#it just felt right to combine these two masterpieces

[pintrestgrl]

hi guyssysysysysysysys i missed y’all. i’m aware im awful at posting but send requests pls !!!

also know that i write for slytherin boys too !! like blaise, theo, mattheo, etc !!

i’m trying to post more but patience i beg im js a girl 😪

crybaby!reader x bsf!jj maybank.

“you too pretty to be cryin’. ”

jj said, as you sat horizontally on the couch, legs thrown over his lap.

your mascara was long gone, spilled all over your cheeks.

you had a date, you really did. but, you got stood up. he never came to pick you up.

so now, you found yourself at your bestfriends house as you cried, and he comforted you.

he sat with you as long as you wanted, wiping your tears and playing with you hair.

“he’s dumb to stand you up. you look beautiful.”

you heard his words, but in that moment you felt the complete opposite.

“why’d he stand me up, jay? i was so excited.”

he rolled his eyes, subtly snaking a hand up a little too high on your thigh.

“he stood you up cause he’s stupid. like, brain dead.”

you sighed, still so upset. you’d even broken out the new perfume jj bought you for the date!

he spoke again.

“c’mon. i’ll make you forget about it, pretty.”

you nodded, sitting up slowly.

wiping your red, tear ridden eyes.

he took you in his lap fully,

manhandling you by your waist to make you straddle him.

he tugged your pouty bottom lip,

lightly tapping your chin with two long fingers.

it wasn’t long before he convinced you that you just needed to take your clothes off.

he told you it was just to help you relax.

calm down.

so you did.

he was your best friend, of course you’d listen to him. right?

he massaged your tits, the pretty soft flesh.

convinced you it was just to make you relax, ease your nerves.

it wasn’t long before he had his thick cock buried to the hilt inside you.

he just wanted to take your mind off the date.

right?

he had you mindlessly babbling, as you bounced on him.

thanking him, for being your best friend. for always helping you.

he guided your hips, helping you get off.

kissing away the tears that escaped your pretty eyes,

as you were too cock drunk to speak.

you came around his dick, biting down onto the flesh of his shoulder as he hit the spot inside you that made you see stars.

you felt every vein against your walls, so aware of him inside you.

he came short after, breathing heavily against your pretty tits.

he pulled out, watching the mixture of cum seep out of your aching hole.

smirking at the sight.

spitting onto the cum covered sight infront of him, adding to his masterpiece. running the pad of his thumb through the fluids, watching them combine.

laughing at you.

he just wanted to help.

right?

right.

[bohemianblasphemy]

Okay…now I’m going to need Soft!Butcher baking a birthday cake after our conversation. 😏 😝

we absolutely do✨✨

“alright… this should be easy.”

Butcher muttered to himself as he tied up his ‘kiss the cook’ apron around him, looking upon the multiple ingredients and kitchen utensils along the counter.

It was your birthday today- and wanting to impress you with his baking skills he was making a cake from scratch, no help from a premix box by Betty Crocker. You had gone out to run some errands so he took the opportunity to whip something up.

Pulling up his phone, he had a recipe ready to go. Combining the wet and dry ingredients into the mixer as directed, the whirring noise of the machine mixed with the messy noises of the ingredients meshing together. He felt like a proper baker until he turned the mixer too high, causing the floury concoction to fling out from all angles, especially all over him.

“fuck me…” he rushed to turn off the machine, wiping off bits of the mixture off his face. Pulling up the whisk to check on the blend, no lumps were to be found.

Despite the mess he felt proud of himself, pouring the mixture into a lined cake tin and putting it in the oven. “alright… not too shabby for the old cunt.” he said to himself again as he smiled at his work.

A few more ingredients were layed out on the counter to create homemade icing, as well as some candles to adorn it so you could blow them out.

He hummed as he tested the sweet fusion of powdered sugar and butter, putting a dab of food colouring through it to make it presentable when the cake was ready.

He dusted his hands off, wiping down his apron feeling good- but that soon faded, groaning as he saw the mess along the kitchen counter that he had to clean up as the cake was baking.

Like clockwork, the alarm on his phone indicating that the cake was ready as soon as he finished cleaning up. Pulling out the tray with oven mitts, he placed the cake tin on the stove top to let it cool.

As soon as the cake was cool enough, the icing was poured on top and decorated it with candles. Taking a step back, he admired his work knowing that you’d love it.

The turn of the key in the door indicated that you had arrived home, which sprung billy into action as he lit the candles on the cake. As you walked in, your eyes averted to the faint glow of the cake on the counter- Billy standing next to it.

“Happy birthday my love…” he grinned seeing your surprised smile adorning your face.

“Billy… did you make this?”

“Of course i did. Thought I’d whip up a little something special for my favorite person.”

You giggled, looking at his work. “you didn’t have to go through the trouble-“

“Aye, but it’s ya birthday and you deserve it, even if i look like a right muppet whilst i do it.” he smirked.

“you’re far from it Billy, this is perfect. thank you.” A warmth flowed through you as you embraced him in your arms, pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.

“anything for my girl… now make a wish and blow out ya candles, don’t want melted wax all over my masterpiece.” he teased as he watched you think about a wish and blow the candles out.

“now let’s cut a slice… this looks delicious.” Taking the knife that was next to the plate, lining it up to make an incision. Two slices were cut, the simple sweet treat being thoroughly enjoyed by the two of you.

“what did ya wish for lovey?” he questioned, placing his fork on his plate and looking over to you.

You pondered, before smirking. “You’re just gonna have to find out later…” you winked suggestively, making Butcher chuckle- eager for find out what the rest of the night had in store…

[lavendertom]

The Neighbor Across the Street pt. 3

Mike Schmidt x Babysitter!f!Reader

part 1, part 2, part 4, part 5, part 6

wc: 2.4k

warnings: mentions of garrett’s kidnapping + mikes trauma from that, fluff, tiny age gap barely mentioned (as always, lmk if there’s anything i’ve missed)

summary: the neighbor across the street needs a babysitter, so you take the job, not knowing what’s in store for you as you grow closer to the siblings. AU where nothing bad happens at the pizzeria

quick note, as mentioned this is an AU, but mikes trauma is still there from garrett’s kidnapping but i won’t go down the wormhole of lore for this bc that’s not necessarily why i’m writing this

——————————————————————————

The cool breeze of a spring afternoon could be felt as you made your way to the Schmidt’s house. It was a Saturday and technically you weren’t supposed to be at their house today.

Abby was found knocking on your front door just a few minutes earlier, asking if you could come over and play outside with her. You had a good feeling she’d been asking Mike all day, but he refused to call you and ask himself because you’d “probably be busy with school work.” So, the young girl took it upon herself to ask.

“Mike got me a huge box of sidewalk chalk we can draw with.” Abby told you as you walked to the house together. “I also have a bicycle, we can go on a bike ride together! Well, not you, you’re too big for my bike. But you can walk.”

You smiled at yourself, hearing the girl talk and talk about all of the things she was excited to do with you.

“Abby, what’d I say about going to y/n’s house?” you could hear Mike say when you reached the outside of their garage. He looked like he was cleaning some shelves full of random tools.

“She said she wasn’t busy!” Abby said, defending herself.

“It’s okay, I didn’t have much homework this weekend. Anything for my favorite neighbor.” you said in the midst of doing the handshake you and Abby made up one time while you were babysitting after her.

“I thought I was your favorite?” Mike said, pretending to sound offended.

“My second favorite. Get it right.” you said with a small smirk.

Before you could continue conversing with him, Abby dragged you by the wrist with a box of chalk in her other arm.

The two of you combined ended up drawing enough pictures to fill up a majority of the driveway. Granted it wasn’t long, but you ended up making a masterpiece out of the broken up concrete.

“It looks like your room threw up on the driveway, Abby.” Mike said walking out of the garage to assess the damage that was done.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Abby said grinning.

“Yeah, when’s it going to rain again? Or I can just grab the hose and–”

“Be nice!” you said, playfully hitting his arm.

“I want to go on a bike ride now!” Abby said as she ran to pull her bike out of the corner of the garage. She had a habit of quickly moving on from one activity to the next with little room in between.

“I’ll go with her.” you said with a smile.

“I’ll come too.” Mike said, already closing the garage door behind him before you could object and say something like “You need a break, go rest.” Abby already made her way down the drive way, riding towards the sidewalk.

“It’s nice out today.” you said in an attempt to make small talk as you guys followed behind Abby. You guys haven’t spoken much since that night he returned home from his first night shift. You’ll never know what compelled you to give him that hug and what compelled him to give you one in return before you left.

“Yeah, I was finally able to get some stuff done outside today.”

“That’s good.” you were taking in the sounds of the birds chirping, some trees were finally blossoming again after the weather started warming up a bit. After a few seconds of comfortable silence you spoke up, “How’s the job been?”

“As good as a night shift job can be.”

“You getting much sleep lately?” His eyes still looked tired as the day you first saw them, if not more.

“When have I ever.” he paused for a moment, not sure if he was ready to enter this conversation with you. “Sleep has never come easy for me.”

“You can say that again.” you said with a small chuckle.

“Has your mom told you much about our situation?” he said at a slightly softer volume than earlier.

“Not really.”

He took a deep breath before he began talking. “When I was about 12 years old, I had a little brother. His name was Garret. He was taken and we never found him. I was there when it happened.” he stopped for a moment, you looked at him and saw the hurt in his face. “I still have nightmares, every night. I just wish there was something I could’ve done. Anything.”

“I’m so sorry Mike.” you said quietly, you were shocked. You never knew the reasons why this family had it so hard, it made you feel almost guilty that you didn’t take the time to know them earlier. Neither of them asked to be put in this situation.

“It’s okay. It’s just hard thinking back on it. I feel like it’s my fault. Parents told me I needed to watch him. I let this happen.” he was fidgeting with his thumbs, taking in a deep breath. “Anyways, mom died a little after Abby was born, dad died not long after. I had no other choice but to take custody of Abby and become her guardian.”

Everything made sense to you now. Mike had his hands full all of the time and not by choice. No wonder he was always working.

“Are you doing any better now?” you asked.

“The nightmares are still there. I don’t think they’ll ever go away, but I put on a brave face for Abby. She knows very little about Garret, kind of want to keep it that way.”

“I understand.” you said looking down at the pavement beneath your feet. “Thanks for telling me this by the way.”

“You were going to find out one way or another. Better talk about it now than later.” the two of you looked ahead and saw Abby stopped at a street corner.

“You guys are too slow!” she shouted.

“We’re coming!” you shouted back. “If it means anything to you, you’re doing a hell of a good job. She cares about you.” you smiled softly, looking over at him.

“I hope so. Doesn’t seem like it sometimes. She’s a pain in the ass when you’re not around.” he mumbled.

“Really?” you asked, genuinely surprised. “She talks about you like you’re her entire world when I babysit.” The two instantly remembered what the girl had said to Y/n that one night, Y/n not knowing Mike heard all about it the next day.

“You would be a good princess for Mike.”

“Give her some time, she’ll open up to you one day.” you said reassuringly.

The rest of the walk you guys talked about random things. You told him all about your college courses which he found incredibly interesting, although not understanding much about what they entailed. He told you about some of his craziest encounters when he was a mall security guard. The two of you laughed so hard over one of them you almost tripped over the uneven pavement, making you guys laugh even harder.

When you finally returned to his house it was beginning to get dark out. Abby somehow was not tired one bit, despite having ridden her bike for almost 45 minutes.

“I promised Abs I’d let her make s’mores tonight. You can join us.” he said putting his hands in his pockets. It was starting to get cooler out as the sun set. “If you want.” he added at the last second.

“Sure, why not.” you had enjoyed getting to know him better, you didn’t really want to go home yet anyways. “I’m just gonna run home real quick to grab a hoodie, it’s getting co-“

“You can just borrow one of mine.” he interrupted.

“You sure? It’s not that big of a deal I can just run inside real quick.” your heart racing at the thought of him letting you wear one of his hoodies. He’s just being nice you reassured yourself, nothing more.

“Y/n, it’s fine.” he said with a chuckle. “You can go through the gate on the side of the house, Abby’s probably already back there.”

He went through the front door as you walked to the back of the house, and sure enough Abby was already back there placing a handful of s’mores supplies on a little table on the back porch of the house.

“You’re staying for s’mores, Y/n?” Abby asked, excitement beginning to fill her.

“Yeah.” you said smiling. You saw a stack of camping chairs leaning against the house. “Wanna help me grab the chairs?”

The two of you grabbed the chairs, placing them around the campfire pit. You heard the door open and saw Mike stepping out holding hoodies for both you and Abby.

He handed you one, you gave him a tight lipped smile after thanking him. You slipped it over your head, it was just slightly oversized on you. It smelled just like he did the night you gave him the hug, you thought you’d never get over that scent. Your hands were tucked into the pocket of it as you took a seat on one of the chairs, waiting for Mike to finish starting the fire.

“Okay Abs please don’t burn every single marshmallow this time, I want Y/n to actually have an edible s’more.” Mike said looking over at his sister who was already putting far too many marshmallows on a long stick.

Mike sat on the chair next to you. The moment felt peaceful as Abby skipped over holding a stick with marshmallows, holding it over the fire. You watched as Abby toasted the marshmallows, trying her hardest not to turn them all to charcoal. The sun had finally set and the sky was clear, the stars becoming more visible. You noticed Mike was looking up at the sky.

“Have you ever seen a shooting star before?” you asked, both of you now looking up.

“No, have you?” Mike replied.

“A few. When I was a kid, I used to sit out back and just watch the sky until I’d see one. I ended up being able to see a few because of the insane amount of time I’d be out there.” you were still looking up.

Mike turned his attention from the sky to you, watching how your lips formed the smallest of smiles as you spoke. He watched the way your eyes lit up from talking about something so important to you. He felt himself begin to smile, too.

You kept talking, not realizing that he wasn’t looking up at the sky anymore. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you, not when your face lit up with joy from just talking about something as simple as the stars. The way it seemed like your hair fell just perfectly and his hoodie seemed to fit you just right didn’t help the situation either.

You finally turned your head back to him realizing he had been looking at you the whole time, a small smile still on his face.

“What?” you said with a nervous laugh.

“Nothing.” he said with a smile, shaking his head slightly as he turned his attention back to the sky.

“Here’s your s’more, Y/n!” Abby said as she suddenly popped up next to you. You almost forgot she was even with you guys anymore, her focus was entirely on making the most yummy s’mores. That left little time for her to ask you all of her usual questions.

“Thanks Abby.” you said, smiling at her as she handed you a messy s’more. She ran back to grab another one, handing it to Mike.

“Thanks Abs.” he said, giving his sister a side hug before she could run away again to grab her own s’more.

The three of you spent the rest of the night snaking on many more s’mores and talking more about the stars until Abby fell asleep in her small camping chair. The fire was dimming, barely alive anymore. You and Mike continued watching the sky, pointing out constellations and attempting to see a shooting star with no luck.

“I should probably take Abby to bed.” Mike said as he stood up, making his way towards Abby. He picked up his little sister as gently as possible making sure not to wake her.

“Yeah I should probably head home now.” you said also standing up. You grabbed the chairs you all used to put them back where you found them.

“Thanks, Y/n. You didn’t have to.” he said as he made his way to the back door.

“No problem. The least I could do after those s’mores Abby made.” you smiled.

You followed him into the house as he walked towards the front door, Abby still peacefully asleep in his arms. He slowly opened the front door for you.

“See you Monday?” he asked.

“Yup.” you replied, and before you knew it he pulled you into a side hug. His two favorite people were in his arms now and he didn’t want it any other way.

“Have a good night, Y/n.”

“You too, Mike.” as you pulled away from his embrace, you put a hand on Abby’s shoulder. You gave the two a small smile which he returned as you walked out of the door.

And you bet he stood there until you were across the street, just like he did every other time you left their house.

When you returned home to your bedroom, which was still decorated like it was when you were 13, you felt warm inside. A different type of warm inside, the feeling you have when you care about someone so much and they care just as much back. All you wanted to do was make sure he knew you cared for him and Abby so much.

You looked at your bulletin board next to your door that had a photo of you and Abby from one of the first times you babysat her. She begged you to bring your polaroid camera and she took advantage of it, snapping all sorts of photos of you and her.

It wasn’t until you saw the photo that you realized you were still wearing Mikes hoodie he lent you. You looked in the mirror next to your door, admiring the hoodie. It wasn’t anything special, just a plain black hoodie, but it felt special. You were determined to continue changing their lives. Making sure their days were brighter, months filled with more happy days than sad ones.

You crawled into bed, too tired to take off the hoodie. You took in the smell of it one last time before you drifted off to sleep thinking about the memories you made today, hoping you’d never forget them.

——————————————————————————

jules jewels (tag list! lmk if u want to be added or removed 🤗)

@balesita @universi8 @browneyedgirly93 @prongsprincessworld @k3nnlolz @mxrvelouss

[dreamingon-forever]

hi can you give some levihan headcanons as a couple , maybe in modern au

Thank you so much for the request! This is my first headcanon request so I tried to make it as perfect as possible! Also, bear with me because I got overexcited with the ask, and instead of the point form HC formulation I should've followed, I may or may not have thought up their whole freaking backstory... and their follow up story... Oops. I won't post it here today, but I do think I will make it a separate post some other day if anyone is interested enough. Either way, thank you so much and I hope you enjoy!

AO3 link: 💚💜

I like to think that even in modern AU, Hange would still have her cheery personality, but instead of obsessing over Titans, she'd be more interested in microbes (I know, transition between giants to microorganisms, LOL). She'd still be interested in saving humanity, but more in the bacterial and medical kind of field instead.

Levi on the other hand, no longer having to be a soldier, he'd happily run the tea shop he'd always wanted right next to his best friends Isabel and Furlan.

The two met on a subway ten years ago on Levi's first day of work in the city. Where an unfortunate mix up of personal belongings caused by clashing into each other got them acquainted and familiar with each other. Despite the unfortunate meeting and the roller coaster of events that unfolded from their collision, it eventually became a pleasant story to tell their friends or at parties when asked how they met.

They were complete opposites of each other. Hange loved the outdoors while Levi preferred staying at home. She was loud and upbeat while he preferred silence and tranquility. Hanger had a habit of being free willed and letting her spontaneity take her, while Levi liked to have everything planned and set before getting into anything

And it wasn't just their preferences that differed, it was every aspect of themselves. Their life choices and ways of thinking were drastically opposing. Even the way they disagreed on what they wanted to eat for dinner caused heated discussion when brought up, as Hange would pick sweets for dinner instead of something sustainable like Levi wanted.

They were complete and utterly the opposite of each other. And while everything pointed to them not working out and onlookers put their money on their relationship ending in a messy breakup, they proved everyone wrong every time with how much their bond only grew stronger overtime. And how their loving partnership became more and more obvious the more time spent around them, erasing any doubts they had about the couple.

Yes, they fought occasionally, and they drove each other absolutely insane. But their differences also brought them out of each other's shells, together experiencing new things they would've never seen without the other otherwise. They saw the world in a different light through each other's eyes, and came to love the new combined word they created together. Because with being opposites of each other, it also meant they filled each other's holes and missing pieces. Almost like creating a stained glass window meant to be clear with splashes of purples and greens instead. Creating an accidental masterpiece that came to be adored by those lucky enough to bask under the kaleidoscope of colours in their inner chapel. Bathing those closest to them with the deep love they had for each other.

Throughout the years of getting to know each other, they found a way to put their differences away, and somehow managed to build up their relationship status to best friends. So much so that Isabel and Furlan, Levi's childhood friends complained about being replaced so quickly. Although, in all considerations, it felt to Levi like he was the one being replaced by Hange instead with the way his friends loved her. Hell, even his mother and uncle seemed to love her more than him.

"Welcome home, runt. Where's Hange? I wanted to discuss about the new wine she mentioned to me last time." His uncle would say when he'd visit.

"Oh Hange! I've made your favourite pudding!" His mother would greet, throwing herself at his girlfriend before she caught sight of her own son staring at them with a roll of his eyes. "Oh, Levi! Nice to see you too of course."

Contrary to his grumbles and complains about Hange being overburdened by his family every time she visited, he couldn't help but feel his heart beat happily at knowing the love of his life was accepted by his family, and that they loved her as much as he did himself. Having the two most important parts of his life get along was all he cared about.

Despite having known each other for ten years, having met when Levi was 26 and Hange 24, they didn't start dating until... well that was a mystery of its own as they themselves didn't really know when they started dating. Not fully at least.

Somewhere along the years of their friendship the lines blurred, and they somehow ended up with the shocking, yet not surprising realization that they were and had been dating each other for a while. But the way they realized it and came to terms with it wasn't an easy one. When Levi finally came to terms that he harboured feelings for his best friend, he initially thought that Hange had feelings for someone else. And he could only put up with the unbearable pain he went through when he overheard Moblit mention to Nifa that Hange couldn't meet with them for a work dinner because she had a date already.

So one can only imagine his surprise when Hange showed up with a smile at his shop door on Saturday, greeting him and his workers as happily as ever. Even throwing herself at him for a hug like she always did whenever she visited. A hug that would be considered too personal and close for two individuals that were only considered friends. But not once during her whole afternoon spent there did she mention anything about meeting up with anyone else, but the suspense was absolutely killing Levi by the point the clock struck half an hour to dinner time.

But Hange continued being her usual self. Greeting new and old clients alike as if she'd been friends with them for ages. Making a complete mess of his usual clean counters only to be scolded off by Levi to go to the corner and read instead, and even teasing him about random things like she always did. All the while being completely unaware of the turmoil and the pain Levi felt at thinking about how he would have to hide his feelings and having to pretend to be happy for Hange being with someone that wasn't him the rest of their live. It was becoming an unbearable and depressing Saturday to say the least. His mood only soured more as Hange still acted all upbeat and nonchalant as ever. Not once having brought up her dating life to him, despite being her so called bestie. And it brought about this ugly feeling of disbelief and jealousy out of him that he'd never experienced before.

As nighttime fell over the streets, Levi finally broke his silence and lashed out at her bitterly, asking why she was hanging out with him when she already had plans with someone else.

And out of all ways she could've reacted to his interrogation, being laughed at was something he didn't expect.

"But Levi, YOU are my date." She finally gasped, having finally gained the capacity to breathe again after having laughed at his question.

"Huh? How am I your date, fucking Four- Eyes. We never made plans for anything. Besides, I overheard your coworkers talk about you meeting someone instead of eating with them... How can I be considered your date?"

Hange tilted her head, amusement flowing in her brown eyes as she caught the usual poised and self-assured raven-haired individual lose his composure. "Huh... But I thought we've been dating for while now, Shorty. I've even been referring to you as my boyfriend to my friends and coworkers for the last few months."

Turns out, her date was none other than Levi. And her idea of a date was hanging out with him at his tea shop on the weekend like she's been doing the last five years. And Levi, as clueless to feelings as ever, never put two and two together.

The whirring of machine cogs and espresso machines filled the silence between them as Levi processed whatever Hange had just said.

"The fuck?! You can't simply just call me your boyfriend when I haven't even been aware of us dating this whole time!" He finally retaliated, throwing the rag in his hands onto the tabletop.

Hange giggled, noticing the reds on his cheeks. It wasn't a no, she could read from his eyes. "I like you too, Shorty. So? Are we officially dating now?"

"You better make up for the last few months I've been out of loop of my own relationship."

They ended up adopting a black goldfish adorably named One-Eyed Moody after the professor of the dark arts from the Harry Potter series for the fact it was both very moody and in fact, one eyed. Levi had reluctantly agreed to let Hange get a pet for their apartment once they had moved in together after a year of dating. He expected her to get a cat, a big dog, or a lizard for all he knew. Although he made it very clear the last one were on the black list.

Instead, Hange had found One-Eyed Moody on a cart ready to be discarded off at the pet shop. Having instantly connected with it, she begged Levi to get it. And with a heavy sigh, he couldn't say no. Mind you, it was pretty much dead at that point, but through endless observation and whatever mutated food concoction Hange whipped up, it came back to life in a matter of weeks. And in turn, Levi had somewhat grown attached to it. Hange liked to joke that it was their baby and it resembled them both in some ways.

Their days spent together were a blend of their interests mixed into one. When Hange wanted to settle down and read, Levi would do skin care for both of them to make use of their time. All the while Hange reading aloud the words from her book so Levi could listen as well. When Levi wanted to clean the house, Hange knew better than to lend a hand as he was peculiar in his ways. So instead she'd make some tea for both of them and cook dinner for a famished Levi by the end of his cleaning session. On days Hange felt like watching a documentary on bugs or microbes, Levi would lay his head on her lap as she brushed her fingers through his locks. The soothing motion letting him get some shut eye he usually never got due to his insomnia.

Hange had a habit of working overtime, and sometimes even staying overnight at her lab. On days like these Levi would pack up some sweets from his shop and some warm tea and bring them to her office as he kept her company. On the off days Hange had a day off, she'd use it to help around in Levi's shop. Chatting up customers and bringing a bright feeling to the atmosphere. Levi absolutely adored watching her laugh and interact with regulars from behind the counter. Although he'd never voice these thoughts aloud. But it wasn't needed, as his employees, Jean, Sasha, and Connie all make kissy faces to each other whenever they caught Levi glancing a little too long at his partner.

Levi didn't like to admit it, but most of his photos on his phone were of candid pictures of Hange. But not the flattering ones most boyfriends take of their girlfriends that are Instagram worthy. No, most of them were completely unflattering. Many consisting of Hange snoring with her mouth wide open, of her laying in a pile of dirt after having chased a squirrel. Of Hange throwing a middle finger to the camera after being caught without caffeine early in the morning, or even of her snorting in laughter after something funny Erwin had told them during one of their get togethers.

He was absolutely infatuated with her. With her quirks and her being. He was in love with Hange Zoe.

And similarly, Hange kept a record of all the plants and bouquets Levi gave her over the years. A collection of pressed flowers and dried leaves from every flora and fauna he'd ever gifted her. Because as much as she loved flowers, she loved more the effort gone into picking a different flower each time they had a celebration. Because as Levi had once told her, she was so unique that not one flower could ever describe her, and that he could never tie her down to one specific plant.

Normal dates like going to the mall or watching movies before dinner on a weekend weren't their thing. Instead, beach dates in mid freezing February nights, stargazing spontaneously on a random Wednesday night, running around the fields of the neighbourhood Hange grew in during summer afternoons, hiding from thugs after trespassing someone's property to take a look at the size of a wasp's nest, ending with the nest falling to the ground and its inhabitants swarming around the local outlaws on a spring morning... All were chaotic memories that belonged only to them. Those were the kind of dates they had.

They never had to verbally express their admiration or love for each other openly. Or make it everyone's business to know that they were together because they had upmost trust in their partnership and relationship without having to project it to the world in a fright of being misunderstood. Both knowing perfectly well how much they cared and loved each other in the small gestures they shared: The little brush of fingertips as they greeted each other goodbye before work. In the way they worked in sync when working together on a project for their new home. Of how they made love to each other in the warm embrace of each other, blinds closed and moans silenced between their interexchange of kisses. Making their love known only between themselves. It never became a pressing matter having everyone else know their business or feeling the need to explain their relationship to others. In the end, their actions spoke louder than words, and everyone could tell that they had the upmost trust in their relationship.

But in the calmness and safety of their bubble, eventually doubt would emerge, and leak a hole in their safe haven, no matter how much effort they put into keeping it afloat.

Hange absolutely loved and had a strange fascination for energy drinks infused in coffee, the ones that had 10 times the amount than should be allowed by any manufacturers or allowed to pass inspections. So much so that she'd stop by the convenience store on the corner of their apartment every time she came back from work. Bringing with her at least 10 cans with her.

Levi, despite his eye rolls and grumbles about over caffeination and annoyance at having a bunch of empty cans to constantly recycle, still got them for her whenever he passed by on his way from the tea store nonetheless. Loving and having a soft spot for the way Hange's eyes lit up and the way she threw herself at him every time he brought it for her.

Due to their different time schedules they never got to meet up to shop together, but nonetheless they each become regulars in the little shop for the drinks Hange so badly craved.

It was one day that Hange came back, a look of complete defeat on her face as she slummed against the door that Levi understood something was wrong. That, and the fact her hands were empty of her usual drinks.

"Finally figured out you were consuming poison?" Levi questioned as he started unclasping her shoes, carefully placing them on the shoe rack.

Shaking her head sadly, Hange sighed. "No... they hiked up the prices again. I know we're tight on money so I can't go buying five dollar coffee from the convenience store anymore... I guess I'll just have to settle for the stale decaf coffee they have at the office."

"Tch... don't exaggerate, Four-Eyes. The drinks were never more than two bucks." Levi muttered, taking her jacket off and placing it on the hanger.

Hange's brows furrowed. "Two bucks? When have they ever been that cheap? I've always been paying four fifty."

"Huh? What fucking store have you been to? It's been two fifty since we've moved here." Levi grumbled, flicking his finger over her forehead.

The topic brought on an argument that lasted the whole night over who was right and wrong. And it only settled when they both agreed to go to the store the following day together. Luckily it was a national holiday and neither had to go to work.

The following day, in typical Hange fashion, she'd forgotten to feed One-Eyed Moody. Refusing to leave the house without feeding him first, she told Levi to go on first, and that she'd meet him in the store.

But what she found as she entered the familiar shop was something she'd never expected. The usually bored clerk was suddenly chirpy and chatting up no other than her boyfriend. Levi on the other hand, seemed quite discontented from the conversation, but kept adding a word or two in politeness.

Suddenly catching his girlfriend's gaze, Levi started raising his hand to signal her over, when Hange crossed her hands in front of her, shaking her head vigorously as she unlinked and relinked her arms in the cross motion, signaling behind the cashier's back for Levi to not blow her cover.

Confused at her sudden antics, he furrowed his brows, but did as instructed, following Hange's pointed look to the cooler housing her favourite drinks before she mouthed "cashier, go pay for them!".

It was only after he exited the store ten whole minutes later, an annoyed look on his face that Hange finally pounced on him.

"So?"

"So what? You left me to listen to that girl talk about bad dates alone for ten minutes. Here's your stupid drinks." Levi grumbled, throwing the plastic bag into her arms.

Shaking her head, Hange stopped him from walking towards their home's direction. "NO! I meant, how much did you pay?"

"Ah... like I said, two bucks each." He said, annoyance still laced in his words.

And that's when it clicked for Hange. "Ah huh! I knew it! Levi! She's into you! She's been giving you a discount in order to get you to pay attention to her! She's been flirting with you this whole time!"

And instead of how a typical girlfriend would act after having found out their boyfriend was being hit on by someone else, Hange looked absolutely elated.

"Why you so happy about that? Are you not afraid that I'll reciprocate her someday?"

Of course they both knew he was kidding. The bond and love they shared with each other, despite being subtle, was very much irreplaceable.

"Because, it means that from now on, I get to stock up on my favourite drinks at a nice price!"

"Tch... you don't even know if she actually lowered the price, Four-eyes. Maybe you got charged extra by accident."

But having stepped into the store and bringing back a drink with her, Hange had confirmed for both of them all they needed to know.

And so, that day forward, it became their little secret. Levi would get Hange her drinks at a discounted price because of a crush the cashier had on him.

At first everything seemed alright, but slowly as time progressed, Levi seemed more distant and dejected every time he returned from the store. Hange seemed to pick up on his change of mood, but wasn't sure what was causing it. So instead she watched on in silence as Levi's presence became more and more cold.

Unsure of how to bring it up, she watched silently, until eventually Levi was the first to bring it up.

"Hange... are you okay with someone else hitting on me? Are you fine of having others perceiving me as single?" Levi asked suddenly one night. They were doing their usual pre-bed night routine as Levi prepped their ten stepped skin care for both of them. Hange resting her head on his lap, a book open in front of her.

"Hm? No... Should I be?" She asked, her eyes still glued to the words on the pages before her.

Levi's hands stilled completely, bringing a silence over them following Hange's words.

"No... nothing." He muttered finally, getting up. "I'm done. Don't go to bed too late." He said before walking towards their shared bedroom, his face concealed by the dark room.

At first Hange sat there in confusion. What was up with him and his weird questions? She thought about going to him and getting an answer out of him, but as her gaze fell over the bottles of her favourite drink sitting by the doorstep, realization fell over her. And her heart shattered.

The following day, Levi was doing the usual run. Head downcast and eyes unfocused, he forced on a smile that didn't reach his eyes as the cashier continued telling him something he assumed was supposed to be funny.

"Anyways, that'd be ten dollars."

The usual conversation... the usual dissociation... the same dull pain he felt at pretending to be interested in someone he had no feelings for.

"If you're free, I've been thinking... maybe we can get to know each other outside of the sto-"

As Levi started handing over the bill, already coming up with a plausible excuse to not go on a date, a hand suddenly stopped him, pulling him back.

"Sorry, I think you've got the wrong price! The price tag reads five dollars for a drink, and we got five of them here. I think- I think you might be undercharging us!" A bright voice chirped out of breath.

"Hange?" Levi asked surprised, turning to see the mess of a woman before him. She was absolutely out of breath, her lab coat was still on her figure, where a bunch of stains of various unnatural colours painted the once white cloth, and worse of all, she had goggles over her glasses, and that wasn't counting the pair that hung from her neck or the one on her forehead.

"Sorry I'm late. Work took longer to finish than I thought." She puffed out, throwing him a wide smile.

The cashier cleared her throat, noticing the gaze between them, not liking how close they seemed. "Uh... I'm sure I put the price right... I'll go check on the price tags after I ring this customer." She said as she turned back to Levi, her eyes still turning to take a look at Hange. "Don't worry about it, pay the usual price you pay."

But before she could continue, Hange inserted herself once more. "No need! I've got the rest of the money here." She said, pulling out a bunch of lose change from her pockets. Some which fell to the floor if not rolling on the counter.

"Oops..."

"Ma'am... I'm sorry, but can you please wait for your turn? I'm helping this customer over here first. I'll get back to you af-"

"We're paying together. These are for her. She's my girlfriend." Levi said.

A stunned silence fell over the three of them at Levi's words. His confession even surprising Hange as it was the first time she'd heard him introduce her as his girlfriend to anyone else other than their family and friends.

There was a certain pride in his eyes as he finally got to call her his in public. He wasn't one for public affection, or making the world know of his business. But there was something that warmed his chest in having others see them as a couple. Of having made it known that Hange was his. And only his.

Hange smiled. "25 should be the full price." She said, picking up the forgotten coins on the counter before interlacing her fingers with Levi's, and rushing out the door together with his hand in hers. The wind carrying her contagious laugh as they made their way to their apartment. Onlookers and everything else be damned.

"Aren't you sad?" Levi finally asked as they crashed onto the floor of their entrance hall after having run all the way up the stairs to their home.

"Over?" She asked breathlessly, turning to look at her lover.

"The fact you'll have to pay more for the drinks. Or at least cut down on them."

Hange chuckled, a bright twinkle of amusement amongst her brown eyes. "It's worth it. I'd rather pay more for my drinks than lose that warmth of yours... I don't want the love of my life to feel like I'm hiding our relationship. Besides... It was kind of sexy having you put claim over me in front of someone who had eyes on you for a long time."

"Fucking unbelievable." Levi grumbled, causing Hange to giggle before rolling over so she was just over his face. A serious look suddenly taking over her features.

"I love you, Levi. You and no one else."

"I love you too, Four-Eyes." Levi whispered back, placing a hand to the back of her head to bring her closer to him. "Who else can drive me as insane as you?"

And with it, they melted into a kiss.

[innytoes]

They cut your grilled cheese into triangles, that means they're in love with you, bro for Alex/Reggie

Having his ex-boyfriend become his best friend was kind of weird. Because yeah, at one point Alex had drawn little hearts in his notebooks that read 'Willie Mercer' and 'Alex Throckmorton' and he'd dithered for ages about which of those sounded better even though he'd been too scared to ask Willie to prom.

They had gone to prom together. And then over the summer they'd realised that yeah, they cared for each other, but they weren't really in love with each other. So they'd ended up as mildly co-dependent friends. Willie still crawled through his window at midnight sometimes because he needed cuddles, and Alex still had him as his first emergency contact because Willie was the only one who could keep him from going down an anxiety rabbit-hole.

Well, besides Reggie.

Which brought him to his current dilemma.

"Dude, Reggie is not in love with me," he told Willie. Just because Alex had a crush on his band mate, didn't mean said band mate felt the same way. Willie was just encouraging him to get back out there, like the good friend he was. But dating sites freaked Alex out, and blind dates sounded like a disaster - no Carrie, I will not let you set me up with Heather's sister's friend's cousin, I don't care how hot he is - but Alex didn't want to risk messing up the band just because he was in love with Reggie.

Maybe it would pass. His two week crush on Bobby back when they were fourteen had.

(He ignored the little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Willie, pointing out that his crush on Reggie had been going strong for over a year now.)

"He cuts your grilled cheese into triangles," Willie stated with so much confidence Alex had to wonder what it was like to be that certain about anything in life. "That means he's in love with you."

"That's not... what?"

"Just look for it," Willie made him promise. Which he did, because well, it was hard to deny Willie anything.

It wasn't every weekend that Reggie made them grilled cheeses after practice, but it was often enough. Reggie was the grilled cheese master, effortlessly combining flavours and cheeses together to make everyone a personalised masterpiece suited to their taste. Ray happily gave up his kitchen in return for a perfectly melted Monterey Jack-Cheddar with just the right amount of mustard.

So Alex watched Reggie make the grilled cheeses. That wasn't unusual, they usually hung out in the kitchen while he did his thing, but this time, Alex really watched. Willie's ham-cheese-pineapple? Cut in half. Luke's American-Mozzarella? In half. Flynn's got a little ramekin of ketchup on the side, and was cut into squares. Bobby's weird vegan cheese one with vegan mayo on the outside to make it golden brown? Squares. Julie? Squares. Carlos? Half.

But Alex' grilled cheese, a Gouda-cheddar with just the tiniest bit of mozzarella? It was cut into triangles.

It was also the one Reggie always made last, right before his own. So they'd have time in the kitchen together when the others inevitably drifted away, back to the studio or home or to their rooms.

And yeah, maybe Alex always kind of offered to help with clean-up, so they could spend even more time together. But that didn't mean anything, did it?

Except when he looked over to Reggie and their fingers brushed when Reggie handed him a plate to dry, he blushed. And Alex thought that maybe, just maybe, Willie could be right. But he had to know.

"Hey Reg? Why do you cut my grilled cheese into triangles?" he asked, before he could chicken out.

Reggie turned back to the dishes, burying his hands in the suds, his ears bright red.

"It's what you do for the people you're in love with," he said quietly.

It was obnoxious, the way Willie gloated in his best man speech five years later.

[clarepreed]

Protect

Story Content and Summary - 9,394 words. Larissa grows stronger and healthier as she and Mitchell recoup on a private beach in Hawaii. When they choose to return home for Kieran's wedding, however, events take a violent turn. Explicit sex, violence, blood, mention of self-unaliving, drowning, hypovolemic shock, on-site resuscitation, resuscitation in a moving ambulance, resuscitation in the Emergency Department.

Previous installment: Lifeguard Not On Duty Disclaimer: Some references will not make sense if you have not read certain stories in the series. Ask in the comments if you'd like to know which ones to read.

--

Mitchell pulled away from the curb, looking for a parking space. Larissa appeared to be running late, and other cars were piling up behind him.

He tried calling her again, but the call went straight to voicemail. She’d told him that the building had a big dead zone in the middle. She might still be in physical therapy, or had stepped into the bathroom.

“This is Larissa Anders-Colton. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message and I’ll return your call when I’m able. Thank you!”

Mitchell decided to go inside and look for her. Her doctors back home had helped her find this place when she’d expressed interest in taking up running again. The facility was attached to a hospital, and the staff trained to deal with medical emergencies. She was undoubtedly fine. Her asthma was doing better, she hadn’t had a seizure since the episode where she cut her arm, and her ICD/pacemaker had not needed to perform either function in a long time.

Still, Mitchell worried.

I’ll just take a look. She might have lost track of time. That’s happened more often since…

Mitchell hurried back to the entrance and inside. He usually walked her in for her appointments, so he knew where to go. Hurrying across the lobby, he skipped the bank of elevators and slipped into the stairwell.

He told himself not to hurry, but by the time he started up the second set of steps, he was taking them two at a time. Breathing hard, he burst out onto the third floor, his eyes looking for any sign of distress or an emergency.

Instead, as he approached the gallery of windows that made up one wall of the physical therapy gym, he spotted Larissa. Upright, and running on a treadmill.

She hadn’t noticed him; her eyes were on her physical therapist, who was talking to her animatedly, his hands moving in the air. Larissa was flushed and sweaty, but she looked relaxed. She’d braided her long hair down her back and it swung back and forth with each stride. Across the room was a wall of mirrors, and Mitchell could see her from behind, her ass a masterpiece in leggings.

He stood frozen in his tracks, his eyes shifting back to her face. She smiled at the trainer, face shining in the lights above. Rivulets of sweat trickled down her neck, running into her cleavage. Her sports bra was doing a lot of heavy lifting; her large, natural breasts were barely jiggling as she ran.

Mitchell felt a powerful combination of relief, lust, and pride as he watched his wife. He heaved a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders, letting his arms dangle loose by his sides.

God, I wish we were home so I could steth her right now.

The trainer reached across the front of the treadmill and the belt slowed until Larissa was walking. She clasped the bar with one hand and snagged her towel with the other, quickly blotting her face and heaving chest. That’s when she noticed Mitchell, and he saw the sweetest, happiest smile spread across her face.

Then she gestured for him to come in.

By the time Mitchell reached her, the trainer was handing Larissa a bottle of water. She pressed it to her chest and exclaimed: “Mitchell! Did you see? I ran a mile!”

“I did, baby! That’s amazing. You look so happy!” Mitchell reached out and put his hand on top of hers where she gripped the safety bar.

“She’s doing great,” the trainer said. “Won’t be long until you’re jogging around the island.”

“You can come with me, Mitchell,” Larissa said. Then she winked. “If you can keep up.”

Before long, they walked together out to their SUV. Though she was doing exceptionally well with her balance, Mitchell helped her climb into the vehicle. This gave him the opportunity to kiss her. He gently pressed her into the seat, one hand cupping her cheek and the other curving around the side of her ribcage.

Her skin was tacky with drying sweat, and her body felt warm to the touch. She made a surprised noise against his mouth and then reached up to run her fingers into his hair 

When they came up for air, she murmured: “I don’t smell very good.”

“Mmm…” Mitchell kissed her jaw up to her ear, sliding his hand further up her ribcage until his hand rested on the damp band of her sports bra. Her hair smelled strongly of shampoo despite the sweat, and he nuzzled the damp short hairs at her temple.

Larissa tipped her head back, opening up the long line of her neck. Mitchell kissed his way down her warm skin, marking a path down to the top of her breast. She let out a low, breathy moan and Mitchell smiled against her bosom.

“What do you say we get home and hop in the shower?” he murmured. Before she could respond, he slipped both of his hands down her body and pushed her legs apart. Then he rubbed her through her leggings, where she’d soaked them through with sweat and arousal.

Her chest heaved, and she gasped out: “God, home feels so far away right this second.”

A car drove by where he’d parked, and Mitchell curved protectively over Larissa, blocking her spread legs and flushed face from the driver. 

Larissa giggled and kissed his cheek. “I guess we should go home so we don’t get arrested for getting busy in the hospital parking lot. And I do need a shower before we go any further. Surely I’m about to knock you out with fumes.”

Mitchell leaned back and brought his hand up to his face, making eye contact with her and inhaling deeply. “That would be a good way to go.”

Larissa’s eyes went wide, and she made a shocked noise. “God, you always find new ways to shock me and turn me on.”

Mitchell gave her a quick, hard kiss before he shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side.

When they got home, it didn’t take them long to end up in the bathroom, where Mitchell undid Larissa’s braid. Then they stripped down and hopped into the shower together. 

“Let me wash you,” he murmured, reaching for the pouf and squirting a generous dollop of body wash into it before sudsing it between his hands. He started with her back, carefully sweeping her hair to the front. He washed her entire body like this, gliding the pouf in slow circles over her ass and thighs, under her arms and around her breasts. He spent a lot of time on her breasts, teasing her nipples with the mesh before running the pouf down her abdomen. She sat on the bench and closed her eyes, leaning against the shower wall as he washed her legs and feet.

Mitchell sat the pouf on the bench and rinsed the soap off his hands before reaching in and pushing her knees apart. He washed her vulva with warm water, looking up at her face as he rubbed and stroked her. When he finished, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Then he washed her hair, surprising her by remembering which products she used and in what order.

While her conditioner was soaking in, Larissa took the pouf and washed Mitchell in return. She stood very close, brushing her breasts against him or leaning in to kiss his neck and chest. They moved into the stream of water to rinse off, and Larissa let the pouf fall to the shower floor, her hands coming up to rake through her hair.

Mitchell pressed her back against the shower wall, his fingers linking with hers and pulling her arms above her head. Her breasts rose deliciously, hardened nipples pressing into his chest. Mitchell gave her a deep kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth. Then he kissed along her jawline to her ear and sucked on her lobe. Larissa mewled, her chest heaving and her hips jerking forward against him. 

Mitchell nibbled on her soft flesh, then kissed his way down her neck and along her collarbone. He kissed her scar and the lump of her ICD. Then he lifted his head and found her panting mouth, kissing her hard. He released her hands, and she brought them to the sides of his face, then ran them down to his shoulders, gently urging him back.

“Sit,” Larissa cooed, pressing him toward the shower bench.

Mitchell backed up until he felt the bench against his legs, then sat, sliding his hands down Larissa’s curvy body. She sank in front of him, her hands gripping his thighs and pushing them wide. Larissa leaned forward and took him into her mouth, her eyes capturing his and earning her a low groan. 

His hands lightly grasped her head, though he resisted the urge to move her head up and down his cock. Instead, he concentrated on watching her face, on her full lips wrapped around him. On the sensation of her tongue stroking the underside of his cock and then sliding around his glans. His lips parted and he let out a moan.

Larissa released his legs and reached between his thighs to cup his balls. Then she took him deep into her mouth, deeper than she was usually willing to go. 

“Fuck!” Mitchell felt his abs and ass clench. He tried to breathe slowly, tried closing his eyes so he couldn’t see how she looked with his cock deep in her mouth. After a bit, however, he wrenched his eyes open and grasped her shoulders. “God, baby. You have to stop; I want you in bed.”

Larissa let him slip from her mouth. Her hands rubbed up and down his thighs. “Are you sure? I’m certainly enjoying myself.” Larissa licked her bottom lip, then lifted her hands from his thighs and cupped her heavy breasts, thumbs circling her nipples.

“Larissa… if it wouldn’t be hard on my knees, I would fuck you on the shower floor.”

Larissa responded by running one hand down her body and between her thighs. Mitchell bent over and cupped her face, kissing her hard. They rose together, and Mitchell managed to turn off the water and open the shower door without either of them falling down.

Larissa shivered when the bathroom air rushed into the enclosed space, and Mitchell reached out to snag her robe, throwing it around her shoulders. “Watch your step, baby.” 

“I have so much wet hair,” she said, laughing as she grabbed her hair towel. As she used it to squeeze the excess water from her wet locks, Mitchell stepped in close and kissed her temple, running a hand up her abdomen and cupping her right breast. Larissa let out a low moan. “We can always change the sheets after.”

He led her into the bedroom, where she dropped her bathrobe over her pillow and pulled back the comforter. She slipped into the sheets and then reached for him.

Mitchell laid down beside her and tugged her close, pulling her leg over his. His erection throbbed between them, but he reached down and cupped her sex with his hand, massaging her with his palm. Her wetness lubricated his fingers as he rubbed all around her vulva, gently increasing the pressure. 

Larissa made a noise, little more than a sharp intake of breath. He moved his hand, trailing his fingers lightly around her clit before sliding back down and slipping two fingers inside of her. She was swollen with arousal, and her legs stiffened when he penetrated her. She sucked in a breath as he curled his fingers, stroking in and out of her. 

He kept his other arm tight around her, holding her close as she began to gasp and moan. The heel of his hand ground into her clit. 

“Ah!” she gasped. Mitchell kept his eyes on her face, watching as her own closed and her head tipped back. Her lips parted, huffs of air panting out of her. 

Mitchell shifted his legs, using his knees to push hers wider. “You look so hot like this, baby. You feel so good in my arms. I want you to come for me.”

Larissa thrust her pelvis against his hand, driving his fingers deeper. Her body writhed against him, and she was making increasingly louder noises. 

“Come for me, baby!”

“Ah! Ah! AH!” she came apart, body convulsing with pleasure, legs shaking and her muscles gripping his fingers. Mitchell abruptly withdrew his fingers, then thrust himself inside her warm, dripping slit. Larissa arched her back and opened her mouth in an “o” of surprise. “GOD!”

Mitchell grasped her ass, pinning her in place as he drove inside. She went from trembling to meeting him thrust for thrust, her gasps of pleasure ringing in his ears.

Larissa pressed her hands against his chest and he moved onto his back, pulling her with him. She braced herself on the headboard, breasts wobbling above his head as she rode him. Mitchell ran his hands up and down her sides before reaching up to pinch her nipples.

“Yes!” Larissa moaned, her thighs rolling and her pelvis thrusting down against him. Mitchell gave her nipples a twist and then released them, running his hands down her sides to her hips. 

“You’re amazing,” Mitchell gasped. They had always had an excellent sex life, but her renewed stamina and strength were something to behold. Mitchell moved one of his hands to her pelvis, finding her clit with his thumb.

Her eyes met his, and she moaned: “I’m going to come again!”

“Good,” he growled. He thrust up into her, watched as she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Mitchell pulled her down to lie on top of him, grabbing her ass and pressing his feet flat to the mattress so he could pump himself rapidly in and out of her. Larissa curled her fingers into his damp hair and kissed him, her tongue plunging deep into his mouth.

Then she tore her mouth free and cried out. He felt a gush of wetness between them and kept thrusting hard as his balls tightened. Her body convulsed over and around him and he let the sound and feel of her push him over the edge. He nearly whited out as he spilled himself inside of her, releasing a loud groan of pleasure. 

Larissa went limp on top of him, her chest heaving and her fingers stroking his hair.

“Holy shit, baby!” He turned his head to kiss her cheek and heard her chuckle. Then he wrapped his arms tight around her. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”

Two days later.

Mitchell stood in the church’s narthex with the other groomsmen, waiting for Dan to walk down the aisle and for the bridesmaids to arrive. Dan bounced restlessly on the balls of his feet, his face split by an ear-to-ear smile.

“He looks more than ready,” Mitchell’s brother-in-law Mark murmured. 

“You know how it is,” Mitchell said. “Getting married. Of course, it’s something else to make it to the wedding when you thought your bride might die before you can get there.”

Mark clapped him on the shoulder. “That would add some extra weight to the proceedings, that’s for sure.”

The door between the vestibule and the narthex cracked open, and the wedding planner stuck his head in. “Ready, Dan?”

“Yes, please.”

“Go ahead down the aisle. The pianist is ready.”

The rest of the groomsmen got in order as the planner propped the door open, letting in the line of bridesmaids. First was Kieran’s best friend and maid-of-honor, Blakely, followed by her cousin, Maeve. There were four bridesmaids, but Mitchell’s attention stopped at the third.

Kieran was not the sort of bride to try to dull her bridesmaids’ beauty, though as far as Mitchell was concerned, that would have been impossible, anyway. Larissa’s long, heavy hair had been piled artfully atop her head, honeyed curls woven throughout with small braids. Her makeup was light, her earrings simple. The dress was some sort of bluish purple that Larissa described as “periwinkle silver.” It had a single wide strap that covered Larissa’s scar, then fit her well through the bust and waist before flaring out into a tulle skirt that draped to mid-calf. Her long legs looked even longer in the matching heels. In her hands, she carried a simple bouquet of white roses.

Mitchell pushed down his impatience as the first two couples entered the church. Then he was beside Larissa, linking elbows with her. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

“You look gorgeous. Stunning.”

“Thank you, handsome.”

The wedding seemed to fly by. As Kieran and Dan gave their vows, Mitchell leaned slightly to the side, trying to spot Larissa. To his delight, she was leaning around to look for him as well. He saw her face light up and winked at her.

After the wedding, photos, and reception at a nearby hotel, after Dan and Kieran’s sendoff, Mitchell and Larissa gathered their things and met in the hotel lobby.

“How tired are you, baby?” Mitchell asked. “Do you want to walk or should we take an Uber?”

“It’s a beautiful night. We just have these two bags…” Larissa looked over at him. “Are you okay to walk? I have my sneakers, but you’re still in dress shoes.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s less than a mile. Or right at a mile. These shoes really aren’t so bad.” Mitchell held out his arm. “I know I said this before, baby, but you look absolutely gorgeous.”

Larissa took his arm, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “A very handsome man such as yourself needs some arm candy.”

“Want to stop at the fountain in the courtyard on our way out?”

“Please, I bet it’s beautiful at night.”

They walked together slowly, arm in arm. Mitchell had tucked his tux jacket into his backpack along with his bowtie. Larissa was still wearing her bridesmaid dress, but she’d slipped on a brand new pair of running shoes, gifted to her by Kieran. Aside from the shoes and her backpack slung over one shoulder, Mitchell thought she looked just as perfect as she had when he’d first seen her at the ceremony.

The south exit took them into the courtyard, where a large fountain splashed quietly in the center. The lighting along the edge of the building was bright enough for safety, but there were no lamps around the fountain. Instead, the fountain itself was illuminated. This night, the LEDs were rainbow hued, almost pastel through the water.

“Oh!” Larissa exclaimed, squeezing his arm. “That’s right, it’s June first in a couple of hours! Happy Pride, honey!”

“Thank you, baby.” Mitchell smiled, watching the colors ripple as they approached. “Thank you for that.”

“You didn’t stop being bi just because we got married.” Larissa sighed. “I really love how this looks. It’s so happy!”

“I wonder if a selfie would come out,” Mitchell mused. “We could try!”

“I have an idea! I can light us with my phone and you’ll take the picture. Your arms are longer.”

They dropped their bags on the pavers and sat on the lip of the basin, one arm wrapped around the other’s back. Larissa blinded them with the flashlight on her phone, giggling until she got it positioned where she wanted it. 

“Alright, honey!”

Mitchell took several shots. For the last one they kissed, Mitchell clumsily pressing the shutter button and hoping for the best.

“How are they?” Larissa asked, hastily turning her flashlight off. “That was fun either way. Other than when I scarred our retinas.”

“Let’s lo—”

“Larissa!” A man’s voice interrupted them. Mitchell blinked away the remaining spots in his vision, confused as Larissa stiffened beside him. She lurched to her feet, pulling herself out of his grasp before he could register what was happening.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Larissa’s voice hissed out of her, a tone Mitchell had never heard before. Then he was on his feet, part of his brain reacting to the man approaching them before the rest of his consciousness caught up.

Ben Miller.

“Get out of here,” Mitchell snarled. “Unless you’re staying at the hotel or attending an event here, you’re trespassing.”

Ben looked much older than Mitchell remembered. His hair was shaggy, growing over his ears and onto his collar. He’d also grown a salt-and-pepper beard since they’d last seen him in court.

Larissa gestured toward their bags. “We’ll go. I don’t care what the fuck you do.”

“I’m not here to hurt you,” Ben said. Mitchell realized the other man had one of his hands in his pockets.

“Larissa—” he started, but Ben cut him off.

“I’m not here to hurt her! I realize now my anger was misplaced.” Ben laughed. “I did a lot of reading. Did you know how unethical it was for you to come on to your subordinate like that, Mitchell? And you got away with it. I haven’t heard shit from the media about how you used your power to seduce one of your employees. And then I took it out on HER when I should have gone after YOU!”

“Let’s just go, Mitchell.” Larissa took another step forward toward their bags. Mitchell’s phone was in his hand, and he wondered if he’d be able to call 9-1-1 before anything happened.

Ben pulled his hand out of his pocket and dragged out a handgun.

Everything began to move at rain pace, faster than Mitchell could process. Ben lunged forward. Mitchell reached for Larissa, only for her to throw herself in front of him. He heard a terrible crack, then a second. Larissa twisted violently. Another crack. Mitchell heard a splash, and then he registered a white hot pain across his side.

“I didn’t want to hurt her!” Ben groaned. “FUCK! Why did she do that?!”

Mitchell dropped his phone and clapped his hand to his side. Ben shot again, but he was on the move and the bullet whizzed past Mitchell’s head. Mitchell flinched and tripped over his own feet, limbs sprawling and his head bouncing off the pavers.

His vision filled with stars.

Get up!

He couldn’t seem to gather his wits enough to move.

Get up!

Larissa…

The night fell silent.

Mitchell pushed himself up onto his hands and knees with a groan. The right side of his face throbbed and stung, and pain knifed down the left side of his ribcage. His mind screamed at him that there was danger, but when he looked around, he didn’t see Ben anywhere. 

“Larissa!” he shouted, turning toward the fountain.

Larissa lay on her back in the basin, submerged and unmoving, eyes unfocused and open. A dark cloud of blood surrounded her. One foot was propped up out of the water, her sneaker caught on the edge.

“NO!” Mitchell crawled into the fountain and thrashed over to her, the pain in his head and his side fading as pure, undiluted panic flooded him.

Dead dead dead dead dead—

Mitchell grabbed her shoulders and heaved her upper body out of the water. The weight of her sodden updo pulled her head back at a sharp angle, and he could see the whites of her eyes below her irises. He cradled her against his arm and tried to get hold of himself, sucking in a deep breath and screaming: “HELP!” before he dragged in another.

He didn’t bother listening or feeling for breath. Instead, he closed her mouth with his free hand and hunched over her, his mouth sealing over her nose.

Mitchell had been learning more about CPR and first aid, no longer content with what they taught at the annual CPR refresher. He gave Larissa a breath through her nose, watching for her still chest to rise. The breath was difficult to get in, but he kept trying, four more times, while her chest barely rose and his lips spluttered from the force.

You weren’t in there long enough to pull much water in, baby! What the fuck?!

Mitchell tried to lift her, one arm under her shoulders and the other beneath her knees. Weakened from his injuries and weighed down by their wet clothing, he tipped over on top of her, briefly submerging them both.

Mitchell reared back, jerking her torso up with him. He spat to clear his mouth and then shouted again: “HELP, GOD DAMMIT!”

Mitchell slipped in behind her, bringing his arms around her limp body and just under her breasts, clenching his hands into a fist. His fist found her sternum, and he pulled his hands in sharply. Pain blossomed down his side, but he ignored it, pulling hard and at the same pace as prone chest compressions. Larissa made a watery, wheezing sound with each thrust of his fist.

“…seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve…” Mitchell compressed her body back against his chest, feeling her ribcage flex beneath his fist. Her arms swung limp, and her head hung forward and slightly to the side, pulled by the weight of her hair. When he glanced down, he realized one or both of them still bled profusely; Larissa’s dress was soaked down the left side and the stain in the water had grown.

“Thirty!” Mitchell shifted her again in his arms, draping her over his knees and letting her head fall back. There was blood on her chest, and when he looked closer, he realized it was coming from a wound near her ICD. Mitchell clapped a shaking hand over the bloody tear, pressing hard. Then he wrapped his other arm around her head, holding her mouth closed as he leaned in to give her another breath. This time, he felt her breasts rise against his arm. A small amount of water gushed up into his mouth and he spat to the side before giving her another breath.

 That’s when he saw her arm. Limp as it was, he could still see it hung at an awkward angle. And the blood… he’d never seen someone bleed like that in real life. It was streaming from her arm, pulsing slightly as it exited her body.

“FUCK!” Mitchell moved his hand from her chest to her arm, clenching his hand tightly around the wound. “HELP! IN THE COURTYARD!”

Blood oozed between his fingers, and he stared at it, realizing that the pulsing meant that her heart was still beating. For now. If she bled out or didn’t start breathing again, her heart would stop.

Mitchell hunched over her awkwardly, sealing his lips over her nose again. He gave her a breath and felt her chest rise. Breathing for her, even through her nose, was noticeably easier now, her breasts swelling with each breath. He blew into her every three seconds, his eyes darting back and forth from her face to her arm to her chest. Her skin felt cool to the touch despite the warm night air; he assumed it was due to blood loss and the fountain water.

Every tenth breath, Mitchell tipped her head to the side, letting water and a small amount of froth trickle from her nose and mouth. Then he tipped her head back again, sealed her mouth, and blew into her nostrils. 

As he was giving her breath, Larissa jerked in his arms, her chest heaving and water coming up out of her nose. Mitchell pulled her as upright as he could, watching in relief when her lips parted and she coughed up a small amount of fountain water. She gagged and opened her eyes, staring wildly out at the night sky.

“I’ve got you, baby. Larissa, I’ve got you. He’s gone—”

“Hello?” A man’s voice called out from somewhere outside of Mitchell’s range of vision. Mitchell froze for several seconds until he realized the voice didn’t belong to Ben Miller.

Larissa let out a low moan, stirring against him. She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but the movement just made her back bow from the pain. She gasped and started coughing again. The coughs were weak and wet, her shoulders jerking.

“IN THE FOUNTAIN!” Mitchell bellowed. “WE’VE BEEN SHOT! CALL 9-1-1!”

“Mitchell…” Larissa gasped his name, her head sagging back and then rolling to the side. “Mitch…ell… You…”

Her eyelids fluttered. She coughed between rapid breaths, and what he could see of her face and lips looked chalky.

“Shh, baby. You don’t have to talk!” A frightening amount of blood was still leaking out around his fingers. Mitchell took his other hand and wrapped both of them around the bleeding wounds in her arm, just above her elbow. Then he squeezed with all of his strength.

Larissa made a noise, a shriek so forceful it was actually silent, her mouth gaping and her body shuddering in his arms. 

“I’m sorry!” he gasped, her pain wracking his own body with a wave of anguish. “Shh, baby, it’s… I’m so sorry! FUCK!”

She shuddered in his arms, her teeth chattering and her breaths coming faster.

“In the fountain!” a woman shouted. “Looks like two people!”

“We need an ambulance! My wife is bleeding to death!” Mitchell regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth; he needed someone to help them, but saying such a thing made his own body tremble.

“Mmm…” Larissa moaned, her head lolling against his chest. “Mmmm… Mitch… Mitch… M-Mitchell…”

“Larissa, shh, baby.”

“C-cold…”

Mitchell heard shoes on the concrete and then people splashed into the fountain with them. A man and a woman that he vaguely recognized but couldn’t place.

“Someone from the hotel called 9-1-1. Everyone was afraid to come out after the shots,” the woman said. “But staff’s bringing blankets. They’ll be out in a minute!”

“Gunman’s gone?” asked the man. “I hear sirens…”

“You… o… k-kay?” Larissa asked, her voice high-pitched and shaky.

“I’m okay, Larissa!” Mitchell pressed a kiss to her wet hair. “Please, please don’t worry…”

“We need to put something on her arm as a tourniquet,” the man said. He looked around wildly, as though something useful might materialize in the fountain.

“What about your belt?” the woman asked. Mitchell realized where he knew them from. Kieran’s wedding. He’d seen this woman in the bridal party.

“M-Maeve,” Larissa stammered. She was sagging heavily against Mitchell, unable to hold herself upright. 

“That’s right, Larissa,” the woman said, kneeling in the water. “Christ, what happened?”

Maeve’s husband stripped off his belt. “This isn’t ideal, but it’s the best we’ve got. I’m going to put it above your hands!”

The man looped his belt around her arm and threaded the end through the buckle.

“Stop…” Larissa squeaked out, weakly writhing in his arms. “D-don’t…”

“Deep breath, baby—”

The man jerked the belt tight, and Larissa made a wheezing noise and went limp against Mitchell’s chest. Mitchell released her arm, his hands hovering there in case the belt didn’t do the job. The wound oozed, black with blood, but it wasn’t pumping out blood at the rate it had before. Mitchell hoped this was because of the belt.

“Larissa!” Mitchell dropped his bloody hands into the water, scrubbing them against his pants legs before reaching up to lift her chin. Maeve reached out and held the back of her hand in front of Larissa’s mouth.

“She’s breathing!” Maeve exclaimed. “We need to get her out of the water!”

“I have to hold this belt tight,” her husband said. “But here comes hotel staff! And cops!”

The courtyard flooded with people. Mitchell couldn’t concentrate on anything except Larissa. He pressed his fingers to her carotid artery, wanting to monitor her pulse while she was unconscious. He was vaguely aware that his body shook with cold and shock. He heard some shouting, but it wasn’t until Maeve put her lips near his ear that he caught the words.

“Mitchell! Mitchell!” Maeve grabbed his arm. “This man is a doctor. The cops are going to help us get her out of the water. You need to get out, too. You’re shaking!”

Then they took her from him, a man in plain clothes and a uniformed cop, one carrying her shoulders and the other her legs, all while Maeve’s husband held tight to the belt. 

“Come on, you need to get out, too.” Maeve stood, reaching down with an outstretched hand. “I’m Kieran’s cousin. As soon as you’re out of the fountain I’m going to call her and let her know what happened.”

“Tell her to call M-Mark…”

“I will. Come on, I think the cop has a real tourniquet for her arm.”

Mitchell reached up and took her hand. She stepped close to him, grabbing his elbow with her other hand. Mitchell managed to struggle to his feet, though he swayed once he was upright.

“Ooh, don’t fall! I can’t catch you!” She turned him toward the side of the fountain, where he could see that the men had laid Larissa out on a blanket and draped a second over her legs. Mitchell sat on the side of the fountain and swung his legs around. Maeve climbed out beside him, then reached toward his side with a gasp. “Oh! That’s not just her blood. Hey, he’s bleeding, too!”

“I’m f-fine…” Mitchell pressed his hand to the bleeding wound across his ribs. “I think I was just grazed…”

A uniform cop jogged up with extra gloves and something in her hand that turned out to be an actual tourniquet. Mitchell eased himself down onto his knees, reaching for Larissa’s right hand, laying limp on the blanket. 

“…above the belt,” the doctor said. Mitchell didn’t know what kind of doctor he was, but he’d already checked her pulse and seemed confident in his directions. Someone draped a blanket across Mitchell’s shoulders as the doctor applied the tourniquet to Larissa’s injured arm, turning the windlass.

Larissa groaned, her fingers moving in Mitchell’s grasp. Her hand felt cold.

“Shh, baby.” He squeezed her hand and watched as her eyelids fluttered open. “Larissa, it’s Mitchell. There’s a doctor here and an ambulance will be here soon.”

She moved restlessly, legs working underneath the blanket. Her eyes roved the sky above them. “Thirsty…”

“I’m sorry, baby, but—”

“Where did he… go?” Larissa gasped.

“Ben ran off. He’s not here—”

“He was… g-gonna…” She stopped, talking for several seconds, eyes unfocused. Then she wheezed: “Thirsty…”

“Ma’am,” the doctor cut in. He had his hand pressed to the wound in her chest. “You’ll need surgery. I can’t give you water, but when the ambulance arrives, they will give you IV fluids and that will help.”

“We’ve got one ambulance pulling in now,” a cop said. “The second one is delayed.”

“She’s breathing very fast,” Mitchell said. “Is that from the blood loss?”

Her full lips looked bloodless, and they were slightly parted. He could see her chest rising and falling rapidly. Mitchell lifted his hand from his wounded side and turned her wrist over in his hand, pressing his fingertips to the pulse there. Or he tried to; even though Larissa’s heart was obviously beating, he couldn’t find the pulse in her wrist.

“I believe so,” the doctor said. “Here come the medics.”

“M-Mitchell…” Larissa whispered.

Mitchell leaned in with difficulty, the pain in his side making him stiff. Still, he knew the paramedics would likely make him move away from her, and he wanted to talk to her while he could. “What is it, baby?”

She briefly made eye contact with him. This close, he smelled the thick scent of iron on her. “Sell.”

“Yes… Anything you want, baby. And then we’ll buy that house in Hawaii.” A lump formed in his throat and he squeezed her hand again.

“Take… c-care of… yourself…” Larissa closed her eyes, but he could still see her chest rising and falling.

“You’re going to be okay, Larissa. I love you!” His eyes burned, and he swallowed hard.

“Love… you…” she whispered, and her fingers twitched in his hand.

“What have we got?” A medic crouched at Larissa’s head, reaching in to take her pulse. “Ma’am?”

“Dr. Ahmad Jones, GP with Sutter Regional Healthcare. Two victims,” the doctor said. “Her name is Larissa. Two apparent gunshot wounds, one to her chest and one in her arm. This tourniquet has been on for three minutes. Prior to that, they had a belt on her arm. I haven’t examined him yet.”

“Okay, sir, we just need you to move back so we can take care of—Oh! This is our other victim.” A medic crouched next to him. “I’m just going to take her radial pulse, sir. If you could scoot back just a bit.”

“I’ll take a look at him,” the doctor said.

Mitchell squeezed her hand, then lowered it carefully to the blanket. Someone helped him move a few feet away onto another blanket, holding him up when he nearly tipped over.

“No palpable radial pulse. I’m going to get her blood pressure.” 

Dr. Jones kneeled next to Mitchell. “I’m going to look at your side if that’s okay, sir.”

“Keep pressure on the chest wound, officer.”

The voices and lights were beginning to blend and blur together. Mitchell coughed, a technique he’d learned from Larissa to raise the blood pressure. 

“She just stopped breathing!”

His ears started ringing.

“No pulse.”

“Do you want me to do chest compressions, or should I keep pressure—”

“I’m on it,” another cop said.

“One, two, three…”

Mitchell was vaguely aware of the doctor touching him, pulling his dress shirt out of the waistband of his pants. But his eyes were on Larissa. A cop leaned over Larissa, hands pumping between her breasts. Her head was tipped to the side, eyes cracked open to glinting slits. Her face looked bloodless, chin bobbing in time with the compressions.

A medic suddenly turned her face toward the sky and tipped her head back, thumbing open her mouth and slipping an oral airway between her teeth. Then he turned the plastic piece and let it rest on her teeth. By the time the cop reached the thirtieth compression, the medic had a bag-valve mask pressed to her face and squeezed the bulb twice.

The other medic was inserting an IV. It took her three tries, but before long, she had a bag connected, which she handed to another cop.

They worked between them to cut Larissa’s gown open to her navel before applying big white defibrillator pads above her right breast and below her left. They also covered her chest wound with a bandage.

“That’s not very deep, but it appears to have damaged this implanted device—”

Larissa’s stomach popped, and her shoulders shrugged with each compression. They’d cut off her strapless bra. Her breasts wobbled, her nipples stiff in the night air.

The doctor was no longer at his side; Mitchell spotted him over by the paramedics’ bags. Then his eyes dropped back to Larissa. Guilt was beginning to sink into his bones; he kept seeing the moment where she’d stepped in front of him, taking bullets meant for him.

“…get her on a pump for a norepinephrine infusion.”

“…fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

The doctor was at his side again. “I’m just going to bandage you up quickly. You’ll need an X-ray and stitches…”

“One, two, three, four…” The cop’s shoulders bobbed sharply over Larissa’s chest.

“How’s the husband?”

“He needs to be monitored for shock.”

Mitchell’s brain seemed to crawl. It ticked back to the comment about the implanted device. “Her ICD. It’s damaged?”

“I can’t be sure,” Dr. Jones replied. “But it did appear to be damaged to me. It was visible inside the wound. They’ve given her medications to bring up her blood pressure, and with chest compressions—”

“Pause compressions to analyze.”

Mitchell watched her chest rise and fall as the medic squeezed the bag. To his surprise, he heard someone say: “Sinus brady. Is she breathing on her own?”

He closed his eyes and slouched. He was shivering harder again, but he didn’t have the energy to pull the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

“No, I’m continuing ventilations.” The medic reached over and dragged a bag closer. “I’m going to suction her.”

“I’m pushing one milligram atropine. Go ahead and intubate after you suction, I don’t like her oxygen saturation.”

“Mitchell, how are you feeling?” the doctor asked.

“She’s B negative,” Mitchell whispered.

The voices continued around him.

“What happened to their other bus?”

“They just happened to be around the corner from an apparent 10-56. White male subject with a gun.”

“We’ll take him with us.”

“Mitchell? Mitchell? Hey, do you have another blood pressure cuff?”

“—our White male subject?”

“…administered. She—”

Underneath Mitchell’s eyelids, everything turned white.

“Mitch—”

“—goes!”

Hands laid him flat on his back and opened his airway.

“Is he breathing?”

“He going too, or—wait for—”

Everything dissolved. His surroundings, the blanket and concrete beneath him. His clothing. His body. Larissa and the medics working on her. His company. His family. His name. All that remained was emotion. Love, hatred, hope, despair.

Then there was nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Mitchell woke to the sensation of movement and the smell of a medical facility.

“ETA is four minutes.”

“Are you going to get in trouble for bringing us along?”

“Probably, but they should have dispatched another ambulance.”

“He’s waking up. Sir? Mitchell?” Someone touched his arm. Mitchell peeled open his eyes and gazed bleary-eyed up at the doctor from before. The man was seated on a bench near his head. “Mitchell?”

“Something’s wrong,” Mitchell muttered. He was laying flat, and when he tried to move he realized he was strapped to a backboard.

“You’re in an ambulance,”

Mitchell looked to the side. 

Larissa lay beside him, strapped to a gurney. She was partially covered with a sheet, her gruesome wounds hidden from sight. A paramedic sat at her head. She looked drained of blood. Her long neck had been extended to open her airway, and a tube jutted out from between her teeth, held in place by a plastic tube holder. The paramedic squeezed the attached bulb every five or six seconds, making her chest rise.

As he watched, an alarm started bleeping.

The medic leaned forward to look, then quickly detached the bag and set it on the gurney. 

“Tell them we have a code!” he called out toward the front. “Female patient!”

As Mitchell watched, the medic stood and moved in between Mitchell and Larissa. He yanked the sheet down to her waist and then reached up for the grab bar with one hand. Then he pressed the heel of his other hand between Larissa’s breasts. Mitchell jerked his head and shoulders up, trying to see what was going on as the medic started one-handed compressions.

“One, two, three…” To the medic’s credit, Mitchell thought the compressions looked good despite being one-handed in a moving vehicle. Larissa’s breasts shook and her stomach bulged with each pump of her sternum. Mitchell could hear the gurney rattle in time with the compressions. “…fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…”

“Mitchell, if you’re okay, I’m going to help with CPR,” the doctor said.

“Go!” Mitchell croaked out beneath his mask. Tears welled in his eyes, and he had to blink them away to clear his vision. The doctor moved from one seat to the other and somewhat clumsily reattached the bag.

“…twenty-seven, twenty-eight…”

“Don’t pause!” the doctor said. “I’ve got it!”

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! One, two, three, four…”

Mitchell’s shoulders shook with tension and he was forced to drop his head back onto the backboard. He could still see the side of Larissa’s face. There was blood in her hair, dried in the short hairs along her temple and dotted inside the shell of her ear. Her head rocked gently from side to side until the doctor reached out to steady it.

“Two minutes. They’re ready for us.”

The medic switched hands, turning slightly and opening up Mitchell’s view. The breast nearest to Mitchell wobbled, her skin there frighteningly pale aside from her dusky nipple and scattering of freckles.

His hearing was going again, fireflies moved across his line of sight. He coughed hard, winced in pain.

“-ell? Are you—Mitchell?”

“—ten. One—three, four, five—”

“I’m fine,” Mitchell muttered. He bent his hand into a shaky thumbs up. “Fine… fine… Help her. Help Larissa…”

His ears suddenly latched onto the alarm screaming, to the thumping and rattling sound of the gurney. To the slightly out of breath counting of the medic. To the whoosh of the bag-valve mask. To the tires of the ambulance, thudding over a speed bump.

“Please, baby…” he whispered.

Then he closed his eyes and drifted.

He opened them in a long, ivory hallway lined down one side with open windows. A steady breeze blew gauzy curtains into the space, periodically obscuring his view. Sometimes, if the timing was right, he spotted Larissa. She walked away from him, nude, her long hair blowing in the breeze. At the far end of the hall, flickering in and out of sight, was a staticky black hole.

“Larissa!” he called out.

She didn’t stop walking; in fact, the next time she got a good look at her, he realized she was running. Away from him and toward the desolate blackness ahead.

“Don’t!” he shouted. “Larissa, don’t!”

She stopped, and the vision glitched. He found himself standing in front of a window. Larissa stood outside, naked and bleeding from an uncountable number of wounds. Behind her, he could see the ocean.

“It hurts,” she whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m selfish. Please, don’t leave,” he begged. “Trust me. It gets better.”

Mitchell woke with a start. A bright light blinded him, and when he reached up to shield his eyes, he found himself dragging IV tubing and a pulse oximeter.

“…PEA arrest. Administer one milligram epinephrine. Helen, take over compressions.” The voice came from the other side of a room-dividing curtain.

“Larissa…” Mitchell whispered.

“Sir? Mitchell?” A young man stepped into Mitchell’s line of sight. “I’m Raymond. How are you feeling?”

“My wife…”

“She’s in good hands, Mitchell. You were unconscious when they brought you in. Can you follow my finger?”

Mitchell watched the nurse move his finger from side to side.

“I’m told there are some people in the waiting room for you. Your brother?”

“How…” Mitchell suddenly remembered Maeve, Kieran’s cousin. She was going to call Kieran, and Kieran would have called Mark.

“You’re going to have to go for a few scans, and then your brother can come in, okay?”

“My wife…”

“I promise, the doctor will come speak with you as soon as possible.” The nurse glanced at his watch. “I’ll be back soon, or someone will be in to take you for an X-ray, okay?”

Mitchell waited until he was sure he was gone, then he reached up and removed his oxygen mask, dropping it to the side. He pushed the sheet back, kicking it off with difficulty. They’d cut his shirt off and applied a large bandage to his side. He pressed his hand there, groaning involuntarily as he sat up. Then he swung his feet over the side of the bed and grasped hold of his IV tree.

When he stood, the room canted dangerously around him. He gritted his teeth and tensed his legs until his vision cleared. Then he shuffled toward the curtain dividing his bay from Larissa’s. Trembling fingers grasped the edge and pulled it back, just far enough for him to see what was happening.

The sight could have been from his worst nightmare.

Larissa, naked on the hospital bed. A nurse stood on a step facing him, her hands forcing Larissa’s breastbone deep at a rapid clip. Her bloodied breasts wobbled with each pump. A doctor or resident in a white coat stood at Larissa’s head, giving her breaths through her tube. Another tube had been threaded down her left nostril. White pads with a plastic puck in the center covered a large swath of her chest, along with a soiled bandage over the wound above her heart.

To the side, he saw another person in scrubs adjusting a machine. It looked like an IV tree on steroids, with twin bags hanging at the top. Another nurse stood to his side, updating information on a computer. A surprising number of people were in the room, but to Mitchell’s relief, no one noticed his eye trained on the evidently lifeless form of his wife. 

He would never get used to the sight. Air forced in and out of her. Her sternum used to pump her heart. Her shoulders shrugging and her stomach popping up each time her chest was forced down. It was undeniably worse with the blood.

He wasn’t going hurt her.

Or so he said.

He just wanted to hurt me.

I should have grabbed her arm and pulled her behind me. I should have told her to run.

Fuck. She wouldn’t have run.

The knowledge that someone could love him enough to die for him cut deep.

“In thirty seconds we’re going to do a rhythm check, and then Charles will take over compressions.”

Helen bobbed relentlessly over Larissa, unfazed by the alarms or the people bustling around her. Her lips moved, counting in time with the metronome beeping out a morbid rhythm. 

“They’re holding an OR for her if you achieve return of spontaneous circulation.”

“Pause compressions for a rhythm check.”

Helen lifted her hands, breathing hard as she stepped down and to the side. A man replaced her, his eyes moving to the monitor.

“That’s v-fib!”

The man immediately bent over Larissa, rolling his shoulders into place and rocking his weight into her sternum.

“Charge to three-sixty.”

The man pumped her chest ten times and then Mitchell heard someone say: “Clear. Everyone clear.”

The man performing chest compressions lifted his hands and the woman at her head unhooked the bag.

“Administering shock.” Larissa’s chest jerked, her back flinching slightly up off the bed and her damaged arm flopping to the side. Immediately, Charles the nurse began pumping her chest again, his hands forcing the pad in the center of her chest down. 

“Push harder!” A robotic voice commanded. Charles complied, bringing his shoulders over his hands and making Larissa’s stomach bulge.

“What’s her blood pressure?”

Mitchell’s fist came up to his mouth, pressing so hard against his lips that his teeth dug into the inside. 

“Seventy over fifty-five.”

The hospital bed squeaked as Charles thrust his hands down over and over again. Down, sinking her chest and popping her abdomen. Up, her ribcage springing back and her stomach deflating. The whoosh of ventilations several seconds apart and between compressions.

Mitchell leaned against the wall, trying to make sure he didn’t move the curtain and call attention to himself. He felt nauseated; knew he should go lay down. Knew the second a nurse or doctor walked in, he’d be in trouble.

Come back, baby. Please. I don’t want to do it without you.

“Rhythm check in thirty seconds. Helen, you can take over for Jane. Jane, you’ll be on compressions.”

Pump and pump and pump and pump…

Mitchell’s side hurt with each breath he took, so he tried to breathe shallowly. He could feel his heart galloping in his chest.

“Alright. Pause compressions. Rhythm is showing as… sinus tachycardia. Good job, folks. Helen, keep up ventilations. Jane, call the OR and tell them she’s headed their way. Ask about a cooling vest.” The doctor speaking walked through Mitchell’s line of sight. “The husband is next door?”

Shit.

Mitchell cast one more glance at Larissa. She still looked to be at death’s door, and he wished he could talk to her, or at her, before they took her away. Mitchell eased backward, trying subtlely to release the curtain.

“Ah… Looks like the husband is watching us right now.”

Busted.

Mitchell pushed open the curtain. “You’re about to take her for surgery, right?” His voice sounded gravelly.

“Sir—”

“I just want to talk to her before you take her. Is there time?” Mitchell drew himself up to his full height, gritting his teeth against the pain. Then he forced himself to unlock his jaw and quietly asked: “Please?”

The doctor nodded and hurried forward, reaching for Mitchell’s arm. “Yes. You have a short minute, but I want to make sure you don’t fall.”

Mitchell let the doctor escort him to Larissa’s side. The nurse was still squeezing the bag regularly, making Larissa’s chest rise and fall. He’d ended up on her wounded side, so he rested his hand on the top of her head, his thumb falling on her forehead. Mitchell leaned close to her ear. 

“Baby, it’s Mitchell. Stay with us, okay? I don’t want to do all those things without you. Pull through and I promise I will sell and we will do anything you want. I don’t care what it is as long as I can be with you, okay? I love you.” Mitchell pressed his lips to her temple. When he finally pulled back, he looked up at the doctor. “Make sure they take good care of her.”

Days later

Larissa stirred.

She had a talent for waking up after most of her visitors had gone. She’d been in and out for most of the day, mumbling nonsense and crying when she was awake.

Mitchell suspected this time would be no different, but he was still excited to see her move of her own accord. It was much better than the first time he’d seen her after her first surgery, laying so still, pale and cold and on a ventilator. She’d gotten off the ventilator quickly and had two more surgeries. He was looking forward to her being coherent enough for him to be sure his Larissa really had survived.

Her eyelids fluttered, and she grimaced, letting out a quiet cry.

“Hey…” Mitchell squeezed her hand and stood, wincing at the pain in his ribs. He leaned over her as much as he could, wanting to keep hold of her hand but knowing he was on the same side as her bad ear. “Larissa, you’re safe. You’re in the hospital. It’s Mitchell. I’m safe, too.”

Larissa cracked open her eyes, her slightly swollen lids nearly obscuring her irises. 

“Hey, baby.” Mitchell squeezed her hand, speaking loudly. He reached in with his other hand and ran his knuckles down her cheek.

Larissa leaned into his touch, and Mitchell sucked in a sharp breath. It was the first time she’d reacted to anyone’s attempts to comfort her.

“Mitchell…” Her voice was hoarse. Her eyes opened wider. “Mitchell…”

“I’m here! I love you!” He cupped her cheek. “How do you feel?”

She blinked a few times, then let out a huff of air that almost sounded like a groan. “N-not great…”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

“Ben Miller.” Her voice was flat.

Mitchell squeezed her hand again. “We never have to worry about him again, Larissa. He’s dead. He… hurt himself. He’s dead.”

“You’re… okay?” her brow furrowed. 

“I’m okay. I’m okay… You…” Mitchell’s voice went wobbly, and he cleared his throat. “You saved me, Larissa.”

She seemed to ponder this for a long time before she spoke again. “I owed you one.”

Mitchell snorted, and then, to his dismay, he started crying. He hunched over their clasped hands, gasping as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Come… here…” Her hand weakly tugged at his. Mitchell tipped forward, his face pressing into her good shoulder. Larissa whispered: “Ahhh, honey. It’s okay…”

“We’re selling the company,” Mitchell said, his voice muffled.

“What?”

He took a shuddering breath and turned his head so that his lips weren’t pressed into her hospital gown. “We’re selling the company. And we’ll buy that house in Hawaii. Shit, that can be our main home.”

He lifted his head to see if she understood him.

“Good,” she whispered. She looked exhausted, but the ache in his chest was dissipating the more obvious it became that she was still herself.

“Larissa…”

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “I love you, too.”

--

The story continues in: Saving Mitchell

[khaotungsfirst]

khaotungsfirst’s 2023 BL recap

Alright, I know I'm late but it’s the time of the year again where I post my favorite BLs of the year even though no one cares about my opinion lmao. Buckle up cause this is gonna be long...

Top Thai BLs

I Feel You Linger In The Air

What a breath of fresh air this was! Not only was the romance top-notch, I was also really invested in the plot and what was happening to other characters. The wlw sideplot felt natural and not shoehorned in and was what we all deserved. I'm just so happy to have experienced this masterpiece!!

Only Friends

Came for SandRay, stayed for BostonNick (and SandRay). Though it had its ups and downs I can't help but love it. There was so much messy drama that I was LIVING for every single week and experiencing that along with the rest of BL tumblr was the best thing. We desperately need more shows like this in the BL world.

Laws of Attraction

Ridiculous SFX could not deter me from loving this show. It's dramatic, it's over the top and it's ridiculous at times but it's crime so of course I liked it. Bonus points for cutting from the villain being killed in prison straight to the main couple's wedding. We love to see it!

Top Korean BLs

Our Dating Sim

This was my last watch of the year when I was looking for something that I could squeeze in without many expectations. How could I have guessed that it would turn out to be my favorite Korean BL of the year? Though the story is nothing new or groundbreaking, I enjoyed the main actors chemistry so so much. Korean BLs, to me, often feel a little stiff but they managed to make it feel so real and easy, I loved it.

The Eighth Sense

Oh, this was something else... High quality cinematography and high-quality story-telling. In the end I went into it with expectations that were too high to meet but still, such a touching BL that will definitely move you (maybe even to tears).

Why R U? (KR)

A show held together by three pieces of duct tape but enjoyable nonetheless. I don't think it's comparable to its Thai original. Yes, the plot is more or less the same but you gotta see it as its own thing. I do love me a panicked gay/confident gay pairing so it already had me from there. And let's talk about the kisses cause !!!

Top Japanese BLs

Tokyo in April is…

Friends to lovers my beloved!!! The PINING, the ACHING, the YEARNING! YEARS OF IT!! How can I not love it? Yes, this was a bit of a heavier BL but it was done SO WELL and the payoff from all the trauma was so satisfying.

My Personal Weatherman

What can I say? Japan just knows how to do it. In any other show the miscommunication between the mains would be annoying as hell. But the chemistry between these two was just off the charts. Nothing more to say.

I Cannot Reach You

Friends to lovers my beloved!!! the sequel. This time less traumatising but just as sweet and moving. A cute and innocent watch.

Top Taiwanese BLs

Kiseki: Dear to Me

The way I IMMEDIATELY knew ChenAi were gonna be my new hyperfixation as soon as I saw them in episode 1... They just have that je ne sais quoi, that special 'make me fall to the floor and bite my fist' quality to them. BZY and FZR also had their insane moments and in combination with everything that ChenAi were doing this show just hit the right spot. Can't wait to rewatch it.

Stay by My Side

Was it ridiculous? Yes. Was it cute tho? Also yes. Nothing I would rewatch but it did make me laugh a lot so there's that.

Top Chinese “BL”

Stay With Me

It’s not like we have much of a selection regarding Chinese BLs (cries in when will Eternal Faith, Immortaily and Winner is King be released from the dungeons?) but HOLY SHIT did they deliver with this one. I didn't know this was specifially made for international release when I went into it so I was in for a few surprises here and there. And I'm gonna say it: it's better than Addicted Heroin. The way their love story developed just has me screaming internally I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHHH!!!

Top 3 overall

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Stay With Me

I Feel You Linger In The Air

Top pre-2023 BLs (that I watched in 2023)

The Eclipse (2022)

Can you believe that I only just joined the FirstKhao nation this year? I completely skipped this show last year NOT KNOWING what a masterpiece I missed out on. Finally a highschool BL with a capital P Plot! And the enemies to lovers was so so good!!! AkkAyan you will always be famous!

Love Mechanics (2022)

I'm not a fan of cheating stories at all but DEAR GOD these two!!! It's the YinWar magic that pulled me in and will never let me go. The constant back and forth did get a bit annoying at some point but I won't complain when we also got things like the shower scene...

Roommates of Poongduck 304 (2022)

Can ZB1 disband faster so Jiwoong can return to BL acting please? I jest, I jest... kinda. I loved the relationship dynamic in this one so much because they both held power over the other (and both were petty bitches about it lmao).

My Gear and Your Gown (2020)

The girls that get it get it, the girls that don't don't :) Falling for MarcPawin during Dangerous Romance and THEN realising that they're the mains for this show immediately put it on top of my watchlist and I'm not ashamed to say I liked it. It's very 2020 but sometimes that's all you need.

Favorite currently airing BLs

I did not want to consider these for the final rankings because they’re still airing and could theoretically still pull a Game of Thrones S7 on us but I have really high hopes for them.

Cherry Magic

HELLO???!?!? I LOVE ACHI SO F U CK ING MUCHHHH!!! And the way Karan is in love with him so gently and so deeply I- AAAAAHHHHHH. This is gonna be my new obsession I can feel it!!

Last Twilight

At first I didn't even plan on watching this because I didn't think JimmySea were a pairing I would enjoy (Vice Versa has been on hold for over a year lol). But GODDAMN did they prove me wrong! So soft, so precious... P'Aof you did it again!

The Sign

What a hodgepodge of genres... One second you're chasing a murderer, the next you're having sex fantasies about your coworker and then you're having visions about your past life with your soulmate (who is also said coworker). Love it!

Most disappointing BLs

Be Mine Superstar

I was so excited for a new JaFirst series as I really enjoyed Don't Say No, and Remember Me didn't quite quench my thirst. But this... if this was a BL then why did we spend SO MUCH TIME on the beef between the agents?? Shit was annoying af. Moreover, I really could not deal with Ja's character. I know a lot of people liked his innocent puppy-like behaviour but it was just too much for me. The only redeemable thing was the side pairing but even that turned into a hot mess quite quickly. Had to drop this at some point after I started watching it on 1.5 speed and realized that I'm torturing myself.

Low Frequency

Exciting concept but stiff acting and a plot that dragged on. Dropped halfway through.

Bon Appetit

It's not bad but just straight up boring. I finished it but it didn't leave any lasting impressions. I know you can do better, Korea...

Most anticipated QLs of 2024

Vampire Project (BOUNPREM VAMPIRE BL!!! I CAN DIE HAPPY ONCE THIS IS FINALLY ON MY SCREEN)

Jack & Joker (War finally getting his villain role let's fucking goooo)

IFYLITA Season 2 (PLEASE GOD MAKE IT HAPPEN P L E A S E also special ep WHEN????)

Spare Me Your Mercy (i will always be a slut for crime BLs)

23.5 Degrees (give it to us!!! LET US INNNN!!!)

My Love Mix-Up TH (istg if gmmtv doesn't learn from this whole cherry magic debacle...)

Eyes on you (even more spy/mafia/crime BL yes and thank you!)

Uranus 2324 (the production?? the story?? the cinematography??? I need it NOW)

Red Peafowl (this is either gonna be really bad or really good and I'm curious to see which one it's gonna be)

(I had Stay With Me S2 on this list until it was announced as cancelled on Jan 1st 😭😭 I wil never recover)

2023 Superlatives

Most iconic intro: Only Friends (long live First's thighs)

Quickest drop: Middleman’s Love (i was rooting for you Jade!)

Best supporting character: Tin's grandma - Laws of Attraction (sweetest lil supportive grandma who didn't deserve any of this)

Best Worst character: Jaewon's girlfriend - The Eighth Sense (I think this is the only bitchy ex-gf of the entire year and I'm glad about it)

Best side pairing: ChenAi - Kiseki: Dear to Me (do they even count as a side pairing anymore? If not then I'd go with GuyNawa - Dangerous Romance)

Best could have been if the writers wanted us to: NameSaifah - Dangerous Romance (no it was NOT enough!)

Biggest green flag: Win - Between Us (asking for consent is so sexyyy) / Yai - IFYLITA (he's the softest, most caring boy who's so so in love)

Biggest red flag (affectionate): Hira - Utsukushii Kare (my boy highkey needs therapy but Kiyoi wouldn't want it any other way so we'll let it slide) / Lom - Wedding Plan (the way he went about things was... questionable but I understand his reasoning behind it so I can't hate him)

Biggest red flag (derogatory): Boeing - Only Friends (bro just wanted to fuck with - literally and metaphorically - every and anyone and I respect that but dude...)

Most iconic kiss: Lee Won/Ji Oh - Why R U? KR (this was so fucking unexpected but they ate and left absolutely no crumbs)

Most iconic makeout scene: YangJai - Love in Translation (IN A GROCERY STORE?? FINGERS IN MOUTH??!)

Most iconic sex scene: TopBoston - Only Friends (oohhh the DRAMA of it all… truly gagged everyone with this)

Best unhinged horny scene: Jom - IFYLITA (I will never be able to look at massage oil without thinking about this...)

Best gays on a bike scene: Stay With Me (like… facing each other…. grinning at each other.... give me a minute)

Newest addition to the poor lil meow meow collection: Ai Di - Kiseki: Dear to Me (my feral murder kitten I LOVE YOU SO MUUUUUUCHHH)

And there we have it! What a year it's been... I can't wait for 2024 to be just as wonderful, unhinged, crazy and amazing. If you've read until this point I wanna thank you for enduring all that and also for supporting me and my edits throughout this year. Whether we're moots or not I truly appreciate every single person that interacts with me on this hellsite 🫶❤️

[ronaldanthony4]

I’ve created another digital artwork. This time, it’s a fan art that has been sitting in my mind for a while, just waiting for the right moment to come to life. And finally, that moment has arrived. As someone who constantly seeks ways to combine my artistic skills with the causes I believe in, I wanted to make sure this piece reflected a story I admire and a message that must be shared. Bringing this fan art to life was challenging and rewarding, as I poured my heart and soul into every detail.

This week, you see, is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Week, and it got me thinking deeply about a particular animated short film that moved me to the core. That film is "Cuerdas," a Spanish animated short film by Pedro Solís García. It’s an emotional masterpiece that tells the touching story of a young girl, María, and her friend, a boy with cerebral palsy who remains unnamed throughout the film. This short film left such a lasting impression on me that I felt compelled to pay tribute to it through my fan art.

In my artwork, I’ve depicted the two main characters from “Cuerdas”—María, the kind-hearted and vibrant girl with a zest for life, and her best friend, the unnamed boy, who has cerebral palsy. His condition means he is confined to a wheelchair, but despite his limitations, María’s love and care bring so much light into his life. The dynamic between these two characters is what captured my heart. Their friendship is a beautiful example of unconditional love and support, showing that true connections can transcend physical barriers.

I took great care in creating the visual details for this artwork, particularly focusing on capturing the tenderness and innocence that María and her friend share. María’s appearance is cheerful and bright, just as it is in the short film. She wears a school uniform—a navy blue sleeveless vest over a white shirt and a blue plaid skirt. Her short brown hair is neatly styled with a pink headband, decorated with a small flower. It’s a simple accessory, but it adds a touch of personality, representing her joyful and sunny nature. Her wide, sparkling blue eyes reflect her compassion and genuine care for her friend, showing how she sees beyond his disability and treats him with love and friendship.

Now, the unnamed boy in the wheelchair—his expression is a bit more subtle but no less meaningful. I wanted to capture the way he looks at María with admiration and happiness, despite his physical limitations. His eyes are bright, golden-brown, and filled with gratitude for the friendship he’s found with María. He, too, wears a school uniform similar to María’s, but instead of a skirt, he has green shorts, allowing his legs to rest comfortably on the wheelchair’s footrest. His body language, while restricted due to his condition, still shows how much he enjoys being with María. He is seated in a wheelchair, which I designed with careful attention to ensure it looks practical and comfortable.

“Cuerdas” was released in 2013, and even though it’s a short film, its impact is incredibly profound. Directed and written by Pedro Solís García, the film tells the story of María, a young girl who forms a deep bond with a new student at her school—a boy with cerebral palsy. Unlike the other children, who either ignore or pity him, María goes out of her way to include him in her life. She invents a game involving ropes—or “cuerdas” in Spanish—which allows them to play together in their unique way. The ropes represent not only the literal method of communication and play between María and the boy but also the metaphorical connection that forms between them.

I think that’s what makes this film so special—it highlights the power of compassion and understanding, especially when it comes to friendships that transcend barriers. Watching María care so deeply for her friend without any expectation of reward or recognition is a reminder of the pure goodness that exists in the world. It also serves as a powerful reminder of how we can break down barriers of isolation for those with disabilities, simply by extending our hands in friendship, just as María did with her friend.

What makes “Cuerdas” even more touching is that it’s inspired by real-life events. The director, Pedro Solís García, based the story on his own experiences with his son, who has cerebral palsy. Knowing this gives the film an extra layer of emotional depth, as it’s a personal reflection of the challenges and joys that come with caring for someone with a disability. The authenticity of the film adds a heartfelt sincerity to the story, making it even more impactful for viewers. Through "Cuerdas," audiences can witness the beauty of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

As I was working on this fan art, I couldn’t help but think about my original characters (OCs), Arlon and Liliana. In some ways, I realise that “Cuerdas” had a deep influence on how I developed their relationship. Liliana, much like María, is the kind of character who befriends Arlon, despite his differences. In my stories, Arlon is autistic, and while his autism presents its own set of challenges, Liliana never lets that get in the way of their friendship. She’s patient, and understanding, and finds creative ways to connect with him, just like María did with her friend in “Cuerdas.”

The friendship between Liliana and Arlon is one of the core themes in my narratives. Liliana’s empathy and determination to be there for Arlon remind me so much of María’s relationship with the boy. She doesn't see Arlon’s autism as a burden but as a part of who he is. Through their friendship, both characters grow and learn from each other, just as María and the boy did. There’s something so pure about the way Liliana and Arlon interact, and I think that’s why I felt such a connection to “Cuerdas.”

Arlon, much like the boy in the short film, sometimes struggles with the world around him. He doesn’t always communicate in typical ways, and his sensory sensitivities can make certain situations overwhelming. But Liliana never gives up on him. She finds ways to make their friendship work, even when it might seem difficult to others. In many ways, their story mirrors the one told in “Cuerdas”—a story of understanding, patience, and the belief that love can bridge any gap, no matter how wide it may seem.

Creating this fan art was my way of honouring both “Cuerdas” and the relationships that inspire me in my creative work. I wanted to capture that same sense of hope and connection that the short film so beautifully conveys. The bright colours, the cheerful expressions, and the overall warmth of the scene are my tribute to the message of inclusivity and friendship that “Cuerdas” represents. I hope that viewers of my fan art can feel the same emotions of joy and unity that I experienced while creating it. It is a reminder that love knows no boundaries and that understanding and acceptance can truly bring people together in beautiful ways.

As I reflect on the impact that “Cuerdas” had on me, I realise how much art, in all its forms, has the power to change perspectives and open minds. A simple animated short film, just a few minutes long, can leave a lasting impression that stays with you for years. That’s the magic of storytelling—whether through films, books, or visual art, it allows us to see the world from new perspectives, to understand experiences different from our own, and to grow as individuals because of it.

My hope for this fan art is that it resonates with others who have seen “Cuerdas”, or even those who haven’t, but can feel the love and care between the two characters just by looking at it. I want people to see the beauty in the friendships that defy limitations, and to remember that everyone, no matter their abilities, deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. Art has the power to transcend boundaries and connect us on a deeper level, reminding us of the importance of empathy and compassion in our interactions with others.

Creating art is always a personal journey for me, but sometimes, like with this piece, it feels like so much more. It feels like a way to connect with others who share similar values, or who have been touched by stories like “Cuerdas.” I hope that this artwork serves as a reminder of the power of friendship, and how, with a little bit of love and creativity, we can all make the world a better place for those who need it most. Together, we can create a more compassionate and inclusive society.

In conclusion, this fan art is my tribute to Cerebral Palsy Awareness Week, to the film “Cuerdas,” and to the friendships that inspire us to be better, more compassionate people. It’s a reminder that even in the face of challenges, there is always room for love, understanding, and connection. I hope that through this piece, I’ve captured the essence of what “Cuerdas” stands for and that it inspires others to think about how they can extend a hand in friendship to those who may need it most.

[randomfoggytiger]

X-Files Fics: Skyland Mountain (AU) by JenAndrews

This fic should not work. It has so many elements to balance-- S2 Mulder, depressed and driven to drugs because he had no Scully in his life; Scully, a pediatric doctor pregnant with Daniel Waterston's baby who carries the guilt of losing her father while trying to save face about her nonfunctional relationship; a car accident off the road that derails Mulder's Skyland Mountain suicide attempt; forgiveness of their own actions while forging a deep connection through swift understanding and friendship; romance within a day; and a baby that comes swiftly and with complications-- all while keeping the story's tone light despite all of the potential dour or depressing elements that it has to juggle.

ALL of these can't work in one fic, right? Right??

WRONG.

It's a masterpiece-- every action and reaction builds on top of each other logically: self-loathing turning to regret, remorse, shame, terror, forgiveness, and optimistic hope; wounds opening in friendship while two sad hearts find common ground that turn to chemistry explored on an isolated mountain ledge; and a "found family" dynamic blossoming from two complete strangers (and a third) within a couple hours. Scully is a capable and skilled survivalist, patching Mulder back up and keeping him off his (very broken) foot most of the time; and he is finally able to bear his soul about his trauma while empathizing and reaching out to Scully's personal struggles because of his experiences.

This concept is hard to do; but all the pieces work excellently.

Quote:

""Scully tried not to be impressed, but she surely was. That a person would go to such lengths to save a stranger, at so much cost to themselves. It denoted either a remarkable care for others or total abandonment of any care for oneself. In Mulder’s case she suspected it was a combination of both.

Her interest in this man, his behaviour, motivations, thoughts and feelings were piqued.

“How long ago did you first start using?” Scully asked, pulling some gauze pads out of her bag and applying saline to one of them.

Mulder wished she wouldn’t have asked. He didn’t want to talk about himself, and the mess that was his life. But he would be in prison or dead soon, so he couldn’t see any reason it would matter. He doubted she could possibly think any less of him, after what he’d done.

“About seven or eight months ago.” Mulder answered, staring down at his beaten hands.

“What was it that lead to that first time?” Scully began stroking the soft pad against one of the cuts on his arm, cleaning away the dried blood.

“I had a bad day.” Mulder chuckled.

“We all have those. There must have been something significant for you to risk your career.”

“Well it was more like a bad decade. Or two.” Mulder turned to her and gave her a grave smile.

She could see the pain in his eyes.

“Tell me about it.” The warmth in her voice sounded so genuine, it was remarkably compelling. Mulder felt he could lay his entire miserable life out in front of her, and she’d probably try to wash the pain away with saline and gentle hands.

“I guess I just, slowly lost my faith.” He said, earnestly.""

Skyland Mountain (AU) here

JenAndrews here

[curiousquirks]

holy fucking shit! You're the author of Secure, Contain and Protect! It took me a while to *fucking realize that!* I was whole ass scratching my brain on why your writing felt so FAMILIAR! I can finally ask the question that has been fucking bothering me for *centuries* What inspired you to write such a masterpiece? and I REALLY want all the headcanons! Please! unless theyre somewhere on your blog!

Hi hi!! Omg omg, I'm so glad you enjoyed it <3

I know it's a very obscure crossover for these fandoms. I honestly just wanted to combine two of my favorite things together. SCP is a hidden hyperfixation of mine (and I had been binging a bunch of videos at the time my obsession with BNHA was at its peak) and with the quirks and everything in BNHA I just had to do a crossover. I ended up doing my best to not make the characters just humanoid SCPs with superpowers because I find that kind of boring. I enjoy a lot of the more complicated SCPs personally myself. Once I got the ball rolling it was fairly easy for me to start brainstorming how they'd get transferred over. (Also I did the main LOV and Hassaikai since they're my favorite) I went through all that effort making sure that as much of their character transferred over into their backgrounds/SCPs.

The first characters I remember thinking about with my sister was Setsuno, Shigaraki, Dabi, Mimic, and Mr. Compress actually. I searched and searched through most the database for SCP finding all the information I could about various SCPs to get inspiration, usually looking at ones that were similar to the SCP I wanted for the character. Like how Twice is similar to SCP-999, Mr. Compress is similar to SCP-035, and Dabi is similar to SCP-457. Tomura was the easiest to fully flesh out, since I took heavy inspiration from that moth imagery that Horikoshi used for him in the manga <3 Ahh it was gorgeous.

As for headcanons, oh boy. I loved the idea of All For One being an important Council Member, making his right hand man Ujiko that specific site's Director for all of his pet projects. AFO had his hands in collecting every single SCP in that facility, finding each of them interesting in ways that not even Ujiko knows about. Tomura getting free temporarily was the only that genuinely surprised him, and one of the only things that kept Spinner alive.

Aside from Tomura, AFO is only concerned about Dabi and Chisaki since they are the most unpredictable. It fascinates him but infuriates him to no end. Ujiko is actually a firm believer in giving the SCPs a stable and happy environment would provide more results than they're getting but the Council nearly killed him for this opinion. Ujiko is very fond of Twice's SCP, it's why he was allowed to wander around the facility from time to time.

Also my little hidden detail of the MTF being named "Vanguard" after the vanguard action squad from the LOV <3 It was a detail I never got to really point out to readers. I can honestly go into detail talking about my thoughts and inspiration about each of the characters if you wanted, I can talk about my AU all day aha

[mediocre-daydreams]

i've never done a fic review before, but this 30k masterpiece has me in a chokehold and i can't get it off my mind.

“Lookie cookie if it isn’t our favorite cheerleader!” Robin shrieked, nudging Nance as you got closer enough to hear, causing you to roll your eyes lovingly.

i know it's such a small thing but i cooed at "lookie cookie." a small part of my soul melted like the chocolate chip in a fucking chocolate fucking chip cookie when i read that. the dynamic between the three girls is so well done and @munsonsreputation does such a good job of distinguishing reader's relationship and ability to open up with the girls versus with eddie.

You shook them off and laughed a little. “Hey it’s always good to try something new, right? And you never know, maybe I’ll like church music and become a god-fearing girl that Jason loves.”

okay one of my pet peeves is when the reader is totally oblivious to the behavior of their toxic partner (or insert something here), especially if they defend their partner's shitty behavior toward other people. even before the *big revelation* about the reader's feelings, the sarcastic self-awareness is so funny. it's so real.

“Yeah exactly, it contains dirty dancing! It’s a sin, you know, to be watching those kinds of things.”

I KNOW JASON'S SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THE WORST PERSON EVER BUT BRO. MY DUDE IS SO FUNNY.

Mike’s voice faded from hearing a girl’s shriek and the sound of metal being smacked. “Why don’t we listen to what you got—is that fucking ABBA!?”

i love when descriptions of the reader aren't afraid to be unattractive. i love a character who swears. i swear. i don't think i've ever written a fic without a swear before. yes i want to smack the metal. i'm mad at the goddamn fucking car. no sighing or pouting i want to smack.

The last thing I need is to worry about my girl’s safety. I just don’t want him to hurt you or fill your head with sinner thoughts.”

I WAS FUCKING DYING. I LOVE JASON. (i don't that's not true i just think his religious dialogue is so hilarious.)

Eddie couldn’t help but stare at you a few times out of the night, basking in your beauty, which in reality were smudged eyeliner and mascara and an oily forehead due to practice a few hours earlier.

ITS THIS AGAIN. i love imperfect character descriptions. i love ugly moments. my combination skin and oily T-zone is feeling so seen right now. every time (so every afternoon basically) my shitty drugstore mascara smudges i will think about this fic.

“Fuck you, freak.” Jason would mouth, flipping Munson the bird, while Eddie graciously returned it with a scowl.

I KNOW. i know jason isn't supposed to be funny. BUT HE IS.

"Nope.” the girls answered, finally seeing the two of you pull away from the hug that seemed to last forever. Eddie brushed some of your hair from your face and whispered, “Get home safe, alright?”

when i tell you i vomited in my mouth- well, i didn't. but that's what it felt like. this was too precious. i will never be satisfied with my real relationships. i pretend like i'm not a romantic but jesus fucking christ yes i am. i'm a stupid little girly who likes stupid little romantic moves.

“I don’t….w-what necessarily constitutes love?”

YOU HIT A LITTLE TO CLOSE TO HOME. bro istfg if you went through my diary you would see this line every other page. what is love? i don't know. tumblr has warped my perception of relationships. i'm going to start using this fic as a checklist for my future romantic endeavors.

“Your mind has been corrupted by the devil and I will not allow you to continue to act like a sinner and throw everything that I’ve worked so hard to build for our futures!”

GOOD. FUCKING. BYE. I WAS SHAKING WITH LAUGHTER. ONE MOMENT I WAS CACKLING AND THEN LITERALLY THE NEXT LINE LATER I WAS LIKE :00 ope- BRO THE WHIPLASH

And instead of forcing them to try to understand you, you accepted the fact that they were good parents, but just not emotional available for you to confide in.

i feel so called out by this fic and i'm slightly worried that i'm being monitored because how does everything manage to be so relatable.

“She like’s pizza…doesn’t really matter the toppings as long as there’s pineapple chunks somewhere on there, she loves it.”

ok i know this isn't important but i love pineapple on pizza.

“I mean first it was renting out Dirty Dancing for you, then being your knight in shining leather when your car broke down…angel what’s next? Saving you from an alternate dimension with big scary monsters?”

i'm such a slut for casual fourth wall breaks. thank you for this.

The laughs and shouts from the strangers didn’t bother you, it was the fact that they stood here watching you be harassed without realizing that what he was doing was wrong and—

you had me trembling bro. i was so scared. i was like... what. because yes it's a pretty extreme situation but this is also the kind of thing that happens because of how we enable men to think they're entitled to women and revenge. like the fact that nobody helped? it seems crazy but it's not. i appreciate that. it's bringing me back to my psychology class days. we should analyze this fic in school.

Your eyes widened, “Lucas no!” he was running towards Jason full speed, glass bottle he took from someone in hand

I WAS SO SAD FOR LITTLE LUCAS BRO. WHY DID U HAVE TO HURT ME IN THIS WAY.

“Eddie…we need to help Eddie! Need to g-go, I want, Eddie!” “E-Eds,” Your clammy hands freed themselves from Steve’s hold, blindly reaching out to grab him but you never found him, “I want Eds…please.”

this is what broke me. jesus christ this is worse than watching sad puppy commercials on the holidays. it's such a beautiful (and devastating) display of trust though and it's such a perfect build-up to the bath scene

This was different for you in many forms. First one being that your body had only even been touched by yourself and Jason Carver and only one of you was the gentle one with it.

i know this is fiction. but the idea of trusting someone so much, in the way the reader trusts eddie, has got me in physical pain. like this is the standard now. i want to trust someone like the reader trusts eddie.

Teenage Dirtbag...

eddie munson x femcheerleader!reader

word count: [30.7k] not proof-read sorry

warnings: no use of y/n (brief mention of name "noelle" inspired by Wheatus) jason being an asshole bf (what's new?), violence, blood, cursing, a bit of angst close to the end, happy ending though (!!!), reader and eddie being oblivious to their feelings, mentions of verbal arguments (jason and reader), reader (18) + eddie (19), nudity but not sexually, a lot of pining....please let me know if I forgot any!!!

_

“Shit.” You muttered to yourself as Mr. Smith pulled your name from the jar and cheerfully ushered you in front of the class.

A held a tight smile widened on your face while you pushed yourself out of your chair and hurried up to the board wanting to get this over with. Mindlessly, your fingers fidgeted with each other before looking up at your classmates staring at you.

You started off with your name and hurried hello before diving into the prompt that all the students before you had to answer, “my favorite color is pink…but I also like black, so I guess I should say my two favorite colors.” mouth babbling while you corrected yourself and waved your hands around, telling the class to ignore you

“…and um the extracurricular activity I’m a part of is cheer,” the hands you had clasped together behind you undid themselves, pointing at your cheer green and orange uniform.

“You forgot your fun fact.” Your teacher reminded and internally you cursed yourself, quickly spitting out the first thing that came to mind.

“My name was actually supposed to be Noelle since I’m born in December, but my parents they uh — I guess they didn’t like it too much, so I got the name I have now.” You revealed stiffly, turning to your teacher, who smiled and nodded, signaling you to take a seat.

“Ok next we have….” 

You let out a small sigh once you sat down and turned your attention to the next student, who was sharing a little about themselves before feeling a tap on your left shoulder. His smile and tall hair greeted your surprised eyes, seeing it was Eddie Munson himself interacting with you. It was his third and hopefully last senior year so you’ve seen his face and heard his voice for the last couple of years but never did you once initiate a conversation with him—until today since you two had the same class for the first time.

“Nice to meet you, Noelle… y’got a pencil I could borrow?” Your eyes traveled to his desk where a notebook full of doodles was spread open with a small piece of broken lead.

Your head nodded, reaching for your pencil case. “You’re Eddie, right?”

He hummed patiently, watching you pick out a red pencil just for him, remembering he had shared his favorite color with the class a few moments ago. It was your first and most likely not the last interactions with the guy, but it went pleasantly well considering your vastly differing social status.

“I like your pick.” pointing at his neckline with the pencil where a beaded chain and guitar pick hung perfectly, then passing it to him.

He bowed his head in thankfulness and sat back in his chair, inspecting you. Half of your hair pulled into a ponytail with a green ribbon tied off into a bow and the rest falling down your shoulders. Your own neckline was complimented with a snowflake necklace paired with some matching earrings.

“Nice jewelry, snowflake.” He chuckled, copying your motion and pointing the pencil at the center of your chest where the pendant fell.

“Snowflake.” It was odd. No one ever called you that and you never expected Munson out of all people to, but it sounded nice coming from his lips.

Despite your inner thinking, you laughed faintly, taking the compliment before turning around and listening to the rest of your classmates’ introductions.

Another hour and a half was spent listening to your classmates awkwardly introduce themselves, followed by Mr. Smith going over the classes’ expectation for the school year. A few times, you would glance back to see Eddie in his own world, continuing to scribble and write notes to himself in that black leather notebook. Lunch finally came around and you were thankful that the classroom wasn’t too far from the cafeteria, so you were able to get in line before it got too busy.

Gripping the red tray tightly, you grabbed a few items before a voice behind you spoke. “Hey you’re Carvers, girl, right?” He was a freshman sporting a letterman jacket and green track pants looking your way.

His face was recognizable, and you smiled, “Yeah, and you’re Lucas! Friends with Nancy’s brother?” You proposed, following the line as you picked up an Apple 

“Yup, that’s me!” He gave you a toothy smile.

“Hows your first day as a freshie?” You spoke curiously, waiting for him as he picked up a carton of milk and you both made your way to the jock and cheerleader table.

“Alright, but I’d much rather be sitting with my friends over there.” He lifted his head towards another table across the cafeteria. You noticed the curly-headed boy Dustin and the tall one Mike, who sat with the so-called freaks with Eddie Munson, sat head of the table.

“…but you know how Jason can get…don’t want him finding out I’m in Hellfire or I’m off the team—you wouldn’t tell him right?” He leaned closer to you nervously, almost with a regrettable tone, but your reassuring smile eased his concerns as you shook your head.

“Of course not, I can keep a secret, y’know. I’ll see you around!” You patted his back as he took a seat and you snuck up beside your boyfriend, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey!” He grinned at you, pecking your lips immediately.

“Gonna sit?” He scooted to make some space next to him and you shook your head.

“I’m actually gonna go sit with Nance and Robin. I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to them all summer, so I think it’s good I catch up with them.” Your eyes tilted to the two girls sitting a few tables away all by themselves before turning back to Jason.

“Dont you want to sit with the other cheerleaders? You know, your kinda group?” It was a question, but it sounded like more of a demand, nevertheless you declined.

You peered down the side of the table seeing all the other girls conversing among themselves and shook your head, “You know they don’t really enjoy my company. I’ll just catch up with you all later!” You gave him another small peck on the lips before making your way over to your friends.

You knew Robin and Nancy since freshman year, sharing some classes together with each of them, but it wasn’t until junior year that the three of you formed some type of friendship. You all had news-writing together and instantly clicked and essentially became a trio for every project. The two girls were terribly wrong about their perception of you as you were a cheerleader from the beginning, so they thought you’d be like the rest if them.

Stuck up, hypocritical, and an asshole.

Needless to say, you surprised them with your brains, beauty, and charm, but what wasn’t surprising was the asshole boyfriend you had. They found it hard to believe that a girl like you had such a disgraceful boyfriend for the last year.

“Lookie cookie if it isn’t our favorite cheerleader!” Robin shrieked, nudging Nance as you got closer enough to hear, causing you to roll your eyes lovingly.

“Hello to you too, Buckley.” Setting down your tray and reaching over to give each of them a small hug.

“How was your summer?” Nancy asked, watching you take a seat and plunge the straw into your juice box, taking a sip before answering.

“Its was great, had a fun time in Florida with my family and now we’re back in this hellhole.” You sighed, looking around at the depressing cafeteria.

“What about you guys?” You took a bite out of your Turkey sandwich and listened to them.

“Got a job at the Family Video with Harrington—you remember him, right?” 

“How can I forget about Mr. Hair himself?” You said, causing the girls to break out into laugher.

“Jonathan and I got summer jobs at Hawkins Press, but the men were total jerks! I swear they only saw me as a personal assistant…they never ever took anything I said seriously!” she wailed sadly, with a hint of irritation in her voice. 

You grimaced, a warm hand coming up to rub her shoulder soothingly. Since knowing Nancy, everyone knew she was a passionate writer that took every aspect of her work seriously and to hear about her horrible experience made you feel terrible for her.

“I’m so sorry you had to put up with that, Nance—but hey, just know that me and Robin think you’re an amazing writer, anyone would be lucky to have you on their team.” Her mood lifted with your enthusiastic and genuine voice, a smile spread on her face and she mouthed a “thank you” 

Robin voiced her agreement before turning to you and changing the topic. “You and jock boy still together, huh?”

You bit your lip and nodded, looking over at his table to see him in deep conversation with his teammates, “Yeah, we just made a year, actually.”

Robin rolled her eyes lightly, watching you keep your eyes on Jason’s body before turning back to give them your attention. Neither Nance nor her were fond of your boyfriend of choice, but they were glad that you weren’t such a dickwad like him. They just didn’t understand you two.

“He treating you good? Making you happy?” Nancy sought out, taking a bite of her salad.

“Yeah, yeah…he umm, actually got us tickets to go to a concert in the next couple of months.” You told them picking up your fork to toy with the peas sitting on the corner of your plate 

“What band?” Robin asked, but her question fell on deaf ears as you continued to play with the wrinkly green veggies, stacking them on your fork.

“Helloooo, are you still with us?” Robin fluttered her hands in front of you, causing you to regain some sort of touch with reality.

“Sorry, what was that?” You shook your head and waited for them to repeat the question.

“What band are you and Jason going to see?” Nancy restated, and you cowered, not knowing if you should lie or fess up the truth.

Chewing your lip between your teeth caused your voice to be slightly muffled as you posed a question for the two, “Promise you won’t laugh?” Nance and Robin, who looked puzzled, nodded their heads in compliance.

“It’s a Christian concert—his parents actually bought the tickets after Jason told them that I wasn’t particularly the religious type.” You replied as they furrowed their brows, looked at each other, and snickered.

“Hey! You guys said you weren’t going to laugh!” Your foot stomped the floor lightly and voice whined, picking up a pea and chucking it at them as they dodged it and continued to giggle.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that we were expecting a band that you actually like! I don’t know, maybe ABBA, Madonna, hell even Bon Jovi!” Robin noted a few of your favorite artists that you adored over any church band out there.

“She has a point—I mean, it should at least be a band that you both like!” Nance defended Robin as they stared at you skeptically.

You shook them off and laughed a little. “Hey it’s always good to try something new, right? And you never know, maybe I’ll like church music and become a god-fearing girl that Jason loves.” You rolled your eyes freely, followed by your friends’ laughter.

Turning your head glancing over at Eddie’s table where he was standing eccentrically telling a story that captivated his friends and even you and you couldn’t even make out what he was saying. But you did see a flash of a smile that he sent your way as you waved at him somewhat before turning back to your friends. 

_

“Who in the hell makes us run a mile on our first day back?” His breathless voice rang behind you on the track field.

The one and only Eddie Munson dressed in his same attire, ripped black skinny jeans, a pair of chucks, and his infamous Hellfire shirt. Sweat beading on his forehead and his already messy hair was frizzing up due to the humidity.

“Hiya Munson.” You smiled, slowing down your pace to run next to him as he caught his breath while keeping up a jog.

“Shit…hi snowflake, didn’t know we had gym together too.” He coughed out, looking at your change of clothing, which was a grey long sleeve, a pair of pink workout shorts, white reeboks, and some tube socks.

“You didn’t bring a change of clothes.” You giggled, watching him crack a smile despite the pain in his side.

“Wearing short shorts isn’t really metal, if you ask me.” He glared, massaging his side as you continued to keep up with his pace.

“Would be a lot more comfortable, though.” Your reply made him laugh through the agony.

“What lap are you on? Can’t believe I didn’t notice you.” His arms moved slightly at his sides, continuing to run, never minding the red dirt ruining his precious shoes.

“Second…well now third.” You breathed as you both passed the flag marker.

“I guess cheer really builds stamina, huh?” He quipped as you nodded, shifting your focus onto finishing in time.

But still you kept the conversation going, “What’d you think? We just dance around a look pretty all day?” 

“Pretty much.” He answered as you nudged him slightly and shook your head.

For a second you were stuck on the fact that he basically called you pretty, but you threw the thought away realizing how stupid of you it was.

“Well, if you wanna get a good grade on our first assignment, you better speed it up, Munson, catch ya later.” You grinned, blindless ly waving behind you as your speeded picked up.

“See ya!” He shouted in this distance, finally taking the time to stop and huff out a much needed breath.

_

After a five-day school week, it was nice to have some relaxation on this Saturday with Jason. You practically begged him to take you to Family Video to see what movies you two would be watching for your little date night together. He wasn’t really the type to stray away from his usual schedule of playing golf and sitting at home watching repeat basketball games, but somehow you convinced him to change it up.

“Welcome to the Family Video! How can I—eeeek!” Robin’s sentence was cut off with her squeal as she saw you enter the store for the first time since she got a job there. She hopped over the counter to embrace you in a tight hug while you dropped Jason’s hand and hugged her back.

“Hey you!” You giggled, rubbing her back warmly before she pulled away and her eyes slid to Jason’s.

“Hi.” she said simply, giving him a half hearted waved that he didn’t return and instead laced your fingers back together.

As much as she wanted to call out his rude behavior, she shook it off, turning her attention towards you, “Anything specific you guys are looking for?” She inquired, leading you guys to the different aisles in the store.

“Ooo Dirty Dancing, by any chance? I know it’s popular, but hopefully you have it in?” You requested to Robin, who smirked and nodded, making her way to the back where she knew there was an extra tape that was just returned.

You felt a tugging on your hand and looked over at Jason, who gave you a conceded look. “Dirty Dancing, babe? Really?” 

You pressed your eyebrows together and dropped his hand. “What’s wrong? Nancy said it’s a wonderful movie and I wanna see it!” He rolled his eyes at your eager voice, causing you to feel ashamed for simply wanting to indulged in something fun.

“Yeah exactly, it contains dirty dancing! It’s a sin, you know, to be watching those kinds of things.” One of his hands rest on his hips as the other pointed at you, his demeanor like a father scolding you for taking a cookie out of the jar.

It honestly made you more irritated than guilty, now.

He shook his head and sighed, leaving you standing in the romance section as he walked over to the…you guessed it—Christian movies! 

Robin had made her way back to you, tape in hand, oblivious to the mini argument that you and Jason had a few seconds ago.

“Hey so I actually hid this one just for you because I had this gut feeling that you were going to come in and—what’s wrong?” 

She sensed something was off when you didn’t immediately jump and screech hearing she had the movie that you were looking forward to watch after hearing Nancy brag about it over lunch.

With your head shaking and shoulders hunched, you opted for the simply answer in hopes of Robin not fretting too much,“N-nothing, just forget about it, I don’t want to argue with him, anyway.” You explained, feeling the sorry look that Robin was giving you. 

The bell chiming caught your attention, and you turned towards the door hearing that voice, “Please! Please! Please tell me you’ve got what I’ve been waiting for?!” 

He wore something different, but not too different from his usual school attire. Metallica band tee and another pair of black ripped up jeans. He went straight to the counter where Steve was holding up the last copy of The Shining. 

“You’re the best for a reason, Harrington!” Eddie declared loudly, practically ripping the tape out of his hands and keeping it close to his chest, which made you smile a little. 

“I’m gonna look around, but thanks for the help, Robin.”

She nodded and went back to work as you strolled over to the thrillers, feeling inspired by Eddie’s passion. Thrillers and horror weren’t usually your thing, but you just wanted to see if there was something you could handle. Your fingers skimmed the different tapes, but sadly, nothing caught your eye. But you just so happened to catch him. 

“If it isn’t the snow angel herself.”

That same voice, but not snowflake…snow angel. Somehow it had a better ring to it than the original nickname he had for you, this was a lot sweeter, more you.

You gawked up through your lashes and beamed, seeing him standing across from you, The Shining still pressed up to his chest as his left hand held a bunch of other tapes that he seemed to snag despite entering the store only five minutes ago. 

“Hey, Munson..jeez, what’re you hosting a movie night or something?” You tiptoed to get a better peek at the different tapes he had that piqued your interest, but not as much as Dirty Dancing did.

“Actually, yeah, the rest of Hellfire wanted to do some sort of bonding thing, so movie night it is.” He told you, looking down at the movies he had.

“What’s do you guys do in Hellfire, again?” You truly never knew as Jason and the rest of the jocks and cheerleaders claimed it was some sort of satanic sacrifice club despite having any factual evidence, only the devil symbol that was used to represent the club. 

“It’s a D&D club. We play Dungeons and Dragons the fantasy game.” He informed you as you nodded. 

“This whole time, I thought you were sacrificing innocent children.” You scoffed sarcastically, making him crack a smile and laugh. 

The two of you continued to stare down at the tapes before you spoke once more. “I’d be up to learn someday, y’know, as long as I can get one of those cool shirts you always wear.” Your openness slightly took aback him and he wondered if you were pulling his leg or not. 

“R-Really?” He stuttered out as you looked back up at him and nodded your head eagerly. 

In his head, he was already planning an extravagant welcome for you despite barely knowing you and even weighting out the probability that you’d actually show up and enjoy taking the time to learn the complex game of D&D.

“Totally, I think it’s badass—“ 

Conversation cut short as the blonde’s voice came closer and went from pleased to seething at seeing who his girlfriend was chatting with.

“Babe, I found—is this freak bothering you?!” Jason was speedily by your side, cutting off the discussion that was going pretty smoothly between you and Eddie. 

“No, he’s not Jason, so please cool it.” You told him firmly, tugging on his sleeve, trying to get him to settle down. 

Eddie wanted to laugh seeing the jock so worked up over an innocent conversation between him and his girl. He almost forgot that you were romantically involved with Jason because of your differing attitudes. Despite your uniform and label as a cheerleader at Hawkins High, you were a total sweetheart, definitely a contrast between the other girls and jocks who hated Hellfire’s guts for no apparent reason.

Jason was still staring angrily at Eddie, who seemed to care less about the entire ordeal, just wanting to continue his conversation with you, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. 

“Why don’t we go pay, yeah?” You suggested to Jason, who, without saying a word to you, left for the registers.

“Sorry about him.” You whispered timidly towards Eddie,

He brushed it off, giving you an unphased looked and mouthing, “s’ok angel,” watching you trail behind Jason like a lost puppy. 

He kept his eyes on you despite walking to the other side of the store to browse any other films he thought the guys might enjoy while listening in on the conversation you and Robin were having on the side of the register. 

“You sure you don’t want Dirty Dancing? I doubt it’s going to be available any time soon after someone picks it up.” Robin waved the tape around in the air, tempting you, but you shook your head, looking at Jason, who was giving you those telling eyes.

Steve handed Jason back his change, and you turned to Robin for the last time, “I’m sure, but thanks anyway. I’ll see you, Monday alright?” You smiled at her before Jason practically yanked you out of the store.

“Uh…okaaaay that totally wasn’t awkward at all.” Robin whispered to herself, setting the tape down disappointed and watched you two drive off in Carver’s douchey ride that she hated oh so much.

She shook her head, turning her attention to her best friend Steve, who was now ringing up Eddie, and caught a glimpse of your goodbye.

“I really fucking hate Carvers’ guts.” She sneered through gritted teeth, Steve nodded in understanding while counting the money Eddie had passed to him. 

Robin rested her head on the counter staring at Steve and continuing on a little rant, “I mean, first of all, he’s just an idiotic asshole, but I can’t believe she’s dating him…really….I mean she’s too good for him. I know for a fact he’s the reason she didn’t get Dirty Dancing!”

Steve glanced over at her and gave her an apologetic stare. “You didn’t hear? He practically screamed at her when you left to go find the tape. I could hear his whiny little voice from the back of the store.” 

Robin sighed, knowing that it was pointless to trash talk Jason because at the end of the day you and him were still together and it didn’t look like it was going to change anytime soon. 

“Dirty Dancing, hmm?” Eddie surged into the conversation, checking out the tape and glancing over at Harrington and Buckley. 

“I’ll buy it.” He shrugged, startling them a bit as they watched him gather a few more bucks from his pocket and slide it over the counter.

Steve snorted, scanning its code and looking up at him. “You really going to watch it? Maybe even learn some moves?” He rose his brows, watching Eddie closely.

Eddie smirked, picking up his tapes and grabbing the change from Steve’s hand. “A better idea, actually.” 

_

Another Monday meant another full schedule of classes that you loathed—but you had to remember that this was your last year of high school before the real world. That you might as well savor the quote unquote simple time of high school before you’d be sucked into college and a new world of academic stress you weren’t looking forward to. Second period chemistry came by quickly and you sat in your seat, but not before waving at Eddie, who was early and already shooting you one of his famous smiles. 

You began taking out your notebook and pencil case, setting it up on your desk as you got comfortable hearing the bell ring and Mr. Smith standing in front of the class ready to get started on the agenda. 

“I hope you all had a restful weekend because the next two weeks are going to be filled with an introductory project.” He announced as the class began to complain loudly about how the school year had just started and they were still trying to get used to the new routine. 

Mr. Smith shushed the class, getting them to settle down and listen to more of his instructions, “Listen, I know it’s a bit soon considering we just started a new school year, but I promise it will be slightly easy because you will be working in partners—and because I’m nice, you will be able to pick your partners!” He spoke, somewhat easing the nervous students who immediately turned to their friends in the class, ready to partner up. 

“However, you must pass this project with at least a C or higher in order to work with your partner again for future projects, so I advise all of you to pick your partners wisely and remember this is not just about goofing off alright?” He allowed a moment for the students to find their partners and, to your surprise, as you were turning around to speak to Eddie, he had already leaned forward, ready to ask you to be partners. 

“Sorry!” You both let out a small laugh as he leaned back and watched you fiddled with your fingers, something you did out of habit, he suspected. 

“Partners?” Your voice squeaked a bit, and he nodded yes before grabbing his bag that was lying on the floor and opening it up. 

“I actually have something for you, partner.” He declared, following your brows rise with curiosity until he held up the tape with a bold grin on his face. 

Your eyes widened in surprise, “No fucking way! Are you serious!” You whisper shouted, feet kicking and hands thrashing around.

The genuine look of gratefulness and excitement spread across your face was enough for his heart to warm up as you picked up the tape and inspected the front and back of it. 

“Buckley told me you were eyeing it but decided not to pull the trigger, figured I’d just get it for you since I had enough.” He wiggled his shoulders freely as you grinned heartily and moved over to grab his hand, which he didn’t expect, causing his heart to skip a little and his leg to bounce rapidly under the desk.

“You really didn’t have to, but I appreciate it a lot… here, let me see if I have some money on me.” You withdrew your hand from his and went into your backpack, hoping to have some bills lying around. 

“Uh uh…absolutely not, angel, just take it as a token of appreciation for defending me against that boyfriend of yours.” He was half joking as you peered up at him and gave a tiny sorry smile for Jason’s relentless behavior a couple of days ago.  

“Gosh, I’m super sorry about him again. I don’t know what’s his deal, he’s always prissy, y’know, but maybe it’s just stress from basketball and senior year.” 

“Maybe he’s just a fuckin’ piece of shit” is what Eddie really wanted to say, but he held back, not wanting to turn the moment sour. 

“s’alright, just make sure you return it on time. Can’t have Harrington threatening to beat my ass, too.” He tapped his desk before settling back into his seat and watching your teeth catch your lip slightly, and nodding your head in a promising way before tucking it into your backpack like a prized possession and getting back to discussing the project that you two would be working on. 

_

You and Eddie both decided you’d switch between his home and yours to work on the project every few days for the next two weeks. And to alleviate some of the stress, you both decided on a specific topic you wanted to focus on so that you could already start brainstorming ideas about how you wanted to present it. 

Instead of heading straight to lunch as you always did, you made a pit stop to your locker, tucking the tape Eddie had given you behind all your books to ensure Jason wouldn’t see it and thankfully you had slammed your locker shut just in time as your lovely boyfriend had popped up beside you from nowhere. 

“Hey you.” He grinned, kissing your cheeks and lips as you squealed and laughed lightly, 

“Sorry, just had to put away some books.” You told him, leaning against the lockers and watching his face. 

“It’s no problem babe, I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow for a little date, after practice, of course. Enzo’s maybe?” He proposed, but you instantly shook your head, remembering the crucial task you had.

“I actually have a chemistry project that I need to work on for the next two weeks—Eddie and I, we’re partners, so I’m heading over to his place to start.” Your voice told him willingly, not in the mood to try to hide it from him, but you noticed his facial expression falter from somber to outraged just hearing Eddie’s name. 

“Munson?! You’re partnered with him! Absolutely not. Are you insane? He’s a freak for crying out loud!” He practically shouted, increasing the attention of some students in the halls who were hanging around and walking towards the cafeteria, making you ashamed. 

You buried your face in your hands and rolled your eyes, hoping he didn’t see. “Would you stop with that? It’s all just a bunch of bullshit! Hellfire is a club where they play Dragons and Dungeons!” You explained softly 

“Or is it Dungeons and Dragons?” Your mind slipped trying to remember which was right, but you shook the thoughts and pulled your hands away to stare at Jason, who didn’t seem impressed with your answer.

“Look, if you really got to know the guy, you’d see that he isn’t as bad as you think. He’s actually really nice and sincere. I don’t think there is a bad bone in his body, honestly.” You confessed unapologetically, as Jason felt his anger rise to a whole other level, hearing his girlfriend defend that freak show whom he despised. 

“You—you don’t even know the guy!” He argued, fingers pointed at you sharply.

“Oh, and I suppose you do?” You crossed your arms sharply as you snapped back swiftly with a huff of a breath.

Quite frankly, you had it with Jason and his disrespectful comments towards people who he didn’t know. Simply making judgements off of them based on what they wore and what they looked like.

You pushed yourself off the lockers and glanced at him once more, “I’m your girlfriend and you need to trust me. He’s a good guy and we both really need to pass chemistry in order to graduate, so for sake, would you please just drop it?”

He didn’t have time to respond as you simply walked away from him and into the cafeteria, kinda just how he left you standing in Family Video last weekend. In need of some serious girl time with Nancy and Robin, who were waiting for you to show up. 

“Oh god, what’s the matter?” Nancy spoke quick and worriedly, seeing you show up to their table empty-handed and your lip curled up in displeasure. 

“Jason.” You muttered as the girls both rushed to ask a few questions. 

“Did he hurt you?” 

“What happened?” 

“You break up with him?”

“Are you OK?” 

You rested your elbows on the table, rubbing at your temple as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and looking at Nancy and Robin. 

“I-I’m fine. We actually just got into an argument about Mr. Munson himself.” You mumbled, watching their eyes widen and shift towards where Eddie was sitting with his club. 

“You—you’re talking about Eddie Munson? The so-called freak, or whatever your lame boyfriend and his friends call him?” Robin confirmed, and you nodded. 

“We’re partners for our chemistry project, so we’re going to be working together for the next two weeks.” You explained as they nodded and sat back, trying to process the deep-rooted insecurity that Jason had towards Edward Munson. 

You bit your lip, taking a single glance at Eddie and turning back to them, “I honestly don’t know why people think he’s so bad, he’s genuinely nice…he gave me the Dirty Dancing tape I was going to get on Saturday.” You announced, causing Robin to gasp and sit up. 

“So that’s what that little shit did with it!” She whispered, a narrow grin on her face as she hit the table with her palm. 

“W-wait, I’m so confused.” Nancy closed her eyes, trying to figure out what the hell the two of you were getting at. 

“Little Miss and her boyfriend came to Family Video on Saturday and she so badly wanted to get Dirty Dancing to indulge in the graceful acting and rated x dancing of Mr. Patrick Swayze and Ms. Jennifer Grey, but she decided she didn’t want it and you wanna know who shows up and miraculously gets the tape for her?” Robin looked between you and Nancy as you rolled your eyes, ready for her big reveal. 

“Eddie Fucking Munson!” the words gladly left her lips, rubbing her hands together with Nancy giving up a tender smile, “Ok I will admit that’s a little cute.” 

“He’s just friendly. I’m sure he just felt bad that I didn’t get it for myself.”

Nancy and Robin shared an “are you serious” look. 

“He could’ve easily accepted the fact that you didn’t get the tape and went about his day with his thriller movies, but instead he got it and presented it to you today. I’m calling bullshit. That son of a bitch has the hots for you!” Robin drummed against the table, making a blush spread across your face as you shook your head, frantically biting back a shy smile. 

“You’re blushing!” Nancy giggled pointed at your cheeks that you hid behind your hands this time. 

“You guys are crazy! Look, I have the tape, so what do you guys say? A sleepover with some Dirty Dancing?” You removed your hands and wiggled your eyebrows at them as they laughed and nodded. 

“Sure, I’ll pick up Robin from Family Video after her shift, and you’ll meet at mine after practice?” Nancy asked you as you nodded 

_

You let out a frustrated scream, throwing your head back against the headrest of your car as your fingers twisted the key into the ignition and still the engine would not falter. 

“You! Stupid! Fucking! Piece! Of! Garbage!” You yelled, getting out of the car and banging on the hood, attempting to get it to magically start somehow. 

It was just your luck that cheer practice had extended for another thirty minutes and Chrissy was running late so she had asked you to lock up the gym, meaning you were the last one in the school parking lot with no one to give you a ride home. 

“That was an awesome campaign, man!” Dustin applauded as he and the rest of Hellfire had exited the building on the other side of the parking lot. 

“I know it was totally unexpected but so much—” Mike’s voice faded from hearing a girl’s shriek and the sound of metal being smacked. Their eyes followed your voice until they landed on you reaching into your side of the car for the hood lever.

“Isn’t that Jason Carver’s girl?” Gareth squinted, watching your tiny figure pop the hood of the car and let out another stream of curse words. 

As much as Eddie wanted to crack a joke, he held it back, seeing as you were truly distressed and on the verge of tears, “She has a name, moron.” Eddie found himself making a jog towards your side, letting out a small cough that caught your attention.

“Need some assistance, angel?” 

A relieved sigh escaped your mouth as you saw him come into view and you nodded, thanking him and watching as he instantly took the weight of the hood from you and peered into the inside of your car.

“Is it bad?” You nervously bit on your thumb, not noticing the group of boys that had formed behind you watching their Dungeon Master assist the cheerleader. 

Eddie clicked his tongue and looked over at you and nodded, shutting the hood and exhaling, “Your head gasket is blown and you’re going to need another if you want this baby to get you anywhere.” 

“Fuck.” You hissed, running your fingers through your hair and turning around, only to be startled by a bunch of boys. 

“Ohmygosh!” You bolted back into Eddie’s chest as he quickly steadied you and yanked his hands right back to his sides after you regained your balanced. 

“Jesus, give the girl some warning, won’t you?” Eddie scolded his friends, swallowing a chuckle he wanted to let out from your jitteriness.

The curly-headed boy bowed his head in apology, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you! I’m Dustin, by the way!” He popped you a smile as you nodded and gave him a small one.

“And you're Mike, Nancy’s brother.” You pointed at the tall boy, who nodded and waved. 

You looked at the other three men who you assumed were seniors. “Sorry, I don’t think I caught your names?” 

They seemed taken aback by your question considering the fact that no one usually acknowledged them, so instead Eddie stepped in to answer as he pointed them out, “That’s Gareth, Jeff, and Kevin. Sorry they’re a little star stuck that the pretty cheerleader is giving them the light of day—or I guess I should say night.” He looked around at the dark sky, then back to his friends, who stood in pure shock.

“H-Hi.” You said quietly, introducing yourself before spinning around to face Eddie, “I umm—could you, um, do you think I could get a ride?” Again, those fingers twiddling with each other and this time with the hem of your uniform. 

He instantly nodded, pressing a soothing hand on the small of your back, guiding you back to your car while the other fished out his keys and threw them to Dustin. “Start up my van. We’ll meet you there. I’m gonna help her with her stuff.” Dustin and the boys walked to Eddie’s van and the three seniors got into their own cars and drove away. 

“I’m really so sorry. I feel like a total lost cause around you.” You confessed to opening up the trunk to grab your bags, but Munson had beaten you to it, already slinging the duffle on his shoulder and picking up your pom-poms, which looked silly in his ring decorated hands. 

“Hey, don’t be sorry alright, things like this happen. I’m just glad you weren’t stranded here all by yourself.” He told you, watching as you shut the trunk and opened your driver’s door to grab your wallet and a few cassettes that you didn’t want stolen from any car thieves that might roam in the late night. 

He couldn’t help but think, where was Jason? I mean, yeah, he could be a fucking bastard to him and his friends, but he thought he would be the charming boyfriend who at least made sure his girlfriend made it back home in one piece.

You shook him out of his thought with your voice, “Yeah, thanks for that.” You smiled, locking up the car and following him to his van,

“So how was your day?” He asked you peering over at you laughing lightly at the ground.

“Besides my car breaking down out of nowhere, it was alright. Cheer was tiring, but when isn’t it right? How about you?” He slid open the backdoor, passing your things to the boys before shutting it.

Eddie spoke, while his gracefully pulled open the passenger door for you, “A little better than usual, we had a good campaign tonight…your carriage awaits.”

“Thank you, again,” you beamed, reaching out to caress his shoulder warmly as you got in and fastened your seatbelt, feeling the door shut and Eddie quickly sliding in the driver’s seat.

You turned your body towards the back where the two boys were sitting and gave them a remorseful look. “I’m super duper sorry for crashing your night. I’ll make it up to you guys one day. Pizza or something like that.” You told them as they both shook their heads. 

“It’s really no problem. You being nice to us is really paying us back if you think about it.” Dustin replied, making you grimace, thinking about how cruel the jocks could be to these innocent kids. 

“Hey, and I’m really sorry about my boyfriend and how his friends treat you guys. I know he thinks calling you freak is a bad thing, but I think you guys are sooo cool. A little eccentric maybe, but that’s what makes people special and one of a kind.” Your eyes slip towards Eddie without really noticing before turning back to Mike and Dustin. 

“Plus, being a jock isn’t as cool as people think it out to be, anyway. I mean, they basically sweat against each other at every practice and game. I’d much rather be in an air-conditioned room playing a cool fantasy game, if you ask me.”

A smirk plastered on your face as your hand reached over and gave each of the boys an encouraging hair ruffle, but your eyes failed to catch Eddie’s in the rear-view mirror that was filled with contentment just hearing you build up the freshman’s confidence and a little of his own. 

He cleared his throat, gaining your attention as you settled back into the passenger seat and he drove off.

“Why don’t we listen to what you got—is that fucking ABBA!?” On your lap was where the tape was resting and he quickly snatched it, inspecting the damn thing and scoffing about how cliche the music was.

“Hey don’t shit on ABBA, it’s pretty good!” You retorted, snatching it out of his hands and sliding it into the slot and “Super Trouper” blared through the speakers as the wind blew your hair in all different directions. You looked beautiful to him, just absolutely breathtaking as the night sky beamed on your face. He got lost in your voice and giggles and before you know it was over.

“Thanks for the ride Munson…oh and thanks for Dirty Dancing, again! I’m having a girls’ night with Nance and Robin.” You beamed, picking up your things and stealing one more glimpse at him while he nodded and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.

“It’s no problem angel, I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

“Tomorrow.” You agreed, waving bye to him and Dustin as they drove off, leaving you and Mike walking up his driveway.

“You’re not as bad as I thought you were, y’know.” Mike spoke to you as he rang the doorbell, waiting for his mom or dad to let you both in.

“Hmm, really?” You turned slightly to him, watching his shoulders move.

“I don’t know, I guess I just thought all the cheerleaders and jocks were cruel idiots, but not you…and Lucas, of course.” He explained as you hummed in approval.

“Just remember to ignore the assholes, alright? It’s all inner insecurity, anyway. If they were satisfied with their lives like they claim they are, they wouldn’t attack innocent people for enjoying different things. And hey, you never know, the person you might think is sooo different from you could actually be just like you.” You patted his back with your pom-poms and heard him let out a chuckle.

“So basically, like you and Eddie?”

“Wait, wha—” before you even had time to ask Mike what he was talking about, his mother had answered the door and greeted you both with a warm smile and hug.

“Nice to see you again, sweetheart! Have you eaten?” Mrs. Wheeler asked, moving off to the to let you in as you shook your head no.

“My car broke down at school, so I actually had to catch a ride with Mike and his friend Eddie, but I can honestly eat whatever you’ve prepared. I’m not picky at all.” You assured her as she guided you to the kitchen, where she made you a plate of spaghetti.

“Do you mind if I made a quick call to my parents? Just have to let them know I got here safely and about my car.” You asked, watching as she nodded.

After a five-minute call with your parents letting them know you’d be spending the night at the Wheelers and letting them know about your broken-down car, they had let you go and reminded you to call them if you needed anything. If there was one thing you were really grateful for, it was understanding and patient parents who did more listening than disciplining.

“Thanks again, Mrs. Wheeler!” You called out as you made your way up the familiar stairs and into Nancy’s bedroom, where she and Robin were already waiting for you.

“Jesus, we thought you’d never show up.” Robin joked, getting up to help you put down your things as Nancy patted an open spot on her bed.

“Sorry I’m late, car broke down and Eddie had to drop me off here.” You explained to them as their gasped filled your ears, making you roll your eyes.

“I’m sorry, did you just say Edward Munson gave you a ride here?” Nancy blurted, patting Robin’s leg frantically.

“Calm down. We weren’t alone. Mike and Dustin were also in the car.” You told them, but still the squealing didn’t stop with these two.

“I swear Eddie is racking up these points, first getting you the tape you’ve been longing for and now being your knight in shining armor? He’s only known you for like a few days and he’s already going out of his way for you—this totally confirms that he’s into you!” Robin pointed earning Nancy’s support, while you ignored them and they kept talking amongst themselves of how head over heels Eddie was for you.

Instead of partaking in their delusions, you opted to enjoy Mrs. Wheelers’ home cooked meal and assurance that you knew Eddie was just being kind to you like he would for any other person. That’s just who he was.

Thankfully, as the night went on, the three of you got some homework done before settling in to watch Dirty Dancing, Nancy did her best not to spoil the movie too much for you and Robin since it was your first time seeing it, but she did let you know when the good scenes were coming up.

“Honey, you have a call.” Mrs. Wheeler knocked lightly on the door and opened it, holding up the cordless phone towards you laying in bed next to Nance.

“She can use mine.” Nancy offered, picking up her landline that rested on her bedside table as Robin paused the movie.

“Thanks.” You said quietly towards Mrs. Wheeler who nodded and shut the door.

Nancy passed you the phone, and you quickly put it to your ear, maybe suspecting your parents calling to check in, “Hello?”

“Babe oh thank god! I thought you were sacrificed for a moment there.” Jason’s voice was filled with relief as you sighed and shook your head.

“I’m fine, Jason. I’m just having a girls’ night with Nancy and Robin, alright? And how did you even know to call here?” You questioned, waiting for his answer.

“I called your house first, but your mom told me you weren’t home, said you were spending the night at the Wheelers.” He said, and you nodded slowly, silence filling the conversation.

“And I—I wanted to apologize for earlier today. You know I didn’t mean to cause a scene or make you upset. I just don’t like the thought of that freak hanging out with you. Who knows what he’s capable of? The last thing I need is to worry about my girl’s safety. I just don’t want him to hurt you or fill your head with sinner thoughts.”

You internally cringed at that whole speech that took him god knows how long to curate. If your boyfriend really thought that Eddie was in danger, then he had another thing coming.

“Just don’t worry about me, alright? I’m a big girl and you need to trust me. And look, it’s getting late so I’ll just see you tomorrow, alright?”

He grumbled and sighed, “Let me pick you up in the—”

“Can’t. Nancy is giving Robin and I both a ride to school, then Eddie is giving me a ride to his place to work on our project. Don’t worry about me….and um, I forgive you, I’ll see you tomorrow, Jason.” You said hurriedly, hanging up the phone and laying back in the bed staring at the pink ceiling.

“Well, I’m not even going to ask what was that about. Let’s just continue, right?” Robin glanced at the television and you nodded, hearing the movie resume as you proceeded to stare into space.

Did you even really forgive your boyfriend for what he did to you today? Or did you just feel like you had to cut him some slack because you felt like you needed to? Sure, you were a bit cold to Jason during the phone call, but his perception of Eddie and his friend group was slowly starting to get under your nerves. At first it was just normal banter between the two groups, but now it was just painstakingly obvious that Jason just wanted to make their lives harder for no reason and you just couldn’t take it anymore.

_

“One last run through girls!” Chrissy shouted, while you heaved, taking a deep breath to prepare yourself for the next round of jumps and flips.

Practice was stretching over half an hour later than usual and if it was any other day you wouldn’t have minded, but you knew that today was your and Eddie’s first session together. Hellfire usually finished the same time as cheer, maybe a little later but you should’ve known Eddie was considerate enough to end his game a little early to make sure he picked you up in time.

“Angel!” Your head jerked towards his voice echoing throughout the gym, gaining all the attention of the cheerleaders who stared at the freak leaning against the gymnasium doors.

“What the hell is he doing here?”

“Such a perv!”

“Scram you freak!”

Their snotty voices overlapped one another in hatred, causing you to roll your eyes and step up to his defense right away, “He’s with me.”

Their mouths held agape as their jeers completely ceased and you waltzed your way over to Munson, giving him a sorry look, “Sorry about them.” you whispered, rolling your eyes at the girls behind you, except Chrissy, who told them all to shush.

He snickered and shook his head, “Hey it’s not like I’m already accustomed to it…you uhh…ready to go?”

You rubbed your fingers together and shook your head, “We’ve got one more run through, but I swear it shouldn’t take more than ten minutes!” You crossed your fingers like a promise and he gave you a reassuring stare.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright…take your time, I’ll just wait outside—” He pointed behind him and you shook your head quickly, mouth not stopping yourself as you blurted, “You can wait on the bleachers! It’s freezing out…”

Gosh, you sounded desperate for him.

He laughed skeptically, glancing at the ogling cheerleaders behind you, “You sure they won’t be uncomfortable with the satanic cult leader in their presence?”

Rolling your eyes, you brushed the girls off, “They’ll get over it,”

“I’ll be over there then.” He pointed to some bleachers, and you nodded, going separate ways so that you could finally finish up practice for the night and not have to endure the comments and judging eyes from the rest of the team.

“One more run through, right?” You snapped as they finally jerked out of their trance and got into position, Chrissy giving you an apologetic smile before she called out the counts.

He watched you and only you as they tossed you up in the air and you held your pose tightly. It just so happened he never attended a pep rally, let alone any games, so he didn’t know what cheer consisted of. Thinking it was just girls screaming a bunch of corny cheers, which that was a little bit of it, he gained a new respect for it, at least for you.

When you finally finished, you said goodbye to Chrissy, the only one who was remotely nice to you, and rushed over straight to Eddie, who stood up and took your duffle bag from your shoulder. It was a kind gesture, something that you didn’t expect, but like you’ve been telling everyone, Eddie was super kind, and this was in his nature.

“I didn’t know you got tossed around like a rag doll.” He said while spinning his keys around his finger, his eyes lingering on your figure for a moment.

You giggle and shook your shoulders, “It’s like second nature to me….and um, sorry for the girls again, they’re really shallow.” You really felt the need to apologize again for putting him in this situation, as you could still faintly hear them snickering while you and Eddie finally exited the sticky gym.

He stopped for a moment, catching your right hand that was swinging, “Angel, what they say really doesn’t affect me anymore, so don’t stress that pretty little head of yours, alright?”

The sudden but simplest physical contact caused your breath to hitch and your heart to flutter. You couldn’t pinpoint where these feelings were coming from, but it wasn’t uncomfortable for you. It just felt different, but a pleasant different.

“Y—yeah…I know, I just umm…I have this stupid habit of apologizing like a million times.” You stuttered out quickly and finally his touch dropped from yours.

“You can do no wrong in my eyes, so don’t ever think you have to apologize to me.” He continued walking towards his van sticking the key into the passenger to unlock to door

“…especially for something you didn’t do.” He added with a smile, holding the door open for you.

“Thanks Eds.” You grinned, settling into your seat.

The drive to the trailer park wasn’t too long, only about a ten-minute drive, but during the ride you and Eddie were able to strike up a conversation about his D&D tonight and how all the boys had a great time with it. You didn’t quite wrap your head around the whole game at first, but it was starting to make a lot more sense as Eddie explained it further. Finally, you arrived at the trailer park and you anticipated being in his personal space for a few hours.

He stumbled a bit through him and his uncle’s trailer, trying to pick some things up and at least make the place look half decent while you stood in the middle of the living room watching him frantically clean.

“Eddie, really, it’s fine.” Your small voice said, shoulders coming together as he finally turned his attention to you and sighed.

“I really should’ve cleaned this place up before I left this morning. I swear I don’t live in a dump.” He held his hands up in defense and you waved him off and smiled, taking a small walk around the area.

The walls were littered with a few pictures that looked like it was from his childhood and there was a small coffee table sitting in the middle of the room where the tapes he bought over the weekend were scattered.

“You live here all by yourself?” You sought, fingers brushing over the walls and smiling at what looked like a baby Eddie dressed up as a cowboy for Halloween.

He came up beside you shook his head. “With my uncle actually, but he works night shifts, so I don’t see him too much unless it’s on the weekends.”

You nodded and finally tore your eyes away from the photograph meeting his, “Do you wanna work in your bedroom or the living room?”

He shuffled around for a second before motioning you to follow him down the narrow hall into a room that you knew was his. A dark red guitar hanging up against his mirror, a plethora of posters stuck to the wall, and a bed that had no headboard or footboard in the room's corner. It wasn’t your style, but it was definitely Eddie’s and despite the room’s limited space, you liked the atmosphere.

“Cozy.” You murmured with a small smile, taking in the personality of his room, setting down your things and taking a seat on the carpeted floor.

“Are you sure this is ok?” He asked anxiously, watching you get comfortable rather quickly

You nodded reassuring, patting the space in front of you so he could get the hint to join, “I like it…really fits the whole look you have going on. Metal.”

“Metal.” He purred, smile inching up on his face before he turned to grab his books to actually use for studying for what seemed like the first time in a long time.

Eddie couldn’t help but stare at you a few times out of the night, basking in your beauty, which in reality were smudged eyeliner and mascara and an oily forehead due to practice a few hours earlier.

Trailing your eyes up from your notes, you could see Eddie staring at you intentlu,“You ok over there?”

He jerked and coughly stiffly out of embaressment of being caught, but you found it to be rather cute, offering a snorted laugh which seemed to ease him a bit.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine…sorry I thought there was something on your face, but it was just the moon shining.” His fingers widened, imitating the light that was flickering in through his thin curtains and highlighting your features as your cheeks blushed.

“You flirt with all the girls who bring around here?” A teasing statement left your lips, and he grunted, shaking his head with a smirk.

“Me?! Flirting?! Bringing girls around here?! Angel you’re the only girl I’ve brought home, but if your boyfriend found out, he’d kick me ass.” He countered back watching you laugh lightly before a frown covered your face at the mention of your boyfriend.

You knew Jason had no limits. If he had found out about you and Eddie’s innocent interactions like these, he’d lose his shit and target Eddie, making his life even harder. Definitely not what you wanted.

Your legs stretched out straight as you shoved your notebook off to the side in the pile with the rest of your stuff. Sighing deeply, you stared back up at Eddie who’s back rested against his dresser, following your every move.

“Jason can be a bit much…all the time actually. Got into a fight yesterday, and it wasn’t pretty.” You admitted, voice filled with disappointment and a twinge of sadness.

He frowned, tossing his notes to the side as he maneuvered a little to sit closer next to you, “You ok? He didn’t hurt you or anything, right?” The question left his lips before he could even stop and you nodded, making sure he knew you were alright.

“No, no, no, he didn’t put his hands on me. Our fights are more verbal than anything. It’s kind of like mixing gasoline with fire when it comes to him and I. When we fight it gets ugly, none of us want to be wrong….though I’m usually always right.”

The smile that broke out on your face wasn’t sincere, and he could tell. It was almost like a pitiful expression to try to get him to think that everything was ok, but he could read you. It was easy. At least for him to notice. He just listened as you continued to talk. He liked hearing your voice….not so much hearing about all the things Jason did to upset you, but if it helped to get it off your chest, then he was more than willing to sit here with you all night.

For some reason, you felt comfortable sharing this information with Eddie. Usually, you’d keep the arguments that you and Jason had between you and him, only really confiding in Nancy or Robin when you were extremely pissed. But you felt OK to share it now, and you didn’t know if it was the coziness of Eddie’s room or simply the safeness that you felt, but you were OK.

Once you realized you had gotten off track and disregarded the project, you caught yourself instantly going into apologizing mode, “Sorry, I’m rambling. It’s a habit.” You withdrew, feeling yourself becoming a bit too comfortable, and Eddie shook it off offering a reassuring smile that made you feel warm.

“‘s’lright, you can always talk to me, if it makes you feel better.”

That made you smile from ear to ear whispiring a soft and quiet “thank you,” before getting back to work.

To you and Eddie’s surprise, the night went fairly well as progress was made for the chem project and you two were easily able to hold a comfortable conversation without fearing judgement or awkward silence. He made you laugh a countless amount of times throughout the night whether it was mocking Mr. Smith’s boring lectures, hearing his horrible gym stories, and attempting a cheer with your poms. Hell, he even played some ABBA and Madonna for motivation after you wanted to give up and take a failing grade.

For the night, he made you forget about all the issues you were facing. It was more than nice. You wish you could spend every night like this.

_

Despite the dislikes of Jason, he learned to deal with it, knowing that you were going to stand your ground and not switch out being partners with Eddie. The last few days were hell for the jock, needing to watch you get into Munson’s car and drive off to his place or yours in order to work on the project while he could do nothing but stay pissed at both you and Eddie. But of course, he’s Jason Carver. He always has a vindictive plan up his sleeve.

He trusted you, but definitively not Munson. He had to make sure Eddie knew you were his girl and his only. That his satanic ways would not get the best of you. He spent the last few days being extra touchy for no apparent reason, purposefully pulling you into kisses that turned into make-out sessions in the middle of the hallway when Eddie would cruise by or right before you’d hop into Eddie’s car and drive off to work.

You never noticed Eddie’s presence and assumed that Jason just really wanted to makeup for being a dick to you, but it was never really that. And today was no different. Before you could even take a seat at his lunch table, he pulled you into his lap and roughly pressed his lips against yours in a scorchingly uncomfortable kiss.

Then there was Eddie, glaring in distaste as he heard you squeal loudly and press your hands on Jason’s chest to shove him away, dying of embarrassment at everyone watching.

“Jesus, they need a fucking room.” Mike gagged from his lunch table, turning away as you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, not noticing Jason turning his attention to Eddie.

“Fuck you, freak.” Jason would mouth, flipping Munson the bird, while Eddie graciously returned it with a scowl.

“The fuck is his deal?” Eddie turned over to his boys, who looked disturbed and genuinely about to vomit after witnessing such PDA.

Dustin rolled his eyes with a grunt, cramming some chips into his mouth. “His deal? Really? Please tell me you didn’t ask the most obvious question?”

The young boy watched Eddie’s face fall in bewilderment, and he groaned. “You are totally oblivious, aren’t you?” Dustin tossed the chip bag down, licking the Cheeto dust off his fingers as Eddie’s face scrunched up in repulsion.

“Jason is jealous of the time you and her and spending—thinks you’re going to take her away from him.” Dustin explained, and the other guys agreed in unison, nodding their head and talking amongst themselves about the situation.

“M-me? Eddie Munson would take her away? She’s not even my type, Henderson, so I don’t know why jock has his panties in a twist in the first place.” He shook his head and sunk back into the chair, taking a glace at you and Jason kissing once more, this time not as obscene, but still gross.

“Sure, she may not be your type, but we can all agree that the chemistry you share is unbelievable and we’re not just talking about the class.” Dustin quipped cheekily, watching Eddie tilt his head down to hide his reddening cheeks.

“Henderson….” Eddie gritted through his teeth, wanting to go back in time and not ask the question to begin with.

“He’s right! You two have a nice dynamic, so it’s no wonder Carvers is possessive of her.” Mike added harmlessly.

“Drop it dipshits.” Munson announced, eventually lifting his head up from the table, only to be greeted by your face staring at him from across the room. A glowing smile and fingers waving towards him before your attention was stolen again by your boyfriend.

_

Two weeks were up quicker than you expected, but Eddie and you had a marvelous time working on the project together. He’d pick you up after practice, or if you were early, you’d stop by Hellfire to wait for him to be done until you’d both work on the project. It was nice having something to do other than the same boring homework you had for other classes, along with having his company. The both of you waiting patiently as you watched your chem teacher make his rounds across the room before finally stopping at Eddie’s desk.

“An A+ this is fucking’ insane!” Eddie pounded his desk cheerfully, your grade circled at the top of the page in bright red ink.

You twisted your body around, holding up your hand that he high fived before continuing to celebrate his first A+ in the last three years. It was kinda adorable to see him so giddy over a grade. To you, it was normal to get decent grades, but for someone like Eddie, it was rare to see. People always doubted his intellectual abilities just because of what he wore and how he spoke, so it became his normal to expect grades that reflected his personality. Not this time, though, at least not under your watch.

“You keep it, hang it up on your wall as a memento.” Your hand patted his, eyes still glued to each other, and that shit-eating grinned that you both had when you two were around.

“Y’sure you don’t want to file it in with the rest of your superb grades?” He shot you a joke with a raised eyebrow, causing you to roll your eyes playfully.

“I’m sure about it, Munson. This certainly won’t be our last A+ together, right? I mean, we’re friends now….r-right?” You don’t know why your voice shook or why you even asked such a dumb question in the first place. I mean, it was pretty much established that you and Eddie were friends, right? Especially after the time and laughter you two shared. It was now a genuine friendship, right?

He nodded and inched closer to you, “Yeah, of course we are, duh.”

“Annnnd if we’re friends, then I think you should definitely check out me and my band tonight. At the Hideout.”

Your head cocked to the side with confusion, and your eyes continued to stare. “You’re in a band?”

He laughed at your astonished state and nodded, “Corroded Coffin. Me, Gareth, Jeff, and Kevin. We write our own shit, but we cover a bunch of other metal songs, too. I guess I could work in a metal version of Like A Prayer just for you.”

The heart beating in your chest fluttered at the simple thought of him remembering the song you were currently obsessed with now. “You’d really do that for me? But it wouldn’t be really metal of you, though? Don’t want to ruin your whole look you’ve got going on.” You looked him up and down with a smirk on your face.

He whistled and shook his head with a grin, “Sweetheart, everything I do is metal—so will you be there?”

In a heartbeat, your head bobbed and a wide smile came up on his face. “Of course, what time?”

Eddie did his best to suppress his excitement with you coming to his show. He knew metal music wasn’t your thing, but to see your instant accord to go made him churn with pride and a mix of nervousness.

“9:30, you need a ride or anything?”

He wanted you to nod your head, yes, but internally frowned when you shook your head. “My dad actually just got my car fixed, so I’m fine to drive myself. Do you mind if I invited Robin? It’s just that she’s been trying to get into new music, so maybe she’d be into your stuff, too?”

“Sure, the more the merrier, angel.”

_

“It fucking reeks in here!” Steve’s stuffy voice called out through the loud music as held his nose shut.

You all walked into the small club where a bunch of old middle-aged men were drinking and smoking among the genetic tunes blaring in the tight space. You had never been here before, so this was all too new for you, but you promised Eddie and you were really not one to break any commitments, and you sure as hell weren’t going to start tonight.

“Where in the hell did you drag us?” Nancy ordered, having a seat at one of the empty tables as the rest of you follow.

“Hey, I only invited Robin, but you guys wanted to come along…and we’re here to support Eddie and his band.” You told them, crossing your legs as you took a glance at your watch. Five minutes until they would be coming out on stage.

“Jesus christ, when I said I wanted to listen to new music, I didn’t mean at the Hideout surrounded by drunks.” Robin choked, pointing at an old man passed out at the bar.

“I think the scene adds character. Eddie and his band are metal heads, so it would make sense they performed somewhere like this.” You argued, following the stage as you saw Gareth and the rest of the guys pop out, then Eddie last.

“Woo Hoo!” You applauded noisily, followed by a whistle, while the lights dimmed.

Eddie looked out into the small crowd and saw your frame, along with the three others, waving and clapping a bit. He gave you a nod with a smirk before delving into the show and getting absorbed in the heavy bass and drums of Corroded Coffin.

Metal was most definitely not Nancy or Steve’s cup of tea, but they seemed to tolerate it for the night, appreciating the deep lyrics of the songs as opposed to the instruments. To Robin’s surprise, she actually appreciated the music quite a bit, but not as much as you, who was bobbing your head to every song and dancing around in your seat the entire set. Now that the night was dwindling, Eddie announced one last song and looked over at you.

“And this last one is for a special angel who came to join us tonight. This is Like A Prayer, Corroded Coffin Style.”

“Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone, I hear you call my name, and it feels like home.”

Your jaw dropped and eyes widened as you watched the way Eddie’s voice beautifully carried the song, “No fuckin’ way!”

You quickly got up out of your seat, hands reaching out for Robins, pulling her along with you as you both danced to the beat of the song. Soon, Nancy and Steve even joined in, enjoying the metal rendition.

His eyes were trained on you while he continued singing the lyrics and his fingers moved against the frets. He had memorized the damn song in just a span of a few hours and somehow convinced his band mates to play along. The lyrics weren’t new to him as some of it was engrained into his memory after listening to you sing it on repeat during the time you and he would work on the project. And no different, just like the image of you dancing carelessly in a room full of people who stared, but they were all faceless to him. It was you who was engrained in his mind. Only you shone in the light, and you always did.

“Thanks everyone, have a goodnight.” Eddie finally ended the show earning hoots and howls from the drunks and, of course, you and your friends. He immediately set down his guitar and hopped off the stage, making his was over to you.

“Eddie, that was amazing!” Your arms had wrapped around his body in a tight hug that he quickly returned, wrapping you up in his arms and inhaling your warm vanilla scent. This was the first time you two were hugging. It felt strange, but still nice and homey.

“Really…you liked it?” He pulled away from you temporarily to look down at your dazzling smile that assured him that you did, in fact, enjoy the show more than you should’ve.

“I absolutely loved it and you kept your word with Madonna!” You hugged him again before he pulled away completely from the hug and swept his fingers through his ragged hair.

“I always keep more word, angel.”

Time seemed to freeze between you two, Eddie kept his eyes trained on you, fidgeting around, and your hands reaching behind you to twiddle with a smile still seeping on your face. That was, until Steve cleared his throat, resuming the moment.

“You guys did pretty good. Still not my type of music to get down to, though.” Steve patted Eddie’s back, earning a small nod.

Nancy stepped in, patting Eddie on the shoulder as well, one of her first real interactions with the metal head. “Yea, same here, but it was really nice to see you guys perform.”

“Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for having us, although you didn’t necessarily invite me or Nancy, or Steve.” Robin spewed quickly as Eddie chuckled.

“You’re always welcome to come. We play Mondays, every other Friday’s and Sundays.”

They all nodded and waited for you to speak up, “Why don’t you guys get the car started? I’ll meet you out there in a minute.” You handed Robin your keys, and they all nodded, saying goodbye to Eddie as they left you two alone in the pub.

“Will you show me more?”

He scrunched-up face and wiggled around. “Huh?”

“More metal music? Maybe tomorrow or whenever you’re free?” You clarified, and he nodded quickly, snapping his fingers.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll bring some tapes. Maybe you can swing by Hellfire if you don’t have practice on Thursday?”

“You’re lucky Chrissy is the captain, and she likes me. I’ll be there!” You said giddily, your insides doing sommersaults, thinking about how much fun you two were going to have.

He looked just as excited, but knew it was getting late and you both still had class tomorrow. “Good—want me to walk you to your car?”

“Please?”

No questions needed as he simply rested a hand on your back and you fell into his touch, mindlessly leaning into him as he escorted you out the Hideout and the middle of the parking lot where the high beam lights from your car basically blinded the two of you.

“At this point they need to kiss.” Robin uttered from the backseat, watching the two figures make a little more small talk in the empty lot.

“Did you forget she’s still with Carver?” Steve flicked her shoulder, causing her to hiss at him.

“The pining between the two of them is killing me! Don’t they feel the connection they have?” Nancy whined, watching Eddie give you another tight hug.

“No, because the two of them are too damn oblivious, dancing around the very clear feelings that are present.” Robin bit her thumb, watching on.

“Does Jason even know she’s here?” Steve asked, shaking his head.

“Nope.” the girls answered, finally seeing the two of you pull away from the hug that seemed to last forever.

Eddie brushed some of your hair from your face and whispered, “Get home safe, alright?”

You bit your lip, nodding assuringly, “Mhm, see you Eds.”

One last smile was shared between you before you finally had to walk away, opening the driver’s door and buckling in, before you drove off you gave him a wave and you could see his mouth move, “See you, angel.”

_

Like you promised, you were there outside Hellfire on Friday, waiting for Eddie to let you in as you picked up footsteps and voices coming from the inside. Then, after a couple of seconds, you were greeted by his face and that smile you came to appreciate seeing on a daily basis.

“Hey—”

He instantly talked over you, guarding the door as he crossed both arms across his chest, “On a scale of one to ten, how good are you at giving advice, angel?”

“Umm, like maybe an eight…why?” You rose your brows only for Eddie to clap and turn his head to his friends, saying, “I’ve got just the person!”

His hand came to wrap gently around your wrist, pulling you into the room, “Hey this wasn’t a part of the deal!” You wailed as Eddie eventually let go, pulling out a chair for you, gesturing you to take a seat with his friends.

You sighed, setting down your things and sitting, “One of my boys really needs some help, and you’re the only other girl I know who seems to have some decent relationship advice.”

He patted your shoulder as he brushed past you, into his throne and you wondered out loud, “Yeah? And who might the other girl be?” lips turned up in curiosity and arms crossing your own chest.

He gestured over to a young girl, a redhead who sat by Lucas, who was skipping basketball practice to secretly attend Hellfire, though they weren’t playing. For a second, you thought that Eddie was hanging out with another girl…not that it even bothered you, anyway.

“Meet Red—” Eddie started before getting cut off.

“Max, my name is Max, I’m Lucas’ girlfriend.” She presented her hand towards you, which you shook politely before introducing yourself.

“Nice to meet you, too. Lucas didn’t tell me he had a pretty girlfriend.” You giggled, observing the young boy who blushed while she smiled proudly at the compliment.

“s’becuase they recently got back together. He pissed her off, so she had to put him in place.” Dustin chimed in as Max shrugged, leaning back in her chair.

“You’re fiery, I like that.” You commended seeing a smirk on her face before turning back to Eddie.

“Care to enlighten me about today’s conversation when we should be jamming out to some metal?”

He was flattered by your excitement at new music but, tapped his fingers against his collarbone, “Metal will come sooner or later. Mike upset his girlfriend…what’s her name again?”

He snapped trying to remember, glancing over at Mike who looked gloomy, “El—she doesn’t live here in Hawkins, she actually moved to Lenora a few months ago but her and her family might be moving back since they don’t really like it there.”

“So what happened with you and El?” You rested your head on your elbow, listening in to Mike’s story.

“She’s upset that I haven’t said “I love you…” I mean technically I did once, but I didn’t mean for her to hear it and now she just expects me to say it allllll the time, but I guess I just let it fly over my head because last night we got into a heated argument over the phone. She read all the letters I sent to her which ends with “From, Mike” instead of “Love Mike,” and now she won’t return any of my calls.”

You let out a shaky breath and nodded, taking a moment to recollect your thoughts and the best possible advice you could give him to save the relationship.

“When she brought it up, what did you say?”

“That I do say it—”

“But you just told me you don’t?”

“That’s what we’re saying!” Lucas, Dustin, and Max all shouted in unison, making you bite back a laugh that you so badly wanted to let out.

“God, would you guys shut up and let me speak!” Mike huffed out in irritation, turning back to you and groaning.

“I-I just think I have a hard time saying it. I mean, I’ve only ever told my friends I love you in a platonic way, but it’s harder to do romantically. I gotta fix this because hearing her cry over the phone and being able to do nothing sucked.”

He sounded terribly awful about the whole situation and seemed like he really wanted to make it up to his girl. This freshman was doing more to make up for his shitty behavior than Jason ever did in the year of you two dating, and it kinda stung to think about, but you brushed it off, not wanting to make the situation about yourself.

“Hey at least you can admit your wrongs and there’s nothing wrong with not being able to say I love you to someone romantically, I can relate to that.” You grabbed Mike’s hand thoughtfully as everyone turned to you and looked in perplexity.

“Wait, you’ve never said I love you to Carver? Haven’t you been dating for like a year?” Lucas furrowed his brows, and you nodded, plainly.

Your eyes peered around confused, “Yeah and?” your shoulders bounced, seeing all their faces drop in shock.

Mike started first, “Well, me and El have been going out for a while too, but I’ve said it once. Granted, she wasn’t supposed to hear it, but I still said it.”

Then there was Dustin, “Me and my girlfriend Suzie say it all the time—and yes, for the millionth time, she does exist, it’s called long distance people!” He looked at his friends who rolled their eyes skeptically.

And last, Max, “Lucas and I say we love each other every time we see each other and every time we say goodbye, it’s cute.”

Gareth’s unexpected voice entered the scene, taking you by surprise, “Jesus Christ, I thought you two were in love, always kissing in the middle of the halls and the cafeteria—”

Eddie, who seemed to have his eyes focused on you the entire time, picked up on your body language and realized you were feeling extremely judged at this moment. Your relationship with Jason put under a microscope that you were finally getting the chance to see up close and personal, recognizing the flaws that lingered between your union ship and feeling a bit disappointed that neither you nor Jason even uttered those three sentimental words.

He felt like shit for practically dragging you into the dragon’s den of attacks and stuck up for you immediately, hoping it would alleviate some of the anxiety you were facing.

“Gareth, shut it! Ignore them angel, they’re dumb.” Eddie spat, pointing a finger at his bandmate and friend, who shrunk in his seat while the rest of the grew rolled their eyes.

You shook your head towards the innocent guy, “No, no, no it’s fine, I-I guess I just never really thought about saying it—”

“Has he said it to you? I mean, he must have, right?” This time Kevin spoke as you turned to shake your head no.

“Well, aren’t we just learning something new about you every day?” Jeff chuckled tightly before going back to doodling in his notebook.

“I mean….do you love him?” Max asked you. The staring of everyone made you somewhat uneasy and the hand that was resting on Mike’s pulled back into your lap as you fidgeted.

“I don’t….w-what necessarily constitutes love?” Your voice whispered, taking your bottom lip between your teeth, and Dustin vehemently sighed, hands moving around in disbelief.

“Oh, my god is she serious right now?” He looked at his friends and then Eddie, who scowled at him disapprovingly.

“Henderson, be nice or else you’re outta here.” Eddie warned with a point, chucking an eraser scrap at him.

“Well, for one, attractiveness…does your stomach fill with butterflies every time you see him?” Max threw it at you, and not even a few seconds later, there was Lucas.

“Two, passion…do you have strong feelings for him, like wanting to spend lots of time together doing things you both enjoy?”

Max cut in abrubtly, adding onto Lucas’ statement, “Even things you may not necessarily enjoy but he does…you’ll even pick up on a thing or two that he likes and he’ll do the same for you.”

Last was Dustin, “And three respect…does he make you feel wanted and respected at all times? Does he talk to you with kindness and make the effort?”

How in the hell did these freshman throw these troublesome questions your way? You’ll never know, but what you did know was that you didn’t have a straight yes or no answer to any of them. But that had to be normal, right? Because love isn’t the same for everyone, right?

“Earth to angel, you still there?” Eddie leaned out of his throne, waving a hand in front of your face until you snapped out of your blank stare and wiggled in your seat.

“I-I don’t know….look El just might be a very emotional person, so it’s best if you two talk it out like adults. Hear her out and take the time to explain yourself to her—find common ground or something. Hell, maybe even write her a sweet poem or a song to make her feel reassured. You might not need to say it if you’re that terrified, but at least express it through your actions.” You said, resting your palms on the desk before getting up.

“Write her a song? Why would she want me to write her a song?” Mike stuttered out confused, watching you gathering your things in your hands.

“I’d want someone to write me a song if I was down. It’s romantic and thoughtful.” You replied, finally gripping tightly to your poms.

“W-where are you going?” Eddie asked, standing up from his throne to watch you sigh and walk towards the door.

“I got to go talk to someone, we’ll do a raincheck for music…I’ll see you tomorrow Eds, and good luck Mike.” You smiled, hastily shutting the door and racing over to the gym where you know basketball practice was happening.

Eddie grimaced, watching you run out of the room before hearing the door close shut, “You dipshits.” He sighed, looking at the kids, who shrugged nonchalantly.

“Jason!” you shouted, securing the attention of the entire team as the thud of the ball bouncing against the vinyl floor deliberately stopped.

He immediately rushed over to you with hands out to his side in confusion, “Babe, I thought you went home because you weren’t feeling good? What’s the matter?”

“I-I need to talk to you…can you get out of practice? Come to my house to talk?”

“Babe—”

“Please, this is all I ever ask from you.”

Instead of trying to reason, Jason walked away from you defeated, heading up to his coach to tell him he needed to take his sick girlfriend home immediately.

“This better be good,” Jason grumbled, picking up his bag and walking past you, heading to his car as he drove to your house.

“Why weren’t you already at home? You told me you weren’t feeling good at the end of school, at that was over an hour—”

“I went to Hellfire alright? I had to help out Nancy’s brother with something.” You confessed, staring out the window, feeling Jason’s eyes burning into the back of your head.

“Hellfire?! That satanic cult run by that freak? I thought I told you he and the rest of them were dangerous! He’s a goddamn teenage dirtbag if I ever saw one!”

You shook your head in disbelief, turning to scowl at him, “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“It means that he and the rest of them are a bunch of losers who are going nowhere in life!”

Thank god he didn’t see your eyes roll when you turned back the other way. Your right hand gripping the seat under you angrily, almost tearing the leather and cushion apart with your nails.

“For once, can’t you just drop that act? I told you they’re good kids who are just a little misunderstood by you and clearly everyone else at Hawkins who has a superiority complex!” Now your voice was spewing with venom and rage over this ludicrous claim.

“You’re naïve, so fucking naïve and stupid for believing that!” He slammed his hands on the steering wheel angrily while you stayed quiet the rest of the drive, not wanting to make matters worse and end up in a preventable accident.

When he pulled up to your home, you instantly unbuckled and snatched your things, slamming his passenger door shut. He observed you with annoyance, not speaking a word to him and keeping a blank face.

“So that’s it we’re not even going to talk?!” He shouted out of the window as you turned, “Well maybe if you got out and followed some social cues you’d see I’m leading you into my home so we can talk like civil individuals.”

He flared his nostrils before turning off his car and following behind you as you unlocked the door and let the two of you into the empty home, as your parents were still both on the way home from work.

“Sit.” You demanded dropping your things on the floor and pointing to the couch that faced the front of the living room.

“I’ll say this alright…I’m sorry for lying to you about feeling sick and going to Hellfire. It was wrong of me to lie to you, but it doesn’t excuse your cruel words that you used to terrorize them. I want this to be the last conversation we have about it, understood?”

You held your hands on your hips, looking down at him, resting his elbows on his thighs, and he nodded pitifully.

“Do you love me?”

“What?”

“You heard me—do you love me, Jason Carver?”

“Of course I do—”

“What is it you love about me?”

“Your smile, your hair, your eyes—”

You shut your eyes tightly, cutting him off, “Something that doesn’t have to do with my body.”

Silence. It lingered between the two of you for too long before you finally opened your eyes and caught his sorrowful face. You’ve been together for a year and he couldn’t even name something besides a physical trait of yours that he loved about you. It told you a lot about his character, something you should’ve analyzed a long time ago before this went too far.

“What are we even doing!” You sighed, bowing on the floor, running your hands through your hair in heartache.

“What are you talking about—”

“I mean, what are we even doing together, Jason! You, me, us, why are we together if we don’t feel anything?” You waved your hands between the both of you and he shook his head, eyebrows raised high.

“I do feel something, baby. I love you, you know that.” He came up beside you brushing your hair out of your face, trying to look through your soul but finding nothing.

You just shook your head, pushing his hands away from you,“Don’t say that because we both know it’s a lie—”

“It’s not a lie! God, what is up with you these days?!”

“When’s the last time you held my hand? Asked about my day? Do you even know what my favorite song it? Tell me Jason? Do you know anything about me at all?” You practically shouted with resentment, knowing that he didn’t know the answer to any of the simple questions.

Again there was silence accompanied by his grunts of dissatisfaction, still trying to reason that he did in fact love you, but you knew that just wasn’t true as it fell on your deaf ears.

“I can’t be with you anymore Jason, alright? I—I thought that’d I’d be satisfied with the two of us together, you know cheerleader and jock, but that’s just all a bunch of bullshit…I need to be with someone who truly knows me, not a person who looks at me like I’m arm candy.”

Your feet backed away from him, signaling it was his time to go, but he stayed, retaliating against your wishes.

“So that’s it? You’re just going to throw a year of us being together away? Because what? Oh! Let me guess! I don’t give you the thrill that Eddie Munson does, right? I knew I shouldn’t have let you hang out with that son of a—”

“What the hell does Eddie have to do with anything that I just said, Jason?”

Now you were pissed. How dare he try to blame this on Eddie when all along it was his fault. Too caught up in his goddamn ego to ever care about you as his girlfriend and now that you had realized your worth he was tryign to twist this. You should’ve known this is some shit he would try to pull.

“Don’t you see neither of us are happy here? All we ever do is fight there days! In your eyes I do everything wrong, and I try to tell myself that you can change and maybe you can, but I’m not happy anymore and you need to accept that!” Your finger pointed at him while the other hand wiped away the tears that leaked from the corner of your eyes.

“I don’t have to accept shit!” His voiced terrified you along with his figure moving to back you up against your walls, his fingers inches from your face.

When your back hit the wall, your heart shook, he could do anything to you now with nowhere for you to run. You’ve never seen Jason this angry before…was this the real him?

“Your mind has been corrupted by the devil and I will not allow you to continue to act like a sinner and throw everything that I’ve worked so hard to build for our futures!” His voice was so low yet vulgar, eardrums rattling while you flinched with each word, trying to appear not intimidated, but it was too hard not to be.

“J-Jason please, you’re scaring me…stop, don’t hurt me, p-please.” Your voice shuddered with fear and eyes distorting with more tears, not knowing what Jason was capable of and warning yourself to be careful with your comments.

“No, you need to understand that we are meant to be and—”

“Step away from her!”

A breath that you didn’t even realize you were holding escaped when your father’s voice bellowed through the living room and pulled Jason away from your space.

“Sir, I can explain it’s not what it looks like!” He held his hands up in defense, looking to you for support but you shook your head, keeping your eye on your dad’s grip that tightened around the collar of Jason’s jersey.

“Please, just leave Jason…and don’t ever come back.” You sobbed quietly as your voice snapped, eyes never meeting his again as they stayed looking at the hardwood floors, watching his feet scuffle out of your home with your father leading the way.

Hearing his car drive off, you ran up the stairs, making a beeline towards your room and collapsing face first on your pillow, soaking up your tears as you sobbed hoarsely. A year’s worth of pain erupting from your sockets after having to put up with him without ever realizing the impending damage his ways had on you. For a while, you thought that Jason and you were truly meant to be, but for the last couple of weeks, it just felt hollow between you two. And no matter how much you wanted to stick around and see the good in Jason finally reveal itself, you couldn’t be that person for him.

No one bothered you.

Not your dad.

Not your mom after your dad told her what happened.

Nobody.

They knew it was better for you to be left alone to deal with your feelings. It’s not that your parents didn’t care, it was actually quite the opposite. But they just couldn’t understand you sometimes—ever since you were a kid, they said you were just “too emotional.” And instead of forcing them to try to understand you, you accepted the fact that they were good parents, but just not emotional available for you to confide in.

_

The next day when Eddie walked into second period, he furrowed his brows, seeing your seat empty. You were never absent, so this was odd. And he knew you weren’t going to be late. You never showed up late, either. Attendance was always important to you, so he knew right away that something was up.

That thought was backed up again when he walked into the lunchroom not seeing you sitting with Nancy and Robin or even Jason. He thought he could brush off the thoughts but you not showing up without a notice didn’t sit right with him…it was like he had a gut feeling that something was off.

He pushed his lunch tray away from his, standing up from his seat without saying a word, causing his friends to react, “Where are you going, man?” Gareth asked stopping Eddie in his tracks.

“I—um, gotta go home, not feeling well…we’re cancelling Hellfire tonight, alright?”

“What! You never cancel Hellfire this is—”

Eddie quickly shushed Dustin, gesturing him to calm down with a simple stare. “I’ll make up for it next week, alright? You can be DM, so work on it over the weekend.”

“Holy shit, yeah, ok, yeah, take care Eddie! I love you, man!” The younger boy shouted at his role model as Eddie walked away and went straight to Nancy and Robin.

He rested his palms on the lunch table, the two girls staring at him dumbfounded, “Hey Munson, what’s up?” Robin spoke, resting her fork down on her plate.

“She didn’t show today?” His fingers tapped anxiously on the top, watching their faces fall with a sad nod, not having seen you this morning either in the halls before class.

“Maybe she had a sick day?” Nancy proposed, which may have been plausible, but still, it was just so unlike you.

He shook his head no and closed his eyes tightly, “She was perfectly fine yesterday so her being sick wouldn’t match up….plus I would’ve noticed if she was under the weather or something.”

It was as if he was talking to himself, trying to formulate the exact reasoning why you didn’t come to school today, and Nancy and Robin couldn’t stop kicking each other under the table over how Eddie was so head over heels for you.

“Do you guys have her phone number or anything?” He tapped his foot against the floor rigorously as the girls each responded.

“I have her landline written in my phone book at home? If you give me your number, I could call you when I get home and give it to you?”

“I can get into her file at Family Video and get you her number from there. But I don’t start my shift until 5:30 and I can only do it when Keith isn’t there or else I’m fired.”

He sighed, shaking it head, knowing he had to get into contact with you soon before he lost his mind worrying. His eyes searched around the cafeteria, hoping he could find someone he knew had your number memorized by heart…other than Jason, of course, but he doubted his pebble sized brain could memorize such an important set of numbers.

“Chrissy.” He mumbled to himself seeing the ginger smiling happily with the other cheerleaders. She was the only other girl on the team that you were friends with, and Eddie remembered that.

“Thanks for the help, ladies, but I think I know who just might have it.” He patted their table, and they nodded, watching as he walked over to the jocks and cheerleader table for the first time.

“Pssst…Chrissy!” He attempted to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to cause a scene today.

She turned, eyes widened with curiosity, “Hmm—oh…h-hi?”

“Can I talk to you outside? I’ll be quick, please?”

Although hesitant at first, Chrissy remembered how you and Eddie’s interactions seemed to have been friendly and sweet, if you could trust him, and she certainly could.

“Yeah, ok.” She whispered back, watching as Eddie quickly exited the cafeteria and waiting for her by the lockers.

Seconds later, she approached him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, “What’s up?”

“She didn’t show up at school today, and I’m worried sick.” He blurted out, and a stunned look took over her face and she nodded sympathetically.

“Yeah, she actually called me this morning saying she was going to miss practice today but didn’t say why,” A frown covered her face, “she sounded a bit upset, though.”

“Like…like sad upset or angry upset?” Eddie asked curiously, and she shrugged, her palm moving from side to side, trying to recall your mood.

“A little bit of both, but more on the sad side.”

He just nodded and stared at the ground for a couple of seconds debating if he should give you some space but Chrissy’s voice came to him, “I don’t know if it’s true but Jason is going around saying he’s single now, so maybe that has something to do with it?”

“What?” He flashed his eyes back to hers and she bowed sadly, “He really seems to not care or if he does he’s doing a pretty damn good job of looking like he doesn’t give a shit for losing a good girl like her.” She rolled her eyes, just thinking about Carver’s stupid face.

“Shit…do you think I could umm…I don’t know maybe get her number? I just want to call and check up on her…you know, as friends?” He fretted with the chunky rings on his fingers and she nodded, reaching out for a pen, and Eddie quickly fished one out from his backpack and passed it over to her.

She caught him by surprise, pulling at his hand, writing the number in his palm with messy black ink.

“She like’s pizza…doesn’t really matter the toppings as long as there’s pineapple chunks somewhere on there, she loves it.”

Eddie furrowed his brows but didn’t question her, somehow filing that precious piece of information in his brain’s catalog knowing that there was a reason she was spilling this material.

“And she really likes that Meadow Gold strawberry ice cream. It’s in an enormous tub but one time her and I finished it in one sitting.” She giggled a little, remembering the sleepover you and she had a few months back.

Finally she capped the pen, looking up at Eddie, who seemed to be making a mental note of the few things you liked, “Hey…Eddie?”

“Huh…yeah, sorry?” He scratched his forehead, furrowing his eyebrows and looking down at Chrissy, who rested a comforting arm on his shoulder.

“You’re a good guy and I know she trusts you…I see it in the way she interacts with you. I mean, I haven’t even seen her be that comfortable with Jason and they were together for a year—you did something to her, it’s made her happy.”

“You think so?” A small smile broke out on Eddie’s face, and she nodded, giggling like a goddamn third grader.

“I really do, and if you want my advice, I think you shouldn’t bother with calling. Show up to her place—”

He cut her off, “I don’t want to seem like a creep.”

“Trust me, you don’t come off as a creep to her, plus its…umm…it’s more romantic if you show up at her front door.”

Eddie coughed out at the use of that melodramatic and cliche word, “R-Romantic?”

“Yeah, that’s how you get the girl…so if I were you get moving, Eddie.” She patted him one more time on the shoulder before he thanked her and rushed down the corridors and out to the parking lot, hopping into this van.

He debated his choices for a while, thinking if he should take Chrissy’s advice and show up to your door unannounced or whether to make a call to you first. For one, he really didn’t want to seem like a stalking creep, and who knows, if by chance you were sick, he was being dramatic and showing up for absolutely nothing and interrupting your rest. But then again, he just had to physically see you to make sure you were ok especially after hearing what Chrissy had to say to him.

Instead of taking the turn he would usually take to go to your home, he went straight deciding to stop at the grocery store to pick up some of your favorite things and then some—the worst that could happen was you turn him away and take the things he got for you. But that was enough for him. As long as he knew you were alright, he could sleep soundly.

Being desperate and still not wanting to look like a creep, he quickly copied your number onto a ripped piece of cardboard he had lying around in his van and licked his palm, rubbing away the black into onto his black jeans. He took a deep breath, grabbing everything from the van and walking out the front door to ring your doorbell.

“Go away.” You mumbled to yourself, hearing the chime of the doorbell echoing throughout your house.

At this point, you had a raging headache and had to make the decision to stay home from school after crying all night. You just couldn’t shake the disappointment you had for Jason. The year that you wasted with him that was always empty and you didn’t understand why you stayed.

Again the doorbell rung, this time a couple of times causing you to groan and get up from your bed, jogging down the stairs and whipping the door open ready to tear a new asshole for the person interrupting your crying session—

“We have the no solicitors signs out front for a—Eddie?” You stopped yourself mid-sentence, staring at a tense but grinning Eddie.

“Hiya angel.” He stood there in front of you, a bouquet of flowers in one hand while the other balanced a pizza box, tub of ice cream, and a few bags of candy and chips.

“H-hey, what are you doing here?” You hastily wiped away at your cheeks, hoping there were no obvious tears, but your red eyes told Eddie all he needed to know.

“Came to check up on you since you didn’t show today. I was worried sick.” He admitted, and you honestly felt like you could collapse onto the floor with how thoughtful he was.

“Y-yeah…I’m good.” Your voice was failing to match your words, and you sighed, shaking your head and running a hand through your messy hair, “Who am I kidding? I’m not ok, I feel like shit.”

The two of you shared a soft and short laugh before Eddie spoke up.

“Can I come in? Maybe we can talk about it?” He offered, and you nodded, stepping away from the door to make way for him before shutting and locking it.

You guided him up the stairs into your room, which was a disaster at this point. The photos of you and Jason that used to flood the walls were torn down and stuffed into the trashcan in the corner of your room. Some of the clothes that Jason had lent you were in a trash bag, along with the gifts he presented you throughout your relationship with him. Along with crying last night, you just wanted to get rid of anything that reminded you of him so that you could finally move on without feeling like you were still surrounded by him in your own room.

“Sorry about the mess. It was a rough night.” You motioned towards the mess before gesturing at your bed so he could sit down.

He was hesitant at first, not because it was his first time in your room. Hell, he’d been in here a couple of times with you before working on Smith’s chemistry project. But this time you weren’t your happy-go-lucky self that you usually were, but he was determined to make you feel good as new.

Eddie quickly nodded, setting down the food first, before standing in front of you awkwardly, “I umm…I got these for you.”

The assortment of flowers were right in front of your face and you grinned faintly, taking it from him and giving him a hug that he quickly returned. It felt nice being in his arms after going through the most difficult and emotionally night, “Thank you, Eds.”

He didn’t let go, not until your unwrapped your arms first, knowing that you probably needed the comfort, “Yeah, of course, it was no problem, really.” He stumbled a bit with his words, finally taking a seat, followed by you sitting next to him.

“Did I miss anything important at school today?” You asked, looking over at him, and he shook his head.

“Just a few notes in Chem, left before gym, but I doubt its anything important.” He informed you and you nodded, looking down at your knees where your hands rested.

“Pizza?” He reached down to grab the box, opening it towards you. The smell of fresh dough and tomato sauce filled hit your nostrils, and you grinned seeing the yellow fruits that scatters on the tops of the slices.

“How’d you know I like pineapple pizza?” You rose your brow, happily picking up a slice and taking a bite.

Eddie chuckled, watching you eat before responding, “A little birdie told me so.” he said simply, taking his own slice and eating.

“Did that little birdie also tell you I like strawberry ice cream by the tub?” You nodded towards the bring pink container seated on your floor and he nodded, still chewing his food.

“Yup, had to make sure I got the best for you, angel.”

“You’re too sweet, Eddie.”

“So is everything alright? Kinda ran off yesterday and I got worried…and sorry about the kids, they’re just talking out of their ass, they don’t know shit about—”

Your eyes widened, shaking your head, stopping Eddie in his tracks of apologizing and looking at you in confusion, “Those kids helped me realize I made the biggest mistake in my life.”

He rose his brows curiously. “Which is what, exactly?”

“That Jason and I were never good together…I broke up with him yesterday afternoon,” You set down your half-eaten slice back into the box, dusting the crumbs off your hands.

He mirrored your actions, watching closely as you raked a rough pass of your fingers through your hair before letting your back hit the mattress.

You took a deep breath staring at your glum popcorn covered ceiling, “I don’t think I ever loved him, Eddie.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, sweetheart,” He tried to reassure you, his face coming into view hovering over you to watch your face display a sorrowful smile and your chest rise momentarily with a “hmph”

“He was my boyfriend for a year, Eds, and never did I ever feel loved by him, and never did I ever feel like I loved him. And—and I don’t understand why I only realized this yesterday, because now I just feel so…..just empty, y’know?”

Truly, Eddie didn’t know much about the whole relationship thing, but for you, he wanted to understand. You had come to him and shared some of the most intimate details of you and Jason’s relationship and Eddie sat there and listened, cracking jokes to try to cheer you up, but he knew that today was different. He wanted to be there for you.

He exhaled deeply, laying back beside you and resting his hands on his stomach, “Feeling so out of place with someone when you’re supposed to be feeling whole?”

The sheets of your bed wrinkling as you nodded your head, “Exactly like that! It’s like this whole time I was living in false happiness with Jason….I was just so undervalued by him. Like—like if I didn’t go along with what he wanted or turned myself into who he wanted me to be, he would make me feel so bad about myself—as if I was the bad person!”

You were screaming more so at the ceiling now, finally pouring your heart out after facing so much unresolved conflict with Jason. No one ever knew about the below surface issues that you dealt with in your relationship, because you never found it in yourself to tell anyone. If you ever did say anything to Nancy, Robin, or even Chrissy, it would be about the minor arguments, and to say that Jason rudely confronting Eddie at the Family Video was a little quarrel said a lot.

“Remember how we ran into each other at Family Video?”

He turned to his side now, resting his head up on his elbow as he faced you, nodding his head, “Yeah, what about it?”

“Jason got upset with me because I wanted to rent Dirty Dancing. Dirty. Fuckin’. Dancing.” hands moving around in the air sporadically, hitting a fist into your palm punctuating each word with frustration and anger, “For crying out loud he basically shamed me all because I wanted to watch a movie that I’ve been excited about! Who would ever want to make their girlfriend feel that way!?”

“Rhetorical question,” Eddie told himself, waiting until you were ready to start talking again as silence begun taking over your small room.

The tears started filling your orbs, blurring the ceiling into a cloudy mess, until finally you blinked, letting them flow off your temples, “A-and yesterday was just pure….chaos.”

His heart broke and concern brewed in his chest listening to your voice break and relentless tears cascaded onto the bed. He reached over calmly, wiping his thumb gently past your under eyes. The touch reminding you that you were safe here, closing your eyes and letting him be the comfort you so desperately yearned for.

“You don’t have to tell me more if you don’t want to,” Eddie murmured ever so gently, this time his fingers pulling away the wet hairs that stuck to the side of your face.

You shook your head, finally opening your eyes to be greeted by his staring deeply into your soul. This whole time he was looking at you like this and you had no idea. He looked so…..complete?

“H-he was so angry, Eddie, just kept screaming at me and talking to me like….like I-I wasn’t even human,” hiccuped cries occupied the room now and you couldn’t stop yourself from burying your face closer to his chest. His Hellfire shirt swamped with your salty tears and your open mouth breathing heavily into his chest.

The arm that was holding his head up swiftly traveled around your neck, carefully pulling you closer to him, if that was even possible—the other arm soothed your back with comforting circles as he whispered reassuring words and phrases.

“You’re ok, I’m right here….shhh, everything is gonna be alright,” his voice echoed through your ears, giving you the courage to continue talking about everything.

Your face pulled away only inches from his chest so that he could hear you clearly, “K-kept telling me that he and I belonged together and when I refused, he—”

Eddie’s faced screwed in anger, pulling you aways bit so that you could look up at his face, “He put his hands on you?” his voice was stern, filled with worry as he did his best to store the anger back, knowing this wasn’t the time or place for him to get riled up over someone putting their hands on you.

You shook your head and a bit of relief settled on Eddie’s face, only for a second though, “Backed me into the wall. M-my dad came home before he could do anything else.”

“Son of a bitch.” He gritted it through his teeth, pulling you back into his chest in a safe hug, his head resting on top of yours in a way to soothe you both. Mostly him, knowing he could’ve gotten up and went to find Carver to show him a piece of his mind—

Your hands, removed themselves from his chest, instead wrapping around him too, “Why did he treat me like that?”

He sighed, shaking his head, unknowingly because he truly didn’t know. You were in angel. Why would anyone want to hurt you let alone treat you so inadequately?

“He never deserved you…you’re waaay too good for him and he probably knew that, but instead of cherishing you, he took advantage of your kindness. God, no one deserves you sweetheart, you’re too good for this world, too good for any lousy guy here.”

You sniffled mumbling against him, but he couldn’t make out what you said, so he hummed causing you to repeat it a little louder, “I….I don’t feel that way, most times I just feel like—maybe I’m just not destined for love.”

“Oh, angel, no that’s not true…not at all and not even a little bit.”

He brought you away from his chest, his hands cradling your face in his hold, while he thumbs away your falling tears, “Anyone would be so lucky to have you, sweetheart.”

Your lips quivered, feeling so vulnerable yet secure with him. His words held real meaning and weight, and you knew that. But you couldn’t quite put your finger one why you were so gravitated towards him. Why he was able to make you feel like this when when all this time you were craving this kind of affection and softness in your—

“Oh shit….you liked Eddie,”

His forehead creased, catching your dazed teary eyes, “you, still with me, sweetheart?”

Eyes blinking rapidly, this time no tears behind them falling, just pure admiration for him, “Y-yeah, you just…you know how to make me feel better.”

A smile covered his face now as he shook his head at your compliment, “You just cried your eyes out and now you’re thanking me?”

“Hmmm, you’re always there for me….even when you don’t have to be.”

He was looking at you in such awe now, his fingers still cradling your face just as an excuse to feel you, “Well, I want to be here for you. You should know that by now.”

Your chest bubbled with a tiny laugh while his fingers pinched the apples of your cheeks earnestly, “I mean first it was renting out Dirty Dancing for you, then being your knight in shining leather when your car broke down…angel what’s next? Saving you from an alternate dimension with big scary monsters?”

Pursing his lips questioning while you rolled your eyes, light laughter filled your bedroom now as if he snuck in some sort of magic to make all the sadness disappear. “Will you still be there for me?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, sweetheart.”

His touch sadly left your skin as he sat up, hands reaching into his pockets to retrieve his car keys, “Give me a sec, I’ll be right back.”

You leaned up on your elbows, listening to his footsteps that jogged down the stairs and out the front door before coming back up with a wide smirk on his pretty face.

“Still up for some metal music?”

His fingers twirled around some tapes as you giggled, getting up and stealing one of them from his hands and popping it into your player. The two of you spent the afternoon listening to music, Eddie explaining each of the bands and the meaning behind the songs. He taught you how to head bang, and despite worrying about the whiplash and neck cramps you’d be feeling tomorrow, it was nice.

Just the two of you here, like this.

No fancy shit. You, Eddie, and the fleeting time that you wanted more of.

“He called me a what!?” Eddie asked unbelievably, stabbing his spoon back into the softening tub of pink goop as you toppled on the floor, giggling like a maniac.

“A teenage dirtbag!”

Eddie joined in on the laughter, inching his way over to you on the floor, taking your shoulders into his hands as he stared down at your still laughing body, “What does that even mean?!”

“I dunno, probably like a person who likes metal music and is in their very own band…super duper cool if you ask me.”

Jesus, he wanted to kiss you so badly, and you wanted to do the same. But instead laughter seemed to incite the same electricity kissing would have. Filling that void for the two of you, but who knew how long it would last?

You sat back up, inches away from his face, your fingers brushing his messy curls behind his ears, “Do you think if we submit a picture of you to Merriam Webster we could get you in the dictionary for Teenage Dirtbag?”

“You dork.” He shook his head, trying to conceal his smile as you threw your head back laughing, “Since you like metal music now, I guess you’re a dirtbag too.”

He poked your nose playfully and beamed, “Touche….then both of us can be in the dictionary!”

You moved back over, spooning a bite of strawberry ice cream into your mouth, while you watched Eddie do the same you spoke with a half full mouth, “Eds, what’re you doing next Friday?”

“Hellfire—why?” He sucked on the spoon, waiting for you to respond.

“Oh, I was just going to ask if you wanted to come to the game so you could see me cheer….but it’s totally ok! I know Hellfire is super importan—”

“I’ll be there.” He announced happily as your eyes widened.

“Really?”

He chuckled, not bothering to answer, instead getting back up and offering his hand. “What d’ya say, we get out of here? We’ll go throw out all this junk and hit up a nice spot, I know.”

Your eyes trailed to the trash bags of Jason’s things and meaningless gifts he’s gotten you, some of which Eddie had pulled out of the bag making fun of his stupid blonde hair and trashing the church music cassettes he got you for your birthday last year.

Nodding, you took his hand, timidly intertwining them as he went and picked up two of the full trash bags with his other, “Oh wait!”

Tugging him along to your desk, you plucked the Iron Maiden tape out from your player. He smiled at the small action knowing you had taken a liking to one of his favorite bands, “You can keep that one,”

You raised your brows, reaching over to open the front door for him, “Are you sure?”

“Yup, think of it as a present…plus I’ve got another at home,” He smiled, letting go of your hand as he pulled the passenger door of his van open for you.

The tape was now pressed to your heart as you thanked him with your infectious smile, “I’ll cherish this forever!”

He was fucked…he really liked this girl.

_

“I don’t know! Do you really think he’ll show?”

You were a skittish wreck in Chrissy’s bedroom, pacing back and forth from her closet door to the window as she sat calmly at her vanity, sweeping on her signature blue shadow across her eyelids. She watched you from the mirror’s reflection and giggled lightly, seeing her friend in such a frenzy over the one and only Eddie Munson.

“Of course he will! Now come on, sit, and let me touch up your hair.” Chrissy suggested, getting up from her seat and looking over at your slump shoulders that made their way into the chair.

“I don’t know why I’m so worried about seeing him, I mean I’m never nervous to see him…I don’t know why I feel like this.” You rambled on and on as she redid some of the curls in your hair and fixed the bow that was keeping your ponytail intact.

“Have you ever thought it’s because you have a crush on him?” She smirked, watching your cheeks turn beet red and your fingers squeezing the edge of the cushioned chair, trying not to freak out at the idea that left her lips, which actually was your little secret.

“Chrissy!” You gasped, shaking your head while she threw her head back and giggled profusely at seeing you so flustered.

“I do not have a crush on him, alright! He’s like one of my good friends.” Your posture straightened as if you were trying to prove something to her when in reality it was really you trying to prove it yourself. You were lying straight through your teeth for no use, Chrissy already knowing you had a crush on him and he had one for you too.

Chrissy’s amusement eventually died down, and she wrapped her arms around you, resting her head on her shoulder staring at you in the mirror with her toothy smile, “I’m just messing with you, and besides you look beautiful and you’re going to kill it tonight just like you do every game. Eddie will be there and he’ll be so mesmerized by you, just like he always is.”

Her words caused you to fall into a daydream, picturing Eddie in the stands watching you go full out with your routine as he clapped and cheered along with the kids, who waved and smiled at you. When the game was over, you’d run into his arms and give him the biggest—

The strong spray from the aresol can pull you out of that dream and caused you to cough loudly, seeing Chrissy coating your curls with hairspray and fluffy them up, “So enough panicking and more getting pumped for tonight, alright?”

_

They were all mildly uncomfortable, feeling way more out of place than normal when they stepped foot in the gymnasium, “I can’t believe you actually cancelled Hellfire to come here.” Mike called out through the loud gym filled with too many students for Eddie’s liking.

Dustin swatted Mike’s arm as they weaved their way through the stands trying to find some open seats, “Tonight could be Lucas’ night and we’re here to support him. Isn’t that right, Eddie?”

He looked over at the older man who said nothing except scan the gym, trying to find you somewhere on the court, maybe doing stretches or warming up with the other cheerleaders, but he couldn’t quite find you yet.

“Really…this is what you gave up being DM for?” Mike whispered to Dustin, pointing at Eddie, who seemed lost in a daze.

“He’s looking for her, I know it!” Max leaned into their conversation and the boys stifled their chuckles, knowing she was most likely right.

“Earth to Eddie, are you still with us?” Dustin snapped his fingers in front of his face, causing Eddie to snarl a bit.

“What is it Henderson?”

“I asked you where Gareth, Jeff, and Kevin were?” He lied in an attempt to finally catch Eddie’s attention.

He finally looked down at him and rolled his eyes, “They didn’t wanna come. Sucks for them, right?”

“Didn’t expect to see you guys here!” Robin’s voice came into sound as she, Nancy, and Steve approached, taking a seat next to them.

“Aren’t you supposed to be with the band?” Max questioned looking at Robin who giggled, “Told them I had to pick up an emergency shift at Family Video. Thank god you guys picked good seats, or they’d bust me.”

“Dingus,” Steve muttered, earning a pinch to the side, causing him to yelp and bicker with Robin for a bit, “Hey, don’t you guys have Hellfire tonight?”

“Came by to support Lucas.” Eddie said, shaking Steve's hands and nodding over at the girls, who smiled.

“Not to burst your bubble, but hasn’t he been on the bench for the last twelve games?” Nancy asked, looking at everyone who frowned and nodded.

It wasn’t Lucas’ fault at all for being on the bench for the beginning of the season. He was actually an incredibly talented kid who just so happened to be on a team with a bunch of meatheads who didn’t want to admit that they actually sucked compared to him.

“Tonight’s going to be different, I feel it.” Eddie reassured them all as their attention went back to the court hearing the horn blare followed by cheers and the band beginning to play.

His eyes veered to the cheerleaders who dashed through the gym entrance shaking their brightly colored pom-poms in the air, getting the crowd riled up for the night. Out of the twenty something girls who stood out on the court, only you stood out to him. He found you instantly the second you ran out there. He couldn’t miss you as you were a sight for sore eyes with your broad smile and twinkling eyes.

“He’s here!” Chrissy nudged you repeatedly, still shaking the poms in her fists as she pointed her chin in his direction.

Your eyes darted to him instantly, catching a glimpse of his cheeky smile and his head of curly hair, “Hi angel.” You could see his mouth say.

“Hi!” you mouthed back, waving your poms at him eagerly and he chuckled wiggling his fingers at you before the basketball players rushed out, signalling you and the girls to take a seat at the benches to watch them game periodically getting up to motivate the players until half time.

The entire night, your focus seemed to drift towards Eddie’s, whose eyes were definitely trained on you rather than the game, but you didn’t mind. Occasionally trying to communicate just by mouthing to each other, which inevitably left the two of you grinning and laughing at your horrid attempts to make out each other’s sentences.

“And we’re up, ladies!” Chrissy called up as the halftime bell rung and the court cleared.

“Let’s do this, Tigers!” You smiled, running behind Chrissy and getting into your respective positions on the court.

Then the music hit.

Eddie grinned like a lovesick puppy, eyes concentrated on your figure that flared your arms out in particular poses while you shouted the Hawkin’s cheer anthem. He pinched himself for not coming to these stupid games sooner if he knew he would be able to watch you do this all the time. You looked so happy, even if it was just some silly cheers, to get the crowd pumping and give the jocks a break from playing balls and laundry baskets.

Your pom-poms were discarded when the music hit, internally preparing yourself for the routine of jumps, flips, and tosses. This routine was different from the one he saw months ago when he waited for you to finish practice. Your moves were sharper, more intense…he would have to ask you about the different routines later.

“Holy shit!” Eddie watched in awe, keeping his focus on you—hands and feet making only milliseconds contact with the ground as you ran and flipped yourself multiple times, across one side of the court and to the other.

His friends laughed, so intrigued by Eddie’s reaction as he was the one person they thought would give less of a fuck over some cheer routine, but he was obviously intoxicated by you.

“Just wait until they toss her in the air!” Max smirked as she leant down to Eddie’s ear,

“Wait they do that—” his head only turning to look at her for a second, before she pushed his head back in your direction.

Reinforcing your hands on top of your hips, you braced yourself before you were tossed up high into the air, essentially twisting your body like a human pretzel before feeling your bases catching you and tossing you up once more.

From this height you could see Eddie clearly, his face painted with amazement and worry—both in a good way. It made you crack out an even bigger smile, throwing a wink his way, and you swore you could see his cheeks redding. But before you could really tell, you felt yourself come back down into the arms of the bases to finish up the routine. Rushing over to your final spot to the left of Chrissy, you were thrown up again, the two of you up in the air with your arms out holding a single leg extended stunt. “Go Hawkins!”

The buzzer sounded on time with the finale of the cheer team, hurriedly picking up their poms and running back onto the sidelines to recuperate. You instantly went for a water bottle, chugging its contents as you wiped the beads of sweat off your forehead, pacing the small space to get your breathing and heart rate back to normal.

Your eyes darted up to the bleachers, certainly catching Eddie who was already gawking at you, “Killed it, angel!” he mouthed proudly, giving you a fist bump in the air as you giggled and smiled widely at him. Somehow for the gym being filled to the brim with faces, he was the only one you could see, let alone care about.

“Lucas has been on the bench this entire game!” Dustin grumbled, tossing his hands into his lap sadly.

Fourth quarter was now nearing the end and Hawkins was only a three pointers away, but sadly all of their shots were blocked or either bricked. Eddie and the gang were surprisingly riveted by the game, and it was easy to follow with the help of Steve, explaining the ins and outs of basketball.

“Well, we aren’t going to win if Jason keeps shooting the ball at this rate.” Max rolled her eyes watching as the jock missed another three pointer resulting in a boo from the crowd.

The whistle blew with a minute left on the clock, the boys huddling with their coach for a few seconds.

“Sinclair is in! He’s in!” Steve shouted, standing up in his seat watching as Lucas stormed the court with his eyes deadset on the basket, knowing that he had to make a shot in order to win it for the team.

You squealed, poms ruffling in your lap as you watched the game begin again while an irate Jason sat on the benches scowling as the coach pulled him out of the game.

The teams ran back and forth with time ticking on the clock, Hawkins needed the three pointer in order to get the lead and the entire gym sat on the edge of their seat, watching and waiting until finally…

“He’s going for it!”

“Come on, Sinclair, shoot it dammnit!’

“Go Lucas on!”

BUZZ! 55-54, Hawkins takes it home with only three seconds left on the clock!

You and the entire gym sprang out of your seat, cheerleaders and the rest of the team storming the court to celebrate the monumental win. Lucas was hoisted up in the air, pom-poms waving with him, shouting out a bunch of congratulations before he was put back down.

“Congrat Lucas—” you were about to approach the young boy to pull him into a hug, but Jason’s figure got in the way. Trapping you in his arms as he pushed you back, your poms dropping from your grips as you tried to pry him off of you, “Get the hell off of me!”

“Shush, we’re all going to celebrate outside….come on guys!”

Your hands didn’t stop pushing at his rib cage, and your shouts for help were drowned out by the loud cheering of everyone around you and could do nothing but let Jason lead you out back, the team of basketball players following to the parking lot.

“Stop Jason, please just let me go!” you struggled in his hold, yelping as he lifted you off the ground roughly, throwing you over his shoulder. The faces of the other players were now visible and you could see them with taunting smirks as they mocked your attempts to get away from Jason.

“Did they plan this?” You thought, as your fists banged on his back, trying your hardest to find a way out, but all you could do was watching as you left the crowd behind, fearing what would come next.

Spotting the blonde hair the poked out through everyone in the distanced you screamed as loudly as you could, “Chrissy!” her head whipped looking around, tiptoeing to find you, but you were nowhere to be found.

“Chrissy help!” You yelled out again, waving your hands in the air, before they were harshly held back down, a player who had been trailing behind Jason held them in his grips, “Stop trying to run.”

That sent shivers down your spine and you knew you were fucked. Jason had planned this out of vengeance and spite.

Your friend pouted, still looking around to find you, seeing as her partner in crime had left her side once you all had rushed the court. And it seemed like the celebration went fairly short, most of the players already heading towards the exit, when usually they would stay back in order to get photos taken for yearbook.

“Shit! We’ve gotta go.” She felt a tugging on her hand, and it was no other than Lucas.

He should’ve been celebrating after capturing the win for his team, but instead he was here, frightened for your well being as he could hear the murmurs among his team mates saying that Jason had a special surprise for everyone outside and it involved you.

Chrissy hesitated, not fully understanding Lucas’ anguish, and he tugged her again. “Your friend is in trouble.” His eyes were glazed over with urgency and her eyes floated promptly to the exits, catching a quick glimpse of you thrown over Jason’s shoulder, with your arms bound by another player.

“Go! I’ll get Eddie!” Lucas didn’t wait, dashing out of the gym as fast as his legs could take him while Chrissy worked on spotting the metal head in the still fairly crowded gym.

“Eddie! Eddie! Eddie Munson!” It wasn’t your voice, but it was a scared voice that called out to him, Chrissy’s voice.

He and the rest of the gang squinted, looking down at the court as she searched fearfully around the gym, trying to find him, “Why is Chrissy Cunningham screaming for you?” Robin scratched the top of her head and turned to Eddie, who looked just as confused as the rest of them.

“Come on, let’s go.” He lead the pact quickly down the bleachers and straight to the ginger, who let out a small sigh of relief and ran up to him, meeting him halfway. She didn’t bother saying anything except tugging on his leather jacket, trying to lead him somewhere, taking him aback, “the hell are you tugging on me for?!”

He pulled his arm back from her hold, not understanding her urgency and the situation that was taking place at that very moment.

“Jason and the rest of the team are out in the parking lot with her. We need to hurry.”

In that moment, it felt like everything was moving in slow-motion, when in reality it all happened too quickly for anybody to really fathom what was going on. All they heard was that you were in trouble and Eddie saw red. He didn’t bother waiting up for Chrissy to lead him to where you were, instead he took it upon himself, pushing and shoving past the other students in order to find you.

It wasn’t hard.

Another crowd had formed right in the middle of the parking lot, a circle of students watching Jason stalk his way towards you with nowhere to run as the rest of the team had created a barrier around you, as per the point guard’s orders. Poor Lucas, you could see him shaking in the crowd mouthing to you that he was going to help you and god you wanted to believe that, but him up against all these meatheads would be an ugly sight you didn’t want to see.

With your jaw trembling, eyes pricking with tears, and your rapid breathing, you were able to make out a single sentence, “J—Jason, please…why are you doing this?” your hands tried to stop him from getting closer to you, Jason stalking you like prey until you bumped back into one of the other players who shoved you off them roughly and right into the hands of your ex-boyfriend.

His arms wrapped tightly around you, essentially gluing you to his chest with nowhere to go, “Stop! P-please let me go, Jason! Someone help me, please!” you shouted loudly, hoping someone in the crowd would step in and see that this was not ok.

But no one did.

“You all wanna know a secret that Little Miss Hawkin’s is hiding.” His blue eyes glared down at you like swords cutting into your conscience, wishing, demanding, to punish you for no good reason at all. That paired with the devilish smirk on his face made you burst into tears, not knowing what he was going to do or say to you in front of all these people, as you were defenseless.

Jason didn’t bother for the crowd to respond to his rhetorical question, instead he vigorously spun you around, your back to his chest, one arm holding your arms down and the other wrapping around your neck tightly, forcing you to look at all the people watching, “She left me for Eddie “The Freak” Munson!”

The laughs and shouts from the strangers didn’t bother you, it was the fact that they stood here watching you be harassed without realizing that what he was doing was wrong and—

Your eyes widened, “Lucas no!” he was running towards Jason full speed, glass bottle he took from someone in hand, slamming over the top of his head as you clenched your eyes shut bracing the impact of the fall and attempting to shield your eyes from any stray glass.

There was no big impact like you anticipated, only slight stumbling as Jason released the hold on your neck but kept you two up right with his grip coming around your body. You could feel a slight stinging coming from your forehead, but that was the less of your worries as you watch the poor freshman begin getting jumped by a couple of the other members of the basketball team who pulled him away from Jason.

You thrashed harshly in Jason’s grip, screaming and crying, “Leave him alone! Stop it, you bastards!” these attempts to kick and yell were insufficient and his constraint around you only got stronger, leading to you letting out another scream, this time a piercing one when you felt your rib cage crunch.

“I-it hurts! Plea…please Jason! You—you’re hurting me!”

Your cries could be heard for miles with how much misery you were in and it even led to the boys who were roughing up Lucas to regain some sort of pity and cut out of their onslaught on the young boy seeing you hyperventilating in Jason’s arms with tears running down your cheeks and blood gushing from a gash that no one could quite make out since it was blurred with crimson.

“Get your fucking hands off of her!”

Eddie’s voice had never reached such volume, packed with so much hatred that it made everybody in that parking lot halt what they were doing and follow the sound of his order. Like a scene in a movie, they made way for the man, hurdling past them with his friends right behind him.

“Holy shit.”

“What the fuck?”

“Lucas, oh my god.”

Dustin, Mike, and Max looked at their friend, bloody nose and a few bruises already starting to settle in on his body as Lucas inched him way over to them, falling at their feet as they bent down to try assessing what needed to be done to help him.

You on the other hand, didn’t have time to prepare as Jason launched you brutally into Eddie’s chest, your legs giving out on you at this point, barely able to hold yourself up from the pain radiating all over your body.

But he caught you instantly, wrapping his arms securely and gently around your body, as you laid there crying, “E-Eddie.” your voice cracked, fingers gripping tightly to his tear soaked shirt, not wanting to be anywhere else except in his arms.

“Let me see, angel.” His tone immediately turning soft as his thumb and forefinger came up to lift your head from his chest, revealing the bloodied mess that covered the right side of your face. His shaking fingers went to his belt loop, quickly undoing the knot on his black bandana and bringing over to your cut to stop the bleeding.

His blood began to boil once more, knowing that Jason had that ball to hurt you this bad…to even hurt you at all.

“I roughed her up a bit since I know you like your girls like that, huh? Don’t worry, you can finish her off, sacrifice her to that devil that you worship.” Jason was so smug, back on his hand wiping away at the blood that poured from the cut on the side of his skull all while tormenting Eddie.

You could feel Eddie’s chest rising and falling at a rapid pace, heart beating so loudly you thought you could see it popping out of his rib cage. He wasted no time, sinking his free hand into his pocket to fish out his car keys, tossing it behind him where he knew Steve was hovering, trying to see if you were ok or not.

Steve was sharp, catching it in midair and instantaneously sinking down to his knees beside Eddie, holding his arms out, “Take her to my van…make sure she and the kids are safe, I’ll be there in a minute.” His voice was stern and serious, doing his best to keep calm with you in his arms, not wanting to startle you even more than you already had been.

“No! Eddie please! I-I don’t want to leave you!” You wept, feeling Steve scoop you out of Eddie’s arms carefully, guiding your arms to wrap around his neck to keep you from slipping out of his hold.

Eddie shook his head, grasping your cheeks in his hand delicately, peering into your eyes, “I’m not going anywhere baby, you need to go with Steve and the rest of them and I’ll be there. I promise.” his lips met your temple before Steve speedily got up, hustling you and the rest of the gang away from the scene.

“S-Steve, we have to go back…Jason—he’ll kill him!” You cried, trying to somehow convince the man who was carrying you to turn back and at least assist Eddie in the fight.

“Sweetheart, you’ve got to trust him ok…Robin get the keys in my pocket….Lucas you alright man?” He called out, feet never stopping until he approached Eddie’s van and looked over at the kids and Nancy, who were together carrying Lucas.

“J-just fucking peachy Steve-o!” Lucas choked out roughly, resting his head on Max’s shoulder.

Robin quickly unlocked the car, sliding the back doors open, first letting you and Steve in, then the rest followed.

“Lock it! Lock the damn doors, Robin!” Dustin screamed, letting go of Lucas’ weight as they carefully put him down on the carpeted floors.

“Eddie…we need to help Eddie! Need to g-go, I want, Eddie!”

Everyone darted their attention back to you, still in Steve’s arms, still in your frightened up state, body trembling rapidly and breathing going shallow.

“Hey, hey come on, shhhh it’s ok calm down.” Steve attempted to rock you back and forth, but nothing seemed to aid the shaking body in his arms.

“She’s having a panic attack.” Max said, standing up and kneeling beside the two of you.

Sweat beading every inch of your body, muscles trembling, and the look of horror spread out on your face. She knew it all too well.

“Water! She needs water!”

Jason stood with his arms held out to his sides like some sort of messiah, “Finally going to fight me like a man, Munson?”

Eddie wasted no time, charging towards him with a tightly closed fist that connected with the square of Jason’s jaw, knocking him out onto the gravel as everyone gasped, but not threatening to intervene knowing that they’d be victim to Eddie’s attack if they did.

His fist didn’t falter despite the unconscious boy beneath him, “Don’t you ever!” Jason’s nose cracked loudly against his ringed knuckles, “put your hands!” his arm swung back down to his face again, blood splattering in the air, “on her again!” the last punch landed on Jason’s cheek followed by crunching, surely his teeth falling out.

And just like that, Eddie got up, wiping the enemy’s blood on his black jeans, turning towards the crowd who looked scared shitless of what they just witnessed, “You’re all sad excuses for human beings” he sneered, pushing past all of them, leaving the bloodied boy a mess while he walked back to where you were.

A knocked sounded on the van door, startling everyone as they did their best to fan you and press a wet towel over your forehead to get you to calm down from the aftermath.

“Shit! Is it Jason?! He’ll kill us!” Dustin screeched, earning a stiff slap on the back of the head by Max.

“Shut the hell up! You’re making it worse!” She whisper scolded, eyes darting down to where you began shaking even harder, not knowing what was going on.

Steve’s hold got tighter, rubbing his thumbs up and down your arms, attempting to get you relax though he too didn’t know who was outside the van, “Hey, hey it’s alright sweetheart, just breathe for me.”

Max, Dustin, and Mike sprang back into action continuing to fan you with the random homework assignments that littered his van—if it wasn’t such a serious matter, they’d joke about how the shit in his van actual had some use, but they knew they’d save this conversation for later—when you were ok.

Robin and Nancy shared a panicky look before. The older one nodded, peering closer to the window to catch a glimpse of who it was continuing to knock as the rest stayed behind her, watching in anticipation.

A sigh of relief left her mouth and her eyes shut, “It’s just Eddie,” her orbs opened back up and quickly she unlocked the door, flinging it open to take in the sight of Edward Munson.

Their eyes widened seeing him standing there so nonchalantly, staring at them back, both fists still clenched tightly with the remaining adrenaline running through his veins. If he didn’t have any composure and you to get back to, he’d probably still be back there, taking his time dismantling the rest of the team and everyone else there who did nothing but watch you get assaulted by Jason.

Regardless of the damage he wanted to do, your cries and whimpers seemed to bring him back to reality. His heartbeat trying to calm itself for you and the anger washing away seeing you in Steve’s arm while he gave him an unsure look if he could keep comforting you for any longer before you broke.

“Jesus, man, you’ve got blood all over your hands.” Dustin swallowed thickly, moving forward to see if there were any injuries to his friend— but he honestly didn’t know if he could handle so much blood in one night.

Eddie grunted, ripping off his signature denim jacket and roughly wiping the dried remnants of Jason’s blood onto the garment, “Not mine…I almost killed that son of a bitch.” He spoke in a hush tone, not wanting to terrify you.

“Give it here, man.” Mike whispered, holding his arm out to grab the piece of clothing, tossing it towards the back of the van where he would deal with it later.

Despite not being able to see what was going on, you could hear and feel Eddie’s presence, and you desperately needed him. You didn’t mind Steve, his attempt to console you actually helped a bit, but you knew deep down in your heart (and so did everyone else), you needed Eddie.

“E-Eds,” Your clammy hands freed themselves from Steve’s hold, blindly reaching out to grab him but you never found him, “I want Eds…please.”

Eddie didn’t know if he could trust himself around you, he wanted to hold you, wanted to take Steve’s place, but wasn’t sure if feeling you in so much pain would make him want to go back out there and give Jason another beating.

Nancy could sense the apprehension from a mile away. The look on Eddie’s face said it all. He was terrified of hurting you more than you already were, but she knew he wouldn’t do that. Never in a million years. She squeezed Robin’s hand, signalling for them to get out of the van.

Nancy stood up, holding up Eddie’s keys to his face, “I’ll drive your car back to your place, Steve will take the kids in his car…she needs you, Munson.”

Still, he seemed unsure.

Robin sighed, her hands resting on Eddie’s shoulders forcing him to tear his gaze from your stiff body in the back of his van, to hers, “You’re not going to hurt her Eddie…she trusts you alright—now please, go.”

He swallowed thickly, nodding his head, watching as the kids began to file out of the van heading over to Steve’s car while Nancy hopped into the driver’s seat and Robin taking the passenger. Steve was the only one that remained, giving Eddie a reassuring look.

“Eddie’s coming alright, sweetheart.” Steve whispered to you, leaning down slightly to lift the damp towel over your face to see your eyes still squeezed shut and your lips and cheeks swollen from crying.

You could feel the van creak lightly with Eddie entering, placing a hand on your calf as he came closer, taking a seat on the floor, holding his hand arms out for Steve to lay you in.

“Nice and easy.” Steve said softly as he transferred you into Eddie’s arms. Your fingers immediately grasping his leather jacket to make sure it was him. “E-Eds” you sniffled, tearing off the covering on your face to see him.

He cracked you a tiny smile, his right hand reaching up to brush the stray hairs away from your forehead, “I’m right here, angel.”

Steve observed, along with Nancy and Robin who were in awe with how the two of you just instantly fell into each other, “I’ll follow behind in my car.” his voice fell on you and Eddie’s deaf ears, not caring about the loud door slam and the engine of the van coming to life as the drive to Eddie’s trailer began.

No one spoke for the ten-minute ride home, figuring that silence is what you needed most in order to get yourself into a calm state so that Eddie could figure out what to do next. Robin and Nancy, however, would take a glance back every so often. Watching as Eddie kept one hand pressed on your temple wound and the other would brush your cheeks and eyes, wiping away any tears that escaped.

“We’re here.” Nancy whispered quietly, pulling up to Eddie’s trailer, parking in the small driveway with Steve’s car pulling up next to them.

Eddie nodded, wrapping his arms back around your body and never letting up eye contact, “Let’s go inside, kay?”

“Kay.” your voice barely a whispered, feeling the van’s door open and Eddie lift the two of you up and out of the small space until the cold air hit your skin causing you to shiver a bit.

You could hear a bit of conversation coming for the kids, asking Lucas if he felt that his nose was broken and being relived when he said no. Then there was Eddie, instructing Nance and Robin on what key was supposed to open the trailer door, until Steve jumped in, helping them out and finally you felt yourself enter the safe space you knew.

He kicked off his shoes, leading them into his home, “You guys can crash here for the night. There should be a first aid kit under the sink and some blankets in the storage closet down the hall.” Eddie announced quickly over his shoulder and rushing over to his bedroom to set you onto his mattress.

“It h-hurts Eds.” You whimpered, not feeling his touch on you anymore. He knelt down beside you, grasping your cheeks in his palms tenderly. He hated seeing you like this. Cheeks coated with tears and eyes that never stopped pouring them out—god if he could take it all away from you, he would in a heartbeat.

“I know baby, I know,” His thumbs continued rubbing your cheeks, swiping away at the tears that feel every few seconds, “Gonna fill up the bath, alright? Get you cleaned up…that ok?” His eyes searched yours carefully, not meaning to step over boundaries or make you uncomfortable, but he didn’t know what the hell to do. He’d never experience something as traumatising as this and he just wanted to make sure you were going to be ok.

You nodded softly, still feeling the warmth of his palms on your making you feel safer than anyone has ever had, “W-will you help me…i—I just don’t know if I can even m-move, but—”

He didn’t hesitate, his eyes speaking from themselves before his mouth did, “Of course, I’ll help you…just give me a minute, alright?” You nodded against his hands, closing your eyes softly when his hands parted, going to stand up and gather some clean clothes from his dresser.

“Gonna run the bath and come get you when it’s nice and warm.” He stopped at his doorway, looking back at you as you nodded, eyes still closed, breathing in the scent of his room.

He hurried, not wanting you to sit in the room all alone by yourself. He wanted to be there with you as much as you needed him to be. Going to the sink first, he quickly washed his hands, scrubbing away the blood that was left in the crevices of his knuckles and under his nails before getting started on your needs. When he got the temperature of the water just right, he plugged the tub, letting the water fill up and adding a squeeze of his body wash to the mix, getting it nice and bubbly for you, before shutting the water off before it overflowed.

Looking around the bathroom, he began getting a few wash cloths, a new towel, and the first aid kit out, setting it on the sink counter so it could be at arm’s length for him to grab. He took a final glance at the bathroom, making sure he had everything he had before returning to his bedroom, but not before stopping in the narrow hallway, turning his head to the left to see the rest of his friends. They were too busy attending to Lucas’ injuries to notice Eddie giving them a gentle smile.

You were in the same position that Eddie left you in—middle of the bed, hands to your sides and your chest rising up and down at a considerably calm rate now, making him feel a wave of alleviation. His quiet footsteps could still be heard by your ears and you turned your head slightly, opening your eyes to see him already kneeling down to your level.

“It’s ready, angel.” He whispered, brushing some of your hair back and you nodded, fingers going to wrap around one of his wrists, attempting to pull yourself up, but instantly seething at the pain in your abdomen.

Eddie was brisk, his hand coming to support your back, guiding you into a sitting position, “Christ, you can ask for help, babe.” he shook his head and you pouted your lips slightly, feeling so useless in this very moment. Eddie was always coming to your rescue and part of you felt bad for dragging him into all of this, but you didn’t have much time to think about it, thoughts burying themselves into the back of your mind as Eddie carefully swooped you into his arms, walking you into the bathroom.

He kicked the door closed with his foot, staring down at you, the dim bathroom lights still making you look gorgeous as ever in his eyes, “I’m gonna put you down here alright?”

You turned your head to where his chin pointed, the closed toilet seat and you nodded, feeling yourself be set down on the hard plastic cover and Eddie kneeling down beside your legs.

His fingers fiddled with each other, something he picked up from you over the past month, “Do you…umm, want me to…undress you?” His face was flushed red asking such an absurd question. He knew you asked for his help, but didn’t know if this was too far or not.

When you went to nod, he shook his head rapidly, taking you aback for a second, but his right hand that rested on your bare knee told you everything, “I need verbal confirmation, baby…I need you to be certain—don’t want to hurt you.”

Even in such a vulnerable and awkward situation, he was still gentle as ever, making your heart swarm with fireworks and stomach fill with butterflies, “Y-yes…want your help Eds.”

“You tell me if you want me to stop and I’ll get Nance or Robin…I swear I won’t take it personal—”

Your hand rested on top of his, squeezing ever so slightly to stop his sentence. Eyes meeting each other filled with so much care and assurance, “I’m sure, p-please Eddie.”

Eddie knew from the look in your eyes that you were a hundred percent sure of your decision and he remembered Robin and Nancy’s words from earlier that night…you trusted him.

He nodded quickly, taking one more look at you, “Yeah, yeah ok, I’ll help you, going to start with your shoes first.” His fingers undid your laces, working your white sneakers and socks off your feet and tossing them to the side.

“Top now, ok?” He stood up looking at you and you croaked out a clear yes that let Eddie know to keep going.

He spotted the white zipper trailing down the right side of your Tigers cheer uniform and he took a deep breath, fingers practically shaking as he pulled it down slowly, allowing its form to loosen from your torso slightly. You brought your arms up as high as they could without causing your ribs any discomfort, and Eddie swiftly guided the top over your arms, then gently helping you bring your hands back down to rest in your lap.

Left in your white cotton bra with some frail lace lining the cups and only your skirt on, you should’ve felt exposed—but still you felt at ease knowing that Eddie’s main priority was taking care of you and not ogling in the sight of your body.

“Skirt or bra first, angel?” He asked quietly, staring only at your eyes as you looked down at your bottoms, wanting out of them immediately since it was covered in some of the parking lots dirt and gravel.

He nodded, holding out his hand for you to take as he helped you up, “grab onto the counter, don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.” His chin gestured to the counter and your fingers immediately gripped the marble, steadying yourself as Eddie worked the similar zipper on your skirt down, allowing the green fabric to pool at your feet.

You could see his breath hitch in his throat, eyes staring down at the garment, just staring at him on the floor, not knowing if he could even take a look at you without crumbling. Even in a moment like this, you affected him but he knew it wasn’t right, not when you needed him to be here for you, so he shoved those fears and thoughts to the back of his brain, eyes snapping up to yours with your lip caught between your teeth.

“Bra first, then bottoms alright?”

“Yes”

His calloused fingers brushed your skin ever so lightly as they reached behind your back, popping the hook and eye closure open with ease and watching as your breasts spilled from behind the cups and the straps loosely handing off your arms, begging to be freed. And they were as Eddie slid them off, adding it to the pile of clothes that formed on the bathroom floor. Again, the same rough yet soft hands came down to your hips where the band of your underwear laid snuggly, hooking his fingers between the flimsy fabric and your skin guiding them down your legs as you absentmindedly stepped out of them.

“Let’s get you in, yeah?” His breath was still a little rough, having you right in front of him wearing nothing but your soft skin. He almost melted, feeling your hand reach out to hold his as it left the counter, needing his assistance to get into the bath.

Eddie held your hand tightly, the other resting on the small of your back, moving you gently towards the tub, stepping into it one foot at a time, until you were able to bend down slightly to lay back, “Nice and easy, babe…is it good?” He watched as you laid back comfortably, lips parting with a sigh and your eyes shut peacefully. “not too hot is it?”

You shook your head, opening one of your eyes to see him resting his arms on the tubs ledge watching you intently, “Perfect, Eds, thank you so much.”

He smiled, shrugging off your thanks, and turning behind him to grab the first-aid kit, shuffling through the contents to find alcohol pads and gauze.

“We have to clean up that cut on your forehead, alright?”

Your eyes opened fully now, frowning slightly at seeing Eddie opening some packets of the alcohol swabs, “Will it burn?”

“Just a little, but not for long, I promise.” He assured you, waiting for you to give him a nod until he leaned closer to your face, hands dabbing at the gash on your forehead, causing you to wince slightly until the sting became normal.

“There’s some glass.” He whispered, coming closer to your face to see the minuscule shards of glass.

“The bottle.” You responded, squeezing your eyes tightly, feeling a sharper pain as Eddie swiped over the gash a little too quickly.

His fingers immediately pulled away after your reaction, “Shit, I’m so sorry.” he apologized, thumb grazing your other cheek and you shook your head, “I’m ok, Eds, it just hurt a bit.” you reassured him.

Still, his face wore a sorrowful look as he went back in to clean it more, “who threw the bottle?”

“Lucas…he hit Jason over the head, but I-I guess the glass must have ricocheted.” You explained, and Eddie let out a small chuckled at the young boy’s courage to do such a thing to the captain of the basketball team.

“Pretty metal of him.” He joked softly, causing you to laugh a little for the first time after the incident.

“Metal,” you agreed with him before quietness fell between you for the next minute or two.

His tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration along with some of the comforting strings of words like, “almost done, angel,” “sorry, sorry, sorry,” and “great job, you’re doing so good babe.” If the words being spoken and the little comforting gestures weren’t already sending you into a frenzy, the complete and utter look on his face was something you couldn’t tear your eyes away. They stared up at him through your lashes, watching his every move.

Eyes squinting, trying to pick out the small shards of glass that were left on your skin.

Forehead creasing every time you would jolt a bit from the pressure of his touch.

And nose flaring every time he had to reach for another swab to wipe up the blood that dried up on your skin.

Finally, when the cut was nice and cleaned, he smiled down at you, patting your head playfully, making a tiny smile break out on your face as you watched him stand up, discarding the bloodied materials, and washing his hands. His eyes kept on yours in the reflection of the mirror, still a smile on his face.

He came back after a few seconds, this time with washcloths, “You want to do it or me?” Eddie held the small gray towels up and you nodded your head up at him, “You please, I can’t really reach without hurting my ribs.” you explained and he nodded, dipping one of the cloths into the soapy water.

Starting with your arms, he carefully glided the warm towel over your skin, the quiet buzzing of the bathroom light that you never noticed before could be heard through the silence. Not that you minded. The towel moved from your arms to your neck, carefully his dry left hand reached behind your head to lift yourself up slightly so he could get the back of your neck. Before you could relish the feeling, his hands had left to grab a new towel, dipping it into the water once more and moving down to your chest and the rest of your body.

This was different for you in many forms. First one being that your body had only even been touched by yourself and Jason Carver and only one of you was the gentle one with it. Jason never did things as intimate as this. Not even in a bathing you sense, but in general his touch was always a bit….rushed and careless.

But Eddie…god he was so gentle with you. Even before this moment, you’d finally realize that all the little hugs, fingers brushing against one another, hands rubbing your arms and cheeks when you were nervous or scared, his hand resting on your back to guide you around. All of it was so delicate.

The way Eddie would remember all the small details about you. Your favorite song, whichever it was, since it changed so often, but he always kept cassettes on him in case you wanted to listen to it and you forgot yours at home.

Him creating a stupid little cute nickname for you that was basically your first name now, all because his memory never let him forget that you were born in the winter and you wore matching jewelry.

How he would keep his promises to you and mean it. When he said he’d be there at a certain time picking you up from cheer practice, he’d be there right on time, hell, maybe even earlier. But god forbid, he was a teeny bit late or his campaign ran a little overtime. He’d apologize right away and make it up to you.

When he said he would play your favorite pop song at the Hideout in front of a bunch of drunks and his stupid friends who didn’t really want to, he did it anyway. Showing up at a basketball game that you would be cheering at for literally only a total of twenty minutes the whole night—he was there. He always kept his word.

You should honestly be pinching yourself for allowing a guy to see you in this state after only knowing him for a month and a half, but it felt so natural and safe. It wasn’t even as if Eddie was sexualizing you when he easily could; he didn’t. He made it his job to make sure you were alright—mentally, emotionally, and physically. You remembered you couldn’t even stand naked in front of your ex-boyfriend for a millisecond before he was throwing himself at you without even asking if sexual activities was what you wanted.

Eddie is who you wanted.

Right here in this very moment you finally knew it, but what you didn’t was that you were once again crying. Tears falling from your eyes, down your cheeks, and into the bath water.

His fingers pulled away from your calves that he was washing, “W-why are you crying…did I do something wrong? Touch you somewhere? I—I’m sorry, I should’ve asked before, but I thought you were ok with me washing your legs, but I-”

“I was so scared, Eddie!” You wept, lip trembling as your teary eyes stared at his, making out a blurry image of him moving himself closer so that he could bring you face to the crease of his neck where you cried softly.

“Shhh, I’m here, angel. No one is going to hurt you, I promise.” His hands let go of the washcloth, letting it sink to the bottom of the tub as his hands wrapped around your body, hugging you close to him.

You continued to cry, paying no mind that you were still naked, half your body engulfed in his arms while the other stayed in the water, “I—I thought no one was going to s-save me,” you admitted pulling away from the space and hiccuping as you wiped away at the tears harshly.

“Everyone…they were just staring at me. They let him do that to me….” She continued as Eddie continued to listen, understanding that she wanted to just hear her.

She shook her head from side to side, rapidly, when the images of the night flashed in her mind. She could still make out the faces of the crowd laughing and scowling at her while she was at Jason’s mercy. And if that wasn’t enough, the fear that crossed her face when Lucas basically sacrificed himself for her.

The thought alone made her feel such an intense internal pain. Squeezing her eyes shut once more, Eddie wasted no time, bringing her into his arms again, feeling the wet tears sliding down his neck and over his shoulder.

“But you came…you—you, I don’t understand, I-I just don’t deserve you.” It was a broken sob, but he still heard every little word.

Humming sounds of disagreement came from him as he hugged you tighter to his clothed chest, “No, baby, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you alright? You’re so perfect…so goddamn precious and you deserve someone who—”

You don’t allow him anytime to finish his stupid speech, not wanting to hear him be so harsh on himself when he was perfect in your eyes, too.

“I need you Eddie…I-I care for you so deeply and…I think—think I love you….”

The words seemed to leave your mouth before you could even stop and think about what you were about to say. That word held so much meaning. You didn’t know if Eddie could handle it after all the shit that happened tonight, so you almost regretted your decision, letting your emotions get the best of you, but this is how you really felt.

You loved Eddie, and you knew that.

The hands that rubbed at your back, halted and you both froze in the hug before you pulled back slightly just to see his face, trying to read him and see if there was anything at all.

“Y-you love me?” Is all he said, looking at you seriously and you nodded.

“I do—I love you, Eddie.”

His heart was racing a million miles per second, trying to grasp the words that just escaped your mouth for the second time. He heard you loud and clear, but he just couldn’t believe that this was real life. The girl that he obviously had developed a crush and deep care for had the same feelings for him. If not maybe even a little stronger. But not for long.

“Eddie…please say something….anything.” Your lips were trembling in fear now, wondering if you had messed up by confession your true feelings for him.

The last thing you wanted was for you to lose Eddie just because you let your emotions get the best of you.

“Can I kiss you?”

“What?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Y-yeah…yes, please.”

His palms held your cheeks in his hold, the two of you closing your eyes in bliss when your lips finally connected in the most passionate yet delicate kiss you’ve received in your life. Your lips didn’t stop moving against one another, keeping the same slow pace until the two of you eventually needed to pull away to catch a breath.

Foreheads resting against one another, and his eyes staring deeper into your soul, he whispered the sweetest four words to ever hit your ears,

“I love you too.”

There was no need for any other words after that. Matter a fact, you and Eddie spent the rest of the bath in complete in and utter silence, but still the air was filled with so much emotion. The happy kind. The both of you were content with the silence, only whispering quiet, “I love you’s” and him peppering kisses on your cheek, lips, and head as he got you dressed in an oversize band tee and a pair of his boxers.

He carefully picked you up again, carrying you out of the bathroom and back to his bedroom, where he laid you down in his bed. Pulling the sheets up to warm up your body, “Gonna go shower and I’ll be right back alright?”

“Don’t be too long please,” you said sweetly, eyes shimmering under the moonlight that peeked in through the same thin curtains. The same eyes that were filled with tears and fear an hour ago, now sparkled with comfort and love.

Eddie nodded, leaning down to brush his lips over yours, “I won’t. Just try to rest your eyes for me, baby.”

You smiled against him, fluttering your eyes closed when he drew away—he paused for a moment, taking in your precious face before quietly shutting the bedroom door to give you some privacy and peace. He gathered your clothes from the bathroom, heading down the hallway to toss them into the washing machine. Eddie quickly had a shower of his own, not standing to be alone without you and longing to feel you in his arms again, knowing you were safe with him.

“Angel?” He spoke softly but still loud enough to hear when he walked back into his bedroom.

You were still in the same place on his bed, but not asleep, just resting your eyes like he had told you earlier, “I’m awake, babe.”

He hummed contentedly, watching as your eyes opened. He was shirtless and his checkered bottoms hung low on his hips, “Light’s on or off?”

“Off please…and do you think you could put on some Iron Maiden?” You suggested

He grinned, clicking the lights off and heading over to his radio, popping in your favorite tape and letting the music surround you, “God, you’re making me fall even more in love with you,”

“Thats the plan.” You lovingly responded, sinking into his warmth when he finally got into bed next to you. Carefully wrapping his arms around your body, being weary of your still injured ribs, and placing a warm kiss to your forehead, “Never going to stop loving you.”

Breathing in his scent, you felt the safest you’ve ever felt in your life, and the most loved you knew you’d be in this lifetime, “Me neither, Eds.”

“Tomorrow we should go see Hopper, file a police report.” He proposed, kissing your forehead as you whined against his chest. It was the last thing you wanted to do.

“Hey,” Eddie moved his head away a little so he could stare at your face in his chest, he reached for your hand, rubbing his thumb against your knuckles, “I’ll be there with you the entire time…I just don’t want him to ever get close to you like that again, he needs to be disciplined, babe.”

You hmph’d aloud, looking up at him through your lashes, “I’m sure you handled it considering you knocked him out cold.”

He couldn’t help the smirk that appeared on his face. He felt proud for doing what he did. Sure, he had to endure years of Jason’s endless bullying, but he wasn’t going to let him get away with what he did to you.

“Yeah, but legally, y’know, it’d be reassuring to know he can’t get into close proximity of you.” His reasoning was fair and you nodded, nuzzling your head back into his chest, “As long as you don’t leave me alone, like you promised.”

Now his fingers intertwined with yours, feeling your pulse in your fingertips and the warmth of your skin, “I always keep my promises, baby.”

“Does this mean we’re official?”

Eddie could feel the smile against his bare chest when the question left your lips, and he nodded, caressing your head with his free hand. “Do me the honors of being my girlfriend?”

“It’d be my greatest honor.” You replied, carefully lifting your head up to connect your lips in a delicate kiss while Iron Maiden’s music continued to play in the background like sweetness.

You both smiled against one another, relishing in this feeling that you knew would never get old, “I’m gonna write a song about us one day,” Eddie spoke through kisses as you giggled, pulling away to stare at his giddy face.

“Yeah? What’re you gonna call it?” You wondered, resting your free palm against his heart, feeling the thumping quicken, all out of tenderness, just staring at you.

“Teenage Dirtbag….how about that?” He wiggled his eyebrows, causing you to grin, resting your forehead against his, pulling him into another sweet kiss that lasted a lifetime before you both pulled away.

If there was one thing you were certain of, it was that you could spend your entire life right here in this very moment with him, as long as it meant never leaving this bed. But you couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and force that guitar in his hands so he could write that song and then the two of you could shout it out from the rooftops for the rest of your love and the world to hear.

“That is so us, baby.”

A/N: Fun fact this is actually the first fic I wrote before "Hey Steven" it just so happened that I finished that one first! I hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you think!!!

[dihydromorphinone]

ᯓ ᡣ𐭩 we fell in love in october..

— tighnari x reader, fluff, tighnari confessing!?, mutual crush, kinda cheesy ngl..., tighnari calls you little flower, not proofread. also it may be kinda ooc but idc honestly i am suffering tighnari brainrot🙏

you rarely were able to take some time off. being an assistant of the avidya forest watcher may seem nice and easy, but in reality, you were drowning in paperwork and things for your work to-do list. cold air was caressing your cheeks, your hair gently going with the breeze. it's such a pretty night, you thought, looking at the sky. full of stars, shining brightly with all their power. next to them was the moon – delicately adorning the whole pool of dark blue. it all looks like it just came from a painting; and you desperately wanted to thank the painter for this masterpiece. you took a deep breath, reminiscing about your first days in sumeru, how you struggled to find a path that wasn't full of any thorns and vines and how you met your current boss – tighnari. you could feel your cheeks warm up at the thought of him, icy breeze not helping anyhow.

he was truly a blessing in your eyes – the most magnificent being you have ever seen in your life. everything about him seemed to be perfect; the way he would pinch the bridge of his nose when he couldn't find a desirable outcome, the way his ears were gently moving, the way he could just sit all day and work. you admired him, not only as your biggest crush, but also as a person in general. you could even say you look up to him – which is obvious. he's extremely knowledgeable, always has a way of dealing with things and on top of that, he's skilled in combat. such a dangerous combination, you thought.

first day as his assistant weren't easy, as he wasn't planning to go easy on you just because you arrived a while ago and weren't used to working in such field. after time, he started to warm up to you – starting very slowly, not that you could expect anything else. right now, you would name your current relationship as a friendship, although you truly yearned for something more to happen. it was painful, to be called 'his little flower' when you were sure he didn't mean it that way. you tried your best to just appreciate what you two have right now, but you just couldn't. everytime situations like this happened, you'd drop your smile for a second and remained with a kind of disappointed stare.

and tighnari always noticed. unbeknownst to you, he was also fond of you – describing you in the same way you did with him. his ears would droop as soon as you've left the room, and he would always ponder about your reaction. didn't you like it? was it troubling to call you petnames? and he'd just think and think until he went to sleep or drown himself in more work – work that consisted of the things he took off your schedule to give you more time for yourself. he was always looking after you, and he knew you acknowledged that. they're just misunderstanding my actions, he'd tell himself on nights like this. he just wished for you to materialise in front of him so he could finally confess all his feelings for you.

matter of fact, he may just do it right now. tighnari got up from his cozy chair, brushed his hair with his fingers quickly and he was quick to head out – his goal was your home.

he was hoping you're inside. he knocked on your door several times, but you didn't answer. he gave you, more like pushed a day free of work to you. he wanted you to rest some more, since the last few days were especially stressful for you both. tighnari was heading to your garden, while flashing a slight smile, remembering a certain interaction between you.

"here you are, little flower. drink it slowly, it will make you feel better." he stated, handing you a cool, minty blue brew.

"thank you tighnari. i really appreciate that" you answered, reaching a hand out to take the drink from him.

your fingers accidentally brushed and you both could swear you felt some electricity running through. after staring at him in shock, you gave him a sheepish grin, while he just stared at you in awe.

you were absolutely lost in thought, looking at the marvelous sky, not paying attention to your surroundings – and thus, not noticing tighnari, who was standing next to the garden entrance and admiring you from afar. you truly were a sight to behold. picture of you, sitting on the fence of your moderate garden with hair flowing everywhere was enough for him to decide that he has to tell you his feelings. he could just look at you for the whole day, imagining how he'd kiss your whole face, showing you just how much you mean to him.

"...beautiful." he subconsciously whispered, loud enough for you to hear. you were dumbfounded – so you turned your back to see tighnari, looking at you like a follower admires his deity. you were, in fact, his goddess, so it's not like it's incorrect.

"...tighnari?" you whispered, making sure he actually was standing there and it wasn't your yearning imagination playing tricks on you. he getting called out however, appeared to awaken him from his slumber. his ears drooped in embarrassment, and his face was now adorned with a faint blush.

"uh, sorry. do you mind if i join you?" he asked, making your heartbeat fasten. he? tighnari? wanted to join you? you just smiled again and shook you head, agreeing to his request. he quickly walked to your side, sitting right next to you. tighnari had to remind himself why did he come here, as the bare sight of you made him rethink his actions – only thing that in fact, mattered to him at the moment, wasn't being straightforward with you about his silly crush – it was just you. you, and only you. you, as an person sitting next to him. you in the current state.

"(y/n)." tighnari called, and you looked into his direction. he then took both your hands in his own, and gaze focusing on your eyes – he started talking. "(y/n), listen. i can't hold it anymore. you changed my whole world the moment you decided to come here, to sumeru. seeing you work, smile, hell – even just seeing you breathe is making me feel complete. being with you was the most fulfilling thing i have ever experienced. dare i say, it was downright magical. i love you, (y/n)." he confessed, eyes never leaving yours. he was searching for any kind of rejection in your eyes, but instead he was met with shock coming from you.

"obviously, it's fine if you don't reciprocate my feelings. i just hope that it-" he started, just to be interrupted by your small figure hugging his own, slightly bigger. he was quick to envelop you in his arms, holding you close to him. his hold was strong, as if you were to disappear any second.

"i feel the same, tighnari. i love you too." you quietly muttered, smiling into his chest while he placed his chin on top of your head. you couldn't be any happier – it's been like dreams coming true.

"my little flower." he started, "i will cherish you for eternity and one day more."

[flightofaqrow]

hands on

qrow +(x?) Liadan Schmall (OC) ( @the-gray-maiden​​ ) 

"you hold it like this, and.. why are your hands trembling?"

“I… I’m just not use to someone being this close anymore,” Lia admitted.

...too used to casually stepping in with students, qrow’s suddenly made self-aware that a grown woman may have different feelings about the situation, “…we can do this more hands off, if y’want.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"you hold it like this, and.. why are your hands trembling?"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Oh…” Lia paused. “I’m just nervous.” She offered. “I… I’m just not use to someone being this close anymore.” She admitted.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“uh… of course,” the grit in his voice catches. poppy eyes pop open, and qrow doesn’t step away, but hands lift to hover instead of touch. too used to casually stepping in with students, he’s suddenly made self-aware that a grown woman may have different feelings about the situation.

(and now his head’s switching gears, too).

“…we can do this more hands off, if y’want.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Its okay…” She offered. It was, she trying to will her hands to stop shaking. “I just not use to touch anymore it would seem…” She felt so stupid. She trusted him.

“So more like this?” She adjusted her grip. “If you want to adjust my hands you can.” She explained.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“alright…” qrow sneaks a sip from his flask to calm his own thoughts instead of admitting how much he could relate. he resumes his mimicked stance behind her, also trying to ignore how he can smell the remnants of wind and forest in her hair.

“yes,” the hands were fine this time, “…but make sure y’r frame’s sturdy. th’ balance on this kinda weapon’s different than what’y’re used to.” palms push her elbows into a soft, supported bend rather than locking out.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

His touch was gentle… She would admit she wasn’t expected that. She realized this was the closest she been to a person she kinda knew. She gotten many quick embrace from strangers from helping finding a missing loved one, but this was different.

“Oh… okay.” She allowed the adjustments. “You made a masterpiece of a weapon.” She teased. “Though did it really need to melee forms. I understand the gun.” She did but she didn’t…. she used a sword, that spilt into two swords where did she have the right to say anything.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Lia’s a quick learner, as qrow would expect of a worldly woman. and another difference from most students.

“thanks,” but it’s cute she thinks Harbinger only has two forms. his touch squares away her shoulders next. and that should do it, for now. “She’s a combination of what i needed at th’ time an’ what i wanted to base ‘er off of,” he doesn’t elaborate on either of the two.

“now, try swingin’ again. from th’ chest,” he gives his own a light pound with his fist, “not th’ arms.” even in sword form, she moved better with momentum than brute force.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Lia was focused on the weight of blade. She would admit she would love to see Qrow in action. Attempting to imagine him flying though the air with this thing… wouldn’t it drag him down? He was a professional he would know how to account for the drag. Think things though Liadan…. also pay attention dummy.

Lia saw the movement. It reached back to her days in a store room in the court house. It had been along time since she did anything two handed. She felt a small pang of nostalgia, but much like that time she swung a bit to hard pulling herself forward and causing her to lose her balance.  

“I’m not sure if I did that right.” She offered quietly while trying to return to the proper position.

[lunethien]

»Ich bin Kernstaub, nehme einen Teil der Weltasche und warte auf das Nebelecho.«

- Marie Graßhoff, Kernstaub

Probably no one on this site knows about this book but I still wanted to leave this fan art here.

[elinorterror]

Welp I got tagged in this! Didn't expect to have to write it but ok!

Three ships: I... don't have a lot of ships, so I can write only two, being Frit (Frost x Hit) and Cellza (Cell x Frieza)

First ship: out of these two I had I suppose Frit was first, mostly because when I was looking up Hit after my first time seeing him on the screen the ship popped up and I just love the chaotic energy

Last Song: "King and Lionheart" by Of Monsters and Men, it's just... it fits too well for what I'm drawing right now, felt in Hollow Knight mood.

Last film: "Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul" (that movie was a masterpiece of horror combined with anime, cutsie memorable characters and constant feeling something is wrong, I cried when Prushka was gone :c )

Currently reading: "Coraline" by Nail Gaiman (ah yes, the funny last name for the author but really the book is kinda spooky.

Currently watching: absolutely rewatching the old Dragon Ball, especially Cell Games because my favorite character and Gohan achieves Super Saiyan 2 in that moment, emotional

Currently consuming: Soft boiled eggs on a toast

Current desire: when the hell will Silksong be released!!? I waited for ages for it!

@amiz06-certified-b1mb0 @bliss-wily @lameartist69 @drawingroomanguish @friezaglasiencold

Nine people you would like to get to know better

Tagged by @cursedvibes 💙 Gotta admit your recent posts about Houseki no Kuni have got me prettyyyyy curious about it.

Three ships: Yuuji/Gojou, Yuuji/Nanami, and Yuuji/Choso based on the extent of my current interest, but if I had to pick one per fandom, it'd be Yuuji/Gojou, Ichigo/Grimmjow, and Steve/Bucky.

First ever ship: I...have no earthly idea. I got into fandom by accident, read anything and everything, and at some point, I got really into shipping, and then it became my favourite form of fandom engagement (which is hilarious because I'm aromantic as all fuck). But I can't remember how/when it started.

Last song: STITCH ME UP by Point North

Last movie: Last one I saw in a cinema is Everything Everywhere All at Once, I think. Might have watched something later on my laptop but can't remember.

Currently reading: Keeping up with the JJK manga and, as always, ripping into academic texts for a living

Currently watching: The weekly eps of JJK S2 and Bleach TYBW

Currently consuming: Nothing

Currently craving: I just ate so the stomach is closed for business

Tagging, no pressure, @possibleplatypus, @joeys-piano, @stilllostinthedaydream, @calamitouskings, @eusuntgratie, @nylazor, @backwardshirt, @sorrythatwasamistake, @creepydai