#shicheystuffs

[shichey97]

Corroded Tattoo

Word count: 1,816. No trigger warnings apply. I'd love feedback. Has it's own Tag.

Layla Miller was 5 ‘2 with short, shaggy, black hair and piercing blue eyes. She has a sharp oblong face, accentuated by her pointy cheekbones. She has a strong athletic build, she weighs around 150 pounds. She has tattoos on her right thigh and calf, left hand, left forearm sleeve, right inner forearm, right knee, stomach, and right calf. She also had her septum, both nostrils, belly button, ears, and nipples pierced. She’s dressed in a crop top that has ‘CORRODED COFFIN’ across the chest with a leather jacket. Her jeans are skin tight with rips in the right knee and left thigh to show off the tattoos there. She has a pair of heeled ankle boots on. She was out with a couple of friends from work and they managed to have a few front-row tickets to a rock concert.

Layla smiled as she watched the singer dance on the stage before he steps forward and begins singing, “What’s your thoughts about religion? Are you close to your mother? Tell me ‘bout your dream vacation and all of your ex-lovers.” His voice is gravelly and so hot. She wasn’t expecting to find this band good, preferring bands like Motionless In White, but they were. “Tell me now what’s that look on your face. She puts her hand on my lips begging ‘please end this conversation’ .”

The band picks up and so does the energy of the lead singer,“Baby said ‘when you’re talking I go dead. Shut your mouth, give me your hand I know you really want to’ .” The lead singer was bouncing around the stage swinging his hips in his lace shirt and tight jeans. “Baby said ‘Let me taste your silhouette. You can talk between my legs. I know you really want to’ .”  The guitar was amazing and Layla found herself dancing with the crowd and having fun. Her co-worker, Robin, put an arm around her shoulders as they bounced in place. Their co-worker, Steve, was recording the band. 

“Tell me what’s your favorite color and all of your ambitions. I’m not afraid of you being vulgar, but why are you so vicious?” The lead singer, Eddie, sings as he leans down touching some hands. He then starts the pre-chorus and chorus again so Layla sings along, able to pick up choruses easier.

“I was runnin and runnin and runnin and runnin and runnin after you.” He sings squatting in front of their little group as he repeats that line, “I was crying and loving while you were just coming and howling at the moon. Yeah, you were runnin and runnin and runnin away from this conversation. Sing it!”

Layla smiles, singing along with the crowd until he goes, “I wish she didn’t, but my baby said.” four times, and then the lights go down as the band takes a moment to get water and catch their breath.

“So what do you think?” Robin asks in her ear so she could be heard over the cheers. Robin was 5’8 with blonde hair and freckles. She had sharp features and she was so beautiful.

“They’re good. I like their energy.” She says back with a smile. She hadn’t met the band, but they were apparently friends with Robin, Steve, and the rest of the shop.

“Eddie is going to love you saying that.” She laughs as the band comes back with another song talking about owning his mind.

Steve was 5’11, with dirty blonde hair that curled around his jaw, and pale brown eyes that were warm and gentle. He was wearing a Corroded Coffin jean vest over a white t-shirt. He was panning the camera around as the drums, guitar, and Eddie's voice kicked in again, the crowd already hopping in unison.

Layla loved the energy between the band and the crowd. They seemed to be feeding off of each other; The band playing with pure happiness. This was the last stop on their summer-long tour so they were going out with a bang.

It was fun up until the end and then the post-concert blues kicked in as everyone, but the three filed out. Layla leaned against the stage just waiting for Robin and Steve to be ready to go.

“Hey, new girl. What’d you think?” The curly hair drummer asked as the band walked up and sat on the edge of the stage.

“You guys are amazing. The energy you have is infectious.” She says with a grin. She stretched and looked at the lead singer as he began talking.

“Thanks. What was your favorite song?” He asks, pulling his hair up into a bun as he looks at her chuckling slightly.

“Oh shit. Uuuuuh…” She thinks about it for a minute. “I love the way you dance in Baby Said, but I love your voice in Gasoline. Il Dono Della Vita is amazing. You don’t look like you can speak Italian, but you are amazing.” 

“Do you have a voice thing?” Eddie says with a grin causing Layla to shrug.

“Probably. Maybe it’s just a you thing.” She says with a grin causing Eddie to pause then grin more.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Eddie Munson.” He says watching her before holding his hand out.

“Layla Miller.” She says as she shakes his hand. “You’re extremely talented.”

“It’s a group effort, Sweetheart.” He says and watches her look at the guys and nod.

“That is very true. You guys play well together.” She says fidgeting with one of the rings on her fingers. She did that a lot when she was nervous. She had the curse of anxiety.

“Thank you, Layla. Want to join us for dinner? We go to Harrington’s after every tour for pizza.” The guitarist, Grant, asks with a grin. They all seemed to wait for her answer so she shrugged.

“Sure. Is it like an after-party?” She asks, causing Steve to laugh and shrug.

“Kind of. Most of us listen to music and talk while the band, Will, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas play DnD.” He explains and Layla nods in understanding.

“Do you play?” Jeff asked, looking at her like he was genuinely curious. 

She shook her head with a soft smile, “I can’t remember the rules so I just watch most of the time.” Layla said with a soft chuckle. She really didn’t know how to play so she really only watched.

“I can teach you in a simple way if you want.” Eddie says and Layla laughs softly.

“You really want to spend time with me hmm?” Layla teases with a grin before shrugging. “Sure. I’d love to learn. I haven’t found anyone that could teach me though.”

“If anyone can, it's Eddie. He’s the best DM around.”  Gareth says with a nod, “He’s been our DM since high school.”

Layla smiles slightly and nods, “Do you boys need help packing things up?” She didn’t see any roadies so she figured it was just them.

“It’s all pretty heavy. We’ve got it under control.” Gareth says and it’s Robin’s turn to laugh.

She’s seen her pick a 6 foot 5, 300lbs, bear of a man up off the ground and set him on the couch across the room. She knows for a fact that nothing here would be too heavy for her even if she carried the big amp in the back of the stage.

“I’m offended, Emerson.” Layla says shaking her head, “I can help. I’m not that breakable.” She zipped up her jacket before hopping up on stage and helping the band up. 

“Let her help. She’s picked up a fainted customer before.” Robin says and helps Steve onto the stage. 

In record time they got everything packed away and loaded into the little trailer. Layla got it packed in a way that everything was in the trailer instead of there and the bed of the truck. Halfway through Steve and Robin went to get the pizza leaving Layla to ride with Eddie and the band the 2 hours back to Hawkins. The other band members all fell asleep for a power nap leaving Eddie and Layla to talk.

“When did you start the band?” She asks with a gentle smile from the middle front seat. Gareth was asleep in the passenger seat, his head on the window. The backseat had Grant and Jeff both on the bigger side of the scale so they let them be back there by themselves.

“Middle school. 7th grade to be exact. I met Gareth and Grant when they were in 6th grade and we started the band. Jeff was in my grade and he was a total badass at the bass already so we added him shortly before the talent show.” He explains with a fond smile.

“Did you win?” She asks, looking at the road again. She had been looking at him for long enough a voice in her head said so she turned away to watch where they were going.

“No. The judges disqualified us halfway through our song.” He says shaking his head, “Which was total bullshit because we were good for teenagers.”

“Yeah, Hawkins seems a little stuck in the past.” She says and Eddie nods with a chuckle. She liked seeing him smile for some reason. Eddie was so easy to get along with.

“Exactly. What about you? What do you do?” He asks, glancing at her.

“Oh, I’m a tattoo artist at your shop. Nancy hired me about 2 or 3 weeks ago now.” She says smiling, “That’s how I know Steve and Robin.” she explains softly.

“Oh really? I didn’t know that.” He says pleasantly surprised. She gave off the vibes of a wrestler or personal trainer, not a tattoo artist.

“I would’ve thought that she would’ve told you seeing as you’re the owner.” Layla sounds confused as she looks at him, “Are you not?”

“I am. We all are except the band. We all own a share. The manager is Nancy, Johnathan does the books, and Mike is the male-only piercer like he does the piercings on males. Robin does the piercings on females. I do piercings and tattoos when I'm not touring. Steve just does the counter sometimes. Will, Max, and Lucas take the counters in shifts." He explains.

"And Dustin is the apprentice to you?" Layla asks and Eddie nods his curls moving with the head-bob.

"Exactly. He's going to become a licensed artist soon. He's been learning for almost 3 years and then he officially starts being able to tattoo people. He practices on me a lot." He laughs.

"You guys all seem close." She says smiling at him.

"We really are. Someday I'll tell you why such a diverse cast of people are a found family taking on the world." He says and she nods and falls silent for the rest of the drive only talking when Eddie spoke to her.

[shichey97]

Beautiful Things

The last thing she expected that night was for pain to bloom across her sides, chest, and face. She didn't expect to feel the uncomfortable pull of new scars forming in those areas.

She stumbled to the bathroom and opened her shirt to see the skin pinching together red and angry as the pain came in waves. Even her face had new scars. She wasn't mad about the scars covering a large portion of her chest, ribs, waist, and face, too worried about her soulmate to be mad. She felt the intense tearing pain where the scars were and it had her stomach churning and spots dancing in her vision.

Ashley was a struggling musician and so the scar pulling at the right corner of her mouth would put a damper on that for a moment. She was terrified and ended up swaying in front of her bathroom mirror before she sat on the bathtub to focus on breathing through the pain. She didn't know what was happening to her other half, but she knew they were in pain and probably scared. Her hand shook as she grabbed her phone and called her best friend, Lily, to come home and help her. Ashley had a townhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana that her and Lily shared. Lily was a bartender at a small bar called The Tavern that was within walking distance of their place. Ash didn't ever call her work place so she was hoping Lil would understand that she needed her.

Once she told her friend she needed her she hung up and pressed a hand to the scar covering her right breast. She could feel the heat radiating from it without her hand on it. She was in so much pain that she couldn't focus on anything but staying upright. She heard the front door open and called for her friend before groaning. The few seconds it takes Lily to get to her the pain goes from being throbbing and present pain to a ghost of what it was. She figured her soulmate must have passed out. Which was a relief to her in more ways than one; if she wasn't feeling pain then it meant whoever the scars originally belonged to wouldn't be feeling any. The scars still being present meant their heart was still beating and they were mostly ok.

"What happened?" Lily asks kneeling in front of her. It was obvious the woman with deep brown eyes was concerned by the new scarring on her best friend's body.

"I was working on a song and all of a sudden I had this blinding ripping pain in my sides, chest, and face. I came in here and look at it." Ash says tearing up.

The scars were sunken with raised skin around them like something took chunks out of her soulmate. They were on both sides of her waist. The right side went up her ribs, across the right side of her chest, up her neck, and across her right cheek. The back of her left arm had some of the same scars too. They were red, hot, and angry. They looked painful and deep into her skin not superficial like the normal soulmate scars. Which means the wounds were so much worse than a normal cut. She hissed in pain as Lily lightly ran her fingers over them. "That hurts."

"I'm sorry. They look really bad. Maybe you need to go to the hospital to see how deep they run." Lily says and looks up at her, "I'll take you." She says standing up and grabbing a loose shirt for her, "we'll get a female doctor to look you over if you want." She says softly.

"What if they're not ok, Lils? What if I lose them before I find them?" Ash asked with tears in her eyes; her heart was hurting at the possibility of losing her soulmate before she found them. She couldn't handle the thought of losing them so she looks down as the tears fell.

"Hey. You didn't lose them. Remember the scars would turn to one of how they died." Lily says firmly and helps her remove her shirt and bra putting the loose tshirt on her. "They're ok and with scars like this they're likely to be noticeable."

She sniffles and nods, "I just want to be loved by them." She says quietly, "I guess that's why I'm scared I'll never find them." She admits and Lily nodded.

"I completely understand. I'm worried I'll never meet mine and seeing nothing but black and white doesn't help." She says quietly. Lily doesn't understand the fear that happens when your soulmate gets hurt, but she does know that Ashley can't stay in that fear.

"Google if its a dermatologist or the hospital we need." Lily says before going to her room to change.

She nods and grabs her phone and typing as she slowly makes her way back to her room. Her body, in the ares affected by the scars, felt like it was on fire and it hurt. She wasn't sure what to do about it either. Once the hospital picked up she asked the question and had to explain what the scars were like before being told to go to the dermatologist as soon as possible so she spent the next hour looking for a dermatologist that could see her that day and the only one she found closed in thirty minutes so she had to rush Lily out to the car. They end up finding out that her scars were a few millimeters into the subcutaneous layer of her skin which means they'll be this noticeable for a long time if not forever. She didn't want them to be less noticeable until she found her soulmate because they would lead to them.

~~~~~~~~Eddie's POV~~~~~~~~

When they bats started to bust through the roof Eddie forced Dustin up the rope and he was going to follow, but the nasty little voice in his head called him junior and it made him pause. He didn't want to be like his father and run away when things got hard. He didn't want to be a coward and so he let go of the rope and looked up as Dustin asked what he was doing. "Buying time." he says before cutting the rope, moving the mattress, and running out of the house. He would not be like Al Munson. He would not let all this all be in vain.

He ran in a different direction instead of away; He ran towards the bats. Towards, he was sure, his death. The first bat knocked him off his feet, the second bat wrapped around his throat, the third, fourth, and fifth bats sank their teeth and claws into any space they could reach. The pain was unbearable. It was searing, ripping, and blinding; it had his stomach churning as he flailed on the ground both hands grabbed by more bats. He was freaking out as he kicked his feet trying to get free, but they were to strong. After, what felt like, hours later of burning pain the bats all dropped and he heard Dustin calling his name. He coughed and went through a weak speech before he passed out from the pain.

Eddie woke up three weeks later in the hospital, handcuffed to the bed, and with none other than Steve Harrington sitting by his bed. "Am I alive?" Eddie's voice cracked from disuse and the fact that his throat was severely dry. He felt light and calm as if he doesn't have a care in the world despite being handcuffed and wanted for murder.

"Eddie." Steve's voice came out soft as he looked at him, "You're awake." he added and pressed the button for the nurse. "Try to stay still. You've been in a medically induced coma for three weeks." He explained softly as he watched him. "Wayne stays days and I convinced them I'm a cousin so I get to stay nights so he can work, but I'm gonna call him to tell him you're awake."

"No. Let him work. He'll try to rush and then get hurt." Eddie groaned as he tried to adjust. "I think my soulmate may kill me." He added softly as he rattled the handcuff. "If I even get to see the real world again." He sighed softly.

"Hopper is working on it." He said softly as the nurse came in. She had an attitude the whole time she explained to Eddie what they had done to treat him.

"Which is more than you deserve after you killed that girl." She snapped as she reaches for Eddie's bandages. Steve had stepped out for a moment to call Dustin, but quickly came back in at Eddie's pained cry. The nurse had quickly pulled off the bandage causing him to start bleeding again. "Quit crying."

Steve pulled her away and grabbed her name tag, "Get out." He snapped. "I'll be finding the chief, Janice." Steve's tone was harsh. Steve Harrington was defending him against a vindictive nurse which surprised the hell out of him, but as he held his bleeding side he was thankful for him. Steve grabbed the gauze and began dressing his wounds himself.

"Thank you, Harrington." His voice was soft as he worked on his wounds. He didn't understand why Steve was being so nice to him, until he recognized the guilt in his eyes as he looks at him. "This isn't your fault." Eddie said his voice serious albeit still rough.

"I'm the one that made you guys the distraction." He said, shaking his head. "I should've thought about this happening. You said you wasn't a hero."

"I didn't plan on being a hero. I just needed to buy some more time and I managed to do that." He says softly. "This isn't your fault ok?" He said, looking up at the other man as he carefully removes the bandage on his cheek and bandages it again.

"If you say so." He shook his head slightly as he sighed softly. "I think Wayne needs to have you transferred to a different hospital."

"I'm a criminal here so they're not going to allow me to leave the jurisdiction." Eddie said, rubbing the right side of his face. "I think your soulmate will just be happy you're alive." Steve said softly and nods as he sat on the edge of the bed to look at him; there was a soft look on Steve's face, "How are you feeling?" "Like I was attacked by a swarm of bats." He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Steve again, "Is Dustin ok? What about Vecna?" He asked grabbing Steve's arm. "Are you ok? Did they look at your wounds?"

"I'm fine. Dustin is worried about you. Vecna is gone for now. I've been keeping my wounds clean and changed the dressing when I went home." He said as he held Eddie's free hand. "Everyone is ok. Try to calm down." Eddie leaned back with a nod as he took a shaky breath. He was worried about his friends and even his uncle. He had no idea the state of Hawkins or anything like that, but he was worried about if everyone he cared about was safe. "Has my bandmates been told I'm ok?" "Dustin said he'd call and tell them." He said softly. "I think he has been keeping them updated. He's been up here everyday after school." He added as the door opens and a doctor came in. "Are you here to mistreat him as well?"

"Excuse me Mr. Harrington?" the doctor asked bewildered as to where the question came from. "I don't understand." "Your nurse, Janice Davidson, ripped his bandage off on his side causing it to start bleeding again after it they failed to change it for four days despite it being in the healing stages." Steve said crossing his arms, "Mr. Munson deserves proper care despite what this town thinks he did." Steve was just winding up to a bigger argument when the doctor nods. "I understand. I'll remove her from his rotation. I came to check on Mr. Munson's wounds I was supposed to be notified of dressing change." He said looking at the chart. "They didn't put down that they did a dressing change today." "I did it." Steve said frowning. "I wasn't going to have a nurse hurt my friend." "I understand your concerns, Mr. Harrington." He said nodding and began to check Eddie out. A week later he was cleared of charges, an official statement of what happened to Chrissy and them came out, and he was able to go home under supervision so he moved in with Steve. He hated his scars a little less because he'd be able to find his soulmate easier.

[shichey97]

Long Live 5

It takes a few days for our son to want to finish the story. I understood completely. It’s not easy to learn how your dad died so I just let him process and take his time to get to where he was now. He asks for the next chapter at bed time that night and I nod, grabbing the book and sitting down to read it to him.

Chapter 5: Breaking the News

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door of Gareth’s house where she knew the rest of hellfire would be. She had broken the piece of her arm that formed her shoulder joint so she had surgery and a sling, but today was Gareth’s last day in town so she needed to tell them in person while they were all together.

Mr. Emerson opened the door and smiled, “He’s in his room with the others.” He said letting her in and going back to what he was doing.

She walked to Gareth’s room and knocked on the door before walking in, “Hey guys.” she said softly. “I need to talk to you. “Holy shit. You’re ok.” Gareth said, sounding relieved. “Where’s Eddie? Is he ok?” Gareth was worried especially after he gave up Dustin, but her standing in front of them had to mean that they’re all ok.

“So we all know that Eddie didn’t kill Chrissy.” She started slowly, explaining everything that happened over the last week. Starting at the beginning and going until Eddie played master of puppets, “We were supposed to leave that place once the bats started coming in, but Eddie cut the rope and ran out of the trailer. He…he was attacked and when I found him he was hurt so bad. He didn’t make it and I couldn’t bring him back.” She said as she wiped her eyes as her voice cracked. She was trying to stay strong for the guys. “I held him in my arms as he died. It was…quiet. He could barely speak when he asked me to say I loved him.”

Jeff just stared at her his eyes quickly losing focus; he didn’t respond or move. He couldn’t believe Eddie was dead; to him there was no way someone larger than life could die quietly. The world should’ve stopped or…or something. Anything. He flinched at Gareth’s tone when the other curly haired guy spoke.

Gareth stared at her as she talked before shaking his head, “No. he’s not dead. You’re mistaken.” his tone sharp, angry, and holding pure denial. “I don’t know why you’re lying, but it’s not funny.” when he used her whole name her body jerked like he had slapped her. “Eddie isn’t dead. He…He can’t be.” When she reached for the drummer he hit her hand away. “Eddie didn’t die. Not like that. Not at all.”

“I checked. I had Harrington check. Gare, I’m sorry.” She said quietly and the drummer sat down running a hand through his hair before he picked up the dragon statue on his bedside table and chucked it at the wall. “My best friend can’t be dead!” he yelled before he sank to the floor and pulled his legs up to his chest before hugging them. “Leave.” He says weakly, barely holding it together. She stood and walked out to her car before she climbed in and sobbed leaning against the wheel as she did. She didn’t know what she was going to do. It was so hard to breathe let alone exist right now. She had lost her soulmate and now she was losing herself. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there before driving back to the trailer where they had spent their last night together. Eddie’s room wasn’t destroyed by the gate so she went through the second door and began cleaning things out to take with her to Steve’s house. She couldn’t just leave his things there since it was all she had left now.

She heard Wayne’s truck and stepped out onto the porch just waiting for him to get out. What she didn’t expect is the gruff old man to hug her tightly as if he didn’t need any comfort and she needed it all. She hugged back as best she could with her shoulder messed up and buried her face in his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Wayne.” She sobbed holding onto him as she felt weak and like she would pass out any second. She wasn’t sure if the pain she was feeling was in her head or if her body was having a physical reaction to her heart being broken, but her whole body hurt.

“Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one that lost your other half.” he said as he rubbed her back gently. He wasn’t sure how he was feeling. “Let’s get his things out of here.” He said once she had calmed down.

It was 3 weeks later, when things had finally started to calm down, that the government gave the official story that it was an earthquake. They were allowed to bury their lost loved ones of the bodies that could be found. They wouldn’t let Eddie be buried in the Munson family plot but the cemetery caretaker and grave digger felt bad for Wayne Munson so they placed a head stone at the base of a tree that simply said “Edward Wayne Munson Now At Peace. 1965~1986.”

She knew Eddie wasn’t there, but she called Gareth and them to let them know he had a headstone and then the day came for his funeral. She put on her black 50s inspired dress. It was pure cotton with a gathered flared skirt and wide lapel. She was wearing his necklace with his ring on it as she got in Steve’s car. She had made a call two days ago. Now it was time to see if it made a difference. She pulled at the dress around her stomach since she felt bloated and uncomfortable today. She stood with Wayne and the group. Jeff and Grant were there as well. Everyone was somber as they stared at the headstone.Then Dustin knelt and put a hand on the stone before closing his eyes. Steve knelt behind him and put a hand on his shoulder as he bowed his head. This led to a scene out of a fantasy as everyone else kneeled and she smiled with a wet laugh. 

She never laughed at inappropriate times, but here she was laughing and crying, “He’d say you’re being dorks.” She says sniffling. She shook her head before wiping her eyes. “I think you should say some words, Uncle Wayne.” She said looking up at him

He nodded and looked around as everyone stood, “I have no idea what to say. I was there when Eddie was born because my brother wouldn’t be. His mama, Liz, gave him my name as a middle name because she said I was the only man that he could count on. He was my boy instantly. He never stopped being mine. Just because he was my nephew doesn’t mean he wasn’t. I should’ve told him that. I hope wherever he is he’s with his mama. He moved in with me just 2 years ago and things were smooth. I know that everyone here meant something to him as his friends and for Eddie his friends were everything to him.’ Wayne nods, “Thank you for helping me honor my boy.” That’s how the funeral went: people talking about their memories with him and things like that. She just listened with a proud smile until Dustin looked at her and told her it was her turn.

“A month ago, the day before Chrissy died, Eddie and I got married. I didn’t think that was going to be our last day together. We all know he was larger than life. He always had something to say, some snide remark to get the last word.” She laughed softly. “I don’t know what to say. All I can think of is a line from a poem. It goes, ‘This is the way the world ends; not with a bang, but a whimper’ I never understood the line before, but I do now.” She looked at them, “I wish I had something uplifting to say; some words of wisdom to impart, but I don’t. All I know is Eddie loved all of us with his entire being. He was charismatic, talented, and beautiful and I’ll love him for the rest of my life.” She noticed Al Munsons standing a little bit away and gave the man a nod before looking down and returning to Wayne’s side.

Over the next seven weeks she was throwing up, feeling tired, had major heartburn, and was growing nauseous at random things that never affected her before. It was one of those cases where Robin was holding her hair back and rubbing her back when she paused, “dear. When was your last period?”

She groaned, rubbing her stomach, “I’ve always been irregular.” she said softly.

“That’s ok. I think you need to schedule an appointment.” Robin said softly and rubbed circles in her lower back. “You’ve been nauseous, having heartburn, and throwing up. Not to mention you complained that your shirt was hurting your chest earlier.”

She paused and looked at her, “I can’t be…”she said quietly. “We were careful when we had sex.” she ran through each time and then she froze. “Three months ago. We didn’t have a condom and he…” she groaned. “Shit. shit. Shit. I can’t have a baby without a father.They’ll call them a bastard.”

“Honey. You need to breathe and schedule an appointment. Perhaps in Indianapolis?” Robin said as she watched her face.

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut as another wave of nausea rolled through her. “What do I do? Steve may not even want a baby in his house.” There was no giving the baby away or getting an abortion in her mind.

Robin nodded and rubbed her back, “Steve loves kids, but you need to confirm it and then talk to him…maybe take him with you.” she suggested and looked at her. “Is everything ok?” Steve asks, knocking on the door. “Do you need anything?” “A pregnancy test.” She said and stood to rinse out her mouth and then she opened the door. “Can you go to the pharmacy and get a couple? I’ll give you the money.”

“I got it.” Steve said with a nod before leaving for a pharmacy. “I’m keeping Munson if I am pregnant.” She said as she sat on the tub and lifted her shirt to look at her stomach. She poked her stomach with a slight frown. “Is there a little one here?” She says quietly. “Are you a gift from your daddy?” She asked and talked to her stomach and Robin while she waited for Steve.

“Ok I got you 3 different tests. The woman said one is a cassette test, one’s a strip test, and one’s a stick test.” He shrugs and holds up a plastic cup, “She said you’d need one of these.”

She stood and took the bag, “Thank you, Steve. I appreciate it.” She is speaking quietly because she's so nervous. No she's terrified, but she watches them leave and shuts the door before doing what she needs to.

It's an hour later when she comes out of the bathroom looking pale and shaky. She was on the verge of a panic attack because she didn’t know how she was going to be a mother. She sat down and put her head on the table causing Robin to start rubbing her back.

“Are you?” Steve asked, watching her with worry on his face as he looked between Robin and her. He didn’t know what to do with himself so he stayed seated and waited for her to gather herself.

“Yes. I’m pregnant and probably close to three months if I remember my sex ed right.” She said quietly as she lifted her head. “I want to keep it. I understand if you don’t want a baby here, I’ll see if Uncle Wayne would want us to live with him.” She said and watched Steve for his reaction.

“You and the baby are welcome here for as long as you want.” Steve said, shaking his head slightly; he wanted her to know she had a home there. He felt partly responsible for the fact that Eddie was gone so maybe he could make it easier on her.

“Thank you, Steve.” She said and sighed, grabbing the phone to make an appointment to confirm with the doctor. She’s on the phone for maybe 30 minutes and then she gets off. “I have an appointment at 8 in the morning.” She says softly.

“I’ll take you to the appointment if you want.” Steve suggests and she nods. “Ok.” He adds.

At 4 and a half months they confirmed that she was having a little boy. At 6 months Dustin left them in a tragic accident. At 7 months she decided on a name for him. At 8 months Steve agreed to be on the birth certificate so the baby would have two parents legally and if anything happened to her the baby would go to him. At 9 months the baby was born healthy and with a scream that would make Eddie proud.

“Welcome to the show, kid. You’re in for a treat.” She says as she holds him close to her chest.

[shichey97]

Long Live 4

“It's the ten year anniversary of the upside down and his death. I've never read this to him. Do…do I read it now? Like is it time to tell him everything?” I ask, looking at Steve who sighs softly.

“I honestly have no idea.” He says with a shake of his head. “On one side he deserves to know how it happened.” He adds while rubbing his palms on his legs, “On the other he’s 10.” He says, sighing softly.

“I’m old enough, Mama.” he says with a pout. His sudden appearance made me jump slightly.

“It’s not a pretty thing, baby.” I say sitting in the chair to look at him. “I don’t want you to have nightmares.” I say honestly and watch as he thinks about this before nodding.

“I don’t think I will, Mama.” he says honestly. “I know Dad died by the demobats, but I don’t know anymore than that.”

I sigh and nod, “Ok. I’ll read you the next chapter now instead of at night.” I say softly and watch him go get the book before sitting on the couch and grabbing the blanket that resided on the back of it. Reading this chapter always caused me to feel cold.

He came down with the book and sat down beside me.

Chapter 4:The End of Everything

“You’re so beautiful.” Eddie said, playing with her hair as they laid in bed together. Their chests pressed together, legs tangled with the other’s, and sated smiles on their faces. They both can’t help their laugh as the front door closes with a bang signaling that Wayne was home. “So are you, I’m a lucky woman.” She said with a smile on her face. It had been a long while since they just took a moment to enjoy each other’s company.

She got up and pulled his vest on before grabbing her camera and stood at the foot of the bed where his head was. She watched him roll over and cross his arms in front of his chest. His right hand came up to play with his hair as he took in the fact that she was just wearing his vest and her underwear. Which made for an amazing picture. (she would skip the beginning of this chapter when reading it to her son)

“You? I’m the lucky one.” He shook his head, smiling softly. ”I can’t wait to marry you.”

She looked up from the picture in thought before she smiled wide. “Why wait? We can go to the courthouse today and get married. We’re already skipping school. We’ll just go to Indianapolis and get married.” She said excitedly which had Eddie smiling at her.

“You’re being serious.” He said with a look at her as he pulled his hair in front of his mouth.

“Yeah. I mean why not? We're both consenting adults. All we need is a witness. Uncle Wayne could be one and someone from the courthouse could be the other.” She said softly and brushed some of his hair back. “We really only need each other anyway.”

“You want to marry me today…” Eddie smiled at that as he got on his knees and leaned forward to kiss her softly.

She kissed back a hand resting on his bare chest. She was happy to have him close to her and when he finally pulled away he nodded. “Do your hair and get dressed. I'll go talk to Wayne.” He said and got up pulling on his jeans and hellfire shirt before he went out to the living room.

She smiled as she began rifling through her drawer that Eddie gave her at his place since she was there the nights her parents were gone. She felt floaty and just so happy that she couldn’t process it.

She found her 50s inspired black and white long sleeve dress that had black hearts and red kisses on the flared white skirt. It had a belt that tied in a bow on the waistline that ended the black top. It was the closest thing she had to a white dress.

She would have to either pair it with her doc martens or her reeboks and she had no clue which would look better with it. So she put the dress on and then tried each shoe before she decided on the docs.

“Sweetheart, will you join us in the living room? Wayne wants to talk to us.” Eddie called with a smile.

She nodded and walked out of the room smiling while she sat next to Eddie, “Yes sir?” she watched him as he rubbed his face and sat on the edge of his chair.

“You know I care about you both.” He said looking at them, “Are you sure you want to get married already? You’ve only known each other for 7 months.”

“I love Eddie more than anything and I know it’s not even been a year, but I do know I want to spend my life with him as his wife.” she said as she took Eddie’s hand with a soft smile.

Wayne sighed looking between the two, “I know it feels like forever, but…but sometimes, most times, highschool sweethearts don’t last.”

“When you know you know right?” Eddie said softly. “You used to tell me you know when you find the person you’re going to love for the rest of your life. I found mine in her, Uncle Wayne.”

He looked between the two and nodded, “Ok. Eddie, follow me.” He said going to the closet by the back door. “This is all I have. You can’t get married in your hellfire shirt and vest. It was mine bought for graduation, but never worn. It’s yours now.” Eddie smiled and hugged his uncle before going to look for a fancy shirt. He had one that was bought for him as a gag gift by Gareth, but it would have to work. It was a slightly see-through and shiny black button up thankfully the blazer covered most of it. He put on the suit with a smile before making an attempt with his hair.

“Eddie. Here.” Wayne said, handing him a ring box that had a ring set. “It was your mother’s and Al never wore his so I figured you could use them.” Wayne said softly and rubbed his neck. “Liz told me to sell it to help you, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Eddie opened it and teared up, “thank you…I don’t think I would’ve made it all these years without you.” He said and hugged him. “I love you…I should say it more, but you’re more my dad than Al.”

“You’re my boy. You always have been, Eddie. I’m so proud of you.” He says quietly.

2 hours later they were married and on the way to a hotel to spend the day before driving back that night. Wayne would have the house to himself that day so he could sleep peacefully. They had their Marriage license and certificate in the glove box; they’d be kept at Eddie’s house since she’d move in with him and away from her parents.

Well that was what was supposed to happen. What really happened was she lost everything.The next day Chrissy Cunningham was murdered while she was arguing with her parents, the day after that Eddie was blamed and couldn’t be found.

She had immediately begun tracking down Dustin Henderson. If anyone else would believe Eddie was innocent like she did it would be him. She found him at Family Video and she pulled in and threw open the doors. 

“Henderson.” She said her words stopping when everyone looked at her. “Why do I feel like I’m interrupting something?” “Oh thank god!” Dustin says, “Guys this is Eddie’s girlfriend. She can help us find him.”

“Eddie’s wife. We got married two days ago.” she said looking at everyone. “Eddie has a friend named Reefer Rick.” She says and leans against the counter. “I don’t know where he lives, but I do know he’s in jail.”

Robin sighs and pushes Dustin away from the computer before sitting down. “He won’t be hard to find if he rents here.” “Married!?” Dustin exclaims looking at her and shaking his head, “Why wasn’t hellfire invited? Is that why you two weren't in school?” She nods, “We skipped school and decided to get married. It was just Wayne and a courthouse worker.” She explained softly. “We’ll have a ceremony this summer so everyone can be there.” She said, patting his shoulder.

“Found him. Let’s go.” Robin says and leads the way out of the door. They pile into the two cars before they’re heading out towards Lover’s Lake.

They ended up finding Eddie and Dustin talked him down from killing Harrington. The second he saw her though he burst into tears and hugged her. 

“I didn’t kill her. I swear.” he says as he shakes in her arms crying. “I know, baby. I know you didn’t. You’d never hurt anyone. We all know that.” She said sweetly as she held him and kissed his head. “Can you tell us what happened though? We want to help you.”

So after he told them about her levitating and dying. They decided to let Eddie and her in on everything going on in Hawkins. Which left both of them speechless.

It was also decided that Eddie should stay hidden while she helped them figure out what was going on. Over the next two days they did what they needed to and she comforted Uncle Wayne.

She didn’t tell him she’s seen him; just saying a wife knows when her husband is ok and when he’s not. She didn’t know how to explain what he had told her so she just didn’t tell Wayne. It was the night of the second day when Eddie was found by Jason. It was that night that Jason died in the lake. The next day Eddie radios and says his radio was fried. It was then that they found the gate and the oldest teens, her included, went into the upside down for the first time. When she crawled out of it a bat thing had Eddie by a leg and was dragging him towards her. She grabbed an oar and smacked the bat out of the air with it hitting the thing a couple times while it was on the ground.She didn’t stop hitting it until it stopped struggling.

It made tears come to her eyes because it looked like a weird animal and she was an animal lover through and through. She leaned into Eddie when he hugged her and kissed her head.

“It’s ok. It wasn't an animal.” Eddie says quietly as he rubs her back. She had moved on to other things. Mainly watching a shirtless steve tear a bat in half. 

Now to be clear she wasn’t lusting over Steve she just thought that was cool. Then they began looking for a way out of there. Which felt like forever. When they finally got out they figured out a plan that included her, Eddie, and Dustin being distractions.

She didn’t think anything could go wrong with that. Especially when Steve told them to get out if anything goes wrong. That’s why she kissed Eddie before heading up the rope of sheets. Then she saw him hesitate and her heart dropped. Both her and Dustin started screaming at him asking him what he was doing.

“Eddie, don't you dare! Get your ass here now!” She yelled glaring at him. She didn’t want him to think she was mad. “Please. Please don’t do this to me.” “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m buying time.” He said and cut the rope before running off. She puts her hands on her head before looking around, “Dustin. Stay here. I’m serious.” She grabbed the table and slid it over to under the gate before she stood on it and jumped up to grab the edge. She hoisted herself through the gate.

What she hadn’t seen was him move the mattress so when she fell she landed on her shoulder and arm. She didn't hear the bats anymore, nor did she hear Eddie. She ran out of the trailer cradling her arm to her stomach. “Eddie?!” She yelled. She spun around looking for her husband before she saw him on the ground.

She ran over and, with her good arm, put his head in her lap. She was trying to not cry as she cradled his head.

“Baby.” She said softly. “We’ll get you to a doctor and then you’ll be ok.” She said sniffling.

“Mm k.” He says quietly just staring up at her. “I’m not going to make it, sweetheart. You need to go save yourself and leave me here.” “I’m not doing that, Eddie. We’ll get you out of here.” She said, shaking her head again like she’s clearing thoughts that she didn't want to have.

“Baby.” He says choking on some blood so she props him up a bit more. “I can’t…I can’t hold on for help. They won’t help me. You know that.” He said weakly. “I’ll make them. Please. I need you.” She begged quietly. “I…can’t lose you.”

“Sweetheart.” Eddie said as a tear fell. “I love you.” he said it as a goodbye. She could tell. “Say it…please.” He asked as he started to fade out and back in. She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. “I love you too. It’s ok, Eddie. Go ahead.”

She waited until he went limp before she held him closer sobbing as she leaned her head down to touch foreheads with him. That’s how Dustin and the group found them. 

She was sitting there holding Eddie’s body while sobbing and begging anyone that was listening to give him back to her.

She didn’t know how she got back into the normal world. She knew they took her to Steve’s. She knew they let her sit and exist in her clothes stained by his blood for so long. She knew when she was handed his necklace and ring, but that’s all she could tell anyone right then.