#year Eddie gave himself bangs

[morganbritton132]

Eddie responds to a comment on one of his videos making a joke about Steve divorcing him with a video asking Steve what it would take for them to get a divorce. Steve with absolutely no hesitation answers with, “Three in one shampoo.”

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[angel-of-the-moons]

Chocolate and Cream

Eddie x Venom x Curvy!Fem!Reader

TW/CW: NSFW, SMUT, inappropriate use of chocolate, Venom's tongue should be a warning on its own, oral (Fem Receiving), piv sex, creampie, protected sex (personal headcanon that Venom can make it so the baby batter don't bake ;)), Venom is a great source of birth control, a bit of fluff, food play(?), Eddie and Venom love you so much, spme anal, squirting, Eddie and Venom definitely bang too tho IMO (PSA: PLEASE DO NOT PUT CHOCOLATE ON YOUR KITTY LADIES THAT'S HOW YOU YOU GET INFECTIONS)

MINORS DNI I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT YOU CONSUME

A/N: Woo! My first Eddie/Venom fic! (Technically) This is based off a private fic an old friend of mine requested that I wrote years ago, adjusted more for a curvy reader, part of some of my self-indulgent fics regarding us gals on a thicker scale :)

🖤📷🖤📷🖤📷🖤📷🖤📷

You took one last look in the mirror, proudly nodding your head at your handiwork. It was a pain in the ass, for sure to get done, but with the help from some people in an anonymous kink forum, they were able to help you get this surprise for your lovely boyfriends.

You see, one of your boyfriends had this "thing" for chocolate. He needed to consume an insane amount of it or he'd have to resort to... other methods of gaining a certain chemical to sustain himself...

And of course, that's how this lovely idea came to be. Edible panties were soooooo boring!

Your body covered in chocolate-based body paint however...

You had painstakingly painted cute little hearts over your body, with some artistic swirls for extra flair. You kept your apartment freezing to avoid your body heat melting it too much, or while you painted around your nipples, the rolls of your belly, and of course somewhere far more intimate...

Then came the waiting game. You didn't know when they'd be home from running their "night errands". You knew full well what that meant, and you didn't really focus too much on that fact. It helped you sleep easier at night

You should have thought this through, though. If you sat down on your couch, the chocolate would stain it. You could sit on one of your dining chairs, but the surface was far too cold for your poor bare ass to handle right now.

Shit. Well, you could always--

You jumped back with a shriek, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and held it out, obscuring the view of your body from the hulking dark mass that squeezed through your apartment's window.

You relaxed slightly, your breath escaping you in a sigh.

"Venom!" You scolded. "You gave me a heart attack! Why can't you and Eddie use the front door?"

The large creature grinned, revealing jagged fangs that sent shivers of excitement up your spine. Or maybe you were just cold.

"It is faster, this way." Venom replied.

He tilted his head at you, and how peculiarly you were holding the blanket, concealing yourself from him. Then... He tipped his head back, sniffing the air.

"We smell chocolate." He growled, his voice excited as he tilted his head at you. "Are you baking, sweet thing?"

You suddenly felt very small, very awkward. Like a bunny caught in the trap about to be devoured by a hungry wolf. You'd be lying if you didn't feel a little turned on.

You also felt very stupid. God, this was so silly. Why did you...

Venom began to stalk closer, having to lean down to avoid hitting his head on your low ceiling.

"What are you hiding, sweet thing?" His voice rumbled lowly.

"Uhm..." You peep, squirming backwards, awkwardly looking around for a way out of this stupid situation you got yourself into.

"What." Venom said, each word punctuated by a step. "Are. You. Hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" You lie.

"Really?" He purrs, his tongue laving out to taste at the air. "Because it smells like you're hiding something delicious from us."

"I..." You take a step back further, only to bump into the wall, squealing when your bare back makes contact with the cold drywall.

And in a blink of your eyes, Venom was there, his large, opalescent eyes narrowing at you, his maw curling into a lascivious grin.

Yeah. He was definitely salivating.

"What are you hiding behind the blanket, sweet thing?" He purred once more, his massive paws gripping the plush knit quilt.

"Uh--"

"Last chance."

"It's... Uh...." You flounder for an excuse.

In the span of a few seconds, the blanket is ripped away and you squeak, your arms locking and Venom's eyes get big and his head rocks back as he looks down at you.

(Holy shit.) Eddie's voice breathed from inside his head.

Venom's grin spreads even wider as he tilts his head slowly in the other direction. "I knew you were hiding something delicious."

"I just... I wanted to, uh..."

Venom pressed his mouth to your throat, and you could feel his heavy, wet breaths as he inhaled your scent, his large hands gripping the upper parts of your arms as he held you there, against the wall, just breathing.

It felt like forever you were standing there, the feeling of him just... breathing on you was enough to get you hot and bothered.

"You smell delicious." He grumbled against your throat, opening his mouth to let his tongue slide out.

The moment it wrapped around your throat was electric. It sent a throb of arousal straight through to your core.

You let out a watery sigh, your breaths leaving you in trembled gasps as his tongue slides lower, through the chocolate on your sternum, and wrapping around your pebbled nipple, the chocolate melting and smearing under his hot breath and saliva.

"Did you do this for us, sweet thing?" Venom asked as he pulled away, looking down at you. "You wanted to surprise us? Hmm?"

"I... I got the idea online, and..." You said, somehow finding it within yourself to still be embarrassed.

"It is a tasty surprise." He said lowly, curving a taloned finger along your cheek. He leaned in and placed a small, unusually chaste kiss to your cheek.

"But you definitely taste better." He whispered into your ear.

You couldn't suppress the little noise that comes from your throat.

"Let us clean you, sweet thing."

Fuck, why did his voice have to have that bone-vibrating frequency? Why the fuck did it have to be so sexy?! Him and Eddie both! Especially Eddie's morning voice! Ugh! It wasn't fair how easy they could just render you stupid.

Venom got on his knees in front of you and brought his mouth to your chest, swiping his hefty tongue through the chocolate, a low rumbling emitting from him the whole time, sending those wonderful tremors through your very bones as he took his time cleaning you, licking up every drop of chocolate from your body, moving lower and lower...

Fuck, you'd swear Venom's purring would be a great substitute for a vibrator. Not that you ever needed one. The moment Venom could pick up on your scent and told Eddie, they were all over you. It was especially bad when you were about to start your cycle. Venom would go feral and pounce on you the moment he picked up on your hormones.

Your train of thought derailed somewhere around the thought of that one time Eddie woke you up with his hand between your legs and crashed into the station of Venom's tongue plunging through your now-soaked folds.

"We were right. You do taste better." Venom purred right into your cunt, making you gasp and cry out. "Though the chocolate compliments your taste well."

"Fuck!" You cry as he hoists your legs over his shoulders, pushing you up the wall with how forcefully he was thrusting his tongue inside of you; his massive arms caging you in and his hands groping and squeezing at your breasts as he voraciously ate you out.

You felt his tongue press against that wonderfully world-spinning spot inside your spongy walls, drawing out and drinking down more and more of your slick as he snarled into your puffy folds.

Your nails clawed at his arms, doing no damage to his odd "skin", and if anything it was encouraging him to go further.

You felt the tip of his tongue press on your cervix before rolling back around and curling, the pink muscle writhing and wriggling inside of you like it was fighting desperately to become a part of you.

You had half a thought to let Venom bond with you for a little while and do something like this with Eddie...

You practically sobbed when Venom brought one of his hands down, squeezing the plush rolls on your belly, kneading them lovingly before pressing down beneath your belly button, where he could feel his tongue bulge and roil inside of you.

The orgasm that you were starting to feel build exploded, going off before you had a chance to prep, your eyes rolled back and you arched your spine, your mouth opening in a silent cry, your body unable to find its voice as everything came crashing down onto you; his tongue eagerly lapping up each drop, every bit of your sweet cream.

The moment his tongue slid out of you, you felt empty, bereft of his contact. You whined when he pulled away, and he kissed your neck, licking the skin again.

"Don't worry, sweet thing. Eddie just wants his turn with you, now." He snarled, easing you down onto the floor, his hands caressing your legs gently as he stood.

As his head reached height with yours, his scary, alien visage peeled and melted away, revealing Eddie's gorgeous eyes, full lips, and patchy stubble.

"Hey, baby." He chuckled, giving you a kiss as he pulled you against him.

"Hey..." You said, your voice weak and shaky.

"Nice surprise, by the way." Eddie smirked at you, his hands going down to grope and squeeze at your plush ass, his thumbs tracing every dimple. "Vee loved it."

"I could tell." You smile up at him.

"So... Let's move the after party to someplace more comfortable, huh?"

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God it always surprised you. It didn't matter which one of them fucked you, but somehow they always did it in a way that made you feel like they were trying to bully their way into your guts with their cock.

You whimpered as Eddie hugged your legs against his chest, snapping his hips up into you with so much vigor that he kept rocking you up the couch cushions. Hell, one of the cushions was a few thrusts from being pushed off the couch entirely.

"Fuck you're so fucking tight." Eddie groaned, looking down at you as every soft part of your jiggled and bounced with the force of his thrusts. He loved how you looked when you were utterly fucked out. Venom did, too. Venom's favorite "hobby" that Eddie teased him for, was how he loved to grab you and squish you in his hands, and move you up and down on his cock like a sweet, soft little toy.

Of course, you enjoyed it, too.

Eddie moved your legs so they were on either side of him now as he leaned down and kissed you hard, his plush lips and tongue greedily dancing with yours, your soft hands sliding up his back, feeling the droplets of sweat roll off of him.

Eddie had hips, and he certainly knew how to use him. The way he arched his back and gyrated them, you were tempted to joke and say he should start pole dancing. Maybe you'd bring it up with him when he wasn't currently stuffing you nine different kinds of full with his fat cock.

The tickling of the short hairs at the base made contact with your clit at every thrust, sending little flames of pleasure licking up your spine.

"Eddie..." You moaned, gripping hard at his shoulders and squirming your hips against his.

He gritted his teeth and groaned, dropping his head into the crook of your neck. "Fuck, baby." Eddie hissed, "You gettin' close?"

"Mhmm--" You say, nodding with a weak mewl.

You feel him grin against your throat and he sucked on your skin, leaving a nice, dark present on your skin. He pulled away, soothing the sting with his tongue.

"Oh-kay--" He grunted, leaning back as he slowed his thrusts almost torturously slow.

The black mass that is Venom slinked around Eddie's torso, thick tendrils moving out and gripping beneath your knees, gently forcing them as comfortably close to your head as possible, your cunt fluttering gorgeously around Eddie's cock so well that you felt Venom shudder.

Eddie stopped moving for a second that felt like hours, before he leaned over, one hand on the back of the couch and the other gripping the arm of it behind your head before sending on hard, brutal thrust down.

The moment he did that, you shrieked so loud you were sure your downstairs neighbors could hear you--hell, maybe the people down in the street heard how well Eddie was fucking you (with Venom's help, of course).

The sinful sound of his cock sliding in and out of your hole, your slick-coated skin slapping against each other was deafeningly loud to your ears as he fucked you with his newfound leverage over you, hitting your g-spot at just the right angle it had your brain going almost numb from the pleasure.

When you cum, you cum hard. You soak Eddie's stomach and your thighs as your pussy clamps down on him. You got so tight that Eddie's pace stuttered and almost stopped, a gravelly whine crawling out of his throat.

"God... Fuuuuuck, baby..." He panted hard, grinding his hips down into yours, bringing his knee up and pressing one of your thighs tighter to your body.

"E-Eddie--" You mewl.

"Just--Just a bit more, baby, I promise." Eddie hissed, his eyes closing in pure bliss as he fucks the absolute heaven that is your sweet little cunt.

"God--damn!" Eddie practically squeaked.

You see Venom's head materialize over his shoulder and he grinned down at you through your glazed-over eyes.

Oh god. That was a favorite trick Venom liked to pull. Whenever Eddie was close to coming, sometimes Venom liked to force a tendril up his ass, squirming and tickling his prostate.

"Vee, you little shit--!" Eddie moaned.

"Keep fucking her, Eddie." Venom purred, his tongue sliding around Eddie's throat.

"Gonna beat your fucking--" He hiccuped, his hips stuttering and jolting into yours. "--beat your ass for this..."

"You say that every time. NOW KEEP FUCKING HER." Venom snapped, forcing the tendril deeper into Eddie's ass, this time pressing with more force on his prostate, eliciting a broken moan from him as he slapped his hips harshly into yours, your sweet cunt leaving a nice creamy ring around the base of his cock.

"Fuck, baby..." You whine, feeling tears burn in your eyes as your second orgasm starts to build.

Venom can sense it, and you were fucked the moment his head snapped to look at you.

Completely, utterly fucked.

A smaller tendril splits off from the ones still pinning your legs up, and latches onto your clit, pulling and tugging and rolling in a way that has the air knocked out of your lungs.

"Oh shhhii-iIiIII-iit..." You sob, clawing desperately at Eddie's shoulders, feeling Venom's tongue wrap around one of your wrists, eagerly lapping at your skin as if he could taste your nectar from that alone.

You and Eddie cum almost simultaneously, your orgasms slamming you like a runaway freight train.

You once again soak Eddie's stomach and crotch, your spray and cum dripping down to soak the couch cushions as Eddie's hot seed floods your soft, now-pliant walls, groaning as Venom presses inside of him, making his hips jerk until he's fucked every last drop into you.

Venom finally releases the two of you and Eddie collapsed, Eddie laying across your plush body, your rolls, and cute squishy fat being the perfect pillows for him. (Your breasts too, as he buried his face in them.)

The two of you breathe hard, your sweat mingling between your bodies as you cool off, shivers causing goosebumps to rise up and down Eddie's back as his heart slowed, the heavy echoes still pattering against yours.

"Eddie?" You breathe.

"Yeah." He grunted, voice muffled by your breasts.

"I think we're going to need to steam clean the couch."

Eddie and Venom both broke out laughing.

And here you were, worried about chocolate staining your couch. Turns out it was the cream that was the problem.

[ladykailitha]

The Au Pair Boy Part 1

Surprise!!! I have six chapters of this and really need to start getting it out, so I figured with Act 1 ending last week and my backlog on this and Of Butterflies and Backstrokes (Olympic Swimmer) being so low thanks to me trying to the Halloween themed sequel to Icarus (Metal Band) that I would put this out until I build that back up and lower the amount of backlog this one has.

Summary: Eddie Munson is a in bind, set to go on a three month reunion tour, he is in need of nanny for his twin girls Janice and Joan since his partner, Ethan blew up their lives a year ago. Enter nanny extraordinaire, Steve Harrington. Both men struggle with treading the line between boss/nanny and their strong attraction to each other. Will Eddie learn to trust again? Will Steve realize that he was always meant to be right there by Eddie's side?

~

Eddie hung up the phone with a sigh. He wanted to do the tour, because of course he did. But he also had two very rambunctious little girls now. Eddie was a good dad, but he wasn’t the nurturing kind the way Ethan was. But sometime in the last year, Ethan had changed.

He had grown distant and cold, going as far as yelling at the girls which he never used to do. So Eddie quit producing music to give Ethan some much needed time for himself. Fat lot of good that did.

Because apparently Ethan was banging...well, just about everyone but Eddie’s friends. The pool boy, the guy who delivered their food, the cleaning lady, their personal trainer, hell even the barely legal dog walker got more of his husband’s dick than Eddie did.

Which he didn’t find out, by the way. Ethan had told him after handing him divorce papers and legally renouncing parental rights to Joan and Janice. He threw it in Eddie’s face the numerous affairs he had. The one thing he wouldn’t tell him was why.

Why was Ethan so unhappy when Eddie had done everything right?

He buried his head in hands. Janice and Joan were only four and they had been adopted at birth. They never met the mother and were only told that she didn’t want them and never wanted to see them ever again.

So how could Ethan look at those two little angels and decide the same?

Eddie was heartbroken and not ready to move on. So he had agreed to the tour as a way to cope with the sudden explosion of his life. His friends knew Ethan had left, but they didn’t know the extent of his ex’s destruction.

He thought about taking the girls with him, but they were too little. They wouldn’t have fun and would be more terrified then thrilled. So live-in nanny it was.

Thankfully he had a month to find someone who would cook and clean and watch the girls. Especially after having to fire all of his help in the wake of Ethan’s destruction.

He had this.

~

Eddie did not in fact have this. He only had three more days until he left and he was at his wit’s end. He had rejected candidate after candidate for a myriad of reasons. One only wanted part-time despite the ad before a live in nanny. Another said she was strict disciplinarian and thought spanking was the only way to teach a child. And even another just gave off weird vibes.

So he called the agency one more time.

“You’ve gone through all of our female nannies,” the woman huffed on the other end of the line. “We only have male nannies left, surly you don’t–”

“Just send the best male nanny you’ve got!” Eddie barked. “I don’t care about gender for fuck’s sake.”

“I’m not sure–” the woman protested but Eddie hung up on her.

He didn’t have time to listen to whatever excuse she was going to come up with. He was running out of time before the tour and needed someone. Anyone.

He got a call back five minutes later from another woman telling him that they would be sending over their best male nanny at 2pm if that was acceptable.

He sighed with relief. “Yes, that will be perfect. The girls will be down for their nap then.”

“That’s wonderful, Mr. Munson,” she said cheerfully. “The gentleman we are sending over, his name is Steve Harrington, and I sincerely hope he will be a good fit for you.”

“You and me both,” Eddie sighed again. “You and me both.”

~

When Steve got to the house, he would have liked to have said that he wasn’t impressed because he had seen dozens of large houses and even larger sprawling mansions in his time as a full time nanny, but he was. Very much so.

It wasn’t a gaudy modern monstrosity for starters. It liked a Victorian era manor that had been modernized for living in today. It gave off a spooky vibe, but in a fun way and not a horror movie way. Like the Addams family or the Munsters kind of vibe.

He really dug it.

He went up and knocked on the door. It swung open almost immediately to reveal a pretty, petite woman with sparkling green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. She had a sweet smile.

He knew this wasn’t the mother, the file said that it was a single father of twin girls. A rockstar of some sort, though Steve didn’t recognize the name. This must be some kind of servant or PA or something.

“Hi, I’m Steven Harrington,” he greeted putting out his hand for her to shake. “I have a two o’clock appointment with Eddie Munson about the nanny position.”

Her smile widened, dimpling her cheeks. “Hi, I’m Chrissy Cunningham, I’m Corroded Coffin’s manager. Come on in, he’s waiting for you.”

Steve followed her through the house. It was just as impressive as the outside. It was beautifully decorated in dark browns, reds, and black. God, he hoped he got the job. He could really see himself living here.

She opened the door to the office allowed him to walk through, closing it behind him. Which normally wouldn’t have been a problem for Steve but now he was in a room with the hottest guy he had ever seen in his life and he really didn’t need an erection at a job interview.

Eddie looked up, and yup. Steve was done for. He had the biggest brown eyes he had ever seen outside of a Disney cartoon.

“Mr. Munson?” he said, reaching out for a handshake, mustering up every ounce of professionalism he had. “Steven Harrington, how do you do? You can call me Steve.”

Eddie grinned back. “Hey, Steve. Thanks for coming at such a short notice. I understand you’ve been brought up to speed on everything I’ll be needed you to do?”

Steve crossed his legs and put his hands on his lap. Shit, even his voice was sexy as fuck.

“Yes, I’ll be watching the children twenty-four/seven,” Steve recited dutifully, “with doing all of the cooking and some of the cleaning.”

“That’s right,” Eddie said. “That normally wouldn’t be the case, but I’ve had to recently fire all of my staff. In fact, if you are hired on, you’ll be working with Chrissy over the next couple of months to help bring staff back on. I would be putting a lot of trust in you not to fuck me over.”

Steve nodded. It was a bit like Robin’s period dramas. He would be running the household while Eddie was away.

“Wouldn’t Chrissy be needed on tour with you?” he asked, not sure what her role actually was.

Eddie shook his head. “She usually does, but I need her here to help to get this house running again. It was hard enough trying to explain to the girls why everyone had to leave. Especially their other dad. She just has her own place and a very demanding job. And the other people I trust with my kids are going on tour with me, so...”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Steve said huffing out a chuckle. “I’m willing and able to take the job. There is just one more thing we have to do first.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think I offered you the job yet.”

Steve burst out laughing. “No, I don’t suppose you did. But you really should. I’m really good with kids, I’m great cook, my references are impeccable, I have a degree in early child development, and you’re desperately out of time.”

“I noticed that all your previous families had older kids,” Eddie said picking up Steve’s resume. “Can you explain that?”

“Yes,” Steve said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, despite being practically perfect in every way,” Eddie huffed out a small laugh, “if I was a woman I would be the most sought after nanny in the whole god damned state. Even more so if I was older fifty. But because I’m a young man not even thirty yet and all they see is a predator.”

Eddie winced. He held up a finger. He picked up his phone and called the agency. “Hello? Hi Nancy, this is Eddie Munson. Yes, I will be taking Steve Harrington on as my nanny. Thank you so much for sending him over. Can you tell me who it was the first person I spoke to this morning? Yes, yes that’s the one. Kindly inform her that pushing harmful stereotypes only makes you look stupid. Mhmm. Yes. Yes. I want her fired. Thank you. Goodbye.”

Steve looked at him in awe. “Oh wow.”

Eddie grinned at him but before he could open his mouth to say something more, Chrissy poked her head in. “Sorry to disturb you but guess who woke up?”

“Janice?” Eddie replied with a fond smile.

“And guess who woke up her sister because she wanted someone to play with?” Chrissy said.

“Also Janice.” He sighed and turned to Steve. “You want to meet my little monsters?”

Steve smiled and stood up. “That was the one thing I was going to suggest we do before you hire me, is meet the girls. But having met their dad, I can already tell they’re going to be a handful.”

“Hey!” Eddie protested. But Chrissy laughed.

“Come on,” he said grumpily, “let’s go see the munchkins.”

Chrissy opened the door all of the way and Eddie and Steve followed her out. They reached the kitchen and there seating at a table were two of the cutest kids Steve had ever worked for. They both had light, curly brown hair and deep brown eyes, but that was where their similarities ended.

The one of the right had her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with a denim overalls over a pink shirt. The overalls had a cute pink kangaroo on the pocket on the front. The girl on the left had her hair carefully braided and wore light blue shirt and a black pleated skirt. They were both munching on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“Meet Janice and Joan,” Eddie said brightly. “Janice is the one on the right and the other is Joan. Janice is the oldest by seven minutes and she never lets Joan forget it.”

Joan stuck her tongue out at her dad around her sandwich and then went back to munching on it. Janice looked over at Steve and cocked her head to the side.

“Who’s that, Daddy?” she asked. And suddenly Steve was struck by how much the little girl acted like her dad.

“Girls,” Eddie said sternly, “do you remember when I said that Daddy was going to be gone for three months and you were going to be looked after by a new friend?”

Joan scrunched her nose and Steve was endeared. “Is he like one of those nannies that were so mean to us?”

“No, of course not, Joanie,” Eddie said, “not a nanny...” He looked to Steve for help.

“I’m what’s called an au pair,” he said brightly. “I’m here to watch over you and do a little of the cooking and cleaning, too. A nanny wouldn’t do that right?”

Joan and Janice shared a glance. And Steve was struck for the first time that they were really were twins. They acted so differently that he had already put them in separate boxes. But they moved in unison as they both shrugged.

“I guess not,” Janice huffed. “Are you going to be fun like Chrissy or strict like Daddy?”

The adults laughed as Steve walked over to the table. “My hope is to be somewhere in the middle. But I guess we’ll just have to see.”

He turned to Eddie and Chrissy. “If it’s all right, I’d like to get started now, give the girls time to get use to my presence while you’re still here, Eddie. That way we can smooth out any real problems before you go.”

Chrissy and Eddie shared a glance.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, “that’ll be fine. Great even. I’ll give you a couple of hours to get your things and come back here. Would you be okay making us dinner?”

Steve beamed at him. “Sure, give me an idea of what you guys like and I’ll find something to make you. Let’s consider it part of the interview.”

Eddie smiled back. “Well I think you have yourself a deal.”

Steve and Eddie shook hands.

This was either going to the best decision of Eddie’s life or his worst. Currently the jury and his brain were still out on that one.

~

Part 2 Part 3

Tag List: CLOSED

1-@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

[afewproblems]

50. "I need you to forgive me."

You know why...

But please!!!

I know this took forever so I hope you will forgive me! (Also when I originally received this ask I had just posted part one and mentioned in the tags that prompt 50 could be a good 'fix-it' prompt for a follow up, and well, here we are! Also when I received it, I laughed for a solid minute, like evil laughed so thank you @happymediummm )

Part Three of Prompt 53. 'I'm flirting with you!'

Part One, Part Two

It's on Friday that the cavalry arrives.

Dustin bangs on Eddie's bedroom door, with a mace by the sounds of it.

He's about to snark that Dustin doesn't play a class that uses martial weapons when he hears the kid yell--

"Eddie! You have five seconds before I come in there and get you myself, I got your uncle's permission and everything!"

Eddie groans and detaches himself from the bed  flipping the pillow he had been wallowing in away from himself.

He stomps towards the door and flings it open, leveling an unimpressed glare at Dustin who barrels past him into the bedroom.

Dustin crosses to the desk, his head on a swivel as he looks around the small space, Eddie scoffs as he steps towards Dustin, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing Henderson?" Eddie spits out as Dustin shrugs his hand off, he seems to spy what he's looking for as he crows a single, 'Aha,' and makes his way to the dresser.

"Seriously, Dustin, what are you doing here?"

"Saving you from yourself dude," Dustin scoffs as he takes a tape out of his pants pocket, the familiar writing on the label makes Eddie's stomach fall into his feet.

It's Steve's tape.

"No, nope, absolutely not," Eddie snaps. 

He reaches for the cassette in Dustin's hand, only for the little shit to spin away from him and toss the tape from his right to his left hand in a move that seems so much like the teen's babysitter that Eddie wants to scream.

Dustin manages to pop the tape into the player and hit play before Eddie can get close again.

A few notes of a bass guitar reach Eddie's ear and his hands drop from Dustin's shoulders as he perks up…he knows this song.

"What the fuck Henderson?" He breathes out with wide eyes that flick back and forth between him and the cassette player.

'Oh yeah!

Some people say my love cannot be true

Please believe me, my love, and i'll show you

I will give you those things you thought unreal

The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal--'

"You are being an idiot," Dustin says matter of factly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he frowns at Eddie, "I don't exactly know what you said, but I think I got the gist out of Steve earlier today when Robin wasn't acting like a guard dog". 

His dark blue eyes scan Eddie as he shakes his head, "you thought it was a joke, do you know Steve?"

Eddie rolls his eyes before crossing to the cassette player and slapping the stop button. All at once the sounds of Black Sabbath halt, leaving the room in tense silence. 

"Look," Eddie snarls, "I've known people like Steve over the years, it's all the same bullshit--"

"Stop it!" Dustin snaps, he steps closer to Eddie and jabs a finger into his chest, "you don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

Dustin's cheeks are flushed with anger as he shakes his head again, "he's nothing like that Eddie, you're being an asshole!"

"What is all the yellin' about?" Wayne's voice trickles through the door, a hint of concern running through it as he leans against the frame, eyeing both Eddie and Dustin warily. 

"When I gave you permission to barge in here I don't remember agreeing to participate in a screamin' match son,” Wayne says, biting back a smile at the indignant expression on Dustin's face.

"Sorry Mr. Munson, but Eddie's being an idiot!" Dustin crosses his arms once more as he looks from Eddie to Wayne challengingly.

"That so?" Wayne laughs, "care to argue the charge," he directs at Eddie who rolls his eyes.

"It's nothing Wayne, Dustin is leaving now--" 

"Steve made that tape for you," Dustin yells, pointing at the cassette player, "and you threw it in his face!" 

"That true Ed?"

"It was a stupid joke," Eddie growls as Dustin throws his hands up in the air, "it doesn't mean anything". 

Wayne looks at Eddie for a long moment, his face unreadable.

"Steve Harrington?" He asks softly. 

Dustin nods nervously at Wayne before shooting another glare at Eddie.

"The one that came by your hospital room every day till you woke up Ed? The one they couldn't get to leave on the day you opened your eyes, that Steve Harrington?" 

"So?" Eddie huffs, wrapping his own arms around his chest tightly, incredibly aware of the two pairs of eyes trained on him.

 "Wayne, you told me I had to be careful of who I opened myself up to, I'm just following your advice!" 

Wayne sighs, lifting his hand to pinch into his eyes.

"You'd be lucky to have a friend like Steve," Dustin grumbles as he moves to the bed to sit down. He pulls up his legs up to his chest and glares at the back of Eddie's head.

"Kid, I think Ed and I need to have a conversation, alone," Wayne says quietly to Dustin.

Eddie watches in fascination as Dustin opens his mouth to argue, but after whatever silent conversation takes place between the teen and his uncle, Dustin merely huffs and slips off the bed. 

"Listen to the damn tape and get your head out of your ass," Dustin bites out as he passes Eddie, he levels one last impressive glare at the metal-head before leaving the room.

Wayne sighs as he makes his way over to the bed to sit, taking over Dustin's vacated spot.

"So, Harrington, huh?"

Eddie scowls and says nothing, leaning against the dresser. He winces as the sudden weight of his shoulder jostles everything, causing his loose D&D dice to fall off the edge and plink and plunk across the floor of his room.

The D4 will be a bitch to accidentally find with his feet later on, but Eddie ignores the mess and continues brooding against the dresser.

Wayne scratches his face, tapping an unsteady rhythm against his jean clad knee with his other hand, "okay," Wayne says gruffly from the bed as he shifts to stand. 

"I don't know what ya did or said, but it was enough to make that kid beg his way in here," Wayne huffs, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the open door. 

Eddie shrugs, refusing to lift his gaze from the floor. He hears Wayne sigh and the shift of fabric as he steps closer. 

"You were so small," Wayne mutters suddenly. 

Eddie looks up in confusion, but Wayne isn't looking at him, his eyes are trained just over Eddie's shoulder.

"When you came home that day, all black and blue," he shrugs and scratches his face again, "I didn't know how to help ya, and you wouldn't explain". 

Eddie swallows roughly, horrified at the sudden brightness of his uncle's eyes. A man he has only seen cry twice since he's known him, the first time was at Eddie's mothers funeral, the other was the day Eddie woke up at the hospital all those months ago. 

"I don't think I could stand it if anything happened to you Ed," Wayne breathes out wetly now as he roughly scrubs at his face, "and you being in the hospital, you were suddenly that small kid again, standing on my porch all black and blue". 

Eddie feels his own eyes sting as his uncle turns slightly to wipe his face again, "What are you saying?"

"You weren't alone this time, Ed," Wayne says softly as he steps towards his nephew and grasps him gently by the shoulders, "you have so many more people looking out for you, hell --one of em' carried you home". 

"I think a person like that deserves at least a chance to know you, and to see what I see".

It's Eddie's turn to swipe at his misty eyes, "What's that?" He asks with an unconvincing cough to hide the wobble in his voice.

Wayne smiles, giving Eddie's shoulders a soft squeeze, "a damn good kid with a big heart, who I hope knows how to apologize when it's needed".

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Then I'm wrong, and we'll get through it," Wayne tugs Eddie towards him without warning into a tight hug and reaches behind Eddie to press play on the cassette player; the sound of guitar and drums begin again as Ozzy's voice fills the room. 

'Your love for me has just got to be real

Before you know the way I'm going to feel--'

"But for the record kid, I don't think I am".

***

Eddie listens to the tape. 

He listens to it again and again, both sides. Steve filled both sides with music for him…

He lays on his bed while it plays, staring a hole into the ceiling as the last few piano notes ring out before the tape stops, filling the room with silence.

The songs don't all go with one another and out of a dozen there's about eight he knows. The other four seem to be a mixture of songs he's heard Steve play in the beemer with the kids, or while dancing in his kitchen with Robin.

it's not an expert mix by any means, but Steve did manage to collect a decent amount of metal songs just for Eddie and even a one he's never heard before --since when did Scorpions write love songs? 

After hours alone in his room, sitting on his bed, listening to Steve's tape over and over again, there is one thing he can't deny.

Steve Harrington has feelings for him…had feelings for him, and Eddie ruined it. 

He wants to take the version of himself that pushed Steve away and shake him. 

Eddie winces as he pictures the devastated expression on Steve's face when he left. His normally bright hazel eyes and wide goofy grin were left pinched with hurt.

Eddie had done that, taken six months of tentative friendship, of lingering glances and soft teasing smiles -how had he missed those, and tossed this delicate thing away from himself like it was nothing. 

He looks over at the glowing green hands of the clock by his bed. It’s nearly midnight; Dustin left a few hours ago now and Wayne is now at work. 

Eddie breathes out a sigh through his nose as a sudden wave of determination flows through him.

He looks towards the far wall by the door, his Sweetheart hanging up on her hooks. 

Dustin had apparently insisted on grabbing it, doubling back on a severely sprained ankle while Nancy tore a verbal strip off his back for wasting time as an unconscious Eddie slowly continued to bleed out in Steve's arms.

Eddie shivers, it had been so strange to consider everything that happened, or what he was told happened during the gap in his memory. 

Steve had been the one to carry him out while Robin and Nancy helped compress the worst of his wounds with torn fabric and left over gauze from the patch job they had done for Steve.

He vaguely remembers a string of words, a whispered sentence that made no sense as Eddie drifted in and out of consciousness but now…

'You can't do this, come on Munson, open those stupid beautiful eyes of yours, who's going to yell at us about the corruption of youth in America huh? We need you man, I-I….'

Eddie had really been so fucking clueless. 

He gets up from the bed and crosses to the wall, taking the guitar off the hooks. 

At least now, he has a plan.

***

It was a shit plan.

Cutting down the road the kids had taken to calling Mirkwood and through the woods by Loch Nora seemed pretty sound in theory, giving Eddie the element of surprise and hiding him from any watchful neighborhood eyes. 

What he had not taken into account, however, was the pitch darkness, the unfamiliar maze of trees he now found himself in, and how fucking heavy his portable amp was going to be.

Perfect.

Eddie stumbles over a fallen log, nearly careening into the mulch and rotting leaves of the forest floor. The half moon above him, not nearly enough to light his path through the thicket.

At least this version of the woods feels alive, Eddie thinks to himself; the smell of damp dirt and the sound of frogs and crickets singing in the darkness is infinitely more appealing than the strange forest they had found themselves in a mere six months prior. And with the gates finally sealed, the most dangerous thing he could come across would probably be a rattler or a coyote. 

Eddie peers around at the thought, he's not quite sure he's entirely comfortable even running into those animals anytime soon…especially the snake.

Finally, after another ten minutes of walking, warm yellow light begins to sift through the trees ahead of him as he brushes away low branches from his field of vision. 

Eddie hikes up the guitar strap higher up his shoulder and steps fully into the light that illuminates the Harrington backyard lawn and pool.

Eddie scans the back of the house, flipping the mental map of the Harrington home around to visualize which window was most likely to be for Steve's bedroom.

He steps further into the yard, setting down the heavy amp onto the concrete patio before leaning down to grab a handful of wood chips from the shrubs next to the house.

Here goes nothing.

Eddie tosses one of the pieces of wood at the window above him. 

It barely connects with the windowsill before dropping back down onto the patio with a muted clack. 

Oh this is humiliating.

He tries again and again to hit Steve's window with the wood chips in his hand, each one completely misses the target. One bounces into the eavestrough, another careens off the siding and back into the pool behind Eddie. 

"Fuck this," Eddie growls, throwing the rest of the wood chips back into the shrubs as he snatches the cord for his amp and shoves the plug into the nearest outdoor outlet. 

He turns the volume down slightly, the plan won't work if the cops get called on him immediately. 

Eddie takes the guitar off his back and plucks a few notes, adjusting one of the tuning keys until the sound is just right.

"Here goes nothing, come on Stevie," Eddie whispers as he begins to play. 

"I hear the ticking' of the clock, I'm lying here the room's pitch dark," he sings softly, strumming out the cords, it's slightly harsher than the piano but sue him, Eddie only managed to play it once through by ear at home before he left the house.

This was Steve's last track on the tape, and Eddie's sure he put it there for a reason.

He listened to the song again and again, slowly picking up the cords as he did so. 

He could do this, he picked up Master of Puppets in just a few weeks, Eddie could handle Heart.

Eddie keeps going, his voice carries over the yard, growing in volume; so much so that he misses the patio door slowly slide open and the sound of a pair of feet padding onto the patio. 

"What are you doing here?" Steve's voice calls out to Eddie from the door, he jumps, nearly dropping the guitar. His hand jolts on the strings as Eddie attempts to keep his hold on the instrument, letting the guitar scream for him.

Steve stares at him as Eddie unplugs the amp cord and swings the guitar around his back once more with shaking hands, his thoughts spinning, trying to figure out how to start.

"I listened to the tape," Eddie says softly, Steve cocks his head slightly to better hear him, his face shuttering as the words register.  

Eddie's heart races as he watches Steve begin to turn towards the patio door once more, he needs to act fast.

"And I need you to forgive me," he blurts out, louder than he intends, but Steve does pause with his hands on the door handle.

"Why's that?" He says sharply, dropping his hand away from the door, turning to fully face Eddie once more.

Eddie chews his lip nervously as Steve's gaze hardens the longer they stand in silence, his arms come up to wrap around his chest tightly.

"I thought you were playing a prank," Eddie sighs, saying it aloud makes him want to deflate, to walk right into the pool and sink to the bottom. 

If the look Steve gives him is any indication, Steve would be more than happy to watch him go.

"That's a lot of effort to put into a fucking prank Munson," Steve bites out, there is no heat to the words though. He just sounds tired, resigned.

Shit.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Eddie mumbles, he reaches up to scrub his hand over his face, missing the way Steve's face softens ever so slightly and his arms drop from the way they seem to be holding him together. 

"But I'm not going to make excuses," Eddie takes a step closer to Steve, his heart threatening to break through his ribcage the closer he gets, "I'm sorry for how I reacted and for thinking you could do something like that".

"I know you aren't like that, you're honest, and kind," Eddie reaches out and takes the tape from his back pocket and gestures towards Steve with it, "and so fucking thoughtful it makes me ache to think I ruined everything". 

He puts the tape back in his pocket, Steve’s eyes watch him curiously now as he does, it fills him with wary hope, enough to keep talking. 

"So, I need you to forgive me Steve, because I hope you'll let me make it up to you sweetheart".

Steve's face tips down suddenly towards his socked feet and the cold concrete patio, making it impossible for Eddie to make out his expression. He holds his breath as the silence stretches between them.

"Robin was right, you can be such an asshole," Steve says quietly, Eddie's chest tightens painfully at the words.

Eddie nods once,doing everything in his power to keep his face neutral but the downward curl of his lip is unstoppable as he reaches down to pick up the amp.

"But," Steve says, taking a step away from the door behind him, "as someone who was an asshole for a long time," Steve says quietly, pressing the palm of his hand into his chest, "I think it would be pretty hypocritical to not let you make it up to me".

He's grinning now. It’s small, barely stretching across Steve's freckled face, but it's warm and just for Eddie. 

"What did you have in mind, Sweetheart?" 

Steve is quiet for a moment, his eyes dart over Eddie's face before he finally whispers, "can you finish the song Eds?" 

"I think that can be arranged, " Eddie hums with a bright grin of his own. 

He swings the guitar off his back again, quickly plugging it into the amp. 

Eddie looks up to find Steve smiling softly at him as he takes a seat on one of the pool loungers. He pulls his legs up to rest his arms on his knees, basking in his own private concert. 

As the first pink and orange rays of sunrise begin to bloom on the horizon behind him, slowly painting Steve's face gold, Eddie can't help the relief that flows through him. 

He looks down at the shy grin Steve gives him, his hazel eyes bright in the new day's light, and thinks, 'holy shit, I almost missed this'.

"You don't know how long I have wanted, to touch your lips and hold you tight," he picks up where he left off, his voice mixing with the slow rhythm of the guitar, “you don't know how long I have waited, and I was going to tell you tonight--”

Eddie watches, surprised as Steve swiftly gets up from the lounger and walks towards him, his expression determined.

"I think that's my line," Steve whispers as he leans in to cup Eddie's face in his hands and kisses him.

Eddie short-circuits.

The kiss is chaste, short, not much more than the brief press of warm chapped lips against Eddie's own, but the way Steve lets his hands move from Eddie's face to his hair and neck, holding him in place. The way Steve steps into Eddie's space so all he can taste, smell, and feel is Steve.

It’s exhilarating.  

Steve pulls back slightly before placing a second kiss on Eddie's lips, his eyes half lidded and a deep red flush staines his cheeks and ears a bright red. Steve looks much more debauched than necessary and Eddie suddenly wishes they weren't outside, that he could take Steve into the house and show him exactly how sorry he is. 

"I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait, did you learn all of them or just that one?" Steve asks, his voice slightly breathy, he still hasn't let go of Eddie or stepped away.

"Just that one," Eddie repeats dumbly, feeling the urge to walk into the pool again as Steve laughs.

Oh Eddie loves that laugh.

“You sure,” Steve asks again, his eyes crinkle at the sides as he smiles widely, “I thought maybe you could show me some of the other songs you know, inside?”

Either he’s dreaming or Steve is a mind reader because holy shit.

Eddie nods, unable to even form the words as Steve reaches for the amp and gently takes it out of his hands. Steve transfers the amp to his right hand and takes Eddie’s now empty hand with his left as he leads him towards the patio door.

Eddie watches, transfixed, as Steve looks back to shoot him another warm smile as they step over the threshold of the back door, and the words his uncle said earlier in the evening come back to him as Steve leads him towards the living room. 

‘I think a person like that deserves at least a chance to know you, and to see what I see’.

Eddie halts his movement, grabbing Steve’s hand firmly in his own, pulling him backwards until Steve turns, his eyebrows furrowed in wary confusion.

“Thank you, for giving me another chance,” Eddie says softly. He lets the hand holding Steve's own move to trail up and down his arm, eliciting a shiver from Steve. 

“I mean, you gave me one, you came back right?” Steve says softly. 

Eddie's heart twists at the words, he feels his face fall slightly at the thought that Steve could ever think he was somehow at fault for this, “I was an idiot, that wasn’t your fault at all sweetheart”.

Steve looks at him again, his eyes scanning Eddie’s own for what feels like ages, his expression unreadable. 

“Co’mere,” he murmurs eventually, letting go of Eddie to sit on the couch. He pats the cushion beside him, with the same soft smile from earlier, “play some music for me”.

There’s more to unpack here, more to talk about, other apologies to whisper in this beautiful man's ear. 

But for now, he swings his guitar in front of him and slowly walks over to Steve.

Steve asked for music, and who is Eddie not to oblige?

@ihavekidneys @superchellerific @zerokrox-blog @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @croatoan-like-its-hot @messrs-weasley @samcoxramblings @warlordess @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @lostonceandneverfound @shunna @fairytalesreality @estrellami-1 @rlpersephone3259 @zaphodkilledthespeedforce @newtstabber @grtwdsmwhr @uwujinniee @anica-d @imzadidragonfly @orangeandthefairroadkill @starman-jpg @nabatute @goodolefashionedloverboi @wheatnoodle @novacorpsrecruit @lolawonsstuff @redlegumes @paintsplatteredandimperfect @scheodingers-muppet @thephantomhood @0o-queendean-o0 @blackholegladiator @nerdfighteratheart @hallucinatedjosten

(I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, thank you very much for following along with this little story everyone!)

[marvel-ous-m]

AO3 Link | WC: 19,416 | Rating: Mature | Chapters: 5 | Featuring: Steddie, Ronance, Mentioned Jargyle, Platonic Stobin, Gareth & Steve as Cousins | Written for @biclarity | Divider Credit

It was SUCH a pleasure to take on this project as a pinch hitter with @steddiesummerexchange - I absolutely loved exploring this little camp-counselor AU, and I hope that y'all enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it!

Summary: Faced with no work for the summer, Robin gets the brilliant idea to apply to work at a summer camp for six weeks, and drags Steve right along with her.

Steve... really isn't sure what to expect. He's never even gone to camp before, he doesn't know the first thing about how to be a counselor.

Still, he agrees- mostly because he needs a source of income, and he's not about to let Robin leave him behind in Hawkins for a month and a half.

A few coincidences (and a little bad luck) finds Steve stuffing his cabin meant for 14 campers full of extra mattresses, so that it can hold a total of 24 campers, himself, and his counselor counterpart, who just so happens to be someone that he's run into once before: Eddie Munson.

Surely things can only go up from here?

Or, a summer camp fic filled with humor, fluff, and a few camp counselors falling in love.

Start of Chapter 1 below the cut!

“Oh my god, Robin, these shorts are worse than the ones we had at Scoops. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” 

“It’s not like we had anything else to do this summer. Besides, we only have to wear the uniform for the first week, so suck it up.” She turned towards him and gave him a blinding smile. “For what it’s worth, the green shirt really compliments your eyes. Do you think that the bandana in my hair is too much?” 

Steve pouted at himself through the floor-length mirror he and Robin were standing in front of. The shorts were fucking short. Indecent, in his opinion, especially for a camp full of middle and early-highschoolers. 

He sighed, then glanced at Robin via her reflection in the mirror. He couldn’t help the smile that appeared when he noticed the pink bandana holding her hair back, making her look all bright and summer-y. “It looks great, Robs.”  

“Really? I just don’t want my bangs to get all sweaty and matted against my forehead, but I wasn’t sure how else to tame them.” 

“Seriously, it looks really nice. It’s cute.” Steve took a final look at himself in the mirror, grimacing at the uniformed, freshly-twenty-year-old staring back at him. Robin was right, obviously, they didn’t have any summer plans, but the idea of summer camp still sorta rubbed him the wrong way. 

Robin had been a camp kid, apparently. She had gone every summer in elementary school once she was old enough, then attended theater and band camps over her middle and highschool summers. 

Steve, however, just got left alone at home over the summer, told to busy himself by completing the summer reading for when school started in the Fall. His reading was always done by the third week of summer vacation, and he spent the rest of the weeks swimming laps in his pool, alone, or doing chores around the house, alone, or watching old television reruns, alone. Tommy came over sometimes, even brought Carol with him once they started dating, and things weren’t so bad after that. Still, it always felt like they were using him for his money and his pool, not because they actually wanted to hang out with him. 

Suffice to say, Steve doesn’t know the first thing about a summer-long sleepaway camp. 

There were a few things that were making the experience a bit less anxiety-inducing.  Robin would be there, obviously, and he was put in charge of supervising all water-related play, which was familiar territory. Robin was put in charge of crafts, which would certainly be interesting, given that she could barely even draw a recognizable stick figure. She insisted that camp crafts were just different, and Steve couldn’t exactly argue against that logic, seeing that he doesn’t even know what camp crafts were, so he just went along with her reasoning and hoped for the best. 

The gaggle of kids that he’d gotten to know over the past few years would also all be there as campers, which was odd, to say the least- especially considering how overprotective some of the kid’s parents were. 

(Joyce Byers came to mind as one such example, but in Steve’s opinion, her protectiveness was pretty justified. You don’t just get over your kid disappearing for a week, a child’s dead body being found in a river dressed in his clothing less than 48 hours later, then your actual son randomly being found at an abandoned cabin in the woods a week later with strange scars and no memory of what had happened.) 

It was shocking that the kids convinced their parents to let them go to camp, but Steve was pretty excited. There was even a chance he’d have some of them in his cabin, seeing as he was cabin lead for half of the 9th grade boys, but he also knew there was a greater-than-zero chance that they’d get split up between him and whoever his counterpart was for the other cabin of 9th grade boys. 

He didn’t have a list of the other counselors yet, so he wasn’t sure who this ‘counterpart’ would be. Robin said they would distribute packets with that information on arrival at camp. Robin had also said that it was common for past camp kids to become junior counselors when they aged out of the program, then go on to be senior counselors and stick around through college, and seeing as Steve didn’t exactly hang out with that kinda crowd in school, he doubted that he’d know anyone. 

Steve ran a hand through his hair, fluffing his bangs in the hopes of at least letting his best feature shine in this job, as opposed to the gig at Scoops with that stupid hat. “Do you remember what time we have to get there today?” 

“Uhhh, I think three? Then we’ll have an hour to set up our bed stuff, training and dinner ‘til nine, then training tomorrow and Friday, kids arrive Saturday.” Robin rambled out the information as she applied her mascara in the mirror, shooting a smile at Steve when she was done. 

“Three?! Robin, it’s already noon! How far away is this place?” 

“Oh, right. It’s uh… about three hours?” Robin’s timid response had Steve groaning and grabbing her arm so that he could pull her away from the mirror, tugging her towards his bed where their bags were lying.

“Alright, c’mon, we gotta go, like, now. I have to stop for gas on the way, so we’re already late, which really isn’t a good look, not for our first day.” 

Robin gave an exaggerated sigh, but still complied, opening her gray duffle bag that was lying next to Steve’s green one so that she could shove her makeup and other last-minute things inside. From the corner of his eye, Steve could see various colors of fabric peeking out from underneath her toiletries.

“Are you serious? How many bandanas did you pack?” 

“I need a different color for every day of the week, Steve! If this is gonna be my summer look, I’ve gotta commit, you know?” 

“Birdie, I love you, but that’s a little ridiculous.” Steve grabbed his duffle bag from the bed and began walking towards the stairs leading to the front door, smiling to himself as Robin’s indignant squawking began while she trailed behind him. 

This was sure to be an interesting summer. 

Continue Reading

[ambrossart]

Post Prom - Part II

⏪ part one

summary: after leaving prom, you and eddie go to the hideout to reminisce and listen to music. one thing leads to another, and you end up going back to his trailer.

pairing: eddie munson x dwm!reader word count: 7,167 warnings: language, new relationship, underage drinking, reminiscing about the past, pent-up feelings finally being expressed, very slightly NSFW, mostly just a lot of making out, plus a little dry humping, nothing too explicit, some suggestive language, talk of sex but no actual depictions of sex, eddie being adorable, eddie being romantic

This short story is the epilogue to Dancing with Myself. For proper context, I highly suggest you read that before reading this.

Eddie had to fiddle with the lock a few times before the front door would open.

While he jiggled his keys and cursed under his breath, you stood on the step below with your stomach all knotted up like macramé, watching the tiny moths flutter beneath the gleam of the porchlight. This wasn’t your first time standing here. You had been here before, almost six years ago, when you came and started banging on Eddie’s door at ten o’clock in the morning, yelling for him to get his stubborn ass outside. The memory made you giggle. You had been so nervous back then. Shit, you were nervous now… just a different kind, you supposed.

A soft creak drew your attention back to the front door. Eddie pulled it open with a triumphant smile and held it for you.

“Well,” he said, “this is it…”

And right before you went inside, you saw Eddie suck in a shallow breath. He was nervous, nervous about letting you see inside his house—his private, most intimate place—completely unprepared. You felt honored and grateful to know he trusted you that much.

Smiling, you brushed past him and walked through the front door. As soon as you did, you were overcome with this overwhelming and indescribable warmth that spread through your whole body. It felt less like you were entering Eddie’s house and more like you were entering his world. After years of standing outside it, only ever getting as close as the front porch, you had finally been allowed inside. It was hard not to get a little emotional about it.

“Sorry about the mess,” Eddie said, but honestly, you didn’t even notice it. Your feet moved on their own and carried you deeper inside, into the living room. There, you found a dark brown sofa chair sitting in the far right corner and a light brown loveseat resting against a draped window. A bit worn, both of them, but still in good shape. Pushed against the opposite wall was a small television, a writing desk with a built-in shelf, and a roll-out folding bed, where you imagined Eddie’s uncle resting after a long night’s work. It was a charming room, well-lit and cozy, full of all these random little knickknacks that you could have spent hours browsing through. There were hats hanging on the walls, dozens of them, and long wooden shelves lined with nothing but souvenir mugs, more than you could even begin to count.

“You know, your uncle could open a gift shop with all this stuff.”

Eddie was watching you from the front door, a faint smile on his face. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, he’s quite the collector.”

You nodded absentmindedly and proceeded into the kitchen, humming as you ran your hand along a small dining table set for two, with mismatched chairs.

Eddie gave you a bemused look and said, “What are you doing?”

“Just looking around,” you answered with a shrug. “Why? Do you not want me to?”

“Uhh, no,” Eddie said, a little taken aback. “Go crazy.”

So with his permission, you did. You fingered through some of the clutter on the counter, cracked open a few cabinets and drawers, snuck a little peek into the fridge—just a quick one to sate your curiosity, perfectly harmless. And as you did this, you imagined Eddie growing up here: making breakfast for himself before school, doing his homework at the counter, eating dinner with his uncle at the dining table. Did he use the upholstered chair or the simpler metal one leaning against the pantry? You couldn’t quite decide.

Then you moseyed down the hallway, looking at this and that. You pushed open the door, switched on the light to see into the bathroom… and stopped dead in your tracks when you reached the bedroom at the end of the hall.

Your stomach flipped twice, end over end. Yeah, you didn’t dare step foot in Eddie’s room. Instead, you spun around and went scurrying back the way you came, feeling much less adventurous than before.

As you shyly approached, Eddie said, “Well, did you enjoy your little tour?”

“I did,” you said while you played with the tip of your pinky. “Yeah, I really like your house.”

“Well, good,” Eddie said with a crooked, bashful smile. “I’m glad you like it.”

And then you both fell silent, listening to the low hum of a lightbulb that wasn’t quite screwed on tight enough. You stood with your back pressed against a metal storage rack. Across from you, Eddie was still by the front door, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. He had his left hand on the backrest of one of the dining chairs, and his nails kept scratching against the upholstery as he slowly curled and uncurled his fingers. His silver-plated rings winked at you every time they caught the light. After a while, it was starting to drive you crazy.

Those damn rings, you thought, they’re gonna be the death of me, I swear.

Eddie’s voice made you jump.

“I’m gonna grab a beer,” he said. “Do you, uh, want one?”

“Sure,” you said.

After all, a little liquid courage couldn’t hurt, could it?

Eddie grabbed two cans of beer from the fridge, opened one, and handed it to you. “Thanks,” you said, and then he went into the living room and made himself comfortable on the sofa.

No, on the loveseat.

Eddie threw his feet up on the coffee table, cracked open his beer and took a few slow sips. Upon lowering his drink, he turned toward you and made a beckoning motion with just the tip of his finger.

This one simple gesture set your nerves on fire! You made it only a few steps into the living room before you backpedaled into the counter and huddled against it like a coward. It dawned on you now, actually now, that you and Eddie were finally, truly, alone. Yeah, this wasn’t two kids whispering downstairs in a basement or two high school students flirting in a public restroom on prom night. This was you and Eddie.

Together.

Alone.

Oh fuck, you thought as a shiver ran up your spine. You brought the aluminum can to your lips and took the biggest gulp of your life.

Now Eddie was getting up and walking toward you. He sank down beside you with his beer in his hand and said in a hushed voice, “Why are you hiding?”

“Why are you whispering?” you said, and Eddie’s face scrunched up adorably, like he didn’t have a clue.

“I dunno,” he answered in his normal voice. Then he took a long, long drink and wiped his wet lips with the knuckle of his thumb. “Seriously, though, why are you hiding from me?”

You opened your mouth, closed it, and turned away. “You make me really nervous.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Really? Well, that’s… interesting.”

You looked over your shoulder and saw his lips curl into a proud grin.

“Oh, don’t get all smug now!” you said, giving him a little shove.

“I’m not, I’m not. It’s just…” His face softened with a gentle smile. “It’s a good feeling, knowing I make you nervous.”

Eddie’s words made you blush. You set your beer aside and burrowed deep into Wayne’s jacket. “I’m not used to you being like this.”

“Like what?”

“All… confident and flirty. I dunno, I guess I’m just used to you running away from me all the time.”

Eddie’s brow furrowed. “I never ran away from you.”

“Really?” you said with a teasing smirk. “‘Cause I can think of at least four separate occasions where you saw me and immediately took off in the opposite direction.”

“Well, that’s… because I was scared of you.”

You bent your head and started to giggle. Eddie watched you out of the corner of his eye, struggling to hold in a laugh of his own.

“You finally admit it.”

“I finally admit it…”

Eddie put down his beer and smiled at you. Then his eyes took on a strange glint, as if inflamed by some mysterious spark of emotion. Without speaking, he rolled his weight onto his right arm and swung his body over yours, pinning you up against the counter.

His deep brown eyes bore into yours as he said, “Luckily, I’m not fourteen anymore.”

Your lips parted with an inaudible gasp. No, you definitely aren’t, you thought, and drew away from him a little. This was too much. The house was too quiet; Eddie was too close; and you… you were silently chanting the Lord’s Prayer in hopes of banishing the evil spirit that was currently possessing your thoughts.

Your eyes closed as Eddie’s nose grazed your cheek.

“Hey,” he whispered, “can I tell you a secret?”

You nodded vaguely, unable to speak. When you opened your eyes, Eddie was hovering over you and staring at your face with a soft, almost sleepy gaze.

“You make me nervous, too,” he said. “Pretty much on a daily basis.”

“Really?” Your nose wrinkled in disbelief. “You don’t seem nervous.”

“You don’t think so?” he said. “C’mere.”

He took your hand and held it to his chest. His heart thundered desperately against your palm.

In a flustered voice, you said, “Okay, if this is a move, it’s a good one.”

Eddie’s chest shook as he laughed. “Well, good,” he said. “I’ll make sure to use it on the next girl I invite over.”

A smile tugged at your lips. “Shut up,” you said, but you didn’t raise your hand to smack him like you normally would. Instead, you closed your eyes and let your hand melt into him, feeling his heat, feeling his heartbeat, riding each wave of his ragged breath. Was this what it always felt like? When Eddie saw you in the hallway, in the cafeteria, in class, did his heart ache for you just like this? It almost seemed impossible, didn’t it? Before tonight, this would’ve been nothing more than a fantasy, but now… right now… it felt too real to be anything but true.

You laid your head on Eddie’s chest, felt his heart jog and then settle back into a steady rhythm: slower than before but still beating strong. Then you felt his arms wrap around you and pull you tighter against him. You nuzzled your head into his chin. He pressed his lips to your hairline and sighed against your skin.

“I really missed you,” he said.

After that, time seemed to stop. You raised your head off Eddie’s chest and smiled at him. He kissed you softly on the lips and drew back with smoldering eyes. You touched your hand to his face, gently brushing your fingers over his bottom lip, and he leaned in and kissed you again, taking the last six years of yearning and heartache and igniting them into passion. His grip on your waist tightened. Your fingers curled around the back of his neck and pulled him closer. You kissed slowly, deeply, and then he grabbed your hips and lifted you onto the counter.

Items scattered and shifted. Somewhere behind you, a cup fell with a hollow clink. You broke the kiss, laughing, and craned your head to see where it landed. Eddie hooked his hand around your jaw and pulled you back, kissing you again and again until

Brrring! Brrring!

the phone rang.

The sound blared through the silent house like a fire alarm. You and Eddie broke away and stared at each other, breathless and bewildered. Then you buried your face in the crook of his neck and crumbled into giggles.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Eddie said, looking up with a wide, defeated smile. He cupped your face and pressed one more kiss to your lips, and as he pulled away, he whispered in a slow, forceful voice: “Don’t move.”

He went to the ringing phone and lifted the handset off the wall.

“Yeah?” he said while rubbing his forehead.

“Hey, man!” It was Gareth, calling at almost two in the morning. “I thought you’d be home by now…” Lips smacked and popcorn crunched. In the background, an old sci-fi movie was playing. “So, how’d it go, dude?”

“Uhh, good.” Eddie glanced back at you and a smile came to his face. “Really good.”

He turned around, looked for a seat, and sat down on top of the kitchen table. Meanwhile, you had climbed down from the counter and were now carefully rearranging the ruffled layers of your taffeta skirt, making sure they lay neatly against your thigh. A guttural sound emerged from Eddie’s throat as he watched you. He closed his eyes and cursed his friend’s timing.

“No shit,” said Gareth in disbelief. “You actually got Chrissy to dance with you?”

“Uhh… no,” Eddie said. “You were right, man, that was a terrible idea.”

A terrible and wonderful idea. It brought him straight to you.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, buddy,” Gareth said. “How’re you doing?”

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m, uhh…” You caught his eye and gave him a sweet smile that he couldn’t help but return. “I’m better than ever, man.”

“Is that Gareth?” you asked.

Eddie nodded, rolled his eyes, and said, “Uh-huh…” while his friend’s voice faded into the background.

He watched you fidget in sheer boredom for a while: tracing random patterns on the counter with your finger, flicking the lampshade and making it spin, picking up a pair of pliers, fiddling with them for a second, and putting them back down. Then you leaned forward and laid your chin on your palm, giving him a coy, impatient little pout that awakened something primal within him. The handset slipped out of his hand, pulled the coiled cord taut, and clattered to the floor. Eddie picked it up and clumsily brought it back to his ear.

“Hey, I gotta go, man.”

“Huh?” Gareth said. “What do you mean, you—Wait, are you with someone right now?”

Eddie didn’t answer. He was on his feet and moving.

“I’ll, uhh, talk to you later, buddy.”

“No, wait! Eddie! Eddie!”

“Don’t call me back,” Eddie said. He pulled the handset away from his ear and

“Edd—”

hung it on the base with a click.

During all this, you were snickering with your hand over your mouth. Eddie stepped away from the phone and—suddenly, it was ringing again! Your laughter grew into muffled snorts. Eddie picked up the phone and growled: “Fuck off!” then slammed it back down. And when it rang a third time (because, of course, it had to ring a third time), he grabbed the cable and yanked it right out of the socket.

“What if there’s an emergency?” you said, giggling, as Eddie came toward you.

“I… don’t care,” he muttered dazedly, and he scooped your face into his hands and kissed you.

This was not a chaste, gentleman’s kiss. This was a lover’s kiss, full of heat and passion, desperation and desire. You closed your eyes and parted your lips as Eddie trailed kisses down your chin and along your jaw. His calloused hands, strong but tender, traced down your neck and tugged on the collar of Wayne’s jacket, pulling it over your shoulders, down your arms, and letting it fall to the floor. “Watch the jacket,” you said, and a sharp gasp escaped you. The contrast between the warmth of Eddie’s hands and the coldness of his rings made you shiver as he caressed your bare arms, slowly, gently. He kissed his way up to your mouth, cupped the side of your face, and slipped his tongue between your lips. You curled your hand into his shirt and let out a soft moan.

But then he drew back with a wince.

“Hey, I didn’t plan this or anything. You know that, right?”

Eddie’s dark eyes passed over your face, searching for any signs of doubt. “I mean… I didn’t bring you here to uhh, y’know, try to get in your pants.”

Your grip on his shirt loosened. “Oh,” you said, and looked at the floor with an embarrassed smile. “Well, that’s a little disappointing…”

(because you were definitely trying to get in his)

As those words left your lips, the air between you became thick with tension. You timidly ran your hand down Eddie’s chest, a faint blush rising to your face, and his eyes grew wide as realization washed over him.

“Oh shit,” Eddie said. He gulped deeply, combed his hand nervously through his hair, and spoke in a heated, trembling voice: “Umm… are you sure?”

You pulled him in by his shirt and kissed him. As you broke away, your eyes were calm and unwavering.

“I’m sure.”

The world seemed dreamlike as your body sank into Eddie’s mattress. His fingers interlaced with yours as he slowly crawled you backwards toward the wall, his chest above yours, knees astride your legs while he pressed soft, tender kisses to your greedy lips. He pushed down on your chest gently and the mattress came up to meet you: your elbows fell one after the other and your head landed gently on the pillow. Eddie’s scent lingered in the fabric, a mixture of sweat, soap, cologne, and cigarette smoke. You breathed it in deeply and shivered.

All the while, his hands never left yours. They rubbed against your palms, slid between your fingers, and pushed your hands deeper into the mattress. Your eyes rolled up to the ceiling as he kissed down your neck and along your chest, the moisture of his mouth lingering everywhere his lips touched. The sensation overwhelmed you. Your chest heaved with heavy breaths as you stared around Eddie’s bedroom with half-lidded eyes, taking in everything—the posters on the walls, the clothes strewn about the floor, all the clutter on his desk, dresser, and nightstand: beer cans, guitar cables, cassette tapes, empty packs of cigarettes. Next to the desk was an acoustic guitar with a message painted on the body. You had to sit up and squint your eyes in order to read it.

“This machine slays dragons?” You threw your head back against the pillow and giggled. “Wow, Munson, just when I thought you couldn’t get any nerdier…”

Your laughter broke into stifled gasps as Eddie caught your skin between his teeth. He nibbled gently on your collarbone and ran his tongue up your neck, then trailed lazy kisses from the edge of your jaw to the corner of your mouth, stopping there as he leaned back onto his left elbow.

While playing with your fingers, he said with a cheeky little smile, “Sorry, were you saying something just now?”

“Uhh, no,” you said, feeling breathless and dizzy. “I, umm…”

Eddie lowered himself back down until his mouth was hovering over yours, close but not quite touching.

“You forgot?” he said in a low voice.

Your head bobbed slightly as you stared at his lips, desperately craving the contact that was currently out of reach. You moved up to kiss him and he pulled away, a smile dragging up the side of his face.

A frustrated huff blew through your nose. “Please,” you said, and immediately snapped your mouth shut.

Shit, you thought. That one was gonna cost you.

Eddie’s eyes brightened with surprised delight. “Uh, what was that? Did I just hear you say please?”

“No,” you said as a shameful heat engulfed your face.

“Oh, I think I did,” he said, chuckling. “Uh-oh, now I have to make you say it again.”

“I’m not saying it again.”

“Yeah, well, I kinda need you to say it again, so…”

The corner of Eddie’s mouth lifted into a tantalizing smirk as he parted your lips with his thumb, drawing a whimper from deep in your throat.

“Please,” you whispered, and a switch went off in his head.

All of a sudden, Eddie’s eyes darkened with a naked, carnal lust that made your core clench and quiver with need. You arched your back as he lowered himself back down to you, and when he reached your lips, he kissed you with a hungry motion that left your whole body crying out for more. You dug your hands into his back, pressed yourself tighter against him. He ground his hips into yours and sucked gently on your neck, leaving faint marks all over your skin. Your breath hitched as you felt his hardening length through the fabric of his jeans. He moaned against you and moved back to your face, kissing your mouth, your chin, your cheek, and he whispered huskily into your ear, “Are you a virgin?”

The question hit you like a sobering slap.

“Maybe,” you said. “So what?”

“Hey, you don’t have to get defensive. I’m just asking, okay? It’s important that I know.”

“Okay, well… now you know.” You recoiled from him and turned your head to the side, staring at the heap of clothes on his floor. A lump formed in your throat as thoughts churned in your head. You swallowed hard and said in a small voice, “I take it you’re pretty experienced.”

Eddie gave you a funny look. “Well, I’m not that experienced. Mostly, I just watch a lot of porn.”

A giggle burst out of you, making your chest feel fluttery and light. When you turned back, you were welcomed by Eddie’s warm, comforting stare. He kissed your lips softly and a smile illuminated your face.

“So Corroded Coffin doesn’t have any groupies?”

“Not unless you count Gareth’s mom… which I do.”

You two broke into laughter. Eddie took your hand, pressed a few kisses to your knuckles, and leaned down to kiss you. As you parted, a question slithered its way into your mind:

“Hey, can you really tie a cherry stem with your tongue?”

Eddie arched his eyebrow. “Have you been thinking about that all night?”

“No, not all night,” you said with a sheepish smile. “So can you?”

Eddie snickered, his warm breath fanning your face. “No,” he said. “No, I was just trying to make you blush.”

“Oh,” you said, and felt your face get hot again. Well, you could’ve fooled me.

The previous urgency of his desire was replaced with caring deliberation. His hands gently caressed your waist, your hips, your thighs, tracing around every curve until he had each one of them memorized. You felt short of breath as he lowered his head and started kissing your breasts through the fabric of your dress. A whimper rose in your throat and you withered helplessly against him. You dragged your foot up his left pant leg, ran your hand up his right arm, feeling his hair between your fingers, drawing over his tattoos, pushing up his sleeve to squeeze the hard muscle of his bicep. He kissed the tops of your breasts, your chest, the side of your neck, and felt your hand on his face, beckoning him.

You both shared a moan when your bodies reconnected. Soft breaths filled the room as your hunger for one another grew, your hips moving together in a slow, passionate rhythm. Eddie panted against your lips, stared deeply into your eyes, and when his hand slid between your thighs, you pulled away and said through the static of your thoughts,

“Umm, Eddie? I don’t mean to kill the mood or anything, but umm… do you have a condom?”

The resulting silence was deafening. Eddie’s lips grazed your cheek and he drew back with a muddled expression, his mouth open, eyes slowly blinking, blinking, blinking.

You shrank away from him and grimaced. “It’s just, umm… you know, getting pregnant on prom night wasn’t quite the cliche I had in mind.”

You forced out a laugh and it instantly died in your throat. Great, you thought. Turns out, you hadn’t killed the mood at all. No, what you did was far more sadistic and cruel. Instead of taking it out in one clean shot, you missed all its vital organs and now you had to watch it limp away and die a slow, agonizing death. Way to go, sharpshooter.

Eddie shook his head and, finally, the haze in his eyes cleared.

“Uhh… right, shit,” he said, “just, umm… hold on.”

He climbed to his feet, pulled out his wallet, and froze as soon as he peeked into the fold.

“Shit,” he said under his breath.

You pressed your lips together and nodded. “You don’t have one, do you?”

“No,” Eddie said quickly, with a little tremor of panic in his voice. “No, I do… just, uhh…”

He went to his dresser and started going through all the drawers: pulling them open, rifling through them for a minute, then slamming them closed. Then he went to his desk and did the same thing. With every slam, your cringe deepened. It was like watching a massacre in slow motion. You had shot and missed, and now Eddie was savagely beating the mood to death with a rock. Just put the poor thing out of its misery already!

“Eddie,” you said.

He pushed his palm toward you. “Don’t… Don’t go anywhere,” he said in a distracted voice, and he spun around and stumbled out of the bedroom.

“Where would I even go?” you said, baffled. Then you slapped your hand to your forehead and cursed yourself for saying anything at all. Of all the times to listen to your gut, you chose now—now, when you were this close to living out all your horny teenage fantasies with the man of your dreams. What happened to the angel and the devil on your shoulder? Should you? Shouldn’t you? The funny little back-and-forth? You figured there would’ve been at least a little bit of that, but nope! The stop sign went up and you slammed your foot on the brake right in the middle of a four-way intersection: crash, smash, KABOOM!

“Goddammit.”

You sighed, rolled onto your side, and started shuffling through the comics you found beside Eddie’s bed.

“Hey, you have Creepshow!” You plucked it out of the pile and opened it to the first short story. “Have you seen the movie? Oh my god, Munson, that last one with the cockroaches… boy, did that mess me up for a while. I freaked out every time I had to turn on the light in the kitchen. And I have a pretty strong nerve when it comes to horror. Michael Myers, Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, zombies, monsters, blood, gore, stabbing—I watched Cannibal Holocaust, for God’s sake! But fucking bugs? Yeah, I draw the line there. It’s like that movie, The Fly, that scene with the spiderweb… Nope, I turned my TV off so quick. I still haven’t finished that movie. I’ll probably watch the remake when it comes out, though, ‘cause… well, I do love Jeff Goldblum.”

You figured Eddie wasn’t listening and, honestly, you didn’t care because your silly babbling was the only thing saving you from the discomfort of this incredibly awkward situation. Without it, you would have spontaneously combusted out of pure shame. Eddie, meanwhile, was fumbling around helplessly in the kitchen: slamming cabinets, opening drawers, cracking open the…

fridge?

You looked up in bewildered amusement, then casually flipped to the next page. “I don’t think you’re gonna find any condoms in the fridge, Munson.”

“Yeah, well, there weren’t any in the oven, so…”

The fridge closed with a quiet thud. A moment later, Eddie appeared in the doorway with a hopeless expression on his face.

“You’ve completely lost it, haven’t you?”

“I’m the Sahara,” you said, and Eddie winced at your brutal choice of metaphor.

“You’re the Sahara, huh?” He pounded his fist on the doorframe a couple times, then hung his head and chuckled miserably to himself. “Great, just great.”

He slumped down by your feet and sat doubled over with his elbows on his knees. The seconds dragged on like hours as you two sat on opposite ends of the bed, not saying a word to each other. You kept flipping through the comic, but you didn’t read any of it, not a single word. You thought you had ruined the whole night.

You sucked in a quiet breath and—

“Sorry,” Eddie said, making you jerk your head up in surprise. As you looked at him now, he seemed strikingly timid, like the fourteen-year-old boy who could barely hold your gaze. “Guess I should’ve been better prepared before I, umm…”

His shoulders bounced with light, easy laughter.

“What’s so funny?” you asked.

“Nothing,” he said while fiddling with the ring on his right hand. “It’s just, uhh… y’know, I’ve thought of this moment for a long time, a long time, and now that I finally got you here…” A peaceful smile touched his face. “It’s just funny how it all worked out.”

“Yeah,” you said. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Eddie sat up and turned toward you. “We don’t have to rush this,” he said. “In fact, it’s probably better that we don’t.”

“Yeah,” you said. Then, with a shy dip of your head: “Except now you’ve got me a little curious.”

“Hm? About what?”

“Well… you said you’ve thought about it…”

Eddie grunted low in his throat, a guilty, guttural sound.

“Uh-huh,” you said, snickering. “So… how was I?”

“You were, uhh…” He ground his jaw in thought for a minute, then closed his eyes and said with a deeply satisfied sigh, “Sensational.”

That sent you over the edge! You fell over, chortling hysterically until your stomach started cramping and you just couldn’t take it anymore. While drying your eyes, you said, “Sensational, huh? Well, there’s a bar I’ll never reach.”

“Yeah, I’m not too worried,” Eddie said.

The conviction in his voice threw your heart into a panic. You turned away, pressed your burning face into the cool pages of Eddie’s comic book, and pretended to go back to reading. That’s when you felt the bed dip as Eddie stretched out beside you, lying on his stomach with his elbows supporting him.

“So you’ve been snooping, huh?” He gestured toward the comic with his chin. “What’d you find that’s so interesting?”

“Creepshow.” You turned to the next page. “Hey, why do you have this, anyway? I thought you didn’t like horror.”

“Yeah, well… apparently, I’m Halloween-themed.”

Your breath hitched in mid-sentence. You lifted your eyes off the page and met Eddie’s affectionate stare.

“I still don’t get what that means, by the way.”

“Yeah, neither do I,” you said, and let out a quiet laugh. “I thought I knew when I said it, but now that I think about it, it doesn’t really make that much sense, does it?”

You gave Eddie small smile and went back to reading. He lay next to you for a bit longer, observing the subtle changes in your focused expression. Then he suddenly got up and started rummaging through his desk drawers again. The familiar slamming sound made you giggle.

“Okay, the condom fairy doesn’t exist, Munson. No matter how many times you open that drawer, a box of condoms won’t magically appear.”

“Oh, I’ve already given up on that dream,” Eddie said. He crossed the room, dropped to his knees, and started digging through all the junk under his bed.

Now you were getting a little curious yourself. You climbed to your knees, put your hands on the edge of the mattress, and peered down at him.

“I’m not interested in your porn collection, either.”

Eddie popped his head up and smiled at you. “This isn’t where I keep my porn,” he said, and tossed you a flirty little wink. Then he went back under the bed and—“Holy shit!”—dragged out a black three-ring binder.

Your jaw dropped as soon as you saw it. “Wait, is that…?”

You gasped excitedly and made a “gimme” motion with your hands. When Eddie couldn’t meet your demands fast enough, you snatched the binder off the floor and sat down with it in the middle of the bed. He didn’t seem to mind.

“Fuck, man,” Eddie said while scratching the back of his head, “I haven’t seen that thing in years.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” you said, and swept some of the dust off the cover.

The binder looked exactly the same as you remembered, right down to the black-and-white Black Sabbath sticker with the giant rip in the corner. You opened it up and started flipping through it like it was a fully illustrated, limited-edition novel from your favorite fantasy author. It had everything: character sheets, ability guides, spell lists, equipment and inventory tables, maps, drawings, detailed notes from every session, and all these little extra reference pages to help describe his character’s attacks, actions, and movements, because Eddie wanted to sound so cool during combat. You couldn’t stop smiling as you went through it. It was like a little time capsule.

“It’s so weird,” Eddie said in a quiet, captivated voice.

You looked up and saw him sitting directly across from you, staring not at the binder but at you.

“What’s weird?” you asked.

“I dunno, it’s just… sometimes when I look at you, I get these little flashes of back then. It’s kinda freaky, actually, like déjà vu or something.” Eddie’s face flushed a light pink, seeming to catch him by surprise. He immediately shook the thought away. “Uhh, sorry. Go ahead and keep snooping.”

Your eyes lingered on him for a moment longer, then went back to the page. You turned to the next section and said, “Oh my god, here it is! The Shrieking Queen’s Catacombs, Scottie’s infamous campaign. How many pages are there of you just complaining about me, Munson? Let’s count, shall we? Uhh, one, two, three…”

You flipped to the next page and a loose paper slid out.

“What’s this?” you said, and casually looked it over. “Well, this looks like a very poorly rendered dungeon map.” Laughing, you examined it closer. “The Labyrinth of Neverending Nightmares. Ohhhh, how spooky… Wait, this doesn’t look like one of Scottie’s, though. No, his are like ten levels deep and full of all these annoying traps that someone always gets caught in, and by ‘someone’ I mean you, Munson. Then I have to get you out because for some reason you can’t roll higher than a fucking two…”

You giggled at the memory, then showed Eddie the paper and said, “Okay, I give up. What is this?”

“It’s mine,” Eddie said with a modest smile, making your face fall in astonishment. “Yeah, that’s my dungeon. Or at least one of them, anyway. I thought I chose one of the better-drawn maps, but obviously not…”

Your eyes were wide as you listened to him. When you finally blinked, they became wet and blurry.

“Wait, what? You wrote a campaign? How come you never told me?”

“I was working up to it,” Eddie said. “I had it in my backpack for like two weeks ‘cause I kept chickening out. And by the time I finally gathered up enough courage to do it, well…”

“I killed you.”

“Yeah…”

The words echoed in your mind like a curse. You buried your face in your hands and cried out in anguish: “Oh my god, I’m a monster!”

“Well, you’re a really pretty monster,” Eddie said with a light-hearted chuckle, but you didn’t laugh like he thought you would. Instead, you sat hunched over with your hands covering your face, sniffling back tears. He reached for you and gave your shoulder a shake. “Hey, come on, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. I’ve already seen you cry way too much tonight, and I really don’t like it.”

He leaned over and brought his lips close to your ear.

“Hey,” he said softly, “it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It matters to me,” you said, and raised your chin to look at him. The compassion in his eyes almost made you burst into tears again. You didn’t deserve it. “Four years, Eddie. That’s a really long time. I can’t help but think of all the things we missed out on, and now…”

Now they were all piling onto your chest like bricks. The weight of it was enough to crush you. You lowered your head and felt your eyes well up with guilt and grief.

“But we didn’t miss out on anything.” Eddie gently took your face into his hands, dried your tears with his thumbs. “We’re still gonna do everything. I’m gonna take you on a date, a real date ‘cause I don’t think this one technically counts. And I’m gonna meet your parents, which I’m already kinda dreading, if I’m being totally honest. And we’re gonna, y’know, cut class and go make out in my van. That’ll be really fun. Yeah, I’m actually really looking forward to that one. And then, uhh, let’s see… we’re gonna have our first fight in like three weeks, so I better start preparing for that now ‘cause I just know you’re gonna fight dirty. Yeah, you’re definitely gonna hit me below the belt a couple times. But that’s okay ‘cause the make-up sex will be fantastic—y’know, once we actually have condoms. I’ll buy some tomorrow. A big box.”

You snorted under your breath. “I think a regular box is fine.”

“No, just… trust me,” Eddie said. “We need a big box.”

You blinked at him for a second, dumbstruck and speechless, your cheeks all aflame. Then your head slipped out of his hands as your whole body collapsed into giggles.

With a shadow of a smirk, Eddie said, “You think I’m joking right now, but I’m not. I’m buying the biggest box they have.”

“Please, stop,” you said, barely able to breathe.

“I’m just saying, I’m gonna be fully prepared next time… assuming there is a next time, anyway.”

You lifted your head and smiled at him, your face glowing in the aftermath of your laughter. “There will definitely be a next time,” you said. Then you placed a feather-light kiss on his lips, drew back, and he pulled you in for another, deeper kiss, his hand coming up to cradle your jaw.

“So, is it scary?” you asked afterwards.

“Is what scary?”

“The campaign you wrote, is it really scary?”

“I made it extra scary just for you.”

“Wow,” you said with an awestruck grin, “an extra scary campaign just for me? Well, now we have to play it… Can we?”

In a tender voice, Eddie said, “You’re the only one I’d ever play it with,” and you felt your eyes tear up again.

Choking them back, you returned your attention to the binder and discovered something that made your heart swell with indescribable joy.

“Hey… this looks familiar.”

It was the character sheet you had made for him. He had kept it, after all.

“I tried to fix it,” Eddie said while you carefully brushed your fingers over the softened wrinkles in the paper. There was a giant iron burn in the middle.

“How hot was the iron?” you asked.

“Oh, it was scorching,” Eddie said. “Yeah, it’s a miracle I didn’t burn the house down.”

Your laughter rang together effortlessly. For a second, it was like you two were back in middle school, giggling and goofing off in Scottie’s basement while everyone else stared at you and wondered what was so damn funny. It was a surreal feeling, being together like this again. In fact, it felt a little like

Déjà vu… Yeah, that is weird.

You touched the burn mark gently. “I thought you threw this away.”

Eddie furrowed his brow and shook his head, as if the thought had never even occurred to him.

Then, after a brief period of silence, he said, “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“Do you still have your journal?”

The question brought a smile to your face. “You know I do.”

Eddie nodded and put his hand over his mouth, concealing an ever-growing smile of his own. With his lips pressed against his knuckles, he said, “Okay, so… how many pages was I really in? I’ve always been curious.”

You went quiet for a minute, trying to count the pages, but you soon realized it was pointless. Even if you counted them a thousand times, the answer would always be the same.

“Not nearly enough,” you said, and Eddie’s eyes lit up with amazement.

“That’s… a really good answer,” he said, surrendering an embarrassed laugh. “Shit, okay… yeah, I think I need a second to recover from that one.”

He turned away and tried to regain his composure while you sat and watched, resisting the urge to tease him. Outside, a car was pulling up in front of the house across the road, its headlights flashing through the cracks in Eddie’s blinds. The sound of the engine made you both pause and reflect.

“I should probably take you home,” Eddie said.

“Yeah,” you said, “but then again, it is very late.”

“It is very late.”

“And you’re probably tired.”

“I am incredibly tired.”

“Plus, you’ve been drinking.”

“You’re right, I have been drinking… So have you.”

“Mhm,” you said, and felt your heart quicken with a surge of anxiety and excitement. “So, for both our sakes, I think the safest thing would be for me to just stay here tonight.”

You hid your eyes as you said this, worried you might’ve overstepped and crossed some invisible line, but then you heard Eddie let out a quiet, contented sigh and you felt silly for worrying at all.

“Okay,” he said, smiling to himself.

He went to his closet, pulled out two shirts and presented them to you. “All right, pick one: Slayer or Megadeth. Choose wisely ‘cause this decision could very well determine the future of our relationship.”

You pressed your lips together and thought hard about it for a while.

“Megadeth.”

“Good choice,” Eddie said, and tossed it to you. Then he gave you a pair of his boxers, blushing a little as he did. “Umm, I’ll be outside waiting on the porch, so uhh… just knock on the window when you’re done, ‘kay?”

“Okay,” you said, giving him a timid smile.

The air felt lighter, crisper as Eddie stepped onto the porch and sank into his uncle’s chair, a chair he had sat in over a hundred times: in the morning before school, at night while he watched his uncle leave for work, when he needed to think, when he couldn’t sleep, when he was simply bored and didn’t have anything better to do. Now here he was sitting in this beat-up old chair again, this time waiting for you.

Instinctively, Eddie reached for his cigarettes and realized he wasn’t wearing his jacket. Normally, this would make him grunt in frustration, but tonight he just threw his head back and sighed happily into the cool night air.

This was a good night, he thought, probably the best night of his life.

Then he heard your gentle tap, tap, tap on the window, stood up, and went back inside.

⏩️ bonus scene

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DWM MASTERPOST

FANFICTION MASTERLIST

[flowercrowngods]

you said soft things so have this little thing very loosely based on how my first birthday after I moved away from home to live hours away from my family my brother got me a flower delivery thing each month for half a year. So for six months I had the same guy deliver flowers to me, it wasn’t anything but like… it could be, I can make it steddie (it’s 3:30 am and I wrote this in my notes so sorry for any mistakes)

So, Steve who moved kind of far away for college and is living in a shitty student apartment and hasn’t decorated it a lot and Robin thinks he needs something nice to look at every day and something to remind him he has people that loves him when he convinces himself that they’ve forgotten about him now that he’s away. So she gets him a flower delivery once a month with notes saying encouraging messages or bad jokes, sometimes a tiny update. It helps him, he’s not doing badly or anything and actually enjoys studying but he misses his friends.

Then we have Eddie who’s the flower delivery guy, it’s his side job, or it’s his main job and then he also gets payed to play some gigs sometimes. Either way, he delivers flowers. Mostly it’s to old people from their grandchildren, for birthdays, and from someone’s partner, often a partner that has fucked up (he also hand writes the messages that come in with the order and he’s had to write some very pleading apology ones in his time)

He has a monthly order to the same guy, the same gorgeous guy who last time opened the door looking so soft with glasses sliding down his nose and hair all messy and holding a cup of half drunk coffee and gave him such a warm smile he almost proposed to this stranger on the spot.

Every month he’s both so excited to deliver his flowers and also dreads it because he’s 99% sure this guys girlfriend sends them, that they’re long distance and she gets him flowers every month with little notes that he has to write, this month it was ‘I scraped up my whole leg climbing up the tree outside my window sneaking back into my room, I don’t know how you used to do that all the time.’ So like, obviously high school sweethearts if he used to sneak into her room.

So, it’s great because he gets to see this guy who’s stupidly pretty and always gets this wondrous look on his face like he’s still in awe about the flowers months in and that’s honestly the highlight of Eddie’s day. But, it’s awful because he also has to hand him flowers from someone else knowing he’s just some insignificant middle man.

Steve at this point gets more excited about the guy who delivers the flowers than the flowers, he loves them and all but this guy who comes every month and with a dimpled smile hands them over is taking over his brain. He doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable by asking him out though, like he’s doing his job and it feels inappropriate.

He complains to Robin who time after time tells him to just ask the guy out, if he says no it may be a little awkward but it’s a tiny interaction once a month it’s fine. Steve knows she’s right but still doesn’t, is afraid to break the spell of their monthly exchange. Robin grows tired of his pining though and the next time she places an order she makes the note ‘the guy who gets the flowers wants to ask the delivery guy out but keeps chickening out so I’m doing it for him: Delivery guy with bangs and ‘the prettiest brown eyes’ will you go out with Steve?’

Eddie reads that message of the order, has to write that message out with wide confused eyes and hope rising in his chest. When Steve opens his door he shoves the flowers at him and blurts out “I thought you were dating Robin”

Steve gives him a confused look, which yeah of course he does, so Eddie takes a breath and tells him to read the note. The confusion on Steve’s face slowly fades and is replaces with red cheeks and a sheepish smile.

He clears his throat and glances up at Eddie. “She’s my best friend,” he tells him, “may or may not get to keep that title depending on how this goes.”

Eddie is feeling too many things to say more than a breathy, “yes.” At Steve’s raised eyebrow though he clarifies.

“Yes I’ll go out with you.” Then a sudden horrifying thought hits him, “if you actually want that and your friend isn’t joking or got it wrong or-“

“Does 8 o’clock tonight work for you?”

Eddie nods and Steve’s smile gets wider with each frantic jerk of his chin.

“It’s a date then.”

and then on their first date, eddie gets flowers for the first time. doesn’t have to deliver them, doesn’t have to give them away, no, these ones are his to keep, and he allows himself to take a deep breath for the first time, getting to enjoy the way they smell, the way he always watched people do. never once taking his eyes off steve, who watches with a smile. 🥹

[zaynmirrors]

A/N:

Hello all! New fanfic here. Let me know if you want to start a tag list. If you guys have any ideas for chapters, anything! I take requests, it just takes me a minute to upload them. Let me know what you think!

Tw: eventual smut, abuse (not from current characters), mom!reader, youngmom!reader, children, others I haven’t thought of yet.

Pairing: Eddie Munson & Mom!Reader.

Dustin Hendersons older sister

FIGURE YOU OUT:

Chapter 1

When Dustin had invited his friends over he didn’t anticipate his sister and niece falling asleep on the couch before they were supposed to arrive. 

His original plan had been to have a movie marathon but now he was unsure if they’d both be able to sleep through the noise. He’d known you were up practically all night, he’d heard the frustrated groans and heavy feet even from his room at the top of the stairs.

Normally his well behaved niece would sleep through the night and barely even fuss but the poor two year old was battling an ear infection. “Dude do you think we’ll wake them up if we just watch the movies?” Mike asked hushed as he looked over at the back of the older woman. 

“Look I don't want to wake either of them” Dustin sighs quietly, “Y/N was up all night” Lucas made a sympathetic face, and glanced over at the subtle movement of Dustin’s sister. 

When y/n graduated highschool, she had run away with her lover leaving their mom distraught. Y/N returned almost a year later, heavily pregnant, crying about how her supposed highschool sweetheart had left her. 

Y/N didn’t really like to talk about it in detail, Dustin understood that there was more to it but never pushed. He was happy his older sibling was back, and enjoyed being an uncle. 

The loud banging on the door startled the boys, all eyes looking to y/n. The banging continued, causing Dustin to scramble up and jerk the door open. “Dude” he hissed looking up to the curly headed senior. 

The smile on Eddie’s face faltered, confused at the not so friendly greeting, “that’s no way to greet a guest Henderson” even his normal speaking voice was boisterous.

“My sister’s asleep on the couch” Dustin spoke quietly causing Eddie to try and peek around the foyer to see for himself. He gave an apologetic smile and pushed past the younger boy. 

“What’s the plan, boys?” Eddie asked, trying to be quiet. They all shrugged, unsure what would be quiet enough to not wake the two fast asleep on the couch. 

Dustin spoke “y/ns usually a deep sleeper” shrugs and continues, “we can just try going ahead with the movie marathon” The rest of them nodded in agreement, Dustin went to the kitchen and began gathering snacks, the others followed in order to help. 

Y/n jolted awake, unaware of the group of teens in the kitchen, or the repeat senior who was supervising them. She looked down making sure the small child wrapped in her arms was still asleep. 

She took the opportunity to unwrap from the child and stand, stretching. Y/n took the blanket off the back of the couch covering the toddler with it. The quiet chattering of the teens had reminded her of Dustin’s plan. She felt awful as well as embarrassed. 

Y/n made her way to the kitchen and leaned against the frame, “if I ordered pizza would you boys eat any?” This caught the kids off guard causing them to jump, y/n chuckled not aware of the taller man on the other side of the room. 

They talked amongst themselves and then nodded in agreement that pizza would be good. “I’ll go order, Dustin can you-“ she didn’t even need to finish her question before he nodded understanding to keep an eye on the toddler. 

Y/n called the local pizza place putting in a decent sized order. Treating the teens was the least she could do, especially as she’d realized they had tried to be quiet and still were. 

She took the opportunity to freshen up, which just consisted of fixing the loose ponytail and brushing the sleep smell off her breath. Y/n wanted nothing more than to curl into the bed and go back to sleep, but that wouldn’t be fair to either Dustin or her child. 

The outfit that was currently being worn was fine, she was going for comfort rather than impression. When y/n came back out and glanced over at the couch her child slept on, tucked into the corner of it was a tall curly headed man. 

Dustin had mentioned Eddie before, however, the thought of him being what looked to be almost her age never crossed her mind. He looked at her child as if she was a bomb waiting to go off. Normally she wasn’t much of a worry, but there was no telling today. 

“Here let me-” Y/n  started and bent down to pick up her child to give Eddie more room, as he was frantically telling her it was okay. Jovie was picked up carefully and carried to the room she shared with her mother. 

Mike smirked and looked at Eddie, “Scared of a baby Munson?” Eddie went to say something but stopped when y/n walked back into the room and spoke, “What’re we watching?”

Dustin had no qualms against his sister joining, she was into just about the same things he was. “I think we’re going to watch a bunch of horror movies” he looked to the rest of the group to make sure they were in agreement. 

“Oh! In that case-” she held up a hand, hurrying off to her room again, this time returning with a stack of movies. “Steve dropped these off” Dustin carefully took the stack and looked through it, passing the tapes to each of the boys to get approval.

“Half of these are new releases” Mike states, in shock. Y/n shrugged unsure of what to say, though she knew the gesture was more than just friendly from her babysitter. She wouldn’t entertain the idea. 

“You guys cool with these movies then?” Dustin asked and each of them voiced an agreement. He made quick work to start up the first movie, while y/n paced waiting for the pizza afraid that the doorbell would wake up her child. 

Eddie made his way to the foyer once the smell of melted cheese wafted into the living room. “Need help?” he asked lowly, y/n gasped not expecting the voice behind her. “Sorry,” he apologized. 

Y/N shook her head, “No, you’re fine.” Said nothing else handing over two boxes of pizza. He made his way back to the living room strumming up excitement with the food. Y/n follow behind him shortly after, as she went to set her two boxes down an all too familiar cry erupted. “Fuck, I’m sorry boys” everyone but Eddie mumbled out a dismissal, not caring about the one small cry. 

She went to go check on the ill child, Jovie stood in her crib, face crumpled in a grumpy expression. “What is it grumpy butt” y/n asked as she picked up the disheveled child. “Hungry?” Jovie nodded, placing a small hand over her left ear. “I know, time for medicine.” Jovie fussed, y/n bounced her trying to soothe the child “Hey, Uncle Mike and Lucas are here” This seemed to perk the child up. 

Y/n smiled as she made her way back to the living room, “My and Lu!” Jovie shouted grabbing everyone’s attention. Making grabby hands at the two boys sitting next to one another.

“Hi Jo” Mike said just as excited, albeit fake enthusiasm. Mike also knew y/n disliked- no hated her child being called Jo. So this was his way of annoying her like any “normal” sibling would.

Jovie’s feet made contact with the floor and went to the two boys, dustin looked over them catching y/ns attention “want me to wait?” He’d been asking about the movie, she shook her head not wanting to throw more of a damper on their movie night even more than she already thought she had.

Dustin went ahead and started the tape while y/n grabbed the medicines from the kitchen. “Come in booger butt” she said sitting on the floor in front of the couch that still held an enamored Eddie.

Eddie watched as y/n expertly spooned each fruity smelling liquid into the toddlers mouth, then rewarding with small cut up bits of pizza. As if they still wouldn’t taste like the gross fruit flavored medication. As much as Eddie wanted to watch the movie, he’d be completely fine watching her all night.

Y/N barely made it through the first movie, Eddie noted when he had glanced from the screen to her. The child however was wide awake, being entertained by Dustin at least at the moment.

In between movies Dustin laid a blanket around his older sibling careful not to wake her, especially as he places a couch pillow behind her neck. It was clear to Eddie, Dustin cared deeply for his sister almost more than some siblings would. Eddie may have thought her ex or baby daddy or whatever, was just a piece of shit and left her to raise the baby on her own. Which is why Dustin cared so much.

Two more movies down and everyone decided to pause for a bathroom break. Eddie was the first back to his seat, noticing the toddler sitting in the middle of the couch as if waiting for him to return, “heydoh” she said clearly trying to say hello.

“Hi” he said, unsure what was happening. Then looked around for Dustin, “I’m Eddie” he continued holding out his giant ring clad hand.

Jovie examined his hand and took her tiny one wrapping it around his pointer finger. He’d almost melted at the gesture, never having an interaction like this before.

She tried to say something but whined placing a hand over her left ear. Eddie looked down to y/n to see if the sound had woken her up but she might as well have been dead.

“Your ear hurt?” Jovie nodded in reply to his question. He glanced around the room trying to find the medicine or grab Dustin’s attention.

Dustin who had overheard was already preparing the medications came over and handed the small measuring cup, “how do I-“ Eddie went to ask but was ignored, he swallowed down the anxiety.

Jovie instinctively opened her mouth ajar, Eddie carefully placed the rim of the cup against her lips and tipped it back. She coughed causing Eddie to curse “oh shit”

“She’s fine” Dustin stated, “she’s dramatic, aren’t you Jovie” she giggled like she knew exactly what he was saying to her. “Thanks for doing that”

Eddie mumbles a no problem as the child crawls in his lap. His arms fly up into the air unsure of where to put them. Jovie made herself comfortable in his lap, uncaring of who he was and focused on the movie. One that he wasn’t sure she should even be watching but if Dustin wasn’t concerned; He wasn’t going to be either.

Hours went on, the Hendersons’ mom had come home to a living room full of sleeping teens and her grandchild. She let them be and went on to bed herself, y/n awake, panicked as she was unable to find her daughter. She stood looking around only to find her tucked away in Eddie Munsons arms as he laid flat across the couch. She smiled softly at the sight contemplating on pulling her from his arms.

Y/n had no intention of waking him up but she’d feel safer if her daughter was asleep in her crib. As she tried to gently take Jovie from his arms, they tightened around her slightly and y/n decided to not worry about it. Her brother wouldn’t be friends with some weirdo, right? She made sure to place a blanket over the both of them, once she was satisfied that Jovie wasn’t going to roll off the couch she made her way back to her bedroom, changed her clothes and crawled back into bed.

Chapter 2

[cacoetheswriting]

pearl: june & july 1985

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 4.5k chapter summary: reunions aren't always happy on the first try.

content warnings: best friends to lovers, slow burn, mutual pining, adult language & mature themes, stubborn idiots in love, quite angsty, a little fluff, mentions of the upside down / blood / character death / loss of a parent, grief and grief management, emotional hurt / comfort, self-doubt / insecurities, mentions recreational drug use, use of pet names - if i missed anything, pls let me know!

pearl masterlist

June 20, 1985 

With another failed senior year behind his belt, Eddie was feeling mighty sorry for himself.

He really banged on graduating this year so he could leave Hawkins behind forever, along with all the memories he had associated with this place.

Memories of you.

His grip on reality was slipping and this time it wasn’t because of the weed.

Yeah, he smoked the devils lettuce more over the last six months than ever before, but that’s not what had him tripping. You did, or rather the memory of you and how badly he fucked everything up before last Christmas.

Starcourt Mall had quickly become the only place in Hawkins not tainted by the memory of you.

Eddie didn’t like coming here, it was too colourful, too cheerful. On afternoons like this though, when he found himself reaching for Pearl and the scarf you left behind, Starcourt Mall was exactly where he needed to be.

Turns out that, unfortunately, the universe had other plans. Apparently it didn’t want him to escape this literal hell that’s been seeing you everywhere he went, or hearing the sweet sound of your voice in every possible surrounding. Apparently the universe didn’t want Eddie to forget you despite his desperate need to.

A belief affirmed when Eddie walked by the food court.

“Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose. Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free.”

What the fuck— he froze in his spot, just outside Scoops Ahoy. At the end of the locale, behind the till, was the girl he'd been desperately trying to get over, and right next to you, singing his own terrible rendition of Me and Bobby McGee was fucking Steve Harrington.

Eddie's jaw clenched instinctually and his fingers balled into fists at the sight in front of him. Fury began to burn through his veins as you tilted your head back in laughter at Steve dancing around you, holding an ice-cream scooper in front of his face like a microphone.

Not only were you back in Hawkins and the metalhead somehow didn’t know, you were also hanging around Steve the Hair Harrington, singing a song deemed to be only yours and Eddie’s.

Back in December, when you two saw each other last, you gave Eddie shit for lending a tape of what you yourself declared to be the album that’s defined your friendship. Even though the underlying subject of that argument was larger than the tape in question, looking at you now, Eddie was hurt. 

Yeah, it was mostly his fault you weren’t friends anymore, he knew that. But despite his shitty behaviour towards you, this was a stab in the back 'cause you were twirling around Harrington, singing along, “Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee”, as if nothing you shared with the metalhead mattered.

Eddie observes as you playfully slapped Steve’s chest, the biggest smile gracing your features. He didn’t realise just how much he missed seeing your smile until this moment, and every fibre of his being ached because he wasn’t the reason for your happy reactions anymore.

Time seems to have come to a standstill.

He's not sure how long he's stood there shamelessly staring, but whatever spell he found himself under is broken when a group of kids runs past him. In that same moment, you disappear into the back of Scoops Ahoy and Eddie knows he doesn't have long before you return so he hurries inside — maybe Harrington can give him some answers.

“Ahoy, how can I help you today?” Steve announces excitedly when Eddie approaches, however, the playful charade is just that, a charade. The second the metalhead stop at the till, Steve leans in close and grumbles, “She doesn’t wanna see you, man. Either get some ice-cream or get lost.”

“How do you know I’m here for her?” Eddie scoffs, trying to play tough.

Harrington rolls his eyes. “Dude, you’re not fooling anyone. I freaking saw you standing out there for the last fifteen minutes, eyeing her like she’s some prize you can never win.”

The sigh that escapes Eddie's lips is defeated.

“Look man, I’m not here to cause a scene, okay? I just wanna know how long she’s been back in Hawkins.”

“And then you’ll leave?” Steve sounds sceptical but Eddie nods 'cause regardless of what the King of Hawkins may think, Eddie really wasn’t in the mood for some big confrontation.

“Okay dude, okay. Ehm… I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but she dropped out of college in early March and was back here about a month later so… guess the answer you are looking for is April.”

April. You've been at Eddie’s fingertips for the guts of three months and he didn’t have a clue. How the hell did you manage to steer clear of him for this long? Hawkins isn’t that big of a town.

“Now, are you getting a scoop or—”

“Nah man, I’m going.” Eddie mutters and shoots Steve a weak smile. “Thanks, eh… I appreciate you being honest with me. I don’t know what she told you—”

“Munson, whatever went down between the two of you is none of my business. All I know is she made it quite clear she didn’t want to see you and as her friend, I owe her to see that request through.”

Sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Eddie chews down on his bottom lip.

“Yeah, I get it. See you around, Harrington.”

Dropping his head, Eddie's exit is just as quick as his entrance. He does make one more mistake though. He decides to look back at the till. Not really because he thought he’d see you again, but that’s exactly what happened. You're at Steve’s side again, only this time your attention is elsewhere.

You are looking right at Eddie, a perplexed expression on your face.

The metalhead lifts his hand and waves at you rather awkwardly. To his surprise, you do the same. The action, albeit small, is enough to ignite a glimmer of hope within the curly-haired boy. One that's quickly squashed by a feeling of resentment and he heads in the direction of the exit as you follow him with your longing gaze.

“You said you didn't wanna talk to him,” Steve defends his actions for shooing Eddie away.

“I know.”

Over the last couple of months, Steve Harrington had become your knight in shining armour.

Ever since Christmas of 1984, he’d been at your beck and call, from driving down to see you every other weekend while you were still at college, to helping you with various basic chores for your mom. 

You weren’t quite best friends, but you were inseparable. Steve made moving back to Hawkins easier. He was actually the first person you told about your decision to drop out and the boy couldn’t have been more supportive. He even came with you to convince your mom this was for the best — although, it was not like she needed much convincing because ever since your dad passed… well, she hasn’t entirely been herself.

She is a big reason why coming home was the right thing to do. Your mom needed you now more than ever and you needed her just the same.

To say you hadn’t quite come to terms with your dad’s death would be a severe understatement. Yes, you learned how to cope with the day to day, and honestly, you were on the right path to fully allow yourself to feel all the emotions you'd been somewhat suppressing, but then you found out the truth.

Back in February, you came to visit your mom for her birthday. At first, she didn’t want anything extravagant, but after bumping into Karen Wheeler at the store, your mom decided that company is perhaps exactly what she needed. “The house has been so empty since your dad’s funeral,” were her exact words.

That’s how you ended up sitting in the garden on the snow-covered patio furniture with Steve and a bunch of kids he swore he didn’t babysit.

You don’t exactly remember who let the word Demodog slip first — Steve thinks it’s Dustin because apparently that boy can never keep his mouth shut. Once you noticed the horrified look on all of their faces, you knew it was a word you weren't supposed to hear.

After much nagging and borderline blackmailing, you came to learn a lot more than you had bargained for: the Upside Down, Jane’s real identity, Eleven, along with her crazy superpowers, and most importantly, the events that transpired at Hawkins Lab in November 1984 leading to how your dad really died.

By the time you had gone back to college, the scary creatures those kids described had invaded your dreams. You weren't eating, you weren't sleeping. You basically forgot how to function. Your grades began to slip and it didn’t take long for your to realise you no longer felt a passion towards American Literature.

Although being back in Hawkins terrified you, being around your mom, seeing you smile for the first time since November, and being around Steve, cleared the dark fog that had formed within you. By the time summer had come around, you were genuinely happy again.

That feeling lasted until today.

The second your gaze landed on a leather clad frame with a set of curly brown locks, your heart stopped. A certain melancholy overcame you as his doe-eyes locked with yours. He waved awkwardly and when you lifted your hand to do the same, you realised you haven't been completely happy.

There was an Eddie shaped hole in your heart. It’s been there since your last conversation in December, if not earlier, the funeral perhaps. You just subconsciously decided not to address it.

You watch him hurry away and something inside of you snaps, or maybe it clicks into place. Either way, before Steve can do anything to stop you, you rush out of Scoops Ahoy and in the direction Eddie disappears in. 

He’s not hard to spot in the crowd. His dark attire is easily noticeable amongst all the neon of other Starcourt Mall goers. You debate calling his name, but then again you don’t really want to talk to him with so many people around. Your first conversation since December should be somewhere more private — especially since you're not sure exactly what you want to say. 

Once outside however, you're forced to make a brisk decision.

“Eddie?”

The sound of his name causes him to halt. He slowly spins on his heel and the two of you are now standing face to face, only an arms length apart, for the first time in months.

“I thought you didn’t want to see me,” his tone is surprisingly harsh, “Or did Harrington lie to me?”

“Well, I-I…” you inhale, fidgeting with your work uniform. “N-no, Steve didn’t lie. But then I saw you anyway, outside the shop, and I-I… well, I don’t know exactly.”

The metalhead is agitated. You can tell by the way he runs a hand down his face before crossing his arms across his chest.

You begin to panic.

How stupid of you to run after him like some pathetic school girl in love. How stupid of you to think even for a second you could have a normal conversation considering how badly the last one ended — “Perhaps space is exactly what we need,” the argument is now ringing in you ears, “We clearly forgot how to be there for one another.”.

“Forget it,” you mutter, “I don’t know why I followed you out here.”

You're about to walk back inside when suddenly Eddie’s hand is holding onto your forearm, preventing you from going anywhere. Your shocked gaze shifts to his grasp on you and the feeling of his skin on yours sends a shiver down your spine.

After a split-second, you nervously lift your eyes to meet his.

“Why didn’t you tell me you came home?”

There’s a sense of urgency in his question. Urgency and a hint of betrayal. You hesitate to answer as there are a number of different scenarios running laps across your mind. All you are certain of is you won’t be made to feel guilty for this decision.

“Are you forgetting you’re the one that said we needed space from each other?” You bite back, snatching your hand free from his strong grip. “I’m giving you what you asked for, Eddie. What more can you possibly want from me?”

“Your behaviour is fucking confusing!” Eddie yells, earning the two of you some rather questionable looks from other patrons of Starcourt Mall. He’s quick to notice the odd glances and composes himself briskly while taking a step towards you.

“I’m supportive, you’re agitated and then ignore me. I try to give you room to breathe, you give me shit for being a bad friend. I stand up for my own feelings, it’s wrong. I tell you what you want to hear, I agree about spending time apart, and you follow me out here only to be a bitch. I’ve done everything you wanted these last few months and you continue to give me a hard time.” Eddie exhales sharply then continues, “Okay, I get it, perhaps you were staying true to our promise by not telling me you were back in Hawkins, but if you really didn’t want to see me, why the fuck did you follow me out here?”

“You actually think time apart is what I wanted?” You ask, focusing on that part of his speech.

Eddie nods, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and your lips part slightly in shock.

“I never wanted this. I never wanted to be away from you for this long. If you took the time to read the letters I left you, you would fucking know that!” You jab your finger into his chest with all the power you can muster.

He grabs your finger, squeezing it. “I kissed you and you fucking froze me out,” he practically hisses, though the pain in his eyes betrays his angered front “And you're apparently dating Harrington now so fuck me, I guess, for thinking you felt something too.”

“This is pathetic, Eddie. I can’t believe you.”

He opens his mouth for a rebuttal, but he never gets the chance to say anything because you're both interrupted.

“There you are!” Robin hails your attention and Eddie drops his hold on you immediately. “Steve said something about finding you? Can you believe that guy? I literally just got in for my shift and he has me running around the whole mall as if he doesn’t finish work in ten minutes—” She stops, glancing between you and the metalhead.

“Everything okay?” Robin asks.

“Yeah,” you reply, perhaps a little too quickly, “We were just catching up.”

You can tell she doesn’t entirely believe you and honestly you couldn’t blame her since you and Eddie didn’t necessarily display the body language of two people having a friendly talk. But Robin doesn’t say anything to point out the stiff dynamic. Instead, she links her arm with yours and starts to slowly pull you away from the curly-haired boy.

“Is your mom still making bolognese tonight? Do you think she’d mind if I crashed your dinner? I love pasta.” Robin babbles while you shoot Eddie one last look. He dips his head, avoiding your gaze, and begins to trek in the other direction, assumingly towards his van.

Your heart is aching as you watch him go. Once again you are victims of poor communication and seriously bad timing.

July 4, 1985

Holidays really aren’t Eddie's thing.

Even growing up he thought the Easter Bunny was dumb, Halloween just a little too childish, and the magic of Christmas purely designed for people with big happy families — something he wasn’t privy too.

That all changed when you waltzed into his life.

Eddie was quickly fascinated by how you easily made every single holiday special in some way, even the really obscure ones like National Pizza Day, or National Cat Day. By simply being yourself, you made these celebrations fun and unique.

4th of July in particular had become Eddie’s favourite.

Every year, the two of you would enjoy a barbecue at your parents house, Wayne would be invited too. Everyone would watch the firework display from the backyard, and then you and Eddie would leave to camp out by Skull Rock.

The night was usually sleepless. You’d smoke, exchange ghost stories, and fill your stomachs with junk food you had previously taken from your parents' press.

Last 4th July, Eddie almost told you he had feelings for you.

This year, you wanted nothing to do with him.

Wallowing in his own self-pity, Eddie decided to spend this 4th of July in bed. He stocked up on soda and snacks, and planned on getting so high, he would think the fireworks were aliens coming to abduct him. 

He had just about cracked his window open to allow for minimal ventilation during the night, when someone started banging on his door. Uncle Wayne enters moments later, the expression on his face is one of horror, but then also relief and Eddie's stomach twists into a knot.

“Oh thank heavens you’re here, boy.” Wayne exhales.

“Where else would I be?” Eddie questions, slowly crossing his room.

Wayne waves his hand dismissively and turns on his heel, walking away from his curly-haired nephew. A huff escapes Eddie's lips when he's forced to follow.

“Where else would I be?” He repeats.

“Doesn’t matter, kid. Just glad you’re safe.”

“Come on, Wayne. Don’t be like that.” Eddie probes, “You came running into my room as if something happened and now you just expect me to drop it?”

Uncle Wayne sighs. He’s facing his nephew now, hands on his hips. “Thought you’d be at Starcourt Mall for some reason. Glad you’re not is all.”

Eddie's brows furrow. “Starcourt Mall? What’s happening at Starcourt Mall?”

'Cause he's not at Starcourt Mall, but someone he knows, and despite everything, someone he still cares for quite deeply, most likely is. His insides fill with dread. Judging by his uncles behaviour, something bad has happened and Eddie can’t just stand here knowing he could do more, knowing he could at least try to see you.

So he doesn't waste any more time, running back to his room to throw on a pair of disheveled sneakers, before pushing past Wayne to get to the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“Starcourt Mall.”

“Eddie—”

“She could be there,” is all Eddie says. It’s all Wayne needs to hear. He throws his nephew the keys to the van and Eddie hurries outside.

The entire drive to the shopping centre, Eddie is feeling frantic. He still has no idea what happened, but his entire body is shaking. Even though you and him aren’t exactly on the best of terms, at this moment in time, you are everything to him. The mere thought of losing— no, he can’t be focused on the bad things right now.

Unfortunately, he’s right to be scared.

Chaos unfolds in front of Eddie’s eyes the closer he gets to Starcourt Mall. It seems the entire fire department has passed him on the way and as he turns the corner, he knows exactly why.

Bright orange flames engulfed the entirety of the venue. Eddie has never witnessed a fire of this extent, but he is smart enough to know the probability of someone making it out alive are quite slim. All he can do now is hope you weren't inside when the fire started. All he can do is hope he can find you amongst the crowd gathered in the parking lot, before rushing to your house just in case you’ve been there all along. Safe.

He parks the van as close as he can and sneaks under the police tape when no one is looking. There is so much going on, Eddie isn’t sure where to focus his attention. People screaming, children crying, first responders running up and down. His heart is in his throat while he looks around like a headless chicken, feeling frantic.

Suddenly, there’s an arm on his shoulder and he panics some more, thinking he got busted, though when he shifts in his spot to meet whoever has grabbed him, he feels relief.

“Dude,” Harrington drops his hold on the metalhead, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Even under the night sky, Eddie can see the brunette boy looks rough. Judging by the red-ish bruises on his face, whatever happened to him, had nothing to do with the fire. But Eddie doesn’t care about that right now. There is only one person on his mind.

“Where is she?”

Steve knows exactly who Eddie's asking for and he’s kind enough not to put up a fight. Instead, he points in the direction of an ambulance closest to the burning mall.

-

You had never been more scared in your life.

Stories of the Upside Down had haunted you ever since you found out about the other world under Hawkins, but they had been just that, stories. Then a couple of days ago Dustin showed up at Scoops Ahoy with some Russian code and things quickly evolved from there.

You were convinced you were going to die when the Russians took you, Robin, and Steve as prisoners. You were convinced you were going to die when they chased you around the mall. You were convinced you were going to die when Billy showed up out of nowhere, followed closely by what the kids called a Mind Flayer.

Despite all of the events from the last few days, by some heavenly miracle and thanks to a lot of dumb luck, you survived.

Well, most of you.

Your eyes dart to Max. She’s resting her head on Lucas’ shoulder, patiently waiting for her mom to arrive on the scene. You swallow thickly at the memory of the young girl screaming over Billy’s lifeless body. You can feel her pain. You can feel all of their pain.

Especially Eleven’s. 

Your focus shifts to the girl that saved you all. She’s wrapped up in a police blanket, Mike and Will by her side. She seems frozen. The boys are trying to talk to her, but she’s blanking them out completely. It’s not until Joyce approaches that the young brunette displays some sort of emotion. Throwing her arms around the woman’s neck, you can see her start to cry. No girl deserves to lose her dad. Especially not the way she did. You unfortunately had that in common now.

Sliding your arms into the jacket you were given by one of the fire fighters, you stand, about to walk towards Eleven. You're thinking you can hug her. Tell her you're here for her 'cause there’s nothing that brings people closer than shared trauma. But before you can do any of that, someone steps in front of you, blocking your view.

You lift your gaze.

“Jesus Christ, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Eddie breathes.

In a flash, his arms are wrapped around your waist. You return the hug instantly, squeezing him tight while your fingertips tangle themselves in his bouncy curls. You take a moment to inhale his musky scent. The thought of why he’s here crosses your mind, but you shove past it because at the end of the day, you’re simply glad he is.

The two of you couldn’t possibly be any closer, yet you're tugging at each other’s clothes and limbs as if you were trying to become one. His ring-clad fingers are digging into your flesh while you push your body further into his chest. You can feel his heart beating against you and you're convinced he can feel yours too.

“Fuck, princess, you have no idea…” he whispers in your ear, the remainder of his sentence fading into the night. “I thought I lost you. For real.”

“I’m right here,” you murmur into his hair. You didn’t entirely feel like yourself, understandably so, but you knew in your soul Eddie needed to hear those words.

He pulls back slightly and gently cups your face in his hands. “I don’t know about you, but pretending to hate you has been absolutely exhausting.”

The admission lingers in the air between you, causing a smile to tug at your lips.

“I missed you so much, princess.”

“I missed you too, Eds.”

Corners of his mouth also tip upwards into a timid smile He proceeds to take in a deep breath, his thumbs caressing along your jawline. 

“I-I read your letters,” he admits then lets out a soft chuckle, “Actually, full transparency, I re-read them maybe fifty-six times, if not more.”

Your own smile grows wider ‘cause suddenly everything feels okay again.

“You’re bluffing.”

Eddie proceeds to lift one hand. “Cross my heart,” he says, mimicking his words.

“Those letters are all I have— had of you. I know I acted quite unfairly considering everything you were going through. I know I said some harsh things. Those letters you left me, they made me realise just how much I need you in my life and I should have told you that the last time we stood in this parking lot, if not sooner. I’m sorry, princess,” he pauses, “For everything.”

“I’m sorry too, Eddie.” You express, “I’ve been acting really selfishly since, and even at the funeral.”

But he shakes his head and intertwines his fingers with yours.

“Sweetheart, you have every damn right to be selfish. Losing someone important to you like that… Hell, if I lost you, I would probably burn this whole town to the ground in my grief.”

He grimaces and briefly looks around. “Sorry. Burn is probably the wrong choice of words in this instance, but you get my point.”

The chuckle that escapes your lips is soft.

“It’s okay, Eddie. I-I.. I’m just really glad you came, that you’re here. Suddenly this whole thing doesn’t seem so bad anymore.”

“And I’m glad you’re okay, “ he states and hugs you again, placing a delicate kiss on your crown.

The two of you stand there for a moment, embracing one another. Your hands have since moved to his back, under his black t-shirt. The feeling of his soft skin under your palms is so soothing, you almost forget where you are and the circumstances surrounding your situation.

It’s damn near perfect, hiding from the world in his embrace. And you think perhaps you love him more than before, if that’s even possible considering how much time you spent apart.

“Can I ask you one more thing?” Eddie asks, breaking the spell as well as the hug. He pulls back although his hold on you doesn’t end because he takes your hand.

“Anything.”

The metalhead nervously scratches the back of his neck.

“This is really stupid and it’s seriously not the time to be asking you this, but I just gotta know. Shit. Did you mean what you said in those letters? What you wrote about me?”

You suck in your bottom lip between your teeth. Eddie senses your apprehension because he’s quick to add, “It’s no big deal. I-I was just curious.”

Squeezing his hand, you exhale softly.

“Every word, Eds.”

Eddie fails to conceal a smile. He swings an arm around your shoulder, hand still holding your own, and as the two of you wander back towards his van, you know for sure your feelings for him have only grown stronger — despite everything that’s happened.

You love him with every fibre of your being, though that’ll continue to remain unspoken, for now.

The crossed out lines on your unsent letters being the only tangible proof.

pearl masterlist | main masterlist

& tagging some cool people that expressed interest in this lil series: @cactusangie , @spenciesprincess , @capitanostella , @ashlynnkennedy , @ms1oftheboys

[try-set-me-on-fire]

wip game: should we talk about the weather 👀

Hehehehehehe big bang fic!!! Hmm I’ll share the pitch I gave to the event artists (hehehe…)

In a world where certain individuals are capable of sharing their own instincts and feelings — and even occasionally physical strength — with their likewise capable partners, Eddie and Buck, and Hen and Chim are what people sometimes call congeneric minds. It comes in handy in a high stakes profession like firefighting to have two people in such synchronization, able to warn each other of danger without ever having to waste time opening their mouths to speak.

Being so in sync with someone doesn’t necessarily mean smooth sailing communication however. Recently back at work after taking time off post-shooting, Eddie worries about Buck and how he’s been dealing with the events of the last year (last several years, really) but doesn’t know how to bring it up when he himself has always kind of encouraged them to move past life changing events with little discussion. While Hen and Chim are getting along just fine, Chimney and Maddie are dancing around each other and their recent breakup, and Hen feels trapped between disappointing her mother or her wife while being roped into backyard wedding planning.

With danger ever present on the job and turmoil seemingly always bubbling outside it, will everyone find the right words before it’s too late?

AKA what if people could be drift compatible in regular life without giant robots, and they’re all disasters at communicating anyway

And here’s a snippet!

Eddie doesn’t get around to talking to Buck till a week later. They’re in Eddie’s house again, but Buck has started to look exhausted everywhere, all the time, nothing special anymore about the way his eyelids droop when he walks in through this specific door. It’s worse than usual today. They had a hell of a long call — a rockslide down on the PCH, outside of their usual range but it was bad enough that the responding station had called for any back up they could possibly get — and Eddie’s wrist and shoulders and whole damn body aches from the hours of grueling work. Buck has to be feeling it, too. Eddie heads right to the bathroom, grabbing the tube of arnica gel that keeps this household running some days.

He doesn’t know how to bring anything up. We need to talk feels as ridiculous as it does dire. That’s a movie script confrontation, as contrived and meaningless as it’s not you, it’s me, or I’m sorry for your loss. Buck is his best friend, and also their fucking hearts beat in rhythm. He can do better.

“My leg hurts sometimes,” is what ends up coming out of his mouth when he gets back to the living room. Your ache is mine. A little poetic, but whatever. It gets the point across. Share it with me, please. We already do, so why are you hiding it?

Buck is sprawled on the floor next to the couch, Eddie isn’t sure why. He looks up at him silently for a few moments, and then rubs at his shoulder. Answer enough. Eddie barely has to look as he tosses him the gel, sure Buck will catch it as Eddie sits on the couch with a sigh. He watches Buck, still prone, hike up his pant leg and start massaging arnica into his calf muscles.

“Are you… doing okay?” It feels stupid to say.

Buck looks at him like it’s stupid to hear, too. His fingers drum a few times over one of the jagged lines still drawn up his shin. “‘M fine, Eds. Just a long day.”

Eddie purses his lips, shaking his head back and forth in a slow roll against the back of the couch. “You know that’s not what I meant.” His hand lifts up to catch the tossed arnica without thinking about it. He looks down at Buck, sprawled out, looking back up at him. “I want to… know that you’re okay. And, Buck, I’m here if you’re not.”

Buck sits up with a sigh that’s more petulant and annoyed than Eddie wishes it was. He rests his chin on his bent knee. “I know. But I’m- I’ll be fine. Stop worrying.”

Eddie snorts at that. “Oh, yeah, that’s something I’m great at.”

Buck’s smile grows so tenderly across his face. “I know.” He twitches his right pointer finger three times and Eddie’s moves involuntarily with he tug. “Come on,” he says, standing up with a groan. “Let’s make the pizza.”

They’d bought the ingredients together — sort of together, Buck on the phone at the grocery store and Eddie and Chris shouting requests down the line — earlier that week, and Chris will be home soon from a friend’s house and likely starving from the hard work of being a twelve year old all day long. He’s old enough that the novelty of making the pizza himself is less appealing than being able to immediately eat it, even if Buck had made sad faces as he’d relayed his instructions to make it in his absence. And this is all a distraction, Eddie knows it is, but Buck is smiling down at him and his finger goes tug, tug, tug, and he lets him get away with it.

[stevethehairington]

33 "Close your eyes and hold out your hands" for Steddie? 🖤

helloooo, thank you for sending this in!!!! 💕 i LOVE this one and omg i have been wanting to expand upon the idea i had below for SO long and this gave me the PERFECT chance to do so so THANK YOU ahh.

33. "close your eyes and hold out your hands"

Let it be known that the Munson’s are collectors. 

Wayne has his baseball caps, his mugs. Eddie’s mother collected vinyls. His father — prison sentences.

And Eddie? Eddie collects rocks. Sometimes buttons, occasionally shells, if he can find them. Feathers, once in a blue moon. But mostly rocks. Big rocks, small rocks, rocks that are round and perfectly smooth, rocks that have jagged edges and funky protrusions. Rocks made of coarse granite and rocks made of translucent quartz, and once, notably, a rock made of sleek, inky obsidian. He collects gray rocks and brown rocks, green rocks and red rocks. His favorites are the purple ones that crack open to crystals.

So Eddie collects rocks. But he never keeps them for himself.

You see, every rock he finds — every bottle cap, every loose coin, every lost charm — he gives to Steve.

And Steve? Steve holds onto every single one of them. He keeps a shoebox tucked away safe and sound beneath the bed, and inside the shoebox is his trove of cherished treasures. All of the things that Eddie has gifted him with over the years. Every so often, he’ll take the box out, sit on the floor, and sort through the trinkets. He’ll smile at the sea glass and marvel at the marbles, and count all of the rocks, laughing as the number climbs and climbs. (His favorite is the purple one too.)

The trails are a pretty good place to find rocks — the best, actually. This is something that Eddie has learned personally.

In his bid to find hobbies outside of carting overgrown children to the arcade and the local diner and holing up in stale basements to watch movie after movie, Steve takes up hiking of all things. There’s something about the combination of a good workout, fresh air, and the chance to become one with nature or some bullshit like that that ends up being too damn irresistible to him. He takes to it like a fish to water.

Eddie, to the surprise of them both, likes to tag along on Steve’s hikes. Or — likes to isn’t quite right: Edide tags along. Outdoorsy activities have never been his favorite, and exercise isn’t exactly his idea of a fun time, but Steve likes both of those things, and Eddie loves Steve. He wants to be able to do things with his boyfriend, things that Steve likes. He wants to show his support for Steve’s interests the same way that Steve shows support for his.

So Eddie goes on hikes. 

Has been going on hikes for the past three years now, believe it or not.

The hikes are hell, mostly. Uphill battles that leave his lungs burning and his calves straining and his feet aching. By the end, his bangs are always stuck unflatteringly to his forehead, and his shirt is soaked through. 

Even after all this time, they still don’t get easier. 

(That probably has something to do with Eddie’s healthy appetite for cigarettes and chalices of mountain dew and those god damned Scotcheroos of Claudia Henderson’s that he can never just eat one of. But whatever. Some things are too good to give up.) 

The twinging muscles and the fucked up hair and the general funk seeping out of his skin are always made worth it when they finally reach the peak and Steve positively glows. The way his smile stretches across his face, big and bright; the way he angles his face towards the sun and breathes in the clean air; the way he turns to Eddie and grabs his hand and says, “Isn’t this great?” in the most genuine, wondrous manner.

“The greatest,” Eddie always agrees, and he means it every time.

They are also made worth it by all of the rocks that Eddie finds along the way. Because old habits die hard. (Or not at all, in this case.)

It is these two things — the hiking and the rock collecting — that come together as the perfect catalysts to set in motion the plan he’s been hanging onto for months now.

“Isn’t the view beautiful?” Steve asks, looking out past the edge of the cliff they’d just made it to the top of. In the distance, the sun is just beginning to peak out from behind the trees, casting a golden glow across the lake below.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Eddie replies, nearly tripping Steve up as he sidesteps into his space to lean in close and pop a kiss to his cheekbone.

Steve ducks his head and bats Eddie’s shoulder with his free hand, laughing softly. His other hand is clasped in Eddie’s, hanging between them and swinging lightly with each step. “Cheeseball,” he says, and Eddie just laughs.

They continue to follow the path, enjoying the view of the lake and the dewy morning air and the companionship of one another.

As always, it doesn’t take long before something hidden away in the greenery catches Eddie’s attention. He perks up, dropping Steve’s hand before he darts ahead towards a little patch of dandelions.

Steve shakes his head fondly as Eddie crouches down and starts to pick something out of the weeds. He wonders idly what it is, exactly, that snagged Eddie’s eye this time. 

There are a few dandelions between his fingers when he rises back to his feet and starts towards Steve again, but there’s something else too — something clutched safely in the cup of his hand, concealed by his fingers.

He comes to a stop in front of Steve, bouncing on his heels as an enthusiastic smile spreads across his lips. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands,” he instructs with a tilt of his head.

Steve obliges, always willing to go along with the silly little rigamarole Eddie puts them through each time he has a new trinket for Steve. His eyes flutter shut and he extends his hand.

“I gotcha another rock, Stevie,” Eddie says softly, pacing something gently into the center of Steve’s hand before folding his fingers securely around it.

Eddie’s gift settles into his palm and it feels lighter than any of the other rocks Eddie’s given him. Steve contemplates what kind of rock it might be, what it’s going to look like, if there’s any defining feature that drew Eddie to it in the first place.

“You can look now,” Eddie says.

Steve opens his eyes, and looks down at his hand. Slowly, he unfurls his fist and —

Oh.

It’s not a rock that sits against his palm. Not the kind you find on the ground anyways.

It’s a ring. The rock in question — a diamond, small and tasteful right in the center of a thin silver band.

Steve promptly loses his breath.

When he looks up with shining eyes, Eddie is kneeling in front of him. He’s still red in the cheeks from their hike, kind of sweaty too, with his hair sticking up from where it’s tucked behind his bandana. They’ve had plenty of time to cool down, but he looks breathless, as he gazes up at Steve with big, hopeful eyes and a crooked little smile.

He’s beautiful.

“So what do you say, Stevie?” Eddie asks, holding his little bouquet of dandelions. “Wanna add that one to your collection too?”

The laugh that bubbles up and out of Steve is giddy and electrified and tinged with wetness as the happy tears start to spill over his lashline. He closes his fingers back around the ring and he stumbles forward to fist his other hand into the front of Eddie’s t-shirt and haul him to his feet so he can tug him into a kiss.

“Yes,” he mumbles against Eddie’s lips, “yes, yes, yes.”

Eddie’s arms curl around Steve’s waist and he laughs too, until they’re smiling into one another’s mouths more than kissing.

Steve grabs Eddie’s wrist and flattens his hand, depositing the ring into his open palm. He sticks his own hand out then, the left one, and wiggles his ring finger eagerly. “Put it on me!” He requests.

Eddie laughs, but does just that. He takes Steve’s hand gently into his own and slides the ring down the length of his finger until it fits snugly at the base, right there against his knuckle. It glitters in the sunlight, and Eddie draws Steve’s hand up to his lips so he can press a sweet kiss just above it.

“Thank god you said yes,” Eddie says, twining his fingers with Steve’s and pulling him back in for another kiss in between. “If you made me climb a whole ass mountain and then said no…” he trails off, shaking his head.

Steve snorts. “You love it,” he says. “You love me.”

Eddie softens. “I do,” he says. “And I get to do it forever now.”

“Forever sounds pretty damn nice,” Steve tells him.

“It sure does.” 100 ways to say i love you prompts

[hbyrde36]

Times Like These (The Anniversary Edition)

CH 1 CH 2

Chapter 3: Chrissy Wake Up

✨See the end for another amazing piece of art made for this chapter!!!

WC: 7185 | AO3 link

"Are you sure you have it?"

Eddie swayed on his feet as he came-to, but quickly steadied himself.

He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, grinning widely as he threw his head back and shouted, "Fuck yes!”

Looking over, he was delighted to find Chrissy exactly where he expected her to be. “Girl, you are a damn sight for sore eyes, you know that? Hang on, I'll be right back."

He rushed to the back of the house, feeling more hopeful than ever as he took up his old acoustic guitar again and sprinted back out to the living room. He could do this, he knew the song like the back of his hand now. He may not have been able to actually practice it before, but the hours spent alone in his room honing his guitar skills over the years made him confident that he could pull it off regardless. 

He returned just in time to see her eyes roll into the back of her head, and didn't waste another second before he began to play. 

“Many times I tried to tell you"

"Many times I cried alone"

"Always I'm surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone"

"Don't want to leave you really"

"I've invested too much time to give you up that easy"

"To the doubts that complicate your mind"

Eddie strummed the guitar and sang his heart out, pouring everything he had into those lyrics, but still, about halfway through the song she began to lift off the ground.  

"Chrissy, wake up! Come on, you've got to fight him.” He pleaded, still keeping time on the song as he begged her to hear him. “You can do this, Please. Just follow the sound of my voice." 

"Clear your mind and do your best to try and wash the palette clean"

"We can't begin to know it, how much we really care"

"I hear your voice inside me, I see your face everywhere"

Suddenly, Chrissy took a deep gasping breath, like a swimmer rising to the surface to take their first gulp of air. She tumbled to the floor and Eddie quickly dropped the guitar, throwing himself down next to her. 

His heart pounded as he scooped her up into his arms, crushing her tightly to his chest.

“You’re okay, you’re back. I’ve got you. It’s all gonna be okay now.” He muttered the words over and over again as they both shook uncontrollably, her tears soaking through his shirt. 

They sat like that for a long time, until her crying stopped and Eddie’s pulse slowed, finally pulling apart to look at each other. 

She stared at him, her gaze bouncing from one eye to the other as she spoke. “I don’t… I don’t know what just happened but I'm pretty sure you saved my life.”

“What did you see?” He asked, reaching up to brush the bangs out of her eyes.

“One second I was standing here waiting for you to come back, and the next I was in my house, except, it wasn’t right. My mom and Dad–” She cut herself off, shaking her head. 

Whatever she saw must have been awful. 

“And then this– man, this monster, started calling to me… came after me. I ran, but there was a door. I- I couldn’t open it. That’s when I started to hear it. I heard you singing, telling me to fight, so I did. I got around him somehow and this- this opening appeared across the room.”

Chrissy paused, glancing up briefly at the spot on the ceiling she’d just fallen from. 

“It was you. I could see you here playing for me. I ran to you and then I was back.” She gave him a weak smile, tipping herself over to rest her forehead on his shoulder. “How did you know to do that?”

Eddie wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to tell her everything, but it would take a while to explain and he knew they should probably get going. He wanted to try and bring the others in as soon as possible. 

“I’m gonna explain, I promise, but we need to go– now, and I need you to trust me for a little while. Do you think you can do that?” He asked.

She didn’t even hesitate. “Sure, Eddie. I trust you.”

He felt a little guilty about that, not entirely sure he had earned her blind faith, but for now he’d take it.

"Thanks.” He said, rising to his feet and offering her a hand up. “Come on, time to pay a little visit to my neighbor."

-

Eddie knew Max’s mom wasn’t home, she rarely was these days, so he wasn’t shy about pounding his fist on the door when they walked up to her trailer. 

"Red!" Eddie called out loudly as he knocked. 

He paused to listen, hearing no sign of the girl inside though he knew for a fact she was in there.

"Come on, Red, I know you're there. It's Eddie from across the street!"

When there was still no answer from within, he wracked his brain for what he could say to make her come to the door.

"Please, kid, it’s—this is a code-red type situation here."

Bingo.

A beat later she was opening the door. No more than a crack, but it was progress.

"What do you mean by code-red situation?" She asked through the small opening. 

"I need you to get on your walkie and alert the troops. You saw the way the lights flickered tonight, and you know what that means."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I saw. Doesn’t explain how you know what it means." 

Eddie sighed, it was gonna be a long night. "I know more than you think. Just call it in, alright? I'll tell you everything I know once everyone’s together, I'm not going through the whole thing a hundred times."

She didn't move, staring him down as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Damn, did these kids all come with an attitude or was it something Harrington had trained into them?

"Please?" He begged.

She rolled her eyes, but stepped back to open the door the rest of the way and let them in. They followed her into the living room where he could see her radio was already out sitting on the table. She’d definitely seen the lights then, and it seemed like she’d already been thinking about calling the cavalry.

All three of them took a seat on the couch as Max picked up the walkie and raised it to her lips. 

"Uh, hey, guys?” She said into it, a little unsure.

A few seconds later Dustin’s voice crackled over the line. "Max? You have to say over when you're done talking. Over."

"Yeah, it’s me dumbass. Over.”

"Thank you. So, what’s up? Over."

Eddie held a hand up to stop her before she could answer. "Maybe it’s best if you don't mention me or Chrissy, for now. It'll be less confusing if they think it's just you."

She scowled, mumbling, “Whatever," before pressing the button again. “I'm calling in a code red. Over."

“Max?!” Suddenly, Steve's frantic voice came roaring out of the device. “Max, what’s wrong? Is it your mom again? Are you okay? Are you safe?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, purposely avoiding looking at either of them. As if Eddie would judge, the poster boy for growing up with shitty parents. There was a reason he lived with his uncle, and he didn’t know much about Chrissy but he was pretty sure she could relate at least a little. 

"No, yeah, I’m fine, it's just. Listen, I only want to explain once. Could you get everyone together?" She said, borrowing Eddie’s line.

"Sure, let’s meet at my house. Do you need a ride?" Steve asked.

She looked to Eddie, who shook his head. “I’ll drive.” He said quietly.

Before she could relay the message to Steve, Dustin cut in over the walkie. "Jesus Fucking Christ, you guys are killing me. Say over when-you-are-done-speaking! Over!"

“Language! Over." Steve replied.

Max heaved a long suffering sigh. "Thanks, Steve, but I have a ride. Over."

"Okay. Be safe. Over." 

"See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Dustin said, somehow finding a way to sound smug even through the bad signal. “I'll keep calling around, make sure everyone knows to head to Steve’s. And I do need a ride by the way, Harrington, and you better make it quick. Over.” 

“Seriously?” Steve muttered under his breath, though it was picked up by the radio anyway. "Copy that, Dustin, but I could do without the attitude. Over" 

Max turned the thing off as Dustin began his repeated calls to the rest of the party, throwing it back down on the table. 

"Let me get changed, and we can go,” She said.

Eddie nodded absently, trying to think if they needed anything else before heading out.

"Oh! Uh, random question. Do you by any chance have any Pat Benatar on tape?”

Max tilted her head. "Yes, actually. Why?"

"Great, uh, go ahead and grab that for us, and your Kate Bush tape too while you’re at it… and your Walkman."

Her brow furrowed deeply but surprisingly she didn’t ask anymore questions, setting off for her room without another word.

Eddie looked at Chrissy, who had been completely silent through the entire exchange, sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Hey,” he said softly, taking in the way she’d started to sink into herself. “I’m gonna run back over to my place and grab my tape player for you to use, we’re gonna need it. Are you okay here?"

She nodded but didn’t look up at him, continuing to stare at the floor. He hesitated, pursing his lips. He hated to leave her there alone, even just for a minute, though Max was only in the other room. He should have thought to grab it before but he’d been understandably distracted at the time. They were going to Steve’s house anyway, he probably had something she could borrow, right?

No, he wasn’t taking any chances this time, not after everything he’d gone through to get this far. What if Vecna took her again while they were en route and he couldn't play to save her?  

Mind made up, he squeezed her shoulder, whispering, “I’ll be right back,” and headed outside.  

It only took a minute for him to run back into his house, get the Walkman from his room, and rush back out again. His foot was coming off the last step just as a nearby car door slammed. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed the jeep that had pulled up out front.

Jason Carver’s Jeep, to be exact.

The absolute last person he felt like dealing with right now. 

What was he even doing here?

Looking for Chrissy seemed like a good bet, but hell if Eddie knew how he’d found out about their drug deal. 

“Shit” Eddie cursed, with feeling.

In all the other loops he and his van would have been long gone by now, but saving Chrissy took time, and convincing Max to let them inside had wasted even more. Had Jason come here each time and left assuming no one was home, only to find out the next day that his girlfriend had been laying dead just inside the door?

Eddie shivered at the thought. It almost made him feel bad for the guy. 

Almost.

"What did you do to her, Freak?! Where's Chrissy?!" Jason shouted as he rounded his car, stepping right in Eddie’s path. 

"Don't know what you're talking about, man.” Eddie said, raising his hands in a push-away gesture. “I’ve been home alone all night. I was just heading out now to work a few parties. So, if you could just let me past to my van, I’ll get out of your hair.”

He wouldn't actually leave without Max and Chrissy but hoped if he made a show of leaving Jason would take off too 

"Bullshit,” Jason scoffed. “She didn't show at Benny's after the game, and then I find out one of the guys thought he saw her leave the school with you, of all people."

Eddie rolled his eyes, and Jason snatched him up by the collar, cocking his other arm back. "And you're gonna tell me where she is right now, or I swear to god..." 

"Oh, fuck you, man." Eddie spat, shoving at Jason hard enough that he stumbled back.

“No wonder Chrissy came to me when she was having a problem instead of talking to her boyfriend about it. You don’t give a shit about her, you just want to control her.” He was giving up the ruse a bit by admitting he’d seen her, but Eddie didn’t really care right then.

Unfortunately, It was the wrong thing to say if his goal had been to deescalate the situation.

Jason growled, honest to god growled, lunging forward to clock Eddie right in the face. There was a telltale crack as his fist connected and Eddie knew instantly that his nose was broken. He rocked back, the sudden burst of pain behind his eyes stunning him for a second, but he recovered quickly, returning the favor with a powerful jab to the other boy’s jaw. 

They traded a few more rushed blows before the door to Max’s trailer burst open, her and Chrissy spilling outside, momentarily interrupting the fight.

For a second he was worried that Chrissy would take Jason’s side and run off with him before he could explain what was happening, and what she needed to do to keep herself safe. She looked back and forth between the two of them, but in the end her concerned gaze had settled squarely on Eddie, rather than her own boyfriend.

Jason turned, realizing who it was that had just appeared across the way, and called out to her. Eddie took advantage of the distraction and kicked out, landing a hit to the side of Jason’s knee that sent him to the ground, screaming. 

Eddie stepped wide around him, waving the girls over as he headed to his van. 

“Let’s get out of here.” He called out.

Chrissy hesitated, her eyes sliding back in Jason’s direction for a split second, but to Eddie’s relief both she and Max got into the vehicle without further discussion and the trio took off, speeding the entire way to Loch Nora.  

-

When they arrived at the Harrington house Eddie sent Max up to the door first, since she was the only one of them Steve was expecting, and they could hear his voice through it before he even answered.

“This better be important, Mayfield. I was on a date and–” Steve cut himself off mid sentence as the door swung to reveal that Max was not alone. 

“What the..” Steve muttered as he looked from her, to Chrissy, his expression running the gambit from annoyance, to confusion, and ultimately settling on concern as he took in Eddie’s face. 

That was… unexpected.

“Shit, Munson. What happened to you?”

In his rush to get there Eddie had almost forgotten about the state of his face. He’d used a few spare fast food napkins to staunch the blood flow from his nose as he drove, but other than that he hadn't really thought to clean himself up. It wasn’t that bad, he’d had worse dust ups before, but still, he probably looked like a mess. 

“Oh, uh.” Eddie said, eloquently. 

Talking wasn’t always his best thing around Steve lately, most especially when he was talking to Steve.

“It's nothing, I'm alright.” 

“Doesn’t look like nothing.” Steve said sternly. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Max is my neighbor.” Eddie said in place of a real answer, ignoring the fact that it didn't explain Chrissy’s presence, or really anything at all. He just needed to get in the door. 

“May we come in, your highness?” He gave a shallow bow, trying to put on a bit of his usual persona even if he wasn’t feeling it. 

Steve heaved a sigh, long and loud. 

“Sure, why not, " he said and finally moved aside to let them in. 

"Who's that with Max?” Dustin's voice came from somewhere in the house. “I could have sworn it sounded like…" He went on, coming to a screeching halt as he rounded the corner.

“Eddie?”

"Hey, Henderson." Eddie said, and it came out much softer than he intended it to. He couldn’t help it after…

"Wait, what’s going on? What are you doing here? Why is Chrissy Cunningham with you? And what the hell happened to your face?" Dustin asked the questions rapidfire, not taking a single breath in-between. It would have been impressive if it wasn’t so annoying.

 Eddie should have been used to the kid’s style by now but it still made his head spin.

"Okay that's enough!” Steve interjected with a loud clap. “Dustin, you and Max take Chrissy to the kitchen, she looks like she needs to sit down. Robin’s in there making some coffee."

“And you,” he continued, pointing a finger at Eddie. "You're with me. Let’s get you cleaned up first and then you can tell us what the fuck is going on.”

Steve turned on his heel and headed straight down the hall to a staircase, not even looking back to make sure Eddie was following. He stared at the other boy’s retreating back, not quite believing the direction things were going. He’d expected confrontation, or some level of animosity from Steve, at least until he explained things, the same way it’d been at the beginning every other time. 

It was all different now though, wasn’t it? 

He wasn’t facing Steve for the first time since the younger boy’s graduation as a murder suspect on the run, hiding in another drug dealer's boat shed. This time around he was just a guy who’d shown up on Steve’s doorstep with a busted face. Granted he’d been accompanied by one of Steve’s favorite children, which was probably the only reason he’d been granted entrance honestly, but now that he was here the guy seemed hell-bent on taking care of him, even if–as far as Steve was aware–they barely knew each other. 

–

Steve went up the stairs and turned down a hallway, passing one bedroom before heading into another as Eddie followed behind, trying to keep up. 

It dawned on him suddenly that he was in Steve’s house– about to walk into his actual bedroom, a place Eddie had never expected to get to see with his own two eyes. Steve’s prowess in the sack was legendary among the girls of Hawkins High, to the point that not even Eddie was immune from the gossip about it, and no matter the circumstances his little gay heart couldn’t help but be a little curious about the place where that particular magic happened. 

He stepped through the doorway and stopped dead, mouth agape as he took in the nightmare he’d just wandered into. He honestly wasn’t sure what was worse, the plaid everything, or the distinct lack of anything resembling a personality. 

“I know, it’s awful. You can say it.” Steve said as if he’d been expecting this exact reaction. 

“Well somebody has to, Jesus Christ Harrington.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Steve said, shaking his head. He moved through the room to another door that opened to a small private bathroom and motioned for Eddie to come in. 

He took one more look around the monstrosity that was Steve’s inner sanctum and shuddered before following.

Steve sat him down on the closed toilet lid and quickly got to work, carefully wiping away the dried blood on his face with a warm washcloth. It must have been worse than he initially thought because it took several rounds of rinsing and rewetting the cloth before it finally came back clean. 

Steve was quiet through the whole thing, not saying a word as he dabbed at a split on Eddie's eyebrow and another on his bottom lip with a cotton ball soaked in disinfectant. Eddie was similarly silent, mesmerized by the movements of Steve’s hands, and the calm that had settled between them in their temporary bubble, a little afraid that if he said anything, he’d say too much. 

When it seemed like they were done Eddie moved to stand, only to be stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder. 

"Not so fast, champ. We still have to do something about that nose.” Steve said. 

Eddie groaned. ”Haven't you done enough? It’s fine.” 

He’d never had a broken nose before but he imagined setting it to be a painful process, and it hurt enough as it was. It was manageable though, and he wasn’t exactly worried about it healing crooked when the odds of him surviving past the next week were questionable at best. 

“If it’s the pain you’re worried about, trust me, it’s not as bad as you think.” Steve said, seeming to read his mind, half of it anyway. “Look, I’ve had to set my own a couple times now and it only hurts for a second, promise.”

Of course Steve had had broken noses, plural, over the years. It made sense considering how the guy regularly threw himself head first into any and all trouble, especially if it meant protecting his friends, but it wasn’t only the pain that was making Eddie hesitate. The other problem, perhaps the bigger one, was how all this soft touch and care was affecting him in—other ways. 

He wasn’t unaware of the fact that he was developing a crush on Steve, as much as he was doing his best to ignore it, and he absolutely could not handle it getting any worse. Which was exactly what was happening right now.

Unfortunately, one look at Steve’s face told him he wasn’t getting out of this without a fight. 

Eddie grit his teeth, accepting his fate. “Get on with it then, Harrington.”

Steve's touch was firm but gentle as he cradled the side of Eddie's face with one hand, placing fingers strategically on either side of his nose with the other. And just like that, with a soft crack and a split second of discomfort– it was done.

Eddie blew out a long breath when Steve finally released him, and it felt as if all the adrenaline that had been building up inside him was drained from his body along with the air he expelled.

He suddenly felt exhausted, raw. These last twenty minutes or so in the bathroom had been his first opportunity to really slow down and process what he’d been through to get to this point. 

He closed his eyes and leaned forward resting his head in his hands, careful of his injuries, as he started to spiral.

The worst part of it all was the absolute certainty that he could still mess this up. Even if the others believed him, there was no guarantee that any of it would change the final outcome. He only knew his own path after all. He had no idea what had happened to the others—Steve, Robin, and Nancy; Max, and the Sinclairs; the group in California that they could never seem to get hold of but were pretty sure had been affected as well. 

Then there was the wild card. 

In saving Chrissy, Eddie had snatched one of Vecna’s victims right out from under his nose. Would he keep gunning for her, or would he set his sights elsewhere? Had saving one person only doomed another in her place?

Eddie’s heart raced along with his thoughts, his pulse pounding loudly inside his own head. Suddenly he couldn’t seem to catch his breath. 

“You okay?” Steve asked.

It snapped him back to the present. 

“Nah man,” Eddie managed out between rapid shallow breaths. “I’m pretty goddamn far from okay.” 

He felt more than saw Steve crouch down in front of him, his broad hands wrapping around Eddie’s, prying them away from his face.

“Hey, you’re okay.” Steve said softly, still holding his hands, squeezing in a way that felt… grounding. 

“You’re okay, you’re safe,” he continued. “Eddie, can you look at me?”

Eddie forced himself to open his eyes and found Steve staring back at him, his own eyes full of concern. 

“Try and take some slow deep breaths with me.”

Steve took several exaggerated breaths and Eddie did his best to mimic him, taking as much air as he could into his lungs before blowing it out as slowly as he could manage, repeating the process over and over until his heart didn’t feel like it was trying to escape his chest anymore. 

Eddie shook his head. “This whole thing is so fucked, Steve.” He said, letting out a painful hiccupping sob as tears fell freely down his face. He was acutely aware that the other boy had no idea what he was talking about and probably thought he’d lost his mind, but he couldn’t seem to stop.  

“I mean… I have no idea what I’m doing.” He continued, voice quivering. 

“Why did it have to be me?”

“Hey shhh, it’s alright. It’s gonna be alright.” Steve said, rubbing a thumb over the back of Eddie’s hand in soothing circles.

“You don’t know that!" Eddie wailed, pulling his hands out of Steve's grip to wrap his arms around himself. 

Steve took his outburst in stride. “You’re right, I don’t. And I know we don't really know each other except through school rumors and Dustin, but I’ve been through some– stuff, and, um, maybe I could help?” 

Eddie broke out in a watery laugh. Only Steve Harrington could reduce the horrors he’d seen down to, I've been through some stuff, and of course the guy was already offering to help with almost no context. The perpetual white knight, indeed. 

“Yeah. You’re a good dude, Steve.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, a hint of shock on his face, not dissimilar to the way he’d reacted the first time Eddie had said those words to him, what felt like a hundred years ago. 

“Okay.” Eddie said, sniffing back his tears and rubbing at his face. He couldn’t believe he’d let himself fall apart like this. 

“So, Max, uh, she called in that code red because I asked her to. I was going to wait and tell all of you at the same time, but, maybe I should… I dunno, warm up or something? Start with just you?”

He felt strangely okay with the idea of telling Steve about things ahead of everyone else. Something about the whole screaming-crying-breakdown thing made him believe that, unlike the last go-around where he’d been anxious about convincing Steve specifically, this time it would be okay.. 

Steve looked as confused as ever, but nodded, pushing himself up to stand as he asked, “Can we at least get out of this bathroom first?”

–

“I’m just gonna like, blurt it all out.” Eddie said after a few beats of silence. 

They were sitting on the edge of Steve’s bed, not quite touching, but it was a near thing. Eddie wasn't sure if he was happy about it or if it was adding to his overall stress. He kept his gaze on the floor as he spoke. 

“Chrissy Cunningham died in my trailer after being psychically attacked by some creepy dark-wizard guy who lives in the Upside Down. And I know what you must be thinking, it’s impossible right? Because she’s downstairs in your kitchen right now, but you would be wrong. Also, yes, I know all about the Upside Down. Well, not all about it—not important. Anyway, I saw the whole thing and I ran. The rest of the town assumed that I killed her, but you, Dustin, Robin, and Max found me and helped me out– saved my life, more than once. Then I actually helped save your life when we got stuck in the Upside Down together, although I maintain you did that all on your own, but you insisted on thanking me, so.” Eddie shrugged.  

“Um, I hotwired an RV so we could gather supplies to make several very illegal weapons that we then took back into the Upside Down, to fight said creepy-wizard-guy, and um, I died.” He paused to take a breath, finally chancing a look at Steve to see how he was taking it, but the other boy’s expression was unreadable.

“And that was just the first time around. I’m stuck in a time loop. This is my 4th time living through this same week, including the original run. I’m not entirely sure if that makes this the third loop or the 4th to be honest, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

“Shit, man. That’s… That’s a lot.” Steve said, after a while. 

“Yup.”

“Have you told me before? Any of the other times?”

“Just the last time. I didn't really know what was happening before that. I remembered dying and all, but half the time I just thought I was living in my own personal Hell to be honest. I did eventually tell Dustin right before…” Eddie stopped himself short, shaking his head. “He convinced me to tell all of you each time I came back.”

“Okay, makes sense. What went wrong last time?” Steve asked.

Eddie wasn’t sure if Steve was just humoring him or if he really believed what he was saying, but either way this was the part he felt worst about. He’d hoped he could get away with not explaining the last loop but he should have known someone would ask.  

“I told you, Robin, Dustin, and Max about the loops. You believed me eventually, but I realized we couldn’t fix things yet because I hadn't managed to save Chrissy. So I asked you if we could keep it between us and just let things happen the same way again, so that hopefully I’d get another shot.”

“You just let yourself be killed again?!” Steve blurted out.

“You weren’t too happy about it then either, but once we had a little heart-to-heart about it…'' Eddie hesitated, eyes drawn to the glowing light of the pool, visible through Steve’s window. “I think you understood where I was coming from.”

“Oh.” Steve breathed, following his line of sight.

A sudden knock startled them both. Steve flinched and their knees brushed, the simple touch making Eddie’s skin break out in goosebumps.

“Hey Steve?” Robin called through the door. “Um, everyone’s here. Except for Lucas, he’s not answering his Walkie.” 

“We’ll be right out!” Steve shouted back, turning to Eddie with a clear look of concern. “Is Lucas in danger?”

Eddie shook his head, though knowing where he was the answer was debatable. “Sinclair’s out with his basketball buddies tonight, I'm pretty sure. He’s okay, always meets up with you at some point.”

Steve sagged in relief. Which, Eddie supposed, answered that question. 

He believed.

“I guess it’s time to do this then.” Eddie said, fiddling nervously with his rings.

“Hey, I believe you, okay?” Steve said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “They’re gonna believe you too and I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”

And Christ, Steve really needed to stop touching him, and being sweet, it was getting out of hand.

“Thanks, Harrington. Careful though, If you keep being so nice, I’ll start to think you actually like me.” Eddie teased.

It was a stupid joke. He knew Steve liked him well enough as a friend, if that’s what they were now. At least as much as you can be friends with someone you kept forgetting because that’s how time loops work apparently. He had to turn it into a joke for his own sanity. It had to be a joke, because otherwise it might start to feel like something else, and there was no way it was something else. 

Steve grinned. “Oh, so we’re back to Harrington now, are we Munson? I thought we were closer than that.” 

Eddie felt his cheeks warm and jumped up from the bed, making a beeline for the door to hide his blush. “Shut up, Steve.”

–

The kids, who really weren’t kids except for maybe Erica but Eddie couldn't help thinking of them that way, had taken over Steve’s living room. Like a pack of slobs they had the entire surface area of the coffee table littered with chip bags, candy packets, and soda cans. They were loud too. Max was arguing with Mike about god knew what, while Dustin and Erica fought over the TV remote, giving Eddie plenty of cover to slip by unnoticed as he came back downstairs.

He almost felt bad for how long he was leaving them all in suspense, but he wanted to check in with Chrissy and see how she was doing before anything else. He already felt bad for disappearing with Steve for so long. 

He expected to find Robin keeping her company, but less expected was Nancy huddled together with the other two girls at the counter, talking quietly over matching mugs. Three sets of eyes looked up in surprised tandem as he entered and briefly Eddie thought, this is what it must feel like to be a deer caught in headlights. 

He hesitated in the doorway unsure of his welcome, but as soon as she saw him Chrissy slid off her stool and went to him, wrapping him up in a tight hug.

She might have been small but her grip was strong and Eddie had to stop himself from melting into the embrace. He’d only just stopped blubbering, and she'd easily set him off again if he did.

“How are you holding up?” He said, pulling back sooner than he wanted to, and shot her a teasing smile. “Are the other girls being nice to you?” 

“I'm okay. What about you?” She asked, searching his face, gaze lingering on the various dings and bruises he was now sporting. 

“I’ll be alright. Harrington’s a pretty good nurse.” He smiled again, this time a little too wide and he winced as it pulled at the split on his lip.

She grimaced. “I’m sorry about Jason. He’s a jerk, I should have broken things off a long time ago.”

Eddie shook his head. “Not your fault. Carver’s always had it out for me, he just needed an excuse.”

–

All eyes were on Eddie as the group gathered in the living room. He took a seat on the lone armchair, which just so happened to face both couches, giving him a whole new perspective on the term hot seat. He was no stranger to being the center of attention, what with the shouting in the lunchroom and DM-ing Hellfire, but considering the stakes, this was far more nerve wracking than that. 

“We saw him like two hours ago at D&D, what could have happened since then that’s such a big deal?” Erica was saying when he tuned back into the conversation. 

“If you brats would shut up for five minutes maybe he’d tell you.” Steve said, moving to stand just behind the chair Eddie was in. 

He appreciated the show of support but honestly the proximity was only making him more nervous, and not only because of the way Nancy and Robin were both shooting them curious glances. 

“She’s not wrong,” Mike agreed. ”I had to sneak out of my house for this! If my parents find out I’m gone they won’t let me go see– “

Dustin cut him off. “Dude, just give him a second, alright?”

“Thanks, buddy.” Eddie said, when the cacophony finally died down. He wondered if this would ever get any easier. Hopefully he'd never have to find out. 

Time to rip the Band-Aid off, again.  

“I’m stuck in a time loop.”

-

What felt like hours later, but in reality was probably only about 45 minutes, Eddie had told his whole story, leading right up until present day when he showed up at Steve’s house with a busted face. When it was all done he was met with complete silence.

For about 3 seconds.

He was honestly surprised they had held out this long. 

After that the room erupted into chaos. If he’d thought it was loud before, it was nothing to the volume now. Everyone was talking, shouting questions at him and at each other. Robin was rambling a thousand miles an hour, mostly to herself, while Nancy was staring back and forth between him and the notes she’d begun taking almost as soon as he started talking. The only notable absence to the arguing and spitballing was Dustin, who had gone uncharacteristically quiet.   

Steve came out to stand in front of the group with his hands raised, presumably to tell them all to shut the fuck up again, but just as he was about to speak they heard the front door crash open and slammed closed, and a second later Lucas came bounding into the room. He was covered in sweat, chest heaving and out of breath as he stared wide-eyed at the assembled mass, doing a double take when he spotted Chrissy.

“I… don’t know what’s going on here, but Jason Carver has lost his mind. He thinks Eddie kidnapped Chrissy and now he, Andy, and a couple of the other guys are out looking for him.”

“Not this again.” Eddie whined, sliding down in his seat, pouting.

“What does he mean again?” Lucas said, scanning the room, looking from one friend's face to another, before looking back at Eddie. “He was limping pretty bad, did you two get in a fight?”

“Wait, how did you even know Eddie was here?” Steve asked.

“I didn’t. I ran home to radio Dustin about it and I got Erica’s note that there was a code-red. What’s going on?”

“Dustin and Mike can explain it all to you but first everyone needs to call home.” Steve said. "Make whatever excuses you have to, but I think it would be best if everyone stayed here together, at least until we have a better handle on this.”

Nancy shook her head. “Mike’s supposed to leave for California in the morning.” 

“Well obviously that’s not gonna happen now. No way!” Mike said. 

“I get that but we still have to go home, and you have to come up with a story to tell mom and dad for why you’re not going.” She said.

Mike pouted. “Fine.”

“All right, you two do what you have to do but be careful. Make sure you know each other’s favorite songs, like Eddie told us, it helps.” Steve said, raising his voice as he continued to make sure they were all listening. “That goes for everyone. We should probably make a list so we’re prepared if this asshole targets anyone else.”

“Are you really buying all this, Steve?” Nancy asked, not even bothering to keep her voice down. 

Eddie wasn’t exactly offended, per se, but he was certainly regretting his initial speech about Nancy and her show of true love to Steve when they were in the Upside Down. He had nothing against her, in theory. She was a badass, that’s for sure, but whether it was wishful thinking due to his own ill advised crush, or something else, he could see it now. They might care for eachother, but she and Steve were not a good match. 

“Is it any weirder than everything else we’ve been through?” Steve asked her.

Nancy frowned, and Eddie could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. She didn’t like it, but his point was good enough to give her pause. “I guess not.” 

And it seemed like… that was it.

If Steve and Nancy were on board, the rest of them would go along with it. Even if they didn’t all believe him as completely as Steve did, or he suspected Dustin did, they believed him enough to plan, plot, and strategize. Enough to band together at a moment's notice—to make special mixtapes for Max and Chrissy so they could listen to their favorite songs on repeat without having to rewind a tape every three minutes.

The rest of the evening went by in a bit of a blur. Eddie was drained, and let himself fade into the background as Nancy and Mike left, and the others who remained began sleeping arrangement negotiations as though they’d done this dozens of times before. It occurred to him belatedly that with what this group had been through together over the past three years, they probably had. 

He kept expecting Dustin to approach him, to want to talk to him, maybe even yell at him for dying so many times, but instead he seemed to be purposely ignoring him, except for shooting the occasional sideways glance his way when he thought Eddie wasn’t looking. 

At some point Chrissy had actually fallen asleep on the couch, and Robin graciously offered to share the bed in Steve’s guest room with her. A move which Eddie couldn’t help raising an eyebrow over. He didn’t know Robin had it in her.

Good for her. 

He didn't actually know for sure if Robin was gay, to be fair. She hadn’t come out and told him or anything, but over the days, weeks, whatever, he’d picked up a vibe from her. The same vibe he suspected he gave off as well

Sure enough as the two girls said their goodnights he could see the panic written all over poor Robin’s face. She caught his eye and he gave her his most encouraging smile.

He was glad to see that they had bonded, at least a little. Chrissy could use someone to talk to about all this, some support. Eddie was there for her, no doubt about it, but she needed more than just him.

The party fell like dominoes after that. Erica and Max called dibs on Steve's parents room at the first opportunity, leaving Dustin and Lucas to fight over the couch and loveseat. Which honestly shouldn’t have been a fight since Lucas was way taller and needed the extra space, but apparently the couch was comfier. 

Eddie decided to stay out of it. 

It was all working out fine. Everyone had a buddy, someone to watch out for them if any weird shit happened in the night. 

Well, almost everyone. 

“I guess that just leaves you and me, Munson. As long as you don't mind sharing a queen sized bed?”

“No, that’s–” Eddie squeaked. 

He’d been so naïve to think the most stressful part of the night had passed. 

Eddie cleared his throat and tried again. “That’s fine.” 

Steve smiled and again led the way upstairs to his room, turning lights out on his way as they  moved through the house, all the while Eddie did his best to recall the deep breathing exercises he’d done with Steve in the bathroom earlier, since he was pretty sure he was about to have another panic attack. 

Chapter 4

Art by the incredibly talented @penny00dreadful!!

And thanks to you as always also for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader. 😘

Reblogs are always appreciated and if you want to be tagged, just let me know! I'd be more than happy to do so 💜

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[princess-glassred]

Thinking about how absolutely wretched Henry's time at Juniper Hill's had to have been, and how awful it was for Pennywise to still keep fucking with his head, just to keep him the perfect little violent puppet.

Tw for: child abuse, sexual abuse, bigotry

Imagine him slowly going mad for real the longer he sits in his little room, only to be endlessly taunted by horrific ghosts of his pasts that just won't let him rest at ungodly hours of the night.

Imagine the shambling corpse of his father showing up to scream at Henry just like when he was a little boy, chastising him for still being such a whiney little cry baby who made his mother leave. "You didn't seriously think you killed me Henry, did you? a sissy like you couldn't kill a god damn house cat! If i had known you were gonna grow up to he such fucking wuss i would have chopped your balls off when you were born and called you Henrietta? I bet you woule have loved that wouldn't you?! You fucking tranny fag!".

Then Patrick would show up, gloating to him about how much he missed his little boytoy, making gross sexual remarks and putting his hands all over him. Describing how much he simply ADORED what they did in the junkyard that day, threatening to do it again right here right now wether he likes it or not so everyone can see how much of a little queer he is, a little hypocritical pansy queer. Taking great pleasure in describing to poor trembling Henry all the ways he plans to humiliate him with sexual and verbal abuse.

And just for extra measure, every so often a member of the losers club might drop by to taunt him, reveling in how old and weak and terrified Henry is now.

A young Eddie Kaspbrak telling him in great detail how frail and weak his age must have made him, a young Ben Hanscom coming to point out how his own struggles with weight and food from living in the asylum for 27 years, ect. Ect. All so Henry feels the need to snap and scream how he still hates them snd could kill them all if he wanted too.

There are some nights Henry tries to fight back against these awful visions of his past, and cling on to the very very small twinges of sanity he has left.

Moments where he tries to be calm and remind himself of the very few happy memories he had with his mom and whenever he would hang out with Belch, Vic, and Patrick like they were just normal kids. When they would drive around and listen to metal music, head banging like rock stars, or when they'd take turns shooting a pistol at random stuff in a junkyard, or when Vic simply asked him if he was ok after his dad humiliated him... but nothing works.

They don't go away, and to the rest of the hospital staff, all they see is a deeply disturbed and frightened fourty year old man with his hands over his ears, eyes clenched tight with tears streaming down his face as he begs and screams for some invisible force to stop hurting him and just LEAVE. HIM. ALONE.

The hospital staff may seem sympathetic but their thoughts are all the same: "lock this one up and throw away the key.". They don't even wanna help anymore, and even if they did, it wouldn't do anything. He's not allowed to recover. So they just keep him medicated day in and day out, till he's practically a zombie who can't take care of himself. And it still doesn't fucking work.

And that's when Henry Bowers to loathe, and even fear nights in the asylum. During the day he's so out of it he can't help but smile and forget where he came from. His only link to sanity/the outside world now is just little nighlight they gave him to put by his bed. But the night is still so fucking terrifying, after all... that's when Patrick comes back. That's when his father shows up to scream at him. That's when the losers club have a laugh at his expense. That's when... that's when the moon talks to him.

Henry Bowers is terrible person and was a deranged and terrible child, and i'm not gonna sit and pretend like he ain't, but there's something incredibly sad to me about how even 27 years later, Henry is still being tortured. He's just a pathetic old man now and Pennywise is still fucking with him to make him him an effective puppet. There's no hope for recovery or improvement, and there never was. not even when he was little.

[bmodiwrites]

So, our power went out this morning & my s/o and I made a blanket fort by battery light to snuggle under. For some reason, as I drifted off to sleep, this little idea stuck with me. Here's the result of 5AM wanderings...

Slamming the case of his guitar down, Eddie let out a long breath.

After four hours of what could only be called terrible practice, Eddie was glad to have the instrument packed up and out of his sight for a while. Though Corroded Coffin saw some recent success, their attempt at creating new music wasn’t going all that well and everyone knew it.

What should’ve been an easy way to relax after a week of shows turned into bad playing that gave way to silly arguments. In the handful of years they’d been a working, functional band, Eddie hadn’t ever felt so put off by the people around him. They weren’t making music – just a mess.

Lingering behind everyone once Gareth finally tossed in the white flag gave Eddie the opportunity to calm down and come back to Earth. There was no guarantee that he would’ve made it out of the parking lot without punching Jeff across the cheek if they all walked out together. Eddie hated being called out for bad lyricism and Jeff hadn’t held back once he got started. Despite agreeing with him, Eddie’s temper was on a hair trigger, close to going off at any minute. Taking a second to let everyone leave in peace was the only way for the band to stay together.

Even in a fit of red, Eddie understood that.

Once the aggressive need to barrel people over dropped by the way side, Eddie felt able to get on his feet and out the door. On top of not wanting to ruin things with the band, bringing home bad energy was never a good idea. Steve’s ability to read people had only gotten stronger having survived Vecna. Any bad juju immediately put Steve on edge – especially where Eddie was concerned.

Of course, the mere thought of Steve worked wonders in its own right. No matter where Eddie was on the spectrum of freaking out to breaking people’s noses, conjuring up little pictures or memories of Steve always helped to soothe him. Their three year relationship played a huge part in the control Eddie now had over himself. His rambunctious personality and lifestyle was a lot easier to manage when each night didn’t end with a possible arrest.

By the time that Eddie made it out to the parking lot, his mood was a lot lighter. He already forgot most of the turmoil sitting on his chest – the weight there was easily replaced with the scorching flame of something unnamable Steve and Eddie’s feelings for him always brought about. Getting into his car, Eddie almost had a smile on his face.

The drive back to their little shared apartment finished leveling Eddie out – his steps walking to the door were filled with anticipation, not anger and dread. It still blew Eddie’s mind that his heart started to pound harder and harder the closer he got to his place of rest. Coming home, crossing the threshold of a place that still didn’t feel real – it was overwhelming.

Still, Eddie hoped the excitement would never fade. There was something nice about the promise of forever.

Shaking his head, Eddie blinked back to reality just in time to notice the front porch light wasn’t on. He passed Steve’s car in the parking lot on his way in, so his boyfriend had to be home. The confusion of what could be up had Eddie’s brow quirking and his stride hastening. Their apartment was usually a lit beacon shouting the comfort of home into the void. Darkness, after finding out all the scary things that creeped about in it, scared Eddie.

He was quiet as he opened the front door. Whether Steve was out for the count napping or taken hostage by something from the Upside Down, making a lot of noise wasn’t going to help the situation. Having surprise on his side seemed like the only weapon Eddie had at his disposal.

A shaking hand reached down to grab at the chain that dangled from his belt loop. Eddie gripped it hard to stop the noise of it banging against his leg. If push came to shove, he could fling his heavy wallet at an enemy a little easier now.

More surprise to wield. 

Slowly, Eddie walked through the kitchen into the living room. Their tv was eerily off, adding to the blackness of the emptiness. Noticing that Steve’s slumped over form wasn’t on the couch, Eddie let out a breath and continued down the hall.

One by one, Eddie cleared the rooms – upon first glance, nothing was out of the ordinary.

That should’ve made Eddie’s pulse quiet but he still felt on edge. With only one room left to check, Eddie was nervous to peel back the curtain and peek behind it. If Steve was in trouble, the game officially started, the fight was on. It was now or never.

Sucking in a huge breath, Eddie gripped the doorknob of their bedroom until his knuckles turned white. Eddie squeezed harder then, delaying the inevitable that came with flicking his wrist and opening the door.

The squeaky hinge had Eddie holding his breath – he made it through the entire apartment without making any noise, leave it to the final moment to give his position away. No matter how much practice Eddie got being stealth and sneaky and heroic, the end result never matched up to his expectation. When all was said and done, Eddie was just a goof, even fate and the wide universe knew and understood that truth.

A soft groan coming from the bed stopped Eddie’s downward spiral in its tracks. Eddie went on high alert again, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. The darkness of the room made it harder to focus, but Eddie’s eyes eventually got adjusted enough to make out Steve’s body curled up in a ball on the comforter.

Another garbled noise had Eddie dropping his chain in favor of walking to the bed and getting his hands on his obviously suffering boyfriend. All the thoughts of danger dropped to the floor because Eddie recognized Steve’s hands on his head for the very regular, very normal thing that it was.

A bad night for Steve.

Trying not to make too much noise on his approach, Eddie sat down on the edge of the bed. For a second, he merely lingered there, allowing Steve to know he was there without saying anything. Eddie’s heart rate came back down and a sense of peace filtered into the room. Finally, a hand shot out to brush against Eddie’s leg. The touch was fleeting but cue enough for Eddie to move in a little closer.

His hands were feather light when returning Steve’s touch. Eddie scooted across the mattress until his hip was pressed against Steve’s drawn up knees. No stirring to pull away happened, so Eddie continued. Soon, his fingers brushed up Steve’s arm and shoulder, settling on the length of his neck. With the most adorable sigh Eddie had ever heard, Steve pushed back into the touch.

“You okay, babe?” Eddie asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Steve pushed back into Eddie’s touch in answer. Speaking, it seemed wasn’t in the cards right now.

“Is it your head?” Eddie questioned as he brushed his fingers into Steve’s hair, tugging the strands gently.

Again, Steve arched into Eddie’s touch but said nothing.

Breathing out an affectionate huff, Eddie needlessly nodded. The darkness made so much sense now.

Eddie lingered in Steve’s space for a few minutes, wordlessly petting him into a stupor. The pained sounds he walked in to hear disappeared into contented hums until Steve seemed to drift off into sleep. When Eddie felt him slump, he pulled his hand away.

“No,” Steve mumbled, his whole body stirring for the first time. “Don’t go.”

“I’ll be back. You need medicine and water. You’ll feel better, Stevie.” Despite all of that being true and Eddie’s counter being sound, they both knew Steve was absolutely going to get his way.

Especially when Steve pulled out the big guns. “I just want you. Hold me – please.”

Sighing, because Steve was gorgeously manipulative and Eddie was absolutely there for it, he tucked his chin to his chest in defeat. “You’re lucky I love you,” Eddie muttered in jest.

He got up as gingerly as he could to toe off his shoes and shrug out of his vest and jacket. The cropped shirt he changed into after sweating his ass off at band practice made his skin prickle in the cool air, but Eddie quickly got over it. Steve was hot to the touch and begging to be snuggled back to normalcy. The chill wouldn’t linger around long.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, Eddie crawled into his usual spot, a feeling of lightness washing over him. It didn’t seem like he’d been close to breaking half of his life apart just half an hour earlier. Everything in him was light and easy enough to carry now. As his hand settled over Steve’s waist, digging into Eddie’s favorite little spot of hair on that flat stomach, contentment threatened to overwhelm him. Emotional whiplash prickled like sparks on his skin.

After a moment of having Steve in his arms, gratitude washed everything else away.

Steve leaned back so beautifully into Eddie, fitting all their joints and curves together. Eddie palmed Steve’s belly while Steve arched into Eddie’s frame like the house cat he truly was. Like puzzle pieces, they wiggled and shifted until they fit together perfectly. Eddie’s earlier thought about a healing touch became more and more real as the minutes went by. Steve calmed down to the point where he started to snore ever so slightly.

The breathy puffs of air meant, at last, Steve was truly asleep.

For a moment, Eddie thought about climbing out of bed to get Steve what he needed, to turn on a few lights in the apartment and get started on dinner. He imagined himself being a responsible adult that took care of his partner with the grace of someone who wasn’t selfish and hooked on the feeling of their bodies melding together. The urge to be that person lingered just long enough for Steve to subconsciously reach down and grip the hand Eddie hand on his belly.

His decision was so easily made.

Settling in, actually relaxing, made Eddie’s own tiredness become obnoxiously apparent. His arms seemed to weigh a ton and all ideas of doing anything but pulling Steve closer were sufficiently buried under comfort and an ease so sweet Eddie forgot about his troubles.

Seconds before Eddie drifted off himself, the fingers tangled with his own squeezed and Steve stirred. “Love you.”

Humming, Eddie leaned his smiling lips into Steve’s neck, pressing a sleepy kiss there. “I love you,” he muttered back, settling into the mattress further.

Sometimes, the universe forced shit to slow down, gave signs of its own. For once, Eddie appreciated the gesture, leaning into it completely.

[helpimstuckposting]

Two Minute Notice - Chapter Four

Steddie Big Bang snippet

—

Eddie tossed the notebook onto the coffee table, curling up on the couch as he gave up again. Maybe the lyrics would come to him in a dream.

They didn’t.

He didn’t remember anything, just darkness until he felt a soft hand trailing along his forehead. He blinked awake, city lights twinkling just outside the hotel windows. The city had grown dark around him, though he could see the small stove light on in the kitchen, and could make out the silhouette of Steve crouching down by his head.

“Tired?” he asked, fingers still trailing lightly through Eddie’s hair. His head was throbbing from the impromptu nap, not entirely sure of how long he’d been sleeping. He groaned and sat up, blanket falling from his shoulders. He knew he didn’t have that on when he’d fallen asleep, and his heart soared at the man in front of him, like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, toes dangling over the abyss that was Steve; no words for the sudden urge in his throat to jump. 

“I wanted to let you sleep a little more, but I made some pasta. I figured you probably haven’t eaten anything yet.”

Under oath to the lord above, he knew he’d never do better than Steve Harrington. There was no one better than Steve Harrington, in this life or the next.

Steve gently led him over to the kitchen, pulling him by the hand, placing a bowl of food in front of him and watching as Eddie ate every last bite. He’d forgotten he hadn’t had anything but a cheese stick that morning, it was no wonder he passed out immediately after coming home. Steve knew that, too — knew Eddie like the back of his hand and wished he’d had time to make Eddie a proper breakfast that morning. Maybe he’d try to wake up early the next day, set Eddie up for a successful day and wake him up with a warm plate of breakfast.

“How did it go today?” Steve asked, and Eddie seemed to tense. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Creel came by-”

“But you said-”

“I know what I said, but he showed up anyway.” Eddie sighed, shoving away the empty bowl and anxiously tapping his fingers against the counter. The last thing Steve wanted to do was make Eddie irritated after what seemed to be an exhausting day. He took a deep breath and the seat next to Eddie, squeezing his knee gently. Okay, no commentary from the peanut gallery, he’d just listen for now.

Eddie gripped Steve’s hand tightly and started again. “He showed up to tell everyone the showcase will be broadcast. Cameras, online voting, behind the scenes footage.” Eddie scoffed. Steve wasn’t sure why this was bad, exactly — he’s pretty sure Eddie was used to having cameras around him at this point — but he kept that to himself. 

“And that’s not bad, technically, but it’s not good. I think…” He paused, unsure if he wanted to voice his concerns out loud, or if he’d just get another ‘I told you so’ for complaining about Creel again. “I think he’s really trying to replace us this year. You should have heard him today, like he was hyping up lions at the zoo for lunch time. And I’m the lunch!”

Steve scoffed, readjusting his face when he caught the indignation on Eddie’s. “You’ve been the winner of this thing for ten years, Babe, I don’t think it’s possible to replace you.”

“Yeah, maybe before, but it seems like he’s actively trying to, now. What if I crash and burn? It’ll be on live television! This isn’t just me potentially tripping on stage anymore, this is the end of my career, broadcast for the world to see!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Steve interrupted, “Who said anything about the end of your career?”

“That’s what it’s going to be if I fuck it up infront of an entire camera crew,” Eddie whined, panic gripping his voice once again.

“Okay,” Steve said, twisting to take both of Eddie’s hands in his. “I know you think this is the end of the world, but it’s only day one. You’ve got a whole week ahead of you, and I know you’re going to crush it. Breathe for me, okay?”

Eddie nodded, numbers running through his head again. In for four. Hold for four. Out for six. Repeat. Four, hold, six. Repeat.

Steve carded his fingers through Eddie’s hair as he breathed, and Eddie’s heart rate calmed to a manageable pace again. The slip of fingers against his scalp grounded his thoughts, let his rational side come back to him. Steve was always so soft with him when he needed it, sweet like cocoa on a winter’s day, secure like a weighted blanket on his chest, holding him down until the panic was manageable once more. Eddie opened his eyes. He watched as Steve’s eyes tracked his nervously and he kept breathing, if only to wipe that look off of his boyfriend’s face. He didn’t need to drag him down, too.

“I’m okay,” he assured.

“Maybe I can get Robin to thin my schedule this week, and I can be here when you get home,” Steve suggested. Before he’d even finished, Eddie was shaking his head, squeezing the hand still clasped in his.

“No, I’m alright. Creel said he won’t have time to stop by again, so that was the last we’ll see him this week.”

“Well thank god for that,” he laughed, “but that’s not what I meant. I don’t like when I can’t see you until-” he glanced at the clock on the stove, “Ten o’clock. Ugh. Plus, if you’re having a hard time this week, I want to be there for you. It would make me feel better to see you, and I could really use the company when I’m so busy.”

Eddie rolled his eyes fondly, knowing that Steve was just trying to make it seem like he needed Eddie, instead of the other way around. He was trying to make it easier for Eddie to swallow the help.

“Compromise,” Eddie said, instead of calling Steve out. “Maybe we could have one night together this week. I know you’re busy, and Robin would kill me if I fucked up your schedule, and I don’t want to be the reason you’re behind.”

“Okay, first of all, I would be fucking up my own schedule. And second, you drive a hard bargain, but you’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Munson.” Steve extracted his hand from Eddie’s, only to hold it out in front of him for a handshake. Eddie laughed, shaking his hand like they’d just closed on a new business deal, and used the hand to pull Steve into a kiss. “Deal,” he said against the other man’s lips.

Steve nodded when he pulled away. “Good, now tell me something nice that happened today.”

So Eddie regaled him with the story of meeting Dustin in the bathroom, conveniently leaving out his mini panic attack. With waving arms and flowery language, he made the encounter seem larger than life and recounted what he remembered about Dustin’s bandmates and how they were also from Indiana, ‘Isn’t that crazy? Like, what a world,’ as Steve nodded along with a smile.

He told Steve about his curly mess of hair, and how Steve would be so excited to get his hands on it and drown the boy in his hair products. Eddie also threw in the part where Ronnie almost went full Hulk on Creel, throwing her clipboard at the wall of the lounge and kicking her high heels halfway across the room. He felt nearly like a new person by the time they both tucked themselves into bed for the night, thinking once again that there was certainly no one else out there like Steve Harrington.

—

AO3

[blaqcats-fics]

(He’s) Just a Phase — Part 1

MASTERLIST

Word Count: 3.1K

November 1993.

Steve cursed lowly as he tried to light his cigarette. The wind was not on his side today, and he was growing increasingly annoyed with every passing moment.

The day had begun with a literal pile of dog shit. He had woken up, sleeping past his alarm, and his service dog, Bowie, had left him a present. Steve stepped into it and thus set the mood for the rest of the day. From then on, Steve missed the bus, causing having to walk to the music store where he worked out with his guitar case heavy on his back and Bowie at his side. It also didn't help that it had rained the night before and a car passed by without slowing down and drenched him in cold water.

Thankfully he had arrived at work in one piece. He was in break now, letting Bowie take a moment to eat some food and to allow himself a smoke, even though that was becoming a failure itself.

‘Fuck it,’ Steve grunted, running his hand through his hair, grimacing as his hand tangled in his hair. It had grown out far longer than he was used to. It looked like his mother’s hair — long, unruly, and stuck between the questionable state of wavy and curly. He was sure that it rivaled Eddie’s almost, except he didn't have poorly chopped bangs.

He glanced down at Bowie, watching as he finished eating his kibble, before looking up at Steve with big brown eyes. Steve smiled, leaning down, gently petting him as he picked the bowl up. ‘Was it good, boy?’ he asked, chuckling as Bowie’s tail thumped against the ground. ‘Guess so. C’mon, back to work, bubby.’

Steve opened the door to the store, watching as Bowie trotted back inside. Steve followed in after Bowie, going behind the counter. ‘Back from break!’ he called out.

‘Gotcha!’ Sam called back.

Samuel ‘Sam’ Carter was a fifty-year-old retired drummer, and Steve’s boss. He was intimidating to look at, covered in tattoos from head to toe, and fitted into a biker-gang aesthetic, but despite the intimidating exterior, Sam was a sweetheart. He was also one of the few people Steve met in the past month that was helping him understand the current queer culture.

Sam, surprisingly, was an active member of the drag community in Seattle and was more than happy to take Steve under his wing, saying that Steve looked like a lost puppy begging for shelter.

Steve was a lost puppy looking for shelter when he came to Seattle. He had left Indianapolis on a whimand didn't stop to think of the consequences. Luckily, Sam was able to situate Steve with a job and a place to stay.

‘Oh, yeah, kid!’ Sam called, walking out from the back of the store, clipboard in hand from doing inventory. ‘Gale called and said she found something that you might be interested in.’

Steve glanced at him as he opened the cash register to count the cash for the third time. ‘What’d she say?’

‘Anthem, the bar down where Gale works, is having an open mic night. Gale says there may be a producer there, but she can't promise anything,’ Sam said, walking to the counter. He paused and made a scrunched face at Bowie, speaking in a baby voice at him.

Steve rolled his eyes at Sam’s actions, but was otherwise interested. This was an opportunity, even if it could be a failure. ‘She say what time it was?’

‘Around 9 tonight.’

‘Tonight?’ Steve exclaimed. ‘I don't gave anything to play! Fuck!’

Sam scoffed, ‘I’ve seen you scribble in that notebook of yours; you have something.’

Steve chewed on his lip anxiously, glancing down as Bowie nudged his leg. He took a shaky breath, fixing his glasses on his face that had gradually fallen down his face. ‘Those aren't lyrics. They, uh, I don't know, it's just venting.’

‘Sounds close enough to music for me,’ Sam said. ‘How about this, I’ll call Rachael to cover your shift, and you go figure your shit out for tonight. You ain't going to get anywhere without nipping opportunities by the ass. You aren't going to get your man back without working for it.’

Steve hummed, nodding. He didn't bother correcting Sam. This wasn't about getting Eddie back. He was sure Eddie was happier off without him lingering in his shadow. Life had just started to work out in Eddie’s favor. All Steve wanted to do was apologize and make up for hurting Eddie, even if hurting him had never been his intention.

‘Oh, before you head out, Paul can't do their routine Saturday night, do you want to fill in their spot?’ Sam asked. ‘I know you aren't familiar with the scene, but stepping out if your comfort zone can be fun sometimes.’

Paul (Monique on Saturdays and Mondays) was one of Sam’s liners at the club he owned. They were one of the more popular drag queens that worked there. Steve enjoyed their shows, finding them loud and exciting. However, Steve never found himself wondering what it was like to be a queen.

Steve shook his head, ‘If it was Minnie, maybe. Paul is too much of a star to fill in for.’

Sam snorted, ‘Ain’t that the damn truth. You’d make a pretty girl, Stevie.’ He sent Steve a wink.

‘I think I need to finish sorting out my internalized homophobia before I start examining gender and how I want to be perceived. I don't need to give myself a stroke,’ Steve grinned. He picked up his case, adjusting it comfortably on his back. ‘Plus, if I had a pair of tits, I don't think this world would survive.’

‘Christ, kid,’ Sam laughed. ‘Get out of here.’

Steve rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his face. He called Bowie and left for home. He knew that if Eddie was still with him, he'd love to meet Sam.

That night, despite practicing for hours, Steve could feel his skin crawling. He was a bundle of nerves and he left as if someone had jump-started his heart with a faulty engine. For a brief moment, Steve wondered if Eddie always felt this way before going on to play a show. Maybe, but Eddie was always a bundle of nerves.

‘You good, ‘Evie?’ Gale asked, handing him a shot. ‘Look like you could use some liquid courage.’

Steve glanced down at the shot and hesitated. He started at it for a moment before shaking his head. ‘Best not. My nerves already make me sick to my stomach,’ he said.

Gale shrugged, taking the shot and downing it herself. ‘More for me,’ she winked. ‘You ready to play your little heart out?’

‘No,’ Steve said, raw honesty in his voice. ‘Performing was never my thing. I don't think it even is my thing. I was good at sports in high school like I was a full-on jock, but this? I wouldn't gave touched this with a twenty-foot pole.’

Gale hummed, her eyes fleeting over him, taking in his appearance. ‘Sure don't look like a jock now with that hair of yours, and that outfit. It screams homeless instead of jock,’ she joked.

‘I got it from Walmart,’ Steve frowned. ‘It was comfy and cheap.’

The woman sighed, ‘Baby, you look like the bastard child of Kurt Cobain, but with Tommy Lee’s stupidly sexy hair.’

Steve stared at her. ‘I know Cobain is from Nirvana, but who the hell is Tommy Lee?’

‘Some pretty boy from Mötley Crüe,’ she explained. ‘They’re either a metal or rock band. Who knows the damn difference?’

Eddie does, Steve’s mind supplied.

He pulled his gaze away from Gale, looking at the stage, listening to, well, something. ‘Is that poetry?’

‘Kind of,’ she said with an uninterested shrug. ‘Spoken word, I think. You like it?’

Steve scrunched his nose, ‘Not my cup of tea.’

‘It’s powerful,’ Gale said. ‘It were louder, maybe I would like it, but eh.’

‘Eh,’ Steve agreed. He glanced around the bar before settling his gaze back on Gale. ‘Sam said something about a producer?’

Gale rose her brows, ‘Is that why're so worked up?’

Steve felt his cheek warm. ‘Possibly.’

‘I don't know kid. Boss told me that there could be one, but didn't give me a name or a face.’

‘Shit,’ Steve grunted. That made his anxiety even worse. Actually, Steve wasn't sure if it did make it worse. The dread had already been lingering, but now it felt more real.

‘You’ll be fine. I'd be more worried if you didn't know how to song,’ Gale joked. She glanced down towards the end of the bar where an older man was flagging her. ‘You’re on next, ‘Evie. Take a breath and focus on the reason you're even out here.’

Steve didn't say anything as she walked away. He glanced back at the stage, swallowing the lump in his throat. He pushed himself off of the stool, moving through the small crowd of people and he suddenly felt as if he was back in Indianapolis, pushing through the crowd, looking for Eddie. It was a familiar, but ghostly feeling that made the hairs on the back of his hair raise.

That had been the year's ago, and Eddie was far from his reach.

‘A round of applause for Kaitlynn and James for their wonderful performance!’ the announcer spoke loudly into the mic. Steve couldn't remember his name. It was Dave, Derek, or something. He knew it started with a D. ‘Next up in tonight’s roster is the mysterious ‘Evie!’

Steve licked at his front teeth, sucking in a breath. He went to the stage, passing by Kaitlynn and James. He took a moment to pull his guitar from his case, checking the tuning before sitting down on a bench in front if the microphone. He coughed slightly, the sound feeling the room. ‘A big thank you for anyone who came out here tonight. My name is ‘Evie and this is my song, uh, enjoy?’

‘Evie was a stage name. Gale and Sam suggested he used one, even if it wasn't far off from his actual name. It helped hide him for now, at least until photographs were involved, and Steve did whatever he could do to avoid his face being anywhere.

There was a small applause of encouragement and a loud whistle that most likely came from Gale. His lip switched and he adjusted the weight of his guitar in his hands.

‘I’m starting at the glass in front of me,’ he sang, voice loud in the room, the microphone and speakers filling the room with his voice. ‘Is it half empty? Have I ruined all you’ve given me?’

He strummed the guitar, his stomach twisting in knots as he sang. He didn't know if it came from the anxiety of performing or from how a giant lump of panic started to form in the back of his throat.

He took a deep breath, pushing the lump away, his eyes stinging. ‘Don’t tell me I will make it on my own. Don't leave me tonight. This heart of stone will sink ‘til it does if you leave me alone,’ he sang, his voice cracking.

Steve remembered the long nights when sleep never plagued him. He remembered sitting up in bed, giving his attention to an unaware and sleeping Eddie. He used to watch him sleep and watched as all the stress lines were even out on his face, making him look younger. Eddie had looked so peaceful, and sometimes Steve would stare and count the light freckles that kissed his face. It was his form of counting sheep.

‘Don’t tell me I will make it on my own. Don't leave me tonight. This heart of stone will sink ‘til it does if you leave me tonight. Don't leave me tonight,’ Steve sang, tears glued to his lashes as he played the last few notes.

He blinked away the tears, moving his eyes to rub them away. He could barely hear the applause over the loudness of his thoughts. He sent the crowd a weak smile before moving and heading off stage, not bothering to stop and put his guitar away. He merely grabbed the case and walked back to Gale.

‘Give me a Long Island,’ he mumbled, taking a moment to put the guitar up and leaning it against the bar.

Gale reached out and touched his shoulder. ‘Baby, you sure you don't want something lighter? We both know you're a lightweight.’

‘That’s the point,’ Steve mumbled. He knew better than to develop a co-dependency on alcohol. That was how you get addicted to it, but addiction runs in his veins and for once, Steve wanted to bury the voices.

The woman sighed, ‘I’ll get you a drink, but it's not going to be a Long Island. Go sit in one of the private rooms, I’ll get Frankie to bring you the drink.’

Steve nodded, getting off the bar and moving through the crowd again, heading towards the back.

‘Hey! Excuse me!’ someone called out. Steve ignored them, figuring that they were just trying to get through the crowd of people like he was. ‘Wait a second! ‘Evie!’

Steve paused, turning around, frowning as a smaller woman made her way to him. She couldn't be much older than he was, but she looked far more foot together then he did. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘What’d you need?’

‘Mind if I join you? I saw you were heading to the private rooms,’ she said.

Steve frowned, ‘Uh, if you're trying to like, um, you know...’

She must have caught on to what he was saying and flushed red. She waved her hands frantically. ‘No! No! Not at all. Happily married with two demons to prove,’ she said, wiggling her hand, showing off the simple silver band.

‘Oh, shit, sorry,’ Steve said, flushing in embarrassment. ‘You call your kids demons?’

The woman merely shrugged, ‘They sure the hell aren't angels. Either way, mind if I join you? Rather not have a conversation in the midst of chaos, ya’ know?’

Steve nodded. ‘Yeah, of course. What’s your name?’ he asked, leading her to the back.

‘Kacey Williams,’ she introduced. ‘I’m a talent agent from Los Angeles.’

Steve stumbled over his feet a bit. His hand froze above the doorknob, turning to look at her with a deer-caught-in-headlights look. ‘You’re a talent agent?’ his voice cracked.

‘Yes, sir,’ she beamed. ‘I’m technically on vacation, but talent waits for no one! Even if you were a bit nervous.’

‘Was it really that noticeable?’ he sighed. ‘I told Gale, the bartender, that I’m new on the scene, or whatever it’s called. Music wasn’t an interest until recently.’

Kacey hummed. ‘First time preforming then?’

Steve shrugged, opening the door and letting her go in first. He closed the door behind him, moving to set his case on one of the sofas. ‘In front of a lot of people, yeah.’

‘Well, it could have gone worse. Like you could have froze up or throw up on the front row,’ she said, sitting in a chair.

‘I doubt I would even have stage fright. I'm used to being looked at all the time. I justed to be on the swim team, and I played basketball for a while.’

‘Reformed jock. Who would have guessed?’ Kacey grinned. ‘Well, there's a bit to work on, but would you be interested in giving stardom a chance? You have something that I think a lot of people need to hear.’

Steve sighed, sitting next to the guitar case. He brushed his hair from his face. ‘I’m going to be honest with you,’ he said. ‘I only came tonight in hopes to meet an agent, and here you are, but what I’m doing with my music — it’s not what you probably want to deal with.’

Kacey hummed, ‘I think I'll decide that for myself. Tell me what I could be working with.’

Steve chewed on the inside of his mouth and picked at the hole in his jeans anxiously. ‘Back in ‘89, my ex and I broke up. Uh, I fucked ruined our relationship. I made a lot of mistakes. They were tired of being second to everything, and they wanted more. So, yeah.’

‘That doesn't tell me why your here, attached to your shitty guitar, looking for an agent.’

Steve snorted. ‘I couldn't get my head out of my ass for a while. At least not until recently. I want to apologize for the damage I did — the relationship I ruined with my unfair opinions. I just can't reach them right now, they're too far out of my reach. If I get my voice out there, then maybe they could hear me.’

‘So you want to get your ex back?’

‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘That’s too selfish and way to much to ask. They have a steady life. They seem happy. I'm not going to fuck it up by trying to win them back. I just want them to know that I'm sorry. Maybe its closure for myself.’

Kacey hummed, ‘And what's going to happen if you go big, get your voice out there? What are you going to do afterwards?’

‘Finish my contract up. Go home and go back to working the same nine-to-five job,’ he said.

‘That’s depressing, ‘Evie,’ she said.

‘It’s life,’ he said back. ‘There’s something else I want to do, if I were to get into the scene. It's my plan that you might not like.’

Kacey leaned back, pausing when Frankie walked in, handing Steve his drink. She spoke up after Frankie left. ‘What’s your plan?’

‘I want to be open about my sexuality,’ Steve said. He swallowed thickly. ‘I don't want to hide the fact that I’m bisexual, and I don't want to hide the fact that every song I have ever written is about a man that I would kill for.’

Kacey stared at him, eyes wide. ‘That’s asking for death threats.’

‘Bowie is out. Elton John is out. Freddie Mercury was out. It may not be accepted still, but why do I have to hide when they didn't?’

‘It’s more complicated than that, I think,’ Kacey breathed. ‘But you doing this, it might ruin your reputation and the offers you receive. It’ll be hard.’

‘I’m prepared to do whatever it takes,’ Steve said seriously.

Kacey nodded. She opened her purse, pulled out a card, handing it to him. ‘This is my business card. I don't give these to many people, so don't go sharing it around. Think about what you want to do, then give me a call Monday morning. If you still want this Monday, with the risk, then I’ll work on getting you a plane out to LA,’ she said.

Steve looked at the car, nodding. He already had his answer. Monday he would call her. That was his only option — risks included.

NOTE: thank you guys for reading and the reblogs! if you want to be on the tag list, just comment that you want to be! i’m not sure how frequent these updates are, but my mind is brewing a lot of ideas. at the top, there's a link to the series masterlist which also has a master list to my other works (which are on ao3)! the song attached is the one Steve sang for open mic :)

TAGLIST: @swimmingbirdrunningrock x @cinnamon-mushroomabomination x