#Wayne is such a sweetie...i love him...more Wayne in season five please and thanks

[missingexaltation]

This got way longer than I thought it would. Basically, a 'Wayne centered' steddie mini fic.

I love the dynamics that we could have had with this mini family, so this kind of threw itself together.

Wayne's seen Eddie with the girls he brings back home. Well, he sees the backs of their heads as Eddie walks them out early in the morning, past a Wayne who's thoroughly exhausted from the night shift.

Eddie always knows he's there, always offering a shrug and apologetic grin before practically skipping back to his room. Rarely the same girl twice, that Wayne could tell, but (more often than he'd thought possible, and doesn't he feel like an ass for assuming) dressed in that white and green cheerleader outfit.

Not that Wayne judged. He and his brother, Eddie's dad, had both been the same back in the day. The popular girls seemed to love a boy from the wrong side of town, and (unlike his old man) Eddie was a good guy under it all, so Wayne knew he was treating them girls right. If only for the night at least.

The surprise was that it was girls he was bringing home.

His friend Danny, who'd given Eddie the part time job at Thatcher's, had called it years ago. Said that Eddie reminded him of his brother, and that Wayne had better get prepared for the boy's teen years because it was gonna be rough. Sure enough, the moment Eddie turned thirteen Wayne had come home to find him packed up and ready to be thrown out.

God bless Danny Harris and his foresight, because Wayne had had a nice little speech prepared for a year or more, ready and waiting. And Eddie had soaked it in, those big ol' brown eyes grateful, relieved and full of tears as he unpacked again.

So sure, the girls were a surprise, but he let it go. Assumed the kid was happy with both, or either, and if he wanted to talk about it then he knew damn well that Wayne would listen. He'd done the difficult part already, the rest just details and semantics, and Wayne certainly wasn't going prying into his nephew's love life. It was safer anyway, for him to stick with girls for now. Or however long.

It wasn't until after the most horrific week of Wayne's life where he noticed things had changed. Eddie was home, a free man, an innocent man, and for his troubles had been relocated (with his uncle) out of the trailer park and into a nice, quiet and expensive part of Hawkins. Courtesy of some official-looking government suits.

They'd taken Wayne aside, given him some bizarre, bullshit story, and it wasn't until a few days later that he'd noticed his bank account was overflowing with compensation money. After the week he'd had, Wayne knew enough to keep his mouth shut, and life had seemingly carried on as normal. Neither he or Eddie had to work again, if they didn't want to.

Seeing Richard Harrington's boy in their new kitchen was more than a surprise. To his credit, the boy was cooking some breakfast thing or another, and trying to encourage Eddie to get his ass in gear for school. He didn't notice Wayne either, but Eddie sure did.

He remembered Danny's advice. 'Don't treat the boys any different to the girls, Wayne. Eddie'll pick up on that.' So he just waved a good morning and went to bed.

A few days later the Harrington boy was back again, herding Eddie out of the door as Wayne was coming in it. Noting the time, a gentle 'don't be late, boy' as the door swung shut, and that was it until the evening and Eddie was traipsing in from school. His mama's big brown eyes eyes looking at Wayne like a wild animal trapped in a corner.

Eddie had said nothing, hiding his face with his hair, looking for the world like he wanted to say something, until he yammered out some excuse and fled to his room to hide.

'That Harrington boy seems nice. Polite.' Wayne offered later, over dinner. Conversationally. Lightly. Apparently enough to cause a reaction, and as he'd never seen Eddie so red-in-the-face embarrassed he decided to drop it. Just a shrug and a nod in response.

He didn't see the Harrington boy for a long time after that. But he kept an eye out. The changes in Eddie were remarkable. Contrary to popular belief, he was a pretty quiet kid at home (guitar aside), but now he was reflective. Moon-eyed and lost in his own head. Practically floating from room to room and always with that damn smile on his face.

He realised that he'd not seen (or smelt) any of Eddie's drugs since they'd moved into the new house. A call with one of Rick's buddies confirmed that Eddie was out of the drugs game (finally, thank Christ), so he could only assume that this dopey, lovelorn version of his nephew was a consequence of something else.

Or someone.

It occurred to him that in all the time he'd known Eddie, having raised him and loved him and taught him as much as he was capable, that he had never seen his boy in love before. And now, noticing Eddie swapping out his electric guitar for his acoustic, seeing the sunshine glimmering under Eddie's skin and beaming from his smile, it was overwhelming. Adorable.

A couple of months ago he'd thought his boy was dead, or hurt, and it had damn near devastated him. And now here Eddie was, alive and very much flourishing. Learning some song (by ear) that he wouldn't have been caught dead listening to a few months ago. Having giggly, hushed phonecalls on their new landline when he thought Wayne was out of earshot. Constantly smiling, an actual genuine, happy smile instead of his usual theatrical, false grin that he used to throw Wayne off the scent.

He'd confessed all of this to Danny, one night when Eddie was 'out with friends for the night'. Despite everything he'd hoped, he'd never thought Eddie had had much of a chance. The world was too grim and constricting, especially Hawkins. He'd done the best he could, loved that boy with all he had, and prayed it would be enough to give Eddie the best start he could offer.

He'd heard the things the other kids called him, he'd witnessed Eddie trying to get stains out of his clothes, or sewing up holes caused by being shoved to the ground. He'd held Eddie close in his arms and let him sob it out after a really tough day. He'd patched Eddie up when things got really bad, and had quiet words with his teachers. By and large, it all washed off, and come morning he was always ready to face the world again.

So yes. He'd told Danny everything and he'd cried. Real happy tears, though, and Danny was real fucking nice about it instead of making fun of him. They'd been friends since school, after all. Hell Danny had known Eddie most of his life too. Like the uncle Wayne should have been, in a life where Eddie's parents had been capable of raising him themselves. They'd celebrated with a six pack and toasted to what was hopefully Eddie's big turning point.

It took Eddie a few weeks longer, but he eventually brought it up himself. Kid was nervous, obviously so, but nothing out of the norm. (last time he'd been so nervous, he'd been summoning the courage to tell Wayne he was repeating his repeat year).

'So me and Steve are like a thing.' He said, just blurting it out like he'd been overthinking it. Wayne had paused, finished his bite of casserole, to give him a moment to think. 'He treat you good?' He asked.

If he'd not seen the way Eddie headbanged to his music, he'd have been concerned with how eagerly Eddie nodded his head, almost giving himself whiplash. As if his enthusiasm was the factor that was going to convince Wayne of his veracity.

'Well. Tell your boy he's welcome here anytime. I need to see what his intentions with my boy are, after all.'

Eddie had made a face, like he was disgusted, but also gleefully pleased. Like Wayne had passed whatever test he'd been set.

'I'm gonna marry him one day.' He'd declared, sighing dreamily. 'He's so fucking perfect, you know?'

'Language.' Wayne admonished, and chuckled to himself. 'And no, I don't know. On account of you hiding him away every time I'm home. Bring the boy around, let me get to know him.'

And so he did.

And, a few years later, he followed through on his declaration and married the Harrington boy.

[blin53fanfics]

When I Met You- Christopher Who?

Sophia balled up another piece of paper and threw it to the full trash can in the corner. “ Urgh,” she grumbled as she sharpened her pencil and leaned closer to the blank paper in front of her. “ Mum?,” Bonnie, her daughter stood at the edge of their little dining room of their two bedroom apartment. “ Are you ok?” Bonnie’s face was masked in confusion and concern as she scanned her mess of a mother. Sophia had on her Friday night pjs and a messy bun of curls, her abandoned glasses lie covered across from her in a mess of colored paper and fabric scraps. “ Yeah, honey I’m fine,” Sophia didn’t look up from the task at hand. She had been given a week to prepare the presentation of her life, and everything was not falling into place. For the last five years, Sophia had worked at Studio Lumiere and this was her moment to move from desk cubby to studio office, where she could design for the next season’s retail line. She would finally be able to set her own hours, travel for fashion week, and see her daughter more often than the nights after work or on her lunch break. 

A slam came from the kitchen fridge and Sophia looked up to see Bonnie with two small cups of orange juice. Dazed Sophia smiled, “ Thank you, my love,”she lightly pinched Bonnie’s cheek and took the cup from Bonnie’s hand. Timidly Bonnie walked closer to the table as her mum sipped on the juice and stared at the ceiling. “ I like the pink one Mummy, it's so pretty and shiny.” “ You think so.” “ Yeah and the fluffy one, it looks like tool.” “ Tulle, sweety, tulle.” “ Too-lay.” “Close enough.” Sophia laughed as she looked over at Bonnie, her inspiration and life. Besides work, Bonnie was the only other priority in Sophia’s life and she was ok with that. Sure, the first few years raising her was hard, but after a few breakdowns and help from the Talomi family across from her and she was finally getting the hang of being a proper mother. “ Hey Mum,”

 “ Hmmm?”

 “ Are you gonna change clothes?” 

“Honey, it’s only Friday, remember, Friday’s are lazy wear days.”

 “ Its Sunday.” “Huh?”

 “Mummy its Sunday, you’ve been in this same spot forever!” 

Sophia set her drink on the floor away from her papers and search for her phone. Sure enough, her daughter was right, it was a Sunday afternoon. Frantically, Sophia turned to her daughter, “Sorry.”

 Bonnie rolled her eyes playfully and made an exasperated sigh, “Its ok, but can we go outside, just for a little bit. Five minutes, please!” 

“ Of course,” Sophia pulled Bonnie in for a tight hug.

 “ Hey Mummy, can you shower….you stink,” Bonnie giggled and Sophia nodded as she finally rose from her chair looked around the chaos that was their apartment. In the kitchen were three pizza boxes from the Friday night, two of which were empty and the other on its last leg. The living room was covered in Blankets from making Bonnie a fort so she could play while Sophia worked. Stretching loudly, Sophia stumbled to her bathroom and got ready for the rest of the day.

“It's about time you got some fresh air. I was beginning to wonder what had become of the two of you,” Mrs. Talomi badgered as she walked with Sophia and Bonnie in Jardin des Tuileries park. “ You work too hard my dear, surely you can take a break every now and then?”

 “I know, but it's just this final presentation and I’m so close to getting it right,” Sophia countered.

 “ Perhaps my husband can take a look at it, he could give some feedback.” Mr.Talomi, had helped Sophia get the job she currently had, being that he worked there for almost thirty years as a draftsman and seeing the potential Sophia had when she first moved out to Paris at twenty-one with nothing more than a suitcase, sketchbook, and a secret she from her past she had promised never to look back at. 

“You both have done so much Cassandra, I couldn’t,” Sophia waved her hand dismissively and watched as Bonnie raced ahead to catch butterflies. 

“ Soph, we do this because we care and you know I won’t take no for an answer, besides you will both be joining us for dinner tonight. By the smell of Bonnie’s clothes someone has had nothing but leftovers all weekend.” Sophia blushed and looked away. There wasn’t arguing with Cassandra.

“ This are great Sophia and you have more than enough designs to give at the presentation. Too many really.” Mr. Talomi was scanning the designs that Sophia brought over. The presentation was an opportunity to find new talent within the company only for once and Sophia could not pass up this chance. “If I were you, I would keep to the fall line you sketched, since it is coming up soon, it will put more ideas into the producers’ minds. Sophia nodded gathering up her papers and finally taking a seat. She had been on edge since bringing her designs out to show, but since the revisions weren’t so tedious, she could finally sigh in relief.

 “ I do want you to stay on your toes though,” Mr. Talomi warned. “ When the head honchos call for in house talent, all the ones you have never seen before reveal themselves.  Sophia stared at him confused. Sure, it was an in-house talent search, but she knew everyone in-house. Studio Lumiere, though well-known as it was, was a small and homely company.

 “Mummy, dinner’s ready,” Bonnie called as she skipped out the kitchen. “ Oh deary what are we having?” Mr. Talomi asked as he swung Bonnie up into his arms

. “ Spaghetti and meatballs,” Bonnie laughed while Mr. Talomi set her in her chair. “My favorite!” Bonnie grabbed her fork and hurriedly reach her arms out for the pot. “ Bonnie,” Sophia warned as she sat beside her.

 “ What do we do first?”

 “Say grace.”

 “Exactly.” The family of four bowed their heads as Mrs. Talomi blessed the food.

 “ Father God, we come to you today to give thanks for this meal and for great friends. We ask that you bless our hearts and this food. And that you bless Sophia with a promotion she rightfully deserves, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.” Cassandra looked up and smiled at Sophia, “ Now hopefully once you get yourself this promotion, you can get yourself a man.”

 “ Cassandra,” Mr. Talomi apprised.

 “ A man, like a daddy for me?” 

“ See look what you started,” Mr. Talomi said as he looked at Sophia apologetically. 

“No not a Daddy, deary, we want to get your Mum a date,”Cassandra continued as she winked at a confused Bonnie. 

“Mummy, what’s a date?”

 “ Don’t worry about it sweetheart, eat.”Sophia fixed Bonnie’s plate and started working on her own. A date...that was the farthest thing from Sophia’s mind.

“You are all here because you signed up to present your new ideas and frankly we could use them. I don’t want any of you to be shy, so speak up and show us what you got,” Wayne the director of Lumiere promptly sat down at the head of the table and motioned for the first victim to start. For the next hour, Sophia watched designer after designer present their ideas and then get ripped apart with questions on what made there's more unique than the rest. As her name got closer to the list Sophia tightened her grip on her portfolio. “ Next!” Wayne shouted alerting Sophia to rise from her seat. Taking a deep breath she stumbled to the from of the room setting up as much of her boards as she could and finally opening her portfolio and sliding it across the room to Wayne. “ This is my idea for the next fall line,”she began, “ I know it's far away but it will get here sooner than you think, which is why I went outside the grain and focused on something we haven’t done in a while, hometown vibes..” As she continued further into her speech, Sophia’s confidence peaked. Until utter silence feel across the room and all eyes looked to Wayne. “ I like it, its edgy, unique and just the right amount of-,” the office door flew open in the room. Standing in the doorway was a man in a grey sweater and faded ripped jeans, his blonde hair was tousled across his face. When he looked up his stared frantically across the room. “ Am I too late?” He walked in and looked at Wayne. “Christopher you made it. Your the last person actually,” Wayne looked over at Sophia and at her designs before twirling his finger, tell her to clean up her stuff. Flustered, Sophia but everything back in her portfolio and stood against the wall as she watched Christopher take the spotlight. Sophia watched as he opened his portfolio and the room began to glow. Christopher had gone past making a fall line and went straight for the holiday seasons, gold, silver, maghony colors flowed onto every sketch in waves. It was nauseating and breathtaking all at once. Before Christopher could begin to speak Wayne put his hand up. “ I’ve seen enough. In-house you may all return to your work Christopher you stay and uhhh you, you stay,” Wayne pointed his finger in Sophia’s direction and her heart soared, this was it, the big break she was needing. Sophia walked closer to Christopher as Wayne thrust the door shut. “ You both are very talented. Christopher, I am so happy your mother convinced you to present today. How she is doing by the way?” “She’s fine, she’s in Spain for a photoshoot this month.” Sophia looked between the two in confusion, who was this guy, he looked to be in his mid-twenties, but the way he held himself made him seem like Lumiere was a home away from home.

 “ You, your designs were great, I am sure you will do well working under Christopher in the upcoming fall line,” Wayne stated. “ Work under?” Sophia asked confused. “I thought the winner of this presentation would get their own individual line?”

 “ Winner, my dear this was not a contest, this studio needed a new edge and Christopher has it. Your designs are adequate enough that it can match what Christopher wants you to design.” Sophia paused staring between Wayne and Christopher. “ Though if you don’t want the job I can always replace you.” Wayne stepped forward and look down at Sophia, waiting for her reply.

 “ No, this is fine. I look forward to working with you.” Sophia reached out her hand to Christopher who smirked in her direction. She had to countdown in her head to keep herself for rolling her eyes. Who did this guy think he is? Briskly Sophia walked out of the office and back to her desk, what just happened? 

“ Uh hey,” swerving in her seat Sophia came face to face with Christopher. “I’m Christopher, if you want we can grab lunch and discuss how to get started on this project.” 

“ I can’t,” Sophia blurted, to which Christoper took a step back amused. “ You can’t work on this project. Look, I’m not as big of a jerk as Wayne but your stuff has some great potential and- ``

''No, it’s not that, I have to get my daughter. Tuesday’s are my days to take her to lunch,” Sophia started swerving back to her desk and starting on the next fabric order.

 “ Well maybe, tomorrow then,” Christopher stated still hovering behind her chair. Backing up slightly, Sophia turned and stared into Christopher’s face, “tomorrow is fine, now if you’ll excuse me I need to get started on my other work.” Christopher smirked, “ Oh course, I wouldn’t want to mess up your order of... flannel. Until tomorrow Mrs.?” 

“Sophia. Sophia Leon.”