#munsholland

[rebelfell]

Barbeddheimer took over a little bit…stand by…

“Hey, Eddie…you think we could talk?”

Eddie’s head shot up hearing Barb’s voice, his heart swelling seeing her standing in the doorway to the drama room. She was early, catching him right in the midst of setting up the map, on his knees and digging around in his bag.

“Of course!” he said, clumsily scrambling to his feet, his voice coming out a lot smoother than his movements. “Anything for you, gorgeous. What sort of boon does my fair mage crave?”

“It’s about that, actually,” Barb answered.

She hugged the notebook in front of her chest a little tighter, looking down to hide the small smile creeping across her lips. Lips that Eddie, as per usual, was having trouble keeping his eyes off.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“The whole…I don’t know…the flirty stuff. I was wondering if maybe you could cool it a bit?”

Oh, wow. So this is what it felt like for your heart to fall out of your ass. Eddie had to lean on the edge of the table, staring down at nothing in particular as wave after wave of guilt hit.

He curled his fingers under the edge, digging his nails in the particle board. What was he thinking? How could he have done this? Screwed up so colossally with the only one who mattered?

“Shit, Barb, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…I mean, I never wanted to make you uncomfortable—”

“No, no, it’s not that,” she assured him quickly, giving a little shake of her head and chuckling in spite of herself, “I actually, um…I kind of like it.”

Eddie felt a lot of things at once. Relief, first and foremost, followed by a rush of confusion.

“Oh,” he said. “So then…what’s the problem?”

“Well, I just,” she sighed, her eyes rolling behind the frames of her glasses. Not in annoyance, just like she’s trapped in thought. “I guess I like it too much? And I know you don’t really mean it—”

“Sorry, wait—don’t mean what, exactly?”

“You know, just that you…”

Barb tugged her bottom lip back with her teeth, and it took every bit of Eddie’s severely limited self-control to keep his mind out of the gutter.

“That you…like me, or whatever. I’m sure you do this with everyone, but I don’t get attention like that, really ever, and I’m not used to it and—”

Okay, that’s it. Eddie pushes himself off the table and starts to wave both his hands back and forth, the chains on his zippered sleeves and the cuff bracelets on his wrists clacking together.

“Hold on, hold the fuck on one minute...”

Eddie pinched his eyes closed, his brain running through thoughts at a speed that made him dizzy. He knew he’d been maybe a bit too forward, but he couldn’t help it. She was so smart, so wildly, incredibly fucking smart, it was more like a superpower than mere intelligence.

In spite of himself, Eddie sort of loved seeing her week after week outwit and outmaneuver all his traps and pitfalls. She always saw them coming even when the rest of the party were none the wiser. And she’d gotten them out of endless scrapes and jams by thinking her way out.

It absolutely infuriated Eddie, for sure, but only about half as much as it turned him on.

“So, wait…you think I’m just messing around?”

“No, not messing with me,” Barb answered him carefully, “but if you’re trying to make me feel welcome, or part of the club or something, I wanted you to know you don’t need to.”

Eddie’s head fell back on his shoulders, staring up at the stage lights hanging overhead like he might find some kind of answer hiding in the rafters.

As it was, he was gonna have to go off the cuff.

“Barb, I hate to break this to you,” he chuckled, “but I don’t act nearly this dumb with anyone— let alone everyone. This is…all for you.”

Barb blinked back at him curiously, lips pursed in confusion and her brow wrinkled like when she came to an equation that tested her verve.

“What do you…”

Before she could finish asking, Eddie closed the distance in between them with three long strides. Her breath stuttered as he took the notebook out of her hands, revealing the Hellfire emblem that was plastered across her chest. He flipped it to the first blank page and scribbled something down with the pen from behind his ear.

He then handed the notebook to her, letting the tips of his fingers brush with her trembling ones as she took it back and tucked it in her arms.

“Let me know?” he asked, tipping his head at her and holding out the pen he’d just used.

It was one of hers. She loaned it to him one of the first times they had studied together, and it had not left his person since. Not until now.

She took it from him, that little wrinkle in her brow not budging as she opened up her notebook and started flipping through the pages until she found his scrawl among her neatly printed words.

[rebelfell]

Barb and Eddie sirens are going off in my head. how hot of them

Listen…… listen……..

You CANNOT tell me this is not her sitting in the front seat of his van, about to be dropped off after a Hellfire session that ran late, or a long night of studying in the library. Her bike stashed in the back, because NO WAY was she going to be biking home in the dark on his watch.

He pulls up to her house and she looks sooooooo pretty in the streetlight. He’s in a full body sweat, his stomach is in knots, he’s doesn’t have ANY idea what to say to someone as clever and intelligent and kind and special as her.

He doesn’t think she’d be interested in him in a million years, but that sure hasn’t stopped him falling all over himself trying to impress her, flirting like it’s his job, getting nowhere.

He doesn’t care, he’ll keep trying.