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idyllicwillowtree · 8 months ago

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God Eddie, You're So In Love With Me. (part 2)

Genre: Eddie Munson x Henderson!reader, fem!reader, angst/fluff, hurt/eventual comfort, friends to lovers

Summary: Being in Hellfire, you’ve been exposed to your fair share of bullying. One day, Jason takes it a step too far.

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: bullying, anaphylaxis, poisoning, no physical descriptions of Y/N so you don’t have to look like Dustin, reader uses she/her, reader has a peanut allergy, swearing, angy Eddie, hospital

Author’s note: Thank you so much for the positive comments on part 1! I was feeling insecure about this fic so that was very nice y'all are so sweet <3

Enjoy!

Main Masterlist

Part 1

Eddie looked to you, hoping to see you looking up at him and smiling that way you do whenever he uses his renaissance voice. Instead he met your panicked eyes.

“Hey Henderson,” Jason called from across the cafeteria. “What happens now? Should we call an ambulance?” Andy shoved at his shoulder playfully and chortled alongside Jason.

Panic gripped you as you connected the dots.

“Yeah,” you wheezed, “call an ambulance.”

All the Hellfire members whipped their heads toward you, witnessing an angry rash spreading across your skin and your breathing becoming audible as you tried to suck in as much oxygen as possible.

Eddie’s heart clenched painfully as he looked down at you, remembering the severity of your allergy after Dustin explained it to him one time. Still, Eddie was taken aback by the speed at which your symptoms were progressing.

You reached a hand out to Eddie as the choked coughs took over. He ignored your hand in favor of catching your body before it hit the ground. With trembling limbs he carefully lowered you to the grimy tile of the cafeteria floor.

“Fuck,” Eddie cursed, “Dustin! What do we do?!”

Dustin had froze. Panic set in as he watched his older sister struggle more and more to take in a full breath. A small crowd began to gather and the excited chatter of the cafeteria simmered into hushed whispers and gasps. Everyone was watching, and not in the way Eddie was used to.

“Henderson!” Eddie snapped.

At that, Dustin went to work. “Mike, go call 911! Lucus, see if the nurse has an epipen. GO!” The sheep dispersed. Dustin picked up your bag with trembling hands and began digging through your books and school supplies, searching for the epinephrine injector he swears you kept in there.

Eddie turned his attention back to you, trusting that Dustin had the rest handled. At the look of panic in your blotchy and swollen face he almost froze too. A chilling dread spread through his veins as you began clawing at your throat, doing everything you could to open your airways.

“Hey, hey, hey, look at me princess. You’re gonna be alright, gonna be just fine, you hear me? D-Dustin will getchu your meds and you’ll be good to go,” Eddie rambled, trying to convince himself just as much. He gently cradled your warm face and stroked your hair to try and soothe you.

With every second passing you became closer and closer to death. Eddie looked up in desperation. His red-headed neighbor (Max, he thinks her name is) snatched the backpack out of a distraught Dustin’s hands and turned it upside down, emptying its contents. Robin was there too and put a comforting arm around your brother while Max took over the search for the injector. Eddie was vaguely aware of a teacher trying to pry him off of you but he’d risk getting expelled for shoving a teacher if it meant staying by your side.

“Got it!” Max exclaimed, holding the orange and clear tube triumphantly. She slid to her knees on your otherside, not hesitating to jam the needle into your leg and holding it there.

Eddie flinched at the force it took to inject you. You took your first full breath, allowing him to take one as well. Your eyes were drooping slightly as the medicine was introduced into your system.

“Hey, there she is,” Eddie said gently.

Your tired eyes met his and he could’ve sworn the corners of your lips twitched upwards.

The paramedics arrived and Eddie hesitantly let you go so they could treat you. It was a blur of navy blue and red as they hooked you up to numerous tubes and slid an oxygen mask over your head.

You became slightly more alert at the sight of strangers surrounding you as the stretcher clicked into place, raising you a couple feet off the ground. You moved your head tiredly trying to catch sight of anyone you knew. Anyone to comfort you.

“Dustin, go with her,” Eddie told the curly haired boy. He looked up at him with wet eyes that clenched at Eddie’s heart. “She needs you, go on.”

Eddie watched the determination emerge on the freshman’s face as he walked through the paramedics declaring that he was your brother, allowing him to be by your side.

Swallowing thickly past the dryness in his mouth, Eddie watched you get rolled out on the stretcher.

He turned numbly to see that Lucas and Mike had returned and started digging through your lunch, in an attempt to find out what it was that could’ve caused your reaction. As the two predictably began to bicker, Eddie grabbed the cup of applesauce and slowly brought the spoon out. To his horror, he scooped out a few small round nuts mixed with the smooth texture of the applesauce.

His darkened eyes snapped up, immediately finding Jason. He at least had the decency to look scared, his skin white as a sheet. True terror shining through as he came to realize the severity of what he did. He shook his head slightly, pleading with Eddie. For what, he wasn’t sure. But he could give a shit.

The grip on the applesauce tightened, causing it to tremble, before he launched it in Jason's general direction. A fire of rage lit up Eddie's entire being, consuming any reason or restraint within him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?! You could’ve killed her!!” Eddie roared, the words ripping from his throat like a thunderclap. Every fiber in his being screamed for justice, determined to ensure that no harm would ever come to you again.

“I-I-I didn’t think…I didn’t mean to-” Jason blubbered.

“Not good enough!” Eddie snapped. He charged forward, driven by the need to avenge your pain. Just when he was closing the distance between them a thick arm wrapped around his upper body. “LET ME GO!”

Eddie struggled against the firm grip that held him back from doing to Jason what he should've done a long time ago. If Eddie was strong enough, he could've saved you, stopped all of this bullying in its tracks before Jason had ever even looked in your direction. His strength never came from muscles or brute force, but from his anger—the primal need to protect those he loved. He was so consumed by his rage that a red haze blurred his vision. Or were those his tears?

“Eddie, man, don’t do this,” Doug said, doing his best to calm his friend.

“Please,” Eddie pleaded, losing some of his fight. “Just let me go.”

“Dude, if you get into a fight you won’t be able to see Y/N in the hospital,” the bassist whispered in Eddie’s ear. He looked over and saw Principle Coleman closing in on them, there wasn’t much time left. “We can handle it, just go while you can.”

A wave of overwhelming frustration washed over Eddie as the struggle against Doug’s hold diminished. Tears welled up in his eyes as his chest released his rage and tightened back up with helplessness and despair.

He didn’t let it consume him though, taking off in the opposite direction of the principle, his sheep following close behind.

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When the van ripped into the hospital parking lot, Eddie finally took notice of how many stowaways he had. Lucas, Mike, Max, Robin, and even Nancy all burst through the double doors at the back of his skunky smelling van and made their way to the emergency room entrance.

Eddie was the first one through the doors, eyes scanning the waiting area for his curly haired friend. What he wasn’t expecting to see was the one and only King Steve sitting with the boy.

Steve noticed them first, taking the lead on letting them know what’s going on. He explained that you’d be fine but the doctors are running some tests and getting you hooked up to the necessary machines. It’ll be a little longer before Eddie gets to see you with his own eyes.

Eddie turned on his heel and walked through the doors he just came through as Steve explained that your mom was called but was on a trip with her girlfriends and won’t be able to make it back until tomorrow.

The disinfected smell of the hospital only offered to heighten Eddie’s desire for a cigarette. He finds solace in the only coping mechanism he has under his belt, even if he knew it was bad for him in the long run. The stress of the day weighed heavily on him as he leaned on the brick wall of the hospital outside. The familiar routine of lighting up offered a good distraction, the only way to momentarily ease his anxiety.

That was until your brother found him. He silently stood next to him, not feeling the need to fill the silence with anything but the gentle breeze and the birds chirping in the distance. But it made Eddie feel uneasy.

“I’d offer you a smoke, but I don’t want to corrupt you more than I already have,” Eddie said with a sad laugh.

Ignoring Eddie’s comment, Dustin asked, “you remember that one time when Hellfire came over to my house for a session? When the theater kids needed the drama room at school?”

Eddie nodded his head slowly, releasing the smoke from his lungs as he did so.

“I was still in middle school so I had only heard about you from Y/N. She had this weird way of speaking about you. It was in a way I had never heard her speak about anyone before.”

Eddie’s heart punched against his ribs painfully, his insecurities taking over.

“She was nice enough to let me watch your campaign so I could get ideas for the campaign I was doing with Mike and Lucas, and our other friend Will. I think she regretted it because of the Reese's Pieces incident.”

Eddie couldn’t help but start chuckling embarrassingly at the memory. “God, that was so stupid,” he smacked his forehead in an attempt to stop his mind from reliving one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

The Hellfire members flooded into your home, bringing chips, candy, and drinks to share. Your first time hosting the club was going great, until Dustin noticed the bag of Reese’s Pieces in Eddie’s hand.

“My sister is too nice to say anything but-” Dustin started.

“Stop, Dustin-”

“-we can’t have those in the house.”

Eddie’s eyebrows pinched beneath his bangs, “what? Why not?”

“She’s allergic to peanuts.”

Before you could roll your eyes at your little brother and reassure him it was fine, Eddie turned and chucked the bag out your kitchen’s open window leaving you standing there in shock and Eddie horrified by his own impulse.

“I think that’s when she fell in love with you.”

Eddie’s head whipped over to Dustin. The kid had the audacity to look smug after completely shattering his world view. His mind spun with the revelation.

Love, a word so potent, was now intertwined with his thoughts of your relationship. Eddie knew he liked you, a lot, but his brain never brought him to love. He replayed moments from your friendship in his head, searching for the signs, trying to decipher if Dustin was telling the truth. If the sentiment was truly real. A mix of surprise and uncertainty overwhelmed him, but there was also something warm and hopeful there. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.

He needed to see you and hear it from you directly. A million thoughts and memories raced through his mind, but one thing was clear–he needed to be with you, to tell you how he felt.

part 3

tags: @beeblisss @fishwithtitz @leah-loves-lilies

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collectivecloseness · 2 years ago

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Beautiful Swan

Eddie Munson x reader

(Summary: When Hellfire starts a fun little game of ‘what animal does everyone look like?’ your self-esteem plummets to the floor. But your best friend and crush, Eddie, can tell. And he’s there to not only defend you, but make sure he’s around to help pick you back up <3. Tw: negative body image. Reuploaded from my ao3. 9.4K)

You’d finally finished today’s session. Eddie decided the cliffhanger he’d brought up was the best place to leave it, the worst for you and the rest of Hellfire unfortunately. But that meant you guys had a few minutes where you could all just chat and hang out.

Eddie waddled up to you, nudging his shoulder against your own to get your attention, and when you looked to him, all he did was smile at you. You chuckled smally back, rubbing your shoulder against his playfully too.

You loved the fact that when Eddie enrolled you in his campaign, he pulled out the seat right next to his for you, on your very first day. Pushing it in with a genuinely charming smile as you sat, and a short bow of his head, as you thanked him. Gareth seemed to get a pencil thrown at his head right after that, although you were too busy starting at Eddie’s pretty smile he was giving just to you. So you guess he’s the one who lost his chair.

It wasn’t just his genuine and effortless charm that made you fall in love with Eddie Munson though, even before he was your best friend, although that certainly added to it. From the moment you saw Eddie, you were completely enamoured. Not just romantically, but he had such an aura around him it just made you want to be someone close to him till the end of time. You’d love, more than anything, for Eddie to ask you out. On a proper date, not just asking his friend to chill at the arcade or smoke weed in his empty trailer. Although you still enjoyed every interaction with him. Him asking you to do those as his girlfriend would be a great day! But it wasn’t going to happen.

Even though Eddie didn’t see much about himself, you tried to talk him up, as much as you could, even if sometimes it fell into the not completely platonic category, you would tell him, because he deserved to know every good thing about himself. You truly saw how amazing Eddie was. And while you two were best friends... you feared there was no way in hell, he would ever even consider thinking about you like that.

Not that you’d hold that against him! Of course not! He didn’t owe you anything, he was perfectly fine being attracted to who he was attracted to. But you sometimes just wished, you looked a little less like yourself, because now and again your gut just whispered to you all the parts of your body that made you unlovable to another person. Especially someone you admired so much, like Eddie Munson.

Eddie nudged you with his hip this time. And a laugh seeped from his bitten smirk as you shoved his arm with your hand, easily regaining his balance but using your shoulders to do so. You giggled back, offering your help by steadying his own shoulders, and letting go once he was on his feet. Eddie however, did not let go of your eyes. Still grinning, his body turned to give you his full attention. “How was today’s session princess?” His hand coyly flipped half over his grin, holding his elbow, like he was rocked with anticipation for your answer.

Your character wasn’t even royalty. And you refused to ever play the damsel in distress role, in a group filled with only boys. But Eddie still called you that pet name. And it made you smitten every damn single time. You at least presumed, it was a dnd reference.

“Was I an... adequate dungeon master?” He leant closer to you but didn’t whisper it. You sucked your lips in even though you made it clear you were smiling, just trying not to giggle, with the way Eddie made you feel. “Well... adequate may be a grand understatement, my noble dungeon master.”

Eddie’s fist skyrocketed to his chest, eyes closed as he let out a grateful sound. “You’re too kind sweet princess! For I surely would’ve been strewn in twain, if you thought any less of me.”

Eddie never gave up the silly voices, and he only peeked open one eye to see if you were amused, teeth gleaming in glee as he saw your cheeks raise as you laughed. He winked that open eye at you, before dropping his hands to his sides.

You went to swat at his chest teasingly again, but Eddie easily brushed away your hand with his own, smirking at his easy victory over you. His smirk soon transitioned into a smile, and his lips opened as if to say something else. Until Mike spoke up loudly.

“This is boring! Let’s play a game.”

Eddie didn’t even take his eyes off you before dramatically rolling them. You giggled, hiding it in your hand, but at the sound Eddie’s slumped shoulders bounced right back up, and he beamed at you proudly.

“Aw. Do the babies all need to play games to stay happy?” Gareth teased, flicking Mike’s forehead, who then bat at the band members hand like an angry cat.

“Dude shut up. You’re making us look like babies!” Dustin smally whacked Mike, Lucas agreeing. You laughed a little into Eddie, who’s shoulder was still close to yours and not going anywhere. The poor freshmen did still have to fight a little bit to get taken seriously sometimes. Although no one would debate that Eddie held the most power in this room.

“Let’s say what animal everyone looks like!” Jeff smoothly input, pivoting immediately around to his friend. “Gareth is naked mole rat.”

“A WHAT?!” All of the boys erupted into laughter, expect for Gareth who was hitting Jeff with a book. Even Eddie’s chorus rang out behind you and you loved that sound. But oh God.

A cold slimy feeling ran down your throat and seemed to climb up your spine in canon. This game would not be for you. You know you struggle with self-esteem issues, you realise that. Sometimes you felt bad even being in Eddie’s Hellfire logo shirt. It could feel too skin tight and suffocating, nothing to do with Eddie’s printing, but your own nauseating feeling like you somehow didn’t deserve to be wearing it.

You would really prefer if you guys could’ve just kept talking instead. If you could be chatting with Eddie right now, instead of standing here with literal goosebumps on your skin from the threat of this conversation. Would there be anyway you could get out of being picked at this that wouldn’t look odd? You weren’t sure.

Eddie crossed his arms, biting back a smile as he looked at his young warriors, Lucas energetically shaking Jeff and Mike who stood beside him. “Who should we do next?”

God you hoped they didn’t pick you. You knew Eddie wouldn’t be cruel, you knew he was a very empathetic guy, who from his own experiences, knew when words could hurt more than most. You loved that about him, and he loved that you could actually see how kind he could be, and not just because he had such kind eyes. Some of the things he told you in private, only you, were things only a genuinely emotionally intelligent person would know. And even though the other guys were your friends too, you dreaded the thought of them all staring at you and judging an animal from that. ...What would they even pick?

‘A slug.’ Is what popped into your mind. But you shudder, hating yourself for thinking that way. And hating yourself because you almost believe that is an animal you could resemble. It’s stupid. You have to clear the thought away immediately, focus on something, Eddie’s smile at liking this new game, just so you didn’t actually think hard about what you could argue might’ve been an intrusive thought. If you think too hard on it, you’ll bring yourself down and you can’t do that around the others, it’ll just bring them down too.

“Dustin... Dustin...” Mike pondered, now realising he got to make fun of his best friends too.

“Oh shit. Yeah, Dustin...?” Lucas piped up, swivelling more to his side as they both, all of you, stared down your cap wearing friend.

Mike continued. “Hmm... Dustin.”

“You guys better be careful.” Dustin warned, holding up a karate chop hand to show he was serious, making you and Eddie giggle into each other.

Into each other! Your giggles shifted your bodies about until Eddie’s shoulder was leaning against yours. And he stayed in that position! Normally you wouldn’t be this excited because you were physically close as friends, it wasn’t unusual, but when your heart’s already going, everything seemed bigger. You tried desperately not to move, self conscious about your own breathing now, was it rubbing Eddie the wrong way, was it loud? Nasally? And oh my god this is an uncomfy position. Did you look unnatural positioned like this? Like you just wanna touch Eddie? Which is ridiculous because you touch him all the time! You literally hugged this morning. And Eddie held your high five after he’d graced you with one, swinging your hands down and wrapping it in his own as he continued his description of the, courtesy of you, slain goblin. Swinging your hand for a few seconds so it was enough to be causal, not enough for someone to call anyone out on, but enough to be long enough to make you question. And have something to giggle over in bed that night when you thought about it.

Mike and Lucas just laughed at Dustin’s display, before the former decided. “An ostrich.”

It seemed to not be anything Dustin was expecting at least, if his whole body leaning back was enough to tell. “An ostrich? Why the shit?”

“I don’t know” Mike fake stroked his chin, Lucas following in suit as all the members now tried to see the relation in the curly haired boy. “It’s something to do with the eyes. Too beady, too... untrustworthy.”

Dustin scoffed. And there was silence, only for a few seconds in the club room, which was still rare. But everyone was busy contemplating Dustin. Until Gareth spoke calmly. “Jeff’s a blobfish.”

“What the hell is a blobfish?!” Jeff double taked, looking at his best friend incredulously.

“The ugliest animal in the world.” Everyone snickered. “We can probably find a pic of it in the library, if you’re okay breaking into the scary adults only section.”

You were part of the ensemble of laughs everyone gave, including Jeff’s cheerfully fake one before he tackled Gareth, noogieing him hard as the other boy cackled in his grip. You were glad everyone could joke around as friends like this. At first the guys were all a little nicer to you. The freshmen of the group were clearly already friends, as were Gareth and Jeff, but Eddie, even being friends with all of them, accepted you into his close circle almost immediately. You were glad when the guys realised they could just treat you like their other friends, they didn’t need to coddle you just because you were a girl. Although you were a little nervous about the rough housing around this topic.

Sure you could take some light teasing, you weren’t a baby, and you hazed the guys right back, but you had a feeling whichever animal they all said looked like you, is something that’s going to be spiralling into the back of your mind quickly. And you were a bit nervous for any disatourous consequences that could come of that.

The two band members were getting a little rougher, still laughing away, but knocking into the table now. The freshmen all eagerly cheering them on. And even though the session was over, the pieces were about to be put away from their strategic positions on the map, Eddie still raised his hand as he watched his beloved hand painted figures topple.

“Hey hey HEY!” Eddie called out, his hand spread out and everyone, you included, falling into silence under your leader, a smile on his face that got you all invested in whatever wise words he’d say. “I’m the dungeon master here!” Eddie threw both his arms wide open dramatically now, smiling fiercely at his little group. “Have you all forgotten who’s God when you’re wearing those shirts?” He scoffed at the guys who were settling down, smiling to you as you watched them all fall in line, his hair bouncing as he rolled his eyes with his whole head. It made you smile. “I’ll decide who’s what!”

Eddie dropped his arms once you all were grinning, eagerly waiting for him to cast his opinions. And firstly, Eddie turned on his heel to you. Both his feet plopped in place firmly, hands swinging behind his back as he hummed to your self, looking you up and down.

Now your heart was truly pounding. You hid the worry on your face easily, just smiling back with such a nice look that it almost was daring him to be mean to someone so loveable, and loyal in your group.

Finally Eddie resigned, with a hand extending to yours, smiling with heart as he finally got the animal he was searching for. “For y/n... a swan.”

Now that hadn’t been what you were expecting. You could feel your head flinch back from the unexpected declaration. For a moment you tried to decipher if there was anything physically about you that was truly swan like that surpassed all the, well, you. But coming up with a blank for that, you felt your heart spike in the good way you’d only felt around Eddie in recent years. A genuine smile crept onto your features and this time you didn’t hold it back.

You and Eddie were still looking right at each other, and he grinned as he saw you spark up at the name. But before you could ask, in a voice you dreadfully knew would be smaller and higher pitched than your usual but you for once didn’t care about, Mike popped up with a question of his own to your dm.

“Soooo, is that because of the ugly duckling thing, orrrr?..”

The rest of the club burst into laughter, Mike more than anyone, looking to you with pride at his jab. You guys did tease each other quite a lot, it helped solidify a lot of friendships early on. The only one who didn’t laugh was Eddie.

You’d laughed at their joke. Not in a large way, but you pointed your finger and stretched out as if to hit their shoulders as they teased, but you laughed along with your friends in their game. Even though as soon as the joke left Mike’s mouth, and the laughter started up, you felt a stabbing pain, starting from your heart, wreaking havoc all over your body. In your life you’d gotten used to laughing after a while, you knew it was easier for everyone else. And it was easier for you if you just played along and didn’t make them uncomfortable. ’Ugly duckling...’ you thought, ’couldn’t have picked better myself. My friends clearly know me so well.’ A glum cloud was moving over you.

Eddie wasn’t too thrilled though. “Hey knock that shit off.” He growled warningly at Mike, who only raised in hands in fake surrender before bringing them to his knees to laugh again. Eddie telling them off almost made it funnier to them. Well, his reactions did really.

With Eddie’s eyes on Mike and Lucas, Gareth raised his hand behind Eddie’s back quickly “Have you turned into the pretty swan yet?”

He yelped and ran as Eddie span around to whack upside his head, hiding behind Jeff with a playfully startled look on his face. Like a dog wanting to play chase.

You didn’t answer his question, and you didn’t even have to laugh as everyone’s attention was on the scene Gareth was making with Eddie. It allowed you to just sink into the background, wishing the shadowy room, a perfect set up by Eddie, the auteur of Hellfire Club, would swallow you whole so you didn’t have to grin till your cheeks hurt, and hide the redness you knew would eventually stain your eyes.

“No I meant swan! Just swan!” Eddie whipped his explanation to the room, frustrated everyone was making such a big deal about what was supposed to be his compliment to you, twisting his words like everyone else in town did. Except this time it made his heart hammer like it hadn’t since he’d accepted the fact nearly everyone hated him, because you were on the receiving end, and not him. “That’s not what I mea- shut up you guys!” His eyes found yours now, and you were just standing exactly where you were before, a neutral look plastered across your expression, minus your upper lip you sucked in.

“You have never been, and are not, an ugly duckling.”

There was a pregnant pause. Your wide eyes were held on Eddie’s soft ones, one hand pressed out to you, the other behind him where the majority of the guys were, like he was trying to forcefully separate you from the bullies, even if they did think it was all joking, and you thought he knew you wouldn’t try and distance those opinions yourself, from the way he kept looking at you. His own lips mirrored yours, the only movement in the room apart from his chest rising and falling as he breathed, sucking it in as he waited for you. He hadn’t meant to start any type of conversation like this, and you knew he didn’t like where it’d gone. With just a few moments of him watching you like that, you felt a small smile start to tug at your lips where they were previously tucked away, heartbeat softening under his gaze and words.

That was until words not spoken by Eddie, broke the graceful moment supposendly only noticed between the two of you.

“Like... so what, is y/n aging backwards, orrrr??” Dustin asked the group, snapping the silence of the room. It was quickly completely shattered as everyone praised Dustin for his comeback. You watched Eddie’s shoulders fall in a sigh, squinting his eyes just a little harder than usual.

Your stomach flipped as the boy you almost felt was a little brother to you cut you deep.

Great, even Dustin was properly joining in now. His words almost stung the most. But even as your brain thought that, your heart thought another thing ’not him too...’

“Seriously, knock it off!“ Eddie growled deeply at his members, more firm than the last time he said it. But the guys just didn’t get it. They weren’t taking him seriously, they didn’t realise they were supposed to. Dustin hadn’t even looked at Eddie, he just kept waiting for you.

And when his big goofy grin was looking to yours, and the others as he got such an uproarious reaction to his joke, Eddie being ignored, your own practice perfect smile reacted too. “Oh not you as well?” You rolled your eyes, thankful it gave you an excuse to blink any wateriness away. “Shit Dustin, I thought at least you’d be on my side?”

“I am.” Dustin nodded, feigning seriousness in a straight pose as he embellished upon his joke. “It’s therapeutic for people to not live in denial after a while.”

You laughed again, giving a small punch to his shoulder as you were half relieved that your serious words came in a light enough tone that no one could decipher them. The other part of you begged them to realise this was too much. That they were hurting you. But you knew you couldn’t handle that. If you started acting like a baby, acting out against their words like a brat who couldn’t take it, they’d all just pause and stare at you, even Eddie. None of them would know what to say and you’d have ruined everything by making it awkward. The ugliest animal thing earlier showed they were all joking as friends, but you couldn’t apparently take a joke. They were all good kids, and your friends. They couldn’t help your uncomfortable truth.

“Has it happened yet in that case?” Mike faux whispered to the other younger boys, slinking away a little with a giggle as Eddie stepped closer, chin out and teeth gritted in frustration.

You couldn’t see that though from your vantage point at the other side of the end of the table. You managed a chuckle at Mike’s add on, it was smaller than your laughs before. You didn’t really know how to react now that Eddie was sticking up for you the way he was, but even that small laugh was enough to bring Eddie physically back to you.

“Y/n you don’t have to laugh,” Eddie told you, eyes twitching downwards in sadness. Why weren’t you discouraging them? “Guys, shut the fuck up already.” He told them off, stepping closer to your side whilst he glared at them.

You felt something in your jaw twitch, a muscle or something, and you hoped Eddie didn’t hear the sound your throat made in response. You leant closer to his warmth, not touching him yet as his slightly widening nostrils made his breathing audible to you, but your jacket material brushed agaisnt his own. “It’s fine Eddie, don’t w-“

“No it’s not y/n.” Eddie quickly interrupted you, looking down at you with a softer glance, even though he’d snapped his disapproving look from the boys in under a second. He still looked disappointed at you though. Although you weren’t sure if he’d had time to control that look aimed at them, or if it was your fault.

You were stunned into silence. You almost felt ashamed, bowing your head as you looked at Eddie’s feet, noticing them shuffling nearer to you. He didn’t solidly touch you yet, but his arm and left side was slightly behind you now, closer like this. You didn’t think the guys were making that much of a big deal, especially since in this case, part of you knew they were truly joking. But the words they spoke still came out. You weren’t expecting Eddie to really defend you, not when you didn’t even try and defend yourself anymore, not even subconsciously. It felt... warm, that he did though.

In the tiniest of movements, you leant your back into his torso.

Your back only grazed against his cotton shirt, but it still felt better than before. Better than most things.

“C’mon, it’s not like she’s gonna start sprouting white feathers any time soon!” Mike retaliated against Eddie in a brave offence.

Your instinct is almost to laugh again. But Eddie’s was to drop his hands onto your shoulders, and that touch completely whirlwinded your thoughts, as well as snapping you out of that learnt behaviour. Things were different when Eddie was behind you. After a few seconds of them still laughing, Eddie began gently rubbing your shoulders. You didn’t think this was because they were still laughing at you. Eddie just naturally fell into it. It felt too good as he rubbed his hands quickly up and down the top of them, the friction buzzing beneath your skin in a way that made you feel heated in your face and chest, not in a way that made you want to itch your skin off, for how disgusting your body felt it was. Eddie was now fully behind you, but his head still leant over yours as he spoke. You felt shrouded by him, including, from your own umbrella of thoughts. “Don’t pay any attention to those shitheads y/n.” He commanded you.

You meant to nod. Really. You meant to show Eddie that you were strong. You were good and could do what he asked. But instead, with the soft weight of Eddie’s palms rolling against your skin, your body gave off more of a defeated shrug. Maybe that’s what your mind intended your body to show anyway. Even with Eddie’s support. Something you didn’t know you needed quite this much, even if you were having somewhat of a hard time properly accepting it.

That seemed to do it for Eddie. He peered down at you, leaning more to the side. You had to look away after a certain point, when his eyes grew scared, it was like he could see right into you. His voice was stable as he moved in front of you, hands still clapsed to your shoulders, and eyes full with hurt. “Stop that y/n, you’re beautiful.”

Loud enough that the club members could hear. Which was in Eddie’s plan. He just wasn’t thinking super far ahead, his chest squeezing for a second too hard, when after a small obvious pause the guys all called out in unison. “Ooooooh!”

They all started teasing him. At a similar level they were doing so to you. And you didn’t miss the sudden panic that hit Eddie’s eyes, especially as his hands dropped from your body, twiddling his own rings instead. “Well you know not beautiful I didn’t mean it like that I just m-me-meant...”

You guessed it wasn’t worth defending you at this point. Now more than ever you had to keep in control of your face, with Eddie looking at you still stumbling over his own words. His confidence quickly fading.

And while it hurt hearing him call you that initially, ’beautiful’, even though you knew something was wrong with you that that did hurt, it hurt even more when he said you weren’t.

And you knew that was stupid. That wasn’t what he meant, he just didn’t want you to think he was hitting on you inappropriately or anything (or at all). He didn’t want the guys teasing you about him having a crush. Especially when he almost definitely didn’t, so Eddie would’ve found it annoying you were sure. That bad part of your brain still took what it could grab at though. Eddie did not mean to say you were beautiful, he didn’t think that was true at all.

Probably only said it to shut up your blabbering for a second. You were that pathetic, just bringing the vibe down for everyone, so much Eddie had to lie. Good job he quickly redacted it you guessed. At least he still had his values there.

Wallowing in your own self-misery, something Eddie was very clealry not missing, he was shook out of his concern for you by Gareth sticking his tongue out at him. “C’mon Eddie, you’re never this nice to us.”

Eddie rolled his eyes back with a dramatic grunt to him. “Yeah well that’s because I actually like y/n! Y/n is actually nice.” He turned back to you, still concerned that you weren’t looking at anyone’s face, not even his as he tried to grab your attention. Only his kept being stolen back by those little pricks.

“Is it because y/n’s the only girl in the group?” Lucas asked, getting a “Yeah Eddie. Is it?” From Dustin as back up.

Eddie grit his teeth, shaking his head in frustration. Talk to you, get them to back off, get you to look at him, talk to his group. “No-“

“Well it has to be something.” Jeff suggests, earning a snicker from Gareth.

“Look, you’re all assholes.” Eddie chides. Not in a super serious way, but letting them know he was getting tired of dealing with their bull. He was trying to shut them down, at least get them to talk amongst themselves so he could have you. But as soon as his head snapped back to you, everyone’s went to Gareth, as his digital watch started to beep.

Eddie’s heart sunk, and yours fluttered in relief mixed with discomfort. Time to leave.

Everyone started packing up. Eddie quickly shoving all his things into his bag because leaving them there was a death wish for any figurines or other creations, but he didn’t want to get caught behind by everyone else’s cleaning up.

Dustin hit your arm lightly only to snicker at you when you looked up. You laughed along with the joke. Your head was red because you were bending at an angle under the table to quickly pack your bag. No other reason.

At least with the growing members, no one would notice if you didn’t talk to anyone on the short way out of school. You hoped.

All of you flooded out the theatre rooms door, the club chattering amongst themselves down the empty hallway as you tried to keep your head buried even further now, in less dim light. Although the sudden change of leaving had given you a small spark of rejuvenation, that you were riding out so as not to cry. Eddie was sticking close by you, not talking to the others either, but apart from your mouth breathing you were doing, which you had to keep up to stop from fully cracking, you tried to act normal.

And considering both of you were surrounded by the group walking to the exit doors, Eddie didn’t try and talk to you until you all dispersed there. Even though you were the only thing he looked at the entire walk.

Exiting into the Indiana sun, that was definitely about to start setting with how late the session had gone, the rest of the members started going to their methods of transportation, the parking lot pretty silent as most clubs finished at a reasonable and precise time. Unlike Hellfire.

The kids had their bikes to haul back today, and Gareth’s mom was picking him and Jeff up, so it meant Eddie had a free seat. Not that he wouldn’t be driving you, or anyone, in the back of his van anyways. “Hey, do you need a ride home?” Eddie offered, trying to act causal like he could tell you wanted, but the inside of his mind buzzing with ’Please say yes, please ride with me so we can talk.’

But you quickly shut that down, panic evident on your face, which Eddie hated to see, as you quickly spoke out “My mom’s picking me up.” Too quickly for normal.

Eddie opened his mouth again, just letting it take over what he was next to say without his mind’s involvement, a bit like you clearly were, but as he did, you both spot about the only car rolling outside.

Heart dropping disappointed, Eddie put on a small smile as he waved to your mom through her window, just as you started to run over, not even saying bye to Eddie. Not even hugging him goodbye... which he looked forward to every single day. You hugging him hello and goodbye were the only hugs, the only true physical affection, Eddie really ever got. And he didn’t get it today.

But all he could do was keep waving, not able to see if anyone was waving back thanks to the sun’s reflection on the car window, as he was forced to watch you driving away...

You hated that you had school the next day. You almost wanted to take the day off, you had the very real stomach ache as an excuse. Plus the fatigue from staying up until 2am - it was hard to sleep when all you could do was cry. Scared about what Eddie was thinking right now, knowing he’d be up. How all your friends see you. Would they see you any differently today?

But there came the cost of not showing up, and them possibly figuring out you were hurt by yesterday. Then you holding in your crying the afternoon before was pointless, because they’d all know you’re a baby who makes her friends feel bad. God you hated how anxiety made every decision feel like a crappy one.

But you decided to go to school, prove to yourself that you were brave and not stupid. Even if you still secretly planned to avoid Hellfire as much as possible. Wherever physically, and in places like shared classes with Eddie (in which being the only two to share desks previously always seemed like a blessing), and lunch with all of them, you’d just have to practice avoidance by being quieter.

Unfortunately, none of this was on the table for you.

You got out your moms car and started to walk up to the school doors, busting through the ones closest to your lockers like you did every day, only for your heart to freeze and constrict in your chest, at seeing a pained looking Eddie leaning against your locker.

He was looking every which way, peering over most students heads. And you quickly made the decision to let autopilot run free on your body so you could continue your usual walk up, before Eddie could see you just stood stiff staring at him. Not weird at all. You trudged on.

Eddie’s face lit up when he saw you, but not in the usual happy way. It was more of a relieved look this time. He waved you over though, his curled hand raised above people but not shouting for your attention, which was a bit lower profile for the metal head than usual. You managed a small smile, taking a breath you knew you’d need, as Eddie managed to give a smile that looked all to much like your own as you swanned closer. “Hey princess.” He breathed out, calmer than he looked before.

As much as that nickname made your heart beat faster, you were distracted by the fading smell of smoke on him, and a small frown twisted onto your features, as Eddie only usually smoked right before classes when he was stressed, and needed a cigarette. Oh no, you hoped he was okay.

Eddie pretty much blocked you off from the rest of the school goers, and the world, as you got to your locker. Scooting over because he was literally leaning on yours, his hand moving to rest one to the left, but his entire body leant behind you, a breath as relieved as his smile leaving his lips as he could finally look over you. “I’m so glad you’re in today.”

Your face burned, heart swelling and tingly.

“I mean, I was worried you weren’t gonna show. I was totally gonna ditch and steal your neighbours ladder to check up on you though, if you didn’t.”

You heart was palpitating now, your lips opening into a small fish like shape as you blinked furiously, charmed. Eddie would’ve climbed through your window to check up on you if you’d missed school? How long was he worrying about you? How long had he planned that?

The gesture was so sweet, too sweet to you, electricity stormed through your stomach and your legs, not sure whether to smile or bury everything down deeper because you knew negative feelings were still being held back by a very thin damn. You turned to your locker, keeping a side eye on Eddie as you spoke, organising your books. “I’m fine. I promise. Why wouldn’t I be Eddie?”

It didn’t sound like you were faking. But that’s because it didn’t come out sounding causal at all. Like you weren’t even trying to be convincing. It sounded like you truly didn’t mean any of that and the both of you knew it too well.

’Maybe he just wanted to skip school’ floated briefly through your mind.

Eddie clicked his tongue, unseen to you, running his sweaty palms against the skin and denim of his ripped black jeans. “Well, after yesterday, you seemed a bit upset. Which was fair. I know they were just messing around because you’re their friend, but the guys were being total assholes and losers.”

Fair? Eddie thought you were okay being upset? You knew it was true, realistically. Of course you were allowed to feel upset. But it just felt so... comforting, to have Eddie confirm that for you in his own way, without any prior prodding. It was just a genuine declaration of how he felt.

“O-Oh.”

That wasn’t being hidden from Eddie. The crowd of pupils and teachers was thinning, but Eddie still drew closer, a shield against all those people, the noise of outside the two of you. People could be mean to you guys, mostly him, and he hated the fact people were only mean to you because you were friends with him, so he just wanted a break from that so he could focus on you right now. His face furrowed, already fallen like before he’d even seen you, lips twisting every which way and being bitten on the inside.

“W- uhh, thank you. That’s really nice of you... But yeah, um, I’m fine. No need to worry, honest!”

“Are you being honest though?”

Eddie leant closer and his breath on the nape of your neck drew a loud shudder of a gasp. You turned around quickly, only to be even more intimated at his determined look, now you two were front to front. Your back closed your locker for you, bag dead by your shoes.

“Uhhhh I-“

Eddie put his thumb to your lips, his hand following after and oh so gently cupping your chin. You couldn’t even breathe at this point, too scared to, and Eddie had this geuinine look in his eyes, emotions full in the dark brown, that you didn’t know what to do with. “Y/n please talk to me. You’re my best friend, right? I know you were lying yesterday when you laughed with the guys and I don’t think...” Eddie struggled when he didn’t let his heart run with the words, tongue flicking against his lips as it usually did, while his thumb still graced yours. “I don’t think they were playing along with me.”

In Eddie’s head it made sense. But it had yet to be translated to you. Instead, it was taken as wrong. “Oh? And what game were you playing?” You spoke, lightly unable to avoid brushing against his warm finger.

“No I’m not playing a game I just mean...” Eddie sighed, his brown puppy eyes so sad, as they held yours. Everyone had gone to class now, no one bothering to remind you two of the last bell. “I mean the guys and I... no fuck, hold on.” Eddie inhaled through his teeth, his hand finally leaving your face, which at least allowed you to breathe, but made you feel solemn and hollow at the same time.

Eddie was level with you. Looking like the normal boy you knew he was, who could feel unsure, and scared, and nervous. His ringed hands wrung together, swearing to himself as he tried to hold your eyes in his, desperate for you to stay right now. “I think- I mean I know, I see you differently than them...”

Eddie’s hand braced his chest as he said that, staying splayed there over his white Hellfire shirt. Meanwhile you were overlooking your flustered crush, rolling your shoulders as you exhaled unsurely through your nose. It made you nervous having a one on one conversation with Eddie that was so serious. No distractions. And seeing him so flustered and open was a vulnerable side you’d seen before, but not when you both felt this exposed, with something you were so hesitant to say. You bit your lip, only realising for a split second after that Eddie’s thumb had been on there, but you pushed that thought aside for later as you watched his tongue almost reaching the top of his nose again, sticking out like that nervously. About as on the spot as you felt.

“So... you see me as a swan and they see me as the ugly duckling?” You asked unsure, flinching back and feeling bad when Eddie winced harshly at your words. Shaking his head vigorously. Voice cracking a little through the first few words.

“No! Fuck no, that’s not. That’s not even true what they said y/n! They were just trying to find a joke and they locked onto it, they don’t think anyone looks like what they said, Jesus H Christ none of us look like animals. Least of all you y/n!”

You blinked away the last sentence, pinning it again for later, like your brain couldn’t be split between conflicting emotions, but unfortunately was picking the negative ones to experience now. The negative ones to experience with Eddie, and the positive ones for when you were alone. Christ couldn’t you be positive and happy when you were around people you loved instead today? “Look I’m not mad at them okay Eddie?” You spoke up. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to yell at them or something for me. I mean I really appreciate what you did for me yesterday, it made me feel nice but-“

“What? I’m not mad. Y/n-“ Eddie strode close and took your hands softly in his, flipping them over and grazing them in his own calloused touch, holding them warmly. “I’m not even trying to talk about them right now. They were being little dicks yesterday but they were just messing around. You know I know you’re beautiful don’t you? I mean, I do have eyes.” He chuckled softly only on that last sentence. The first and only time he hadn’t seemed serious apart from when he finally saw you. Almost like you relaxed him, made him feel good, better.

But now your brain was pushing away the positivity, that was becoming more in volume than the negativity, on purpose. Because it stuck onto one part that it could warp, and stab into you like a knife.

“Look Eddie I really appreciate you, and you know I love you.” You squeezed his hands softly, and Eddie looked like he was melting at your touch. His cheeks seemed softer, slightly pinker as they raised in an honest to god smile, medium sized, but perfect to the situation. And you both took a step closer to the other, not knowing each other would do the same. Still a parting, but wrists resting on your own stomachs. “But you don’t have to say that, I know yesterday you got kinda screwed over and tried to take it back and it’s fine. I don’t want you to feel bad or-“

“Y/n stop!!” Eddie snapped, shocking you a little as you jumped. Eddie held your hands closer in apology, pulling your wrists so near your hands were in his stomach now. “I mean Jesus Christ! Y/n. You are beautiful. I meant it yesterday and I mean it now. And I’ve always known it. Maybe I should’ve said it more but...” Eddie used one conjoined hand to shift back his curls in his face, huffing out quickly. You could feel how hot his poor forehead was becoming as he moved so.

“You are beautiful. You’re gorgeous.” His brown eyes looked deeply into yours, open, and face contorted in a mixture of confusion, but being pure, and fully unendingly loving, as he held you close. Hands smoothing down your shoulders, shaking as they tried to keep you from running, tried to soothe you into his words. Like a charm roll a bard would throw for a restless dragon.

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever been graced enough to lay my fucking eyes on.” His tongue darted out, eyes blinking sheepishly as he kept looking right at you. “Why don’t you see that, all the time?” Pain and confusion. That’s what was in his voice. Love and fear mixed into all his touches, hands smoothing over your back and shoulder blades in his need to fidget and be touching you, someone he always wanted to never not be touching, ever since the moment you first lit up when talking to him. That’s the only thing he ever saw when he looked at you, and he just couldn’t fathom a world where you somehow didn’t see the exact same thing, staring blatantly obviously back.

“Because I’m not!” You wriggled harshly out of his grip, the genuine hurt in Eddie’s eyes, only fuelling the burst of passion you were having. “I’m not anything! I’m not anything good, Eddie!” You were yelling, no one had seen you yell before, least of all Eddie. And Eddie teetered on nervous feet, worried about reaching out for you, but scared of what you’d do if he didn’t ground you.

Your breath felt ragged, head pounding. “I look at myself, I think about myself, and all I can feel, is how ugly, and disgusting I am.”

Pure and simple shock was spread across Eddie’s features. The kind of disappointed shock where he couldn’t understand how, or why you’d ever felt this way. Eddie was heartbroken.

“Whenever I remember this body I’m in, I want to cry because I feel like nothing good is deserved for someone as fucked up as this. I feel sick in my own skin. Every cell of me feels wrong, and that’s how I live. Terrified that someone’s going to look at me, someone who’s seen me a thousand times, and suddenly see this me that’s just a monster when you look again.” Your hand was to your heart, and you were crying now. Tears itching that disgusting skin people should wash their hands after touching. God you felt awful getting it out there, this was bullshit.

Anger was about to start seeping into Eddie too, just a little, grief and heartbreak was overtaking him right now. “Is this to do with what the guys said?”

You were hyperventilating now. Very aware of breaking down in front of your crush, and unable to breathe because you were crying so hard. Terror striking you from speaking the truth, because your best friend would see you that way now. Upon his words, a gasp bubbles through the saliva in your throat, but before you could answer Eddie finshed.

“I’m going to knock their teeth in.” Eddie felt hot tears in his eyes. He’d let you go home thinking about this. You were hurting. “I don’t care that they’re stupid, I’m going to tell them all that-“

“No!” You finally got close to Eddie again, your hands the only strong part of either of you as you lightly gripped his forearm. “No it’s not their fault.” You knew Eddie would only drag them somewhere and knock their heads together, but you didn’t want him guilting your friends, you didn’t want them hurt. You didn’t want them to know either. “It’s not them. I’ve always felt like this.”

Eddie felt lost. Eddie was crushed. His whole face collapsing to show it. His tears dripped onto his shirt, defeated by them. The white staining in the hollow hallway as he just looked at you, about as broken as you feel. ”But why?”

Eddie was genuinely confused. And it made your heart skip. To the point it felt so good, it was painful.

This whole conversation was painful. Your head dropped as your tears slunk to the floor, Eddie gripping your wrists in return, before pulling you warmly into a hug. Eddie’s embrace so tight, so scared to break you but needing you to stay, safe, with him, so you wouldn’t. Eddie would never let you break. He promised to himself now to always pick up your pieces before you could fully fall apart. Eddie would never let that happen, not on his watch. Not when you were under his oath. He sniffed, licking up his tears as he nuzzled his cheek into your head. Dreaded mumbles falling from his lips with small cries. Even his hips pressed to yours, his feet entangling thoughtfully, so you couldn’t fall, or retreat, just hugging you.

“I just. I don’t know.” You sobbed once. “I’m sorry.”

“Ssh. Don’t you dare apologise.” Eddie stroked the wetness away from your head, into his hand. “I’ll kick your ass.” He kisses your head instead, heart delighting, but not enough to give a smile, as you laughed at that. Hearing your small purr of a giggle was enough to tell himself to keep going, that he was doing an alright job.

“Sorry.”

Eddie pressed a hard kiss into your temple, growling lightly at you. Clearly still teasing you though. For once you didn’t have a single fear Eddie was mad at you. You could just breathe out laughs, even as you were crying. “I don’t know. Don’t you see that? See that... see an ugly duckling, in me?” You asked genuinely. For once your brain didn’t give you a million versions of the future, you just felt blank as you waited for his answer. It was peaceful.

As Eddie thought, he grazed against your head. Lips nibbling your skin, and your hair caught there, laughing lightly back when he felt another round of your chuckles, vibrating through his own chest, his warm hand smoothing down your back. He loved that feeling. He always wanted to make you laugh, but now he resolved to do so as he had your chest pressed against him, all the time. “I’ve... since the first moment I saw you, I’ve always thought you were jaw-droppingly stunning.” He revealed.

You felt conflicted, your heart pulled, brain just... not able to picture him seeing you like that. But you knew he wasn’t finished, and he held you impossibly closer, always being able to tell what you were feeling, even if it could be irritatingly accurate.

“But... the more I fell in love with you, the more and more I just kept seeing you as someone so perfect, it felt like the sun lit up her hair through every window on purpose. To shine down on her specifically. That the weather was made that day, so she could wear an outfit that made your legs, and stomach, and arms, and hands, look so desirable to hold. Someone who’s smile literally made the people around her smile for the rest of their entire day, and how that kinda magic could only be possible from you. That every day I’d see a different person spin around and do a double take at you with that look on their face, that look because they know they’ve just walked past the most beautiful girl in the entire world, and they’ll never get that chance again to brush past your shoulder, and meet-cute you, ever. And that I’m the luckiest man on this earth, because somehow, through your own kindness, and through the wind and the sun and our peers and the earth beneath our feet and stardust that made everything, I was lucky enough to be someone, who gets to see someone so beautiful, every single day.”

Eddie breathed out. His brown eyes warm in yours. His touch craving. His body glowing after all that.

And there were no words. A white sheet in your mind and a white glow over your body. You only knew you felt light, you felt... right. And your heart was full. And the thing that kept circling over and over in your mind, finally spoke out.

“You love me?”

Eddie’s breath collapsed in his laugh. Full and hearty, and the tears in his eyes were now spilt because of how they crinkled, smile spreading to his cheeks and his warm palms cupped your own cheeks, like he was so grateful to be able to hold you safe like this, like he was so happy to have your face beating in his hands. “Of course I do. I love you y/n. I’m madly in love with you! I love you so much it’s consumed every part of me and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love you more than fucking anything! I love you more than anything y/n!”

“I love you too!” The air tasted different when you gasped, Eddie’s heart swelling was something you could see throughout his entire body, as his chest rose and his feet curled, and his eyes warmed, and his lips opened in such a smile. You took Eddie’s face in your own hands and everything fit together perfectly. He was so warm, so full of life, so Eddie, and so full of love for you. Eddie was the love of your life, and you could hold his tear ridden smile in your hands.

Eddie leant in close, using his hands to pull you further as his open lips spread, and your eyes fluttered stickily shut as you just smiled leaning in. Finally having his full, wet lips slotting against yours, and feeling each other’s smiles into the kiss, as you felt him kiss you like it was the best memory he’d ever make.

He pulled you in closer, almost tripping over your own feet as his hands on your cheek coerced you, but only one foot slipping, as you kissed him deeper. Lovingly moulding his lower lip that wanted to live in your mouth, and feeling his thick upper one kiss you back with so much deep adoration. Affection and love oozing out of Eddie as he kissed you happily. Sweet sounds coming from the both of you as your hands curled in his dark hair by his ears, and his cradled your nape and your lower back. Cheeks brushing and noses nuzzling, as you sweetly tasted each other, kissing like it was the only thing that was right in this world.

Finally, after stopping a little, and feeling Eddie’s nose nuzzle and brush at you in return, you pulled back. Eddie having literally stolen your breath away. You both backed up just an inch, just enough to see each other, and you were both beaming smiles through the warm sun rays. Eddie leant in to kiss you again, this time a small peck that you reciprocated, both his lips sweetly pressing against yours, and you could just tell they were Eddie Munson’s lips.

A noise of deep happiness and satisfaction finally broke the air and Eddie couldn’t help but nose at your cheek playfully again. “That was even better than I imagined.” He fondly grinned.

You tilted your head, wrapping both your arms around Eddie’s neck, as you felt a different energy, making a home in your new home. “You imagined kissing me before?”

Eddie went momentarily bright red. Before he remembered it was you he was with, and it was okay to be this vulnerable because you loved him too. “‘F course!” He sang. “Although minus the crying.”

You burst into laughter, Eddie following along as you rubbed at your drying tears, stomach fluttering as Eddie’s calloused fingers went to softly swipe at your cheekbones instead, the warm metal of his rings from how clammy his hands were, actually feeling nice as he brushed them away, “Pretty princess...” Getting at his own tears with his sleeve before you could return the favour. “Yeah.” He took both your cheeks in his hands again, before he leaned in to kiss you once more. Then your two red cheeks, and he leaned back and smiled, then both your eyes, still smiling, as he just had to look at you again “Can’t have my gorgeous girl crying. Never.”

Somehow, that didn’t start it again. Your lip wobbled but no tears came, only as Eddie kissed your nose fondly, was your movement to hold his face back, squeezing those adorable cheeks as you kissed all over his face. Every single inch got covered in your loving kisses, and feeling Eddie’s excited giggles fanning so close on your skin just made you kiss his lips over, and over, and over, and Eddie kiss yours, over, and over again. Your “I love you Eddie”’s being caught in between each and every kiss. Only stopping when Eddie pulled back to look at you, so happy in his hand, so he could smile at the sight of you. “My beautiful y/n.”

You two both skipped school that day eventually anyways. Only this time, as you walked hand in loveable hand down the empty hallways, not looking at each other only and purely because you were too busy kissing to have your eyes open, you were leaving to spend your first moments together as a couple.

#Eddie Munson x reader #Eddie Munson angst #Eddie Munson hurt/comfort #protective eddie munson #Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson fic #Stranger Things #Hellfire Club #fic #dustin henderson #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #slight miscommunication #crush Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson fluff #negative body image issues #Eddie Munson/reader

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year ago

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Joyce staying at the cabin with Hopper and El to keep them safe bc no one in Hawkins knows they’re alive. Will, Jonathan and Argyle staying at the Wheeler's bc they have more room and presumably aren't in danger like the others.

OH WAIT there's a witch hunt for the Hellfire club, which means all the boys are in danger from the townspeople. OH WAIT the boy who came back to life has returned from the West, the same boy whose assumed death jumpstarted this small town's curse in the first place! The same boy who apparently everyone and their fathers knew was gay...

THE END IS NEAR! THE GAYS ARE RESPONSIBLE!

+ Time jump early somewhere in between.

Now picture how that would look in an 8 episode story format, leading up to a final battle lasting about 2+ hrs, and that's loosely how s5 is gonna go down.

#byler #enter satanic panic #enter religious imagery #enter small town blaming the apocalypse on two boys falling in love #NO but deadass...#I could see a gradual realization in 5x01 #with them making a plan but then realizing it wont work bc townspeople are hunting down members of hellfire #the whistleblower for the hellfire club in the eyes of the town was jason #and now jason has been found dead #and before he died he told the townspeople that members of hellfire club were protecting eddie...#jason basically signed all of hellfire clubs death certificates #now that citizens are seeing real life impacts as a result of what jason said was caused by these kids playing dnd...#that they're now working for the devil himself #shit is going to get bleak af...#it could get so bleak that something horrible happens instigating a time jump early on #the duffers have said s5 is pretty quick in motion with continuing the events directly after vol 2 #but then they imply that there is a shift after those first two eps...#so i think it's likely we're getting at time jump in time for 5x03 #putting the rest of the season post time jump and preparing for the ultimate final battle #that is my guesstimation at this time

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italiansteebie · 2 years ago

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also on ao3

Gareth has been watching Steve Harrington.

It was almost surreal the way he fell from the hierarchy everyone put so much importance on. It was like he ruled the school, and as soon as someone stepped up to challenge it, he gave it up like he didn’t want it in the first place. Gareth begins to wonder if he chose it, or if it was thrust upon him.

He finds out how right he was when Eddie gets accused of murder.

He’d been at home watching the news with his mom when Eddie’s face popped up on the screen. “Oh shit,” “Gareth!” His mother scolded. “Oh- Sorry mom, that’s Eddie!” He said, exasperated and a little nervous. He knew Eddie was strange, but what the hell did he do to get accused of murdering a cheerleader? “Your friend Eddie? He’s a sweet boy, he couldn't do that.” His mother soothed. And she was right, but for the next five days Eddie was radio silent while the earth split apart and ash rained from the sky.

He paced every day by the phone waiting for Eddie to call and tell him something. Anything. Waiting for Wayne to call him and tell him the funeral date, or the court date to testify against the charges but it never came. Instead, he got a call from a guy sounding right around his age, and when he listened closer the voice identified itself as one Steve Harrington, who’d gotten his number off Dustin Henderson, one of Eddie’s “Sheep.”

Eddie was in the hospital, he wasn’t okay, but he was alive, and as much as Gareth wanted to see Eddie, ask him what the hell happened, and slap him silly, he couldn’t help the morbid curiosity that came with Steve Harrington being mixed up in all of this. Was he the one who killed Chrissy? No. No way. Steve can’t even throw a punch, he’s seen him try.

He got to the hospital, seeing Steve sitting in the lobby, head in his hands and a bright red ring around his neck. There was a girl next to him, rubbing his back, and when Gareth looked closer, he discovered that it was Robin from band. He snorted, he didn’t think Steve was anywhere near Robin’s type but… Well, he’s been wrong before.

Dustin was sitting across from them, looking a bit more put together, and he wondered how long they’d been sitting in the lobby, and if Steve had gone home. Dustin’s eyes meet his, and he waves him over. “Hey, Gareth. Uh. I had Steve call you. I figured you’d want to see Eddie?” He posed it as if he was unsure, the more kid looked exhausted and wondered what possibly could have happened between the murder acquisition and the earthquake that got this odd group of people strung together. The three here seemed comfortable with each other, and the morbid curiosity returned. What was King Steve doing with these people? Not that there was anything wrong with them, it was just so… Different. Gareth realizes he’d been just kind of idling, so he shook himself from his thoughts, “Uhm, yeah. Is he okay? What happened?” He stuttered out nervously. The two boys made eye contact from their adjacent plastic chairs, seemingly having a silent conversation.

Steve gave him a sharp nod before standing, “Dust, stay here with Robs. Wayne should be here soon and you can bring him back to Eddie’s room, kay? Rob, feel free to go to Max or Eddie’s room.” He looked at Gareth, studying him, before waving a hand as to say “follow me.”

Gareth followed hesitantly, looking over his shoulder at Robin and Dustin who were watching them right back. Steve led them silently to a room before stopping at the door. “Look, Gareth. We don't… We don’t know each other and what I’m about to tell you is going to be hard to swallow, but per the request of Eddie, I will explain, please.” Steve’s voice wavered and broke before he continued. “Please, don’t ask any questions until I’m done and I am begging you, don’t share this with anyone who doesn't enter this room, okay?” Gareth swallowed thickly, no matter what, Steve was intimidating, so he nodded, and listened as the other boy launched into the story. Starting with little Will Byers, who came back from the dead.

By the end of it, Gareth was a little more than shell shocked, and the exhausted look on Steve’s face told him that he didn’t really have a choice except to believe him, somehow it made sense. He uttered a simple, “Okay.” And that was that.

“Eddie’s in rough shape but he is okay, just so you know. I’ll… Wait out here til you guys are done…” Steve said before pushing the door open for him. “Gareth, my main man. Thanks for briefing him, Stevie.” Eddie’s voice came out croaking and dry, and out of the corner of his eye he could see a faint blush spreading across Steve’s face at the nickname. Huh. The door shut, “Stevie?”

“Oh, shut up Gareth. That’s what you’re focused on? I'm in a hospital bed.”

Gareth rolled his eyes, “You’re sitting up and calling King Steve ‘Stevie.” He scoffed, to which Eddie rolled his eyes. “He’s… Not that bad anymore, in fact he might be… Really, really good.” The soft voice and the fond look on Eddie’s face made Gareth squeal. But y’know, a manly squeal. “EDDIE OH MY GOD.” Eddie ducked his head, they both flinched at the door swinging open. “What’s wrong? I heard screaming. Is everything okay?” Steve rambled out, softening when he realized everything was still in order. “S-sorry, I’ll” He stuttered out, shoving his thumb back towards the door. “Stevie, c’mere sweetheart.” Eddie said, patting the side of his bed, scooching over to make room for him.

Steve sat, grabbing Eddie’s hand, eyes flicking over to Gareths occasionally. “It’s okay, Stevie. He’s my best friend, he knows. Well, not about… He knows I like boys, kay?” Eddie raises their clasped hands, planting a soft kiss on Steve’s knuckles. He turns to Gareth, “It’s new. But… It’s good. Really good.” Gareth smiled at this, before fake gagging at the cuteness, they were going to be insufferable weren’t they?

It wasn’t until a few months later that Gareth really found out the backstory behind King Steve. It was a more depressing story than he’d thought it would be.

They’d been playing DnD in Steve’s basement, after he’d allowed them to set up shop there every week for their campaigns claiming “No one ever uses it anyways,” with a shrug. There was a twinkle of something sad in Steve’s eye but he didn’t pay much attention to it. It wasn’t until later in the game that it all came to a front.

Eddie introduced a new NPC, quite obviously based on Steve, and most of them took it well. They were happy for the two and their new found love, but Eric, apparently, had a grudge stronger than a demogorgon.

“Knight Steviengton? Seriously? That lumps not a Knight. What’s he ever done?” Eric scoffed, Eddie began to reply before Eric cut him off, voice coming out sharp. “More like ‘Useless King Steve who’s only worth his parents money.’” Eddie’s head whipped around at the sound of the basement door closing, Steve disappearing from his spot on the couch where he watches the story unfold and takes notes so they remember where they left off.

Eddie might as well have cast Eric out with the look in his eyes, everyone watched as the guy sunk back into his seat as Eddie sauntered over to him, a dark look in his eyes. “Tell me, Eric. Do you like having me as a DM?” Eric spluttered, a weak “yeah,” coming out eventually. “Okay. Good, good. Now tell me. If you like me so much, why would you curse the most important person in my life? The person who saved my life?”

“He’s- He’s just… King Steve…” Was the meak answer that left Eric's lips. “Did he ever do anything to you?” It was silent. Eddie slammed his hands on the table, “No. He didn’t. Because he would NEVER stoop so low as to put his hands on another person. In fact, I explicitly remember him telling Tommy H. to back off, don’t you?” His voice was loud and aggressive.

“You know, he tries so hard, to make up for the asshole he was in high school, and you fucking… TURDS, won’t accept anything! It’s not his fault he was basically bred specifically to be a reincarnation of his god awful father. And now that he’s finally out of their control, because they basically disowned him after the earthquake, leaving nothing but this god forsaken house!” Eddie paused, breathing heavily, “You can’t forgive him? He saved my life.” His voice was soft at that moment, before his eyes returned to their fiery state. “And I am in love with him, and if that’s not good enough for you? You can get the fuck out of HIS house, and find yourself a new goddamn DM.”

There was no response from Eric, “Whatever, session over. Goodbye.” Eddie waved a hand before going upstairs, likely to check on Steve.

Gareth looked at Eric, “Not cool, man. Steve’s a pretty good guy when you get to know him.” He shook his head before standing up, moving to grab his stuff and leave. Jeff nodded in agreement, “I mean, he lets us use his basement, and eat his food, and he keeps it clean for us… Dick move, Eric.”

“Well. Fine. I’ll just leave then! Since you guys are all up King Steve’s ass for NO REASON.” Gareth watched the outburst with his arms crossed, unimpressed, “Well. Go on then.” He said, motioning to the door.

“This is ridiculous!” Eric threw his arms up and stormed out of the house.

The rest of the group trickled out after that, leaving Gareth alone in the house. He crept up the stairs, finding Steve’s room before knocking gently. “Come in,” He heard Eddie say from the other side. Seeing Steve Harrington cry was something he’d never expected to see, and honestly it was kind of heart breaking. “Hey, Gare.” Eddie said, combing a hand through Steve’s hair.

“I just… Wanted to say that what Eric said wasn’t cool… And the rest of us don’t agree with him at all, we all think you’re like super cool, and good for Eddie. I mean, you’re the only one who can get him to eat vegetables!” Gareth said, voice lifting at the end. This rendered a tearful laugh from Steve. “Thanks Gareth. I really try to be… better than I was.”

“You are,” The assure came from both Eddie and Gareth with such finality that it didn’t give him any room to argue. This rendered another soft laugh from Steve. Wiping his eyes “Feel free to crash here, we’ve got enough rooms, and food, o-or whatever.” It came out awkward, and hopeful. Gareth nodded, letting a smile spread across his face, “Thanks, Steve. I’ll take you up on that. Good night, guys.”

He shut the door softly behind him, venturing to one of the guest rooms that lined the halls.

Steve Harrington could use some more friends, Gareth decided at that moment, he was going to be one of them.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #autistic steve harrington #steve harrington angst #steve harringtons parents #gareth emerson #gareth stranger things #soft steddie #steve harrington centric #soft eddie munson #protective eddie munson #best friend gareth #hellfire club #stranger things #steddie fic #steddie ficlet #steddie fix it fic #steve gets taken care of

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lovemesomeeddiemunson · 4 months ago

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The Proposal - Part 3

Summary: When Steve Harrington is threatened with deportation, he blackmails his long suffering assistant, Eddie Munson, into marrying him. Steddie! The Proposal Au, Modern Au, Part 3 of 7. 5166 Words

Series Warnings: Blackmail. Food mentions. Mentions of unhealthy relationship with food. Cursing. Self harm (by means of tattooing.) Homophobia. Death of a parent. Abandonment by parents. Shitty parents. Homophobic parents. Parents with entitlement. Classism. Eventual sexual situations (no actual smut!) Brief allusion to a panic attack. Minor spoilers for Flight of Icarus.

Authors Note: It should be noted that this is a fully completed fic, I've just broken it up for ease of posting. I can AND WILL be motivated to post faster, if readers find themselves engaged lol 😂

They had reached some semblance of normalcy by the time they landed. Slipping into their roles.

Wayne is waiting for them when they get off the plane, smiling huge when he and Eddie spot each other in the crowd, the latter immediately bolting for his uncle, leaving a bewildered Steve a few paces behind.

“Uncle Wayne,” he says happily as the old man receives him in a tight hug, and damn. It’s been too long.

“Hey Ed,” he greets with a chuckle, pulling back to get a good look at him. Clicking his tongue. “Don’t they have food in New York? You’re all skin and bones.”

Eddie laughs. “I’m eating good Wayne, promise.”

Wayne gives a shake of his head. “We’ll get you a Big Mac or something on the way.”

Steve, who's gotten close enough to hear now, is baffled by what he hears. In the Harrington home, Steve was often critiqued for how much he ate. Even in peak sports season - food was a means for fuel only, and carefully regulated.

Steve carried the guilt of it around with him even now - years later, and while he indulges himself in his morning lattes, he never let it go so far as to eat fast food.

But here Wayne offered it up to Eddie unthinkingly, the offer laced with kindness.

Steve finds it hard to wrap his head around.

Noticing him standing there in silence, Wayne glances his way, and Eddie whirls around then too. “Oh!” He blurts.

“Steve, honey, this is my uncle Wayne.” Eddie introduces.

Steve sticks a hand out to shake automatically, his smile plastered on as he tells him, “Pleasure.”

Wayne smiles back. “Well hello there…Now do you prefer to be called Steve or uh, Harbinger of Souls? I’ve heard it both ways��Actually I’ve heard it a lot of ways.”

Steve’s eyes widen as Eddie elbows his uncle, no malice to it. “Hey, come on now.” He complains.

Even despite this, the older man’s smile doesn’t falter, and he laughs good-naturedly. “I’m kidding. Mostly. It’s good to have you, Steve. I was surprised when Eddie said you’d be coming along.”

“Right, uh. I’m sure…Thank you for allowing me to be part of your birthday this weekend.” Steve manages.

Wayne waves his niceties off, wrapping his arms around his boy once again and ushering him along as they head to baggage claim.

Once there, Eddie rescues Steve’s things and piles them up neatly, muttering on the last bag for only him to hear, “You’re gonna wanna use your legs to lift that one,” Before turning and slapping his hands together.

“Where did you park?” He asks his uncle as he abandons Steve to his luggage.

Wayne looks miffed at seeing it, “Eddie! Help him with those!” He huffs, having thought he’d brought up a respectable gentleman.

Eddie pouts. “I’d love to, but he won’t let me do anything, uncle Wayne. He insists on doing it all by himself…So big and strong.” He sighs.

Wayne looks at Steve, unconvinced. Steve fakes a smile at him and gets his bags in hand.

Eddie chooses then to launch into a rapid-fire round of catching up with his uncle, telling him “Gareth and Jeff send their love, and presents, by the way.”

Wayne looks fond, “Ah, how are they? I ran into Gareth’s mom at Melvald’s the other day - she says since he left he never calls. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I know how well he’s doing since my kid keeps in touch.” He chuckled softly, the two of them talking more while the three of them head out.

Once they reach Wayne’s truck, Steve piles his things into the truck bed as Wayne offers for Eddie to get behind the wheel.

He takes him up on it, Wayne riding shotgun and Steve sitting in the back seat of the cab, melding silently into the seats. Answering when spoken to, in a friendlier manner than Eddie expected.

So far so good.

They do hit a fast food place on the way, and when it becomes apparent that Steve is completely out of his element, Wayne insists on getting a bunch of different stuff for him to try. Refusing to let Steve pay.

The three men sit in a booth with cracked red leather, Steve sipping a milkshake and downing so many fries that he’s sure he’ll die, but Eddie is feeding them to him, being all cute and domestic and Steve would rather perish than give Eddie a reason to stop.

Finally, Wayne clears his throat to interrupt the pair of them. “So uh, I was thinking…and uh, you boys don’t have to indulge an old man in his wishes, but-” And his voice is soft and humble, and Steve’s heart goes out to him.

“What is it?” He asks, at near the same time Eddie questions, “What is it, uncle Wayne?”

Wayne scratches his head. “Well now, I know you’re only in town for the weekend, but I was just thinking…that nice hotel you booked is a bit of a ways outside of Hawkins…and I see so little of you as it is…Well, I was wondering if you two wouldn’t mind staying in your old room. So we can spend the extra time together.”

Wayne gives Steve a look - like a kicked puppy, all sweet and innocent and Steve is helpless to turn him down. He looks to Eddie and finds that the other man is already looking at him - with a very similar kicked puppy look that makes his heart thud traitorously.

Not wanting to dwell on that, he dwells instead on a decision that was presented to him.

Considering that being in Wayne’s home means being under his scrutiny, he knows that the pair of them will have to be continually convincing. Something that Eddie doesn’t seem put off by, and so he chooses not to be either.

“Well, I don’t see why not.” Steve says finally before Eddie’s wobbly lip really does finish him off.

At his words Eddie whoops, and the sound, particularly when paired with Wayne’s crinkly-eyed smile, fuels a wildly unfamiliar fuzzy feeling in Steve’s gut. Something homey.

He could get used to it.

Later, Wayne uses the bathroom and Steve and Eddie toss their trash, meandering back to the truck as Eddie sighs. “I feel like I should warn you before we get home.”

Uh oh. “Yeah?” Steve asks him.

Eddie purses his lips. “When uncle Wayne said we would stay in my bedroom…it’s the only bedroom. We live in a single bedroom trailer. In a trailer park.”

Steve stares at Eddie - confused, baffled even, but not for the reason Eddie might think. “And…you’re telling me this…why?”

“I don’t want you to react poorly when we get there.” Eddie snaps back. And Steve feels that earlier feeling in his gut - the warmth - shrivel up and die. He clenches his jaw, back ramrod straight.

“I won’t.” He says quietly. Yanking the door to the back of the truck open and sliding in, shutting it aggressively behind him but not quite slamming it.

Eddie gets into the passenger seat and fiddles with his metal chain, Wayne hopping in the truck shortly after, oblivious to the mood between the two men as they get back on the road.

They arrive at the trailer park in the early afternoon, and Eddie’s spirits are lifted to see that everything is exactly the same, down to the ratty old couch he and Wayne used to share cigarettes on.

Steve, for his part, doesn’t bat an eye. Once they’re parked in the driveway he announces “I’ll get the bags,” going to grab them and taking too many in hand, his muscles flexing under his dress shirt that’s now got a dollop of ketchup on it.

Eddie isn’t too proud to admit how fucking sexy it is.

As Steve moves, Wayne heads around to the back of the trailer with a quick comment about watering his plants, but Eddie knows he’s really giving them both a moment alone to settle in.

Once they have, their things - or rather, mostly Steve’s things - piled into his room, they take it all in.

Even with all they brought, there’s space to spare, the room still mostly bare but for the bed. All cleaned out as Eddie had left it years ago, his posters lingering that Wayne must have kept up. Clearly never having resumed ownership of the room, something that stirs Eddie’s heart a bit.

Running from the thought of anyone loving him enough to save a place for him, Eddie clears his throat, taking advantage of the fact that they’re alone for now. Tells Steve, “I owe you an apology.”

Steve looks surprised. “What for?”

“When I assumed - about the trailer, it’s just…” he starts.

“Oh. That.” Steve waves a hand, dismissing Eddie as he often does. “You don’t have to apologize, I get it.”

Eddie’s eyebrow raises. “You do?”

Steve nods, “Yeah. I can be pretty…”

“Pretentious? Snobby?” Eddie volunteers.

“Particular.” Steve glares.

Eddie winces. “Right.”

“All in all, I can see why you said what you said. And now that the heat of the moment has passed, I’m not upset.” He swears.

“You’re not?” Eddie confirms.

Steve nods again, hums softly. “The trailer is fine. Really. And I mean, I’m not thrilled about the cancellation fee for the hotel-” he quips, but Eddie shakes his head in answer.

“Don’t worry about that. I canceled in plenty of time.” He promises.

Steve is confused at that, “You- but you only knew we would be staying with your uncle today.”

Eddie just smiled sheepishly, and understanding washed over Steve. “No you didn’t.” He says.

Eddie shrugs. “No, I didn’t.”

“How long-“ Steve starts.

“Wayne asked me about it before we left. But I knew you’d be all whiny about it if I asked you, so, I asked him to whip out some of the old ‘Munson-charm.’” Eddie chuckles. “I knew even you couldn’t say no to him. He’s like, stupidly endearing. Old bastard.”

Eddie sounds so fond, Steve can’t even find it in him to be mad. Or to correct him on how it was his puppy dog eyes that he’d found stupidly endearing. Even so. “That’s a rotten trick.”

Eddie gave a mocking curtsy. “I know that you are used to finer comforts, my lord, but I pray that my humble abode might please thee, until we might return to your luxurious castle.”

Steve is unamused, glancing around with a neutral expression. Changing the subject. “How long has it been…since you’ve been home?” He asks.

“Too long.” Eddie sighs.

He’s taking that in. Examining his surroundings. Eddie tries to soothe his worry, tells himself that this is fine, definitely not comparing himself to a bug beneath a magnifying glass, no sir…

Steve moves closer to the wall then, taking in the handmade Corroded Coffin banner proudly displayed. “This is your band. The one from the demo. You’ve been together this long?”

“Since high school. In some form or another.” He kicks his shoes off then, getting comfortable, slides them into the closet where a few hangers linger, and his old acoustic.

“Oh!” He pulls it out, the body adorned with ‘This Machine Slays Dragons’ in a crooked scrawl. “Forgot about this.”

He sits on the bed with it, tuning it to give himself something to do with his hands as his boss turns and leans against the wall of the bedroom he occupied in adolescence, arms crossed, scrutinizing him.

“This is good.” Eddie rambles at his piercing gaze, taking his guitar pick off his necklace to use. “That’s something you should know. You should ask me more stuff like that.”

When Eddie plays a chord, the sound that emerges is pure and clear and perfectly in tune. Walking his ﬁngers up the fretboard, he picks out a bare-bones acoustic take on the intro to "Number of the Beast."

Steve stares at his hands. “Okay. So, why music?"

It's such an oblique question that Eddie has to give up on Iron Maiden for a full 30 seconds as he tries to ﬁgure out what he means. "Everyone likes music."

"Not everyone likes it the way you do." He cocks his head thoughtfully. "But I’ll rephrase. Why this music?"

Eddie laughs a little, strums some more. "Because it's badass,"

"Sure.” Steve dismisses, once the sound has died away. "But that's not the only reason, right?"

Eddie glances up at him, inquisitive.

He huffs a sigh. "Help me out here, Eddie. If I'm gonna sell this package, I need you to give me something to work with. Something real."

Ah. Leave it to Steve to be all business. Even now.

Fine.

Eddie could give him real. So he thinks…Why music? Why this music? He ﬂips his pick around in his ﬁngers as he tries to put his thoughts in some kind of order.

He'd never thought hard about it before Steve asked him. For 26 years of his life, music has just kind of... been. Like eating, breathing, taking a piss...music. Listening to it, playing it, talking about it. Grinding away for a chance to get it out there someday…It's a fact of life. But why?

"My mom." He murmurs. He’s not actually sure he means to say it. It just kind of comes out. He presses on anyway. "My dad was the one who taught me how to play guitar, but my mom, uh." He clears his throat. "She was living in Memphis when she met my dad. She'd grown up there, 19 years surrounded by music, everywhere she went. Country, bluegrass, rock...but her favorite was blues. Like, Chicago blues, the hard kind that gets into your bones, you know?"

Steve had relaxed a bit as he answered. "Yeah."

"So - when she left, when she moved up to Indiana, she took the music with her. It's like a nine-hour drive from Memphis to Hawkins, and she and my dad spent all of that time squeezed into a tiny car with 20 boxes of records. And then when I was born, she started sharing those records with me."

He’s still plucking out a tune, but it's not Iron Maiden anymore. It's a Muddy Waters riff, and as it fills the small space, Eddie can hear the static from his Mom's record player buzzing underneath, as familiar and comfortable as an old sweater.

His voice turns bitter as he recalls not having those records to listen to anymore. “She called them her plane tickets. Even when she was stuck in Hawkins," Waiting on her husband to come home from some dumbass scheme, Eddie thinks. "That music told stories. It helped her see the world."

He looks at the roof, water stained, and much safer than the man here with him.

"I didn't get it when I was a kid," he goes on. "All I heard on those records were people singing about sadness, about how shitty life was. And then, uh. She got sick and died. When I was like 6. I got it then."

Eddie pauses. Typically there's a chorus of sympathetic crooning following that reveal, one that sets his teeth on edge. But Steve is still and silent, watching him. Listening.

So Eddie gives him something to listen to. The guitar line for Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" trips off his ﬁngers, half blues and half metal, and it might be his imagination, but Eddie thinks he can see the ghost of approval, of a smile, on the corners of Steve’s mouth.

"I like this music because it's about sadness and how shitty life is. And things are sad, life is shitty. It's real. But also, it tells stories. This music takes you on an adventure, to another world where you're, like, facing down demons. Traveling into the depths of hell. My mom's music was plane tickets. I guess that makes my music a portal to another dimension."

"You like it because it's badass," Steve fills in the blanks.

"I like it because it's really fucking badass." He ﬁnishes the riff and lets his hand fall away. "Is that real enough for you?"

Steve isn’t smiling, not really, but there’s a glow in his eyes, radiance that has nothing to do with the light. He says, “I think I can work with that.”

Wayne opens the front door more loudly than he needs to then, and a few beats later he’s standing in the doorway to Eddie’s old room, his expression soft.

“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes.” He says, seeing Eddie, in his room, with his guitar.

Eddie plays him an exaggerated song with full body movement, that Steve quickly makes out to be ‘Hot Cross Buns.’

Wayne laughs. “Feel free to get settled in kids, the party’s not for a few hours.”

Eddie and Steve offer him passable enthusiasm, and then Wayne is retreating to the living room. Eddie sets the guitar to the side. “You can hang in here if you want, we’ll probably just kick it on the couch. Watch some TV or something. I can tell him your jet lagged.”

“From a less than 3 hour flight?” Steve snorts. “No, but, thank you.” It sounds genuine.

Steve strides out of the room, beating Eddie to the couch, and taking a seat on it. At seeing where he’d chosen to sit, Eddie groans and Wayne winces.

Steve blinks in surprise. “What’d I do?” He asks.

Wayne’s expression becomes playful, “That there’s Ed’s seat.”

Steve raises an eyebrow, looking at Eddie with an almost smile, but not quite. Just enough to take the bite out of his words when he tells him, “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s optimal seating, Stevie.” Eddie whines. At his graveness, Steve moves to adjust himself, really wiggling into the cushion. “Huh. Now that you mention it, I see what you mean. Great choice on my part, really.”

Eddie gawks at him, spluttering. “You’re - you’re still sitting there?”

“So I am.” Steve is cocky. So cocky. Eddie loves to hate it.

“You’re not moving.” Eddie clarifies. Wayne is looking between the two of them with amusement.

A shake of Steve’s head. Eddie gives a faux gasp. “Not even for the love of your life?” He squawks.

Steve just raises an eyebrow, looking around. “Is the love of my life in the room with us?”

“Sacrilege!” Eddie shouts, before launching himself onto the couch beside Steve, gracelessly trying to manhandle the younger man out of his seat.

Steve is stronger than he looks though, and within minutes what should have ended with Eddie depositing him on the floor, makes way instead for Steve to maintain his ground, his powerful thighs locked around Eddie’s waist, keeping him from getting Steve off of the couch without taking himself out too.

Wayne is laughing nearly hysterically at watching them both wrestle, Steve spitting Eddie’s hair out of his mouth while Eddie wishes a plague on Steve and all his houses, tickling his sides, Steve fucking licking his neck to get him to stop.

And even then, it’s only when both men are on the floor, pushing and shoving to reclaim the lost territory, that Eddie knows he’s beaten.

Steve, powerhouse that he is, is fucking laughing. Actually truly laughing.

And damn it if Eddie doesn’t fall flat on his face, catching his breath yes but also - just fucking taking that fact in for a second.

“Victory!” Steve shouts as he sits once again in Eddie’s seat.

Eddie pops up, resting his head on his elbows, nearly panting like a dog. “You have bested me. I concede.”

Steve laughs again, face flushed and his once perfect hair all in disarray, and Eddie wonders if this is what he looks like after - Okay, nope. Nope. Between the wrestling and the neck licking - Eddie needs to think of gross, unsexy things, immediately. Lest he become visibly riled up in front of his surrogate father and his fake fiancé.

In that spirit, Eddie claims another part of the couch, groaning and oh yeah he’s in terrible shape.

Wayne chortles and flips through channels on the TV now that the commotion has died down, settling on an NBA game when Steve’s interest is piqued. “Oh, basketball, nice.”

“You’ like sports?” Wayne is surprised. Eddie is decidedly…not a sports guy.

Steve has the decency to look bashful. “I’m not like a super-fan or anything. We moved to the States when I was in high school and I got recruited for the basketball team. Coach would play us tapes. I only know the teams I like.”

“Who’s your favorite?” Wayne asks him.

“Probably the Knicks.” Steve answers.

“Get out of my house.” Wayne is not at all serious.

Steve laughs again. “Is that the wrong answer?”

“This here, is a Pacer’s family, kid. Ed, what are you doing? You dating your boss who’s run you ragged the last few years I can excuse - but I can’t tolerate a man who likes the Knicks.” He holds his hand to his heart.

Steve is starting to see where Eddie gets his…dramatic flair. He can’t wipe the smile from his face.

Eddie sighs, just as playful. “Well it’s a bit too late to kick him to the curb now, uncle Wayne.”

At that Steve glances at Eddie. Tries to communicate with his eyes. Is he going to…?

“Why?” Wayne chuckles. “You get’ him pregnant?”

Steve flushes. Eddie laughs. “Nah, nothing like that. But uh…we are getting married.”

Wayne freezes. Steve doesn’t miss it - for a solid few seconds the man has gone stiff, unmoving. Not even a dropped jaw or raised eyebrow. Totally and completely offline.

Steve can’t breathe. He vaguely feels Eddie take his hand. Squeeze. He inhales.

And then…Wayne smiles. Nice and slow, and fucking big. His eyes are twinkling. “Really?” He asks.

Eddie nods. “Really.”

Wayne jumps to his feet, smacking his knee. “Hah!” He’s absolutely fucking giddy. “Well how about that! We have double reasons to celebrate tonight it seems! My boy’s getting married!”

He wraps them both in a hug, and Steve is still fucking, just - paralyzed. No longer in fear, but something entirely different. Something that wants to creep up from behind his eyelids, wrapping its way around his throat.

Wayne pulls back from them, and he sniffles. Wayne clocks it immediately, “You alright there, son?”

Son.

“My uh,” he wheezes out. “My parents, they never…they wouldn’t have…I’m sorry.” He tilts his head back, unblinking and pinching his thigh, until he gets himself under control.

Then he smiles at Wayne with watery eyes, having missed the look the older man had given his nephew. “Sorry.” Steve laughs shakily.

Wayne hugs him again. “Don’t you worry about it, Steve. We aren’t worried about displays of emotion in this house. You should have heard Ed wailing when they freed Willy.”

A laugh bursts out of Steve, and Eddie gives Wayne a look of complete and utter betrayal, whining. “Wayne…”

To which his uncle merely offers him a shit-eating grin, Steve halfheartedly defending, “That scene got me as a kid too.”

“He was 19.” Wayne clarifies.

“Wayne!” Eddie is full on shouting now. “Oh my god stop talking or I swear when you get old I’m putting you in a home!”

Offended, Wayne barks back. “My new son-in-law Steve would never let that happen!” Shaking his head, he mutters in Steve’s general direction. “Unbelievable. Threatening to commit me, and on my birthday no less. Where is the respect?”

Eddie groans, but he apologizes, he and Wayne bickering quite happily, all while Steve��s gut feeling grows into an even more confusing tangle.

Thinking to himself that it was certainly going to be an interesting weekend here in Indiana.

That night as the trio arrives at a VFW that had been rented out by some of the gentlemen at the plant Wayne works for, Steve is mildly surprised to see the parking lot packed with cars.

Eddie glances at Steve’s expression with a little chuckle. “Small town.” He explains. “Everyone knows everyone.”

Add to that the fact that his uncle was also very well loved, and it makes for quite an uproarious slew of greetings when the three of them enter, the fake couple quickly losing Wayne to a swarm of hugs and well wishes.

By the time he’s passed back around, he’s got lipstick marks on both cheeks, in varying shades, and Eddie laughs and shoves at him playfully. “You dog!”

He rolls his eyes, “Come with me boys, there’s some people who want to say hi.”

Wayne leads them over to a table where Steve witnesses a gaggle of no less than half a dozen teenagers gathered. Most of them make no effort to hide how they lose their collective minds when they see Eddie.

The tallest of them, a teen with long black hair, is the most aggressive in his attempts to get to him, nearly elbowing a curly haired kid with a row of endearingly imperfect teeth, who complains extra hard at that because of something that he calls his cleidocranial dysplasia.

Whatever that means, it gains him the lead of the queue, the others groaning at his words and holding their hands up, letting him pass.

Behind them, a wide eyed girl looks on in amusement while her two companions - a redhead toying with a skateboard that probably shouldn’t be on the table, and another girl wearing an American flag like a cape, appear uninterested.

Eddie hugs the curly haired kid enthusiastically, greeting, “Henderson! You haven’t changed man.”

He scoffs. “Of course I haven’t, you specifically, asked me not to.” Eddie laughs at whatever that calls to mind, patting him on the back, and Steve decides that he likes this kid.

Eddie takes a half a step back then, and the kid squawks at Eddie’s shirt as he ignores it in favor of beckoning Steve closer. “Children, gather.” Never mind that they’re already encroaching on the men’s space as it is.

Eddie addresses Steve, “Allow me to introduce you to my…flock of little lost sheep.” He snickers, pointing as he introduces them. “This is Dustin, Mike, Will, Lucas - the one who looks innocent but could probably crush your head through sheer force of will is Will’s twin sister Jane - that’s Max next to her, and then there’s my undisputed favorite, Lucas’s sister, Erica.”

The kids all groan at his declaration, all apart from Erica who smirks in a familiar, bitchy way at them. And Steve likes her too. A fine choice in favorite, he thinks.

“Kids, this is Steve.” Eddie introduces.

“Steve.” Max repeats his name with a raised eyebrow, looking him up and down.

“Steve.” Eddie parrots as he nods, while Wayne adds proudly from behind them, “Eddie’s fiancé.”

The kids all stifle in shock - Mike blurting, “Wait. Evil-boss-Steve? Evil-boss-Steve is his fiancé?”

Steve wants to groan. His reputation precedes him.

“Hah!” Dustin, who is also the ‘Henderson’ kid, laughs. “Boom!” The exclamation echoes as he points at his friends. “Bada…bada…boom. I told you he had a crush on him. You guys totally owe me $20.”

“No one made that bet with you, man.” Lucas rolls his eyes.

“I’m happy for you, Eddie,” Jane smiles before looking hopefully at Steve. “Does this make you our new mom?”

Steve has to laugh, bewildered and also pleased to see Eddie flustered by not only Henderson selling him out - but by the question as well.

“Oh he’s such a mom.” Erica supplies. “Look at him. He has the hips for it.”

Steve’s laughter becomes a knowing smirk. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Erica.”

She smiles - more of a show of teeth than anything. And Eddie has to skip over that interaction while the kids hit him with a million questions a minute. He waves them off. “Another time, kids. I’d much rather hear what you all have been up to.”

That starts another round of talking over each other, and Wayne gently grabs Steve by his elbow in order to lead him away from the commotion.

“Best give them a minute.” He chuckles. Steve tries to decide if he can ask - if he should know-

“Ed didn't mention his old club, huh?” Wayne asks him. He doesn’t sound surprised. Steve is mildly relieved, shaking his head.

Wayne sounds fond, “Yeah, used to run it in high school. They’d spend hours wrapped up in that tabletop roleplaying game - Dungeons and Dragons? Ed was the leader. The kids were devastated when he finally graduated and moved away. He left Dustin in charge, but it's not the same, you know? They missed him.”

Steve glances back - sees them animatedly talking and laughing with Eddie, and his heart. Oh his poor heart.

He would never admit it but…He’d always wanted six kids. Six little nuggets and a Winnebago to house them all and drive across the country, all crammed together, making memories…And here Eddie had fucking…seven children, who clearly adored him, calling Steve mom. It messed him up a little bit.

“Bob! Joyce!” Wayne calls, snapping him out of it. “Meet Steve, he’s Eddie’s fiancé.” Steve kinda likes how Wayne keeps saying it - proud, but factual. Like ‘he’s Eddie’s fiancé’ is his last name now.

He embraces it - out to charm the room. Working his way through it with Wayne, the whole place positively buzzed at the engagement news.

Besides the children, it seems that no one else was aware of his prior relationship with Eddie, and Steve is met with open arms and drinks bought for him just as readily as they do Wayne, who, unlike Steve, never declines, having the time of his life.

By the time Steve leaves him in a chair with a cup of water and makes it back to Eddie, he’s a little flushed at the effort he exerted to get Wayne settled there. That, and at all the well wishes being freely and genuinely offered. Those actually had left him feeling pretty good.

Eddie looks amused by it. “Having a good time?” He asks.

“Hawkins loves me, what can I say?” Steve shrugs in reply.

Eddie grins at him, voice spilling out sweetly as he says. “As do I.”

Steve does a double-take before he realizes that there’s an older woman lingering at a desert table within earshot, and replies automatically. “Love you too.”

That makes Eddie roll his eyes, where no one can see, moving in and leading Steve away from the woman with a hand on his lower back. “You’ll have to be more convincing than that, Harrington.” He purrs in his ear.

Steve is…affected. He clears his throat, asking. “And what would you have me do?”

Eddie has led them through the entranceway to a small hallway that clearly leads to the bathrooms, where they stop, Eddie leaning against the wall.

He’s looking at Steve, who can’t get a read on him, until he suddenly hits him with, “You should kiss me.”

Steve gapes at him. “What?”

Series Masterlist

Next Part: Part 4

Previous Part: Part 2

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throughpatchesofviolet · 11 days ago

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All my prints are now up!! Very happy with how my walls look ~

#really happy to have most of my merch taken care of ... I have a space picked out for my corkboard so that's next #also still need to sort out my standees--they're next on this mini cleaning spree ... them and my laundry #r: that's that‚ and this is this 🌇#r: remind my heart to beat 💢#c: children of the city 🔒#c: this'll be wobbly! 🔧#p: the will to stand up straight 🏛️#p: the rationality to maintain discretion ⚙️#p: the hope to be a better person 📚#p: the fearlessness to keep on living 🥂#p: the expectation of the meaning of existence 🏵️#p: those who are faithful and trustworthy ☕️#p: the eye facing the fear; breaking the cycle 🫖#p: maybe there are still happy answers left for my discovery 📖#p: one more time‚ let me try to fly 🪶#p: the undoer of wrongs and injustices 🎠#p: writhing in the hellfire of a powerful brush 🔥#p: the simplest and most lasting joys ⛓️#p: [Hong Lu tag] 💎#p: it is not down on any map; true places never are ⚓#p: your worst sin is you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing 🪓#p: to travel home and see the dawn of my return ❓️#p: awoke from unsettling dreams 🪳#p: the truth shining before me like a star in heaven 🌟#f: the courage to protect 🚬#f: the eye embracing the past; building the future ⏱️#f: my hopes‚ my dreams‚ my inner transformation 🐣#e: e'en hell hath its peculiar laws 🧪#the library's holdings #scattered pages

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ryan-waddell11 · 2 years ago

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just a boy and his shield

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sp0o0kylights · 2 years ago

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AYYYYYY I got the first two chapters up on A03

This bad boy’s A03 is now in my Pinned Post as well, which I finally updated lol. Meant to get it up whatever two days ago was but alas, I crashed and then had a Bad Health Day BUT IM GOING STRONG RN SO

HERE IT IS

#highly recommend never being medically interesting #or getting speared by a saddle horn #fucking horse #adopt a jock #0o0 fanfics #steddie #domestic fluff #s2 AU #s3 AU #hellfire #hellfire adopts Steve #gareth emerson #steve harrington #Eddie Munson #stranger things fanfic #steve needs a hug #protective hellfire club

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mrstsung · 10 months ago

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Ok after 80,000 yrs he's done.

Enjoy raiden lovers(me and y'all alike)

From me to you with love(and pain)

Lord Raiden,God of Thunder. Protector of the earthrealm alongside his brother Lord Fujin,God of The Wind.

The storm brothers.

I really hope y'all love it because holy shit this took forever.

#mortal kombat #self ship #self shipping #Raiden #raiden mortal kombat #lord raiden #raiden god of thunder #the real raiden #💙⚡thunder's devotion⚡💙#my art #my version of raiden is both heaven and hellfire piss him off you'll know how lightning tastes bih #he's big protective sweet and absolutely gorgeous #he's also the shitlord of shitlords but he's the best person to be on your side #his brother fujin too #but he's next so don't worry #storm bros #the storm gods #mortal kombat raiden

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tartarusknight · 2 years ago

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King of the Freaks | Part 6

Ao3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Eddie and the boys were in Steve Harrington’s house. He was in Steve’s house. Never in a million years did he think this would ever happen. But it is happening. Except, Steve wasn’t even there. He made them promise to head over after school and that he’d meet up with them after swimming. They hadn’t wanted to but Steve was convincing. So, here they were.

Steve had told them to make the basement into their little cave because no one went down there. It was well-cleaned but there wasn’t much down there. There were two rooms off to the side one was a bathroom and the other was a laundry room. The rest of the room was open with fancy couches and art around the room. It looked like those furniture stores that would set up fake living rooms that didn’t have any personality in them. The only proof that it was lived in was the way the couches were broken in and a couple of soft throw blankets on the backs.

They shifted the couches around the semi-tall coffee table and Eddie grabbed one of the single chairs off to the side. If they had a taller table, it would be perfect, but they could work with this. Eddie set up his shit around the chair while the rest of them talked amongst each other. Once everything was put together and they were ready to start, Eddie started to feel like it was wrong without Steve. Maybe it was stupid, the younger teen wasn’t even a member but as he looked around, he knew the others felt the same way.

Gareth sighed, “I say we roll Steve a character.” Eddie perked up and everyone nodded. They pulled out their books and a couple of character sheets to start. They all launched ideas back and forth, going off what they knew about the man and what they could make up. They got so wrapped up in the ideas they didn’t even notice the time passing.

Jeff is rewriting it all in nice handwriting to make it easier to read. Gareth was going through the figures and dice to pick out something that fits Steve. Grant is making a cheat sheet for moves and other good-to-know facts. All while Eddie draws out a character design for Steve. They all jump when they notice the door to the basement opening and Steve peaking his head down. He looks all confused and Eddie has to force himself to focus only on his face as he notices the joggers and tank top Steve has on with a sweatshirt tied around his waist.

Steve jogs down the steps and raises an eyebrow. “I almost thought you guys had been murdered for how silent the house was.” He huffed and Eddie looked over him to see an actual tenseness to Steve’s movements. Like he was actually worried about their safety.

Jeff clears his throat, “we got distracted by something. It happens sometimes.” He shrugged and Steve moved over, leaning over his shoulder to see the paper. Eddie watched Steve squint like he couldn’t see the paper well enough. Which supported Gareth’s theories. They watched his brow furrow before Eddie saw him give up on trying to understand it.

Steve straightened up and cleared his throat, “I’m going to take a shower, but afterward I can get something for dinner. Pizza? Yeah, I’ll order some pizzas. What do you all like?” He rambled and Eddie wondered if they made him nervous. Because sometimes Steve looked a second from bolting.

Jeff tossed his pencil to the table before stretching. “I believe I said we’d get the food, actually. So, I’ll order, you go shower. Anything you want?” He said calmly and Eddie was a little jealous of how easy-going Jeff was. Steve made a weird noise in the back of his throat like he wasn’t expecting it. Then he just gave a small shrug and Jeff gave him a look but didn’t push it. Instead, they both headed upstairs together quietly.

Grant sighed, “okay so we should ease him into it. Like, don’t mention the character at all. Let him watch a couple of times before asking him to become a member completely.”

Gareth nodded, “it can be a lot. And we don’t want to make him feel like he has to play.”

Eddie dropped his head into his hand, “why can’t we just hug him until he feels better?” He whined and Gareth snickered.

“You’re the one that decided to bring him into this,” Grant pointed out.

That made Eddie groan, “I know! I just- I figured it was something easily fixable! But instead, I see his puppy dog face and my heart can’t handle it!”

Gareth patted his back a few times before smacking him over the head. Eddie flung himself at the younger boy who was like a brother to him. “You fucker,” He screamed.

Gareth laughed and scrambled away from Eddie. “I’m trying to literally knock sense into you! You can’t keep doing this!” He pointed out.

Eddie looked at the couch between them with contemplation. “I’m not doing anything,” He lied.

Gareth frowned, “I just don’t want you to get hurt, you know that.” And Eddie did know that.

But he also knew about Steve. How the guy had somehow turned himself around enough that he was getting bullied himself. That the only people that actually talked to him at school, other than Hellfire, were his ex and her new boyfriend. Or how Steve had trouble with food and didn’t have an okay family life. But also how Steve lit up when he talked about the kids he looked after. Honestly, it wasn’t fair to Eddie’s heart. He knew the moment Steve knew what D&d was that he was fucked but he wanted to pretend he wasn’t.

Instead, he just groaned before launching himself at Gareth. Gareth shrieked and hit the ground with Eddie on top of him. They all started laughing until the door to the basement slammed open and Steve looked down. He was damp like he had been in the shower and threw on his pants in a hurry. Eddie watched the water run down his chest and tried his best not to die. “Is everyone alright?” Steve was a little out of breath and Jeff appeared next to him with a worried face. Eddie nodded and Steve looked one minute from shaking apart. He gave a sharp nod before he disappeared once again. Jeff looked after him until they all heard a door shut.

They all decided to get the game started so that Steve could slip in easily once he joined them. And so that he wouldn't have to explain the fears that they all noticed. Eddie got into his element and he only stumbled a little when Steve joined them with the pizza. They paused and Grant handed Steve a piece of cheese. Steve smiled but he looked at the pizza like it was going to kill him. Eventually, he took a bite and then another. But Eddie made sure to keep an eye on him just in case. Steve did finish it but he turned down another.

The night continued on and Steve watched from next to Grant on a couch, his head resting on his knees but he looked entertained. Eddie didn’t hold back, going all out to entertain him. However, once it got around 9 Steve disappeared once again. Eddie called for the night and everyone started cleaning up. However, no one stopped him from heading off to find Steve.

He finally found him upstairs. The younger teen was curled up tight with a walkie in his hand, listening as kids sounded off. “This is Dustin signing off for the night.” One voice called.

“Everything’s alright over here, I’m heading to bed,” a girl stated but then sighed. “Max is signing off.”

“Nancy and Mike are signing off,” another small boy.

“The Byers are all good,” another boy stated.

“All good here, Lucas signing off.”

“El is going to bed?” A small girl sounded unsure but Eddie watched each voice loosen something in Steve.

Steve sat there silently and Eddie didn’t know if he should say something before the walkie crackled to life again. “Steeevvve!” A voice drawled and Steve rested his head on his knees.

Steve cleared his throat, “Right. Yeah, well good night, dumbasses, Steve’s out.” Steve says in a soft voice. There’s a chorus of good nights before it goes silent and Steve shuts it down.

Eddie knocks gently and Steve glances over, jumping a little. “Sorry,” Eddie smiled softly and Steve just gave him a small shrug. “Are those the kids you talked about?” He wanted to move closer but he stayed at the door. Leaning in the frame like he’s cooler than he is.

Steve sighs, “yeah. They uh- they do this every night.” It makes Eddie relax to think at least someone says good night to Steve every night. Even if it’s a little strange.

“Uh, Byers, you know? Will? He’s one of them so everyone’s a little more… they like to know everyone’s alright every night just in case.” Steve explains, his face going pink.

“I think it’s nice,” Eddie assured and he couldn’t stop moving closer. He dropped onto the edge of Steve’s bed. “It’s like saying good night to your family. My Uncle, Wayne, works nights but I always say good morning and he always says good night. It’s always nice to know you’re not alone.”

Steve nods, “yeah. It’s nice to know… that they’re okay.” He states and Eddie watches as Steve’s gaze wanders to his window.

“It was getting late, we figured we’d head out,” Eddie says gently and if he hadn’t been watching Steve so closely he would’ve missed the flicker of fear on his face. “It was really nice to do it here, to have you as our little cheerleader.” He teased in the hope to make Steve feel a little better.

Steve smirks, “yeah? Feel free to leave the basement that way. You can use it any time. I don’t mind the noise.” He says and Eddie’s heart hurts. How quiet did this house get at night when it was just Steve?

Eddie reached over and gave his arm a little squeeze, “we might take you up on it. You don’t know how annoying it is at the high school. I’ve got to drop all the others off but how about I call when we’re all home safe and sound?” He offers and Steve’s eyes go wide. He nods quickly and Eddie stands up. He glances around Steve’s room and it’s not any more personal than the rest of the house. It looks like someone was hired to design a teenage boy’s room but they didn’t actually know the kid. Eddie swallowed hard at picturing Steve growing up in this fake house.

Steve followed him downstairs and Eddie listened as Steve offered his basement as their go-to spot for however long they wanted it. Eddie silently persuaded them to agree but he didn’t really need to. Not now. As they all headed out Eddie gave Steve’s shoulder a squeeze on his way out and Steve leaned into it a little bit. It made Eddie pause and turn. He pulled Steve into a big but short hug before giving him a salute and heading to the van.

Eddie knew he was falling but he pushed it away. Steve needed friends right now and Eddie could be that for him.

@zerokrox-bloglog @cyranyxx @adaed5 @the-redthreadd @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaringceyoustopcaring @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshitorthisshit @failedstarsandgoldencloudsds @bisexualdisastersworldd @deadlydodoss @anythingyouwanttobee @nburkhardtt @bestwifehaverr @thehumblefigtreee @megzdoodlee @swimmingbirdrunningrockk @mightbeasleepp @bxlthazarar @autumnal-dawnn @chillichatss @nonbinary-eddie-munsonon @the-daydreamer-in-the-cornerner @eddie-munson-is-my-wifewife @a-little-unsteddiedie @sharingisntkaren @a-huge-nerdy-nerd @0o-queendean-o0 @beckkthewreck @vi-an-te @vampireinthesun @newtstabber @dinosareawesome2137 @spicemallow @hellomynameismoo @luthienstormblessed @briceslayed @angeldreamsoffanfic @dbquills @prideandsensibility @iwouldsail @ponfarrtimeatthevulcannightclub @spectrum-spectre @the-chilly-kat @yearningagain @loopsmd @starlight-archer @sleepy-time @goodolefashionedloverboi @crazyshipper67 @sherrylyn628 @bidisastersworld @v3lnys @n0connections cherixxx69 theotalksalot tailsfromthecrypt ledleaf grimmfitzz

(SORRY I CAN’T TAG ANYMORE PEOPLE!)

#Eddie is falling #Steve is hurting #steve needs a hug #protective hellfire #hellfire club #pre-steddie #steddie fic #steddie #steve harrington #steve x eddie #eddie munson #eddie is so in love #high school au #stranger things #the fallen king and the king of the freaks

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beastsovrevelation · 10 months ago

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Now that I started writing Hellfire, this gifset makes me think of Cordelia and Lucy...

Lucy's nature is the same as her father's (though, she wouldn't be referred to as the Antichrist until Michael retires or dies). Her powers are dark, destructive and hardly measurable. Even as a young adult, they may be difficult to control, especially in a rage, or some other emotional outburst.

I can easily imagine Cordelia cradling her in a sea of bodies.

"I don't know what happened... Mommy, I didn't mean to-..."

"Shhh, it's okay. It's okay."

She has always been hard on Lucy, knowing her violent tendencies must be curbed. The world might not survive otherwise... But, in the end, no matter how much blood she spills, nor what she renders to ash, Cordelia will always protect her daughter.

Question is, whether Lucy's wrath was deserved or not.

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kotomori · 2 years ago

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Okay here's another one! (Steddie Parallels to Lumax in season 2 after the party finally manage to convince Steve to join a Hellfire campaign. This parallel comes from the scenes where the party (Mike) continuously ostracize Max from joining their gang despite claiming they want her to join) TW: This ones kinda angsty....might do a part 2 ;)

Despite all of his complaints and utmost refusals to ever actually play Dustin's nerdy Dungeons and Dragons game, Steve was, much to his own disbelief, pleasantly surprised when the Dungeon Master/newly cleared Eddie Munson 'formally invited' him to tag along for their next session.

Steve liked to believe that he and Eddie had become good friends ever since the whole Vecna/End of the world thing. They hung out pretty often now that he and his uncle had been given a new place to live as a sorta 'Sorry your town tried to hunt you for sport after accusing you of mass murder/keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you', kind of deal. It had been a tad awkward to be around eachother with nobody else the first couple of times yet as the weeks went by, Steve was about as comfortable opening up to the guy as he was to Robin. Almost. Robin would always be his number one. But if Eddie had shown him anything over the last few months or so since the first time he came over to his place, it was that he would never look down on anybody for being different. Hence why Steve found it easy to be so vulnerable with him. Eddie was a damn good listener and while not exactly one for giving advice, he always seemed to know how to make him feel calmer. Steve would try to do the same, resulting in a pretty solid bond between the two polar opposites. That label reminding Steve of the phrase 'Opposites attract' which after many long insightful conversations with Robin led Steve to believing that it was true. It wasnt as though he wasnt aware that what he felt for Eddie was a little more than a normal friendship and he knew what being attracted to another person felt like. Hell, Eddie wasnt even the first guy he'd had a crush on. Yet there was never another guy in Steve's life that had ever made him feel so accepted that he allowed attraction to develop into a full blown crush. He liked Eddie. He really did.

So when Eddie invited him to tag along for his latest campaign, not the first since he was released from the hospital but the first since Will and El had officially moved back to Hawkins, Steve found himself actually wanting to go. It sounded like fun with everyone being there. Yet the meaning behind the word 'everyone' suddenly made him hesitate. Everyone would involve not only the kids, himself, Robin, Johnathan, Nancy and Argyle. It also meant that the rest of the Hellfire club, Eddie's friends would also be there too. And it didn't take a genius to work out that they wouldn't really be happy with former jock King Steve hanging out with the nerds, if Eddie had told them at all. Why else would he have refused back before Spring break when Dustin called him asking him to sub for Lucas? Well....aside from the fact that there was no way he was missing Lucas's championship game after all the practice they'd put in during the semester. He was damn proud of that kid. And he wanted to show him that he supported him. He'd been so invested that he'd hardly said two words to his date all night.

Eddie had told him that he didn't have to play, that he was fine to sit with Robin and the rest of the crew and watch. They'd been playing in the Wheeler's basement since the club had been banned from the school, hence why Nancy was there to greet him when he knocked on the door with Robin at his side. Her sunny smile at the sight of him did alot to warm the chill of his anxiety.

That was another thing that he couldn't regret about what happened over spring break. Following their first bout with Vecna, he and Nancy finally had the chance to properly talk about what happened between them and while he may have regretted coming on as strong as he did, nothing would make him regret the friendship he had with her now. If anything they were closer to eachother now than when they were dating. It felt good to be allowed to love her again, even if it was a different kind of love than before. She had also apologised for the way things ended between them and she had grown alot since then. Steve had tried to tell her she didn't need to apologise, which Nancy had fiercely disagreed with, telling him that no matter what she was going through he never deserved to be treated like that. At the time Steve hadn't felt like there was anything to forgive, but she had looked so relieved when he told her he did. It had made him think alot about who he used to be, how much he had suffered as a result, how much he felt like he deserved most of it. But as Nancy, Eddie and Robin, most of the group would vehemently remind him, they saw him as a good person deserving of good things. Steve was really trying to believe that himself.

Nancy led them down to the basement, laughing lightly at something he said on the way down before he was faced with the rest of the group. Everyone else was already there. Dustin, Lucas, Will and El all rushing to give him a hug while Mike as someone not overly keen on physical affection gave him a half smile and wave. Max greeted him from the corner where she was sitting in her wheelchair, gesturing for him and Robin to come and sit on the empty seats on either side of her. Steve smiled impossibly wide as he and Robin followed the redhead's orders, forgetting for all of a few seconds why he was so worried. Then that chill in his spine returned with a vengeance when his eyes landed on the no so concealed glares Eddie's friends were casting his way whilst the man himself seemed blissfully unaware, shooting Steve a soft smile that Robin had not so helpfully dubbed as his Steve smile. It put him a little more at ease in any case as he smiled back. Within the next few minutes the campaign began, prompting Eddie to slide right into his alter ego of Dungeon Master Extraordinaire.

It didn't escape his notice when he caught one of them, Gareth? He'd never really actually met any of them before tonight but he'd heard Eddie talk about them plenty. Anyhow, Steve watched as the younger teen's eyes remained fixed on him as he leaned over to his friend sitting next to him, Steve knew his name was Jeff, to whisper something in his ear. The other boy's eyes flickered back to him for a millisecond before looking away and releasing a snicker. Steve's anxiety came crashing down on him once more, worsening the longer the game continued as the rest of the group seemed fully invested in their game. Their other friend, Steve was sure his name was Grant, was sitting the second closest to Eddie with Will being the only one between the two. Steve wasnt sure how much time had passed since he realised that the three had been whispering to eachother and sniggering about him, but just before the club decided to stop for a break, Grant muttered something towards the other two boys. Steve obviously couldn't hear it being as far away as he was, but it seemed that whatever it was Will had caught the jist of it if the look of surprise followed by the guilty look he sent towards Steve was anything to go by. Ever the one to keep a close eye on his brother, Johnathan seemed to notice Will's sudden change in demeanor too, turning a suspicious glance to the Hellfire boys before looking back to Will, the two seeming to have a silent conversation with eachother from across the room. Steve tried to wave it off with a smile when Will looked back at him but the upset frown remained fixed on the boy's face. It looked as though El had also caught on that something was wrong, looking at her brother curiously as though she was trying to read his mind.

It set off a chain reaction with the rest of the kids as Max and Mike noticed something was wrong with El, causing Lucas to notice Max, and Erica and Dustin catching on to the tension that had made it's way into the room. The moment Eddie called for a break, it appeared as though he had also noticed their seven youngest members weren't really paying a great deal of attention. Will practically leapt to his feet claiming he was going to grab something to drink. El was quick to follow after him with Mike in tow. Johnathan paused for a moment before following them as well. Steve's stomach clenched with the realisation that Will was likely going to tell them both what he'd heard. Argyle seemed to take Jonathan's absence as a reason to come and take Robin's chair as she excused herself to go upstairs and get a drink with Nancy. Steve tried to listen to whatever it was the man was saying, he really did though he was clearly already high enough for him and Johnathan as he continued saying whatever was on his mind. Steve could still feel the three pairs of eyes still burning into his skull as he continued to ignore them. They didn't like him. Whatever. They didn't need to act like children about it. The better question on Steve's mind was how the hell Eddie hadn't noticed what they were doing. Should he say something? Maybe go over and break the ice. Let them know he wanted to make an effort to know Eddie's friends. That he wasn't the same person he used to be, if he was ever really that person.

"So, Stevie. How are you enjoying your first encounter into the satanic nightmare that is DnD?" Eddie piped up startling the man in question.

It was sat that moment that Steve realised he hadn't said a word since they had started. His mind drew a blank at the question, not anticipating for anyone here to actually talk to him until the had to drop them off at home. He knew first hand how seriously his children took this game.

Shit. Eddie was still waiting for an answer.

"Its good." He replied a little too quickly. "I-Its really cool."

Not his most eloquent response, he knew. But still, who could blame him for not paying attention when the force of the stares he was receiving was making him feel like his head was about to explode!

It seemed that whatever he said was the wrong thing to say from the way the smile slipped from Eddie's face.

"You know if it's really not your thing, you don't have to stay for the rest. We're probably gonna call it soon anyway, looks like your children aren't really invested either."

Shit he sounded upset. What did he say? What could he have done wrong? He was just sitting here.

"No-No! It's not that, its-" Steve started to say until the sound of one of the boys snorting at any attempt he made plucked on his nerves. Eddie glanced at Gareth confused as the rest of the party glared at him.

"Something funny?" Max bit at the boy causing him to promptly wipe the grin off his face.

The rest of the group started filing back in. Jonathan was the first back in the room, footsteps heavy against the wooden stairs, almost angry sounding. That was nothing compared to the cold expression on his face aimed solely at the three boys that had been making fun of Steve all night.

"Woah! Byers, man! Wheres the fire?" Argyle asked catching on to Jonathan's bad mood almost immediately. The man said nothing but gestured for Argyle to scooch back over to his seat as Robin and Nancy came back down the stairs with the same tension filled entrance. Robin took her seat back next to Max crossing her arms over her chest and shooting daggers at the three with the same intensity they'd been giving him since they arrived here causing them to wither under her gaze as any human would. Steve swallowed thickly suddenly feeling very put on the spot. It was pretty safe to say that Will had told them what he heard. Case in point, Mike and El came down th stairs hand in hand with Will behind them almost as though they were creating a barrier as he pointedly refused to look anywhere but his feet. Meanwhile Nancy grabbed hold of her chair that was previously placed beside Johnathan and dragged it over next to Steve, who looked over at Johnathan questionably. The younger man merely met his eye before nodding at him. Steve looked over at Eddie, who was following her every move as his frown drew deeper and deeper right until she sat down next to him.

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked him placing her hand delicately over his. It was a simple question. One that would've been much easier to answer if he wasn't painfully aware of the fact that Eddie was staring at him. No. He wasnt okay. He felt completely out of place. He was uncomfortable. The only reason hed agreed to come here was looking at him like he'd ran over his dog for some reason and he could feel people whispering about him all over the room. He just wanted to go home.

He watched as Eddie looked a little further to his right and followed his gaze to land on Robin, who's eyes quickly locked onto Eddie's. It looked as though they were trying to communicate something to eachother with Eddie's pointed look of hurt before Robin shook her head. Steve was just about reaching the end of his patience. Why wouldn't someone please tell him what he had done wrong?

But then one of the boys mumbled something else under his breath which then prompted the other two to snicker loudly. He could tell from how quickly he turned his head that Eddie had heard whatever they said. By this point El, Max and Erica looked as though they wanted to blow their heads up with how hard they were glaring at them. But then Steve looked at the four boys sitting around the table with the other members of Hellfire and, Oh God, every single one of them looked betrayed, pissed off and hurt.

But then he looked back at Eddie. There was no way he hadn't heard what they just said. He needed to see what he would do about it. His already plummeting hope was rapidly sinking lower and lower the longer it took the man to react. He watched as Eddie's eyes wandered back over to him and Nancy, right to the point where her hand was resting on top of his and then...

He smirked.

Hell he looked like he was trying not to laugh right along with them.

And fuck if that didn't sting.

But with how shitty this night had made him feel, Steve didn't even have it in him to process how hurt he was.

He was pissed.

Scoffing loudly Steve launched himself out of his chair almost toppling it over in the process.

"Seriously?!" He yelled, voice cracking at the last syllable.

And just like that, any trace of contempt was erased from Eddie's face, turning swiftly into shock.

"Steve-" Robin reached out to him but he quickly brushed her off.

"Screw this. I'll be in the car." And with that he stormed out of the basement.

It was only then that the three who started all this became all too aware of the death glares being shot at them from all directions.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" Dustin exclaimed, sending a particularly wounded look at Eddie, whom had gone from smug in the sense of hiding his jealousy to remorseful in a matter of seconds as he quickly realised his mistake.

He barely paid any mind to the question however as he quickly shot up from his seat and ran after Steve. The man was already halfway up the street heading towards his car when Eddie spotted him.

"Steve!" Eddie called out to him.

The younger man didn't stop walking to his call as he spoke without looking back.

"Leave me alone, Munson. I've had my fair share of playground insults for one day."

Munson. Not Eds or Eddie. Back to Munson because of one stupid mistake.

"Steve, please just hear me out, man. I'm so-"

"Why the hell should I? Are you gonna pull my pigtails now too?" Steve cut him off, finally stopping to look at him.

"Steve-" Eddie tried again.

"I thought you wanted me to play your game! I thought you wanted me in your group! God I can't believe I fell for that." Steve cackled. "Did you even tell your band I was coming tonight?"

"Of course I did. But...Gareth, Jeff, Grant, they're weird about this kinda thing. It's just their way of being protective."

Steve barked an incredulous laugh, "Yeah, that's one word for it."

Eddie sighed, "Steve, you don't understand-"

"No, you're right, Eddie! I don't! I've been sitting there all night while this has been going on. It's been miserable. You invite me to watch you play your game the you all start whispering and giggling and talking shit like we're in the seventh grade or some shit! I don't need that kind of bullshit, Eddie!"

Eddie fumbled for words for a moment before replying, "They're just not used to it, you know. I've never had a friend like you before. They just want to make sure that..." Eddie quickly cut himself off before he said the wrong thing.

"That what?" Steve asked brokenly. And, oh...there it was. The look of complete hopelessness. The glassy tint to his eyes was a kick straight to Eddie's ribcage.

"That what, Eddie? That I'm not gonna hurt you? Lure you into a false sense of security and then jump you? After all we went through back there, all we're still going through, you can't even bring yourself to tell them that won't happen? Why? Because I played sports in high school suddenly that means I'm as bad as Jason Carver and all those other assholes? Is it because of who I used to be? Or is it because you all still think I am that person?"

Eddie winced as he was reminded of the gruesome fate he'd been told Jason received for all the shit he caused all those months ago.

"Steve.....Steve, no that's not true! I...." Why the hell was it so hard to get his words out? Why couldn't he say exactly what he wanted to say? Why was it so hard for him to tell Steve the very thing he'd wanted to tell him for months? He knew exactly what he wanted to say to Steve, what he wanted to do and be with him. But everytime it looked as though they were getting somewhere, something had to go and crash right through it. Tonight along with his friends, the fault lied with his own jealousy.

Steve laughed wetly under his breath.

"See? You can't even say it. I know that for some people my past will never die. Somehow the asshole I was will always find his way back to the surface for the people I've hurt no matter how deep I bury him. King Steve, mister funny, mister cool, grade A douchebag who peaked in high school, doomed to spend the rest of his life working dead end jobs and forcing himself through loveless relationships pointless in the inevitable truth he's destined to be alone. Because God forbid he ever tries and change so that he feels a little more like a human and less like a dead shell of a man so that he doesn't end up back in that box his parents tried so damn hard to place him in before they just gave up and left without a word mere months before the literal earth started collapsing beneath his feet!"

Throughout his outburst, Steve let the unshed tears fall, unless he merely hadn't bothered to notice them. He couldn't look at Eddie anymore. He didn't want to see the look of pity he was almost certainly giving him right now. If hed only looked back, he would've seen how wrong he was.

"Stevie...." Eddie whispered brokenly, making one final attempt to reach for him.

"Just! Just forget it. Okay? It was stupid of me to think that I could be something I'm not. Why did I even bother?" Steve turned away, getting into his car and closing the door. In a split second, Eddie was bypassed by Robin and not really to his surprise, Lucas and Erica. The two siblings didn't say a word to him as they climbed into the back seats of Steve's car. Steve waited for another moment, probably waiting to see if anyone else needed a lift before starting the car and driving away.

Eddie wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there but by the time he turned to go back into the Wheeler house, Steve's car was long out of sight. He just wanted to grab his shit and leave. He didn't care if he left something behind. He just wanted to leave.

Yet by the time he got back to the basement, it didn't look as though he would be getting his way anytime soon. Dustin was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, eyes hard and arms crossed over his chest. The only others remaining besides the two who actually lived there were the ones he was supposed to be driving home, Gareth, Jeff, Grant, and Max. Nancy was sitting beside the redhead now. It was only then that he noticed said three boys sitting at the table looking thoroughly chastised and honestly a little scared.

"Eddie," Dustin began, his pained expression from earlier gone, now something much more serious.

"I think we need to talk about Steve."

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