ladykailitha

[ladykailitha]

yknow what fuck it

if y’all get this post to 10k until the end of my summer break i’m gonna go back to school with painted nails and maybe eyeliner if i can manage

(please don’t) (please do)

y’all have til the 1st of september, good luck

spamming allowed, if not encouraged

[ladykailitha]

Murder in the Heartland Part 15

Hey, guys! This story is really moving along now. And I promise all these background cases Eddie is doing is important to the plot later. And it advances the timeline to where Steve is giving the interview. So keep being patient with me, they'll meet up and get together. That is a promise.

In this we have the end of the Tommy Hagan case and Chad makes another cameo.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

~

Interviewer: All right, maybe he wasn’t flirting with Justiciar. But you can’t tell me he was flirting with other men.

Steve blinked at her for a moment like she was stupid: He flirts with the accused killer in “What Hides in the Woods”. Like pretty heavily. Joe and Quinn were pretty hot and heavy at one point. They only stopped before things got too far because Quinn knew they couldn’t be together. Joe was rover and Quinn was never going to go farther than Chicago.

The interviewer’s eyes went wide: Quinn? He was flirting with Quinn? But they couldn’t be the furthest from compatible you tried. Joe Lockwood is a suave confident man with a sense of style and taste. Quinn is a punk with a bright pink Mohawk and more tattoos and piercings than airport security would allow through.

Steve smirked: Oh yeah. Outwardly, Quinn and Joe are polar opposites. But at their core they have a lot in common.

~

The gentleman’s names was Scott Linklighter and was a financial consultant at a prestigious firm up in...drum roll... Indy! That’s right. The place he was telling Coraline his second job was.

This wasn’t just borrowing from Peter to pay Paul either. This was full on robbing Peter to pay Paul because you borrowed from Paul to pay Mary, mother of God.

Like this whole thing was fucked and if he hadn’t been the one pulling Scott off Tommy’s beat ass, he would have been laughing and telling Gareth to go make popcorn.

Tommy was ready to throw hands with Eddie too, until Coraline stepped out of the car with little Charlie. Then he fell to the ground, defeated. He curled up into a ball and began to sob uncontrollably.

Gareth and Scott shared a glance of startled disgust.

Eddie on the other hand felt nothing but pity for Tommy. He thought he had life all sewn up with Carol and then in a fit of pique went to strike her and she hit back harder. Then only for her to runaway and shack up with Nicole of all people.

Then his parents rush him into marrying Maddy to avoid scandal. But he could tell in the way Maddy talked about him, he wasn’t invested in the relationship. Which is why he freaked when she said she was pregnant. She wasn’t ever supposed to be pregnant. Now with a kid with the mistress and another on the way, he was about to have three kids all under the age of two. Then add to all this, Tommy going to bars and hooking up with gay men, probably just feel something.

Tommy never thought his life would completely unravel like this. He would most likely be disowned from his parents, fired from his job, and most likely in jail for bigamy.

“As thrilling as this all is,” Eddie said, clearing his throat, “but lets take this inside before someone gets the cops involved.”

Maddy opened her mouth to argue, but decided for the better of it and led them all into the house.

He had Gareth watch everyone while he slipped into the kitchen to call Chad. Yeah, he was only an estate lawyer, but he really could use his expertise in the law, full stop.

He walked back into the front room where Maddy and Coraline were on the love seat and Maddy was consoling Coraline. Scott was on the sofa next to Gareth, while Tommy was in the arm chair. He did not look much better than the sobbing mess out on the lawn but at least he stopped crying.

“All right,” Eddie said putting his hands on his hips. “I have a lawyer friend coming over to help sort out Tommy’s legal troubles. Because hooboy, are they many and in desperate need of an expert opinion.”

“You’re helping him?” Scott asked, scandalized waving a hand toward the sniveling form of Tommy Hagan. “What the fuck?”

Tommy raised his head and sniffled pathetically. “Wha’?”

“I’m trying to make sure his three children are provided for,” Eddie snapped back. “And unless you’re willing to pony up the child support, you can shut your pie hole!”

Scott’s jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

“That’s what I thought,” Eddie groused. “I don’t like the idea of sweeping this all under the rug either, but if all this comes to light, the bastard is looking at bigamy which is a fucking crime in this country.”

“I’ll pay anything,” Tommy sniffled, rubbing his nose and leaning forward in his knees. “My dad will too. I don’t know how many mistresses he’s paid off, all the while promising my mom it was the last one.”

Gareth raised an eyebrow. “Never took you for the kind to follow in your daddy’s play book.”

“I didn’t set out to,” Tommy said mournfully. “I thought it was going to be me and Carol for the rest of our lives, but then my temper got the better of me and I blew it all to hell.” He leaned back into the pillowy confines of the arm chair. “Fuck. I don’t even know where she is.”

Eddie snorted. “And for good reason. But let’s just say she shares your penchant for certain proclivities.

“Huh?”

“She’s a giant, freaking lesbian now, dude,” Gareth huffed, shaking his head. “Got a girlfriend now and everything.”

Tommy blinked at him for a moment and then nodded. “Makes sense I suppose. It would be fucking hilarious if Steve was gay too.” But the way he said it made it sound like meant it in ‘fuck my life’ kind of way and not a ‘funny ha ha’ kind of way.

He rubbed nose and then put his hands between his thighs. “Anyway, when my parents found out that Carol got the hell out of Dodge, they wanted to me to get married as soon as possible. They picked Maddy and just kinda threw her at me. I thought I was careful with her and made sure I used condoms every time we had sex.”

Maddy blinked at him for a moment. “Wait, were you doing a reverse condom swap? Instead of taking it off before putting it in, you were putting one on?” she asked her eyes wide with surprise.

Tommy nodded. “But the condom must have leaked or something, because you got pregnant.”

Gareth threw his hands up and cried, “Wait, wait, what about Coraline?”

Eddie looked at her and realized why there had been something about her appearance that had been bothering him all day.

“Don’t you think she looks like Carol?” he asked tilted his head to the side.

Coraline reared her head back. “His ex?”

Gareth’s eyes went wide. “You sly son of a bitch! The name, the similar looks. You were trying to recreate your life with Carol. You’re supposed happy ending. But it wasn’t perfect. She had her own interests and it would throw you off. So you went trolling for gay men to fill the hole in your life that YOU caused.”

He leapt to his feet ready to brawl, but Tommy just cowered further. Eddie stepped between them and placed a hand on Gareth’s chest and shook his head.

“He’s not worth it.”

Gareth peered around Eddie to look at Tommy again. Tommy was always on the short side, but now he seemed to draw himself in so tight that he seemed small and weak. Gareth nodded.

“Yeah,” he growled. “I see what you mean.”

Then there was a knock on the door and Eddie went to go answer it. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Chad and not another lover of Tommy’s.

Eddie led him to the front room where everyone was glaring at Tommy and Tommy looked like he was going to throw up.

Chad took in the situation and nodded. “Tommy I assume you have an office here, yes?”

Tommy nodded and then got up to lead Chad to it, figuring that whatever advice he gave it had to be in private to maintain client confidentiality.

“Right,” Gareth said with a huff and sitting back down. “Now that Chad is taking care of Tommy’s woes, let’s sort of the rest of this tangled web.”

Eddie nodded. “Let’s start with the easiest. No offense, Scott but you are not pregnant and married to Tommy.”

Scott snorted. “You’ve got that right. At least we weren’t living together, though there were talks in that direction, but Tommy was always reluctant. And now I know why.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said shaking his head. “You could ruin his life with a single word. Do you want to?”

Scott pressed his lips together and took in the whole scene before him. He saw the woman Tommy had used to replace his ex; pregnant with a babe less than a year old. He also saw the tough as nails first wife who had hired the agency the two men belonged to to find out the truth about her husband.

Jeff had called him looking for an Indy residence for Tommy as his name had been listed on a couple of papers in Tommy’s office here in this house. It had taken him a couple of days to put the two together and come barreling down her to find out if Tommy had been cheating on him.

Only to find out he was the affair partner. And not even the first. It galled. But...

“No,” Scott said, shaking his head. “I think all this blowing up in his face is punishment enough for me.”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah okay. Next up, ladies. You’re both pregnant with Tommy’s kid, Coraline already has one with the guy.”

Coraline looked like deer in the headlights, eyes wide and still as a statue. Maddy licked her lips slowly.

“If Tommy will agree to alimony for Coraline,” she said as after giving it much thought, “and Tommy gives me this house, she can stay here with me. Provided she uses the money on her kids, I will cover everything else. Room and board, food and even their education.”

“The house is yours, Maddy,” Tommy said from the door way. “I’ll have my dad transfer me up to Chicago permanently and I’ll pay alimony to Coraline.”

“I recommend a small amount to Scott as recompense for the trouble Tommy caused him,” Chad said, coming up behind Tommy. “This isn’t a bride more like a settlement for the distress he caused him.”

Scott nodded. “That would be fair.” He stood up and shook Chad’s hand. “I hope to be hearing from you soon.”

He stopped and looked at Tommy. “We could have been something great you know.”

“No we couldn’t have,” Tommy said mournfully. “It would have had me in it.”

“Be better to yourself then you have been to others,” Scott said and then wished everyone else farewell.

Then he was gone.

“If all parties are willing to do things amiable,” Chad said turning to the ladies. “Then I think everyone will come out of this misadventure with their dignity intact and no one will be the wiser of his misdeeds.”

“I’m still a little pissed Tommy seems to be getting off so light,” Gareth growled. “But to hurt him is to his kids and I’m not about that.”

“I think having his life blow up in his face all at once is punishment enough,” Coraline said, speaking up for the first time. “Yeah, what he did was wrong and hurt a lot of people, but it’s not like he’s getting off scotfree.” She snickered at her own joke and even Tommy smiled for the first time. “He’ll have to pay alimony. He’ll never be able to go to Indy or come back to Hawkins without a cloud hanging over his head. What more punishment would you want?”

Gareth rubbed his chin and then nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. His life is pretty fucked up right now.”

As they all piled out of Maddy’s house, Eddie stopped to talk with Chad.

“Hey, man,” he murmured. “Thanks for coming out for this. I know you didn’t have to.”

Chad cocked his head to the side. “I wanted to. Despite our differences, I really do like you.” He put his finger on his cheek as he considered. “As a friend.”

Eddie smiled. “I’ll take that. If you’re in Indy again, hit me up. We’ll go out to drinks.”

“Deal,” Chad said with a broad smile. “I’ll see you around.”

Eddie watched him go with a fond smile on his face.

As he piled into the van, Gareth already in the passenger seat, said, “You know, I know Jeff was up in your face about that guy, but I quite like him.”

Eddie snorted. “I do too. He’s really come a long way from the guy who thought we were going to rob him just for walking into our offices. He’s an asset to have for the agency and maybe even a friend.”

Gareth cocked his head to the side as they watched Tommy and Chad pull away from the house, Tommy’s belongings in the back seat.

“Yeah,” he said. “I can accept that. And if Jeff can’t, he can shove it up his ass.”

Eddie barked out a laugh. “Yeah, man. He can shove it up his ass.”

~

Tag List: THREE SLOTS REMAINING

1- @niniel-karenine @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 @gloomysoup @kultiras @maya-custodios-dionach @johannamry

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @bookbinderbitch

4- @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006 @yikes-a-bee

5- @awkwardgravity1 @oopsallgender @fearieshadow @stedestielfrattficlover @dragonmama76

6- @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman @counting-dollars-counting-stars

7- @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gutterflower77 @wheneverfeasible

8- @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss @steddieislife @bridget-malfoy-stilinski-hale

9- @stripey82 @kroymu09 @chaotic-waffle @tartarusknight @hattsy-likes-pretty-stuff

10- @themoonagainstmers @eternal-sunflowers

[ladykailitha]

This image was created with Picrew’s “little guy maker“!! https://picrew.me/share?cd=yM8qUyNf6k #Picrew #little_guy_maker

The last song I listened to was Granite by Sleep Token.

I was tagged by @estrellami-1 and I tag:

@dreamercec, @bookworm0690

. ✦ ݁ ˖ picrew and last song tag game

Thanks for the tag @jo-harrington !

High pressure tag: @fkinkindagauche @alwaysurvalentine

[ladykailitha]

Three Cheers for Toby the Tiger Part 7

Just one more chapter to go!! And I end this one on a cliffhanger! I'm grateful for all the love this one has been getting since it started. I've had such a blast with this old idea of mine.

In this we have Eddie and Steve becoming study buddies, Eddie imparting cursed knowledge on poor Steve and Steve and Jeff swapping recipes.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

~

Eddie was late to the library because his last period teacher droned on and on about chemical equations and had gone over the bell fifteen fucking minutes.

By the time he got there the only spots open were across from Steve Harrington. Abigail looked apologetic so he knew it wasn’t deliberate more that people were still giving Steve a wide berth.

Eddie slunk over to the table and kicked Steve’s chair. When he looked up he grinned and cocked his head to the side, “These seats taken?”

Steve turned a pretty shade of pink and shook his head. “My usual study buddies are out fucking in his car so...”

Abigail and Eddie shared a look of extreme shock. Then it clicked for Abigail.

“Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, right?” she asked. She leaned on the table then whispered. “How the hell are you still friends with your ex?”

Steve looked up and completely deadpan said, “Well they were the only ones who still wanted to talk to me after what went down with Hargrove, so my choices were the ex and the dude she cheated on me with or no one. So...” he just shrugged.

“Fuck, man,” Eddie grimaced. “I think I would rather be alone especially if the rumors are true that he took pictures of her changing or whatever.”

Steve coughed and ducked his head, choosing not answer that.

Eddie’s eyes went wide and leaned in like Abigail. “Are you shitting me? And she still went for Creepy?”

“Some girls are like that,” Abigail said shaking her head. “They think bad guys are so hot, that it over rides their brains.”

Steve snorted and rolled his eyes. “That’s probably the reason that half the female population of this school wants to drop their panties for Hargrove.”

Eddie and Abigail shared a smirk.

“That’s what we were talking about that made Eddie laugh so hard he threw off Hargrove’s shot in that pick up game early in the season,” Abigail said with a giggle.

“Yeah, Abby said that she wasn’t interested in being the next ex-Mrs. Hargrove,” Eddie said.

Steve burst out laughing, causing the librarian to tell him to be quiet. He nodded what he hoped was sincerely enough and then turned to Eddie to stick his tongue out at him. Eddie just batted his eyelashes innocently back.

“So what are you working on?” Eddie asked, leaning a little bit further so he could read Steve’s notes upside down.

Steve blushed. “I’m trying to get extra credit in English because DOL is bullshit man,” he huffed, running his fingers through his hair. “Like how the hell is it daily ‘oral’ language when it’s written on the board? And how is it thirty percent of my grade?”

“Thirty?” Abigail hissed. “You must have Mr. White for English. He is such a hard ass. Thankfully I was able to transfer out of his class because it was affecting my ability to be on the squad. I bet if you talked to your counselor they could get you transferred too.”

Steve looked up at her, hopeful. “You think that they would this late in the year? I’m just not good at this shit. Like I wouldn’t know participle from a predicate. And the only reason I know those words at all is because they’re from a song.”

Eddie grinned, flipping his hair over his shoulder. “I never would have pegged you for a musical nerd, sweetheart. What other depths have been hold out on me?”

Steve turned bright red and started writing again, ducking his head to avoid eye contact.

Eddie cackled. “All then, keep your secrets. I’ll find out soon enough.” He tapped his nose and then turned to Abigail. “All right, let’s get me through Mr. Mundy’s math class.”

Abigail nodded and pulled out her math book. “We’ll start with the ones with answers in the back so I can show how they got there...”

The way Steve was leaning forward when Abigail was showing Eddie how to do the problem, he was starting to think that maybe Big Boy here needed some help in that department too.

When Abigail pointed out something to make the equation easier to remember, Steve hurried to write it down.

She tilted her head to the side for a moment then she got up and moved the chair to the end of the table. “Scoot down, Ed. This way I can show both of you.”

Steve blushed and stammered excuses as Eddie pushed all his stuff over to the now vacant spot, chair included. Abigail raised an eyebrow and he folded like a house of cards.

They spent the next couple of hours with Abigail teaching them how to do the math. At the end of it, Steve sheepishly asked if she would tutor him too.

She grinned and refused to look at Eddie who was standing behind Steve trying to signal his desire for this not to happen.

“I would be happy to tutor you both,” she said brightly. “How about after practice? You’re basketball and our cheerleading?”

Steve grinned back. “I’d like that a lot.”

Steve became their study buddy, so Eddie was spending time with the guy whether he wanted to or not and that didn’t include basketball games and swim meets where like clockwork, Steve would be at the bus talking to him about something.

There would be times where Steve would be waiting at his locker after school, just wanting to chat. To talk to someone other than his ex and her new boyfriend. Hell even Jeff started talking to him while they waited for him.

It was creepy.

It was already bad enough that the cheer squad was planning their wedding, but for Hellfire to to start doing the same? That crossed a line. One that he never wanted to even have.

But as he watched Jeff and Steve talk animatedly about a chocolate chip cookie recipe of all things, he realized that maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was making it out to be.

Yeah, so what if all his friends liked Steve? Wasn’t that a good thing? Especially if Chrissy and Jeff were right and Steve had a crush on Eddie too.

He stomped up to his locker. “Oi! Part the seas, please! I need to get into my locker.”

Jeff and Steve both stepped back and allowed him to open his locker. Inside was a gym bag that he actually had to keep on hand, with being the school mascot and all.

“You ready for the final game of the football season?” Steve asked, leaning against the locker next to Eddie’s. “A bunch of us were planning on going.”

Eddie straightened up and cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t take you for a football fan there, Stevie.”

“Oh I’m not,” Steve scoffed and chuckled, shaking his head. “But I heard from Chrissy you two were debuting a new routine tonight and I wanted to catch that.”

Jeff snorted. “You just want to see the pretty girls in the short skirts.”

“Dude,” Steve said with a sharp laugh, “I play basketball, if I wanted to see the short skirts I show up at a game.”

Eddie grabbed the gym bag and riffled through it to make sure it was all there and when he was satisfied it was, he closed the locker.

“So why are you going then?” he asked, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

“I told you,” Steve said shaking his head. “I’m going to see you.”

“You said you want to see the routine, pretty boy,” Eddie said with a dimpled smirk. “For all I knew it could have been for anyone on the squad, Abigail, maybe?”

Steve turned bright pink and ducked his head. “No, no. I like watching you be Toby the Tiger. You make even the dullest game more fun.”

“Are you, Steve Harrington a furry?” Eddie asked wide-eyed. “I would have never guessed. Let me guess, Maid Marian from Disney’s Robin Hood was your awaking. It’s okay. She was literally a fox.”

Steve reared his head back. “What the fuck is a furry?”

Jeff slapped his hand over Eddie’s mouth. “It’s a D&D thing, don’t worry about it. He’s only teasing you. Right, Eddie?”

Eddie’s eyes were wide over Jeff’s hand and nodded, realizing he almost fucked things up with Steve, his gigantic crush notwithstanding. He genuinely liked Steve now and even if all the metal gods and Satan had decided that Steve was straighter than an arrow, he wouldn’t want to stop being friends with guy over something as cursed as furries.

Steve eyed him for a moment, trying to decide if he should believe them or not. “No worries. I knew Eddie was teasing me. Everyone knows he’s just a big flirt.”

Eddie removed Jeff’s hand to snort. “Pot meet kettle, dude.”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “How dare! I would never! I am a perfect gentleman!”

“You’ve been hanging out with Eddie too much, man,” Jeff said, rolling his eyes and pursing his lips. “You’re getting just as dramatic as he is.”

“Hey!” Eddie and Steve cried out together.

“I’ll have you know I was this much of a dork before I started hanging out with Mr. Loud as Possible, thank you very much!” Steve protested. “I just hid it better.”

“I’m not loud!” Eddie huffed, clutching his chest. “I’m as demure as a maiden, thank you very much!”

Jeff coughed into his hand, but it sounded like ‘bullshit!’

Eddie pushed him out of his way. “Some best friend you are.” He turned back to Steve. “Well, if you’re serious about coming, I expect to see you on the sidelines, right behind the players, pretty boy.” He tapped Steve’s chest and walked off.

Jeff looked over at Steve who was watching him go with star struck eyes. “For the record, I think you have horrible taste in men. But he is my best friend, so break his heart and I’ll break your knees.”

Steve straightened up and saluted him. “Roger that!” Then his expression became every serious. “I’m going to follow his lead for how open he wants to be, but if it was up to me, I would be shouting it from the rooftops that he chose me.”

Jeff eyed him up and down and then clapped his shoulder. “You’ll do. I mean you have almost the whole cheerleading squad rooting for you and the right half of the school after what you did for Lucas Sinclair. You’ll treat him right.” He paused and cocked his head to the side. “And I think he’ll do the same for you.”

As Jeff walked off, Steve furrowed his brow in confusion. He had no idea what that meant, but if the best friend gave the okay, he was absolutely going to woo the hell out Eddie Munson.

~

Eddie and Chrissy had been practicing that routine of just the two of them for weeks. It was either debut it tonight or never as they didn’t want to do it on the basketball court. At least the football field had grass that would make for a softer landing than hard, lacquered floors.

They waited until the halftime to get the best reaction from the crowd.

Things were going well, they had executed the routine flawlessly to the roaring crowd and then Chrissy’s foot slipped on his shoulder and instead of getting the height she needed to clear Toby’s head, her left foot clipped his ear.

She came down hard, right on his head, causing both of them to collapse to the ground. The last thing he heard was the screaming crowd and someone screaming his name.

~

Tag List: ONE SLOT REMAINING

1- @niniel-karenine @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 ​@tartarusknight @gloomysoup @kultiras @sadiea20

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

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @oopsallgender @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

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

@disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gutterflower77

8- @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss @steddieislife @bridget-malfoy-stilinski-hale

9- @wheneverfeasible @blackpanzy @the-fantastical-asexual @stedestielfrattficlover @stripey82

10- @themoonagainstmers @godsweakestboy @eternal-sunflowers @chaotic-waffle

[ladykailitha]

Shut Up and Drive Part 9

Hey guys, I don't think people are seeing this story or if they are they just don't like it or care. I tag 50 people (well close to it now as someone asked to be removed from the list) and this story should not barely getting 50 notes in a week, you know?

I realize part of it was that chapter 3 vanished for 2 weeks, and it never really recovered from that, but it's only gotten steadily worse since. So this is still going to be put out, as it is a completed work, but I've lost the excitement for doing so.

In this we have mostly canon plot and some introspection on Eddie's part.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

~

No amount of money was worth blood of the innocent on your own fucking ceiling, Eddie thought as he drove away from the trailer he had called home for the best years of his life.

He stashed his van at the base of Skull Rock and covered it with branches and shit to keep the cops from finding it.

Then he trekked the rest of the way to Rick Lipton’s house on shores of Lovers’ Lake. He looked around for the hide-a-key, but he couldn’t find it.

“Shit!”

He searched the outside of the house, looking for any way to get in but was stymied at every turn. Finally he gave up and hunkered down under the tarp that covered the small motor boat and tried to sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw the fear in Chrissy’s eyes. At the picnic table. On the drive over from the high school to his place. As she screamed her last breath.

Morning finally came and he was exhausted. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go back in case whatever had killed Chrissy was still there.

Now he lived in terror what got her, might have gotten Wayne, too. But he had no way to warn his uncle or anyone else about the terror that now stalked his hometown.

Eddie had no one to turn to or trust. He could only wait it out and hope for the best.

~

Then Eddie was being poked in the side and he was faced to face with Steve Harrington for the first time since Halloween.

He looked as scared as Eddie felt. But then again, he wasn’t the one being held at bottle point. No, he was holding the bottle. He was going to get his. He was going to hurt him if Steve so much as twitched wrong.

He was.

He–

He wasn’t a killer.

He couldn’t do it. He let the bottle drop away from Steve’s throat and he was almost disappointed to learn that he hadn’t even had the guts to nick the skin.

And then the truth just came tumbling out of his lips. He should have lied to them. Told them some bullshit about some psycho killing Chrissy and that he ran for his life. But instead he was telling a bunch of high school students and their god damned babysitter what really happened in that trailer.

And holy shit. They believed him.

Eddie stared at them wide-eyed. They believed him.

It would be another day of hiding for them to fully explain everything, but by god. Three fucking years.

Eddie suddenly had so many questions not related to the Upside Down, but to how the hell did Steve Harrington manage to balance three separate lives.

Dorky jock and king of Hawkins High.

Cool as shit King, best racer and leader of the Asphalt Assasins.

And bad ass hero with a fucking nail bat. Apparently.

Jesus Christ.

But the next time he got to speak to Steve alone, it was about Nancy and Dustin and Robin and how much they all cared for him. To not worry about the screw up metalhead. To realize how good he actually had it.

Because against all reason he didn’t have a high opinion of people actually liking him, for him.

“You need to go easy on yourself, dude,” Steve murmured back.

And wasn’t that just a kick in the teeth.

Then he was planning to stop the apocalypse with the guy and trying not fall in love with him.

“You got a car we don’t know about?”

Eddie straightened up and grinned at him. “It’s not a car, but it’ll do.”

~

Eddie slipped into the open back window, bag of tools tucked in the pocket of his leather jacket. He yanked off the Michael Myers mask and threw aside.

He kept an eye out the windows but the neighbors were facing away from the RV. He slipped into the driver’s seat and tore open the panel under the steering wheel.

Steve came up behind him and leaned over his shoulder, “Where'd you learn how to do this?”

Eddie began stripping the wires, “Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was 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.”

Robin came up to the cockpit and put her hand gently on Steve’s arm, “Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving.”

Eddie looked back at her, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Harrington's got her.” He leaned into Steve’s space. “Don't ya, big boy?

Steve pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. Then the engine roared to life. Steve slapped Eddie’s side and they swapped places.

After some screaming from everyone involved, Steve got them out of the trailer park by the skin of their teeth.

Once they were on the road, Steve chewed on his bottom lip for a moment then said, “Hey, Rob, can you go back for a minute? I want to talk to Eddie alone for something. It’ll be quick I promise.”

Robin looked back at Eddie who shrugged. Then she sighed and slunk back to where the rest of them were milling around and talking. Steve looked back to make sure she was far enough back.

“I just wasn’t sure you want her to hear us talking about your dad and the hot-wiring shit,” Steve explained quietly.

“Oh!” Eddie cried. “Shit, yeah. Thanks. I mean it’s pretty common knowledge my dad is in jail, but I appreciate that.”

“Of course,” he replied. “Is the whole stealing cars the reason you were able to win my race after Halloween?”

Eddie snorted. “Ah. That. Yeah, it was. My old man wanted me to learn all the fancy cars names and shit so if I spotted one, I could tell him the make, model and year, so he could steal it and strip it for parts. But I was never interested in that shit.” He paused for a moment. “But kudos to you if you do.”

“It was one of only a half dozen pursuits my dad thought was manly enough to partake in,” Steve admitted. “Though if he knew about the racing he would have absolutely flipped his shit.”

“So not like Tommy and Carol then?” Eddie asked.

“Huh?” Steve asked, tilting his head to side in confusion.

“Finding out that Carol’s mom was a racer,” Eddie explained, “and knowing that Hagan Sr. was absolutely funding all of Tommy’s failures, it was clear their parents knew and encouraged their weekend illegal activities.”

“Oh!” Steve said, smacking his forehead. “Yeah. A lot those kids’ parents didn’t care enough about what their kids were doing. So if they lost their car, Mommy and Daddy would just buy them a new one, no questions asked.”

“That you included?” Eddie asked after a moment of silence. “The whole parents not caring enough?”

“Yeah,” Steve said softly, “and with the added bonus of my dad being a hardass and smacking me around every time I did something wrong, sure made for a fun cocktail of trauma.”

“Here’s to the ‘My Dad Sucks’ Club, dude,” Eddie huffed.

“Mine probably should be in jail and yours is,” Steve agreed.

They drove in silence for awhile before Eddie said, “Why didn’t you tell them about your street racing days?”

Steve looked back at all of the Party talking and laughing then back at the road. “Because short of a truth serum, I don’t think they’d ever believe me.”

“Like those exist...” Eddie scoffed. When Steve said nothing, he pressed, “Those don’t exist, right? Because I draw the line at truth serums, man.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Steve said dryly.

“Evil wizards, alternative dimensions, Supergirl, and fucking truth serums, man,” Eddie growled. “This timeline sucks ass.”

Steve snorted. “Tell me about it. I know more than most people will in their entire life times and I really wish I hadn’t. But I wouldn’t trade the results for anything. Robin as my best friend. Dustin as the little brother I never had. Max as the little sister I never had. Like, I could be bored out of my mind at my dad’s company while going to college for business.”

“That would fucking suck, yeah,” Eddie agreed.

They were almost at the Army supply store.

“You wanted to know how going by King didn’t tip off at least Tommy and Carol who I was,” Steve said as he pulled into the parking lot.

“Yeah?” Eddie said, raising his head.

Steve got up from the driver’s seat. “Because no one sees past this.” He circled his face and then walked to the back of the RV, leaving Eddie with that bit to chew on.

And holy shit, it was like being punched in the solar plexus.

Because he was one of them. He craned his head around to look into the body of the RV as they talked about who should go in and who should stay behind with him.

No one saw past the dumb jock. Hell, Steve had even referred himself as such in their little talk walking to the Wheeler house in the Upside Down. How did he put it? Dumb and confident?

But the more he actually saw Steve in action, the less Eddie believed that. Sure, maybe he wasn’t smart about fantasy or D&D stuff or all the math and science shit these kids kept trying to throw at his head, but he knew things. Things about people. And that couldn’t be bought no matter the price.

He walked out to the body of the RV and realized he was stuck with the lovebirds. And well Dustin, too he supposed.

“Hey Eddie,” Dustin asked after listening to Lucas and Max be gooey for a moment or two. “Why did you pick Steve to do the driving? Was it just because he was right there?”

“The only other choice was Nancy Wheeler,” Eddie huffed, rolling his eyes. “And despite the last name, I really don’t think she’s got the chops to haul ass in this behemoth. Do you?”

Dustin tilted his head to the side. “I suppose not. But that also implies you knew that Steve could.”

Eddie closed his eyes and let out of huff. He was going to kill Steve for this, god damn the man. He opened his eyes slowly. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. If you don’t know, then maybe you don’t know Steve as well as you think you do.”

Dustin cocked his head the opposite direction. “Steve is as deep as a puddle, dude. If you think Steve has hidden depths or whatever, maybe you were cursed while in the Upside Down.”

Max smacked his arm, causing him to yelp. “Don’t joke about that! I don’t want anyone else cursed!”

“Jeez!” Dustin cried clutching his arm. “I have dead arm now! Why did you have to hit so hard?”

Eddie just rolled his eyes and slumped into the seat directly behind the driver’s seat and watched them bicker. At least their attention was off him so he didn’t have to go lying to children about their babysitter.

But the more he thought about it the less he blamed Steve for their attitude. He saw how Steve pleaded for more time but they all fell in line with Nancy instead. Even though if half the stories they told were true, it was Steve that had gotten them safely out alive time and time again.

Yeah, things were dire. But waiting a day or even two wouldn’t have hurt anything. As long as they kept Red plied with batteries for her Walkman, they were fine. It would have given Steve time to rest and heal.

The dude was literally standing there in blood soaked bandages and they went with Nancy instead.

Suddenly he was getting thrown a bag by Steve and a pair of boots from Erica. He looked in the bag and it not only had his vest back but also a flack jacket.

He pulled off his tennis shoes and pulled the boots on. He saw that Steve had also grabbed boots for himself. No more walking around barefoot.

Then he did a double take. Gone was the dorky little babysitter. This wasn’t even King with his cool disinterest. This was Steve Harrington, badass hero of Hawkins. He had this weight on his shoulders that made Eddie’s stomach twist.

Erica had also given him a badass bullet belt and suddenly they were looking more like revolutionaries then teens out of their depth. It brought him comfort at the same time it made him so sad.

They shouldn’t have to be doing this at all. There should be trusted adults they could go to do this for them and he didn’t mean Steve. Steve was only sixteen when all this shit started, he was as much a victim as the kids were.

Someone solid, like his Uncle Wayne. That was someone they should have been able to rely on. He was glad to hear that Wayne was okay. Just as bristly as ever, if what Nancy said was any indication.

But they didn’t have that luxury so into Mordor they would go.

~

Tag List: ONE SLOT REMAINING

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10- @hattsy-likes-pretty-stuff @pentapoctopus @themoonagainstmers @eternal-sunflowers

[ladykailitha]

setting up a tiny detail in one chapter to pay it off in the next few chapters feels sooo devious like oooh i can't wait to write the small little reference here that 70% of readers will miss but 30% of readers will cheer for

[ladykailitha]

Spin the magic wheel and write something awesome! Which you do anyway but you get what I'm trying to say ;)

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I spun the wheel and got Heist!

Snippet

Which was not only laughable, but stupid to tell some rando you just met.

He went shopping for his coffee and was there for over an hour because the lines were ridiculous, even the self-check outs were slammed. All he had was the coffee, milk and a dozen donuts, damn it. He just wanted to go home.

Then as he was exiting the store some kid ran into him knocking the milk to the ground. It exploded in a hail of white liquid. The one good part of that was that the kid got the brunt of the explosion.

But the downside was having to go back in and buy more milk. He detested having to go through the lines all over again. So to say that he was already tired, miserable, and cranky as hell by the time he walked through the door to his apartment would have been an understatement.

[ladykailitha]

Fashion is just a really expensive game of dress-up. And boy is it pretty.

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Makes me wish I had the money to do it properly.

Snippet

“I will have to record show that I tried,” he said flatly.

She burst out laughing. “Duly noted, dingus. Duly noted.”

He poked her ribs. “Speaking of dating, you make the moves on Vickie Cameron, yet?”

Robin giggled and squirmed away from him, trying to keep him at arms length. “Not yet,” she admitted as he gave chase. She managed to duck behind a pillar. “But we did have a lovely talk about Ravenscroft brand makeup.”

[ladykailitha]

“Sister, I’ve known some pretty hard cases in my time; you make ‘em all look like putty.” Why are all the best detective movies black and white?

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Because the 1920s and 1930s were the peak of detective fiction and Hollywood managed to tap into that niche and run like hell with it.

Snippet

It took them about a week to get Eddie up to speed on all their cases. Brian apologized up and down for the mix up with the background check company, so much so, Eddie was forced to forgive the guy just to get him to shut up.

Gareth was sent on his merry way. He had decided that he wanted to go farther a field then the Caribbean and ended up in London for a couple of weeks.

When he got back, looking and sounding more like himself then he had in years, it was pretty clear. Gareth was as Grace suggested: gay. But they were still mad at her for how it all went down.

Eddie initiated days off. At least two days a week unless they were on a time sensitive case then they were forced to take a week or more to make up for it. On one very notable occasion, Jeff was given a month off after he took a case that lasted three very intense months.

[ladykailitha]

I put a spell on you! Not sure what it does though. The book wasn't very clear on that.

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I hoping it's a sleeping spell, but god, do I need more of the stuff.

Snippet

Steve came bounding up to them, biggest grin on his face. “You guys made it! Come on, come see what we’ve been able to create!”

He grabbed Robin’s wrist and led her laughing over to the new building behind Bav. It was much bigger than Bav had ever gotten. It had small rooms off the side of the main lecture hall and large storage room chock full of ingredients and herbs for medicine and potion making.

All the apprentices were milling about what looked like a small dinning area.

Robin turned around taking it all in in awe. “Stevie, this amazing! Is it like Bav or just a magical but not sentient house?”

[ladykailitha]

What's the difference between "stealing" and "heisting"? Is it petty robbery vs removing a rather large safe in the heart of Venice holding gold bricks with a Balinese dancer on them? Or am I thinking too hard about this?

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Heisting is about the plan, baby. Anybody can 'steal' but it takes a team to 'heist'!

Snippet

Eddie was not having the best day. He ran out of his favorite coffee. Ran a cyber security run for a Fortune 500 company and they refused to pay him when he pointed out their COO was embezzling from them. Which meant he had steal the money, and he hated doing that. He always just took what he was owed.

Curse Steve fucking Harrington for that. Instilling morals in him.

Then his coffee date was late and proceeded to order the most ridiculous drink Eddie had ever seen, and that was coming from someone who used date a guy who liked iced caramel lattes with two pumps of cinnamon syrup.

Then even worse the guy talked about himself for three hours. Mainly about how he was totally in Anonymous and that he knew all about their next attacks.

[ladykailitha]

Embrace the suck! XD Just kidding. Let's go with something a little bit better. More "beastly".

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God, Beastly was such a horrible adaption. Though, if I saw ^^ that Beast, I think I would be pretty pissed at the pasty white thing he transformed into too.

Snippet

Prince Steven sniffed disdainfully. “Eddie Munson, these are the people who chose to stick by me when I was cursed, I think highly of them all. But I was going to ease you all into it slowly like a pair of disgruntled cats.”

Eddie giggled. “Oh,” he cleared his throat. “Right, sorry.”

“Everyone is no doubt familiar with the thief that broke into my quarters and tried to steal the witch’s rose?” Prince Steven asked the assembled servants.

There was some distinct muttering as all of them agreed the remembered Wayne.

[ladykailitha]

Wild card

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Snippet

Chrissy’s laugh rang like a bell in their tiny home. “All right, you’ve convinced me. I’ll train up my witchiness. For you.”

She kissed Robin on the lips and then rose to her feet. “I do believe we were in the middle of something before we were so rudely interrupted by Merlin.”

Robin was on her feet in a flash, following her girlfriend into their new bedroom.

It would be a couple hours before either of them came back out again.

[ladykailitha]

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I chose Beast.

Snippet

“Oh, hello Mr. Beast Man, sir,” he managed to stutter out. “It’s not every day you see a wardrobe make its way down a set of the stairs filled with a whole array of talking objects and I’ll admit my curiosity got the better of me.”

All of the servants stared at this newcomer with utter shock that the prince just didn’t rip his arms off.

“Hmmm,” Prince Steven grumbled. “Everyone, this is what I was going to tell you about before he blundered into the situation without introduction.”

“Hey!” Eddie protested. But Prince Steve stared him down. “Oh all right, I may have blundered a little.”

[ladykailitha]

Writer's choice!

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Why so cute?! Gah! Oh and I chose Heist.

Snippet

Robin snorted and shook her head. She had more faith in this little conversation then he did. But that’s okay. Sometimes she just needed to hope enough for both of them.

~

Robin loved more than anything repelling off things. Cliffsides, tall buildings. Used to be strictly buildings back in the day with the old crew. But after things just kinda petered off, she started doing the cliff thing as a way to keep sharp.

She clipped in her harness and dove between the two buildings.

She was honestly a little surprised about the neighborhood. It was a lot rougher than she would have thought the world’s greatest hacker would live in, but then she liked the finer things in life. Maybe he didn’t.

[ladykailitha]

Fashion AU please!

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Snippet

“So anyway,” Eddie said twisting his rings and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Thanks!” He kissed Steve on the cheek and then dashed off to go shower.

Robin came up to Steve and threw her arm around his shoulder. “So how is that rule about not dating models going right about now?”

“Like that last levee holding back a flood,” Steve said honestly, and surprisingly without bitterness.

“And when the levee breaks?” Robin asked glancing toward the bathrooms.

[ladykailitha]

Fashion Au

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Snippet

Then Steve called a break. “There are showers near the bathrooms for those of you who need to remove makeup or in poor Billy’s case, a metric ton of sweat. Then meet back at the commons for lunch. But we only have an hour so don’t take too long or you’ll miss your chance for lunch.”

Everyone else piled out but Eddie lingered.

“Hey, Ed,” Steve grinned, bending down to look him in the eye. “You okay, over there?”

Eddie nodded. “I know that you probably picked me for the Kiss makeup because of my hair, but I really wanted to thank you for that choice. Kiss was one of those bands that formed baby Eddie and it really meant a lot to me.”