writings-of-dumpy

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 7: ‘86, Baby

Warnings: none, just really sweet fluff and Eddie gets what he deserves

It was nearly nightfall before Eddie was able to be discharged from the hospital. When he, Rebecca, and Dustin went to leave, officer Powell and Callaghan were standing at the exit with their hands on their hips. 

“Edward Munson, you are under arrest for the murder of Chrissy Cunningham,” Powell began. 

“Are you serious?!” Rebecca protested as she watched Eddie’s hands be forced behind his back. 

“Really?! You’ve got to be shitting me,” Dustin chimed in. 

“What the hell is happening here?” a calm and deep voice said from behind them. Powell and Callaghan seemed to know the voice because they stopped their movements. Out from the shadows of nightfall, a tall man that wore a plaid shirt and a baseball cap stepped into the lobby of the hospital where Eddie was being accosted. Rebecca looked at the man’s square jaw and furrowed brows and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. 

“J-Jim?!” Powell gasped out. 

“Last I recall I don’t remember promoting you or quitting my current position,” Hopper said with a small smile. 

“Thank God you’re here, Hop…” Powell said with a sigh. “I can’t even begin to tell you all the shit that’s gone down…”

“I believe it. But first of all, how about you take the cuffs off of this poor kid? He’s been through enough,” Hopper told Powell. 

“The thing is, Jim… he killed two kids…” Callaghan said. Hopper raised a brow and glared at Callaghan. 

“Do you really still think that?” Hopper asked and gestured to the sky that was now dark and had a faint red glow to it that was exactly like the one Vecna had over his lair in the Upside Down. 

“Um… well… I, I guess not,” Callaghan said. Powell took the cuffs off of Eddie and Rebecca pulled him by his hand to safety next to her and Dustin beamed a shining smile. 

“Hopper, you son of a bitch,” Dustin said and hugged the older man while smiling. 

“Language,” Hopper mumbled as he hugged Dustin and nodded at Eddie and Rebecca. 

“Is Max here?” a soft female voice asked from behind Hopper. Dustin’s face dropped in shock and delight as he saw a girl wearing a large blue hoodie and white pants stepped out from behind Hopper. 

“El…” Dustin gasped out. The two younger kids embraced and Hopper cracked a small smile. 

“Hi,” a tall boy with a bowl cut said to Dustin. Behind Eleven and Hopper was a trail of people including Mike Wheeler, the Byers, and a boy who introduced himself as Argyle. Dustin and Eddie greeted their friends and shared tearful hugs and smiles. 

“Where’s Max and Lucas?” Will asked. 

“I’ll… I’ll explain on the way,” Dustin said and began to show them through the hospital.

As they were leaving, Rebecca and Eleven locked eyes and Rebecca smiled at her, but as soon as the two shared a smile, Rebecca’s vision went black and she could feel her body being pulled upward. She couldn’t hear or see anything and when she tried to call out, nothing came out of her. She felt weightless, like she was floating in space almost, but the air around her was thick like how it was in the Upside Down. Shivers went down her spine and she couldn’t shake a sinking, doomed feeling. 

Just as suddenly as her vision went black, it returned and she was plummeting to the floor. She felt a searing pain in her arm and then her body was held against a warm, firm chest with arms wrapped around her. She opened her eyes to see Eddie and Eleven looking at her with a mix of shock and confusion and from Eddie, concern. 

“The fuck was that?” Eddie asked. 

“Henry. He used her to see me,” Eleven said monotonously. 

“So he’s still alive? He’s out there waiting for you?” Will asked worriedly and gently touched the back of his neck.

“Sounded like he was challenging you, kiddo,” Hopper said and placed a protective arm on Eleven’s shoulder. 

“You okay, Becca?” Dustin asked as she started to sit up. She looked around and nodded hesitantly. 

“Oh shit, your arm,” Eddie commented and pointed to the large bruise that was blossoming on the outside of her forearm. 

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Rebecca insisted. “What was that?” 

“Vecna used you to talk to El. Challenged her to come and find him,” Dustin said with deep concern as he looked at Eleven. 

“I hurt him before. This time, I can kill him,” Eleven said definitively and turned around to walk out of the hospital. Hopper and Will ran to follow her as Dustin took the rest of the group to see Max. 

“We should find Steve,” Eddie said. “Let him know some of his children are going to need some reining in.” 

Eddie helped Rebecca up after a chuckle and the two ventured through the hospital looking for Steve. After a few minutes, they found the large group in Max’s room. When they caught Steve’s attention, he walked over to them and he and Eddie shared a half hug before Steve fully embraced Rebecca. 

“You okay, you look completely wiped,” Steve said. 

“Well aside from the not sleeping for two days and being used as a puppet by Vecna, I think I’m…” Rebecca started and felt herself fading. The last thing she saw was falling, once again, into Eddie’s embrace. 

~Two Days Later~

Rebecca still couldn’t believe what was in front of her. She stood there in the cemetery in front of a tombstone that read “Here lies Christina Cunningham 1968-1986 Beloved daughter and dear friend taken too soon.” Rebecca had watched her die and now here she was looking at her best friend’s grave, but she was still in shock. It had been about 24 hours since Eleven had popped Vecna like a grape through a psychic fight that Rebecca was still hazy on the details about, but the gist was that Henry confessed over the radio to the killings and Eleven killed him. 

“They got him, Chris. Well, Eleven did anyway. You would love this little girl, she’s a total bad ass. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough… I hope you and Patrick are up there having a good time… Up there smiling and free. And dancing, of course. I know what love feels like now. Remember when you told me about love and how everything makes sense when you realize that the person you love loves you back? I felt that. It’s Eddie, of course. Of course I’d fall for the guy who drove me nuts for years, but you probably always knew it would be him. You were so smart, you could have done so much…” Rebecca spoke into the emptiness that surrounded her. Her eyes allowed a few tears escape as she continued, “I wish you were still here. I wish that I had the courage to tell Jason I didn’t love him. I’m sorry, Jason… you deserved better.”

“No he didn’t,” Eddie’s voice said from a few feet away. Rebecca wiped her eyes and turned to him as he approached. He continued, “He didn’t deserve better because you are the best anyone could ever have, and Jason knew that. He did, and in the end he was so blinded by his rage and twisted mind that… well, he’s better now.” Eddie’s arms wrapped around her in a close hug. She smiled into him and held on for a moment. 

“How much else did you hear?” she asked and pulled away gently. 

“Enough to know that you need someone here with you,” Eddie said tenderly and placed a hand on her cheek. “Whenever you’re ready, we can go, okay?” 

Rebecca nodded and took another moment to set down the flower she had brought onto Chrissy’s grave and after a moment, she and Eddie left to greet Robin, Steve, Nancy, and Johnathan at the Wheeler’s to divvy up donations. 

“Did you see that the school is rolling graduation and prom into one this year? Like obviously it won’t be a huge thing at the school, but a whole bunch of people in Chicago wanted to give the seniors a decent graduation and prom, so they’re letting us have our ceremony and our prom at this huge banquet hall in Chicago!” Nancy said excitedly. 

“Oh wow, really? How do you know?” Rebecca asked as they hauled boxes of toys, clothes, and bedding out to the car. 

“I got a call from the principal. You’ll probably get one to. You were on track to graduate, right?” Nancy said.  

“Yeah, I was,” Rebecca smiled. She looked over at Steve, Eddie, and Wayne who were all loading the heavier boxes into Wayne’s truck. Rebecca’s mom and dad were less than pleased when finding out that Steve had allowed the Munsons to stay with them until their trailer was fixed, but couldn’t argue with the logic; the Harrington had a fully furnished basement and Wayne and Eddie had nearly no possessions, so they both fit perfectly. And after Rebecca batted her eyes a few times and told her parents how heroic Eddie was, they couldn’t say no. 

That evening, a phone call came through and Rebecca almost thought it was Chrissy. Their lives had a more normal feel now that Vecna was gone, but little things like that still stung. Steve was sat at the dining room table flipping through the paper and their mother was making dinner in the kitchen. 

“I’ll get it!” Rebecca chirped and answered the phone that hung on the wall opposite Steve. “Harrington residence, this is Rebecca speaking,” she said into the phone. 

“Hello, this is Principal Higgins calling to invite you to a special graduation ceremony for all of the senior class of 1986. Parents and friends are invited to come, but we ask that each graduate limit their guests to four additional people. In addition, the city of Chicago relief fund has generously provided a banquet hall for senior prom to be held that evening,” the recorded call said and Rebecca wrote down the information and the number to call with questions. Before she said anything, she called the number and after a few rings, the school’s secretary picked up.

“This is Miss Charlotte, how may I help you?” the sweet elderly woman asked. 

“Hi, this is Rebecca Harrington and I just got a call about a graduation and prom for the seniors of Hawkins High and I was wondering… is it all seniors? Like, regardless of grades?” Rebecca asked. Steve, who was sitting at the table looked up at her and raised a brow. 

“Yes, all seniors. The administration decided that given the circumstances, it was best not to hold any seniors back this year,” she said sweetly. Rebecca smiled widely. 

“Even Eddie? Eddie Munson that is. I ask because he’s staying with me and my family since his trailer got destroyed and I want to let him know,” Rebecca said. Steve smiled to himself at the table and continued to look through the paper. 

“Oh, yes, especially him. Please extend the invitation to him and the administration’s sympathies for the loss of his home,” she said emphatically. 

“Great, thank you!” Rebecca said and hung up the phone. 

“Good news?” Steve asked and Rebecca beamed at him. 

“Is Eddie downstairs?” Rebecca asked him. 

“Yeah, and Wayne’s watching TV with dad,” Steve said. 

“Great!” Rebecca said and bounced toward the basement. She opened the door to the basement and walked down the stairs. She heard Eddie gently strumming on his guitar and humming along to the melody. Rebecca stopped and admired him for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, but he opened his eyes and smiled at her from where he was sat on the couch. 

“Hello there. See something you like?” Eddie joked. Rebecca giggled and sat next to him with a bright and elated smile.  

“I have some amazing news for you. The principal called and guess what? You get to graduate! And they’re throwing a prom, too!” Rebecca said excitedly. She was thrilled that this was happening and she was even more thrilled that she was the one to tell him.

Eddie’s face lit up and he smiled brighter than he had in several days. He set the guitar aside and quickly embraced her with his arms secured around her waist and head buried in her neck. He squeezed her gently and Rebecca let out a laugh as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“I finally get to graduate… I knew this would be my year,” Eddie said confidently. Their cheeks brushed as they let each other go and the contact made Rebecca’s face heat up. She blushed as she looked at him and his gaze on her was one of gentle affection. His hands didn’t leave her, but lingered for a moment behind her head, then the side of her face. Just as he was about to pull away, Rebecca held his hand there for another moment as they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes. 

“You know, we, uh… we never really did get to talk,” Eddie stammered. 

“About what?” Rebecca asked with a quizzical expression. Eddie’s cheeks turned a light shade of red and he bit down on his lip gently. 

“About… about us,” Eddie said. Rebecca smiled tenderly at him and Eddie’s expression was a complicated one now. He looked hopeful, but slightly confused and sad, disappointed maybe? He continued, “I know that we went through a lot and I still feel uh, very deeply for you. I know I’m not much and I can’t offer you popularity or a fancy car or anything, but I… uh… I still want to be yours. I know it’s dumb as hell and I’m a complete moron for even saying this, thinking it even, but… I selfishly want you to be mine.”

“You’re right, we didn’t get to talk much about us, and I’m not sure there’s much left to say other than I want to be with you, too,” Rebecca said with a soft smile. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t? After what we’ve been through and how well I know you now?”

Eddie let out a chuckle and rubbed his thumb against her face gently. “It was a worry. You’re WAY out of my league.” 

Rebecca’s brows furrowed and she quickly leaned upward and kissed his lips firmly. When she pulled away, his look had melted into one of pleased shock and adoration. 

“I want you, Eddie. Make no mistake of that,” Rebecca said. At her words, Eddie’s eyes looked her up and down and he licked his lips with an expression that Rebecca hadn’t seen from him before. His eyes lingered at her chest for a moment, then completed their journey back up to her face. She remembered the last time he had done this and his look was one of condescending judgement, but now his expression was unrivaled desire.

“Yeah?” he breathed out and placed his forehead on hers gently.

“Yeah,” Rebecca said with a small and delicate smile. Eddie slowly but purposefully leaned in and planted his lips on hers in a kiss that Rebecca got lost in. She didn’t know how much time she had spent kissing Eddie and she didn’t really care. They pressed themselves impossibly close together and Eddie’s hand found its way to the back of her head to support it gently as their tongues and lips explored each other. 

Their moment was interrupted by an uncomfortable clearing of the throat sound from behind Rebecca. They separated and Rebecca turned to see Steve standing uncomfortably at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Mom says dinner is ready,” Steve said. Rebecca blushed and stood up, then walked past Steve. She heard Steve stop Eddie and talk to him in a stern, low voice. “Listen, man. You better not hurt her or I swear I will find a way to throw you back into the Upside Down permanently.”

“If I hurt her, I’ll throw myself back in,” Eddie said lowly. Rebecca pretended she couldn’t hear them as she reached the top of the stairs and smiled to herself. 

~*~

The day was finally here. After three long weeks, Rebecca and Eddie were getting ready to graduate and walk across the stage with their diplomas, and later that night, Steve, Nancy, Robin, Johnathan, Rebecca, and Eddie would all attend senior prom. Rebecca had always imagined these events with Chrissy and Jason by her side, but doing Robin’s makeup in the morning felt just as right. The three girls had shared a hotel room next to the boys’ room with the Wheelers, Joyce, Will and Jim, and Wayne each having their rooms. 

“Kind of awesome that we get to have such a celebration after everything. Weird that we’re like the only ones who know the truth,” Robin said as Rebecca gently applied the blush to her cheeks.

“Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s better this way. And the town will be back to normal before we know it. Especially now that El closed all the gates,” Nancy said after finishing her lipstick application. 

“Perfect. Not too much but enough for you to not look dead, just like you wanted!” Rebecca said to Robin with a smile. Robin looked in the mirror and smiled widely. 

“I don’t know what kind of witchcraft this is, but I look great,” Robin said. Rebecca giggled and fixed her curls in the mirror before slipping on her flats for the graduation ceremony. 

“Ladies, are you ready? You have to be lined up at McCormick place soon!” Ted Wheeler said with a groan outside the door. Rebecca and Nancy shared a humorous look and the three of them grabbed their green gowns and caps as they walked out of the hotel room. Rebecca smiled at her mom, dad, and Steve who were all beaming. Rebecca’s mother was already on the verge of tears. 

“Mom, you promised not to cry until AFTER the ceremony,” Rebecca protested. 

“Let me just get a few pictures before we head out, okay? Stand with your brother,” she instructed. Rebecca was barely able to acknowledge Eddie looking at her with fondness from across the hallway as she was pulled to take pictures with Steve, Steve and Robin, Nancy and Robin, and all five graduates (even though Johnathan technically graduated from a different school) together by Mrs. Wheeler, her mother, and Mrs. Byers. Eddie gently draped his arm over Rebecca as they posed for the group picture and Rebecca smiled up at him. His hair was pulled back into a loose and low ponytail that trailed down his back. He wore a long-sleeved cotton shirt and a pair of not ripped jeans. It was clear that he wasn’t dressed as nicely as Rebecca or the rest of the graduates, but he put some effort into his outfit. 

“You look really nice, Eddie,” Rebecca complimented with a smile. 

“Thanks. Not wearing anything special since we have to wear those, uh.. hideous gowns the whole time anyway,” Eddie said with disgust. 

“So we’ll be blessed with Eddie dressed up tonight, then?” Rebecca hoped with a sly grin. 

Eddie grinned and let out a small chuckle. “Maybe.” 

“Okay, let’s go kiddos,” Rebecca’s dad said and the group filed out of the hallway and down to the tunnel that connected the hotel to the convention center. After about ten minutes of shuffling, all of the seniors were lined up in a large room and the parents and siblings were waiting in the adjacent ballroom. Rebecca was nowhere near her friends with Nancy toward the back of the line, Robin nearly at the front of the line and Eddie somewhere between Rebecca and Nancy. Rebecca adjusted her cap just before the music started and the graduates were directed to sit. Rebecca barely paid attention to anything the principal was saying in the ceremony, her mind was focused in the small gold necklace in her pocket. She knew Chrissy’s parents couldn’t bear to attend the graduation ceremony, but Rebecca couldn’t stand the day without something to honor or remember Chrissy with. 

“There are many empty seats today due to the tragedy that befell Hawkins. I’d like to thank the Chicago Fire Department, the Red Cross, and McCormick Place executives for allowing our seniors the chance to have a normal graduation and prom later tonight. I’d like to take a moment to recognize those who could not be here with us today starting with a shining light that was snuffed out too soon, Christina, or Chrissy as she was known to her friends, Cunningham,” Principal Higgins said. 

Rebecca saw the screen behind the principal project Chrissy’s yearbook photo and for a moment Rebecca forgot where she was. She saw Chrissy’s bright and smiling face and couldn’t stop her eyes from welling up with tears. She hung her head and gripped the necklace that was in her pocket. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder from behind her and she turned around to see that Eddie was seated nearly directly behind her. She smiled and thanked her classmates for having the perfect amount of H, I, J, K, L, and M names to allow this seating arrangement. Eddie smiled at her softly for a moment and the principal had moved on. Rebecca recognized almost all of the faces, but she only truly knew Jason, Patrick, and Andy from the rest of the pictures and names said. On a somber note, the graduation began. Rebecca was grateful that the ceremony didn’t drag and when it was time for her turn, Principal Higgins handed her the diploma with a smile drenched in pity. 

“Congratulations, Miss Harrington,” he said. She smiled and nodded as they shook hands and Rebecca went back to her seat just in time for her to watch Eddie, ever the performer, flipped off the principal and held his hands up victoriously as he made his way back to the seat. Principal Higgins shook his head and shrugged, and Rebecca was grateful for him being a good sport about Eddie’s antics. After the town had falsely accused him of murder, he could get away with a lot more these days.

When everyone had taken their turn walking the stage, the students ceremoniously moved the tassel over and tossed their caps to the ceiling which was, fortunately, very high. Rebecca smiled and turned around to face Eddie, who was climbing over the chairs that separated them with a huge smile. 

“We did it, baby!” Eddie cheered. With his smile, he held her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She smiled into the kiss and draped her arms around Eddie’s neck. She felt his arms grip her tightly and soon she was lifted up and spun around in a circle while Eddie’s joyous laugh filled her ears. She laughed along with him as he gently set her down and the crowd around them started dispersing in all directions.  

“I’m so proud of you, Eddie,” Rebecca told him. He blushed slightly and shook his head. 

“I got lucky. Really lucky,” Eddie said. The pair clasped hands together and found Nancy and Robin on the edge of the crowd standing with the same group they had entered with. Rebecca’s mom was sobbing and whimpering as she opened her arms up to hug her daughter. 

“I’m so proud of you…” she blubbered out. 

“Thanks, mom,” Rebecca said and hugged her mother back. She watched Eddie walk over to Wayne, who was almost as emotional as Rebecca’s mother, and hug Eddie close after saying something Rebecca couldn’t hear. Rebecca’s heart melted at the sight and she walked over to the pair when they separated. Wayne smiled at her and opened his arms for a hug and Rebecca happily obliged. She and Wayne hadn’t spoken much, but he seemed to love Eddie like his own son and for that she was grateful to him. 

After the ceremony was well over, Rebecca, Nancy, and Robin were back in their hotel room preparing for the prom dance that was to take place in a few hours. Nancy had insisted on making a big deal of the whole thing citing that this would only happen once and that it’s a milestone. Rebecca agreed and was excited. 

“So you and Steve? I thought you guys were just friends?” Nancy asked Robin as they all applied mud masks to their faces. 

“Oh, we are. This is not a romantic thing, like, at all. I just… I didn’t have a date and I didn’t want to go alone or as the only one not in a pair since you and Johnathan have been a thing and now Becca and Eddie are a thing… Not that Steve and I are a THING, but tonight we’re going together and I actually think it’ll be good for him to go to prom again because he always talks about how his prom was so boring and he was miserable because he wanted to go with… well he didn’t go with the girl he liked at the time,” Robin rambled. Rebecca raised a brow and concluded that Steve was not only a wonderful friend, but he desperately wanted to be back with Nancy. Rebecca felt bad for her brother and looked at Nancy, who seemed to also understand that Steve wasn’t over her. 

“Yeah, he… he mentioned something like that,” Nancy said and sat down. 

“What?! When? What exactly did he say?” Rebecca asked and sat next to Nancy with wide and intense eyes. If Steve had said something then that means Nancy had said something and the nosy side of Rebecca wanted to know. 

Nancy scoffed with her head cast down and a side smile. “He just… In the mobile home he told me about this nightmarish dream he has of having like six kids and traveling around with them.”

Robin sat down on the other side of Nancy and mirrored Rebecca’s expectant look. 

“And?” Robin encouraged. 

Nancy took a deep breath and then continued, “Later, in the Upside Down, he told me… he told me that he wanted me to be there with him in this fantasy. Like he wanted me to be his wife and mother of his kids.” 

“Wow… that’s basically a marriage proposal from Steve,” Rebecca said with a small laugh. 

“I know… I just… Johnathan is here and it’s just this weird transition for us and things are just complicated right now.” 

“Well, how do you feel about Steve? Compare that to how you feel about Johnathan, and you’ll have your answer,” Rebecca said recalling a time when Chrissy gave her the same advice when both Andy and Jason were planning on asking her out. Nancy thought for a moment and her eyes went wide. 

“I’m glad it was Steve with us in there, Robin,” Nancy said quietly. 

“Then I think you have your answer,” Robin told her and Rebecca smiled knowing how thrilled Steve would be knowing that Nancy returns his feelings. 

“Enough about me. How did you convince Eddie of all people to go to prom?” Nancy said with a shake of her head and looked at Rebecca. 

“He actually asked me, I didn’t have to do much. Like the day after I told him about it, he comes upstairs with those puppy dog eyes and a rose and asks if he can take me to prom,” Rebecca said recalling the hope in Eddie’s brown eyes and the pleading smile he wore when he was stood outside her bedroom. 

“You have that man wrapped around your finger,” Robin said with a dumbfounded look. “Are you two in a secret witch coven dedicated to enslaving men to their passion for you? You know I suspected that cheerleading might be a form of witchcraft,” Robin said. 

Rebecca and Nancy looked at each other in disbelief then laughed loudly. “You have no clue about men, do you?” Nancy said through giggles. 

“Well… no. Not really. I don’t think I’ve ever had a reason to or will ever, frankly,” Robin said with a shrug. Rebecca looked at her quizzically for a moment, then felt a wave of realization wash over her. Robin had no interest in men whatsoever and suddenly so much about her and Steve’s friendship made sense. 

“What do you mean? You’ll find a nice man one day. He’ll be lucky to have you” Nancy encouraged with a gentle squeeze to Robin’s hand. Rebecca raised a brow at Nancy and looked between her and Robin to gauge Robin’s comfort level. 

“Thanks, Nance. I’m okay without, though,” Robin said with a plain smile. Nancy looked concerned for a moment, but her face slowly faded into one of understanding. 

“Oh. Well… is there someone that you WOULD like to be with?” Nancy asked. 

“Promise not to tell?” Robin asked with an awkward smile. 

“Of course! You’ve been hanging around Steve too much, you need other opinions on your love life aide from his, you know,” Rebecca joked. 

Robin laughed lightly and said, “Her name is Vickie.”

“The redhead trumpet player?” Nancy asked. Rebecca was impressed that she knew what the school band members looked like. 

“Yeah. I guess her hair is more strawberry blonde than a true red, but… yeah,” Robin said with a twinkle in her eye. 

“Well we have to make sure that you look absolutely stunning so that she will get her head out of her ass and fall in love with you if she hasn’t already,” Nancy promised. 

“I know just the eyeshadow,” Rebecca said picturing Robin in a shimmery purple shade on her eyelids. 

The three had a jovial time getting ready together and Rebecca thought she’d do something slightly different with her makeup tonight. Her dress was a scarlet red with rhinestones along the v-neckline and straps. She had picked the dress out after seeing a few posters of Eddie’s favorite bands that he was looking at in a record store and while none of them were wearing dresses, she thought this dress resembled the style at least a little bit with a short and very full skirt with split chiffon short sleeves. She lined her eyes slightly thicker than she would for cheerleading and put on a bold red lipstick. 

“Wow, you look like a bombshell,” Nancy said when Rebecca stepped out of the bathroom. 

“Yeah, it’s different for you, but it looks fantastic,” Robin agreed. 

“You think Eddie will like it?” Rebecca asked with an insecure smile. 

“Oh yeah,” Robin assured. 

“Shall we, then?” Nancy said and motioned toward the door. Rebecca had deja vu from this morning as her mother once again demanded that she pose for pictures outside the door with Steve and her friends. Partway through the photo shoot, Rebecca saw Eddie step out of he and Wayne’s room wearing a full black suit, black dress shoes and his hair down and curls tamed to perfection to frame his face. Rings adorned his hands and in them was a small clear box that held a corsage comprised of a red rose and black ribbon. He turned around and their eyes met for a moment before he walked over to her.

“I got this for you, I hope you like it,” Eddie told her. “You, you look beautiful.”

Rebecca blushed and gently took the corsage from him and placed it on her wrist. “You look very handsome.”

The ballroom was decorated beautifully and captured the “Night Under the Stars” theme with twinkling lights and deep blue curtains. The room was full of music and many students dancing to the upbeat tune of a-ha’s “Take On Me” as the six of them entered the room. Steve pulled Robin onto the dance floor and Rebecca watched as Robin stumbled and awkwardly danced with Steve. 

“We’re going to go get our photos done, we’ll meet up with you in a bit!” Nancy said as she and Johnathan scurried off to the edge of the room where a photographer was taking pictures at a photo booth. 

Rebecca looked at Eddie with a small smile. His expression was one of slight discomfort if not also overwhelmed. Rebecca gripped his hand in hers and blocked his vision by standing in front of him. He could easily see over her, but his gaze met hers. 

“Are you okay?” she asked him. 

“Yeah, I just… I’m not used to this sort of, um… thing,” he said and held her hand. 

“You’ve never been to a dance?” Rebecca asked almost in shock. 

Eddie shrugged. “My friends have gone but I’ve never gone with them because of either grades or they had dates and I didn’t, or I couldn’t afford a suit.”

“Oh… Well, we’re going to have fun. You wanna dance?” Rebecca said. 

“How do you dance to this…?” Eddie asked with a brow raised.

Rebecca laughed. “Well how would you dance to anything? You move your body to the music.”

“Normally I just move my head, but this is very much not head banging music,” Eddie said. Rebecca rolled her eyes and shook her head, then pulled Eddie to the dance floor. The upbeat techno music mixed with the vocal range the singer has in the song produced a freeing and lighthearted energy in the room and Rebecca started to dance. She moved with the music and didn’t much care if her moves were smooth or anything, she just danced. She saw Eddie nod his head along with the beat and awkwardly wiggle his legs a little bit. Rebecca grabbed his hands and danced with him for the rest of the song and had him mirror her movements. The pair were laughing by the end of it as Eddie’s stiffness waned. 

“See? That was fun, wasn’t it?!” Rebecca said and another song started to play that Rebecca didn’t recognize. 

“Yeah, it was. Workout, though,” Eddie panted as he caught his breath. Rebecca smiled at him and they made their way to the refreshment table. 

“Eddie?!” a young male voice said from a few feet away from them at the punch table. Eddie’s head whipped around and Rebecca followed his gaze to see two boys that she recognized as part of Eddie’s friend group. 

“Jeff, Henry! Hey, guys,” Eddie said with a smile and went to pat them both on the back with a side hug. 

“We thought you were dead, man…” Jeff said with a relieved sigh. “And you walked the stage this morning but then we couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“That was so bad ass, flipping off Higgins like that,” Henry chuckled. 

“Oh, yeah, I ran like hell out of there,” Eddie laughed. The three shared in the laughter and Jeff’s gaze turned sour at seeing Rebecca standing closer to them. 

“What are you looking at?” Jeff demanded harshly. Rebecca raised her brow at him and was about to retort with an ego-bursting insult, but Eddie cut in. 

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that, okay?” Eddie defended. Rebecca’s lips twitched upward in a smile and he heart fluttered at Eddie placing his fingers on Jeff’s shoulder to push him away slightly. Jeff and Henry’s eyes went wide and they looked at Eddie in disbelief. 

“She’s one of THEM, Eddie. The dark side, remember?!” Henry said. 

“Well, not exactly. I, um… She’s my girlfriend,” Eddie said and beckoned Rebecca to his side. Rebecca allowed him to tuck her under his gentle embrace to his side as Jeff and Henry’s jaws nearly dropped to the floor. 

“Eddie, did you hit your head while running from the cops? Or during the Earthquake?” Henry asked. 

“Yeah, she’s Jason’s lackey,” Jeff said. 

“Not anymore. And Jason’s dead,” Rebecca told him. 

“I knew you thought she was hot all these years, but I didn’t think you two would actually get it on…” Jeff said with a shake of his head. 

Rebecca looked up at Eddie with a sly smile. Eddie gave Jeff a warning look, then Henry and Jeff shut their mouths purposefully. The music changed to a lower beat, and Rebecca recognized “Can’t Fight This Feeling”’s piano chords. 

“We’ll catch up later, guys. Wanna dance?” Eddie asked Rebecca with a soft smile. 

“Yeah,” Rebecca smiled. Eddie took her hand and led her to the dance floor. He glanced around the room nervously before gently placing his hands on her waist. Rebecca smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. They had never danced before, and Rebecca could sense how nervous Eddie was. She smiled and placed a hand on his cheek gently to draw his focus back to her. 

“Hey, don’t worry about anything. I’m here. I know this isn’t your usual scene, but I want you to have fun tonight,” Rebecca said. Eddie smiled and leaned his head into her hand with closed eyes. They swayed gently to the music and Rebecca felt the world around them slowly slip from her perception and she could only give Eddie her attention. 

“I am having fun,” Eddie told her after a beat. “I like being with you.” 

Rebecca smiled. “I’m glad.” 

“It’s true, what Jeff said… I had a big ass crush on you,” Eddie chuckled. 

Rebecca laughed with him and shook her head. “I’m glad you did. I think I might’ve, too, through the annoyance.” 

“Can’t promise I won’t still annoy you,” Eddie said. 

“I know. And I can’t promise I won’t annoy YOU,” Rebecca told him. Eddie scoffed and smirked. His face fell and he looked at her more seriously. 

“What are we going to do now?” Eddie asked. Given his tone, Rebecca knew he wasn’t just talking about tonight. 

“We can figure it out. We don’t have to worry about that right now,” Rebecca told him. 

“But I… I can’t keep kidding myself with this. I want you for… forever. I don’t want to lose you, and I know you have all these schools that are lucky to have you and shit, but if you don’t want me beyond this summer, I… my heart can’t take it,” Eddie said. 

Rebecca’s eyes went wide and she thought for a beat about her future and couldn’t imagine it without Eddie. 

“I’m not leaving you. Whatever ones our way, we can do it together. I love you, Eddie. That’s not a feeling that just… goes away. I love you,” Rebecca told him. “We’re you worried that I didn’t feel as strongly as you do?”

Eddie sheepishly nodded his head. “I’m not a guy that gets lucky often, and that luck doesn’t last for much. You here with me looking hot as shit and dancing with me, I had to assume that my luck was running out.” 

“Eddie, my love, we’re just getting started,” Rebecca assured him. She smiled up at him and he mirrored her expression. Slowly and carefully, Eddie leaned down and their lips gently pressed together as they swayed. Eddie’s passion was evident in the kiss and Rebecca took it to the next level by pressing herself against him with her hands on the sides of his face. His arms held her close to his body and the two didn’t separate until they were gasping for breath and held their foreheads together. 

“Stay with me. Please,” Eddie begged. 

“I promise,” Rebecca told him with a heartfelt smile. Their lips met once more in a less passionate but just as meaningful kiss as the song ended. 

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 6: The Lost Boy

Warnings: blood, violence

The ride from the field to Vecna's house was a silent one. Rebecca didn't know what to say after all that Eddie had confessed, she just knew that she had to let him know she felt the same. She couldn't do that in front of everyone though, not when Max was putting her life on the line to save Hawkins and the threat of the literal end of the world loomed over them. She was a part of the team, and she needed to keep up. She'd talk to Eddie later, once everything was settled, she'd talk to him and tell him that she loves him, too, and that he means everything to her. When Max, Erica, and Lucas got out of the vehicle, everyone wished them luck and Steve drove to the trailer park. By the time he found a secluded place to park, night had fallen and darkness surrounded them.

"Okay, are we ready?" Nancy said and strapped her sawed-off shotgun to her back.

"Yeah, let's go," Robin said and the six of them snuck off to Eddie's trailer. Rebecca was less apprehensive about entering it this time, but she still felt a sting behind her eyes at being so close to her best friend's murder site. Steve was the first inside and he looked back at the group after Eddie closed and locked the door.

"Good luck," Dustin told him.

"Thanks, buddy," Steve said and started to climb up the sheets. As he reached the threshold of the gate, he flipped over and landed on his feet. Rebecca smiled to herself because she knew that move--it was one she and Chrissy perfected for their cheer tryouts freshman year. They never named it, but it won them both top spots on the squad.  

"See, I DO teach you things," Rebecca called after him when he looked up at the group.

"Does he expect us to applaud?" Robin scoffed and muttered sarcastically.

"Right? I can do that, too, Steven," Rebecca joked. In another moment, Steve returned with the mattress from the Upside Down Eddie's room and placed it down.

"Alright, come on!" Steve called. One by one, Nancy, Robin, Eddie, Dustin, and Rebecca filed into the Upside Down. Robin gave Nancy a boost to get up the sheet rope faster, and when Nancy landed, Rebecca noticed that she and Steve shared a moment of gazing into each other's eyes. Rebecca looked at Robin, who had also noticed and they shared a smile. Rebecca wondered if anyone had noticed when she and Eddie shared moments like that. With a huff, Dustin threw the gear up into the Upside Down. Rebecca knelt down for Eddie  to use her knee as a booster after he helped Dustin climb through. He gave her a soft smile and thanked her with a nod as he climbed up the sheet. Rebecca then made her way through and remembered how much fun Eddie and Robin had said going through the gate was, and she had to admit, the sudden change from climbing to falling was jarring, but fun. When she landed on the mattress, Eddie helped her up and the pair held onto each other's hands for a moment.

"You okay?" Eddie murmured to her. She nodded and took in her surroundings The air felt different. It was similar to how she felt when Vecna was invading her mind, but here it felt more real. The swirling particles Dustin mentioned danced around the group and they all shared a look before Steve directed everyone outside. When she stepped outside, she saw a flash of red lightning and thunder boomed through the sky. She mindlessly walked down the steps when Eddie halted her movements at the bottom of the steps just before she stepped on a black vine beneath her feet.

"It's a hive mind in here. You step on one of these, you're stepping on , all the vines, the bats, even Vecna. Be careful," Eddie said. Rebecca nodded and swallowed hard. The Upside Down's light was limited, but she could see Eddie's compassionate gaze through it and paired with how he had tied his bandana over his curly hair, she had a hard time tearing her eyes away from him.

"Eddie, Dustin and Becca, barricade this shit up. You're going to be drawing them to you, we don't need demobats loose in Hawkins, okay?" Steve directed the trio. "And listen, if things here start to go south, I mean AT ALL, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats, keep them busy for a minute or two, we'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. I'm counting on you two to make sure she stays safe, got it? Not a scratch on my sister or you're both dead," Steve warned.

"We get it, Steve, we're decoys. Don't worry, you can be the hero..." Rebecca chided.

"Absolutely. I mean, look at us," Eddie said as he and Dustin shared a sarcastic and humorous look. "We are not heroes."

"Hey, Steve?" Rebecca said and stepped forward as Steve went to leave. Steve turned and looked at her. "Make him pay." Steve gave her a soft look and put a hand on her shoulder, then kissed her cheek quickly before walking away with Robin and Nancy to make their way toward the house. Dustin, Eddie, and Rebecca all looked at each other and got to work on boarding up the house with scraps from the surrounding houses. Dustin set up the drill and held it up.

"Gimme that. No power tools until you're 16 young man," Eddie scolded with a deep voice. Dustin's jaw dropped and he let go of the drill as Eddie took it. Rebecca admired how Eddie's ringed hand gripped the power tool and smiled to herself.

"You're just going to let him talk to me like that, Becca?" Dustin complained.

"Listen to your father, Dustin," Rebecca joked.

Dustin's face turned into an evil grin. "So that makes you my mom, then?"

Rebecca and Eddie said nothing and instead elected to start drilling the scraps in place to board up the house, taking precautions to not drill on the vines that covered the house. Once they had finished, the three went into the trailer again to double check for any holes the bats could get through. During the sweep, Rebecca and Eddie nearly ran into each other in the hallway.

"Oh, sorry," Eddie said and the two did an awkward dance trying to get around each other. Eddie put his hands on Rebecca's shoulders and moved them both around to face the other way. "There."

"Okay, it's all clear. I found your amp, let's get your guitar," Dustin said from next to them.

"Excellent," Rebecca said and they all headed toward Eddie's room.

"Now for the fun part," Eddie smiled and they entered his room. Directly across from them was rita, Eddie's beloved guitar, on display surrounded by vines with none of them touching her. Eddie's gaze landed on her and his expression was one of pure admiration and reverence.

"Wow," Dustin murmured.

"Jesus Chr..." Eddie whimpered. Dustin chuckled at Eddie's dramatics, but Rebecca knew that this was a serious moment for Eddie. He continued speaking, "It's like... she was destined for an alternate dimension."

Rebecca watched as Eddie reached his hand up and lifted the guitar off of the hook, his eyes still wide and a faint smile forming on his lips. The mirror behind the guitar showed the faces of all three in the reflection covered in dust, but the guitar was pristine. It felt as though Eddie's care and reverence for his instrument translated through time and space to care for this version of the guitar as well. Dustin gently grabbed the amplifier next to the dresser as Eddie spoke again.

"What do you say, Henderson, Becca? Are you guys ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world?" Eddie asked and looked at them both.

Dustin scoffed, "Is that a rhetorical question?"

Rebecca smiled at Eddie and he grinned as he used the strap to hoist Rita over his shoulder. The movement was quick, but done with purpose. Eddie's affect was one of a man with nothing to lose. He had done this a hundred times, but this one Rebecca felt was going to mean something. Eddie's expression as he looked over his instrument was one that was almost sad, like he might not ever see his guitar again after this.

"What song are you going to play?" Rebecca asked him.

"One that I've been working on nonstop for the past two weeks. Metallica's Master of Puppets, baby," Eddie said with a winning smile. Rebecca shrugged.

"I've not heard it," she said, which made Eddie smile wider.

"Then allow me to show you how to get to Neverland. With the best music in the world," Eddie said.

"I thought you flew to Neverland," Rebecca corrected. Eddie shook his head.

"Not in my world. In my world, you get there by shredding and getting lost in it. You'll see," Eddie explained and the three of them made their way onto the roof of the trailer.

After a few minutes, they were settled with Eddie standing and posing with his guitar and Dustin and Rebecca by the amplifier ready to plug in and turn it up to max volume.

"She's in, move on to phase three," Robin's voice said over the radio.

"Copy that, initiating phase three," Rebecca responded and looked at Eddie. "Melt some faces, lost boy."

"Let's hope they hear this," Dustin said and plugged the amp in. When the current was complete, a soft electric whine emitted from the amp's speaker, and Dustin turned a knob on it that made the feedback louder. He nodded to Eddie.

Eddie looked at Rebecca intensely and ripped the guitar pick off of his neck and positioned it so he was ready to play as his gaze met her eyes. "This is for you."

With a sharp yell, Eddie strummed on his guitar and the heavy metal chord echoed through the speaker. Eddie's intensity grew as he played the song. Rebecca remembered the other night when he was playing Rick's guitar--it was the same melody, but this one sounded even better. She watched as he not only played the guitar, but performed for her and Dustin. She understood what he meant about there being a reason Eddie was the frontman of his band, Corroded Coffin. Eddie was talented and his presence demanded an audience, and Rebecca was transfixed. She loved the way his hands played the notes and understood the terminology 'shredding' much better now. The melody played and was accented with thunderclaps and the red lightning as Eddie got more into his music. Dustin was bopping his head along with Eddie and the two headbanged in time with the purposeful chords. Rebecca was mesmerized and had her eyes so glued to Eddie that she almost forgot why they were there in the first place. She heard the distant screech of the bats and Eddie rested one of his feet on a vine as he continued to play. He shook his head and aimed his face to the red sky as if he was challenging Vecna to come at him with everything he could, Eddie wasn't scared. Eddie changed keys and Dustin looked with the binoculars for the bats.  

"We gotta lock down in t-minus thirty seconds!" Dustin yelled over the music. Eddie acknowledged him with a nod and continued to play with purpose. After Dustin's second warning of 20 seconds, Eddie ferociously played the riff and shredded into a portion of the song that was meant to be the guitarist's spotlight, Rebecca was sure. Rebecca noticed his concentrated face and he played the solo expertly with his fingers moving quickly across the strings and the pick moving in time with his other hand. Rebecca felt an overwhelming sense of happiness and was so impressed as she watched him play that she nearly started to cry. His voice echoed in her head, "This is for you" and she felt it.

The bats shrieked and swarmed closer to them, which made Dustin yell once again over the music, "Ten seconds!"

Eddie bared his teeth in concentration as he played the fast notes, and just in time, he finished the solo.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Dustin yelled. The bats started to swarm and Rebecca felt an ominous sense within her as they started to attack the house. The three of them hurried into the house and gasped for air as they were now out of danger.

"Dude..." Dustin began breathlessly. Eddie and Rebecca looked at him. "Most.. metal.. ever!"

Dustin and Eddie gripped onto each other and yelled in celebration as they jumped up and down. Rebecca laughed in relief and Eddie turned to her with a breathless and overjoyed smile.

"If you're going to kiss her, now would be the time to do it," Dustin said and he turned away from them with his hand covering his head. Rebecca's eyes went wide as she looked at Dustin and then her gaze went back to Eddie, who had just caught his breath.

"Fuck it all," Eddie murmured and in a swift movement, his hands were on either side of Rebecca's face and his lips were pressed firmly against hers in a deep, purposeful, and passionate kiss. Rebecca's body moved on its own as she pushed herself against him. She smoothed her hands over his face and tangled her fingers in his hair to deepen the kiss. She felt Eddie's grip on her become desperate, like he couldn't get close enough to her as they explored each other's mouths. Rebecca let out a soft whimper as she was overcome with emotion and she gripped onto him just as desperately.

Their kiss was interrupted by a loud crash from the side of the trailer. Their lips separated and the three of them looked around for where the bats were coming from.

"Shit, get by the exit," Rebecca said and they all stood back to back with weapons raised. They all stood quietly in the trailer with incandescent lights shining from Hawkins on them.

"Hey, dipshits! Give up that easy?!" Dustin screamed at the bats when the shaking of the trailer stopped.

"Sssh! Is that really necessary?" Eddie protested. There was a loud bang heard coming from the ceiling.

"They're on the roof..." Rebecca said quietly.

"Shit, shit, shit shit," Dustin swore under his breath.

The three of them aimed their weapons at the ceiling and followed the clatter to a small, circular vent that they hadn't boarded up.

"They can't get in through there, can they?" Dustin asked. A bat busted the opening and shrieked at the three of them. Rebecca swung at it and caught its mouth on the end of her bat. She swung down and bludgeoned it until it was nothing more than a bloody pulp on the floor while Dustin frantically stabbed at the incoming bats through the hole.

"Die! Die! Die! Die!" Dustin screamed with each jabbing motion. Rebecca probably would have laughed were she not so frightened. She grabbed one of the shields and handed it to Eddie, who smashed it into the vent and surrounding ceiling. The three of them took a deep breath and looked at each other.

"Holy shit," Eddie said through pants.

"Nice," Dustin congratulated.

"Thanks," Eddie said and the two of them high-fived.

"Are there any other vents?" Dustin asked.

"Shit," Rebecca said and the three scrambled through the house again and into Eddie's room where they were just in time to see the swarm emerge from Eddie's floor vent. Rebecca grabbed Eddie's shield through the bats and slammed the vent shut with it while swinging and killing two others with her barbed wire and nail bat. Eddie and Dustin double-teamed the four remaining bats in the trailer and the three of them escaped the room after Eddie pulled Rebecca out and slammed the door. The three of them backed away from the door, and Rebecca saw that the wood was beginning to splinter.

"That's not going to hold!" Dustin said.

"Let's go!" Eddie screamed. Rebecca and Eddie pushed Dustin up and he climbed through the gate.

"Here, I'll boost you," Eddie said and knelt down with his hands cupped and braced for her shoe. She nodded and gripped the rope, then climbed quickly with the help of Eddie back through the gate. She righted herself and shouted to Eddie after she fell onto the mattress.

"Come on, I'll pull you through," Rebecca said and she reached her hand up. Eddie tossed his spear aside and gripped the rope. Rebecca watched as he looked at the door, then slowly back up at the gate.

“Eddie, come on!!” she screamed. He started to climb the rope after a second as Dustin continued to encourage him and Rebecca reached for him.

“Eddie, you’re so close, come on!” Dustin yelled. Rebecca watched Eddie look at the door again, then back up at her with a somber and decisive look.

“Eddie… Eddie, no,” Rebecca told him. “Stick to the plan, Eddie!”

“I love you,” he told her tenderly and grabbed the spear. Despite her and Dustin’s desperate pleas, Eddie quickly cut the rope. Both ends fell to either side of the gate and Dustin began to panic. With one last look, Eddie grabbed his spear and ran toward the door.

“Fucking EDWARD MUNSON, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” Rebecca screamed. She looked around and thinking quickly, she grabbed Dustin’s shoulders.

“Dustin! I need you to help me. I need you to boost me through the gate, okay? Can you do that?” Dustin was panicked and he nodded through tears.

Rebecca instructed him to kneel down and when she jumped, to lift his hands. They lined up with the gate’s entrance and Rebecca got in position.

“Try to make the chain longer so we can climb back through,” Rebecca said. On three, she was launched into the air and as soon as she felt herself start to fall, she flipped and landed on her feet in the Upside Down. She felt excruciating pain in her right ankle as her bat had fallen out of her grasp and run along her leg. She made sure she wasn’t going to bleed out immediately and picked the bat up as she ran out the door of the trailer. On her way out, she saw that the door to Eddie's room ahd been obliterated, but no bats were to be found.

She burst through the door and looked for any sign of Eddie. She looked out into the street and saw a swarm of bats at the end of the block circling around Eddie as he yelled and challenged them with his arms open.

"Eddie, get out of there!" Rebecca screamed at him as she ran toward the swarm.As she ran toward them, the bats started to attack him relentlessly and Rebecca couldn’t move fast enough. Rebecca saw Eddie get a few good hits in, but by the time Rebecca had gotten to him, Eddie was pulled and pinned to the ground by five bats, one at each limb and one at his neck with several others beginning to chew into his flesh at various parts of his body. Eddie's agonized scream was enough for Rebecca to will her body next to him and come to his defense. Rebecca swung her bat and repelled the bats that were trying to eat his abdomen, then smashed the ones holding his neck and arms. Rebecca continued to defend Eddie from bats  attacking Eddie as he kicked the creatures from his feet off. OInce he regained control of his body, he grabbed his spear again. He also had gathered one of the shields from the trailer vents and used it to defend attacks from the front.

Suddenly, with a terrible scream, the bats fell to the ground around the pair. They dropped from the sky and their bodies surrounded Rebecca and Eddie, who looked at each other in cautious delight and confusion.

“Are… are they dead? Did they do it?” Eddie asked while panting to catch his breath.  

“Looks like it… Let’s get out of here before they wake back up,” Rebecca said and the two of them started to make their way back to the trailer as quickly as possible. They were a little more than halfway down the block before Rebecca heard a defeated sigh from Eddie.

“Oh, shit..” Rebecca heard Eddie gasp out and he fell to his knees next to her.

“Hey, hey, hey… No, come on, Eddie, we gotta go,” Rebecca pleaded and slid on the ground to him. He moved from supporting himself on his hands and knees to on his back with a soft thud, but Rebecca was able to catch him and support his head and chest in her lap. She looked at his face—it was dirty with a small amount of blood from his nose and his eyes were damp with tears.

“I just need to lie here for a second, I think,” Eddie choked out. Rebecca looked over his body and saw the injuries had taken a toll on him. He had bite marks along his stomach and chest with a few on his legs that all appeared to be slowly but steadily oozing.

“Come on, Eddie, we gotta get you to a hospital. I need you to get up, baby, come on,” Rebecca breathed out as her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m glad that… At least I finally got that kiss,” Eddie breathed out weakly and looked up at her with a smile. Rebecca let out a small sob as she smiled back at him and held his face in her hands. Eddie wasn’t going to get up on his own, and she couldn’t carry him herself. She put a hand to the side of his face and let a few tears fall as she weakly tried to stop the bleeding from his side wound.

“Hey! HEY!” Rebecca heard Dustin’s voice call desperately. Rebecca felt like she could fly she was so happy to see Dustin. He was limping, but he was making his way toward them.

“DUSTIN! He’s over here, he needs a hospital!” Rebecca yelled.

“Little shit couldn’t let me die, could he?” Eddie gasped out.

“Not on our watch,” Rebecca said. Eddie smiled faintly as Dustin approached and the two managed to get Eddie supported by his arms over their shoulders. Eddie’s head flopped to the side and landed on Rebecca’s shoulder. She and Dustin pulled Eddie back to the gate where a long, thick rope was hanging through.

“How are we going to get him up there, he’s almost unconscious,” Rebecca panicked.

“I called an ambulance before I came in, they should be here,” Dustin said and cheered in delight when he looked up to find about four EMS personnel were looking up in confusion.

“Make sure he stays on me, okay? I’m going to climb through,” Rebecca said and moved to wrap Eddie’s arms around her like a backpack. Dustin helped to alleviate some of the weight by pushing up on Eddie, but Rebecca had to carry most of him. When she reached the threshold, a large, burly man pulled Eddie off of her and she fell onto the mattress below. She rolled off the mattress in time for Dustin to fall next to her. She rushed over to where Eddie was being placed onto a bed  and was already hooked up to a bag of fluids and an oxygen mask. The bandage materials seemed to be at least slowing the bleeding from his wounds. It was hard to see Eddie like that, but it was worse to see him slowly bleed out.

“You guys aren’t from Hawkins,” Dustin said curiously.

“No, honey, we’re from Indianapolis. Disaster relief,” one of the men said that was assessing Dustin.

“Wait, where are you taking him?!” Rebecca asked as Eddie was starting to be loaded up into the ambulance.

“The main hospital to stabilize, then transfer probably,” one of the EMS men said.

“I’m coming, too,” Rebecca said and stepped up into the truck.

They didn’t fight with her, but the one assessing Dustin wouldn’t allow him to get up, claiming something about a possible broken bone. Rebecca nodded to Dustin and he nodded back at her with an unspoken promise to make sure Eddie pulled through. The door shut and the sirens blared as the people in the truck were looking at the monitors they had Eddie hooke dup to and talking about them. Rebecca sat right next to Eddie and he was so close that she could touch him, but it was more important that the medical staff be able to move in the way they needed to within the cramped truck.

“Is he going to be okay?” Rebecca whimpered out.

“I think we got to him just in time, but he lost a lot of blood,” one of the females said. “Was this an animal attack? When earthquakes happen, a lot of the time animals get real spooked and attack people.”

“Something like that, yeah…” Rebecca responded.

“We’ll give him the rabies shot just in case."

Rebecca's attention was pulled by Eddie's groan. She rushed to his side and he was looking at her with tired and worn eyes. His hand weakly reached for her and she took it gently.

"I'm here, Ed. You're going to be okay," Rebecca told him and clasped his hand in both of hers.

"T-take this," he stammered out. "Please."

Rebecca felt a small chain and plastic triangle attached in his hand. She looked down and saw that Eddie was still holding onto his guitar pick. She looked back up and him as she held it close.

"It's my acorn," Eddie smirked. Rebecca smiled tenderly and held it in her hand with his hands. Eddie slipped in and out of consciousness throughout the short ride to the hospital and Rebecca was surprised that  she could answer almost every fact about him; his full name, his birthdate, his medicatons and medical history were all things that she knew about Eddie.

"Okay Miss Harrington, we'll take him in and once he's admitted then we'll give you the room number, okay? Go ahead and call anyone else who would need to know about him," the woman EMS told her and she took Eddie into the hospital.

Rebecca stepped out and looked around. There were several tents set up outside and the hospital that read "DISASTER  RELIEF" in red letters with nearly the entire town in attendance. When she stepped inside the hospital, it looked to be overrun at the moment. She saw Eddie get rushed into a back room after a couple people looked at him and she clutched the guitar pick. She wondered why so many people were at the hospital and what exactly had happened while she was in the Upside Down. She didn't want to leave Eddie, but she had to let Wayne know his nephew was found and alive for now.

"Rebecca!" she heard Steve's voice call from behind her. She turned around and saw Steve, Nancy, Robin, Lucas, and Erica all standing there with forlorn faces. Rebecca ran over to them and hugged Steve.

"What happened, where's Dustin? Where's Eddie?" Steve asked.

"Eddie went... he got.. he's back there and they're looking at him... he lost so much blood," Rebecca gasped out through sobs.

"Oh shit, I told him not to be a hero," Steve grumbled.

"What about Dustin?" Nancy asked.

"We left him at the trailer. The paramedic said he might have a broken leg, but he's okay," Rebecca managed to say.

"Okay, he'll end up here eventually, we just have to wait for him," Erica said.

"Where's Max?" Rebecca asked when she noticed the foul-mouthed redhead nowhere in sight. The group shifted uncomfortably and Lucas walked away.

"Her heart stopped for a minute... That's how Vecna was able to open up all his gates," Steve told her. Rebecca gasped and covered her mouth in shock.

"So where is Vecna now?" she asked. Nancy shrugged.

"He was on fire and fell through the window, but when we went down, he was gone," Nancy said.

"So what I'm hearing is you missed. How the hell are we going to prove Eddie's innocence, then?!" Rebecca seethed at Nancy. Nancy looked taken aback and Steve pulled Rebecca away from her.

"Hey, that's not helpful, okay? She didn't miss, she shot him like 3 times," Steve said.

"In the head?" Rebecca asked.

"Well... no, in the stomach," Steve said. Rebecca took a deep breath and looked at Nancy, whose expression was guilty and unsure.  

"I'm sorry. Do you have any idea where he might be?" she asked. Nancy relaxed and shook her head.

"No, but... Max died for a full minute and her heart just started up again... that doesn't make any sense unless--" Nancy said.

"Eleven was there. Somehow, El has to have something to do with Max's survival, I know it," Lucas said.

"Munson," a nurse called out and Rebecca's head whipped around and made a beeline for her.

"What happened, is he okay?" she asked.

"He's going to surgery now to flush out his wounds and we'll put him in room six when he's done. You can wait there," she said in a hurried tone. Rebecca nodded.

"I'll come with you, the rest of you guys can wait for and update on Max and Dustin," Robin said.

Steve looked at Rebecca and nodded with an encouraging smile as they separated. Rebecca felt like she was sitting in the room for hours. In the time that she had been waiting for Eddie, she had tried about three different avenues to contact Wayne, but no such luck. She looked out the window of the room to see the town in shambles with dark clouds covering the sky. She wondered if those were Vecna’s doing or not, but she wasn’t too concerned. Robin turned on the small TV in the room and a burley news anchor was standing in front of the town’s main hall that had crumbled. It was nearly midday now and reports of fatalities were coming in. They moved on to missing people, and out of the pictures Rebecca spotted Jason’s yearbook photo and her heart sank. She didn’t have any romantic feeling for him now, but she still cared about him. She wondered if he was truly missing or if the vision of his body vaporizing Vecna showed her had been his fate. She shuddered at the thought and took a deep breath. Robin looked at her and smiled encouragingly before a bed rolled in with fluids and monitors following behind with three people. Rebecca looked and saw Eddie’s state on the hospital bed. It looked like they had cleaned him up from head to toe apart from his hair, which was wild and unkempt around his face. He appeared to be sleeping and was still on oxygen, but his wounds were bandaged and he looked to be recovering.

“Are you two related to him?” a man in a white coat asked.

“Um, well, his relatives aren’t quite here yet,” Rebecca started.

“She’s his girlfriend and I’m just a friend,” Robin clarified with a winning smile. Rebecca blushed and nodded at the prospect of being called Eddie’s girlfriend. They had kissed and he professed his feelings to her, but she had yet to do the same.

“Well, in that case, Eddie’s going to be okay. We were able to get his blood pressure up with just fluids and we stopped the bleeding. Those were some pretty nasty bites, so we gave him the rabies shot as a precaution. I won’t be able to print you off any official papers, so you’ll have to remember that once he’s out of our care, he’ll need some stitches out in 2 weeks, okay?” the doctor said to Rebecca.

“Two weeks, got it. When will he wake up?” she asked. “And when can he go home?”

“Waking up probably within the hour. Going home might prove a bit more challenging given the state the town’s in, but he should be out of our care sometime either tonight or tomorrow,” the doctor said.

“Thank you,” Rebecca said and looked at Eddie as the doctor left the room. His face was surrounded by his wild curls and Rebecca went to stroke his face gently. At her touch, Eddie’s eyes fluttered open and he looked at her with tired eyes and a small smile beneath the mask.

“Eddie,” Rebecca breathed out and took his hand in hers.

“Hey,” he croaked out.

“H-How are you? Are you in pain?” Rebecca asked with tears in her eyes.

“No, no, I’m okay. Don’t cry, princess, I’m okay,” Eddie said and used his thumb to wipe her tears away.

“Holy shit, Eddie,” Robin gasped out after seeing the damage the bats did to him.

“That bad, huh?” Eddie said and glanced at her. Rebecca and Eddie’s hands were laced together and Rebecca held onto him.

“I’m really glad they gave you the rabies vaccine. That’s one of my biggest fears is rabies,” Robin rambled.

“Eddie?” Dustin’s voice said from the door. Eddie went to sit up, but Rebecca and Robin worked together to make the bed upright rather than flat and Eddie smiled at Dustin.

“Dustin,” he said. Dustin’s sobs were quieted by hugging Eddie and burying his face in the older boy’s shoulder. Eddie hugged him back and patted his head full of curls.

“I’m okay,” Eddie said again and looked at Rebecca briefly before letting Dustin go.

“What did the doctors say, Dustin?” Rebecca asked and hugged him.

“Nothing’s broken, so I’ll just be limping for a bit,” he said with a smile.

“Did you catch up with the others? See how Max was doing?” Robin asked worriedly.

Dustin’s face fell. “Yeah… she’s in a coma. Lucas is devastated.”

“Shit,” Eddie swore. “What about Vecna?”

“He got away,” Robin said with a sigh. Eddie nodded and hung his head slightly.

“So it’s only a matter of time before the cops take me,” Eddie said. “Or worse, Jason and his angry mob find me.”

“I doubt it in all of this chaos. Natural disasters tend to take precedence over bullshit rumors,” Robin mused. Rebecca smiled and sat next to Eddie’s bed and held his hand. He smiled at her and rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb gently.

“I’ll uh… Dustin, why don’t we go and check on the rest of our group with Max and let them know Eddie’s fine, hm?” Robin suggested.

“Hm?” Dustin asked, then looked at Rebecca and Eddie’s hands, then back at Robin and smiled. “You know, I could really go for a coffee, too.”

“Absolutely not, you do not need that,” Robin protested as the two of them walked out of the room.

After a silence, Rebecca was the first to speak. “You know, you never really gave me a chance to respond.”

Eddie raised a brow at her. “Respond to what?”

“Ed, you told me you love me. Twice,” Rebecca said. “And I… I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t have to. I didn’t expect you to, either. Like I said, I just needed you to hear it from me how I felt,” Eddie said.

“Well now I need you to hear how I feel. And… I love you, too, Eddie,” Rebecca told him and bit her lower lip. Her cheeks were hot and flushed as she looked at him, and he smiled widely.

“I’m glad,” he breathed out.

“No more self-sacrifice, okay?” Rebecca told him. Eddie chuckled and nodded.

“Sure thing, princess.”

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 5: The Walk into Mordor

Warnings: mentions of guns, violence, grief

The group listened intently as Rebecca told them the horrors she had just witnessed. She told them, tearfully, the images Vecna put into her mind and the threat that he placed onto Hawkins.

“Okay, but… he’s just trying to scare you, Becca. Right? I mean, it’s not real,” Steve reasoned. Eddie put a reassuring hand on hers as they sat together on the couch in Max’s trailer.

“Not yet anyway,” Nancy said. “Was there anything else? Anything that could give us a clue as to what he’s planning?”

Rebecca thought back to the images and the only thing that came to mind was the gates. She hadn’t mentioned them yet, they seemed insignificant compared to the gruesome imagery of her loved ones’ deaths.

“Four gates. They looked like the one outside Eddie’s trailer, but.. they connected. They didn’t stay a single hole, they grew. They ripped across town, our town,” Rebecca whimpered out.

The room was silent for a moment until Max spoke up.

“Four chimes. Vecna’s clock chimes four times exactly,” Max said.

“I heard them too…” Rebecca said. The room fell silent and Max's posture shifted to one of reluctant confidence as she looked with wide eyes to her friends. A chill went down Rebecca's spine as a realization came over her.

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time," Max said.

"Four kills... four gates," Lucas said ominously. "End of the world."

"If that's true... he's only one kill away," Dustin said with a worried look toward Max.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Eddie swore under his breath. His face fell to his hands and his hair was a mess from pulling on it. "Jesus Christ!"

"Try calling the Byers," Steve said to Max. The images of Vecna's message swirled in Rebecca's head and  the complete story of Vecna's true identity resonated within her as she looked out the window. She was shown her worst fears and the end of Hawkins at a minimum and felt completely helpless to stop it. She drowned out Max, Steve, and Dustin's squabbling over the phone call that wouldn't go through to their friend with superpowers in California.

"Whatever is happening in Lenora is connected to all of this, I'm sure of it," Nancy said. "But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead."

Rebecca looked at Nancy with wild eyes and quizzical brows. "Are you insane?" she asked.

"We can get weapons this time, we'll be prepared," Nancy offered.

"I'm sorry, what are we talking about?" Steve asked.

"Nancy thinks it would be the smartest idea to go back into the Upside Down and kill Vecna," Rebecca said as she looked at her brother. Nearly everyone in the room erupted in protest.

"The only reason Becca survived is because he wanted her to. He's not scared of us," Steve said as he stood up and confronted Nancy.

"And for good reason! We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?" Robin stood up frantically.

"One," said Dustin.

"Vecna," Erica said.

"One," Lucas decided.

"Henry," said Nancy.

"Right. We've learned something new about Henry/Vecna/One. He's a number, just like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with the snap of his fingers, it's not a fair fight," Robin pleaded with her panicked words accented with hand gestures.

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin suggested.

"Why fight at all," Eddie smiled sarcastically.

"Ignoring that very helpful interjection, you're right, Robin. He's just like Eleven, but that gives US an upper hand," Dustin said. "We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses."

"What do you mean? Like he has a trick knee or something?" Rebecca asked.

"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna," Dustin suggested.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic," Lucas gasped.

"Exactly! When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless," Dustin grinned.

"Defenseless? Yeah, what about the army of bats?" Steve asked, gesturing to his neck wounds Rebecca assumed were from the last encounter he had in the Upside Down.

"That's true, we'll have to get past them somehow," Dustin shrugged. "But once they're gone, it'll be like slaying Dracula while he's asleep in his coffin."

"That sounds great in theory, but we have no idea when Vecna's going to attack next. There's no pattern to his killings and we don't even know who he's going to attack next," Robin said.

"Yeah we do. Me. I'm still cursed, and I bet you the minute Kate Bush goes away, he'll come after me," Max said solemnly "I can still feel him." The room fell silent for a moment as the weight of Max using herself as the bait weighed on them heavily.

"We can find a different way. I mean, he knows who I am, I might be cursed, too," Rebecca offered with a shrug. Eddie's eyes went wide and his gaze bored into her with sickening worry.

"No, it's... it's gotta be me," Max said and smiled at Rebecca slightly. "Thanks, though."

"Max, he'll kill you," Lucas pleaded. "You can't."

"I survived before. I can survive again," Max told him. "I need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off, stab him in the heart, blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up, just whatever you do to put this asshole in his grave, try not to miss."

"Then we can drag his body out of the Upside Down and blame him for everything," Rebecca said. The room went silent for a moment as everyone seemed to quietly agree that this was the best option without Eleven's help.

"And how do we start this, exactly?" Eddie asked.

"You said everything is a hive mind in the Upside Down, right? Does that include sound?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, in theory," Dustin said.

"Eddie, you have an amp and a guitar, right? What are the chances you could make a really loud, constant noise to distract the bats long enough for someone to go in and deal with Vecna?" Rebecca suggested. Eddie's face lit up and his lips turned into a smirk.

"I'll melt the faces off those bats," he said.

"That still leaves weapons, though. Protection for everyone going in," Nancy said.

"Check this out," Eddie said and grabbed a newspaper off of the coffee table. The group gathered around Eddie as he spoke. "The War Zone. I've been there once, it's huge." He had a nervous smile on his face and looked at the group.

"They've got everything you need for, uh... Well, killing things, basically."

"Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns in there?" Robin asked in reference to the illustration on the advertisement. "Is that a grenade? How is any of this legal?"

"Luckily for us, it is," Rebecca said.

"This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we might be able to avoid cops and, uh..." Eddie began and looked around the group when his eyes landed on Rebecca.

"Angry hicks?" Rebecca suggested.

"Angry hicks," Eddie confirmed.

"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone?" Erica suggested.

"Normally I'd agree, but we need the weapons, so I think it's worth the risk," Nancy said.

"Me too," Lucas sighed. "If nothing else, we can make some stuff and fashion it out in the field over there."

"But is it worth the time? It'll take all day to bike there and back," Dustin said. "Not to mention assembly time."

"Who said anything about bikes?" Eddie said and stood up slightly. Rebecca's brow raised as she remembered very vividly the night they tossed Eddie's van into the lake.

"You got some kind of car we don't know about?" Rebecca asked him.

"It's not exactly a car, Becca.  And it's not exactly mine, but... it'll do," Eddie said as he looked at the group and bit back a smile.

"Oh no," Rebecca sighed out to herself and hung her head. Eddie then looked at Max and asked if she had a ski mask or a bandana.

"Eddie, if you look in your back right pocket, you may find what you're looking for," Rebecca suggested, noticing the back cloth hanging out. She wasn't trying to check Eddie's back end out, but her eyes happened to wander over to him and he turned just as she was moving her gaze away.

"Oh, no, sweetheart, this is not for covering my face, okay? Uh... Performance only," Eddie winked at her after accenting how he said 'performance' suggestively.

"I've got this," Max said and held up a Michael Myers mask that Rebecca had seen around Halloween time.

"Great!" Eddie said. After a small search around Max's place, he wordlessly wrapped a pouch of tools together that included pliers, a couple hammers, and a screwdriver. When he was finished, he smiled at Rebecca and put the mask on, then beckoned everyone to follow him. Rebecca was accustomed to sneaking around with Eddie and the two of them led the group around the trailer park until Eddie found an open window on his neighbors' mobile home and climbed in. Rebecca followed him and he helped her into the back seat after he took his mask off, then headed toward the front of the vehicle and worked on the wiring that was under the steering wheel with a tool in his mouth. Rebecca locked the front door and watched him work and concentrate. She felt a small pit in her stomach fill with butterflies as his face twisted in concentration while he worked on the exposed wires of the vehicle.

"Where did you learn how to do this?" Rebecca asked him softly.

"Well, the couple of things my old taught me before he died included, but isn't limited to, teaching me how to hot-wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now... I'm wanted for murder and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name," Eddie chuckled as he held the wires and started sparking the live parts together.

"Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving," Steve said from behind the pair.

"Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Uh-uh, you've got her. Don't you, big boy?" Eddie teased with a devilish grin and sparked the wires together until the engine roared to life. Eddie gripped Rebecca's hand and let Steve sit in the driver's seat as music blared through the speakers and chaos in the vehicle erupted.

"Shit! Go," Steve said and Eddie pulled Rebecca to the middle part of the mobile home. The kids and Robin hunkered down at various spots in the vehicle while Rebecca and Eddie sat in the booth that was a makeshift kitchen. Nancy took the passenger's seat.

"Everyone hang onto something!" Steve yelled over the music and yelling from the owners of the vehicle.

"STEVE, DRIVE!" Dustin screamed as the scrambling continued. With a jerk, the mobile home lunged forward and Rebecca gripped onto Eddie's torso to avoid being launched over the small table. Eddie cackled and started to move his head up and down to the music as he draped an arm around her securely.

"They look pissed," Dustin said to Max, who was sat next to him at the back.

"It's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop," Robin responded.

"Hold on, hold on!" Steve said and before Rebecca could hold on, she was flung to the other side of the room, but before she could hit the wall, Eddie caught her with one arm wrapped around her, holding her close, and the other was holding onto a metal bar above them. Rebecca's heart fluttered as he looked down at her with a wide grin and the road became smoother as Steve headed out of the trailer park.

"You okay?" Eddie asked her lowly.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm great," Rebecca said. Steve turned the music off from the driver's seat.

"She's fine. Let her go," Steve grumbled and Eddie's face fell as he let go of Rebecca. Rebecca let out a breath and laughed at the ridiculousness of the events that just transpired and sat next to Eddie in the booth.

"Well, none of this is okay," Rebecca said. "But are you? Okay, that is?" Eddie shrugged. "Yeah, for the most part, yeah. Are you? Are you hurt?" Eddie asked and looked her over.

"No, no, I'm fine. Thanks for saving me... again," Rebecca said, recalling the numbers of times Eddie has spared her from getting caught, injury, or otherwise danger over the past few days.

"My pleasure," Eddie said with a soft smile. Robin and Dustin were sat across from them, Erica behind, and Lucas and Max were sat all the way in the back. All except for the last two were sleeping or had their eyes closed. Rebecca noticed that up front Nancy and Steve were talking lowly and Steve had a look in his eyes and on his face that Rebecca had seen reserved only for Nancy. It sucked that she was still technically in a relationship with Johnathan Byers, who moved away after the mall fire last year. Rebecca now knew that was because the Byers had taken Eleven in as their own after Jim Hopper, her adoptive dad, had given his life to save the town from the Russian spies attempting to use the Upside Down to control America or something. She knew that Steve never really got over Nancy, and their breakup sent him into a sharp uptick in maturity. She suddenly wasn't so annoyed by him anymore and he took more of an interest in her being safe, and Rebecca ow knew why. He knew about the dangers Hawkins held and he was close to the center of them. Rebecca smiled to herself as she watched Steve and Nancy share looks of longing and fondness, and she thought about her own love life. When facing the end of the world, everything else was catastrophically low on her priority list, but seeing Steve and Nancy interact made her think about Jason and her last conversation with him. She wanted to end things then, but she couldn't, and she felt horribly guilty now for not. She decided not to worry about it right now and just focus on resting when she could.

"C'mere," Eddie whispered to her and wrapped his  jacket around her as his arms opened for her to lie her head on his chest. He was backed into the corner of the booth and Rebecca couldn't ignore how comfortable he looked. Giving in, she leaned against him and closed her eyes. His chest was warm and soft and she felt a hard piece of plastic attached to a metal ball chain that she hadn’t noticed before. She fiddled with it for a second and Eddie’s chest thrummed with a chuckle as he moved the guitar pick necklace out of her way. She felt his leather jacket drape over her followed by his arm keeping her steady as the mobile home rocked while Steve drove down the back roads. She felt Eddie's breathing become more steady the longer they were on the road and it lulled her into a twilight sleep against him. The jerks and turns of the mobile home felt farther and farther away as she relaxed into Eddie’s embrace, and soon she was in a world where only she and Eddie's breathing and soft hums existed. It was comfortable and warm, and she felt like she could stay there and hide from the world in Eddie's arms forever. She hadn't felt this before, not ever. It was a new sensation that she enjoyed. Of course, though, she was pulled back to reality when the van halted.

"So much for avoiding angry hicks," Robin said as she looked out the window and saw the parking lot full of cars. Through the mess of cars, Rebecca spotted a familiar one and her heart dropped.

"Um... Jason's here. Jason's car is right there. Eddie and I will stay here," Rebecca said in a slightly panicked tone.

"Good idea," Nancy said and the group quickly got out of the mobile home. Eddie and Rebecca ducked down and sat on the floor of the mobile home under the window so that no one could see them inside.

"Let's be fast," Rebecca heard Robin say outside the mobile home.

~*~

Steve walked through the army surplus store and picked out a new shirt and jacket. He changed into them quickly as to not draw attention to himself and blended into the crowd. He was still tender on his bat wounds, but the pain was starting to dull from the help of some medicine and first aid he got at Max's house. His mood was generally gentle after the conversation in the car with Nancy, and he found Robin by the kerosene.

"How many of these do you think we need?" she asked.

"Like five or six," Steve said and started to place them into the cart. He noticed Robin stop moving and her gaze was aimed across the way at a red-headed petite figure that Steve recognized as Robin's crush, Vickie. Steve smiled to himself and then leaned against the shelf as he looked at Robin. He challenged, then, "What are you going to do, Rob, just stand there and gawk at her?"

"Shut up," she snapped. She made a couple steps forward, but Vickie was then spooked by a man wearing a college letterman jacket and Steve felt Robin's heart shatter as the pair kissed. Steve felt bad for her, and he knew this was just a ruse. He had a feeling in his gut since Robin told him she liked Vickie that Vickie felt the same way. I mean, who else pauses Fast Times RIGHT when the boobs come out? People who like boobs. Steve's thoughts were overshadowed by Robin's poor, broken hearted face and she turned and ran from the scene with tears in her eyes.

"Robin! Robin!" Steve called after her, but she got away from him and took the cart of kerosene with her. Steve was looking through the knives and bullets section when he heard a sickly but familiar voice.

"Hey, can I see this real pretty .37, please?" Jason asked.

"Shit," Steve swore under his breath. Jason looked like hell. It was clear that he was in a constant state of near-tears and Steve almost felt bad for him.

"Steve? Steve, is that you?" Jason asked from a few feet away. Steve happened to see Nancy behind Jason and decided to engage so that she could buy the gun and ammo she needed to shoot Vecna. Besides, he wanted Nancy as far away from Jason as possible. He was the cause of the town's rioting anyway with his crackpot theories about D&D being a Satanist cult that Eddie started.

"Hey! Yeah, funny seeing you here," Steve said. He and Jason had very little in common and rarely talked. The extent of their similarities was their popularity in high school and their proximity to Rebecca.

"We're getting ready, you know. All of us," Jason said and gestured to the crowd at large that had sprinklings of basketball jackets throughout the store. "Where's Becca? Is she safe?"

"Yeah, she's, um, she's at home," Steve said. Jason looked at him with slightly squinted, red and puffy eyes.

"Where were you last night? When we found her by the lake, unconscious?" he asked with a broken voice. "My girl, alone out there and her brother was MIA."

"I was out there looking for her, man, don't get it twisted," Steve said when he sensed an underlying threat.

"I'm not. Just making sure that you know your place. But don't worry, Steve," Jason said with a smile and placed a hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve looked at Jason sourly. "You don't have to worry about protecting her anymore. I'll be there for her."

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm not too sure she wants you around anymore," Steve sneered as he remembered the image of Rebecca and Eddie cuddled up in the mobile home. "Especially now that you're leading an angry mob. Kind of freaked her out a little bit."

Jason's eyes went wide in shock and disbelief. "She's done with me?" He scoffed, "She'll thank me when I bring her that freak's head." Steve nodded and looked Jason up and down. "Stay away from my sister."

"She's mine, Steve. Like I said... you don't have to worry about her anymore. I'll protect her from anyone. Anyone," Jason threatened. Steve let out a breath and saw Nancy hurry out of the area. He let out a small, flat and curt smile to Jason/

"Good luck, buddy," Steve told him sarcastically. With a pat on his shoulder, Steve went to regroup with the others. He knew that Jason had no idea what he was up against, but he was still a threat. Steve worried that Jason might follow him, but by the time they had gotten their gear and paid, Jason and his lackeys were nowhere in sight.

~*~

"Hey thanks for keeping me company in here," Eddie said to Rebecca. She smiled and gently shoved him with her shoulder in a fluid, rocking motion. "Of course. Besides, I don't want to risk anyone seeing me, especially in this shirt. It'll get back to Jason and I'd rather not have to deal with that," she told him with a soft smile.

"Yeah, me too. It suits you, though, that shirt," Eddie said and his gaze shifted forward. Rebecca noticed his expression getting softer as his eyes wandered in thought.

"Thanks... What's on your mind?" she asked him. She felt like they’d known each other forever now, so she didn’t feel weird asking him and she hoped that he didn’t feel the need to hide anything from her.

"Just, uh... Just thinking about Wayne and how he's doing. I hope he's okay. He always had my back, I hope that us doing this means I have his," Eddie said. "But I'm still a Satanist murderer..."

"He still has your back, Ed. And he knows you're not a killer," Rebecca assured him. She shifted herself so that she could face him head-on rather than just looking to the side. Eddie hummed in response and mirrored her actions.

"You're right. I'm Peter Pan," Eddie grinned. Rebecca smiled and giggled at the continuation of the reference she had made. It was starting to become somewhat of an inside joke between them and Rebecca couldn’t have thought of a better one.

"Yes, you're Peter Pan," Rebecca agreed.

"Never did get that kiss, though, Wendy," Eddie smirked out as he looked at her with a soft expression and faint smile. Rebecca's ears went red and felt hot as her face softened. Of course she thought about kissing him, who wouldn't with his devilish features and his soft-looking lips.

Wordlessly, the mood shifted. Rebecca looked up at him and bit her lower lip slightly as the air surrounding them seemed to thicken and the tension between them grew. Eddie's face smoothed over from a mischievous grin to a look of tenderness and hope gleamed in his soft brown eyes. Rebecca wondered if he had always looked at her like that and if she was looking at him with the same eyes.

"I guess not," Rebecca said in a voice just above a whisper.

Eddie slowly moved closer to her by shifting his weight slightly forward. There was very little room in the cramped space they had chosen to hide, so any slight movement could have closed the space between them. Eddie seemed to be taking extra care and moving deliberately to make Rebecca the most comfortable. He leaned his head down in a cautious manner and gently placed his forehead against hers when she didn’t move out of the way. She felt his soft curls and the warmth of his skin against her and closed her eyes at the contact. They stayed like this for a moment with unspoken words, feelings, and fear hanging in the air above them. She heard her pulse in her ears and waited for his lips to connect with hers.

She felt his breath waft over her face and the plushness of his lips ghosted against hers. She felt the slightest touch of his lips on her trembling ones as he whispered, "Becca, I--”

"We've got to get out of here," Steve said after the door burst open, which sent Eddie and Rebecca flying away from each other. Dustin was next to enter the van and raised his eyebrows at the pair, who Rebecca was sure were not hiding the fact that they were about to kiss well. Rebecca's face was hot and her heart was still pounding as the rest of the group filed in with bags of weapons and tools. Dustin's face lit up in a grin as he sat across from Eddie and beamed at him. Eddie hid his face in his hands and his hair and Rebecca was looking the opposite direction for the duration of the ride to an open field where they could start assembling their weapons and gearing up.

"So we have enough kerosene and rags to make 5 Molotov cocktails and knives that we can attach to the ends of sticks to make spears," Robin said, looking at the inventory. When the mobile home stopped, Eddie picked through the living quarters and found a couple broom handles, a trash can lid and a baseball bat that Rebecca quickly called dibs on.

"What? I'm going to need a weapon," Rebecca shrugged.

"No, you're staying on the other side to make sure nothing happens," Steve said.

"It's so weird that you think that just because you're my brother you can boss me around. Remember the last time I stayed behind? Your ass got sucked into a gate. I'm coming with you this time, okay? He killed my friends," Rebecca reasoned.

Steve let out a defeated sigh and the group unloaded onto the field to start construction on the weapons.

Eddie, Dustin, and Rebecca all sat down in a secluded part of the field and started to hammer away at the trash can lids. They made them into shields with spikes for warding off the bats. Rebecca wrapped her baseball bat in barbed wire and secured it with two nails. She swung it a few times away from Eddie and Dustin to make sure she could hit something with it if need be.

"Whoah, that's going to really fuck something up," Eddie said with an impressed sigh.

"That's the goal," Rebecca said. Eddie finished hammering the last nail into his shield and held it up.

"How's it feel?" Dustin asked.

"Light, but durable," Eddie said and swung the lid around and thrusted it toward the sky. "Deadly, but reliable."

Dustin chuckled at Eddie's antics and Rebecca sat down across from Dustin as they both looked up in awe at Eddie. Eddie lifted his leg up and spoke in an epic, gruff, and theatrical voice.

"Hear me know... there will be no more retreating from Eddie the Banished!" he declared and his voice wavered back to his normal tone and pitch toward the end of his statement. Rebecca smiled and laughed with Dustin at Eddie's entertainment. Eddie smiled proudly and lowered the shield as he gripped the rim and looked onward.

Dustin stood up and spoke, "Hey, you're really ready for BAT-tle."

Eddie looked at Dustin plainly and Dustin let out a high-pitched chortle.

"Oh my god," Rebecca let out with an exasperated sigh and groan.

"You get it?" Dustin asked Eddie. Eddie played clueless as Dustin explained further. "Bat-tle. B-A-T. No? Ugh... I thought I had a good one."

Eddie placed his shield on the ground and then went to tackle Dustin. Dustin protested as Rebecca giggled at the two boys. She only had one brother, but she imagined this was how Steve would argue if they ad another brother. At seeing her laugh, Eddie seemed to egg Dustin on further. When Dustin came at him, he easily shoved the boy off of him and grappled with Dustin until finally they were both out of breath.

"Never change, Dustin Henderson. Promise me?" Eddie said in a heartfelt tone as he and Dustin held onto each other. Dustin seemed a little confused with Eddie's words, but Rebecca understood them completely. Her heart clenched and tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she watched the boys' interaction.

"I wasn't planning on it," Dustin told him with a confused smile.

"Good. Good," Eddie responded in a tone that threatened Dustin if he was lying. Rebecca watched the boys' proximity dissolve into Dustin asking Lucas and Erica how the spears were going. Eddie sat down next to Rebecca as Dustin walked away.

Rebecca watched as the leather jacket-clad man flopped down next to her for a short break before they geared up.

"You know, when you say things like that, it makes me think that you don't think you'll make it out of this," Rebecca told him with a worried expression. When she finished her sentence, she cast her eyes down at the ground. The thought of losing Eddie was soul destroying now. A week ago? She wouldn't have cared, but these past few days have felt like a lifetime. They knew everything about each other now and had been through hell. She felt for him on a deep level, and hearing his talk like that made her want to hold him close and never let him out of her sight.

"Well, it's a possibility," Eddie shrugged.

"No, it's not," Rebecca said defiantly and looked at him dead in the eyes. "It's not because I am not letting that happen to you. I'm not letting anything happen to you, okay? I've lost too many people I care about."

Eddie's expression went from one of confusion to one of cheeky confidence and his cheeks turned pink. "So, you're saying you care about me?" Eddie probed.

"I've.. come to consider you a very close friend," Rebecca said and looked at her bat as she felt her cheeks heat up.

"I consider you a very close friend, too," Eddie said with a smile that had a hint of disappointment behind it. He let his hand fall onto hers and Rebecca smiled shortly as their fingers danced together until they were interlocked. She looked at their joined hands and then up at Eddie, whose eyes shone in the same hopeful way that they did in the mobile home. "Maybe even more."

"Eddie, we can't... we can't talk about this right now," Rebecca told him. "I want to, believe me, I want to, but..."

"More important things," Eddie said.

"Yeah," Rebecca said and relaxed her hand in his.

"Becca, if I don't make it... If I don't make it out of there, I need you to do something for me, okay?" Eddie asked in a solemn voice.

"Out of the question, Eddie, you can do it yourself," Rebecca said and shook her head as he spoke.

"Please, just listen. I need you to tell Wayne that I'm sorry and that he's the best uncle and father there ever was and that I love him," Eddie told her with a gentle squeeze of her hand and an intense look in her eyes. "And I need YOU to know..."

"Eddie, stop, you can tell me la--"

"I love you. I always have, and I need you to know that before I die, and I needed you to hear it from me," Eddie spoke over her. "I know I, um, drove you nuts for years and everyone told you to stay away from me, and they were right, but I, uh... I  ache for you... in a way that I can't describe. Mostly because there's children here, but also because it completely transcends my vocabulary. You don't have to say anything, I just, um.. I needed you to know. In case I don't see tomorrow."

Rebecca was completely dumbstruck. Eddie's eyes were swimming with passion and tears as he confessed his feelings for her. Rebecca was frozen in shock and she wasn't able to move or even react. She sat there and listened as his voice echoed his confession in her head over and over. His hands held hers gently and the pads of his thumbs caressed the tops of her hands as he spoke. She wanted to scream at him, slap him, and kiss him all at the same time. Why would he say this to her now? Why couldn't she respond to him? Chrissy's words about everything falling into place made perfect sense to Rebecca now, but there was no way she could do anything about this. They were hours away from the fight of their lives in another dimension and here Eddie was, confessing the deepest feelings a person could have for another and Rebecca could only listen in shock.

Eddie smiled and let out a breath. His expression wasn't sad or heartbroken, he was... satisfied? Rebecca surmised that Eddie assumed she didn't return his feelings despite their moment in the mobile home and told her his feelings as a last wishes sort of testimony without expecting anything in return. Dustin walked back over and Eddie slowly let got of Rebecca's hands as the two boys picked up their shields and started to practice and play fight with them. Rebecca looked around and saw that nearly everyone had completed their projects and were starting to suit up into their protective gear. As the sun began to set, the group converged at the mobile home again and Nancy began to talk.

"Okay, so here is our plan. Lucas, Max, and Erica all go to Vecna's house in our Hawkins and wait until Me, Steve, and Robin are in the Upside Down at the playground. It is vital that you all remain quiet, we can't risk Vecna knowing we're there or he'll get wind of our plan," Nancy began.

"We've got notepads and markers for you guys to talk to each other," Robin said and handed the three notepads. "And take your shoes off when you walk around, the floors are creaky."

"Once we're in position, we begin phase one: Steve, Robin, and I will meet you, Erica, at the playground once you've located Vecna in the house. We're counting on him sensing Max's energy there by this point. Erica will then signal to Max and Lucas that we are ready to go into the house," Nancy instructed. Erica nodded.

"Phase two: Max baits Vecna. However you can draw him to you, keep him busy," Steve said with a worried look. "On to phase three: Eddie, Dustin and Becca draw the bats away from the house in the Upside Down."

Rebecca nodded and she, Eddie and Dustin shared a smile.

"Phase four: Robin, Steve, and I go in to the house and light Vecna up," Nancy said. "And when we're done, we drag his body back to the real Hawkins to clear Eddie's name."

The group nodded and Eddie hung his head. "Guys, don't worry about that."

"Shut up," Rebecca told him. "We're doing this, okay?"

"Yeah, don't be such a downer, dude. Once Vecna's dead, everything will be okay," Dustin said and patted Eddie on the back.

"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," Nancy declared forcefully. She continued in the same forceful tone, "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?"

"Got it," the group echoed.

"Let's go," Steve said and the group piled into the mobile home with weapons in hand.

“To Mordor,” Eddie sighed and stepped in. 

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 4: The Gate

Warnings: brief animal and infant torture, blood/gore, swearing

The Upside Down was even more daunting now than the last time Steve had been in it, and not because he had just wrangled a bunch of bats that were trying to kill him. Last time, it was tunnels and a huge flaming gate. Now? This was Hawkins, but… not. It wasn’t quite into the uncanny valley, but it was intimidating and downright creepy with minimal light and slimy vines everywhere. The pain from his bat bites was a feeling he was getting used to, and the fabric from Robin’s jacket helped ease the gross oozing feeling around his abdomen. The denim jacket he wore did very little for him, but it was good to have himself at least partly covered. Steve made extra sure not to step on any of the vines or even brush against them as he, Eddie, and Robin made their way through to the Wheeler’s house after Steve posited stealing Nancy’s guns to get back through the gate.

“Hey, Eddie… I just wanted to say thanks. For keeping Becca safe, and saving my ass back there,” Steve said lowly as Robin fell behind slightly and Steve led the way. Eddie looked slightly shocked.

“Well, shit, you saved your own ass, man. I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there,” Eddie commended.

“Ozzy?” Steve asked, confused at the reference.

“When you took a bite out of that bat? Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath?” Eddie pushed as Steve became more clueless the more Eddie spoke. “He bit a bat’s head off onstage.”

“I don’t— No,” Steve said, disgusted with the imagery.

Eddie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. it’s very metal, what you did. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Thanks,” Steve sighed. He and Eddie hadn’t gotten along ever and until a year ago, Steve was a year younger than Eddie in school. When they were in the same grade because Eddie got held back, he and Steve were in a lot of the same classes. They didn’t necessarily fight or argue, they just never ran in the same circle and Steve’s friends would often bully Eddie and his friend group. Thinking back on it now, Steve felt slightly bad for it, but he wasn’t sure how to express that to Eddie.

“As for Becca, she did a lot of the protecting herself. She’s not bad company, though,” Eddie said with a small smile. “We’ve actually got a fair few things in common. Aside from the shared trauma now, of course.”

Steve eyed Eddie suspiciously and asked, “You guys are friends now?”

“Well after you spend 72 hours straight with someone hiding from police after two people get murdered brutally right in front of you, that tends to happen,” Eddie shrugged with a smirk. “Don’t worry, Harrington, I’m not going to corrupt her or whatever you’re thinking. It’s cynical, but I do have a heart.”

“You know I spent years telling her to stay away from you because I didn’t want her getting mixed up with you or anything bad,” Steve chuckled. “I was a jerk.”

“Yeah and it ended up with us being very mixed up,” Eddie smirked. “You were a jerk.”

“I will say that pushing her down the slide in 5th grade didn’t earn you any points,” Steve reminisced, recalling their first interaction.

Eddie shrugged, ”Maybe I just had a little crush on her.”

Steve’s face dropped. He was fine with them being friends, but involved so intimately? That was something Steve was uncomfortable with to say the least.

“Relax, dude. It was just a joke,” Eddie chuckled with a hand on his shoulder. “But despite what you think, I do actually care about her.”

Over the past few days that felt like weeks, he had come to know Eddie through the eyes of the people who loved him, namely Dustin, and had decided Eddie wasn’t the terror he originally thought. Even so, he wasn’t thrilled with the thought of Eddie pining after his sister, even if he was just joking. Steve knew he didn’t have much control over his sister’s dating life, but she listened to him when he begged her to not go to homecoming with Andy and to go with Jason instead, she listened.

Steve was silent for a moment and then nodded as he thought aloud, “I’m glad she had someone through this all.”

“If you two hens are done clucking, I think we’ve arrived,” Robin said with a small smile as they approached the Upside Down version of the Wheelers’ house.

Suddenly, the ground shook and the trio stumbled and fell forward.

“This is my least favorite thing!” Robin declared loudly after the shaking stopped.

“Come on, let’s get those guns and get out,” Steve said and led them into the house.

“I still cannot believe that Nancy Wheeler has guns, plural, in her bedroom,” Eddie scoffed as they opened the door. Steve sent him an unamused look and they headed cautiously into the house. The familiar swirling dust surrounded them and Steve saw that the vines had nearly completely taken over the house.

“They need a maid,” Robin said as they all cautiously explored the entryway of the first floor of the house. Eddie chuckled in response.

Just as Steve started to make his way upstairs, he heard a faint voice echo from the dining room. Eddie and Robin walked up the stairs and started to explore Nancy’s room for the weapons. The voice got louder and Steve recognized it.

“Dustin! Dustin!” Steve called. He frantically searched through the first floor looking in all of the rooms and finally determining the voice was coming through the best in the kitchen. He started bellowing for his friend and after a few moments Eddie and Robin came running.

“Steve, what are you doing? Are we going to have to shoot you because you have rabies?” Robin asked in a panicked tone.

“He’s here. Henderson. That little shit, he’s here! He’s like… he’s in the walls or something, just listen,” Steve said frantically and called for Dustin again. He could hear him, he knew he could. Where the hell was this kid and how did he get here?

“Come on, guys, I hear him. He’s here somewhere,” Steve said.

“Dustin?” Eddie said and started looking in other rooms and behind curtains. Robin called half-heartedly and looked under a table for him. After a few minutes, no answer.

“Alright, either this kid can’t hear us, or he’s being a total douchebag,” Steve concluded. He shone his flashlight around the room and as he crossed it over the chandelier in the dining room, it illuminated with an orange glow from each bulb. It looked as though the fixture was halfway between the Upside Down and the real Hawkins.

“Guys… are you seeing this?” Steve asked.

“Do you think this is another gate?” Robin asked. “Like a teeny tiny bacteria sized gate?”

“No, this looks totally different… When Will disappeared and we went to fight that first monster at the Byers’ house, there were lights everywhere. Christmas lights,” Steve said.

“Vecna might not be the only one who can reach the other side through lights,” Eddie suggested and walked over to the lights. Cautiously, Steve watched as Eddie lifted his hand up toward the orange glow and the light became more intense as he got closer. Steve could hear Dustin’s voice again, but had no idea what he was saying.

“Do you feel anything?” Robin asked Eddie as he put his hand close to the light and his fingers were surrounded by swirling specks of light.

“It… it kinda feels good,” Eddie said with a small smile. Steve walked over and placed his hand next to Eddie’s in the light. Robin did the same.

“It tickles,” Steve said. Robin let out a laugh, then looked at them.

“Do either of you know Morse code?” she asked.

Steve shook his head and removed his hand from the light with Eddie as they looked at her.

Eddie paused for a moment and then asked, “Does ‘SOS’ count? That’s all I know.”

“It’s better than nothing. Morse code with lights is our best shot right now,” Robin said with a hopeful smile.

Eddie shrugged and lifted his hand again to flash the message. Steve couldn’t make out a pattern and wondered how Dustin would be able to, but he also knew Dustin was way smarter than him and probably could spot Morse code a mile away.

“Steve? Eddie, Robin, is that you?” Dustin’s voice rang clearly.

The three let out a relieved sigh and Steve smiled brightly.

“Uh, the lights stopped, does that mean yes? Okay, one flash for yes and two flashes for no, okay?” Dustin instructed. Eddie flashed the lights once and Steve heard Dustin sigh.

“Okay, we’re going to get Holly’s LiteBrite and meet you in Nancy’s room, okay?? Hang on!” Dustin said. Steve beamed at Robin and Eddie as the three of them shared a look of hope.

They raced back up to Nancy’s room and Steve’s jaw dropped with how trashed it was. He looked at Robin.

“Couldn’t find the guns, could you?” Steve verified.

“Nope,” Robin told him with a pop of her lips on the “p” sound.

“Great,” Steve said with a flat smirk. Suddenly, on the left side of Nancy’s bed, an orange glow appeared that was identical to the one seen in the dining room.

“Okay, you guys seeing this?” Dustin called. The three knelt down and Steve shrugged and placed his hand in the glowing mist and swirled the specks around.

Dustin's victorious cackle echoed in the room and he instructed them all to hang on while the device was unplugged. After a moment, he said to try again.

“Um… okay,” Steve said and let out a huff. He slowly wrote the word “hi” in the glowing specks.

“Hi!” Eddie accented with a determined tone and a quick lean on his foot after he and Robin high-fived behind Steve. After figuring out the word to tell Dustin that they were stuck, Dustin suggested they go through “Watergate”.

“Oh because it’s a gate and it’s under water,” Robin surmised. Steve and Eddie groaned at the lane pin and Steve definitively wrote the word “no” accented with a period.  After those letters faded, Steve then wrote that the gate was guarded. After jibberish about a theory he had, Dustin said that there was a gate at every murder site and the trio looked at each other for any clue.

“What?” Robin said, confused.

“Kid’s really got to get his ego in check, he’s going to lead us all over town at this rate,” Steve said, also not understanding what Dustin meant.

“It’s his tone, right?” Eddie agreed with a scrunched face.

“Yeah, I know,” Steve scoffed and sent a question mark. After a second, Steve heard Rebecca’s voice from the other side.

“Oh my god, just go to Eddie’s house, we will meet you there!” her voice echoed in an annoyed tone. At the sound of her voice, Eddie’s face dropped and he quickly took over from Steve and sent “OK” with a bit lower lip and soft look in his eyes.

Uh oh.

Steve had seen that look before, it was the same look Steve had whenever Nancy talked or moved, or did anything nowadays because he worried so much for her safety. Steve took a deep breath and decided that now was not the time to be the protective big brother and tell this man to stay away from his baby sister, now he needed to get out of here.

“How far away is your trailer?” Steve asked Eddie.

“Seven miles,” Eddie immediately answered.

“The Wheelers have bikes right? And there’s a shitload of them, they breed like bunnies, let’s use those!” Robin suggested.

“Gross,” Steve commented and the three of them headed toward the garage. They each found a bike and headed off to Eddie’s trailer. The ride was intimidating to say the least. They passed countless bats and even Vecna's house. It looked the same as it did in the real Hawkins, but the energy emanating from this house was of pure evil. Bats and red lightning swirled around the roof and the three nearly stopped in their tracks as the house's presence was so foreboding.

"Come on," Robin said and picked up the pace on her bike. Steve and Eddie followed her. Eddie led the way to his trailer once they entered the park and they ditched their bikes outside of the trailer.

"Gotta be a Guinness record, right? Most miles traveled interdimentionally," Robin said as she caught her breath from the frantic ride.

Steve breathed in and immediately started to cough and choke on one of the dark particles that he accidentally inhaled.

"Oh shit, just inhaled a bunch of that crap. It's stuck in my throat," Steve complained.

"Well let's get inside and see if that helps," Robin suggested. Eddie opened the door and they all walked inside to see a gaping hole in the ceiling that glowed red and accented with black veins--it was a gate.

"God damn," Eddie breathed out. "This is where Chrissy died. Like... RIGHT where she died." Eddie's voice was slightly broken as he spoke and Steve felt bad for him. Robin placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as they looked up at the intimidating fissure.  

"I think there's something in there," Robin said with a shaken voice.

Steve stepped slightly closer to the gate and saw that the fleshy membrane was being pushed by something narrow. The black veins wiggled away from the center where the protrusion was increasing.

"What the hell is that?" Eddie murmured.

Before Steve could investigate further, the membrane burst open, spreading material over the floor and there was now a gaping hole in the ceiling. From the hole was what appeared to be a broom handle that shook off the fleshy bits of the membrane off as it opened the hole further. When the opening stopped dripping, Steve took a deep breath and walked forward cautiously. He wasn't sure what he'd find on the other side, but he was grateful for Eddie's backup when he felt him creep closer at Steve's pace. When Steve got closer, he saw that some of the pieces of the gate seemed to be suspended the other direction toward the other side of the gate. He saw the familiar glow of normal incandescent light bulbs from a lamp and as he and Eddie approached the opening so they could stand under it, Steve heard Dustin's laugh again, but clearer this time. He saw Dustin, Lucas, Erica, and Max all looking into the gate.

"Hi," Dustin chuckled as he waved.

"Hi," Steve said with a simple grin.

~*~

Rebecca stopped for a moment outside the crime scene tape that littered the Munson trailer and felt a sinking feeling as images of Chrissy’s death invaded her mind. She watched as Nancy, Dustin, Lucas, Erica, and Max filed into the small trailer and she hesitated for a moment. She wanted to go in, but her feet wouldn't move. She just stood there, fixed on the trailer's entrance.

"Becca? Are you okay?" Nancy asked cautiously from a few feet in front of her.

"I... I can't go in," Rebecca stammered.

Nancy shooed Dustin and Lucas away as she got closer to Rebecca.

"It's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to," Nancy assured. Rebecca looked at her with tears in her eyes but willed them not to fall. "I know how terrible this must be, to be back here," Nancy continued. "When Barb died, I could barely look at her locker, or her seat in class... I don't think even now I'd be able to go to... Basically, I get it."

Rebecca looked at Nancy and was mildly comforted by her words. She hadn't watched Barb die, but she knew how terrible it was to be back in the place where you knew your best friend had taken their last breaths. Rebecca appreciated the words of encouragement. Nancy offered her hand to Rebecca to go in if she wanted to take it. Rebecca smiled softly and took Nancy's hand. She made her feet move and she walked into the trailer to find a gaping hole in the ceiling above where Chrissy had levitated. The house looked mostly undisturbed apart from that, and the three kids were currently looking around.

"What the hell...?" Nancy asked. The two women walked further into the trailer and Rebecca let go of Nancy's hand as they approached the hole in the ceiling. She looked up and saw Steve, Robin, and Eddie looking at her and appearing as though they were standing on the ceiling. It was trippy.

"Nice shirt," Eddie smirked as Rebecca and he caught eyes.

Rebecca smiled at him.

"There isn't any rope. Any other ideas?" Lucas asked Dustin. Dustin looked up at Eddie and said, "We're using your sheets, sorry, dude."

Eddie opened his mouth to complain, but Dustin and Lucas were already on their way to the back of the trailer. Rebecca followed them to retrieve the various materials and she and Lucas got to work moving Eddie's mattress into the living room while Nancy made space for it.

Eddie's room was almost exactly how Rebecca had imagined it. He clearly cherished his guitar (that he lovingly named Rita, she had found out a few days prior) as it was hung on the wall in front of the wide mirror that was littered in stickers and magnets from different bands. his bookshelves were nearly full and packed with thick fantasy novels and Dungeons and Dragons handbooks. She smiled as she looked around his room for a moment and saw all of the colorful posters and cassette tapes from bands he had mentioned loving in their time together. She felt more connected to Eddie after being in his room and liek she understood him better now, and everything about him made sense.

"Ready? One, two, three!" Lucas said as the two of them lifted the mattress with Max's help and put it on its side to slide down the hallway. When they reached the living room, they placed it down directly under the hole and the makeshift rope that Dustin, Erica, and Nancy were fashioning was becoming quite long.

As the mattress flopped down, Eddie's voice fell through the ceiling and Rebecca looked up to see his embarrassed face as he spoke, "Those stains are uh... I don't know what those stains are."

Robin grimaced and Steve shook his head. Dustin stood up and gathered as much of the sheet/blanket combo he could and approached the gate.

"Not quite sure how these physics are going to work... But here goes nothing," Dustin said as he used all of his might to toss the heaviest end of the sheet into the hole. "There we go, and if my theory is correct..."

When it didn't come back down, Dustin tugged on it slightly, then slowly let go and stepped away from the rope triumphantly. "Abracadabra."

"Holy shit," Max swore.

"Alright, pull on it, see if it holds!" Dustin yelled. Rebecca saw Robin look at Eddie and Steve worriedly. They both gave her an encouraging smile and she shrugged, then pulled on the sheets until she grunted from straining. When the tie didn't budge, she smiled confidently at the group both above and below her.

"This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life," Erica laughed. Nancy's jaw was nearly on the floor.

"I've seen some crazy things, but yeah... This is the craziest shit," she agreed.

"Well... ladies first," Steve said to Robin after the three of them looked at each other indecisively.

"Guess I'm the guinea pig," Robin said and started to climb the rope. As her head started to pass through the ceiling, her hair fell down and her body went from climbing upwards to falling down.

"Okay let's clear the landing pad," Rebecca said and moved her arm so that the kids stood off the mattress. Within a few seconds, Robin tumbled out of the hole with a yelp and fell on her back against the mattress.

"Thank god," she said with a smile as Dustin helped her up. "That was fun."

Shortly thereafter, a mess of dark curly hair poked through the hole and out came Eddie, who also landed on his back on the mattress.

"That WAS fun. Shit," he said with a smile and Dustin helped him up. He and Dustin shared a quick hug and Eddie moved out of the way for Steve. Rebecca closed the distance between her and Eddie and she wrapped her arms around his neck quickly. He accepted her embrace with a brilliant smile and held her close to him.

"I was so worried about you," Rebecca breathed out into the side of his neck. She felt the low rumble of a chuckle emitting from him and they moved their heads to face one  another while still holding on.

"I'm okay," Eddie assured her and moved a piece of hair from her face to behind her ears. Their moment was interrupted by Steve, who had just come through the hole and had cleared his throat while looking at his sister.

"Ahem," he said. Eddie and Rebecca separated awkwardly and Rebecca noticed that Steve had bandages around his waist.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked him.

"I was attacked by bats, thanks for asking," Steve said sarcastically. "I'm glad you're okay though."

Rebecca was just about to go and hug Steve when suddenly the floor opened beneath her and she was sucked underground. She wasn't sure where she was and she hit the hard stone floor like a ton of bricks. She got up and looked around for any sign of life aside from her, then looked up to see where she had fallen from. The room she was now in was four simple walls that were covered in thick, black vines and the ceiling was completely black. She expected to see a hole with someone peering down at her because she hadn't fallen for long, but she saw nothing.

"Steve! Eddie!" she screamed, but her voice echoed, indicating the room was larger and deeper than she had thought. She started to look for any opening or a way out.

"Becca? Becca, what are you doing here?" she heard a small voice say from behind her. The voice she knew all too well and she froze. She slowly turned around to see a woman her age with blonde hair in a ponytail tied with a green scrunchie, large brown eyes and a confused expression.

"C-Chrissy, what? Wh... how?" Rebecca asked. "What happened?"

"I died, Rebecca. Because you couldn't save me," she said with a frown and her face started to contort into how it was when Vecna was done with her. Her jaw broke with a sharp snap that Rebecca was all too familiar with and her eyes disappeared and her body was shortly engulfed in the same black vines that surrounded the room.

Rebecca started to sob. "No, Chrissy, no, you shouldn't have died..."

"It should have been you," a deep, menacing voice echoed. Rebecca looked around frantically to see where the voice was coming from. The voice said again, "You should have died a long time ago with your parents. But you let those around you perish instead."

"That's.. I don't mean to," Rebecca sobbed. She kept looking for a way out and started to run as the room extended into a hallway. As she approached the end of the hallway, she heard screams and lightning crash in the distance. She ran and nearly fell over as she was suddenly surrounded by a red glow and at the top of a staircase with floating pieces of wood and what appeared to be the remains of a house. In addition to the screams, shrieks, and lightning, the chime of a clock rang out. She cautiously walked down the steps as she took in her surroundings. The vines had formed several peaks that surrounded the staircase.

"Your friends have been looking for me, Rebecca. They got so close to the truth..." the voice said again. As Rebecca got to the bottom of the stairs, to her left was Chrissy's mangled body covered in vines and positioned upright. Rebecca covered her mouth at the sight, then looked around for any way out. "But I think I'll let the break in your mind be an opening for them. You'll be my little messenger, won't you?" a distorted version of Chrissy's voice said.

Rebecca was thrust into a normal-looking house that was shaped from the floating pieces around her. She felt like she was walking in a dream and her attention was brought to a little boy. The boy seemed odd and stood off to the side of his family as they entered their new home. When the little girl, presumably his sister, ran up the stairs, he was stood still in the foyer of the house. She followed him as he went into a room, the bathroom, and opened up a vent. He reached his hand inside and removed with with a black widow spider happily crawling across his hands. The boy didn't seem afraid, instead he seemed fascinated. Suddenly, the same boy but in different clothes came rushing behind her, nearly knocking her over. She followed him to the attic in which he was sitting at an altar of sorts with candles and various jars willed with spiders. He drew a black widow's underside on his pad of paper. The sound of a clock's ticking drew her attention downstairs and she saw the boy again, but this time he was looking at the clock that had previously been floating in the air and chiming. The boy stood, blank-faced, in front of it as it ticked. After a moment, the boy closed his eyes and the clock's chime became distorted as the hands of the clock moved rapidly. The boy's eyes moved in time with the minutes and hours that the clock was moving through, but no indication of that amount of time passing was anywhere other than the clock. Suddenly, she was outside and the boy was chasing a scared, squealing rabbit. The rabbit collapsed over and the boy knelt down with his hand over it. Rebecca watched in ghastliness as the rabbit's bones cracked in the same way Chrissy's had before finally, the boy let it go. She looked at the boy and studied him, then concluded that this was Vecna, the dark wizard from the Upside Down. And he had a message that he wanted her to deliver. She ran into the house behind her, refusing to see more of Vecna's torture as the boy went to look for another animal. When she entered the house, she recognized the man from her psychology books in school: Victor Creel. He was a local legend as he was currently doing time at the mental hospital and correctional facility for killing his family in the 50s while claiming a demon had possessed his house. Rebecca had learned about him when taking a college prerequisite course. His eyes were locked onto the fireplace in horror. Rebecca took a breath before looking, and turned her head. A baby's anguished cries filled her ears as she saw a bassinet in the fireplace with the flames coming from inside of the crib. She turned around and heard the radio crackle from another room and walked into it. She found herself in the dining room where the whole family was gathered and Victor was standing up to adjust the radio. As he was turning the knob, Rebecca noticed that Vecna's eyes closed and suddenly the mother of the family was levitated and killed in Vecna's gory signature: her bones snapped and her eyes were sucked out. Her corpse fell onto the dining room table as Victor grabbed the small Vecna and headed out the door. Vecna killed his sister, then worked on his father. Before Victor could be possessed, he snapped out of the trance and turned just in time to see the little boy Vecna faint with blood coming from his nose. Victor was arrested and taken away as the scene faded into Vecna now in the hospital and a brunette male doctor looking over him. The hospital chair shifted from a tool of care and comfort to a restraint device for the boy as the same doctor tattooed his left wrist with the number "001." Rebecca had no idea what that meant and she almost felt sorry for Vecna. Was this the message he wanted to give to her and her friends? That he tortured and then was tortured in return?

"There, all done. Nothing to be afraid of, is there, Rebecca?" the doctor said and looked at Rebecca. until now, she wasn't sure if the images before her were real or could see her. She took a step back as the doctor's eyes warped and his voice distorted, "Why don't you take a seat?"

"Hell no," Rebecca told him and started to run out of the room. She found herself in the hallway of a hospital with blood and bodies everywhere. The lights were distorting her view, but she managed to find her way around to a door. The next one she came across, however, was boarded up. She started to tug on the boards and managed to break one of them free, but heard her name called by Vecna's demonic and distorted voice.

Rebecca slowly turned around and saw before her a humanoid walking toward her. He was covered in the same vines that covered the room she was first in and his features were barely visible. He walked menacingly down the hall and with every step, a gut-wrenching squelching was heard from his feet. She wondered how he ended up like that, but was more concerned with either fighting for her life or trying to squeeze through the opening she made.

"What are you doing? It's not time for you to leave," Vecna said as he walked.

"I think the fuck not," Rebecca mumbled and kicked the door behind the wooden planks. It swung open, confirming her escape route. She pulled the adjacent wooden plank, but this one was stuck harder than the first.

"Now that you've seen where I've been, I would very much like to show you where I am going," Vecna croaked out. She managed to get the plank off and burst through the door. The walls around her were familiar, and she looked to find herself back in the first room of the hospital.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Rebecca breathed out.

"Take a seat," Vecna said and the lights went out. When they came back on, Rebecca was forced into the same chair as the child Vecna was in, but her restraints were cold, slimey vines that tightened the more she struggled. Vecna's viney form was standing in the corner and he approached her slowly.

"I want you to deliver a message," he repeated.

"Yeah, I got that part," Rebecca snapped. Vecna smirked with what little lips he had and he got close to her.

His large clawed hand reached up as he spoke again. "I want you to tell Eleven everything you see."

"Who the fuck is Eleven?" Rebecca gasped out before Vecna's claw attached to her face. In her mind, images of Hawkins burning and deep, dark, red fire from linear craters spreading over the town. A dark cloud descended upon Hawkins and millions of creatures that Rebecca had never seen the likes of were killing soldiers and civilians alike. And then the images became more specific. Jason's body turned to ash, Max's body was hung like Chrissy's in Vecna's twisted trophy room, Steve and Eddie were mangled and dead at her feet.

"No!" she cried out and suddenly all of the images were gone. She was falling again, but this time she fell into strong arms that had hands with metal rings adorning them that she could feel through the thin fabric of the shirt she wore. She looked to see Eddie's horribly worried expression and tears escaped her eyes.

"Hey, I'm here... I'm here," Eddie comforted with a hand on her face and gently stroking her cheek.

"Eddie..." Rebecca croaked out and started to cry.  

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 3: The Lake House

Warnings: major character death, gore/horror, swearing

Eddie barely slept a wink. He kept waking up and checking on Rebecca, who was sound asleep a few feet from him. By the time he finally decided he wasn’t going to get back to sleep for any amount of time, she was so close to him that when she stirred, he could feel her gently brush against him with her movements. Eddie’s heart fluttered at the sight of her sleeping in the dawn light, which he attributed to his lack of sleep delirium. He saw her body shiver slightly, and he looked around the shed for something to keep her warm in. He found an old and tattered picnic blanket that was large enough to wrap both of them in, and he gently draped it over her sleeping form. After a few minutes, she stopped shivering and Eddie let out a breath. He was borderline starving right now, so he ate a granola bar quietly as he watch the sunrise. He thought about what Dustin had told him about the Upside Down and he never would have believed that Hawkins was harboring an alternate dimension had he not seen Chrissy’s gruesome demise. Flashes of her mutilated face invaded his mind as he sat by the window of the shed. He hadn’t known her very long, but she seemed nice enough. Nice enough to warrant Rebecca’s fierce protection. Eddie wondered what would earn her protectiveness and if after this she’d think of him as needing her.

After this. Eddie was more unsure of his future now than he had ever been. He was never convinced that he’d make it out of high school, not to mention his 20s. And now with a monster on the loose killing people and Eddie being blamed, he wasn’t sure there would be an “after this” for him.

Rebecca startled awake and Eddie’s head whipped over to her.

“You okay?” he asked lowly.

She looked at him with a clammy face and nodded. “Yeah… yeah I suppose.” She looked at the blanket that covered her with a furrowed brow and looked back up at him. Eddie shrugged as he looked at her and then out the small window.

“You looked cold,” he said. He saw out of the corner of his eye Rebecca smile slightly and told the blanket up.

“Thank you… Did you sleep at all?” she asked him after a moment.

Eddie shrugged and let out a breath. “Well… not really.”

Rebecca’s face softened. “I’m sorry. You could have woken me up…”

“That’s okay, you needed to sleep,” Eddie assured. “Dustin should be here soon with some food.”

“That’s good…” Rebecca replied.

Even though he was expecting it, he still tensed up and brandished his broken beer bottle as a weapon against Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Max coming back with several bags of food.

“So, we have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like first?” Dustin asked as Eddie and Rebecca started to eat the food they’d been brought. Eddie didn’t realize how hungry he was until he started chowing down on honeycomb cereal. Rebecca dug into her own box as well.

“Bad news first, always,” Eddie scoffed with his mouth full.

“Okay, bad news… We tapped into the Hawkins PD with our Cerebro and they’re definitely looking for you guys. Also they’re pretty convinced Eddie killed Chrissy,” Dustin said.

“Like, 100% kind of convinced,” Max chimed in.

“What about me?” Rebecca asked in a small voice.

“They think Eddie’s either killed you and has hidden your body or that he kidnapped you and is planning on killing you. After they talked to Jason, they ruled out the theory that the two of you were conspiring to murder Chrissy,” Robin explained with a solemn voice.

Eddie’s face was blank, he was sure, and he looked to Robin and Steve. “And the good news?” he asked almost sarcastically.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet. But if we found out about you, there’s only a matter of time before others do too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is going to be gunning for you,” Robin said.

Eddie’s heart sank into his stomach and he barely held himself together as he spoke again, “Hunt the freak, right?”

“Exactly,” Robin agreed.

“Shit,” Rebecca swore.

“So before that happens we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence,” Dustin said confidently.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all,” Eddie asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Dustin replied simply.

Robin then explained that this sort of thing wasn’t their first bout with the Upside Down and Eddie had a small amount of confidence in them.

“We usually rely on this girl who has superpowers, but, uh… those went bye-bye, so, uh…” Steve began with Dustin nodding emphatically.

“So we’re technically in more of a…” Robin trailed with hand gestures to have a word come to her.

“Brainstorming phase,” Max offered.

“Brainstorming!” Steve confirmed with a snap.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Dustin said in a manner that Eddie felt he was mostly trying to convince himself of the words he spoke. Eddie’s face dropped to one of questioned confidence.

“What if we think of something different? What if we find Vecna and don’t kill him but make him confess. That way Eddie won’t be wanted for murder. I get that I can’t just show up and say ‘hey I’m fine I was just hanging out at Eddie’s friend’s house while we waited for Vecna,’ but there has to be something more that we can do, right?” Rebecca asked. Eddie looked at her and saw a half-eaten box of lucky charms and a couple of empty orange juice bottles surrounding her.

“We’re going to figure it out, okay? The best thing for you two to do is stay hidden right now. We don’t need to have to worry about whether or not the cops have found you,” Steve said to his sister with a worried look.

“Or Vecna for that matter,” Robin interjected. Eddie’s spine froze at the thought of his own body being twisted and snapped how Chrissy’s was, and he felt sick at the thought of it happening to Rebecca, another person he couldn’t help.

“Here. Sit tight and we’ll communicate with this, okay?” Dustin said and handed Eddie a large hand-held radio.

Suddenly, sirens blared and Eddie’s senses went into high alert. He tried to figure out if the sirens were narrowing in on him or just passing through.

“Tarp! Tarp, tarp!” Robin snapped and gestured for Rebecca to get in the boat and Eddie to cover them. She climbed into the boat and the pair laid down quickly as Eddie covered them up with the tarp. Eddie could feel Rebecca’s body tense up against his and her breathing shallow. Acting on instinct alone, Eddie gently let his thumb caress a spot on Rebecca’s arm by her elbow to comfort her. Her skin was soft and felt like silk beneath his calloused thumb, and he felt her relax into his touch slightly.

“Coast is clear, guys.. but I have a bad feeling,” Steve said. Rebecca moved the tarp and sat up to look at her brother.

“What do you mean?” she asked him as he helped her out of the boat.

“I mean I think another kid is dead. There were like 4 cop cars and a coroner van,” Steve said grimly. A silence fell over the group as the thought of another brutal killing faced them.

“Well, let’s see if we can find any clues to Vecna. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve dealt with a crime scene,” Dustin reasoned and Max smirked.

“Good idea. You two stay put and stay out of sight,” Steve ordered as the group prepared to leave the shed.

“Please be careful,” Rebecca said in a small voice.

Steve nodded and the group left Eddie and Rebecca alone again. They sat in silence for what felt like several minutes, but the sun told a different story. Eddie’s concept of time was completely backwards and the only thing that kept him grounded to what time it is was his watch. It showed military time so luckily he knew when he woke up at 6 it was the morning and not the evening.

“Eddie..?” Rebecca’s small voice said from across the room. He looked at her face, dirty from the floor of the shed and her expression as though she was about to cry. Eddie’s heart ached at the sight of her so broken.

“Yeah?” he answered calmly and watched her play with her fingers.

“I’m… I’m sorry I called you a freak. You didn’t deserve that, you don’t deserve to be judged for your hobbies or how you dress. Nobody does,” she spoke softly. Eddie’s face fell into a slight smile at her genuine apology.

“Well… You know, I’m sorry for belittling you and making fun of your friends,” he said. “I forgive you.”

Rebecca said nothing and hung her head as tears started to flow down her face and a soft whimper escaped her chest. Eddie was taken aback and his eyes went wide. He wasn’t too sure what to do about this, he was never good at expressing or dealing with others’ expression of emotion. All he knew was what he’d read in books and mirroring from his friends, and on rare occasion he acted on his intuition.

“Um…” he let out lowly. ‘Eddie, think. When Arwen was crying, what did Aragorn do?’ He thought of the half-elf woman described in his favorite book series and put himself in the Ranger’s shoes. Not that he thought of Rebecca as Arwen and himself as Aragorn, but… maybe he wanted to.

Eddie took a deep breath and slowly approached her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smoothed it along her back to pull her into his chest. Eddie felt no resistance from her and he completely enveloped her in his hold. She sobbed for a few moments more and Eddie gently held her against him as she cried.

“It’s okay…” he comforted. He felt her hands slide under his jacket and hug him back gently and he couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t happy that she was so upset, but he was glad to be there for her to hold and be held by him.

~*~

“Fuck,” Rebecca muttered as she looked through the bags once again.

“Nothing? All gone?” Eddie asked as he looked for any food that they may have missed.

“We really should have rationed it better, huh?” Rebecca sighed and looked over at Eddie.

He shrugged. “Well, we can just go up to the house and see what Rick’s got for now. Have to get to higher ground anyway for this to work,” Eddie said as he held up the radio. Rebecca looked outside and saw the sun was setting.

“Do you think he’s got a shower? I feel disgusting,” Rebecca said as they prepared to make their way to the house on the hill.

“It’ll be nice, yeah. And that bed again, why didn’t we do this earlier?” Eddie whispered as they hunched over and ran toward the house.

“Because it wasn’t safe, remember?” Rebecca whispered his words from a couple days ago back to him.

Eddie snorted with a smirk and opened up the back door for her and the two of them walked inside. The sun was fully set now and the two of them moved about the house in the dark. Rebecca managed to find a bathroom with a shower and nearly cried in relief.

“I’ll um… I’ll stand outside the bathroom,” Eddie told her. “In case you need anything..”

“Thanks, Eddie,” Rebecca said and turned on the shower. She got lost in her thoughts as she let the water wash away the sweat, blood, and dirt from her. She finally felt some semblance of normalcy even though after this quick rinse she would have to get back into dirty clothes. She didn’t want to think about that right now, though. She just enjoyed her time in the water, but worried about Eddie being alone. After their apologies yesterday, neither one of them were particularly stable and Rebecca didn’t like the thought of being alone for too long and thought the same for Eddie. She dried herself with a nearby towel and got her clothes back on. She opened the bathroom door and found Eddie sitting across the hall from her with his head resting on the wall and his arm on his knee that was positioned upright.

“You want a turn? Might be nice,” Rebecca offered him. Eddie looked at her for a moment and then nodded. They switched places and after Eddie’s shower, they found the bed they had previously slept in a couple nights ago and attempted to sleep.

“This is ridiculous. I’m relatively clean and this bed is comfortable… why can’t I sleep?” Eddie groaned after several minutes of tossing and turning.

“I think our minds are a bit preoccupied at the moment,” Rebecca offered. “I’m having trouble sleeping, too.”

Eddie hummed in agreement.

“Maybe try to think about something else? If we can?” Rebecca suggested as she looked up at Eddie from her position on the bed.

“Normally when I can’t sleep, I try to write campaigns until I can,” Eddie said.

“You’re running for office..?”

Eddie laughed loudly. “No. A campaign is a storyline for Dungeons and Dragons. As DM, I make the story and the players go through it. It’s like a whole new world.”

“That’s got to take some talent,” Rebecca complimented. “What else do you do?”

“Play guitar,” Eddie shrugs. “Wait a second…”

Eddie sprang out of the bed and started shuffling through the closet until Rebecca heard a musical strum and she could see through the darkness of the room Eddie with a large guitar in his hands. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was grinning.

“I’ll play us a lullaby. Any requests?” Eddie giggled as he sat cross-legged on the bed.

Rebecca laughed. “Nothing I can think of.”

“May the Bard’s lullaby give you a restful slumber,” Eddie said in a sing-song tone and began to play a soft melody in the guitar.

“I don’t know what that means, but you play beautifully,” Rebecca said.

“You should play D&D some time. I’ll teach you everything,” Eddie said with a smile in his voice.

“Even how to play guitar?” Rebecca asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well, that’s not part of D&D but I am a guitar god, so if you want to learn, I’d be happy to teach you,” Eddie replied as he continued to strum.

“Wow, that’s a pretty big ego you have there,” Rebecca laughed out.

“What can I say? I call it like I see it. Jeff’s not bad, either, but there’s a reason I’m the frontman,” Eddie said and Rebecca could feel his wink in the darkness.

They continued to talk about Eddie’s band, music, and other hobbies, and Rebecca felt that sense of normalcy she felt in the shower, now with Eddie. She had no idea that he could be such good company and she felt herself growing fond of him. He eventually laid down next to her and they faced each other as they spoke and told jokes. Rebecca eventually felt herself drifting off to sleep with Eddie’s voice rambling about a time when Dustin and Lucas had saved Gareth from an ogre on a bridge that Eddie was impressed with.

Rebecca awoke to the sound of Eddie milling about in the kitchen. She walked out and saw that Eddie had found a can of Spaghetti-Os and was munching on some of them for breakfast as he walked around the house with the radio in hand.

“Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished… You there?” he said into the radio. Silence was heard over the other end. “Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin?”

Once again, no answer. Rebecca helped herself to a bowl of the pasta and started eating as she watched Eddie pace about the living room growing irritated with the silent treatment.

“Hey, it’s Nancy,” a tired female voice responded. Nancy Wheeler was involved in this? Since when?

“Wheeler, hey! We’re going to need a food delivery, like, really soon. Unless you want me going out into the world…” Eddie began.

“No, don’t do that. Stay where you are, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Nancy said over the radio.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, can you pick me up a six pack? I know it’s stupid as shit drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves,” Eddie asked. Rebecca smirked and rolled her eyes at his request.

“Excuse me? No, you’re not going to get drunk when you’re on the run with my sister, okay?” Steve’s voice said over the radio. “By the way, where is she? Is she okay?”

Eddie handed the radio to Rebecca with a huff. “I’m fine, Steve. We’re just hungry and there’s not a lot of food left here.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there soon. Sit tight and stay hidden, okay? Love you, sis,”  Steve’s voice said in a calmer and gentler tone.

“Love you, bro,” Rebecca echoed. Eddie pulled the radio out of her hand and started to talk, but was cut off by Nancy saying that she’d have to call him back.

“No, no, don’t you dare—shit,” Eddie said frantically.

“There is so much moonshine out in the shed, Eddie. I don’t think you need beer,” Rebecca told him with a grin.

“Well you heard your brother, I’m not allowed to drink anyway,” Eddie said as he sat next to her. “You sleep okay?”

“Yeah, actually. Did you?” Rebecca asked.

“I did. Finally,” Eddie said with a smile.

Rebecca looked at the clock and raised her brows. “Wow, it’s almost noon, we slept a long time.”

“We needed it,” Eddie chuckled.

The pair decided to spend the day inside the house and move back to the shed that night, but just before dusk, Rebecca heard a car pull up in the gravel driveway.

“Dustin?” Eddie asked her and she looked out the window to see Jason’s car. Her heart leapt out of her chest as adrenaline surged through her. If Jason found her and Eddie here, he would kill Eddie.

“We have to get to the shed. NOW,” Rebecca whispered frantically as she pulled Eddie’s hand toward the back door and they swiftly made it through to the shed.

“What the fuck is your fucking boyfriend doing here?!” Eddie asked in a panic.

“Looking for you, no doubt! You’re wanted for my murder, remember?!” Rebecca reminded him.

“Shit,” Eddie said and started talking on the radio.

“Dustin? Wheeler? ANYBODY?” he called into the radio. No answer. In a more pleasing tone, he said, “Dustin, please! Are you there?”

His gaze stopped at the boat and Rebecca could see the wheels turning him his eyes.

“Eddie…” she said in a warning tone. “Don’t do anything stupid…”

“If they find us here together, that’s it, I’m a goner. But if they only find one of us… then there’s a chance. You can swim, right?” Eddie began.

“Eddie, I’m not leaving you,” Rebecca decided. “Jason will KILL you.”

“Yeah, if he finds us together! Across the lake is Skull Rock, you know it, right? I’ll meet you there, but you have to go NOW,” Eddie said.

“Okay… okay,” Rebecca said and with one last look at Eddie, dove into the water. This, by far, was the most terrifying thing she had ever done. The black water was unforgivingly cold and she swam as fast as she could for as long as she could until she heard Jason’s voice yelling at Eddie, who was on the boat headed in a similar direction but away from where Rebecca was swimming.

“Hey, freak! Where do you think you’re going?!” Jason yelled. Eddie started rowing faster after a failed attempt at starting the engine of the boat. Jason and Patrick started to take their jackets off and got into the water.

“Fuck,” Rebecca swore and started to swim faster toward Skull Rock. She distanced herself between the scuffle that Jason and Patrick had begun with Eddie in the water when suddenly Patrick’s body lifted out of the water high enough for Rebecca to see over the fog. And his limbs twisted and cracked with so much force that Rebecca could hear it from how far away she was. She managed to see Eddie fall into the water and start to swim towards her as Jason was left to watch Patrick’s mangled corpse fall into the water. She wanted to call out to Patrick, to tell him to stop pranking her and how devastated Chrissy would be… Chrissy. And Jason, having witnessed Vecna’s curse had to let go of the idea that Eddie was responsible, right?

“Andy!! Andy help!!!” Jason desperately bellowed. “Eddie got Patrick, he’s getting away!”

Rebecca’s heart sank and she saw Eddie swim closer to her frantically. she couldn’t reveal herself to be safe with Eddie. Jason had been twisted in grief and now he was hysterical. Now wasn’t the time to reassure him that she was okay. Reluctantly, she turned her head from Jason and Patrick and started swimming the rest of the lake’s length toward Skull Rock. She sat on the shore for several minutes before Eddie caught up with her and sat next to her. The sirens in the distance got louder as Eddie stood up and offered his hand to Rebecca. She took it and the two of them worked their way inland toward the landmark.

“Shit.. Radio’s dead,” Rebecca said after trying to turn the device on to reach Steve.

They sunk down next to each other under the stone figure and sat in silence for a while. Rebecca was stunned and pondering the events that had just unfolded.

“It… it has to be me,” Eddie’s broken voice said through sobs. “There has to be something about me that brings death. Maybe I am a vessel for Satan or Vecna or whatever.”

Rebecca’s face crumpled in empathy. She had those same thoughts about herself. She moved closer to Eddie as he was slouched in defeat and sobbing.

“No, Eddie…” she soothed with a gentle voice. She hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “It isn’t you. You didn’t kill Chrissy, and you didn’t kill Patrick. And you certainly haven’t killed me.”

Eddie looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and nodded. He hung his head again and let out soft sobs. “Then why is this happening to me?”

“I don’t know. Just bad luck, I guess? But we’re going to figure this out, okay? We’re going to get through this and prove your innocence,” Rebecca promised him. Her hand moved to his cheek and he looked up at her with large brown eyes. “I promise.”

Eddie’s eyes searched hers in the dull moonlight and he leaned into her hand as he nodded his head. “Maybe I should just be a scapegoat. Then you don’t have to keep being hidden and Dustin can figure out how to stop Vecna without worrying about me getting in the way. Maybe that’s for the best.”

“Are you kidding me? Listen to me, Eddie Munson. You are innocent. And you will not go to jail for the rest of your life because of some supernatural wizard terrorizing a backwoods town, okay? Chrissy didn’t die for that. We’re going to figure this out. I’m with you,” Rebecca told him in a determined tone and held his face in her hands so he’d look at her. Eddie let out a breath as a tear rolled down his face. Rebecca wiped it away gently and let go.

Rebecca sat next to Eddie and she offered her hand for him to hold as a token of her promise. Eddie cracked a small smile and purposefully took her hand in his larger one. His skin was damp and soft despite the callouses from years of guitar playing and his palm warmed hers. It was a feeling she enjoyed. She had only ever held Jason’s hand or Steve’s when they were younger and he was tasked with looking after her, but the sensation she felt with holding Eddie’s hand now was one of a deeper meaning, like they were bonded. Their hands clasped together and they sat against the warm rock in a weak attempt to hasten the drying of their clothes.

“So… now what?” Eddie asked. “We just wait and hope this all blows over?”

“We have to find a radio. Any one will do as long as it can get different channels on it,” Rebecca said.

Eddie nodded. “There’s a construction site down there, I’ve seen them use radios before. I should be able to snag one in the morning when they show up to work.”

“Okay. I’ll take first watch, get some sleep,” Rebecca suggested.

“I doubt I’ll be able to,” Eddie shrugged.

“Same here… just figured I’d offer,” Rebecca agreed. They shared a small smile.

It was early morning when the construction workers arrived and slowly but surely an increasing amount showed up. Eddie thought he’d have the best shot by the bathroom and he was right. He easily grabbed a worker’s radio off of his belt that he’d taken off and soon they were in contact with Dustin.

“Holy shit, Eddie! Are you okay?” Dustin’s voice asked. Eddie and Rebecca both let out a relieved sigh and Eddie balled his fist in celebration.

“No, no, man, I’m pretty damn far from okay,” Eddie said with a shakey voice into the radio and a hand in his face.

“What about my sister, is she there with you?” Steve’s voice demanded.

“I’m here, Steve, don’t worry,” Rebecca said into the radio.

“Where are you?” Dustin asked frantically.

“Skull Rock, you know it?” Eddie said.

“Yeah, uh, near Cornwallis and—,” Dustin began and Steve finished.

“And Garrett. Yeah, I know the way,” Steve said over the speaker.

“Hold tight. We’re coming. We’re coming,” Dustin assured in a determined voice. Eddie nodded against the radio with his eyes closed in hope and he hung his head.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rebecca assured Eddie with a pat on his shoulder. Eddie nodded and put his hand over hers.

With every rustle in the woods, Rebecca and Eddie responded with hope, but that got dull after a few moments.

“Very Peter Pan-esque, you know. With the lake, Skull Rock, running away with the leader of the misfits,” Rebecca teased with a small smile. “Aside from the whole dead friends and being wanted for murder thing, this is quite an adventure.”

“You know, that thought did occur to me. Means I’m Peter Pan, right? Bet you I can climb up there faster than you,” Eddie smiled devilishly.

“Are you five?” Rebecca grinned at him.

Eddie grinned and mimicked Peter’s craw from the movie in a normal volume to not draw attention to them. Eddie gestured for Rebecca to follow him and the pair climbed up onto the rock with Eddie leading her. Once they reached the large apex, Eddie sat down cross-legged in the middle and beckoned her with his hand. Rebecca smiled and sat next to him carefully and looked out over the scenery. They were reasonably high up and could see the majority of the water and surrounding shore without seeing the construction site below them. She hadn’t realized how far inland they had gone from Lover’s Lake, but she could make out its shape from where she was. Sunshine from midday into early afternoon cut through the various clouds in the sky and illuminated the land before her in a way that made the foliage dream-like. The water that was so intimidating last night now glittered in the sunlight and was accented by the surrounding trees that had become lush and green with springtime approaching.

“Wow…” Rebecca said with an impressed smile. She never knew something so beautiful existed in her small town.

“It’s a pretty nice view,” Eddie said while looking at Rebecca with a soft smile.

“I get why you wanted to race me up here, it’s incredible,” Rebecca chuckled as she drank in more of the beautiful scene before her.

“Oh, yeah. I won that race, didn’t I?” Eddie concluded. “What’s my prize?”

Rebecca smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you want?”

“Well, since I’m Peter Pan… A kiss,” Eddie said confidently with a cheeky grin.

“A…. A what? From-from what? Who?” Rebecca stammered with her cheeks feeling red hot. Eddie’s grin only got wider as she fumbled with her words and he laughed heartily.

“…Skull rock! In your face,” Steve’s voice grew louder from behind them. Eddie’s laugh dropped and he and Rebecca whipped their heads in the direction the sound was coming from. They started to climb down from the rock with Rebecca’s blushing face quickly forgotten.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Dustin spoke from behind Steve.

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it. You just can’t admit you’re wrong, you little butthead,” Steve said. Eddie and Rebecca landed on the ground behind Steve and Dustin.

“I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead,” Eddie said with a slightly annoyed tone and a slight glance at Rebecca.

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner, man…” Dustin said and he went in to hug Eddie.

Steve’s attention turned to his sister and he approached her with arms outstretched. Rebecca accepted his hug gently and tried not to cry at seeing her brother.

“I brought you a change of clothes if you want,” Steve said to her when they separated.

“Thanks. I’m not changing in the woods and I know the second I go to change, the cops are going to find us because that has been my sort of luck these past three days, so I’ll just stick with this for now. Besides, I took a dip in the lake last night and Chrissy’s blood is off of me now, so at least there’s that,” Rebecca told him. He smiled slightly at her and his eyes held sadness.

“What happened to you guys?” Max asked and handed Eddie and Rebecca their respective bags of food. The pair sat down and started to eat whatever they could find in the bags. Rebecca and Eddie took turns recapping the enemy’s from last night. When one couldn’t say any more, the other picked up the story.

“When we got to shore, we tried calling you guys, but the walkie was busted, man. Drenched,” Eddie said after taking a drink of water.

Rebecca nodded and continued as Eddie ate, “So we came up here and did the thing that we do now, apparently… We hid.”

Eddie and Rebecca shared a sarcastic smile and the group in front of them appeared to be questioning the pair’s sanity.

“Do you know what time this was? The attack?” Nancy asked.

“Oh, yeah, I know exactly what time it was. The walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked,” Eddie said and tossed Nancy his watch.

Nancy caught the watch and nodded as she looked at the time. “9:27…”

“Same time our flashlights went kablooey,” Robin confirmed.

“Which means what, exactly?” Steve asked.

“That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick,” Nancy concluded.

“Well, we’re one step closer, we know how Vecna attacks,” Robin stated.

Rebecca looked past the group to where Dustin was pacing back and forth incessantly and gestures to Eddie with her head flicked towards the boy as Max suggested sneaking into Vecna’s lair in the Upside Down and killing him.

Eddie didn’t seem to notice as he was involved now in listing different ways to kill Vecna.

“A bullet should work in him, right?” Eddie suggested.

“I say we chop his head off,” Lucas suggested.

“We can’t do that. If we do that then there’s no way to prove Eddie’s innocence. We need to pull Vecna from the upside down and make him confess to killing Chrissy,” Rebecca said firmly. Steve looked at her with sympathy and she realized the rest of the group was looking at her the same way.

“We can’t risk that,” Robin said after a moment.

“If we bring Vecna into our world we have no idea what he’s capable of. And he’s after Max. We have to find another way to prove Eddie’s innocence,” Lucas added.

“You said the Upside Down is a parallel universe of sorts. So if he’s a scary dark wizard monster thing in the Upside Down, what is he here? A regular guy?” Rebecca asked. “He can’t be worse here than he is there.”

“Trust us, he can be,” Steve said.

“But… what about Chrissy? What about Patrick? Don’t they deserve justice? And Eddie doesn’t deserve to be blamed for this. There has to be a way to get Vecna to confess and prove Eddie’s not guilty,” Rebecca argued. Eddie stood up to meet her eye level and just as he was about to speak, Dustin bellowed into the sky, interrupting all of them and took a step forward.

“Bada… bada… boom,” Dustin said with a purposeful stare and finger pointed at Steve.

Steve wordlessly shrugged and held a blank stare at Dustin.

“I was right. Skull rock was North,” Dustin said and Steve’s jaw dropped with his arms crossed.

“Seriously? You’re serious?” Steve began insistently.

Dustin nodded with a grin, “Mm-hm.”

Steve continued, gesturing to the boulder behind them, “This is skull rock, okay? You are totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now!”

“Yes. And no,” Dustin began.

“Oh my god,” Steve sighed with an eye roll.

All eyes were now focused on Dustin, who explained, “This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly, but it started to slip the farther east we went. Now? It’s WAY off. When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong, the compass was.”

“So you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong!” Steve insisted. Rebecca looked at him with a quizzical smirk and her attention came back to Dustin, who was now explaining how his compass was affected by an electromagnetic field .

“But we’re nowhere near the lab,” Nancy reasoned.

“What if there’s another gate? A hate that we don’t know about?” Dustin posited.

“A gate?” Rebecca asked.

“To the Upside Down,” Dustin said. “It’d have to be smaller, way less powerful.”

“How? Why?” Rebecca asked him.

“No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate,” Dustin said. “And I hope it is because then we’d have a way to Vecna and a shot at freeing Mac from this curse and proving Eddie’s innocence.”

“You mentioned the attacks had a surge of energy, what if it’s just left over from that?” Rebecca suggested.

Dustin thought for a moment and he looked at her with a pondering gaze. “The energy that would be required to leave such a lasting effect on something such as a compass would have had to be incredible.”

“Water can diffuse the field’s electrons, though, right? What if it stemmed from the lake and it’s just taking more time to diffuse because of the water?” Rebecca suggested.

“Are you saying that there’s possibly a gate inside of Lover’s Lake?” Dustin asked. Rebecca shrugged.

“Patrick was in the water when he was attacked…” she told him.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s go,” Dustin said and began to walk away.

“Hey, hey, where are you going? Eddie’s still a wanted man, we can’t just go for a hike in the woods!” Steve reasoned.

Rebecca and Dustin looked at Eddie, who was crouched down.

“What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asked. All eyes turned to Eddie, whose gaze was an expression that Rebecca couldn’t read.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which… If I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire… the Shire is burning,” Eddie said and he looked up briefly at Rebecca before fully straightening himself up and looking back at Dustin. “So Mordor it is.”

Dustin grinned happily and jumped up and down at Eddie’s agreement and the group set off into the woods to follow Dustin’s compass.

“What is Mordor?” Steve asked under his breath.

“It’s a mythical land from The Lord of the Rings books. Eddie told me about them,” Rebecca told him, recalling one of their conversations about books and music they liked.

“Good grief,” Steve grumbled.

They trekked through the woods following Dustin’s compass and Eddie made every effort to help Rebecca over logs and rocks, to Steve’s annoyance. Rebecca was grateful for the help because even though she had eaten some, her legs were ready to give way underneath her.

It was well into the dark of night when Dustin’s compass went haywire.

“Something’s happening…” Dustin said excitedly and rushed toward where the compass was pointing him.

“Dustin, can you slow down? Dustin!” Eddie called after him like an annoyed older brother. Rebecca smiled at Eddie’s protectiveness of his friend.

“I think we’re getting close!” Dustin called to the rest of the group with his head turned back and walking forward.

“Hey! Watch your step, big guy,” Eddie said as he gripped onto Dustin’s backpack to prevent him from stepping into the lake.

“Oh, man…” Steve groaned. “Becca was right. You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

“This is confounding,” Dustin breathed out.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way?” Nancy suggested.

“Only one way to find out for sure,” Steve said.

The group found the abandoned boat that Eddie used to try and escape Jason and Patrick the night prior, and both Steve and Eddie got to work settling it into the water for boarding. After a small amount of squabbling from the two boys, Eddie stood in the boat and helped Robin onto it. Dustin attempted to get on, but Eddie stopped him.

“Hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds three people tops, okay?” Eddie reasoned.

“Okay. We’ll stay here with Max and keep an eye out for trouble.” Nancy said.

“No way, I’m coming, too,” Rebecca protested and tried to get in the boat but both Eddie and Steve stopped her.

“It’s my god damn theory!” Dustin protested.

“You heard Nance,” Robin said.

“Who put her in charge?!” Rebecca asked.

“I did,” Steve said. “And you’re going to stay here.”

“Sorry, Wendy,” Eddie said with a shrug.

“No, I am coming with you. I’m either going to swim or be in this boat but if there is a gate down there, I’m going to be there with you to find it and you absolutely cannot stop me, Steven Adam Harrington,” Rebecca declared firmly.

“She’s in charge,” Dustin smirked and handed her the compass. Rebecca held up the compass in her hand with a flat line for lips and raised brows.

“I swear to god. No, she’s not. I am,” Steve said with an exasperated sigh and snatched the compass from her hand. You are NOT coming. No complaints. Stay on this shore and out of trouble. When we find it, we’ll come up with a plan and strategize, okay?! Stay. Here,” Steve seethed. Rebecca had never seen him so angry or protective or whatever he was. She stepped back and crossed her arms as the boat took off with Steve, Eddie, and Robin. Lucas kept a lookout with his binoculars as the rest of them waited for a sign.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin asked into the radio after Lucas worried that they had stopped. “Come on guys, talk to me, what’s going on?”

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘aah!’,” Robin’s voice said over the other end.

Rebecca watched as her brother stood up and started to take his shirt off.

“Ugh, when did Steve get to hairy?” Lucas complained.

“Right? I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it,” Dustin added.

“Let me see that,” Nancy said and pulled the binoculars out of Lucas’ grasp.

“Me next,” Max said with a small grin.

Rebecca’s face fell in disgust at Nancy and Max ogling her brother and made a sound partway between “ew”, “ugh”, and “blech”. She watched as Steve dove expertly into the lake water. He had always been a strong swimmer, but watching him disappear into the depths made her worry and remember how terrified she was when she did the same.

“You guys realize that if there’s a gate down there… it’s technically a water gate,” Dustin said after a moment. He grinned widely at Lucas and Max, who looked at him in mild disgust. “Watergate!” Dustin clarified with a childish, high-pitched chuckle.

“I’ve heard nearly all of Eddie’s jokes over the past 72 hours and nothing was as awful as that, Dustin,” Rebecca groaned with her head in her hand.

“Jesus Christ,” Nancy groaned. “How long is Steve going to be under there?”

“His record is two and a half minutes underwater, so I’ll give him until then,” Rebecca assured as the air thickened around them.

“Come on, Steve…” Nancy muttered worriedly. Rebecca always knew that Steve was never over Nancy even though she was miles ahead of him in maturity, and she never thought that Nancy would still be stuck on him after their breakup, but looking at her now and how worried she was, there had to be more there than just friendship.

Suddenly, the sound of radios clattering and voices yelling invaded the silence. The five of them looked over and saw flashing police lights and flashlights.

“Oh shit! Get down!” Rebecca said and flattened herself against the ground next to Lucas.

“It was on this shoreline!” a male voice yelled.

“Becca you are a god damn Einstein, Steve fo—“ Robin’s voice blared over the radio but was quickly shut off by Dustin.

“Cops,” Max determined with a whisper.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Dustin swore.

“They’re going to find us. Our story is that you guys just happened to find me wandering along the shoreline, okay?” Rebecca thought aloud.

“That doesn’t make any sense, why were WE out here?!” Mad spat.

“I don’t know, midnight swim?!” Rebecca spat back. “You just can’t let in that you’ve known where I was or you’ll all be in huge trouble!”

“Okay, we got it,” Nancy said as the radios got nearer.

“Shit they’re heading towards the shore. Follow my lead,” Mac said and got up. She then yelled, “Hey! Officers, over here, I found Rebecca Harrington!”

Rebecca rolled over and pretended to be unconscious to help Max come up with a story before they could be talked to individually.

“She’s still breathing, she’s alive. Get a medic. What the hell were you kids doing out here anyway?” Officer Powell said as he placed a hand on Rebecca’s neck to check her pulse.

“We were helping her brother, Steve, he’s been worried sick trying to find her,” Max said.

“Okay, well I think it’s best that you kids come with us. We’ll take care of her,” Powell said.

“I just think she’d really want a familiar face when she wakes up given what she’s been through,” Nancy said. “She and I are pretty close so I’d like to stay by her.”

“Nancy, is that you?” Rebecca grogged out.

“I’m here, Becca,” Nancy said in a soft voice and put her dainty hand on Rebecca’s as Rebecca stirred and sat up.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked weakly. She wanted to say she was a very good actress, but she truthfully felt awful. She could only imagine how Eddie must be feeling.

“We’re taking you to the hospital, honey,” an EMT said.

“I don’t want to be away from Nancy,” Rebecca said with tears in her eyes. “I’ve been lost, please don’t take me away from her.”

“Um… okay, Nancy can come,” Powell ceded. Rebecca knew he was a sucker for tears.

“Well, the thing is, I’m in charge of Dustin, Max, and Lucas… I’m kind of babysitting right now,” Nancy said with a small grin.

“Okay fine. We’ll go to the hospital and once Miss Harrington is discharged, I need a statement from all of you,” Officer Powell sighed.

After what felt like hours of medical testing and probing, Rebecca was discharged and the five were escorted by police to the Wheelers’ house where Dustin’s mother, Lucas’ parents and sister, and Nancy’s parents were gathered.

Rebecca noticed an additional car outside and Jason was stood with his normally neat hair slightly disheveled and looking in hope at the police car that was pulling up. Rebecca expected to feel overjoyed as she reunited with Jason, but the feeling fell slightly flat. She was happy to see him, of course, but the overwhelming feeling of relief that she felt when she saw Steve wasn’t there for Jason. She was probably just tired.

“Becca, baby, oh my god,” Jason breathed out and ran to embrace her. “I was so worried…”

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Rebecca assured him as he held her close to him.

“No, baby, you’re not okay, but I can help you,” Jason told her with his hands on her face. “I can see it in your eyes, you’re not okay. And who would be after what you’ve been through? It’s okay, I’m here.” Rebecca wanted to be comforted by his words, but she mostly just wanted to get back to the lake to make sure Steve made it out and what their next move was for defeating Vecna.

“Thank you…” Rebecca whimpered out.

Rebecca and Jason made their way inside the Wheelers’ house where Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Nancy were all questioned by the police.

“You can sit up in my room. I’ll be up when I’m done, okay?” Nancy said and gently squeezed Rebecca’s hand. Jason took her up to Nancy’s room and the pair of them sat on the floor.

“I don’t know if you know this, but… Chrissy, she… We had her funeral yesterday…” Jason said delicately and placed a hand on her back.

Rebecca’s eyes went wide and they started to well up with tears. “Her funeral?”

“She was killed a few days ago. By that freak, Munson,” Jason said through gritted teeth. “He took Patrick from us, too.”

“No,” Rebecca whimpered and held her face in her hands as she cried. She knew this information, she watched it happen. But hearing it from Jason and hearing how raw his emotion was made her feel like she was hearing this for the first time and truly starting to process the death of her dear friends.

“I’m so sorry, Becca… I know she was like a sister to you. They were our family,” Jason said and he held her close to him as she cried. “But we’re going to stop him. I understand if you’re not up for joining us, but the whole town is on your side, babe. We’re going to find that cult leader Eddie and make him pay. For Chrissy. For Patrick. And for you. I know he hurt you, and I can’t imagine the kind of pain you’re in, but believe me: we’re going to put an end to him. Him and the devil. I promise. You’ll never have to be scared again.”

Rebecca’s face dropped in horror at his words. Jason’s mind has been twisted by grief and tabloids’ talk of Satanism. She thought back to Eddie’s scared expression and broken voice at this very scenario imagined. Her gut twisted and contorted in a way that made her want to puke all over Jason. She felt sorry for him, but she was mostly afraid of what he’d do if he found Eddie.

“Hey, so we can’t get ahold of Steve. He must be searching real hard for you. Do you have a place you can stay tonight?” an officer asked Rebecca from the doorway.

“She’ll stay with me,” Jason said. “I can keep her safe.”

“Actually, I.. It’s just that Nancy already offered and I told her I would and she went through all this trouble to make room for me… and I don’t want to get in your way, Jay,” Rebecca said and squeezed Jason’s hand gently. “Especially after you’ve offered to defend me.”

She felt sick saying those words, but she had to convince him to let her stay with Nancy. She couldn’t deal with breaking up with him right now, so she had to work the other way.

Jason’s face softened and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear for her. “Whatever makes you feel comfortable.”

With a quick kiss to her cheek and a confession of his love, Jason left. For the first time since Chrissy’s death, Rebecca was alone. And she felt it. She felt the emptiness of the space beside her and the pit in her heart where the memories of Chrissy resided and the memories of the Jason she once tried to love faded to. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she did, the first image to pop in her mind was none other than Eddie asking her for a kiss with a cocky grin. She felt her face heat up at the thought, but allowed herself to think it, she was too tired to fight. The thought of that moment uninterrupted, would she have let him? Would she have enjoyed it? She wondered what his lips felt like. She knew the roughness of his hands and the warmth of his chest from the few times they’ve embraced, and she wondered what he would feel like in other places. She felt guilty for thinking about this so soon after Chrissy’s demise, but she honestly just let her mind wander. It wandered to the lost boy that found her and helped her get through these horrible last few days and the support he provided. In their short time together, Rebecca learned all about him. His hopes, his secrets, and some of his dreams. And she liked him. She really liked him. She… loved him?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Dustin, Lucas, and Erica bursting into Nancy’s room with a light-up toy.

“What the hell…” Rebecca asked in a low voice.

Steve, Robin and Eddie went through Watergate and they’re trying to get out. Help us put the lights in this,” Dustin said frantically.

Rebecca sprung up and helped put the lights on the board. Frantically, Lucas brought the cord and plugged it in at the nearest free plug and the lights came on brightly.

“Okay you guys seeing this?” Dustin bellowed.

“They can hear us?” Rebecca asked. The toy’s bulbs raised and lowered in intensity a few times.

“Holy shit!” Erica cheered as Dustin cackled victoriously.

“We’re not going to move it, but we’re going to unplug it, okay? Stand by!” Dustin yelled again. He turned to Lucas and told him, “Yank it.”

Lucas unplugged the cord and the lights went out. After Dustin called for them to try again, the word “Hi” lit on the board.

“That worked!!” Dustin cheered.

The word “stuck” then appeared and the four of them started talking.

“Okay, they’re stuck in the Upside Down,” Lucas concluded.

“Okay.. okay, you can’t get back through Watergate?” Dustin asked loudly.

After a moment, the word “No.” appeared and Rebecca could hear Steve’s expression in the words she was sure he was writing. Other letters started appearing and Dustin read them as they lit up.

“Guar..? Guard, oh guarded,” Dustin said. “We have a theory that can help with that. We think that there’s a gate at every murder site.”

The lights lit up a question mark.

“Oh my god, just go to Eddie’s house, we will meet you there!” Rebecca yelled.

The next letters that appeared next were “OK” and the four of them cheered.

“Okay, we have to get to Eddie’s…” Dustin said. “And grab Nancy and Max. You guys go out the window and we’ll meet you down there with our bikes.”

“I’m so glad I’m wearing pants now,” Rebecca said to herself and she and Lucas shimmied down the side of the house’s makeshift fire escape of metal bars against the brick. It wasn’t the most efficient way, but it worked and shortly after grabbing the bikes, the five were off to Eddie’s trailer.

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 2: The Missing Cheerleader

Warnings: mentions of drugs, missing person, swearing, dead parents, general terror 

“Good night, Heidi… I’ll call you,” Steve said as she went back into her house after their date. Steve drove back home and was surprised that none of the lights were on. It was late, he thought Rebecca would be back by now. Maybe she was asleep… 

Steve opened the door and walked into the house. His parents were out of town for the next two weeks, so he felt a bit of freedom when he walked in. 

“Rebecca? You home? Walking around in the dark like a weirdo?” Steve called as he went about his routine of putting his keys away and slipping his shoes off. He didn’t hear anything, so he looked in all of the rooms, including hers—she wasn’t there. 

He looked at the clock and it was already almost midnight—where could she be? She’s never been this late, Steve thought. He picked up the phone and dialed the number for the Cunningham’s that Rebecca had written on their fridge for calls with Chrissy. 

“Hello?” a gruff and groggy male voice answered. 

“Hi, Mr. Cunningham, so sorry to bother you. This is Steve Harrington, I was wondering if Rebecca was over there?” Steve asked. 

“No, sorry, son. The game must have run late, they’ll be back before you know it,” Mr. Cunningham assured sleepily. 

Steve’s stomach sank. He knew that the game had been over for hours, and now he was faced with a choice to either tell this poor old man that his daughter and Steve’s sister were out being delinquents or worse, or to lie and agree that there was no need to worry. Given the past three years of his life and how incapable of help or stability the adults if this town had proven themselves, Steve chose the latter. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I just worry is all—big brother and all that. Sorry to wake you, have a good night, sir,” Steve said. 

“Not a worry. You too, son,” Mr. Cunningham said and then the line went dead. 

“Fucking shit,” Steve swore as he hung up the phone. 

Images of the Mind Flayer flashed through Steve’s head and his heart raced. He was horribly drugged, but he could still see the monster and Dustin’s explanation after the drugs wore off depicted the creature as less than friendly.  It killed Billy in cold blood after all. 

“Think rationally, Steve. The Mind Flayer is gone, so she’s not captured by it. She’s just out with her boyfriend pro—Jason!” Steve said and snapped his fingers as the thought came to him. He rummaged through the various drawers and papers until he found the number for the Carvers. 

He dialed the number and waited for a response, but the phone went to voicemail. 

“Please leave your message after the tone,” the robotic voice said. 

“Hi, this is Steve Harrington. I’m Rebecca’s brother and I was wondering if Jason had seen her or is with her, I know they’ve been dating for a little bit now and she hasn’t come home yet tonight. Thanks,” Steve awkwardly stated and hung up. Panic was coursing through him now and he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that this was more than teenage delinquency. Rebecca had never stayed out this late without checking in. Somehow, she always found a way to let him know that she was okay because she knew how much he worried for her, especially after Will’s disappearance three years ago. 

He got into his car and started to drive to the police station as the images of Johnathan’s sleep-deprived face and sunken expression played in his mind. He felt horrible about what he did and how he had treated Johnathan, and he was hopeful that karma hadn’t caught up to him in a similar way. If Rebecca was missing, Steve didn’t know what he’d do. 

He walked into the nearly desolate police station, likely looking like a frazzled mess. He approached the counter and saw that Florence had been replaced (either permanently or just for tonight) with a deputy officer. 

“What can I help you with?” the officer droned half-heartedly. 

“I know it’s late, but I think my sister is missing,” Steve told the officer with a lump in his throat. 

The officer let out a sigh and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, then started to write and fill out a nearby form. 

“Name?” he asked. 

“Steve Harrington,” Steve said. 

“No, your sister’s name.” 

“R-Rebecca. Rebecca Jude Harrington.” 

“When was the last time you saw her?” the officer asked plainly. 

“Um.. this afternoon? Evening? She’s a cheerleader at Hawkins High, she was in the halftime show tonight,” Steve said and anxiously tapped his fingers on the counter. “She was supposed to come home afterwards before going out with her boyfriend, but she didn’t. And she’s never out this late, ever.” 

The officer stopped writing and looked up at Steve. “Is it possible that she and her boyfriend are still together?” 

Steve stopped for a moment and pondered the question. Not just because he hadn’t thought of that scenario, but because admitting that as a possibility would delay any help in finding her. 

“Well… maybe, but it’s never happened before. She always calls. Always,” Steve stressed. 

“Okay, Mr. Harrington. I’ll keep this here and if she isn’t back by morning, then we’ll file a report, okay?” the officer said. Steve wasn’t satisfied, but nodded anyway and walked out and got back into his car. He sat behind the wheel for a moment and took some deep breaths, then turned the car on. He didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t at Chrissy’s, the Carvers weren’t answering, and it was nearly one in the morning. He thought about seeking Dustin out, but he hoped that kid would be dead asleep and wouldn’t wake up for anything, and Steve didn’t want to disrupt the record of good night’s sleep for Dustin. 

Steve found himself instead in front of Robin’s house. He turned his car off and went to stand by her bedroom window. The single-story house was small and Steve could easily rest his head onto her windowsill. 

“Robin?!” Steve whisper-yelled as he tapped in the glass. “Robin are you there?!” 

After a moment, the blinds opened and there stood Robin looking completely disheveled and armed with a clothing iron. Her expression went from utterly terrified to mildly annoyed upon seeing Steve. 

“What are you doing, Dingus? It’s the middle of the night,” she said after opening her window. 

Steve’s lip quivered slightly as he spoke, “Rebecca’s gone.” 

Robin’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“She didn’t come home. The game’s been over for hours… she hasn’t called, she’s gone, Rob,” Steve said. Robin let out a sigh before turning away and went deeper into her room. After a moment of confusion, she returned with a backpack and a jacket on. 

“Come on. My parents won’t know I’m gone… We’re going to look for her,” Robin told him and started to climb out the window. 

Steve felt relieved that Robin was going to help him, but the familiar sinking feeling of doom and world-shaking events about to transpire couldn’t leave him. 

“Let’s check back at your house just in case, then we can go from there,” Robin said calmly. Steve knew that she was freaking out internally but trying very hard to stay calm for Steve. He was sure she feared the same; the mind Flayer has come back and taken Rebecca as his next victim. 

They arrived back at Steve’s and Steve was praying to whatever god would listen that he would walk into Rebecca’s bedroom and she’d be sleeping soundly in her bed. He begged to have her yell at him to get out and be so angry for waking her up… no such luck. 

“Okay, so.. the next step is police? Right? They have to start looking right away because the first 48 hours are critical in recovering a missing person. It’s a myth that you have to wait, actually,” Robin started to ramble. 

“I already tried the police. The second I brought up Jason I lost all credibility,” Steve sighed. 

“Well, then, that’s perfect! We can go to Jason’s house, I bet she’s there taking after her brother and securing the Harrington reputa—sorry,” Robin began, but cut herself off when Steve gave her a look that dared her to continue talking about his sister like that. “Or she’s helping him in biology? I heard he nearly got kicked off the team if his grades didn’t come up.” 

“I called and nobody picked up,” Steve mumbled and thought to himself. He leaned against the counter with his arms crossed and was soon joined by Robin, who was looking at him in a way that made Steve vulnerable, as she often did. This is, of course, what initially attracted Steve to her, but those feelings have since been molded into something purely platonic rather than romantic. 

Robin turned Steve’s face toward her with her hands in either side of his face and she spoke to him earnestly, “Hey. We’re going to find her, okay? One way or another, we’re going to find her.” 

Steve nodded his head in silence and collected himself. “The police said that if she isn’t back by morning, they’d start looking and file a report.” 

“Well, did they define ‘morning’? Because technically 2:30am is morning,” Robin shrugged. 

Steve smirked, “That 9-5 shift tomorrow is looking worse and worse.” 

“Today, you mean,” Robin corrected. Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Well, I guess… I guess we’ll file a report in a few hours and hang out here in case she really is like me and decided to spend the night with Jason and wants to sneak back in super early,” Steve decided. 

“Excellent idea. And I’ve even got my uniform in here so we don’t have to be late to work!” Robin cheered and opened her bag to display the “Family Video” logo. Steve chuckled and shook his head. 

Morning came and Rebecca had still not returned. Steve’s stomach was in knots as he drove to the police station at 7am. Robin was yawning in his passenger’s seat and Steve was jealous that she had slept enough to be tired this morning. 

At the police station, the officer was no longer at the front desk. Instead a portly older woman with glasses and tight red lips sat in his seat. When Steve and Robin walked in, she looked up at them and smiled sweetly. 

“What can I do for you, hun?” she asked. 

“Hi, I was in here last night about my sister. I think she’s missing, she didn’t come home,” Steve said. 

“Oh, yes, I have the paperwork started but not completed… Any reason why you didn’t want to finish the report yet?” Florence asked. 

“I was told that I should give her more time to come home since I last saw her with her boyfriend,” Steve said as calmly as he could. The woman’s face fell to a hellish rage upon hearing this. Both Steve and Robin took a slight step back from the desk. 

“Jim, why’d you have to go and die,” she muttered under her breath with a shake of her head. Steve and Robin shared an uncomfortable look.

“Well. I am very sorry that we couldn’t expedite this process sooner, young man. Her name is Rebecca Jude Harrington, correct? And you’re her brother?” she said after a moment and in her previous tone. 

“Yes,” Steve said and nodded. By the time the paperwork was finished, Steve was drained. 

“Thank you,” Steve told Florence. She smiled with sympathy and took the paper from Steve. Chief Powell and officer Callaghan then rushed past him and Robin and peeled out of the parking lot with sirens blaring. 

Steve looked at Robin in confusion, then heard an officer ask another what the chief was in such a rush about. 

“You’re lucky you’re not him. Hawkins High student was found dead at the Munson trailer. Still had her cheerleader uniform on and everything,” the officer said. 

Steve didn’t even take a breath and he didn’t wait for Robin—she had barely gotten the car door shut as he was driving out of the station. He was following the cops and he was getting to that trailer NOW. 

“We don’t know it’s her, Steve. There are what, like 10 cheerleaders on the squad?” Robin reasoned with a shaken voice. 

Steve didn’t respond. He just had to make sure Rebecca was still just missing. Steve caught up with the officer’s car and was thrilled that they made a wrong turn to get to the trailer park. Steve had made this venture many times when picking up and dropping off Max, and she lived right across the street from the Munsons. Steve’s hands were shaking as he got out of his car. He saw a man outside his trailer across from Max’s looking like he had seen a ghost while smoking a cigarette. Steve parked on the street and didn’t even bother to turn the car off before getting out and running up to the trailer. 

Steve ignored the protests from Mr. Munson and Robin’s attempt to calm Steve and explain to the older man as Steve opened the front door to see a blonde girl wearing the Hawkins cheer uniform mangled and broken on the floor. Steve was equally horrified and relieved. The state of her body was nothing short of gruesome, but this body wasn’t Rebecca’s—it was Chrissy’s. 

“It’s Chrissy… Chrissy Cunningham…” Steve said as he exited the trailer just as the police arrived. 

“Now who the hell do you think you are coming in here like that? I called for the police, not you,” Mr. Munson scolded Steve. 

“I’m sorry, sir, I just had to make sure it wasn’t my sister… she didn’t come home last night and I was so worried,” Steve said while catching his breath and running his hands through his hair. “But it’s not her! Oh, at least it’s not her…” 

“Son, there is a corpse not 10 feet from you, I would be a bit more respectful,” Officer Powell said as he approached with a disapproving look. 

Steve hung his head in seriousness. “Yes, of course…” 

“But now that you’re here, you said you know the decedent?” Powell continued. 

“What?” Steve asked. 

“The dead girl, you know her?” Callaghan asked harshly. 

“Um, kind of? She’s my sister’s best friend, Chrissy Cunningham. I don’t know anything really about her, though,” Steve shrugged. 

“So your sister is close to her, where is she?” Powell asked after writing in his notebook. 

Steve held his hands up. “I don’t know. I just now filed a missing person’s report because she didn’t come home, which is how I knew where to go.” 

“Okay, so did your sister mention to you whether or not she and Chrissy were going to be together yesterday evening?” Powell asked. 

“No, she… She and Jason were supposed to hang out with Chrissy and Patrick. I have no idea why either of them would be here,” Steve said. 

“I do. Drugs. Teenagers LOVE drugs,” Callaghan said. “Eddie deals, right, Wayne?” 

“No comment,” Wayne grumbled. 

“That’s not why we’re here. Did she say anything to you yesterday about Chrissy or why she would be with Eddie Munson, either of them?” Powell asked. 

“Don’t say his name like that. He didn’t do this. He may look scary or dangerous… but he did NOT do this,” Wayne said fiercely with tears in his eyes. “That poor girl… she looks just like that Creel family, you remember.” 

“Wayne, that’s not helpful right now,” Powell said with annoyance. 

It felt like hours before Steve was able to leave. He had told the police probably four times what he was doing there and why and who Chrissy was and how no, he didn’t know Eddie Munson or where he was and could be hiding. And then they found Rebecca’s scrunchie. 

“What.. what does this mean? That she was here? Or that Eddie has a thing for her and steals her stuff, what?” Robin asked the police who were handling it delicately and placing it in an evidence bag. 

“It could mean both. But for now, we have to assume that Eddie has had contact with her,” Powell said with a sigh. “Mr. Munson, I’m sorry to say this, but your nephew is under suspicion for murder. Given that he is an adult, you are not his guardian, but it is advised that you remain in town for the foreseeable future.” 

“Look into Victor Creel. Eddie didn’t do this, chief,” Wayne insisted. 

Steve’s vision caught Max across the street getting on her bike and heading out. She looked worried and frightened, which wasn’t a look Steve often saw on Max. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Steve muttered to Robin and they got in the car. 

“Need a ride?” Robin asked as they pulled up next to Max, who nearly jumped out of her skin. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Don’t scare me like that, you assholes,” Max swore.

“Sorry, we just figured you might want a ride to wherever you’re going,” Robin said. 

Max thought for a moment, then got off her bike and loaded it into Steve’s trunk. 

“Where were you headed?” Steve asked once she was buckled in. 

“Dustin’s,” Max said. “I wanted to talk to him about something.”

“Ooh, got a little crush on him? I though you and Lucas were cute together. Did he get to be too jock for you? You prefer the nerdy type?” Robin teased with a grin. 

“You are insufferable, you know that?” Steve mumbled to her. 

“No, I was… something really weird happened last night and I thought he should know…” Max said and crossed her arms. 

“Weird? Weird like how?” Steve questioned as he turned onto Dustin’s street. 

“Well… I’ll go over it when we get there, okay?” Max said. 

~*~

Rebecca woke with a start and sat straight up in response to someone lightly tapping on her shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s me! Sorry, we just have to move before daylight comes, okay?” Eddie said in a hushed voice and his hands held up as if he was just about to move her to wake her up. “It’s nearly dawn.”

Rebecca nodded sleepily and rubbed her eyes. “Right, yeah… sorry.” 

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked. 

“As okay as one can be in this situation,” she responded. “What about you?” 

“I’m okay,” Eddie said. They made their way through the house and decided to pick through the cabinets before daybreak to tide them over for now. They managed to find a few boxes of granola bars and four water bottles. They carried their food out to the shed and found a place to hunker down. 

“What exactly is our plan? Just… stay in this creepy shed forever?” Rebecca asked him. 

“You have a better idea?” Eddie remarked with a raised brow. 

Rebecca stayed silent. They ate until they weren’t starving and decided to save the rest for later. 

“Whose shed is this, anyway?” Rebecca asked after a few moments. 

“My buddy Rick’s,” Eddie responded. 

“And where exactly is Rick?” Rebecca asked. 

“Well, he’s in jail if you must know. The way he and I make money isn’t exactly legal, so… occupational hazard,” Eddie said with a cheeky grin at her. Rebecca nodded. 

“Why do you sell drugs, then? Why not get a real job?” she asked. 

Eddie raised a brow. “Do you know how much money I’ve made since I started selling? I bought a THRONE, okay?” 

Rebecca scoffed, “Why on earth do you need one of those?”

“I’m Dungeon Master and it looked cool, so I bought it. And that’s after paying off a few debts,” Eddie said. 

Rebecca nodded, “So you sell drugs to feed your Dungeons and Dragons obsession?” 

“Among other things, yes. The books, the good ones anyway, can get very expensive,” Eddie chuckled. 

“Well I’m glad you have a good reason for doing something so dangerous,” Rebecca chided. Eddie shrugged. The day wore on and by the time the sun was setting, one of the walls was nearly covered in tick-tack-toe, hangman, and doodles. 

“What about you, why don’t you get a job?” Eddie asked after a beat of silence form their last game of hangman where the word was “Dealer”; Rebecca thought it was funny.

“I’m way too busy with school, college applications, scholarship essays, and cheerleading…” Rebecca said. “So once I get into college I’ll have more time to work.” 

“You’re pretty lucky,” Eddie said. 

“I know. I was born that way, and I don’t take it lightly,” Rebecca responded. They had settled into a corner of the shed with their backs against the walls of the corner, Rebecca facing Eddie’s side. Eddie fiddled with his zipper for a moment before continuing the conversation. 

“Most people would kill to be in your position,” he said. 

“I know. I’m very fortunate to be where I am… I hope I make my parents proud. I know they’re dead, but… I like to think that they’re here with me,” Rebecca smiled to herself. 

“What? The Harringtons died?!” Eddie gasped. 

“No? I’m adopted. My birth parents died in the tornado of ‘68 and the Harringtons adopted me. John and Amber are technically my Godparents,” Rebecca explained. 

“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that,” Eddie said with a stunned expression. 

Rebecca shrugged. “It’s okay. What about your parents? You said you live with your uncle…?” 

“Mine are dead too,” Eddie shared. Rebecca raised a brow to have him continue. “That’s why I live with Wayne. They died in a car crash in ‘74. I was 9.”

“I’m so sorry,” Rebecca said with tears threatening to prick her lashes. She didn’t remember her parents, so she has very little attachment to them, but Eddie had nearly a decade with his. She felt awful for him and watched as he fiddled with the wrappers from their earlier meal and threw them across the shed floor. 

“It’s okay. I have my memories—the good and the bad,” Eddie said with a soft smile. “If we make it out of this, just… don’t tell anyone, okay? I know we haven’t always gotten along, but… you and Henderson are the only ones that know about them.” 

Rebecca felt a twinge in her stomach and chest as Eddie looked at her and asked her to keep his secret. Come to think of it, only a few people outside of her immediate family knew the truth about her birth parents, so she understood his desire for privacy. 

“Of course. Same to you,” Rebecca said. 

Eddie smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Rebecca looked at him for a moment and she wasn’t sure she had ever seen Eddie truly smile. Or at least not one directed at her. All of his smiles for her had some form of mischief or sarcasm behind them, but not this one. This one was genuinely kind and comforting. 

Eddie’s gaze traveled and he took a double take at the corner opposite them. He got up and pulled a black bag off of the top of a box and laughed. 

“Aw, hell yeah! You never disappoint, Reefer!” Eddie laughed in celebration. Rebecca stood up and took a couple curious paces toward him. 

“What is it?” she asked. 

Eddie turned around with four amber bottles in his hands and a smile on his face. “Just what we need, princess. Alcohol.” 

Rebecca raised a brow as Eddie set three bottles down and opened one, then took a drink. His face twisted and he shivered slightly. 

“Jesus H, Rick, what kind of moonshine are you making, damn,” Eddie said. Rebecca picked up one of the bottles and looked at the label. The only label was “Rick’s” in bright colorful letters. No content, ingredients, or anything indicating what the drink was. 

“What is it?” she asked innocently. 

“Well, I THOUGHT it was beer, but it turns out that Rick is not only selling weed, ketamine, meth, and LSD, but also making and selling his own personal brand of moonshine,” Eddie said and took another sip. “It’s strong, but it’s good.” 

“Are you even old enough to drink?” Rebecca asked. Eddie raised a rhetorical brow and looked at her with a blank stare. “Right…”

“Have some if you want, I won’t tell,” Eddie encouraged. Rebecca looked at him, then at the bottle in her hand. She thought about what Jason and Steve would say… what Chrissy would say. The thought of Chrissy made her want to cry again, so she twisted the bottle cap off and took a substantial drink. 

“Hooo, slow down, you don’t want to get too drunk,” Eddie chuckled. Rebecca winced as she swallowed the liquid that burned her throat. “You’ve never had a drink before, have you?” 

Rebecca shook her head, “No. Steve said he’d take me to a bar for my first drink when I turned 21, but nothing before that.” 

“Seems a bit hypocritical of him…” Eddie mumbled. 

“Yeah, it does. Jason doesn’t want me to drink either, even though he does,” Rebecca said and took another sip with Eddie. 

“What do you see in him aside from hot air, anyway?” Eddie asked with a comically curious expression. 

Rebecca shrugged. “He’s… sweet. He’s funny and kind, and he makes me feel wanted.” 

���Anyone can do that,” Eddie scoffed and set the bottle down on the table. 

“Not everyone… most of the time people make me feel the opposite. Like I’m bothering them. I found a small group of people who want to be around me and Jason is one of them…” Rebecca said, not wanting to talk about the main reason she knew Jason and Patrick, which was Chrissy.

“I can’t imagine anybody, in their right mind or otherwise, not wanting you,” Eddie told her. 

Rebecca’s face flushed. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the booze or Eddie’s kind words that she felt butterflies in her stomach. She wondered if his statement included himself in wanting her… 

Faintly, they both heard a car pulling up and a few voices that seemed to be heading for the house. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Eddie swore and looked around. 

“Shit, I thought you said he was in jail?!” Rebecca said. 

“He is! It’s got to be whoever killed Chrissy, nobody else knows where we could be,” Eddie said in a panicked tone. 

“Why would they—oh shit, are they here to kill us?!” Rebecca asked. 

“Probably!” Eddie responded. The pair of them frantically looked for a place to hide. Rebecca lifted a tarp off of a boat that was stashed toward the middle of the back of the shed and climbed in. 

“Eddie, get in here! There’s plenty of room, come on!” Rebecca whispered. The voices grew closer and one sounded familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite make it out. 

Eddie stumbled over the side of the boat and pulled the tarp over the two of them after arming himself with a broken bottle. Just as Eddie was about to position himself next to Rebecca, the door to the shed opened and the two of them froze with Eddie on top of her, their noses nearly touching. Rebecca could feel his shakey breathing above her and she instinctively gripped his arm. His eyes bore into hers through the darkness and they both stayed incredibly still as the walking and shuffling became closer. 

“Hey, look over here,” a young female voice said from where Eddie had left one of the bottles. “Someone was here.” 

“Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran,” another said. 

Rebecca and Eddie tensed at the same time and Rebecca’s eyes welled with tears as she tried to control her breathing. Eddie silently stabilized himself with one hand next to her head and the other covering her mouth. He pressed his forehead against hers in reassurance and Rebecca closed her eyes at the contact. 

Just then, the tarp over the two of them was jabbed by their feet. Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut and tried to be as still as possible. 

“Don’t worry, Steve will get him with his oar,” a young male voice said as the motion continued. The poking was growing closer to where they were situated. 

“We’re going to have to fight, okay? I’ll hold them off and you grab anything to defend yourself,” Eddie said nearly silently in her ear. 

“…died about a hundred times, I don’t find it funny at a—“ an older male voice that Rebecca recognized started, but was cut off by Eddie’s sudden and swift movement to attack the assailant. 

“Aaahh!” nearly everyone in the room screamed. 

Rebecca sat up and saw Steve get pinned against the wall by Eddie with the broken bottle at his throat. 

“Whoah! Eddie! EDDIE!! Eddie, it’s me, Dustin! This is Max, the one who never wants to play DND? And you know Steve and Robin…. ” the younger male voice said and Eddie stared daggers into Steve. 

“Steve?!” Rebecca asked and Eddie looked at her with wide eyes. 

“Becca!” Steve said and looked over at her. Eddie let got of Steve so that Steve could push past Eddie and envelope his sister in a hug. 

“What are you doing here?” Eddie demanded. 

“We were looking for you,” Dustin pleaded. “We’re on your side…”

“Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?!” Steve said and made Rebecca look at him. 

“I’m fine, Steve, I’m okay. Eddie.. Eddie protected me. He helped me,” Rebecca said. 

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Steve breathed out and hugged his sister for a long moment.

“Eddie..? We want to know what happened…” Dustin said to Eddie, who was staring at Rebecca and Steve with an unreadable expression. Rebecca recognized Dustin as one of the members of Eddie’s club and understood why Eddie would be vulnerable around him.

“You won’t believe me,” Eddie whimpered. Rebecca’s gaze went from Steve to Eddie’s broken face. Rebecca was sure her expression mimicked his as she thought about the fate of her best friend.

“Try us,” the red-headed girl said with a shrug. Rebecca looked at the two girls standing a few feet away and recognized one of the girls from the high school band and Steve’s new best friend, Robin, but hadn’t seen the other, Max, before.  

Eddie looked up at Rebecca as if he was asking permission to tell them. Rebecca let a tear shed at the thought of revisiting the previous night. She and Eddie had been very good at keeping their minds occupied and not on Chrissy, but now they were faced with no other choice but to talk about it. 

“Her body lifted… and hung there. And then… Her, her bones… Her bones started…” Rebecca stammered in a shaken voice and looked at Eddie. Eddie had been strong through all of this, but now when he was faced with reliving the reality of the horror they both faced, his resolve was crumbling. He pushed on with a shaken voice.

“Her bones started to snap,” Eddie choked out when Rebecca couldn’t finish the sentence. Rebecca began to sob as she continued, “They snapped in every direction. And then… her eyes…”

Eddie wiped his face and shook his head. “It was like there was something inside, man, like… pulling inside of her head… I didn’t know what to do, so I…” Eddie said and looked helplessly at Rebecca.

“We ran,” she finished and looked at Eddie. Eddie’s expression was somewhere between apologetic and heartbroken. “We ran away… I left her there…” Rebecca started to sob again and sunk to her knees with Steve following her motions to console her. She should have been a better friend. She shouldn’t have let Eddie convince her to leave Chrissy, she should have… she should have died in her place, Rebecca convinced herself. 

“You all think we’re crazy, right?” Eddie said as if he were also speaking to himself. 

“No… No, we don’t think you’re crazy,” Dustin said in a sympathetic tone. 

“Don’t bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds!” Eddie bellowed. Rebecca looked up at him from her now seated position on the shed floor. 

“We’re not bullshitting you,” Max said in a determined tone. 

“We believe you,” Robin encouraged. Eddie looked up at her and sniffled slightly.

“Listen, Eddie, Rebecca. What we’re about to tell you may be a little… difficult to take,” Dustin began. 

“No way, NO,” Steve warned and stepped forward. “You can tell Eddie all you want, but you are not involving my baby sister, okay?!” 

“Steve…” Robin said disapprovingly. “She has a right to know what happened to Chrissy.” 

“Not a chance. Come on, Rebecca, we’re going home,” Steve decided and started to walk out of the shed. 

“No! I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened. Robin’s right: she was my best friend, I have a right to know how she died in front of me like that,” Rebecca pleaded and stepped closer to where Eddie was sitting, then sat next to him and faced Dustin, whose expression was one of discomfort at the siblings’ argument. 

Steve took a deep sigh and held his hands up in defeat, then gestured for Dustin to continue with his gaze cast at the floor. 

“You know how people say Hawkins is cursed? Well… they’re not way off. There’s another world beneath Hawkins, just like it but darker, bleaker. And sometimes it bleeds into ours,” Dustin explained with purpose. 

“Like ghosts and shit?” Eddie asked. 

“There are things worse than ghosts,” Max responded ominously. 

“There are monsters from that world, we call it the Upside Down. We thought they were gone, but they’ve come back before. That’s why we needed to find you,” Dustin said. 

“If they’re back again, we need to know,” Max included. 

“Did you see anything?” Robin asked. 

“Dark particles?” Max offered. 

“They’d look like dust, like swirling dust,” Dustin explained. 

Rebecca thought about when Chrissy started to levitate. It was sudden and no warning. There wasn’t anything that could indicate an outside force. 

“She saw the whole thing, I was just there for… the bone snapping,” Eddie said and looked at Rebecca. 

She shook her head. “There was nothing. She just… there was nothing to see or touch.” 

“So just the lights,” Max reminded Dustin.

“I tried to wake her up, but she couldn’t move. It was like she was in a trance or something,” Rebecca said. Eddie and Dustin looked at her. 

“A curse more like,” Eddie said. 

“Vecna’s curse,” Dustin echoed. 

“Who’s Vecna?” Steve asked plainly. 

“A spellcaster,” Eddie answered. 

“A dark wizard of great power,” Dustin emphasized. 

“So there’s nothing that would indicate Eddie didn’t kill Chrissy,” Robin said with a sigh. 

“And possibly you,” Steve said to Rebecca. 

“They think Eddie killed me, too?! No way, I can just go to the cops and tell them what happened, get his name cleared,” Rebecca said. 

“We can’t get his name cleared without evidence,” Dustin said. “So I think it’s best if you two just… stay hidden for now. We’ll do some investigation and then come back tomorrow, okay?”

Eddie’s stomach let out a low growl. 

“With food. Got it,” Max said. 

As the group got up to leave, Steve stood in front of Eddie and spoke in a warning tone, “Listen, if I come back here and she is gone or dead, Vecna is going to have a long wait to get to you, Munson.” 

“Steve, stop it. I can take care of myself,” Rebecca said. 

“How about you lot get out of here before you call attention to our hiding spot, hm?” Eddie suggested. 

“I’m watching you,” Steve said and the four of them left. 

[writings-of-dumpy]

Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 1: The Murder of Chrissy Cunningham

Hoo, boy. I’ve been working on this one for a WHILE. Which is probably why it’s as long as it is. This is basically my child so if you have nothing nice to say about it, then post said opinion at your own risk. 

Summary: Rebecca Harrington and Eddie Munson are thrust into more than just uncharted territory when Rebecca’s best friend Chrissy Cunningham starts to see horrific visions and spirals downward. Hawkins had a string of horrible luck in the past few years, could it all be culminating into this?

Tropes: Enemies to friends to lovers, oh no there’s only one bed, Harrington!Reader, hurt/comfort, 18+ content

General Warnings: major character death, frequent police involvement, horror/gore, violence, swearing, drug/alcohol mentions and use, 18+ content

Warnings for this part: ED, natural disaster resulting in fatalities, foster system mention, major character death

~Hawkins, June 1968~

John Harrington awoke to the phone ringing. It was still dark outside, as it was most of winter in Indiana, but the lack of any light was indicative of at best early morning. Before the phone could ring much longer, he got out of bed and answered. 

“Harrington residence, John speaking,” he said into the headpiece in a groggy voice. 

“Sorry to bother you at this early hour, Mr. Harrington, but I have urgent news. My name is Chief Smith in New Haven, Indiana. I regret to inform you that Harvey and Judith Blum have been discovered dead in the wreckage of their home after the tornado that passed through here,” the voice at the other end said. John’s heart sank at the news. He had seen his friends not even a month ago when—oh God. 

“What about Rebecca?” John demanded. He looked up at Amber, who had woken up with him and had Steven on her hip as she was rocking their son back to sleep in her arms. At the sound of their infant goddaughter’s name, Amber’s face mirrored her husband’s. 

“The infant is in the custody of the state awaiting your decision, which is the reason I called you,” the chief said calmly.

“What decision?” John asked. 

“In the event of the Blum’s death, you and your wife are named Rebecca’s Godparents and guardians. Now I know this is a shock, so I am calling to de—“

“Of course, we’re coming to get her. Thank you, chief,” John said and hung up. He looked at his wife with sorrowful eyes. 

“Who was that, dear?” Amber asked. 

John walked over to her and placed his arms around his family, then spoke softly, “Harv and Jude are dead…” 

Amber gasped and let out a small sob and held her baby tighter. “What about Rebecca? She’s barely three months old…”

“She’s waiting for us to take her in. I can’t let our friends’ daughter be raised by the state, Amber. I’m going down there. When it becomes a more reasonable hour, go ahead and have Ted help you with another crib for the nursery,” John instructed his increasingly upset wife. 

“Of course…” Amber said. “Be safe.” 

~Hawkins, March 1986~

“Why won’t you just let me drive you? I’m taking Robin, and you both have to be there at the same time anyway,” Steve argued as he followed his sister around the house. 

“Because Jason and Chrissy and Patrick want to hang out before the pep rally. Besides, Chrissy and I have to get warmed up with the rest of the squad before the performance,” Rebecca responded while tying her hair up in a ponytail with a green scrunchie. 

Just then, Jason’s car horn beeped to indicate his arrival to pick her up. Steve sighed. 

“Fine. I’ll see you after the game, then…” he ceded. 

Rebecca’s face fell slightly. “You’re not coming to watch me?”

“No, of course I’m going to watch you cheer, I’m bringing Heidi to the game, so I won’t see you until after,” Steve said. “Be safe and let me know if that prick needs a bat to the face, okay?” 

“You’re the one who said you’d prefer I date him over Andy,” Rebecca smirked with a shrug and headed out.

“Love you,” Steve called. 

“Love you too, bro,” she responded as she bounced down the driveway toward Jason, who was standing next to the passenger’s side door with a soft smile on his face. 

“Good morning, honey,” Jason said and greeted her with a soft kiss to her lips. 

“Good morning,” she responded with a smile after they separated. 

“It’s a big day today… Becca, I was hoping to ask you, um… would you be willing to wear my ring? For luck?” Jason said with a flustered look and produced his class ring from his pocket. Rebecca smiled and bit her lip as she nodded. 

“Of course, Jay. Anything to help you win. But you don’t need luck, you’re amazing on that court,” she said as he placed the ring onto her fingers, trying each one. The gold ring fit best on her middle finger, so that’s where she kept it. When Jason was satisfied with the placement, she smiled and kissed her hand. 

“Hey, we’re going to be late, lovebirds!” Patrick exclaimed from the back seat of Jason’s car. 

“Patrick! Let them have their moment,” Chrissy scolded him with a giggle and a gentle tap to his chest. Jason rolled his eyes and opened the door for Rebecca. 

She slid in and buckled her seatbelt as Jason made his way to the driver’s seat. They rode to the school and when they arrived, Rebecca and Chrissy shared a look as their respective boyfriends got out and opened their doors for them. 

“We’ll see you soon, we’re going to go warm up now, okay?” Chrissy said and linked her arm with Rebecca’s. 

“I love you,” Jason mouthed to Rebecca and she giggled, blowing him a kiss. 

“Still on that, is he?” Chrissy asked. 

“Well I didn’t tell him exactly that I didn’t love him… and it’s not that I don’t, I just feel odd saying it. Wasn’t it like that when you fell in love with Patrick?” Rebecca asked as they walked toward the locker room to put their things away.

“Not at all. When Patrick told me how he felt that night… it was like everything was right. Like for the first time, everything was perfect. And I couldn’t keep myself from saying it back, even if I wanted to. It was like we were made for each other,” Chrissy said in a dreamy tone of voice. 

“Oh… well I guess I’m not there yet. I will be though. Jason is perfect,” Rebecca said with a smile. As they walked around the parking lot toward the gym, they crossed paths with a couple no-good seniors and the leader of their trifecta, Eddie Munson. 

“Looking good, ladies,” the curly-haired metal head said with a whistle. The other two boys, Gareth and Jeff, stifled laughter. For as long as she could remember, Steve had warned Rebecca about Eddie. He was a year older than Steve and had been held back twice now, so his presence annoyed Rebecca. Why couldn’t he just get a grip and graduate? And why did he insist on antagonizing the cheer squad and other athletes? 

Eddie had a cigarette between his lips and lit it with a smirk.  Rebecca glared at him and marched over to where he was. Gareth and Jeff’s smiles dropped as Rebecca approached Eddie. Even though he towered over her, she got in his space and snatched the cigarette from his lips and stomped the flame out.

“That’s. Disgusting,” she said pointedly. Eddie’s eyes looked her up and down slowly as he let his tongue wet his lips. His brow raised when his eyes landed back on her face and his tongue was back behind his lips, which twitched up in a smirk, then he looked over her at Chrissy. 

“Still on for later?” he asked in a low voice. The five of them were the only ones in earshot, but Eddie’s voice suggested privacy was warranted. 

Rebecca turned to Chrissy, who was stood there with and uncomfortable expression and avoiding her best friend’s gaze. 

“What?!” Rebecca said with a shocked and angered tone. 

“Oh, she didn’t tell you? We have a meeting later,” Eddie said with a smug look on his face. 

“Like hell. Shove off,” Rebecca said and pushed Eddie so his back hit the wall, but not hard enough to hurt him. Before Rebecca was turned around fully, she caught Gareth being held back by Eddie and heard mumbles from Jeff about her not being worth the jail time. 

Rebecca was more concerned with Chrissy, though. 

“What did he mean? Are you buying drugs?!” Rebecca whispered to Chrissy. 

“Well, remember what I told you about the nosebleeds and nightmares..?” Chrissy asked timidly. 

“Oh, Chris…” Rebecca said with heartbreak in her voice. 

“Will you go with me? Today, with Eddie? He’s… scary,” Chrissy asked. 

“He’s just a jerk. Like hell I’m letting you go alone. If this is what you think you need, then.. I’m going to help you,” Rebecca said. Chrissy stopped just before the door to the gym and wrapped her arms around Rebecca. 

“Thank you…” she said. 

“I’m here for you. Through everything,” Rebecca said with an encouraging smile. 

The pep rally was fun and Rebecca sat on the floor next to Chrissy as Jason spoke about the tragedies that have befallen Hawkins over the past few years and his passion for giving Hawkins a win. It seemed slightly absurd to use a mall fire that resulted in two deaths to garner excitement and school spirit, but it was working. Jason was an excellent speaker and leader, which is why he was captain. 

“And Rebecca… I love you, baby. I’m going to win this for you,” Jason said and blew her a kiss to conclude his speech. 

Rebecca mouthed back to him, “I love you” and blew him a kiss in return as the crowd behind her awed in unison.

“That doesn’t count,” Chrissy muttered under her breath.

As the day wore on, Rebecca noticed Chrissy’s exhaustion was starting to show. She worried for her best friend and hoped that getting some food in her would help. They sat down at the table for lunch with the basketball team, Chrissy and Rebecca opposite each other and sitting next to Patrick and Jason, respectively. Rebecca wondered if Patrick knew that Chrissy was struggling. She knew about Chrissy’s eating disorder and they had a silent pact to eat together. With every bite Chrissy took, Rebecca would eat the same, and Chrissy didn’t feel so alone. It was working for well into the school year, but something must have happened to make Chrissy less stable. 

“As long as you’re into science, or band, or… parties,” Eddie’s voice rang out from the middle of the cafeteria as he yelled while he walked on the table. “Or a GAME where you toss BALLS into LAUNDRY BASKETS!” 

Eddie was now pointedly yelling at their table, which made Chrissy cringe at his abruptness. 

“You want something, freak?!” Rebecca yelled back as she stood up on her seat. 

Eddie held up his hands to imitate horns and stuck his tongue out with a deranged look in his eyes and made sounds that mimicked a goblin Rebecca had seen in a movie. 

Rebecca sneered at him mockingly in response. 

“Okay, sit down, little spitfire,” Jason said to Rebecca and helped her down as he stood up to defend her against Eddie. “Prick..” 

Rebecca looked at Chrissy as Eddie went back to talking to his friends and getting off the table. Rebecca saw that Chrissy was upset and whispered something to Patrick and got up to head to the bathroom just after the interaction with Eddie. Patrick looked up at Rebecca with the a concerned face as Chrissy left the table. She nodded and got back up to head to the bathroom following Chrissy. She weaved through the tables and people carrying trays to the outside pathway that was a direct shot to the bathroom where Chrissy had just entered.

“That’s what’s KILLING THE KIDS!” Eddie said as he ran off the table and into Rebecca’s way, nearly knocking her over. He acknowledged that he had cut her off with a slight bow and as she started to walk by him, he held out his hand to allow her to pass with a cheeky smile. Irritated and worried, she flipped him off. Before she could get too far past him, however, she felt his hand grip her wrist firmly. His grip wasn’t harsh enough to leave a mark, but enough to make her stop and face him.

“That’s. Rude,” he said, mocking their earlier interaction. Rebecca shook her hand free of him with a glare. In response, he smiled devilishly at her as she turned away. 

Rebecca opened up the door to the bathroom once she approached it and before she could call out to her friend, she heard Chrissy exclaim, “Are you deaf?! I said go away!”

“Chrissy, it’s me… I'm not mad and I'm not going to judge you,” Rebecca said, knowing that Chrissy has been throwing up. She heard Chrissy's breathing speed up and become more panicked. She called for Chrissy again, and Chrissy began to scream. 

“GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY!” Chrissy repeated with anguished screams.  

“Shit,” Rebecca swore and tried to move the lock through the slit in the door. She quickly lost patience and climbed onto toilet of the stall adjacent, then hurled herself over the division. Careful to not hurt Chrissy, Rebecca landed on the toilet seat and crouched down on the floor to console her hysteric friend. Rebecca held onto Chrissy's shoulders and Chrissy's eyes were pointed at Rebecca, but Chrissy was seeing through her. Chrissy was seeing something Rebecca couldn't. 

 “Chrissy, hey! It's okay, it's me!” Rebecca pleaded. “Come on, Chris!” With a loud gasp, Chrissy seemed to snap back into reality and began to sob.  

“Becca…” Chrissy gasped out. Rebecca let out a sigh and hugged Chrissy tightly as she sobbed. Rebecca kept her own tears hidden from her struggling friend. After a few moments, Chrissy calmed down and let go. 

“You... You can't say anything to Patrick... Promise me?” Chrissy begged. Reluctantly, Rebecca nodded.

 “Okay, okay... But this is serious, Chris. I'm so worried about you... It's never been this bad. I think you need to see Ms. Kelly. Like, now,” Rebecca advised. 

Chrissy sat for a moment. “I was back home. I wasn't even here anymore... And there was... a clock. I've never seen it before...”

“Oh, Chrissy...” Rebecca said with teary eyes. 

“You think I'm crazy,” Chrissy decided. 

“No! Chrissy, I know you know what you saw... I'm so worried about you. You're not crazy, you just need help...” Rebecca explained. Chrissy's eyes softened and she nodded.  

“Will you walk me to Ms. Kelly's?” she asked. Rebecca nodded with a smile, and helped her to her feet.  

The two of them snuck out of the bathroom and out of the cafeteria, then down the hall. After Rebecca left Chrissy at the counselor's office, she caught up with Jason and Patrick in biology. 

“Hey, where’s Chris?” Patrick asked. 

“She’s in Ms. Kelly’s office, something about her college application,” Rebecca lied. 

“Oh, a good thing, I hope?” he said, relaxing. 

“Yeah, probably. Sounded like it,” Rebecca assured him. 

“Thanks,” Patrick said to her. 

“Hey how about after school we can hang out and head to the game together, hm?” Jason asked with a gentle hand placed in hers and kind eyes. 

“That sounds wonderful, but you know how Steve gets… He’s picking me and Chrissy up after school so we have time to get pretty for the game. But you can take us since he’ll be with his date?” Rebecca suggested when Jason’s face fell in disappointment. 

“Yeah, and when we win we’re having a party at Benny’s old place. King Steve can’t protect you from his own lifestyle,” Jason mused with a wink. 

Rebecca smiled and blushed. She was glad she didn’t have to outright lie to Jason, Steve was picking her up after school… but an hour after so she and Chrissy could buy drugs from Eddie Munson. 

They met up next to the football field and started to walk into the woods behind the school where Eddie had told Chrissy to meet him. His note said come alone, but no way was Rebecca going to allow that. 

“Well, this looks promising,” Chrissy said when they ended up next to an abandoned picnic table. 

“Yeah, so I guess now we just wait…” Rebecca said. She watched as Chrissy’s vision fixed on a nearby tree. Rebecca watched as Chrissy’s face went from curious to frightened and she backed up into Eddie, who had come out of nowhere. 

“Whoah, hey!” he said at their collision. Chrissy turned around and raced him with fear in her eyes and Rebecca stepped forward. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Eddie looked her up and down and his cheery grin dissolved into a look of genuine concern as he took in her state. “You okay?” 

“Clearly not. She’s buying drugs from you,” Rebecca chimed in. Eddie’s lips pursed and he looked between Rebecca and Chrissy, speaking then to the latter. 

“I’m pretty sure I told you to come alone,” he said in a neutral tone.

“She’s my best friend,” Chrissy reasoned with a shrug. Eddie let out an exasperated sigh and looked in both directions before his eyes landed on Rebecca. 

“Yeah and I’m here to make sure you don’t try anything,” she warned him.

Eddie’s eyebrows raised and his hands fell to his hips as he spoke. “What, your boyfriend tell you to do that? Or does he even know where you are?”

“He doesn’t HAVE to, asshole,” Rebecca said and took a step forward. 

“Hey, I’m doing a favor here, I’d be a little nicer,” Eddie said as he took a step forward. 

“What like being the town dealer deserves an award?” Rebecca challenged. 

“Your friend certainly seems to require my services. And given how tightly wound you are, half a gram would do you some good too,” Eddie scoffed.

“Can we just get our weed and go?” Rebecca said. 

“Gladly,” Eddie said and opened up his lunchbox on the picnic table. He sat down and pulled out a plastic bag with yellowish green flower in it. 

“How about… $20 for the half,” Eddie said to Chrissy when she and Rebecca sat down opposite him. 

“How does this work, exactly?” Chrissy asked uncomfortably. 

“Well… just like any other transaction. Cash only, no receipts, for obvious reasons…” Eddie trailed off and he looked intently at Chrissy. “Hey, if you don’t want to do this, just give me the word, and I’ll walk away.”

“It’s not that, it’s just… do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?” Chrissy asked him. 

Eddie’s eyes went from skeptical to compassionate and he let out a breath as he looked between Rebecca and Chrissy. “Well, you know…. Just on a daily basis.” 

He smiled brightly at them both and for once Rebecca wasn’t infuriated by his face. His smile was nice and it seemed to reassure Chrissy, so Rebecca couldn’t be too mad at Eddie right now. 

Chrissy shifted in her seat, then asked, “Do you have anything… stronger?”

Rebecca looked at her with large and disbelieving eyes. “Chrissy… I know it’s gotten worse, but something stronger?” 

Chrissy turned to her and spoke, “Well, it’s just… more vivid now.”

Rebecca’s face fell and her brows furrowed in worry. 

“What is?” Eddie asked. 

Rebecca looked at him harshly and said, “None of your business.” 

Eddie raised his brows and cast his wide eyes at the ground as he held his hands up in surrender. 

Rebecca continued, “Chrissy, you should see a doctor, not self-medicate like this.”

“I can’t get in until next week. I just need to sleep,” Chrissy said desperately. The exhaustion was evident in her face and voice and Rebecca felt helpless. 

After a beat, Eddie spoke in a smaller and more assuring voice, “I mean, I have something stronger, but it’s nothing like this. Mary Jane is pretty harmless, but this stuff can fuck you up if you use it wrong.” 

“What is it?” Rebecca asked him. 

“It’s.. it’s ketamine. Special K.”

“Ketamine?! Like the shit they use to sedate cats? Absolutely not,” Rebecca said and looked at Chrissy.

“Not really your decision now is it, sweetheart?” Eddie said with a shit-eating grin and challenging tone.

Rebecca’s blood boiled and she started to protest, “You—“ 

“I’ll take it,” Chrissy said definitively and cutting Rebecca off. Eddie’s expression was unreadable but it wasn’t smug like Rebecca had expected. Chrissy continued, “Becca you can stay with me the whole time to make sure I’m okay, I just.. I just need to sleep.” 

Rebecca looked at Eddie and he met her gaze. She asked, “What is the safest way to do it? How does she not fuck herself up as you so eloquently put it?” 

Eddie shrugged. “There’s always risk, it’s drugs after all. But I’d suggest snorting it so you don’t have to open a vein.” 

“And this will help her sleep?” Rebecca asked again. 

“Out like a light. Cross my heart, doll,” Eddie said with a smirk. 

“Okay..” 

“Okay. Well I’ve got a campaign tonight and you have that.. cheer thing,” Eddie said to Chrissy and mimed cheering with pompoms lazily above his head. “How about we meet up afterward? Just you and me and head to my place?” 

“Why, so you can be a creep? Not a chance, pal. I’m going to be here the whole time,” Rebecca interjected. 

“No offense, Eddie, I just… I do feel better with her here,” Chrissy said weakly. Rebecca gestured and nodded her head in confirmation as Chrissy spoke. 

“She feels better with me,” Rebecca mouthed pointedly and Eddie rolled his eyes. 

“Fine, just leave your crummy boyfriend behind, Harrington,” Eddie groaned and gathered his things. 

“Sure thing, Munson,” Rebecca said. 

~

“We did it! Baby I knew we could do it!” Jason cheered joyously and picked Rebecca up and spun her around. 

“I never had a doubt. I’m so proud of you!” she said to him. He set her down and held her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Rebecca kissed him back as she always did and Jason pressed her body flush against his. 

“My little good luck charm,” Jason said as he parted his lips from hers. 

“I’m glad you think so, babe,” Rebecca said and held him close. 

“We’re going to Benny’s, need me to drive you?” He asked with his face still close to hers. 

“No, I’m going to go home and change and then I’ll be over, okay?” Rebecca said. 

“Okay, babe. I love you, see you soon,” Jason said and kissed her lips quickly before walking toward the rest of the team.

Rebecca and Chrissy snuck away from the crowd and met Eddie at his van. 

“You ladies ready?” Eddie asked with keys in hand. 

“Yeah,” Chrissy said. Eddie got in the driver’s side and Chrissy hopped in the passenger’s side. Rebecca opened up the side door and found there to be a bunch of equipment and no seat. 

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to clean up. You’re sturdy, though, right?” Eddie said with a chuckle. Determined to not be bothered by this and be there for Chrissy, she weaseled her way between the various cords and boxes of speakers and equipment. 

“Well if your shit gets broken then you have nobody to blame but yourself,” Rebecca said. 

Eddie laughed and his van roared to life with harsh guitars and drums blaring. 

“Oh hell yeah, I love this song,” Eddie said and turned the music up to a borderline painful volume with a smirk in his rear view mirror to Rebecca. 

He drove like an absolute maniac. Rebecca was thrown about the back a few times and nearly concussed herself during one particularly harsh turn. Amazingly enough, he didn’t get pulled over and the three of them made it to the trailer park in south Hawkins. Eddie turned off the car after parking and got out. Chrissy and Rebecca followed with the latter a bit less than nauseated. 

“Welcome to my castle… sorry about the mess. The maid took the week off,” Eddie said with a laugh as he walked in and allowed the other two to follow. 

Rebecca looked around the messy trailer and took in the warm lights and smell of cigarette smoke, weed, and cologne. There was evidence of another person living here, but she hadn’t heard him mention living with anyone. 

“Is it just you living here?” Rebecca asked. 

“No, I live with my uncle, Wayne. He works nights at the plant, so we’re here alone now,” Eddie shared as he rummaged through drawers. 

“How long does it take to kick in, the special k?” Chrissy asked weakly. 

“Well, it should kick in pretty quick since you’re snorting it,” Eddie said and opened a container, then realized it was empty. “Shit.” 

“Do you not have it?” Rebecca asked. 

“No, I got it. It’s here… somewhere,” Eddie said. He looked up at them, held a finger up to them and headed deeper into the trailer. 

“Great,” Rebecca said. “Are you okay, Chrissy?”

“Yeah, I just… I just want to sleep. How are we going to get home?” Chrissy asked. “I don’t think Eddie’s going to be okay taking us.” 

“I’ll call Steve, there’s a phone booth like a block away. Don’t worry,” Rebecca said and assured her. Chrissy nodded. 

“Okay. Thank you for being here with me,” she said with a weak smile. Her face then fell and her eyes glazed over like she had looked earlier. 

“Chrissy?” Rebecca said. She didn’t respond, and Rebecca called again, “Chrissy??”

She waved her hand in front of Chrissy’s face and had no response. She tried everything to wake Chrissy from her trance, but she couldn’t. 

“Chrissy, wake up! I don’t like this, Chrissy wake up!!” Rebecca called desperately. “Come in, Chris, this isn’t funny!” 

Chrissy’s body started to slowly lift from the floor and Rebecca couldn’t keep her down. 

“Eddie!!” Rebecca screamed. “Eddie what are you doing?!” 

Eddie’s footsteps came running down the hallway and he stopped abruptly when he saw Chrissy’s body in the air. The lights began to flicker and Rebecca screamed. 

“Make it stop, Eddie, please!” Rebecca pleaded with him. Eddie looked just as shocked as Rebecca. 

“I’m not doing anything, what the fuck?!” Eddie bellowed. 

The pair of them looked back up at Chrissy’s floating body at the sound of a horrible snap. Within seconds, Chrissy’s body was mangled and she was unrecognizable. Her eyes wept tears of blood in the absence of her globes and it appeared every bone in her body was snapped the opposite direction in half. Her mangled form crashed onto the ground in time with the lights returning to normal. 

“Chrissy!” Rebecca screamed and rushed to her side. 

Chrissy didn’t respond and it was clear that she was dead with no hope of resuscitation. 

Rebecca turned to Eddie with tears pouring from her eyes, “What the hell did you do?! What the fuck was that?!” 

Eddie’s eyes went wider as he responded and started to panic, “I have no fucking idea! Oh fuck she’s fucking dead, isn’t she?”

“What kind of satanist shit are you into?! She’s not part of some ritual sacrifice you freak!” Rebecca said recalling a conversation from a few days ago she overheard Jason and a few others talk about.

“You really, honestly, think that I did this?! Honestly?! Come on, Becca, you’re smarter than that,” Eddie reasoned. 

“Am I?! Because I feel like a big idiot for not knowing what the fuck I just saw,” Rebecca panicked. Eddie knelt next to her and she was hysterically sobbing over her dead friend. 

“We need to get out of here,” Eddie told her in a calmer tone that was still wrought with panic but less hysterical. 

“We need to call the cops,” Rebecca sobbed. 

“No, think for a minute. Do you have any idea how many drugs are here?! And then we’d have to tell them why you were here. ‘Yes officer, I was here to buy drugs from the town dealer and now my friend is dead’—don’t think that will go over very well.” 

“So what do we do, then?!” 

“Get the fuck out of here and hide. Let my uncle find her, he’ll call the cops, she’ll get taken care of,” Eddie said after a moment. 

“…I can’t leave her, Eddie,” Rebecca resolved with a quiet sob. 

Eddie’s face went soft and he put a hand on her shoulder gently. “I know… but we need to get out of here before whatever did this to her does it to us.” 

Rebecca shut her eyes and let a few tears fall as she nodded. Eddie helped her up and the two ran to Eddie’s car. Rebecca was trying to understand what she just saw and she could tell that Eddie was just as shaken as she was, but he kept a level head as he drove. Rebecca had no idea where he was going, but she had no choice but to trust him. She hated that Eddie Munson, of all people, was witness to her most vulnerable moment. She knew he didn’t care about her so she tried to hide how upset she was after the initial shock of Chrissy’s death and rode with him. In any normal circumstance, she wouldn’t be anywhere near his car or near him. Steve told her stories about how irritating he was and how he was no good being the town dealer and all, but Steve had a few run-ins with what he not so affectionately named Eddie “The Freak” Munson. After about 45 minutes, Eddie’s car stopped next to a desolate part of Lover’s Lake. 

“Okay. So we’re ditching this car, and we have about a ten mile walk to a place I know, okay?” Eddie said with an assuring look. Rebecca was still in shock and barely registered what Eddie said. She followed his directions as they pushed his car into the lake. 

“It was a good van… did a lot of gigs with that van,” Eddie mumbled. 

After a moment, Rebecca spoke up, “You’re in a band?” 

Eddie looked at her plainly. “Yeah. I play guitar.” 

“Oh,” Rebecca said. Eddie led the way around the lake and Rebecca followed him. 

After a half an hour, Eddie spoke up. “I truly have no idea what happened. I’m just sorry you lost your friend.” 

Rebecca nodded and wiped tears away. “I’m sorry too.” 

After an awkward silence, Rebecca was the one to speak up this time. “Why do you dress like that?”

“Like what?” 

“Like… I don’t know. So different,” she asked. Eddie smiled slightly. 

“Well, I like the way it looks, and this is how all of my heroes look— Ronnie James, Ozzy, James Hetfield…” Eddie said. 

“I don’t know who those people are,” Rebecca responded. 

“They’re the frontmen of Dio, Black Sabbath, and Metallica,” Eddie informed her. 

Rebecca looked at him blankly, she didn’t have a clue who they were. 

Eddie sighed and shook his head. “Why do you dress the way you do?” Eddie asked as he helped her step over a tree branch. 

“Well, I have a uniform that I have to wear for cheerleading… but other than that, I just… Chrissy helped me pick out my clothes. Helped me feel good in what I wore. I wish I could have done the same for her. I tried so hard and told her every day how wonderful she was and how wrong her mom was about her,” Rebecca said and started to sob again. 

“Sounds like she was dealing with some shit. You’re a good friend for helping her through it. She looked up to you,” Eddie said reassuringly. 

Rebecca wiped her face once more and kept walking. “Thanks…” 

“For the record, I agree with you. She was wonderful,” Eddie encouraged. Rebecca nodded. 

“You liked her?” 

“I mean, everyone wants Chrissy Cunningham, head cheerleader,” Eddie scoffed. “Patrick’s a lucky guy.” 

“Yeah, they’re great together,” Rebecca said thinking about Chrissy’s words about her boyfriend. “He’s going to be devastated.”

“Try not to think about that right now. Right now, we just have to get to Rick’s,” Eddie said. 

“Right…” Rebecca agreed. Eddie was surprisingly calm. He was very task-oriented at the moment and Rebecca wondered if it was because she was the one freaking out. He was freaking out during the attack, but afterwards when she was inconsolable, Eddie came to the rescue and found a plan. She was surprised with how not infuriating his presence made her. Earlier today, the sight of him made her head nearly explode in anger. Now she wasn’t sure if she’d be okay without him.

They held conversation most of the way to the abandoned house which was about a five hour walk. Rebecca was completely wiped when they reached the house. 

“We can’t let anyone know we’re here, so we have to work in the dark,” Rebecca concluded. “Do you have a key?” 

“I don’t need one,” Eddie mumbled as he fiddled with the lock on the side door with a couple of metal tools. 

“So you just keep a lock-picking kit on your person at any given point?” Rebecca asked, dumbfounded. Eddie shrugged. 

“You should be glad I do. Otherwise we’d be sleeping outside,” Eddie retorted and the door lock was released. Carefully, the pair of them snuck inside and closed the door slowly and silently.

“Okay, so we can just hide out here until… well until we think of something better,” Eddie said. 

“We should probably rest. Nobody knows we’re out here, so we should take advantage of that while we can, I suppose? How likely is it that someone knows you’d run here after witnessing something horrific?” Rebecca added. 

“Well, Wayne knows of Rick but doesn’t know much else, and Gareth and Jeff won’t rat me out in any real sense, so… we probably have the rest of tonight and then we can move out to the shed..” Eddie said. “So yeah, rest up.” 

“Why would we move out to the shed? Why can’t we stay in here?” Rebecca asked. 

“Do you want the neighbors to see us? I certainly don’t, and the shed only has one window whereas the house has like 50,” Eddie said. 

“I guess you have a point…” Rebecca said. The pair traveled through the house as quietly as they could to find a place to sleep that was away from a window or door. After several frustrating minutes of no luck, Eddie opened the door to Rick’s bedroom which had no windows in it and was relatively small with only a king sized bed filling most of the room and only a single walkway on one side and the foot of the bed that led to the door. 

“Jackpot,” Eddie said with a smirk. “This’ll do, come on.” 

“I’m not sleeping in there with you, there’s no room on the floor for either of us, we’d have to share a bed,” Rebecca gasped out, the thought of sleeping in a bed with Eddie Munson almost repulsive. 

“Oh don’t be such a baby. I don’t smell that bad and who knows when we’ll be able to rest again? Especially in a nice warm bed,” Eddie said and kicked his shoes off as he took his jacket off. 

Rebecca thought for a moment and decided that Eddie was right. She couldn’t believe she was about to climb into bed with him, but he had a very good point and the bed looked damn comfortable after all of the walking. The ache in her legs seemed to catch up to her and she took her jacket off then slid into bed next to him. There was plenty of room for the two of them and the blanket they shared was large enough to roll them both up in—selling drugs gave Rick an excellent lifestyle, evidently.

Once they had settled, a silence fell between them that Rebecca didn’t want to address. Her thoughts flooded back to Chrissy and what had happened. She was confused and scared and had no idea what she was doing. Every time she tried to close her eyes to sleep, the image of Chrissy’s mangled face crept into her mind. She tried to think of anything but Chrissy, but she couldn’t shake the image. 

And then she heard something. It was a sad, sobbing sound that was so close to her it could have come from Eddie… it DID come from Eddie. Eddie was crying. 

Rebecca rolled over and faced his back. She wasn’t sure how to approach the situation, but she felt the same way.

“Eddie?” she asked softly. 

“What?” he snapped. Rebecca let out a sigh and rolled back over. 

“Nothing,” she snapped back. She screwed her eyes shut and tried her best to sleep. 

[writings-of-dumpy]

Storytime: Vampire!Eddie x OC

Summary: When the Vampire King starts to attack the nearby castle town of Hawkinshire, the neighboring kingdom's daughter is placed in an arranged marriage to solidify the alliance between Hawkinshire and Yewsander to defeat the evil power lurking within Edward the Banished's domain.

Warnings/tags: 20K WORDS SO STRAP IN. Blood and gore, violence, major character death, kind of enemies to lovers? but mostly soulmate lore, vampire!Eddie Munson x OC, prince!Steve Harrington x OC (arranged), telekinetic!OC, 18+ ONLY!

Yewsander was a small village that was lush and full of green. It was a garden kingdom; the back yard, in essence, to the much larger neighboring kingdom, Hawkinshire. For the most part, the two lived in quiet harmony and had a reasonable professional relationship. There were very few interactions between them, but when there were conflicts that needed resolution, King Steven of Hawkinshire and King James of Yewsander would settle amicably. That was one of the many things Ravina admired about her father; he had a unique ability to solve problems in spite of his ever-shortening temper. Her mother, Queen Joyce, often had a hand in consoling her husband. Ravina had often pondered their dynamic as she was growing up and wondered if her twin brother, Johnathan, would take after their father or their mother more. Johnathan had grown to have significantly more patience than his father, luckily. Ravina heard her mother’s voice clearly in her mind with the tone that she used to calm her husband that was partway between warning and soothing, “Jim, think about this a little more..” she would advise. Ravina smirked to herself and continued her task at hand.

“And what might you be doing out here on your lonesome?” Johnathan’s voice said from behind her suddenly. Ravina’s body jolted and the chain of daisies she was weaving above her fell to the ground next to her.

“Ah! You scared me!” Ravina yelped and stood up to face her brother. Johnathan’s kind eyes looked down at her and he laughed.

“You know, you shouldn’t be doing that alone. Someone might cause a scene,” he warned in a more serious tone.

“And then Yewsander would be burnt to ash with father’s rage,” her younger brother, Will, said from next to Johnathan. It was true; as his only daughter, Jim was exceptionally protective of Ravina, especially given her gift. She had the ability to manipulate objects and living beings with her mind and could often locate them should they be lost, which made her poor father panic at the thought of her outside without supervision. He understood what use that gift could be in the wrong hands and impressed upon Ravina regularly the importance of keeping her talent hidden and never being too far from home without someone with her. Growing up, Ravina was mostly concerned with using her ability to win hide-and-seek, but more recently she helped Jim find his favorite goblet.

“Well, I’m not too far from the castle and I was being mindful…” Ravina stated.

Johnathan raised a brow at her. “Yes, so mindful it was almost too easy to sneak up on you.”

Ravina smiled weakly, “Don’t tell dad?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. But still, he’s not the only one who worries, okay?” Johnathan said with a small shake of his head. Ravina nodded and took Will’s hand as he offered it to help her up.

“So, what has compelled you to interrupt my morning of contemplation?” Ravina asked with a smirk.

Johnathan and Will exchanged an unreadable look, then Johnathan spoke, “We got a letter from Hawkinshire… I watched dad read it and it seems serious. He and mom had a private conversation and then asked us to find you.”

Ravina took a deep breath… this couldn’t be good. Over the years, Jim and Steve have become friends of sorts, but it’s never clear whether Steven’s letters were good or bad until the five of them had a discussion about it, whatever the case may be.

“Well, no use putting it off any longer,” Ravina said to her pair of brothers. The three of them walked in mostly silence save for a few hellos to various servants milling about the castle from the garden to the throne room. The castle was made from stone on the exterior, but the closer to the center of it, where the throne room was, the walls, floor, and ceiling were marble and decorated with various portraits and tapestries depicting the country’s history and former Royals. The throne room was easily one of the grandest rooms in the castle with large ivory pillars along the walls and a long red rug that led to there the five thrones sat in an elevated portion of the room. The hall was grand enough to fit most of the citizens of the castle town, and certainly big enough for exclusive parties.

As Ravina and her brothers approached the thrones, she noticed that both of her parents’ eyes were set on her. She felt a wave of guilt and panic wash over her. Was she in trouble? Has someone seen her magic and now Hawkinshire wanted her for their own?

“Well, we’re all here now,” Will said. “What’s going on?” It was hard for Ravina to believe that Will was the youngest sometimes.

King Jim’s eyes left his daughter and he let out a sigh before speaking in a solemn tone, “There’s no easy way to say this. Hawkinshire has proposed a permanent union between us. They’ve recently suffered through several vampire attacks, and the threat seems to be growing.”

The air in the room chilled. The very mention of a vampire sent fear into the souls of those who lived in such proximity to Hawk Mountain, where the vampire king himself resided.

“Is it the Banished?” Johnathan asked cautiously. Queen Joyce hung her head and muttered a silent prayer at the mention of the vampire king’s name. Ravina wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that question. Edward the Banished earned his title after a family of four were slaughtered mercilessly 20 years ago. Previously, vampires rarely attacked humans and mostly kept to themselves, but that changed completely when Edward killed a family of four and the vampire ruler at the time, Vecna. Ravina knew the story very well, as it had been told as a cautionary tale many times. The Creel family were nobility in Hawkinshire, but one night Edward broke into their home and his bloodlust came for Victor, Virginia, and their two young children Alice and Henry. There was nothing left of the family, and Edward took the crown from Vecna by killing him too. It’s said that after he killed them, he took the windows to their souls: their eyes. The house was set ablaze by the creature, and he flew up to the castle atop Hawk mountain, never to be seen again.

Yewsander was farther away from Hawk Mountain and there had seldom been any attacks in their kingdom, but Hawkinshire was a different story. The barrier between the castle town of Hawkinshire and the mountain was a thick, dark forest that held creatures mostly unknown. Every expedition into the forest left little or no survivors, legend says.

The thought of the vampire king’s return sent a shudder down Ravina’s spine. The beast of her childhood nightmares back into the limelight was a nightmare come true.

“There is.. evidence that suggests that,” Jim said. “Which is why they are bolstering their forces. King Steven fears a war is coming.”

“So how do they want us to do that?” Will asked.

“They’ve proposed a solution,” Jim said more confidently.

Joyce scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Don’t forget the veiled threat..”

Ignoring her, the king continued, “Their solution is to join our families in marriage. Yewsander would be part of Hawkinshire and we would rule over both. The heir to the throne is Prince Steve, to be crowned King Steven the Second following the marriage… and you would be Queen Ravina.”

“What?!” Johnathan exclaimed. Ravina was in shock. She had never once been considered for the throne. Should something happen to Johnathan, Will would take the throne. Ravina would never be queen, so hearing her name in such a manner was dumbfounding. Not to mention the prospect of marrying a man she didn’t know—that was downright horrifying.

“You can’t be seriously considering this,” Johnathan said and looked panicked between his father and sister.

Jim let out a sigh. “We don’t have very many options. But the reason I’ve asked you three here is to discuss it.”

“Well the answer is no, obviously,” Will said and looked to his siblings for agreement. “We’re not just going to marry our sister off to some… guy!”

“That’s not your decision, son,” Jim began.

“As opposed to it being yours? You’d trade your daughter for politics?!” Johnathan gasped in shock.

Jim’s face twisted in irritation and he stood up. “IF you would let me FINISH… I was going to allow Ravina to decide,” he stated now towering over his children. His eyes softened as he looked at his daughter. “I leave this to you, dear. Whatever you decide, you have the support of your parents and your king and queen.”

Ravina thought. The horrifying prospect of an arranged marriage made a pit in her stomach. She had never thought much about romance or her love life. Her mother hadn’t been too overbearing or keen for her to marry before she was ready. Ravina wasn’t completely sheltered, she had crushes and knew about marriage and sex, of course, but she had assumed she’s find love when she was ready to, not have a man forced on her. And the terrifying prospect of becoming queen? That made her want to shrivel up and hide. Just as she was about to protest and decide that Hawkinshire can get help elsewhere or just not have our union, she remembered her mother mentioning a veiled threat. If Ravina refused, would Hawkinshire invade and take the country by force? Their army was fearsome and they were a powerful force. Yewsander had a substantial military force as well and it’s possible that should a war break out Yewsander would win, but how many lives ruined and lost would that be a result of? And all because Ravina didn’t want to marry a prince…

“I have a condition,” she finally spoke quietly.

“I’m sure,” Joyce said with a smile.

“Can I meet Prince Steve before I make a decision? I mean, I’d like to make sure I won’t be totally miserable for the rest of my life before saying yes,” Ravina asked.

Joyce smiled widely, “That is a fine idea! A visit to Hawkinshire would be perfect. This way we can get first-hand knowledge about the vampire situation as well. Besides, not everyone can be as lucky as I was and have the most handsome man at the altar.”

Jim smiled and took Joyce’s hand in his and give it a deep kiss.

“Ew, gross,” Will gagged lowly which made Johnathan and Ravina smirk.

“Well then we’ll leave tomorrow morning. If we take the common passage we should be there by early evening,” Jim said. “Pack for a lengthy stay, I’d rather not make 2 trips to gather more clothes for the wedding.”

Ravina went to bed that night with thoughts swimming wildly in her brain. She had heard stories about Prince Steve; the maids talked about him like he was Prince Charming. He’d done several brave acts and by all accounts was a hero to the people of Hawkinshire. She wondered what he looked like—of all the stories she had never seen his portrait or heard a description. She wondered if he knew of the proposition and what his thoughts were in the matter. Her mind wandered to the castle on Mount Hawk and she shuddered thinking that Edward the Banished was back on a rampage. She hadn’t dared ask the details of the recent killings—her mother would forbid her from hearing them anyway—and she felt sick thinking of the lives the vampire king has taken. The farthest she had ventured in her telepathy was the outskirts of Hawkinshire, where one of the horses had run to a few years ago, so tomorrow would be an adventure for her.

~*~

Hawkinshire was vast, to say the least. Most of the terrain was lush greenery like Yewsander, but the farther north they traveled, the more diverse the environment became. There were significantly more hills and bodies of water, it was a scenic ride through Hawkinshire. When they were approaching the castle town, she could tell. There were far fewer farmlands and the towns were closer together. When the carriage headed around a bend, Mount Hawk was visible and it was more intimidating than Ravina was told. The top of the mountain was obscured by dark grey clouds and below, Ravina could see a black castle formed from within the mountain and surrounded by dark black and grey trees. The mountain melted into forest and the closer they got to the castle, the more Ravina noticed that the line that separated vampire rule and humans was a harsh line at the back of the Harrington castle.

“Are you really that nervous?” Johnathan whispered to Ravina suddenly. Ravina looked at him quizzically and he gestured to the morphed metal of the window sill. Without realizing it, Ravina had twisted the metal into a spiral shape with her mind.

“Oh.. I suppose I am,” Ravina responded.

“No need to be so nervous dear. We’re here to support you,” Joyce said comfortingly.

The carriage took a wider turn and slowed to a halt, signaling that they had arrived at the castle.

“Stay here, I’ll talk to them,” their footman, Callaghan, stated.

“State your business,” a nasally and authoritative voice spoke.

“I’m transporting the royal family of Yewsander to visit with their majesties King Steven and Queen Karen,” Callaghan informed.

After a beat, the nasally voice spoke again, “We weren’t expecting you so suddenly. Wait here.” Ravina began to fiddle with the metal spiral she had made again and her stomach folded on itself.

“The moment you say so, we can leave, okay? There are options,” Jim assured her.

“Are you ready, majesties?” Callaghan said with his face visible through the window after a few moments.

“Yes, thank you, Callaghan,” Jim stated and adjusted his overcoat and crown.

“Presenting their royal majesties of Yewsander, King James and Queen Joyce,” Callaghan announced as he opened the door. The smell of lavender filled the carriage and nearly knocked Ravina to her knees.

“For Jesus…” Will muttered.

Johnathan gave Ravina a reassuring smile as their parents exited the carriage and Johnathan and Will prepared to follow.

“Their son, wise William, their heir Prince Johnathan, and their daughter, Princess Ravina,” Callaghan announced. Johnathan offered his hand to Ravina as she held her dress up to exit the carriage. She stood next to her mother and looked up the limestone steps to find three figures stood at the center of the entryway at the top of a small set of stairs. There were two sand-colored obelisks that adorned carvings from their history and phrases in Latin on either side of the grand bronze door. Their castle was slightly larger than the one in Yewsander and felt more intimidating.

“Jim! I only sent the letter, I wasn’t expecting such a hasty response, my friend!” the tallest of the three figures said. King Steven was a tall man, matching Jim’s height, with bulky shoulders and a gold crown sat on a full head of brown hair that had a slight bend at the short ends. He met Jim in the middle of the staircase and the two men shared a hearty embrace.

“If it is my assistance you request, I’m here to help in any way. May I introduce my queen, Joyce, my two sons William and Johnathan, and my daughter Ravina,” Jim said and held a hand out to each of them. Steven shook William and Johnathan’s hands respectfully, and when he approached Ravina, she curtsied with deep respect. She felt highly scrutinized by his gaze as he looked her over. His look was inquisitive, as though he was inspecting her. After a moment, he seemed to be satisfied and took her right hand in his.

“My future daughter-in-law. So pleased to meet you,” he said in a kind tone. Ravina smiled sweetly at him. Before she could say anything, her father stepped in.

“That’s actually what we want to talk about. I’d like for the two of them to meet before a decision is made,” Jim told King Steven. King Steven’s face fell slightly.

“Of course! And Steve will offer a proper proposal. All in due time,” Queen Karen interjected. “I do apologize, Ravina, Steve went out for a ride a few minutes before your arrival. This is my daughter Nancy, our princess. Perhaps the two of you could chat until Steve arrives?”

“Delighted to meet you, Ravina,” Nancy said with a welcoming smile and curtsy. Ravina smiled back at Nancy and curtsied to her. Nancy looked nearly identical to her mother in her face, but her eyes and hair were where she took after her father. Her sharp features were surrounded by curly chocolate locks that surrounded a small gold tiara. She was pretty, definitely, which gave Ravina hope that her potential groom wouldn’t be totally unattractive to her.

“Delighted to meet you too,” Ravina said.

“Hi, I’m Johnathan,” he said from next to Ravina and bowed to Nancy. Nancy’s cheeks turned pink and she curtsied to him. Johnathan smiled and gripped her right hand and kissed the top of her knuckles gently.

“Hi…” Nancy said, clearly impressed with how suave Johnathan was being. “I’m Nancy.”

“Ugh, BARF,” Will said humorously. Ravina chuckled and shook her head at her younger brother.

“Oh, impeccable timing. Steve’s returned from his ride,” King Steven said. Ravina looked in the direction the king was and that they now all were and saw a tall brunette rider on a stunning Clydesdale horse. The closer he got, the more he could make out his features. His hair was a soft chocolate color and flowed in the wind flawlessly. His face resembled his mother’s, but with harsher edges and had a sprinkling of moles across it. His brows were creased in confusion as he rode to the bottom of the steps. His riding gear consisted of a black leather vest, white shirt, and brown riding pants and boots that all fit him very well. His eyes were a beautiful whiskey color, Ravina noticed, and complemented his luxurious hair and handsome face well.

Steve’s eyes scanned over the group as he climbed the steps and they fell on Ravina. Ravina did her best to not show her nerves and compose herself under his quizzical and confused gaze. She wasn’t often around men outside her family, but when she was they were rarely princes as handsome as Steve.

“Steve, my boy! The royal family from Yewsander have gifted us with their presence,” King Steven said when Steve reached the top of the steps. Steve’s face opened up into a charming smile that Ravina was all too pleased to see. Steve met each of her family and was a perfect gentleman. He truly lived up to the reputation of a brave, kind, and charming prince. When he arrived before her, Ravina had trouble speaking when placed this close to him.

“You must be Ravina… It’s a pleasure to be in your presence,” Steve said and reached for her left hand, a custom reserved for betrothed or married couples.

“Not so fast lover-boy,” Nancy said. Steve stopped his motion and scowled at his sister. Nancy continued, “She wants to be convinced before she decides to marry you.”

Steve stood upright and a wide smile beamed across his face, which highlighted his dimples and dark freckles on his cheeks.

“Well, by all means, allow me to convince you. Shall we stroll in the gardens? The roses are beautiful this time of day,” Steve suggested.

“I’d love that,” Ravina managed to say with a shy smile.

“I’ll chaperone,” Will offered in a tired tone after seeing Jim’s concerned face.

Steve offered his arm to Ravina and she took it while trying to curb her enthusiasm. She smoothed her hand around his prominent bicep and he led her down the steps and to the left.

“I must say, your beauty is known for miles, but in no way could I have prepared to see you in person,” Steve complimented. Ravina blushed.

“Thank you. I’ve heard more of your courage than your charm, but I’m pleasantly surprised,” Ravina responded.

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t totally bomb my first impression,” Steve said with a chuckle. “So… please, tell me about yourself. What can I fall in love with aside from that adorable smile?”

Ravina let out a small laugh and her smile grew wider. “Well, I love music and dancing. I grew up in a castle with my family…”

Steve’s jaw dropped and he gestured to her in rhetorical shock as he spoke again, “Me too! See? We already have so much in common.”

Ravina rolled her eyes and giggled. “Well, what else do you like? Horseback riding, I’m assuming?”

Steve nodded his head and replied, “Oh yeah. Jousting is one of my specialties. Lucille never fails me.” He mindlessly offered his arm for her to take as if it was already a second-nature response for him to be near her as they walked.

Ravina responded while taking his arm, “I’d love to see that. Is Lucille your horse?”

“Yeah, she’s incredible. Smart, fast, sturdy… everything you’d want in a horse,” Steve said.

Ravina enjoyed listening to Steve talk about his passions. It emboldened her to ask, “Well, what would you want in a woman?”

Steve grinned and gently leaned his head back as he chuckled, revealing his Adam’s apple and his strong neck. He sat them down on the bench that was at the center of the rose bushes display. He faced her and took her hands in his. She enjoyed the feeling of his soft and warm skin connecting with hers and his long fingers encasing her palms. He spoke softer now, “Well… intelligent, beautiful, funny… just someone I can be myself with. What about you?”

Ravina looked into Steve’s eyes and felt a warmth in her chest at the vulnerability she saw within them. “I think I want the same thing,” she concluded.

Steve smiled and rubbed her hands gently with his thumbs. “I can be that for you.”

Ravina’s cheeks were red and hot as she smiled at him. “I want to be that for you, too.”

Steve looked past Ravina’s shoulder at Will, who she had forgotten was following them. “Can I kiss your sister?”

Ravina could see Will’s face in her mind as one of awkward confusion and bravery. She smiled to herself at the thought of Will’s position behind her.

“Only if you marry her,” Will said. Ravina rolled her eyes.

“I have every intention of that, if she’ll have me,” Steve said with a wink to Ravina.

“Alright well, I won’t tell,” Will said and Ravina heard his feet shuffle to turn around.

Steve’s gaze went back to Ravina, whose cheeks were on fire, it seemed. She felt her pulse in her throat as Steve got closer. Her eyes fluttered closed and their lips touched gently. Steve’s kiss was soft and light. Ravina was my sure what her first kiss was supposed to be, but she enjoyed the brief time she connected with Steve’s lips.

“So… you’ll marry me? Be my queen?” Steve asked when they separated. Their faces were still intimately close together and Ravina felt his heavy breath on her cheeks.

“Yes,” Ravina said with a smile.

~*~

The bed was warm and comfortable as Ravina slept. She had felt good about the day and surprisingly had very little trouble falling asleep against the pastel blue sheets. It wasn’t until she heard what sounded like a large bird and a clatter outside her window that she woke up.

“Shit, I did NOT mean to do that… oh well,” she heard a male voice say from outside the glass door to her balcony. Ravina’s blood ran cold and her heart started pounding. She quietly grabbed the pot that heated her bed and crept toward the door with it raised. She slowly opened the latch with her mind and pushed the door gently while trying to control her breathing. She didn’t see a reaction or anything jump out at her after the door opened, so she slowly crept forward and onto the balcony.

In an instant, her mouth was covered by a large, cold and slightly calloused hand, and her back was pressed against the other door. She was firmly held against the stone wall and was restrained furthermore with her hands pinned together in another cold grip.

“If you scream, it’s going to be very difficult to explain the bloodstains to your family,” she heard the same male voice from moments ago say. His voice was soft as velvet despite the harsh threatening words. Ravina opened her eyes and there, mere centimeters from her face, were a pair of dark red eyes boring into hers. The skin that surrounded them was a deep purple with the hint of black veins spreading on his cheeks and stopping halfway down where his skin appeared soft and enticing to feel. His blush colored lips were pursed in a stern frown and above and below them was the slightest hint of black stubble. Ravina realized that before her had to be none other than the vampire king himself, Edward the Banished. His presence alone was enough to make her cower in fear, and the sheer power she felt radiating from him demanded royalty.

“Now, are you going to scream if I let my hand go? If you are, I’ll wait until you’re ready to not,” he said with the same soft and calm tone he had before. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Ravina didn’t believe him and her facial expression, what she could move of it, displayed that with a raised brow. She watched as the vampire king’s lips slowly formed into a closed-lip smile. The smile wasn’t malicious or devious, it was amused and almost pleased, which further confused Ravina.

“I promise, okay?” he said with raised brows and an almost sincere look as he tilted his head downward.

Ravina nodded. She considered screaming and running when he let go of her mouth, but decided that would get her nowhere. And if he truly did just want to talk then it could be helpful to find out why he was attacking people. He slowly removed his hand from her lips and chin with a suspicious look. He didn't completely move his hand away from her face until a moment later, when he was satisfied she wouldn't scream. He smiled in satisfaction and said, “Excellent. Now, if I let go of your hands, no running, okay? Because then we’re just back to where we started.”

Ravina weighed her options. She could run away and risk him killing her right then, or she could gain his trust that she will do what he wants. With her mind, she closed the door to the balcony so they were secluded from her bedroom. His eyes grew wide and his grin spread as she did that. Ravina saw his fangs glint in the moonlight as his lips parted with his impressed expression.

“Well, well…” he breathed out. He looked back at her with wild eyes. “You did that, didn’t you?”

“Will you let go of my hands now please?” Ravina asked lowly. His expression was unreadable for a split second before he made to move away from her.

“Er… yeah,” he said. His thumb gently caressed her wrist before letting go of her. The gesture seemed to be subconscious to him and he made no indication that the warmth of the touch was intentional, so Ravina didn't question it. He backed away from her and she could then take his form in fully. His hair was long and curly and surrounded his muscular neck that connected to his devilishly handsome face. His chest and torso were lean muscled and attached to a pair of large, black leathery wings. They looked as though he had taken them from a bat and enlarged them so they could carry his weight. They were a deep black color and came to three points at the bottom when spread completely. Ravina was overwhelmed by the sight and felt vulnerable as this image of sheer power and darkness was focused on her.

“Who are you?” Ravina asked even though she knew the answer.

He smirked at her. “I’m Eddie.”

“You’re the vampire king aren’t you?” Ravina asked with a pit in her stomach and a shaken voice.

“Yep,” Eddie responded simply.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“You know, you have asked a lot of questions. How about it’s my turn to ask, okay? Who are YOU?” he asked and took a step to shift his weight.

“I’m… Ravina. Princess Ravina,” she said confidently and emphasized the title.

“My apologies, your highness,” Eddie mocked and bowed deeply for a moment to her. Ravina could see a hint of mischief in his eyes—he was joking around with her.

“So why are you here?” she repeated.

“Well, I heard a rumor that good old Stevie-boy was making plans to get the big bad and take over my home,” Eddie said as he paced. “But what I don’t get is why he’s decided to do that? And then I see his son get all cozy with you and so I thought, ‘what is happening here?’ So now, your grace, if you wouldn’t mind—what is happening here?”

Ravina blinked at him in disbelief as he stopped his pacing and leaned his hip against the railing with his arms and ankles crossed, his eyes boring into her.

“You… you can’t be serious. You honestly can’t think of a single reason King Steven would be angry with you?” Ravina challenged. Eddie raised a brow and shrugged at her wordlessly.

“You’ve killed six people in the past 2 months. You don’t think that would cause alarm?” Ravina asked rhetorically and angrily. How cocky was this guy?

Eddie’s face dropped and his jaw clenched. “So this is how it goes, huh? What makes him think it was me?” His tone was deeper now and more serious. He almost looked angry, but mostly pensive. His brows knitted together and his gaze was cast to the corner of the balcony to Ravina’s right.

“You took their eyes. That’s like your.. thing, right?” Ravina said. Eddie’s eyes flicked up to meet hers. Ravina stood up straight as a chill was sent down her spine at his gaze. She felt her pulse quicken and she tried to prepare to defend herself.

“Sure. Whatever King Steven says, must be correct, yeah? Fine,” he spat bitterly. Ravina was confused. Eddie seemed to be offended by the accusations and possibly hurt by them. For a vampire, he was surprisingly human.

“…Did you kill those people?” Ravina asked sincerely.

Eddie seemed to think for a moment and then advanced toward her with dark eyes. “As far as you’re concerned, yes. Now go back to bed and sleep, princess. The big scary boogeyman is leaving.” By the time he had finished his sentence, he had backed her into the door and he was opening it for her. Ravina opened her mouth to speak, but he flew upward and his wings carried him away and out of her sight, presumably to Mount Hawk. Ravina closed her eyes and let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. She hurried back inside and locked the balcony door. As she walked back to bed, there was an ache in her chest that she couldn’t deny felt surprisingly similar to longing. As she laid down, she recalled Eddie’s eyes staring into hers and she didn’t feel fear. She had come face to face with the creature of her nightmares and felt no fear. She was either brave or incredibly stupid. He was a vampire that ate humans. She is sustenance to him; he could just be playing with his food before he eats it, she told herself.

The following morning, Ravina was escorted to one of the castle’s courtyards by a maid. As they rounded the corner and into a clearing, Ravina was surprised with Steve sitting at a small and ornately decorated metal table that was set for two. When he saw her, he stood up and smiled, then pulled her chair out for her as she approached.

“Good morning, my sweet, how did you sleep?” Steve asked in a sweet tone.

“I slept very well. The mattress was delightful,” Ravina said. “What do you have planned for us today, hm?”

“Well first, a breakfast feast. It’s supposedly the most important meal of the day according to the latest alchemist’s report,” Steve said with a wink.

“You follow alchemists’s reports? That’s impressive,” Ravina said. The maid that escorted Ravina returned with a large platter of various breakfast foods for them to choose from.

“I’m full of surprises. Thank you, Robin,” Steve said while serving himself a few sausage links with scrambled eggs and nodding to the maid. Ravina served herself a couple breakfast cakes with her eggs. “Speaking of surprises, it was announced that two nights from now will be our engagement ball, so we have a busy schedule of choosing food, drink, decorations, music..”

“That sounds terribly boring,” Ravina said. Steve shrugged.

“We’ll make the best of it, I suppose,” Steve said.

The day was quite boring and exhausting, but Ravina was pleased to have spent the day with Steve. He had a sharp wit and he cared genuinely for her preferences. By the time their engagement ball was beginning, she and Steve had developed a bond. She could tell that Steve was starting to feel nervous about announcing their engagement, so she did her best to soothe his worries when she could.

“I suppose we’re up,” Steve mumbled as the conductor of the band stood up and readied the band to play. Steve offered his hand to Ravina and when she took it, he led her to the empty dance floor. When they took their position for the waltz, the music played a lively and joyous melody that Steve and Ravina began dancing to. Ravina felt a few knots in her stomach form at their proximity. They hadn’t been this close to each other even when they kissed. His muscular chest was pressed against her, and his strong arm supported both of hers with confidence. Ravina was dazzled by him and the way he looked in the ballroom light.

“It really shows that you like to dance. You’re wonderful at it,” Steve said lowly after a few moments of twirling.

“Thank you. I’m only as good as my partner, though,” Ravina complimented.

“Seems we’re a perfect match,” Steve said with a smile as he spun her.

“You know… I’ve been thinking. What are you going to do once you’re king? Your father is set to abdicate the day of our wedding, which means you’ll be king…” Ravina asked. Steve’s brows furrowed.

“Why do you ask? Is there something you want done?” he questioned.

“No, I wouldn’t know anyway, I’ve barely been here a week. I just was wondering since this is all happening so fast… Are you okay? Do you have a plan?” she asked. Steve’s expression loosened and he gave her a small smile.

“I’m okay, my dearest. Father and I have been discussing the best strategy to take down the vampire king. For now, the protective measures such as curfew, not going anywhere alone and certainly not going into the forest seem to be working… I can’t have my people live in fear their whole lives, though. Something has to be done,” Steve resolved.

“You mean, you aim to kill the vampire king?” Ravina asked with a sour taste in her mouth.

“If necessary to save my people, I’d have to,” Steve smiled. “Especially now that I have someone specific to protect.”

Ravina blushed slightly. “How heroic of you.”

Ravina thought back to the night Eddie had visited her. She had decided against telling anyone because something in her was saying something was suspicious. She thought about trying to locate him in her mind, but she wasn’t sure of the power he held and didn’t want to antagonize him. Something was wrong, though. The way Eddie reacted to her telling him about the killings was too raw, it was like he was hearing new information, like he truly had no idea people were being slaughtered.

“So we know for sure that Edward the Banished is behind the killings? Like it isn’t some copycat psychopath with a beating heart?” Ravina suggested.

Steve shrugged. “My dad says that it must be him. They were killed in the same way that poor family was 20 years ago.”

“But was there an investigation?” Ravina pressed. Steve’s smile flattened.

“I don’t think you should be concerned with this. It’s the king’s job to protect his people, and I trust my dad. What I mean to say is, I don’t want to add to your stress...” Steve said.

“But we’re going to be married, we should share the load, shouldn’t we?” Ravina suggested.

Steve’s face relaxed into an expression Ravina hadn’t seen on Steve before and he said, “If I shared my burdens with you, I’d have an additional burden of guilt to top it all off.”

Deciding not to push the issue further, Ravina resigned, “Okay, Steve.. I’m here for you.”

“I… thank you,” Steve said with a smile.

After most of the party guests had left and the only few that remained were close friends of King Steven and Queen Karen, Ravina decided to retire to her bedroom.

“I’ll walk you up,” Steve offered. Ravina accepted his arm and they walked through the private corridors together.

“I had a really great time tonight,” Steve said. “You’re a beautiful dancer, and you’re beautiful, and this is going to sound totally insane, but…”

Ravina could feel his nerves taking over and she held his hand gently and stepped closer to him. She smiled up at him sweetly and Steve seemed to relax.

“I-I love you,” he confessed with a small laugh. Ravina felt like a rock was thrown down her throat and landed in her stomach. Her face heated up and she felt slightly faint.

She didn’t know what else to say, so she told him, “I think I love you too.” It was entirely possible that she loved him. She felt something about him, but there wasn’t a name to it yet. And he was her betrothed, so eventually they would have to make love and produce an heir, so why not start now?

Steve smiled widely and squeezed her hand. “Good night, my dearest.”

“Good night,” Ravina echoed. She walked into her bedroom and felt… odd. Like she had told a lie of sorts, but she hadn’t. She did feel for Steve, so why couldn’t she love him? She went to sleep that night thinking about her confession and trying not to feel too horribly guilty. In the back of her mind was something entirely more interesting to her, though; Eddie the Banished.

One morning when she discovered there was nothing on her schedule for the day, she decided to explore the castle. She had been in Hawkinshire for a few weeks now and with her wedding day quickly approaching, she wanted to know more about her new home. She winded down the hallways and came across two maids cleaning the floors and windows chatting to themselves as they worked. She recognized one of them to be Robin.

“Yeah, it’s possible he’s trying to imitate Vecna. The killings are all in the same way,” the red-headed one said.

“Well they say he’s the father of all vampires, the original one,” Robin said with a shrug.

“Must be why the Banished killed him, to gain his power,” the red-headed maid said emphatically. “I just hope something can be done about it soon. Chrissy’s been saying she feels like she’s being watched lately.

“Chrissy’s dramatic and imaginative, you know that, Max,” Robin said with a scoff.

“Excuse me, I’m so sorry to interrupt. I was overhearing you talk about Edward the Banished and Vecna..?” Ravina said.

The maids stood up and curtsied to her respectfully. They shared a worried look and then looked back at Ravina.

“Well… we were just saying that he might be trying to copy the original vampire, Vecna…” Robin said cautiously. “Not that we know for sure, it’s just gossip, you know. Something to busy our minds during the day.” Max nodded with wide eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve heard that part of the story before. Well, if I’m to be queen, I should probably know the whole thing, right?” Ravina reasoned half to herself. The maids nodded swiftly in agreement. “Is there a library where I can learn more?”

“Oh yeah, there’s a whole section dedicated to vampire research,” Max said. “Want us to show you?”

“Yes please. And both of you come, I don’t want anyone to be alone given recent events,” Ravina offered and the girls relaxed a bit. The three of them walked down several long hallways until before them was a large wooden door with gold plating around the edges and gold handles. Robin opened the door and Max walked in, then stood aside to allow Ravina to enter. Ravina’s breath was taken away with the magnitude of the room before her. The dark brown bookshelves housed what Ravina could only imagine were hundreds of thousands of books. She was slightly overwhelmed, but excited to be able to read them.

“Vampire section is this way,” Robin stated and started walking toward a room that was tucked away into a discreet alcove. Ravina thought it odd that they’d want to hide the knowledge the kingdom has gathered about vampires given their prevalence in the society. The three of them walked through the smaller wooden door and the feeling in the room became eerie and foreboding. Ravina saw Robin visibly shudder after entering the room. The bookshelves weren’t quite as large, but they were mostly filled in the mid-sized room. It was slightly smaller than her bedroom, but she could spend a few hours here for sure.

“Thank you, ladies,” Ravina said with a smile and turning to them.

“Don’t you want us to stay?” Max asked.

“Oh, there’s no need. If nothing else, Steve will send for someone to escort me. Thank you very much,” Ravina reasoned. Robin and Max shared a look, then curtsied and left the room. When Ravina was sure they had gone, she closed and locked the door with her mind as she reached for a few books on the shelf. She soon discovered there was no organization and trying to find information about Vecna would drive her to madness if she continued this route.

Instead, she decided the most efficient way was for her to use her power. She pulled a blank piece of parchment aside and wrote ‘Vecna’ on it. After memorizing its image, she closed her eyes and dove into her mind to find the books with his name in it. The room was quiet enough for her to focus without assistance, she just hoped no one would try to enter the room. Once she found the books, she levitated them off the shelf and set them on the floor. Now that she had a pile of six or seven books and she had exhausted her options, she opened her eyes again. It was always somewhat of a shock to come back into the real world after venturing in the dark world of her mind, so she took a moment to re-orient herself and focus.

“Okay, Vecna… who are you,” Ravina said to herself as she sat next to the books on the dusty floor and opened them one by one. Suddenly a drop of blood landed on her hand as she scanned a page. She let out a sigh and ripped one of her undergarments to use as a handkerchief. This happened sometimes after she used her power; her nose would bleed. It was never anything profuse, but a small trickle of blood every now and then. It was annoying at worst and Ravina often wondered what it meant.

As she was reading, she discovered that Vecna was a man, a human, who lived 500 years ago. He was a wizard that was obsessed with everlasting life, and he accomplished this feat at a price. The author of this book didn’t know the details of Vecna’s transformation or what the price was, they just said he “paid a price.”

“Helpful,” Ravina muttered sarcastically. The next book in the pile was one that recounted the investigation into a woman’s disappearance and death shortly after Vecna turned himself into a vampire. The woman’s bones were snapped in half, her jaw broken, her eyes removed, and all of her blood was drained from her body. The illustrations were hyper-realistic (as they needed to be) and Ravina felt sick looking at them, but examined them further. She noticed the woman’s eyes appeared to have been sucked out of her head while she was still living rather than being removed postmortem. Ravina took a deep breath and continued reading. There were approximately 15 more deaths exactly like this that were investigated until 20 years ago when the killings suddenly stopped on the night of the Creel murders. The author surmises that Vecna’s protégé was the death of him. During the investigations, there was no mention of an apprentice or accomplice. Vecna appeared to be acting alone.

The next book she picked up went into more detail regarding the rapid spread of vampires. According to this sailor and his son’s accounts, Vecna opened a portal to Hell itself in the Dark Forest that the two of them stumbled upon while gathering wood to repair their ship. They witnessed horrible creatures with no faces and fangs. Some of them flew up the mountain and swarmed the top to claim it as their domain. To keep the creatures safe, there is an invisible barrier that they can only cross if Vecna lifts the spell. This was about 150 years ago, and the sailors report Vecna wasn’t alone. The sailors describe a man with large wings and long curly hair—Eddie. He had been next to Vecna and working with him for over 100 years before allegedly killing him.

She picked up the next book and found it’s title: “A Complete Document Recounting the Creel Family Slaughter.”

She opened the book eagerly, for the title sounded promising. She wasn’t convinced Eddie had killed the Creel family after her conversation with him, but she had to know why everyone was convinced of his guilt in the crime. She read that the Creel family was nobility, had a few dealings with Vecna, and were the ones to call him the vampire king in the first place. They sought to have peace between the growing vampire community and humans. After 2 years of cooperation, the Creel family was murdered.

“Witnesses heard screams, and by the time the village was able to help, the house was on fire and their bodies couldn’t be recovered,” Ravina read aloud. She added her own thoughts aloud, “Then how do they know what happened?”

She continued to read and found that Eddie was seen running out of the house. When villagers approached, they saw he was covered in their blood. Horrified, they attacked him and he flew up to the top of Mount Hawk. When nobody could find Vecna, they assumed Eddie had killed him too. After completing the book, Ravina sat back and leaned on the bookshelf. She was processing everything she had read, and it still didn’t answer the question of who killed the Creel family. All of the evidence was based on recounts and assumptions, not facts… To get the truth, Ravina knew what she had to do.

She left the room after putting it back together and walked through the halls quickly to her room. It was dusk by the time she got there, and her handmaiden was preparing her dinner outfit.

“Are you ready, your highness?” she asked sweetly.

“I actually, um… I’m not feeling very well, I think I’ll turn in early tonight. I can change myself, I don’t want you to risk illness by being around me,” Ravina told her.

The maid looked concerned and said, “Can I fetch you anything? I’ll have the chef make up some soup for you, fix you right up.”

“Oh, maybe tomorrow if I’m still not feeling well. Please, I don’t wish for you to fall ill,” Ravina said and dismissed her maid. The maid nodded and left the room with a concerned look. Once her footsteps cleared, Ravina searched her wardrobe for her most casual dress. She pulled out the black fabric and put the dress on with minimal undergarments. She cursed the customs for not allowing women to wear pants because that would be very convenient at the moment for what she was about to do.

She opened the door to her balcony and stepped out onto the stone floor. She looked around for a way down and her eyes landed on a chipped stone vase. She smiled slightly to herself remembering Eddie’s visit a few weeks prior. Lately, Eddie was all she could think about.

Next to the vase, however, was a very conveniently placed lattice structure. Ravina walked over to it and tested its durability; it would hold. She hoisted herself onto the stone bannister that held her weight securely and looked down. The ground looked soft from where she was, but she knew that jumping straight down from this height would severely injure her. She made careful and calculated movements down the lattice and by the time she had touched the ground, she was bordering on exhausted. She shook the feeling and started heading toward the cemetery.

Ravina felt a sense of urgency to find out the truth about what happened to the Creel family and Vecna. She thought if she could prove that Eddie was innocent, perhaps the focus can be in catching the real killer rather than going to war with a kingdom that holds an alleged portal to Hell. She thought that if she gathered enough evidence, when Steve became king he would opt for something better.

The cemetery was next to the castle and slightly behind it, so Ravina was eerily close to the barrier Vecna had made between what some authors were calling ‘The Upside Down’ and the castle grounds. She could understand the name. The reflection of the barrier inverts the image of Hawkinshire in the right light, and in order to see yourself not upside down, you have to get close enough to walk through.

Ravina shuddered as she looked at the Upside Down, and tore her eyes away from the dark and thick trees before her. Instead, she found herself in front of the Creel graves. She saw their names etched in stone: “Victor, Virginia, Henry, Alice”. It made her sad to think that this innocent family had their lives cut short, so she felt an even greater purpose to find the truth of their deaths. She sat down in the ground and closed her eyes. She pictured Victor first and searched for him. She felt herself sinking into the ground and suddenly before her, his mostly decomposed body was lying. Ravina looked at his body carefully and made a startling discovery: all of his bones had been snapped. His jaw was broken, his arms were bent the wrong way, and his eyes were gone. The same held true for the rest of the Creels: the evidence showed that Vecna had killed these people. It made sense now that the impression was that Eddie was trying to copy Vecna… Vecna’s marks were all over these bodies.

Ravina opened her eyes and it was now dark outside. The sun had set and the full moon shone brightly in the sky, which was the only illumination Ravina had. She wiped the blood from her nose and collected herself. She was convinced now that Vecna had killed the Creels and Eddie had been framed. But where was Vecna now? Did Eddie kill Vecna that night in an attempt to avenge the Creels, or did they work together and Eddie gained Vecna's power from killing him like Steve thinks? These questions brought her to a single line that she had read earlier today: “The wizard has a lair where he kept his potions and spells deep in the Upside Down.”

She got up and walked slowly to the edge of the barrier. There was very little known about the barrier other than humans haven’t crossed it. Ravina wondered why no one had ever tried.

“This is stupid,” Ravina said to herself. “But if I want answers, I have to do this. Come on Ravina, you can do it.”

She reached her left hand out and mirrored her reflection and laid her hand against the barrier. She felt a soft mist of particles touch her hand, but it didn’t hurt, so she pushed further until her entire hand was in the Upside Down. The air felt slightly colder on the other side and more humid. Ravina removed her hand with ease and inspected it. There was no change to anything about her hand. She swallowed thickly and with new resolve, walked the rough the barrier. Her body was met with the cold humidity her hand had felt and it took a moment for her to adjust, but she soon was able to fully appreciate her surroundings. The sky was a deep midnight blue with a few stars and the moon present, but the moon’s light was duller here than it was in Hawkinshire. She looked at the trees before her and saw that instead of the lush green, they were barren and grey. She wasn’t sure if the trees were dead or not, but she didn’t want to touch them to find out. At their roots, there was a thick, leathery, black vine that twisted over the base of the tree and partly up the trunk. She noticed the vines all over the ground and attached to the trees, and she swore she saw them move slightly. She stepped carefully and went into the forest hoping to find any evidence that Vecna had a lair here. The deeper she got into the forest, the thicker the vines became and she could almost not avoid them. She started to see a faint orange glow from what she assumed was a clearing and walked toward it. As she got closer to the light, she discovered that it was a hole in the middle of the air.

“This is impossible,” she breathed out and backed up. She wasn’t careful enough and stepped on one of the vines. An ear-shattering screech was heard in the distance and Ravina fell over because of the noise. Within seconds, she found herself surrounded by creatures that were described by the sailors: faceless white beings with long arms and legs, reptilian skin and mouths with an innumerable amount of fangs. Above her, creatures of the same ilk were swarming overhead, but these had the capability to fly and had fewer teeth.

The creatures lunged at her and she curled into a ball and let out a scream. Her energy was focused on keeping them back, so she had blown them back several feet with her mind, but they kept coming. Every time Ravina would blow them back, she’d get weaker until she finally couldn’t fight anymore. She fell over and felt the burning and sharp sting of teeth on her leg, but suddenly it stopped and she was floating through the air with strong arms encasing her. Had she died and an angel is carrying her to heaven? That’s the only explanation she could come up with.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha,” she heard Eddie’s voice say just before she lost consciousness.

~~

Eddie kicked the window open and roared to summon Dustin and Gareth. He felt like he was going to explode with fear and anxiety. It had only been a few minutes, but they felt like hours. After single-handedly killing three demodogs and the demogorgon attacking her, then swooping Ravina up to Hellfire, he still had a ton of nervous energy. The image of her screaming in anguish as the demodog bit into her leg was seared into his mind. He cradled Ravina's head in his hand and supported her body with his arms as he laid her on the bed to make her more comfortable.

"Jesus, dude! What is--who is that?" Dustin asked when he entered the room.

"She was attacked in the forest, I found her becoming some demogorgon's lunch and a demodog's chew toy," Eddie said in a slightly panicked tone.

"Okay..? Why do we care..?" Gareth asked from the doorway as Dustin moved about the room. Eddie's eyes stung with anger and he glared at Gareth.

"Because I care. Dustin, can you help her?" Eddie asked as he turned to the healer vampire.

"Already on it," Dustin said as he opened up a chest that contained various materials for helping heal the wounds inflicted by the demogorgons and variants. Eddie could tell Gareth was confused, but after Eddie's comment, he wouldn't risk questioning Eddie again. Instead, he collected various materials to bandage her bleeding wounds and assess her overall condition. Eddie didn't know much about healing magic, but he knew that Dustin and Gareth were the best in the land, which is why he made the decision to bring her back here instead of back to the human castle where she lived. When he heard her cries, it was as though he was called to her from within himself. He wasn't sure anyone else had even heard her screams, but Eddie couldn't hear anything aside from them once they began and he was more than compelled to find and save her from whatever torment had befallen her.

"Well, looks like she was maybe tossed about, but she's mostly okay. Got a gnarly bite on her leg, but I'll be able to get the venom out or mostly out--really superficial cut, but I bet it hurt like hell," Dustin explained as he worked and performed the spell to rid the wound of toxins, venom, and grime. Eddie stood on the opposite side of the bed she laid on with his arms crossed and his face crumpled in concern.

"Yeah, I'll give her some pain medication and she'll be right as rain by tomorrow," Gareth assured Eddie. Eddie nodded. He could tell the two were still confused, but knew better than to question his motives.

Eddie's gaze softened from knitted brows and he looked at her face. Her expression was one of exhaustion, but her eyes were closed in peace. Her lips wore a slight pout, not unlike one that he had seen on her while she was awake and expressing her frustration and confusion with him during their first meeting on her balcony. His fingers caressed the side of her cheek gently upon hearing that she would be okay. His heart ached for her and he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do now that she was in his castle. He knew that he had an obligation to her and that they were connected forever now, but there was no way she was ready to hear that or accept it. For now, he would put his best people in charge of her care while he decided what he was going to do about these wretched feelings for her that were blossoming and taking over him the more he thought about her.

"Dustin, you stay with her and watch over her until she wakes up. Whatever she needs, it's hers, okay?" Eddie ordered.

"Sure thing, Ed," Dustin agreed with a cheery smile.

Eddie looked him up and down, then decided, "Maybe put your wings away so you don't scare her when she wakes up."

"Who is she, Eddie?" Gareth nearly demanded. Eddie turned to him with an unamused expression.

"She is who my soul is calling to. Her name is Ravina, and you'll show her every ounce of respect you show a queen," Eddie warned. He knew that Gareth's hot-headedness was from a fierce loyalty to him, but he also knew that Gareth didn't trust a single human he came across and Eddie's passion wouldn't warrant an exception. If anything, Eddie's feelings toward Ravina would incur Gareth's toughest scrutiny to date.

Upon hearing this warning, Gareth nodded and bowed slightly before leaving the room with the completion of the pain management spell. Eddie wanted to stay by her side, but remembered the fear in her eyes at their last encounter and elected to resign to his room until she awoke. Dustin's face wasn't nearly as menacing as Eddie's, so she should have a better time adjusting to the environment when she woke up.

~~

“Well, Mike, I don’t have a timetable for you. I don’t know what you want from me, she’s a human, they need to be taken care of,” she heard a voice say as she was waking up. Her head was pounding for a moment, but as she woke up further, the pain subsided.

“Well, Dustin, I don’t have two sets of eyes for your patrolling so get it together,” another voice slightly farther away said, mocking the first voice.

“Eddie put me in charge of her while he decides what to do about it, take it up with him!” the first voice said. She heard the second voice groan in annoyance and walk away. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in a bedroom that was far grander than her own, complete with a black sheer canopy, a fireplace across the room and a table and chairs. The bed she was laid on was soft and the covers were warm and plush.

“W-What’s going on?” Ravina croaked and pulled a hand up to her forehead.

“Oh hey! Good morning, nothing to worry about. My name is Dustin and I’ve been taking care of you,” a man with curly hair said in a calming but almost patronizing tone from the left of her bed. He appeared to be human, but when he smiled at her, she saw his fangs. His smile was so wide that his cheeks obscured his eye color from Ravina, so she wasn’t sure if he had red eyes like Eddie or not.

“Uh… what happened? Where am I?” Ravina asked and attempted to sit up. Dustin rushed to help her.

“Whoah, hey, take it easy. That Demogorgon really threw you around, there…” Dustin said and supported her back as he helped her sit up. “You were attacked in the forest. Eddie brought you here a couple hours ago.”

“So this is...” Ravina trailed off and gestured to the room.

Dustin nodded with a slight smile. “Welcome to Hellfire. Not that you’re dead, that’s just the name Eddie gave the castle when he took over. I like it better, but nobody’s asked my opinion.”

“Oh…” Ravina said and looked around the room.

“Are you feeling okay?” Dustin asked. “Like do you need something? It’s been a while since I was human, so I’m not sure exactly what to do for you..”

“How old are you?” Ravina asked nonchalantly. Dustin thought for a moment.

“Well I was 22 when I was turned into a vampire, but that was a little over 100 years ago,” Dustin informed her.

“And you’ve been here this whole time?” Ravina asked in disbelief.

“Well, there have been a few places I’ve been to, but this has always been my home. If you’re up for it, I’ll show you around,” Dustin said with excited hope.

After a pause, she accepted his offer and Dustin helped her up out of the bed. Once Ravina was steady on her feet to where shecould let go of Dustin's hands, the two of them started walking out into the castle’s vast interior. Ravina was learning very quickly that vampires weren’t horrific beasts that were merciless killers; they acted like normal people (at least the ones she had met so far), and Dustin could easily pass for a human. She wondered if this is what made them so dangerous and terrifying, but she felt oddly safe in Hellfire.

Ravina was breathless at the sight of the grand halls. They were decorated to the nines and taller than any she had ever seen. She was intrigued at the very least and astounded by the beauty the gothic castle had. Dustin took her into nearly every room on the floor and seemed all too happy to have someone to show around.

“Why don’t you have wings?” Ravina asked Dustin after they had been walking for a while between rooms.

“I do, they’re just not out right now. I figured it would be less startling for you to wake up next to someone who looks basically human. Just ridiculously attractive,” Dustin teased with a wink. He then made a sound that mimicked a tiger’s growl at her.

“Oh, well thank you,” Ravina said. “How did I end up here? What happened to me?”

Dustin shifted uncomfortably. “Well, you were attacked by demogorgons and demobats… you’ve got a nasty bite on your leg, but you shouldn’t feel it until the morning. Eddie pulled you out of there and brought you here for treatment.”

Ravina felt a wave of butterflies from her ears to her stomach and she remembered his voice and the feel of his arms around her before she passed out. Eddie rescued her…

“Can I see him?” Ravina asked. “I know he’s king and all, but.. is he available?”

Dustin pushed his lips to the side and scratched his chin. “He doesn’t like us interrupting his private time, but… I think he’ll make an exception for you.”

Dustin led her down a black corridor with deep red accents on the baseboards and stopped at an intricately decorated door that was all black with onyx handles and knobs for decoration. Dustin seemed to brace himself and then, without knocking, opened the door silently. Ravina heard the strumming of a guitar and thought the melody was one of the most passionate and beautiful melodies she’d ever heard. She was able to listen for several seconds due to Dustin’s slow and deliberately silent movements into the room. Dustin rounded the corner and Ravina saw the all-black bed that wasn’t unlike the one she had just woken from, except his sheets were silk and the pillowcases were deep red. The room’s window was large enough to see over almost all of Hawkinshire. Ravina realized that Steve’s castle was dwarfed by distance and how high up the mountain they truly were. Eddie’s wings must be powerful to get him all the way up here. At the base of the window, Eddie was sat wingless on a stool with a guitar in his hands. He wore a black leather jacket with a denim vest over it, a combination that was common among rogues and peasants.

“You better have a damn good reason for interrupting me, Henderson,” Eddie said without turning around or stopping the music.

“I’m sorry, it was me. I wanted to see you,” Ravina spoke up. At the sound of her voice, Eddie immediately stopped playing and turned around to face her. Ravina noticed that his appearance was different; his eyes weren’t as red and the darkness surrounding them didn’t stretch past his lashes, where it had been down his cheeks and veined before. Ravina thought this form was less startling, but had a hard time deciding which made him look more attractive. Are you kidding? Get it together, she thought to herself.

Eddie approached her and silently dismissed Dustin with a flick of his fingers. His expression was one of deep concern and he offered her a chair by the fireplace as he spoke, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m.. I’m better. I’m mostly just confused?” Ravina said. Eddie flashed a perfect smile and his fangs were on full display.

“Don’t worry, nothing here will harm you,” Eddie said with a soft look at Ravina.

“Won’t you, though..?” Ravina asked in her bravest tone. Ravina knew Eddie didn’t kill the Creels, but he was still dangerous. He was a vampire after all.

Eddie let out a laugh. He stood up and poured himself a red drink from a glass decanter. Ravina stood by her chair at the same time he got up to pour his drink and he turned to her with a smirk. “I couldn’t even if I tried.”

“What do you mean? You're king, you control the creatures that attacked me I thought,” Ravina said with more confidence.

“Why were you in the woods? Because you know the forest is dangerous, right? Like the ghost stories and tales of terror from survivors of the Black Forest—they’re real. The monsters in the woods are mindless hunters, they go for the kill every time. I have no control over them, they just don’t test me because it will not end well for them, as I demonstrated tonight. The reason I’m king is because the sentient beings said I should be, not because the demogorgon race can be controlled,” Eddie monologued.

“Like Dustin?” Ravina concluded. Eddie smiled a little bit.

“Yes, like Dustin,” he said and took a drink of the thick red liquid he had poured. “But that didn’t answer my question—why were you in the woods?”

“Well you didn’t answer MY question, which I asked first, by the way,” Ravina retorted. “What did you mean when you said you couldn’t hurt me if you tried?”

Eddie paused for a moment. “Our souls are tied together. It happens sometimes with the supernatural. I can’t explain it, I’ve only seen it a couple times in my 228 years on this planet, but that’s the long and the short of it. It’s how I was able to find you, actually. It’s funny, the first time I saw your glow I thought it was… well I’m glad it was you.”

Ravina was confused. She knew he knew about her power, but did it really count as supernatural? She hadn’t ever thought about it like that, but it makes sense. Which means she and Eddie were cut from the same cloth so to speak.

Eddie took another sip with his arms resting on the back of the chair lazily. “So. Why were you down there?”

“I was looking for something,” Ravina said.

“Nope, try again.”

“What? That IS what I was doing,” Ravina defended.

“Yes, but that’s not why you were there. The thing you were looking for? That’s why you were there. So if you don’t mind explaining why you would do something so incredibly stupid so I can rest easy knowing you’re not a total moron, that would be very nice of you, darling,” Eddie said with a flat smile.

Ravina was stunned for a moment. She wasn’t sure what to do. Something deep inside her wanted to scream the truth to him, and the other part was terrified of this vampire who was drinking blood literally right in front of her.

“I was trying to find out the truth about… About what happened the night the Creel family was murdered,” Ravina said as she exhaled.

Eddie froze and his dark brown eyes stared at her in disbelief.

After a beat, Ravina continued, “Steve says that you killed them in cold blood, but there’s just a lot that went unknown and I don’t want to believe anything without facts. Steve says that you’ll stop at nothing to take over Hawkinshire.”

“He said that, did he?” Eddie said lowly. “And you believe him?”

“Of course I do. I love him,” Ravina told him. Eddie’s jaw clenched and his body went stiff at her saying that. He finished his drink quickly and set the glass down.

“Why?” he asked.

“What?”

“Why do you love him?” Eddie’s eyes were boring into Ravina’s face and she didn’t meet his gaze. She desperately wanted to change the subject, but she was compelled to answer his question. I don’t is the correct and truthful response, but if she said it, then she’d lose all of her chances of a remotely happy future with Steve.

“He’s.. he’s kind, gentle.. heroic,” Ravina said matter of fact. Eddie began to walk towards her slowly.

“So you love him because he’s a hero? Let me tell you about heroes, princess… A hero would sacrifice you for the greater good,” he growled. The way he spoke almost made a mockery of Steve’s ambition and shamed the thought of “greater good” altogether. Ravina looked into his deep, dark brown eyes that flashed the slightest glint of red in the moonlight. The vampire before her slowly crept toward her and towered over her as her back was pressed against the wall now and his hand rested on the wall beside her head. She felt herself melt under the heat of his gaze. He spoke lower now, like what he was about to say was secret that was meant only for her ears, “I have no such compunction,” he scoffed. “I would BURN this world for you.”

His face was now ghosting above hers and she was stunned. Her cheeks were hot and her body was trembling at his confession. His resolve didn’t waver, his eyes remained focused on her and the passion from his voice was evident in his irises.

“I…” she began but the door swung open. Eddie looked away from her and toward the intruder.

“Eddie! There’s been another attack! It was one of the maids at the human castle. He’s fucked up, but it’s him. It’s Vecna. We’ve got a tail on him,” a deep complexioned vampire with wings spread and firey red eyes said.

“Okay… Good work Lucas. We have to stop him before he kills anyone else,” Eddie said and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Ravina asked.

“Stay here, it’s not safe anywhere else. I’ll have Dustin take you home when I’m done talking to Vecna,” Eddie assured her with a squeeze to her hand. In an instant, his wings were spread and put through holes in the back of his jacket, and his eyes were the same bright red as Lucas’.

“What?! No, if someone’s been killed we need to tell King Steven! You were with me the whole time and there’s witnesses, we can prove your innocence,” Ravina said to him and followed him.

Eddie put his hands on her shoulders after he adjusted his bandana that kept the wild curls in place. “That’s not important right now. I need you to stay here where I know you’ll be safe, okay?”

Ravina felt her heart jump and she got the urge to hold him and keep him in her arms. She fought that urge and instead stood there defiantly.

“I’ll see you soon,” Eddie said as he walked out the door. Ravina went to follow him, but her arm was held by Dustin, who had snuck in somehow.

“I’ve found it’s best to just… let him do what he wants,” Dustin said. Ravina groaned in frustration.

~•~

Eddie flew over the forest and was able to locate Vecna from Mike’s excellent stalking skills.

“Okay, the two of you make sure that nobody is in immediate danger from a demogorgon or something, I’m going to talk to him,” Eddie ordered.

Lucas and Mike flew off while Eddie approached where Vecna was standing, no doubt fully aware that he was followed. Lucas was right, Vecna was pretty fucked up. His eye sockets had healed concavely after Eddie blinded him 20 years ago and his skin was covered in gruesome scar tissue that Eddie was sure was helped along with the vines of the Mind Flayer.

“Look at how well you’ve done, Eddie,” Vecna said. His voice was deep and hoarse.

“I thought I got rid of you a long time ago,” Eddie said.

“Yes, but you’ve kept my good name intact by taking the blame for the Creels. I owe you for that,” Vecna said.

Eddie frowned with his brows up and said, “You’re right, I’m going to cash that favor in now and say never come back here.”

“You know I can’t do that. The prophecy foretold our conflict,” Vecna said.

“Yes and we had that conflict in case you forgot,” Eddie. “You know, when you stopped being able to see?”

Vecna’s face opened into a shocked smile and he said, “Ah but I can see again! Not in the physical sense, but I know exactly where my food is, and then I can snatch it.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Eddie responded.

“Then you know that the prophecy has not been yet fulfilled. The Vampire King has yet to take his rightful place. And I hear there are some interesting developments,” Vecna said in a sickeningly threatening tone. Eddie stared at Vecna and let out a breath. “What’s her name? Ravina?”

Without hesitation, Eddie lunged at Vecna and gripped his throat, slamming him against the tree hard enough for it to crack. He seethed through bared fangs, “Speak her name again and that is when you've lost. You touch her and you’ll die where you stand.”

Vecna laughed deep in his chest, “So it is true. And it looks like you’ve forgotten one very crucial bit of information.” Eddie was grabbed by a vine from behind and pinned against the ground by it with his arms open. Eddie struggled to break free from the restraints, but Vecna rested a foot on his chest as he continued, “I made you what you are, Eddie Munson. Don’t think I can’t take you down with a blink of an eye, not a second thought to it.”

Eddie struggled against the vines and managed to overpower them enough to get Vecna’s foot off of him. Unbothered, Vecna walked away with a sigh toward the barrier. As he did, the vines let go of Eddie. The prophecy he heard so long ago echoed in Eddie’s mind as Vecna’s final warning; The two from one will fight and the vampire lord will fall. The two from one will fight and the King will take his place. Neither king nor lord can live in the same life forever.

“Shit.”

~•~

Dustin gently set Ravina onto her balcony and as soon as she was steady on her feet, she turned around to face him.

“Thank you,” she said. He nodded.

“You’re welcome. I’m sure this won’t be the last time I see you,” he said with a cheeky smile. Suddenly, behind him Ravina saw the dark clouds of the Upside Down quickly descend and dark particles began to gently fall from the sky.

“What the…” Dustin began. The barrier completely disappeared and a swarm of demobats descended from the mountain and a horde of demogorgons and demodogs came full force at the castle. “Fuck!”

Ravina looked at Dustin and the two shared a panicked look and Dustin tackled Ravina so that they were both inside Ravina’s bedroom. Ravina closed and locked the doors with her mind.

“How did you do that?!” Dustin shrieked. Ravina gave him a half-hearted smile and shrugged. “Well no wonder he’s bound to you. You and Vecna have the same powers, and Vecna turned Eddie…”

“What does that matter?” Ravina asked. Dustin let out a sigh.

“It means that Eddie’s totally in love with you. It all makes sense now,” Dustin said in an enlightened tone.

Ravina’s heart skipped a beat and her breathing became irregular. The words Dustin was saying resonated with her deeply, and she knew them to be true. From the moment she looked into Eddie’s eyes, she knew. She knew how he felt because she felt the same way. And now he was in the fight of his life.

“We have to warn everyone. If Vecna is coming here, we have to get ready,” Ravina said. Dustin nodded.

“Go wake everyone up, I’ll see where Eddie is with the rest of the coven,” Dustin said. He nodded and flew out of the balcony doors again. Ravina started to run through the castle in search of anyone to tell. She turned the corner and ran into Max.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, highness, I wasn’t—” she stammered but Ravina cut her off.

“The barrier is broken, I need you to wake everyone up because Vecna is coming to take over Hawkinshire,” she said. Max furrowed her brows.

“Vecna’s been dead for 20 years, your highness… Are you feeling okay?” she asked. Suddenly, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was lifted up into the air by an invisible force. Ravina didn’t know how, but she knew this was Vecna’s doing. Without another thought, she used her power to hold Max’s body still. She felt an intense amount of resistance, but Max’s body remained still. After a few moments, Ravina tried lowering her body and was successful. Whatever had a hold of her suddenly let go and Max gasped for air as she regained consciousness.

“What the hell was that? Are you okay?” Ravina asked and knelt next to Max to help her stabilize herself.

“V… Vecna… he…” Max stammered out and started to sob.

“What’s going on, I heard a loud bang?!” Robin’s voice came from one side of the hallway. Through the other hallway, a scream was heard from the end of the hall. Robin, Max, and Ravina looked down the hallway with wide eyes. Through the hallway, another maid was running away and screaming.

“It’s Chrissy! She’s dead! Edward the Banished has killed her!” she screamed. “Highness, please, help! I tried to wake her when I heard a loud noise from out here and she’s been killed! Do you think Edward the Banished is here?! Is he here for the rest of us?!”

“Calm down, it’s going to be okay. Gather the rest of the maids and head to the cellar for shelter. I’ll wake the King and Prince, okay?” Ravina said in a calm and collected tone. On the inside she was irritated that Eddie was being blamed, but she didn’t have time to correct that because Vecna was staging an attack on the castle. The maids rounded up and headed for the cellar while Ravina ran to Steve’s quarters.

“Steve! Steve, wake up, you have to help!” Ravina cried out as she flung his door open. Steve bolted awake with wide eyes and disoriented.

“Huh? What? Oh my god, Ravina, what are you doing in here?!” Steve asked.

“Steve please, we have to wake everyone up, the castle is under attack,” Ravina said to him. Steve shot out of bed and grabbed a shirt from his night table and threw it on haphazardly.

“I want you to go down to the cellar and wait for me there. It’s safe down there,” he said as he buttoned the shirt and slipped a pair of shoes on. He looked up at her and his face fell in shock. “Oh god, you’ve been hurt.”

Ravina was confused for a moment, but then wiped her nose and a large amount of blood was left on her hand. Steve handed her a cloth handkerchief and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Please, did you hear what I said? I need you to go to the cellar and stay safe, okay? We’ll take care of the Banished,” Steve assured with a soft hand to her cheek.

Ravina shook her head in protest. “He’s not the one attacking us. It’s Vecna. He’s opened up the barrier and he killed one of our maids, Chrissy.”

“How do you know? Did you see him?” Steve asked.

“Well… um, not exactly. It’s hard to explain, but we just need to get everyone up so we can get everyone to safety,” Ravina said. Steve looked at her with concerned eyes and let out a huff.

“Fine, let’s go,” he conceded. He and Ravina left the room and each took a hallway, waking up their families.

Ravina ran into her parents’ room and woke them, then ran into Johnathan’s.

“Bloody hell, what’s gotten into you?!” he barked as he woke up.

“Get up, we’re under attack. No time to explain, we just need to get out of here,” Ravina said. Johnathan’s face fell and he scrambled around the room for attire that would allow him to not risk injury.

Ravina ran into Will’s room and time seemed to stand still for a moment at the horror before her. Instead of Will sleeping in his bed, there were signs of disturbance with the covers crumpled in a pile, and he was laid on the floor motionless. Ravina ran to him and tried to wake him, but her fears were realized as she moved his body face-up. Will’s eyes had been sucked out of his head and his bones were snapped in all directions. Vecna had gotten him, and was clearly calling for a challenge. She realized that Vecna was the one who killed Chrissy and attacked Max, but she had fought him off. Ravina’s blood boiled and she ran onto Will’s balcony with tears in her eyes. She heard Johnathan’s anguished cries behind her as he discovered their brother’s body. Above her, swarms of demobats were circling the spires and demodogs were climbing the walls. She saw a few large figures that resembled vampires fighting hard on the castle walls and roof, but she couldn’t make out Eddie or Vecna’s figures.

She screamed as loud as she could, knowing Vecna would hear, “Come and get me, you son of a bitch! Don’t hide behind killing my brother, if it’s me you want, then come and fucking get it!”

“NO!” she heard Eddie’s voice roar before the world before her went dark in an instant. It was as though the moonlight went away and everything disappeared around her. She turned around and saw nothing but the Black Forest, but she was in a thinner part of it. In the distance, she saw a dim red light. She had a feeling nagging at the back of her mind that she wasn’t supposed to go there, so that is where she headed. She wanted to go where Vecna didn’t want her, especially in what she assumed was his realm. The closer she got to the red light, the more she realized that this was a sort of trophy room. Ravina looked around and saw the bodies of the Creel family, the villagers, and finally her brother all encased in vines that were just like the ones in the upside down that had triggered the attack on her. She let out a broken sob seeing Will’s body on display like that.

Her anguish was broken by rage when she heard Vecna’s voice from behind her, “What are you doing here, Ravina?”

She turned around and glared at him. “You’re the one that brought me here, ask yourself that.”

In her peripheral vision, she saw a vine coming toward her, so she responded by holding it in place away from her with her mind.

“So it was you,” Vecna concluded and retreated the vine.

Ravina’s breathing was harsh as she looked at him and attempted to control herself. She wanted to lunge at him and rip him to shreds, but she was in his territory now, she had to be careful.

“What of it,” Ravina challenged.

“You and I are the same, you know. When I was young, I could move things, talk to people without speaking, find lost objects, all of that. And I trained myself to perfection. There was no reason a being such as myself should have to die, wither away into nothing… I could do the same for you,” Vecna said.

“You mean turn me into a vampire?” Ravina asked.

“Precisely. And we could rule this planet together,” Vecna offered with a sickening grin. Ravina heard a voice that was far away that sounded familiar. She turned her head and before she could make out any clarity to the white light she saw, Vecna’s vines had pinned her against a pillar. She struggled against the vines as the light got brighter.

“Come on, Ravina, wake up!” she heard Johnathan scream. She looked past Vecna and saw the white light was an opening just like the one in the upside down. She saw herself stood with her head straight up and in a trance as Steve was desperately trying to wake her up in his arms and Johnathan was calling to her from behind him with a broken look and tears in his eyes. Steve's hands shook her shoulders then moved to her face. The opening faded slightly as Steve’s cries became fainter.

“He can’t save you and he knows it,” Vecna said. “In the end, it is I who is the vampire king.”

“Is that really what this is about? Ruling over vampires?” Ravina asked.

“It’s about destiny, fate… the balance. Your death is part of something so much bigger,” Vecna said and reached his large clawed hand up to cover Ravina’s face. The vines tightened painfully around her wrists and torso as his claw inched closer to her forehead.

“Ravina!” she heard Eddie’s voice scream clear and loud as a bell.

The opening grew wider so that she could see most of the environment that surrounded her. Vecna’s power had levitated her body like she had seen with Max’s earlier, but she was much farther up than Max had gotten.

“No, please, you can’t do this to me, you have to fight him, Ravina. You can get out, just follow my voice,” he pleaded with her with his hands on either side of her face and wings gently keeping him afloat. “Wake up! I don’t like this, Ravina, wake up! Follow my voice.”

Ravina fought against Vecna’s hold, who was taken off guard by Eddie’s appearance making the opening clearer, and used her mind to pry the restraints off. Vecna fought against her, but Ravina pushed hard against him. With a crying scream, she blasted him backwards and his vines let go of her. She landed on her feet and bolted toward Eddie. She followed his voice as she ran through the red colored mud and water. Around her, rocks started falling and it seemed that the opening was farther than what she had thought. It was a mad dash against Vecna and she just had to make it through the opening. She dodged the falling rocks from the sky and with a final shout from Eddie, she leapt through the opening head first.

She was falling for a brief moment, but was caught by familiar arms that knew just how to hold her.

“Ravina!” Eddie gasped out. She looked around and her eyes focused on Eddie, who had caught her from the very far height Vecna had lifted her to. He gently set her down on the nearby roof and she started to look around.

“What happened?” she asked him.

“You we’re under Vecna’s curse. I thought you were a goner, I’ve never seen anyone survive it…” Eddie said and smoothed a piece of hair from her cheek and held her face in his palm. Ravina felt panicked and exhausted at the same time and Eddie held her in place with his hands on her shoulders and he looked at her with a concerned and quizzical face.

“I’m okay, Eddie… He had them up like statues… like decorations for his room… Will..” Ravina sobbed out.

“You’re safe now, and he will NEVER hurt you again,” Eddie swore.

“And what makes you think that?” Vecna snarled from behind Ravina. She felt Eddie tense up and he stalked toward Vecna with a look to kill.

“I warned you that if you touched her, you’d die,” Eddie said. Vecna summoned vines to attack him, but Eddie was ready with a sword in hand that cut the vines. Vecna winced in pain as the vines trembled and melted away. For the first time, Ravina was frightened by Eddie. The way he and Vecna fought brought the warrior out of Eddie. The raw power and rage-fueled swings at Vecna were all Ravina needed to know that she doesn’t ever want to be on the receiving end of Eddie’s wrath.

As they fought, Vecna summoned a hoard of demobats that took Eddie down to the roof and swarmed over him.

“No!” Ravina shrieked and ran toward him. Vecna landed gracefully on the roof between the two of them, blocking her way to help Eddie.

“Where were we?” Vecna asked.

“Hey, asshole!” Ravina heard Steve’s voice say from behind Vecna. Ravina was sure if Vecna had eyes that he would be rolling them in frustration given the way his shoulders sank. He turned around and was promptly met with a bat covered in nails to the face. Vecna’s head recoiled at the hit and retaliated by sending Steve flying into the wall opposite them, which knocked him out. Just as Vecna was about to finish Steve off, Eddie came down from the sky and sliced Vecna with the silver sword. Vecna’s large and scarred over hand that he had used to cover Ravinams face was now cleanly detached from his body and rolling away toward the edge of the roof. Eddie landed on his feet and prepared to strike again. Vecna turned around and without giving him any time to retaliate, Eddie plunged the sword directly into Vecna’s heart.

“You. Lose,” Eddie spat. An earth-shattering cry came from the creatures Vecna controlled and they began to fall down dead and dissipate into the same dark particles that preceded the attack as the barrier was broken.

Eddie pulled the sword out of Vecna’s chest and Vecna crumpled to the floor as he began dematerializing. Ravina rushed to Steve, who was still out cold, but was alive. She and Nancy got to him at the same time.

“Steve? Hey, come on, wake up,” Nancy said and patted his cheeks. Ravina didn’t notice Eddie slump over a few feet from her.

“Ed? Hey, what’s...oh shit,” she heard Dustin’s voice say. Ravina whipped her head around and saw Eddie with his wings folded in and gripping his side where blood was seeping through his shirt. She was pulled by an invisible force and her legs acted on a will of their own to run to him. She knelt as close to him as possible without touching him.

“What’s wrong?” Ravina asked and scanned him for injuries, and helped him apply pressure to the wound on his side.

“It’s alright, I’ll be okay,” Eddie grunted as he looked at her.

“Dude, you know the demobat venom slows the clotting process. I can’t believe it—a vampire is bleeding out,” Dustin said with his hands on his curly locks.

“Wh-what?! Bleeding out? No, I thought vampires were immortal, like you can’t die,” Ravina said with tears pricking her eyes.

“Not exactly, love. There are a couple things. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay,” Eddie said with a soft laugh that pushed blood into his mouth and onto his lips.

“Is there anything we can do? How can we make the bleeding stop?” Ravina asked Dustin with tears welling up and her lip trembling. Eddie’s eyes got dark as he looked at Dustin.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he warned darkly. Dustin looked conflicted for a moment.

“If there’s something we can do, please tell me and I’ll help,” Ravina begged them both.

After another warning look from Eddie, Dustin blurted out, “He needs to feed on human blood so his regeneration can kick in. I’m sorry! I’m sorry, but you’re dying, I wouldn’t disobey you if it wasn’t desperate.”

“Henderson,” Eddie seethed through gritted teeth.

“Well, how much do you need?” Ravina asked with watery and hopeful eyes.

“Not a whole lot, it doesn’t take much for—”

“DUSTIN! Not another god damn word out of you,” Eddie scolded.

“You can have some of mine,” Ravina said.

“You don’t understand what you’re offering,” Eddie scoffed.

“If it’ll save your life, I don’t care,” Ravina responded through tears. Eddie looked at her and his face fell to one of concern and heartbreak.

“Princess, I can’t hurt you. I can’t ask you to do something like that. You have no idea what it’ll do to you. And the risk of me killing you is nothing compared to that,” Eddie said.

“I. DON’T. CARE,” Ravina stressed and gripped his hand. “I need you to live. You say you can’t hurt me, but right now you’re torturing me by refusing my help. I’ll deal with the consequences afterwards, I just need you to live.”

Eddie’s jaw clenched and he let out a deep breath. “You don’t understand what you’re—”

“Eddie I don’t think YOU understand. I don’t care what happens to me, I’ll deal with the aftermath. I need you to let me help you because the thought of spending another day on this earth without you is the most agonizing thought I could think of because I… because I need you, damn it! Please, let me help you,” Ravina begged with sobs.

Eddie’s gaze softened and he pulled her into his arms with his head in the crook of her neck. She locked her arms around him and let her tears fall.

“Please, Eddie…” she begged.

She felt Eddie’s head shift to look at Dustin. “I’m trusting you to stop me if I get carried away.”

Eddie’s nose moved her hair off the nape of her neck and her head tilted to expose more to him, and his lips brushed against her skin softly, and she shuddered. She felt him firmly plant a kiss to the swell of her neck before whispering softly to her.

“Close your eyes…” Eddie’s voice ghosted in her ears while his lips brushed the shell of her earlobe. Her eyes fluttered closed at his request, and before she had much time to respond, a sharp and burning pain went into her neck. The pain only lasted for a few seconds, and then she felt woozy. She felt Eddie’s arms support her as he regained his strength. One strong hand supported her head while the other smoothed along her back around her waist. She felt safe, despite him taking blood from her. She trusted him… she was devoted to him. After another moment, she felt the fangs pull out of her neck and the dribbling blood from her wound was cleaned with Eddie’s tongue.

“The mark will go away after a couple hours. Thank you,” he whispered in her ear. He placed a soft kiss at the base of her ear that made her shudder in delight before backing away. They went to separate from each other’s embrace and their cheeks brushed together. Ravina turned her head to apologize at just the right moment for their lips to graze over each other. A tingle went down her spine at the contact and Eddie's body went rigid against hers. The pair froze together with their chests flush against each other and their faces close enough to touch with the slightest movement.

“You’re… you’re welcome,” Ravina stammered out.

“Are you feeling okay?” Eddie asked lowly. He made no indication that he was going to increase the space between their lips, even though with certain words Ravina felt the plushness of his skin against hers.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Ravina managed to get out.

“Good…” Eddie whispered. “I don’t know what I’d do if I hurt you badly… Thank you for saving my life.”

“I couldn’t let you die,” Ravina confessed. “I… I lo—”

“Don’t you touch her! You stay away from her!” Steve bellowed and ran at Eddie. Dustin stepped in and prevented Steve from colliding with Eddie. Eddie still held Ravina in his arms, but he let go after Steve’s interruption of their moment. Ravina looked up at Eddie and his expression was somewhere between shocked and amused with Steve’s sudden aggression.

“Whoah, easy big guy,” Dustin said and held Steve’s arms down.

“Stay away from her, I’ll kill you!” Steve bellowed.

“Hey, reLAX, he just saved her life,” Dustin complained and restrained Steve with ease.

“Yours too. You’re welcome,” Eddie spat with a sour look toward Steve.

Steve looked confused for a moment, then looked at how Eddie held Ravina close in his arms.

“What is the meaning of this? Ravina, what happened?” Steve demanded.

“Eddie never hurt anyone. He didn’t kill the Creel family and he didn’t kill the villagers… it was Vecna. The whole time. I found out because… well I was in the Upside Down and—” Ravina began.

“He kidnapped you?!” Steve accused through gritted teeth and stepped forward. Dustin held Steve back once again, and Eddie instinctively held Ravina tighter and away from the threat.

“No! No, Eddie wouldn’t ever hurt me, he’s… well, anyway, the point is he saved us from Vecna. We owe him a great deal,” Ravina said.

“It’s true. I saw it myself—Eddie saved Ravina, and the entire kingdom,” Nancy said from behind Steve. Ravina noticed her brother’s tear-steamed face nodding next to her.

“Well… then what do you want, Edward the Banished? What can I do to ensure the safety of my people?” Steve asked as though he was humoring him.

“I think he’s only got one thing on his mind,” Johnathan said with a smirk at Ravina.

“I never intend to endanger the lives of those in Hawkinshire, so let’s get that straight,” Eddie said and let go of Ravina as he stepped forward. “As for saving your sorry ass… I don’t want anything in return. As long as you keep your people safe, including Ravina, I’ll be there to support you.”

Eddie pulled Ravina’s hand gently and placed it on top of Steve’s. Ravina’s chest felt heavy as she looked up at Eddie. She searched his eyes for a clue as to what he was doing, but she only found pain when he looked at her.

“Well… we must have a celebration of sorts. Something to commemorate our partnership,” King Steve said from the opposite side of the roof. “Please, join us for a ball, all of you. Two days from now our allyship will begin.”

“Of course,” Eddie said flatly and shook the king’s hand. Ravina felt crushed. She was ready to bare her true feelings and he… he gave her hand to Steve? Was the spell broken now that Vecna was dead? Ravina remembered what Dustin had said about being similar to Vecna, and she wasn’t sure how the soul-binding magic worked, but she felt for Eddie. Is it possible that his connection to her was lost? He wouldn’t look at her now even as he flew away. She looked at Dustin, who wore a confused and concerned expression as he looked at Eddie, then followed him back up to Hellfire.

Steve’s gentle strokes on her back felt like sandpaper compared to how Eddie was holding her just now.

The two days leading up to the eve of the welcoming ball were a blur and Ravina often found herself feeling her neck where Eddie had so intimately drunk from her and while there was no visible mark, she felt like everyone could see and know that she had supplied the vampire king with life-saving measures; a piece of her. As she was getting dressed, she noticed that tonight’s attire seemed to highlight the very spot. Her dress was a dark purple with embroidered florals and strapless, exposing her shoulders and neck for all to see. She wore a simple silver necklace to compliment the garment and when she was dressed, she felt she looked quite beautiful. She wondered what Eddie would look like and what he would think of her appearance.

“You seem a bit out of it, are you okay?” Johnathan asked her as the evening was about to begin.

“Yeah, just… preparing. It seems odd to be jovial so soon after a traumatic event,” Ravina reasoned.

“Nothing to do with your feelings for Steve? Or lack thereof?” Johnathan suggested. Ravina’s eyes grew wide as she looked at him in disbelief.

“I’m going to marry him in like 2 weeks,” Ravina said.

Johnathan shrugged. “Your heart belongs elsewhere, Vina. I think you should tell him and call off the wedding.”

“And what if the alliance, then?”

“Hawkinshire is literally allying with the Vampire Kingdom. I don’t think they need Yewsander,” Johnathan reasoned with a shrug.

“Well that’s all the more reason to not make them angry,” she responded.

“Look, I’m not an idiot, and neither is Steve. We both saw how you looked at Eddie that night, and I know what you were going to say to him. As your brother and best friend, I think you deserve to be happy and I’m giving you permission to not marry a man you don’t love, okay? I lost one sibling to violence, I don’t want to lose you to despair, okay?” Johnathan stated in a hushed tone.

Ravina sighed and nodded. He was right, she didn’t love Steve. She never did, and she knew why now. She was destined to be with Eddie. Her heart belonged to him whether she willed it or not.

“His Dark Majesty, King of the Vampires: Eddie the Banished!” Dustin announced as Eddie entered the ballroom. The room erupted in cautious applause as Eddie descended the stairs. His wings were tucked in and he wore his long curly hair in a low ponytail. His suit was all black and appeared to be a mix of silk and velvet textures, which made the silver rings on his fingers stand out. He was a sight to behold and Ravina could feel her cheeks heat up as she looked at him. He didn’t meet her gaze, though. He didn’t meet her gaze all night and it was frustrating to her.

“Care for a dance?” Steve asked her, pulling her from her thoughts of irritation that the man who she so desperately needed to acknowledge her didn’t seem to notice her existence.

“Oh, um… yes,” Ravina said and took his hand. They took their position and Ravina looked up at Steve, who had a pensive look on his brow.

“Are you okay?” she asked him as they began their dance.

“I’m just… thinking. Well, now that there isn’t a threat to Hawkinshire, we don’t have to get married…. If we don’t want to,” Steve said.

Ravina looked slightly shocked and asked him, “Do you not want to get married anymore?”

“Do you?” Steve asked. Ravina was silent, and Steve nodded in understanding. “I see.”

“I’m so sorry… I never wanted to hurt you, Steve. I do care about you,” Ravina said. “You are a great friend.”

“I care about you, too. But I suppose, even with how hard I tried, I could never love you in the way a marriage would need,” Steve said. A weight felt like it was lifted from Ravina’s chest and she smiled for the first time in two days.

“I’m glad we feel the same,” Ravina said to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell my dad that the wedding’s off… but I don’t know that they’ll have to waste the cake given how close your brother and my sister are getting,” Steve mused and eyed where Johnathan and Nancy were dancing. They were very close to each other and Ravina could practically see hearts in their eyes as they looked at each other. She giggled and shook her head at them. When the song ended, Steve gave her a quick hug and they separated. Ravina went back to her spot by the balcony window and saw a figure standing outside… it was Eddie. He was alone on the balcony.

Ravina took a deep breath and made her way over to the glass window doors and opened them. She carefully closed them behind her as to not draw attention to the door, but Eddie had heard her, she was sure. The air had a slight chill to it, but nothing uncomfortable as Ravina walked toward Eddie slowly. He had his elbows rested on the stone bannister that separated the sky from the ground and he was bent over slightly, looking down.

“Hey,” she greeted softly. “Remember me?”

Eddie scoffed, still not looking at her, and spoke lowly, “Princess, you haven’t left my thoughts since the day I met you. Morning, noon, and all night I think of you.”

“Then why have you been ignoring me? You heard me calling to you the other night, right?” Ravina asked, recalling night before last when she couldn’t sleep, so she stood out in her balcony and called to Eddie until her throat was sore.

Eddie’s jaw clenched and his eyes closed for a moment. “It was torture.”

“…what happened? Why can’t you even look at me, Eddie?” she asked with eyes that began to sting.

“I thought when I bit you that you’d be turned into a vampire—that’s all it took for me and everyone else. But when you didn’t begin to change, I realized something about you that made me need to not be selfish,” Eddie said.

“And what might that be?” Ravina asked.

“Virgins can’t become vampires,” Eddie sighed and stood up straight, still avoiding her gaze. “So I knew that I couldn’t be selfish and have you to myself. Not when you’re betrothed already.”

Ravina’s face heated up and she felt mortified. She was saving herself for marriage, as was custom especially among royals, but she didn’t realize that prevented her from becoming a vampire or being with Eddie.

“I’m not… I’m not engaged anymore. With the threat no longer here and the alliance between the vampires and Hawkinshire, any sort of joining between Yewsander and Hawkinshire is completely voluntary. If anything, it’ll be Johnathan and Nancy that join the nations,” Ravina explained. Eddie finally looked up and met her eyes. His expression was a pained one that stemmed from intense longing, it seemed. She felt her heart nearly beat out of her chest with his intense gaze at her.

“I thought you loved Steve,” Eddie said in a quiet tone.

Ravina let out a short breath, “Please, you knew I didn’t the second I told you.”

Eddie’s lips morphed into a smirk. “I was having wishful thoughts.”

Ravina bit her lip and looked at Eddie with more purpose. “What I wanted to say the other night… I was going to tell you that I… care a lot about you, Eddie. And I’m glad I was able to keep you alive.”

Eddie’s face softened and he started walking toward her while responding, “As I said before, Ravina, I would burn this world for you. I can’t deny that my soul longs for you, and I can’t control myself when I’m near you. The fact that it was your blood that saved me only furthers my feelings of gratitude and yearning for you. But I can’t be selfish. If I am to have you, which I desperately crave, I need to know that you’re as committed to me and that you seek out no one else, my darling. I want you wholly and completely.”

My the time he was done, his arms had found their place supporting her back and caressing the dip between her jaw and neck. Ravina was intoxicated with him. The words he said were music to her ears and she wanted nothing more than to melt into him.

“So what would make me not a virgin anymore, so I could be with you forever?” Ravina asked softly as she looked up at him.

“My darling, that’s not a decision you should take lightly. I was never asked to carry this burden of eternal life, I didn’t have a choice. I want you to be fully aware of what you’re getting into,” Eddie cooed as he stroked her cheek with his thumb and their faces crept closer and closer together. Ravina could feel her heart pounding in her chest at the closeness.

“An eternal life with the man I love,” Ravina stated. Eddie’s eyes widened and Ravina saw him bite his lower lip.

"Love..." he echoed with a whispered tone.

“So what do I have to do to be yours forever?" Ravina asked.

“You have to make love to completion. From that blissful moment on, you’re no longer virginal,” Eddie whispered as his lips ghosted above her own. “And then I can sire you.” The last time they were this close, Ravina was ready to confess her love. Now, she was ready to give it.

“Then make love to me. To completion,” Ravina gasped out. She was finding it harder to breathe not because of his hold on her, but because she felt so strongly for him that her heart may burst.

Eddie’s lips collided with hers in a firm, passionate, and hungry kiss. Ravina felt weak and shaken under his crushing kiss but his arms held her securely in place. If she were to lose all strength in her legs, she would stay upright with his support. Her first kiss didn’t feel nearly as good or complete as this one. Her heart soared and she was sure it no longer belonged to her now.

“Hang on tight,” Eddie said into her ear after a moment. Ravina felt the wind in her face as Eddie flew high up to Hellfire. Ravina was impressed with how swiftly he was able to get them to his bedchamber window. Not wanting to waste any time, Ravina opened the windows with her mind as they approached.

"Eager, hm?" Eddie teased. Ravina shrugged and blushed in his arms. He laid her on his bed gently and put his wings away before crawling over her. She was pliant to his every commend whether it be silent or not. As he crawled over her, she sunk into the bed and he let out a shaken breath.

"Princess, tell me if I'm pushing you too far, okay? We don't have to do this tonight," Eddie said with kind and soft eyes boring into hers.

Ravina felt a small sting of rejection at his words. "Do you not want me, Eddie?"

Eddie's eyes squinted slightly at her and he looked at her intently as he spoke, "I ache for you in every way, but if I pushed you too far or lost control and hurt you, I'd never forgive myself."

Ravina's heart fluttered in her chest and she reached up to pull his face down to hers. "Maybe I want you to lose control."

Eddie's lips connected with hers again suddenly, and her bottom lip was sucked between his teeth. His lips traveled along her jaw leaving a wet trail in their wake until his teeth nipped at her earlobe before he spoke into her ear. "Darling, you're going to drive me to madness with that mouth of yours."

Ravina gasped out as his hand traveled to hike her dress up to her hips and smoothed along her leg. His lips molded onto hers and he squeezed the bare flesh of her buttocks under her panties. Feeling bold, Ravina began to unbutton his shirt and he was soon rid of the fabric. Ravina took in his shirtless form and felt her desire turn to starvation and she needed to feel him against her, inside her. In a blur, they were naked on his bed and Eddie's mouth drank in every gasp and slight moan that she would let out.

"Eddie, I'm..." Ravina breathed out.

"What is it, princess?" he asked as he kissed along her neck and traveled down her chest. "Tell me what you need."

"I'm... I need you," she said.

Eddie chuckled. "Is that so? What do you need from me, my dear?"

Ravina's cheeks heated up as he winked at her and let his tongue dance over her belly as he was nearing the ache she felt for him that only he could satisfy between her legs.

"Eddie I need you to fuck me already," Ravina said with an exasperated tone.

"Oh my sweet princess, there is so much more I can do for you aside from that. There are pleasures that you've never heard of," Eddie teased. "For example..."

Ravina felt his lips and tongue lave over her pussy like he was devouring a succulent fruit. Ravina had never felt anything like this before and didn't know that she could feel this kind of pleasure. Her body worked solely on instinct now and her hands gripped onto his curls as his lips were attached to her at the apex of her legs.

"Eddie..!" she gasped out. She felt a tight coil start to form in her center and she begged him to not stop. "Please, don't stop, it feels.. so good."

Eddie merely hummed in response and gripped onto the soft skin of her thighs as he continued to feast on her. Ravina felt like a pathetic mess as she begged for more, but she felt vindicated in her pleas because Eddie gave her everything. Before long, Ravina felt herself release. It was a strange sensation, but one that she was sure was the most pleasure and bliss she'd ever been in. Her body felt like it was floating and she laid her head back as she howled Eddie's name like a prayer.

"Oh, that's it, baby... Oh, fuck you look so beautiful coming for me like that..." Eddie said as he caressed her face as she rode out her first orgasm. She hadn't noticed that he was no longer licking at her folds but was rubbing her clitoris gently with his thumb.

"Wh... what wa.. what was that..." Ravina asked breathlessly.

"Princess, that's what completion feels like," Eddie informed.

"But you didn't--"

"Fuck you? No, but if you want, we can have that arranged," Eddie said as he pulled down his pants. His cock sprang free and Ravina's mouth watered.

"Please," she begged, still coming off of her high.

Eddie's eyes closed and he moaned at her words. "Fuck, you're going to make me unload before I even touch you if you keep beggin like that."

Ravina's smile became devilish and she opened her legs for him once more. "Eddie, my king, please make love to me."

"Fucking hell," he growled and lined his cock up with her soaking entrance. "Close your eyes, baby, this might sting a little."

Ravina bit her lip and closed her eyes. She felt Eddie's head slide slowly past her folds and she felt herself fill up. The stretch only stung for a moment before he was completely sheathed within her.

"Tighter than the fucking virgin Mary," Eddie breathed out. "Squeezing me, baby..."

"Is that bad?" she asked with her eyes still shut. Eddie let out a chuckle.

"Not at all, princess... you okay?" he asked. Ravina nodded and opened her eyes. Eddie's naked body was above her and she felt intimidated and blessed to have this view. His pupils were blown and his lips were bright red from biting them and holding them together to refrain from losing all control.

"Yes... Eddie, please... I want to feel you," Ravina begged. eddie nodded and began moving his hips slowly at first, but when Ravina responded with needy cries for more, he picked up the pace. The room filled with their cries of pleasure and the sound of their sex.

"I love you," he moaned into her ear. "I love you and only you forever... never will there be another in my eternal life, I swear it."

Ravina felt her next orgasm approaching and she held his face in her hands as he thrusted into her.

"Eddie, please sire me... I want to be with you forever," Ravina begged.

Eddie's face went soft and he kissed her lips slowly before saying, "It's going to hurt, my darling. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes," Ravina responded. "I want you forever."

"I love you desperately," Eddie confessed.

"I love you, Eddie," Ravina responded.

Eddie picked up his pace and when Ravina's climax was underway, he bit into her neck and held her in place as they both rode out their highs. Ravina felt the sting of his fangs and the venom spread as she came down from her second orgasm.

As the venom spread, she felt herself go limp and her pulse quickened in her ears as the pain intensified. The sting became a burn, and it spread like fire over her entire body. The agony only intensified and she was sure that she wouldn't survive. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to die before she became immortal, but this was torture. She focused on Eddie's gentle touches when she could feel them through the searing pain coursing through her. She cried out in pain and felt Eddie hold her close and heard his voice in her ear assuring her that she was going to be okay and how sorry he was and just as she thought she would pass out from the intense pain, it was gone. She could no longer hear her pulse in her ears and her mouth felt odd. She ran her tongue over her teeth and found that her canines had sharpened into fangs. After a few deep breaths, she pushed away from Eddie and opened her eyes. It was like she was seeing the world for the first time: the colors of the room were vibrant and she could see clearer than before. She could hear the gentle rain that had begun outside as though it was directly above her, and she could smell Eddie more intensely, like she could smell his essence, his very being. She looked up at him and his eyes shone a deep scarlet color as he smiled at her.

"Hello, my little vampire," he said in a soft voice.

"Hi," Ravina said.

"Welcome to eternal life," Eddie said and gently caressed her face. "Will you allow me to make you my wife?"

Ravina smiled and she was sure her cheeks were turning pink. "Yes."

[writings-of-dumpy]

But what if Eddie went to Hogwarts…

Ravenclaw for sure.

[writings-of-dumpy]

A small little morsel the fic to come is based around, which I apologize but will be written in mobile because my laptop went kaput…

[ ] “So you love him because he’s a hero? Let me tell you about heroes, princess… A hero would sacrifice you for the greater good,” he growled. The way he spoke almost made a mockery of Steve’s ambition and shamed the thought of ‘greater good’ altogether. Ravina looked into his deep, dark brown eyes that flashed the slightest glint of red in the moonlight. The vampire before her slowly crept in her direction, and towered over her as he backed her against the wall. She felt herself melt under the heat of his gaze. The way his brown curls framed his stern face made Eddie look like a painting. He wasn’t real before her, he was a figment, a ghost. He was too perfect to look at, and Ravina’s heart beat faster the closer he got to her, confirming to her soul that his existence was real and was in fact tied to hers. He spoke lower now, like what he was about to say was secret that was meant only for her ears, “I have no such compunction,” he scoffed. He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear with his hand resting on the stone wall that supported her head. “I would BURN this world for you.”

[writings-of-dumpy]

This is an Eddie Munson blog now.

[writings-of-dumpy]

Complete: Peter Parker

A/N: Hello, it’s me again. And I wrote this.

Summary: Peter 3 finds his MJ

Warnings: Major character death, angst, smut, violence

Peter walked alone, as he often did nowadays, through the familiar streets of New York after an evening of Spider-ing. It had been a few months since his multi-verse adventure and he found his outlook on life to be much brighter. He'd found something that he was sure he'd never see again—Hope. After Gwen's death, his hope was lost and gone. But he kept fighting for his city, and when he was pulled into Peter One's dimension? His hope soared. There were others out there like him, struggling just like him, but still there. Peter Two looked as though he led a mostly normal life—he was older than the other two Peters (with himself being the middle of the three ages), and was still kicking in spite of the back issues. He felt for Peter One, but knew he and MJ would be together again, and for that he was envious. He wouldn't see Gwen again... but maybe that was okay. He and Gwen were each other's paths... hers just stopped with him and he had to keep fighting for her memory. He still thought about the moment that he caught Peter One's MJ... he felt a wave of relief and oddly, closure. He COULD save people. He could save HIS people, and that's what he needed.

Peter was pulled from his thoughts by the happiest pitbull dog he'd ever seen.  Tail wagging and gray face turned up into a smile with its stocky body wiggling.

“Hello there, little guy. Where did you come from?” he asked and crouched down to greet the friendly dog.

“Oh my god, I'm so sorry,” a woman said, completely out of breath as she caught up to them. “She's my dog and... whooh, I'm so sorry. I've been running for like...” She looked behind her and then at Peter. “...an embarrassingly short distance.”

Peter smiled at her. The dull lights surrounding them illuminated her face just enough for him to make out her features. She placed a leash around the dog, whose tail wagged even more upon seeing her.

“Well, she's very cute. I hope you don't walk her late like this all the time?” Peter asked, concerned for the woman's safety.

She scoffed and shook her head. “No way. I like to sleep. But she was a good girl and told me that she had to go potty, so we do that.” She looked at the dog, who was stood next to her with ears up and a gently wagging tail. “Yes, you're a good girl.”

“Well, good. This city's pretty crazy, especially at night,” Peter warned. This interaction was longer than he normally had with strangers, but he didn't mind it. She was easy to talk to.

“Yeah... Again, I'm so sorry about that. I've only had her for a couple weeks, so we're still learning each other and learning boundaries,” the woman said with her breath finally caught.

Peter smiled and stretched out his hand to her. “I'm Peter, by the way... Peter Parker.”

She seemed slightly surprised, but smiled and accepted his hand. Peter felt a jolt of warmth run through him when their hands touched. She then spoke, “I'm Meg. Meg James.”

Peter's face softened and he had a realization. “MJ...” he said mostly to himself.

Meg raised an eyebrow at him. “I suppose you could call me that, PP.”

Peter laughed and shook his head, his cheeks turning hot. “Message received. Do you, uh.. do you live around here? I do, I'll... I'll walk with you.”

Meg paused for a moment and then nodded. “That would be great, actually. Thank you.”

Peter smiled and they began to walk together. “So, so, so... What is your dog's name?”

“Oh! God, I'm so sorry. Her name is Artie,” Meg said. “Though it should be 'pain-in-my-ass.'”

Peter chuckled. “She's a cutie, though. A CUTE pain in your ass.”

Meg smiled and rolled her eyes knowingly. Her gaze then landed on his camera that was haphazardly slung on his shoulder. “You're a photographer? You're the guy that gets all of those cool pictures of Spider-Man?”

Peter blushed. She thinks my pictures are cool...he thought to himself. HE thought they were embarrassing.

“Yeah, just a freelancer. My real job is at Oscorp... I'm an engineer there,” he said.

“Oh wow. That's incredible,” Meg responded, sounding genuinely impressed.

“How did you—”

“What is it—” They had spoken at the same time. They shared a look and giggled. Peter cast his head down and gestured for her to continue, to which she responded by gesturing similarly and holding her hand up to signal that she wouldn't speak.

“What is it that you do?” Peter asked when they resumed walking.

“I'm a veterinarian,” she said. Peter's eyes went wide and he raised his eyebrows.

“So it's DOCTOR Meg, huh?” he teased.

Meg smiled and let her head fall humbly with a small bite to her lip. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

Peter beamed at her mischievously and continued, “Or DOGtor Meg.”

Meg laughed. “I see cats, too.”

“Incredible.”

They approached a large building and Meg stopped. “Well, this is me... Thank you for walking me home. It was nice meeting you Engineer Peter Parker.”

Peter smiled. “You're very welcome Doctor Meg James. Maybe I'll stop by to see you there sometime.”

Meg looked at him quizzically. “Do you have a pet?”

“No, but... doctors need coffee, right?” Peter said with a sly smile.

Meg blushed. “Yep, we sure do. Say good night to Peter, Artie.”

Peter knelt down and Artie licked his face affectionately. He smiled and gave her head a few rubs, then stood up and waved to Meg as she walked inside. Peter stood for a moment outside her building soaking in the interaction he had just had. He hadn't felt this way in a long time. He turned around and headed toward his street, which he had passed a couple blocks ago. He wondered if he should get a dog—no, that would be irresponsible. He spent very little time in his apartment, it wouldn't be fair. And ever since May retired, he didn't think she wanted any added responsibility. He was then reminded of an old conflict that had resided in him since the advent of his powers; anyone close to him was in danger, and anyone who knew his true identity was either in even more danger or out to kill him. He thought about Harry and how he desperately wanted to find a cure for him the way Peter One had found a cure for Peter Two's Osborn problem. He smiled to himself as he walked into his home and set his things down. After Gwen's death and Harry's descent into madness, Peter took a job at Oscorp in their developmental division, similar to the job Gwen had. The pay was much better than he had ever had, so he was able to afford to move himself and May into a bigger apartment to accommodate her needs. She was getting older after all, and Peter didn't want her to have to worry. Which is why he still hadn't told her about his double-life. He knew that she wanted nothing but the best for him, and he couldn't put such a wonderful woman in jeopardy. She protested many times to moving with him, citing issues such as his romantic life (which didn't exist) and his social life (which also didn't exist), but eventually he won that battle.

After a shower, Peter laid down in his bed and contemplated the silence. He hadn't noticed it before, but tonight it was deafening. His thoughts kept wandering back to Meg. She was easy to talk to and funny, and terribly beautiful. And now he knew where she lived, or at least the building she lived in. His chest ached when he thought of how she smiled at his jokes and how bashful she became when he recognized her status as a doctor. He wondered how long she had been a doctor. He was approaching 30 at this point and she didn't seem much different. Peter eventually drifted off to sleep thinking about what Meg liked in her coffee... NUT-Meg he thought to himself with a chuckle and decided to save it for their next encounter.

~*~

He didn't know how, but Peter managed to piss off the mafia. So here he was in the middle of the night webbing up men with machine guns in the middle of Times Square. The NYPD showed up to make arrests. As far as nights go, this one wasn't terrible, but he wasn't a fan of getting shot at.

“Howdy,” he said to a particularly muscled man who held a baseball bat. “I think you're a little out of your league, but I'm not here to judge.” Peter didn't move quite fast enough and the bat collided with his side, but the man was quickly webbed up. “Don't hit people! First rule of kindergarten, you may want to learn it.”

Peter swung toward the boss in a racing car down the street. He landed on the roof and hung down on the back passenger-side window. He knocked politely, then saw the barrel of a gun pointed at him as the window rolled down.

“Hey, I just want to talk! Sheesh,” he said, dodging the bullets and then swiftly disarming the gunman. The car came to a screeching halt and Peter quickly realized that the driver was attempting to flip the car to get Peter off of it. Peter would not let this guy get away, though. When the car tilted, Peter grabbed the boss in the back seat and swung them both from the car. Once they were out on the pavement and the car successfully crashed into a vacated truck, Peter was faced with a man wielding a large knife.

“Now you deal with me, insect,” the man spat.

“Arachnid, actually. Common mistake, don't worry about it.” Peter corrected. The man lunged at Peter and managed to cut him pretty good a few times before Peter pinned him down. The police then caught up with him and arrested the man.

“Good luck in jail! Hope you learn the animal kingdom!” Peter jested as the man was hauled away.

“Harry sends his regards,” The man sneered, catching Peter totally off-guard. His face fell behind his mask and he stepped forward to ask the mobster what he meant, but the car hauled him away. Peter felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Mostly because he had been, but he felt it more metaphorically. Peter hadn't seen or spoken to Harry since the night Gwen died and last he knew, his old friend was at Ravenscroft. Peter swung through the city towards his apartment, but felt the need to stop and catch his breath. Mentally, he was cursing himself because his street was just a couple blocks from the patio he landed on. He put his hands on his knees and tried to breathe. Suddenly, the curtain opened and he looked up to see none other than Meg looking at him with a slightly frightened and worried face.

“S-Spider-Man?” she asked as she opened the sliding glass door. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just have to catch my breath is all. Lovely patio you've got going on. Seating's great... And a telescope? Ah, man. That's so cool,” Peter said through gasps.

Meg reached over and helped him stand correctly as he began to sway. His side was killing him where the bat had struck him and the knife wounds finally began to sting. This happened often to him; he would finally calm down, so the adrenaline would wear off and then he'd start to feel his injuries. He hadn't ever been around someone else during this, though—he was usually home.

“You're hurt... Please, let me help you. Come inside,” Meg insisted. Peter didn't know what came over him, but he obliged and stepped into her apartment. He was greeted with warmth and the smell of vanilla and bergamont, then he was greeted by Artie, who he was sure recognized him despite the mask.

“Cute dog,” Peter commented. Meg smiled and let out a laugh.

“Thanks,” she said. She pulled a chair out for him and he sat down as Meg pulled out the first-aid kit. She prepared a few things and set them aside, then put on a pair of gloves. Peter watched her intently and found that the various movements she made and the faces she expressed in response to her concentration were endearing. Peter was able to get away with removing just the top part of his suit so that she could properly look at his wounds, which made his cheeks feel hot. His face warmed even more when Meg looked at him. He smiled to himself when her cheeks turned pink at the sight of his half-naked form.  When he looked down, he noticed a deep purple bruise on the side where the bat had collided.

“You often take in strangers in the middle of the night?” Peter asked after a moment.

“No, but when a super hero shows up on your patio dazed and confused... it's hard to send him away,” she said with a small smile.

“Super hero? Is that what I am?” Peter asked in astonishment.

Meg shrugged. “Well I certainly can't do what you do. I don't know that anyone can. And you use your talent to help people.” Peter sat for a moment with this. He never thought of himself as a hero, especially after he couldn't save Harry, or Gwen, or Max, or his uncle Ben.

“Um.. well the good news is that nothing will require stitches.. I'm just worried about that bruise,” Meg told him after she had looked at him. Peter looked back up at her concerned expression and shrugged.

“It'll be okay,” he reassured her. She moved her lips to one side of her mouth and let out a breath. She then started to clean his various cuts and scrapes. He watched her as she gently cleaned the slices and applied bandages where needed. He felt his lips turning up into a small and gentle smile at her touch. She was compassionate and took care of him. He looked over to see that Artie was curled up with a blanket on the couch, sound asleep. He saw on her counter and unfinished pizza from Sbarro and rolled his eyes—his next mission was to get her REAL pizza. He was easily able to tune out the small sting he felt when she applied the antiseptic by looking at her face. The way her tongue poked out between her lips when she concentrated on placing a bandage was adorable and he couldn't help but think about how soft her lips were. When she was done, he almost didn't want her to be.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Better already,” he told her. He put his suit back on and turned to her. “Thank you.”

“I'm Meg... by the way,” she said. “ I know you probably can't tell me your name, but I figured if you wanted to know mine...”

Peter beamed beneath his mask. “It's nice to meet you, Meg. Thank you for helping me.”

“Oh, please. I'm happy to help you. You've done so much for the city...” she said. Peter smirked.

“So you're on Spider-Man's side, huh?” he prodded. Meg grinned and nodded.

“I wouldn't have cleaned you up if I wasn't,” she said. Peter bid her farewell and swung back to his street with a refreshed energy. It was similar to how he felt the first night he had met Meg. He couldn't help but smile when he was around her.

A few days later, Peter paid a visit to Georgio's Pizza, one of his favorite places to grab a bite, and ordered himself and Meg a pizza. He managed to make a few employees starstruck because he was still in his Spider suit, so he was polite and posed for a few pictures. After he was done, he swung directly to Meg's apartment and hoped she was there. He didn't know what kind of hours she worked, but night was about to fall and he had finished his own work hours ago, so hopefully Meg was home.

When he arrived at her patio, he gently stepped close to the door and was greeted with Artie's nose pressed against the window and tail wagging.

“Where's your mom, sweetie?” Peter asked the dog from the other side of the glass. The smiling pup pawed at the door and Peter crouched down to her level, which excited her. He saw Meg walk out from the hallway into the living space with a confused expression, then realization when she saw Peter standing there. He stood up straight and waved to her. She smiled in disbelief and opened the door for Artie to jump on him in a greeting.

“Artie, no! Off!” she commanded and Artie's feet landed on the floor once again, her tail wagging vigorously. Meg then looked at Peter and spoke, “What.. What are you doing here?”

“I brought you dinner!” he said cheerfully and held up the bag that contained the pizza. Meg's eyebrows went up and she allowed him to step inside.

“What's this for?” she asked as Peter made his way to the kitchen to unpack the food. It felt oddly natural to be in her kitchen, looking at her from across the room as he prepped the food for her. He didn't feel awkward at all, which was an uncommon occurrence. Peter knew he acted much more confident behind the mask, but he didn't expect to feel confident.

“You helped me the other day, so I figured I'd return the favor. Plates?” Peter asked once he had opened the box. Meg shook her head with a disbelieving smile and pointed to the cabinet behind him. Peter turned and opened the cabinet to find a lovely set of black stoneware plates. He grabbed a couple and set them next to the pizza box. “And since you clearly have no taste for good pizza, I figured I'd give you a little slice of heaven.”

“You're going to eat with me, right?” Meg asked and stepped closer to him.

“If you don't mind. I mean, I don't think Artie should have this much pizza,” Peter said and pulled a piece out.

“Artie should not have ANY pizza,” Meg corrected.

“Exactly.”

They sat together on the patio and Peter almost forgot that his mask was still on. He lifted it so that only his mouth was exposed, keeping his identity secret, and took a bite.

“Huh,” Meg said aloud. Peter looked at her and found that she was looking right at him.

“What?”

“I just... I guess I figured you might have fangs. Or pincers,” Meg said and then shrugged as she took a bite.

“You thought I had FANGS?” Peter said with a small chuckle. Meg nearly spat her pizza out as she laughed and nodded her head. “Oh my god, is this what the average person thinks of me? That I have pincers and or fangs?”

Meg shrugged. “I mean... Your whole face is covered, you leave too much to the imagination. And with  spider powers, I thought maybe you had a change in anatomy, too.”

“No, just sticky fingers,” Peter explained.

“And an insane amount of strength. And literal webbing,” Meg added and took another bite.

Peter chuckled and chewed on his bite. He looked over at her and saw that she was enjoying her pizza given the expression on her face.

“It's good, right?” Peter coaxed.

Meg nodded. “Very much so. Thank you, Spidey.”

Peter nodded and pointed a gloved finger at her. “I never want to see a chain restaurant's packaging in your kitchen ever again.”

Meg's eyebrows raised and she tilted her head to the side with a comically shocked look. “Yes, sir... Sheesh.”

Peter smiled. “So where do you work?”

“Why, so you can bring me lunch, too?” Meg challenged with a cocked brow.

Peter chuckled and cast his head down, then looked back at her. “You got me.”

“I work at the emergency vet down the street. Most of the time I'm on the GP side, but I do ER two times a week,” Meg told him. He smiled and nodded. “Should I bother asking what you do?”

“I'm very prominent in my field. I've got a special set of skills that I've been told nobody else has? So I'm a very fancy cop, basically,” Peter told her humorously.

“Oh my god, are you Spider-Man?” Meg said, feigning shock and sitting with her leg in her chair to face him.

“Damn it, how did you KNOW?!” he said with a dramatic throw of his head backwards. “Man, I have to be more careful.”

“You do, actually,” Meg told him more seriously. “I mean if you plan on sticking around, that is.”

Peter chuckled and thought about the age difference between himself and Peters Two and One. Peter One was barely out of high school and Peter Two looked like he was well into his 40s.

“Yeah, I do...” Peter said and smiled.

“Thank you for dinner,” Meg said with a smile and stood up with her empty plate and a hand offering to take his.

“Oh, of course! Any time,” he said. Any time, truly, he repeated in his mind and watched her smile.

~*~

Meg was finishing up charting from her last appointment when the receptionist called for a triage over the PA system. Knowing the other doctors were busy with patients, she stepped up and moved quickly to the treatment area.

“What happened?” she asked the nurse that brought the patient back. The dog was medium-sized and covered in burns.

“Client just found the dog in a burning building, ran it straight here,” she said. Meg looked at the dog's gums and body, and assessed that there were no deep cuts that needed immediate attention.

“Okay, go ahead and get venous access and start fluids at 8mL/kg. I also want some hydro, double the surgical dose for her. Go ahead and get some blood for labs, I'd like a PCV/TP as well. She's severely burned, so if we can start prepping a saline wash, that would be ideal. Keep an eye on her color, too. She's going to need to stay a while,” Meg said to her nurses.  

“So I put him in a room to wait, but this isn't his dog,” Mandy came back and said with a clipboard in hand. “He doesn't even know the dog's name.”

Meg was thoroughly confused. “So a random guy saved a dog from a burning building and brought it here? Alright, I guess scan for a microchip and I'll go talk to him.”

“You're never going to guess who it is,” Mandy said with a devious smile. Meg stopped for a moment and gave her a weird look, which sent the nurse into a laughing frenzy. Meg shook her head and looked at the clipboard and went into the room the nurse had written. She knocked on the door and entered to find a very worried looking Spider-Man sat in the client chair of the exam room.

“Hello, I'm Dr. James...” she said and trailed off when she saw that it was him.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice even though she couldn't make out any expression.

Meg sat across from him in the rolling stool and opened her software with a small smile. “So, you're saving dogs now, too?”

“Well, it looked like she was in trouble,” Spidey said. “So of course.”

“Well, it looks like you both made it just in time. She's in pretty bad shape right now, and I want to run some tests to make sure she'll be alright, but there's a few things we can do to help her. However, given that you're not the owner, we have a bit of an issue... Did you find anything on her at all? A collar, leash, harness..?” Meg asked him.

“Um, there was this, but I took it off so it wouldn't melt into her,” Spidey said and handed her a soot-covered collar with a metal tag attached. Meg looked at the tag and tried to make out any letters or numbers. She managed to make out the name of the dog, but nothing more.

“Well, her name is Pickle, so that's a start,” Meg said and looked in the computer.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asked with honest concern in his voice. Meg smiled at him reassuringly.

“I'm hopeful. But first we have to find the owners. Otherwise, we're going to find out who Spider-Man is through his credit card,” Meg chuckled. “Sit tight and I'll check in the back to see if they found a chip in her, okay?”

Meg left the room and walked the short way back to her patient, who was hooked up to a fluid bag and had a couple nurses taking vitals on her.

“I found out her name is Pickle, did she have a chip?” Meg asked.

“Yeah, I'm calling the number associated right now,” Jaimee said from a station a few feet away.

“Excellent. I'm going to do a more thorough exam now that she's a bit more stable. I think we're going to have to go to surgery to debride this crap,” Meg said with a groan.

“Kind of amazing that Spider-Man is here. And he saved a dog! Did you flirt with him at all? He sounds hot,” Mandy said. Meg rolled her eyes with a smile.

“I can't with you, Mandy,” Meg said and reached for the burn cream to assess the wounds further.

“You cannot honestly tell me that he doesn't sound like a total babe,” Mandy responded.

“He sounds like he'd be just the right amount of attractive—not too attractive to be intimidating, but enough to make you want to do him,” Jessica said from the other side of Mandy.

“Right?” Mandy agreed. Meg's face was hot and she could tell that her cheeks were red. They were right, and from the small amount of face she had seen of him, he was attractive. His smile was one that Meg thought could light up the night and send fireworks through her brain. His laugh was a sound that played over in her head along with his words of gratitude to her. She still couldn't believe that he had bought HER dinner. Of course she hadn't told anyone about his visits to her apartment out of deference to his secrecy and to avoid getting constant questions about him from her overly eager coworkers.

“Good news, the client is on their way now, should be about 5 minutes. They've been looking for their dog and want to thank the guy who brought her in,” Jaimee announced.

“Fantastic. I'm going to go tell the client, keep rubbing that in gently,” Meg instructed.

“You mean Spider-Man? You're going to talk to SPIDER-MAN?!” Jaimee said as Meg left the area.

Meg walked back into the room and smiled at him as he stood up to greet her.

“Did you find them?” Spidey asked with hope in his voice. Meg was now acutely aware of the attraction she felt to this man.

“Yes. They'll be here soon and they want to—oh, looks like they're here now,” Meg said as she looked up and saw an elderly couple walk into the room escorted by a receptionist. The woman was in tears and Spider-Man stood up. Meg noticed a slight shift in his demeanor from worried to confident. Her heart swelled for him and she recognized that he put on more than just his physical mask to be Spider-Man.

“You saved our baby Pickle! How can we ever repay you?” the woman blubbered.

“Hey, I just got her out of the fire. This woman, Dr. James—she's the one who's going to save your dog, ma'am,” Spider-Man said with a smile and gestured to Meg. Meg stood there with a half-smile.

“How is she? Is she okay?” the man asked Meg.

“Why don't you have a seat and we can talk about a treatment plan together, okay?” Meg suggested.

“Yes, yes,” the woman agreed and they both sat where Spider-Man had been.

As Meg began to explain Pickles' situation to them, she noticed Spidey begin to walk away after he closed the door.

“I'm so sorry, just one moment, okay?” she told her clients and walked out of the room to go after him. “Hey!”

He turned around and stopped for her. “Yeah?”

“YOU saved that dog. If you hadn't gotten her here when you did, I'd be having a different conversation. Don't downplay what you do, it has a real impact,” Meg told him. She couldn't see his expression, but his hand lifted to rest on her shoulder. He gave her a small squeeze and let his thumb rub along the curve of her shoulder before turning and walking out of the building.

Later that night as Meg was walking home, she crossed paths with a familiar face. “Hey, Peter!”

Peter looked up at her and smiled. She saw his face had a bit of dirt on it and some darkened skin around his eye. Meg's face dropped and she looked at him with concern. “Is that a black eye? Are you okay?”

Peter smiled awkwardly and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just.. um I just fell off my board. You know.. inertia and all that.”

Meg's lips twitched into a small smile. “Yeah, I suppose that's why there's dirt on your face, too.”

“Y-yeah...”

“You live close by, right?” Meg asked. Peter nodded.

“Yeah, a couple streets that way,” he said and pointed in the direction he was heading, which Meg noticed was the opposite direction she was.

“So you went past your street to walk me home?” Meg said. Peter smiled and hung his head bashfully, then nodded and looked up at her.

“Yeah, yeah I did,” he said with a small smile. Meg felt her cheeks blush and she nodded.

“Well, I'll see you around,” she told him. There was something familiar about Peter. She had only had one encounter with him, but she couldn't help feeling like she had developed a friendship of sorts with him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the way she felt around him was just... familiar.

~*~

Peter didn't know where else to go. He couldn't go home and worry May like this, not to mention he needed help... He needed HER. He used the last of his energy to swing up to her balcony and his body fell against the glass door. He had made a habit of visiting Meg when he was done for the day over the past few months, but today he fought the Russian mob boss who now only called himself The Rhino. He had no idea how he came by the armor, but he barely beat the guy and took some pretty bad hits during the fight. He was tossed (literally tossed) around New York City, but one lucky hit sent the man from the machine and Peter managed to destroy the suit.

“Spidey..? Oh my god, Spidey! Hey, look at me! Dude, I can't see your face, you have to talk to me,” Meg desperately called out to him as she held him in her arms near the floor. He lifted a hand and placed it against the side of her head and looked up at her.

“Meg,” he breathed out.

“You need to go to the hospital,” Meg said definitively and helped him stand.

“No, no I can't,” he said and leaned against her. He rested his head in the crook of her neck as she guided him into the apartment. “I can't, they're going to find out who I am.”

“Would that be so bad..?” Meg pleaded.

Peter's face crumpled in determination as he remembered how Peter One had suffered when the world knew his identity. “Yes it would be. If the world knows who Spider-Man is, then everyone I love and everything I care about would be in danger. Everyone I even so much as looked at would have a target on their back... I can't do that to you, I can't...”

“Spider...” Meg said.

“Please, Meg, I can't go to anyone else. You're my only hope and I can't put you in harm's way, but I need you,” Peter begged. There was a pause, but then Meg nodded.

“Okay...” she agreed.

After what felt like several days' worth of bandaging and rehydrating, Peter was starting to feel a bit better. Meg began to put the supplies away and when he finished his cup of water, Peter stood up. He felt horribly guilty for asking her for help, so he needed to stop imposing as quickly as possible.

“Where are you going?” Meg asked with concern and confusion as she looked after him.

“Home, I suppose,” Peter said. “I'm feeling a bit better now, thanks to you.”

“Those injuries aren't like others you've had. Rhino knew what he was doing... You HAVE to rest. I can't let you swing out of here,” Meg pleaded with him. Peter started to walk towards the door, knowing that he had to leave.

“Spider-Man, I can't let you go,” Meg said from behind him. Peter felt his hand being grabbed and pulled back. Her touch sent a spark through him and his world seemed to slow down. He stopped his motion and turned to look at her face. In her eyes swam a mix of concern and fear... Fear for his safety and his health. He couldn't leave knowing that she'd be sick with worry over him, that guilt outweighed his previous guilt for putting her out in the first place. He turned and held both of her hands in his gloved ones, then pulled her closer. She stepped with his pull and Peter smiled softly beneath his mask. He couldn't feel her skin on his, but he could feel the warmth of her hands and her soft grip against his fingers.

“Okay, Meg... You win. Where am I sleeping?” he asked with a small and sly smile.

“In my room, with me, so I can keep an eye on you,” she said simply. Peter's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He was thankful that she couldn't see his eyes because he was sure they were bulging out of his head in shock. She'd never been so forward with him, but he understood that she was beyond concerned for him. He understood the sentiment; he felt the same for her.

She led him to her room and he saw Artie sleeping peacefully in her bed at the foot of Meg's large queen-sized mattress. Meg separated her blankets and placed them next to each other, then separated her pillows so that the bed now looked like it was made for two.

“Do you want to borrow some comfier clothes? Or, I mean you can sleep how you want...” Meg stumbled out. He could tell she was slightly flustered and didn't want to order him around and cared about his comfort.

“Normally I'm sleeping in just shorts,” Peter explained. Meg nodded and walked over to her side of the bed. It was only then that Peter noticed she wore the smallest shorts he'd ever seen and a large over-sized shirt with a familiar pattern on it. Peter smirked as he removed the top part of his suit.

“They sell my suit in t-shirt form now? Wow, you must really like me,” Peter jested and took his boots and pants off. His cocky attitude was only because he still wore his mask. Had he not been wearing that, he would have been a blubbering mess seeing Meg look so perfect.

“It was a gift, Bug Boy,” Meg quipped. Peter mimicked being hit in the chest and placed his hand over his heart and dramatically threw his head back.

He climbed beneath the covers, and his stomach was overrun with butterflies when Meg climbed in next to him. There was something so natural yet vulnerable about this. Peter felt it was so right to be there with her, sharing a bed, but felt like he was laid bare before her. The truth was that he wasn't. Outside of his Spider suit, he had only interacted with her as Peter Parker a handful of times and never this intimately. He wished that he could tell her, but Gwen's headstone was a harsh reminder of what happens to the people he's shared his secret with. He didn't want to see Meg hurt—that was something he couldn't bear. That night, as she slept next to him, he thought about how since he had met her, there wasn't a single day that she didn't cross his mind. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he felt her stir. He wanted to accommodate himself to her positioning as best he could, so he made himself more aware of her position. Previously, she had her back to him, but now she faced him and her head rested gently on his shoulder.

His heart was pounding. He had dreamed of what her cheeks may feel like against his skin, but he never thought the place where they connected would be set ablaze. He fought every urge within him to wrap her up and keep her from the harshness of the world and protect her vehemently.

He quickly lost that fight when he noticed Meg's body begin to shiver. Acting on instinct alone, he wrapped his arms around her and welcomed her into his warmth. He did his best to not wake her and he thought he was successful. After a few moments, her breathing was even and her shivering stopped. His arm found a new favorite position around her waist and the other cradling her head. His heart ached to have her, to truly and deeply have her, but his mind couldn't let go of the fear he felt. He had paid the price for his selfishness by losing the one thing he had so desperately wanted to protect. He felt the same for Meg, if not stronger, and he couldn't bear to lose her. He had survived losing Gwen, but feeling as he did now, he wouldn't survive losing Meg. He realized that this moment with her would possibly be the most he would ever get. He savored every second that she was in his arms. As he drifted off to sleep, he softly placed a kiss to her forehead and hoped that his mask stayed on for both their sakes.

The following day, Peter woke up to Meg gone and a note left on the table on his side of the bed saying that he could stay as long as he liked and that she was going to work for the day. Peter smiled and looked over at Artie, who was smiling at him and wagging her tail.

“Your mother is going to kill me, you know?” he said to the dog. Peter quickly put his suit back on and started to swing back to his apartment, where he was sure May was worried for him. He landed in the secluded and empty alley and pulled out his backpack where he stashes his clothes for the night. He changed quickly and headed upstairs.

“May? May, I'm home,” Peter called out. He glanced at himself in the mirror for the first time since yesterday and even he had to admit—he looked a little rough. His lip was bruised and he had a few scrapes on his cheek and forehead as well as a shiner on his left cheekbone.

“Peter? Is that you?” May said. She sounded less worried than he thought. Maybe she was getting used to the idea that he would always come home.

“Yeah, I'm here, May. Sorry I was out all night, I just got caught up in some.. some work stuff,” he said.  As he made his way to the kitchen where she sounded like she was.

“That's okay, dear. Ben should be back soon and we'll have lunch together,” May said cheerfully. Peter's veins went cold and his face dropped.

“Ben..?” he repeated in a small voice.

“Yes, your Uncle Ben,” May repeated. Peter had seen the signs for a little while now, but he thought she had more time before a rapid decline. His heart sank to his feet and he walked closer to her. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle this conversation... He wasn't sure what he was going to do about her, even.

“May... Ben's been gone for a very long time,” Peter said through watery eyes.

“Oh...” May said. “Oh. Oh yes. Yes, I know. I just thought you and I could have lunch together? Is everything okay, Peter?”

Peter blinked his tears away and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, everything's great. What are you making us, hm?”

“Your favorite, of course! The best peanut butter and jelly sandwich New York has ever seen,” May said confidently and spread the mixture she had made onto all four pieces of bread.

“You're right about that one, May,” Peter said. May gestured for him to sit down and she quickly followed him with plates in tow.

“So, when are you going to let me meet your girlfriend?” May asked. Peter nearly choked on his food.

“My.. my girlfriend?” Peter asked after he swallowed and looked at May. She had a knowing look on her face as she finished her bite.

“Of course. Why else would you be getting home so late these days? You've been seeing her for a while now, haven't you?” May asked with a smile.

Peter let out a sharp and short breath and said with a small smile, “Well, uh... it's complicated.”

“It always is.”

Suddenly, Peter's hearing sharpened and his vision intensified. He felt a pull and a tingling sensation; all of these he knew too well to mean trouble.

“Breaking news: it appears that a masked flying villain has begun attacking the city with explosives and chemical weapons. Citizens are urged to evacuate as quickly as possible,” a news anchor said over the TV screen. The footage chilled Peter to the bone: Harry Osborn had escaped and was now attacking the city. He saw buildings collapse and recognized the street to be the one Meg worked on.

“S-sorry May, I've gotta go,” Peter said. “Go down to the basement with the rest of the tenants and be safe, okay?”

“Well, where are YOU going?” May demanded and stood up.

Peter was halfway out the door when he answered, “I'm going to take pictures!”

It was a lame excuse, but it often worked for these situations. He quickly changed into his suit and stashed his clothes behind the dumpster where he previously had them and swung through the city to get to Meg. He could feel the stretch of his bandages and wounds as he swung through the air, but as he neared where civilians were evacuating and fire departments were saving people from the debris, his adrenaline kicked in. He swung around until he found the vet hospital where she worked only to find that none other than Meg was ushering people and animals out of the hospital. The buildings surrounding the hospital were collapsing and Peter saw Meg rush back in.

“No!” Peter yelled to himself and flung himself toward the door.

“Spider-Man! Dr. James went back in, you have to pull her out!” someone behind him yelled. He turned around to face the crowd of people.

“All of you get to safety as fast as you can. The officers have a path, go now!” he told them, then ran through the door.

“Meg?! Meg!!” Peter called as he maneuvered through falling pieces of ceiling and medical equipment.

Before she could answer, he found her rushing through the hallway and looking in each room. “Anyone in here? No, okay. Anyone in here? Anyone in here?” she asked in each room.

Peter ran towards her and saw that a piece of the building was about to collapse and lock her in. He ran forward and shot a web at her, then pulled her into him with a soft 'thud' just in time to clear the falling debris.

“We have to go, NOW,” Peter told her and they ran as fast as they could toward the door.

“Spidey!” Meg yelled. He looked at her to see that she was pointing to the front of the building collapsing inward.

“Hold onto me,” Peter told her.

“What..?”

“Grab on! I'm getting us out of here!” Peter said. He saw an opening between the collapsing walls and shot his web onto the building across the street. “Ready? Hang on tight!”

Peter felt Meg grip onto him as they shot into the air. He thought he also heard her scream, but he couldn't hear over the rush of people screaming, collapsing buildings, and sirens. They reached an alleyway that seemed to be untouched for now, towards where Meg and Peter lived.

“I need you to go home and make sure you and Artie are safe, okay?” Peter told her.

“What?! No, YOU need to rest, let the EMTs handle this,” Meg protested.

Peter shook his head. “I can't do that, I have to help. This guy, floating around and bombing places? That's my problem, I've got to fix this.” He took a step towards her and held her shoulders in his hands.

“No... You can't. I won't let you, Spider-Man. You're still healing, you CAN'T,” Meg continued and Peter stepped closer. He noticed that her hands were holding onto his upper arms as his hands worked their way to hold her face.

“I will be fine. But I need you to be safe, okay?” Peter explained. “Which means you can't be here.”

“You... have to come back, okay? PLEASE, please come back...” Meg said with tears in her eyes. The truth was, Peter didn't know if he'd be able to come back—Harry was criminally insane and extremely dangerous. But Peter's going to make damn sure that Meg was out of harm's way. He held her face in his hands delicately.

“I'll be fine. I'll meet you at your place when this is over. I'll be okay, MJ,” Peter said with a smile. He saw Meg's look change for a moment, but then closed his eyes and rested his head on hers. He could feel her breath on his mask and it would be so easy to lift his mask up and kiss her right then, but he couldn't and he knew it.

He turned and ran toward where he saw green smoke, determined to either help his old friend or stop him from hurting anyone ever again.

~*~

Meg sat in her living room anxiously watching the news. It looked as though Spidey had steered the explosions away from her building and was now engaged in a full-on brawl with the flying green man the news had named The Green Goblin. The sun was setting, which meant Spider-Man had been fighting most of the afternoon. Her leg bounced and she bit her nails anxiously as the cameras followed their moves. Artie rested her head on Meg's thigh for pets and Meg complied with her dog's request, but kept her eyes glued to the screen. She felt a pit in her stomach as she watched Spider-Man and Green Goblin fight. She wanted to help, but she couldn't. She didn't know how.

Suddenly, they both disappeared into a cloud of green smoke, then an explosion sent the cameras offline. Meg's eyes filled with tears as the news anchor on the ground explained that a bomb went off and there is no sign of Spider-Man or Green Goblin.

“No...” Meg whimpered. She let tears fall freely from her eyes and she got up and paced around her apartment. She tried to be rational and think about where he may have gone to escape or maybe he and Green Goblin went somewhere else to fight. Either way, she needed to find him. She grabbed her coat and her keys, and just as she was about to head out the door, Artie ran to the patio glass and Meg saw Spidey slumped over. She threw her keys somewhere and ran to his aid.

“Spidey? Hey, come on, you've got to stop coming here like this and not talking to me...” Meg pleaded.

“Meg...” he said in a raspy voice. She pulled him inside and he wrapped his arms around her with his head on her shoulder. “I'm so glad you're safe... I was so worried..”

“You were worried? I was worried about YOU... What happened?” Meg asked. “Nobody knows where you went after the explosion.”

“That's good... He fell and I couldn't help him, Meg... Harry's gone and it's my fault,” Spidey said with a broken voice into her ear. He held her tighter and Meg wrapped her arms around him.

“Are you hurt, are you okay?” Meg asked through her tears. She moved to look at his masked face, her hands landing on either side of his cheeks and his arms still encasing her against his body.

He nodded slowly and she could hear the cracks in his voice, “Yeah, I'm okay... I'm okay...”

Meg nodded and he leaned his forehead against hers. Meg couldn't help but want to kiss him. He had almost kissed her earlier, it looked like, but he ran away. Her fingers gently found the bottom of his mask, but before she could start to lift it, he stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

“I can't let you do that... I don't think you understand how much I want you to, but I can't let you get hurt. It's just.. I can't, please...” his voice said, barely a whisper as your faces were so close.

Meg bit her lip gently and placed a hand on his face, then spoke in a pleading tone, “Peter...”

He froze. His grip loosened and Meg's hands were able to slowly remove the mask from his head. Once she did, she saw Peter's bruised and bloodied face. There were tears welled up in his deep brown eyes, and his expression was unreadable, but his eyes met Meg's.

She smiled, “There you are.”

“How did you know?” he asked softly.

“You called me MJ. Nobody's ever called me that except on person,” Meg explained.

“You know what this means, don't you? You can't tell anyone, and if anyone finds out that you know ho Spider-Man really is? You're going to be hunted for the rest of your life... Meg, I can't do this to—“

“Shut up,” Meg said and pulled him down to her level where their lips finally met. Peter's kiss went from surprised to hungry and passionate in a matter of an instant. Meg smiled into the kiss as Peter wrapped his arms more securely around her. She was happy he was safe, and she was happy that there wouldn't be any more secrets between them. She wanted to be a safe person for Peter, no matter what the cost was.

~*~

“You have to tell me fun facts about all of these guys, deal?” Peter said as he and Meg headed into the aquarium.

“Fun facts? Like what?” Meg asked with a laugh.

“You know. Like the animals. You're a vet, right?” Peter said as he slipped his hand into hers with a smile. Their fingers interlocked and he watched as her cheeks got pink. She looked down at their joined hands and smiled with her bottom lip between her teeth. It was a sight Peter doesn't think he'd ever get used to. Even after all this time of them being together and the countless times their hands have touched, Meg still acts like it's the first time.

“Well... turtles absorb the oxygen in the water through their cloaca, which is why they're able to stay under for so long,” Meg said. Peter positioned himself on the railing by said sea turtles so that all of his attention was on her; his arms were on the railing and his head rested on them, which meant he was leaned over and then looking up at her.

He nodded his head. “Uh-huh. Fascinating. Maybe not about buttholes?”

“Beggars can't be choosers, Peter,” Meg said with a smirk. Peter smiled at her and wrapped and arm around her shoulders, then planted a kiss to her temple. He hadn't ever been a huge fan of PDA in his younger years, but after everything he's been through, he decided to throw caution to the wind and give Meg the affection and attention she deserves. And to the men in the room looking at her, he sent a clear message that this remarkable woman was his.

After their date at the aquarium, Peter managed to score some ice cream for the two of them, and swung to the top of the Brooklyn bridge for a night sky view of the city.

“I don't know how you manage to not puke or faint every time you swing so high,” Meg complimented.

“Are you scared?” Peter asked and handed her the bowl piled high with whipped cream.

“Not with you, I'm not,” she said. Peter smiled and put a hand on his heart.

“My lady has given me her trust!” Peter exclaimed dramatically.

Meg laughed and went to eat her treat, but the whipped cream ended up on the tip of her nose. Peter grinned and leaned in.

“You got a little something... Here, let me,” he said and kissed the tip of her nose, removing the drop. His lips traveled down to hers and he kissed her deeply with a hand around her waist and over her stomach to keep her close. When she kissed him back with equal fervor, Peter's heart nearly beat out of his chest. He felt so lucky to have her and to be able to show her wonderful things. He wanted her in his life completely...

“I have something to ask you,” Peter said when their lips parted.

Meg raised a brow and gestured for him to continue.

“You know... My Aunt May, she raised me and she lives with me now. I'm not sure how long I've got left with her, mentally, that is... So I'd like you to meet her,” Peter said in a serious tone. He had of course mentioned May before, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that he decided it was okay for them to meet. Not because he wasn't sure about Meg, but because he wasn't sure about May.

Meg's face fell. “Peter, that's terrible, I'm so sorry...”

Peter nodded and squeezed her hand that had found his. “Yeah, it's been a long time coming. But she's important to me, and so are you... So, would you come to dinner tomorrow night? Let me cook for you?”

Meg smiled. “I'd love to meet her. But promise me you won't cook.”

“What?! I'm an EXCELLENT chef, you'll see,” Peter said with a scoff. Meg giggled and they finished their dessert with a beautiful view of the city lights.

Peter spent basically all of the next day preparing the dinner. He was up before May (she had been sleeping very late for the past month or so) and started to work his way around the kitchen.

“Peter, what are you doing?” she said from the doorway between the living room and kitchen.

“Good mor—afternoon, May. I have someone very special coming over tonight and I want her to meet you,” Peter said.

“Your girlfriend?” May said with an excited tone.

“Yes! My girlfriend,” Peter said proudly. May smiled.

“When did this happen, honey? I'm so happy for you,” May said. Peter smiled, knowing that he told her the day he and Meg had kissed that he had found the girl of his dreams.

“A few weeks ago,” he told her. It had actually been 8 months and 23 days, but Peter didn't want to make his aunt feel bad.

“Well, I'm excited to meet her. What's her name?” May asked.

“Meg,” Peter said with a smile. May smiled and nodded. “Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat.”

Peter worked furiously in the kitchen and prepared the fanciest meal he could come up with that he'd know both Meg and May would like. He heard a knock at the door and his head whipped to look at the clock. Shit, it's 6. Meg, you perfect angel, he thought about her punctuality. He quickly wiped his hands and smoothed his hair before opening the door to see Meg stood there in a black and flower-print dress holding a dish.

“Hey,” Peter said and looked her up and down. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you. You look like you've been cooking,” Meg said. “I brought a little something. They're just cookies for your aunt to enjoy. And you, of course, but mostly her.”

Peter beamed and stepped aside for her to walk in. He took the plate and let Meg take her shoes off and set her purse down while he went to get May. He was nervous about them meeting, but he knew that Meg was wonderful and May wanted the best for Peter.

“May? Meg's here, you want to come meet her?” Peter asked her.

“Who's Meg, dear?” May asked. Peter's heart sank.

“My girlfriend, May,” Peter said.

“Oh yes, I'd love to meet her! Please tell me you've invited her to stay for dinner. I'll make spaghetti!” May said.

“Yeah, she's staying for dinner! But I actually cooked it, so you don't have to lift a finger,” Peter told her and put a hand on her back as they walked out to see Meg, still standing in the foyer.

“Oh, well, I'd better get to work fixing your mess, Peter Parker,” May said, then stopped a few feet from Meg. “Oh, hello, dear.”

“May, this is Meg, my girlfriend, and Meg.. this is my Aunt May,” Peter introduced.

Meg smiled brightly and stuck out her hand for May to shake. “It's so nice to meet you, Mrs. Parker. Peter's told me so much about you.”

“Oh, well welcome in. I hope good things,” May said and shook Meg's hand delicately.

“Of course!” Meg replied.

“How did you two meet?” May asked. A question Peter was in no way prepared for, and his face dropped.

Meg answered, on the other hand, without missing a beat, “Peter brought in an injured dog to my hospital and helped us find the owner.”

May turned to Peter with an impressed face. “Did you really, Peter? Oh, that's wonderful.”

“Yeah, Meg's an excellent veterinarian,” Peter said with a smile. Meg winked at him and he mouthed 'good one.'

The three of them sat down at the table and Peter served them both.

“This looks delicious, Peter! What is it?” May asked.

“It is a salmon fillet with pesto, there's scalloped potatoes and roasted garlic asparagus,” Peter said confidently, then looked at Meg.

Meg gave him an impressed look and nodded her head. “It's looks amazing, Peter. Thank you so much.”

Peter sat at his place next to Meg and smiled as they all started to eat. During dinner, May often couldn't keep track of the conversation, but Meg was fine with repeating herself, so it seemed. She told May at least twice what her work was and Peter told her the story of how they met three more times. The conversation steered into talking about Peter's work as an engineer and developer for Oscorp, which Peter was happy to talk about.

“Yeah, we're in the process of developing synthetic insulin, that way it'll be more readily available,” Peter said.

“That's incredible, Peter. Gwen, honey, could you pass me the salt, please?” May said. Peter's body went rigid and his face dropped. He looked at Meg, who stood up and passed the salt shaker to May.

“You're always such a delight, thank you, Gwen,” May said to Meg. Meg looked very confused, but didn't correct May. Peter spent the rest of dinner uncomfortable.

“So, who's Gwen?” Meg asked Peter after dinner when they were alone. Peter nodded and cast his head down.

“I think it's better that I show you,” he said. Meg looked at him quizzically and they got their jackets on. Early spring in New York still meant frigid nights. Luckily it was a short walk from the apartment to Gwen's grave.

“She and I met in high school. She was going to go to Oxford, and I was going to move with her. But Harry, he... He took her into the clocktower and I couldn't catch her fast enough when she fell,” Peter said. He looked at the words on the headstone that he had seen a thousand times.

“You love her,” Meg said. It wasn't a question. Peter looked at her with a monotone expression. He hadn't visited the grave in so long he had almost forgotten what it was like to stand here. The anger, pain and anguish he felt for those six months after she died came rushing back. Duller, but back. He watched as Meg cleaned a few weeds and some leaves off of Gwen's headstone. He thought the gesture was incredibly selfless and his heart swelled knowing that she respected his past love just as much as he did. He didn't expect anything less from her, though.

“This is what happens to people who are close to me... She knew, too,” Peter said and his vision blurred. The painful sting of tears in his eyes returned after so long and he looked at Meg, who was watching him with empathy in her expression. “Meg, I'm sorry I dragged you into this... I never should have. I was selfish... I needed you, but forgot about the cost. Meg, I can't be with you like this.”

“Peter, don't push me away,” Meg said and stepped closer to him. “I'm here and I'm staying.”

Peter shook his head and looked away from her while wiping his tears away. “You're worth more than what I can give you and what I might do to you.”

“You're thinking in hypotheticals. I'm so sorry about what happened to Gwen, it wasn't fair to you or to her, but it happened. I knew that being associated with you had a price to pay, and I was and still am willing to pay it,” Meg said with her own tears forming.

Peter looked her in the eyes and shook his head with a wry smile. He was reminded of a similar conversation that he and Gwen had many years ago. “I... I'm a hazard.”

“Can I ask you something?” Meg said tearfully.

“Always,” Peter said.

“Will I ever be enough for you? Will I ever measure up?” Meg asked with a break in her voice. Peter's eyes went wide when he realized how his actions were being perceived. He removed his hands from his pockets and gripped her face gently.

“Don't get it twisted. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I love YOU. Which is why it's not fair of me to be selfish like this. I can't let you end up here,” Peter explained.

“You love me?” Meg asked in a tone just above a whisper.

“God, I love you,” Peter admitted and wiped her tear away with his thumb.

“Then... love me. And don't shut me out...” Meg said. “I love you. Don't torture me by making me stay away from you.”

Peter held her face and pressed his lips against hers gently, understanding, finally, that the best way for him to protect her was to be with her. He learned too late with Gwen, but his future would be brighter with Meg.

“I'll walk you home,” Peter said and held her hand. They walked in silence for the most part, and when they arrived at Meg's door, Peter found it hard to say goodbye.

“Come inside?” Meg suggested. Peter smiled and nodded. After a brief encounter of hellos to Artie, Peter's attention was back on Meg, whose expression was hard for Peter to read.

“Are you okay?” he asked her and let his hand stroke her cheek.

“I just.. I don't know why you didn't tell me about Gwen earlier,” Meg said and put her shoes on the rack. Peter's brows knitted together.

“I guess... I guess I didn't want you to feel the way that you did tonight at all, ever,” Peter said. Meg nodded.

“I need you to know that I DO love you. Gwen will always be a part of me, but you... you make me complete,” Peter told her with his hand in hers. His other hand reached up and lifted her chin so that she would look at him. He gently slid his fingers along her jaw and held her cheek in his hands. His gaze became more concentrated on her lips and he felt himself longing for more of her touch. He leaned in and let his lips collide with hers gently at first, but as he kissed her he grew hungrier for her. Of course they had had sex many times before now, but this was different. His ache for her was deeper than it had been. The craving he felt for her was more than just affection, it was deep and pure devotion to her. She accepted his kiss with matching ferocity, which urged Peter to back her against the door to her bedroom. He pinned her there and his kiss became desperate.

“Peter,” Meg breathed out when his lips moved to her neck. The sound egged him on and he managed to twist the knob and pull her into the room. His hands were all over her in an instant, making quick work of undressing her. With every sweet moan she gave, Peter went deeper. His tongue explored her chest and neck, then his lips ended at her earlobe.

“I love you, my darling,” he said to her lowly. Her hands roamed over his naked chest and pulled his form against her. He loved how much she responded to every touch, word of praise, and motion he gave her. He sheathed himself within her and felt a sense of fulfillment. Their connection was one that couldn't be broken, and he felt it in his soul. He leaned over her and kissed her lips gently as he began to move in and out of her.

Peter was lost in her and he wouldn't have it any other way. The feeling of her beneath him and loving his touch satisfied the craving he had for her and made his heart leap from his chest into hers. She could have anything from him—his heart, his soul, his very existence, she could have it. His love for her knew no bounds and he would do his damnedest to nourish it.

“I love you is not enough, no... My love, I'm devoted body and soul to you and only you,” he spoke to her in her ear as their thrusts met.

“Peter, you have me... in my entirety,” she whimpered out. Peter smiled and kissed her deeply as they both rode out their climaxes. Their bodies were in perfect sync and Peter felt nothing but euphoria. The only thing he'll ever need is to know that Meg is his to protect and love forever.

~*~

Peter was cleaning the apartment when he found a mysterious envelope. There was no label, but the logo in the corner for the return address was Oscorp. Peter didn't remember bringing anything like that home.

“May, what's this?” Peter asked with one hand holding the broom and the other holding up the envelope. It didn't feel too heavy, but there was something inside of it.

May looked up from her seat in the chair across from him. “Well... I'm not sure.”

“That's okay, May, we can figure it out,” Meg said when she walked over from the kitchen. Meg had practically moved in at this point. May's condition was worsening and Meg offered to help around the apartment as long as Artie could come. So for many nights a week, Peter got to sleep next to his beloved.

Peter handed her the envelope and her brows knitted together as she looked at it. When she opened the envelope, she pulled out a small piece of paper, then showed it to him

“I think you should see this,” Meg told him, then gently handed him the note.

Peter's eyes went from confused to shocked as he read the two words written on the paper in a hand that he didn't think he'd ever see again, “Hello, Peter.”

“Oh! One of your friends came over today and dropped that off! Nice young man,” May said.

“Peter..?” Meg asked and stepped forward cautiously.

“Is there anything else?” he asked in a hushed tone. Meg looked in the envelope and shook her head. Peter nodded.

“Did he say anything when he gave this to you?” Peter asked May.

“Who?” May responded.

“The guy who gave you this, did he say anything?” Peter demanded while turning his body towards her and stepping closer.

May looked taken aback and confused. Meg put a hand on Peter's shoulder and shook her head. “Peter, she doesn't remember. And that's okay.”

Peter turned to Meg as panic filled his system. “No, Meg, it is NOT okay. This is Harry's handwriting. I thought he died when he fell off his hovercraft, but he's alive and he knows where I live...”

Meg nodded and put her hands on his face. “We'll figure it out, okay?”

Peter thought for a moment. How did Harry survive that fall? The last Peter remembers is Harry desperately trying to destroy the city with a bomb, but it ricocheted back towards them both, and as Harry tried to fly away, debris knocked him off his flight. Peter managed to get away and thought that Harry was as good as dead, but he guessed not. A thought emerged in Peter's head: if Harry was alive, maybe there was a way to save him. He remembered Peter Two talking about an anti-serum for his Goblin issue and wondered if he was able to do the same thing for Harry. Peter thought about all of the experiments and prototypes Oscorp held and wondered if one of them Harry had used to become how he was now.

“How do you feel about stealing from your job to help Spider-Man?” Peter asked Meg with a smirk once May had gone to bed.

“What's going on in that brain of yours, bug boy?” Meg asked.

“If Harry's alive, that means there's a chance for me to help him,” Peter began. “If I can get ahold of the  drug that made him a monster, then I can use it to reverse the effects. Make an antidote. But I'm going to need to use some supplies found commonly in vet hospitals.” Peter smiled with all of his teeth.

Meg shook her head. “You're going to get me fired, but fine. What do you need?”

Several days passed, and there was no sign of Harry. Peter snuck around his workplace and managed to find where dead but preserved projects were. Peter felt sick to his stomach seeing all of the abandoned experiments and gadgets that fell out of a madman's mind. Norman Osborn wasn't the nicest person on the planet and had a desperate need to live forever. He failed, of course, but the things he cooked up were disturbing. Peter managed to steal a vial of green fluid that he had a strong suspicion was what turned Harry into the monster he is. Mostly because Peter could see that last retinal used to enter the vault was Harry's. Peter knew that the spider powers only worked for him because his father laced the spider DNA with his own, and he wondered if Norman had done the same. Peter quickly left the storage area and headed back to the apartment.

“Did you get it?” Meg asked him when he arrived back home. Peter nodded.

“Yeah. Did you manage to get the things I asked for?”

Meg nodded. She pulled out of her bag a handful of sterile syringes and a bag of saline. Peter smiled widely and squeezed her hand. “Thank you, baby.”

Meg blushed and nodded. “You're really going to save him?”

Peter nodded and walked over to her. “I'm certainly going to try. You're staying tonight?”

Meg smiled as Peter put his hands around her waist and pulled her close. “Well, how could I say no to that face?”

Peter grinned and leaned down to kiss her. Even after well over a hundred kisses shared between them and nearly two years of dating, he loved to kiss her. She was his rock. He smiled into their kiss and pulled her even closer to him. With their chests pressed together, Peter ran his hands up her back and rested them on the back of her head to deepen their kiss. Her lips were slightly chapped, but moved with his in an elegant dance that they'd shared a thousand times. When Meg needed to breathe, she pulled away, but left her lips hovering against his.

“I love you,” he whispered to her, resting his head against hers.

Meg giggled softly, then pecked his lips. “I love you. Let's get to bed.”

Peter followed her to their shared bedroom with Artie in tow, and the two of them snuggled against each other under the covers. Peter held her in his arms and inhaled the scent of her shampoo at the base of her neck. He instantly relaxed, knowing that she was there. He always slept better next to her. Within moments, Peter was fast asleep.

“What the fuck was that?” Meg yelped, startling Peter awake. Instinctively, he pulled her close to him and looked around for the source of her fright. Peter heard a loud crashing sound and felt the floor begin to shake. It was subtle, but enough for Peter to sense it: the building was moving.

“We have to get out,” Peter said. “I'll get May and meet you at your place.”

Before Meg could respond, an explosion sounded and the room shook. Peter sprang out of bed and threw on his spider-suit and web shooters. Meg grabbed their bags and put Artie on a leash.

“Peter, be careful,” Meg said and held his gloved hand. “Promise me you'll make it back.”

Peter's mask was half on his face at this point, but he nodded and kissed her lips roughly. “Go with Artie, I'm right behind you with May.” Meg nodded and ran with the dog out of the apartment. Peter rushed into May's bedroom to find that she was still asleep. The building shook again.

“Come on, May, we've got to go,” Peter said and shook her awake. He grabbed her jacket and some shoes and she was slow to rise.

“What? What's going on? Where am I?” May asked.

“It's okay, I'm going to get you out of here. But we have to go now,” Peter explained and helped her stand.

“I don't understand,” May said weakly. “I need to find Peter, he'll know what to do.”

Peter let out a short breath. “It's me, May. I'm Peter. I'm right here. We have to go right now!”

Another explosion, and Peter could feel and see that the apartment was starting to fall rapidly.

“Hang onto me as tight as you can, okay? Do NOT let go!” Peter instructed. Luckily, May gripped onto him and Peter swung out of the window. He connected with the building next to theirs and saw that there had been little to no damage done to it, which told Peter that this was a targeted attack on his building.

“What's going on?!” May screamed and Peter's heart clenched. He just had to put her in a safe spot on the ground, then he could help the rest of the residents.

A cackle erupted from the sky near Peter and in an instant, May was snatched from his arms. His head whipped around to reveal that Harry had taken her mid-air. Peter landed on the fire escape platform and faced Harry, who was floating on his hoverboard with May precariously dangling from his grasp.

“Harry, no! Bring her here or at least set her down so we can talk about this,” Peter said with his arms stretched out. His heart began to pound. May looked scared and confused.

“What is there to talk about, huh? You made me this way and you nearly killed me! Like I've said before, you're a fraud, Spider-Man. You'll always be one,” Harry seethed.

“Why are you attacking innocent people, Harry? She's got nothing to do with this! Just give her back,” Peter said.

“You want her back so bad, Spider-Man?” Harry mocked. His faced turned up in a grimace and Peter tensed at his look. “Catch her.”

“No!” Peter yelled as Harry dropped May. Peter's vision blurred and he reached his hand out to catch the falling body. He heard Harry's laugh in the distance getting farther and farther away, and a loud gasp coming from the crowd that had surfaced as fire, police, and residents surrounded the now crumbled building. Peter caught May's hand and pulled her close to him, then quickly shot a web towards the opposite building to break the fall. Peter managed, somehow, to land on his feet. May wasn't moving in his arms, though.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked her as he looked at her face. His heart dropped when he saw that her eyes were closed and her face was expressionless—a look he'd seen before. He supported her head in his arms as he gently laid her down on the asphalt.

“No, no, no, I caught you, you're okay...” Peter whispered. “Come on, May...”

Peter couldn't breathe. He watched as the first-responders tried to resuscitate her, but they were unsuccessful. All noise left his ears and he thought maybe he was having a tingle-thing, but this was different. The feeling in his stomach and chest was one of sinking and despair. Peter stood off to the side as he felt like his world was crumbling alongside the building. He could barely function, all he could do was watch the burly men press on her chest over and over. It was a sight that he desperately wanted to tear his eyes from, but couldn't manage to move.

“May?!” he heard Meg's voice say from the edge of the crowd.

“You know this woman, miss?” a firefighter asked her as she stepped through the crowd and ran to get to her.

Meg's eyes filled with tears and she nodded. “Yes... She's my boyfriend's aunt...”

“I'm so sorry,” was all the firefighter said. Meg's hands covered her mouth and tears streamed down her face. “Wh-what about the guy who lived with her? Peter? Peter Parker, where is he? Is he okay?”

The firefighter looked to Peter, who was leaning against the wall opposite the scene. “Spider-Man might know. He caught the poor woman.”

Meg let out a sigh and Peter wanted to do nothing more than run and held her close, but he couldn't with everyone around. She motioned for him to get out of here subtly and Peter took her up on that offer. He swung out of there, leaving Meg to deal with May. He felt horribly guilty for it, but had no other way of dealing with the situation given his identity crisis.

He landed on the roof of Meg's building and looked up at the sky. His heart ached and he sat there for what felt like years, sobbing. Eventually, he took his mask off and cried out into the New York air. He wasn't sure if anyone could hear his anguished cries, but he wasn't too concerned.

“Peter..?” he heard Meg's soft voice call from behind him after a while. He turned and saw her stood there with bloodshot eyes and tear streaks down her face. It broke his heart even more to see her so upset, but he could relate to her expression and was sure he wore the same one. He stood up and ran to her, then brought her into his arms with a powerful hug. As he held her, he could feel her sobs begin to shake his chest, and he mirrored her emoting. The pair held each other and sunk to their knees. After several beats, Peter pulled away from Meg to wipe his eyes and his face. With the initial shock wearing off, Peter felt himself fill with rage. Pure, unbridled rage.

“I wan to kill him,” Peter spoke lowly. “I want him dead, and I want to be the one to do it.”

After a pause, Meg put her soft and delicate hand on his cheek. He leaned into her touch and heard her speak with his eyes still cast down at the concrete roof, “I know. But that's not you.”

Peter thought about Peter One for a moment. He saw the look that he wore after his own Aunt May had been killed, and if Peter Two hadn't stopped him, the antiserum wouldn't have needed to be used. Peter looked at Meg through his eyelashes with his head still cast down and spoke, “It could be.”

Meg nodded softly and rubbed her thumb against Peter's cheek. “I know, but it's not.”

Peter nodded, grateful that she was here to keep him grounded. He wrapped his arms around her once more and held her for a moment. She was all he had, and he'd be damned if he let her slip away. She was precious to him, a treasure that he held in his heart worth more than himself a million times over. He came to the realization that it wasn't the spider that bit him that made him strong anymore, it was his love for Meg.

~*~

Working in a pseudo-lab with Peter was fun. Meg hadn't done any sort of chemistry since pre-vet schooling, so it was a little nostalgic to be back in a lab of sorts. Obviously her kitchen wasn't the most sophisticated, but they made it work.

“Okay, Dr. James, prepare the specimen!” Peter joked. Meg rolled her eyes and laughed at his antics. His goggles were on his forehead, which shoved his slightly longer hair back in a way that reminded Meg of a hedgehog. His hair was one of his best features, and it made Meg giggle to see it positioned this way.

“My forte is not chemistry, so you're going to have to guide me through it, or just do it yourself,” Meg explained as she handed him the vial of green fluid he had taken a few months ago. They had tested the fluid on many different tissue samples (provided by Meg's surgical patients) and learned a lot about the formula, and Meg knew Peter was hopeful for an antidote soon.

He took it with a grin and nodded. “Of course, my dear.”

Meg watched as Peter worked. She had never seen him so concentrated and she wasn't sure of what he was doing, but after various puffs of smoke and drips, he turned around to face her with a serious expression.

“What is it?” Meg asked and walked over to him.

“I think... I think I did it,” Peter said. Meg's eyes widened and she smiled.

“Here, I saved the infected tissue from last time, you want to try?” Meg suggested. Peter nodded and pulled a small amount of the new, slightly lighter green concoction into a syringe. Meg placed the greenish and scaled sample onto a plate, then Peter injected it into the tissue. Almost immediately, the tissue returned back to it's normal color.

Meg gasped and looked at Peter with an excited smile. Peter looked at her with a similar expression.

“It worked!” He exclaimed and threw his hands in the air.

“You did it!” Meg congratulated. Peter put his hands on either side of her face and leaned in.

“I couldn't have done it without you, my little scientist,” Peter gushed and let his lips meet hers. Meg smiled into the kiss and let him wrap his arms around her. She held him in her arms and gently gripped his shirt beneath his lab coat around his shoulder blades. Meg felt him grow in his pants and she smiled to herself.

“Mm, that's dangerous, love...” Peter said with a slightly dark and suggestive tone. Meg smirked and shrugged coyly.

“That's why we wear PPE, Mr. Parker,” she said. Peter hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her body up to his so that their lips were ghosting together.

“I think I'd like that PPE better on the floor, darling,” Peter said with one nostril scrunched upward and a small smile.

“Maybe you should do something about it,” Meg said suggestively. In an instant, Peter was carrying her to the bedroom and the PPE did, in fact, end up on the floor.

Several hours into the night, Meg was awoken by a tapping at the window. So used to Peter coming in at all hours, she got up and opened the window to let him in, not even opening her eyes.

“Wow, for being a doctor, you're a real fucking moron,” she heard an unfamiliar voice say. Before Meg could say anything or reach for a tool to defend herself with, she felt a sharp pain in her arm and the world went black.

~*~

Peter swung back to the apartment in a good mood. He had stopped four robberies tonight and even managed to get a lost dog returned to its owner. It was rare that he felt this way, but tonight he really was the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. That feeling soon faded when he approached his and Meg's apartment and the window was wide open. Panic filled him as he swung in.

“Meg?!” Peter called. He searched everywhere for her, but there was no trace of her anywhere. He looked at Artie, who looked worried. “Don't worry, I'm gonna find her.”

He looked for clues as to where she might be. Her wallet and keys were still there, and all of her shoes were on the rack and hadn't budged. He looked in the kitchen and found the vial of antiserum and potent Oscorp chemical vial gone. Peter ran out of the apartment and headed toward the only place he could think of: Oscorp headquarters. He swung through the streets and made his way to the long-closed building and looked for any sign of entry. Amazingly, he found a broken window on the fourth floor that led directly to the storage center. His heart was pounding in his ears and he wasn't sure he'd ever swung this quickly before. He ran down the dark hall looking for any sign of where Meg might be. He knew that Harry was behind this, there wasn't any question. What he didn't understand was why he took Meg.

Peter rushed down the hall until he could hear a soft whimpering he recognized to belong to Meg.

“What were you doing with my property?! This is only going to get worse for you,” Peter heard Harry's voice roar. The air filled with silence as Meg refused, or couldn't, answer. Peter feared the latter of the options. He slowed his walking and crept around the corner to find that Meg was tied to a chair and Harry was standing over her. She looked like she had been drugged—disoriented and barely conscious. Her face sported a few cuts and bruises in conjunction with sweat and dirt. Peter quickly tried to think of a plan to get her to safety. Before he could, though, Harry's fist collided with Meg's face and Peter saw red.

Peter rushed Harry and tackled him to the ground, then started wailing on Harry's disfigured face with his fists. Peter let out all of the anger he felt for May's death and now Meg's kidnapping into the punches, but Harry managed to wriggle out of Peter's grasp and attacks. Peter's rage fueled him to stand up and sharpen his vision to lock onto Harry.

“THERE you are, Peter! About time you showed up,” Harry jeered. He hopped onto his jet-powered glider and floated around the large room. “I almost couldn't believe that you had stolen from me, but then I remembered your audacity and selfishness knows no bounds.”

“You're the one out here killing people. You wanna know why I took it? Because I was trying to help you, Harry,” Peter tried to explain through gritted teeth. He glanced over at Meg to make sure she was still alive. The gentle rise and fall of her chest told Peter that she was alive, but he had no idea what she had been given.

Harry scoffed. “HELP me?! I wanted your help long ago, but you refused! Remember? And then you couldn't even save your little girlfriend, so what's the point in asking for your help?! No, I'm stronger now. I don't need your help, I need you OUT OF MY WAY!”

Harry roared and charged Peter on his glider. Peter quickly dodged and their fight continued. Peter was doing his best not to let his anger get the better of him like it had a few moments ago, and pulled most of his punches. Peter Two's voice echoed in his head, “It's what we do” in reference to curing people rather than killing. When Peter managed to kick off from Harry's board and toward Meg to help her escape, Harry cut him off and gripped Meg by the hair. Peter stopped in his tracks to try and negotiate with Harry, but Harry was the one to start the conversation.

“I want to share the benefits of my acquired strength. That would be nice, don't you agree?” Harry taunted and held a syringe gun to Meg's neck. Peter's eyes widened and he watched Meg's chest rise and fall heavily as her eyes lazily looked to where Harry was pointing. He knew what the serum Harry took was specifically for his DNA and would work to destroy Meg's body if she was injected with it. Meg looked terrified and closed her eyes tightly. Peter knew she was putting on a brave face. He could tell that she wanted to cry out, but she wouldn't. His heart clenched in fear for her and he had to move and act quickly.

“Harry, don't, you have no idea what that's capable of,” Peter warned. Harry's smile turned devious and evil.

“I think I do,” Harry said and Peter knew his true intentions. Harry was beyond saving, Peter realized, which made his hope for his old friend fall. Harry wanted to hurt people, and he wanted to kill Meg. Harry injected the serum into Meg's neck with a swift motion and Peter thought he heard the worst sound in existence: Meg screaming in agony. Peter shot a web at the corner of Harry's glider and flung it across the room with Harry still attached. Peter couldn't worry about what happened to the man he once called a friend, he just needed to get to Meg. She was starting to convulse and he knew he didn't have much time. He spotted the antidote next to the other vials on a table and quickly prepped it to inject into her.

“I'm so sorry sweetheart, this is going to sting,” Peter told her as he jabbed and injected Meg's neck right next to where Harry had injected her. Peter heard a loud gasp and looked over to see that Harry was impaled on the wall by his glider's sharp ends. For a moment, Peter was sad, but he was more concerned about Meg's safety. Peter undid her restraints and her body went limp in his arms. He began to panic and took his mask off, feeling suffocated. He held her waist and head in his arms as he looked at her face. She looked pale and Peter noticed a small amount of blood dripping from her mouth.

“Meg.. Meg, baby, can you hear me? Please, don't do this to me. Meg, my love, I can't let you go... Baby, please wake up, I need you... My light, my love, I can't be strong without you, please open your eyes,” Peter pleaded. “I love you so much, MJ, please.”

Peter's eyes flooded with tears and they streamed down his face as he held her against him in desperation. If Peter were a religious man, he would be praying. He wasn't a religious man, but he hoped that through some force of nature he was able to get her the antidote in time and she would be okay. Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open and Peter let out a long and anguished breath. She looked up at him and smiled faintly.

“Peter..?” she said with a weak voice.

“I've got you. I'm here, you're safe,” he soothed and helped her sit upright. “Are you okay? You're bleeding.”

“I think I'm okay...” Meg said slowly.

“Are you in any pain?” Peter asked, refusing to have his hands leave her.

“Loads,” Meg said and Peter's face crumpled.

“Come on, let's get you to the hospital,” he said and looped his arms under her bridal style to carry her out of the building.

“Is Harry okay?” Meg asked. Peter shook his head.

“Meg, he tried to kill you,” he said. “Don't worry about if he's okay or not.”

“I know... but I know he was your friend,” Meg said. Peter's heart clenched and he nodded as he carried her towards the stairs.

“He was... but my friend died a long time ago,” Peter told her.

“If we're going to the hospital, you'll need to put your mask back on, bug boy,” Meg informed him. Peter smiled and let her softly put his mask back on his face as he carried her out of the building. He was met with paramedics and police.

“She's hurt, Goblin had her hostage in there,” Peter told the ambulance personnel that rushed to his side.

He stepped aside and let the authorities take over and he swung back to their apartment to change. As he was switching clothes from his Spider suit to his t-shirt and jeans, he thought about a conversation he and Peter Two had. Peter Two told him that it took a while, but he and his MJ made it work. He wondered if Peter Two had nights like this, where he was saving his love from danger and he worried that he would lose Meg... Peter Two hadn't lost his MJ, and Peter was going to make damn sure he didn't lose Meg.

When they finally arrived back home after a long night in the ER, Peter was relieved beyond thought to have her back home and in his care. He helped her into the apartment and took his jacket off of her shoulders that he had lent her.

“Wanna go to bed?” he asked her. She shook her head.

“I feel disgusting... I need a shower,” she said. “Will you help me? I don;t know that I'll be able to stand the whole time.”

Peter smiled and nodded. He helped her to the shower and helped her undress, and undressed himself. Meg ran a soft hand over his chest and he watched her face wrinkle in concern at every cut and bruise his body was littered with. Peter held her face as they let the water spill over them.

“I'm okay,” he whispered to her. “And I'll ALWAYS be here for you.”

“I know,” she replied softly. “I just wish that you wouldn't get hurt in the process.”

“I don't mind getting hurt. As long as my favorite doctor is there to patch me back up,” Peter joked. Meg smiled and leaned against him. Peter's face softened and he began to clean her. He thought about the box he kept in his underwear drawer that had been there for a few weeks. He wanted to give it to her to tell he that he would always be there, but she just looked so tired, he wanted her to rest. After their shower, he helped her to bed and tucked her into his arms.

“I love you,” she sighed as she closed her eyes.

“I love you,” he echoed.

~*~

“What are you doing here, Peter?” Meg asked the man standing in the lobby of the hospital. His face was beaming and he shrugged.

“Just came to see you. And pick you up. I want to take you somewhere,” Peter told her. Meg raised a brow.

“Alright, I'm just finishing up my notes, I'll be out in a few minutes,” she told him. She quickly finished her day and headed back out to the lobby where he was smiling and waiting for her.

“So, where are we going?” she asked as they exited the building. Peter smiled down at her and Meg felt her heart do flips. His doofy smile lit up her world, she had to admit.

“It's a surprise. Hang onto me,” Peter said. Meg's eyes widened and she gripped onto him in the same way she had done for a few years at this point. Peter hadn't ever swung her around the city at Peter Parker, though. He had only swung with her as Spider-Man. He swung toward the tallest building in the city, the Empire State building, and Meg buried her face in his chest as he propelled them toward the very top. Once the wind and motion stopped, Peter's arm slid down hers and his hand held hers gently.

“Open your eyes,” he told her softly. She slowly opened her eyes and saw New York below her. The sight was breathtaking. She could see the entire skyline around her illuminated by the golden setting sun.

“This is... Wow,” Meg said with a gasp. Peter squeezed her hand gently and she looked up at him with a smile. “Thank you, Peter, this is absolutely stunning...”

“I wanted to show you this as Peter Parker, even though Spider-Man was able to find it... And I, um... I wanted to ask you something,” Peter said and Meg noticed he began to fidget. Before she could draw conclusions or guess about what he was going to say next, a small denim-colored box emerged from his pocket and Peter sunk to one knee as he opened it to reveal a silver ring with a diamond in the middle.

“Peter...” Meg breathed out. Peter looked up at her with glassy eyes and a sincere smile.

“Meg... I... I love you, so much. You're the most important person to me in the entire world. I almost lost you once, and I can't risk that again. Will you marry me?”

Meg felt like the world stopped and her hand flew to her chest and she smiled widely. Her breathing became more rough and heavy as she covered her mouth and nose with her hands. She felt her hands shake and she was so shocked that she could barely speak. She nodded her head and spoke, “Yes.”

“Yeah?!” Peter let out with a small sob and stood up to embrace her.

“Yeah,” Meg agreed and held his face in her hands. His lips collided with hers and they kisses fiercely. His arms encased her completely and she felt happier than she ever had. When they pulled away from each other, Peter stumbled to pull the ring out of the box and place it on Meg's finger, but her hands were shaking badly, so Meg put it on herself. Peter smiled at her and kissed her hand that now had the ring, then her lips once more. Meg felt complete, and she had a feeling so did Peter.  

[writings-of-dumpy]

If all of my comfort characters were in the same room…

Cloud Strife: What the fuck

George Weasley: How the fuck

Axel: Who the fuck

Bucky Barnes: When the fuck

Thor Odinson: Why the fuck

Stiles Stilinski: Fuck is this

Harry Hook: The fuck

Peter Parker (TASM): I’m glad I have friends now

Eddie Munson: FUCK YOU, THE KING IS HERE

[writings-of-dumpy]

Guess who has another hyper fixation??? IT’S ME

And IT’S HIM 😍

[writings-of-dumpy]

Me: *watches/reads something that’s totally unjust to my Fave of the Week* No *goes online to find fan fiction and finds NONE because this is a pretty old thing at this point* NO. *searches harder*

Fine. I’ll just.. write it myself.

[writings-of-dumpy]

Alright, apparently we need to have a chat. I am a full-fledged adult at 27 years old. Yes, I am very much aware that minors attend Hogwarts and canonically George Weasley is under 18 or his age is ambiguous in some of my fics. HOWEVER, George Weasley is a character I grew up with and have looked up to for a very long time... AND IS ALSO FICTIONAL. That’s right, George Weasley is not real. Which means he can be anything. Any age, any race, anything. In my mind, George was only a child when I was a child. In every one of my fics, he’s an adult.

That being said, if a minor did stumble upon this page, I just want you to know that 1) you should not be here, my bio clearly says 18+, but I have little control over that and 2) if what I write makes you uncomfortable I will delete it. Harry Potter (among other things) was my comfort throughout my childhood and teenage years, I don’t want that ruined for you

[writings-of-dumpy]

In case y’all didn’t know what I do ^^^

To veterinary clients:

My day started like any other: I got to work, set up the surgical suite and anesthetic machines, and waited for pets to arrive. The first pet was a surgical patient here for his castration and was super friendly! That was, until we needed to draw his blood. It’s not uncommon, we can handle this, we’ll just go slower and let him know it’s okay. He never got the message and became completely aggressive and lunged and ran at one of my coworkers and the doctor. We decided to reassess with some sedative medications at a later date. Later that afternoon, another afraid dog came in and she felt like she needed to defend herself. She jumped up and bit my face. It was minor, but enough to break skin and enough for us to send her home with medication to make the visit less stressful next time. The next dog that came in had a splenic mass and the doctor had to explain to the owner about insurance and it’s purpose, dental care, and what the splenic mass could mean for his dog. He was combative and unwilling to be receptive to any treatment options. Also not an uncommon occurrence, he accused us of just wanting money. After that, the doctor and I were in the middle of a conversation with a client about her adorable but sick puppy and the doctor was explaining why we were wanting to run diagnostic tests. Suddenly, another animal came in critical condition with no pulse and not breathing, and my team and I performed 10 minutes of CPR with unsuccessful resuscitation. Once CPR was finished and the owners were saying their goodbyes in a private room, my doctor and I finished up with the previous client like the deceased dog in the next room was nothing. I did 10 minutes of chest compressions on a 75 pound husky and directed my team on how to properly attempt resuscitation (they had never done it before because we aren’t an overnight ER facility, but these owners were desperate and there was no way we’re turning an animal in need away) all while the owner of the puppy patiently waited until the team was available again. I’m still sore from the chest compressions and I have bruises on my knees from jumping onto the table to get the best angle to pump this dog’s heart. And tonight, over 24 hours after the incident, I finally sobbed and cried over this dog. When I went into the lobby after I heard an emergency was here and I saw that poor husky, I wanted to sob then. Every time I looked at the ECG and there was only a flat line, I wanted to sob. When the owners kissed their sweet furry friend goodbye, I wanted to sob. But I couldn’t. I’m the professional. I physically and emotionally exerted myself to save this animal’s life, but it wasn’t enough. And less than 12 hours later, I was back at work tending to new patients on a new day like I wasn’t totally sore and my heart wasn’t shattered. Next time you take your pet to the vet, please understand that we may have just lost a patient or have had an aggressive and scared animal feel the need to defend itself from us, and we can’t calm them the way human doctors can calm their patients. We can’t simply tell them what we’re doing and reason with them. And they’ve got powerful teeth and claws that can do serious damage to us. So please, think about what you say to your vet. We truly just want to help, it’s our goal. It’s not just a job. We put our whole lives into our work at sometimes great personal cost. -A Certified Veterinary Technician