#oblivious eddie my love

[sonofatoasterwaffle]

Timber Timbre

The firework that sets him off is probably a Roman candle, and way closer than all the other ones have been, by Hen’s estimate. Eddie is on the ground before she can say anything and Hen’s blood runs a little cold at the realization of what’s happening. 

“Eddie,” she says gently. “It’s still fireworks, it’s okay.” 

Eddie is squatting low behind the kitchen island, head down, and he’s visibly shaking. He nods jerkily, but his breathing doesn’t slow at all. Hen’s heart hurts, but she’s careful not to get too close. She’s well versed in many a mental health crisis, but what to do when your friend is having combat flashbacks feels a little out of her depth. She gets low with him, keeps her tone soft and even. “How can I help, Eddie?” 

His eyes are wild when they meet hers, his hands clenching around nothing like he’s physically clinging to the present. “Can you-“ he stutters. “Where is-? I need Buck.” 

Hen is on her feet as quickly as she can without startling him. “I’ll find him, okay? You stay right here.” 

Downstairs, Buck’s holding the heavy bag for Chim, saying something that was probably meant to be encouraging but comes out more antagonistic. Their shift into being brothers has obviously been going well. They both stop in their tracks when they see the look on Hen’s face. 

“Eddie needs you.” It feels important to say it the way he did.

Another firework goes off then and Buck pales. “Oh, shit.” 

Then he’s taking the stairs two at a time with Hen and Chim not far behind. “Kitchen.” She calls after him. 

Eddie is where she left him, but now his hands are pressed against his ears. Buck squats down in front of him slowly, ducking his head so he can catch Eddie’s eye. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s me, I’m here.” He says, like it’s definitely not the first time.

He looks back and Hen and Chimney, whispers, “Can you guys sit with us a second?” 

They nod, taking their places off to the left across from them, backs against the kitchen counter. Close enough if they need help, far enough away to keep their bubble intact. Hen’s grateful for the direction, and when Bobby comes out of his office, she waves him over, finger to her lips. He doesn’t question it, just squats down on Hen’s other side. 

Eddie shudders, breathes hard out of his nose. Says, “Buck.” Real soft. 

Buck nods, scoots closer at the recognition, reaches out to run his fingertips feather-light over Eddie’s forearms. “You’re in LA, Eddie. At the 118.”

Eddie gasps like he’s just reached the surface of water. “Doesn’t- doesn’t feel like it.” 

Buck grimaces. “I know. I know, let’s go through it, okay?” 

Eddie nods, once, lets Buck take his hands and keep going. “I feel,” Buck prompts. 

Eddie closes his eyes. “Panicked.” 

Buck nods, soft look on his face like pride. It makes Hen’s eyes water. Their boy has grown up so much. 

“Because the fireworks made me think about,” 

“The chopper going down. Getting shot at while the fire was burning. Greggs.” Eddie grits out through bared teeth. 

Buck rubs his thumbs over the backs of Eddie’s hands. “But if I look around I can see,” 

Eddie forces his eyes open with what looks like immense effort, trains them on Buck for a solid ten seconds before he looks around the rest of the room. “You. The 118. Bobby. Hen. Chimney.” 

He looks at each of them in turn. Hen nods encouragingly, waves a little, which seems to increase the recognition on his face. 

Buck smiles at him. “Yeah, that’s good, real good.” 

Some of the tension seeps slowly from Eddie’s shoulders, and Buck rewards it with a squeeze of their joined hands. “Tell me what day it is.” 

Another firework goes off in the distance and Hen wants to murder someone. Bobby looks like he’d help her without a second thought. The fucking audacity to set off explosives when you live by a firehouse is astounding. 

Eddie winces but Buck stays firm with him, tapping his fingers rhythmically against Eddie’s knuckles. “What’s the date, Eds?” 

“Fourth of July.” 

“Exactly. Which means,” 

“Morons.” Eddie answers, rote, like he’s been trained. The way Buck’s handling him right now, Hen supposes he has been. 

“You got it.” He praises, pressing forward until his forehead rests against Eddie’s. “Chris was excited, though, remember?” 

“Poke cake.” Eddie responds and Bobby smiles. 

Midwestern traditions often mystify Hen, but Christopher was so excited to make that weird jello cake with Bobby and Buck that she couldn’t help but decide she loved that one. They spent all evening in Bobby and Athena’s kitchen last night, making gratuitously American dishes that should be objectively gross but that Denny and Chris were wild for. Poke cakes with red and blue jello, things being called “salad” that have never and will never be salad, and burgers that were always a welcome staple in Grant-Nash cookouts. 

Buck is tapping his fingers on Eddie’s knees now, alternating as he prods Eddie to talk him through Christopher’s latest science project. Bilateral brain stimulation, her brain provides. Works for most long-term trauma treatment but can also be helpful during flashbacks. Evan “Internet Research Extraordinaire” Buckley certainly hasn’t been a slouch in this endeavor. 

As he talks through Buck’s prompts, Eddie is slowly relaxing, sitting up on his own a bit more but shifting closer to Buck, tension slowly bleeding out of him as he points out the things he knows, the things he can see, what Bobby made for dinner, what Chimney’s favorite show is right now, what class he helped Hen run flashcards for. It makes Hen’s heart grow too big in her chest. To know that they’re a part of Eddie’s recovery, of him feeling safe. 

“Where are you, Eddie?” Buck asks again after a few minutes of this. They’re side by side now, shoulders brushing as they lean back against the island cabinets. 

Eddie takes a deep breath, sags a little against Buck. “I’m in LA. I’m at the 118 firehouse. You’re all here with me. Everyone’s safe.” 

Hen smiles encouragingly at him, Chim says, “We’re here for you, man.” 

Eddie looks away, mutters, “Esto es tan vergonzoso,” color staining his cheeks. 

“Nuh uh.” Buck answers, firm. “None of that. No tienes nada de que avergonzarte.” 

Hen knows Buck spent a while in Peru. Bartending, she thinks. She’s heard him speak Spanish to people on calls before, but his accent has historically been horrendous. It sounds like being in the Diaz orbit has been helpful for that. Hen doesn’t speak Spanish well, but she’s been in LA long enough to get the gist most of the time. 

“Sorry you guys had to see that.” Eddie apologizes anyway, ignoring Buck.

Bobby shuts that down immediately. “Everybody’s got their demons, Eddie. We’re just happy we can help with yours.” 

He tells Eddie he should take the rest of the night, even as Eddie protests that he’s fine and he doesn’t want to leave them hanging. “It’s just a few hours, Eddie. Take him home, Buck?” 

Buck nods, looking relieved that he didn’t have to ask permission. Eddie still looks a little mortified, but it’s tempered by Bobby’s careful hand on his shoulder. “Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“When do you think they’ll give in and just get married?” Chim asks after Buck bundles Eddie into his Jeep. 

Bobby snorts. “I’ve had the paperwork ready to go for years.”

Also on AO3

[moonyslesbian]

can i say something. i kinda don't want eddie and buck to start dating as soon as we get gay eddie. like i want eddie to come out and i want him to be single, just having fun and figuring himself out. BUT what i do want is buck's feelings realisation in the middle of all this... i want the 118 to be wrapping up after working on a call and for a random man to flirt with eddie and ask for his number. hell even ask him on a date!! and i want buck to be in the background, eyes closed, with both of his hands to his temples trying to explode the guy with his mind. i want eddie to one day casually bring up the fact he's watched brokeback mountain just for buck to show up to work the next day with pictures from the time he was working on the ranch, etc etc

[rosstrytobe]

My thoughts about how still subcontionly Buck is still trying to get Eddie attention

We see in episode 4 how Buck wanted Eddie attention and he tried to get it in many ways:

The gym scene (literally he's showing his body and his technics at the gym like a an animal dance to get his girl)

2) The basketball order (He just bought a baskball with Amazon prime to just make Eddie see that he was interest in play with him)

3) The basketball play (He just show off with Chimney to make Eddie see that he's better than Tommy to play basketball but he isn't and also he hurted Eddie because at some point he didn’t know what else to do to make his jealousy going away and also we know it's a way to copy for Buck. Because when he was little he hurted himself so many times to get his parents attention. Hurting Eddie is like wanted to get all his attention)

But all these ways just make Eddie don't understand Buck at all. Also, Buck thought Eddie was pissed off by him but as Tommy said to him, Eddie was hurt that he made Buck feel left off

Also Maddie is the one saying to Buck that the way his brother was trying to get Eddie attention is wrong and so Buck felt like she was right

Then later Tommy show up and he kissed Buck, getting his attention and Buck had just a mid realisation to how he wanted to get 'someone' attention

Then next episode show Buck and Tommy date:

Eddie shows up (in a way Eddie get to see Tommy and Buck togheter not knowing that it was a date and in some ways Eddie was focused on Buck and Tommy because he said with an octave that he's happy they were hanging out. But Buck didn't want this time Eddie attention as he proceded to make a fool of himself. But Eddie is still focusing on them and later he leaves)

2) The coming out scene (Let's just said that this time Buck got Eddie attention. Because he was a little freaking out by it but then he peoceded to give Buck his support and be happy for him. But just his macro expression just show how he doesn’t get how Tommy is gay and the fact that Buck like someone else)

3) The bachelor party (Now, we get to see an Eddie that just told to Buck to dress with a couple costume in a party Eddie knows Tommy would be there and it's very telling. But also, Buck have finally Eddie full attention to just how Eddie reacts when Buck and Tommy huged in front of him and how Eddie heard Tommy not put a costume at all for Buck bachelor party knowing how much this means to Buck. Also the fact that we saw Eddie looking at Tommy while Tommy was yawing. Like why showing us that? But this time Buck didn't do it conciously but he changed his way to get Eddie attention and in some ways Eddie is focused of Buck and Tommy but he doesn’t know why yet)

Anyway that's it basically

[tommygotwrittenoff]

the fact that eddie and maddie have never interacted outside a group setting is so funny actually. you cannot tell me those two wouldnt get on like a house on fire. i fear the day we get a solo maddie and eddie scene is the day we get buddie canon

[hajimedics]

welcome back, asuka langley soryu

[transvampireboyfriend]

The obnoxious ringing of their phone fills the trailer and snaps Eddie out of his repetitive strumming.

He's been trying to learn one of his newest favorite songs for, (he looks at the clock; damn, eleven already,) like three hours now.

Eddie gets up from the couch, grumbling about who the fuck is calling them, Wayne left for work some hours ago, but he almost never calls during his shift.

He reaches the phone stuck to one of their kitchen walls and brings the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" he greets.

"Eddie!" Steve's voice says on the other end of the line, his tone surprised like he didn't expect him to pick up.

Eddie feels a smile tug at his lips.

"Heeeey Steve-o!" Eddie greets him "what can I do for ya this time a' night?"

"Shoot! Right, sorry. Did I wake you?" Steve asks. Eddie snickers.

"Nah, man. It's cool." Eddie tells him, grabbing a forgotten bag of twizzlers off the counter to start chewing on one of the treats.

"I know you have a lot of teenage friends," Eddie adds around the twizzler now in his mouth, "but most young adults go to bed at like- midnight. Even later on a Friday night." he finishes.

Steve scoffs at "young adults" and Eddie can practically hear him rolling his eyes.

He's still a little surprised he can tease Steve Harrington. It took many many movie nights for Eddie to fully join in on that. Though he still hesitates sometimes, he thinks the kids can take it a bit too far.

"Whatever," Steve dismisses, his smile shining even through the phone lines "I just called to tell you Rob's not working tomorrow, so she won't be able to meet for breakfast" Steve's smile sounds like it fades a little in that sentence.

Eddie stops chewing.

They've been having breakfast together every Tuesday and Saturday, the days Steve and Robin work the morning shift together at Family Video.

Sometimes a couple of the kids will join, sometimes Robin's friends will join, or Nancy, even Garrett or Jeff or Freak; they all know they can find Eddie, Robin and Steve on those days at the diner so it's become their unofficial hangout spot, at least before 9am.

And Eddie's had breakfast with just Robbie before, or Nance, or one of his friends, but never with just Steve.

Steve is a bit of an enigma to Eddie.

Over a really short period of time Eddie had found out Steve's a local hero extraordinaire, that he's totally metal and also that he is a little bit dorky and has an absolutely terrible love life.

And if that wasn't surprising enough, it turns out Steve also isn't totally averse to Eddie, and that sure was surprising.

But Steve is a little awkward around Eddie sometimes. Like he's afraid Eddie will judge him or something; which, is preposterous, Eddie's the queer nerd, what would he have to judge Steve for? Especially now that he's technically no longer a jock. Plus, he had a huge role in saving Eddie's life, it's not like Eddie would forget that.

But he still finds Steve staring at him in the middle of movie nights only to avert his eyes when Eddie turns to him, or Steve'll laugh a little too hard at Eddie's observation like he's overcompensating, or Eddie will feel a little self conscious of his greasy tank and coveralls when Steve's eyes widen at the sight (it's not his fault his job's so messy).

So, he never really hangs with just Steve, not because he's made it so, but rather, it's just never happened and Eddie hasn't actively tried to make it happen because, well, it's a little weird.

In fact, Eddie's fairly certain Steve also works Thursday mornings because he's seen him having breakfast at the diner with Dustin or on his own when Eddie goes by on his way to the auto shop.

Eddie does work mornings most days except for Sunday and Monday since those are his free days. It's very rare that Frank calls to tell him he'll need Eddie in the afternoon shift instead, so technically, Eddie could be having breakfast at the diner any day.

Eddie could be having breakfast at the diner with Steve on Thursdays.

Except?

He's not gonna invite himself is he?

It also doesn't help that Eddie has an embarrassingly huge crush on the guy, so he can never tell if Steve's actually being weird or if Eddie's just paying too much attention to him.

He really can't help himself, the guy's everything Eddie finds attractive in a person and on top of that he's fucking gorgeous. It's frankly unfair, if you ask him.

All those years in high school, hating Steve in the worst of cases or ignoring him in the best, had been pretty easy. Partly because of his good looks, mostly because of the company he kept. But now that Steve surrounds himself with his found family? Now that he laughs freely and fails fearlessly and gives so easily? Eddie does not stand a chance.

So really, it's probably for the best that they don't hang out on their own.

Eddie puts down his twizzler, mentally readying himself to start doing meal prep because Steve for sure called to cancel.

"...ssso if you wanna cancel–" Steve says, there's a muffled thump on the other end of the line, but Eddie pays it no mind, tries to play it cool.

"I mean that's–. Whatever you want." he stammers.

God, Eddie thinks, rolling his eyes at himself, he really could not be cooler.

"I um," Steve inhales sharply then "I'm probably still gonna have breakfast there," he says, "I'm not– I'm no good in the kitchen" he laughs casually.

Eddie huffs, reluctantly charmed.

"So if you wanna join" Steve adds hesitantly, "well, you're always welcome"

"ialsohateeatingalone" Steve adds, almost as an afterthought.

See? He's a little weird.

Not that that makes him any less attractive; on the contrary, it's endearing,

"Alright, cool." Eddie chuckles now, "Sounds good. I honestly don't wanna cook myself anything so you're practically doing me a favor." he says, then waits for a bit, in case Steve really needs an out; he picks his twizzler back up to start chewing on it again.

When Steve doesn't take the out, Eddie teases him again,

"Tell ya what, I'll teach you how to cook breakfast sometime" Eddie says around his treat, just to get on Steve's nerves a bit, but also pitifully hoping his offer would ever be accepted.

"I know how to cook breakfast, Eddie," Steve protests.

"You just said you're no good in the kitchen!" Eddie shoots back, enjoying the sound of Steve's answering laugh from the other end of the line.

"Ok fine!" Steve says, his smile back in his voice, "You'll teach me some day, whatever." he concedes.

Eddie's fairly certain his eyes could not get bigger and his cheeks could not get redder.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Steve asks.

Heart hammering in his chest, Eddie nods.

Steve can't see him.

"Mmhm." Eddie hurries to amend, "See you tomorrow, Stevie," he says.

Eddie feels butterflies fluttering in his stomach with Steve's parting 'see you' before the line goes dead.

[fromxxthexxashes]

[housewifebuck]

My hc is that Eddie is fully aware of his feelings for Buck. Eddie KNOWS he is 100% gone on this silly boy. However, he assumes that Buck doesn't feel the same/is straight or whatever, and has resigned himself to live the life of unrequited love. He's accepted the fact that he'll be best man as Buck marries someone else.

Buck, however, is completely oblivious to the fact that he's in love with Eddie. He has so little to go on, as far as good normal healthy relationships (before the 118 obv), and just thinks, "This is normal. EVERY guy had sex dreams about their buddies. All best friends prefer to spend time with each other than with their girlfriends. It's a totally normal bro thing to plan your future around your platonic mate."

YES. SUPERIOR TAKE.

[miserablekingsteve]

My kinda lover; Part 1 Steve's POV 1/1 Part 2 Eddie's POV 1/2

Rating: T Word count: 8k You can also read this on AO3 <:)

Eddie laid in bed, eyes wide and heart hammering in his chest. The sound of tires on gravel crunched outside and Steve drove off with Robin. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he threw the duvet off and all but ran to the bathroom. He’d woken up entangled with Steve, who was trying to leave the bed, probably because Eddie was trying to hold the guy's fucking hand. He stared at himself in the mirror; curls stuck up and around his head, his bangs stood straight off his forehead, cheeks flushed a light pink, and the bags under his eyes were puffy. He looked like a mess. 

 Sighing, Eddie gripped the faucet of the tap and turned the cold water on full blast. When the cold liquid hit his hands, a shockwave vibrated throughout his body, and goosebumps appeared on his arms while he splashed the water on his face. 

 He’d had this stupid crush on Steve ever since 12th grade, when that switch had arrived where the asshole gorgeous jock suddenly had a heart of gold, dropping the shitty friends and smiling at Nancy like she held the world. When Steve stood up to Billy Hargrove and his face was all fucked up at school, yeah, that was a turn on for him.  

 “Argh,” He growled to himself, looking in the mirror again and rubbing his hands with aggression over his eyes and cheeks, “Stupid, it’s stupid!” 

 This had only happened to him once before, and by this he meant the very normal human thing to do in having a crush on someone. It was some boy named Clarke. God knows what the kid's last name was, in 5th grade; he had bright blonde hair and a ridiculous amount of freckles, he and Eddie used to sneak off the elementary grounds into the forest that resided next door and pick up sticks to play fight with. Then Eddie had moved to Hawkins to live with Wayne and he never saw Clarke again. 

 Pushing himself off the sink, giving up on the desperate search for something in his own face that he knew he’d never find. He’d done such a good job at avoiding his feelings for his friend the whole Upside Down adventure, then even more when the two of them sat together in a hospital room. The memory of making the ugliest fart jokes imaginable and actually made King Steve laugh, squeezing his eyes closed tight at the mere thought of the man’s laughter. Shit. 

 “Fucking… soft and, ugh, such a jock,” Eddie muttered under his breath as he searched the pockets of his many coats that sat in a pile behind his bedroom door. A bubble of frustration blossomed as each pocket came up empty, “Where the fu—Aha!”

 He held up the prized possession of a squashed pack of cigarettes to the sun that beamed through the window. His ears were met with a resounding silence, as he was home alone and it was just him at his trailer. 

 Throwing on a jacket and some jeans, he made his way outside, glancing at the clock and reading that it was only 8:30 am. Fuck, he wouldn’t be surprised if someone called the cops just having seen him up this early. A pop came from his knees as he sat down on the hard metal doorstep, face scrunching up in discomfort when the prongs poked at his ass through the denim of his worn down pants. 

 “Fucking, shouldn’t have invited him,” He continued to mutter under his breath, telling himself off as he ignited the smoke. 

 “Why was Steve at your house?” A sleep addled voice asked. He grunted in response before he made eye contact with none other than Max Mayfield; the ginger's arms were crossed tightly over her sleep shirt, her thick locks were wrapped in two braids, an accusatory smirk written across her freckled face. 

 “That’s none of your business, Red,” Eddie mumbled around the pale smoke that curled above his head and then promptly disappeared. A brow raised when he noticed the lack of cane or brace support being used by the girl that morning, the scars from the massive stitches on her legs looked calm today.

 “See, I think it is,” Max argued. He rolled his eyes while he stretched his back out, letting the notches of his spine decompress and crack satisfactorily. Next time, he would make sure to not let himself sleep in a twin bed with another full grown man. 

 “It was movie night. Robin and Steve stayed over. There, now shoo, let a grown man express his hangover alone,” Eddie explained, waving her away with a flick of his wrist. The girl scoffed at him and then trudged her slippered feet away from his trailer. 

 After his cigarette was finished, he stubbed it out on the rusted metal of the stairs and threw the butt toward his and Uncle Wayne’s ashtray. He had one foot in the door when the phone rang loudly, his headache from emotions and weed pulsed against his eyes. 

 “I’m coming, I’m coming,” He uttered out loud, picking the yellow stained phone off the receiver, “Hello?” 

 “Eddie!” A very awake and ecstatic Gareth called through the phone, “I didn’t think you’d be awake!” 

 “Yeah, well I am,” Eddie pressed fingers to his left eye where most of the pain from his headache was isolated. 

 “Dude, you sound rough,” Gareth supplied, he could almost see the face the boy’s face was making. 

 “Late night,” He heard a soft ‘ooh’ from his friend, assuming he had a date, “Not like that, you ass.” 

 “Pfft, if you say so. I was just calling to confirm practice at Jeff’s tonight?” Gareth asked. Eddie’s heart skipped a beat when he remembered his half asleep conversation with Steve, oh god, he’d invited the man to their show. 

 “Uhh, yep! Yeah! That sounds great, I’ve gotta go man!” Eddie rushed out, suddenly in a state of panic, “I’ll see you tonight.” 

 “Uh, you oka—” Before Gareth could finish whatever he was going to ask, Eddie slammed the phone onto the wall and rushed out his front door. 

 Dew collected and seeped through his socks, in his haste he had forgotten to slip on his sneakers. Luckily, he was just going across to his neighbors. He paused at the Mayfield's door and started smacking the flat of his palm on the plastic film. 

 “I’m coming, hold on,” Max yelled angrily, the teen opened the door with her toothbrush in her mouth and a robe on, “What, Munson?” 

 “I-uh,” He actually did not know what his plan was, his palms were sweaty as he tugged on his fingers and flickered his eyes around anxiously. 

 “Ugh, my mum’s not home, get your scrawny butt in here,” Max said, voice muffled by the toothpaste collecting in her mouth. 

 Curls fell in front of his eyes when he bowed in thanks, hopping through the door. Her place was dark, the natural light blocked out by heavy orange curtains and the tv playing some random cooking show. 

 “Hold on,” Max told him before she walked away to the bathroom to evacuate the spit and rinse her mouth out. 

 “It’s so dark in here!” Eddie yelled after her, peering around curiously. There were rice krispie wrappers piled on the coffee table where a steaming mug of something sat. 

 “Yeah, well, some of us don’t want to be watched by our neighbors,” Max said, shuffling back into the living room, “So, what do you want?” 

 “I’ve got a problem… I don’t really have anyone else to go to about it,” He finished lamely, gripping his upper forearm in a tight grasp. 

 One of Max’s eyebrows rose, a small smile perked up on her lips, “Is it Robin?” 

 Eddie almost laughed outwardly at her from the absurdity of that, yeah sure he and Robin had talked about being each other's beards before, but then they contemplated when they found someone who was interested, how would everyone else take the sudden break up. So he schooled his face and lied to his young friend, “Yes, I- I invited her to my show in a couple of weeks, now I’m freaking out.” 

 She clapped her hands together and made a happy noise, “Oh! This is so exciting!” 

 “Yeah, yeah, don’t get your hopes up, you’ll make yourself sick,” Eddie joked as he moved and slumped down into a brown chair with an ashtray next to it. 

 “Shut up. So, why are you mainly freaking out?” Her eyes widened as if she got it, “Are you worried about Steve? Because, honestly I would be.” 

 He bit his lip to hold back another bark of laughter, sure he’d lied, but she was just spinning a tale of her own at that point. A smile creased the corners of his mouth and he placed his left hand over it so she wouldn’t become suspicious. 

 “I-How do you get it across that you like someone without, how do I put this,” Eddie sat and thought for a moment, “Making sure they don’t get scared and think you're overstepping?” 

 Frowning at the question raised, did he even want to press this problem further? His mind brought back the hazy images of the night before. Steve had closed his eyes one moment, and then the jock’s head lulled to the side and landed on Eddie’s bare shoulder. That single touch had sent Eddie flying toward the sun. A fire pit burned across his cheeks, but it hadn’t stopped there. No, Steve had to make the situation even worse by curling into his side even more than he had been before. And the position they’d been in before held Eddie’s arm that was thrown over the couch up, making it fall and wrap around the other man’s middle. 

 Eddie just chalked it up to being high. He’d cuddled with Gareth before. There were also times at a get together at Steve’s with Nancy and Jonathan where he and Robin curled up together while they all watched a movie. So, it was totally fine—

 “Earth to Eddie,” Max dragged him out of thought, one hand waving in front of his face. 

 “Well, she’s coming to your show, yeah?” She asked. Eddie nodded wordlessly, stomach flipping when the girl's grin grew 3 sizes larger than it already was, “Sing her a song then.” 

 “Absolutely. Not.” Eddie stated harshly. Max threw her head back in laughter, pointing a mocking finger at him. 

 “No, you definitely should!” Max hurried out, sliding down the couch to sidle up next to him, “Like, if she likes it and understands the message, she’ll come after you! But if she doesn’t, then no worries and you can move on!” 

 Shit, the girl had a point.

 “And luckily, Robin’s not a blundering idiot. Ha!” Max keeled over and rushed out a truth Eddie didn’t want to hear, “At least you’re not trying to seduce Steve!” 

 The blood drained from his face, fiddling with the bare space where his rings usually sat. Max fixed him with a questioning gaze when he didn’t join in her laughter and then he saw it sink in, “Oh, you’re screwed.” 

 There had never been an instance in his life when someone had figured him out so quickly. Her face hardened, and she sat back slightly. 

 “I’m sorry, I’m going to go,” He rushed out, spinning around almost as in time with how much his mind was turning.

 “Eddie! Wait!” Max called after him, creaking coming from the couch as she got up from it. Still slower on her feet since Vecna, “You ass, I don’t have my brace, sit your ass back down in my stinky chair!” 

 “No, thank you!” He called over his shoulder, the door handle cold in his grip. 

 He went to yank it open but Max confessed something that stopped him dead in his tracks, “I like girls!” 

 Slowly, his hand fell limp from the handle. He turned his body back toward the teen, eyes wide and mouth agape. He was in his early twenties and he’d only told all but 3 people; Wayne, Robin and Gareth. And here was this girl who hardly knew him and she just came out to him selflessly, so she could help. Right then was another moment, where he saw how cowardice truly presented itself. 

 Eddie crept back into the living room and sat cautiously next to her, not too sure what to do. Should he hug her and tell her some shit lie about being gay in America? 

 “And boys, I like both. A lot.” 

 Now, that was new, his eyes widened, “People can do that?” 

 Max shrugged, “I don’t know, but that’s what I feel. So why would it matter?” 

 Eddie swallowed and bobbed his head, “Right, totally.” 

 “Now… What are we going to do with you and your oblivious cotton swab head of a crush?” Max sighed, wiggling herself deep into the couch once again. 

 “Me? I’m fine,” Eddie scrunched his face up and fixed her with a confused glare. 

 “You looked like a wet chihuahua shivering when I figured out the truth,” Max scoffed and stared at him with a knowing look. 

 He gawked at her and then shook his head in denial, “No way, not me.” 

 “Shut up, and let me help you,” Max scolded. 

 “Ugh, fine,” Eddie gave in, turning his body so he and Max were face to face. 

X

 An unknown amount of time passed, Eddie didn’t know what time it was, but the sun had gotten low in the time he and Max had sat, concocting a plan that would help Steve figure it out a bit more. It was heavily detailed and there were lots of disagreements, Max always winning because at the end of the day, Eddie knew she was right. 

 “...So, all you really have to do is find out what song, or band he’s listening to right now and cover them, maybe drop some hints while you ask him about it,” Max explained, a yellow note pad held in her hand. 

 “Fuck,” He cursed when after all those hours he finally checked his watch, “I’ve gotten run, but it sounds like a plan. Also, thanks for all your help, truly.” 

 Max smiled at him, for maybe the first time since he’d known her, it set him on edge, “No, don’t smile at me, kid, it’s weird.” 

 “What the shit, dude? I just took my entire day helping you!” Max stuttered, a blush spread over her cheeks and he immediately felt bad. 

 “No! You’ve got a very nice smile, I’m just not used to seeing it! That’s all, shit I’m so bad at this,” Eddie hid his face in his hands. 

 “You’re good, I’m just messing with you,” Her trademark smirk on her lips once again. Eddie leaned forward and ruffled her head. 

 “That’s better,” He lilted, chuckling when the girl swatted at his hand. 

 “Remember the plan!” She called after him as he once again that day ran for the door. 

 “Promise!” That being his last word to the girl before he ran over to his place to pack up his guitar and get in the van. Checking again, he realized he probably had just enough time to make a quick sandwich before he hit the road. 

 “Sorry for the wait, sweetheart,” Eddie crooned to his beautiful guitar that saved his ass in the Upside Down. 

 Sliding on his dried socks to the kitchen, he threw deli meat, sub buns and mayo and mustard. Peeking down at the crisper where some wilted lettuce sat neglected. He shook his head in disgust, not wanting to smell the off green. As fast as he could, he slapped together the sandwich, shoving it in his mouth and hiking the sling of his guitar case over his shoulder. 

 Banshee was parked out front precariously, the blue paint glinting in the sunset. He smiled and stumbled down to her exterior. Carefully, he slid his precious instrument into the back, surrounded by a bunch of blankets to keep it from sliding around. Eddie would’ve loved to watch himself rushing, he always felt like everything would go wrong when he was, and if it wasn’t happening to him, he’d be cackling away like a hyena. 

 But when he turned his key in the ignition and the engine spluttered and then crashed, he wanted to vanish into a thin veil of smoke. 

 “Fuck!” He smacked his hands on the steering wheel. Reigning his thoughts back down, he tried to think of anyone he could call, Gareth lived all the way on the other side of Hawkins and there was no way he’d be caught dead dragging his most prized possession out in public. Especially with Jason’s goons still out to get him, they’d mug him just to fuck up his life. 

 He checked his watch again and realized he had 20 minutes to be there, “Shit, shit, sh—Oh!” An idea spurred in his head, maybe a small Max lived on his shoulder now, because no way would he have thought of this on his own. 

 Grabbing his guitar and jogging back inside, booking it to the kitchen to search the junk cupboard. The smell of aging paper and old metal hit Eddie’s nose, and he waved at the dust that puffed out in his haste. Flipping things up and over, searching for the thick bindings of, “Aha! The phonebook!” 

 Flipping the pages open he scanned through the H’s, quickly finding Harrington. He was surprised when he saw their household was the only one living in Hawkins with that last name. 

 Chanting Steve’s home number under his breath, he ran back over to the phone and punched the digits in. As the phone line rang, a pit formed in his stomach, and a whole litany of awful what ifs plagued his mind; what if one of Steve’s parents answered? Did they know who he was? Would they hang up and not tell Steve?

 “Harrington residence, Steve speaking. How may I help you?” 

 Eddie let out the breath he was holding and chuckled at the formal greeting, “That’s an interesting way to answer the phone, Big Boy.” He palmed himself in the face when the nickname slipped out, not on purpose like the other times had been. 

 “Hello, Eddie,” Steve laughed, “To what do I owe the pleasure, you ju--” 

 “Look, I’m so sorry to bother you man, but my van’s dead, and I really need to get to band practice and I was just wondering if it was no issue, maybe you could, I don’t know. Do me a solid and drive me over there?” Eddie rushed out, cringing when he cut Steve off, but it was too late to stop. 

 “Huh, oh sure,” Steve stumbled through the phone. 

 “Could you also pick me up after? I’ll make it a short practice,” Eddie added before he fucked himself over. He did not want to end up sleeping on Gareth’s garage couch again, the last time the cushions had fucked his neck up for weeks. 

 “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be right over,” Steve assured through the phone. And Eddie relaxed his shoulders. 

 “Thanks, Steve,” He almost whispered. 

 “Okay, I’m uh, coming over now!” Steve declared before he hung up the phone. 

 “Stupid,” Eddie grumbled at himself again, leaning his forehead onto the wood where the phone lived. 

X 

 Thoughts of earlier that morning and late last night ran in circles in his head; the soft feeling of Steve cradled in his arm on the couch and soft murmurs that made him crack his eye open just to make sure the jock was okay in the middle of the night, if someone allowed it he could go on about it forever. He bounced his knee to expel some of his pent up nerves, while he waited for Steve to pull up in that stupidly beautiful BMW. As if on cue, the very car turned into the trailer park, gravel crunching under the wheels and coming to a halt outside his home. 

 There was music muffled inside the car, Steve leaned forward and turned it down before he lifted a hand and waved Eddie in. A blush painted his cheeks, waving back and pointing to the back seat, then at his guitar. Carefully, he slid sweetheart onto the leather bench..

 “Hey,” Steve’s tone was soft, and Eddie pinched his eyes close while his heart swooped. 

 Anxiety vibrated off him as he slid down into the passenger seat. His armpits sweat against the confines of his leather jacket, the insides of the car warmer than he expected. His chest felt tight as he huffed out harshly, as though he’d been running for the last 10 minutes. Steve hummed along to the song that lilted out of the speakers softly, his deft fingers tapped gently on the steering wheel. 

 “Thank you so much, you’re an absolute lifesaver,” Eddie greeted, eyes sliding over to Steve so he could watch the jock closely. The quirk of that flirtatious grin picked up at the corners of Steve’s mouth, but there was something deeper about it, like the thank you meant more to the man than he was letting on. 

 “Yeah, of course, dude. Least I can do. Thanks for letting me crash last night,” Steve laughed, ducking his head in embarrassment. Eddie recognized it to be that charming, shy way he’d witnessed the man do when he was talking to Nancy last March in the Winnebago. 

 “My pleasure, Harrington,” Eddie drawled, finding comfort in the car's darkness. Freddie Mercury’s voice wafted in the enclosed space. That intrigued him, he wasn’t an avid Queen listener but he could recognise that voice anywhere.

 Steve hummed along mindlessly, Eddie tapped along to the bass beat. He opened his mouth to compliment Steve on his less awful choice of music but was cut off by the soft sound of Steve singing; 

‘You masquerade, you're the catch of the season every night and day,’

 Eddie almost choked on the air, blushing furiously and staring straight ahead so the jock wouldn’t be able to see his shocked face. 

‘You you you don't have any time for me

You just keep foolin' around with me,’

 The lyrics were pointing and laughing at him. This man had shown no interest in him, and yet here was plotting with a 15-year-old girl how to subtly get him to pick up on the signals he accidentally puts out when they hung out. He chanced a peek out of the corner of his eye and blushed, which he didn’t think was possible when he saw Steve’s little smile and wave of his head. 

 “So, ahem, you do like actual music then?” Eddie deepened his voice and schooled his face into one that he hoped was collected and cool. 

 Steve scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning onto the road, Eddie had directed him too, “Shut up, you’re just upset you can’t listen to whatever you want and not caring what people think about it.” 

 "Oh, trust me, people care, Stevie baby,” Eddie laughed, continuing to poke fun at the man who just rolled his eyes and turned up the music, “Some people only make fun of your music taste. And by some people, I mean me, I do.” 

 “You’re an asshole,” Steve cawed, as he drummed into the chorus of the next song on the cassette. 

 “Oh, shit. That’s the house,” Eddie pointed out, causing Steve to slam on the brakes. 

 “You’ve got my phone number to call me to come get you, yeah?” Steve asked, brow raised in question as those eyes gazed into his own. 

 Heart beating hard under his scarred chest, Eddie gulped and forced a huge grin on his face, showing Steve his number scrawled onto his hand, “You bet.” Winking awkwardly at Steve, who ducked his head bashfully again. 

 “Cool, see ya later, man,” Steve cleared his throat and then put both hands back on the wheel and got ready to drive away. 

‘I wanna be your kind of lover, give a little bit of feeling,’

 The BMW cruised away, leaving Eddie lost in thought in the middle of the road as the last lyrics of the song he’d heard replayed in his mind. After a beat of Freddie’s voice echoing against his skull, a light bulb went off as he got an idea, a huge grin spreading over his lips. 

 “Eddie?” Gareth’s confused voice called out from the open garage. The senior stood there waiting for Eddie to rush over. 

 “Shit, hey man, sorry. Banshee died on me,” Eddie explained, skidding to a halt inside with his friends. 

 “No worries, dude, we were just a bit…” Gareth’s eyes flickered to the two other members of Corroded Coffin, “...worried.”

 “Shit, sorry,” His brows turned upward in guilt. 

 “Well, nothin’ happened, so it’s behind us!” Jeff clapped, all of them nodded as they took in each other for the first time in months. Not usually practicing until right before the gig, so they won’t tire of the songs. 

 “So, we’ve got the whole setlist figured out, except for the cover song,” Gareth handed Eddie a folded piece of paper with pen scribbled names of their songs. He nodded along in agreement and then smiled at them with a crazed glint in his eye. 

 “I’ve got that covered, I’ll bring the sheet music next week. Let's just focus on this for now,” Eddie reassured his friends, unpacking his guitar and throwing the strand over his neck, “Shall we, boys?” 

 And with a couple of thundering hits from Gareth on the drums, they flowed into the first song easily. 

X

 Two weeks passed, and Eddie’s armpits reeked of nervous sweat. Jeff wrinkled his nose at him while the band hauled all their shit into the green room of the Hideout, which was just a cramped office off the side of the bar. There weren’t many people at the venue and that made him even more anxious. What if it was so isolated that the performance was stilted and weird.

 Jeff noticed his nervous fidgeting and raised a curious brow at him, “What’s got your knickers in a knot?” 

 “Huh? Oh, no I’m good,” Eddie replied, eyes flickering to the entrance then scanning the room. 

 “Sure, buddy,” Jeff said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Gareth smacked the other man’s chest in a warning before placing his drum equipment down gently. 

 “What?” Jeff splayed his hands out in question, provoking Gareth. 

 Eddie left the two to squabble and wandered outside to have a pre-show smoke—He knew Tristan would tell him off if he’d mentioned what he was doing, but in that moment it was probably going to be the only thing that would calm his fried nerves. 

 Breaching the doors out into the Spring air, Eddie had one hand down in the inside pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out his squashed pack. The lighter clicked as he flicked it on, inhaling deep to ignite the end of the cigarette. Curiously, he checked left and right to keep an eye out for any more people arriving for the show. 

 “Keeping that all to yourself?” An unfamiliar voice said from his left. Eddie jumped and turned to capture whoever was talking to him. 

 There was a tall blond man who was leaning against the door with a smirk painted on his hairy face. He raised an eyebrow and kept his mouth shut around his smoke; the guy didn’t seem very thrilled by his disinterest. 

 “Never mind, jeez,” The man said, before pushing off the wall and thundering through the door of The Hideout. 

 “—The fuck,” Eddie wondered aloud, eyes wide with bewilderment as he took the smoke out of his mouth so he could stub it out with his boot. 

 Eddie reached for the grimy brass knob of the black painted door, some of the brown wood showed through from where it was chipping away. Before he could swing it open and breach the inside, a friendly honk sounded out behind him. He swiveled around with a huge grin on his face. Sure enough, packed into Jonathan Byers’ Ford Galaxie was Nancy Wheeler, Robin and the person he was so eager to see, Steve. Jon gave him a two finger salute as he continued his way forward to find parking. 

 He wrung his hands out, the bands of the rings on his fingers dug into his knuckles. Everything was fine, Steve AND Nancy were here—at his show—about to watch him play and sing. Robin and Jon had both swung by at some point when Corroded Coffin started up again. It had pleasantly surprised him when Jon showed up, explaining that he’d seen the post up at Cassettes and Things, which was their barren record shop. Most of the tapes and vinyl's there were hand-me downs from people’s dead grandparents. 

 But Nancy had never came along, which he was fine with. There was no reason for her to want to, Corroded Coffin wasn’t exactly Wheeler friendly, and he knew that from the way Mike tended to wrinkle his nose every time Eddie tried to play his music louder in the van or after D&D when they were cleaning up. 

 Tapping his foot anxiously against the pavement waiting for his friends, he felt the sudden urge to throw up, but he pushed it down. Not needing to feed the apparent beast that was hungering for his impending embarrassment. 

 “Hey, man,” Jon greeted, hand reaching out to clap and grasp Eddie’s. He grinned and gladly responded to the notion. 

“Glad you could make it,” Eddie said before his eyes left the stoner’s and scanned Nancy, the girl was dressed in a nice black dress with a long sleeve white shirt underneath, clearly these people had no sense of how to dress for a metal show, “Wheeler, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

 She chuckled softly and ducked her head, arms looped underneath the jacket she had for later, “Don’t let it get to your head, I’m just here to make sure these airheads make it home alright.” 

 He bobbed his head in understanding, eyes flickering over to where Robin and Steve were. Robin was fussing over something that supposedly was on Steve’s lapel. 

 “Get off, Robin, it’s fine!” Steve crowed, pushing the grabbing hands of his friend. And, oh man, did he look good. Again, none of these normies knew at all how to dress for a metal show, but he was just happy Steve for once in his life ditched the polo shirts and instead a choppy cut Boston crop top, exposing his torso only a smidge before that was cut off by the tight hug from a pair of gray denim jeans. He felt faint of the sight of even a bit of lax, laid back on Steve. One that didn’t care so much about his appearance… so close to how he’d seen the jock in the Upside Down, only this time he wasn’t covered in blood and wearing Eddie’s battle vest. No, unfortunately Steve was not. 

 “So, whose clothes did you steal this time, Steve?” Eddie drawled, the pit that had formed in his stomach minutes before eased when Steve’s cheeks flushed a deep crimson. 

 “Huh, what? No,” Steve spluttered, looking at Robin with wide eyes. 

 The girl shrugged and leaned forward to wipe a spot on the front of his jeans. Eddie almost felt jealous, but then remembered that very important detail he knew about Robin. 

 “They’re mine. And he got Pringle dust all over the pants,” Robin whined, trying her best to wipe away the chip remnants. Steve once again pushed her hands away with his own, an embarrassed smile plastered on his face. 

 “Robin’s?! How in the world did you fit into those jeans?” Eddie asked incredulously, leaning to the side to check Steve out openly. Mentally fist bumped himself by the squeamish look that crossed over Steve’s features.

 Like clockwork, Gareth poked his head out of the door, brows scrunched in confusion, and then smiling when he saw Eddie outside. 

 “Eddie, hey man, we’re uh—” The drummer’s eyes widened when they landed on the eclectic group of normal people he knew from high school, “We’re, ready to set up.” 

 “I’ll be down in a second,” Eddie explained, his friend nodding and taking one last look at Eddie’s 3 other friends before disappearing back into the Hide Out. 

 “Well,” He clapped, palms sweating and that pit hardened uncomfortably, “I’ve gotta get back in there. Don’t be nervous and they don’t check IDs.” 

 And with those words left standing for them, Eddie all but threw himself back into the venue. Holy shit, this was really happening, he was about to make a goddamn fool of himself on this tiny stage in Hawkins Indiana and there was no damn way he could back out now. 

X

 While Jeff, Gareth, and Tristan tested their own instruments, Eddie fumbled his way through the scribbled lyrics of the song he’d chosen. It was a song aggressively removed from what the band usually played, Corroded Coffin’s sound verged on black metal the more the band wrote and discussed where they wanted to go. He was the most nervous that people would be upset by the sudden change up, luckily it was the last song though. 

 “Alright, you guys just about ready?” A buff man wearing a black battle vest with patches sewn in all over it asked, his hair slicked back with so much gel that it glistened off in the bar's darkened belly. His name was Diablo, and he was the one who let them do their first show here, and stood by him when he came back after the murder accusations and still let him play. Eddie’s expression hardened, and he nodded, his friends throwing up a few distracted sign of the horns.

 “Great,” The man grunted as he stepped up to the mic, waving at them to get sorted (and seated in Gareth’s case). 

 Eddie shuffled foot to foot in uneasiness, watching Diablo introduce himself to the patrons, the music cutting and an excited hum hovering in the crowd. 

 “Now, you know the rules, moshing is fun but if you bleed, you’re out,” Diablo declared, a beefed up hand held out pointing to some poor schmuck in the crowd. 

 Eddie’s eyes scanned the back in search of his friends but was out of luck, the spotlight obscuring his sight. 

 “This is a band I’d like to continue supporting. So, any assholes can shut the fuck up and sit down, you’re in my bar and I’ll put on whoever I damn please,” Diablo looked out into the audience with a fierce look, “And, without further ado, Corroded Coffin.” 

 There was awkward applause Eddie could only assume was from Robin or Nancy. Jon knew the way around a dingy bar show and Steve was too uncomfortable all the time to make a mistake that big. 

 “Good luck, kid,” Diablo whispered in his ear while he passed him on the stage, one of those enormous paws landed heavily on his shoulder. 

 “Thanks, man,” Eddie shot back, shouldering his guitar and stomping up to the mic. He gulped down any fear that had crept up from the tar ball of anxiety that sat heavy in his stomach; if he could face off a cauldron of Demobats and also sacrifice himself to those tiny, gnashing mouths, he could perform in front of fucking Steve Harrington. 

 “The devil… has come to Hawkins,” He spoke deep into the mic, voice reverberating through the floor and seeping into the crowd. With a flick of his wrist, he motioned for Gareth to start. 

 Adrenaline pumped through Eddie’s veins after the first two songs. The mosh pit came to a slow stop, some people still shoving and moving in jerking moves. Sweat dripped down his arms and made the leather sleeves of his jacket rub against the hair there. Right before their last song, he made a timeout signal with his hands. Eddie’s guitar made a whiny twang as he pulled her off his shoulders so he could shuck off the jacket. Some women hollered when his Iron Maiden crop top was revealed, it sat just shy of exposing his entire chest and his treasure trail was on full display. His low-rise black pants hugged his hips in such a way, a small glint of hope sat in his heart that a certain someone would notice. 

 “Heads up guys, this next song is a cover. Please give us the benefit of the doubt, though. Sometimes we just need to let these feelings out, y’know,” Eddie mumbled into the mic, eyes cast down into the sea of people who all stared up at him expectantly. 

 Inhaling a deep breath, Eddie slung his guitar back over his neck and wailed on her, to rile up the crowd once more. He grinned as the mosher's pushed back and forth again. After a few more screams from his guitar, he transitioned into the first chords of the song. 

 Gareth smashed the drums, which was Eddie’s cue, so he let his voice growl into the mic; 

‘You got me runnin' baby

You give me somethin' way beyond revenue,’

 The mosher's stopped but still stayed, enjoying Eddie’s vocals and the bands' more intense take of the Billy Squier song. Some women pushed their way up to the front of the stage, he played into it. Leaning forward so his curls hung around his neck, chains clinking against the mic as he played up the flirtatious act. 

 Goosebumps flushed up his arms when he saw the flash of Robin’s pixie face off to his right. Stomping his foot on top of the amp next to him, he turned his body toward where Steve had moved to. Robin was pressed to the man’s side and both of them stared at him with glassy eyes. 

 Eddie winked down at the two of them and moved his head in a snake-like motion, a wicked grin slipped onto his lips; 

‘When you come 'round I never get down, I fly across the floor

I can see you comin' on me and I can't ask for more,’

In quick succession, Eddie jumped down from the stage and let the audience part as he sauntered over to Robin and played it up in her face; 

‘You got my motor racin', I find my thoughts embracin' your every move,’

He broke the song briefly to chuckle low as Robin blushed furiously, Steve pointing and laughing at her. That didn’t last long though, Eddie fixed Steve with a pout before he licked his lips and all but growled the next couple of lines right in Steve’s face; 

‘I've been thinkin' 'bout you for so long, a nd I don't wanna lose you

You're my kinda lover,’

 Eddie swiveled away and missed Steve’s reaction, not wanting to spend too much time with his attention on the jock. Someone could notice the context clues before they were in a safe space, and a hate crime would be a shitty way to end his night. He hopped back onto the stage and made passing eye contact with Gareth, he just raised a curious brow at him and shook his fluffy head. 

 As he sang the rest of the song, he pounded his fist against the ground, amping up the dramatics as he repeated the lyrics, ‘my kinda lover’ . On the last one, he sat back on his feet, thighs on display for God and head thrown back in a very sinful portrait he hoped, sweat dripped down his back and onto the stage. The song came to a close, and he sat still in that position, chest heaving and eyes closed. 

 There was a beat of silence and then an uproar of applause, people shouted again and other slurries of words he couldn’t understand. But Eddie got the message, he nodded at Gareth who understood the message, starting up a heavy song they’d written the summer of ‘86. 

 Tristan and Jeff followed suit once they realized which song it was, hammering it out for the wanting crowd. The mosh pit started again, and that time around, Steve stayed off on the outskirts, but closer to the stage. Eyes wide with something Eddie couldn’t read, and damn, he wanted to know. Wanted to lose himself in the sea of hazel eyes and flirtatious teasing, allow Steve to take him however he wanted. 

 Corroded Coffin’s set closed out, Eddie never minded playing first, it always meant he could enjoy the music afterward. In quick succession, they lugged all their equipment off so the next band could start setting up. 

 All he wanted to do once his guitar was locked up in the back of his van was find Steve, but he knew that would be too obvious, so instead he followed his bandmates to the bar where Diablo poured them two shots of vodka each, on the house the bartender had said with a massive grin plastered on his sweaty face. 

 The vodka hit Eddie’s empty stomach, making him feel woozy as it burned away at the pit of nerves that had been sitting there all week. 

 “Eddie!” Robin’s ecstatic voice yelled out over the buzzing crowd, he turned to meet her with open arms and a hazy grin. 

 “Robbie, be honest, was it as good as last time!?” He asked, trying to keep his gaze on hers as he noticed Steve following closely on the girl’s heel. 

 “Amazing, as always!” Robin gushed, pulling away and waving a small hello to the rest of the band. 

 Steve was carrying a full pint, eyes reflecting the lights almost like they were shining like a beacon for Eddie, but he had a huge smile plastered on his lips. Eddie sidled up to him and threw a casual arm around his neck. He ignored the stiff response of Steve’s shoulders.

 “Well, Harrington, what d'ya think?” Eddie drawled, lips brushing the outside of Steve’s flushed warm ear. 

 Steve coughed lightly, like there was a twig caught in his throat, facial expression hidden in the dark, “It, it was great!” 

 “Huh, cat got your tongue, Harrington?” The post performance adrenaline and a small amount of liquid courage fueled Eddie as he pushed his way into Steve’s space, looking at him through his eyelashes. 

 Something curious happened visible to Steve, and Eddie’s heart skipped a beat as the jock returned the grin with his signature look down, a chuckle and then flickering his wide hazel eyes back up to meet Eddie’s, the hand not occupied with his beer landing on his cocked hip, those damn jeans hugged his waist in a tight embrace and it made Eddie’s throat dry up like a desert. 

 “No, just maybe curious about who the lucky lady you were singing about is,” Steve explained, but something told Eddie that the plan he and Max concocted had worked. 

 “You don’t know her,” Eddie supplied, leaning back against the bar casually, not breaking eye contact with Steve. 

 “Is she here tonight?” Nancy asked, surprising Eddie out of his tunnel vision and reminding him he was, in fact, flirting with Steve openly in front of all their friends. 

 “She is,” Eddie nodded, eyes still locked with Steve’s, trying to read him as he straightened his spine, which made him appear just half an inch taller than Eddie. 

 Steve broke their tethered staring contest, eyes scanning the people meandering and trying to find some imaginary girl Eddie had made up, the jock pointed secretly at a girl with long teased curls and her torso pale shining out against her all black getup, “Is it her?” 

 Mentally, Eddie slapped his forehead, forgetting that Steve was oblivious and just because they were flirting doesn’t mean he’s aware of it and Eddie probably still had to push him off the edge. Images of how he could convey to this man that he was the one the song was about made his brain ache. 

 “Nope! Well, I’m going out for a smoke,” Eddie clapped. Turning around and signaling to Diablo he’d like another shot, if he was going to make any insinuation, he needed a bit more bravery that wasn’t conjured from his adrenaline, from past shows he knew it wouldn’t last very long. 

 Pouring the shot back, he felt Steve watching him closely, just the thought that Steve was checking him out gave him goosebumps. He shook his curly head as the awful liquid slipped down his throat, leaving the awful burn it always did. Turning and clapping Gareth on the shoulder, the younger man gave him a knowing look and eyes flickering briefly to Steve with a grin on his mischievous face. 

 Eddie pursed his lips and tried to telekinetically explain not to fuck with the fine bridge he was building, and that he would explain later. However, it was hard to convey in one measly glance. 

 Sauntering away from his friends and letting his exposed bicep brush Steve on his way out. The area on his bicep burned from the one faint touch. Once he knew he wasn’t in eye sight, he took the stairs two at a time, mouth open in a silent scream. Fuck, he was horrible at this.

 Outside was cool, a small Spring breeze passed over his bare skin and dried out his sweat. It was refreshing, and cleared his frazzled mind. Igniting the cigarette he took out of his pocket, inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs and throwing his head back to gaze longingly up at the stars. There was a crowd of other people all smoking, chatting amongst themselves, laughing and some rough housing from the mosh pit still, but he knew they’d all retreat inside soon because the next band was about to play. Throwing a smile their way and then retreating around the corner, not wanting any of them to come over and talk with him. 

 He was pathetic, just a love sick guy who couldn’t have what he wanted. It would always be like this probably, he’d grow old and live with a bunch of cats, never having left he and Uncle Wayne’s trailer and—His self deprecating thoughts of loneliness of being gay in a small hick town were interrupted by the scuff of sneakers on the cement behind him.

 “Mind sharing that?” Steve’s voice filled the steady hum of a vent that was keeping Eddie company. The scene reminded him of when that other guy from earlier had asked to share and Eddie had all but ignored him, this however was Steve. This was who he'd been waiting for. That's all they needed, a cigarette, cheapest date he'd ever been on he thought. 

 “Sure, Harrington,” Eddie grinned, passing off the cigarette so Steve could take it with his outstretched hand. Eddie leaned back, shivering when his bare skin pressed against the brick wall. He eyed Steve warily, watching the way his pink lips wrapped around the orange end of the filter, the smoke creeping out of the corners of his mouth before he exhaled it into the night sky. 

 “Is she scary?” Steve asked, leaning in close to Eddie as he dragged a couple more puffs from the cigarette. Eddie’s brows scrunched, what was he talking about? Oh, the imaginary girl he’d told the crew about. 

 “Yeah, she’s scary all right,” Eddie grinned, heart pounding in his chest smacking his forehead over and over, wishing that this was going to be easier. Hoping that his heart wouldn’t have to be broken in order to confess his feelings. 

 “It’s a shame really,” Steve whispered, neck extended and eyes searching the night for something. The day that Eddie found answers on Steve’s face when he stared at him longingly would be an exuberant and profound day. 

 “What’s a shame?” Eddie smirked, crossing his arms and obscuring the image of the album Master of Puppets. He watched Steve’s Adam's apple bob as the man swallowed nervously, his hand around a loose thread on the Boston shirt Robin had hastily cut for him. 

 Steve scratched the back of his head, suddenly all of the jock's confidence drained from his aura and he was left to suspiciously peek over his shoulder as if to make sure they had some privacy. Eddie breathed heavily, his heart sped up and hammered away uncomfortably against his ribcage. 

 “I was… just hoping, well,” Steve stuttered, voice dropping to a whisper, “That I wasn’t reading into things wrong?”

 “You’re going to have to spell whatever you’re talking out for me, big boy,” Eddie breathed, was this it, was this the moment he’d only dreamed of? 

 “Maybe you were singing about…” Steve dropped his head down and chuckled low and self-deprecatingly, “Well, about me.”

 Stuttering heart beats faded to nothing as his heart skipped a beat. The big confession, Steve’s cheeks were flushed pink and if it wasn’t springtime, Eddie was sure the man would’ve been sweating profusely. And after all of his chaotic thoughts over the last couple of weeks the only sound that he made was a devilish chuckle. 

 “Damn, Mayfield was right,” He said, fixing Steve with an emotional stare. 

 Those perfect brows scrunched in confusion and Eddie wanted to kiss the look right off of Steve’s face, “Max? What?” 

 “She may have, uh… helped me plan this,” Eddie trailed off, wringing out his fingers and tapping his boot on the concrete. 

 “You, wait what?!” Steve blurted out, a goofy smile spread onto his plush lips. Eddie's heart fluttered, opening his mouth to respond and being so rudely interrupted by the sound of mocking bird, none other than Robin Buckley

 “Steve! We’re… uh, heading out! Nance has to work early tomorrow morning!” Robin was clearly tipsy as she hollered behind them. Steve swirled around and stuttered out incomprehensible words. 

 Eddie ducked his head, feeling the great sorrow of having to wait even longer, but if he’d been able to stick around for this long, one more night would not hurt him. 

“Hold on,” Steve growled out, jogging over to where his friends were standing and waiting for him. Eddie waved at the group, squashing his long forgotten cigarette under his shoe. Robin’s grin was wicked, mouthing something at him that he couldn’t understand. 

 Scrunching his face at her, he raised his hands in question and shook his head, trying to explain he did not know what she was trying to convey. The girl rolled her eyes and waved, calling out a goodbye to him. 

 Steve’s side profile was illuminated by a streetlamp above, the orange light really worked for him, especially with the crop top and sweater tied around his scarred hips. He talked to Robin, hands waving around as he tried to weasel his way into staying, Eddie assumed. While the metalhead took his time admiring Steve, he jumped when the man was back standing in front of him, his large warm hands resting on his shoulders and pulling Eddie into a hug. 

 “Wait for me?” Steve whispered, a shiver ran down Eddie’s spine at his words and all he could do in response was nod. 

 And with that, Steve jogged back over to Nancy and the others, turning around as they walked away to wave at him until the group was no longer in sight. Once he truly knew they weren’t coming back, Eddie rolled against the wall and knocked his forehead against the hard brick. 

 “Stupid, I am so stupid.” He muttered into the night, Steve once again leaving him in the dust to wallow in a deep pool of anxiety. 

[anadorablack]

The Beginning (Complete)

Today, I officially finished 'The Beginning'. I know that some readers prefer to way until a story is complete to fully read it (I'm one of those).

It's been a real labour of love, first and foremost written to help me survive the hiatus. XD I'm glad so many already liked it, I hope there'll be many more who'll love it too. <3

ENJOY! :D

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60764674/chapters/155185606

Buck gets some unexpected news from an old flame. Everything changes. For the best. (Post S7, GirlDads!Buddie AU)

[deadnatura11]

I think it would be funny - in a post-BT breakup, Buck still oblivious to his feelings about Eddie world - if there was an episode where Buck tries to manifest his perfect partner into existence, and every reference to this practice is immediately followed by Eddie just showing up.

For example:

"I'm waiting for the universe to send me a sign."

"A sign about what?"

"About my perfect match. If I manifest hard enough, maybe the universe will point me to where I need to go?"

"Buck, the universe doesn't just... hand out relationships or - or signs to people who want it bad enough!"

Cut to Eddie walking up the steps of the loft holding a package.

"The new signs you ordered for the loading bay just arrived Bobby."

"Perfect. Let's see what they look like."

Buck is still talking with Hen and Chimney while this is happening behind him.

"I know it won't be, like, the universe will point an arrow at someone going 'This Is the Love Of Your Life' but maybe I'll feel a certain energy in the air... or a spark?"

Eddie takes a sign from out the box.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're holding it wrong. The arrow should be pointed down, not up."

Eddie looks and sees the arrow pointing at him. "Yeah, don't need anyone thinking they can just park on my face."

Anyway the episode kinda plays like that for 44 minutes.

[kenacoki]

Tease Me Please Me

//Pairing// Eddie Diaz x Fem!Reader

//Summary// If there’s one thing you love more than firefighting it’s getting under Eddie Diaz’s skin. That, of course, can only end one way for you.

//Word Count// 5.40k

//Request//

//Warnings// munch!Eddie Diaz, recording during intercourse, borderline exhibitionism, dirty talk, kitchen sex

//Dividers// sister-lucifer

Entering the station, you take a moment to yourself to bask in the quietness of the house. The fire station was fairly empty at the moment, with it being morning and all. The only person seemingly out is Eddie, who’s cleaning the firetruck.

You smirk to yourself as you approach him, "What’s cookin’ good lookin’?” You call out, before leaning up against the side of the firetruck.

Eddie, who’s focused on his work, seems to pause for a second at your voice, before realizing it’s you. He looks over, shaking his head with a small scoff, his annoyance not being genuine.

"That’ll never get old to you, will it?"

You smile up at him, crossing your arms as you lean your head on the truck.

“Of course not; Nothing wrong with a little harmless flirting, Eds." You chuckle to yourself as you begin to admire his appearance, watching the way his muscles flex as he works on polishing the firetruck.

As you call him by the nickname you’ve picked up from Buck, he once again pauses, this time fully turning to look at you.

"Harmless for you maybe, I’m the one who has to actually deal with it."

You tilt your head to the side as you shrug, your grin growing larger as you continue to tease him, "Come on Eddie…I’m not that bad, am I?"

Eddie’s eyes meet your gaze as he sets down his rag, "(Y/n). You flirt with me every chance you get. I’m pretty sure that Buck, Chim, and Hen have a bet on when you’re gonna jump me."

You hum, acting oblivious as you shrug again, “And here I’d hoped I was subtle.”

“Yeah,” Eddie lets out a low chuckle, his eyes never leaving your face as he leans against the firetruck as well. "About as subtle as sirens in the dead of night."

You fake a pout, “I mean, it’s not my fault you’re insanely attractive, Eds.” You take a step closer to him, sticking your hand out as you lightly brush your fingers against his mustache.

“So, do you plan on keeping the ‘stache?”

Eddie’s eyes widen as you touch his face, the light, delicate caress sending a shiver down his spine. He sighs, keeping his eyes on yours.

“I-I don’t know.” He stutters out, the sudden proximity and the way you’re looking at him makes his breath catch in his throat for a brief moment. His gaze drops to your lips for a fraction of a second, before he clears his throat and pulls away. “Why? Don’t like it?”

Your face softens as he leans into your touch, your heart practically pounding as your eyes lock onto each other’s.

“Oh no,” You pause for a moment, letting your hand fall away as you admire his face, “I like it. A lot, actually.”

Surprise flickers in his eyes, but only for a moment. Still, you notice it. Before he can say anything else, the sound of footsteps echos from behind you guys

You turn to look behind you and see Bobby emerging from his office, a small grin on his face.

“Good morning you two. Did I interrupt something?”

“No, Cap,” Eddie instantly straightens, clearing his throat and glancing away, trying to act casual. “Just finishing up here.”

Bobby hums, seeing right through Eddie’s act, his smile growing as he turns to you. “And what about you?”

You chuckle, sending another smile in Eddie’s direction, a hint of mischief in your eyes. “Just keeping him company.”

Eddie glances back at you, eyes narrowing slightly at the look on your face. He opens up his mouth to say something but is interrupted by Bobby continuing.

“Listen, I’m gonna have you guys hang back if we get any fire calls today. Eddie, I want you to be able to show (y/n) how the ambulance works on medical calls.”

You give Bobby an affirmative nod, “Sounds good to me. Hear that Eds? Sounds like you’re gonna be stuck with me all day.”

“Great.”

Bobby chuckles again, shaking his head at the two of you as he grabs a clipboard for his office and walks back inside.

The smirk immediately reappears on your face as you take a step closer to Eddie, looking up at him with wide (e/c) eyes.

“Aw come on, don’t look so grumpy.” You give his shoulder a playful shove; trying not to let your thoughts linger on how hard his muscles feel under your touch. “You get me all to yourself, shouldn’t you be happy?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, shaking his head in mock annoyance, though he can’t help the smile that curls at the corner of his lips. “Oh, I’m ecstatic.”

You grin wider, knowing you managed to get him to smile. You give his shoulder another pat, letting your hand linger for a moment, before stepping back again. “That’ll work for me.”

You give him a wink before turning and heading in the direction of the locker room to change.

Eddie watches as you walk away, a mix of amusement and irritation playing across his features. Suddenly the sound of Buck and Chim’s voices breaks his gaze, and he quickly averts his eyes, getting back to work on cleaning the truck.

A few moments later, you reappear, now in your uniform. Leaving the top unbuttoned just enough to barely expose the skin of your chest, but still technically fall within the dress code.

You open your mouth to call out to Eddie when the station alarm suddenly starts ringing.

Eddie’s head snaps in your direction at the sound of the alarm, immediately noticing your outfit. His eyes roam over the exposed skin of your chest for just a second before averting his gaze. Buck, Chim, and Hen appear from the loft and rush past you guys to the fire truck.

Chim, Hen, and Buck are about to hop in the truck when Bobby stops them, averting his attention over at you and Eddie.

“(y/n) Eddie, dispatch said that this call was just a small structure fire, and no injuries were reported.”

You nod as you glance toward Eddie, “So you want us to stay back?”

Bobby nods, “That’s right. If we need anything though, we’ll let you know through the radio.”

Eddie lets out a small sigh, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Got it.”

You glance over at him, your eyes lingering on his for a moment before looking back at Bobby, “We’ll be on standby then.”

Bobby nods again, patting the side of the ambulance before turning to get into the firetruck. Buck sends both you and Eddie smirks, wiggling his eyebrows as he follows Hen and Chim into the back of the truck.

Eddie ignores them, moving to lean against the back of the ambulance, crossing his arms.

The sunlight makes his brown hair almost shine. His dark brown eyes have an almost golden look. Despite having been up since the early morning, he is still somehow effortlessly attractive. His uniform shirt hugs his upper body in the most delicious way, his muscular build being noticeable through the thin fabric.

You're snapped from your daze as Bobby flips on the lights and sirens and swiftly pulls out of the station.

You let out an internal sigh as you drink in the sight of him, your head filling with thoughts of how the fabric would feel against your fingers. You had only been on the job for a few months, but you somehow already wanted to do unspeakable things to this man. You take a step closer to him, leaning on the back of the ambulance.

“What do we do now? Just…wait?”

As you step closer to him, Eddie’s head turns to you, his eyes roaming over you for a moment before he speaks. There’s a slight hint of tension in his voice, though he tries to play it off.

“Yeah.” He lets out a huff of air, his eyes darting out to the street before settling back onto you.

You hum, looking over at him and tilting your head slightly so that you’re looking at him dead on. You continue to admire him, your eyes slowly raking over his face.

“So…how long do you think they’ll be gone for?”

Eddie sighs as your gaze lands on him, your smirk already telling him that you most likely have something in mind.

“If it’s just a small fire then I’d say probably an hour and a half.”

A mischievous look fills your eyes when he says an hour and a half. You bite your lip to suppress a smile as you push yourself up off the ambulance, moving to stand directly in front of him, your bodies nearly touching.

“An hour and a half, huh? That’s an awful lot amount of time for us to be…alone.” As you speak to him, your voice has a low, almost sultry tone to it; it takes everything in him to not shiver.

He lets out a shaky breath, glancing around for a brief moment before focusing back on you and clearing his throat.

“And what do you suggest we do?”

Your smirk softens into a more suggestive smile. You reach up and brush a strand of hair out of his face, your fingers ever-so-slightly grazing his skin.

“Well, I could think of a few things.”

He lets out a quiet gasp at your touch. His muscles are coiled, and you can see the way his jaw clenches in a halfhearted attempt to stop himself from reacting.

He swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly, "You really need to stop doing that, (y/n).”

You move even closer to him, closing the tiny amount of space that was left between your bodies. Your hand moves, instead coming up to rest on his chest, just above his heart.

"Doing what, Eddie?" You look up at him, feigning innocence as you tilt your head to the side.

He can feel your body against his, the warmth from your skin sending jolts of electricity up his spine.

He looks down at you, a look of frustration and desire in his eyes, “You know damn well what I’m talking about.”

You bite your lip, holding back a chuckle as you see the look in his eyes. You can tell he’s fighting a losing battle, slowly giving in to his desires. You brush your thumb across the logo printed on the fabric of his uniform, feeling the hammering of his heart.

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.” You hum.

"(Y/n)." he mutters, his voice a low, strained warning.

His resistance just adds fuel to the fire inside you. You want to see him lose control, want him to finally give in to the obvious tension between you two. You let your hand slowly trail down his side, lingering on his hip before coming to a rest on his thigh.

“Yeah?”

Eddie's breath hitches as your hand trails down his body, his hips twitching involuntarily when you rest your hand on his thigh. He swallows hard, the feeling of your body so close to his and your hand on his skin sending a shiver through his entire body. Your breath on his face does absolutely nothing to help him.

It takes every last ounce of restraint he has to not spin you around right here and—

“Well,” you abruptly distance yourself from Eddie, a sly smile curling on your lips. “I'm starving, so I'm gonna go fix myself something to eat."

He looks at you, blinking rapidly, his mind fighting to come up with a response while you smirk at him. However, all he can manage to say is a quiet “uh”

"Have fun being all alone, Eds." you wink, before waltzing away towards the kitchen.

He lets out a frustrated huff of air, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Half torn between wanting to give in to your games and wanting to just grab you and slam you against the nearest wall.

Reaching the loft, you open the fridge and pull out a small pack of bacon. Cutting it open, you plop a pan onto the stove and lay a few slices onto the hot metal.

As you wait for your food to cook, you pull out your phone. You scroll through your Twitter to pass the time; completely oblivious to Eddie’s figure sneaking behind you, until it’s too late.

“You think you’re so damn funny, huh?” His breath feels hot against your neck as he murmurs in your ear, his voice low and dangerous.

Your eyes widen slightly, but before you can muster anything his body is pressed up against your back, his arms caging you against the counter in front of you.

A chill goes down your spine as you hear his voice, low and gravelly in your ear. The feeling of his body pressed against your back makes you shiver, the combination of his words and his breath on the sensitive skin of your neck makes you go weak in the knees.

“Depends on what you think is funny.” You manage to gasp out.

"You're a tease, (y/n). A goddamn tease." He growls in your ear, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin, sending a wave of heat through your body.

A shiver runs through your body when you feel his lips press against your neck, the feeling of his teeth nipping at your skin making you let out a sharp gasp. Your head tilts to the side almost involuntarily, giving him more access to your neck.

You grip the edge of the counter in front of you, trying your best to keep yourself upright.

"Cat got your tongue, sweetheart?" Eddie mutters against your neck

You let out a shaky breath as you turn your head towards him, the look in his eyes dark and full of desire. His thumb moves from your chin to your bottom lip, gently tracing the soft skin there.

You know you should reply to him, say something clever to keep up your usual attitude, but your mind is suddenly empty of anything but him.

His teeth lightly nip at your skin. You arch your back as best you can with the way he has you pinned against the counter.

"F-fuck, Eds—"

“I'm about two seconds away from bending you over this counter, don't push your luck." Eddie grins against your neck, his lips moving to bite at the sensitive spot just behind your ear.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, sweetheart?" He murmurs, his voice low and full of desire. "Bent over the counter for anyone to see."

"Eddie, I-You can’t—" You gasp out, your back arching farther into him. You can feel his body pressed up against yours, his hips grinding into your backside.

Eddie hums against your neck, his hands running down your sides until they find the edge of your shirt, slipping underneath and trailing up your stomach. His touch sends jolts of electricity through you.

"Is this what you wanted, sweetheart? You wanted to drive me crazy, to have me lose control?" His breath fans against your skin.

Eddie's words make your head spin as your body responds almost instantly.

"It worked though, didn’t it?”

Before you can even realize what’s happening, Eddie’s spinning you around and bending you over the kitchen island so that you're facing the entrance of the station.

The feeling of his hips pressing against your backside makes a full-on moan escape your lips, his body heat almost overwhelming.

“Voy a hacerte comer esas palabras, princesa.” He growls into your ear.

Jesus Christ.

His Spanish makes your head spin, the low, sultry tone of his voice as he murmurs the words into your ear nearly sending you over the edge. You feel him press up against you, his hips rolling into you, the feeling of his growing arousal against your backside making a shudder go through your body.

You let out another moan, his name on your lips between gasps for air, “Oh my god.”

"You never know when to quit, do you?" He mutters against the back of your neck, his lips delicately trailing kisses down your spine.

You whimper at his touch, your body responding to him as if he's a drug and you're hopelessly addicted.

"It’s like you enjoy being a little minx, huh? Teasing me all day, getting me all bothered.”

Your mind is hazy, your thoughts consumed by the feeling of his lips on your skin, the sound of his voice in your ear, the touch of his hands on your hips.

"F-fuck,” you stutter out before biting down on your lip, trying to hold back another moan.

He rolls his hips into yours again, his body grinding against yours.

The friction from his hips against your clothed core has you gasping again, your hands gripping the edge of the counter for support. You feel like you're on fire, your entire body thrumming with heat and desire, and all you can think about is him.

“Eddie, please...” you gasp out, your head spinning from the combination of his touch and the sound of his voice in your ear.

Then suddenly, you feel him shuffle behind you. Confused, you crane your neck over your shoulder only to see him grabbing your phone. He leans back over your shoulder, bringing your phone up and holding it to your face. You can barely focus on the screen, your eyes unfocused and dazed.

"Unlock it."

You blink, the request taking a moment to register in your foggy mind. Still, you unlock your phone with shaky hands, managing to type in your passcode through your daze. You don’t know what he’s planning, but at this point, you’re so far gone you don’t even care.

He opens the camera app on your phone before propping it up a few inches in front of you; it perfectly captures the two of you.

“Good girl,” he whispers, his voice low in your ear. “Now let’s see just how much you regret your little game.”

Your eyes grow wide when you comprehend what he’s doing. The thought of it has you suddenly even more turned on. He hits the record button and roughly tugs down your tight uniform bottoms and sinks to his knees.

Your breath hitches at his actions. You can see yourself on the phone screen, your face flushed, your (e/c) eyes darkened with lust, your hair already slightly messy from the way he had you pinned down against the counter.

You try to turn around to look at him, but his hand finds the back of your head, "Keep your eyes on the camera, carñio."

Your breath catches in your throat at the pet name. You'd never seen this dominant side of Eddie, not to this extent at least.

"Y'know, you didn't even ask me if I wanted anything to eat."

Your mind is a hazy mess, your eyes half-lidded as you keep them focused on the camera. You’re at his mercy, and you find that you don’t mind it one bit.

You let out a gasp as you feel his hands move up your thighs, nearing where you need him the most, your breathing stuttering and your body shaking with anticipation.

“But that’s okay,” he continues, “I think I’ve found something much better to eat.”

You hear his words, but you’re too caught up in the feeling of his touch to process them, your mind still trying to regain some lucidity as his hands move even farther up your thighs, just barely grazing the lacy hem of your (f/c) underwear.

“God, you’re beautiful, sweetheart.” He murmurs, voice low and full of need. His hands grip the skin of your thighs, his touch slightly rough.

“And look at that, you’re soaking through your panties, carñio.” Carefully, he drags your underwear to the side, exposing your soaking folds to the cool air.

The feeling of his hands as they slide your underwear to the side has you trembling, your legs shaking as you try to keep yourself upright. You feel him sink to his knees behind you, his breath fanning against your skin, the proximity of his face to the core of your being has you clenching your teeth.

You can’t see his face, but you can feel his presence, and the anticipation is nearly enough to make you cry out.

Eddie runs his hands up your thighs, his touch firm and sure. Then, you feel his hands grip your hips, his fingers digging into your flesh. You shiver, your body growing hot in anticipation.

You can’t help but gasp as he lets his tongue run up your thigh, so close to where you need him most.

"I swear to g-god, Eddie. If you don't do-" Your words fail you as his tongue slowly breaches your wetness. He holds your hips steady as his tongue dips deeper, just barely breaching your slit.

"M-Motherfuck—" You moan out, your voice growing louder from the sudden pleasure.

Eddie pulls away from your folds with an obnoxiously dramatic pop, "You gotta stay quiet, princesa. Don't want the team to come back and hear these pretty noises, do we?"

You bite down on your lip again, trying to restrain your moans. But it's practically impossible with the way he's slowly teasing you.

"Y-you're being mean." You say, your words coming out shaky from your attempts to stay quiet. You can feel your clit throbbing with desperation.

"Mean?" He mutters, his breath fanning against your skin. "Me? Not at all. I'm being...very generous."

At an agonizing pace, he slides his fingers through your wetness, just missing your sensitive bud before bringing his fingers to his lips, his tongue licking around the digits.

"You taste so sweet...como el cielo.”

You let out a strangled whimper, your body begging for more as his hands continue to wander. He presses a kiss against your clit, the friction of his mustache making your eyes roll back.

“Please,” you gasp out, your voice just above a whisper. “Please, please, please…”

Eddie hums at your words, letting his tongue just barely brush against your sensitive bud. You swiftly cup your hand over your mouth to muffle your noises.

You look absolutely debauched as you catch sight of yourself in the camera. Your hair is falling in messy wisps across your forehead, uniform bunched around your hips, face flushed, and eyes darkened with lust; The sight of yourself only serves to heighten your arousal. Before you can say anything, you feel two of Eddie's thick fingers press into you, drawing a high-pitched whine from the back of your throat.

"F-fuck—" You bite down on your hand to keep yourself quiet. "More, Eddie—Now."

“Bossy little thing,” He growls as you speak, his fingers curling inside you. “You're not the one in charge here.” he gives a harsh suck against your soaking folds.

You glance at the camera, still recording the two of you. Eddie’s right; and that made something in your stomach turn violently.

You grip the counter, your fingers clenching and unclenching at the edge. You let out another moan, your eyes squeezing shut from the immense amount of sensation.

“So beautiful like this, sweetheart,” he mutters, his words partially muffled against your skin. “Aching and dripping for me. All mine.”

He curls his fingers again, pushing into the spot that makes you cry out, and you barely manage to muffle your cries against your hand.

“God, you’re so loud.”

"Eddie! P-please, please! M’sorry for earlier." You slur deliriously with pleasure, eyes brimmed with hot tears.

He can practically taste the desperation in your voice, feel the tension rippling through your body as he pumps his fingers inside you. He pulls away, standing and smirking, watching as your walls flutter around nothing.

“Are you?”

You nod eagerly, your head hazy with lust, but your mind is just lucid enough to know that your answer will have an effect.

“Yes—” you gasp out, your breathing heavy. “I’m so sorry! Please, Eddie, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t tease you anymore, just please!”

Eddie hums, low and satisfied. He runs his hands up your thighs, watching as they shake in his grip.

“We both know that's a lie, cariño.” He says, his tone slightly mocking. He leans in closer to you until his mouth is right by your ear.

“You know what they say, cariño. Payback’s a bitch.” He gives your shoulder one last teasing bite before dropping back to his knees.

Your mind is still reeling from his words, trying to catch up with the events that just took place. But that all quickly changes the moment you feel his tongue thrust into your soaked slit; replacing where his fingers had previously been.

You wail in delight. Your eyes clench tight once more as Eddie lets out a deep moan from behind you, your sweet taste flooding his tastebuds once again.

He grips your hips to keep you from moving too much, his mouth working you with a newfound fervor as you struggle to keep yourself upright.

"Jesus…just a little more, m'so close—"

This only serves to ignite Eddie. Hearing you admit how close you are, all because of him. The way you’re now falling apart at his touch makes him growl against your skin; the vibrations almost send you over the edge.

He reaches around, harshly rubbing at your sensitive bud as he pulls his mouth away, "Fuck, best meal I've ever had..."

“Oh god—“ You try to choke out, but the words quickly devolve into another whine. “Please, E-Eddie, I’m gonna—”

And right at that moment, a loud, familiar sound fills your and Eddie’s ears; the sound of the firetruck pulling up outside.

"Oh shit." You mutter, your (e/c) eyes growing wide. You glance back at Eddie, your breath catches at the sight of his face.

Eddie’s pupils are blown wide, his face red and sweaty, hair sticking to his forehead. He gives another shaky breath before his eyes lock onto the camera still pointing at your form. For a moment, he considers stopping the recording, but...

Maybe it’s the way you look, all breathless and needy. Or how your uniform is pulled down, completely exposing your bottom half. All Eddie knows, at this moment, is that you two can’t stop.

“Eddie, W-We can’t—“

“We can.” Eddie says, his voice firm.

He reaches out, grabs the camera from the island, and holds it inches from your face, his voice still firm.

“You see this? You see what you look like all flushed and whiny, princess?” You can hear him give a low noise, his voice slightly shaky. "tan hermosa, tan perfecta, toda mía."

You spare one last look over your shoulder to Eddie. His chin is practically dripping with your juices, his lips red and swollen.

His dark brown eyes meet yours. As you open your mouth to speak, he suddenly dives right back in. Going to work with a newfound vigor.

You feel your hips arch slightly against his mouth, your legs shaking and your breathing coming out in quick gasps. You clench your teeth, trying to keep yourself from crying out.

Your hands, which had been gripping the counter, quickly move to cover your mouth, trying to muffle your series of pathetic whines.

You bite down on your hand, as hard as you can to keep from moaning, but the more you hear your teammates' voices, the harder it is to keep yourself in check.

You listen to Buck's laughter, you hear the deep rumble of Bobby's voice talking about dinner plans, you hear Hen's voice as she enters a conversation with Chimney—

All you can think about at that moment is that at any second, any one of them could walk into the kitchen and see the two of you.

Shamefully, that thought is enough to send you over the edge.

Your body feels tense as your climax washes over you, "F-fuck—E-Eddie!"

Your legs are shaking more than ever, so much so that you're sure if Eddie wasn't holding you up, you would have fallen to the ground. Wave after wave that rolls through you, Eddie’s tongue is there to accompany it.

It’s too much. Everything’s overwhelming. You’re overstimulated, your brain is fuzzy, and your body is hot. You’re sure if this continues any longer, you’ll break. The sounds of the team outside seem to fade into the background for a moment.

"Goddamn Eddie, p-please.” You can barely hear your voice over your ragged breathing.

The rest of the team's voices echo through the station, you swear you can hear footsteps coming closer to the kitchen. You feel tears pricking at the corner of your eyes as he finally lets up.

He pulls away, wiping the back of his hand against his mouth, his face flushed and sweaty. You breathe heavily, leaning forward on the counter, your body still shuddering from the aftereffects of your orgasm.

You're about to try and fix your uniform, to make yourself look at least a little presentable when suddenly, you hear footsteps clambering up the loft stairs. You panic and start to scramble to pull your pants back up and as you manage to, Eddie swiftly slinks beside you so they don't suspect anything.

You see Buck’s head of curls as he clambers up the loft stairs, "You guys cooking?" he chirps.

Before you can open your mouth to speak, Eddie pipes up.

“Yep, figured that we’d go on and get a head start on dinner.” He says, leaning casually against the counter. Y’know, his tone is surprisingly calm for a man who had just had his head buried between your legs.

Buck smiles right back, seemingly clueless to what had been going on mere seconds before.

"Alright! Lemme know when it's ready, I'm starving."

He quickly turns back around and disappears, and you let yourself breathe again. You feel Eddie's hand fall to the small of your back.

"You did so well." He whispers in your ear, his voice low and gravely. "I'm proud of you."

You give him a weak smile, trying to keep your breathing under control, but it doesn't help that every nerve ending in your body is still on fire. Everything is still so sensitive, and you can't help but shiver at the feeling of his breath on your skin.

He turns you so you're facing him, and you practically collapse into his chest. Immediately, he wraps his arms around you, pulling you close to him. You bury your face into his shoulder, inhaling the intoxicating scent of his sweat and cologne.

"Y-you're a dick, sometimes.” You mutter, still trying to calm your breathing as he steadies himself, you look down at the front of his pants and then back up to him. "Do you want me to...?"

Catching your drift, Eddie's cheeks suddenly flush with a light pink dusting.

"I uh—I a-already..." He stutters for a moment, trying to find his words.

You raise an eyebrow at his reaction, and your lips pull into a sly smile.

"Really? I didn’t even touch you.” You tease him, your finger slowly moving down his chest.

He swallows, his Adam’s Apple bobbing in his throat as your hand slowly makes its way down his chest. He looks away, his cheeks still a dusted pink as a shiver goes through him.

"Yeah well,” He stutters, "Can you blame me?”

You can't help but giggle at his response, your face splitting into a grin as you look up at him. You reach up and pat him on the cheek.

"You're cute when you get all flustered."

His blush deepens at your touch, and he lets out a huff, trying to hold on to any shred of composure he has left.

“I am not flustered, I-I don’t get flustered.” He says defensively, finally meeting your gaze.

“Really? Cause you look pretty flustered to me.” You say smugly.

"Oh, shut up, cariño." he murmurs, leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead.

You give a soft hum, "Never, Eds. I'm gonna enjoy this for as long as I can."

"I'm gonna make you eat those words later, princesa."

You raise an eyebrow at him, fighting the shiver that runs down your spine at the nickname.

"Is that a promise?" You say, leaning your body a little closer to his.

He grins down at you, a cheeky look on his face, "It's a guarantee."

[tommygotwrittenoff]

still thinking about how the thing buck cared about most from his disaster first date with t was that he lied to eddie

[agreeeeeeeeeee]

Christmas Karaoke | E.M.

He wasn't a Christmas guy, being the town freak and his all together hatred of capitalist bullsh*t, but when he saw you smile like that, your eyes dancing like the twinkle bulbs, he thought maybe he could be.

feat. Eddie Munson x fem!reader

SUMMARY: You go out to Christmas karaoke with your friends Robin, Steve, Vickie, and Eddie and get a little wild, liquid courage and some classic carols giving you the push you need to claim your man.

CW: MDNI 18+, smut, eddies pov, drinking/getting drunk, protective!eddie, mentions of blood/fighting, eddie is the sweetest (and filthiest) man alive, oral (f&m), dirty talk

Eddie flipped down the visor on the van, checking his hair and making sure he didn't have an spaghetti sauce on his chin from dinner at Wayne's. The van was idling outside your door, thick clouds of steam obscuring the outside world.

He was picking you up for Christmas Karaoke with Steve, Robin, and Vickie at the Hideout. It was a normal thing, he'd picked you up countless times for countless reasons, so why the fuck were his hands shaking on the steering wheel?

He clenched his hands, knuckles white and rings digging into his skin, and tried to take a deep breath. Things had started to change for him over the summer, after Eddie got into a fight with a handsy lifeguard at the pool.

He wasn't a violent man, truly. But when that fucker put his hands on your skin, glowing in the afternoon sun and dripping with chlorinated water, and your face screwed up with disgust and fear, he saw red.

It took an hour to clean the blood from his rings, and you'd been gracious enough to help him. Cramped into the trailer bathroom, scrubbing at his Cthulhu ring with some Palm Olive and an old toothbrush, your brow crinkled in concentration.

Now, he couldn't even wash the fucking dishes without thinking of you.

Every since that afternoon, he was a nervous wreck around you, clumsy and awkward, though you were too sweet to ever comment on it. You were oblivious to the change in him, at least as far as he knew.

He flipped up the visor and sagged into his seat, turning that Cthulhu ring on his middle finger. It was just karaoke, he could do this—

“Hey, Eds!” You chirped, tugging open the van door and climbing in.

His greeting died in his throat when he saw your outfit. Leather mini shirt and ripped tights, heavy boots, eyeliner…and what had to be the ugliest patchwork Christmas sweater he'd ever seen.

But somehow, you made it look sexy as fuck.

“What? Too much?” You asked, pulling at the hem of your sweater with a smirk.

Eddie clapped a hand over his eyes, letting go of the wheel. “You're gonna have to drive, babe. My eyes have melted from the hideousness.”

You laughed, the sound like Christmas bells, and swatted his arm. “It's not that bad! Robin helped me!”

“It's grotesque.” He smiled, dropping his hands to start driving. “And I love it—”

“You do?” You beamed so brightly, he almost didn't finish his sentence.

“Sure! The way I love “Night of the Walking Dead”, or when Ozzy bit the head off that bat—”

“Ha ha, go fuck yourself.” You stuck your tongue out at him and he huffed a laugh.

“I'm teasing you,” he chuckled, adjusting the radio to your preferred station. “It's perfect. And only you could pull of that kind of monstrosity.”

You smiled, settling into your seat, and cranked up the music.

It took a concerted effort for Eddie to keep his eyes on the road. The color splashed against your skin was so pretty, and the soft smile on your face every time he passed a particularly elaborate house made his heart forget how to beat.

He wasn't a Christmas guy, being the town freak and his all together hatred of capitalist bullshit, but when he saw you smile like that, your eyes dancing like the twinkle bulbs, he thought maybe he could be.

“So, will we get a Corroded Coffin performance?” You asked, jarring him from his fantasies.

He snorted. “Unlikely.”

“I’m sorry, you, Eddie Munson, who sings more than he speaks, aren't going to participate in karaoke?”

“It's not like Judas Priest has a Christmas song,” he chuckled. “I don't have the range for Sinatra. Though I'm flattered you think so.”

“What if I pick it for you?” You asked, batting those pretty eyes at him.

He sighed, thunking his head back against the headrest. “Stop lookin’ at me like that, it's not fair.”

“Like what?” You tilted your head, glossed lips pursing slightly.

He wanted to sink his teeth into that pout, see a sticky ring of your lip gloss around his—

“Fine, fuck. One song.”

“Yay!” You leaned across the seat, planting a smacking kiss on his cheek, and he nearly swerved off the road in his shock. “You won't regret this.”

“I don't believe that for a second, sweetheart,” he said, praying you chalked his blush up to the multi-colored lights.

“Oh god, not you too,” Steve said when you bound towards him through the crowd, Eddie on your heels.

“You love it, Harrington,” you teased, stealing the beer in his hand and taking a few, long gulps. Steve and Eddie’s eyes met over your head, both wide with surprise.

“Woah there!” Robin said, appearing to Steve’s left, dressed in an equally ugly sweater. “That kind of night?”

You set the now mostly empty beer on the counter. “Yep. What's a Mistletoe Mayhem?” You called out to Nick, the bartender.

Nothing good, Eddie thought.

“Green and sparkly,” the bartender replied.

“Perfect,” you grinned, slapping your ID on the counter.

“Make that two!” Robin chimed in, and Steve groaned.

“I want one!” Vickie emerged from the dance floor, also wearing a hideous sweater, though it was tied around her waist.

“Three Mayhem's coming up,” Nick chuckled, skimming ids before passing them back and moving down the bar.

“And can I get another beer? No? Alright,” Steve sighed, leaning back against the bar. “What's up, Munson?” He said, waving Eddie over.

Eddie tore his eyes away from where you were gushing with Vickie over the bars tiny Christmas tree and moved towards Steve.

“Oh, nothing. Kids have been asking me to put together a festive quest for our session tomorrow. Best I can do is Krampus.”

Steve chuckled, smiling when the pretty female bartender slid him and Eddie some beers. “Not into Christmas, huh?”

“Are you?”

“Nah, Mom was always the Hallmark family Christmas type, just felt so phony, y’know?”

“I do. Poor Harrington with his mountains of presents and immaculately decorated house,” Eddie teased, and Steve rolled his eyes.

“It wasn’t a mountain.”

“Oh, I apologize. A rather large hill of presents.”

“Three Mayhem's up!” Nick called, and the three of you bound out of the crowd like puppies called for dinner. Nick set down three fishbowls full of green, glittery liquid, topped with cranberries and limes, and a sprig of mistletoe.

Steve wrinkled his nose. “That looks dangerous.”

Eddie agreed, but held his tongue.

You took a big sip, needing two hands to hold the giant glass, and immediately pulled a face before unleashing a hundred kilowatt grin. “Very dangerous,” you hummed, taking another sip, and Eddie felt his cock twitch to life at the wicked gleam in your eye.

It was going to be a long night.

Karaoke began half an hour later, with Steve and Robin kicking things off with a dramatized rendition of “Baby, It's Cold Outside.”

Eddie was following you around the bar like a shadow, scaring away anyone foolish enough to look at you twice. But you were none the wiser, already buzzed and dancing around like a Christmas elf on crack.

You were already one Mayhem deep, and he bribed Nick to tell you they were out of the mix to spare the consequences of a second. But you just ordered a double margarita instead, so his efforts, and $20, were forfeit.

But Eddie was more than happy to be your guard dog for the evening, so long as you were having fun and safe. It's what any good friend would do. But when he ran into Gareth and they started talking about the new Slayer album, he lost track of you.

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath, surveying the crowd for your sweater. But with the fog and throbbing multi-colored lights, it was impossible to see anything clearly. “Excuse me,” he said, interrupting Gareth in the middle of a sentence.

He bee-lined to the high top where your friends sat.

“There he iiissss!” Robin yelled, waving her beer glass in the air. “Where ya been Edward-ed-son?”

“Have you seen y/n?” He asked, mostly to Steve, who appeared to be the only other sober person on the entire establishment.

“Thought you had her.” Steve shrugged. “Got my hands full.” He nodded towards Robin and Vickie, who were now loudly singing along to the karaoke.

“I did, but then Gare—”

The crowd erupted in applause as the song ended, cutting Eddie off.

“That was greeeaaat, Tina. Now, let's welcome y/n singing a classic, ‘Santa Baby’!”

Eddie whirled around to the stage and your friends burst into cheers. You sauntered out in your little skirt and insane sweater, grinning ear to ear as the spotlight swung towards you.

“Found her,” Steve chuckled, pulling out the chair beside him for Eddie.

Eddie dropped into it, rolling his eyes and laughing. He should have known. “What's ‘Santa Baby'?” Eddie asked as the song started.

Steve gave him a sympathetic look and clapped him on the back. “Oh, you'll see.”

You stepped up to the mic, the one Eddie's used on countless occasions, and wrapped your little hands around it. Something about it being his mic your lips were so close to made the primitive part of his brain purr with delight, and he relaxed into his seat, hiding his growing erection under the table.

Steve slid his beer to Eddie, who took a grateful sip, his mouth dry as the desert.

“Santa Baby, just slip a Sable under the tree, for me,” you sang, your voice breathy and so sweet. “Been an awful good girl.”

Your eyes locked on Eddie and he nearly choked, his cock lurching painfully against his jeans, heart pounding in his ears.

Surely you didn't mean to look directly at him, right? He had a habit of searching you out during shows too, you were probably just mirroring that. Looking for a familiar face in a sea of strangers.

“Santa Baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.” You dragged your hands down the mic stand, swaying your hips to the music, and Eddie thought he might faint.

He maybe would have, if it wasn't for the roaring men pushing towards the front of the stage drawing his attention.

But your eyes were still locked on him, ignoring them entirely, and he gave you an encouraging thumbs up. He wasn't about to let his stupid crush, or a bunch of leering creeps, ruin your fun.

You kept singing, your voice a little wobbly, but airy in that way that made his pants tighten and his mind wander to places it definitely shouldn't. You looked so beautiful up there, laughing and swaying to the music, that Eddie found himself smiling too.

“Lookin’ a little lovesick there, Eds,” Steve teased, nudging him with his elbow.

Eddie waved him off. “Nah, just making sure she has someone that isn't a perv to look at.”

Steve nodded, popping some nuts into his mouth. Steve was the only friend of theirs that seemed to clock Eddie's shift in demeanor, though he mostly kept it to himself. Eddie knew he knew, and Steve knew that Eddie knew he knew, and that was good enough.

You wrapped up the song with a flourish, doing a little curtsy in your mini skirt, and Eddie cheered as loud as he could, ensuring you heard him over the roar of douche bags.

He jumped up, rushing to meet you at the edge of the stage before someone else could, adjusting himself as went. The crowd parted and there you were, bright as the morning sun, bounding down the stairs and into his arms.

“I did it!” You cried.

“You were amazing,” he murmured, lifting you up and spinning your around. It was totally platonic, but the rest of these fucks didn't know that.

“Phew, what a show. Next up we have a familiar face! Eddie Munson of our very own Corroded Coffin singing ‘Blue Christmas’!”

You squealed in delight and Eddie's jaw dropped. “Go, go!” You shoved against his back, pushing him up the stairs as someone handed him a guitar.

“Figured you didn't need the track, yeah?” Danny, the stagehand said with a grin.

“I don't know this shit, man,” Eddie protested, but Danny rolled his eyes.

“I'll play it in the background, you'll pick it up!”

Suddenly Eddie was in the spotlight, and you were jumping up and down on the side stage. It was far from an atypical experience for him, but butterflies still churned in his stomach. He never got used to you watching him perform, even if it was something as silly as Christmas karaoke. The pressure to impress you was paralyzing, but if it would make you happy…

The track started rolling softly in the background, and he focused on his fingers, finding the simple chord and replicating it with relative ease. The audience cheered even louder, and he smirked to himself.

He risked a glance over at you, confident he had a handle on the notes, and you were practically glowing with joy.

Shit, maybe Corroded Coffin needed to add some Christmas song to their set.

Words started to roll across the small screen at his feet, and he stepped up to the mic, absolutely delighted to find a smear of your lipgloss on the net.

“I’ll have a blue Christmas, without you,” he crooned, putting on his best Elvis impression, and the roar of the ladies was deafening. “I'll be so blue just thinking about you.” He let his eyes wander back to you at the end of the lyric, wondering if you understood just how close this song hit home for him.

You were grinning ear to ear, swaying happily to the music. Oblivious.

“You’ll be doing all right, with your Christmas of white. But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas,” he continued, finding that he did, in fact, know this song despite his earlier assertion.

C’mon, who didn't know Elvis?

Thankfully, it was an incredibly brief song, and he finished off with a freestyle riff, earning another cacophony of drunken cheers.

He bowed and hustled of the stage to where you waited for him, arms open. He held the guitar behind his back and scooped you up around the waist with his free arm, lifting your feet off the ground.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, wafting your sweet perfume and the bitter sting of alcohol over him. “That was amazing!” You gushed.

“Thanks, sweetheart. But you were better,” he replied, passing Danny the guitar. He started to carry you down the steps, but you shook your head.

“Wanna go backstage,” you murmured against his ear, and his heart stopped.

He pulled his head back to look at you, eyebrows raised. “Backstage? Why?”

You worried your lip between your teeth, eyes like melting honey. “Please, Eddie baby?”

He could do nothing but obey, backing up the steps and ducking behind the curtain with you still in his arms. He shifted his hold you, your legs wrapping around his waist, mini skirt pushing up to enough to give him a glimpse of the cherry red of your panties.

You dragged your nails down his shoulders, your lips finding his throat and leaving soft, sticky kisses along his jugular vein that may as well have been along his cock for how intense the contact felt.

“Honey,” he grunted, stopping to press you against a dressing room door. “How drunk are you?” he panted, eyes crossing when your tongue laved over his pulse, your teeth grazing his pierced lobes.

“Not too drunk, I promise,” you said, pulling back to look him in the eye. “Been wanting this for so long, Eddie, please—”

He swallowed your sweet words with a kiss, tentative at first, but quickly devolving into a sloppy mess, your cherry flavored lip gloss and the lingering taste of cranberry vodka flipping a switch in his brain that had his long-held control unraveling. This was his one shot to impress you, his one shot to get you as addicted to him as he was to you, and he was not about to fuck it up.

Eddie was the town freak, and dating him came with all the baggage of that title. But he’d show you the benefits of it, too.

He had to make like Santa Clause and fucking deliver.

With a quick turn of his wrist, he opened the door to the dressing room and carried you through. He dropped you onto the leather chaise before climbing up your body, capturing your lips in another hungry kiss. Your tongue probed at his lower lip and he opened for you, your smaller muscle licking curiously along the inside of his mouth, when he felt the tip of it brush the warm metal of his tongue piercing.

You gasped, apparently having forgotten about that particular modification, and pride blazed through his chest like an inferno.

He leveraged your surprise to turn the power into his favor, driving his tongue into your mouth, feeling drunk himself on the intoxicating taste of your drool. He dragged the piercing over the roof of your mouth and you shivered, your hips rising to press against his thigh.

He pressed his leg harder against your deliciously warm cunt and you whimpered, you hips rolling in a more deliberate motion. He brought one of his hands down to grip your hip, his rings digging into your soft flesh as he helped you ride his thigh.

“How long you been wanting this, baby? Huh?” He rasped against your ear, hearing your breath hitch. “Barely touched you and look, so desperate already.”

Your hands curled against his shirt, your hips stuttering against his thigh as the pleasure mounted, your slick starting to seep through your panties onto his jeans. “Fuck, feels s’good,” you whined, burying your face into his neck.

“Yeah? Little pussy getting nice and wet for me? Such a good girl. Look so sexy riding my thigh.” He encouraged, noting the way his words made your hips move incrementally faster, the filth spurring you on.

Despite thoroughly enjoying the sight of you dry humping his leg, his mouth watered for something even sweeter.

He moved his thigh back, the denim wet with your honey, and he lowered to his knees on the ground. “Can I taste, sugar? You’re not the only one that's been waiting ages for this.” He started kissing up your inner thighs, wet and loud smacks on your tender skin as he moved closer to your sopping panties.

“Please, Eds, wanna feel you,” you panted, spreading your thighs wider for him like an angel opening heaven’s gates.

His heart gave an elated thump. How could this be real life? Here he was, moments from devouring your drooling, pink pussy and you were saying his name like that? Asking to feel his tongue against you? Maybe he really had gone to fucking heaven.

“Fuck, so pretty. So fucking perfect.” He dragged his tongue over the clingy fabric of your panties, sucking the material into his mouth to taste you. His eyes rolled back in his head—so fucking sweet.

With deft fingers, he slid them down your legs and stuffed them in his back pocket, before settling back between your legs.

You were trembling with anticipation, worrying your lips between your teeth as you watched him through your painted lashes. With a flattened tongue, he licked from your entrance to your clit, feeling the heat, the velvet softness of your slit without obstruction.

You keened, throwing your head back onto the arm of the couch when he swirled the tip around your clit, flicking his piercing over the sensitive bud.

Shit, he could do this forever. Just live between your legs, making music with the most beautiful instrument he'd ever played: you.

With two fingers, he dipped into the pool of slick at your entrance, lubricating himself before easing them inside, watching your face over the stretch of your body for signs of discomfort. But you only continued to moan, already looking gorgeously wrecked.

He worked you with his tongue and fingers, finding that spongy spot inside you that made you sing, and let himself get lost in the rhythm, the mind-numbing bliss of pleasuring you.

“Eddie baby, fuck. M’getting close,” you whined, and he could feel the truth of your statement, your walls starting to twitch and clench around his fingers, your clit swelling under his tongue.

“That's it, sugar. Come all over my tongue, wanna drown in you—”

You cry drowned out his words, the cunt clenching hard around his aching fingers, a fresh gush of honey soaking his palm and chin. Pride soared through him, and he greedily lapped up every drop you released for him, watching your body twitch and writhe while you came down.

“You’re a goddamn dream, baby. Did so well f’me,” he cooed, easing his fingers out of you and cleaning them with his tongue before placing a final kiss on your puffy clit.

“Fuck, Eddie,” you panted, pulling him up onto the couch with shaky arms. “You're too good at that.” You leaned in for a kiss, dragging your tongue over his lips before smushing your lips together in a quick, sloppy press.

“Thank you, honey,” he hummed, feeling like a damn king. The luckiest bastard alive.

But then you shifted off the couch, settling on your knees between his thighs, and his brain turned off.

“What are you—” His words fractured into a strangled moan when you dragged your tongue over the hard swell of his cock, separated by the rough fabric of his jeans.

You continued to mouth at his bulge while undoing his belt with quick little fingers, unzipping his jeans. He reached into his boxers and freed himself, still half-dazed by the sight of you on your knees for him in a dirty, dive bar dressing room.

He was painfully hard, the head and angry red and leaking, his balls already tight and hot. And you, being the sweet thing you are, didn't waste a second, popping the head into your mouth and sucking the precum from his skin.

Your mouth was scalding, melting his mind at the wet pliancy of your tongue and cheeks while you took him deeper.

“Fucking shit, baby. Oh god—” he fisted the couch cushions, the temptation to fist your hair and push you deeper overwhelming. But he wanted to see what you would do on your own.

You hollowed out your cheeks, bobbing your head up and down his shaft with messy, drooling strokes, your hand wrapped around his base. His vision went fuzzy, heat curling low in his stomach as pleasure spilled through him.

Shit, you were too fucking good at that.

“Baby, baby, baby,” he chanted, head thrown back against the couch, and finally he let himself place his hand on the back of your head, careful to keep his rings from catching in your hair. You leaned into him, moaning softly around his length.

He picked his head up, needing to watch you as you reached the base of him, a sticky, soaking mess in the thatch of his dark pubic hair.

“That's it, sugar. Just like that—fuck,” he grunted, his hips canting up when he felt the tightness of your throat, your tongue lapping at the throbbing root of him. He was deliriously, embarrassingly close already, but he didn't have the heart to slow you down for even a second.

You pulled back, suckling the head with your plush lips while your hand twisted up and down his slippery shaft, the swallowed him down again with a sinful slurp.

Like a bolt of lightening, his balls drew up and he was coming, unable to give you more of a warning than his hand flexing, his cock swelling on your tongue. Sparks danced behind his eyes, his nerves frying beneath his skin as he released rope after rope of come down your throat.

And like a good girl, you swallowed it all and sucked him dry, broken whines falling from his lips as your nursed his oversensitive head.

“Baby, fuck, take it easy on me—”

You released him with a pop, flashing the sweetest, most angelic smile with your chin covered in drool and lipgloss, and he dragged you up into his lap, desperate to hold you close.

“I do good?” You asked, batting your lashes at him, a smug little smirk on your face.

“Good? Honey, you rocked my world.” He pulled you in for a kiss, toothy and playful since neither of you could stop smiling, giddy with the shock of it all.

You giggled as his rained kisses over your face, down your neck, his fingers tickling along your hips and up over your ribs. He wrapped his arms around your waist, leaning back against the couch as he slowed his movements, coaxing you to relax into him.

“Wanted you for long,” he murmured into your hair. “Please tell me you'll be mine.” The words came out so soft, for a second he wasn't sure if you'd heard him.

But then you pressed your hands to his chest and sat up a little, looking into his eyes. “I already am, Eds.”

He grinned, cheeks sore and heart pounding, and kissed you again while a terrible rendition of Ella Fitzgerald's “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” bleed through the thin walls.

Looked like it wouldn't be a blue Christmas after all.

[steveseddie]

hidden bouquet

written for this month’s @steddiemicrofic prompt “rose, 367 words” | rated: g | cw: none | tags: pre-relationship, oblivious steve, fluff

It’s not until they’re leaving Lover’s Lake that Steve finds the roses. 

Something red catches his eye as he puts away the empty picnic basket– a bouquet underneath the backseat of Eddie’s van.

“What’s that?” He asks Eddie, who is right behind him carrying the blankets they used to sit on.

“What’s what?” 

When Steve reaches for the flowers, Eddie’s eyes go comically wide. 

“Oh. That.” He won’t meet Steve’s eyes, fumbling with the blankets. “Uh, they’re not– Jeff must’ve left them there yesterday–” 

Steve brings the flowers to his face. “No way, man, these are freshly cut.”

Eddie sputters. “What are you? A fucking florist?” 

“No,” Steve snorts at the snarky response. “I’ve just gifted my fair share of roses.”

He’s never gotten any though. Whoever Eddie bought these for is a lucky guy. Steve wonders who it is, Eddie never mentioned having a date when he said they should hang out on Valentine’s Day.

“So, uh, who are these for anyway?” Steve can’t help but ask, trying to sound casual. “Got a big date later, Munson?”

Eddie groans, dragging a hand down his face. “Steve,” he says with a resigned sigh. “They’re for you.”

Steve blinks at him, then at the flowers. “Me?”

Eddie’s cheeks are as red as the roses when he nods sheepishly. “Yeah. There’s no secret date– this was the date,” he says, gesturing at the picnic basket, the blankets, the two of them. “Or it was supposed to be, but I chickened out and didn’t ask you out properly.” He gestures at the roses. “I chickened out of giving you those too.”

“Why?”

Eddie shrugs. “Wasn’t sure if you wanted that,” he says. If you wanted me, Steve hears. 

He shoves the roses in Eddie’s face. “One way to find out,” he says, shooting him an earnest look. 

Eddie’s eyes flicker over Steve’s face and whatever he finds there makes his expression turn hopeful. He holds out the bouquet with a soft smile. “Stevie, do you want to go on a real date with me?” 

Their fingers brush when Steve reaches for the flowers. “I’d love to, Eds,” he says, smiling back.

It’s a good thing Valentine’s Day isn’t over yet. 

[keeryhours]

please be gentle (when you’re tearing me apart)

Eddie Munson x female! reader, Steve Harrington x reader

Main Masterlist

Eddie Munson Masterlist

Steve Harrington Masterlist

Summary:

You’re in love with Eddie, Eddie’s in love with someone else. Somehow, he accidentally ends up in a relationship with you anyway.

Warnings:

(18+), SERIOUS angst, there is only pain here, hurt/no comfort or hurt/a little comfort, cheating, pregnancy, pregnancy complications, birth/c section, Eddie is really out of character and is a total dick, Chrissy is out of character and she also sucks (sorry guys), smut, fingering, protected p in v, virgin!eddie, virgin!reader, really awkward first time!

Word Count: 14.6k

A/N:

WOW okay this was totally unexpected to write. The length especially. This is just something depressing for the anti-Valentine’s Day mood. I’ve been nervous to post so I hope you enjoy! Big giant thanks to @punkrockmlchael (who made my beautiful banner again and also beta read), @the-witty-pen-name , @fizzing-imagines, @losingmygrasponreality, @writhingg , and @lesservillain for bouncing ideas and beta reading! I couldn’t have written this without you. Also ignore that there’s only dividers for half the fic, apparently you can only add 10 images to a post 🙃

dividers by @/strangergraphics

Best friends.

That’s what you and Eddie were, and always had been. Growing up as neighbors in Forest Hills, you met when you were 8 and Eddie was 10, after he moved in with his uncle.

To be honest with yourself, you had had a crush on Eddie Munson since the first time you laid eyes on him. A silly childhood crush at first, he was so cute with his curls, short at the time, and it made your heart beat fast whenever you walked to the store together for snacks and he held your hand.

He would play you all kinds of music you’d never heard before, heavy stuff that was totally new to you. You weren’t sure about it at first, but you grew to love it. When he got into D&D, he would talk your ear off about his campaign plans for hours. You didn’t mind. You liked listening to him talk. When he started Hellfire, you were the first member to join. You didn’t know how to play an instrument, but you were Corroded Coffin’s biggest fan.

Eddie was everything to you. He was the first person you went to with any news, the only one you were excited to tell anything and everything to. He took you to see every new slasher movie, bought you your first dice set. He was the first thing you thought about in the morning and the last you thought of at night. At some point, it turned into more than a crush.

At some point, you fell in love.

Eddie was oblivious. He never dated in high school, but that didn’t seem to bother him. You didn’t, either, but it was mostly because you were so preoccupied with loving Eddie. You tried dropping hints, but he never seemed to figure it out. You were too scared to just get it over with and tell him outright.

So, you remained best friends. Just friends.

—

“Are you going to prom this year?” Wayne asked, sipping his beer as he sat relaxed in his recliner. Eddie nursed his own beer, feet up on the coffee table.

“Nah,” Eddie said. “You know that’s…not my thing.”

“You should go at least once,” Wayne said. “Might regret it.”

“I doubt it.”

“I had a great time at my senior prom,” Wayne reminisced, smiling at the memory. “You should give it a shot, Ed. Why don’t you take your little friend from next door?”

Eddie shook his head. “I don’t feel that way about her.”

“You can go as friends,” he pointed out. “I’m sure she’d like that. Girl adores you.”

“I’m pretty sure she has a crush on me,” Eddie winced, sipping his beer. “I don’t want to give her the wrong idea.”

“You don’t have to marry her, Ed. Just show her a good time. You two have been so close for so long, I’m sure she would understand.”

Eddie thought about it. He didn’t want to go to prom, like at all, but he wanted to make his uncle happy. And if he had to go with someone, it might as well be you, his only female friend, right?

So, he approached you at your locker the next day at school. “Hey.”

You turned to him, your face immediately lighting up with a huge smile. “Hey, Eds.”

“I, uh,” Eddie looked around awkwardly. “I just wanted to ask if you’d want to go to…prom with me?”

Your eyes went wide, but inside your heart was thundering out of your chest. Had Eddie really just asked you out? “Prom? Really? I thought you hated prom?”

“Yeah, well,” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s my last senior year. Hopefully, at least. I figured I might as well give it a shot. We can pre game and sneak in some alcohol. And if it’s lame, we can ditch.”

You couldn’t wipe the huge smile off your face. You were almost a little concerned at how hard your heart was beating in that moment, like it would give out. “I’d love to go with you.”

Eddie gave you a soft smile. “Cool. I’ll pick you up at 6 that night.”

You watched as Eddie left, heading in the direction of his next class of the day. You waited until he was out of sight before you went sprinting in the direction of Robin’s locker.

You found her there, taking her books out. She startled when you ran up on her, placing her hand over her chest. “Jesus. What’s up with you?”

“Eddie just asked me to prom,” you blurted out. Robin’s jaw dropped open.

“No way!” She exclaimed, her look of shock turning to one of pure excitement. “This is huge. I always knew he was into you.”

You blushed. “I don’t know. I had given up hope of him liking me back. This was so out of the blue. I didn’t even think he wanted to go to prom at all.”

“Maybe he’s just better at hiding his feelings,” Robin offered. “Either way, we’re going dress shopping. Prom is only two weeks away!”

That weekend, Robin convinced her mom to drive the two of you to Indianapolis to go shopping in the big city. You were both giddy with excitement - Robin wasn’t much of a dress girl, and she didn’t have a date. The only person she wanted to take, she couldn’t ask. You were pretty sure Vickie was into girls and Robin in particular, but Robin was still too scared to make the move. You didn’t blame her. It wasn’t like typical rejection if things went wrong. So, instead, Robin was going with a group of girls from the marching band as friends.

Her mom took you to the huge mall, which was much more impressive than Starcourt. It was huge, with a ton of different stores. You made a stop at Camelot Music first, where Robin got a new Blondie tape and you grabbed the new The Smiths record and a Metallica Master of Puppets tape for Eddie, since his had recently broken.

Next was the formal wear store. You were both immediately overwhelmed when you walked in, the racks and racks of fancy dresses as far as the eye could see. All different colors, lengths, and styles. It was…a lot.

“Well…I guess let’s get started,” Robin said, her voice unsure.

You probably tried on 50 dresses each. You and Robin giggled as you tried on the dresses her mom picked for you, big floofy pink and blue monstrosities.

“You look like a marshmallow. Like a big pink marshmallow,” Robin had commented.

“Yeah?” You laughed, gesturing towards her powder blue gown. “Well, you look like a wedding cake.”

An hour and a half into dress shopping, you were both getting tired and totally over it. You had the last gown you’d picked out in your hand, and you told yourself if you hated this one, too, you’d just say fuck it and go to prom in your ripped jeans.

You pulled the dress over your head, smoothing it down your body. When you turned and looked into the mirror, you gasped. You actually looked…beautiful.

The dark purple dress hugged your curves, pushing your breasts up and making them look much sexier (and perkier) than they really were. The skirt fell above your knees, showing off your legs. You did a little twirl, the skirt swishing around your thighs. You loved it, it was by far the best one you’d tried on.

“Are you alive in there?” Robin called from outside the dressing room, and you smiled to yourself.

“I think we have a winner,” you called back.

“Ooh!” Robin said just as you moved the curtain and walked out. You saw Robin standing in a dark blue dress that looked beautiful on her, the skirt long but flattering.

“Oh my god,” she said. “You look stunning! Eddie is going to lose his mind.”

You blushed at the mention of Eddie. “You do too!” And she did. Finally, you had both found something.

After you left the dress shop with your bags in hand, you were both feeling much happier. You made a stop at Afterthoughts, where you found some earrings and a necklace to match your dress.

You couldn’t believe you were going to prom, and with Eddie. It was a dream come true.

You couldn’t wait.

—

Prom night, you were shaking as you got ready. The dress was just as beautiful as you remembered. The jewelry you had picked out matched your dress even better than you’d hoped.

Eddie picked you up right on time. He smiled at you awkwardly when he picked you up, holding a corsage in his hand. “Hey.”

You beamed at him. “Hi. Is…that for me?”

“Oh, yeah.” He looked at it like he had forgotten he had it. “You look pretty,” he told you as he slipped the corsage onto your wrist. You blushed as you pinned the boutonnière to his black suit jacket.

“You look handsome yourself,” you told him shyly.

Eddie drove the two of you to the school. The parking lot was packed with students’ cars and even a few rented limousines. Just as you were about to get out of the van, Eddie stopped you. He reached into his glove compartment and pulled out two black flasks, handing one to you.

“This should make this night a lot more fun, yeah?” He smirked. You smiled back, before making a face as you took a sip of the burning liquid. Eddie laughed, which made you start giggling, too.

You took a photo together at the booth near the gym doors, which Eddie wasn’t super excited about. The next thing he did was head for the food, piling a tiny plate full of appetizers. You followed him, grabbing a cup of punch to help wash down the liquor in your purse.

Eddie wouldn’t dance with you until after he’d finished his flask, claiming it was stupid and he wouldn’t be caught dead dancing at prom. But by the time he finished it, he had enough of a buzz that he didn’t care. You were tipsy, too, and absolutely elated when he stood and took your hand, leading you to the floor just as a slow song came on.

Eddie playfully groaned, rolling his eyes, but he pulled you close to his body anyway. Butterflies took flight in your stomach as he placed his hands on your hips and you wrapped yours around his neck. The two of you swayed together in time to the music. You could not stop smiling. You laid your head on Eddie’s chest, tuning out the music as you listened to his heartbeat.

After prom, you headed back to the van. You’d had the best night of your life, one you would never forget. Yeah, you were both a little bit intoxicated, but you were floating on the clouds for a whole different reason.

“D’you want to come back to my place?” Eddie asked as he started the engine. “We could drink a little more, smoke a joint. Wayne’s working.”

You wanted nothing more. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

At the trailer, Eddie rolled up a thick joint as you gathered the bottles of liquor and shot glasses from the cabinet. Eddie was back in normal clothes, and you’d changed into one of Eddie’s shirts and a pair of his sweatpants that were too big on you.

Eddie sparked up the joint as you poured each of you two shots of tequila. You clinked your glasses together before downing them both. Eddie took the first drag on the joint, his eyes falling closed as he inhaled the thick smoke. He looked gorgeous like this, curls still tamed and framing his face. The smoke escaped through his perfect lips, trailing up and throughout the bedroom. He handed the joint to you, and you gratefully took it, bringing it to your painted lips. Some of your lipstick had rubbed off on the shot glasses, leaving a stain.

As the night went on, the two of you got progressively more drunk and high. By the time it was 2am, the two of you were giggling messes, listening to music over the stereo and talking about the latest campaign. Suddenly, in your drunkenly stoned haze, you remembered the gift stashed in your purse.

“Oh!” You exclaimed, jumping up to grab your small bag. “I forgot. I got you something.”

“You got me something?” Eddie asked, confused, his words slightly slurring together.

You reached into the purse and pulled out the bag from Camelot. You hoped he loved it, because now that it was in your hands, you were suddenly nervous. You turned, smiling softly as you handed Eddie the bag. “I just saw it while I was at the mall with Robin and I thought of you.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows at you as he took the bag. He reached inside and pulled out the Metallica tape, a huge grin spreading across his face immediately. “Shit! You didn’t have to do this. But it’s fuckin’ awesome you did.”

You giggled, flopping back onto the bed next to him. You laid with your head on his pillow, smiling up at Eddie from where he sat next to you. “I’m glad you like it. I know yours broke. Probably because you play it all the time.”

Eddie poked you in the side, making you laugh harder. “Shut up, Freak. You love Master of Puppets just as much as I do.”

“That’s true,” you conceded. You looked up at him, his chocolate brown eyes gazing down at you. They sparkled, like his personality was shining its way through. He had a strong nose, kissable lips. God, you wanted to kiss those lips.

Eddie had never realized how pretty you were. He always just saw you as his long time best friend, the girl who definitely crushed on him but he never saw that way. He still didn’t think he had feelings for you, but…you were pretty.

“Have you ever kissed a guy before?” He asked, pushing a section of hair off your shoulder.

You blushed at the question. You didn’t have much experience, your love life was nonexistent. But you had kissed someone, at least. “Yeah. Tommy Hagan in 7th grade.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. “Tommy Hagan? That dickhead? You never told me that.”

You shrugged, your cheeks red and hot. “It didn’t mean anything. I got invited to Heather Holloway’s birthday party and he was there. We all played spin the bottle. It only lasted two seconds and we never really talked again.” Eddie hummed. “What about you?”

It was Eddie’s turn to look sheepish. “Uh, yeah. A girl at school, Chrissy, in 8th grade. We didn’t date or anything.”

Now it was your turn to be shocked. “Chrissy Cunningham? You didn’t tell me that, either!” He had never mentioned her. You knew it was stupid, but you were struck with jealousy at his words.

“It was nothing,” he said, brushing it off.

“Look at us,” you laughed. “18 and almost 20, and we’re still a couple of virgins.”

Eddie looked down at you, something unfamiliar swimming behind his eyes. He had never wanted to kiss you before this moment, but now... “I mean, we can change that.”

Your heart stopped in your chest. “What do you mean?”

Eddie thought about it for a moment. This could be a point of no return, a step in a direction he didn’t want to take. But in his drunk and high mind…he wanted it. He wanted you.

He leaned forward slowly, so slowly. Your breath hitched in your throat right before his lips pressed against yours. They were just as soft as you always dreamed they were, and your mind went even more hazy from his kisses.

Neither of you were experienced at all and you were both pretty intoxicated, so the kiss was a little awkward and desperate. All tongues and teeth clashing together, hungry for one another. Eddie’s hand slid beneath your t-shirt - his Hellfire shirt - trailing up your smooth skin until he reached your breasts. You hadn’t worn a bra with your dress, so you were bare chested beneath the thin shirt. His calloused fingers delicately grazed your nipples, making you shiver. You’d never been touched there before, never felt anything like this. Being touched by Eddie was so much different than being touched by your own hand.

“I love your tits,” Eddie mumbled against your lips between kisses. You hummed, arching your back into his touch.

“Feels good, Ed,” you moaned quietly, body turning into pure electricity under his wandering touch. Your own hand tangled in the curls at the back of his neck, loving the way your bodies molded together, the feeling of his body finally pressed up against your own.

“Yeah?” He squeezed your breast one more time before his hand moved to your back, sliding down your body until he grabbed your ass, pulling you into him. You gasped, feeling how hard he was through his own sweatpants. “You feel how hard I am?”

“Yeah,” you whispered back. You moved your hand to his chest, sliding it down his body until you reached the tent in his pants. He groaned as you felt him, squeezing his cock through the material.

Eddie sat up, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it somewhere on the floor. You eyed his bare chest, the tattoos adorning his pale skin. You traced a finger over the design on the left side of his chest. God, he was so hot.

His hands slid up your shirt, pulling it up and off. His gaze dropped straight to your tits, he was practically drooling. He reached for the waistband of your sweatpants next, pulling them down your body slowly, leaving you in nothing but your panties. You were grateful you picked something pretty, red and lace.

“So sexy,” Eddie moaned. He leaned forward and kissed your stomach, which startled you a little. He trailed kisses up your body until he reached your breasts, where he ran his tongue over one of your nipples before wrapping his lips around it. You moaned as you arched into his touch, his mouth, whatever he would give you.

His hand slid down your body slowly, slowly, until it reached your panties. He slipped beneath them, fingers dipping between your folds. He could feel how insanely wet you were, and it only made his cock harder.

“So wet for me,” he said. “Bet you can’t wait for my cock.”

You whimpered as he pressed a finger against your entrance. Slowly, carefully he pushed it inside, stretching you for the first time. You gasped at the intrusion, but the pain faded quickly. Eddie slowly pumped his long finger in and out of your pussy, pressing against something deep inside that felt incredible as he curled his finger against it. He added a second finger shortly after, and the stretch was more intense, but from the feeling of the size of his cock in your hand, you knew it wouldn’t even be comparable.

Eddie fingered you a little longer, getting you nice and wet and ready for him, before he removed his hand and slipped your panties off. Now bare before him, he drank you in with his hungry eyes. His cock twitched in his pants.

You helped him push them down his hips, and he kicked them off onto the floor. He didn’t have boxers on underneath, and his dick was so much more impressive once fully revealed. It was big enough that it made you feel scared even through your mind haze.

“You can take it,” he assured you, his words still slightly slurred. “I know you can.”

He reached over you into the bedside table and pulled out an unopened box of condoms. “Finally get to use these,” he laughed, taking one out of the box and ripping it open. You watched as he slid the rubber over his hard cock, tip red and glistening. You wished you could have had a taste.

Eddie got in between your legs, kissing all over your neck before meeting your lips again. His tongue pressed into your mouth immediately, attempting to distract you from the pain where he was lining himself up and slowly beginning to push inside.

You whined as he began to fill you, inch by thick inch. When he was fully seated inside he pulled back and snapped his hips back into you, making you gasp. He set a quick pace, desperately rutting into you as he chased his pleasure, his drunken rhythm sloppy and uneven.

You held onto him tightly as he fucked into you, and he groaned into your neck where he had his face buried. “Feels so good,” he moaned, not exactly caring how you felt, only worried about his own quickly impending orgasm. It was his first time and he was not going to last.

“Eddie,” you whined, “you’re so big.”

He groaned at that. “Yeah, baby? You like it?”

“Mmhmm,” you moaned, and it did feel good, but he was also splitting you in half.

“Fuck,” he hissed, “I’m gonna cum. I’m gonna fucking cum.”

He pumped into you just a couple more times before he was stilling, buried to the hilt inside you as he filled the condom. He moaned loudly, body trembling on top of you as he rode out his orgasm. You didn’t get to cum, but you were too drunk to care.

Eddie pulled out, removing the condom and tying it off before tossing it into the trash can. He collapsed onto the bed next to you, his naked body sweaty, chest heaving.

“That was…good,” you said, not knowing if it was or not. You were happy to have lost your virginity to Eddie, and the whole night had been a dream. But he hadn’t exactly cared about your pleasure. You waited for Eddie to reply, to say anything, but nothing came.

He was already snoring.

—

The unbearably bright light shining through the window around his curtains is the first thing Eddie experienced the next morning. It woke him up, but he only squeezed his eyes shut tighter, groaning as the light made his pounding headache infinitely worse. Fuck, he drank way too much last night.

He barely even remembered it. He remembered the prom, he remembered drinking a lot, doing shots, and smoking a joint. He remembered you, but his memory was hazy. How did you get home anyway? He didn’t remember driving you home after prom.

Eddie stretched, his muscles stiff. He was naked beneath his blanket, which wasn’t entirely unusual. He probably just didn’t feel like changing once he got his suit off.

Eventually he figured he should get out of bed. He rolled over and stood with another old man groan. Fuck, he had to cut back on the drinking, because he definitely felt a lot older than 19 right now.

He pulled on some boxers and a pair of sweatpants he found on the floor, remaining shirtless. Wayne would be passed out in his own bedroom after a long night of work at the plant. But Eddie was starving, and he needed something for that headache.

When he stepped out of the room, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Something delicious was wafting from the kitchen, the smell of bacon overpowering some other food scents. That was weird. Wayne didn’t cook breakfast, not the morning after a work night. He walked down the hall cautiously, brows furrowed as he neared the end of the hallway. He turned the corner, and froze.

You were there in the kitchen, expertly flipping a pancake in a pan. A plate sat on the counter next to you filled with bacon, and another pan on the next burner was cooking scrambled eggs. Oh, and you were dressed in nothing but Eddie’s oversized t-shirt and your underwear.

Oh shit, Eddie thought. What the fuck did I do?

The floor creaked as he stepped into the kitchen, and you turned around, a smile spreading across your lips at the sight of him. “Hey, sleepyhead. I made us some breakfast. Thought you could use something on your stomach.”

Eddie didn’t know what to say or do. Did he sleep with you? Oh god. He was going to be sick. “Uh, good morning. You, uh, didn’t have to do all this.”

He watched as you plated the finished pancakes and eggs. “I thought we could both use a big breakfast after last night,” you said, giving him a smirk. Oh, shit. He did sleep with you last night. He drunkenly lost his virginity after prom, to you.

Fuck. He was a fucking idiot.

You started making plates for the both of you. “I set out a water bottle and some Tylenol for you over there,” you said, nodding to the corner of the counter. Eddie took the medicine immediately, desperate for some relief from his unbearable headache. Now he wasn’t sure what was making it worse, the hangover or the knowledge of what he’d done.

He sat down across from you at the small table. He didn’t know what to say. Your friendship would never be the same after this. He knew you liked him, he didn’t like you, then he slept with you. Now he had to crush your heart. He really felt like he was going to be sick.

“Did you sleep okay?” You finally asked as the two of you ate, breaking the silence.

“Huh?” Eddie snapped back to reality. “Oh. Yeah.”

You smiled softly at him. You figured he was just still cloudy from the weed. “I had a good time last night.”

“Yeah…” Eddie said. “Me too.”

Your face lit up at that, and he could have slapped himself. He didn’t mean that. He didn’t even remember the sex. He was not doing a good job of not leading you on. “Listen,” he said, “about that-“

“It was really good,” you said. Eddie’s watched as your cheeks turned red and you looked down at your plate. “Sorry. I just meant…I enjoyed it. Being with you.”

Eddie had suspected, known even, that you had a crush on him, but this was the first time you’d ever admitted it out loud. Eddie was really going to have to stomp on your heart to put an end to those thoughts, and it was all his fault. He never should have brought you home after prom. “Look, I-“

“I didn’t think you liked me back,” you continued, rambling nervously, excitedly. “I…to be honest with you I’ve had a crush on you for years, but I was always too scared to tell you. But you never seemed like you were into me…until last night.” You giggled, covering your mouth. “I can’t believe we’re together now.”

Together?

Oh, fuck. He couldn’t do this. He could not do this. He couldn’t crush your spirit, wipe that elated smile off your face. He’d never seen you look so happy. He felt like the biggest asshole.

“Oh, yeah,” he said instead. “Um, me either.”

“I can’t wait to tell Robin,” you continued. “She’s going to freak.”

—

Eddie couldn’t believe he had gotten himself into this situation.

Sure, you were his best friend so he liked your personality, and it’s not like you weren’t cute, but he just didn’t have feelings for you in the way you did for him. But now he had slept with you and you thought he liked you back. He had somehow, some way, become your actual boyfriend.

“I thought you didn’t like her like that?” Gareth asked the next school day after prom at lunch. You were sitting with Robin today. You often bounced between the marching band table and the Hellfire table.

“I don’t,” Eddie said simply.

Gareth, Jeff, and Grant looked at him like he was crazy. “Then how…why…?”

Eddie slammed his hand on the table. “Stop grilling me, okay?”

“Someone’s cranky,” Jeff muttered, turning back to his lunch tray in front of him.

“Yeah, you’re in a pretty shitty mood to be the only one of us to lose his virginity and get a girlfriend,” Grant commented. Gareth and Jeff agreed, nodding along.

“Yeah, well,” Eddie muttered. “Would be nice if it was with someone I’m actually into.”

“Harsh,” Gareth tsked. “You should be honest with her. You’re just leading her on.”

“I can’t.” Eddie buried his face in his hands, exasperated and stressed. “It’s gone too far. She thinks I’m her boyfriend. She thinks I like her back. I can’t crush her like that.”

The other three boys exchanged a look. “So…you’re just gonna marry her?” Grant asked.

Eddie froze. That is where this would eventually lead if he didn’t turn it around. But he was scared. He couldn’t bring himself to burst your bubble. “I’ll figure something out.”

As lunch was ending, Eddie jolted when you came up behind him, wrapping your arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, babe,” you giggled. “How was lunch?”

“Good,” Eddie said, giving each Hellfire boy a look that said don’t say or do a damn thing.

“You guys are so cute,” Robin said, holding her hands over her chest as she tilted her head to the side with a smile. “I’m so happy you’re finally together.”

Eddie felt sick. Just like he had all weekend, since the morning after prom. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m a lucky guy.”

Your whole face lit up with a smile. “I was thinking maybe we could hang out after school. Do our homework and work on the Curse of Vecna.”

Eddie groaned internally. This was such a disaster. “Sure.”

That day after school Eddie drove you back to his place. He reluctantly did his homework with you, mostly copying your answers rather than actually learning anything. Then the two of you laid on his bed and made out.

Hey, if he was going to be stuck in this relationship with someone he didn’t actually care for, the least he could do was take advantage of the benefits.

—

You spent four years with Eddie before you started noticing something was off.

It was the scent you started noticing on his clothes at first, like flowers and vanilla. You lifted his shirt from the laundry, the unexpected smell hitting you. You didn’t own anything that smelled like this, and Eddie certainly didn’t. You knew the smell of his cheap cologne better than anything, the amount of times you’d laid your head on his chest and smelled that distinctly Eddie scent. Something was wrong.

When you confronted him about it, he brushed it off. “It’s this new girl at work. Her perfume is so strong, everyone smells like it.”

You accepted the answer for the time being. But then there were other things you began to notice. A scrunchie that definitely didn’t belong to you on the floor of the passenger side of his van. A condom wrapper in the bathroom trash after you’d been out of town for the weekend. And finally, a pair of pink panties stuffed into the back pocket of his jeans that were so clearly not yours it was nearly comical if it hadn’t made you want to die.

When you confronted him about it the next time, it was with tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat. “Eddie,” you said, your voice cracking as you tossed the panties onto the floor in front of where he sat on the couch. “What are these?”

Eddie knew he had been caught. There was no getting out of it this time. You didn’t own any underwear like that, and it was the wrong size. How could he have been so stupid to have kept the panties? “I…”

“Really?” You sobbed. “You have nothing to say?”

“I’m not sure what you want me to say.” Eddie looked down at his hands. “Yeah, I’ve been sleeping with someone else.”

Even though you already knew his words were true, they still hit you right in the heart. You could feel it cracking, could feel the fault lines forming, the blood and life seeping out of it. “With who?” You asked, barely audible. You weren’t sure if you wanted the answer, but you needed it.

“That’s not important-“

“It is important,” you said. “It’s important to me.”

Eddie didn’t respond at first. He didn’t want to respond. “Chrissy Cunningham,” he answered reluctantly at last. “But don’t pull her into this, she doesn’t deserve to be-“

“Chrissy Cunningham?” You scoffed. “Eddie, we’ve been together for four years. Chrissy knows we’re together. So she was just fine sleeping with a guy she knew was taken?” You laughed humorlessly through the tears. “Wow. You guys are perfect for each other, then.”

Eddie shook his head. “Don’t do that, man, she-“

“‘Man’?” You couldn’t believe the conversation you were having. “Wow, I sure got demoted from baby fast, huh?”

He rubbed his hands over his face. “Please. I don’t wanna do this. I don’t feel like doing this.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have cheated!” You yelled back. “Why would you do this? How could you do this to me? I thought you loved me.”

Eddie mumbled something under his breath, something you couldn’t catch.

“What?” You asked. “I can’t hear you. Just fucking tell me. Why would you do this to me?”

When Eddie looked up at you, his eyes were full of anger, flames flickering behind his normally sweet doe eyes. The ones you had gazed into, taken comfort in so many times. When he opened his mouth, nothing but poison seeped out.

“Because I never loved you!” Eddie yelled, hands running through his hair to the point he was practically pulling it out. You had never seen him so upset. “Fuck! I went out with you because we were friends and I felt bad, and by the time we’d been together for months it was too late. I never liked you back like that. That’s the truth, finally.”

His words hit you like a shot to the chest. You stared at him with your lips parted, staggering gasps being dragged into your lungs. You shook uncontrollably as if it were suddenly freezing. But the tears didn’t yet fall. You felt like you might be in shock. “How…”

“How did I pretend to be in love with you?” He scoffed. “I didn’t do a very good job of it, but it doesn’t seem like you ever noticed. You were so blinded by who you wanted me to be, you couldn’t see what was right in front of you. Hey, as long as I came home and fucked you before passing out next to you, you just took it.” He laughed, a cruel, sinister laugh. “You just let me treat you like shit. Like you have no respect for yourself, or were just that obsessed with me.”

You didn’t even know who this was in front of you right now. This person who looked like Eddie, sounded like Eddie, but was spewing such horrible, hurtful words that Eddie never would. You didn’t recognize him at all. You wanted to blame his words on his heightened emotions, but you could tell everything he said was true. Especially with the cheating to back it up.

That’s not how you treated someone you cared about.

“So you just led me on for four years instead of telling me?” You asked. There was no fight behind your voice like there was in his. Only hurt and defeat. “Eddie…even before all this, you were my best friend. How could you do this to me?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. Because he was a selfish idiot coward? That was the truth. “Look, me and Chrissy- it just happened. It wasn’t supposed to, but it did. She came in to the Hideout, we got to talking-“

“And you fucked her?” You finished for him.

He just looked at you. “Yeah.”

The truth was, Eddie felt bad. He knew he had fucked up astronomically bad. He had led you on, used your body, betrayed you. Wasted four years of your life. He knew you thought he was the one, he knew you were waiting for a proposal that was never going to come. It was his fault things had gotten this far.

Maybe he thought he could fake it ‘til he made it. Maybe he thought if he pretended to be into you, eventually he would be. But that never happened.

And now you were crying, hard. His chest ached for some reason, even though he had no right to hurt for what he had done to you. He deserved to feel like shit.

He wasn’t prepared for the next words that came out of your mouth.

“I’m pregnant, Eddie,” you said, eyes squeezed shut as if that would stop the torrent of tears currently streaming down your face. There was no response. You had to force yourself to open your eyes and look, wondering if he was even still there.

He was. He stared at you, brown eyes wide, mouth hanging slightly open. “You’re- no.”

“I am,” you said, voice hoarse from crying. “I…”

Eddie shook his head. “No. No, no, no. This is not happening. It’s not fucking happening.”

You only cried harder. The pregnancy hormones had nothing to do with this; this was pure devastation, pure heartbreak. Your heart felt like it had crumbled in your chest and there was nothing left to repair even if you could.

“Let me see the test,” he said, holding a hand out.

“Why would I lie?” You asked, voice weak. You were so emotionally worn out, you felt like you could sleep for weeks. Months. Years. You wanted to.

“Because you want me to stay with you?” He scoffed. “Look, I’m not saying you’re lying, but I want to see to be sure.”

You just stared at him. Finally, you said “Fine,” going into your shared bedroom and coming out with a piece of paper with your office visit report. “I went to the doctor. Here.”

Eddie took the paper from your hands, examining it carefully. Sure enough, under “Reason for Visit/Diagnosis”, it said “Pregnancy - 8 weeks”.

“Christ,” Eddie said. He rubbed his hands over his face, like he was trying to erase the information from his brain. He was panicked. He couldn’t be a dad. Not right now, maybe not ever. He didn’t even know if he wanted kids. And with you? His soon to be ex girlfriend who he had treated like shit and didn’t love? “I mean fuck, man. What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” you said. Your voice was small, like all the fight had left you.

Eddie felt like he had ruined his life. For one thing, you were both still so young. That was without even mentioning the mess of a ‘relationship’ he had gotten himself involved in, the fact that it would never work out even if he wanted it to because he didn’t have feelings for you, and now he was standing here crushing his pregnant girlfriend’s heart. Like an asshole.

He was an asshole, and he knew it.

“Look,” he said finally. “If there’s really a kid-“

“There is.”

Eddie continued. “I’m not gonna abandon it. I’ll…be here. I’ll pay child support, I want to share custody, I want to be involved.”

You nodded. At least there was that, you supposed. As heart broken as you were, as much as you felt like going to sleep and never waking up again, you couldn’t bear the thought of Eddie leaving both of you. This baby deserved better.

“Look, I…I need some time. I’m gonna go stay with Wayne for a little while. Until I can get my own place.” Eddie looked at you with pity now, the news of the pregnancy dousing the fire of his earlier cruelty. “You can keep the apartment. We’ve got the guest room for the baby, unless you decide to move out.”

You just nodded again. “Okay, Eddie.”

The two of you looked at each other. This wasn’t just the end of your apparent farce of a relationship, but also of your nearly lifelong friendship. Things between you and Eddie would never be the same again. He had taken your heart you gave to him and stomped on it, spit on it.

That was the thing you couldn’t get past. He hadn’t just rejected you, he had destroyed you. The cheating, the lying. Playing you like a fucking game. Like you meant nothing not just to him, but at all. You didn’t know how you’d ever learn to trust again, or if you even wanted to. Eddie slept on the couch that night, too late at night to drive to Wayne’s.

When you woke up the next morning, he was gone.

—

Your pregnancy was difficult. You had severe morning sickness in the beginning - hyperemesis gravidarum, your doctor called it. You struggled to keep any food down, and ended up hospitalized for fluids multiple times. Your doctor was concerned and considered you a high risk pregnancy. You went from monthly doctor visits to weekly. You felt pretty sure your emotional devastation wasn’t helping your physical health whatsoever.

Eddie was helpful, at least. He called you every couple of days to see how you were doing and if you needed anything. He remembered your appointment days and called to ask what the doctor said. He shopped for your groceries for you and dropped them off at the house. It would have felt nice, if you didn’t know he was only doing it for the baby and not you, and if you didn’t know he was still sleeping with Chrissy.

You went through most of the pregnancy alone. At 16 weeks, you noticed a bump for the first time, standing in front of your full length mirror as you got ready for work. It took you by surprise, this little baby bump that seemed to have popped up overnight. You ran your hand over the skin there, surprised by how firm it felt. There was really a little baby in there.

You had an ultrasound that afternoon. You were thrilled to see the baby, one of the only things you looked forward to anymore. The technician showed you your baby, thriving and wiggling around in there. It made your heart swell. She measured the heartbeat and played it out loud, the little whoosh whoosh whoosh comforting.

Eddie came to the apartment that evening to bring you the baby swing he had bought. You were in the kitchen cooking yourself chicken alfredo for dinner, wearing a thin tank top and your short sleep shorts. Eddie let himself in, since he still had a key in case of emergencies. You weren’t surprised to hear him coming in since he’d told you he’d be over.

You heard his footsteps heading into the kitchen, then - “Woah.”

You turned from where you’d been stirring the sauce, raising an eyebrow at him. “What?”

He gestured towards your stomach. “You, uh…your…”

You laughed lightly. “The bump? Yeah, that’s new.”

Eddie walked over towards you, leaning against the counter next to the stove. He didn’t know how to feel about it. It was strange to see, and it made him feel weird in his chest. Something he’d never felt before. “It’s…it’s cute. You look cute.”

You laughed again. “I’m about to get a lot bigger.”

The two of you stood in silence for a minute. Then, finally, Eddie worked up the courage to ask - “Can I…can I feel?”

You were surprised by the question. Sure, Eddie had been pretty devoted to this baby during the pregnancy, but it still caught you off guard. “Oh. Sure.”

You turned and he walked up to you cautiously. He raised his hands, slowly moving them towards you as he looked up at you for confirmation it was still okay. Finally he placed his hands on your belly, feeling the firm bump beneath his hands. It was real. He knew it was real, but now it was real.

“Wow,” he said after a minute. “That’s…wow.” He gently rubbed the bump, in shock that that was his child beneath his hand.

“I got an ultrasound today,” you said. “Want to see?”

“Of course,” he answered immediately. He watched as you headed into the living room, already developing the slightest little waddle. He couldn’t help but smile.

You pulled the printed photos from your purse, bringing them over. Eddie gently took them from your hands. “Holy shit!” He said, laughing as he closely examined the photos. “It really looks like a little baby now instead of a blob.”

“Yeah,” you agreed with a smile. “They said we’d find out if it’s a boy or a girl at the next one. At 20 weeks.”

Eddie’s eyes darted up to you. “Really? Can I…go?”

You raised your eyebrows. “Really? You want to come with me to the appointment?”

“Yeah, of course. I want to know what we’re having. I want to be there myself.”

You bit the inside of your cheek, thinking about it. “How will Chrissy feel about that?”

Eddie’s expression hardened for the first time since he’d come over. “I can do whatever I want. And we’re not talking about her right now.”

You rolled your eyes, heading back into the kitchen to tend to your dinner. “I guess you can come, Eddie. It’s your baby too. But don’t bring her.”

“I’m not,” he assured you. You thought he’d have to be a fucking idiot to bring her, anyway. “I just want to be there.”

You felt like you couldn’t take that from him. If he wanted to be an involved father, he could. You encouraged that, in fact. This baby didn’t deserve to be born into the mess that was your relationship, or what used to be your relationship. Your issues with Eddie needed to be put aside for the sake of your child.

So, four weeks later, you waddled your 20 week pregnant self down the stairs of your apartment complex and into Eddie’s van where he sat idling, waiting to pick you up. He helped you climb in, and you waved him off when he tried to buckle you up. “I’ve got it, Eddie. I’m not totally helpless.”

“I know,” he said, “I just want to help.”

You rode to the doctor’s office without speaking, the only sounds being the heavy music playing over the stereo. You couldn’t stand it. Since the break up, you couldn’t listen to Eddie’s music anymore. Too many memories, too many associations.

When he pulled up at the office, he hopped out quickly to run around and offer you a hand as you carefully climbed down. The bump was significantly bigger already, it was in the way and threw off your center of balance. And Eddie was not about to let you fall and hurt yourself and the baby.

You had grown to know the staff at the office since you were there so often. They greeted you by name the second you walked in, looking pleased to see you. In the exam room, Eddie sat in the visitor’s chair, looking as awkward as he felt.

When the tech walked in, she barely managed to contain the surprise on her face to see Eddie with you. You had been to every appointment alone, and they knew you weren’t together with the father. But she quickly plastered a smile to her face, walking over to you.

“Are you excited?” She asked you. “It’s a big day!”

“So excited,” you giggled. “I’m ready to know.”

You laid back and lifted your shirt up and she squirted the cold gel onto your belly, your least favorite part. She placed the wand on your stomach and began moving it around. There was a screen only she could see, and a bigger screen facing you and Eddie that showed the baby.

The little wiggling baby popped up on the screen, moving all around. You smiled, relieved to see the little guy or girl was doing well. You always worried between ultrasounds that something would happen.

The two of you watched as the tech examined and measured the various body parts, making notes in your chart as she performed the exam. Then, finally, it was time.

“Okay,” she said. “Everything looks great! Do you want to know what you’re having?”

“Yes,” you and Eddie answered immediately at the same exact time. You glanced at each other, laughing lightly.

You were nervous. You weren’t sure why. You really didn’t have a preference for the baby’s sex, but this was a huge deal. This made it real, really real. The baby was about to go from “the baby” to your son or daughter. They would have a name, you would be able to shop more. This was a huge moment, and your heart thumped hard in your chest.

She moved the wand a little, looking where she needed to look. She smiled - “It’s a healthy baby girl.”

You choked out a light sob, hands moving up to cover your mouth. You couldn’t believe it. A baby girl, a daughter. Your daughter. Thoughts flashed through your mind of pink little dresses, playing dolls, dance recitals and late night dance parties. Or maybe she would be more of a tomboy, playing sports and getting dirty. You would love her no matter who she turned out to be.

Eddie stared at the screen in awe. A daughter. He was having a daughter. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t have a preference for the gender either, but hearing it was a girl, it just felt right. Like this was the child he was meant to have, this was the perfect outcome. His body overflowed with the love he felt for this tiny person already. He nearly reached over and grabbed your hand, but thought better of it. It wasn’t his hand to hold anymore.

You left the appointment in high spirits with a stack of ultrasound photos in your hand. You kept looking them over, amazed at how much the baby looked like a baby. Just as you were about to get back in the van, you felt something move that made you gasp and nearly drop your bag.

“What??” Eddie asked, immediately by your side. “Are you okay? Is it the baby?”

You looked up at him wide eyed. “I…” You were about to say something else when you felt the movement again. You quickly grabbed Eddie’s hand and placed it on your stomach, right where you felt it.

He looked at you strangely, but kept his hand there. Then, a second later - another kick, right where Eddie’s hand lay.

“Holy shit!” He exclaimed, jerking his hand back out of instinct before putting it back. “Did she just kick?”

“I think so,” you said, an incredulous giggle in your voice.

“She’s strong,” Eddie commented with a smile. He gently rubbed his hand over the bump. “My girl. Gonna be a soccer player or something. Or just kick some serious ass.”

You laughed, your hand resting next to Eddie’s. “This has been the best day I’ve had in months.”

Eddie felt a pang of guilt at that. He knew he was the reason for your sadness, for your pain. And now here you were, giving him the greatest gift he could dream of, even if it’s one he didn’t expect. He couldn’t wait for this baby to be here.

Robin threw you a baby shower when you were 33 weeks pregnant. You were huge and uncomfortable, and still mentally a disaster. But Robin had put in so much work you were at least going to make an attempt to enjoy yourself.

She had taken you shopping for a dress, and you’d landed on a long, light pink one with a hem right beneath your breasts, the rest of the dress draped over your belly. It made you feel pretty, even if gigantic.

When you and Robin walked in, the party was already underway, your friends, family, and acquaintances mingling around, eating from the buffet table. There was a table surrounded and piled high with gifts, a rocking chair with a bow on it sitting next to it.

“Oh my god, Robs,” you said, tears springing to your eyes. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Of course I did,” she said, nudging your arm. “You deserve it, babes. You and her both.” She placed a hand over your belly, making you smile. “You’ve been put through hell this pregnancy, the least I can do is give you a good party.”

Robin led you over to the buffet table, where Steve Harrington was standing. You furrowed your brows at your best friend as you walked, and she gave you a sheepish smile and shrug.

“He’s different now,” she said. You couldn’t believe your ears. “He’s not King Steve anymore. And he helped me out a ton with this party. He’s kind of a dingus, but he’s cool.”

Steve gave you a kind smile as you approached. “Hey,” he said once you’d both reached him, standing up straight. “Congratulations. You look beautiful.”

You blushed, because you certainly didn’t expect him to say that. “I’m huge,” you said.

Steve chuckled. “Well, you’re growing a whole human. Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s hard work.”

You were completely shocked that Steve was being so nice to you. He had never been mean to you, but he definitely saw you and Eddie as Freaks in high school, and never gave you or Robin the time of day. He really did seem different.

“Come on,” Robin said, pulling gently on your arm. “Let’s get you and that baby something to eat. It’s gonna be a great party.”

And it was a good party. You were having a good time talking with your guests, everyone wanting to feel the baby and asking you questions. The food was good, too, you thought as you filled your third plate in 30 minutes. You were having a good time.

That is, until the door opened and two guests walked in late.

Eddie walked in, looking awkward, a gift bag in hand. He knew a good number of the people in attendance hated him, and for good reason. The fact that Eddie showed up to your party wasn’t the bad part. You were on okay terms. It was the fact that he walked in, hand in hand with Chrissy Cunningham.

Your heart stopped in your chest. You hated that you still weren’t over Eddie, but it was the truth. You felt like you would throw up at the sight.

“Oh, fuck no,” Robin muttered under her breath from next to you, before she stood tall and started walking over to them with purpose.

“Robs, wait!” You called, following after her, but Robin’s long strides were much faster than your 8 month pregnant waddle. Robin was already there when you reached the three, her finger pointed in Eddie’s face.

“And what do you think gives you the right to come marching into her party with your little girlfriend?” She was yelling, fury in her eyes like you’d never seen. “What the fuck is wrong with you??”

“Robin-“ you started, but she wasn’t even hearing you.

“You are the scum of the fucking earth,” she said to Eddie. “You don’t belong here. You don’t belong outside enjoying the day. You belong in a cave.”

Eddie was looking at her with an irritated expression on his face. Chrissy stood next to him, her big eyes wide as she held onto his arm. It made you feel so much worse.

“This is my daughter’s baby shower,” he said. “I have a right to be here.”

“No, this is her shower.” Robin gestured towards where you stood slightly behind her without even turning around. “This is for her. She has been through hell, and it’s entirely your fault. The only thing you did besides ruin her life is put the damn baby in her. Good job, Eddie!”

Eddie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Down, guard dog, this has nothing to do with you. Get out of my face. I’m here to celebrate my daughter. Not yours.”

“And you had to bring your skank with you?”

Both you and Chrissy gasped. You had never heard her speak that way before. Eddie’s eyes darkened. “Don’t talk about her like that. She has nothing to do with this.”

“She slept with you multiple times while knowing you were in a relationship. So yeah, she’s a skank, and you’re a slut too. I guess you guys are made for each other.”

“Babe, why don’t we just go-“ Chrissy said softly.

“Babe,” Robin mocked. “How cute.”

“I’m not leaving,” Eddie said, looking from Chrissy to Robin, and finally to you. “I deserve to be here. So get over yourself.”

“I think you should leave, Eddie.”

You turned as you all looked behind you, where Steve had walked up. His expression was serious, and Eddie narrowed his eyes at him.

“This doesn’t concern you, Harrington.”

“Well, it kind of does,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “These are my friends. I helped organize the party. No one would have cared if you wanted to be here, but you had to go and bring your girlfriend to rub in her face?”

Eddie was taken aback. He couldn’t believe Steve Harrington was here and had the nerve to talk to him and his girlfriend this way. He was about to say something rude back when you spoke up.

“It’s okay,” you said, your voice timid. “They can stay.”

Steve and Robin looked at you with concern etched on both of their faces. “Are you sure?” Steve asked quietly. “Robin told me your pregnancy has been complicated. You don’t need any extra stress.”

“It’s okay,” you repeated. You weren’t entirely sure if you were really okay with it, but you didn’t want drama at your baby shower. At least, not any more drama than what had already been caused.

Steve looked at you, giving you any chance to change your mind, but you didn’t say anything else. Steve looked at Eddie and Chrissy. “She says you can stay, you can stay.”

The rest of the party was admittedly very awkward. Eddie kind of felt like shit - he knew he shouldn’t have brought Chrissy here. It was the wrong move. He thought maybe it would be alright, but the second he walked in the door he knew what a mistake it had been.

When it was time for gifts, you felt a little uncomfortable. Even as a child you had never enjoyed the whole “opening gifts in front of the whole guest list” part of parties, but you knew your older relatives would find it rude if you didn’t.

You got a lot of lovely gifts - lots of girly clothes and tiny dresses, bottles, burp cloths, a baby monitor, baby soap and towels, health stuff, toys, all kinds of things. You even got some bigger items, like a high chair, a car seat, and a stroller. You were so grateful you teared up multiple times. As a single mom, you had been worried sick about how you’d afford a lot of this stuff.

When you opened Eddie’s gift, it was just a piece of paper inside the bag. You were confused, until you took the paper out and saw the photo of the crib you had been eyeing on it, and a note that he had ordered it for you. Cue the waterworks.

Chrissy’s gift was probably the ugliest baby clothes you’d ever seen in size 24m and a toy she wouldn’t be able to play with for years. You wanted to throw the gift back in her face. She did that shit on purpose.

The rest of the party went well. You managed to avoid Chrissy, or maybe she was avoiding you. You gave each of your friends and family hugs as they left when the party was over, thanking them for coming and for their gifts.

Eddie gave you a nod as he and Chrissy left. He was always so much more pleasant when he wasn’t with her. You could always tell when she was in his ear, too, because he would start stupid arguments and stress you out. You were tired of Chrissy in your business. You never wanted to see her for the rest of your life.

But that was Eddie’s girlfriend, the girl he actually liked, and Eddie was this baby’s father. So you supposed you’d have to live with her.

At 33 weeks, days after the shower, you noticed horrible swelling in your hands and feet. More than the normal pregnancy swelling. You brought it up at your doctor’s appointment, and she was immediately concerned.

Your blood pressure was through the roof. You were diagnosed with pre eclampsia and told to head straight to the hospital to be admitted.

You cried on the way to the car. This whole pregnancy had been hell, and as excited as you were to meet the baby, you were miserable. And it wasn’t time for her to come yet. You were terrified.

You drove around the corner to the hospital’s main entrance, walking inside and giving the receptionist the paper from your doctor. They had you upstairs and set up in bed in no time, hooked up to monitors and put on strict bed rest.

The first thing you did once you were settled was grab the bedside phone. You dialed Robin’s number first, filling her in through tears. She promised to be over right after work with movies to watch, wanting to make you as comfortable as possible while you had to be in the hospital.

Next, you called Eddie.

“Hello?” He answered, a laugh in his voice, and you could hear Chrissy giggling in the background. It made you feel infinitely worse.

“Eddie. It’s me.” It was obvious in your voice that you’d been crying.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, suddenly serious. “Is it the baby? Is she coming? It’s too early!”

You sniffled. “Not yet. But I have pre eclampsia. They hospitalized me and put me on bed rest until the baby is born.”

“Shit,” Eddie hissed. “Do you, uh…do you need me?”

“Can you run by the apartment and grab my bag I packed?” You asked. “Maybe throw some extra stuff in there since I’m going to be here for a while?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The next week in the hospital was a long one. You were bored to death, even with Robin and Steve coming by every day after work and on their days off. They would bring different movies from Family Video every day, and they had bought you a collection of board games to play together.

At 34 weeks, things took a turn for the worse.

Your water broke and labor began far too early. You were in a panic. Robin had been visiting at the time, and next thing you knew, doctors and nurses were rushing in, checking your vitals and fussing over you. The contractions started immediately, coming strong and fast.

“Call Eddie!” You called to a shocked Robin, who froze for only a few seconds before dashing for the phone.

By the time Eddie sprinted through the door, breathless and mercilessly alone, things were well underway. Labor had set in fast, and the baby’s vitals were dropping. They had to get her out as soon as possible.

“We’re going to be taking you back for a C section, okay?” The doctor told you kindly, but you could hear the seriousness of the situation in his tone. “We need to get this baby out right now.”

You had never been more terrified in your life. You could not lose this baby. You didn’t care much about your own well-being, but losing this baby would kill you.

“Can I come?” Eddie asked, his voice shaking. He was equally terrified. This baby, his daughter, meant the world to him already and she wasn’t even here yet. He needed both of you to be okay.

“Yes, you’ll just have to change into a pair of scrubs,” the doctor said. “One of the nurses will bring you some then bring you to the OR. We just need to get her in there and prepped immediately.”

Eddie watched as they wheeled you from the room quickly, disappearing down the hall with an urgency that made him sick to his stomach. Just as he’d been told, a nurse walked up with a pair of surgical scrubs and a hair cap, snapping him out of his internal panic.

He went into the bathroom and changed into the scrubs, pulling his hair up into a bun and putting the cap on. He slipped the shoe covers on last. He felt like he looked ridiculous, but he really didn’t have time to think about that right now.

Inside the operating room, you laid on a table with your arms strapped down out to the side. You also wore a cap over your hair, and a large drape curtained off everything below your chest.

“Hey,” you said, sounding nice and calm and a little out of it. “You came.”

“Of course I came,” Eddie said. He stood next to you as the doctor got to work. He did not want to think about what was going on behind that curtain.

It wasn’t long before the doctor said “Here she is!” and the next thing Eddie knew, he heard a shrill cry. It made his heart stutter in his chest, he lost his breath. Moments later one of the nurses came around with the tiniest baby Eddie had ever seen, wrapped in a hospital blanket. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His child.

You gazed at the tiny bundle in the nurse’s arms. You were so drugged up you couldn’t really comprehend the moment, but you knew that tiny bundle was your daughter. Here at last. And alive, healthy. Pink skin and a head full of brown hair.

“Would you like to hold her?” The nurse asked as the doctor went to work on stitching you up. “We have to get her to the NICU, so only for a moment. I’m sorry.”

The NICU. Eddie didn’t want to think too hard about that. “Yes, I want to hold her.” Eddie held out his arms and the nurse gently placed the tiny baby in them.

She was so small. She felt like glass, like the most fragile thing in the world. He took in every aspect of her appearance, from her hair that matched his, to her tiny button nose, her little pink lips. Her eyes were closed, so he didn’t get to see her eye color.

He moved over to you and held the baby down for you to see. “Here she is,” he whispered to you. “Our baby girl.”

You smiled a loopy smile, but you could feel the love practically bursting out of your chest. “Hi, Lottie,” you said, tears welling in your eyes. “Charlotte Mae.”

Charlotte did great, and had none of the problems common in premature babies. It was a miracle, and you were so grateful.

There was a knock at your door before it opened. Robin walked in, Steve trailing behind her. They both had smiles on their faces and held gift bags. Steve held a bouquet of beautiful flowers. He wore a yellow sweater and jeans, his long hair styled. You couldn’t help but notice how cute he was.

“Hey, mama, how are you feeling?” Robin greeted, coming over and giving you a kiss on the cheek. She looked down at the sleeping baby in your arms. “Hi, Lottie!”

“We’re doing good,” you said, a tired smile on your face. Eddie had been over earlier, but had to leave when Chrissy called the hospital phone, demanding he come home. It had made your chest ache, especially when he obeyed.

“Hey,” Steve said, moving to your other side. He held up the flowers. “I, uh, brought these for you.”

“Had the idea, picked them out, and bought them himself,” Robin said, wiggling her eyebrows.

The way Steve was looking at you did something to you, something felt deep in your chest. “Thank you,” you smiled at him. “They’re beautiful.”

“We also brought you these,” Robin said, placing both gift bags on your lap. One was purple with pink tissue paper, and the other was blue with yellow paper. “Can Auntie Robs hold her now?”

“Of course,” you replied, gently passing the tiny bundle into Robin’s waiting arms. She held the baby like a natural, gently rocking her.

You reached for the purple bag first. You pulled the paper out and found a comfy pair of pajamas for yourself, and a matching set for Charlotte. There was a card inside that read, I’m so proud of you. You’re going to be the best mom ever! Love, Auntie Robs.

You almost teared up, looking at Robin. “Thank you,” you said. “This means so much.”

“Of course,” she smiled. “Now open Steve’s!”

You laughed as you grabbed the blue bag and removed the paper. Inside you found an assortment of candy, and a small teddy bear. A card inside read Motherhood looks beautiful on you. You’re going to rock it. I’m glad we’ve become friends. Love, Steve.

“How did you know I have a sweet tooth?” You asked Steve with a laugh. You couldn’t focus on his note right now unless you really wanted to cry.

“Robin,” he laughed. “She filled me in.”

Robin and Steve visited for as long as they could, taking turns holding Charlotte and helping to take care of both her and you. You were so grateful to have such support, such amazing friends.

Custody was a whole other ordeal. You and Eddie had agreed that he would get Charlotte every other weekend, starting when she was 5 months old and could take a bottle when she was with Eddie since you were breastfeeding.

It worked out, Eddie didn’t argue with you much unless Chrissy started convincing him to, as she sometimes did. He started missing his scheduled weekends, claiming plans with Chrissy. The thing is that Chrissy knew what weekends Eddie had Charlotte, and she would do this on purpose. And he just let her.

It made you so mad. Lottie deserved better than this. She deserved a father who was excited to see her any chance he got. You began to resent Eddie more and more.

It was Saturday night, and Eddie had bailed for the weekend again. He was taking Chrissy to Indianapolis to spend the weekend and go shopping. Honestly, you were in the mood for a good cry.

Not only was Eddie bailing on his visitation, but he was also pushing for more. You didn’t understand it, but you knew who was behind it. Chrissy just liked stirring up shit between you and Eddie. You were convinced she got a kick out of it.

You figured the best way to get a good cry was to go rent a sappy movie. You were sure a good romance would have you sobbing within the hour. You packed Lottie’s diaper bag, strapped her in her car seat, and drove to Family Video.

You smiled when you saw Steve behind the counter through the glass doors. He was on the phone as you walked in, but he gave you a big smile and held up a finger to tell you to hold on a second. You started browsing the movies, seeing what was available.

Steve got off the phone as quickly as possible, rushing over to your side. “Hey, Lottie,” he greeted the baby on your hip, making her giggle and reach for him. You handed her off as Steve happily took her. “So, what brings you in today? Not that I’m not excited to see you.”

You couldn’t help but smile at Steve. “Rough weekend. I need a good cry.”

He frowned. “Why?”

You sighed. “Just Eddie and Chrissy stuff. The usual.”

Steve nodded in understanding, but it pissed him off. He hated the hell Eddie and his girlfriend put you through on a constant basis. He wished he could make it better. “So you need a sad movie?”

“Yeah. Any recommendations?”

He thought for a minute. He browsed the shelves as Lottie played with his name tag. “Hmm…oh!” He reached forward and plucked a VHS off the shelf. “This one will get you for sure.”

You took it from his hands. “Steel Magnolias. I haven’t seen it.”

“Oh, it’ll definitely make you cry,” Steve laughed as you examined the tape, reading the back synopsis.

“Do you know that because it made you cry?” You teased, a playful smile on your lips as you looked at him again.

Steve blushed bright red. “Maybe.”

You laughed, poking him in the side. “Who knew you were such a sap, Steve Harrington.”

“Hey,” he said, holding up his free hand in surrender. “Chicks dig a guy who’s in tune with his emotions.”

“Is that so?”

“It is so,” Steve confirmed with a grin. You could never wipe the smile off your face when Steve was around. He was just so fun, and kind, and funny. He was a great friend, and cute, too, if you let yourself admit it.

You exchanged the tape for Lottie then followed Steve back to the counter where he checked you out. “Just one movie tonight?”

“Yeah. I pass out too early now to watch more than one.”

Steve chuckled as he scanned the tape and pulled up your account. He clicked on his computer for a few seconds before a receipt began to print. “Alright, you’re all set.”

“Thanks,” you smiled as you took the tape and receipt from him. “I’ll see you around, Steve!” You turned and began walking to the front door, ready to get home, get Lottie comfy in bed, then watch your movie.

“Hey,” Steve said, stopping you. You turned around, confused.

“What’s up?”

“Um…” Steve cleared his throat. “Would you…want to go out sometime?” His voice was nervous, like you’d never heard it before.

His words caught you off guard. You raised your eyebrows, switching the baby to the other arm. “What?”

“Go out? Like, on a date?”

You blinked at him. “You want to go on a date…with me?”

“Yeah,” he smiled nervously at you. “I’ve…been wanting to ask you out for a while. But you just had so much going on, I didn’t want to add more stress to your plate…”

“Steve, you could never do anything but make my life better. I love spending time with you.”

He beamed at that. “Yeah? Well…would you want to go on a date with me?”

“Sure,” you smiled. “I would love that.”

You finished packing up Charlotte’s bag, making sure it was stocked with plenty of clothes and her favorite toys, including the teddy bear Steve had given her, which was her absolute favorite. Eddie had plenty of diapers and wipes at his house so you didn’t have to worry about that.

You had your date with Steve tonight. He was going to be picking you up shortly after Lottie left, so you had already gotten ready. You wore a short little dress that you’d been waiting for an excuse to wear forever, your hair hung perfectly, and you had done some light makeup. You hadn’t dressed up like this and gone on a date in…ever.

There was a knock at the door right on time. “There’s daddy!” You told Charlotte, who smiled big and clapped her little hands together. You scooped her up and headed for the front door, opening it to reveal Eddie.

Eddie smiled at Charlotte, but immediately took notice of your look. “Where are you going all dolled up? Got a hot date?” He asked, a sneer in his voice.

Your smile dropped. So he was going to be like this today. “Yeah. I do, actually.”

Eddie didn’t like that. The thought of it struck an unusual and unwelcome jealousy into his chest. “With who?”

“That’s none of your business,” you said. You handed over Charlotte’s bag. “I can do whatever I want. You cheated on me, remember?”

He didn’t acknowledge your second comment. “It is my business if you’re bringing my daughter around some guy.”

You stared him down. “Well, you bring your mistress around our daughter, so I don’t think you have the right to say anything.”

Eddie’s eyes darkened. “Chrissy is my girlfriend.”

“Sure.” You turned to Charlotte, smiling at her. “I’ll see you Sunday, baby girl. I love you so much.” You gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek before handing her off to Eddie. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

Eddie left, and you sighed. You took some deep breaths, trying to calm yourself. You would not let Eddie ruin this night. This was your first time being asked on a date, and you were going to have a good time.

It was about 15 minutes later that Steve picked you up. He looked handsome, wearing a button up shirt and jeans. He held a beautiful bouquet of flowers that he handed you as you opened the door.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, and you could tell from his voice that he truly meant it. You blushed deeply as you took the flowers.

“Thank you,” you smiled. Steve followed you into the apartment, stepping over toys as you walked into the kitchen. You grabbed a vase and filled it with water, placing the flowers inside.

“Where are we going?” You asked as you walked with Steve to his car. He held the passenger side door open for you, and you smiled at him as you slid in. He was such a gentleman.

“I was thinking, dinner and a movie is too lame, too cliche. We watch movies all the time. So,” he gestured into the backseat, “I packed us a picnic, and got us tickets to see David Bowie in the city tonight.”

You stared at him, blinking. “I…no you didn’t.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah, I did. I know you’re a big fan, and he was performing nearby, so…”

“Oh my god!” Your heart was beating out of your chest, you felt like it would explode. “Steve. Oh my god.”

Steve was very proud of himself for this one. He knew you’d freak out, but your reaction was even better than he hoped. “That’s why I asked you out tonight specifically. I, uh…already had the tickets.”

You quickly swiped a falling tear off your cheek before it could mess up your makeup. “Steve Harrington, I think I’m in love with you.”

That made Steve’s heart swell. Because he felt the same way about you.

Steve drove the two of you to the park, where you found a spot next to a large tree. He laid out the blanket and sat down the picnic basket he’d packed full of all kinds of foods. You ate together, laughing and joking and having the best time. But you couldn’t shake the buzzing excitement in your belly from the news of the concert.

It was a couple hour’s drive to the city, but it was worth it. The show was incredible, everything you dreamed seeing David Bowie would be. Steve held your hand, which sent electricity through both of your bodies.

When Steve brought you home, he walked you to your apartment door. Butterflies were flying in your stomach, still ecstatic from the most incredible date you ever could have imagined.

“I had a great time,” Steve said.

“Me too,” you agreed. “Truly. Do you…want to come in? The night doesn’t have to be over yet.”

A smile spread across Steve’s lips. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Steve followed you in. As you turned to him, you saw something behind his eyes. Like he was thinking, considering something. He lifted a hand and caressed the side of your face with the back of his hand, thinking he had never seen someone as beautiful in his life. “Can I kiss you?”

Your breath hitched in your throat. “I…yes.”

Steve smiled lightly. Then he was leaning in, closer and closer, until his lips pressed to yours.

Sparks flew. You kissed him back eagerly, and he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling your body flush to his own. The kiss turned heated, Steve pressing your back up against the wall as he kissed you passionately. His hands began sliding up the skirt of your dress.

“Steve,” you said, breathless against his lips. “Take me to my room.”

The next morning, you woke up next to Steve. He had his arm around your waist, cuddling you close. You were both naked. As you awoke, Steve did, too, pulling you closer to him and nuzzling his face into your neck. “Don’t go,” he mumbled.

“I’m not,” you giggled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve asked you to be his girlfriend that morning. It may have been a little soon, but you happily said yes. You knew Steve well, he was one of your best friends. You knew you wanted to be with him.

Robin was ecstatic when you told her the news. “About time!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms up. “Took you long enough, dingus.”

You knew you had to tell Eddie. As much as you dreaded it, he deserved to know as the father of your daughter. You waited a couple of weeks into the relationship, wanting to be sure things were going to work out before you brought it up. But your relationship with Steve was incredible, a kind of joy you never thought you could experience in a relationship.

Eddie came to the door to drop off Charlotte one Sunday evening. He was a little early, and Steve was over.

“Shit,” you hissed as he knocked at the door. “I guess it’s now or never.”

You answered the door, loving how Lottie’s face lit up at the sight of you. “Hi baby!”

“Mama!” She called, reaching for you. You took her from Eddie’s arms, sitting her on your hip. “Dada!” She exclaimed next, only she wasn’t looking at Eddie.

Steve had come up behind you, and Lottie was pointing at him. Your mouth dropped as Eddie’s face turned to one of pure anger. “What the fuck?” He said.

“I swear, I don’t know what that’s about. She’s never called him that before,” you explained quickly. Honestly Eddie deserved to have his feelings hurt, but you knew how destroyed you would be if Lottie called Chrissy Mama.

“What is he doing here anyway?” Eddie asked, gesturing towards Steve. “I don’t see Robin here. Do you have a life of your own, Harrington?”

You looked between Steve and Eddie. “Ed…me and Steve are…together.”

The words hit Eddie like a punch to the gut. He figured you would date eventually, but maybe he just got spoiled by you being single. He didn’t expect the pain of finding out you had moved on. And with Harrington? “What?”

You pursed your lips, knowing this had the potential to go badly. “We’re together. Steve is my boyfriend.”

Eddie just stared between the two of you. Then, he laughed, a sinister sounding chuckle. He knew he had no right to be pissed, but he was pissed. “Well, isn’t that just great.”

“Eddie-“

“No,” he said, holding a hand up. “You don’t owe me an explanation. You do whatever you want. Enjoy your life with Steve.”

And with that, he left. He didn’t even tell Charlotte goodbye.

Things with Steve were incredible. He was the best boyfriend you could ask for, and he was amazing with Lottie. She loved playing with him, and he could sit on the floor and play with her for hours without getting bored.

You had been together for a year and a half when he surprised you with a trip to the beach. You spent the weekend laying out in the sun, playing in the ocean, making love until the early morning in your suite.

On the last day there, you were walking down the beach hand in hand. As you were looking down at the sand for seashells, you noticed some writing in the sand. You let go of Steve’s hand to walk over and read it.

Will you marry me?

“Steve!” You exclaimed. “Look, someone proposed! How cute-“

You froze when you turned around to see Steve on one knee, holding a beautiful ring in a black velvet box. You gasped, tears immediately falling. You always were emotional.

“Will you make me the luckiest guy in the world and marry me?”

Eddie came home a little early from work one evening, and immediately knew something was wrong. He could feel it in the atmosphere before he even heard the noises. Those unmistakable noises.

He crept down the hallway, careful not to make any noise. Not that he thought he’d be noticed, anyway. Not with what he deeply suspected was going on.

He made it to the bedroom he shared with Chrissy. The door was slightly ajar, and he took a deep breath before pushing it open all the way.

Chrissy and her ex, Jason Carver, were in his bed, absolutely going at it. Eddie knew this was what was going on from the moment he walked into the apartment, but seeing it, he still felt like he’d be sick. Chrissy turned at the sound of the door opening and screamed, covering herself and Jason, who didn’t really seem to give a fuck at all.

After Jason left and Eddie was left alone with his girlfriend, he demanded the truth. She admitted she had been sleeping with Jason again for months.

Naturally, Eddie kicked her out. Then, he was alone.

Alone with only his thoughts, he had too much quiet time to think. And what he found himself thinking about was you. Far too often. He thought about your relationship, how he fucked everything up, including your lifelong friendship. Sure, he got his beautiful daughter out of it, but he could have treated you better. He should have treated you better.

He also thought about the way you’d treated him. The way you had loved him. How you were the only woman who had ever loved him, besides his mom all those years ago. How he had taken you for granted. He thought about how he would feel if some asshole treated Lottie the way he treated you. The thought itself made him furious.

Because now that Chrissy was gone and he was no longer blinded by his lifelong crush, he was realizing something:

Eddie loved you.

Not just as the mother of his child, or as a platonic friend, but love love. The kind he had been too blind to see back in high school, back during the days of your relationship.

He hated himself now. He had fucked up more than was even fathomable. He had thrown you away, for Chrissy. You were so much better than Chrissy in every way. Prettier, smarter, funnier, kinder. And you had treated him well.

Eddie dwelled on it for months. He grabbed his mail from the mailbox as he headed into his trailer one day, flipping through the various bills and junk mail - until he stopped at one with your name on it.

He dropped the other pieces of mail in his rush to open that one. He nearly ripped it in half getting it open, and as he pulled out the card inside, his blood ran cold.

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Mr. and Mrs Harrington.

It was too late.

tags

@ali-r3n @crispystarfishhottub