some-lovely-day

[some-lovely-day]

wow reader couldn’t even catch a break between two dead boyfriends😭

such small hands - chapter one

Masterlist Series Masterlist Tag Lists

Eddie Munson x female!Henderson!reader

Summary:

In a whirlwind week, you and Eddie fall in love without anyone noticing. Things are given, things are taken away.

Warnings:

Smut (18+), unprotected p in v, oral (f receiving), fingering, violence, death, canon s4 spoilers, pregnancy, past reader x billy, talk of billy’s death

Word Count: 13.3k

A/N:

I just got started writing this one and went crazy. This first chapter has a lot of elements/dialogue from the show, future chapters won’t be like that. I hope you enjoy ❤️

You had never paid much mind to Eddie Munson before your senior year.

You knew of him, of course. Hawkins High Freak, drug dealer, nerd, yeah yeah. You probably should have seen it coming when your little brother Dustin came to Hawkins High for his freshman year and almost immediately was adopted by Eddie’s group of nerds.

That’s what threw Eddie into your life originally. Your brother was obsessed with him, idolized him, just like he did with Steve. It made sense to you. Your dad wasn’t around - it was just you, Dustin, and your mom. He needed a male role model in his life, and he had found two.

You had nothing in common with Eddie. You were cheerleading captain, dating - dated - Billy Hargrove for almost two years. You didn’t run in the same circles as Eddie Munson.

When Eddie was accused of murder, everything went to shit.

He got sucked into your world of the Upside Down. You were suddenly spending a lot of time with the guy. And - he wasn’t so bad. At all.

The gang had left you to keep Eddie company at Reefer Rick’s while they ran for supplies. The poor guy had been here alone and terrified, hiding from the cops. Nothing to eat or drink. He was covered in a black grime. You felt bad for him. He was shaken up, but still Eddie.

“So,” he said, after you’d been sitting in silence. “You’re Henderson’s sister?”

“That would be me,” you nodded.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Your eyebrows raised. “Yeah? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Eddie huffed a short laugh. “Henderson likes to talk.”

You chuckled. “He idolizes you.”

“Me?” Eddie seemed a little surprised. “I know he’s crazy about Harrington, but-“

“Literally never shuts up about both of you.”

Eddie laughed. “Well, apparently you’re the coolest big sister ever. So.”

Your cheeks heated in a blush. You knew Dustin loved you - you loved him back even more - but to hear he’d been talking about you like that? It made you feel warm inside. Sitting there with what you had in common - being totally adored by the coolest kid.

“You didn’t have to stay,” Eddie said. He was smiling more than you’d seen him do since yesterday. “I would have been alright.”

“I wanted to stay,” you said. “Seemed like you needed somebody.”

Eddie looked at you like he could see through to your very soul - and he smiled. He knew, in that moment, that he wanted to see you every possible second of his life.

You stayed with him as often as you could after that. You were drawn to him, and he seemed like he liked the company. He was so easy to talk to, made you laugh, made your heart beat harder in your chest. If only you both knew that you felt the same.

Tuesday, Eddie was almost caught and murdered by Jason Carver while you were in the Creel House with the rest of the gang. You decide then that Eddie is probably best not left alone.

Wednesday, the police officially released Eddie’s name as the prime suspect in Chrissy’s death. It made you sick - Eddie. Sweet Eddie, who would never hurt anyone.

Your Eddie.

When you saw him there at Skull Rock, looking even more like he’d been through absolute hell, it was like your heart reached for him through your chest. 

He hopped down from the rock and Dustin sighed in relief. “Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” He pulled Eddie into a hug, who awkwardly patted him on the back as he hugged him back.

“Yeah, me too, man. Me too.” He smiled, like he was relieved not to be alone. His eyes met yours over Dustin’s shoulder. As Dustin pulled away, you stepped into his spot, and Eddie wrapped his arms around you, slowly, pulling you in close. He looked at you like you were the first drink of water he’d had in days.

How no one else ever noticed the two of you falling in love, you had no idea.

But it was a sacred thing between you. Something you held onto. You were going to tell people, eventually. It just felt nice to have something for the two of you for a while.

You wished you had told people. You wished you had shouted it from the rooftops.

The gang realized that Dustin’s broken compass wasn’t actually broken - it had been disrupted by an electromagnetic field. A gate. As plans were made to once again take on the Upside Down, Dustin turned to Eddie, who had been quiet the entire time.

“What say you, Eddie the Banished?”

It was the question, posed from your baby brother. Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d say you’re asking me to walk into Mordor,” he said. “Which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire…the Shire is burning.”

Dustin began jumping up and down.

“So Mordor it is.”

You wanted to beg Eddie. You wanted to plead with him to run and never look back. You knew the second he agreed to help you that his life was on the line, and you weren’t sure it was something you were willing to risk.

“What is Mordor?” Steve muttered to himself.

As the rest of the group began walking off, Eddie trailed behind, next to you. He grabbed your hand in his, squeezing it softly, smiling at you.

And you fell, and fell, and fell.

Dustin’s compass took you to Lover’s Lake in search of a gate that night. Robin, Steve, and Nancy climbed onto the little boat, followed by Eddie. He held his hand out for you with a gentle smile and you took it, letting him help you climb on.

Dustin tried to climb on next. “Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?” Eddie asked. “This thing holds three people tops, okay? And there’s five of us in here somehow already.”

“It’s better this way,” Nancy said. “You guys stay with Max.”

“You’re safer here,” you told your brother. “Keep an eye out for trouble.”

“You keep an eye out for trouble!” Dustin said.

You just gave him a look.

“It’s my goddamn theory!”

“You heard your sister,” Robin said.

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin pointed at you.

“I did.”

“Compass,” you said, holding a hand out to your brother. He reluctantly took it from his pocket and placed it in your hand. Steve pushed off the bank and you paddled away, leaving Dustin, Max, and Lucas on the shore. Eddie kept a hand on your back, worried you’d lose your balance. No one else noticed the shy smiles you sent each other.

The compass started going crazy in the center of the lake. Dustin called over the walkie to check in and Robin told him. Everyone looked at each other. Then, Steve started taking his shoes and socks off.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asked.

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this out,” Steve said. “Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then…it’s gotta be me. No complaints, alright?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Eddie said. “I do not wanna go down there.”

Eddie wrapped a flashlight in a bag for Steve as he slipped his shirt off. You and Robin exchanged a look as you caught Nancy staring.

“Hey,” Eddie said, handing the flashlight to Steve and putting a cigarette in his own mouth. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, accepting the flashlight.

Eddie went to light his cigarette. “Gross,” Robin said, swatting it out of his mouth and into the water.

The boat shook as Steve jumped off. You watched from the surface as he dove, unable to see much of anything. You were nervous for your best friend. But Eddie was there, and he was holding your hand again, and somehow everything felt alright.

You all jumped when Steve came bursting back out of the water, gasping. “I found it.”

“You found it?”

“I found it. Yeah, I found it.” He was panting, trying to catch his breath.

“Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein,” Robin said into the walkie.

Steve was leaning on the side of the boat, trying to catch his bearings and explain what he’d seen, when something yanked him downwards. Everyone began yelling as it happened again - and pulled him under the water. He didn’t come back up this time. As everyone was panicking, Nancy started removing some of her clothes.

“You’re not going in there, are you?” Eddie asked, grabbing onto her arm.

“Just-just wait here,” she said - then she dove in after Steve.

“Goddamn it!” Eddie yelled.

Robin dove in next. When you started taking your shoes off, Eddie grabbed your arm tightly. “S-she said wait.”

“I heard her,” you said. “But my friends are in there. I can’t just sit here and wait to see if they survive. I have to help.”

“Are you serious?” Eddie nearly squeaked. “Please don’t. Seriously, please don’t.”

“Eddie, I have to.”

You placed your hands on either side of his face. His cheeks were scratchy against your palm from being unable to shave. You pulled him in and kissed his lips firmly. You could have stayed there all day with your lips attached to his, but you pulled back after a few seconds. Eddie looked at you, amazed. He was still frozen when you turned and dove into the water.

The gate in the lake brought you straight to the Upside Down - where Steve was being held down and attacked by demobats. You felt a hand on your back, and turned - Eddie had followed you.

You each grabbed an oar and began swatting at the demobats, hitting them away from Steve so he could get up. You watched out for each other, quickly coming to the rescue if someone was being attacked. You pulled at the tail of one attached to Nancy’s back and then slammed it into the ground.

Steve got up, slamming the last one into the ground again and again until he ripped it in half.

“Steve, are you okay?” you asked, walking quickly up to your best friend. He had horrible bruises on his neck and blood dripping from his mouth - he didn’t look okay. You looked him over, trying to see if he had any serious injuries.

“Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie yelled, throwing his oar to the ground.

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh,” Steve said as you and Nancy examined his body. “But other than that, yeah, never better.”

As more bats came, fear struck your group of friends. You huddled together, Eddie’s arms around you protectively.

“The woods. Come on,” Nancy said.

The five of you took off into the woods, Eddie never letting go of your hand.

Again, how did no one ever notice? You supposed it was a crazy week for everyone. You couldn’t blame them. But hey, it was right there.

Your love for Eddie was so close you could reach out and touch it.

You hid under a rock together, Eddie’s arms wrapped tight around you. The demobats were loud as they flew overhead.

“That was close,” Robin said once the bats had dissipated and you all began getting up. Steve stumbled, crashing into the rock of the cave.

“Jesus, Stevie,” you said, moving towards him.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Steve said, trying to wave both you and a concerned Nancy off.

“No, no, no, you’re losing blood,” Nancy said. “Come here.”

Steve leaned against the wall and uncovered the wound on his abdomen. It was bad - deep, still bleeding. You ripped off the bottom of your shirt, turning it into a crop as you wrapped the makeshift bandage around Steve’s waist. Eddie’s eyes lingered on your form, the newly exposed skin of your back and stomach.

“Are you okay?” he asked you quietly as you moved away from Steve and Nancy.

“I don’t know,” you admitted honestly. “I’m…this is a lot.”

“I thought you’ve been through this before,” Eddie teased lightly, tilting your chin up so you were looking up at him.

“I have,” you blushed. “Multiple times. It just…it never gets less surreal.” You bit your lip as your gaze dropped, looking back over at Steve, Nancy, and Robin. “I don’t want any of my friends to get hurt. I don’t want my brother to get hurt.” Your eyes met Eddie’s once again, your hand resting on his chest. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m not gonna get hurt,” Eddie said, placing his larger hand over yours. “I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure all of us get out of here in one piece.” He smirked. “How else am I gonna get to kiss you again?”

You blushed deeper. Your eyes darted around, finding your friends still busy with one another and not paying you any mind. You leaned up on your tiptoes and kissed Eddie’s soft lips.

He kissed you back, hand coming to rest in your hair. Your hearts beat hard against each other’s chests like they were dying to reach each other. Like you wanted to get closer to him, as close as two people can possibly be.

He pulled away, eyes lingering on the other three. When he saw them still not looking, he kissed you again. “I…”

You waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “What?”

“I just-“

“Alright,” Robin said. You and Eddie were pulled into a conversation that had been going on for a while without you. “So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.”

“I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin,” Steve said. “But guns, yeah, sure.”

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns,” Nancy said. “I have guns in my bedroom.”

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?” Eddie asked.

“She’s full of surprises,” you beamed at him.

Eddie took off his denim vest and handed it to Steve. “For your modesty, dude.”

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Steve grabbed Nancy and Robin and took shelter under the cave as you fell to the ground with Eddie. His arms wrapped around you tightly, shielding your body with his own.

When the rumbling stopped, you were left on the ground with Eddie in a compromising looking position - his hand on your waist, with your body pulled back against his own. No one questioned it, however.

You could hear a creature screaming in the distance. You all just watched and listened, Eddie still holding you with shaking arms.

“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, me too,” Robin quickly agreed.

“So what are we waiting for?”

Steve flicked on his flashlight and led the way, everyone else falling into step behind him. You and Eddie led up the rear, his eyes grazing the exposed skin of your lower back as you walked.

As you walked, you fell into step with Nancy and Robin, having what felt like the first normal conversation in days.

Steve approached Eddie. And, surprisingly - Eddie found that he liked Steve. “That was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.”

“Ozzy?” Steve asked.

“When you took a bite out of that bat,” Eddie said. “Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath? He bit a bat’s head off onstage.”

“I don’t-“

“You know, doesn’t matter,” Eddie said. “It’s very metal, what you did. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Thanks.”

“Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact.”

“Dustin said that?” Steve asked, looking up at Eddie.

“Oh yeah. Shit. Kid worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It’s kinda annoying, to be honest.” Steve laughed. “I don’t even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve. I guess I couldn’t accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine.” Steve didn’t say anything to Eddie’s nervous rambling. “Still super jealous as hell, by the way.”

Steve laughed at that. “I don’t know, man. I think his favorite person in the world is his sister.”

At the mention of you, Eddie’s neck heated. He looked down at his feet as he walked. “How long have you guys been friends?”

Steve said your name like a question. “Oh, we’ve been friends for years. She’s my best friend in the world. We met through basketball and cheerleading, then after my��fall from popularity, she just kept being my best friend. She means the world to me.”

Eddie felt that jealousy creeping in again. He wanted to be blunt with it, ask if there had ever been anything between you, but didn’t want to give himself away so obviously. But, he had to know. “Did you guys ever…?”

“What?” Steve asked. “Date? Hook up?”

Eddie was surprised at how sick he felt at the idea of you hooking up with Steve, or any other guy. “Either.”

Steve laughed. “No, man, Just friends.”

He let out a sigh of relief he hoped Steve didn’t catch. But when he looked up at the other boy, he was giving him a knowing look.

“You like her.”

“It’s not- no, I mean I don’t- it’s not that-“

“Oh,” Steve said, a grin growing across his lips. “You love her.”

Eddie was sure his face was on fire. “No.”

“It’s okay,” Steve said, nudging Eddie’s shoulder. “I won’t tell. Your secret is safe with me.”

It’s not that Eddie didn’t want anyone knowing how he felt about you. He wanted everybody to know. It was just that it was still so new, still so precious and fragile in his clumsy hands. He always fucked everything up. He couldn’t afford to fuck this up.

There was a noise from some kind of creature in the woods, and Eddie flinched. “Outside of D&D, I am no hero,” he admitted sadly. “I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that’s what I’ve learned about myself this week.”

“Give yourself a break, man,” Steve said, softly slapping Eddie’s chest.

“See?” Eddie pointed ahead at the girls. “The only reason I came in here was ‘cause those ladies came in straight after you. Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind.” His eyes lingered on you. And I couldn’t let her go alone. “But those girls didn’t waste a second. They just dove right in.”

Nancy opened the door to the Upside Down version of the Wheeler home. You followed her upstairs to her bedroom, not noticing Steve lingering behind.

Nancy searched through her things - finding no guns. She was confused at first - until she found her stack of notecards. The ones from her test when she had just started dating Steve. Three years ago.

She found more and more things that didn’t add up - items that had been given away or donated, wallpaper that had been long since changed. She picked up her diary and flipped through until the last date - her eyes went wide.

“Nancy, you’re freaking me out,” you said.

“I think the reason my guns aren’t here,” she said, “is because they don’t exist yet.”

“They don’t…exist?” Eddie asked.

“This diary should be full of entries. It’s not. The last entry is November 6, 1983. The day Will went missing. The day the gate opened. We’re in the past.”

You were brought out of your thoughts by the sound of Steve yelling downstairs. “Dustin? Dustin? Hello?”

You went sprinting down the stairs first at the mention of your brother’s name. Was he here? Was he in trouble? The four of you found Steve waving his flashlight around and yelling to the walls.

“Are you sure he doesn’t have rabies?” Robin muttered.

“Steve, what are you doing?” you asked.

“Hello,” Steve whispered, nearly blinding all of you with his flashlight. “He’s here. Henderson. That little

shit, he’s here. He’s like…he’s in the walls or something. Just listen. Dustin?”

You looked at Steve like he was crazy, but you stayed quiet, listening intently. Stranger things had happened. When there was no noise, Steve started yelling again.

“Dustin! Dustin! Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear me?”

Finally, you heard the faintest echo of your brother’s voice.

You all walked around the room, calling Dustin’s name, trying to find or communicate with him.

“Alright, either this kid can’t hear us or he’s being a total douchebag,” Steve said.

“Will found a way,” Nancy said, as if an idea had just come to her.

“What?”

“Will found a way, to speak to Joyce through the lights.” Nancy jumped into action, trying to flip on lamps and light fixtures. None worked.

“Guys…” Steve said. “Are you seeing this?”

The chandelier was sparkling with tiny glittering lights. You reached your hand out and touched them. The others joined you, all raising a hand to touch the lights.

“Does anyone know morse code?” Nancy asked.

“Does SOS count?” Eddie asked.

After Eddie was able to get a message through to the kids, you all huddled together while Dustin, Lucas, and Erica put together Holly’s Lite-Brite. They turned it on and you waved your hand through the area, making the toy light up. Steve, Nancy, Robin and Eddie watched. You could hear the kids cheering when it worked.

“We’re going to unplug it,” Dustin yelled. A second passed, then - “Try it now!”

You traced your hand through the lights again, drawing out the word Hi with your finger.

“That worked!” Came Dustin’s voice.

The others cheered and you smiled in triumph. Eddie’s hand brushed against your lower back.

“Um…” you thought. Then you wrote out “S…T…U…C…K.”

“You can’t get back through Watergate?” Dustin called.

“G…U…A…R…D…E…D,” you wrote out this time.

Dustin called back that they had a plan - Watergate isn’t the only gate. They think there’s a gate at every murder site.

“Does anyone understand what he’s talking about?” Nancy asked.

Everyone shook their heads. You drew out a “?”

“Seriously?” Dustin yelled. “How many times do I have to be right on the money before you trust me?”

“Jesus Christ,” Steve shook his head. “This kid’s gotta get his ego in check.”

“It’s his tone. Right?” Eddie said. You covered your mouth, stifling your giggle.

“Okay, so…how far is your trailer?” Nancy asked Eddie.

“Seven miles,” he answered.

“Nancy?” Robin offered. “I know your house is like, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven’t you always had bikes?”

The five of you pedaled to Forest Hills - or at least, the upside down version of the trailer park. Eddie led the way to his house. “It’s right here,” he said, pulling off the road and dropping the bikes.

You entered the trailer and all looked up - sure enough, there was a gate on the ceiling. “This is where Chrissy died,” Eddie said.

“I think there’s something up there,” Robin said.

A broom handle burst through the gateway, startling all of you. The handle was waved around until the gate was clear. Steve stepped forward carefully, looking up.

“No way,” Steve whispered in awe.

Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Erica stood there, upside down through the gate, smiling up (or down?) at you. Dustin laughed. “Hi there.”

“Holy shit, this is trippy,” Robin said.

After some discussion on the best way to get you out of there, Dustin began knotting sheets together while Lucas and Max got Eddie’s mattress and dragged it to the living room floor.

“Those stains are, uh…” His eyes darted to you, then Robin and Nancy. “I dunno what those stains are.”

“Mmhmm,” Robin hummed.

Dustin and Erica came over with the knotted together sheets. He tossed them up and they fell through the other side, making a floating rope. Robin pulled on it and it didn’t budge.

“Guess I’m the guinea pig,” Robin said, then climbed up first.

After she was safely on the other side, the four of you looked at one another. “You go,” Eddie said quietly to you, nudging you towards the rope of sheets.

You didn’t argue. He helped you a little and then you channeled all your cheer muscles to help you climb up and through the gate. Once you passed through it was like your stomach flipped along with the rest of your body as you fell down on your back onto Eddie’s mattress.

Eddie came next - “That…was fun!” - then Nancy, then finally Steve. As Nancy was coming through, something happened - Vecna got to her, showing her some sort of vision.

She recounted it with a shaking voice as you all sat around Max’s trailer. A horrible prophecy of death and destruction - everything and everyone gone.

“Okay, but…he’s just trying to scare you, Nance,” Steve said. “Right? I mean…I mean, it’s not real.”

“There was something else,” Nancy said. He showed her gates, more gates all over Hawkins. Spreading, growing. Destroying.

You covered your mouth with your hand. You didn’t even notice you were shaking. But Eddie did, reaching over and placing a hand on your knee to calm you. It worked instantly.

“Four chimes,” Max spoke up. Everyone looked at her. “Vecna’s clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly.”

You looked down, then back up at Max. “I heard them too.”

Everyone’s attention snapped to you.

“What?” Steve, Eddie, Robin, and Dustin all asked at the same time.

“I just…” You messed with a string on the couch. “I didn’t think it was…I didn’t know…I didn’t think anything of it.”

Steve looked like he was ready to fight someone. Eddie looked like you had told him his favorite dog just died. And Dustin looked horrified. Eddie grasped your hands in his, where no one noticed or saw - he held them tightly, as if he was trying to tell you everything through touch alone.

“He’s been telling us his plan this whole time,” Max said.

“Four kills,” Lucas added. “Four gates. End of the world.”

“If that’s true,” Dustin said. “He’s only one kill away.”

“Oh Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ,” Eddie said, burying his face in his dirty hands.

“Try ‘em again,” Steve told Max, who had been trying to get ahold of the Byers’ all day. But again - busy. The group discussed how something connected had to be happening in Lenora, too.

“Whatever’s 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.” She turned around. “We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down.”

“Whoa, no, no, no. What?” Steve asked.

“Nope,” Eddie said simply, shaking his head dramatically. “Nope.”

“Let’s think this through,” Steve said.

“What is there to think through?” Nancy asked.

“We barely made it out of there in one piece.”

“Yeah, because we weren’t prepared. But this time, we will be. We’ll get weapons and protection. We’ll go through the gate, we’ll find his lair, and we’ll kill him.”

“Or he’ll kill us!” Steve said. He gestured towards you. “The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He’s not scared of us.”

“And for good reason,” Robin said, standing up. She told the group her theory about Vecna - he’s just a guy with powers like Eleven. So why fight fair? You all knew El’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Weaknesses?” Erica asked.

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

“That would explain what he was doing in that attic,” Lucas said.

“Exactly,” Dustin pointed at his friend. “When he attacks his next victim, I’ll bet you he’s back in that attic, physical body defenseless.”

“Defenseless? What about the army of bats?” Steve asked, gesturing to the dark red marks on his neck.

“True. We’ll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow.”

“And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?” Eddie asked.

“No idea. But once they’re gone, he doesn’t stand a chance. It’ll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin.”

“That’s nice in theory, but we don’t know Vecna’s pattern,” Robin said. “We don’t know when he’s going to attack next, we don’t know who he’s going to attack next-“

“Yeah, we do,” Max said quietly. “I can still feel him. I’m still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me.”

“Max,” Lucas muttered. “You can’t. He’ll kill you.”

“I survived before. I can survive again.”

“Check this out. The War Zone,” Eddie said, slapping the phone book down on the kitchen table. “I’ve been there once. It’s huge. They got everything you need for, uh…well, killing things, basically.”

“Is that a grenade?” Robin asked. “I mean, how is any of this legal?”

“Well, lucky for us it is, so…” Eddie smiled sarcastically. “This…This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks.”

You rubbed Eddie’s back as he spoke - you could tell he was nervous. You could feel him physically relaxing under your touch.

“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,” Nancy said. “So I think it’s worth the risk.”

“Me too,” Lucas agreed.

You wanted to say something - because the first thing you could think of was keeping your little brother - and Eddie - safe from harm. But you were clearly outnumbered here, and you knew they were right. You needed the firepower.

“But is it worth the time?” Dustin asked. “It’ll take all day to bike there and back.”

“Who said anything about bikes?” Eddie asked.

“You got some car we don’t know about?” Steve asked.

“It’s not exactly a car, Steve,” Eddie smiled, “and it’s not exactly mine, but, uh…it’ll do.”

Eddie crept through the trailer park with Max’s Michael Myers mask on his head, not at all suspiciously followed by a group of people.

Miraculously you weren’t noticed as you made your way through. Eddie reached an RV and opened the back window, climbing and sliding himself through it. Steve climbed through the window after him, then you, then Nancy and the rest.

Eddie hopped into the front seat and began hot wiring the car.

You had never been into bad boys before, but it was certainly doing something for you now. You watched his expert movements over his shoulder, Steve coming to peak over the other.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” you asked him gently.

His gaze flashed to your eyes for only a moment before remembering Steve’s presence. “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.”

“Eddie, I’m not sure I love the idea of you driving,” Robin said, peeking from behind you and Steve.

“Oh, I’m just starting this sucker,” he said. “Harrington’s got her. Don’t ya, big boy?”

One more movement and the RV’s engine roared to life, immediately calling the attention of the couple sitting outside who began banging on the windows. Eddie jumped up and Steve jumped into the driver’s seat. “Everybody, hang on to something!”

Eddie fell into one of the seats and Steve started driving, absolutely whipping it out of the trailer park, knocking you over and into Eddie’s lap. His arm wrapped around you, holding you to him in the name of safety, but both of you knew it was more than that.

The bouncing you were doing on Eddie’s lap from the RV’s movements were torturous. He almost groaned multiple times, his fingers digging tightly into your thighs, your exposed skin where you’d cropped that damn shirt. You knew what it was doing to him - you could feel the proof of it right under your ass - but you loved it. You could tell he was fighting for his life.

Once the RV was calmly on the road, you could take an actual seat. Eddie cleared his throat as you stood, nonchalantly covering his lap with a throw pillow. You took the seat next to him, your thighs brushing together sending electricity through both of your bodies.

“So,” Eddie said quietly. He only wanted to talk to you, didn’t want to invite anyone else into your conversation. He felt like he’d gotten so little of your time as it was. “You heard the…?”

“Yeah,” you said, looking away. “But I don’t think it’s- I don’t know. I think he- he’s just fucking with me.”

Eddie looked at you with concern. “What does he show you?”

You swallowed, looking up at the roof of the RV, trying to will the tears back into your eyes before they fell. “Billy.”

Eddie’s jaw clenched. Billy. He’d avoided the subject purposefully, and now here it was. “Oh.”

Eddie knew Billy when he was alive. Of course he did. And he hated the guy. Not only because he was an asshole, although that was the biggest reason. But he also had you. You were Hawkins High’s It Couple. Everyone knew you and Billy were together, and no one dared touch Billy’s girl.

He never knew what someone like you saw in Billy, but he understood that Billy was different with you. It was obvious to anyone with eyes. When you were around, people weren’t scared of him. It was possible to have a decent interaction without getting threatened. If you weren’t around, he was his usual self. People quickly realized to look for you first when it came to Billy.

And Billy always, always put you first.

Eddie had felt bad for you when Billy died. He remembered the day he’d heard it on the news - the Star Court Mall Fire. He couldn’t believe it - Billy Hargrove was dead? Then he thought about you.

He didn’t have to imagine how you were doing. Rumors spread fast - you were a mess. That poor girl, the ladies would say around town. When he finally saw you again at school, it was obvious they were true. You looked like hell. After Jason’s pep rally speech at the beginning of the basketball season, you’d run off the court in your cheer uniform in tears as the insensitive asshole listed off the students Hawkins had lost. Everyone knew you could barely hold it together at the mention of Billy’s name.

You had come so far this year. You had regular meetings with the school counselor, you had told them. But he knew it was all you. That was the thing about you, something he loved - you didn’t let yourself get held down for long.

“What does he say?” Eddie asked. Gently, so you knew you didn’t have to answer if you didn’t want to.

“That…that I-“ your voice cracked, choking on your unshed tears. You whispered when you spoke again. “That I never loved him. That I’m…betraying him now. With…with you.”

Eddie’s heart twisted in his chest. He hated being any part of the pain you were going through. He knew Vecna used your insecurities against you - did you feel that way? Did you feel like you were betraying Billy by falling for him?

“You know those things aren’t true, right?” Eddie said. “You haven’t done anything wrong. You loved Billy. You still love Billy. That’s okay and nothing’s gonna change that.” He brushed your hair back out of your face. He quickly glanced around, seeing everyone else sucked into conversation, paying you no mind. “It’s okay…to move on. Billy wouldn’t want you to be miserable and alone forever. The way you were after he…that wasn’t any way to live. He would have hated seeing you like that. He would love how far you’ve come now.”

Tears had started to fall, but you were smiling as you wiped them away. “He would tell me to get laid.”

Eddie laughed unexpectedly. Max and Lucas looked over, but quickly returned to their conversation. “That sounds like Billy.”

Steve pulled the RV into the parking lot of The War Zone, and Eddie ducked down. Steve parked in the back, as far from the door as possible. “We’re gonna run inside and get supplies,” Steve said. “Eddie, you stay here.”

“Aye, captain,” Eddie saluted him.

“I’ll stay, too,” you said. “Keep him company.”

Steve nodded. “Alright. We won’t be long.”

You watched as everyone shuffled off the RV, closing the door behind Dustin. You watched through the window as they all walked inside - then you turned to Eddie, who was thinking the exact same thing as you.

His arms wrapped around your waist as yours went around his neck, your lips meeting in a hungry kiss. It was hard, feeling like you needed to sneak around. You just wanted to touch him all the time, kiss him all the time.

Eddie sat down on the couch, pulling you down to straddle his lap. His hands grabbed onto your waist as you kissed him, taking his breath away. “Baby,” he groaned.

“I missed you,” you said between kisses. “I know that makes no fucking sense because we’ve been together almost all the time, but it’s not the same. I want to touch you. I want to kiss you in front of everyone.”

“Why don’t you then?” Eddie asked, panting and out of breath as he pulled away from your lips.

You sighed. “I just…think it would be hard on Dustin,” you said, the same thing Eddie had heard a million times this week. “He sees you as like a brother. So I don’t think he’d be too excited by his brother and his sister-“

“Okay, stop, eww,” Eddie said, making you laugh. “You’re not my sister in any way, shape, or form, I’d like to make that clear.”

“You get what I mean though, right?” you asked through giggles. “Why I’m worried?”

“I understand why you’re worried,” Eddie agreed, eyes locked on your plush lips as he played with your hair. “But I also think you don’t have anything to worry about. I think he’d be fine with it. Even if it’s weird at first, he’ll get over it, y’know?”

You thought about it. You kissed Eddie on the tip of his nose. “When all this is over.”

“Yeah?” Eddie’s face lit up. “You wanna do it? Go public?”

“Yeah,” you smiled. “I’m…I’m ready. You’re my boyfriend, and I want everyone to know.”

“Oh, I’m your boyfriend, am I?” Eddie teased with a waggle of his eyebrows.

You giggled. “You never officially asked, but…”

“Can I be your boyfriend?” he asked you seriously, taking your hands in his and kissing your knuckles. “Please?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” You smiled as you leaned in and kissed him again, tongue tracing along the seam of his lips. Eddie was still totally inexperienced- you were his first anything. So he was happy to let you take the lead, to teach him anything you wanted, everything you liked.

He parted his lips and began sliding his hands up your sides as your tongues met and he moaned into the kiss. He felt the skin exposed by your cropped tee, then even further, sliding his hands up your shirt for the first time. He’s almost sure you’re going to slap his hands away, but you don’t - you press into his hold, let out the most delicious moan against his lips, and roll your hips down against his now straining erection.

The door slammed open and you practically leaped off Eddie’s lap, falling onto the seat next to him.

“We’ve got to go,” Steve said, shooting you both a quick funny look before he jumped back into the driver’s seat and the rest of the group piled onto the RV.

“Your old friends are here,” Erica said.

“Shit,” Eddie hissed, ducking back down into the floor. 

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“I’m going, I’m going! Sit down!” Steve yelled in a panic. He started the engine and drove out of the parking lot, having to pass right by Jason and his friends loading up their car.

An hour later, with the RV parked in a field, the group prepared your weapons.

Eddie hammered nails into a trash can lid to make a shield. You sawed off the end of a shotgun.

“Is this legal?” Max asked you.

“Actually, I think it’s a felony,” you said.

“Right.”

“But it guarantees one thing.” You knocked the end of the barrel to the ground. “I won’t miss.”

Dustin helped Eddie making shields. Eddie proudly held up his finished spiked shield, swinging it around.

“How’s she feeling?” Dustin asked.

“Light. But durable,” Eddie said. “Deadly. But reliable.” Dustin chuckled, and Eddie began speaking dramatically. “Hear me now. There will be no more retreating…from Eddie the Banished.”

“Hey, you’re really ready for bat-tle.” Eddie turned around and gave Dustin an unamused look. Dustin laughed anyway. “You get it? Bat-tle.” His face fell. “B-A-T.” Eddie just kept staring at him. “No?” he groaned. “I thought I had a good one.”

Eddie surprise tackled Dustin right in his middle, knocking the air out of him and pushing him forward. “What are you doing?” Dustin asked, laughing. They play wrestled, Eddie pushing Dustin off to the side. “You son of a bitch!” Dustin came running at full speed into Eddie’s middle this time. Eddie pulled at Dustin’s boxer shorts - “No wedgies! No wedgies!”

“Never change, Dustin Henderson,” Eddie said, hands on either of Dustin’s shoulders. He brushed some of his long curls from his own mouth. “Promise me?”

Dustin was takin aback, looking up at his friend, his role model. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good. Good.”

You watched Eddie and your brother with a smile on your face. Eddie’s words had been true and you knew it. Dustin would take the news well. He would probably like you and Eddie together, as long as there was no messy breakup. But it was hard to imagine Eddie ever breaking your heart. You felt it would be safe in his hands. You’d already given it to him so completely.

Your chest ached with how much you felt for Eddie. And Dustin was the most important person in your life. The fact that he and Dustin loved each other was already a major bonus. Despite the circumstances that brought you together, you had lucked out with Eddie.

Who knew you could fall so unbearably in love in less than a week?

After preparing your weapons for battle - you all needed a rest.

You ended up back at the Wheelers, with the RV parked off the road, hidden in some trees. The gang was going inside to sleep as much as they could, while Eddie remained in the RV.

“I’m fine,” he’d said. “You guys go get some sleep. I’ll be plenty comfortable out here.”

“I’ll stay with you,” you said quickly. “I just…I don’t want you sleeping out here alone.”

Steve gave a look to the both of you, but no one else was paying much attention, too ready to lay down and finally close their eyes. The gang left you, Steve closing the RV door hard behind him.

Properly left alone with Eddie for the first time, neither of you knew what to do right away. This was the first time you’d be alone together for hours. The possibilities stretched out before you, and it felt overwhelming.

It’s not like you’d never had sex before. You’d had a lot of sex. Billy had been your first and only, though. That was hard to get past.

You locked the RV door, then turned back to Eddie, who was sitting on the end of the pullout bed, watching your every move. Slowly, you took a step towards him, lifting your dirty, ripped shirt over your head and tossing it to the floor. Eddie’s eyes widened slightly, his gaze never leaving you for a second.

“Hi,” he whispered as you slowly approached him.

“Hi,” you whispered back with a giggle. He reached for you and you let him pull you to him, holding your body close and pressing his lips into yours. You kissed slowly this time, savoring one another. You had time to enjoy this.

His calloused hands slid all over your bare back, reaching for your bra strap. He fumbled with it for a good minute, cursing under his breath, before he finally got it undone, leaning back to watch as the material fell away from your chest and revealed your tits.

“Oh,” Eddie groaned, reaching for them immediately. You almost laughed at the awe with which he looked at your naked body, but it was really nice. It was endearing. It made you feel beautiful.

Everyone had looked at you with nothing but pity since Billy died.

You had to push painful thoughts of Billy out of your head as Eddie kissed along your neck, sucking gently on the skin, not exactly intending to leave marks but not caring if he did.

You pushed his jacket off his shoulders, then lifted his Hellfire shirt up until it was on the floor with yours. Eddie seemed self conscious with his shirt off, but you loved it. You traced your fingers over his tattoos, making him shudder. Goosebumps appeared across his flesh.

“Do you like that?” you asked him quietly.

“Y-yeah,” he said. “Feels nice. Tickles a little.”

You giggled. running your fingers up his biceps with a featherlight touch. Eddie’s eyes fell closed. He looked relaxed for the first time all week.

“You’re really beautiful,” Eddie mumbled.

You grinned. “You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not,” he said quickly, his eyes flying open. “I- are you serious? You’re the most beautiful girl in Hawkins. Everyone knows that.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Everyone knows that?”

“Seriously, ask anyone,” Eddie shrugged. “Well, they might not tell you to your face, but…”

You had no idea your classmates felt that way about you. “Really?”

“Well, yeah,” he said. “I mean, you were with Billy. No one could even look at you. Then you were grieving, but people still talked, y’know? And now you’re-“ Eddie huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “Now you’re in my lap.”

You smiled down at Eddie, kissing him again. Eddie kissed back happily, his hands sliding down to squeeze at your ass. You rolled your hips down against him, and he groaned.

“Gonna drive me crazy, princess,” he said, his voice lower than you’d ever heard it. It stirred something deep in your belly, a heat that spread. You could feel him hardening through his jeans - hell, he was already pretty fucking hard.

You pressed your chest into Eddie’s as you kissed him, your bare skin pressed together in a way that felt so intimate it had your head spinning. The feeling of your hard nipples against him, the way they’d graze against his skin as you moved, had Eddie twitching in his pants.

Eddie laid back on the bed, pulling you down over him. You tangled your hands in his curls as you kissed him and his hands slid all over your body, feeling every inch he could get his hands on.

You started kissing lower, kissing down his jaw, down his neck, to his chest and lower. Eddie sat up on his elbows. “W-what are you doing?”

You shrugged. “Just taking my time.” You kissed down his stomach, making his muscles clench. When you reached his jeans, you undid his handcuff belt then started working on his button and zipper.

Eddie watched with hitched breath as you undid his pants, finally pulling them down and leaving him in his tented boxers. He was unbelievably hard, had never wanted anything or anyone so bad in his entire life, he was sure of it. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He was finally losing his virginity, and to you.

He reached for your jeans next, needing to see more of you. He undid them and pulled them down your legs, slowly, slowly. His eyes drank in and savored every inch of skin uncovered. You were wearing the cutest little black panties with a bow.

“You look so good,” Eddie groaned, practically nuzzling his face against your clothed core, breathing in your scent. “Smell so good. Bet you taste good, too.”

You whimpered. You hadn’t even had an orgasm since Billy. You never even tried by yourself, and you hadn’t been with anyone else since.

“Can I…try?” Eddie asked, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of your panties and looking at you expectantly.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” you said, suddenly nervous. It had really been a while.

“I don’t really know what I’m doing,” Eddie admitted as he slowly peeled your panties off your body, eyes trailing down as they went. “But I want to try.” He flashed you a smirk. “I’m an eager learner.”

You drew in a shaky breath. “Okay.”

With your panties gone and your body now fully exposed, Eddie properly drank you in. He got on his knees between your legs, lowering his upper body until he was laying with his face right at your pussy.

He breathed you in again, then he experimentally traced his tongue along your folds.

“Oh!” you gasped, resisting the instinct to draw your legs together. It was unexpected, but it didn’t feel bad.

He spread your lips with his fingers and dove in with his tongue, licking over your clit. You gasped again, hands going down to pull at Eddie’s curls. “Oh, god, Eds.”

“Good?” he asked before immediately going back to what he was doing.

“Y-yeah,” you breathed. “Feels good.”

“Good,” he muttered. He pressed a finger against your entrance, eyes moving up to your face to make sure you didn’t look upset. When you just kept that same pleased look on your face, Eddie slipped the long finger inside.

“Eddie,” you whined, writhing on the bed beneath his mouth and fingers. He began pumping it in and out, curling it deep inside. “How are you so good at this?”

Eddie had no fucking idea. He was going on instinct. Maybe he just…knew you. Like you, your body, was made specifically for him.

He slipped a second finger inside of you, knowing his fingers were no comparison for the size of his cock. His tongue teased your clit for what felt like hours, then he would suck at it, sending you reeling.

“Oh shit Eddie,” you moaned. “I’m gonna cum.”

Eddie had never been so delighted to hear anything in his life. He put his all into eating you out, his own cock so unbearably hard he thought he was gonna lose it. When you squeezed around his fingers, he moaned, sending vibrations through your clit and sending you over the edge immediately.

“Eddie!” you cried. “Eddie, Eddie, oh my god-“

He couldn’t get enough of you saying his name. He wanted to hear it again and again for the rest of his life. He worked you through your orgasm, unsure when to stop. He got the hint when you started pushing his head away.

“Was that good?” he asked, all big brown eyed innocence. He really wanted to know. His lips and chin were still soaked with your release.

“It was amazing,” you told him, kissing him gently. He beamed from the praise.

“I want you so bad,” Eddie said, shaking his head. “You- have no fuckin’ idea-“

“I want you too,” you told him truthfully. “Bad.”

Eddie smirked, kissing you again. He pushed you back down onto the bed, then sat up on his knees and pushed his boxers down. Your eyes widened at the sight of his hard cock bobbing at his lower stomach, so long, thick-

“You like what you see?” he teased, but you could hear the nerves in his voice clear as day.

“I do.” You pulled him close to you, so his body was pressed to yours once again. “Want it inside of me.”

Eddie groaned, his cock twitching against your thigh. He kissed over your neck and chest. “I don’t…” he sighed. “I don’t have a condom, you know that, right?”

“It’s okay,” you said. “Just pull out.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

“We might die tonight,” you told him, serious although there was a playful tilt to your voice. “So, I don’t know about you, but I’m not gonna let the lack of a condom keep me from you.”

Eddie nearly lost it right there at the proof of how badly you wanted him, too. “Yeah. I don’t…I don’t want to miss out on this.”

Not only were you about to let him fuck you, but you were about to let him fuck you raw. The thought alone sent a shudder through Eddie’s body. He reached between your bodies, running the head of his cock through your folds, up and down.

It felt nice, but he didn’t stop.

“What are you doing?” you giggled.

“I, uh…” He was blushing hard, avoiding eye contact with you. “I can’t really find the, uh…”

“Believe me, I’ll let you know if you’re at the wrong one,” you teased him. But you replaced his hand with yours, Eddie drawing in a gasp of air at the feeling of your hand on his cock. You lined him up where you needed him. “There you go.”

Slowly, carefully, Eddie began to push inside. His jaw immediately went slack, his eyes squeezing shut and his fists tightening in the sheets. A low groan came from his chest as he sunk into your pussy inch by agonizingly slow inch. 

“Jeeesus,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “You are tight. And wet, and warm-“ He cut himself off with another loud moan.

“You’re so big,” you whispered, brushing his curls back from his face. You wanted to see all of him.

“Yeah?” He was out of breath, looking down at you with awe as he thrusted in and out of you. He didn’t exactly know what he was doing, but the sheer energy and enthusiasm he put into it made you feel good, too.

“Such a good cock, baby,” you purred. Eddie preened at your praise, and you knew you had unlocked something about him. “So good with it, too,” you said.

“Am I making you feel good?” he asked.

“Mmhmm,” you nodded. “Feels so good. You’re so deep in me, baby.”

Eddie whimpered - because god, he knew. He was burying himself to the hilt with every thrust, and even with his lack of experience, he knew he wasn’t small. He was surprised you were taking all of him - he’d heard sometimes that could be a problem. He worried it would be a problem for him - but, fuck, you were taking every inch.

You were moving your hips up in time with his frantic thrusts, and he was getting close. “Feels…s-so good,” he stuttered. He was lost in it, lost in the pleasure, lost in you.

“You gonna cum for me?” you whispered, and Eddie whimpered.

“Yeah,” he moaned. “Gonna cum.”

“Cum inside me.”

Eddie’s hips stuttered, almost blowing his load at that second. “Babe- really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Eddie, do it, please,” you begged him. “I…” You met his eyes. “I’m scared. And for right now, I have you. I want to be close to you. As close as we can be.”

Eddie groaned, his head dropping down to hide against your neck. “You’re fuckin’ killin’ me.”

“Only if you want to,” you added.

“Are you kidding? Ah- I want to do that so fuckin’ bad - oh shit - you have no fuckin’ idea. Hah-“

Eddie’s thrusts were shallow now, keeping himself as deep in you as he could be. His balls were pressed against your ass with every thrust, his fingers were tihtening on your hips, and then-

“Shit!” Eddie cursed, thrusting in hard as he came, filling you with his spend. “Shit, oh god, oh god oh fuck-“ He kept moving his hips, every drop making it deep into you.

You felt so close to him in that moment. Like you had shared something so intimate - and you had. It didn’t feel like just sex. This was something else. You had been changed, both of you - you could feel it.

Eddie pulled out of you, grabbing a cigarette from his pack. He put it between his lips and lit it, taking slow drags as he calmed himself. While Eddie smoked against the head of the bed, still naked, you went to the bathroom to clean yourself up. You slipped back into your panties and Eddie’s t-shirt.

He smiled as you climbed back into bed with him. “Look what I found.”

You watched him curiously as he leaned off the bed, reaching under the table - and pulling out a polaroid camera.

“Cool!” you said, taking it from Eddie’s hands. “Should we take a picture?”

“Right now?” Eddie laughed. “All post-sex, with me still naked?”

“No one will know you’re naked,” you waved him off. “C’mere.”

Eddie snuggled closer to you on the bed. You held the camera out and you both smiled as you clicked the shutter button. You put the camera down as the photo began printing from the bottom. You and Eddie watched as it developed - it wasn’t obvious you two had just had sex in this photo, but it wasn’t exactly innocent either. Your hair was mussed, Eddie’s shirt was off, tattoos exposed. You could see the blanket pulled up to your laps. And you both had the biggest smiles on your satisfied, slightly flushed faces.

“I love you,” Eddie said, kissing you again.

“I love you too,” you told him easily. You wanted to tell him every day for the rest of forever.

“We should get some sleep,” Eddie said. “At least a nap. We have a big night ahead of us.”

Eddie spooned himself around you, holding your body close to him. You felt safe. You felt loved. You felt lucky.

—

That night, the plan went into action.

You were all geared up, weapons in hand. Steve pulled up in front of the Creel house, dropping off Max, Lucas, and Erica. No one said anything during the drive. The atmosphere was tense. Every one of you knew you might die tonight. You knew all too well how things could be ripped from your screaming, crying grasp.

You hoped if anyone had to die, it would be you.

Not because you were suicidal - god, no. But you didn’t think you could handle losing someone else. Every single person involved tonight was important to you. You couldn’t stand to lose anyone. Not again.

With the RV parked, it was time to go.

“Okay. I wanna run through it one more time,” Nancy said. “Phase one.”

“We meet Erica at the playground,” Robin said. “She’ll signal Max and Lucas when we’re ready.”

Nancy nodded. “Phase two.”

“Max baits Vecna,” Steve said. “He’ll go after her, which will put him in his trance.”

“Phase three?”

“Me and Eddie draw the bats away,” Dustin said proudly. Eddie smiled, grabbing the younger boy’s head.

“Four.”

“We head into Vecna’s newly bat-free lair, and…” Robin sloshed the molotov cocktail. “Flambé.”

“Nobody moves on to the next phase until we’ve all copied,” you said, looking around at each and every person in the RV. Your eyes lingered on Eddie and Dustin a little extra long. “Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?”

Everyone nodded. “Got it.”

And off the RV you went. You walked through the woods into Forest Hills, sneaking into the Munson trailer. Eddie squeezed your hand one final time before you entered the trailer with the others.

“Be careful,” Dustin said as Steve examined the rope.

“Here goes nothing,” Steve said. He pulled himself up with ease, then did a perfect flip into the upside down, landing on his feet. He looked back up at the rest of you, shrugging.

“Ooh, what does he want us to do, applaud?” Robin said sarcastically. You just giggled, Nancy hiding her own laugh.

Steve pulled out the mattress in the upside down and set it up. “Alright, let’s go.”

Robin got down on her knee to help Nancy climb up. She fell through successfully, Steve helping her up. “Gotcha.”

Next was your stuff, followed by Eddie. Eddie’s nail shield, Robin, more supplies, Dustin, even more supplies, and then finally, you. Steve and Eddie both offered you their hands. You took them both and they pulled you up with ease.

Once again all geared up, you walked out of the trailer into the upside down. 

“Hey, guys, listen,” Steve said, turning and walking back to Eddie and Dustin. “If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep ‘em busy for a minute or two. We’ll take care of Vecna. Don’t try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just-“

“Decoys,” Dustin finished with him. “Don’t worry. You can be the hero, Steve.”

“Absolutely,” Eddie said. “I mean, look at us. We are nottt heroes.” He smiled.

Steve looked at them for another second before turning around. You stepped forward then, looking at two of the most important things in your entire life. How had Eddie buried himself so deeply into your heart so quickly?

“Dusty,” you said, placing both hands on his shoulders. “You listen to Steve. Do not deviate from the plan. Do not do anything stupid. I need you home in one piece or mom will kill me.”

You had to joke, because if you didn’t you’d just cry.

Dustin smiled up at you, and you wanted to pull him in for a big hug like you always did. “I won’t. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” You brushed a hair through his curls. Next you went to Eddie, standing close enough that he could hear you but no one else could.

“I love you,” you said, practically choking on the emotion in your voice. You would not cry.

“I love you too,” Eddie said. He longed to brush his fingers along the side of your face, or push your hair behind your ear. More than anything, he longed to kiss you. He knew that after tonight, he’d be able to - you’d be his, everyone would know it, and he could kiss you breathless in front of anyone.

“Please don’t be stupid,” you said. “And take care of my brother.”

“I’d guard him with my life,” Eddie bowed his head to you. “Go. We’ve got this. And tonight we’ll celebrate.”

You smiled at that. You forced yourself to turn and join the others.

“Oh, and guys?” Eddie said, making both of you turn around. “Make him pay.”

That was something you could all agree to promise. With that last note, you, Steve, Nancy and Robin took off in the direction of the Creel house.

—

After a stressful walk in the woods and nearly getting lost, you made it to the house. It only looked even more ominous in the Upside Down. 

Phase 3 began, and you could hear the sound of Eddie’s guitar all the way from there. You had never heard him play before. It sent your heart thundering like a schoolgirl crush. You were snapped back to reality when the demobats went swarming in their direction, and you were left with a sinking feeling in your stomach.

“Okay, it’s working. Let’s go,” Nancy said. The four of you made your way into the Creel house.

The floors were covered with vines. You carefully jumped around them, trying hard not to accidentally awaken anything. Steve reached the top of the stairs first and turned back to help you, Nancy, and Robin.

The house began to shake, as if something was crashing into it. Steve held onto you and the others, and you squeezed your eyes shut, taking deep breaths. When it was over, Steve silently looked the three of you over to make sure you were okay.

You thought you were in the clear for all of about 5 seconds before the vines from the floor came alive, wrapping themselves around your ankles and pulling you into the wall, more vines wrapping around your whole body. You screamed. “Steve! Nancy! Robin!”

The others hit the vines with their weapons, but it wasn’t phasing them at all. The vines grabbed Steve and wrapped him against the other wall - Nancy and Robin turned and watched, wide eyed. You knew you were in trouble.

Nancy and Robin were knocked to the floor next, vines wrapping around their necks and holding them to the wall just like you and Steve.

You couldn’t breathe. The vines were slithering, smothering, tightening. Squeezing your neck tighter, tighter. You couldn’t move a muscle, couldn’t even grab at the vines around your neck. All you could do was struggle for breath as you watched the same thing happen to your closest friends.

Was this your punishment? To watch your friends die? What had you done to deserve your loved ones dying brutally again and again?

Then the vines…stopped.

You dropped to the ground as they let go, coughing and sputtering as the vines slid away. You looked around at all your friends, making sure everyone was okay.

“I don’t believe in a higher power, or divine intervention,” Robin said. “But that was a miracle.”

You cocked your gun. “Then we better not waste it.”

“Phase 4,” Steve said.

“Flambé.”

In the attic, Vecna had already been damaged. Someone was fighting with you.

He fell to the ground in flames. The four of you eyed him. Then Robin flicked her lighter, lighting the molotov cocktail - and threw it. It knocked him back and you stepped forward with the sawed off shotgun.

You shot him again and again, each one knocking him back. He screamed and you lifted the gun again - firing a shot that knocked him back and out the window.

The four of you ran outside, seeing nothing but the charred remains where his burning body had landed. Vecna was gone.

Just as you were about to leave, the clock chimed four times.

“Max.”

The gates split open.

—

The four of you were bruised and battered as you made your way back to Forest Hills. You just needed to see Eddie and your brother. Needed to know they were safe. It was the only thing keeping your legs moving.

You thought you might kiss Eddie in front of everybody when you saw him. Fuck waiting for tomorrow. You knew you’d be so relieved when you saw him, there would be no thoughts besides feeling his lips on yours.

It was quiet. The only sounds your shoes scuffing against the pavement. Then, in the distance - a screaming. The sound made you sick. You all exchanged a look and took off running in that direction. 

Please no. Please god, no. Please please please.

It was Dustin. You recognized his cries, although you had never heard him sound quite so pained. You were hurrying to where he kneeled surrounded by piles of demobats and-

He was holding a body.

You stopped. You felt bile rising in your throat. You watched on as Steve, Nancy, and Robin reached Dustin, finally making the realization that you already had. Steve covered his mouth with his hand, like he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. Nancy and Robin hugged each other.

Steve wrapped his arms around Dustin, but he looked back at you.

You didn’t need to come any closer to know. Your knees gave out, and you cried. You wailed, you screamed, you cursed god, you cursed Vecna, you cursed the whole fucking universe.

Robin and Nancy didn’t understand. Dustin was too enveloped in his own shock and grief to even notice you. But Steve did. He saw you. He had seen the both of you.

He cared for Eddie, but his heart actively cracked in his chest for you and Dustin. And, god, Eddie’s uncle. They were all each other had.

You made yourself get up. Steve let go of Dustin and stood, holding his hand out. “I really don’t think you should-“

“Let me see him,” you croaked.

Steve wouldn’t tell you no. He couldn’t tell you no. He backed off to the side and let you step forward.

Your legs gave out and you collapsed to the ground next to Dustin. Dustin turned and wrapped his arms around you, burying his face in your shirt and crying harder than he did when he broke his arm in three different places when he was 10. You subconsciously stroked his hair the way that had calmed him since he was a baby. But your eyes were locked on Eddie.

There was no doubt he was gone. His face, his mouth covered in blood. His lips that had told you he loved you for the first time today. His open, staring eyes, once so big and still full of childlike wonder even at his disillusioned, cynical age.

You reached for his hand. He was freezing cold. He needs a blanket, you thought. He’s cold. He shouldn’t be cold.

Steve, Nancy, and Robin discussed what to do while you and Dustin held each other, oblivious to what was going on around you.

“We’ve got to get him out of here,” Steve said. “We can’t just leave his body here.”

“How are we gonna do that?” Robin asked, sadness emanating from everything about her.

“Blanket?” Steve suggested. “I-I think we can do it.”

Nancy and Robin looked back over at you and Dustin. “Do you think she can-“

“Don’t ask her to help,” Steve said quickly.

Robin pursed her lips together, like there was a question she was dying to ask but wouldn’t let escape her lungs. “Were they…?”

“No,” Steve said. “I mean…long story. You just haven’t been paying close enough attention.”

—

It had been two days since the events in the upside down. Two days since Eddie had been taken from you.

They called the gates opening a 7.4 earthquake. It absolutely destroyed Hawkins. So many people died, people totally unrelated to the upside down.

They were still calling Eddie a murderer, a satanist. You couldn’t stand to have the news on - it made you sick. Eddie was a good person.

You hadn’t been able to get his body out of the upside down. The thought haunted you day and night - Eddie, alone in there, cold. So cold.

It was like you’d gone back to square one after you’d lost Billy. You had worked so hard to come out of this hole, and here you were again. Depressed, miserable, alone. Constant panic attacks and nightmares.

Steve, Robin, and Dustin convinced you to come with them to the school for the supplies drive. You didn’t want to go. You didn’t want to do anything but lay in bed and cry. But they insisted it would be good for you.

You helped them carry the boxes into the gym. Dustin was still limping from his injury. The gym was packed with people who’s homes were destroyed. Your heart ached for them, but it ached for Eddie even worse.

You dropped the boxes off at the table. “So organized,” the volunteer said. “Do you want a tax receipt for it?”

“Um, no, that’s okay,” Robin said. “But, uh…is there anything else we can do to help?”

You helped Dustin pass out water. You didn’t like being far from him these days. Dustin froze, nearly making you walk right into him. You followed his line of vision - and your stomach sunk.

Wayne Munson was walking up to the bulletin board. He removed a vandalized missing persons poster of Eddie from the board and replaced it with a clean one.

Your lips parted, tears gathering in your eyes, and you were worried you were about to have another panic attack in front of all of these people. You grabbed Dustin’s hand, who didn’t realize how badly you were freaking out.

“I think I need to go talk to him,” Dustin said. “He deserves to know.”

You didn’t say anything. You couldn’t say anything. You just watched as Dustin limped over to the weary looking man.

“Mr. Munson?”

Wayne turned to look at Dustin, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m Dustin Henderson,” your brother continued. “Can we talk?”

“I can’t imagine we got anything to talk about,” Wayne said. “My nephew is innocent. He’s still missing. I’ll put up as many posters as I need until he’s found.” He grabbed his bag roughly off the floor. “Good day to you.”

“I was with him,” Dustin said. Wayne stopped. He looked over his shoulder at Dustin. “I was with him when the earthquake hit.”

Wayne looked at him again, his gaze darting down to the floor. “And…where is Eddie now?”

You could see Dustin’s face crumpling from across the room. Your own heart clenched in your chest. Dustin reached into his pocket, pulling out Eddie’s guitar pick necklace. Wayne looked at it, then back up to Dustin’s face. “I…I’m so sorry.”

Wayne took the pick with a shaking hand, his face falling as he recognized the necklace as his nephew’s. He let out a shaky breath and sat down. Dustin limped over to sit next to him.

“I wish everyone had gotten to know him. Really know him. Because they would’ve loved him, Mr. Munson. They would’ve loved him.” Wayne was listening. “Even in the end…he never stopped being Eddie. Despite everything. I never even saw him get mad.”

Wayne nodded, trying his best to hold back tears. Dustin continued. “He could’ve run. He could’ve saved himself. But he fought. He fought and died to protect this town. This town that…hated him. He isn’t just innocent…Mr. Munson, he’s…he’s a hero.”

Wayne held the guitar pick close as he cried. Dustin sat with him.

You watched from afar, powerless to say anything or let anyone know what Eddie had meant to you, what you had had together.

After Wayne left, you caught up with Dustin again. He looked just as defeated as you felt. “You ready to go?” you asked him softly. “I think Steve and Robs are ready for us.”

Dustin just nodded. He followed you through the gym and towards the exit doors.

“He said your name.”

You stopped. “What?”

“Eddie,” Dustin said, and the name alone sent a rush of emotion through your body.

“What are you talking about, Dusty?”

“Before he played, to distract the bats in the Upside Down,” Dustin sniffed, shaking his head like he couldn’t make sense of the memory. “Before he played, he said your name. He said this one’s for her.”

You might as well have been shot in the chest. “O-oh,” you croaked, feeling like your legs were about to give out.

He’d said your name. This one’s for her.

For you. For you. For you.

—

You were so wrapped up in your own misery you didn’t even notice you missed your period.

When you started getting sick, you figured it was another side effect of the depression and trauma. Wouldn’t surprise you. Your mom was worried sick, and you kept having to make up excuses for Dustin - oh, I must have come down with something - because here you were, twice as torn up about Eddie, and you were hardly supposed to know the guy.

Having to pee a million times? Maybe you’d just been drinking more water, Nancy had been on you about that and even bought you that new water bottle. Boobs doubling in size? Must be your bras shrinking in the wash.

It was when the symptoms didn’t go away that you got worried.

Alone, they could be explained away easily. Together and unending? Something was going on.

You felt sick as you looked at yourself in the mirror. How had you not noticed? You looked different. Your boobs, your skin, your hair. You even examined your stomach closely, but there was nothing new there.

But, fuck. You definitely had an idea of what was happening.

You were calling Nancy before you even thought better of it. Nancy would know what to do. The phone rang a couple times before her sweet voice picked up.

“Hello, Wheeler residence?”

“Nancy,” you said. “I have an emergency.”

She was at your house with a pregnancy test in minutes. Thank god Dustin and your mom were both out. Nancy slipped into the house like a ninja, handing off the pharmacy bag like a ticking time bomb.

“Are you okay?” she asked you.

You shrugged. You hadn’t had time to process your feelings on the potential situation. Hadn’t allowed yourself to. You just took the test into the bathroom, did your thing, and went back out to wait with Nancy.

It was a tense 30 minutes.

When Nancy’s watch timer went off, you both practically jumped out of your skin. You stood slowly, legs shaking, unsure if they’d even carry you back to the bathroom for the answers you seek. Somehow you make it there, and you lean against the counter for support as you make yourself open your eyes and read the results.

Blue. Pregnant.

You choked out a sob, hand coming to rest on your stomach. Oh, Eddie. What had you two done?

Nancy knocked on the door, calling your name. “Are…are you okay in there?”

You opened the door, and she could tell immediately. “Oh, honey,” she mumbled, pulling you in for a tight hug. You allowed yourself to cry into her shoulder, to feel the pain for a moment. You didn’t open yourself up to it often anymore.

After she got you sitting on your bed, pregnancy test discreetly disposed of, she held your hands as you talked. “The dad…” she began, knowing it would be a touchy subject no matter who it was. “Have you…told him? Who is it?”

The tears burst through like a dam at that question. You were just immediately sobbing - it took Nancy aback. She placed her hands on your upper arms. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m going to help you. Who is it?”

You squeezed your eyes shut, then looked up, like could my life be any more of a cruel joke? What did you do to deserve the shit you’d been put through in the last couple of years?

Nancy repeated your name. “Who is it?”

You choked out another small sob. “Eddie.”

Nancy’s eyes went wide. “It- you and-“ her voice dropped to a whisper. “The baby is Eddie’s?”

You nodded, face just crumbling into more tears. “Oh,” Nancy said, rubbing your arms as if you were cold - and you were, suddenly - all the understanding in the world in that simple word.

“When did you…?” she asked, although she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer.

But getting to talk about Eddie always made you feel better - even though this particular topic made you blush. It also made you smile at the memory. “It was when we went back to your place in the RV.”

“When we slept?” she asked.

“Some sleeping was done,” you smiled sheepishly.

Nancy giggled, smiling at you like she hadn’t seen one from you in over a month and it was a welcome sight. She wiped your tears away.

“Nancy, what the fuck am I gonna do?” you asked with a laugh, but you were totally serious.

Nancy was honest. “I…don’t know.” She brushed your hair back, much like Eddie would. “But we always figure it out.”

tag list

@moon-esque @emxxblog @samslvrgirl @kthomps914 @kellsck

[some-lovely-day]

#And he took that personally

[some-lovely-day]

reading this with his death in mind is TORTURE

safe - e.m. 2/3

summary: no matter what, eddie just cannot let you go. not until he feels truly betrayed. 

pairing: eddie munson x f!reader

word count: 6k 

warnings: strong language, mentions of violence, mentions of drugs/meds, mentions of mental illness (ptsd)

tags: no s4 spoilers, friends to enemies to lovers-ish, angst, fluff

a/n: one thing abt me is i will never give characters an easy resolution i love angst too much

(     PREVIOUS     |     NEXT     )

Monday morning had Eddie Munson walking around his trailer with a scowl on his face and slithers of angers crawling up the back of his neck. His hair was unruly, shorter strands sticking out of his shag. Soft violet rings contrasted against the paleness of his skin as they appeared underneath the boy’s sunken, tired eyes.

Keep reading

[some-lovely-day]

safe - e.m. 1/3

summary: you and eddie see eachother for the first time after you broke the friendship to protect him from the upside down

pairing: eddie munson x f!reader

word count: 4.7k

warnings: mentions of drugs, strong language, mentions of violence, throwing things

tags: no s4 spoilers, friends to enemies to lovers-ish, angst

a/n: i would die for each and everyone of u who supported this, no joke

(  NEXT CHAPTER  )

Eddie Munson sat on a lounge chair by the pool, unlit cigarette hanging by the corner of his mouth. His metal lunchbox stood by his boots, on the stoned ground. His right leg bounced up and down with quickness, his fingers fiddled with the rings on his right hand.

Keep reading

[some-lovely-day]

Dissociation vs Overstimulation

[some-lovely-day]

I went from tearing up, to secondhand anxiety, to secondhand embarrassment, to my heart absolutely soaring ♥️♥️♥️

Edit of Eddie: Sofiiel

Stripper!Eddie x Shy!Fem!Reader

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 (end)

WC: 8.6k

⚠️ +18 MDNI, Stripper!Eddie, shyness towards men, nervousness, self-esteem issues, fluff of some sort, self doubt, flirting, Stripper!Billy and Stripper!Steve making an appearance

Plot: You thought you were cursed with your shyness, but after one embarrassing night, you decide it's time to change, and you believe someone might be able to help with that.

Summary: You finally buy something you feel pretty in, and Eddie invites you to his house to finally meet his friends... Who are also his Co-Workers.

A/N: Thank you so much for the amazing support in this story! Next chapter is when things get spicier! So follow me and click the notifications for my postings since I will close the taglist for now!

You can always support me by hitting the reblog button with tags, and I always enjoy reading your comments!

PART 3

“No.” Robin deadpans at you as you hold a white t-shirt up to her. You frowned as you turned it to look at it yourself.

“What’s wrong with it? The collar is lower!” You try to defend but in all honesty you knew you were just going for the safe options. It’s been an hour since you arrived at the mall and even if you wanted to come here alone Robin insisted on helping after you told her what Eddie told you.

She was surprised, incredibly surprised, because she never thought it had to do with your self-esteem, and that drove you to have no experience in a lot of things. You didn’t know how to do your own make-up, how to dress yourself, how to talk without feeling the need to overdo it, or even how to flirt. This was all based on confidence you never had, confidence you never built in yourself, confidence you never really felt like having because you thought the opportunities didn’t happen for you.

But now, Robin was doing her best to not murder you. You have been showing her bland t-shirts, soft cardigans, some jeans, and nothing that would be different from what you usually wear. She wanted you to do the picking by yourself, so that you could find your own style, but her patience was growing thinner and thinner each second that ticked. 

“What’s wrong with it?! It’s the same shit you always wear!” Robin exclaimed at you and you winced at her tone, putting the white shirt back on the rack. In all honesty, you didn't feel confident to get hold of the things that caught your attention. You had liked a black one piece that looked like a corset with spaghetti straps. You also saw a nice tight purple dress with puffy sleeves that fell from your shoulders. 

“No need to be so dramatic about it Robin…” Your friend simply rolled her eyes and looked over the rack of clothes. She heard your phone’s ringtone and immediately saw how you were getting it out of your coat. Her eyes almost widened when you didn’t even flinch, seeing the caller ID, and even knowing it was a video call.

Your stomach was in knots when answering but you got better with video calling with Eddie after the first two times he called. The first time, you didn’t put on your camera, but he didn’t mind. He showed you his apartment and then his makeup collection, explaining to you some basic stuff to get started with it. You took down notes of the names of each thing, concealer, foundation, contour, liners, mascara, blush, lipstick, lip gloss, setting spray, and powder. That was the basic thing. 

The second call you only showed your eyes and forehead. He laughed at you of course, which only made you want to hang up on the call but he stopped you and told you that it was an improvement. In that call though, you almost felt the earth swallowing as Steve and Billy made an appearance, both shirtless, waving at you. You immediately muted yourself and took off the camera as your whole body grew a cold sweat.

That meant that Eddie had talked about you to them.

Your hand was shaking as it positioned itself on top of the answering button, ready to slide it, but Robin snatched your phone away, your eyes widening like plates as she swiped the phone to answer, and you didn’t even have the chance to take the device back.

“Well that was qui– Hey, who are you?” Robin put the phone to her face, seeing Eddie on the screen, and she almost barked out a laugh when she remembered the show she witnessed of him two weeks ago. She held in her laughter, taking a deep breath in to begin talking.

“Hi, I’m Robin–”

“Ah, you’re Robin, hi there!” Eddie smiled into the camera and Robin blinked slightly at how charismatic this man was, not at all what she thought a stripper would be like, and she realized that you talked to him about her. 

“Robin, what the shit!” You yelled on her side and she put the phone to show your face and you instantly turned red at seeing Eddie, face to face, even on camera, but you kept your gaze on the device, even if the butterflies in your belly swarmed all around.

“Well, hello there Bunny. I see you’re at the mall.” He said with a smile and you nodded about to start talking, but Robin put the phone to her face after shooting a glare towards your way.

“Eddie, I’ve been here for a fucking hour, I want you to see the shit she’s been picking.” You stared at her in complete offense after yelling a ‘Hey!’ but she completely ignored you, grabbing onto the white bland shirt you picked earlier and showing it to Eddie with the phone. “This, but in black, in brown, in beige, in gray… And not one single dress or skirt!” 

“That really won’t do… We’ll pick for her, Robin, show me the rack.” He winked at the camera and Robin only rolled her eyes at him. He knew he could throw those kinds of jokes with her and not with you, because that would only spur you into nervousness. 

“You guys know I’m still here, right?” You said, crossing your arms over your chest and Robin pointed the camera at you so she could keep eye scanning the various shirts that were hanging there. Eddie frowned into the camera and shook his head.

“You cannot possibly tell me you feel sexy in a bland white t-shirt.” You bit the inside of your cheek, looking down at the floor like a kid that just got called out and Eddie had to contain the smile that was coming into his face.

“What do you know…” You mumbled, and even in the ambience of the mall, it was audible enough for your microphone to pick it up. Eddie chuckled and rubbed his cheek.

“A lot. Robin, got anything?” At the call of her name, Robin pointed the camera to her face and shook her head.

“The store we’re in is practically for ladies over 50. She never once entered stores that have clothing of our generation.” She shot a glare at you and you stuck her tongue out at her which she scoffed at. “Don’t stick your tongue out at me!”

“Okay, hand me over.” Robin gave you the phone and you sighed, putting your face in the screen, scowling at Eddie. You should feel offended, but you knew deep inside you that they were right, and you were just going for comfort instead of something you actually would like. 

“What?” You snapped at him, making his eyes widen, his eyebrows disappearing under his fringe.

“No need to get snappy with me. Darling, did you really not see anything you liked?” He squinted into the camera and you adjusted yourself, glancing at the floor for a second but he noticed. He noticed the body language, and he knew that you had indeed seen something you liked and didn’t even dare to try it on, or even go into the store.

“I… Um…” Eddie sighed and that made you look up into the screen again. He looked fresh out of the shower, his hair up in a wet bun with some strands falling to the sides of his face. The black shirt covering him, and you could see the tattoos that were on his neck coming out.

“Okay, I want you to take us where you’ve seen that something you liked. I want you to at least try it on, whatever it is. I don’t care if it’s a care bears shirt, I just want you to go pick something you like.” He was patient with you, and Robin took notice of that. She was amazed by how carefree he was, and how careful he was being with his words so that you wouldn’t get scared easily. He wasn’t pressuring you, and he wasn’t commanding you really. 

“Okay…” You mumbled in a low tone and Robin’s eyes widened. He hit the spot and she didn’t even notice if you glanced at something you liked or not. You walked out of the store, Robin following right behind and Eddie called Robin out to get the phone. She grabbed it and looked into the camera.

“Is it true you fought a raccoon and grabbed its tail and simply hammer threw it the fuck out of the garden?” He said with a chuckle and Robin immediately started laughing, almost snorting as she remembered that night.

Her, Nancy and you were chilling at Nancy’s pool, drinking a few cocktails made at home, when out of nowhere a raccoon appeared and for some reason wanted Nancy’s ankle bracelet. Poor Nancy ran all over her garden until a very drunk Robin threw herself on the raccoon, grabbed it by the tail, spun around and flung it over to the neighbor’s garden.

It seems you told Eddie that story.

“Fuck yeah I did, it might have had rabies, and it’s one of my number one phobias! I couldn’t risk it!” Eddie started cracking up as you entered the colorful store, making Robin look around. She noticed you weren’t talking, probably trying to swallow your nerves with each step you took, and that was very much what was happening.

Every step felt like electricity under your feet as you headed straight to the rack of dresses. Robin was not talking as well as Eddie, waiting for you to grab something. You took a deep breath in, maybe two. Your hand slowly reached out and grabbed hold of the lilac dress you saw before on the mannequin. Robin’s eyes widened and looked down at Eddie and gave him a small nod but didn’t show him what you picked. 

Eddie was biting his thumb, the curiosity killing him but he was sure you were debating whether to try it on or not. After a minute he saw Robin’s eyes widen as she moved a bit, the lights of the store over her head. He straightened up on the chair and then Robin whispered down to him.

“She went into the changing room, Eddie. I’ve never seen her in a dress before. What if I fall in love with my best friend? I can’t handle this.” It was a joke of course, she could never fall in love with you, not when she had her eyes on Vickie for the past two years, but it would be the first time she would see you in a dress. Last time it was a prom dress and it wasn’t even tight or anything, it was long sleeved, with a nice fall but nowhere tight to your body shape.

“Okay, just, keep calm, and do not show distaste if you don’t like it. She liked it, that’s the important thing.” Robin nodded at his words as she waited patiently for you. 

“This might take a while though…” She knew that you might be looking at yourself for a long while inside, so she looked down at Eddie to start striking some conversation, maybe a private one that you should not hear. “Why are you helping her so much?”

“Well… Honestly, I don’t know… I guess at first I was intrigued, wondering if there was such a thing as being shy towards men, but she is actually pretty cool. She likes The Lord of The Rings, so that’s a plus.” He said with a smile and Robin could only laugh at that, shaking her head. Of course the stripper was a total nerd like yourself. 

“Yeah… You know… This only happens with attractive men only.”

“Are you, a lesbian, hitting on me?”

“Shut the fuck up.” She shook her head at him as he threw his head back with laughter but then she cleared her throat. “I don’t know if she told you, but… She had dates before, but they weren’t with men she was attracted to.” Eddie’s eyes widened slightly at that and Robin shook her head. “It’s more like, attractive guys in general. Not like a personal attraction to a guy.” 

Eddie hummed at that, completely in thought. So it wasn’t that you were personally attracted to him. This happened to you with every man that you found hot basically, and Eddie knew that he was a handsome man. As well as Billy and Steve are. There’s no need to be humble about that, because if he weren’t, he wouldn’t have gotten the job he has now.

“She’s getting better though.” He clarifies and Robin smiles at him, and nods.

“Yeah, she is, slowly but–” She cut herself off as she looked over the phone and her mouth hung open. 

You had walked out of the changing room, after five minutes of staring at yourself in the mirror, your eyes full of tears as you looked at yourself. Tears that weren’t of sadness, of disappointment, of disgust… You liked yourself in the mirror. For the first time in your life, you had tried on a casual dress, and you didn’t dislike what you saw.

The lilac dress hugged your body with a few sinches at the front, the semi-princess sleeves falling over your shoulders, hugging your biceps, and the dress stopped right in the middle of your thighs. The top of your breasts popped out slightly from the bunched fabric of the top, the small golden chain hanging from your neck and then your white sneakers completed the outfit just right.

“Holy fucking shit…” Robin only exclaimed and you just stood there, breathing heavy as you waited for her response. She just tapped on the screen, two times, to turn the camera around so the back camera would face you. 

Eddie’s air got knocked out of his lungs.

He was still looking at you, eyes staring at the screen as if he was seeing a long lost puzzle solved in front of his eyes and he didn’t want to miss one single second of it. His words were in his throat, wanting to say so much but for some reason his mouth was not cooperating, frozen, slightly opened in a surprised motion. His eyes roamed your body, top to bottom, and jesus fuck, you weren’t doing justice to yourself, hiding behind all those baggy clothes and bland colors. The purple color matched perfectly against your skin tone.

“I shouldn’t buy it, right? You both aren’t saying anything at all…” You voiced out your thoughts, which in the past you would have kept inside your inner monologue and do whatever you thought was best for you. For your mental stability that is. Robin immediately got up from the chair she was waiting on and pointed at you.

“Y-You… We’re getting every single color of that dress.” Robin says, stuttering at how different you look from your normal self. It was way more than just looking good, there’s like a light that it’s not quite bright around you yet, but it’s dim, wanting to become stronger each second you stand there in your new clothes.

“R-Really?” You bit your lip nervously and Robin looked down on the screen and saw that Eddie was still stunned on his chair, looking at his screen. She smirked and looked up at you again.

“Look, you left a stripper speechless, I think that usually goes the other way around.” At that, Eddie snapped out, a blush creeping on his cheeks when he realized he was caught staring without hiding it at all, without being discreet. He cleared his throat and motioned for Robin to turn him so that you could see him.

Robin flipped the camera so the front one would start filming now, before handing the phone to you. Your stomach was in nervous knots, anxious to know what a man like him would think. Expectant to see if this wasn’t too much for you, wanting to know if this actually suited a woman like you at all and they weren’t just saying it because they are your friends.

Is that what Eddie was? A friend? You would really like to think so. You were hoping he would feel the same way about that, because that would mean he would be your first ever male friend. Real friend. You looked at Eddie on the screen, and his eyes were lit up, a big smile on his face and your chest thumped at that sight.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, Sweetheart… How do you feel in it?” He asks and you clear your throat to hide your nervousness, looking down at the floor.

“I uh… I feel comfortable in it… I-I like it.” Robin was almost jumping in excitement at your words and Eddie wanted to fist pump the air at the news.

“Good, good… You’re going to buy it then?” He asks, and that’s the next step of it all. Not letting self doubt eat you up at the last second. Be confident in the decision you chose from the very beginning, not letting the eye of strangers change it, nor their thoughts. What matters is the reflection you saw when you put on the dress, all alone, inside the dressing room.

You gave a nod and handed the phone back to Robin to hide back into the changing room. Robin waited till you couldn’t see her anymore and squealed into the camera in excitement, Eddie chuckling at the reaction but feeling victorious as well. This was like watching a bird hatch. Slowly, but surely, the beak breaks the shell, piece by piece, and that’s what it felt when they both watched you.

“I cannot believe you actually managed this…” Robin says with surprise in her tone and Eddie simply shook his head. 

“I didn’t really do anything, she was the one that approached me for help. I am just guiding her through it.” He explains to Robin and she gives him a soft nod, and then Eddie’s smile slowly fell, nerves wrecking his body. “Hey um… I might need your help for the next thing…”

After a few minutes, you came out of the changing room, and slowly walked towards the cashier, trying to let your hands hand the dress towards the nice lady, and then giving her your card. You were feeling a rush of adrenaline coming up on you, as if you were using the money you made for something other than necessities. You were treating yourself.

“Have a good day!” The lady said, giving you the bag, and you blushed, with a nod, walking out with Robin who was still chatting up with Eddie.

“Eddie says Make-Up is next.” You were getting kinda angry that they were talkative with one another, but happy at the same time that they enjoyed the conversation they were having. You started heading towards Sephora, and then you heard Eddie’s voice calling out to you, Robin handing you the phone.

He was smiling at you, and you felt those nerves in your tummy but not as strongly as before. Your eyes traveled to his tattooed neck until he called you out again.

“Stop ogling and listen to me.” He says with a chuckle, making you blush a deep red, wanting to drive your face away from the screen but before you could do so, he kept talking. “I want to invite you to my apartment tomorrow night. We can have a few drinks and have some dinner, and you can meet Steve and Billy, properly this time.” He finished with a nervous smile.

Eddie was actually nervous for this step, but it was needed. The only male you had interacted with until now, was him. He wanted to see how you would interact with other guys, hence, Steve and Billy, both knowing about your situation. They agreed to help you, and Eddie was grateful for that. 

Your stomach dropped to the floor at that. The other two. The other two strippers. Eddie’s friends. But it was just that right? He wanted to introduce you to his friends, like Robin was introduced today, but that meant you would be alone with three hot guys in a room, and that is something that was making you tremble with nerves already, Eddie noticing the slight shake on the camera.

“Shit, important detail. I invited Robin too. You won’t be here alone with just the three of us… Just thought it would be cool since we got the day off tomorrow, and they want to meet you actually.” He tries to make your shoulders untense, and try to calm you down, and it seems it works, because you frowned and looked at Robin who was next to you looking at Eddie.

“Yep, I’m for it, I mean, I have so many questions about their profession.” She encourages with a smile and you look at the screen again, gulping the nerves down to your belly. You felt yourself sweat at the outcome of all of this, but either way, you nodded at Eddie. He smiled widely, showing his bright teeth, and fist pumping the air.

“Fuck yeah, I make very mean nachos. I’ll make them tomorrow! You’ll love them!” He says with a chuckle and you giggle out, finally a sigh of relief leaving your lips.

“I like spicy.” Eddie held in the smirk at your words, closing his eyes to not make a dirty joke out of it. 

Too early for that.

“Robin, I should go change, this is not okay, I didn’t have time to practice my contour, it must look horrible, you just don’t want to say it, but it’s okay! I can take it! Just please, turn so I can fix it–”

“SHUT UP! I’M DRIVING FOR FUCK SAKE!” Robin Buckley lost her patience with you, once again. You flinched at the loud words, making you sink in the passenger’s seat. You were wearing the dress you bought, plus a denim jacket you got in another store and your white reeboks at your feet. 

“I don’t know why you got to wear jeans and I have to wear a dress. I look… like I am trying too hard…” You sighed out, the six pack of beer in your lap, clinking every now and then at the movement of the car. Robin wanted to kill you, to put it simply, but she loved you too much to do so. 

“I dress like a lesbian dyke. I don’t really have dresses, or skirts, you know that!” You giggled at that and you had to admit she had a point there. “You look good, casual, and so pretty. I helped you with your makeup and we did a fantastic job.” You nodded at that and tried to calm your own nerves as Robin turned the street and finally parked. Your breathing rate increased as you looked up at the building, trying to take deep breaths to calm yourself down.

“Robin, I–”

“I’ll be there with you, the moment you feel like throwing up or leaving, we’re out of there. But they seem really nice, and FRIENDLY.” She emphasized the word and you sighed, that actually worked to untense your situation. 

“Okay… okay… I can do this, I can make male friends.” You say, opening the passenger’s door open and Robin chuckling in her seat as she opened her door.

“That’s my girl.” She says excitedly, locking the car behind her as you both head towards the doorbells panel. You notice that there aren’t many buttons, despite the building being quite large. Robin takes the initiative and you grip onto the six pack even tighter, wanting to run away from here, but you wouldn’t.

You weren’t running again. Robin was going to be there, Eddie you’ve already seen, it’s fine, everything will be fine.

Robin rang the doorbell and without even replying, the door opened. Robin smiled at you, opening the door for you to get by and you looked all around the lobby as you both walked to the elevator. 

Each floor the elevator passed, the more you felt coldness at your feet, and you felt as if your makeup was completely melting on your face, but the reflection on the elevator’s walls told you differently. Everything seemed okay, which calmed your nerves a bit, and you took a deep breath in before jumping at the ding sound of finally arriving at the designated floor. 

Robin helped you out of the metal cell and you moved with heavy steps towards apartment B. You noticed that there were only two apartments per floor, so this meant that the floor was big. Robin bit her cheek and looked at you. She wasn’t going to admit to you that she was nervous too, that would completely wreck you, but she was. She was meeting new people, which she had no trouble with, but she was still keeping her guard up just in case.

“You ready?”

“No, but what can I do about that?” You reply, getting a chuckle out of Robin.

“Good.” And like that, she rang the doorbell. Your eyesight was immediately dropped to the floor, six pack in one hand, grabbing it by the handle, biting the inside of your cheek to just bite into something, other than your fingers. You heard some talking behind the door, making your belly almost ache at how nervous you were feeling at the moment, but anxious to get this night over with. 

You heard some heavy steps, and your body was trying to ignite the Flight mode, wanting to dash out of there as soon as possible, but you kept your eyes at your reeboks. It’s Eddie, it’s going to be okay.

The door finally opened and in your vision came some old reeboks, not the same model as yours, and that made your nerves go away a bit, noticing the similarity of clothes. You slowly looked up, noticing the black ripped jeans first, the black belt, then the tight black simple t-shirt on, and your sight stopped at his arms. Covered in tattoos, and there, sure enough was the bat tattoo he mentioned. 

“Welcome to my coven ladies.” That made your eyes shoot up, completely widened with a blush and Eddie was smiling at you, biting at his tongue. “Come in, come in, don’t want those beers to get cold!” He cheerfully moves aside and Robin grabs the six pack out of your hands and walks past Eddie and into his house.

You just stood there, hands behind your back as the biting in the inside of your cheek worsened. What if Steve and Billy do not like you? What if they aren’t as patient as Eddie is? Should you return when it’s just Eddie alone here? Maybe you can video call them, meeting them like that, less personal–

“Sweetheart.”

You were cut off from your thoughts, your eyes locking with Eddie’s again as he smiled down at you. He put his hand out tentatively and this would be the second time you would ever touch him. Graze skin on skin with his, with a man, with an attractive man. You stared at it for a few seconds, heart on your throat and a shaky hand slowly rising up to meet his. His grin widened and he made you do a twirl, causing you to yelp slightly.

“Look at you! That looks great on you, princess.” He wanted to say so many things. He wanted to say you looked beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, incredibly sexy, but he didn’t want you to think he was flirting with you, which in a deep part of him, he would be more than delighted to do so, but he was fine in just being your friend.

“T-Thank you.” You squeaked out and you wanted to tell him he looked good too, but that would already be flirting, right? But you do tell Robin she looks good, and she’s just your friend, and she never receives the compliments as flirting. Same with Nancy and the other girls.

But with Eddie, it was still a big challenge for you to do so. Much more when it was about his looks.

“Alright, let’s go inside! I want to show you around!” He said with a smile, moving aside for you to enter. You slowly walked inside, feeling each step heavy on the floor and your eyes widened at how spacious the whole place was. The ambience reminded you of a New York artist loft. You saw the large couch in the middle with the TV at the front and a coffee table in between, a library filled with different books, a guitar in a corner, some weights in another, large windows, and a snail staircase in one side of the room.

Now you realize why there weren’t so many buttons in the building. The apartments consisted of two floors. You were amazed by it, but you guessed that three people paying for one single place has its perks and you can always aim for something bigger. The kitchen can be seen from where you’re standing, a large island counter separating it from the living room. Robin was there, putting the beers inside the fridge and taking out three cold ones.

“Mi casa es su casa.” Eddie says, closing the door behind him, Robin speaking after him.

“Where’s the stripper pole?” You choked at that, sending a glare towards Robin who just shrugged at you, but Eddie laughed at Robin’s question, shaking his head.

“I don’t know if you remember, but there were no poles at the club we work at.” He says as if it were a matter of fact and Robin just nodded, heading towards the both of you with the beers in her hands. Eddie quickly grabbed one, snapping open the can and then you grabbed the second one. Maybe this will help with your nerves, hopefully.

Eddie immediately guided you both towards the library and you were fascinated by the amount of literature that was there, mostly fantasy and horror, which were your favorite types of books, apart from the normal romantic shenanigans.

“So, this is basically all yours?” You added and Eddie smirked, nodding.

“Yeah, the other two can’t grab a book even if their lives depended on it.”

“We heard that Munson!” You heard some metal stomping from the stairs, someone coming down, and the hairs behind your neck stood on end at the male voice that sounded in your ears.

Not only that, but following on those steps, there were more, which meant both of the other men were coming down the stairs to greet you. You froze in place, sound around you becoming non-existent and you could swear you heard Robin talking, probably introducing herself. A soft touch grazed your shoulder, making you look up in a jump, and Eddie was shooting you a warm smile. 

You were here with Eddie, and Robin. You were here with friends. They were friends.

Eddie was nervous, of course, but you didn’t look pale, which was a good enough sign for him to turn towards Steve and Billy and introduce you to them. You bit your lip and slowly turned your head, feeling the rock in your tongue trying to weigh it down until you finally locked with the first set of eyes. Brown ones.

“Eye locking. Nice! I am Steve.” He said with a smile, putting his hand out for a handshake. He was instructed by Eddie to provoke physical contact. You were like a cat, he explained. You needed to feel comfortable enough to let yourself break loose and the handshake was kind of the sniffing animals did to detect any threats.

You felt your cheeks burn at the praise, licking your lips as your breathing started picking up a pace again, but still you raised your shaking hand up, Eddie’s eyes looking at you, making sure you were okay, and then you held onto Steve’s hand, moving it slightly as a greeting. Steve seemed pleased with that, smiling at you with a nod, and letting go of your hand after a second.

Robin exhaled the air out of her lungs, giving Eddie a thumbs up, hiding it from you and he gave Robin a small nod. Now, it was Billy’s turn. And your eyes widened when he locked his gaze on you. His eyes are just so bright that you cannot handle it, feeling completely watched by him, as if scanned, and you turned your gaze away.

“Calm Sweets, it’s alright. I’m Billy.” You took a deep breath in, gulping down and closing your eyes as you remembered that night. This man looked slightly intimidating, a sexy aura simply spilling from his pores, but when he encouraged that old lady to touch him, you were sure he was trying to make her feel young again, let her feel adventurous, with a kind smile on his face.

So you gazed up again, Eddie’s eyes widening at your action and giving Billy a nod to stick his hand out. You looked at his hand and licked your lips as you raised your trembling hand towards him. His hands were rough, and he was probably the one that used the weights the most. He smiled when you looked up to him again, no salacious look, or a hint of smugness, just a kind welcoming smile.

And you knew you were safe.

He let go of your hand and Eddie finally let the breath out of his lungs that he was holding in. He was afraid he would have to take you to the ER or something, probably fainting here and hitting your head on something, but you proved him wrong. And he was really proud of you, looking at you with a smile to his face as well as Robin coming to your side to put a hand on your shoulder.

“Alright, I already ordered pizza, so I assumed everyone likes Pepperoni.” Steve says as you all moved to the island counter to sit at the stools, you were in between Robin and Eddie, taking a gulp out of your beer.

“What if I’m allergic Dingus?” Robin says to him as he sat next to her and he shot her a quizzical look.

“Did you just call me dingus?” He asked and you couldn’t help the snort that came out of your throat as Billy chuckled, getting two beers out of the fridge. 

“Well yeah, you don’t know us, what if we wanted, I don’t know… Anchovy pizza?” She asked and all three boys grimaced at that.

“Who the fuck would like that?” Billy asked and you gulped in embarrassment, Robin shooting you a look. You have to be brave, confident in the things you like, in the things you are passionate about, just like Eddie said. Don’t let anyone diminish the things you most enjoy in life.

“I– I do…” Eddie’s eyes widened, looking down at you, shaking his head.

“You can’t possibly be serious Princess…” Eddie says and you frown at that, looking at him with an offended look on your face, but very protective of your tastes.

“Maybe you tried the wrong kind of Anchovy pizza!” You defend and Eddie lets out a laugh and shakes his head.

“Who would even try that in the first place?!” He retorts and you point at him with your finger, squinting at him.

“So you didn’t try it… Your argument is invalid.” You finish and take a sip out of your can, Robin slowly clapping at you for shutting him up and you bow with your head at her. Eddie’s eyes were boring into your skull and Billy shrugged at him.

“She is right though, Harrington, call the place and order another one, with Anchovies, we gotta try that shit now.” Steve simply rolled his eyes at his friend and Eddie was shaking his head.

“Nope, nope! I am not trying that.” He takes a sip out of his beer as Steve sends a message to the pizza place to order that one other pizza. Robin’s phone buzzes, and she looks down on it, you peeking over your shoulder to see she received a notification from her dating app.

“Is that Carol?” You ask and Robin shook her head, opening the app to reply to a girl she just made a match with. Steve also took a peek on the other side and he almost spat his beer when he saw the profile picture. Everyone looked at him with a shocked expression and he wiped his mouth, pointing at the phone.

“That’s not a girl.” Steve claims and your eyes widened, same as Robin’s as you both looked at Steve. Robin scoffed and put up the profile of the person she made a match with.

“It is a girl, I only have my app set to get girls.” She says and Steve shook his head, pointing at something in the picture. 

“It’s literally a filter. You can see the smudge of them trying to wipe off the beard.” Robin was blinking at him as if he were insane and you were chugging down your beer out of pure nerves. You didn’t like the sound of that, anxiety filling up in your chest as you heard those words coming out of Steve’s mouth.

“So, he is a creep?” Robin asks and at that Steve nods, taking a sip out of his beer and makes a shoving motion to her phone.

“Delete that app, they suck.” He says and Robin simply huffs at him, putting her phone down to look at him.

“And how do you expect me to find available hot babes?” At that, Steve rolled his eyes as the rest of you watched the interaction closely. The two of them were talking as if they were long distant friends, immediately engaging in a very intense debate into whether the dating apps work better than engaging conversation in a bar or club, randomly. 

“Totally engaging conversation in a bar.” Eddie states as Steve points him out as a thank you. 

“Not everyone is as charismatic as you guys are, just mind you! Behind a screen is much safer, at least for me.” Robin states and you just sipped on your beer, not really involving yourself in the conversation because you had done neither. You never interacted in a bar with another man, and you never downloaded any dating app on your phone. 

You weren’t going to ever make the first move, and men hardly approached you at public places because your friends snatched you away before they could engage in conversation with you. Not that if you stayed you would have talked to him. You most likely would have just frozen in place.

During this whole ordeal you didn’t notice the pair of blue eyes that were watching you as you quietly drank down your can of beer, already finishing it. Your name was called, and you raised your head up, noticing Billy was calling out to you.

“What’s your opinion on all this?” He asked you and your throat closed up, feet becoming cold as his eyes scanned your reaction. The nerves in your belly became alive once more, feeling their eyes almost burning into your body as they waited for your answer.

“I– I never really… Um…” You gulped trying to find your words and Eddie was glaring at Billy for making you nervous but his friend glared back, shaking his head at him as if telling Eddie to not intervene.

“Sweetheart… Eddie has helped a lot, I know that, but… What is going to happen if a guy you’re talking to suddenly flirts with you? Someone you might be attracted to?” Billy asks you and you look down at your cup, blinking at it. Eddie has taught you the easy part. The friendly part. But in the end, your ultimate goal was to be able to be with someone you were attracted to. Someone that you actually liked not only spiritually but physically too.

And how were you going to do that when you didn’t know how to flirt? Much less, how to react when being flirted at?

“Munson, scooch.” You heard Billy say and Eddie gave you a look, which you didn’t reciprocate because you were still looking down at your can. Eddie knew that this part was going to come sooner or later, but he didn’t intend for Billy to take the initiative. Not today at least. It was supposed to be a way of getting to know the other two and loosen you up with other men other than himself.

Eddie stood up from his stool and exchanged places with Billy. You closed your eyes as you felt the blood in your body slowly leaving you but you were brought back to your senses when Robin pressed a soft hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, I’m here…” She reassures you and you look up to her, gulping heavily as the anxious feeling in your belly moves around, but you fight through it, turning your head to look at Billy who smiled sweetly at you, and that friendly smile made your shoulders relax just a bit.

“Alright… We’re friends now, okay? This is only to help you. Even if what I say is true, there is no hidden intention behind it, but what I want you to know is that, when a person flirts with you, it’s not only you who has to have confidence, it’s the other person as well, so basically you are both on the same boat.” Billy explains to you, and you slowly nod in understanding and then Robin intervenes.

“Yeah, it’s not like I am a flirting machine, you know how nervous I get about that.” You turned to look at her, and yes, you do remember how she explained to you how nervous she got when a girl approached her at a club one time, and she wouldn’t stop ramblings about whales for some reason. 

So everyone gets nervous about it, not only you, you are not the only one who gets shy about it, or bashful, and that soothes the knots in your belly just a bit more. 

“So, what I wanna try with you, is give you a compliment, and for you to give another one back.” Billy continues and your head snaps at him with widened eyes. This was a big step, a huge one, and your heart is already beating in anticipation as to what he might say. You glanced at Eddie once, and he gave you a reassuring nod, and it was as if you just received a message from him that played in your head.

‘It’s alright.’

Robin’s hand was pressed on your shoulder still, as you looked at Billy and how his demeanor slightly changed. His eyes suddenly gazed at you with another type of spark in them, as his smile turned into a small one, a little bit higher on one side, and his body moved towards you, just slightly as he leaned against the counter.

His eyes were looking into yours, and your mind was yelling at you, screaming, grasping at every cell to make you run away, that this was stupid, that this was impossible for you, that there was no way this would happen in other circumstances.

“You look beautiful tonight, sweetheart.” 

Your breath got caught in your throat, feeling it closing in, and how can you believe such thing? How is that man telling you something like that? You’re nothing special really, you’re pretty bland. Pretty normal.

And that’s when you felt yourself snap.

You put on the dress you felt nice in, you put on makeup for the first time in which Robin helped and you liked the outcome of it. You looked down at your lap, your knuckles white in tight fists as you tried to even out your breath, thinking of a response to him, maybe about his attire as well? About his perfume? What?

“Say anything that comes to mind darling. Anything at all.” You heard Eddie’s voice ringing from afar, and you took a deep breath in, settling on one thought only as you looked up to meet Billy’s gaze again, who was now smiling encouragingly at you, leaving behind the smug grin.

“Y-Your eyes are pretty.” Billy’s eyes widened at that, as well as everyone else’s in the room and you felt your whole face heating up as a wave of embarrassment filled your body. You said too much, it was too forward, you came too strong, what if he took it the wrong way, what if they think you are weird? What if–

“Oh, you made Billy blush!” You heard Steve exclaim excitedly and you paid attention to Billy again who was hiding his face under his hand, which he had across, palm on one cheek, fingers on the other, but you could see the pink reaching his eyes as he looked away. Eddie finally laughed out loud, patting Billy in the back.

“She’s a fast learner isn’t she?” Eddie said proudly and you were still stunned, staring at Billy. You made someone like him blush, feel bashful for your flirting, and you never knew you could do that. You always thought that was your position, that the one that should always remain shy and embarrassed was supposed to be you.

Everyone was laughing at Billy while he tried to stop all of them from doing so, that he is trying to help only and it was backfiring him, so you turn to Robin with a smile on your face.

“You have a pretty laugh!” At that Robin shut up, stunned, looking at you.

“I– what–” She was turning red, you could see it on her ears as Steve chuckled behind her, already pointing at them to make fun of her, but you looked at him this time, your bravery becoming bigger and bigger.

“Your hair is great, Stevie.” You added a pet name this time, which made him jump and you could see the thin line on his lips as he looked away while rubbing the back of his head, and then you turned to your final person.

Eddie was wide eyed, looking at you, feeling his chest pressing on him as your eyes scanned him. You on the other hand, you almost lost your power, and you felt a tingling sensation in your fingers, a warmth spreading from your throat towards your face, but there is one compliment, one thought, that you always wanted him to know.

“You’re beautiful, Eddie.”

He just kept looking at you, as the other three people in the room fussed about how you managed to be suddenly bold enough to compliment them out of nowhere, but your eyes stayed focused on Eddie. There wasn’t embarrassment for some reason, and you felt yourself smile when he flexed his jaw, turning towards the fridge to hide the intense blush he felt coming to his face.

He has women all over him, almost every night, touching him, saying things to his ears, scenting him, worshiping him, yet… Yet your small innocent compliment was enough to stir him up in a way he hasn’t felt like in so long. A hurricane whirling in his stomach as he grabbed a beer and put it on the counter. You were laughing now, seeing how Robin was making fun of Steve, while Billy chuckled at how flustered Robin was looking.

Eddie licked his lips, rounding the counter, stepping behind Billy and then finally standing behind you. You weren’t paying attention to his movements but Billy caught on him as Eddie slowly reached down, getting close to your ear, his voice lowering in a whisper. Your stiffened in your seat as you remembered this same position being the one in that night at the strip club. The hot breath on your skin, and the scent of his cologne invading you completely.

“Thank you, angel.” 

Robin stopped bickering with Steve to look at your face, widening when she saw you had turned slightly pale. She looked at Eddie as he backed off, ready to scold him but then you softly whispered, low, but you still talked, surprising everyone in the room.

“My pleasure…” 

Robin immediately hugged you tightly, snapping you out of your embarrassed trance, wondering what was going on as she rubbed her cheek at the top of your head.

“You didn’t faint! You didn’t freeze! This is a miracle!” You heard Eddie laughing as he returned to his previous position and you looked at him as he raised his beer to you as in a cheer motion. You gulped tightly as your eyes were still locked into his, while Robin was excitedly hugging you.

It was a miracle alright.

The doorbell rang after a few minutes and the next second, you were all digging into the pizzas as the munchies from the alcohol started kicking in. You looked at everyone, grabbing a slice of the anchovy pizza except for Robin.

“I already tried it and it wasn't to my taste.” She says, grimacing at the memory of it. The first one to take a bite was Steve, who immediately spat it out into a napkin.

“What the fuck… Yeah, no, that’s not edible.” You had a slice already so you knew the pizza was delicious, not a quality failure. You pouted and looked at Billy who was still chewing his piece and slowly put it down on his place, swallowing after a few seconds.

“This is definitely something else, darling.” He says, clearly showing his dislike. You looked at Eddie who was just staring disgustedly at the anchovy’s eye on top of his pizza.

“Do I really have to?” He asked and for some reason, you really wanted Eddie to like the pizza, your taste in pizza, but your hopes crashed down when the other two didn’t, so you were pretty sure he was going to dislike it.

“You don’t have to…” You mumbled to him, not wanting to embarrass yourself even more because of your particular taste and Eddie noticed that. He noticed the change in your tone and  he immediately took a big bite out of his pizza, closing his eyes as he waited for the taste to hit his tongue.

The four of you looked at him as he chewed with his eyes closed, and then his shoulders untensed, relaxing completely, his eyes opening in a confused look as he looked down at his slice, still chewing as if he were in shock.

“Well?” Robin asks him and Eddie’s stomach grumbles as the new flavor fills his mouth.

“This is fucking excelent. Why the fuck did I never try this shit before?” He says as he takes another bite, and you look at him to search for any hint of him taking pity on you, and just saying that so you wouldn’t feel embarrassed, but he then took two more bites and the slice was gone. He immediately reached for another one and looked at you. “If you don’t take another slice, I’m gonna eat all of this by myself.”

You didn’t have to be told twice, you immediately reached out and grabbed another slice, smiling as you looked at Eddie while you took a bite, and he returned the smile in the same way. 

The rest of the group was simply horrified.

You looked at the pizza, and then back at Eddie.

“Where are the Nachos you promised me?” And he stopped chewing, facepalming his forehead.

“I forgot…” You shook your head at that, and giggled at his pink cheeks.

“It’s okay, you can make them next time.” You say out loud, and Robin was completely surprised that you were the one that initiated the invitation to another gathering this time, but she kept her mouth closed as she grabbed onto a pepperoni pizza slice. Eddie almost froze at the words, but smiled at you, taking a bite of his slice.

“My pleasure.”

End of Part 3

TAGLIST IS CLOSED. FOLLOW ME AND TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS TO RECEIVE THE UPDATES. it just got too long guys.

a/n: Next chapter is when everything simply moves on. Trust me, this will turn spicy... Spicy.

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[some-lovely-day]

“You’ve been talking to me, looking at me in the face, since you started ranting about Harry Potter.”

I AM SAT

Edit of Eddie: Sofiiel

Stripper!Eddie x Shy!Fem!Reader

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 (end)

WC: 9.7k

⚠️ +18 MDNI, Stripper!Eddie, shyness towards men, nervousness, talking about traumas, self-esteem issues, fluff of some sort, self doubt.

Plot: You thought you were cursed with your shyness, but after one embarrassing night, you decide it's time to change, and you believe someone might be able to help with that.

Summary: You see someone in a coffee shop, and you make the first move towards a new life.

A/N: I didn't think so many of you would enjoy this story! I hope everything lives up to your expectations, we're gonna go slow with this one, but don't think that Billy and Steve won't participate in this project of yours ;)

As always, all reblogs help, tagging it as well, and I always enjoy reading your comments!

PART 2

Your eyes slowly opened, feeling completely light headed as you tried to focus all around you.

You groaned in pain as you felt a sharp sting in the back of your head and you felt the light above you blinding you, sharply. 

Where the fuck were you?

“Is she awake?” You heard a female voice talking. You tried focusing again and saw Kali’s face over yours and she smiled at you when she saw you open your eyes at her.

“She’s awake!” Kali says and you see more faces trying to come in focus over you, making you whine by how dizzy that made you. You heard Kali protesting to the other people to give you some space as she fanned your face with her hand. 

“W-Where am I?” You asked and slowly but surely, your senses started sharpening again. Below you, there was definitely a bed. Then, all the voices around you were female. And then, you smelt cinnamon, the same one as your scented candle in your room.

“Your apartment. Are you okay? Do you feel sick?” You heard Nancy ask worriedly as she held a bottle of water in her hand. Honestly, you didn’t feel sick, just plain dizzy, as if you had ran out of oxygen for a few minutes. You held onto Kali’s arm and slowly sat up, centering yourself in the room as it began to get in focus for your eyes. 

“Jesus, what happened?” You asked as you grabbed onto Nancy’s bottle and Robin looked at Nancy worriedly and then back at you.

“You fainted.” 

“That much I know Robs.”

“In front of the stripper.” You spat the sip of water you just took, dizziness completely gone now, embarrassment and shame taking over your body as an anxious knot filled in the center of your gut. Barb stepped away from in front of you just in time before she got drenched and you started coughing wildly as Vickie patted your back.

“Oh god, now I am gonna be sick.” You say as nausea fills your stomach thanks to how humiliated you felt. You just remembered his brown eyes, looking at you, getting closer and closer to you. You winced as you tried to imagine his face when you simply blacked out in front of him. How pathetic it must have been for him. 

“Yeah, you’ve been out for thirty minutes.” You groaned loudly at Barb’s words and you looked at Nancy. You were so embarrassed for ruining her night, and even making all of them go through all of this. 

“Nance, I am so sorry. Words can’t describe how stupid I feel for this… I should have waited in the car, or in the bathroom, or away from the stage…” You hid your face in your hands as tears started to fill in your eyes. You felt so weak, so small because of this issue of yours. You made your friends end their fun night because of you.

“No, no! I shouldn’t have even considered a strip club knowing one of my bridesmaids doesn’t do good in a place like that!” Nancy replies, trying to make you realize she didn’t mind, but you were too far gone to notice that. How many more nights will you screw up in this way?

You remembered your prom night. Because of your shyness, you were always the target for bullying, and boys didn’t help at all with your case. They pulled your hair, got close to your face to tease you, grabbed your shoulders, caged you against the wall just to see you squeal in fear. 

So that night, you decided to try and be brave, only to be cornered inside the boy’s bathroom by three guys from the soccer team. They were telling you they could cure you if you’d only suck their dicks. That was all you needed. Thankfully, Kali smashed into the bathroom with a fire extinguisher and sprayed the men on the spot. She had seen you being pulled aside, and in your shock, you didn’t pull away, nor ran. 

That was a dangerous situation, but this one… This one was plainly humiliating. Embarrassing. Pathetic. 

The poor guy was just doing his job, and he had to see you crumble in front of him, just by his mere sight and touch. He was supposed to make you feel desired, and you cannot even imagine how he felt when you just fainted on him. Eddie. Poor Eddie.

“Hey, if he didn’t catch you in time, you would have hit your neck on the back of your chair.” You looked up to see Robin speaking to you.

“He helped me?”

“He even carried you to my car. Told me to drive safe and all.” Robin didn’t tell you, just to spare you from more embarrassment, but she explained your condition to Eddie and Joyce who were feeling responsible for what happened to you. The guy looked confused really, but didn’t press more than that and just waved all of you off. 

You were looking at Robin and then you looked at your arms. He had wrapped his arms around you, and lifted you in bridal style to carry you away. You sighed as you cursed at yourself for only being able to tolerate something like that when you were completely out and not conscious at all. 

You wanted to feel hands like that awake. You wanted to be able to enjoy a handsome man pampering you. You wanted to kiss a hot guy. You wanted and needed to be fucked with someone you felt attracted to, completely, not just barely. 

“Oh, sweetheart don’t cry… It really isn’t a big deal…” Kali wiped your tear away, one you didn’t even feel dropping, but she didn’t understand. It is a big deal. No one understands you, no one knows what this feels like. No one knows how you feel about this. No one gets it. 

You just wished you could be normal.

It’s been a week since that night, and you tried. You were seriously trying. 

But you were now in your fourth coffee shop, parking your car, because the last three you’ve been at, the baristas, were young men. As soon as you entered the doors and saw the counter and the man behind it, you immediately left. 

After that night, it seemed as if your shyness and your nervousness only worsened just by how humiliating those events were. You couldn’t even turn on your camera at the team meetings of your workplace, which thankfully, it was 100% from home. You worked at a big company just as an administrator, and it paid well so you didn’t complain.

Now, on a friday, you look forward to the afternoon coffee, and you were happy to see that in your fourth coffee place, you found a woman at the front counter. You walked towards her as you looked into your wallet, looking for cash.

“Hi! What can I get you?” You heard her cheery voice and you looked up with a smile.

“Hello, um… Just a medium coffee with a bit of creamer please.” She nodded at you and you handed her the money so she could go and start preparing you coffee. She asked for your name and told you she would call you once it was done. You nodded at that and stepped aside, grabbing your phone to scroll through your instagram. 

You smiled when seeing the stories of Robin. She was posting about how boring her classes were at nursing school. Then you jumped over to Nancy’s which was a picture of her and Jonathan. Your smile faltered a little at that.

Jonathan was a handsome guy, and when you met him you didn’t feel that immense shyness you always felt. You never knew why, because deep inside you, you knew he was attractive. Yet, you could shake hands with him, and engage in conversation as if it were a natural thing for you to do. 

A deep voice came from next to you, and your eyes widened. You knew that voice. You recognized it, because last time it vibrated so close to your ear, it had settled in the deep of your stomach. You slowly side eyed, turning your head just a bit and you held in the gasp as you felt your body grow a cold sweat. 

“The usual, Princess.”

Oh fuck. Shit. Son of a bitch. 

You could see his hair tied up in a bun, some specks of unshaved beard covered his jaw, and the smell. You could smell the wooden cologne. Kind of leathery like. You turned your head as you felt your whole face turn a deep shade of red, and it almost felt like it moved all over your body. 

Your fingertips felt like they were sweating, and the knot in your stomach was moving all around. She took his order and you stepped aside trying to create some space between you two. You looked away so he wouldn’t recognize your face, because if he did, you were sure you would die. 

Your heart was beating rapidly in your chest and you were looking at the barista’s every move. She was preparing your coffee now, and his presence was just overwhelming you entirely. You wanted, no, NEEDED, to bolt right out of there. You could hear him yawn as he stood next to you, and your nerves were going insane right now. You heard your name being called out, snapping you out of your almost panic attack. 

“Thank you…” You said almost in a whisper as you took the coffee in your hands. You didn’t waste a single second, turning away and rushing out of the shop, taking a deep breath in of the clear oxygen. Now, you don’t really think it would be adequate to fill your body with caffeine when your nerves were this bad, but you already paid for it. 

Your heart was on the verge of exploding as you took many deep breaths in. You should apologize to him, or say thank you for helping your friends carry you out of the club, but here you were, running once again. Like you always did. 

But is it something you really want to do? Do you want to keep running?

You turned around and saw him through the window, taking slow sips of his coffee as he looked through his phone. His profile was already making you sweat by just how good looking he was, without even trying, with the afternoon sun hitting him in the right places. 

You wanted a normal life. You wanted to be able to feel attraction. You wanted to be kissed passionately. You wanted physical touch. You wanted to be normal, simply normal. 

So your feet moved. They guided you towards the doors again. They guided you into the shop. The girl looked at you with confusion over the counter and then you turned, going towards the booth where the man was seated at.

Eddie though, didn’t even acknowledge you. He was tired, too spent from last night's show. He was grabbed onto more than usual, and he had done several personal lap dances. Everything was good money of course, and he knew he sealed his fate into being the favorite one the moment he agreed on being physical with clients. No more than a kiss, or some holding, but that made him wanted. 

He didn’t mind really, but when the ladies would take advantage of that and touch him, when they knew they shouldn’t, drove him up a wall. He wasn’t going to lie and say he didn’t bang one or two clients per week, sometimes for money, sometimes for his pleasure. This was all his doing. Joyce was against them doing that, but his colleagues, and himself, found out that their dicks can get them two thousand a night.

He didn’t even notice until a shadow casted over him, that made him look up, that you had sat right in front of him, making him frown in confusion because… You weren’t looking at him. You were looking downwards and he could almost see the steam coming out of one of your ears.

“Um–”

“I’M SORRY.” He jumped at the high pitched loud tone, almost a squeak, making him shake his coffee a little bit on his hand. 

“Jesus christ!” It was too late for loud noises, and much more for apologies he didn’t have a clue on why they were being said to him. And from a girl who wasn’t even looking at him. You were trembling, looking at your lap, because that apology came out way too embarrassing for your own good, and now you wanted nothing more but to crawl and disappear into thin air.

You stayed silent, trying to form words in your throat, but you could only feel the lump forming, and you cursed at yourself internally because you thought you were making progress by sitting in front of him, but now that you made a fool out of yourself, once again, you wanted to run away. But his voice stopped you.

“Holy shit, it’s you. The girl who fainted.”

Your blood went cold. Of course you would be remembered as that. Shit, everyone that night will remember you as the pathetic girl who fainted in the arms of a stripper. Your knuckles went white on your lap as you gripped them tightly, trying to fight the urge of running away. Your voice was still not found but there was no need because he kept talking.

“Are you alright? After that night?” He was asking for your wellbeing. This guy who didn’t even know you was asking if you were doing okay. You had to answer, you had to say something. Anything, just move your lips, make the air come out.

“Yes…” You almost mumbled it, but it was something. Eddie was squinting at you, his phone long forgotten on the table as he inspected you. He gave a small smirk, even if you weren’t looking at him, he just couldn’t help himself.

“And I thought your friend made up a horrible excuse for you that night, saying you were shy against men. I can see that she wasn’t lying.” Your body jerked up at that, your eyes widening and your head lifting up slightly, focused on his cup and he was finally able to see your face. You were beet red, making him smirk even more.

“Y-You were doing a great job! It’s m-my fault for trying to be strong and staying there!” Did you just say he was doing a great job? That formally? To a stripper? You winced at your words, ready to stand up and walk away but the sound of his laughter stopped you, and you wanted to look up, but you knew that it was going to make you freeze in place. 

“Thank you darling. I guess I appreciate the feedback.” He noticed how you jumped slightly at the nickname he gave you and he cleared his throat. “I guess I do, in fact, owe you an apology myself…”

At that, your eyebrow raised up, not looking at him, but staring at his phone this time, just trying to not meet his gaze at all. Why would he need to apologize to you?

“You didn’t do anything w-wrong!” You stuttered at the last words, but you were surprised to have found your voice quicker this time. 

“Well, Billy told me that there was a girl that needed her friend’s help to put a bill in his jeans. He told me what you looked like and what table you were at… You were my target that night.” You froze at those words, and the knots in your belly started tangling even more, not understanding why he would target you like that. “Shit, I didn’t know you actually had a problem with men, I mean… You were at a strip club, Sweets.” 

You couldn’t help the small huff that escaped your lips with the hint of a smile on your lips. It did sound quite stupid if he said it like that. He stared at your reactions, taking a sip out of his coffee and you could see the movement from the corner of your eye, reminding you that you have some coffee in your hand as well. You took a sip too, feeling the warmth in your throat, soothing out the dryness this interaction provoked in you.

“It was… My best friend’s bachelorette party…” You explained to him and he was still not understanding where you were getting at, so he stayed silent for you to elaborate which made your nerves peak up again. “I-I didn’t want t-to bail on her.” You stuttered again as you talked about your feelings to a stranger who grinded on you a few nights back.

“Ah. I see. Next time you go to a place like that, wear a sign or something around your neck. You know, like the dogs that wear a harness that say ‘Nervous’.” Those words coming out of his mouth finally made you open your mouth as a giggle came out. You covered your mouth to stop your laughing but he caught you way off guard.

Eddie was still staring at you, a bit of pride in himself as he saw you laughing because of him, and he was glad you got to loosen up a little bit in his presence. He was curious, way too curious for his own good. Ever since he got this job with his friends, roommates even, all the women he met were straightforward, knowing what they wanted, hands roaming without fear all over his body. Yet you are here, embarrassed for laughing in front of him.

And your eyes still never met his.

“Why did you approach me darling?” 

Your giggles stopped immediately, and your eyes slightly widened as you put your hands around your coffee again. Your heart was simply exploding now, and the tips of your fingers were tapping on the cup, trying to steady a normal breathing pace in your lungs, in sync. You were being engulfed by flames, and it worsened each time you remembered that his gaze was on you.

But you didn’t want to feel like this, which irritated you even more.

“I-I want help.” At that, Eddie raised his eyebrow in question, but he rested against the booth, waiting for you to continue. You stayed silent for a minute, noticing that he was being patient with you, acknowledging the fact that this wasn’t easy for you to do, and the knot in your stomach detangled just a bit, loosening up enough for you to keep talking. “I want to be normal.”

Eddie’s eyebrows twitched at that. You didn’t think you were normal just because you had this situation going on with yourself. He felt a little sad for you, and he couldn’t even imagine for how long you really struggled with this. 

“I want– I want to be able to have a normal life…” You pressed on and he was slowly understanding where you were getting at, and he looked at your cup, seeing your name written on it. 

“Right… And you want my help with what exactly?” 

“I want to fight this… this shyness… I don’t want to be nervous anymore. I am tired of making a scene or embarrassing myself because of it. I don’t want my friends to accommodate to my needs everytime we go out…” You didn’t even notice that you did not stutter once at those statements. Statements you were fully aware of yourself and you were fed up with. Eddie, obviously, noticed, raising his eyebrows up, losing themselves under the small fringe of his curls.

He was looking at you, wondering how this day turned completely on its axis and now you were sitting in front of him, shaking like a deer in front of some headlights, but still voicing your worries out. He was skeptical really, not knowing if this was all a farce to get in his pants for free. 

He wasn’t going to lie, he would fuck you for free. You were pretty, but you didn’t make an effort to show that off. Your clothes were bland, your make up was just some blush on your cheeks, and your hair was tied up in a ponytail. 

But if your intentions were to sleep with him, you wouldn’t have said what you said next.

“I w-will pay you! I just want to– be able to talk eye to eye…” His heart clenched slightly at that. You didn’t want him to teach you sexual stuff, or something of the sort… You just wanted to be able to talk to him properly, or any man for that matter. He gave a small nod, as if in thought, even if you weren’t even looking at him. 

His life has been very monotonous lately. For the past year to be exact. It was work, women, eat, sleep, shower, and do it all over again, every single day. He didn’t know if his roommates felt the same, but he knew that Steve started pottery classes, and then Billy had gotten the hobby of playing video games in his free time. 

Yet Eddie didn’t have the motivation to do anything. Until now. 

This was new, intriguing, and something that might ignite some fire in his everyday mundane life. So he reached his hand out towards you, and you looked at his ringed fingers with wide eyes, wondering what was going on.

“First things first. Presentation. I’m Eddie.” He said to you and his hand was waiting patiently. You gulped as you stared down at it, but then realization hit you. He was going to help you with this, and a flame of happiness ignited in you, slowly reaching out and putting your palm against his. You noticed the different size and the warmth of his skin, sending a shiver down your spine.

You gave him your name in a stutter and he grinned when he closed his hand on yours and saw you stiffen slightly, so he softened his grip, to then move your hands up and down gently in greeting. He pulled away, and you put your hand onto your lap as quickly as you could. Your whole body was ablaze, still looking at his phone to not clash eyes with him. 

“I-I can pay you–”

“Nothing.” Your eyes widened at that, raising an eyebrow up in question and you almost raised your head to look at him. “You look really shaken by this, and taking money from you doesn’t really sit right with me… And who knows, maybe this will blossom into an odd friendship.” 

Those words slipped out of his mouth before he could help it, and a slight pink tint formed on his cheeks. He really did crave for another friendship, already getting tired of just being with Billy and Steve. They are great, and they are almost like brothers, but maybe that was the thing. It was just those two, and no one else. 

You on the other hand turned a deep red at that, feeling your heart banging in your chest, not being able to take it anymore and you grab his phone, startling him completely and his eyes went wide at the action, but you didn’t move from the seat. You opened the dial without unlocking the phone, sliding up from the right corner of the screen and you pressed your cell phone number in there. 

You slid it back to him and stood up, not being able to handle the pressure of his stare any longer and he held onto his phone to look down at the number on it. His eyebrows centered in the middle with a frown and he raised his head up only to see you gone, turning his head around until he saw you rushing out of the shop through the window and into your car. 

He looked down at his screen, biting the inside of his cheek. He looked at his cup and saw the number of the barista under his name. She had tried many times to put her number down in his cup, but he never saved it on his phone. He looked down on your number, a scoff coming out of his lips.

“Hmm...”

You had been screaming into your pillow for the past half hour. 

You cannot believe what you did two hours ago. You gave your number to a stripper. To a goddamn stripper. And you even asked for help with this issue of yours, but what if it came out wrongly? What if he thought you were asking him to help you sexually? It didn’t really feel like that but what if you didn’t read the air right?

It was an impulse. A goddamn impulse, but you were fine, it was all going to be okay, because you left your phone, and maybe he doesn’t even indulge in this stupidity of yours and move on, or maybe he deletes it by mistake and everything will be back as it was before.

You stopped screaming at that.

But you didn’t want to go back to before. That’s why you took that chance, and you have to look at the positive side of all of this. You sat in front of him, you talked to him, you shook his hand! You shook a handsome man’s hand! That’s improvement, a lot of it. Yes, if you put your mind to it, maybe you can change this stupid part of yourself.

You remembered his voice. Deep but with a hint of mischief behind it, and then those words that sounded hopeful yet sad. How he managed to say that the two of you could become friends in the meantime. You wondered what his daily life was like now, outside of his job. Who did he live with? How old is he? What is his favorite food?

You grabbed your phone as you turned to look up at your ceiling. You unlocked your phone to start scrolling through TikTok. You smiled at all the dog videos that showed up on your For You page and saved all those cooking and baking tips you found. You were startled from your trance of scrolling when your phone started ringing. The beautiful sound ‘The Shire’ from The Lord of the Rings filled your ears which helped a lot to the anxious feeling of talking on the phone. Who did that nowadays?

You looked at the number and it was not saved on your phone. Should you answer? Maybe it’s a telemarketer. Did you forget to pay a bill? Internet? No, you paid all of those. Your eyes widened in realization.

What if it’s him?

You were about to start trembling and in your fuss you pressed the Answer button and you almost cried out as you started hearing the other side of the phone. 

‘We are calling to ensure you have the best communication serv–’

And you hang up, fucking automatic calls. You let out a sigh of relief until you felt that it wasn’t that much of relief at the end of it. Something felt uneasy within you, like something was not right. A certain disappointment maybe? Did you want him to be the one calling you? But that would be too much for you to handle, definitely. 

You sighed, sitting up on the bed, scratching your head until a soft ‘Ting’ on your phone caught your attention. You looked down on the notifications and it was a message from an unknown number. Your eyes widened when you looked into the text preview.

‘I believe that in text form, you won’t be too shy to talk to me.’

Your heart got caught in your throat as you begin to cough desperately. You weren’t expecting something from him so soon, and it startled you completely. You held onto your chest as you read the text again, and again and again… You didn’t feel the blood flowing at the tip of your fingers, his image coming up in your head. His side profile of today, but then his face up close to you, in the middle of purple and pink lights in the club.

You clenched your eyes tightly, trying to move the images away. You took a deep breath in and unlocked your phone, heading over to the text. First, you saved his contact, because you might forget right? Then you put in a personal notification message because you just felt like it, but maybe if you do that, you can also put in a special ringtone as well? You didn’t do that for everyone but you were feeling like–

You were stalling. You were definitely stalling. 

You gulped as you went back to the screen, now with the title ‘E’ because you didn’t want to receive a message from him when you were with your friends. They knew his name, so might as well tell them it’s Eleanor from work. 

You started typing ‘Hi’ but he didn’t start with hello, so you erased that. Maybe a ‘how are you’ or ‘how has your day been going’ but that really doesn’t sound right either, he didn’t ask you that at all. You deleted it again and were about to type in again until you saw the three dots that signaled you that he was typing.

‘Even on text? Damn, I wonder how many texts you just wrote and deleted.’

He caught you, red handed, and you took a deep breath in, pushing your embarrassment away as you started typing.

‘Not many.’ You were already biting the skin on the side of your left thumb thanks to your pumping heart, which only increased its beats every time you saw the three dots from his side.

‘Really? I bet you wrote ‘Hey handsome’ and deleted it, right?’

You giggled at that, feeling your nerves loosen up a bit at his cheekiness and you typed once more.

‘Oh, sure, whatever strokes your ego.’

‘That hurt princess.’ 

Your breath hitched at the endearment. 

‘You’ll survive.’

‘Black is not a color.’

‘Not you too with that bullshit. 🙄’

‘But it’s not, it’s a shade, as well as white!’

‘It’s my favorite color, a color, and that’s final.’

You giggled at the banter you were creating with Eddie over some texts. It’s been a week since you saw him and it’s been a week since you both started texting each other. They’re not long conversations really, just an hour a day or less, and it always starts with Eddie asking you something about yourself.

On Monday, it was your work. He made a lot of funny comments about how he is an accountant when you knew what his job actually is. Then Tuesday was about your favorite animal, in which you said Dog and he said bats. He told you he actually has a swarm of bats tattooed on his right forearm. Then food on wednesday, and favorite drink on thursday.

Today was about your favorite colors. 

Yours was red, sometimes purple, while Eddie claims that his favorite color is black. You were having fun messing with him, smiling at the phone as the nerves in your belly were kept to a minimum. You were surprised how loose you got when you received his texts, and it was almost as if you were excited when they did. 

“Why are you so smiley?” You blinked and looked up, completely forgetting you were having coffee with Robin at the Starbucks near your apartment complex. Robin actually got an apartment three floors down from yours and you were happy that you have a close friend as a neighbor. 

“Oh, um… El sent me a meme.” You lie, feeling your chest compress at it. You didn’t want to lie to your friends, but you were doing this behind their backs because you didn’t need the encouragement. You wanted to do this on your own, without the need of your friends overprotecting you as if you were a piece of paper that might rip apart at any comment a man does to you.

“Right…” She sipped on her coffee as another notification made you look down at the screen, and you went pale at what you saw. It was a message from Eddie, yes, but the anxiety started filling your stomach as you read what he wrote to you.

‘We should hang out this weekend. Test the waters.’

He was asking you out. Well not asking you out, more like hang out, as friends, but, oh no. You were feeling nauseous, the memory of his face, and his stomach showing coming up in your mind. You don’t think you will be able to tolerate it, and you don’t even know if you can trust this guy. You haven’t told your friends about Eddie, and if you went missing or something–

“IT’S EDDIE.” You blurted out, startling Robin, your panic winning completely over you. She spat the coffee, coughing loudly as she punched her chest a few times, trying to recover herself. You on the other hand were slightly panting from the anxiety that was eating you up, but the need to feel protected won you over. 

“What!?” 

“I AM TALKING WITH EDDIE.” You said again loudly, making various customers turn their heads at the commotion and Robin made you lower your voice with a big ‘shh’ and a hand movement. 

“Eddie… Who the fuck is Eddi– Oh, WHAT?!” Now the customers turned their heads at Robin’s explosion. You were clutching your phone to your chest and you could feel your eyes beginning to heat up from the tears that were threatening to leave them. 

“I know, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to lie, but-but–” 

“Why are you talking to–” Robin looked around and bent over a little closer to whisper to you. “To the stripper?! Are you nuts?!”

“I mean– I might? I don’t know? I–” You took a deep breath in, closing your eyes as Robin sighed in front of you. “I just need help… Being normal…” Robin’s eyes turned those into sad ones as she looked up at you. She stood up, putting her hand out for you to take.

“Tell me all about it while we head back to your place.”

“Yep, you are definitely crazy.”

You were pacing back and forth while Robin watched you from the couch, looking down at all the texts you’ve sent Eddie. But even if she did call you crazy, your friend was proud of you because she never thought you would tell a man about your favorite things. She also didn’t expect this Eddie guy to actually be gentle with you, never crossing a line, never flirting with you.

She wondered if his intentions were pure and when you told him he didn’t accept the money, Robin was baffled. Now, the true reason as to why you had told her about this, is because of his last message. He didn’t pressure you into saying yes, so that was a green flag, and it also lets someone know who you were with last in case the worst case scenario happens.

“I know I am crazy Robin, I fucking know, it was an impulse–”

“But I think it’s working… I mean, maybe he can actually figure out what’s going on in that head of yours.” You gulped at that and continued pacing. Nothing traumatic with men happened to you, the absence of your father and the multiple cheating on your mother helped, but it didn’t explain the reason as to why it was almost as if you were terrified of men. Attractive men at that. 

You had of course the bullying at primary school, and then all the way to high school, but you cannot really pinpoint anything too cruel. 

“Robin, I– I don’t even know him. What if he makes a move on me?” You would probably pass out and he would have access to do whatever. You really don’t know the guy, even if he seems trustworthy on text messages, that’s just what they are. Text messages. He could be lying, he could be pretending to be something he is not, and you can’t read his face or his movements. Not that you would if you were in person either, because you can’t fucking look at him.

“I don’t think– Look, invite him to the bar three blocks down, just the two of you, and don’t make a fuss about it. He seems cool, and he never overstepped from what I’ve seen… Nothing with a double meaning either.” She was trying to reassure you, to help you with it. For some reason Robin had a feeling that you didn’t cross paths with the stripper again just out of pure coincidence. She was a fair believer of fate, and karma. 

“I– I mean it is public, a bar.” She gave you a nod and handed you the phone. You took it into your trembling fingers, looking down at the messages.

“Yes, and you have me as your emergency contact. You just have to press the lock button 5 times and I know where to get you.” That statement actually calms you a lot. And the fact that you would be at a bar three blocks away from home was also bringing you relief. “Remember, this is not a date… He is not asking you out romantically.”

“Right, I know that, as a friend.” You replied to her, giving Robin a nod as you felt another uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach that you couldn’t describe once more. You looked down at your phone, and licked your lips, gulping loudly as you typed in your response.

‘Does tomorrow at 6, the bar between Monroe ST. and Chadwick sound good to you?’

You almost threw the phone towards Robin, feeling yourself cringe at the risky message you just sent, but if you truly think hard about it, he was the one who sent it first. Robin caught your phone as it trembled in your hand. She heard a popping sound and looked down at the screen, a smirk breaking on her lips.

“Sounds perfect, and I will give you a whole presentation on why Black is indeed a color."

You were trying to calm your nerves as you looked at the watch, every now and then on your phone. It’s already 6:05 PM and he didn’t show. It’s only five minutes late, but maybe he bailed?

But he was the one who asked you, why would he bail? But maybe he regretted it? Oh god, did he have to work today? You invited him without even asking and maybe he has a full night and you didn’t even think of–

“Parking around here is a pain in the ass Princess.” You heard his voice as he passed by you, sitting at the seat of the booth in front of you. You felt your body tensing up, and you were now self conscious of your clothes. But it wasn’t a date, so you dressed normally, and you applied a bit of mascara. You weren’t good at doing your own makeup so you settled for the simplest of things, because if you tried to do something, it would be worse than nothing.

Your eyes immediately drifted to the napkin holder on the side as you tried to gather up courage to talk to him. He sighed and put his phone on the table, right in front of him, which made your gaze drive to that. He did it so that he could see your face instead of your profile, taking note that last time you were together, your eyes didn’t leave his phone.

From your point of view you could see his shirt, which was a black simple t-shirt with an Iron Maiden illustration on it. You wanted to know what he looked like right now, and given from what you could smell of his perfume, he must look nice. 

“Sweets, I need you to cooperate with me here. We talked all week on the phone, I assure you it’s no different than using your voice.” You blinked once and maybe that was the trick. You just have to imagine this is just texting, as if you were reading your messages out loud.

“I-I know that…” The curiosity was killing you at this point, but you wanted to make sure of something first. “Do you work tonight? I didn’t even ask you before…” He was surprised at your question, and he smirked slightly, nodding. Once he realized you still weren’t looking at him, he sighed as he opened his mouth again.

“Yeah, but not till 10 PM. Jason and Billy are on the early shift today.” He explained to you and that is actually a lot of time to talk to him. You didn’t think you would stand being with him, looking at his phone for more than an hour. You felt another presence approaching and you looked up to your side, seeing the waitress coming up.

“Ready to order?” She gave you a small smile and you nodded.

“A beer, please.” She put it down and turned to Eddie, her smile widening as you watched her interact with him. He must really look nice if this woman was smiling like that. Why can't you be like her? Why do you have to be so nervous about it all? You wanted to smile at a cute boy, not barf on him or pass out on the spot.

“Same as her.” Was his short reply. Your gaze went back down towards his phone as the waitress retreated to get your drinks. You wondered how he looked at her. Did he smile? Did he wink? Did he keep a serious face on? “Didn’t take you to be a beer kind of girl.”

“Oh, well, it’s really my drink of choice, but a sweet drink I like too sometimes.” You replied, keeping your gaze on his phone, imagining that everytime he talked to you, a small ‘Ting’ of a notification sounded in your ears.

“I like beer too, but I am more into the bitter kind of stuff.” He replied to you and you now burnt all over because you didn’t know how to keep the conversation flowing. Gladly, the waitress returned quickly with the two bottles of beer opened and ready to drink. You grabbed yours and saw Eddie’s hand wrapping around his own bottle, leaning it towards you. You gulped and clinked your bottle to his.

“To cure your shyness sweetheart.” 

You couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on your lips at that small sweet touch. Giving a cheer for you, even in the short lapse of knowing each other, made your heart calm down just a tiny bit as you took your first sip of the bottle. Eddie caught on the smile you gave and was about to talk when your phone rang.

You looked at the caller and saw it was Robin. Your eyes widened, realizing you didn’t tell her you were already with Eddie. It was kind of a safe protocol, tell her you arrived, tell her he arrived, and keep her updated if you remembered to do so. You had sent her your live location as well, keeping you safe at all times. You declined the call and immediately sent her a message to tell her you were with Eddie already and that everything seemed ok.

Eddie though, was wide eyed, staring at you.

“Was that the flute of The Shire?”

You blinked at your phone and you almost looked up thanks to your surprise. He liked The Lord of The Rings? You weren’t a super fan of it, but the soundtrack had captivated you since you were a kid. 

“I, yes–”

“Holy shit… Look, I only got my little brother to talk this with, and– I just never expected you to like something like that.” He replied, a wide grin on his face. You gulped, a blush on your cheeks. So he has a brother, another small detail of his life.

“I could say the same about you…” He chuckled at that, nodding at the thought.

“Never saw a Stripper being a total nerd?” He replied and you snorted at that, followed by a laugh, covering your mouth with your hand. He was thinking, wondering of a way to get you to look at him. “Is it your favorite movie Saga?”

“Oh, um… No, not really. Harry Potter is my favorite.” He was surprised at that answer, taking a sip of his beer, tapping his finger on the table. He didn’t know much about it, but he never really took the time to watch the movies chronologically. He had an idea of the main story, of course, but never knew the details.

“I like the fifth movie, the one with the hippogriff.” He said and your eyebrows pulled to the center in a frown at that.

“That’s the third movie…” You replied at that and he scratched his head, thinking hard as he tried to remember the small details.

“Really? Then wait, the fifth one is not the one with the snake right?” He tried again and you felt something in your belly, something like annoyance but not quite. 

“You never watched them correctly?” He shrugged at that.

“Never found the time, or cared enough to do so… Plus, the scenery is nothing like The Lord of the Rings.” And Eddie’s eyes immediately widened, his voice gone, and his hand clenching against the bottle in his hand.

“Okay, first of all, the scenery is fucking amazing, the shots are beautiful and they got them in real places and added CGI on them. Then, the soundtrack I admit, is nothing like The Lord of the Rings, but you can’t deny that all of the music in the movies are nostalgic and majestic. Also, the character designs are incredible, outfit wise and then we have all the spells! Everything is magical from the first movie to the last!” You replied to him with exasperation. You knew about Harry Potter, and you weren’t going to let him talk about your favorite thing like that.

“Ah, yes, I am not shaming it sweets, I just prefer the latter. Plus, I never understood that part of the movie where the bad guy returns from a diary? I mean…” He continued, trying to not show his surprise to you so you wouldn’t stop. You took another sip and continued talking.

“That would be the second movie, and it was a figment of a memory implanted in the diary. The diary was part of Voldemort’s soul, a horrocrux which helped him be sort of immortal.” You pressed on, throwing your knowledge at him. 

“Immortal?”

“He has seven horrocruxes in total, so he split his soul in seven parts. You had to destroy all seven in order to finally be able to kill him properly. You have to watch all of the movies in order to understand all of this! Or read all of the books!” You finished your blabbering with almost a pant.

“Sweets.”

“What?” You scoffed out and he chuckled, smiling at you.

“You’ve been talking to me, looking at me in the face, since you started ranting about Harry Potter.”

You froze, realizing that your eyes were looking into his brown ones. His hair was down, over his shoulders, the stubble you saw that day on his chin was gone, freshly shaved, and over his shirt he had a black leather jacket on. His dimples were showing as he smiled at you, and the knot in the stomach was there, it definitely was, urging you to run away.

But it didn’t urge you to look away. 

He squinted slightly as he inspected you. You weren’t looking away, which is a good sign, but you stopped talking all together. He was thinking, licking the inside of his bottom lip as he thought.

“What’s your favorite movie? Not Saga, movie.” He asked and you slightly snapped out of your trance, absorbing the way his mouth moved as he talked to you.

“T-Titanic.” He rolled his eyes at that and you slumped slightly as an angry frown came to your eyebrows again.

“Really? That cliché sweetheart?” Your mouth almost hung open at his words, feeling offended by him saying that about your favorite film.

“It’s a fucking masterpiece!” You replied to him and he sighed, leaning on the table as he took a sip of his beer again, and you followed afterwards to wet your dry throat.

“Indulge me, how is that romantic movie a masterpiece?”

“Well, I am noticing you are not the romantic type of guy, but looking past that, the scenes? The music and ambience are outstanding, and for it being a movie of 1997, it was so amazingly done! Not to mention that James Cameron was the first ever person to get clear images of the actual wreckage.” You replied, taking another sip and he was still looking at you.

He lied to you. He also thought Titanic was a masterpiece. But he came to realize something, but he needed to test something else first, just to make sure that his suspicions were correct.

“So you just said I am not the romantic type of guy… Does that mean you are? I mean, I want to understand right now, but with this thing you got going on… Did you ever… do anything?” He asked you, actually curious about it and you felt the knot in the stomach form once more, the lump in your throat suddenly blocking your voice and you immediately looked down towards his phone again, a deep crimson covering your cheeks.

“It’s… Not that I am a virgin– I don’t…” And Eddie’s head almost made a ‘ding’ sound. It had clicked the moment you stared into his eyes without noticing and you talked about something you liked. 

“I know what’s going on.” He softly muttered, very low but you could hear it, your eyebrows frowning at that. “Also, I didn’t bring my powerpoint presentation, sorry about that, but Black is a color, I mean, I am wearing it all right now.” He was at this again? You looked up at him, completely wide eyed, not believing he was still adamant about black being an actual color.

“Seriously Eddie, you can google it and it will tell you it’s a shade! I took art lessons in school, and the professor was always very strict on not calling white and black colors!” You were looking at him again. He nodded in thought and tapped the table, slumping back against the booth. He was staring at you, deep in his own mind, and you suddenly grew nervous at his stare. “What?”

“I know what’s happening here, in your mind that is.” You blinked in surprise at that, the statement taking you completely off guard.

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever you are confident about something you know, you have no trouble talking to me. You have no trouble talking to me about things you are passionate about, or have experience in.” 

You were dumbfounded. You never thought of something like that happening to you, but now some things clicked inside your head. You didn’t talk with your male coworkers, no… But when a new hire would enter the company and you had to train them? You had no problem. Then when meeting Jonathan, he was attractive, yes… But… you were excited that Nancy is happy with him.

“Holy shit…” You muttered with wide eyes and he nodded at you with a small smile appearing in his lips to then fade away.

“Yeah… But it means that your confidence level is low. Like, confidence in yourself. That’s why you can barely talk sometimes, or you don’t look up to meet my gaze, or well… looked up, past tense.” He smiled at you, and it made your cheeks flush, but still your head was spiraling at his words. 

You weren’t confident in yourself?

“You mean… like my self-esteem?” You asked, and he sighed, giving you a small nod which made your stomach sink.

“I don’t know about your past, and honestly you don’t have to tell me. But maybe we can do some baby steps…” 

“Baby steps?” He took a sip of his beer and nodded, leaning on the table as he put his hand out to start counting with his fingers.

“First, why don’t you wear makeup? Is it because you are allergic or…?” 

“Uh, no… I’m not very good at it.”

“Have you tried tutorials?” You shook your head, a small feeling of shame coming up your throat. “Okay, so that’s step one. Watch some, practice. I am not saying you need makeup, but it helps a lot with your ego. Trust me, when I put on eyeliner I feel like I can conquer the world.” He says with a chuckle and you tilt your head with curiosity pricking at the tip of your tongue.

“You wear makeup?”

“Hell yeah, makes me look pretty.” He smiles at you and you couldn’t help but laugh at his words. You couldn’t believe this man in front of you had a job like the one he has. “Step two, your clothes too.”

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” You say with an offended tone and he just stares at you.

“Seriously? You wear bland colors. Put a little bit of sparkle in it, something you might feel sexy in, or pretty, but you have to feel it. You don’t dress for others, only for yourself.” You tried to remember your closet, and you hated to admit he was right. All your shirts were simple, none of them were tank tops, none of them had nice cuts on the cleavage, or were tight… Your jeans were all the same, and you never wore dresses or skirts, no matter if you really wanted to.

You just never thought you’d look good in them.

Oh fuck… He actually might have found the problem. 

“Third, be confident in your voice. We’re going to slowly work on it, but I think you are headed in the right direction, just not quite.” He replied to you and he watched how your face contorted into confused frowns and then understanding ones as if you were realizing so many things in your head. 

“You mean to be able to, for example… Ask things?” He pointed a finger at you with a smile to his face.

“And there’s the first one. Yes… Till now I was the one engaging in conversations, being in text form or here. I was the one asking you all the questions.” You gave him a nod in understanding, feeling the knot in the stomach not so strongly as before. He is attractive, yes, but he is not making moves, or comments, or anything to put you in a nervous state. The nervousness was still there, and you still struggled to keep eye to eye contact, but you were facing him.

“I see… So, I gotta go shopping then?” You say with a small smile on your face and he chuckles at you, nodding, taking a sip of his beer.

“Remember, dress for you. Not for the other people around you. If you feel confident in it, then it’s all that matters. By confident, I don’t necessarily mean comfortable, but that can also help.” You were staring at him as if you had found a personal god of some sort. This man, this male stripper, was giving you better advice than any therapist ever gave you, than your FRIENDS ever gave you in fact. 

You were grateful for them, but they never understood that you wanted to get better. Instead, they always made sure to make you comfortable whenever you all went out together, always protected you when men approached your group, but never once helped you make the leap of getting better, of trying to be normal like them. They just accepted you the way you are.

But you didn’t want to be accepted like this. Not anymore.

“What is your favorite movie?” You asked him, and his eyes slightly widened at that, surprised by the change of conversation, but it seems you caught on in what you had to do. He smiled and laid back on the booth.

“Okay, what do you think my favorite movie is? Just by looking at me.” He says, flipping his hair over his shoulder and you giggled, as you looked at him. The nerves in your belly started forming again as you scanned his features, but you were trying to fight against it, feeling your heart hammering in your chest.

You didn’t want to say the wrong thing, and you didn’t want to judge him. But he was asking you himself, right? And if you say something wrong it can be directed as a joke, but maybe he doesn’t like it? Maybe he thinks you are throwing yourself on him? WHat if you say something insinuating to him and you didn’t realize it? What would he say–

“You’re thinking too much about it. Stop.” He was looking at you, and you didn’t even notice you went into a sort of trance, trying to think of the words to say. You shook your head, body filling you up in flames, so before you went into a panic, he continued talking. “Just say the first thing that comes to your head. I am not a person that easily gets offended, sweetheart.”

Those words actually made your nerves settle somewhat, and you took a deep breath in to try to make your heart do the same. You inspected him again and he bit the inside of his cheek to hold back a smirk.

“You look like a… The Notebook fan.” You joked, his eyes going wide, a laugh escaping his lips and you couldn’t help but giggle with him, his laugh being contagious, and the tips of your fingers began to feel warmth once again.

“Oh my god, how did you catch me? Am I that obvious?”

End of part 2

A/N: I promise that... things are just gonna heat up from here on out. This was just to prepare you guys for it. (Billy and Steve will make an appearance soon.) I might change the rating on here to Mature, so if you don't have it enabled, please do.

Taglist is open, comment if you want in or send me an ask ;)

Taglist: @katethetank @mynameismothra @emxxblog @steph-speaks @fantasticmacaroni @aysheashea @sweet-villain @sillypurplemurple @eddiemunsonthoughts @emilyslutface @bookshelf-dust @bibieddiesgf @justheretostan

[some-lovely-day]

Mabuhay! I would like to request for our lovely Bob Floyd. Reader is pointing at something with their lips but Bob mistakenly thinks she wants a kiss. I hope you’re having a wonderful day/night.

This is the most niche thing ever, but for all my Filipina girlies <3

KISS POINT (Bob Floyd x Filipina!Reader)

DESCRIPTION: Dating you meant Bob Floyd was getting a crash course in Filipino culture. Words in Tagalog. Karaoke 24/7. Rice for breakfast. When staying at your family home, you realize that he might be new, but he’s more than willing to learn WORD COUNT: 1.2k (More of a little drabble) WARNINGS: Established relationship. Reader is Filipina! Bob's a little clueless but he's trying very hard. Domestic fluff. NOTES: God, I'm just like my Filipina grandmother (falling in love with a Navy man) MY MASTERLIST - READ ON AO3!

Bob Floyd had no idea what dating a Filipina woman would entail. But he soon learned that it meant rice, eggs, and sausages for breakfast, learning traditions like Mano Po so he wouldn’t embarrass himself, and that karaoke night was… every second of the day. He felt incredibly out of his element, especially around her family, but he was determined to try to learn. 

It was day 2 of staying with her family, and he came downstairs to find his girlfriend’s grandmother cooking breakfast. It had taken him a while to figure out that Lola wasn’t her name, but that ‘lola’ meant grandma. The woman looked like Y/n, just stouter and with more wrinkles. Her dark hair flared up in a perm. 

“Good morning.” He said, looking around for Y/n. 

Her lola turned and smiled. She didn’t speak the strongest English, but she was still kind to Bob. Making teasing jokes at him in Tagalog that he didn’t understand. 

“Good morning.” She repeated back in a heavy accent and a nod.

“Do you need any help with that?” He asked, walking over, noticing the Vienna sausages were popping in oil on the stove.

Her lola looked up at him with big eyes before shaking her head and waving him off. She pointed to the rice pot, and Bob nodded, realizing that’s what she wanted him to do. He walked over and grabbed the pot out of the cooker before going to the ten-pound bag of rice that sat slumped in the corner.

Opening it, he found a mug inside as a measuring cup… Which meant he had no idea how much to put in the pot. He started scooping and filled it up most of the way. Then he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. 

But thankfully, Y/n came out just in time. She leaned on the door frame of the kitchen, watching Bob and her lola work in the kitchen. 

“Morning.” She smiled, alerting her grandma and her boyfriend.

Bob turned around and smiled, relieved. “Morning.” He walked over, still holding the small pot of rice, and kissed her cheek, “How’d you sleep?”

“Good. You snoring woke me up, so I thought I’d go for a walk.” She teased, then looked down at the rice pot, “You making rice, baby?”

His face turned a little red, “Uh, yeah- your uh- your lola needed help. But I’m unsure what to do…”

“Well, for one, your rice pot’s too full.” She pointed out stifling a giggle. She knew he still needed to learn, so she didn’t want to embarrass him. Taking it from him, she nodded over for him to follow her. 

Once she opened the bag again, she let some of the rice fall back inside. Her lola turned around and started to laugh at them.

“Kano. Kano.” Her lola teased, giggling to herself

“Lola.” Y/n shook her head as she closed up the rice bag.

“What does that mean?” Bob asked, worriedly looking between them

“Kano is like ‘foreigner’.”

“Okay, so far I’ve been called… p-puti, guapo, pogi, and kano… I think I prefer guapo or pogi.” He said, stammering, trying to get the pronunciation right.

Y/n smiled as she stood back up. She patted his cheek reassuringly. “Yes, you are very pogi.”

She made her way over to the sink. “Then you wash the rice.” She explained, running her hands through the rice under running water. “Just until the water’s clear.” She poured out the old water and let it fill up again. Bob watched intently.

“Then… can you grab me the lid?” She asked.

Bob looked around, unsure where it had gone. Then she raised her eyebrows and pointed at it on the counter behind him using her lips. The typical quick duck pout that most Filipino’s knew was just a way to point at things. 

He smiled a little, and instead of turning around, he leaned in and gave her a peck on the lips. She looked at him, a little wide-eyed and confused, but with a smile. Then she realized what had happened.

“Oh, Bob. I meant-” She started to laugh, her hands still in the rice pot.

“What?” He asked, confused.

“When I-” She pointed with her lips again, “It’s just a way of pointing. The rice pot’s right behind you.”

His face completely flushed red, and he breathed out a small laugh. The morning sun through the windows lit up his crooked smile. 

“Got it. I should start doing that too.” He turned and grabbed the lid and handed it to her right as she pulled out the pot. “Like this?” He pouted his lips and stared at the rice pot, making her laugh.

“It’s quick. It’s like… when someone you don’t like walks in the room, and you need a way to point them out while being discreet.” She showed him again by raising her brows and pointing her lips quickly. 

Bob tried to imitate, and she smiled at his attempts. When he got close enough with a quick brow raise and lip point, she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. 

“Yes, like that.” She said as he smiled and blushed, caught off guard. “Let me show you the way to measure the water.”

He came close to her, and she immediately flipped him off. 

“The perfect tool.” She said, making Bob laugh in confusion. She put her middle finger in the rice and water, and the water line went right up to her first knuckle. “Perfect. You just put the water to the first knuckle on your middle finger.”

“But  your middle finger is smaller than mine.”

“Don’t question it. We just do it. And it works.” Nina said with a testing brow raise.

He jutted his bottom lip out and shook his head in surrender. She put the rice pot in the cooker and flipped the switch. Simple as that. She wiped her hands on the kitchen towel. 

“There. Now you’re making rice.” She said happily, putting her hands on his shoulders. 

Draping his arms around his waist, he looked down at her, then did a little lip point. She laughed out loud at how his glasses fell to his nose.

“Are you pointing at something or asking for a kiss?” She asked 

“Asking for a kiss.” He said in a small voice.

She leaned up and kissed him, pulling him in by his shoulders. He pulled her into a hug so that even when he pulled away, he rested his chin on her head. He sighed a little anxiously. 

“You’re doing fine,” She reassured.

Then suddenly from the dining table, “Y/n. Bobby. Kain na.” Her lola called them to eat. 

“Wala rice!” She called back, “Still cooking!” Her lola nodded and waved them over. “Mainit pa ang pagkain.” 

Y/n sighed and shook her head, and Bob watched their verbal tennis slightly in awe. 

“I’ll learn,” Bob suddenly said, nodding determined.

She turned back up to him, realizing he had been left in the dark. With a small smile, she squeezed his shoulders. “She called us to eat. ‘Kain na’. You’ll hear that one a lot. I said there’s no rice. ‘Wala rice’. Then she said the food’s still hot. ‘Mainit pa ang pagkain.”

“Mainit is hot?” He tried to figure out. His brows were scrunched all cutely.

“You got it.” She smiled, “Now let’s go eat a little until the rice is ready, or I think lola’s gonna deck us.”

He smiled and took her hand as she led him into the dining area. Sure, he was pretty lost when it came to his girlfriend’s culture. But he knew he was in good hands. 

[some-lovely-day]

we are never getting back together - chapter one

Masterlist Series Masterlist Tag Lists

Eddie Munson x ex wife!reader

Summary:

You drop your kids off with your ex husband, and think back on your life together.

Warnings:

Pregnancy, birth, drinking, drug use (weed), suggestive content, divorce

Word Count: 7k

A/N:

I’m so happy to be back and posting the first chapter of this series! I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much @feral4youu for all your help, ily ❤️

“It’s my weekend.”

You rolled your eyes over the phone. “I understand that, Eddie. Believe me, you’ve said it enough times. I’m just saying-“

“You’re trying to take 3 hours away from me.”

You had a headache coming on. You pressed your manicured fingers against your temple. “I’m not trying to take anything from you. You’re being difficult on purpose.”

“Then you should schedule your shit for your own time!”

“It’s a dentist appointment, and it’s the earliest day they had!” You threw your arm up in the air as you spoke, as if he could see you. “Do you even hear yourself right now? I’m not asking for fun, she needs to go to the dentist.”

“Why can’t I take her?”

“Uh, would you remember?” you scoffed.

“That was one time.”

“Sure,” you said, rolling your eyes. “Look, Ed. It’s kinda non-negotiable. She has to go. We can meet at 6 instead of 3.”

“Whatever.” Silence, nothing but the crackling of the phone line. “Okay. Whatever. I’ll see you at 6.”

Click.

You sighed, putting the phone back down on the receiver. Eddie could seriously be such a pain in the ass. No, scratch that, not could be - he was.

You didn’t always fight like this. At one point, you were just two high school students in love - puppy love, maybe. First love, lust at first sight, whatever you wanted to call it, you were head over heels for each other.

A positive pregnancy test your senior year, when you were 17 and Eddie was 19, threw everything off balance. Before, everyone knew you and Eddie would graduate and get married. They knew you were the kind of high school sweethearts that would lead to marriage - even if you didn’t make it in the end. But a pregnancy sped everything up - way too fast.

Your parents had been furious, of course. They never approved of Eddie in the first place, thinking he was beneath you. He lived in a trailer park, he wore thrifted clothes, he repeated his senior year twice and sold drugs in the clearing behind the school. You’d heard it all before.

It didn’t stop you from loving Eddie.

You found out you were pregnant on your own. By yourself, in the silence of your bathroom while home alone, you took the test, saw the results, and cried yourself to sleep on the tile floor. You just knew Eddie was gonna run. Your parents were gonna kick you out and Eddie was gonna run and your friends were gonna abandon you, you’d be having a baby all on your own, being a single mom, working to take care of a baby-

Your spiraling turned out to all be for nothing, because your parents didn’t kick you out and Eddie didn’t leave you. That didn’t mean the news was taken well, however.

You told Eddie after school, in the theater room before Hellfire. Eddie was surprised when he looked up at the sound of the door opening and saw you walking in. You weren’t usually interested in D&D, you thought Hellfire Club meetings were boring and hated having to wait for Eddie when campaign days and date nights lined up.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, a hint of confusion in his voice. “What’s up?”

“Can I talk to you?” You were getting straight to the point, wringing your hands together and avoiding eye contact. You crossed your arms, uncrossed them, then crossed them again.

“Now?” Eddie asked, looking around the room, at the table completely set up for the campaign. “The guys are gonna be here any second-“

“I know,” you said, looking down at your feet. You were losing your resolve. “I just- it needs to be now. I need to talk to you now.”

“Is everything okay?” He pulled out a chair for you, then sat on the edge of his throne, leaning forward on his knees. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Yeah, well.” You let out a long breath. “Not really. I, uh…I have something I need to tell you.”

“Okay, now you’re really freaking me out,” he said. His eyebrows drew together, looking at you with obvious concern.

“It’s hot in here, isn’t it?” you said, looking around. “Why are there no windows in here?”

Eddie looked around, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s just…” You were sweating, avoiding eye contact. “It’s hot in here, is all.”

“I…feel like you’re stalling,” Eddie said, focusing back on you. You couldn’t escape his attention now. “Just tell me what’s going on, please.”

You looked down at your trembling hands. “Eddie, I…” It felt like you were trying to make yourself as small as possible, shrinking under Eddie’s gaze. You knew nothing would be the same after you said your next words. “I’m pregnant.”

It felt like time had stopped. Eddie’s throat closed up as panic set in - his skin felt ice cold. Then, he let out a heavy sigh, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I- how? How could this fucking happen?” he asked. He rubbed his palm over his chest, as if he were physically pained. “How- when?”

“I just found out a couple days ago,” you said. You wanted to run, hide, as far away from this conversation and reality as possible. This wasn’t going well, you could already feel it. “I think I’m like- like 6 weeks, or something. I think it was…that night in your van.”

You could see Eddie mentally going back, thinking back to that night, replaying every second of it in his head. When the sickening realization passed over his face, you could see it. “We didn’t use a condom.”

“Yeah.” You couldn’t hold eye contact with him, not even for a second. Pushing some of your hair behind your ear, you continued. “I don’t…I don’t know what to do, Eddie.”

“Yeah, me fucking either,” he scoffed. He crossed his arms over his stomach, hunching over, like he might be sick. You knew what was running through his head, because it was the same thing that had been in yours. I’m a fucking idiot. I’ve ruined my life. I’ve ruined both of our lives. I’ve ruined everything. His body felt heavy.

“Are you…” You swallowed. “Are you going to stick around?”

Eddie’s eyes snapped up to your face. “Of course I am. I’m not gonna leave you on your own.”

You nodded. That was good. This wasn’t going quite as badly as you’d feared. “What are we going to do?”

“I just said I don’t fucking know!” Eddie snapped, throwing his arms out wide. He slammed his fist on the table, knocking over a bunch of figurines, and you flinched - you hadn’t been expecting it. You could see the instant regret on his face.��

“Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I didn’t mean to lose control like that,” he said. He tried to rein in his emotions, desperately trying not to take out his fear and anger on you. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you said quietly.

“It’s not,” he said. “You’re going through this too. How…how do you feel?”

A strangled sounding laugh tumbled from your lips. “Just great.”

“I’m being serious,” Eddie said. “I mean, this is…this is…”

“A total disaster?” you supplied. Eddie nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. I know.”

“Have you thought about it?” he asked. “What you want to do?”

“Like if I want to…keep it?”

Eddie nodded. He clenched his jaw, preparing for your response.

You nodded your head quickly. “Yeah. I mean, that’s the only thing I do know. I don’t think I can get rid of it. I mean…it’s ours.”

He dropped his head forward. He was hunched over, buried into himself. He cursed under his breath - he knew you and he knew you’d say that, but he had still been hoping for something different. For you to say you wanted an abortion - that’s what Eddie would have chosen. He felt like he couldn’t draw enough air into his lungs.

His mind immediately jumped to the future - what that would look like. He pictured his life over, no more fun, no more D&D or Corroded Coffin or weed or anything. Dead end job he hates just to take care of the baby. His relationship with you taking a nosedive. He stretched his hands out wide and balled them into fists, over and over.

“It’s fine, it’s gonna be fine,” you said, mostly to yourself. “We’re gonna be okay. Everything is gonna be alright.”

“Should we…” he began, but startled you when he abruptly stood, the throne scraping loudly against the floor as it was pushed back. He started pacing, back and forth in front of you as he raked his hands through his curls. “I don’t know, do we have to…should we get married?”

Your mouth fell open, staring at Eddie incredulously. Had he really just suggested you get married? “Do you…want to marry me?”

“Of course I do,” he said easily. “I just…I imagined it being in the future, y’know? Not right now. It’s not…we’re not ready. We haven’t even lived yet, you know?”

“I know.”

“But…the, uh…” Eddie stopped moving, cleared his throat. “The baby. Should we get married for the baby?”

You turned his words over in your mind. You knew it would be best for the baby if you were together. But did you really want Eddie to marry you only because he felt like he had to? “I mean,” you started, “we could. But we don’t…if you don’t want to, we don’t have to.”

“Yeah, but baby,” he said, coming back over to sit in front of you again. “You know how people are gonna talk. I don’t care, I’m used to it. But I know you care.”

It was true. You weren’t particularly concerned with popularity and social hierarchy, but you did care what people said about you. You didn’t want to be talked about like trash all over town. And that’s exactly what would happen. “People are gonna say all kinds of shit.”

“Yeah. They are.” Eddie looked at you. “But that’s why we’re gonna go to the courthouse and get married. Like, this weekend.”

“Eddie- what?” Your lips parted, drawing in a quick gasp. “Are you serious?”

“I’m dead serious,” he said. He grasped your hands in his larger ones. “That’s the only way. We have to get married so people don’t know you were pregnant first. Or everyone’s going to…they’re gonna call you a whore, they’re gonna say you’re easy. I’m not gonna let anyone talk about you that way.”

“Eddie…” Tears brimmed in your eyes, your lower lip wobbling as you tried to find the words. “How would we- how do we explain why we got married so suddenly?”

“Just couldn’t wait anymore,” Eddie said, grinning. “Too in love. Had to get married immediately, couldn’t be put off for another second.”

Soft laughter bubbled up from deep inside, pulled from you unwillingly by Eddie’s words. “Really? You want to elope?”

“Fuck yeah,” he said. “Let’s do it. Let’s fuckin’ elope.”

You told your parents the next day. That went…worse. A good hour of lectures, yelling, and crying later, they agreed it was best for you and Eddie to get married. They didn’t approve of him, not by a long shot, but having you single and pregnant at 17 was worse.

Eddie was the most scared to tell Wayne. He knew his uncle was going to be disappointed in him, and that was the worst thing he could think of. He cared so much about Wayne, the idea of letting him down made his stomach sink.

You had cooked a dinner for Wayne and Eddie, something to sit down and eat together before Wayne went to work so you could break the news. One delicious lasagna later and you were sitting the dish down in front of a confused Wayne and a terrified Eddie.

“So…” Eddie started about halfway through an awkwardly silent dinner - you were letting him take the lead and he was just now working up the courage to speak. Wayne looked up at him, his mouth full of lasagna. “There was something I…we…wanted to talk to you about.”

Wayne swallowed, wiping his mouth with his napkin. He was scared of whatever Eddie was about to say, it was written across his face. “Yeah? What’s goin’ on?”

“We, uh,” Eddie cleared his throat, looking at you then back at Wayne. “We just, uh, have some news.”

You were pretty sure Wayne knew what you were about to say from that moment, from the sick feeling that crossed his face. “What is it?”

Silence. Eddie pushed his food around his plate. “We…so, we’re…” A heavy sigh. “We’re…having a baby.”

Wayne just stared at the two of you. Then, he let out a long, weary sigh, leaning back in his chair. “Ed…”

“I know,” Eddie said. “I know.” He had promised not to end up this way. He had promised not to throw his life away. He had promised to live a life that put respect on the Munson name. He didn’t do any of those things.

“What the hell are you gonna do?” Wayne asked. He didn’t say it like he was mad. He wasn’t mad - not really. Just disappointed, and scared shitless for his nephew.

You and Eddie glanced at each other. “We’re, ah, gonna get married. This weekend.”

“Getting married?” Wayne practically choked. “Ed, are you sure-“

“Yeah.” Eddie squeezed your hand under the table. “I’m sure. This is what I want, what’s best for us.”

Wayne took a long sip of his beer. “God, Ed,” he said, once he’d sat the bottle back down on the kitchen table. “How did you let this happen?”

That weekend, December 1985, you wore a thrifted lacy white dress to the courthouse. Eddie dressed in a black button up shirt, tucked into his only pair of not-ripped jeans. His hair was combed and neat, and he was freshly shaven. You held a small cheap bouquet as you said your vows in front of the justice of the peace, then held Eddie’s hands and looked into his eyes as you declared your love for him. You cried. Eddie almost did.

Your parents and Wayne watched on - it was a bittersweet moment for them. They could see the love between you, but the circumstances weren’t ideal.

You graduated 5 months pregnant, but the pride you felt at finishing school was nothing compared to how proud you were to see Eddie walk the stage. Wayne teared up as Eddie was handed his diploma. Your two families took photos together outside after the ceremony, Eddie’s hand possessively on your belly.

Your daughter, Caroline Roxanne Munson, was born September 1986. Your pregnancy was blessedly easy, your birth simple and quick. Eddie held his baby girl like she was made of glass, like she held the secrets of the universe.

“Hi, baby girl,” he mumbled to her as he rocked her in his arms, you asleep in the hospital bed behind him. The tiny baby opened her eyes, peeking around the room but focusing as much as she could on Eddie’s face. Eddie trailed his finger lightly over her chubby cheek, her small nose - his nose. Your lips. His eyes. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I love you and your mama more than I’ve ever loved anything.”

Eddie got a job as a mechanic right out of high school, at the shop down the road from Forest Hills. He was determined - it didn’t take long before he was buying a trailer and having it put in next door to Wayne’s. A new double wide, with three bedrooms.

The front door led into a large open living room with a kitchen to the right. Past the kitchen was the door to the master bedroom with a bathroom attached. Down the hall to the left was a bathroom, and two smaller bedrooms.

Caroline spent the first couple months of her life sleeping in the room with you and Eddie, but when she was six months old, you moved her into her own room.

You were happy.

When Caroline was old enough, you got a job as a receptionist for a local doctor’s office. You and Eddie were doing well - you had pulled yourselves out of a bad situation and made the best of it, and made yourselves a nice life. Wayne and your parents were proud of you both.

January 1988 - it occurred to you that you hadn’t gotten your period in three months. You’d been so busy you hadn’t even noticed - you didn’t exactly track it, it came when it came. But when you noticed it had been months? Panic set in. Caroline was only 16 months old, it felt like you’d just had her first birthday party.

You kissed Eddie at the door, took Caroline to daycare, and bought a pregnancy test on the way to work. It sat in its bag in your car all day, weighing heavily on your mind during work. 

When you got off you went straight home - usually you got off work at 4, picked up Caroline, and started dinner in time for Eddie to get home at 6:30. But today, you had something to do before you could pick up your daughter.

At the house, you tossed your car keys on the hall table and headed straight for the master bathroom, bag clutched in your hand. 30 minutes later, and you were staring at a familiar sight - a positive pregnancy test.

You had no idea how Eddie was going to take the news. Sure, it was better to get pregnant now than when you were 17. But was it the right time? You and Eddie hadn’t even talked about more kids - you figured he didn’t want more. One was enough for both of you.

You picked up Caroline and got home, starting the meatloaf and mashed potato dinner. At 6:30, Caroline was sitting on the floor, playing with her toys with the Care Bears on the TV while you finished up the last of dinner. You were placing the steaming dishes on the kitchen table when the front door opened and Eddie walked in, oil splattered coveralls unzipped.

“Hey baby,” he greeted you. “Smells great. Is it ready?”

“Yep,” you said, maybe too casually. Eddie gave you a look, but shrugged it off, leaning in to place a kiss on your lips.

“And how’s my other best girl?” he asked, lifting Caroline into his arms. “What did you learn at school today?”

Caroline babbled to him about Care Bears. Eddie smiled at his daughter - he adored her like he’d never adored anything else. Not even his first sweetheart - the guitar currently hanging in your bedroom that still got plenty of love.

“That’s great, baby girl,” he said. He kissed her on the top of her head and sat her back down, where she took off running into the kitchen and straight into your legs. You picked her up, sitting her on your hip.

“How was your day?” Eddie asked you. He grabbed a bite of meatloaf and popped it into his mouth.

“It was…it was good,” you said. “Uh, boring.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said. “Hey, I’m gonna go take a quick shower. I’ll be right back and we can eat.”

“Okay,” you said, watching his form already retreating into the bedroom. The door closed behind him, leaving you alone with Caroline. You sat her in her high chair and cut up her meatloaf, making her plate.

You were helping her eat when Eddie came back out, hair wet and dressed in a white tank top and his plaid pajama pants. He took his usual seat and began piling his plate high with food.

You’d changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants since getting off work. You sat down in your seat across the table, Caroline between the two of you. You pushed your food around your plate.

“So,” you began, after a few minutes of idle conversation. “I, uh. Something happened today.”

“Oh yeah?” Eddie asked, looking up at you as he chewed his food. “What?”

You bit your lip. Caroline shoved a whole handful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. “My period is three months late.”

Silence. Eddie stopped eating, just staring at you. The only sound was Caroline, oblivious as she squealed and continued eating her dinner.

“…Oh?” he said finally. You couldn’t read him - you had no idea what he was thinking.

“Yeah,” you said. This was incredibly awkward. Things between you and Eddie were never this stilted. “So I got a test today.”

Eddie had lost his appetite, at least for right now. His food sat untouched in front of him while he stared at you. “Did you take it?”

“Yeah.”

“And?” He was getting impatient. “Please just tell me.”

You looked down at your plate. “It was positive.”

A long rush of air. Eddie running a hand through his wet curls, pushing them back out of his face. He rubbed his hand over his mouth, staring at some point on the wall behind you now instead of at you.

“Okay,” he said finally. “Okay. This is…it’s okay. We’re okay.”

“You think so?” Your brow was furrowed in concern. “Can we afford it? Are we ready? Is Caroline ready?”

“We’ll just…have to get ready,” Eddie said. “I mean, financially I think we’ll be okay. We’re alright. But are you…are you ready for another baby?” He was looking at you again. He reached across the table and took your hand, Caroline obliviously blowing raspberries and getting food everywhere. “This is mostly a big change for you.”

It was true. You were the one who’d have to go through another pregnancy and birth, you were the one who’d be at home with a newborn while Eddie only got one week of parental leave. You were the primary parent while Eddie worked longer hours.

“We don’t really have a choice,” you said. “I’ve got to be like, 10 weeks pregnant at least.” Eddie rubbed his hand over his chest. “But…yeah. I think I can do it.”

You were 11 weeks pregnant, it turned out, with a healthy little baby. Eddie smiled at you so big his face hurt at the first ultrasound. At home or out in public, he kept his hand on your belly most of the time, protectively.

This pregnancy was already such a different experience. Eddie was excited. He was extremely involved, stayed by your side every second, constantly had to be touching you and the bump, talked about baby stuff, wished for a son. Of course he’d be happy with another daughter too, but - a son would be cool, he thought.

You decided not to find out the gender. It was going to be a surprise - you decorated the third bedroom in gender neutral colors, a yellow Winnie the Pooh theme. Eddie made a little Hellfire shirt, just like he had for Caroline when you were still in high school.

You went into labor in the middle of the night. It was right on time, and your bag had been packed for weeks by the door. You dropped Caroline off with Wayne next door, and headed to the hospital to have a baby.

The birth was a little more complicated this time. There was some hemorrhaging, so they wouldn’t let you hold the baby right away. But in June 1988, you gave birth to another beautiful baby girl - Janis “Janie” Nicole Munson.

Wayne brought Caroline, who was 1 year and 9 months old, to the hospital to visit. She clung to Wayne tightly until he entered the room and she recognized you and Eddie - she reached for her father, whining for him. He laughed, lifting her from his uncle’s arms.

“Hey, angel,” he said to her. “Are you ready to meet your baby sister?”

Caroline wasn’t sure about Janie at first. She just stared at her like she was scared to touch her. Janie was sound asleep in your arms, wrapped in her hospital blanket with her little hat on her head full of dark brown hair. Finally, Caroline reached out, poking her cheek. That was as much as you were getting from her.

The sisters warmed up to each other quickly. Caroline was so fussy with noises as a baby, but Janie could sleep through the loudest of her sister’s screeches - maybe she’d gotten used to them in the womb. 

After his week of parental leave, when you all stayed home together, Eddie took Caroline to daycare every morning while you stayed home for 6 weeks with Janie. You spent most of your days on the couch, cuddled together and watching old sitcom reruns. You were happy and content.

Janie hardly ever cried. She was so different from her sister - quiet and reserved, even as she grew. She was well behaved and kind, while Caroline was loud and in charge (but still a sweet girl).

Eddie adjusted to life as a dad of two easily. He really was a natural at being a father. He’d walk around the house with Janie in his arms, a giggling Caroline hanging on his back with her arms around his neck.

“Did you get her to sleep?” you asked Eddie one night, bleary eyed as you breastfed Janie in bed. He was shutting the bedroom door softly behind him.

“Yeah,” he said. “She went down easy tonight. She’s out.” He laid on the bed next to you with a groan - he’d had a long day at work. “How are my other two girls?”

“Tired,” you said. “She’s almost done eating. She should be ready to lay down in a few minutes.”

“Good,” Eddie said. “You need the rest.”

You did. It was hard to find time to sleep between taking care of a 3 month old and a newly 2 year old. “I’m exhausted,” you admitted.

“You want me to take her?” he asked. “I can finish feeding her with the bottle.”

“No, it’s okay. She hates the bottle.” You smiled down at your baby daughter. “I think she might already be asleep.”

Eddie leaned over. “She’s eating in her sleep?”

“Yeah. She does that.”

Janie finished eating about 10 minutes later, just letting go and turning her sleepy head. She was out. Eddie took her from your arms and down the hall to her bedroom.

When he came back, he crawled back into bed next to you. “Finally alone,” he teased, kissing your shoulder.

You knew he was just messing around - you hadn’t been in the mood for sex since Janie was born, even though you’d been cleared for 6 weeks - Eddie had been patient. But you wanted him - finally, something was coming alive inside you as Eddie kissed across your skin.

“Yeah,” you said. “Finally.” You met each other’s eyes - then your lips crashed together, meeting in a heated kiss. Eddie’s tongue slid into your mouth, pressing against yours, exploring you. He moaned, he was already hard - it had been months, after all.

“God, I need you,” he groaned as your hand brushed over the rock hard erection in his pajama pants. “I want you so bad.”

“I want you too,” you whispered back. You pulled him tighter into you, your sensitive breasts pressed against his bare chest.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to rush you. We really- we really don’t have to.”

“I want to, Eddie,” you told him, grinding your hips against his cock, making him moan pathetically.

Then you showed him just how much.

February 1990, when Caroline was 3 ½ years old and Janie was nearing 2, Eddie came to you with a proposition.

“Let’s have another baby,” he said.

“What?” You nearly spit out your coffee. “Eddie- what?”

“I know, it’s completely out of nowhere,” he said. “But hear me out. The girls are older, a little more independent. We’re financially stable. And I want another baby.”

“You want another baby?” Somehow, you’d still never discussed it. “I didn’t think you’d even be happy about two kids.”

“Are you kidding?” he said. “With you? I’ll have ten.” He brushed his thumb over your cheek. “We aren’t kids ourselves anymore. We’re 23 and 21. We have stable jobs, we’re great parents. We can do this.”

With two accidental pregnancies under your belt, you and Eddie felt like getting pregnant on purpose would be a breeze. You were experts at this point, after all. And the act that led to the making of babies was one you two had plenty of practice at.

But it didn’t happen. You fully expected to get pregnant right away, so when your period showed up the next month, you had been borderline confused.

“I don’t get it,” you said, sitting down on the side of the bed next to Eddie, feeling dejected and sad. “We- I mean, we had sex plenty of times without protection. Why didn’t it work?”

“I don’t know, baby,” Eddie said gently. “Maybe it can take time? I’m sure it’ll happen next month.”

But in April, your period showed up again. And again in May and June. By the time July rolled around, you were scared and discouraged.

“We did this by accident twice,” you said, tossing a negative pregnancy test in the trash can and wiping tears from your eyes. “How can it be so hard to do on purpose?”

“Maybe we should go to the doctor?” Eddie offered. He was leaning against the doorway of the master bathroom, shirtless with his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m sure there’s…an explanation.”

“But probably not a good one,” you sniffled. “But…I’ll think about it.”

August came, and with it came an increase in appointments at the pediatrician office you worked at in preparation for school. Between work and the kids, you were kept so busy you completely forgot about taking a test.

When you remembered, you were 2 weeks late.

“Eddie?” you crept into the bedroom after laying down Janie. Eddie had just gotten Caroline bathed and in bed, and was lying in the bed you shared, shirtless, flipping through his D&D notebook with a cigarette between his lips. He had feared his days of gaming were over, but he still found time for Hellfire every other week. He was still the only one of his friends to get married or have kids. You wondered sometimes if that bothered him.

“What’s up?” he asked, looking up from his notebook. He put out the cigarette in the ashtray next to the bed and closed the book, dropping it in the drawer.

“So…” you said, climbing in bed. “I took…a test.”

Eddie’s eyes scanned your face for any hint at how you were feeling. When he didn’t see sadness, a grin slowly spread across his lips. “Did you?”

“Yeah, I did,” you said. You were trying your best to hold your own smile back. You placed the test in Eddie’s hand - he turned it over to reveal the result. Positive.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, pulling you into a tight hug while you giggled. “This is the best news. I’m so fuckin’ happy. Another baby.”

Eddie was a little more open with his hope for a son this time around. He reassured you every time that he’d be happy with a third daughter, but - he had his hopes. You didn’t mind either way - you loved being a girl mom, but a son would be amazing, too.

This pregnancy was rougher than the first two. You stayed sick, often ending up in the hospital for fluids after being unable to keep anything down. You were in a lot of pain, under a lot of stress, and were exhausted at all hours of the day. Eddie stepped up a lot, coming home from work as early as he was able and cooking dinner some nights, helping with the girls and their bedtime routine.

Your doctor was concerned, but the baby made it until their due date, April 1991. You were induced, however, because they didn’t want to chance leaving things any longer. The birth went well, and your third daughter was born - Melissa ‘Missy’ Joan Munson.

Having a third child turned out to be a much bigger adjustment than one to two, or even none to one. Everything changed after Missy’s birth. Eddie never said it, but it was clear he felt some regret for suggesting a third child, despite the love he felt for her.

You and Eddie were both exhausted, between work and home, it felt like it never stopped. By the time the girls were in bed - Caroline and Janie sharing, Missy in her own nursery - you were too tired to do anything, both just passing out in your own bed. Your sex life was nonexistent, and you hardly had the chance to say a passing word to one another.

Over the next four years, things were strained. You were struggling more financially than you had expected. The stress over bills was constant, one or both of you sitting hunched over the kitchen table with the mail spread out and your head in your hands.

When Missy was three, she started preschool and you picked up a second job waitressing. You had never been at that level of exhausted before.

It strained your relationship more than anything. Eddie was withdrawing, spending more time at work (which you couldn’t complain about because you needed the money), going out with the guys, and burying his stresses in beer and weed after the girls were in bed. Many nights, you went to sleep alone.

Fights became a regular thing. Whether it be about finances, chores, parenting, whatever - it was always something. It felt like you couldn’t have a civilized conversation with each other anymore.

“You promised you would do the dishes,” you said, dropping the laundry basket full of the girl’s clothes in front of the washing machine. You opened it, poured in the detergent, and angrily started throwing clothes inside. “But they were still there when I got home today.”

“I forgot,” Eddie mumbled. He was drinking a beer in the recliner by the TV. The girls were in bed, and Eddie was distracted by whatever rerun was currently playing.

“You always forget.” The last of the clothes were put inside and you slammed the lid shut. Turning the dial, you started the wash cycle. “Then I have to end up doing it myself.”

“Well, it’s kind of your job,” he muttered.

“Are you fucking serious?” You walked into the living room and stepped in front of the TV, hand on your hip. Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Here we fuckin’ go,” he groaned.

“You are such an asshole,” you spat. “What’s your problem? It’s impossible to get you to do anything around here anymore. You just get home from work and sit on your ass and let me do everything!”

“I’m tired!” he exclaimed. “I’m fucking exhausted! I just want to sit down with a fuckin’ beer when I get off work and not get bitched at by my wife for once.”

“Oh, I’m bitching?” you scoffed. “I’m fucking tired too, Eddie! I work two jobs then come home and take care of the house and my apparently four children.”

“Real mature,” Eddie said. He took another swig of his beer then pushed closed the leg rest of the recliner. “Fuck this. I’m going to bed.”

“This is why we can never get through anything,” you threw your hands in the air. “You run away. You’re not willing to listen to anything I have to say. You have no respect for me. You don’t care about making anything better.”

“There is no ‘making things better’ when it comes to you.” He threw his beer bottle into the trash can with a loud clatter. “You’re never happy. Nothing I do makes you happy.”

“You used to make me happy.”

Silence. Eddie stopped, but didn’t turn around. Finally, he shook his head. “Goodnight.” And he disappeared into the bedroom.

This wasn’t new, either. You’d end up waiting until you knew Eddie was asleep before you came to bed yourself, even if you were tired. Or maybe you’d just sleep on the couch. Either way, it felt like things between you and Eddie were doomed.

It was March 1995  when you called it quits for good.

The fighting, the resentment, the drama - it had all gotten to be too much. You and Eddie didn’t even seem to like each other anymore. You didn’t know how Eddie felt deep down, but you knew you’d always love him - even if you felt like you hated him right now.

You moved out and into a three bedroom apartment. Eddie helped you move while the girls were with your parents, but it was extremely awkward. Steve, Robin, and Nancy came over and helped, too, which made it a little less uncomfortable. 

It was a bittersweet moment for you - you were happy to be getting out of that house full of painful memories and starting a new life on your own, but watching Eddie walk out the door and leave you standing there alone - it crushed you. It hurt more than you ever anticipated it would. You almost went after him. Almost.

The divorce was finalized five months later.

You and Eddie barely even looked at each other as you signed the papers. There was a custody hearing, mercifully brief since you and Eddie were able to come to an agreement easily. You would keep the girls during the week while Eddie got them every other weekend. He would have liked more time, but he knew with the divorce would come sacrifice.

The girls didn’t take it well. They were 9, 7, and 4 at the time, old enough to understand what was happening and what it meant for their life as a family. For the first few months, they would cry their eyes out at every custody drop off, which made both you and Eddie feel like the worst people on the planet. But with time, everyone settled into the new normal.

You dated a few guys on and off, but never got into a serious relationship. More hookups than anything. It’s like you looked for Eddie in every guy you met, whether you could admit that to yourself or not.

Eddie was a different story. It seemed like he had a new girl on his arm every time you turned around. And it pissed you off. It’s not like you couldn’t get a boyfriend - you had plenty of opportunity to. You just didn’t like anyone. Eddie didn’t care. He didn’t have any serious girlfriends, but he didn’t mind sleeping around. He was single for the first time since he was 17, and he was living it up. It made you sick.

But you were better off apart.

October 1997

Your car pulled into the parking lot of the abandoned Shell station, the designated meeting place since the separation. It was run down, weeds peeking through the cracks in the asphalt. Eddie’s truck wasn’t there yet.

You checked your beeper to see if you had any missed messages from Eddie - nothing.

You sighed. He was always late. The girls were in the backseat fighting over a toy, not bothered at all.

Finally, his truck rumbled into the parking lot. You could hear the music before you saw the vehicle - metal blasting so loud the whole street probably heard. You rolled your eyes, preparing to deal with him.

“Daddy’s here!” Missy yelled, unhooking herself from her car seat and reaching for the door. Caroline and Janie lit up too, grabbing their weekend bags.

Eddie’s truck skidded to a stop in the parking spot one over from yours. You slid your sunglasses on, then opened the door, stepping out just as Eddie hopped down from his side. You could see her sitting in the passenger seat, not even bothering to look at you.

“Daddy!” the girls all yelled, jumping out of the SUV and running to Eddie. He laughed as he hugged them all, tossing Missy in the air.

“How are my favorite girls?” he asked, ruffling Janie’s hair. She pushed him off with a giggle, fixing her braid.

“I thought I was your favorite girl?” Stacy called from the passenger seat. She was joking, but it still made you want to punch her.

“We’re good,” Caroline said. “Can we see Laura this weekend?”

Laura was Jeff’s 6 year old. Jeff was the only one of Eddie’s friends who’d had a kid, too, and she was close with the girls.

“I’m sure we can,” he said. Missy was latched onto his leg, as if she hadn’t seen him in years. He lifted her, placing a kiss on her head. “Okay, girls, go ahead and get in the truck. We gotta go, and I need to talk to your mom before we leave.”

“Bye, mommy!” The girls called, each giving you a tight hug. You waved and watched them climb into the tall truck, closing the door hard behind them. No one in the truck could hear you now.

Eddie took a step closer to you. “You look nice,” he said, his voice low. “You gotta date or something?”

“Or something,” you said. “Not that it’s any of your business. Don’t you have your skank to get back to?”

Eddie nearly cackled, throwing his head back and laughing hard. “You always were so feisty,” he said.

You couldn’t help the smile tugging at your lips. “Take good care of my girls.”

“You know I will,” he said seriously. “You can call any time. If you wanna talk to them.”

You glanced towards the tinted truck window. “I don’t think she would like that too much.”

“She’ll get over it,” he shrugged. “You’re their mom. You can talk to them whenever.” He scuffed his boot against the ground. “How…have you been?”

You opened your mouth to answer, but jumped when the truck’s car horn blared. You and Eddie both looked over his shoulder to see Stacy leaning on the horn, looking out the window and gesturing for Eddie to hurry up.

“Guess you have to go,” you said. “Your girl is calling you.”

Eddie looked sheepish. “I’ll see you Sunday,” he said. He looked like he wanted to say something else maybe, but instead he turned, walking back around the truck to the driver’s side door. You climbed back into your own car, the silence heavy with the kids gone.

You started the car and drove back home.

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[some-lovely-day]

Two heartbeats

Pairing: Johnny Storm x reader Word Count: 4.9k

Description: You agree to help Reed test his new baby scanner for Sue, so he can collect some baseline data from a non–pregnant woman. But when the screen lights up with a tiny heartbeat, you realize you’ve got some crazy news to break to Johnny.

Tags/warnings: established relationship, mildly soft Reed, Johnny hovering, accidentally finding a pregnancy, panicking over it, comfort, Johnny finding out, fluff, funny and domestic moments <3

Note: all I can say is writing this was so entertaining and heartwarming, there’s just something about the idea of Johnny being a dad😭. Hope you enjoy! 🫶🏼

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The bright lab was mostly quiet, except for the soft humming sound coming from the machine next to you. You sat perched on the edge of a white, medical style platform that looked more intimidating than it probably was. Reed sat on a stool to your left, completely focused on adjusting the controls of his latest invention, a fancy scanner meant for prenatal imaging. You were there as his control subject, since he needed to "create a baseline from a non gestational female", his words. Sue's scan was scheduled for later, if everything worked as expected.

Or at least, that was the plan.

"Alright. The scanner is all set, I'm ready when you are," Reed announced, turning around halfway on his stool to look at you through his thick frame glasses. "Are you comfortable there?"

"I am, actually," you smiled, settling back until your full body rested on the soft leather surface, which, surprisingly, began to warm slowly beneath you. "It's ... warm."

A smile almost ghosted his mouth, but he turned back to the sphered monitor before it could fully form. “Sue tends to get cold in here. I believe adding this feature will make her more inclined to agree to my scans.”

You only gave him a knowing smile. Reed was… Reed, after all.

He wasn’t always able to express care with words, his sentences were more likely to contain statistics or hyper logical reasoning about even the tiniest of details no one noticed or cared about, but his actions spoke louder than words. It was all about the little accommodations, the quiet fixes, the way he noticed discomforts around the building before anyone voiced them. This time was no exception, he didn't think twice about adding a heating feature to the scanner’s seat when his wife had complained about the lab feeling like a freezer last time.

"I bet it's not warmer than me, though," a voice chimed in next to you, and you couldn't help but chuckle.

Ah, yes … Johnny.

Your ever loving boyfriend, who couldn’t stand being more than ten minutes away from you and insisted on being present for this “fake scan” so he could practice holding your hand for future real ones.

Because in his mind, you were in his future that way, not a single doubt about that.

The baby making. Especially, the baby making. The big surprise. The bun in the oven. The endless scans for ultrasound pictures he’d stick to the glass windows of your shared bedroom. The restless nights outweighed by the giggles from a little him ... a little you.

Not today, but maybe one day.

Definitely one day.

And in that hothead of his, he thought what better preparation than watching his brother in law micromanage Sue’s pregnancy through you? At least he could have a little fun with it.

So, naturally, Johnny invited himself to the session. Dragging an extra stool to the lab, sliding on your right side, elbows braced on the platform. His hand found yours as soon as you set your body down.

"You know I can warm you up anytime you want, babe," Johnny shrugged innocently, but his tone was playful as always.

You turned to him amused, a smile already on his face as he leaned definitely way too close to your face, and quickly stole a peck from your lips, earning a soft laugh from you.

Reed sighed next to you, wishing he'd asked you to try the machine in the early hours of the morning before Johnny even woke up. It was his fault after all, he should've known better than bringing it up in front on him. Now he'd have to make it work while you got distracted by ... your distraction.

You instantly noticed his demeanor shift, and gently slipped your hand from Johnny's grasp to lay it flat on the bed, blowing a kiss to him when he opened his mouth to complain. He instantly grinned in triumph, pretending to catch it and placed it over his heart. At least that would keep his hands to himself for a moment.

"All ready now, Reed," you said, offering him an apologetic smile, and he nodded.

"Okay, we're ready to begin. Please just don’t talk," Reed said, his eyes on the display as he pressed buttons, "and try to avoid any unnecessary movement, both of you," he turned slightly, looking over his glasses to glare at your hovering boyfriend.

Which was, unfortunately, a straight dare for Johnny to lean closer against the platform beside you, the corner of his mouth curving into a grin.

"You hear that babe? No unnecessary movement. Don't breathe, not even a little," he said in the most serious tone he could use. "... except if you wanna, you know, lean on me a little," he winked, then nudged your shoulder with his. “I wouldn’t mind.”

You tried not to smile this time when he wiggled his eyebrows, for the sake of the test and the remaining of Reed's sanity, which only made him grin wider.

"Johnny," Reed scolded without looking up, "I need her still, and I need quiet so I can concentrate."

"Hey, I'm just here to supervise," Johnny protested. "Make sure you're not poking her with anything weird."

If there was something Johnny loved almost as much as you and space, it was rage baiting his brother in law. And the worst part was, that no matter how incredibly intelligent Reed was, it seemed to work every single time.

"I'm not poking her with anything,” Reed snapped, sighing afterward. "Can you at least step back a little so I can–"

"Nuh-uh, not a chance in the world," Johnny interrupted. "I'm here for emotional support, you know, a dad being present –Ow. Babe!" you elbowed him lightly in the ribs, which made him gasp.

"First of all, you're not a father. This is purely for data gathering purposes," Reed objected without missing a beat, "and you're only here because you followed her in.”

"Yeah yeah, semantics, whatever," Johnny shrugged, raising a hand to dismiss him and turned to you. "Hey, you hungry, princess? I could get you something."

"I'm fine, Johnny," you shook your head, smiling at the gesture, then raising your hand to press a finger on his lips. "Now, shh."

You caught Reed rubbing the bridge of his nose, muttering something about how he should have asked literally any other woman in the planet who didn't have Johnny Storm joint at their hip.

"The sequence is starting now. I just need five minutes," he sighed for the fourth time in three minutes, and then pressed a few more buttons, his posture stiffening. "Please Johnny, just five, no more talking."

"Alright, alright. I can be quiet for five minutes," he raised his hands in surrender, finally leaning back.

It lasted five whole seconds.

"So," he began, leaning toward you again. "Tell me about the first time you saw me."

You sighed at the question Johnny liked to ask at least once a week. You were happy to answer it every time, just not in front of his brother in law. So you put a hand on his chest to push him back a little, before Reed's patience snapped completely.

"Johnny, angel, you know what? Actually I am hungry," you said, playing with the fabric of his shirt. "I am craving some oranges."

"Oranges?" Johnny's whole demeanor shifted, still grinning, but now with that eagerness to please you sparkling in his eyes.

"Yes, fresh ones," you nodded, slightly biting your lip. "Pretty please?"

“You got it, fresh ones from the market," he grabbed your hand from his chest and placed a kiss on it, making you chuckle once again.

Why was he so annoyingly sweet?

Satisfied with your reaction, he got up from his stool, the little seat's wheels rolling back as he made his way to the elevator's doors. Not without turning around halfway, looking at you while pointing accusingly at Reed.

"Don't let him poke you with needles or draw blood from you. I will sue," then he winked at you, backing to the elevator. "Give me five minutes, ten tops."

And after a shameless wink, the elevator doors slid closed, and he was gone. Leaving a very relieved Reed alone with his scan and you trying very hard not to laugh at the way he exhaled like he'd been holding his breath under water this whole time.

"Thank you," he said genuinely, turning back to his controls. You just hummed in acknowledgment.

You held your breath as the machine made a louder hum, a halo of pale blue light swept over you from head to toe.

"You can breathe normally," Reed said, noticing your stillness. "Just don't move anything else, please."

You let your gaze wander over the colorful room while the scanner did the work. There were gadgets on every counter, Sue's latest ultrasound printed and stuck on the corner of Reed's giant blackboard, a mug that said 'Fantastic dad' that Johnny told Ben to buy Reed as a joke but he wholeheartedly gave it to the man. You smiled at the memory.

The thought of Sue and Reed’s baby being there in a just a months was amazing and terrifying at the same time, and it wasn’t even yours.

And now that Johnny wasn't hovering anymore, and Reed's focus was solely on the screen in front of him, the quiet of the room allowed you to think about what Johnny said earlier.

'A dad being present'

There was a time where you thought something like that was impossible due to his altered DNA, but Sue and Reed had shown you the possibility was still there.

And the more you thought about it, the more it made you want to build that with Johnny. It wasn't a crazy idea, not at all, but it was something you'd projected into the far future.

Definitely one day.

"Huh," Reed's voice snapped you out of your thoughts, his eyebrows furrowed as he leaned closer to the screen.

"Something wrong with the machine?" you asked, trying to not make a big fuss about it, it was a new equipment after all.

He didn't answer immediately. Just tapped his keyboard twice, then leaned even closer, eyes squinting and his whole expression sharpening. The scanner made another low pass over your midsection.

"Hmm," there it was, another weird monosyllable.

"That's a suspicious 'hmm'," you said, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Not suspicious at all," Reed said quickly. "Just interesting ... please lean back down, it's not done."

His fingers moved over the console again, adjusting settings. The scanner passed over you once more, slower this time, and you noticed a small, unconscious shift in his posture. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, blinked at the display, then adjusted the image like maybe the machine had made a mistake.

Again.

"Okay, you're being really weird now. Even for you, Reed," you half joked, hoping that would ease the sudden nerves invading your body.

"I just … wasn't expecting to see–" he paused, hesitating, glancing toward the door as if Johnny might burst in at any second.

"See what?" you pressed, fully panicking now.

The machine beeped softly with results for the third time, like it was confirming whatever he'd already noticed the first. Then Reed suddenly stood up from his stool and paced in his spot, folding his arms.

"There are certain... biological markers. In fact, they're very specific markers. I'd like to run the scan one more time to confirm."

"No. No more scans," you fully sat up now, suddenly understanding Sue's dread of those. "Just tell me, is there something wrong with me?"

Your tone actually made him jerk his head in your direction, shaking his head profusely.

"No," his voice was quiet but certain. Not comforting either, though. "No, absolutely not."

"Then what is it?"

Reed hesitated, eyes fixing back on the screen. "It's... actually the opposite," he said slowly. His voice wasn't that detached this time, it was still Reed, still cautious, but there was something... warmer underneath.

"Something right, then?"

"Quiet for a moment," he mumbled, pressing the console again. "I want to be sure."

So you stayed still, your heartbeat ringing a little faster in your ears. The scanner made one last pass over your body, beeping one last time with the same results apparently, because Reed stepped back, took a long breath, and blinked a few times like he was pulling himself back into the room with you.

He wasn't exactly expecting to be the first to find out about... that. Now how on earth was he supposed to break news like that? None of his infinite doctorates qualified him to do so.

Reed stalled for a few more seconds, before reaching to the sphere monitor and rotating it in your direction.

"Look at that," he said, pointing to the screen, his voice slightly softer than usual.

On the screen, a small flicker pulsed steadily in the center of a grainy blue and white colored image. You stared at it for a few seconds.

Was that? … No. No it couldn't be.

"...My heartbeat?" you chuckled weakly, because the alternative your head was suggesting was just not possible.

Not right now. Definitely not right now.

Reed arched a brow, his gaze instantly softening. He knew how this part felt. The first moments of denial. The surreality of it. So he approached it as gentle as his capabilities allowed him to.

None of his education had prepared him for something like this, but you were family, even more so now, so he tried his best to use his heart this time instead of his brain. As absurd as that sounded to someone like him.

"It is a heartbeat, and technically, it's yours too. Or, well, more like a part of you."

You stared at it again. That flicker. The steady, insistent beat. You knew what it meant, of course you did, but the words got stuck in your throat and refused to come out.

"Look," Reed took off his glasses, pointing with the frames higher up in the torso scan. "Your heartbeat is here," and then pointed back lower, "and this one is smaller ... much smaller."

Reed studied your face as you kept quiet, something warm blooming in his chest despite his usually clinical nature.

Two 'fantastic babies' this year. Huh. He hadn't seen that coming. Couldn't have predicted it with equations in a million years.

"Okay," you said finally, too casually.

"Just okay?" Reed almost chuckled this time. "You do understand what I'm showing you, correct?"

"Yeah. I... yeah," you nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath. "I'm ..."

But you didn't say it. Couldn't. Because saying it out loud would make it real. And right now, you weren't ready for real. Not without Johnny by your side.

Right. Johnny.

Who wasn't there to hold your hand through it.

Oh my God. How were you gonna tell him?

He was, after all, your emotional support. But who was gonna be his when you were panicking? Oh my god. What if he panics too? Would he be ready? Would you be ready?

All of a sudden, that 'one day' wasn't so far away anymore.

You didn't even notice your breathing had gone shallow until Reed's voice caught your attention.

"Breathe," he said, not commanding, more like a reminder.

"I am breathing," you looked up at him, chest going up and down rapidly.

"Not enough," he replied. Then, in a move that was so unlike him, he reached for your hand. His palms were warm, not as warm as the ones you were used to, but it helped somehow. His hands pressing yours just enough to let you know he wasn't letting go unless you wanted him to.

"Follow me," he said. He took a slow inhale, visibly lifting his chest, and let it out in a slow exhale. "Again."

You tried your best. Inhale. Exhale. It died in your throat halfway out a few times. But he waited, patient as ever, until you tried again. And again. Until the fifth breath felt a little less jagged.

"It's normal to be scared," he said, when your breathing slowed down. "When Sue told me she was pregnant, I–I almost passed out. And that was after two years of planning for it."

Instantly realizing what he confessed, he cleared his throat, before looking at you more serious for a moment.

"Don't tell Johnny," he asked.

A shaky laugh escaped you, and it loosened something in your chest. You shook your head in reassurance. He nodded grateful.

"I know this is... a big pill to swallow. Terrifying, even. But it doesn't have to be faced alone."

Your eyes got glassy before you could stop them.

"We're all a family," Reed continued, repeating what was always said by the others, not much by him, if ever. "Which means your child will never have to go without place to feel like home, or without love. Not with all of us around."

A tear did fall from on your cheek this time, and you let go of his grip to wipe it before Johnny came back.

Oh, Johnny.

Just thinking about him being a father, a dad who is present, his blonde disheveled hair at midnight as he warms baby bottles with his own hands, a tiny bundle sleeping on his chest enjoying the impossible warmth irradiating from his skin. Him playing peek a boo with the funniest faces he can think of.

And for the first time since you saw that flicker on the screen, you believed, if only for a second, that maybe this wouldn't be the end of the world.

"I'm pregnant," you finally said it, the foreign words leaving your lips in a whisper.

Reed's eyes softened, the smallest smile forming in his mouth.

"You're pregnant," he echoed, just as quietly, like repeating it would help you both absorb the reality. He straightened a little, half turning to his machine. "I'd still like to make some more formal scans–"

"Reed."

"I know, I know. Sorry," he apologized, letting out a dry chuckle while shrugging, "but it's ... protocol."

"I'm telling you, Herbert, those oranges were not fresh. That guy was totally lying ... Yeah right? I know. Unbelievable."

Your head snapped at the sound of HERBIE's robotic beeps and Johnny's muffled voice echoing behind the elevator doors, as they arrived to the lab's floor.

"–and so I had to use my charm on the girl next to him, one smile and she went straight to get me the good ones ... I know Herbert, I know, but you have to do what you have to do."

The doors slid open in a ding, revealing a very excited Johnny walking in, toying with an orange from one hand to another as HERBIE trailed behind him holding something you couldn't see from your seat.

"Ah, there you are." Johnny smiled as soon as his eyes landed on you, "now, what did I miss?"

You looked at Reed for a brief second, at the verge of panicking again, but he mouthed a 'just breathe', gesturing with his hand a swift inhale. So you did that, as Johnny crossed the lab until he got to the stool he was previously sat in, with the little droid following him like a lost puppy.

"Got 'em! Did you miss me, babe?" he asked, plopping into his seat.

"I always do," you mumbled, absentmindedly reaching to the orange he was holding, to try to distract yourself with something. "Thank you, Johnny–"

Before you could reach, he yanked back his hand with a laugh. "Don't be silly, this one is for me. Here–"

He turned halfway to HERBIE behind him, and grabbed with his free hand something from the droid's hands, petting his metal head before turning back to offer it to you.

You lowered your eyes at the plate he was holding to you. Probably two oranges, sliced, and placed nicely around the dish. The citrus scent hit you and half scratched that itch you've been having about oranges lately, which ... made a lot of sense now.

"These are for you, bite sized. I'm gonna tell you now, got the best ones in the city," he leaned down to kiss your forehead, and added with a cocky grin, "go on, tell me I'm amazing."

He was. God, he was.

But it wasn’t the oranges what hit you the most, it was the way Johnny went about it. How you wouldn't need to feel scared, or not ready, when he was willing to take on even the smallest of requests with intention, just to put a smile on your face.

So you couldn't hold it together any longer, and lunged forward to wrap your arms around his neck, the plate of oranges falling from his hand to your lap, small slices scattering across the platform. You buried your head in his neck, not being able to hold the tears anymore. Johnny instinctively wrapped his arms around your body, a hand still holding his orange for dear life as he stared confused at Reed.

“Woah– what happened baby?” he asked softly, bringing his free hand to stroke your hair as you cried into his chest. “What did you do, Richards?” His tone got weirdly serious now, even for Johnny.

“Me? N-nothing!” Reed blurted offended, which only made Johnny glare at him.

“Did Reed lecture you about moving during the scan? I told you, babe, you don’t have to listen to him when I’m not here.”

Reed’s mouth opened to protest, but chose to keep quiet. He glanced at you, still clinging to Johnny for dear life. He took a deep breath. He knew what this was like, so he just let Johnny continue until you chose to tell him.

“She was okay when I left, and now she’s crying in my arms –hey hey, it’s okay baby– so what could have possibly happened while I was gone?”

His tone to Reed was serious, but when he looked down at you it got incredibly softer. You sniffed a few times, pulling apart from him to wipe your eyes and give him a teary smile.

“I’m fine, Johnny, really,” you reassured, sniffing again, “It’s just … I don’t–“ you looked at Reed, nodding at him so he could help you a little.

Reed took off his glasses, and folded his hands behind his back in that way that meant ‘I’m about to say something big and I’m choosing my words carefully’. You just kept your gaze on Johnny.

“The scan revealed some … unexpected results.”

Well, so much for choosing your words carefully.

“Unexpected like… bad unexpected, or ‘hey, you have an extra kidney’ unexpected?” Johnny asked, squinting.

“Having an extra kidney would be bad unexpected too, Johnny,”

“We could always get it out and sell it,” he shrugged, rolling his eyes playfully to make you laugh, and when you inevitably did, relief washed over his face for a second.

Okay, it couldn’t be that bad if he was able to make you laugh after that breakdown. His heart could calm down a little now.

“Well, actually… neither,” Reed said.

His gaze shifted between the two of you before settling on the monitor that was still facing your direction. Johnny glanced at the screen, still expecting to see that third kidney. Instead, he tilted his head and his eyebrows pulled together.

“Huh,” he exhaled.

Funny, his first reaction was identical to Reed’s.

You watched him stare at the screen, and you could almost see the gears turning under all that blonde hair. Because Johnny Storm was a lot of things, loud, playful, endlessly distracting, but he was also sharp. And he wasn’t missing what was right in front of him.

Two heartbeats.

“Is uh– Is that what I think…?” his eyes flicked to you, you were already smiling, still glassy eyed holding the lump in your throat. “Oh my god.”

His mouth fell open a little, eyes darting between Reed, you and the small flicker on the screen for a few times, before it hit him all at once. He finally let go of the orange in his hand, the fruit hitting the floor in a few thuds.

Johnny’s face lit up like sunlight getting through grey clouds. Even HERBIE beeped in awe.

“OH MY GOD!!”

The grin that broke over his face made your heart flutter. He cupped your face in his warm hands before you could even wipe your eyes.

“Babe. Babe,” he chanted enthusiastically, his forehead pressed to yours, voice dropping to a breathless laugh. “We’re having a baby. Oh my god! We’re having a baby! … Herbert I’m gonna be a father!”

You let out a laugh that was half sob, half immense happiness, nodding against him.

He crashed his lips to yours, salty tears mixing in your lips as he kissed you softly, lips slightly pulling back from how wide you both were smiling.

In front of you, Reed stood with his arms crossed, the loveliest smile tugging at his mouth. For once, he didn’t interrupt, didn’t feel like adding facts or disclaimers. He simply turned back to the console and gave you both the moment.

That was, until Johnny pulled apart from you, realizing how you had just lit his whole world on fire and he was more than willing to stand in the middle of all of it.

“Okay,” Johnny said, still holding your face, “this is fine. This is more than fine. This is … this is amazing.”

“Johnny, I think we should–” you began, but he was already in motion, pacing next to you.

“First of all, we need to stock on food, for all the weird pregnancy cravings you’re gonna have. You want pickles dipped in ice cream? boom, Johnny delivers,” he gestured dramatically with his hands in the air.

Reed sighed, rubbing his temple while mumbling something about Johnny speaking in third person.

“Johnny–“

“And the baby’s room. We’ll paint it… okay, we don’t know boy or girl yet, but that’s fine, we’ll go with something neutral. Like… fire yellow … no, wait, that’s too on the nose. Sky blue? Maybe it could be space themed! … babe they can go to space with us one day, maybe Reed can make a baby space suit–“

“I am not sending your baby, or any baby for that matter, to space, Johnny.” Reed interrupted flatly, wishing you could go back to hugging and not this unprompted rambling.

“Johnny, angel, maybe we should–“

“Oh, and the clothes, babe the clothes! Little tiny onesies with flames on them. Reed, you have to make them in fireproof clothing, how else is it gonna be safe for me to hold them?”

“Johnny!” you leaned forward to put your hands on his chest and gently dragged him towards you. “Can we maybe process this before we start designing the nursery?”

He stopped mid ramble, eyes fixing on yours. And for the first time since Reed dropped the news, he hesitated. “Wait, you’re… okay with this? I mean, I’m over the moon, obviously, but… are you?”

You exhaled, reaching to fix a strand of his hair. “Johnny there’s nothing I want more in this life, than to have a family with you,” you reassured, meaning every single word, “but we didn’t even know about this ten minutes ago.”

Johnny’s smile softened. He grabbed your hand and lifted it to his lips, holding a kiss there for a moment.

“Okay. We’ll do this together, slowly, as a family,” he gave your hand a gentle squeeze, and this time you were the one who jumped at his lips.

This time it was a bit rougher, clinging to him with fists clenched on his shirt, like putting all the overwhelming weight of it all into the kiss. Reed, who was still there, cleared his throat before you started making another baby right there and then. On his new scanner. That he built for his wife but now it would work for you too.

He was gonna have to get used to Johnny hovering all the time now.

“You should both take some more proper tests to confirm everything is okay with your baby, before making any further plans.”

“Yeah, yeah, Reed,” Johnny dismissed, already wrapping an arm around your waist to help you come down the platform, and guide you toward the door, but he halted midway. “Wait both? why me? I swear to god Richards, if you poke me–“

“No one is going to poke any of you here, Jonathan. Ever. I already told you, and it sure as hell won’t be me if it’s ever required,” Reed rolled his eyes, already relieved to see you both make your way to the elevator so he could work in peace.

He could only be happy for so long, before his mind inevitably went to overthink about how on earth you were all going to survive two super babies at the same time. But before he could get lost in his head, Reed turned to thank HERBIE, who was humming cheerfully to himself as he picked up the orange slices from the table. The little droid then rolled toward you, offering the plate with a chirp.

“Thank you, HERBIE,” you smiled, and Johnny pet his head in gratitude.

“Alright, we’ll do all that science stuff later, Reed. Right now…” He glanced down at you, his lovely grin back in full force. “I’m getting my girl more snacks ... and maybe also ice cream. Just in case that pickle phase hits early.”

Even behind all the joking and amusement in his face, the glint in his eyes quietly told you he was looking at the most important thing in the whole universe. Those two heartbeats.

But no, it wasn’t just two heartbeats after all.

Because with Johnny by your side, it was three.

⋆⋅ ♡ ⋅⋆

Part two is on the way!

feedback is always appreciated, thank you so much for reading 🫶🏼

[some-lovely-day]

Herbie appreciation day!

[some-lovely-day]

Mind you, this was the baby that was physically abused by his father, mentally abused by his mother and was a m€th addict in middle school

[some-lovely-day]

Hi Herbert

[some-lovely-day]

[some-lovely-day]

[some-lovely-day]

the calm before the storm - johnny storm

Johnny Storm x pregnant!gf!reader

Masterlist Tag Lists

Summary:

You have some news for Johnny, but the last thing you expect is for Sue to beat you to it. However, it turns out becoming parents isn’t even the biggest thing the family has to worry about - there are much bigger forces at work. Follows the timeline of about the first half of the movie

Warnings:

Smut (18+), unprotected p in v, oral (m receiving), creampie, movie spoilers, pregnancy, birth, fluff, angst, dangerous situations

Word Count: 19.2k

A/N:

I’m so beyond happy to have this completed and posted for y’all! This fic follows the timeline of the first half of the movie and contains spoilers, and is left open for more. I’m sorry if there’s anything in here that doesn’t make sense or isn’t canon compliant, I know nothing besides this one movie 😅 Much more can be written in the world of this fic - let me know if you want to see it! Big giant thanks to @punkrockmlchael for my banner, @writhingg for always being the best beta reader, @glassbxttless and @getaapologist for being the most helpful ever for this girl who knows nothing about marvel, and to @feral4youu and @sudsys for reading literally every scene the second i finish it (you’re both real ones ilysm)

“Oh, sweetheart…”

Johnny was a panting mess above you, leaning up on his elbows on the bed and watching your every move as you took his cock deeper and deeper down your throat. You looked up at him through your long eyelashes, taking in the fucked-out look on his face.

He was looking down at you with his face screwed up in pleasure. His toned chest heaved with his breaths, a whining moan at the end of each one.

His cock was hot and heavy in your mouth, throbbing between your swollen lips. Precum leaked from his tip, the heady taste on your tongue every time you swiped over his slit, which drove him crazy. His head would loll back on his shoulders as a low groan tore its way out of his chest.

You splayed your hands across his thick thighs, bobbing your head a little faster, making sure to give every part of him plenty of attention. He loved when you were sloppy on it like this. Johnny raked his hand through your hair, pushing you down all the way and holding you there until you couldn’t breathe.

“God-“ he choked, his eyes falling closed. “Oh, jesus baby, that’s- h-oh- oh, god-“

He let go and you pulled off of him, gasping for air. You took only a moment to compose yourself before you were sinking back onto him, sending Johnny flopping back onto the pillows with a groan.

You cradled his balls in your right hand, gently massaging them as you took him down slowly, focusing your tongue along the underside of his cock. His thighs trembled, muscles clenching.

“Fuck,” he whined. “Sweetheart, I- I’m so close, I’m so close. Wanna be inside you. Please.”

You lifted off of him with a pop, his cock twitching weakly as it was left wanting. Your lips were shining, wet with saliva. “Well, since you asked so nicely…”

Johnny laughed breathlessly and reached for you, pulling you on top of him and drawing a giggle from your lips. Your naked body landed on top of his, your chests pressed together as he tangled his hand in the back of your hair and dragged you down into a playful kiss.

Your lips moved together like they had always known one another. You straddled Johnny’s waist, legs on either side of his hips as you kissed him. His free hand rubbed down the smooth skin of your back and gripped your ass, making you gasp into the kiss. He chuckled.

“You’re perfect, y’know that?” he said quietly against your lips. He licked into your mouth, tasting a hint of the wine you’d had together, now forgotten across the room. A moan rumbled from his chest and against yours as your tongues rolled together, his cock pressed right up against what he wanted more than anything.

“You’re too sweet, Johnny,” you said as you broke the kiss and sat up. You rolled your hips experimentally, his cock dragging through your soaked folds. Johnny gasped, his hands flying to grip your hips tightly.

“Shit,” he hissed. “I can’t take it anymore. I need to fuck you right now.”

You moaned, you could feel his impressive length pressing insistently against you. He needed it bad tonight - you loved it when he got like this. Sometimes he was so needy and desperate, sometimes he was dominant and in control. Tonight was the former, and you weren’t complaining. “D’you want me to ride you, baby?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Fuck yeah.”

You lifted yourself up on your knees and Johnny reached beneath you to line his cock up with your hole. His thick tip was pressed tight against you, his blue eyes looking up into yours with so much fiery lust behind them it took your breath away.

You mentally prepared yourself, then lowered, sinking down onto Johnny’s thick cock slowly. His head dropped back and he let out a loud groan - you wouldn’t be surprised if the whole Baxter Building could hear him. Johnny was never shy about letting you know how good you felt.

He rocked his hips up into you right away, feet planted on the bed and his thigh muscles working as he pumped up into you. He was so deep already, your head tossed back as you cried out.

“Johnny! Oh my god-“

He was fucking you so hard from beneath you, you forgot you were supposed to be doing the work, too lost in your own pleasure. Eventually Johnny tugged on your hips, encouraging you to move. “Ride me, sweetheart. Please.”

You rocked your hips slowly at first, grinding down against him. You rested your hands on Johnny’s chest, rolling against him, the hair at the base of his cock rubbing against your clit just right. It felt incredible for you, but he needed more. He grabbed your ass in each of his large hands and started guiding you up and down, lifting you before letting you fall back down onto him.

The first drop back down onto him made Johnny’s back arch, a loud moan filling the air. The muscles in his neck and shoulders were straining, his pink, kiss swollen lips parted in a pretty O. Oh, he was needy.

You set a steady pace bouncing on his cock, Johnny watching your every move with intense focus. Your tits bounced with your movements - he couldn’t decide whether he’d rather look at that or the way his cock was disappearing inside you.

“Jesus,” Johnny groaned. “God, yes, keep riding me like that. You’re so tight around me, so fucking hot and wet- oh-“

“Feels so good, Johnny,” you cried, your voice higher than usual. He guided you a little faster, needing more, needing to fuck you deeper and harder. His cock felt so good with you wrapped around him - he’d never felt anything so good. He thought he could stay there indefinitely.

He sat up, burying his face in your bouncing tits and groaning as he groped them with his large, warm hands. His thumb swiped over the nipple of one while his hot mouth wrapped around the other, making you gasp. He moaned unabashedly, deep and low and drawn out, loud enough for the whole city to hear.

He fell back against the pillows and grabbed onto your hips again, guiding you faster. He was getting close, you could tell by the way his muscles were clenching, the way he needed more more more, the way he started whining and babbling and praising you like you were some deity bestowing upon him pleasures like he’d never before experienced.

“That’s it, that’s it sweetheart, keep riding me like that, keep- keep- fuuuuck- oh god-“ He was gasping, whimpering, losing control as his orgasm crept up his spine like electricity. “Need you to cum, baby, because I’m not far off.”

“‘m close, Johnny,” you whined, falling down onto his cock over and over, your head tilted back, his tip pressing so deep inside you - it was sending you reeling. When he moved a hand from your hip to rub quick, small circles on your clit with his thumb, it nearly made you scream. The coil in your belly tightened and tightened and tightened-

Your pussy clenched around Johnny again and again as you came, which was almost his undoing. You were screaming and moaning his name and Johnny was trying to hold it together just a little bit longer, just a little more, he didn’t want it to be over yet but-

Flames crackled on his skin as he let out a roar of a moan, planting his feet and thrusting his hips up into you as hard as he could. You gasped, surprised by the actual fire flickering along his arched body - but you were too fucked out with his cockhead currently buried as deep in you as possible while he held you there, his cum dripping out of you and down the sides of his shaft.

You were both shaking hard as you came down. The flames disappeared and you were left with your normal not-flaming boyfriend, still holding onto your hips while he tried to catch his breath, his chest shining with sweat.

“Jesus,” you finally said, laughing lightly. Johnny joined you, breathless but chuckling at the situation. He helped you carefully pull off of him, more of the cum he’d given you dripping from your hole. His eyes zeroed in on it, and you thought you heard him whimper.

“That was incredible,” Johnny said. He reached for his bedside table and grabbed a water bottle sitting there, opening it and taking a long drink.

“Do you usually catch on fire when you have sex?” you teased.

“Only when it’s fucking incredible,” he said, giving you that charming Johnny Storm smirk. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to your lips. “You’re incredible. I love you.”

“I love you too, Johnny.” You kissed him again. You cuddled up to his side on the bed. “Is it okay that you…y’know…” Johnny had never cum inside of you like that before. Usually you used condoms, or he pulled out. 

“I can get you a morning after pill if you’re nervous,” he said quietly. “But with my powers, my DNA mutation - I’m not even sure if I can have kids. Reed and Sue have wanted them for ages and it never happened.” He shrugged sadly, still a hint of a smile on his face. “Kinda sucks, because I really wanted kids one day.”

The idea of never being able to have children with Johnny made you sad. It made your heart ache. You knew any child would be the luckiest in the world to have Johnny as their father.

“You don’t have to,” you said. “I know it's unlikely.”

Johnny kissed your temple. He knew how badly you wanted children, and he felt terrible he couldn’t give them to you. “I love you, sweetheart,” he said simply again. “I’m always gonna take care of you.”

“I love you too, Johnny.” You nuzzled into his neck, slumber catching up to your aching body. “I’m gonna take care of you, too.”

He chuckled, his chest vibrating beneath your head. He stroked your hair as you laid together and held you close.

“You are everything to me.”

“I can’t believe she’s having a baby,” Johnny laughed as you closed the door to your bedroom, still wrapping his mind around the news of his sister being pregnant. He was thrilled, that much was clear. Sue was happy, he was happy - he knew Reed would take good care of both of them. That wasn’t even a concern. They’d wanted a baby for so long. He shook his head with a smile, running a hand through his blonde hair.

“Yeah,” you said, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm in your voice as you could. “It’s really exciting!”

The truth was, your stomach was buzzing with nerves. You were beyond happy for her, but Sue announcing a pregnancy was the last thing you expected tonight - 

You had been planning an announcement for Johnny yourself.

Now, you weren’t sure what to do. You didn’t want to take over Sue and Reed’s baby news, especially with how long they’d been waiting for this. And sure, Johnny was over the moon about becoming an uncle - but how would he feel about becoming a dad? Right now?

Johnny gave you a strange look as he sat on the end of the bed, removing his shoes. “You okay? You seem…weird.”

“I’m fine!” you exclaimed, maybe with a little too much energy. “Seriously, I’m fine. It was just…a big evening.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But…something’s off. Are you not happy?”

“No!” you blurted too quickly. “I mean, yes, I am. It’s not that, I swear.”

You had begun to pace, fingers tangled together. Johnny was properly concerned now, leaning on his knees as he watched you. When he couldn’t take it anymore he reached out, grabbing your hand and stopping you. “Sweetheart. What’s bothering you? You know you can tell me anything.”

Unable to keep pacing with your hand in his, you felt like the news was going to burst out without your permission. “It’s nothing, Johnny, I promise.”

He pulled you down onto his lap, his arms wrapping around your waist. “What, do you want a baby now that it’s on the table?” he asked, his tone teasing. Your stomach clenched in a knot, your skin like ice.

“What?” you asked, your laugh too high, too awkward to be casual. “What are you talking about?”

“Did my sister’s announcement give you baby fever?” he teased you even more, oblivious to your internal panic. “We’ll have one one day, baby. I wanna get married first, wait until things feel…right.”

That made you feel even worse. Would he not want the baby now? The way he’s talking now makes it sound like he doesn’t want one. But you were pregnant. It was happening whether it was the right time or not.

You felt tears brimming in your eyes. Your gaze was locked on the floor, avoiding Johnny entirely. When you didn’t laugh or joke back, he moved to look at your face better, seeing your wet eyes and trembling lower lip.

“Jesus, baby, what’s going on?” he asked, placing his hands on either side of your face. “I was just messing around. What’s bothering you so much?”

Your hormones were really getting to you. You weren’t much of a crier, not usually, which was what had Johnny extra freaked out as you sobbed in his lap. He rubbed your arms up and down soothingly, his warmth transferring to you. “Baby, please. Just tell me what’s wrong so I can help. I hate seeing you like this and feeling helpless.”

You shook your head. “I can’t. I…I can’t.”

“You can’t what?” The longer you went without just telling Johnny what was wrong, the worse his panic got. “Sweetheart, please. Just tell me, you- you can tell me anything, you know that.”

“I just…” you sniffled, wiping at your eyes. Johnny wiped a stray tear away with his thumb. “This isn’t how I wanted this to go.”

“How you wanted what to go?” He was so lost. “Baby, please, just tell me. I’m so confused. You know I’m not good at…figuring feelings out. If I did something wrong, please just tell me.”

You shook your head. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Johnny.” You met his blue eyes, your own red and puffy. It broke his heart. “I just…I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot going on.”

“Like what?” he asked. “Let me help. Please. You don’t have to do anything alone.” He squeezed your hip. “I’m your family. We’re your family now.”

A deep breath. You had to tell him. And he knew enough now to be scared - it had to be now. “Johnny…”

“Tell me, sweetheart,” he said. He was looking right into your eyes, you were surprised he couldn’t read your thoughts straight out of your head. Those eyes were so intense, they could have fooled you. “Let me in.”

“I…” He squeezed your hands in his. You took comfort in his touch. “Johnny, I’m pregnant.”

It was like time stopped. Neither of you moved an inch - or even breathed. Johnny just kept staring at you as if you hadn’t said anything. Then, finally - “Are you serious?”

You nodded. You were terrified as you watched him, waiting for his reaction. He looked like he was processing the words, like they hadn’t fully set in yet. Then-

“Really? A little Storm baby? Right now?” he grinned - but his mouth dropped when something else occurred to him. “And they’ll have a built-in best friend!”

“You’re happy?” you asked. Relief flooded your veins, but you were still shaking from the anxiety. “You want this?”

“What do you- of course I want this,” he said, laughing like he couldn’t believe what you’d said. He rubbed your upper arms, warming your entire body. “Who cares if we’re not married yet? This is the best news. We’ve gotta tell everyone right now.”

“Hold on,” you said, laughing lightly. Johnny had surprised you - he looked ecstatic. You had been worried for nothing. “Sue just announced, I don’t want to take away from her moment. They tried for a long time.”

Johnny considered your words. “She’s going to be happy for us,” he said.

“I know she will be.” His blue eyes were shining, the excitement physically visible in them. “But this is her moment. I don’t want to take that away from her and Reed.”

Despite your words, he still couldn’t wipe the huge grin off his face - he was happy enough at the idea of becoming an uncle, but a father too? This was one of the best days of his life. “Okay. We’ll wait. But this is the best. Who could have predicted me and my sister having babies at the exact same time?”

“It is pretty crazy,” you said, your voice nervous. You were still wrapping your mind around the situation yourself. You’d only known for two days, and had spent those worrying yourself sick over Johnny’s reaction. You had finally worked up the courage, but the news of Sue’s pregnancy coming out at Sunday dinner was the last thing you expected.

You knew that, eventually, this would be amazing. Two cousins so close to the same age were bound to be close. But you worried about how Sue and Reed would feel. Would they be hurt? Would they resent you and Johnny for getting pregnant so easily? By accident?

The anxiety made you sick. Even when you changed into your pajamas and climbed into bed with Johnny, your boyfriend spooning against your back with his hand already resting protectively on your stomach - you worried. Johnny snored softly in your ear and you thought about how you might have just ruined everything in your new family.

It was two weeks after telling Johnny about the pregnancy, and Sunday dinner had once again rolled around. You were content to keep the secret for a while longer still, but Johnny was driving you crazy about it. Every day he asked when you could announce, every day he begged you to say yes.

You’d finally agreed. Now Johnny was practically bouncing off the walls, excited for dinner. He was dressed handsomely, a button down shirt with dark blue pants. You had been suffering from the worst morning sickness the past week, and only had the energy to dress in an oversized t-shirt and leggings.

He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as you ate, and the others definitely noticed, looking at him strangely. Finally, as dinner was wrapping up, Sue spoke up.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” she asked her younger brother as she helped gather dirty plates, Johnny trailing behind her with more dishes. “You look like you have some good news.”

Johnny beamed at you - you mustered up a half hearted smile in return, but in reality your heart was beating out of your chest, your throat felt like it was closing. You’d hardly said a word all evening and didn’t have much of an appetite, most of your plate untouched. With the moment now here, you thought the little you had eaten might make a reappearance.

“I do, actually,” Johnny said, grabbing the box of Lucky Charms off the counter despite having just eaten. He grabbed some and popped them in his mouth.

Sue, Reed, and Ben looked at him with more concern than anything, exchanging a look with their eyebrows drawn together. That made you even more sick.

“What is it?” Reed asked. Johnny had everyone’s full attention now.

“Well,” he said, trying somewhat to contain his face-splitting smile. He sat the box down and walked back to where you sat, standing behind you. He placed his hands on the back of your chair. “We have something exciting to tell you guys.” He glanced down at you, then back at his family. “We’re having a baby.”

It was so silent, only the soft whirrs of Herbie as he bustled around filled the air. Reed and Ben looked at Sue - it was tense. Johnny’s smile began to falter.

“Wow,” she finally said, and it was obvious that was the last thing they expected Johnny to say. Her face was stone, and you felt your heart actually crack when you noticed her eyes becoming glassy. “That’s…wow.”

Reed reached over and took his wife’s hand, looking at her like he wanted to read her mind. She was unreadable, however.

You looked up at Johnny. He looked back down at you, the sudden understanding of your concerns now all over his face. He looked back at his sister, eyes darting to Ben and Reed before meeting hers again. “Are you…upset?”

“No!” she said quickly. “No. I’m not upset. It’s just…you know, it’s a lot.” She smiled, although it seemed a little forced. She let go of Reed’s hand and stood, approaching her brother and wrapping him in a tight hug.

Johnny glanced at you, but hugged her back. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her quietly.

“Of course I’m okay,” she said. “I just…Johnny, I can’t believe it.” They parted and she looked at each person in the room. “What are the odds, huh?”

“A little reckless maybe, don’t you think?” 

You all looked at Reed. He wasn’t smiling. The look on his face was completely unamused, serious. “Was it an accident?”

No one said anything. The question hung in the air, although each person there already knew the answer.

“Why does that matter?” Johnny finally asked.

“Have you even thought of the repercussions? The potential consequences? Dangers?” Reed asked. He gestured to you, towards your belly, and you covered it with your arms. “The child’s father has cosmically compromised DNA. You have powers, and she doesn’t. Have you thought of what might happen to her carrying your child?”

Silence. Neither you nor Johnny had even considered that. Johnny looked down at you with something a little like panic in his eyes.

“That- what do you mean?” he stuttered. “Could something happen to her?”

“We don’t know what could happen,” Reed said. “That’s why you were reckless.”

“We just don’t know if we’re going to have a fire baby to worry about,” Ben said lightly. The idea made you cringe.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen with two parents with powers, either,” Johnny said. “This is new territory for all of us.”

“I know,” Reed said. “I’ve been developing a device to scan the baby and check for abnormalities.” He nodded to Sue, then you. “I can check them both.”

Johnny looked at you. The sweat on your brow and the trembling in your hands were immediately noticeable - you were scared shitless. He crouched down next to your chair, speaking quietly for you only. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Could something really happen?” you asked him. “To the baby? To me?”

His mouth opened to tell you no, of course not. You’re safe. I would never let anything happen to either of you. But the truth was that he had no idea - no one did. And if something bad did happen, he thought, it would be his fault. He did this to you.

“I don’t know, baby,” he said. “But I can promise you I will do everything in my power to keep you both safe. And Reed is gonna make sure there’s nothing going on while that little Storm’s brewing.” A goofy grin took over his face as he placed a hand on your belly.

“Oh, come on,” Ben groaned, unamused by the pun.

Johnny stood. “Whatever you have to do to make sure she’s going to be okay,” he said to Reed, “that they’re both going to be okay- do it. I can’t lose-“ He stopped, taking a deep breath. “I can’t let anything happen to her.”

“Getting this machine built is my top priority,” Reed said. “I promise you, I’m going to do everything I can for both of them.”

You were relieved when everyone started returning to their rooms. You were exhausted, still felt sick, and were now stressed beyond belief. Johnny gave Herbie a scratch on the head - “Night, Herbert.” - to which he beeped contentedly.

As you were about to leave with Johnny, Sue stopped you. She hurried over, but once she reached you, she wasn’t sure what to say. Eventually, she smiled at you apologetically, grabbing your upper arms and running her hands down until they rested on your elbows.

She said your name, then looked at Johnny, giving him a look that said Some privacy, please? Johnny held his hands up, backing away.

Sue’s attention now fully on you, you felt nervous once again. You’d always liked Sue - you and Johnny had been dating a year now, and she had been nothing but kind to you since you’d known her. But this was a different circumstance entirely.

“I wanted to tell you congratulations,” she said. “And apologize for the way I reacted when you told us the news. It just- it shocked me. It was a shock. Reed and I- well, you know.” She smiled softly. “But I really am happy for you and Johnny. He’s going to be a great dad. I should have told him so.”

Warmth spread through your veins, comfort - like a hug from Johnny himself. Relief. “You don’t have to apologize,” you assured her. “I understand how you felt. I’m sorry we kind of…made you share the most important event of your life.” You grimaced - you felt horrible about it, even though you hadn’t in any way meant to get pregnant.

“I don’t mind sharing with you and my baby brother,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ve shared a lot with him over the years.”

You laughed lightly. “Thank you, Sue. And I am really, really happy for you. I know you’ve wanted a baby for a long time.”

“Thank you.” She pulled you into a tight hug. “You’re going to be an incredible mother.”

With the news out amongst the family and your bumps becoming increasingly difficult to hide, it was time to come out and tell the press. You announced with a spread on a magazine cover, the Four with two empty baby seats.

The public debated whether you and Sue would have boys or girls. Most seemed to think you were both having boys, but whatever the stance, everyone was passionate about theirs. There were articles, polls, bets being exchanged.

“The countdown continues as the Fantastic Four prepare to welcome two new members to the family,” the reporters were saying. “Preparations inside the Baxter Building are well underway!”

And they were. Herbie was busy baby proofing the entire building, flitting around and making sure everything was safe for the new arrivals. He was just as excited as the rest of you. He put plug covers in all the sockets, moved sharp objects out of the way, installed locks on the cabinets, placed baby gates - much to Ben’s annoyance.

“The question on everyone’s mind is - will the babies be born with superpowers?” 

It was true - everyone wondered. Even you. Even Johnny.

You thought back to Ben’s joke. What if you really did have a little fire baby to worry about? The idea of your child bursting into flames terrified you - it was still weird enough when Johnny did it.

The public wasn’t quite as nice to you as they were to Sue and Reed. Between a married couple who had been hoping for a baby for years, and a couple who had been dating for a year and got pregnant by accident - yeah, it wasn’t hard to imagine who they favored. As if it were a competition and not your family.

Gossip magazines had a lot to say about you in particular. Johnny was beloved, but you? You were just some girl who came out of nowhere, took the world’s most eligible bachelor off the market, then overshadowed the pregnancy of everyone’s favorite family.

There was a lot said about your intentions, like that you were only with Johnny for money and fame. They speculated that Sue secretly hated you. They implied you had trapped him with this pregnancy. How could the public be so happy for Johnny while being so cruel to you?

Johnny always told you to ignore it, that it wasn’t worth even keeping up with what those people were saying. But that was impossible for you - it’s like you had to know. Every time you passed a gossip mag at the store, you had to read the cover. You couldn’t help it.

“Those people don’t know anything,” Johnny would say. “Seriously. They have nothing better to do but make up fake drama. It’s sad. Please don’t pay attention to them, sweetheart.” A lopsided grin. “You’re my future wife. The love of my life. The mother of my child. No one is going to change that.”

You got to where you didn’t even want to leave the building anymore because you’d be followed by reporters. You were already struggling enough with the way your body was beginning to change, the last thing you needed was an unflattering photo of yourself ending up on the cover of another magazine, speculating if you’re having twins based on the size of your bump.

Johnny hated to see you isolate yourself. He was constantly trying to convince you to leave the building, to at least go on a walk with him. You’d agree some of the time, but not as often as he’d like.

“You and the baby need fresh air,” he’d plead. “It’s not good to stay cooped up in here all day.”

You would be cuddled in bed like a burrito at 2pm. “I just don’t feel up to it, Johnny.”

Johnny frowned. “It hurts to see you like this,” he said softly. “You’re depressed, sweetheart. I hate that these people are getting to you. It makes me so…” He looked away from you, flames combusting on his skin. You jumped - it was still so strange.

“Sorry,” he said, the flames disappearing. He smiled sheepishly at you. “It’s just…I wish I could do something. I wish I could do more. I’m not used to feeling helpless.” He rubbed his hand over your back, and you let out a deep sigh. “Just want my girl to be happy and safe.”

The gossip slowed down eventually as your pregnancy progressed, much to your relief. Despite the way they’d treated you, the public was absolutely beside themselves at the thought of Johnny and Sue both having babies. You were even asked to do a photo shoot with her for a magazine - that was completely out of your depth, but you’d done it.

You felt so small standing next to Sue Storm. Like, who cares about me?

Your family did, and they showed you that every day. Before long, you were feeling more like yourself again, walking around in public with your bump proudly visible, hand on it protectively. The public warmed up to you. You were really becoming a part of the family - in everyone’s eyes.

“Can I carry that for you, sweetheart?”

You turned, seeing Johnny jogging up to you. He reached for the laundry basket in your hands.

“Oh, sure,” you said, handing it off to him. He grinned - he always did have the most charming smile. It made your stomach fill with butterflies, just like the first time you’d seen him in person.

He followed you back to the bedroom with the basket, placing it down on the bed. He lifted a shirt from the top of the pile and began folding it.

“Babe, you don’t have to do that,” you said, placing your hand on his arm. He turned to look at you, those blue eyes so close to your own, it nearly took your breath away.

“I don’t mind,” he said. “I don’t want you to have to do it. You should rest. You’ve still been so sick.”

“That’s sweet, Johnny, but no, seriously. Herbie usually does it.”

Johnny stopped, his cheeks tinged pink. “Oh. Yeah. That’s right, isn’t it?”

You giggled. “What’s gotten into you?”

Johnny sat on the bed, reaching for your hand and pulling you down to sit on his lap. His hand settled on your four months pregnant belly. “Nothing,” he said. “I just wanna take good care of my girl. You know there’s two things I love-“

“Yeah, yeah, Johnny loves space, Johnny loves women,” you teased. Johnny chuckled.

“Johnny loves you,” he said. “He loves his girl,” he rubbed his hand across your small bump, “and he loves whoever this one is going to grow to be.”

“Will this tell us if everything’s okay?” you asked, standing nervously in Reed’s lab. Sue stood to the side, there for moral support - they were all concerned about you especially.

“It should,” Reed said. “I’ve developed and tested it extensively, and ran some tests on Sue just this morning.” He looked at his wife. “It did not detect any anomalies.”

That was a relief - but it didn’t mean you would have the same result.

You wished Johnny was there. But he was busy, and he had been bugging Reed about the new space suits so relentlessly, you know he certainly didn’t miss him.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Sue said softly, sitting her hand on your shoulder. “It’s quick and painless.”

You nodded. You were scared, but you would also do absolutely anything this baby needed. You laid down on the cool table. There was nothing visibly interesting about it - it was a flat white table with a piece that arced over your stomach.

Sue stood by as Reed worked the machine. It emitted a bright light, scanning over your stomach. The machine began printing all kinds of…graphs and measurements. You had no idea what you were looking at. You often felt a little inadequate in a family full of geniuses. You were just…you. No powers, no fancy degree. Never been to space. Just a girl who’s boyfriend/baby daddy flies and occasionally combusts.

Reed and Sue both examined the results that were printing rapidly. Reed wrote some things down, while Sue pointed over his shoulder, saying some things too quietly for you to hear. It made you nervous.

They still hadn’t told you anything when Reed shut the machine off. You looked at both of them. “So? Is the baby…is everything okay?”

They exchanged a look. “There’s…some kind of anomaly,” Reed said carefully. Your body went cold. “I don’t know what it is. I’m going to have to do more tests, but for now, I need you to relax. I don’t see anything that has me immediately concerned.”

“But you just said-“

“I know.” He looked at you seriously, Sue hovering behind him. “Just because there’s some kind of anomaly doesn’t mean it’s necessarily…bad. The baby’s father is an anomaly himself.” He smiled in a way that felt like he was trying to comfort you. “I don’t want you to worry. I’m going to keep running tests.”

Your mind was spinning for the rest of the day. When you saw Johnny that evening, his brow immediately creased, knowing something was on your mind right away. “What’s going on? You look…bothered,” he asked as he ate Lucky Charms straight from the box. You hadn’t even had dinner yet.

“It’s just…” you sighed. “Reed said he found some kind of anomaly on the test.”

His concern visibly deepened. “What kind of anomaly?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “That’s all he said. That there was an anomaly but not to worry about it because he’s going to run more tests.”

Johnny looked lost deep in his own head. His brow was furrowed as his mind filled with a million thoughts you’d never understand. Suddenly, he stood. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” you asked him - he was already at the door.

“To the lab,” he said simply.

And he was gone.

“What do you mean there are anomalies?” Johnny asked his brother in law as he stormed into the lab. Reed turned from the chalkboard, only mildly surprised. “What does that mean? What kind of anomalies?”

Reed sat his chalk down. “Hi, Johnny. Good to see you.”

Johnny looked at the machine as he passed it, his hand rubbing over the top of it. He picked up a long strip of paper with your results on it, but he wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking at. He looked back at Reed. “What kind of anomalies?” he asked again. “Reed, be straight with me.”

Reed sighed. “I don’t think it’s anything too serious. I want to start with that,” he said. “But there’s something…off. I need to do more tests, that’s the truth. I don’t have any concrete answers for you. I’m sorry.”

Johnny shook his head. “What about Sue?”

“I haven’t detected anything from Sue.”

“So it’s just my child,” he said bitterly. “Two parents with two different powers are fine, but my powers alone are enough to mess things up?”

“We don’t know that anything’s messed up,” Reed explained patiently. “I need you to calm down, Johnny. There’s no reason to panic right now.”

“Right now?” he said. “So I panic later?”

“That’s usually how it goes,” Reed joked - but Johnny was unamused. “Look. If I find something that seriously concerns me, you two will be the first to hear it. I promise. For now, I need you to trust me.”

Johnny hated feeling helpless. Even now, he wasn’t angry - he was scared. Terrified. But what could he do besides trust his brother?

“Okay,” he conceded. “I’ll try.”

Reed clapped him on the shoulder. “Fatherhood is terrifying,” he said. “Super powers or not. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. Worrying about your family is normal. I know you love them both.”

“More than anything,” Johnny said quietly. “I love them so much it…” He rubbed his chest. “God, it hurts.”

A knowing smile crossed Reed’s face - because he knew the exact feeling.

“Shit,” Johnny hissed, sucking his pinched finger into his mouth. “Baby, can you hand me the screwdriver?”

You leaned over, hand on your swollen belly as you grabbed the screwdriver from the floor with great effort. You were huffing by the time you handed the tool to your boyfriend, and he turned around, giving you a winning smile.

“We could have let Herbie do this, you know,” you said. “That’s what Reed did.”

Johnny waved you off. “I’m going to put my own child’s crib together myself.” He nodded towards the rocking chair in the corner. “You should sit down.”

He didn’t have to tell you twice. Your feet were killing you. You waddled over to the glider, sitting down carefully. Your feet up on the foot stool, you watched Johnny building the baby furniture.

“Only a couple months left,” Johnny mused. “Getting close.”

“Yep,” you agreed. You looked down at your round bump as you rubbed your hand over it affectionately. “Are you coming with me to the lab after this for Reed’s test?”

“Of course,” he said instantly. “I feel bad I haven’t made the others.”

The thought filled you with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. It was still such an abstract thought, the baby in your belly. You knew they were real, and they were growing and healthy - you could feel them most of the time, sticking an arm against your spine or kicking you so hard in the bladder you had to run - it was a comfort, although uncomfortable.

“Are you nervous?” you asked him. He screwed in the leg of the crib and turned back to face you.

“To have the baby?” he questioned. “Honestly? Yeah. I’m scared out of my mind. But I’m excited.” His blue eyes glittered with it. He was practically buzzing out of his skin - you were surprised his hair wasn’t on fire.

“I hope they look like you,” you said lightly, your fingers dancing over the bump ever so gently, lost in the cloud of your thoughts.

“Me?” He gave the railing of the crib a shake, making sure the finished thing was sturdy before he looked at you again. “Why?”

You looked at him like he was dumb. “Have you seen yourself?”

Johnny’s cheeks tinted pink. “Okay, Ms. Flaming Hearts Club,” he teased. “Were you the one who kept sending me those filthy love poems with the lipstick prints?”

“You caught me,” you grinned.

Johnny shook his head, laughing. Unfortunately, you remembered those poems from his mystery admirer vividly. They were far from family friendly.

He stood, moving to a box next to the completed crib. He opened it and started pulling out space themed decorations - a mobile of the planets, glow in the dark stars, a blanket printed with constellations. You stood with some effort and joined Johnny by the side of the crib.

He lifted the mobile, installing it above the crib. You watched him work quietly - he was careful and precise. When it was hung perfectly, he smiled down at you.

“It’s coming together,” you said. Almost all the baby prep tasks had been completed - the Baxter Building was completely prepared for the two newest members.

Johnny looked a little pale. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Almost time.” He was quiet. He rested both hands on your bump, now large and very much in the way. His thumbs rubbed over it while he looked down with all the affection in the world on his face.

“I hope they don’t have powers.”

The statement caught you off guard. Johnny had never said anything like that before, and you had just assumed he’d want the baby to be like him. But now his words told a different story, one coming from a place of love - and anxiety.

“Why?” you asked softly. You got the vibe it was a sensitive subject for him.

“I just…” he sighed. “I want them to have a normal life. Having powers…it comes with an expectation, a responsibility. I didn’t ask to have powers. It just happened to me.” You were quiet. You hadn’t known Johnny before the accident, and he had never talked about it. You let him continue.

“I don’t want their life decided for them like that,” he went on. “I want them to be able to do and be whatever they want to be. Not born in a Fantastic Four suit.” He smiled crookedly. “Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

“I can understand that,” you said. The baby moved beneath Johnny’s hand, giving him a strong kick. He smiled. “I just want them to be healthy and happy. And if you think having powers would prevent that, then I agree with you.”

“I do think that,” he said, quiet. You wondered if he had thoughts about his own powers he’d never spoken aloud. “I want them to have a good life. An easy life.”

He gazed into your eyes, like he was reading you from the inside. His hand came to rest on your cheek. “You’re going to be the best mom, you know,” he said, so quietly. “I know we didn’t mean for this to happen right now…” He traced his thumb over your bottom lip, and you let out a short gasp. “But there is no one I’d rather be having a baby with. This baby is going to be so lucky to have you.” 

Herbie hurried in at that moment with a basket of freshly washed and folded baby clothes, saying a little “Hello,” as he sat the basket down and began putting the clothes away. Johnny scratched the robot on the top of the head.

“Thanks, Herbert, you’re a lifesaver,” he said. Herbie happily beeped in response.

“Ready?” Johnny asked you as Herbie continued his work, hand on your lower back. “Let’s go check on this baby.”

Laying on the table in Reed’s lab once again, the machine doing its job, you watched Johnny’s anxiety manifest by being as annoying to Reed as possible.

“So is this test gonna give us answers this time or what?” he asked, pacing next to where you laid. He was giving you anxiety with the way he wouldn’t stay still. Reed was trying to ignore him, Sue standing and reading the results over her husband’s shoulder.

“It should tell us more, yes,” Reed said, distracted, but he’d already been over this. He was being remarkably patient with him. But the longer he focused on the endless graphs and lines, the more nervous you and Johnny became.

Reed gripped the paper in his hands, staring at it intently. He was reading quickly, clearly thinking a thousand miles a minute. The look on his face made you nauseous - he was concentrating, and if something was going on to make Reed act like this, it was something.

“…What is it?” Johnny asked, his heart beating uncomfortably hard. “Just tell me. Is something wrong?”

“It…” Reed stopped himself, looking back over the paper. Johnny stopped next to you, and you reached for each others’ hand. “It appears as if their DNA has also been…altered,” Reed mumbled.

Quiet. “What do you mean?” Johnny asked, his voice dead serious. Not a hint of his usual goofy personality.

Reed looked up at Johnny - then at Sue, back to his paper, to you, and finally Johnny again, who was waiting. “They’ve inherited the father’s mutated DNA. They have the X-gene.”

Johnny’s eyes went wide. You looked at everyone, but no one was explaining anything. “What does that mean?” you asked, anxiety rising in your voice. Reed was about to answer, but Johnny wasn’t even looking at you. 

“So - a mutant,” Johnny said.

Another exchange of looks between Reed and Sue. “By definition…yes.”

“A mutant?” you asked, sitting up on your elbows. “What does that mean? Will they be-“ You didn’t even know what you were asking. You didn’t know what any of this meant, if it was bad news or not.

“It means they will develop powers at some point in their life,” Sue explained. “They have the X-gene exclusive to mutants.”

The information sent your head spinning. Your child would have powers after all. You hadn’t thought news like that would have upset you, but after your conversation with Johnny, you saw things a different way.

Speaking of Johnny, you looked up at your boyfriend, who was still staring at Reed, his face hard as stone. “They have powers.”

“They will,” Reed confirmed. “I don’t know when they’ll appear, or what they’ll be, but…”

Johnny abruptly pulled a chair out, sinking into it. You didn’t notice how he was shaking until he was sitting next to you, his hands intertwined in front of his mouth. He was thinking.

“It’s nothing to panic about,” Reed said. “We’ve been living with these powers for years now, and I will be performing further testing-“

“I just didn’t want this,” Johnny said simply. His words echoed through the room in the silence.

Reed closed his mouth, going back to the results, giving Johnny time. You didn’t know what to say either - was there anything you could say to make anything better? You didn’t think so. Not right now.

It was Sue who stepped forward, her left hand resting on her baby brother’s back and her right on her stomach. Johnny looked at her, and it was like they were communicating something to each other by nothing but their eyes.

“Would it make you feel better if you could see the baby?” she asked him gently.

Your lips parted in surprise - she could make that happen? - but Johnny looked up at his sister like she’d just uttered the secret to the universe. “You’ll do that for us?”

“Of course I will,” she said. She was looking at Johnny with so much love, it made your chest feel warm. They both turned to look at you. “Would you want that?”

It took you a minute to catch up to the conversation. “What? To…see the baby?”

Sue and Johnny nodded.

“Will it…hurt?”

Johnny chuckled. “No, sweetheart. I promise it won’t.”

You laid back down on the table, your head slightly inclined. Reed and Sue moved in close on your left side, while Johnny was on your right. You didn’t know what to expect.

Carefully, Sue laid her hand against the bottom of your belly, yours resting on top. It was just a minute of anticipatory silence, and then - your body, your stomach, became invisible, revealing the baby curled snugly inside.

“Oh my god-“

The choked words, like holding back a sob, were the first thing you heard. Johnny had covered his mouth with his hand, his blue eyes wet and shining in the light of the lab. His forehead was creased, and his eyes were locked on your stomach - at the baby inside. He looked like he was about 2 seconds away from losing it.

You were right there with him. There really was a baby in there - the thoughts you’d had the past months about not being able to wrap your mind around it were out the window with the vision in front of you. That was your child. The baby’s head was pressed right against where your hand rested. They were curled up in a little ball, eyes closed. Their nose reminded you of Johnny’s. Your heart was beating out of control, and you hadn’t even noticed the tears that had spilled down your face.

Reed and Sue let the two of you take your time. Sue cradled your belly like it was the most precious thing as she used her powers on you for the first time. She was the baby’s aunt, and she had so much love for them already, it was clear in her expression.

You looked at Johnny again. He was looking at your stomach with absolute awe - you wished you could hear what he was thinking. Slowly, like he was scared, he reached out and gently laid his palm on your stomach.

“See?” Sue said “There’s nothing wrong. Nothing to worry about.” She rubbed your stomach affectionately. “She’s perfect.”

“She,” Johnny repeated, his voice a mere whisper. You hadn’t even caught that yourself, hadn’t been able to think any deeper than seeing your child finally in front of your eyes. “She.”

It hadn’t even occurred to you that with seeing your baby, you’d be finding out what you were having. That wasn’t just the baby - that was your daughter. You were lost in your own thoughts when you heard a voice next to you that surprised you.

“Hey,” Johnny said quietly. He and his daughter might as well have been the only ones in the room. “Hey, baby girl. It’s your daddy.”

Reed and a teary-eyed Sue exchanged a look.

“I can’t wait to meet you,” Johnny continued. “You have the coolest family ever. You’re going to be the coolest person ever. And…” he was quiet for a moment. “And I’m going to teach you everything I know. One day, you’ll see space, too.”

Before you could completely burst into tears, Johnny turned to look you in the eyes. There was so much unspoken between you, it felt like something tangible taking up space and air. He surged forwards and kissed you, then pressed your foreheads together.

“I love you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ve never loved anyone like I love the both of you.”

At eight months pregnant now, you were starting to really be over the whole thing. You were aching, swollen, tired, and irritable, and it felt like Sue was handling pregnancy with a lot more grace than you were.

Not only did she come across as significantly less miserable - usually dressed nicely with her hair and makeup done while you could barely handle getting out of bed and throwing some sweatpants on - she was also just lucky. She didn’t have the crippling morning (all day) sickness like you did, and her bump was small and cute, nothing like how huge you were. You knew every pregnancy was different, but it seemed a little unfair.

Johnny had been doing everything in his power to cheer you up. He took care of you, rubbed your back and feet, put lotion on your belly, and kept you company when you were too miserable to leave the building. However your pregnancy hormones were raging, and he often got snapped at - followed by a tearful apology.

He never minded.

You were looking for him now, waddling throughout the house with a hand on your stomach for support. Something you hadn’t been prepared for was your sense of gravity being thrown off - that was strange.

He wasn’t in the kitchen, and you had just left Reed’s lab after another scan - nothing new to report. Baby girl was totally healthy and not throwing you any more shocks. She was getting so big - she’d be there before you knew it.

You huffed as you dragged yourself up the stairs, getting plenty of use out of the handrail. By the time you reached the top you were breathing heavily, having to take a minute to lean against the wall at the top and catch your breath. Finally, you made your way to the bedroom.

There he was.

Johnny stood across the room at the window. His back was to you, so you didn’t even know if he knew you were there. He was staring out, the longing nearly radiating off his body. He was looking at the spaceship.

You walked up behind him, your feet sliding against the plush carpet. He didn’t turn, which was odd - you weren’t trying to be quiet. He only got like this when he had a lot on his mind.

And he did have a lot on his mind. Now that the due date was getting closer and closer, he knew he was running out of time to be ready to be a father. This baby girl was coming whether he liked it or not. The Baxter Building would be a much different place when the babies arrived.

He thought to his own parents. After the death of his mother, his dad had tried his best with Sue and Johnny, but he saw how hard it was for him. Being a parent isn’t easy at all, and now he was about to become one. Very soon.

The thought of the baby being here filled him with an overwhelming anxiety. What if he didn’t know the first thing about being a dad? What if he was an awful one? What if he screwed his kid up? What if he got killed on a mission and left you both on your own? What if-

“Do you miss it?” you asked.

Johnny startled, snapped out of his spiraling thoughts, but he smiled when his eyes landed on you. “Space?” he asked, looking back out the window. “God, yes.”

He gestured you over, putting an arm around you. You looked out the window with him - the ship was a sight. It was massive, and it was in your backyard. Johnny looked at it often. It was his favorite part of this room.

“I always loved space,” he said. “It’s like nothing else. The most beautiful thing you’ll ever see in your life.” He looked back down at you, giving you a wink. “Well, one of them.”

You scoffed a laugh, and Johnny squeezed your shoulder. “Do you think you’ll go back one day?”

“Absolutely,” Johnny answered right away. “If I thought I would never see space again…I don’t know what I’d do.”

Space had been his first love. You had to respect it.

“Are you okay?” you asked him. “You just seem like you have a lot on your mind.”

Johnny didn’t say anything at first. You weren’t sure if he was going to answer you, but finally he sighed deeply and his lips parted, as if he was about to speak but lost the words.

“I’m okay,” he said. “We’re just, y’know, about to take a big step together. We’re about to be thrown into something we know absolutely nothing about. And it’s scary.” He chuckled lightly. “It scares me.”

“It scares me too,” you admitted. “But I know you’re going to be the greatest dad. Do you know how cool she’s going to be at school? Her dad is the Human Torch.”

Johnny laughed at that. The thing is, you weren’t wrong. These babies were being born into a family of celebrities - being born into celebrities themselves. His smile faded a little as he thought of that.

“I just…” He sighed as he thought. “I wanted her to be her own person.”

You leaned your head on his shoulder. “She will be,” you promised him. “Her life isn’t over just because she’s going to have powers. And who’s to say if she didn’t have them, she wouldn’t wish she did?” 

Johnny hasn’t considered that. “I guess that’s true.”

“The point is,” you said, “everything about parenthood is…uncertain. We don’t know who she’ll be or what she’ll be like or who she’ll grow into. But I know she’s going to love her daddy with her whole heart.” Johnny’s cheeks flushed at the title - he still wasn’t used to it yet. “She’s going to be strong and, more than anything, loved.”

He nodded, and you thought you saw him sneakily wiping his eyes. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m doing what I said I didn’t want to happen. I’m deciding what she wants for her.” He scoffed lightly. “Is it always going to be this hard?”

“Harder, I think,” you said jokingly - but it was the truth. Parenthood would only get more and more challenging. “Who knows. Maybe one day she’ll be on that ship with you.”

Another thought that Johnny hadn’t even allowed himself to consider. But with the idea in his head, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips. “That would be…”

“Your dream?” you teased. “She’ll probably end up a genius like the rest of her family and leave me the only normal boring human.”

Johnny turned to you swiftly, placing his hands on either side of your face. “Don’t talk about yourself like you’re nothing special,” he said firmly. “Because that’s not true. You are smart. You don’t have to be a damn scientist or astronaut for me to think you’re one of the smartest people I’ve met.”

You looked at him skeptically, your eyebrows raised. “You know how many scientists, engineers, and physicists you know?”

He smiled. “That doesn’t mean anything. Doesn’t mean they’re smart.”

“Kinda does.”

“You’re missing the point.” He kissed your forehead. “I don’t want to hear you talking like you’re nobody. That couldn’t be less true. You’re everything.”

You looked down. “It’s just hard not to feel useless in a house full of superheroes and a very productive and cute robot.”

“Well, I can say for certain that you’re cuter,” he said. You giggled as he leaned in abruptly and kissed your cheek, his fingers tickling your sides. You laughed, fighting him off, pushing him away as he only pulled you closer. He covered your face in kisses when he finally caught you.

“I love you,” he said. “God, I love you. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I can’t believe you’re mine.”

Later that day, you were in the kitchen with the family. Herbie carved a pumpkin, Ben was working on a meringue, and you were helping Sue set the table.

You looked up as Johnny stormed in, grabbing a box of Lucky Charms. He was clearly in a bad mood.

“Hey,” Ben greeted him, before noticing his demeanor. “Why the long face? Your 2:15 with Reed didn’t go well?” Johnny said nothing, which was answer enough. “I’m sorry, pal.”

“Hey, I’m fine, you know, I don’t mind. It’s just that-“

“We’ll go to space again,” Ben said.

“Yeah, we will.” Johnny said it with confidence. He pulled the toy out of the box of cereal. “Oh! Nice!”

He pointed the little figure at Ben, pressing the button - “Flame on! Flame on!” Ben took the toy and crushed it in his hand, blowing the dust back in Johnny’s face. You shook your head, but stifled a laugh.

After messing with Ben a little longer, Johnny made his way over to where you stood. He placed his hand on your belly and leaned in for a kiss.

“You sure you’re okay, honey?” you asked him quietly. You knew he’d been looking forward to this meeting with Reed for a while - he had really been hoping.

“I’m okay,” he said, smiling at you like he wanted you to believe it. “Ben’s right. We’ll go back. I just…need to wait.”

The last person to arrive to Sunday dinner, Reed walked in and straight to his wife. As he spoke to her and Johnny stood with you, hand caressing the bump, sirens went by outside - that was unusual.

Reed motioned you all out to the balcony. Johnny led you out, hand on your lower back as you all walked out the glass doors.

“For the last few months,” Reed said, “I’ve been tracking a small number of criminal organizations.”

You peeked over the balcony - there was a police presence all over the city. Your eyes widened in shock.

“A small number, huh?” Ben said.

“47,” Reed said. He pointed out some specific organizations, pointing at different spots in the city. Often left in the dark about these things, you didn’t even realize there were that many in the city.

“You baby proofed the world,” Ben said.

“It’s a sweet gesture,” Sue grabbed Reed’s hand. You agreed - you wouldn’t complain about the city being safer for the babies.

“It’s a thorough gesture,” Ben continued. “But, uh, I like punching.”

“You mean clobbering?” Johnny goaded him.

“No, I mean punching.”

“Hey, what time is it?” he asked as Ben turned to go back inside the house.

“It’s dinner time.”

“You sure it’s not clobbering time?”

“Stop it.”

At that moment, as the five of you were turning to leave, the Four’s alarms began going off. You all turned to see some kind of explosion in the sky - fire and flashing lights. Johnny placed a hand on your shoulder, a silent You better be in this exact spot when I get back, and then he was gone - a creature of flame, taking off into the sky and directly into the heart of the danger.

You grabbed Sue’s hand as he went. “What’s going on?” you asked her weakly, hand protectively over your stomach. She placed a comforting hand on your back, but didn’t turn away from the sky.

“I don’t know,” she said. She turned to you. “But we’ve got to go. I need you to stay here.”

Once again reminded of your uselessness - you could do nothing but nod. What else could you do? Get in the way? Put yourself and your child in danger when there was nothing you could do to help?

You watched on with worry as Reed, Sue, and Ben left the building as quickly as possible, leaving you with Herbie. When they were gone, you watched the commotion through the window - until you ran to the TV and turned it on, wondering if anyone was reporting. You didn’t have to look far.

“Breaking news from Times Square.”

You watched on as a woman - an alien? - stood before the city. You clutched your chest with one hand and protectively held your bump with the other. You could see the Four standing, watching. Seeing Johnny safe sent relief flooding your veins.

“Are you the protectors of this world?”

“Yes, we are,” Sue said, standing with confidence.

“Your planet has been marked for death.”

You barely even processed anything she was saying after that. Marked for death? Fear struck into your very soul.

“I herald your end.”

When Johnny and the others returned, you ran into his arms. He held you tightly - this was his first time facing galactic danger while having a child and you to worry about. He found it made him feel sick, an unfamiliar kind of worry and uncertainty he wasn’t used to.

They all went straight to the lab upon return to the Baxter building - there was no time to waste. The fate of everyone was quite literally in their hands. You joined them, despite feeling like you had nothing to contribute.

Reed was tracking where the herald had been. He found at least five planets, destroyed - and she was at every one. Galactus could and would do exactly what she said.

The herald had spoken to everyone, but she had spoken only to Johnny directly. He was hung up on it - what had she said to him? It was in her native language, but, he thought, there had to be some way to decode it.

After the herald, Johnny became obsessed with solving the message. He was making progress, too - he discovered transmission recordings that were the same language. Whenever Johnny got like this, it was cute. You loved seeing him in his element, even if it meant he had less time for you. The baby prep was done, there was nothing more to do but wait for her to arrive. 

You were relaxing in the bathtub, the hot water soothing your aching muscles, while Johnny was in the bedroom, listening to the recordings. You gave him his space.

Sue walked in as he was working. “Okay. So she spoke to you, yeah? And?”

Johnny played her the recordings. “I don’t know who they are or what they’re saying, but this? This is the same. This is her language.”

Sue looked at her younger brother, impressed. “Okay. Maybe that is something.”

He held up his hand for a high five. “Reed wants to see you in the lab,” she said before slapping his hand.

She didn’t have to tell Johnny twice. He hurried straight there. “You summoned me?”

“I finally knocked it off the list,” Reed said.

Johnny furrowed his brow. “What?”

“The new space suits.”

He turned to see four brand new space suits, all set up and ready to be worn. Johnny was barely even listening to Reed as he examined the suits, then he pulled his brother into a hug. “I take back every single bad thing I’ve been saying about you. To myself. In private.”

Reed didn’t acknowledge the comment. “Are you ready to go back?” he asked.

“Of course,” Johnny said immediately. “I’ve missed it every day.”

“Even if it means leaving your family behind?”

Johnny hesitated. That was true. He thought of you, and your baby girl who would be here so soon - what if he missed the birth entirely? What if you needed him and he wasn’t even on the planet? What if something happened and he wasn’t here to protect you?

“I can see you thinking,” Reed said. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. You’ve been excited to go back, but things are…different now.”

Johnny nodded. Reed was exactly right. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him, to have something here that made Earth a place that was more like a true home. “Can I ask you a question?”

Reed was slightly taken aback. “Of course.”

Johnny sat the suit down and sunk into one of the chairs sitting around the lab. Reed sat across from him - he could tell Johnny had a lot on his mind.

“How are you so calm?” he finally asked his brother in law.

Reed shook his head with a light laugh. “I’m glad you think so, but I certainly don’t feel calm.”

That surprised Johnny. “You don’t?”

“No, of course not,” he said, shaking his head. “Are you kidding? I’ve been panicking for eight months.”

“Seriously?” Johnny asked with a laugh. “You could have fooled me. I’ve been wondering what the hell I’m doing wrong compared to you.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong,” Reed assured him. “You’re going great. I can already see it in you - you’re a dad now.”

That hit Johnny like a shot to the chest. He jerked back in surprise. “What? You think so?”

“I can see it in you clearly,” Reed continued. “You’ve been making the transition since you found out. You take care of both your girls like there’s nothing more precious in the world. You put the crib together yourself - I can’t say I did the same,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, but you were in here building that,” Johnny motioned towards the table you’d laid on countless times by now. “You made that to make sure the babies are safe.”

“I did,” Reed agrees. “Sue would have liked me to build the crib.”

Johnny laughed. He was feeling looser, the longer he sat and talked to Reed. Two soon-to-be fathers. The only other man who knew what Johnny was going through right now.

The atmosphere turned quiet. There was something in the air just waiting to be spoken.

��I’m terrified to leave her,” Johnny finally says. “Both of them. I’m scared out of my mind. What if she goes into labor without me?” The thought made his chest hurt. “You know, I’ve waited so long to go back to space, and now I’m going - have to go back - and here I am, wondering if I really want to.”

“You’ve never had something you cared about like this here.”

That was true, Johnny realized. “Yeah,” he said. “You’re right.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t…I don’t know how to handle it.”

“There’s no easy way,” Reed said - that wasn’t exactly what Johnny had been hoping to hear. “Being in love is irrational and all consuming.”

Being in love.

It hit him like a ton of bricks. He was in love with you. Yeah, he knew that - but did he know it? You hadn’t been together that long, hadn’t even known each other that long before you got pregnant, all things considered. Now, for the first time, he was struck with the uncontrollable urge to run out and buy a ring, to make you his wife, Mrs. Storm.

He had never had those thoughts about anyone before.

“Johnny?” Reed asked, sensing the emotional turmoil in the other man’s head. “You alright?”

Johnny nodded, distracted. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright.”

“What’s going on in there?”

Johnny thought for a moment. Then - “Do you want to go on an errand with me?”

You weren’t completely surprised when you got out of the bath and Johnny was gone. There was a mess around the bedroom, all the transmissions Johnny was going through scattered around the turntable. You didn’t touch them - there was usually a method to his madness.

You went through your post-shower routine, doing your hair and putting lotion on your skin - and Johnny still wasn’t back. That was a little strange. It was late.

You were in your pajamas (an oversized shirt and panties), about to go to bed without Johnny at all, when he came abruptly through the bedroom door. The nervous energy was coming off of him in waves - it was clear there was something going on.

“Baby,” he said, moving straight to sit next to you on the bed. He was dressed in his F4 t-shirt and pants from earlier.

“Johnny?” you said, confused and bleary eyed. You waited for him for so long, you were about ready to pass out for the night. “Where were you?”

He held your hands, his thumb rubbing the back of one of them. “Reed wanted to see me,” he said. “He finished the new suits. We’re going to space, to try to negotiate with Galactus.”

The news both did and didn’t come as a shock. You’d known this was inevitable from the night the herald came, but it hadn’t been set until now. “When?”

“Soon,” he said. “I don’t know. Very soon.”

“I can’t go to space with you?” you asked, only half-joking and looking at him with big sad eyes. “Both of us?” You took his hand and laid it over the bump.

Johnny chuckled, looking affectionately down at where his hand rested. He rubbed circles against your belly. “I wish you could,” he said.

You sat in a comfortable silence for a minute.

“Do you think it’s going to work?” you asked him nervously. “Do you think there’s hope of getting through to this…Galactus? Of saving Earth?”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to anyone,” Johnny said firmly. He looked you directly in the face when he said it, flames flickering in his blue eyes.

You trusted him with your whole heart. You knew if Johnny said he was going to make something happen - or keep it from happening - he was going to keep his word.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” you said.

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“You don’t know what’s gonna happen,” you reminded him gently. His hand stayed protectively where it sat, while your hand rested on the side of his face. He tilted his head, leaning into your touch, letting you cradle his handsome face.

“I just want to know if the surfboard is part of her body,” he said like he was dead serious, and you burst into laughter.

“Johnny Storm, do you ever take anything seriously?” you teased. 

He smiled, turning his head to place a kiss on your palm. “Just you.”

Your chest felt warm. You could feel your love for Johnny spreading through your body like the very flames that lived within him.

“There was…” Johnny began, but stopped himself. You didn’t interrupt, wanting to know where he was going. “There was something I wanted to say. Or…ask you?”

Your brows furrowed. “What?”

He gave your belly one last caress before he let go. He stood, pulling your weary body to sit on the edge of the bed in front of him. You were confused, but watched him with an anxious excitement anyway.

Johnny looked nervous. You waited as he stood there, gathering his thoughts - you could practically see the steam coming off his head.

Finally, he said your name. “I just…had something to say.”

“Say it,” you encouraged, laughing lightly - nervous.

He smiled softly at you. “Do you know how much I love you?”

The question caught you off guard. “I think so?” you said - because what kind of question was that really?

“I’m in love with you,” Johnny said, looking at you so intensely it nearly took your breath away. “Completely, wholeheartedly, in love with you. I’ve known for a long time, but it didn’t hit me until today, not- not like this. It’s been there, I just never saw it for what it was.”

“Johnny…” you whispered. “What-“

“I needed to say it,” he said. “I know we haven’t been together that long, all things considered - and I knew I love you, I know we’ve been saying it for a while - but it hit me today, hard, like Ben punched me in the chest or something. Like I’d never known anything, nothing has ever made more sense, than how much I love you. Both of you.”

You were in shock, tears welling up in your eyes. The things he was saying were overwhelming, and completely out of nowhere.

“I just had to do this before we leave.”

“Do what-“

You cut yourself off with a gasp as Johnny dropped to his knee in front of you. He reached his right hand into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box.

“Johnny-“ you gasped, your hands flying up to cover your mouth, your eyes wide.

“Marry me,” he said, flipping the box open to reveal a beautiful (way too expensive looking) diamond ring. His deep eyes bore into yours, and it’s like he was communicating every ounce of love in his body to you. It left you shaking. “Be my wife. Spend the rest of forever with me- as a family. My family.”

You were so stunned, the words didn’t come right away. Johnny reached forward with his free hand and wiped the tears you hadn’t noticed off your cheeks with his thumb. “Will you marry me?” he asked, softer this time, his eyes almost pleading.

You nodded. Slowly at first, then faster as more tears spilled down your face. You were pretty sure you would be sobbing even without the extra hormones. “Yes. Oh my god. Are you serious? Yes.”

Johnny’s face broke into a huge grin. He took your shaking left hand in his and slid the ring on your finger - a perfect fit. How did he know?

“You have made me,” he began, “the happiest man in the universe.”

You laughed through the tears, wrapping your arms around Johnny and pulling him into you. He hugged you back with just as much love, lifting you with little effort and spinning you in a circle. You couldn’t stop giggling, the joy overflowing from within you.

He wrapped his arm around your lower back and dipped you backwards as he kissed you passionately, something like from one of those romantic movies you used to watch. You cradled his face with both hands while he held you, communicating just how happy you’d made him by the way he kissed you breathless.

When he stood you back up, his arms still wrapped around you, you laid your foreheads together, just looking into each other’s eyes. You could have gotten lost in that sea of blue.

Mrs. Storm had a ring to it.

You couldn’t wipe the smile off your face after the proposal. The ring glittered on your hand like a star plucked directly from the sky, just for you. You knew that’s exactly what Johnny would have done if it were possible.

You waddled out into the kitchen, the pancake craving striking once again. It was a good day - you felt light as air, metaphorically at least. It was a low pain day, the baby didn’t have a foot shoved into your spine, and you had an appetite.

Too busy mixing the batter together, you didn’t hear Sue come in. She startled you a little when she came up next to you, and you both laughed.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s not your fault,” you said. “I was too preoccupied by the pancakes.”

“Craving?”

“Oh yeah.”

Sue smiled. “It’s been pretzel sticks for me, can you believe that? I probably eat a bag myself every couple of days.”

You laughed - it was relatable. “Sounds like Johnny with his Lucky Charms.”

“That’s what I said!” she smiled. She moved around you, grabbing a couple of plates. “Make me some too, would you?”

“Yeah, of course.” You made a little extra batter, mixing it up well before dumping the first pancakes into the pan.

A few minutes later, you and Sue were both leaning against the counter holding a plate of steaming pancakes doused in syrup. You took the first bite and closed your eyes, an unintentional moan escaping your lips. “God. So good.”

“They are,” Sue said after swallowing her first bite. “You make a mean pancake.”

You chatted lightly with Sue until you’d both finished your plates. She helped you wash them up, then leaned back against the counter. She smoothed  her hand over her belly as she looked at some papers she had brought with her before putting them away.

“Where’s Reed?” you asked, just wanting to break the silence again.

“Lab,” she said. “Working on things for the mission. I was just about to head down to join him.”

You nodded. “Johnny wanted to work on his cars today. I told him go - it’s not like he’ll have much time for them for a little while.”

Sue smiled at you. “You’re really good to him, you know that?”

You were surprised, both by the randomness of the comment and the sentimentality of it. She had never said anything like that to you before.

“You- you think so?” you asked, unsure of what else to say. You certainly weren’t close with Sue - she was older than Johnny, and was usually too busy to sit and chat with you outside of group settings.

“I can see it,” she said. She sighed. “You know, Johnny…after our mother died, I helped raise him. He’s my closest family - he’s important to me. I always wanted to see him find a girl to settle down with, to be happy with…I’m glad he found you. I’m glad it’s you.”

Utterly speechless, you gaped at her, your eyes teary. Hadn’t you done enough crying? When you finally picked your jaw up off the floor and shook yourself out of it, you spoke. “I- thank you. Johnny means everything to me, I- I want to make him happy.”

Sue reached forward and took your hand in hers. She held it under the light, the ring shining, and smiled. “He loves you,” she said. “I know you know this, but…I don’t know if you understand how much without knowing him the way I do.”

Your heart thudded. You thought of Johnny - and how you loved him, too. How he had told you just how much he loved you last night - and showed you after. “I love him too,” you said. “More than anything. Him and the baby.”

“He’s going to be the best dad, you know,” she smiled, dropping your hand. She looked down at your stomach now - you were standing practically bump to bump. 

You felt a strong kick at that moment. You gasped, placing your hand over the spot where you’d felt it - and noticed Sue had done the same thing to her own belly.

“You felt that too?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.

You still felt it. It’s like she was trying to get comfortable in one specific position. You took Sue’s hand in yours and placed it where the movement was for her to feel.

She looked up at you, her expression unreadable. Leaving her hand on your belly, she took your hand with her free one, and pressed it against the same exact spot on her own body. There was nothing from either of you, and then-

A kick. Two kicks. One from each side at the exact same time. Your wide eyes met Sue’s own.

“How interesting…” she finally said as you parted, as if in total awe.

“The cousins are excited to meet each other, it looks like,” you said lightly with an awkward laugh, but even you knew that was bizarre.

“Yeah, must be,” she said - but it was clear her mind was working. A moment later, she seemingly shook it off. “Anyway…that’s what I wanted to say, because I haven’t said it enough. You’re my sister. You’re good for my brother. You make him happy- he loves you, and I love you.”

She pulled you into a hug. “Welcome to the family, officially.”

The day of the launch came upon you faster than you expected. You woke up that morning sick to your stomach, and it had nothing to do with the baby. But you knew this had to be done - they were saving the world.

You had spent the night before wrapped in Johnny’s arms. He’d wanted to make love to you, as he put it, wanted to be as close to you as possible before he left. He didn’t get as much sleep as you would have liked him to before the launch.

Johnny held you on the bottom floor of the Baxter Building, dressed in his spacesuit already with the helmet sitting by his feet. He kissed you with every bit of passion in his body - which was a lot. You were going to miss your fiancè so badly, you didn’t care what anyone thought about the two of you practically making out in front of everyone.

Reed walked by, tapping Johnny on the shoulder to let him know it was time to go. He pulled back, his lips kiss swollen and pink. He grinned at you, but there was sadness behind his eyes. You couldn’t muster up as enthusiastic of a smile.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Johnny said. “You’re going to be fine. Herbie is going to take care of you, you have a whole team-“

“I’m not worried about me,” you cut him off. “I’m worried about you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” he said. “We can take care of ourselves, I promise you. We’re going to go fix this mess.” He pulled you back into another lingering kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Johnny,” you said. You rested your hands on his cheeks, the diamond on your finger flashing. Reporters ran over to start taking photos - you knew that would be in the magazines tomorrow. You didn’t pay them any mind. You and Johnny might as well have been the only people in the room.

He placed both hands on your 8 months pregnant stomach, looking down at it. “Please take care of yourself. If anything is weird, tell Herbie and he’ll call your doctors.”

“I got it, Johnny,” you said. You’d been over this countless times in the days leading up to this. “I’ll be careful. I’ll be alright.”

Johnny nodded. Then he knelt down on the ground, surprising you. The camera flashes kept going off as he kissed your bump, still holding it with so much affection it nearly took your breath away - and completely distracted you from how much attention was on the two of you.

“I love you, baby girl,” he said to your belly. “You better stay cookin’ in there for me. Don’t come out until Daddy gets back from space, okay?” She kicked his hand and he smiled.

You giggled. “I think she hears you.”

Johnny stood and wrapped his arms around you again. He pulled you into one final kiss, full of emotion and want. “I’ve gotta go,” he said, once he’d reluctantly parted from you. “Please be safe. I love you. Both of you. I’ll be back as soon as we can manage.”

You nodded, tears brimming in your eyes. “I love you too, Johnny.”

He kissed you on the forehead and then he was picking up his helmet, walking backwards for a little while to look at you as long as he could. He smiled, waved, then turned and joined the others, leaving you alone.

Well, ‘alone’. You were surrounded by people. You joined the crowd, carefully making your way to somewhere you could have a good view.

Johnny, Sue, Reed, and Ben walked the walkway to the spaceship. This was your first time seeing Johnny go to space since you’d been together, and as much as you missed him and didn’t want him to go, it filled you with pride. Your Johnny really was incredible, super powers or not. You held your bump protectively as you watched.

They were being filmed as they made their way onto the elevator. At the top, they walked onto the ship. Johnny paused right before boarding - he looked around until he found a camera. He stared directly into the camera and mouthed your name, with a blown kiss and an emphatic I love you.

The crowd awwed, and you could hardly see Johnny disappearing onto the ship through the tears in your eyes. You rubbed your belly - You see that, little one? Your daddy loves us more than anything.

The countdown began, and your stomach tightened in knots. You knew how dangerous launches and landings could be.

“3…2…1.”

The ship took off, rising into the air. Your heart ached as you watched them go, knowing it would be a long time before you saw Johnny again. You would see him again - you weren’t entertaining any other possibilities.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve had a successful launch.”

You couldn’t believe he was gone, they were really gone. Before you could dwell too much on their absence and how much you would miss every one of them, you turned and let Herbie lead you out of the crowd and back upstairs.

It wasn’t hard to find Galactus, not really. They were able to track the herald straight to him.

Upon arrival, she greeted them on their ship.

“Galactus will see you. All of you…you should not have come.”

Now, standing before Galactus - a giant, possessing more power than they had even pictured - they attempted to negotiate. But some prices are too high to pay.

“I will spare your world,” Galactus said with finality, “in exchange for both the boy and the girl.”

“What?” Sue said, incredulous. “No.”

“Absolutely not,” Johnny said, looking around at the others for validation that they agreed. “No. No way.”

“They are connected. They both possess the power of cosmic, and they together will inherit this cursed throne.”

What?

“They’re just- they’re normal,” Reed lied nervously. “We would know. I tested them myself.”

Galactus leaned in, eyes glowing purple. Sue grabbed her stomach at that moment, groaning in pain. She looked around at the others in a panic - and for once, Johnny’s blood went cold with fear.

“What are you doing to her??” he yelled.

“You won’t have our planet,” Reed said, “and you will never have our children!”

But it was happening. Whatever Galactus had done - Sue was in labor.

The pain came when you were home alone. You’d been in the kitchen, mixing up the batter to make your biggest craving - a chocolate cake. You felt fine, good even - but then a horrible pain stretched across your stomach.

You wrapped your hand around it, holding onto the counter for support as you cried out. Herbie sped into the room, making what you could best describe as concerned beeps.

“Herbie,” you said, your voice strained. “I think- I think something’s wrong. I think we need to call somebody.”

Herbie beeped again, then took off - contacting your medical team, you hoped. The pain was getting worse, coming in fast. You figured you had to be having contractions at least once every two minutes - this was the real deal. And Johnny was gone.

You couldn’t help it - you panicked. You lowered yourself to the floor amidst the pain of another contraction, and you sobbed. You were terrified. Of all the scenarios you’d come up with, doing this alone hadn’t been one of them.

It was only minutes later when a team of medical professionals came bursting into the room - Johnny and Reed had left you with a team ready at a moment’s notice in case of emergencies. It was a coveted position - every medical professional in the city wanted to be involved in the birth of the two newest Fantastic Four members. You didn’t like your child being seen as a spectacle.

You were screaming through another contraction, a white knuckled grip on the side of the counter as it passed through you. The doctors and nurses got to work fast. It was humiliating having a stranger up your skirt, but you had to have a cervical check.

It hurt, but the pain was already everywhere. It was the look on the nurse’s face after she checked you that scared you, though.

“The baby is coming right now,” she said. “We have to do it here.”

Back on the ship, things were progressing. Sue was in the back, laboring in zero gravity. Ben was steering the ship while Johnny and Reed helped.

“Do you think-“ Johnny asked Reed quietly, but he didn’t even have to finish his question.

“She might be,” Reed said seriously. Johnny felt like he might throw up. 

“We need to strap her down,” Reed said, back into action, moving through the ship towards his wife.

“Strapping her down,” Johnny moved to help.

“Do not strap me down!” she yelled, pushing Johnny away - who quickly backed off.

“You need gravity to push,” Reed told her, helping her lay back on the table.

“This is not how it’s supposed to be,” she said, breathing through the pain. Sue was remarkably brave, but right now, she had to admit she was scared.

“I know, but we’re gonna make it work.” Reed helped to hold her down, multitasking while he helped Ben and Johnny, concerned they didn’t have enough fuel to make it home. Their only option was a slingshot maneuver - which they put into action. 

“He’s coming,” Sue announced. “He’s coming.”

Her pants kicked off, it was time to start pushing. She pushed and pushed as the ship made its journey.

Sue became invisible. Reed held her - it was silent. She reappeared, and-

A cry sounded through the air. A tiny little hand raising high - and a beautiful baby boy curled in Ben’s hand. He held him out to Reed, who took the precious little guy in his arms - bringing him to his mother. Sue held her baby boy in her arms, Reed cradled around them both.

Johnny came floating back from the front of the ship. His blue eyes were wide as he saw his nephew for the first time - a perfect baby.

He thought of you. He thought of his daughter. And he prayed you were both okay, that he hadn’t missed the birth. That Galactus didn’t want his daughter or his nephew. That he’d get home and you’d run into his arms, healthy and still pregnant.

But for now, he caressed the chubby cheek of the baby with his index finger, and looked into the exhausted eyes of his sister - one of the strongest women he’d ever known.

Franklin Richards was here.

The only coherent thought you could muster was I wish Johnny was here. It repeated through your head, like a prayer, like the ship might descend that very second and he’d come running to your side if you wished for it hard enough.

But you were on your own, about to give birth on the living room floor without your boyfriend. In a room full of strangers looking at your most intimate parts, Herbie was your only friend. He stood nearby, attempting to be a comfort. It worked somewhat.

“It’s time to push,” the doctor said between your legs. “I need you to push hard on every contraction.”

You nodded. You could do this. You may not have been a superhero, or a genius, but you were strong and you could get through this, with or without Johnny. You felt angry in that moment, angry at Johnny for not being here, angry at him for leaving you, angry at him for getting you pregnant in the first place. It wasn’t rational, but it was there.

At the start of the next contraction, you gritted your teeth and pushed. You pushed with everything you had, the pain shooting through your body like electricity. When you couldn’t take it anymore you let go, falling back against the pillows they had put behind you and breathing heavily.

You’d heard pushing could last for an hour or more sometimes - but that wasn’t the case here. This baby was coming now. Another contraction flared and you pushed down again, screaming though the pain and the pressure.

Three pushes later, and the doctor spoke up excitedly from below. “She’s crowning,” she said. “Just one more good push for me, you’ve got this.”

The next contraction crashed into you and you mustered up every bit of energy in your exhausted, sore body to push as hard as you could. You screamed through it, a deep, primal scream.

The pain was gone. An immense relief left behind, you fell back against the makeshift bed and breathed. You opened your teary eyes, a nurse using a cloth to wipe the sweat off your brow.

Then you heard it. A cry. Your heart stopped in your chest as the doctor handed the bundle to you.

You took it, pushing the blanket down below her little chin to see her full face. She was gorgeous. Johnny’s little twin for sure. She opened her blue eyes and looked up at you - you swore you had never felt love in your life like you did in that moment.

Celeste Storm was here.

Early days with Celeste were difficult, yet blissful. You only wished for Johnny, that he could be there to experience it with you (and help a bit). Herbie was a great help, essentially waiting on you hand and foot while you recovered.

It has been a month since the births when the ship descended back home.

Johnny had been in a perpetual state of anxiety since Galactus. He was worried sick about you, to the point that Reed, Sue, and Ben were worried about him.

His stomach was in knots as they descended, and not just from the motion of the spacecraft. As they landed, he could see the crowd running to greet them, and he wondered where you were amongst it. You had to be here, right?

People were running from all over the city to see their return. There was no way you weren’t part of it. His eyes scanned the crowd who still looked like ants, as if he could see you from this distance.

“She’s okay,” Sue assured Johnny, placing her hand on his arm while the other cradled baby Franklin. “She’s a strong girl. She’s okay.”

Johnny just nodded. He wanted to believe his sister, because he wanted that to be true more than anything.

They rode the elevator down together. He had never been so quiet before - his mind was running too quickly to speak. Reed patted him on the back from behind him.

When the elevator landed, they could hear the deafening cheers. Ben walked off first, then Johnny, who scanned the crowd immediately. He didn’t see you - but maybe you were waiting inside where they would stop to speak? Yeah, that made sense.

Reed and Sue were behind him with Franklin, and the crowd went crazy the second they saw them. They smiled politely at the crowd, Sue holding the baby close to her chest while Reed had his arm around her.

They were led into the Baxter Building where the press were waiting. They mobbed them, and Johnny was so overwhelmed by the flashing lights, yelling voices, and no sight of you even in here, that he started to feel panicked.

“Give them space!”

“They’re ready for you,” Reed was told, with a gesture towards the podium. None of them wanted to speak. There was no good news to share. All Johnny wanted to do was see his fiancée.

Reed took the podium, glancing back over his shoulder at the rest of the team. Johnny continued scanning the crowd, not seeing a single sight of you. He was feeling more sick by the second. Where were you? It wasn’t like you to miss this. What if something had happened to you while he was gone and no one told him?

Something was wrong.

“I’m sorry we don’t have a prepared statement,” Reed said, sparking unrest in the crowd. Everyone raised their hand for a question.

“Welcome back,” one of the reporters said. “Can you walk us through how you defeated Galactus?”

It was silent.

“Um…” Reed said, looking back to Johnny and Ben for some kind of help.

“We didn’t,” Ben said simply.

“Not…yet!” Johnny said, with little enthusiasm. “Not yet, we didn’t.”

The crowd murmured. This wasn’t going well.

“What do you mean you didn’t?”

“We attempted to negotiate,” Reed said. “But Galactus…he asked too high a price.”

“Well, what does he want?” “What did he ask?”

Reed felt sick. Johnny really thought he might be. They exchanged a look - fear, in both of their eyes. Would this put a target on their backs? On their children’s backs? Reed looked back out into the crowd.

“He asked for our children,” he said, gesturing to Sue and Johnny. Sue stood behind, holding Franklin protectively as more worry spread through the crowd. “He said give us both children, and I will spare the Earth.” A murmur rose in the crowd. “We said no, obviously. We said no.”

Everyone started speaking at once.

“You said no?”

“Would giving Galactus the children save us?”

Done with this and with fire burning beneath Johnny’s skin, the four turned to leave.

“Wait, just answer this, answer this!” someone called. They stopped and turned. “Are we safe?”

“Are we safe?” Reed repeated. “I don’t know.”

The crowd began speaking at once again, upset. Ben waved Reed off and they left the room, the reporters yelling after them.

“She wasn’t there,” Johnny said to the others once they were safely on the elevator. “She wasn’t…there.”

“She’s probably in the house,” Sue said gently. “Maybe she isn’t feeling well, or couldn’t come down in time. Herbie has her.”

Johnny nodded, but he didn’t feel much better. 

With the spacesuit stripped off, he was left in his F4 t-shirt and sweatpants. When the elevator doors opened to the house, Johnny rushed in, looking for any sign of you.

It didn’t take him long.

You sat on the couch, a blanket wrapped around your lap. The TV was on to the news broadcast of the landing. You looked up at him and the others as they entered, a teary smile on your face.

“Johnny,” you said, your voice thick with emotion.

But it was the bundle in your arms that stopped him short. Slowly, cautiously, almost like he was scared, he approached you.

And he fell to his knees.

The baby girl in your arms opened her blue eyes and peered over at him. She was beautiful - more beautiful than he ever could have pictured. Perfection. He reached out a shaking hand and laid it on her, like he couldn’t believe she was real.

“…Oh my god,” he said.

Totally forgotten by him, Reed, Sue, and Ben stood behind, watching the moment. Johnny leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the baby’s head, before looking up at you with wonder in his eyes.

“She’s here,” he said, like he was trying to wrap his mind around it. Saying it didn’t make it feel any more real - he felt like he was dreaming.

“She was born about a month ago,” you said gently, softly running your fingers over the baby’s fine hair. “Shortly after you left.”

“A month?” Johnny asked. He turned to look at the others - who seemed to be thinking the same thing he was. Galactus.

Turning back to you, Johnny rested a hand on the side of your face and pulled you into a gentle kiss. Then he was focused on the child again, his child, his baby girl. He was in awe.

“She’s beautiful,” he said, his fingertips just barely trailing over her smooth skin. She shifted, reached a little hand up, and wrapped her fingers around one of Johnny’s. His heart stuttered, and he choked out the quietest sob.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, looking up at you. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, I- if I had known this would happen I wouldn’t have left you, I swear.”

“It’s okay, Johnny,” you said softly. You ran your fingers through his blonde hair. “You couldn’t have known.”

He laid his head against you, gazing down at his daughter. She really was incredible - he’d gotten to see her the one time, but it was nothing like this. It was nothing like seeing his child, here, earthside.

“Do you want to hold her?” you asked him. It seemed like he was too stunned to ask himself.

He looked at you with his blue eyes wide. “Really?”

You laughed. “Johnny, she’s your daughter.”

He nodded. Yeah, she was. And he could do this. You lifted her towards him and he slowly reached out, taking the bundle from your arms. The transfer was so slow and careful, and once he had her he cradled her close to his chest. Johnny held her, his strong arms now so delicate with his baby girl. A single tear trailed down his cheek.

They gazed at each other, both mesmerized by the other. Celeste cooed softly, making her little baby noises, and Johnny’s heart cracked. Oh, she had him wrapped around her little finger from day one.

“Hi, baby girl,” he said quietly, only for her. “I’m…I’m your daddy. I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve been so excited to meet you.”

Celeste cooed again, her little arms moving jerkily, still not used to moving her own body. She looked all around, but kept returning to Johnny’s face. She reached up and touched his nose, and he chuckled.

He was a natural with her. He looked back over his shoulder at the others finally, who all looked like they might also cry. He waved them over. They approached the three of you, peering down at the baby.

“Oh, she’s perfect,” Sue said.

“Nice job,” Reed said, patting Johnny on the shoulder with a brotherly smile.

“Hi there,” Ben said, looking down at her. She gave him the biggest smile that he couldn’t help but return.

But baby Franklin was watching her closely. Johnny turned her so she could see her cousin, and the babies reached for one another. Sue and Johnny held them closer as they reached for each other, fingers brushing together. Like they had a connection of some kind, drawn together.

“Interesting,” Reed mumbled. He would need to run some tests - there was a link here, and he needed to find out what it was.

After the tearful reunion, everyone returned to their own quarters. They were all exhausted and relieved to be back home. Johnny sat on the bed, holding baby Celeste while she slept. You moved throughout the room, gathering pajamas and a clean diaper.

“The surfboard is not part of her body, by the way,” Johnny said randomly.

You laughed - “What?”

“I just needed to know! I was curious.”

You smiled as you moved back over to the bed. “Well, I’m glad you found out,” you said. Johnny chuckled.

He told you all about their trip while he helped you change Celeste and put her to bed. He told you everything - the flight, seeing Galactus, chasing the herald and running away. Galactus wanting the babies - which you’d heard on the broadcast. It worried you sick, but he promised there was nothing to worry about.

He wouldn’t let anyone touch a single hair on Celeste or Franklin’s heads, that was for sure.

In the days after their return, everyone was hard at work trying to figure out what was to be done about Galactus. Johnny didn’t want you and Celeste out of his sight, so you spent a lot of time sitting in Reed’s lab with the baby girl on your lap, or doing tummy time on the floor with Franklin.

The truth was, they didn’t know what to do. Giving the children to Galactus was completely off the table, obviously, but so was putting Earth in danger. They suggested blowing the ship up, and running, but neither would work. There had to be something to be figured out. You just wished you could be more help.

“Reed, you wanna take us through what you have?” Sue asked.

“What I have?” he turned. “What I have is nothing.”

“Nothing? Did you say nothing?” Johnny asked. He glanced at you where you sat feeding Celeste.

“I have the samples from Galactus’ ship,” Reed said, handing out some papers for you all to see. “All evidence suggests he predates our universe, our reality. You could take 10 years to understand his composition, let alone his existence.”

“So you’re talking about a god?” Sue asked.

“I’m talking about something beyond our experience. An unknowable life, who imagines Franklin and Celeste as his successors in possessing some kind of cosmic power.”

“That can’t be true, right?” Ben asked, looking at the others. “You ran all those tests.”

“I have, but I don’t know what can or can not be. I’m not sure of anything.” He was getting frustrated. “Celeste has the X-gene, Franklin does not - at least, not that I saw.” He turned, walking back to the chalkboard. “I have nothing. I have nothing!”

You had never known Reed to have nothing. The idea scared you more than you wanted to admit. No one had anything, no one knew how to keep the babies and Earth safe.

Since the trip, Johnny had spent every moment he wasn’t with Celeste hard at work trying to decode the herald’s language. He knew that could give them answers, and that’s what they needed more than anything.

You spent your days caring for Celeste while the Four were hard at work. Johnny spent as much time as he could with the two of you, and it killed him to be away from her, but you both knew the fate of the world hung in the balance.

Reed ran seemingly endless tests on both Franklin and Celeste. No new answers were coming forth.

“It’s getting bad out there,” Ben said one night as the family was in the living room together. Johnny held Celeste, who was wearing a little Flame on! onesie. Ben turned the TV on.

“It seems to me they have no plan for Galactus,” some idiot on a talk show was saying. “We as a society have to reckon with the idea that the Fantastic Four could save us today, but they choose not to. The idea is simple - Reed Richards and Sue Storm, and Johnny Storm and that girl of his, hand over their babies and we all live.”

Sue blew the TV up. No one had a problem with that. Out on the balcony, there was a mob visible right outside the front doors.

“Give us the babies!”

“They’re scared,” Reed said.

“Who isn’t scared?” Johnny asked. He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder as he patted a sleeping Celeste on his chest. “That…is scary.”

Everyone was stressed. The discussion was constantly going in circles, no one coming up with anything new.

“Right now we don’t have a workable plan, and the clock is ticking. So their plan looks good. It’s…available,” Reed said.

“What are you saying?” Sue asked.

“I’m not…saying anything.”

The baby monitor lit up as Franklin started crying. Sue left to go attend to him, Reed following behind her. You were left at the table sitting silently with Johnny and Ben.

“Let me take her,” you said gently, taking Celeste from Johnny’s arms. He let you take her, although he was reluctant to let her go. He never felt like she was properly safe unless she was in his arms.

You were in the kitchen, making yourself busy, when Sue approached you with Franklin in her arms. 

“Come with me,” she said.

The mob outside was angry. They held anti-F4 signs, yelled horrible things, demanding the babies. 

And you followed Sue through the crowd, Celeste clutched tightly to your chest and Franklin to hers. You knew Sue wouldn’t let anything happen to any of you. Everyone stared as you walked through, making it to the middle where you stood together.

The crowd looked at the two of you expectantly. You weren’t sure where Sue was going with this, but you trusted her.

“I wanted to introduce you to someone,” she began. “This is our son, Franklin. And this is his cousin, Celeste. There’s been a lot of talk about both of them.” She stopped to compose herself. “Most of you know me. You know my story. When Johnny and I were kids, our parents were in a car crash. Our dad was driving, and he lived, but our mom didn’t. I know what it’s like to be a part of a family that was torn apart. Our dad wasn’t always a great father, but he wanted to be. He did his best. He wanted us to be together because that’s what a family is. It’s about fighting for something bigger than yourself. It’s about connecting to something bigger than yourself.”

Celeste wiggled in your arms. You and Sue both turned, seeing Johnny, Reed, and Ben coming out behind you. You smiled tearfully at Johnny - and he looked at you like he was proud.

“It’s about having something bigger than yourself,” Sue continued. “And the four of us already do because we have you. You know, our mom always used to say, Susie, for you, I would move heaven and earth. And we would do that for you. We will not sacrifice our children for this world. But we will not sacrifice this world for our children. We will face this together. We will fight this together. And we will defeat this together. As a family.”

The crowd clapped, and you wiped a tear away. Sue’s speech had been beautiful, and it seemed to have gotten through to everyone. You were filled with relief for Celeste - you’d barely slept an hour since the public turned on you all, terrified someone would manage to break in.

As soon as he could, Johnny had his arms back on you, leading you back inside. 

“That was amazing,” he said, “and so, so reckless.”

“But it worked?” you offered. He smiled at you, leaning down and kissing you.

“Yeah. Looks like it did.”

You were walking back to the elevator as a family when Reed spoke up.

“Archimedes,” he said. You all turned. “The law of levers. Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth. We are going to move heaven and earth.”

That was something. You took a step closer to him.

“Well, just earth,” he continued. “Sue…you solved it. We are going to move earth to a place that Galactus will never find us.”

With an idea, plans were underway. It would take the cooperation of the entire globe to pull off - but they thought it could work.

You spent as much time with Johnny and Celeste as you could. He was an incredible dad, truly. He spent most of his time preparing to put the plan into action, but his favorite time of the day was when he could relax in bed with you.

He laid back, Celeste sleeping on his shirtless chest. He was drowsy himself, his eyes half lidded as he slowly rubbed her back. Fresh out of your shower, you joined him on the bed.

“Ready for me to put her in bed?” you asked him gently.

He cracked an eye open to look at you. “Not just yet. I wanna hold her a little longer.”

You smiled. “Okay.” You laid down on the bed next to him. You looked at the clock just in time to see it strike 8pm, and all the power went out. The global power curfew was in effect to conserve what the bridges would require.

In the dark, you laid your tired head on Johnny’s shoulder. He felt content for the first time in a long time - his family together, a plan in motion. Hope for the future.

He may not know how things were going to turn out, or who Celeste would grow up to be. But he knew as long as he was with his family - they would be okay.

He would make sure of it.

reblogs and comments are so so appreciated!!

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[some-lovely-day]

High on Her Love

Pairing: Robert 'Bob' Reynolds x reader

Summary: Bob and Y/N used to be the perfect, in love couple, until Thanos successed. Years after the blip, Bob is still coping with the loss of his late girlfriend, Y/N L/N. Alone in a world that he hated, he finds ways and paths to find her everyday, not caring about the consequences. Even if it creates his void.

Word Count: 7,3k

Warning: before the thunderbolts events!, substance abuse and addiction, mental health struggles, including psychosis and hallucinations, emotional and psychological trauma, suicidal ideation and overdose, violence and arrest scenes, intense grief and loss, themes of despair and emotional distress

--

The mattress underneath him was damp again. He didn’t know if it was sweat, a spilled drink, or the piss from the guy passed out in the corner, whose name he never bothered to learn. The springs groaned every time he shifted, a metallic whine that always reminded him of the old bed frame they used to have in Gainesville — the one Y/N said squeaked like a guilty conscience. He used to laugh at that. Now it sounded like mockery. The room stank of chemical residue and desperation, the walls yellowed by smoke that curled endlessly from half-lit blunts and broken dreams. Time didn’t pass here, not really. The sun didn’t touch this part of the house anymore, not through the grime-caked blinds or the plastic tarp they’d duct-taped over the broken window. Just shadows and smoke. And her.

She always came in the haze.

Bob lay on his back, pupils blown wide, a crust of dried blood beneath one nostril, his lips cracked and trembling as the drug took hold — something synthetic, something stronger than memory, something that made the edges of his guilt soft enough to survive. His fingertips twitched, unconsciously reaching for her, even though she wasn’t there. Never really was. But that didn’t matter. The high brought her anyway. Not the way she looked the day she vanished — not the wind-swept confusion on her face when the Blip took her mid-lecture, mid-sentence, mid-breath — no, the drug didn’t give him trauma. It gave him lies. Mercy.

She stood in the doorway now, barefoot, wearing his old U2 shirt — the one so faded you could barely read the tour dates. Her hair glowed gold in the dusty light that didn’t exist, and her smile was soft, slow, like warm honey pooling behind his ribs. “Hey, sleepyhead,” she whispered, crouching beside him, her hand feather-light against his cheek. Bob exhaled a shaking breath, tears streaking silently into his unshaven beard.

“I missed you,” he choked. His voice cracked like old paint. “I — I didn’t know what to do without you, Y/N. I swear I looked for you. I waited…”

“I know,” she said, kissing his forehead. Her lips were cold. She always said his forehead got sweaty in his sleep. He laughed once, a dead sound, and closed his eyes. She was here. That’s all that mattered. Her fingers ran through his matted hair, scratching gently, lovingly. “You did your best, baby.”

But he hadn’t. That was the truth the drug couldn’t quite smother. The needle beside the bed, still sticky, told the truth. The eviction notice, crumpled under the mattress, told the truth. The calls he never returned from his old boss at the mechanic’s shop. The voicemail from Y/N’s mom — he never listened to it all the way. Her voice broke too early.

He’d fallen so fast. The first few weeks after the Blip, he’d stayed strong. Convinced himself she’d come back. That it was a mistake. That maybe the Avengers would figure it out. But then months passed. Then a year. He started forgetting the sound of her voice. Started wondering if he made her up. The worst part wasn’t that she was gone. It was that the world moved on like she never mattered. People forgot her. Professors scrubbed her name from the roster. Roommates sold her stuff. Bob kept her toothbrush, even when he had nowhere to keep it. He held it like it might summon her.

And now, four years later, he had nothing left but poison and delusion.

She pulled him into a sitting position now, straddling his lap like she used to when they'd talk for hours after midnight. Her arms wrapped around him, grounding him in unreality. “You’re so tired,” she whispered, rocking him. “You don’t have to keep hurting.”

“I’m not strong without you,” Bob muttered. “I tried to be. I tried to work. I tried to stop.”

Her head tilted. Her eyes glinted — not with malice, but with something close to pity. The kind of pity that makes you hate yourself. “But you didn’t,” she said, and for a moment the room dimmed, and her voice warped, low and distant, like underwater sound.

Bob shook his head. “Don’t leave me again. Please.”

She smiled. “Then don’t wake up.”

The room throbbed. The walls pulsed like a heartbeat. In the corner, the other addict — Sam or Sal or something — stirred in his sleep, groaning. But Bob didn’t hear it anymore. The drug surged again, fresh warmth flooding his veins. He leaned into the hallucination, letting it swallow him whole. Y/N’s lips found his, gentle and ghostly. Her hands dug into his chest like she could unzip him, crawl inside, stitch herself into the gaps. She murmured nonsense now, lullabies from old days, half-remembered jokes, love letters etched in smoke. He wept into her shoulder.

Outside, the world spun on. Cars passed. Families ate dinner. Heroes rebuilt cities. But Bob Reynolds lay rotting in a dark room, surrounded by ash and chemical lies, whispering to someone who no longer existed — or maybe never had — and begging her to stay just a little longer.

She always did.

Until the high wore off.

--

The line between dreaming and dying was thin now — a breath, a needle, a prayer mumbled into burnt fingertips. Bob didn’t know which side he was on anymore. Maybe he never really knew. He used to measure time by sunrises through the cracked kitchen blinds, by the sound of her laugh echoing from the shower, by the clink of her keys when she came home late from the lab. Now, he measured it by doses. How many did it take to hear her voice again? How far under did he need to go before she felt real enough to hold?

The drug — whatever it was — had changed since he started mixing. He no longer bothered keeping track of the names. Heroin. Fentanyl. Crushed pills from nameless bags bought with the last scrap of pawned memory. Some of it was tainted. Some of it should’ve killed him. He almost wished it would. But he’d built a tolerance to death. Not love.

And love was the thing that clawed him open every time she appeared.

He injected again. No hesitation. His hands moved like ritual — vein, draw, press, release. He leaned back against the wall, the paint cold against his spine, and waited. It came faster now. The drug didn’t waste time. His body knew what it wanted. So did his mind.

The room changed.

It wasn’t the piss-soaked mattress anymore, not the cracked drywall or the mildew stink. No — suddenly he was on their old couch. The blue one she insisted on buying even though it clashed with everything else in the apartment. The sun poured through the windows like it used to. She sat beside him, barefoot, her legs tucked under her, an open textbook in her lap.

“You’re late,” she said, without looking up.

Bob stared at her. His throat constricted. He couldn’t speak. She was too perfect.

She glanced up, her smile bright, beautiful, wrong. “I made you coffee,” she added, nodding toward the table. There was a mug. It steamed. It smelled like cinnamon — the way she used to brew it for him in winter.

He reached for it with trembling hands, but when his fingers touched the ceramic, it dissolved into ash. The hallucination cracked, only slightly — a jagged edge in the illusion. He gasped.

“You’re breaking it,” she whispered suddenly. Her face had changed. Her smile was still there, but her eyes had gone too wide. Too fixed. She wasn’t blinking.

“Don’t do that,” she said. Her voice had flattened. She reached forward, touched his face. Her fingers were cold again. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not,” he croaked. “I’m trying to stay. I—”

Her hand closed around his wrist — hard. Too strong. Her nails dug into his skin. “Then take more.”

The room shimmered. Shifted. He was back in the college courtyard now. She stood under a tree, waving at him like she used to. He remembered this day. She wore a yellow dress. She was laughing at something he’d said.

But the dress was soaked with blood. He didn’t know why. She didn’t seem to notice.

He stumbled forward, but the ground beneath his feet became water, then glass, then needles. The illusion was unstable, like a dream fighting to stay alive. He needed another hit.

His hands scrambled for the syringe. He found one, not knowing if it was clean, not caring. He pushed it in with practiced ease. His blood sang.

The world solidified.

Now she was in bed beside him again. They were tangled in sheets, her breath on his neck, her heartbeat thudding against his chest. “I love you,” she murmured. “You’re the only thing that ever made me feel safe.”

Bob clung to her like a man drowning. “I need you,” he said. “I can’t do this alone. Please don’t go. Please.”

“I never left,” she said. Her voice was inside his skull now, vibrating in his bones. “You brought me back. You made me real again.”

Her hand ran along his chest. His skin sizzled under the touch — too hot, too cold, too wrong. But he didn’t care. He kissed her shoulder, her collarbone, trying to find the warmth she used to have. But her skin was like marble now. Like a corpse. He ignored it. He could pretend.

He always pretended.

“You’re dying,” she whispered suddenly. Her voice was both hers and not — like a hundred voices in one. “You’re choosing this. You know that, right?”

He didn’t answer.

Outside, someone was pounding on the door. Maybe the landlord. Maybe the cops. Maybe the Thunderbolts. Maybe God. He didn’t care.

“I love you,” he said again, but this time the words felt like lies. Like parroted noise. Like desperation in a man who couldn’t remember what real love felt like, only the shape it left behind.

And as she smiled again — too wide, too sharp — he realized something.

She wasn’t her anymore.

She hadn’t been for a long, long time.

But he’d given up too much to admit it.

So he kissed her anyway.

And reached for the next needle.

--

It had rained that night. One of those sticky Florida thunderstorms that shook the windows and soaked the sidewalks in steam. Bob remembered it not because of the lightning or the sirens, but because of the way Y/N danced in it — barefoot in the parking lot, arms out, mouth open like she was trying to drink the whole sky.

“You’re gonna get struck,” he called from the doorway, laughing through a cigarette he hadn’t lit yet.

She turned, eyes bright, drenched and radiant and alive, water dripping from her lashes. “Then come save me, hero,” she teased, her voice echoing between the apartment buildings. Bob dropped the cigarette and ran out after her, grabbing her by the waist and spinning her in the rain. Her laughter clung to him like the thunder never could.

Later, they lay tangled on the floor, too wet for the bed, wrapped in old towels and each other’s arms. The apartment smelled like lavender and mildew and cheap takeout. A lab manual lay forgotten on the coffee table. Her hair was still damp as it spread across his chest, rising and falling with his breath.

“You ever think about the future?” she asked.

Bob blinked at the ceiling. “Sometimes.”

“I mean really think about it. Where we’ll be in ten years. If we’ll still be here.” Her finger traced small circles against his ribs. “I think about it all the time.”

“Terrifies me,” he admitted. “Future feels like this... wall I can’t see past. Like it’s there, and I know I’m supposed to climb it, but I’ve got no rope. No idea how high it goes.”

She propped herself up on her elbow, looking down at him. “But you’re trying. You always try.”

He shook his head. “Feels like I’m dragging you down sometimes.”

Her brow furrowed. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true. You’re getting your degree, curing the world or whatever it is biomedical engineers do. And I’m... what? Fixing cars on a good week, taking odd jobs on the bad ones. Hustling rent money and hoping I don’t get fired.”

“I don’t care about that,” she whispered fiercely, like she was telling him a secret. “I didn’t fall in love with your resume, Bob. I fell in love with the guy who gave me his last twenty bucks because I was crying over a broken laptop. Who stayed up with me through two all-nighters just so I wouldn’t fall asleep in the middle of my thermodynamics exam. Who—”

He kissed her, quieting the words before they swallowed him whole.

“You’re not dragging me down,” she said against his lips. “You’re the reason I feel like I can keep climbing.”

For a moment, the world stilled. The rain outside slowed. The walls glowed with the soft flicker of a candle on the nightstand. Everything was whole. He was whole.

But memory is cruel.

Because as the vision began to fade, as the drug wore off, the warmth turned cold. The rain stopped, and the ceiling above him cracked back into yellow-stained plaster. The candles vanished. The towel on his chest became a filthy hoodie. The body beside him dissolved into nothing.

She was gone again.

And this time, her absence hurt worse — because now he remembered.

Bob sat up, his breath shallow, clawing at his scalp, trying to tear the memory out before it turned to grief. His face twisted in a soundless scream, one hand slamming into the floor, over and over, until his knuckles split.

There had been love. There had been laughter. There had been life.

And now he traded all of it for a high that lasted thirty minutes if he was lucky.

“Come back,” he rasped, blood mixing with spit as he fell sideways, curling in on himself like a dying thing. “I swear I’ll be better. Just... come back.”

--

The Florida sun was a bastard. It didn’t warm — it punished. Beamed down like a god with a grudge, baking the pavement, warping the air into heat-shimmering waves. And inside the oversized chicken suit, Bob Reynolds was sweating through his skin, through the layers of tattered polyester, through the meth chewing its way through his blood like termites.

He was high again. Of course he was. Being sober in a suit like this — spinning a sign that read “FINGER-LICKIN’ FRIDAYS – $5 BUCKETS” while cars honked and teenagers filmed him for TikTok — was its own kind of hell. So yeah, he hit the pipe hard this morning. Twice. Maybe three times. He couldn’t remember. He didn’t really need to.

The meth made everything move a little too fast. Colors popped. Shapes jittered at the edges. The sign he was spinning seemed to echo as it flipped in front of him, hypnotic and ridiculous. The chicken head — oversized, comically round, and stupidly grinning — swallowed all sound except his own breath. Sweat poured into his eyes. He couldn’t feel his legs. He was floating and burning and alive, but also barely there.

And Y/N — fuck, she’d been with him all day. Sitting on the curb while he danced like a joke. Laughing in that soft, tilted way she used to when he did something dumb but harmless. Her arms crossed. Her eyes always on him. God, he loved when she watched him. Even if she was just a drug shadow now.

He did a spin for her. The sign clattered against the wind, and he almost tripped over the curb. She giggled. “You’re ridiculous,” she said, voice like honey over broken glass.

“I do it for you,” he muttered under the chicken mask. “All of this. It’s all for you.”

Cars rushed past. Horns blared. A few people shouted things — mostly unintelligible. But one stopped. A blue Honda Civic, low to the ground, with music thudding loud enough to shake Bob’s ribs.

The window rolled down.

“Hey, freakshow!” the guy in the driver’s seat barked. “You forget your dignity in the damn meth bin?”

Bob froze. The sign faltered in his grip. The meth buzz twitched behind his eyes.

“What’s the matter?” the guy continued. He had sunglasses on. Flashy. Fake. “You too cooked to even dance right? Jesus, you look like a walking mental breakdown.”

Bob stared at him. The chicken head made it hard to see clearly, but he didn’t need to see. He felt the insult like it landed with fists.

The guy laughed and reached out of the window — flicked a crumpled napkin at him. “Here, clean yourself up, Tweaker Nugget.”

And something inside Bob snapped.

He dropped the sign. No warning. No shout. Just pure movement.

In a single blur of sun-drenched rage, he tore the chicken head off — sweat and hair sticking to his forehead — and hurled it into the street. His eyes were wild. Glassy. Animal. He crossed the sidewalk in three steps and slammed his fist onto the Civic’s hood.

“Say it again,” he growled.

The guy in the car jolted. “Whoa, man—”

“I SAID SAY IT AGAIN!” Bob screamed, spittle flying, veins throbbing in his neck like ropes. “YOU THINK I’M A FUCKING JOKE?”

Meth made his vision double. Triple. The guy’s face twisted like a funhouse mirror. Bob slammed the hood again. Then the windshield. A crack spiderwebbed beneath his fist. The driver panicked, threw the car into gear, and peeled off with a screech — almost running over Bob’s foot.

He stood there, shaking, chest heaving, fists bloody. Onlookers gawked from the gas station. One woman whispered into a phone. A manager shouted something from inside the chicken shack.

But Bob didn’t hear any of it.

Because in the thick, electric silence after the outburst — a silence only rage can create — he heard a voice. Deep. Velvet-smooth. Familiar like a forgotten scream.

“I love how calm you are.”

It wasn’t Y/N.

It wasn’t even himself.

It was the other.

The Void.

Bob blinked. His knuckles stung. His heart rattled against his ribs like a dying engine. The sign lay in the road, broken in two. The chicken head was crushed under a truck’s tire, feathers scattered like roadkill.

And Y/N? She was gone again. No curb. No laughter. No smile. Just sun, sweat, and the rising nausea of comedown.

He stumbled backward, dropped to his knees beside the costume wreckage. His hands shook violently — not from fear, but withdrawal. Rage. Memory. A lifetime of being almost enough.

People whispered around him.

But the only thing he could hear was that voice again.

“You were always going to break. I’m just the one who caught you.”

Bob didn’t cry, he laughed. Slowly he felt how his head was slowly giving up, turning into madness.

His lips were split from the sun, his eyes glassy with the aftershock of methamphetamine fury. He was laughing — high-pitched, wet, hollow — the kind of laugh you only hear from people who have nothing left to burn but themselves.

The feathers from the chicken suit fluttered around him in lazy spirals.

Then the red and blue lights arrived.

Two cruisers. Lights swirling. Sirens a lazy afterthought.

He didn’t flinch.

Didn’t move until the first officer approached with that cautious, squared-shoulder walk — the one they’re trained to use when dealing with the twitchy and the cracked.

“Sir,” the cop said. “Put the sign down.”

Bob looked up, eyes wide with something far from reason. “He said I looked like a joke,” he said, voice flat and almost dreamy. “So I showed him funny.”

The second cop came in behind the first, already reaching for cuffs. “You’re done for the day, buddy.”

Bob dropped the sign.

And then something inside him dropped.

He launched forward without warning, his shoulder colliding with the first officer’s chest. The two went sprawling onto the pavement. Bob’s fists flew fast, wild — no rhythm, no sense, just noise and teeth and flailing. He wasn’t fighting them. Not really.

He was fighting it. The silence. The guilt. The goddamn absence.

The second officer grabbed him by the arm, but Bob spun, elbowed him in the temple, snarling like a wounded animal. They both wrestled him to the ground. A knee pressed into his back. He didn’t care. He was screaming now — not words, just sound. Rage made flesh. Blood smeared across the pavement from his busted lip, his nose, from somewhere else he didn’t feel yet. He bit the curb. Cursed the sky. Screamed her name.

“Y/N!”

The cops were shouting too. Calling for backup. Threatening tasers. One of them punched him in the side of the head.

That’s when it really started.

The hallucinations.

Everything went soft — blurred at the edges like watercolor running under rain. The heat became cold. The hands on him became hers — soft, smooth, trembling. She was above him, straddling his waist, weeping as she tried to hold him down.

“Stop,” she begged, her hands on his shoulders. “Baby, stop. You’re hurting yourself.”

His breath hitched. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know.”

“I just wanted to be enough. For you. For everything.”

“You were,” she said, but her voice cracked mid-sentence. She was crying harder now, blood running from her eyes like tears. “You were enough.”

And then — from the shadows of the hallucination, standing just behind her — came him.

The Void.

Or maybe not the Void. Maybe just the part of Bob that had been rotting in silence all these years. A man-shaped silhouette, eyes like tar, voice as smooth as silk and rot.

“I love how calm you are.”

The ground beneath him split. Not literally — but to Bob, it might as well have. The sky tore open. Sirens warped into laughter. His body jerked. The officers had finally tased him.

Electricity snapped through his spine, but he barely noticed. He was too deep. Too far down. His screams turned to sobs. His sobs turned to gasps. He couldn’t tell if he was being dragged or buried.

When the cuffs finally snapped around his wrists, he was muttering into the pavement:

“She was just here. She was just here…”

They threw him in the back seat. The doors slammed like coffin lids.

The hallucinations flickered — static now. Y/N sitting beside him, one moment whispering his name, the next silent, her face blurred and melting like wax.

The Void sat across from them both.

Smiling.

“You’re finally letting go.”

Bob rested his forehead against the window, tears smearing into snot and spit and blood. The cop up front radioed something in calm tones. Battery. Disorderly conduct. Possibly resisting. Possibly high. Definitely lost.

And in the reflection of the glass, Bob saw her again.

Y/N.

Looking right at him.

But her eyes were hollow now.

--

The cell was gray. Not the kind of gray that hinted at blue or silver or even shadow — just flat, dull, dead gray. Concrete poured without care, smeared with forgotten fingerprints and old gum stuck between the cracks. The metal bench was bolted into the wall like a punishment, its surface cold and sticky with sweat from whoever came before. Fluorescent lights buzzed above like dying insects, flickering every so often in a rhythm that didn’t sync with anything except madness. There was no clock. No window. Just the thrum of air conditioning, the occasional shout from another room, and the sour scent of bleach that never quite covered the piss.

They’d stripped him of everything. His belt. His shoes. Even the frayed bracelet she once made him — red thread and a stupid plastic heart she’d knotted on after their one-year anniversary, now long stained and half-torn. He’d worn it even through the worst of the years. Through the drugs. Through the stink. Through the rain and cracked lips and eviction notices. They took it without ceremony and dropped it in a plastic bag along with his wallet and a note in his file: "Meth psychosis likely. Violent. Monitor."

He sat in the corner of the cell, arms wrapped around his knees, shaking like he was freezing though his skin was burning hot. His face was still swollen where the officer had clocked him. A cut near his brow leaked blood in lazy, crusted trails. His mouth was dry. His tongue felt like a dead slug in his mouth. He couldn’t stop trembling.

And then she appeared.

Y/N was on the other side of the bars, standing with her fingers wrapped around the cold steel like they could hold her upright. Her face was hollow, pale, drenched in something between grief and disbelief. Her eyes searched his like she’d just found him in a war zone. He blinked and she didn’t fade. No flicker. No shimmer. No sign of chemical illusion. She was just there.

“I’m sorry,” Bob whispered. His voice cracked in his throat, rough with dehydration and smoke and shame. “I didn’t mean to — I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

She said nothing. Just looked at him with something worse than disappointment — hurt. Real hurt. The kind you only see in people who truly loved you.

He crawled forward, knees scraping the concrete, hands outstretched. “They said you were gone,” he said. “But I always knew you’d come back. I kept the apartment for a while. Did you know that? Slept on the floor after they took the furniture. I talked to your toothbrush like it was your ghost. I lit candles on your birthday. I remembered your scent. God, I— I remember the way you said my name when you were tired. I kept everything. I kept everything, Y/N.”

Still, she said nothing. Her lips parted like she wanted to speak, but no words came out. A tear slid down her cheek.

He gripped the bars, his head resting between them, his forehead pressed to the metal like it might transmit his agony into the earth. “I ruined it. I ruined us. I should’ve gone with you. When it happened — when you disappeared — I should’ve just gone too.”

Her image blinked.

He recoiled. “No. No, stay. Don’t—”

But she was gone.

Just air.

Just steel.

Just the reek of his own sweat and the hollow beat of blood rushing behind his eyes.

He screamed then. Not words. Just a raw, unfiltered sound, scraped from the bottom of his soul and hurled at the ceiling like a curse. He clawed at his face, dug his nails into the flesh behind his ears as if he could reach the wires in his brain and yank them loose. He tore at his shirt, biting the collar, pulling until the fabric split beneath his teeth. He banged his head against the wall. Once. Twice. Harder the third time.

The guards didn’t come. They were watching through the cameras, probably. Waiting it out. Letting the animal wear himself down. Letting the freak break himself open so they didn’t have to.

He collapsed onto the floor, breath heaving, vision spinning. A soft whimper escaped his throat. His hands twitched, seeking something that wasn’t there. Something warm. Something real. But there was nothing in this place. No comfort. No silence. Not even pain — just the dull echo of it. The kind that never screams, only whispers in circles until it eats your name.

And then she was behind him.

Y/N knelt at his side, pressing her hand gently to his temple, whispering nonsense into his hair. Her fingers were warm. Her voice like water. She cradled him against her chest, and he sobbed like a child, curling into her lap. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You were hurting,” she said, stroking his face. “You just wanted to stop the hurting.”

“I can’t stop. Even when I try, I—” He choked on a sob, clutching her shirt. “I think I broke something. In me. I think it’s gone.”

“No,” she said. “It’s still there. You just forgot where it lives.”

“I just wanted you back.”

“I know.”

He looked up at her. “Are you real this time?”

She didn’t answer.

And slowly, as the tremors settled and the sweat cooled on his skin, as the hallucination frayed at the seams, she vanished — not with violence or sound, but the way breath leaves a body. Quiet. Inevitable.

Bob was alone again.

The concrete had no warmth. The walls had no echo.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, blinking against the light that buzzed and pulsed and offered no forgiveness.

"I think I might join you soon."

--

The theatre was modest — not one of those grand velvet-curtain places with chandeliers and marble foyers. Just a small, old building on the edge of town, nestled between a thrift store and a tax office, with peeling blue paint on the outside and rows of secondhand seats that creaked when you sat down too fast. Bob chose one near the middle, second row, just off-center — not too close, not too far — the same spot he always used to sit in when Y/N performed.

He had come sober. Or, at least, as close to sober as he could get now. Three hours without anything in his system but bitter coffee and a slice of bread from the halfway house. His hands still trembled slightly, and the inside of his mouth tasted like metal and regret, but his eyes were clear. And that was enough for today.

He hadn’t meant to come here. Not really. It started as a walk, something to keep his feet moving and his cravings at bay. But then he passed the old theatre and saw the faded poster taped to the glass: “Evening of Ballet – Youth Conservatory Performance – Free Admission.” And something in his chest cracked. He didn't think. He just went in.

Now the lights dimmed, and the stage glowed soft gold.

The curtain rose slowly, without fanfare, revealing a line of dancers poised in their first positions, backs straight, arms curved, eyes fixed somewhere far beyond the footlights. A soft piano began to play — not grand or sweeping, just delicate and aching, like fingertips brushing over water.

Bob leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his breath caught halfway up his throat.

She wasn’t there. Not even in his mind.

And that hurt more than he expected.

Because usually she came to him in moments like this — during music, or silence, or sleep — a ghost wrapped in softness and memory, in perfume and long sleeves and laughter behind closed doors. But not tonight. Tonight the chair beside him remained empty, and the only scent he caught was the theater’s old velvet mustiness.

Still, he watched. Every movement on that stage pulled him deeper, not into fantasy, but into remembrance. He remembered the way Y/N used to stretch in the kitchen, one leg on the counter while she made tea, humming absentmindedly to herself. He remembered the sound of her pointe shoes knocking gently together in her duffel bag, and how she always laced them slowly, precisely, like a ritual she never rushed. He remembered the way her face lit up after the show, when she ran into his arms backstage, sweat on her forehead, eyes glowing with that childlike joy that made her glow from the inside out.

“I know it’s not practical,” she once told him, sprawled across the couch in her leotard, feet in his lap, hair still pinned and wild. “But I don’t care. I love it. When I’m dancing, it’s like the rest of the world falls away. It’s just me and the music and this... this weightlessness.”

He had nodded then, smiling softly, fingers rubbing her aching calves like he was memorizing them. “You look like you’re floating,” he whispered. “Like you don’t belong to gravity.”

“And you,” she grinned, eyes sleepy but sure, “you always show up. Even when no one else does.”

“Of course I do,” he said. “You’re the only thing I believe in.”

And she had looked at him like she knew — knew that he was trying, knew how hard it was for him to love cleanly, to show up for himself, let alone someone else. She never shamed the pieces of him that were cracked. She just... held them. Like porcelain. Like they were still worth something.

Back in the present, Bob wiped his cheek with the sleeve of his jacket, not even realizing he was crying until he tasted the salt at the corner of his lips. The stage blurred. The dancers moved in slow, elegant circles, arms outstretched like they were reaching for something — a memory, a dream, a person who never came back.

He didn’t cry hard. It wasn’t a sobbing, broken thing. It was quieter than that. Softer. Like a sigh that had traveled a long, long way before finally slipping free. His chest ached, but not in the desperate, gnawing way it usually did. This pain was... still. Old. Like it had been there all along, waiting for him to be sober enough to feel it.

She would have loved this show. She would’ve praised every dancer afterward, told them how luminous they were. She would’ve hugged the shy ones too tightly and told the nervous ones they were enough.

Bob watched a girl in the center of the stage, maybe nineteen, maybe younger, rise onto her toes and hold a pose with such precision that it stilled the air around her. For a split second, Bob swore he saw her in the curve of that girl’s spine, in the upward tilt of her chin, in the sheer conviction of her movement.

His breath caught again.

But no.

It wasn’t her.

It would never be her.

And maybe — maybe that was okay.

Because for just a moment, watching these strangers move with grace and light and something close to freedom, Bob felt what he hadn’t in years:

Peace.

Not joy. Not hope. Just... stillness.

A moment without craving. Without hallucination. Without noise.

He stayed seated long after the final bow, the lights rising again as the audience clapped politely and filtered toward the exits. He didn’t stand. He didn’t clap. He just stared at the empty stage, tears drying on his face, hands quiet in his lap.

Eventually, someone asked him if he was alright.

He nodded.

“I was just remembering something,” he said.

And for once, it didn’t hurt to say it.

--

The walk home was quiet.

No sirens. No dogs barking. No cars roaring past with music loud enough to shake the street. Just the soft sound of Bob’s sneakers dragging against the cracked sidewalk and the crunch of dead leaves beneath his feet. The air was thick with the kind of heat that stuck to your skin — Florida in late summer — but he barely felt it. He didn’t feel much of anything anymore. His body moved like a puppet on slack strings, hollow and distant, a vessel following a plan long made in secret.

The ballet had stirred something in him. Not hope. Not peace, not really — not anything lasting. Just a memory. A fragile flame in a long-dark hallway. And the glow of that memory had made the shadow afterward even deeper.

She hadn’t come.

Not even in his mind.

No hallucination. No ghost of her sitting beside him in the theater, no whispered laugh behind his ear, no phantom warmth brushing his shoulder. Just an empty chair. Just his hands. Just the stillness.

And for Bob Reynolds, that was the worst kind of silence. Because it meant she was fading — not just from the world, but from him. From the one place she’d lived the longest after the Blip: his head.

He couldn’t let that happen.

So when he reached the halfway house — the broken duplex they crammed six men into, all of them dancing on the edge of one kind of ruin or another — he didn’t take off his shoes. He didn’t stop in the kitchen to drink water or say hi to the new guy who always smelled like bleach and coughed like he was dying. He went straight to the back bedroom, the one with the rusted bunk bed frame and the mattress that sank in the middle like a collapsed lung. He shut the door gently. Not slamming it, not drawing attention. Just... closing it.

Everything was already laid out. He’d done it last week, when he first decided. Folded a towel. Cleaned a spoon. Found a fresh needle — harder to come by than you'd think. Set the glass of water down beside it all, as if he were preparing tea instead of preparing to die. The ritual was strange in its neatness. Like he owed this ending a kind of respect.

He sat on the bed, ran a hand over his face. He hadn’t shaved in days. His stubble scratched against his palms. His eyes were red — not just from tears, but from the strain of trying to stay clean long enough to go to the show. He had lasted. Four hours. That was all he had in him.

Now came the part he’d been thinking about in fragments — while staring at ceilings, while listening to other people snore, while sitting alone in rooms that smelled like sweat and mildew.

He knew the dose. He’d calculated it carefully. Not the kind that brought euphoria or dreams. The kind that silenced the body. The kind that stopped hearts.

And yet, when his hand hovered over the syringe, it trembled.

He wasn’t afraid of dying. Not really. Not in the dramatic sense. He was afraid of something smaller: that it wouldn’t work. That he’d wake up alone again, sick and shaking, with nothing left to try. That someone would find him too early, resuscitate him, put him back on the treadmill of half-hearted rehabs and group homes and urine tests.

Or worse — that he’d go too far and feel nothing at all. That death would be just another silence, darker than this one. No Y/N. No warmth. Just the black. A mistake with no undo button.

He sighed, almost laughed. "I’m pathetic," he whispered to no one.

Then he reached for the photo — the only one he had left. Folded into quarters, edges curled and yellowing. Y/N sitting on a bench outside their old apartment, hair in a messy bun, oversized hoodie swallowing her frame, laughing at something he said. She didn’t even know he’d taken the picture. Her head was tilted back, eyes squeezed shut from joy. Real joy.

He touched her face with his thumb. “I’m so tired, baby.”

His voice cracked. That was all it took. The tears came suddenly, harder than he expected, shaking his shoulders. It wasn’t dramatic or loud. Just broken. Deep. From the chest. A sound like something being scraped out from the inside.

He held the photo to his lips. “I’m not running anymore. I just... I can’t do this without you.”

And then, slowly — not out of haste, but out of deliberate, heartbreaking certainty — he tied the tourniquet around his arm. Watched the vein rise. Drew in the liquid, the fatal cocktail, precise and cruel and still strangely beautiful in its clarity. He had prepared this with the same care she used to prepare her makeup before a show. Ritual. Repetition. Reverence.

The needle slid in smooth. No pain. He exhaled. Closed his eyes.

“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered.

And pressed the plunger.

--

It was raining the first time Bob saw her. Not a storm — just one of those soft, indecisive Florida rains that came and went like passing moods. The laundromat buzzed with fluorescent lights and the faint rhythm of dryers spinning tired socks. It smelled like detergent and burned lint. He liked that smell. It was the smell of people trying, even if it was just to have clean clothes for the week.

Bob was sitting on one of those molded plastic chairs, hunched forward, elbows on his knees, staring at a dryer that kept stopping mid-cycle. It was his third load, and the damn thing kept eating quarters. He was down to three bucks, and the last one he’d jammed in might as well have vanished into space.

His hoodie was damp from the walk. His eyes were red, not from crying, but from sheer, unrelenting exhaustion. He’d just been turned down for a warehouse job he was sure he’d nailed — second rejection this month. The city was loud, the future louder, and the silence in his apartment louder still. He hadn’t smiled in days.

That’s when she walked in.

She looked like someone who didn’t know how beautiful she was. Her hair was up in a clip, wild curls escaping around her face, and she was carrying a red plastic laundry basket so overloaded it looked like it might burst. She kicked the door shut with her foot, rain speckled across her forehead like dew. A textbook was tucked under her arm, headphones around her neck, phone clutched between her teeth as she tried to navigate her way toward an open machine.

He didn’t know why he stood up. He just did.

"Here, let me help—"

Her basket slipped. A pair of underwear — pink, unfortunately — flopped out and landed right in front of him like the universe was in on a joke. She muttered, “Jesus,” and knelt to grab it, laughing under her breath.

He handed it to her without a word.

“Thanks,” she said, tucking it back into the mountain. “I swear I always pick the worst nights for this.”

“You and me both.”

Her eyes flicked up. Brown, but not dull — warm and alert and kind. “Your dryer hate you too?”

“Yeah. I think it’s trying to steal my socks out of spite.”

She gave him a grin, the kind that showed just a sliver of tooth. “Socks are the first to go. It’s in the handbook.”

Bob chuckled — really chuckled — for the first time in days. “You read the laundromat handbook?”

“I’m a student. Biomedical engineering,” she said as if it were a confession. “I read everything. Especially when I’m avoiding the real stuff.”

He watched her begin to load a washer. Her movements were careful but unpolished, like she was used to doing a lot of things by herself. Her phone buzzed. She ignored it.

“You avoiding something tonight?” he asked.

She glanced at him. There was no flirtation in her look. Just curiosity. “What gave it away?”

He shrugged. “It’s either that or you’re doing laundry for a family of seven.”

A pause. Then she smiled again. A little softer.

“What about you?” she asked. “What are you avoiding?”

Bob hesitated. He thought about lying — saying something clever or self-contained — but for some reason, in the buzz of that broken fluorescent world, honesty felt easier. Like it might actually be allowed.

“Everything,” he said.

She nodded. “Fair enough.”

They sat side by side on the chairs after that. She had homework spread across her lap — equations he didn’t understand but admired. He watched his dryer limp through another cycle. She offered him a piece of gum. They didn’t exchange names.

When she left, she said, “Hope the dryer works next time.”

He almost let her go. He almost said nothing.

But then she looked back — just once — and said, “I come here most Thursdays. You know. If your dryer’s still a jerk.”

And that was it.

No grand moment. No music swelling. Just a slow warmth in his chest. Like maybe — maybe — the world hadn’t finished with him yet.

He would come back the next Thursday. And the one after that. Sometimes he’d bring books she liked. Sometimes she’d bring him cookies. Once, she kissed his cheek without warning and said, “You always look like you’re trying to disappear. I like that you don’t.”

Bob never told her how much that meant.