Eddie’s turn to freeze, his hands stilling over the controls, his character dying as a result. “Oh, shit.” 

“Eddie?” You asked after a moment of no response. 

You saw his shoulders deflate slightly before he turned to face you. “Hey, doll. Uh- h-how much of that did you hear?” He got out with a weak smile. 

“Uhm, all of it?” You said back, a shy smile on your face. You watched him rub his face with one of his hands before running it through his curls. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Please, just ignore what I said, okay?” He pleaded.

“D-do you have feelings for me Eddie?” You asked, fidgeting with the ring on your hand as you did. “Because..well- because Im crazy about you Eds.” You locked eyes with his large brown ones as they widened. “I don’t think you’re a trailer park loser. You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.” 

You watched as a wide smile broke out on the metalheads face as he closed the distance to you, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you into him. “Say it again please?” His face was just inches from yours.

“Im crazy about you Eddie Munson.” You said as you brought your hands up to cup his face. 

“Me too, dolly. You’re all I think about.” He said, resting his forehead against yours. “Can I please kiss you?” 

You nodded your head against his and then his lips were on yours quickly, like he was worried that if he didn’t kiss you right away you might change your mind. Your senses were suddenly overwhelmed completely by Eddie. The feel of his skin under your fingers as you moved them from his cheeks to around his neck, the smell of apples from his shampoo as his hair fell around your face as he leaned further into you, and the taste of cigarettes and mint as your lips molded against his. 

You pulled away after a few moments, Eddie chasing your lips as you did, newly addicted to the feel of your plush ones against his and the taste of your strawberry chapstick. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t know it was a date, Eds.” You said quietly as you pulled back to look at him. 

“Don’t be, sweetheart.” He smiled back. “I should have been more clear.” 

“You know, it’s not too late to make it one.” You heard from behind you, you both looked at Ryan who had a large smile on his face. He turned his attention to Dustin, “Hey kid, do you know how to get to Y/Ns house from here?” The freshman boy nodded his head, “Good, why don’t you show me how to get there and we’ll leave these two to start their date.” He started walking towards the exit with Dustin. 

“Are you sure Ry?” You asked quickly.

“Positive, Ducky.” He beamed, “Have fun you two. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He finished with a wink as he walked out of the building introducing himself to Dustin. 

You both turned your attentions back on each other, dopey, love-sick smiles on your faces. 

“Sorry about him, he’s a little pushy sometimes.” You explained, “Just so you know, there’s nothing between Ryan and I, Eddie. He’s like my little brother, plus he’s got someone back in L.A., someone really great.” 

“I know, I’m sorry I got jealous there.” Eddie said, biting his lip. 

“Don’t be, I understand jealousy really well.” You chuckled slightly to yourself when Eddie cocked his head, “Mike told me that you like Chrissy, so I never thought I had a chance with you.” 

Eddie let out a groan, “Jesus Christ, Wheeler. When did he tell you that?” 

“My first campaign here.” You smirked, knowing he wouldn’t like that answer. 

“We could have done this all the way back then but Wheelers big mouth got in the way?” He asked, groaning again when you nodded your head. “Well princess, we finally made it here. How about we start that date now?” 

You beamed up at him with a nod as he pulled away and grabbed your hand, leading you back over to the DigDug machine he abandoned. “I know your not as good at this one but let me help you get better.” 

You giggled as Eddie placed you in front of the machine and stood behind you, he put in a quarter and and then took your hands in his, moving them along the controls to help you play. 

~

“I think I’m gonna have that song stuck in my head for days.” You laughed as you and Eddie walked through your front door hours later. 

“Welcome back darling!” You both heard your grandma call from the living room. You led Eddie into the room to greet her. 

“Hi grandma!” You said, kissing her on the cheek. 

“Hi honey, hi Eddie.” She smiled happily to you both. “What song were you talking about Y/N?”

“Oh it was a song that was in the movie we saw today. It’s an older one. I think it was called Sh-Boom?” You said, turning to Eddie to confirm, receiving an unhelpful shrug. 

“Oh I know that one! Eddie dear, go into that box and find The Chords album please and put it on the first track?” She asked happily. Eddie looked through the box for a few minutes before finding the record and putting it on the player. 

The music started to play through the room as your grandmother smiled happily to the tune. “You two should dance, I love this song.” 

“I don’t know if either of us know how grandma.” You said. 

“Y/N, place your right hand in Eddie’s left and your other arm on his shoulder. Eddie, put your free arm around her waist and just let your feet move to the music.” She said kindly. 

You did as she said, the three of you laughing as you and Eddie danced to the music. 

“Every time I look at you

Something is on my mind

If you do what I want you to

Baby, we could be so fine

Oh, life could be a dream

Sh-boom, if I could take you to a paradise up above

Sh-boom, and tell me, darling, I'm the only one that you love

Life could be a dream, sweetheart, hello, hello again

Sh-boom and hopin' we'll meet again, boom”

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