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xhoneygirlxx · 10 months

Text

Woman

Eddie Munson x Fem Reader

summary: all the phases of your relationship with Eddie. Based off of the song 'Woman' by Mumford and Sons.

warnings: reader and Eddie are both in their 20's. talks of bad upbringings, bad relationships, reader gets cheated on. swearing, fluff, angst, smut. 18+ MINORS DNI. if there are any grammar errors, no there's not :) the ending feels rushed so lets not talk about it.

a/n: hi guys i'm honey and this is the first time I've written something since I was 15. I'm not new to this fandom but this page is, so I hope to write more things over time. Please be kind to me or else I'll cry.

The golden rays of the sun filter in from the open window, cascading a pretty glow into the bedroom. A gentle breeze flits through the room, carrying the songs from the birds in the trees. Eddie’s not too sure what time it is, how long he’s been awake, or if he even fell asleep, all he knows is he’s been staring at you. He knows how creepy it might be to do so, he just can’t help it. How beautiful you look shimmering in the morning sunlight like some sort of religious being, a true picture of a goddess laid beside him - his own personal Aphrodite. He marvels at you like you’re a painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. His eyes trace over your features, soaking them all up so he can remember you like this for the rest of his life. Everything about you is perfect, a statue carved from marble by Michelangelo himself.

He’s intoxicated by the scent of you, the vanilla soap you used the night before when you took a shower after work, filling his nose with every breath he takes. His fingertips slowly drag along your skin as he maps out the slope of your body. His touch is featherlight, too worried that his calloused fingerprints will ruin the softness of your skin. He always wonders how you manage to be so soft all year round, albeit knowing you always moisturize, he likes to think it’s all you and not some expensive ass lotion.

Your hair is a bit messy from being tossed and turned on all night, and yet it has never looked so perfect to him, he would never mention it to you knowing you’d scoff in disagreement. Every once and a while, your eyebrows pull together or your lips twitch. He likes to think you’re dreaming of him.

Eddie is one hundred percent sure that if it wasn’t for the steady rise and fall of your chest and the soft snores falling from your lips anchoring him to the bed, he'd ascend into the clouds above. Eddie Munson is not a religious man, but he thanks whatever God is up above for sending an angel like you to him. He never understood the people who hand out pamphlets about religions, devoting their whole being for their God, but now he does because he’d do it for you. The poor son of a bitch would build churches and museums in your honor, scream from rooftops, move mountains, and ultimately sacrifice himself for you. Even if it’s sacrilegious to pray to a statue of you, he’d do it every day and night, asking for salvation. No, he wasn’t a religious person but for you, he would be.

From the time Eddie was born, the cards that were dealt to him were just unfair. His mom and dad never loved each other, always screaming and fighting every day creating a war zone instead of a household. After his mom left and his dad was shipped off to prison, his Uncle Wayne took him in. Although he and the older man loved one another, they never really said it, only ever showing it by doing little things for each other. Every father’s day he’d save up money from doing odd jobs around the trailer park to get Wayne a new mug. Wayne always picked up new patches for Eddie to sew on to his clothes or guitar strings anytime he had the extra cash. It was unspoken but they knew they loved one another like father and son.

When he got to high school, girls never looked his way and if they did they never wanted to keep him. Doing whatever they could for a deal on some bud and leaving. It became a routine for the metalhead, he’d get off, they’d get cheaper weed, and they’d go their separate ways. Eddie knew he was disposable and that was fine with him. Hell he was used to it by now, his parents didn’t want him, the girls at school and the hideout didn’t want him either, but he had Wayne and his friends. That's all he needed. Until he met you.

It was a shitty September day, the kind of shitty where it’s nothing but gray clouds and no hint of the sun. Leaves had started to die away, slowly falling one by one just to be picked up and whirled around by the wind. The chill of the air started to colder by the time Eddie had left work. If the weather wasn’t miserable enough, the customers he’d dealt with definitely were. One by one they crept into the shop, complaining about popped tires and arguing over wait times. Also, it didn't help that the garage was getting colder with the changing weather. No matter how many layers he wore, it never subdued the throbbing pains in his back and knees. Yeah he had a pretty shitty day but it wasn’t something a new book and a cold one would fix. When he approached the small bookstore on Main Street, he could feel the relief wash over him. Making his way over to the new release section, he picked up what he had been looking for.

He was busy reading the back cover of the book to notice you walking down the aisle. To be fair, you should have been paying more attention to where you were going, but the books in your hands had your attention, stopping you from seeing the cute man that you were close to coming in contact with. With a loud thud, your bodies collide causing you to drop the books you’d been holding. Eddie immediately bent down, picking up what had been dropped, too busy apologizing for being in the way to even see who he was speaking to. Then he heard your voice, so saccharine and smooth it knocked his breath from his chest. Finally moving his gaze to you, he was blinded by the light you had brought in. To this day he jokes about it, telling you how you’re the personification of the sun on a cloudy day. He’s sure he made a fool out of himself with the way he tripped over his words and blushed too hard any time you spoke. It didn’t matter though, because you’d giggle and he’d redden more and more. That day Eddie left the bookstore with his new book and your number clutched in his palm.

September 20th, 1987, that was your first date and that date would be seared into Eddie’s brain for the rest of his life. He called you earlier that week asking if you’d want to get coffee, and you were quick to agree. Never being on time for anything in life, Eddie made sure to arrive twenty minutes before you planned on meeting. To say he was nervous would be an overstatement, he was a god forsaken mess. Knees shaking with every passing second, palms sweating from pure anxiety. Ever the gentleman, he ordered you a coffee, something the barista had whipped up after he told them he didn’t know what you liked. Taking a seat near the window, he instantly regretted guessing your order. God what if she doesn’t like it? What even was it? Cinnamon, caramel, peanut? Oh Jesus, you were probably allergic to nuts. Good going Munson, you just killed your date, he thought to himself.

Before he could throw the drink away, the bell above the door chimed. When he looked up, he swore the gates of heaven opened up. The pretty white dress you wore swayed with the small breeze that followed behind you. You’d look heaven sent. When your eyes met his, you lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree, a big smile etched on your face to prove it. You were so pretty and it made his heart beat out of his chest. He’s sure he looked like a total goof, like a giant puppy excited to see their owner coming home. All the thoughts he had in his brain, the opening line he had thought up to say to you, had all been thrown out the window.

By the time you had made it to him, he had been standing up. Before you could reach for a hug or handshake, his arm shot out with the cup of coffee he had bought you, the same one he was about to throw away twenty seconds ago.

“I um, I got you a coffee.” His cheeks turned pink as he handed you the cup. Then all the thoughts of your possible nut allergy came back. “It’s cinnamon caramel peanut or something. If you don’t like it I can get you a new one.” You laughed and he didn’t care if it was at him or with him, because he would do anything to hear it again.

“It’s perfect, thank you.” You smiled again. “It’s a cinnamon dolce latte, by the way.” He tilted his head in confusion, wondering how on earth you knew that. When you turned your cup to show the black sharpie, he dipped his head in pure embarrassment but then you giggled again and he didn’t feel as bad.

The two of you sat in the corner by the window for what felt like hours, talking about anything and everything. Eddie told you about his job at Frank’s garage, about his friends and uncle Wayne. The metalhead turned bashful when he mentioned his D&D group, but he was quickly relieved when you told him how cool you thought it was, always wanting to play yourself as a kid but your brother never wanted to teach you how. He told you about his sweetheart and his band, how he used to think he’d be a rockstar one day. With every little detail he told about himself, you looked at him with such adoration and it made his heart squeeze.

He sat and listened as you told your story about packing up your car and leaving your old life behind. You needed a new start you told him, one where you could truly be happy. Once you’d gotten here, you found a cozy little house on Biel Street. Apparently the man who sold it to you, is the nephew of the woman who runs the floral shop in town. Within a week you’d gotten the job. It was definitely a change up from your old life, switching out pencil skirts and kitten heels for your office job to jeans and sneakers for your new laid back one. City life was definitely different from the small town you’d chosen but it’s what you needed.

You’d recently ended a two year relationship with your shitty ex and even if it didn’t seem rational at the time, you quit your job and moved on. He didn’t push much on the topic of your ex and neither did you but you made sure to reassure him that you were over the whole situation. Eddie learned that you had a brother living in Chicago and your parents had long moved to Florida after they retired. The metal head made sure to make mental notes of every single thing you told him. How you won’t talk in the morning until you have a sip of coffee, how you like to annotate your books even if it’s frowned upon by others, and that you hope to get a cat one day.

He walked you to your car that night, even though it was twelve feet away from his own. The look in your eyes was the same way he felt, neither of you wanted to leave. Trying to drag out the minutes as long as you could, you leaned against your car door fiddling with the sleeves of your cream colored sweater.

“I had a really good time Eddie,” sincerity dripping from your words. You looked so stunning standing there, highlighted by the moon and glow of the street lights.

“I did too,” blush creeping up from his neck to his cheeks, “I hope I’m not being too forward, but would you like to go out again sometime?” He hoped you didn’t hear the nervousness in his words.

“Yeah,” you said sweetly, “I’d really like that.” You beamed up at him and he was a goner.

That night, you kissed him.

No drug could give him the same high the way your lips on his did. On the drive home, his cheeks ached from how much he grinned. When he got into bed that night, he stared up at the ceiling forcing his brain to play out the events over and over again.

“She kissed me.”

The heat coming from the Harrington’s fire pit wraps the backyard in a blanket of warmth, beating off the nipping bite of the mid October breeze. The sky above is clear of any clouds to hide the small twinkle of the stars, the moon hanging high above the backyard. The leaves fall from the trees in red, orange, and brown piles. You and Eddie had been seeing each other almost every other day since that first date. It had been a month to be exact, not like Eddie was counting the days or anything.

For the past couple of weeks, you had been the discussion of every conversation he had with his friends. They wanted to know when they’d get to meet you, if you guys were officially dating, what you were like. Honestly, he kicked himself the first time he brought you up because he knew there would be thousands of questions to follow. Eddie knew that it was because they cared for him, wanting to make sure that whoever he had been seeing had their seal of approval.

So when Steve mentioned having a bonfire last weekend, he knew it was a secret ploy to meet you. You talked about wanting to meet his friends, yet he was terrified at the idea of you meeting the gaggle of idiots. Dustin would probably bring up some embarrassing memories, like how he shot coke out of his nose at lunch that one time. It made his head spin with every embarrassing thing that he’s ever done in his life, all the things that would pop in his head at random times that made him full body cringe.

The minute he brought it up to you though, you jumped up and down excited that you’d finally get to meet them. He knew he couldn’t say no to you, especially when you had that look of giddiness. Eyes big with elation, infectious smile, clapping your hands together, kind of excitement. God, he could never say no to you.

Now you’re here and you can’t be any happier. Eddie stands across from you, separated by the dancing flames of the fire. He’s standing with a beer in his hand, the story that Robin and Steve are telling becomes background noise. He’s honed in on you, on the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh. Max and El are talking to you about something he can’t hear, whatever it is you’re drinking it right up. Butterflies dance in his stomach at the sight of you. You’re enjoying the people that Eddie enjoys, and it fills him with so much pride. His favorite people are getting along, all in the same space. If his nine year old self could see this backyard right now, he’d be blown away. Everyone here cares for him, and he cares for them, something that he never thought he would have.

“It’s kind of creepy to stare ya know,” Steve’s voice cuts through Eddie’s internal monologue. The long haired man takes a swig of his beer trying to pretend like he didn’t just get caught like a child with their hand in the cookie jar.

“I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about man,” he mutters out. Avoiding any eye contact with the people in front of him, taking interest in the sight of his scuffed up reeboks.

“Oh man, Munson’s got it bad,” Robin butts in. Heat from embarrassment creeps up Eddie’s face. He hopes no one notices, ready to blame it on the warmth of the fire beside them.

“Guys stop it,” Nancy chimes in, “I think it’s sweet.” The brunette sends him a small smile. The metal head sends her one back in a small thank you.

“Never thought I’d see Eddie Munson have heart eyes over a girl,” Robin mumbles over her red solo cup. Dustin nods in agreement.

“Yeah it’s kind of gross, to be honest.”

“Shut it, Henderson,” Eddie hissed, “besides, there’s nothing wrong with having heart eyes for my girl.”

He looks over the group and he’s met with silence and wide eyed stares. Raising an eyebrow, he turns to see what’s caused everyone to suddenly shut the hell up. When he turns his body, he goes rigid with the sight of you. When did you get over here, you were just talking to the girls on the side of the fire. He wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole. He just called you his girl and you weren’t even boyfriend/girlfriend yet, at least you never officially talked about it. He can’t read you and it’s scaring the ever living shit out of him.

After what feels like an eternity, he sees it. The way your eyes glitter, how you're biting on your lower lip fighting off the impending grin that’s due to break out on your face. Your arms wrap around his body, and you snuggle into him. His heart starts to beat again, this time it feels like it’s beating too fast.

It doesn’t take long for the group to move on to another conversation, slowly forgetting the awkward pause that just happened. Eddie’s mind races, scrambling to find the words to say. It doesn’t matter because you’re speaking before he can.

“I like that,” your voice is soft when you say it, yet he can still hear it. He glances down at you and you’re already craning your neck to meet his brown eyes.

“Yeah? And what’s that?” He’s surprised how cool he’s being for someone who just embarrassed himself in front of a whole group of people.

“Being your girl.”

After making it official, Eddie pondered the thought of you meeting Wayne. He knew it needed to happen, he just didn’t know how to go about it. This was all new to Eddie, he never had a girlfriend so he never had to worry about this kind of thing. So for the past week he practiced how to go about asking you, reassuring you it was okay to say no if you thought it was too much too soon. He had the perfect plan, he’d ask you when you were having movie night at your place, casually bring it up over dinner, and go from there. It was a good plan, but Eddie is an idiot and he can’t help but fumble when he’s around you. His palms were sweating and his knee bounced at an obnoxious rate, if you noticed you never mentioned it. He doesn’t even realize he said anything until your chewing stopped, going completely wide-eyed. The first thing he thinks of doing is running, bolting for your front door leaving you in the dust, but then you kiss him. All the anxiety leaves his body the minute it happens.

At first he thought it would be simple, invite his uncle over next weekend and order take out for the three of you. Then you scoffed, telling him you would die before you would have his uncle eating take out when you had a perfectly good stove. That whole week, you’d call him after work asking what his uncle liked and disliked, if he had any allergies or personal preferences. Out of the pair of you, you were more enthusiastic about the whole thing, and it made his worry subside. However, your enthusiasm slowly became overthinking every small detail.

Music blasted on your radio, loud enough he could hear from behind your front door. When you failed to answer the knocking after a minute or two, he let himself in. That’s when he found you standing on tiptoes, feather duster in hand, reaching for the picture frames on the mantle hanging above your tv. Your hair was pulled up into a bun, frizzy and damp from sweat. Your shirt sleeves were rolled up to your elbows and one of the legs of your sweatpants had been awkwardly pulled up higher on your calf than the other. Your usually clean apartment looked even more sterile now, walls looked brighter, and the air smelled even more clean than before. When you had called him earlier to ask if he was still staying the night, you mentioned that you had taken the day off to have a personal day. He thought maybe you’d relax or go shopping, he did not imagine you taking the day off to sit and clean every square inch of your house.

Leaning on the door frame, he took this time to quietly admire you. The way you sang the words of whatever Madonna song was playing, how your hips swing to the music, how you wipe your brow every once and a while when a sweat bead drips down. He can’t help but feel giddy when he watches you, heart growing bigger and bigger, like the grinch, with every second that passes. He wants to pinch himself sometimes because he is so lucky that he has you. You’re so fucking beautiful and you chose him, even though you could have anyone you wanted, you still chose him.

You jump almost ten feet in the air like some cartoon the minute you notice his presence. It makes him laugh and you clutch your heart trying to catch your breath.

“Babe, what the hell? You gave me a heart attack,” you walk over to your stereo, turning it down to an acceptable level. You set your duster down on your coffee table and make your way over to him. Rolling down your sleeves and trying to push down all the frizziness of your hair, he takes notice that you're shy, like he’s not supposed to see you like this.

“Sorry baby, I knocked but you had that god awful music playing,” there’s no real malice behind his statement. He makes his way over to you, making sure to take his shoes off first. He pulls you into a hug, relishing the way his face fits in your neck. “Hi baby,” his voice vibrates off of your skin. You're the first to pull away and he misses your warmth.

“As much as I want to hug you, I’m a disgusting mess,” you complain.

“Ex-cuuuse me, ma’am, but you are no such thing,” he gasps, placing a palm over his heart acting as if you wounded him. His little act pulls a snort from you and it makes him beam.

“What’s all this anyway,” he questions, “Don’t tell me you did all this work when you took the day off.”

You shrug your shoulders, trying your hardest not to look too bashful, “I wanted to clean for Sunday. Ya know, make a good first impression on your uncle.” His chest swells with pride at the thought of you doing all this just because you’re meeting his uncle.

“My sweet girl,” he coos, “You didn’t have to do all this. Your house is already spotless as it is.” Your face rests in his palms, your shoulders dropping with ease at the action.

“I just want it to be perfect,” you whisper and he melts. If he was being honest, he could cry over the whole thing. No one, especially a girl, has ever done something so thoughtful for him. The last time a girl has ever done anything relatively nice for him, was in sixth grade when Stacey Leannski gave him a pencil when he forgot his.

He grins, shaking his wild curls, “Babe, I can assure you that Wayne is going to love you, washed walls or not. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to curl up on that lovely couch of yours and watch Grease for the millionth time,” He jokes, you roll your eyes swatting at him. You agree, but only after you take a quick shower to rid yourself of the sweat and grime of the day. He accepts, telling you he’d order pizza while he waits.

Now showered and pizza devoured, the empty box sitting on your table to prove it, you two sit in the glow of the television in front of you. You’re sitting side by side, head resting on his shoulder, your attention on the movie. He feels overwhelmed by you, you're taking over all of his senses and he’s not sure how to handle it. The scent of whatever you used in the shower floods his nose, the heat of your body burning into his side, the softness of your bare legs on his, it’s all too much and he feels like he’s going to explode.

Eddie isn’t a virgin, far from it, so he knows what it’s like to burn with that desire, leaving your house after heavy makeout sessions, foot to the floorboard racing to get home to take care of the situation in his pants. Albeit not having sex yet, which he was one hundred percent fine with, he definitely felt aroused by you. Christ, you were the face of all his fantasies when he was in the comfort of his own home, hands down his pants, your name falling from his lips in quiet chants. This wasn’t that feeling at all, this was something completely different and it terrifies him.

He’s shaken from his train of thoughts when he notices the weight of your head on his shoulder is gone. He turns his attention to you, you’re all bright smiles watching Frankie Avalon serenade Frenchie. His eyes fall to your lips as you mouth the words, plump and pretty enough for him to kiss you. The illumination from the tv falls around in a halo like way, hair still damp from your shower, your shirt two sizes too big, you look ethereal like this. For a second the world goes quiet, time seems to pause, it feels like it’s just the two of you, and that’s all that matters to him at this very moment. That familiar ache returns, this time it’s stronger. The beat of his heart is erratic, the sound muffled in his ears like there's big clumps of cotton in them. His breath hitches, and his eyes bug out with realization. This isn’t an overwhelming feeling of arousal, oh no, that’s not what this is.

This feeling is you, picking and carving away at his heart, hollowing out a spot for yourself. This is you pouring yourself into his veins, circulating yourself through his bloodstream. This is you squeezing the air out of his lungs, sucking it right out of him for yourself. This feeling is you branding yourself on his soul, leaving your mark on him for the rest of his natural born life.

That night, he didn't get any sleep. He’s too busy with the feeling of your body pressed to him, the warmth of you seeping into his skin. Even with the heaviness of his eyes he can’t seem to shut off his mind, too busy thinking about how in love he is with you. He’s not sure when he’ll tell you this, but he hopes when he does, you feel the same way.

Eddie was going to jump into the nearest traffic if he had to spend one more second in the grocery store. The lights were starting to get too bright, the music a little too loud, and he swears it wasn’t as packed in the store when you got here - which was like an hour ago, but who’s counting. He wanted to say something, he really did, but when he gazes over at you he can’t bring himself to burst your bubble. Your bottom lip sits between your teeth while you hold two different cans of vegetables in your hand, eyes bouncing back and forth between the two labels. You looked so adorable standing there, it almost makes him forget about wasting his whole Sunday morning there. Almost.

“Baby,” he coos, “Just pick one, yeah? I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Ringed hands wrap around your waist, pulling you into him as he rests his head on top of your own. You sigh, pulling your body away from his, too soon for his liking.

“I know you said your uncle doesn’t like green beans but I’ve never made a stew with peas before. I mean I know you can use both, I just, I don’t know,” you ramble, pouting your bottom lip out and it takes everything in not to kiss you stupid.

“Wayne is a grown man, he can pick around them,” Eddie reassures you. He spots the look of hesitation on your face. Before you can argue your next point to him, he wraps his arms around your waist once again. “I promise you, he will love it no matter what. Now stop worrying that pretty little head of yours and let's get a show on the road, I have a hot date to get to,” He bops your nose and you blush. “There she is,” he says, “There’s my girl.”

“Okay but,” you put more emphasis on the last word, “If he hates it, I’m blaming you,” You playfully scowl at him. Placing the can into the cart, Eddie grins at you in victory, “That’s okay babe, I can handle the old man for ya.” You roll your eyes at him and he pretends like he doesn’t see the small crack of a smile growing on your face.

Eddie was right, like he knew he would be, Wayne loved your cooking and even better, he loved you. Wasn’t so shocking to be honest, you’re a wonderful person and everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you because of it.

The air of the night is a lot cooler than before, the sky much darker now that the sun had been replaced with the moon. The store bag filled with leftovers you packed for Wayne, rustled in the wind. The two men make their way to the truck, even though Wayne told his nephew multiple times he did not need to be walked out, the younger man ignored him and followed him out anyway. Not much is said between the two, Eddie overthinking what he would say to Wayne. Obviously he knew he needed to thank him, not only for coming, but for not embarrassing him.

“I just wanted to uh, thank you. Ya know, for coming over and stuff. Really ‘ppreciate it.” He fidgets with his rings. Eddie’s not sure why he’s so awkward saying a simple thank you, this was the man who raised him for heaven’s sake.

“ ‘re welcome kid,” Wayne gruffs out. Reaching for the handle on his truck, he places the bag of food on the bench inside. There’s another small pause as he reaches into the pocket of his old scuffed up carhartt jacket, pulling out his pack of reds.

“You love ‘er don’t cha?” He lights the cigarette that sits between his lips, taking a long drag and letting out a small cloud of smoke. The question makes Eddie’s eye’s bulge out of his head. He’s a blubbering mess, tripping over his own words not knowing what to say. His cheeks burn harder when his uncle chuckles.

“I taught ya well son,” Wayne slapped his hand on his shoulder, “treat her right, ya hear? She’s too good of a girl, don’t wanna see you breakin’ her heart.” Eddie nodded dumbly to Wayne's words.

While Eddie makes his way back into your home, he mulls over what the hell just happened, he just got the shovel talk from his own uncle. When he opens the door, he’s met with the sight of you. You’re standing at the sink, that adorable little dress you wear moving with you has you sway back and forth, humming a tune. His uncle's words ring out in his head. There was no way he would ever break your heart, he knows he never could.

The colder weather of winter makes its way across Hawkins, leaving trails of snow in its path. As cold seeps into your home, so does Eddie’s things. His shampoo bottles, deodorant, some of his clothes residing in the space in your drawers and closet that you’d left for him. He hadn’t officially moved in, it just seemed easier if he left some clothes over when he’d stay the night.

Your limbs tangle beneath the fortress of blankets that lay on top of you. Hushed voices and quiet laughter fill the room, like two small children sharing secrets at a sleepover. Eddie savors the feeling of your fingertips tracing lines onto his skin.

“Did I ever tell you the full story of why I moved?” You keep your attention to the tattoo that sits on his chest. He answers with a shake of his head, muttering no. Eddie knew the story you told him was a half assed attempt at pushing the subject away and he was never going to push you for the real reason, knowing one day you would do it when you were comfortable enough.

You take a deep breath, readying yourself for what is to come. “Well, as you know I have an older brother. My parents, they were really big with supporting him, ya know? Like they were always going to his baseball games, pouring all the attention on him.” You force yourself not to meet Eddie’s gaze, opting to trace random things on his exposed chest.

“He’s the golden child, the apple of their eyes, and then there’s me. I wasn’t anything special, just kinda there. Anyway, they were never really worried about me because as they said, I always had the option of marrying rich,” a dry laugh escapes your throat, “While my brother, he had something going for him. He was a star baseball player, and they knew he’d make it big. But then he got injured and couldn’t play anymore.”

“When my brother decided to work for an engineering company in Chicago, my parents felt like there was nothing left for them to do, so they retired and packed their shit. They just left me there, and it hurt for a while, I mean I was out of school by that point but still. The idea of them not wanting to stay for me, that shit fucked with me.”

Before he knows it, the light blue pillow case that sits under your head is now stained dark blue with your tears. Eddie’s seen you cry before, just last week you cried while watching The Breakfast Club, but this was not the same thing. Fat, heavy tear drops, rolling down your face, snot leaking from your nose, kind of crying. The sight itself makes his own chest constrict and all he wants to do is wrap you up in the biggest hug.

“I ended up getting a really good job at this company in the city. I was so proud of myself too, I was making a lot of money, and I had my own place. I ended up meeting Paul, my ex, at the bar one night. He was charming, handsome, and dressed well, so I thought he was safe. It was good for a while, really it was but looking back it was so bad, Eds. Like you wouldn’t believe the shit I put up with, but yeah I found out he was using some of the money I had hidden to buy his girlfriend gifts. That was only part of it but that was the straw that broke the camel's back, I guess. Anyway, I found out when I found him fucking her in his bed and the next day, I packed my shit and left. God, I guess you do end up like your parents after all, huh?”

When your eyes meet, the flood you had been holding back finally breaks. Without a second thought, he’s holding onto you as you sob into his neck. You never told him the full story on Paul, but what you did tell him, he wanted to find the guy and beat the piss out of him. The idea of someone, let alone your own parents treating you the way they did breaks his heart. He wishes he could take the pain away from you, he’d carry the weight of it on his own back if he had to.

Eddie’s not sure what to say or if you even want him to say anything, so he doesn’t. His hand pets the top of your head, soothing you, like a mother does to her baby. A flashback pops into his own head, him as a child in his bed, crying because his parents fought again. The memory of his mom coming in and rocking him, the way he’s doing now, easing his tears with a slow song. So he does the same for you.

Slowly, the vice grip you had on him eases up, and your sobs reduce to small hiccups. He doesn’t stop until he hears your breath even out. When he’s sure you're sleeping, he takes a second to appreciate you, for bearing your soul to him, removing the barriers that blocked him out. He vows to himself that night, that he will protect you from anything and everything for as long as you both live.

The glow of the Christmas tree lights reflect off of the living room window. Outside, small flurries rain down, coating the ground in layers of white. The scent of hot chocolate and cinnamon fill the small living room. It looked like an elf had thrown up everything jolly in your home, littering every square inch in something holiday themed.

Eddie wasn’t a big holiday kind of guy, never really having a reason to go all out for them when it was just him and Wayne. He thought you were going to have an aneurysm when he told you, with the way your face twisted up. You were quick to tell him that you’d be more than happy to have him over to celebrate, have his uncle join in the morning, and then meet up at Steve’s to have dinner with the group. Eddie wasn’t too thrilled on the idea, not because he didn’t want to spend it with you, but because he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford a bunch of gifts. Albeit you reassured him that you didn’t want anything, he couldn’t help but feel like you were lying to make him feel better. It wasn’t until he realized that you were not doing this just for him but you were doing it for both of the lost childhood you had, he agreed.

The two of you sit across from each other by the tree. Small boxes and bags hid underneath the fake branches, sitting pretty in the light of the colorful bulbs that hang. The uneasy feeling settles in his stomach when he looks at them. The amount of gifts that sit with your name doesn’t hold a candle to all the things that sit underneath for him. It was decided that you’d pick gifts out for each other and open them at the same time. Doubt fills his brain, but it’s quickly shut off when he sees you with the box he placed in your hands. You shake the small box back and forth, tongue poking out in concentration trying to figure out what could be underneath the paper.

Over the next few minutes boxes and bags are passed back and forth, paper ripped to shreds, and piled of gifts surround the both of you.

Beside you sit your pile of opened presents. The Cure’s ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’ album, a pack of colorful fuzzy socks, your favorite candy, a new mug with a black cat painted on it, Fannie Flags novel ‘Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe’, along with highlighters and new pens for annotating.

Eddie’s pile isn’t as neat as yours, all haphazardly thrown next to him with care. A pack of new socks because he never seems to have one's without holes, a pair of new work boots, a new Metallica band shirt, a sketchbook and pencils for his D&D doodles, a bottle of Calvin Klein’s ‘Obsession for Men’, Anthrax ‘Among the Living’ album, and a pack of guitar picks.

“These are perfect, thank you baby.” A dimpled smile appears on Eddie’s cheeks. Leaning over to reach you, placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

“You’re welcome. I love everything you got me. I promise not to finish my book too fast.” You joke. There’s a sense of pride written on your face. He’s not sure why he was so nervous for this, when he’d get to see you like this, truly like a kid on Christmas morning.

He can’t relish in the feeling too long, when he sees you grabbing a hidden present from under the tree. You hand him the small box, the red ribbon mocking him from where it sits in his hands.

“Sweetheart, you didn’t have to get me anything else, I thought we said-” before he can finish, you tut his response away, waving your hands for him to stop. “Shush, it’s nothing big I promise. Now open it.” He can’t refuse when you look at him like that, cheshire grin shining brightly at him.

He pulls the ribbon off, letting it slowly fall to the floor. Opening the box, he’s met with a golden shine. A key sitting in a bed of tissue paper, confusion is written on his face when he pulls it from its place, the box falling to the floor with a small thump. When he looks up at you, the once confident look you had is now replaced with a meek expression.

“I just thought, ya know since you’re here all the time it’d make sense for you to have your own. I just want you to have it in case I’m not here or something.” Your statement trails off. Before you know it, he’s tackling you in a hug. Wet sloppy kisses are placed on your face and you swat at him, giggling telling him to stop.

“This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever given me, you know that?” He’s hovering over you. You beam up at him, wrapping your finger around one of his curls.

“You say that, but you still haven’t gotten your last gift.” You tease and he sits up, letting you up from your position on the floor.

Standing up, you hold your hand out to him. As you pull him along to your room, his heart is in his throat. He burns with embarrassment, feeling like an asshole because you’ve gone above and beyond for him and he has nothing for you in return. When you make it to your room, you gently push him on the edge of your bed, making him sit down. You nudge your way in between his legs, craning your neck down to meet his eyes. Before he knows it, the giant sleep shirt you were wearing is now on the floor, leaving you in the prettiest thing he’s ever seen.

You stand there, red lace hugging your body, every curve he’s dreamed of seeing, are now in arms reach. He’s sure he looks like an idiot, drool falling from his mouth, Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat. You were such a sight to see, standing there, shy as can be, looking like a wet dream.

“You can touch me, Eds.” It takes him a minute to realize what you just said to him. He slowly lets his hand reach out from you, tracing the intricate detailing the lingerie that sits on your body.

Standing to full height, he kisses you, so soft and slow. When you reach your hand down to brush over the front of his groin, it picks up a notch. Gnashing teeth and tongue, he feels like a feral animal and if he doesn’t do something soon, he’s going to bust in his pants like a teenager. He takes his time laying you down on the bed, too scared that you might break if he goes any faster. The clothes he wears are starting to become too suffocating, constricting his every movement. His clothes are off in a flash, sitting next to yours on the hardwood floor.

Eddie thinks he’s lost his goddamn mind, he must be having a realistic wet dream or something, because there is no way on earth this is happening. He’s waited for this moment for the past two months, imagining every single detail, but nothing would prepare him for the real thing. He’s hovering above, looking down at his perfect girl, wrapped in the prettiest dainty ribbon of sorts. Eyes going crazy trying to get every single detail memorized, scars, birthmarks, dimples - he wants to learn it by heart.

“ You‘re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” He doesn’t just say it because you’re half naked underneath him. He says it because you are the most beautiful woman he’s ever had the pleasure of meeting. No playboy model, no random hook up, no groupie could hold a candle to the beauty you have.

“You’re the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen,” You look up at him through your lashes, puffy red lips stretched into that Colgate smile he loves so much.

He wants to hold those words with him for the rest of his life, lock them away for safekeeping. You have no idea what you do to him, how much you mean to him. You’ve dug your way into his life, flipping it completely upside down, and unlocking a side to him he never knew he had.

“I’m so fucking in love with you, sweetheart.” It’s out there, piercing the air like bullets from a starting pistol. Eddie’s the most vulnerable he’s ever been, giving you his heart on a silver platter. You’ve got him in the palm of your hand, able to crush his soul at any moment.

Reaching your hand up, you cup his cheek, rubbing your thumb along his cheek. He’s bracing himself for rejection, ready to tuck tail and run, but it never comes.

“Good, because I’m so fucking in love with you, Eddie Munson.” His eyes search your face, waiting to hear you tell him it was all a joke. He doesn’t, instead he sees you, just as vulnerable as him. Just two scared people of being hurt, letting their guard down, opening up themselves in the most raw way.

“You’ll still love me in the morning?”

“Always.”

For the first time in his life, he makes love - hands cradled together, foreheads touching, sweet nothings being shared. He doesn’t even notice when he starts crying, not until you wipe away the tears staining his cheek. He would be embarrassed but this is you, the girl who’s stolen his heart and invaded his whole life. When it’s over, you hold him, whispering sweet praises to the metal head.

When the morning light peaks through your curtains, you’re still there, holding onto him like you did when you fell asleep. You didn’t leave, didn’t regret the words that were shared between the two of you. Your promise rings in his head - always.

The bitter cold of March couldn’t beat the icy atmosphere in the car. No matter how many times Eddie called your name you refused to answer, turning your body more and more towards the window. Eddie knew something happened, he just didn’t know what. The night started off fine, meeting with friends to get food and drinks, big laughs and stories passed back and forth at the table. At some point something happened and you weren’t laughing anymore. Your big smile and bright eyes are replaced with a look he’s never seen before. He tried to get you to talk, begging you to just say something, only to be met with a scoff and crossed arms.

Pulling up to your house, you didn’t even wait for him to shut off the car to exit the car, slamming the door hard enough to make Eddie flinch in his seat. He wanted to puke, he hated this, he hated that he didn’t know what was making you so angry and he hated that he didn’t know how to fix it. Releasing a big puff of air, he follows you inside where he’s met with more slamming doors.

He doesn’t want to bombard you, so he decides to wait in the kitchen, where he starts to pace back and forth. He feels like he’s eight years old again after the first time he’d ever gotten in trouble at school, sitting outside the principal’s office in one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs, watching the clock go by as he waits to be called back. Although he’d get used to the feeling over time, he would never forget that first time, the way it felt when his stomach knotted up, shaky hands and trembling legs.

He hears the familiar click of the bathroom door open and he freezes, your figure ascends down the hallway, shuffling your feet along the wooden floors. Your hair you spent hours on styling to perfection is now thrown into a bun, your mascara now leaving black streaks on your face from crying, the outfit you took forever to pick out is now replaced with a pair of sweatpants and an old shirt.

Eddie watches as you reach for a glass from your cabinet, filling it with water from your faucet. At that moment he thinks it’s better if he keeps distance by staying in his corner of the kitchen, not wanting to approach you and scare you off. Screaming and yelling, that’s what he’s used to, standing in the middle of the battle front, dodging bullets left and right. Hurtful words being spat, so sharp and full of toxins, ready to leave scars after all the dust settles.

Silence, that was the real killer. It was the calm before the storm, the thickness in the air that made it harder and harder to breathe. It’d sneak up behind you, wrapping its hands around your throat, and slowly squeezing the oxygen out of your lungs. It was the uneasy feeling you get right before you head into the woods at night. It was able to sweep the rug out from under you, pulling you further and further into the darkness to no point of return.

He wants to say the right thing to you, he wants to mend the damage that’s been done, wrap you up in bandages and make it all better. He wants to pull you into shelter from the storm going on inside your brain, to hold on to you for dear life so that you don’t get sucked up in the twister of your thoughts. It’s written all over your face, the hurt, the anger, it’s all there for him to read - like a clue being left behind for him to find. There’s a war starting up inside of you, he can see the smoke signals from here, calling out for help. He wants to break in and stop it from happening, but he can’t - the brick wall that he worked endlessly at to break, is now back up again. This time it’s harder to tear down.

Although he’s never been the first in the firing line, Eddie’s armed and ready for the first hit. It feels like one of those western movies his uncle Wayne used to watch - two cowboys, guns drawn, ready to fire any second. The biggest showdown known to man is happening right here, in the small yellow kitchen of your home. There would be no shoot out this time, no knife-like words to leave damage, no wounds to heal. This time, you’re the first to put your gun down, wave your white flag in surrender.

You don’t tell him you hate him, you don’t tell him to get out and to never come back, you simply hug him. It throws him for a loop, the ticking time bomb that stood before him, defusing itself right before his very eyes. The rain that clouded over him is now washed out by the chirps of the birds, sun pushing its way to be seen once again. There is no fight to be won anymore, there is no mass destruction left in the wake of battle, left to be cleaned for another day.

He can feel the shaking of your body, vibrating with the cries you muffle in his shirt. The situation might be over, but you are still wounded from before, begging for some kind of mercy.

“Baby, you gotta tell me what’s wrong. Tell me how to fix it.” He can smell the hair spray that sits on your hair, from where his nose rests. His big hand soothing you, rubbing over the cotton shirt that drapes your back. He means the words he says to you, he wants you to let him in again.

Your answer is hard to understand, obscured by the fabric of his shirt where you’ve shoved your face to hide.

“Sweetheart, you gotta speak up so I can hear you,” He coos at you. His sweet tone coaxes you out from your hiding spot. Pulling your face from the comfort of his chest, you peer up at him.

“Please don’t leave me.” It sounds so dejecting when it falls from your lips, like you're begging him with everything in you. It breaks his heart to see you like this.

There’s some parts of your brain that Eddie hasn’t explored yet. The darkest corners of your mind, so dark you’d need a flashlight, decorated in dust and cobwebs. All the secrets you’ve yet to reveal to him, filed away, locked behind a door - the key thrown somewhere for him to find. Eddie knows there’s parts of you that you don’t want him to see, too scared he’d criticize you the way people before him did. That was the thing though, he never would, no matter how scary or fucked up you thought you were.

“Honey, I’m not going to leave you, okay? S’just - I need you to tell me what’s going on, tell me what happened.” He’s pleading with you, trying to pull it out of you. Whether it gets him any further or not, it doesn’t matter, he just wants you to see he’s trying, trying for you.

“Will you still love me in the morning?” You’re retreating, going back behind that big brick wall. As much as Eddie wants to scream and shout for you to stop hiding, he knows that the storm within is at bay, at least for now. So he lets you retreat, lets you rest knowing he’ll be back hammering, no matter how long it takes.

“Always,” It’s hushed, quiet like the small flurries that fall outside of the window. Plump lips meeting the top of your head. Eddie knows he’s not getting any more out of you, both too winded and tired from the events tonight.

Cracks and fractures left behind from the people before him, it’s going to take time, he reminds himself. So many times you had told him it was best if he runs away, there’s too much damage and he deserves someone better. He thinks you’re wrong, you are someone better, you just can’t see it. You don’t see what he sees, the girl he fell in love with, he wishes you could because you’re the best thing that’s ever graced this fucked up planet. He’d plant you in front of the world’s biggest mirror if he had to, but he knows that you’d still only see half of what he does. So for now, he’ll keep reminding you until he’s blue in the face. Always.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fluff #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things au #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x female reader

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alicedash2 · 1 year

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Hello Alice 👋. I've been reading your work's (mainly the whitebeard crew and ace one's) and I have to say , I really love your writing! I see the request is still open, so if you don't mind me... What if whitebeard has a biologically related daughter? How would the crew treat her? ( Also if it's ok with you, can you make it Ace x whitebeard's daughter?). That's all from me... Thank you (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

Hello, my dear! Very much thank you! 💗♥️💗♥️💗♥️💗♥️

I hope I did what you wanted, I hope you like it!

Whitebeard x Biological Daughter! ( And Ace x Biological Whitebeard Daughter)

Ah, to be the biological son of the great Whitebeard, what a privilege!

Firstly, she will be treated like a queen on the ship whether she likes it or not, because she is a person very dear to the crew, and still, there are fights that she is going to marry the great daughter of Whitebeard, but, Whitebeard or it is very well and protests, saying that he will choose who will be the suitor

- as your father, I know who your boyfriend or husband should be-

- you can't always be like this! I will choose myself! -

- you are very rebellious! I didn't raise you like that!-

But! Already super cute father-daughter moments, he doesn't let anyone touch his daughter, as well as the crew members who are always with YN, flirting and playing pickup lines, if that's a teenager to an adult!

But

°•°•°•^^°°

If it's a child

It will be pure sweetness, everyone is playing and having fun, Whitebeard spoils his daughter whenever he gets the chance, always telling her that he loves her and that she is the most beautiful girl in the oceans!

Thatch makes her favorite dishes, always to see smile and laugh

Everyone loves Whitebeard's little daughter, as she is more appreciated than the Empress Boa Hancock, not least because, obviously, she is Whitebeard's biological daughter.

°•°•°^•°•

The crew doesn't let anyone flirt with YN! Only they can!

And my friend, if YN shows up crying or hurt, they'll turn the planet upside down!

Marco is always taking care of YN's health, the call for exams every week and cried if YN is fine,

Izou likes to groom YN, make her up and dress her in beautiful clothes.

Ace, Thatch are the main flirts, but if they pray they take a cuckoo from Whitebeard when he catches them

Haruta likes to share secrets, talk and play with YN

Vista lets YN wear her hat and play with her mustache

Anyway, she is the princess of the ship, no one touches her, she just admires with her eyes, while her guards protect her! Like that 💗♥️💞

Ace takes a lot of risks, he flirts when Whitebeard is not around, but, whenever possible, he invites the captain's daughter to go out with Ace, which causes envy and even fights over who will go out with the captain's daughter. captain, so in the end, the captain's daughter ends up staying on the ship or going out alone

Ace thinks Whitebeard doesn't know, but he does know that Ace is head over heels in love with YN, always spoiling her with gifts, sweets and sharing her food!

One day, Whitebeard wanted to talk to Ace alone.

-Ace...-

- Yes,Pops?-

- I saw that you are dating my daughter -

- ...forgive me- -

- no. -

- Hm? -

- just, take care of her, I trust her to you, Ace, I don't care if they go out or date, I trust that you can take care of her -

Ace's eyes had never lit up so much, fire seeping from his body with emotion.

Until one day, Ace was rehearsing how to confess his feelings, until he had an idea.

On the island where the boat anchored, as usual, Ace and YN went out, went to bars, restaurants and other places, until when night came and they were returning to the ship, Ace stopped and held YN's hand.

- what it was?-

-YN, I need to tell you something-

YN already suspected, but didn't want to say anything so as not to spoil the friendship

- say it-

- I love you, very much!-

Ace's face turned red, his body waiting for some flames and anxiously waiting for the answer, which, was a peck on the lips, making Ace explode with emotion.

- you're a cutie, Ace! I love you too, Ace! -

Ace his legs shake, YN, seeing Ace's situation, laughs and hugs him

Ace felt YN's gentle hands on his back, sliding up and down smoothly, making Ace's body fall in relief and in love, but in the end, Ace gave lots of kisses and affection and received lots of kisses and affection

#one piece #one piece x reader #whitebeard pirates x reader #whitebeard crew #portgas d ace #portgas ace x reader #ace x reader #ace one piece

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unboundprompts · 11 months

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The Crane Wives Prompts

-> writing prompts from The Crane Wives songs. feel free to edit as you see fit.

"You swallowed your doubt like swords to the pit of your stomach." - The Moon Will Sing

"You are someone I have loved, but never known." - Never Love an Anchor

"The only peace I have ever known is the peace I made with you." - Easier

"It's time to learn to be more forgiving of yourself." - Can't Go Back

"I'm trying to make something of myself." - Hard Sell

"I can't trust a single thing you say." - Metaphor

"This ghost town is making a ghost of me." - Here I Am

"I loved you like the sun. I bore the shadows that you made with no light of my own. I shine with only the light you gave me." - The Moon Will Sing

"In the night I know you burn with feelings I cannot return." - Tongues & Teeth

"I'll just close my eyes and try to pretend that it gets easier." - Easier

"I hear something calling me." - Sleeping Giants

"There is no more room in your heart for me." - October

"The world is hostile and I'm fragile." - Hard Sell

"I tried to do the best that I could, but I couldn't bring myself to hold you." - Never Love an Anchor

"I need someone to kiss the cuts and tell me to keep trying." - Hard Sell

"The trees are crowing hungry harmonies." - Sleeping Giants

"This heart of mine is guilty, not remorseful." - Never Love an Anchor

"I am not a vessel for your good intent." - Tongues & Teeth

"I come from a long line of people who believe in the flowers that grow in the cracks in the street." - Here I Am

"A ship could never really love an anchor so I did the only thing that I could and I severed the rope to set you sailing from my harbour." - Never Love an Anchor

"Kiss me quick and steal every secret I keep." - October

"Abandon all your stupid dreams about the girl I could have been." - Tongues & Teeth

"Heart broken men long to feel nothing to free themselves from strife." - Nothing at All

"It's time to learn to be more forgiving of yourself and your sins and those mistakes you made." - Can't Go Back

"Will you stay with me when the war starts in my heart?" - Curses

"Sometimes all you can do is say goodnight and tuck your demons in the bed because they're not worth fighting" - Turn out the Lights

"My darling, the devil knows my name." - The Garden

"I am not afraid to give you everything." - The Diving Bell

"I will crawl like a sinner to be at your feet." - October

"It's obvious now that I've been forgotten." - Here I Am

#prompts inspired by lyrics #writing prompts #dialogue prompt #prompt list #rp prompts #the crane wives #writing dialogue #poem prompt #lyrics #song lyrics #lyric quotes

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brucewaynehater101 · 3 months

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Talia al Ghul is the song Never Love an Anchor by Crane Wives as she thinks about her son, Damian.

"On some level, I think I always understood that these hands of mine were clumsy, not clever."

Her inability to protect Damian from the same childhood she had. She has only ever known conditional love, her abilities being the only reason Ra's favors and supports her over her siblings. Talia has always known that her false lies of aiding her son were merely clumsy excuses for love.

"And I tried to do the best that I could. But try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to hold you."

She loves her son, but she also doesn't know what that means. Her father certainly didn't show her a caring parent's love. Talia didn't know how to show Damian that she loves him and she never got to properly prove that to him. She couldn't bring herself to openly love him when she knew the consequences of it.

"It's a secret I keep tucked inside my chest with this heart of mine that's guilty, not remorseful."

She's not sorry for how she raised Damian. It's part of why he survived his childhood in the first place. That doesn't stop the crushing guilt of hurting her son.

"There is love that doesn't have a place to rest, but it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders."

To bind herself to her son, even in love, is to hinder and burden him. Her father taught her about making connections and manipulating those relationships. She loves him, but loving her son puts them both in danger.

"On some level, I think I always understood that a ship could never really love an anchor. So, I did the only thing that I could and severed the rope to set you sailing from my harbor."

She sent Damian away to his father, ensuring that she would not be able to see her son. Bruce would be furious at her for the deception and for keeping his son from him. It works in setting Damian free, getting him to a safe place, and keeping him away from her. She is the one to sever their bond because she perceives herself to be a weight on his very being. She is stationary with the League and her position. Damian has room to grow, and he can go see so much more than just the LoA. He can explore all the world has to offer. Talia can not leave the League.

"There are times when I still wonder about you. You are someone I have loved, but never known."

She watches from afar as Damian discovers his love for drawing and art. He learns about his care for animals. He's so passionate about life, about things she had never allowed him to enjoy.

"And you'll never see the reasons I had for keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you."

She knows that the distance and the pushing him away harms her son. She knows that he sees it as an error on his part. Yet, she does it for him. She has and continues to hurt him. She can't be close enough to reach him. She knows what that outcome is, what it has always been. So, she makes that choice for him. He will never have to choose between the pain of losing his mother over the pain of being with her.

"I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel. I am all the things they might have said to you."

There's no doubt in her mind that Bruce and the rest of Damian's family are saying horrific statements about her. She knows what she has done to her son. She's selfish in loving Damian while hurting him. She's selfish for making those choices for him and not letting him choose. She's broken in how she loves. She's cruel for the back and forth she does of showering her son in affection and then pushing him away.

"Do you ever think of me and my two hands? And wonder why they never soothed your fevers? And wonder why they never tied your shoes?"

She thinks about Damian all the time. Every waking hour, she ponders about what he's doing, whether 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 is helping him tie his shoes, whether her beloved is tending to him while sick. She couldn't do that with Damian in the LoA even if she wanted to. Does Damian understand that? Is he just a ten year old kid wondering why his mom doesn't love him?

"And wonder why they never held you gently?"

She wonders that too, some nights. Her parents never held her gently. Should she have tried to hold onto Damian? If she knew she would never get the chance to later, would she wrap her son in a hug declaring him safe? Would it have been worth the risks?

"And wonder why they never had the chance to lose you?"

She doesn't give Damian the chance to leave her. She doesn't give him the chance to stay. She doesn't allow herself the option of keeping him by her side. She hasn't lost him if she sent him away.

I think the song perfectly fits earlier characterizations of Talia and how that would affect her self-image, her relationship with Damian (and the child she gave up), and her beliefs on love.

#dc comics #dc universe #dc robin #batman #bruce wayne #damian wayne #damian al ghul #talia al ghul #talia loves damian #talia's relationship with damian is complicated and heartbreaking #OP is not saying Talia's actions were correct but merely that her reasons are sad af #dc needs to give us good mom talia #relationships with moms are complicated

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spidey-bie · 11 months

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Currently thinking about vibing in a car (that you borrowed from a friend) on a particularly hot day with Hobie. Feels like Summer by Childish Gambino is playing through the speakers. The air conditioner doesn't work. A wave of hot air blows in through the windows. Neither of you has any idea on where you're going since it's way too hot for thoughts.

"They said that today's temp is higher than it's been in years." You had been scrolling through a news article on your phone. Trying and failing to distract yourself from the sweltering heat.

"Love it's climate change." His eyes never strayed from the road as he spoke. Sweat beading down his forehead.

"Yeah." You sigh. "Unfortunately I already know."

The irony of hearing the voice of Donald Glover singing about how nothing in this world seems to change made you feel sick inside. Or maybe it was the heat getting to you.

You didn't feel like carrying the weight of the world today. There was no point in worrying about things that you couldn't control. Hobie was the one who taught you that. He was able to handle so much as Spiderman, so much so that it worried you. Especially since there seemed to be a shift in his behavior recently. He'd come home with more scratches than usual. Swearing that he didn't see the villain coming as you bandaged his wounds. He was lying and you knew. But for his sake you pretended to believe him. You could see it in his eyes. Something had happened. You wondered if it had anything to do with the Spiderwoman that he'd take in recently. Or maybe something happened at whatever that Spider Society was. He hadn't mentioned going there in a while. Maybe something happened. You signed.

"Something up love?" You turn to look at him. His pretty brown eyes stared back at you. They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Yet, there were times where you looked into Hobie's eyes and you only found a stranger.

"No. It's nothing." You turn back to look out the window.

You didn't want to pry. You'd just have to continue doing whatever you could to help. Sometimes you did wonder, When would he ever have the time to just unwind? When would there ever be a time where he wasn't the anchor that stabilized the ship during a storm? Did he even know that he could rely on you? You brush those thoughts aside. You don't have the energy to think about it at this moment. The sun's rays were really getting to you now. Today neither of you were superheroes out trying to save the world. Today you and your beloved were going out to enjoy a drive in the blazing heat, to absolutely nowhere in particular. For now the both of you were going to be okay.

A/N: These are all connected in a way. Kinda sorta maybe. Anyways today's act of antismut protest (still don't know what to call this) is a short blurb. Seeing how my other story is taking forever for me to write. Label your smut works with a tag and/or a warning at the top. Just a tag does help a little. But that's only if you're tagging your works properly. And by a warning I don't mean those small text warnings that nobody can see.

#hobie x black reader #hobie x black!reader #hobie x reader #black reader #hobie brown x black reader #hobie brown x black!reader #hobie brown x reader #jay and the spiders #my bae [🎸]#cory writes

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forpiratereasons · 2 years

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not to chronically project onto my favs but stede with migraines hits me hard because at a certain point with chronic pain you have to develop the ability to just keep going. when it hurts all. the. time. what do you do when it hurts? your options become either to keep going or to stop existing. and stede isn't sure he wants to exist when the show starts.

and on top of that, stede is the KING of keeping going and saying nothing. when it hurts all the time, you just get on with it. when it hurts and you want to make a good impression, you just get on with it. when it hurts and you have stuff to do, you just get on with it. and stede would just get on with it, without saying, without drawing attention to it, because he'd have been taught that's what he ought to do by his father, by his social class, by his family.

a bathtub and a fireplace make no sense on a ship, but they're both decent tools for temperature regulation on a ship without ice or heat packs. stede's silly eyemask and the curtains on all sides of his bed, blocking out the light. his hidden passages, places to hide from the noise and the light. lavender scents that help soothe the pain.

so then you have stede, hurting and hiding it. and stede has ed, who recognizes these sorts of things from his own experience. ed, who is a genius and who's attention to detail is insanely powerful when it's something he cares about - he knows to ask for lucius to count down from 147 minutes, he keeps a calendar in his head (1717 versus leap year handwavey things aside) - who would start to recognize that stede touches this one spot over his left eyebrow quite often, who would notice that stede is crankier when the sun is brighter or that he sometimes finds stede with his eyemask on midday or that he sometimes messes up his words and can't speak properly or any of a dozen other signs. and ed knows, better than most, that pretending it isn't there won't make it go away, but he also knows how sensitive it can be to bring it up. and while stede is learning - boisterously, enthusiastically - to take care of ed and his knee, ed is learning - quietly, delicately - to take care of stede and his migraines.

this is all to say that some days, roach spots stede pressing a thumb into his left eyebrow over lunch and by two o'clock the revenge'll be anchored somewhere, quiet as any ghost ship, with its co-captains ensconced away in bed.

i know what you're really doing, stede might pout into ed's neck, once ed has chivvied him into bed and arranged him so that he's hiding himself away in all that skin and all that hair and all that warmth. don't think i'm not onto you.

i'm sure you are, ed would tell him, in a whisper. nothing gets by the gentleman pirate, does it.

and maybe stede will hold ed a little closer, press his head a little harder into ed's jaw where the pressure feels - not nice, per se, but better - and let himself be the sort of things stede's father never wanted him to be. ill. weak. a little clingy, a little needy.

taken care of.

and if he says thank you, tangled up there in ed and the quiet and the darkness, well. ed didn't do this for the acknowledgement. he did this because --

love you, ed whispers, with a kiss to stede's forehead that won't fix anything but still solves everything. close your eyes now. i'll be here when you wake up.

and stede does. he knows ed will.

#ofmd #stede with migraines #gentlebeard #blackbonnet #I CAN PROJECT SO MUCH INTO THESE BAD BOYS #darcy writes pirates #chronic migraine for 17 years babeyyyy

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beanghostprincess · 6 months

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All songs by The Crane Wives are about Shuggy and it drives me insane every time:

"Tell me once again, I could have been anyone, anyone else. Before you made the choice for me. [...] The moon will sing a song for me, I loved you like the sun. Bore the shadows that you made with no light of my own. I shine only with the light you gave me. [...] Name your courage now we could have had anything, anything else. Instead, you hoarded all that's left of me. Swallowin' your doubt like swords to the pit of my belly. I want to feel the fire that you kept from me. [...] Instead, I made a bed with apathy. My heart knew the weight. Ten years worth of dust and neglect. We made our peace with weariness and let it be." — The Moon Will Sing

"Every word I say is kindling, but the smoke clears when you're around. Won't you stay with me, my darling. When my walls start burning down, down, down. [...] This tired old machine is a-rumbling, oh my, oh my. Singing songs to the secrets behind my eye, oh my, oh my. All my aching bones are trembling, and I may yet fall apart. Won't you stay with me, my darling, when the war starts in my heart?" — Curses

"I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel, it's all that I can give to you, my dear. And when you come in quick to steal a kiss my teeth will only cut your lips, my dear. And I know that you mean so well, but I am not a vessel for your good intent. I will only break your pretty things. I will only wring you dry of everything. And if you're fine with that, you can be mine like that. Abandon all your stupid dreams about the girl I could have been, my dear. 'Cause in the night I know you burn with feelings I cannot return, my dear. Oh, my dear. You gotta know that this won't last. Desperation will erase the fact, I'm keeping all of the answers in my cigarette box. Yeah, the answer's in the second before the other shoe drops. And if you're blind to that, I am fine with that." — Tongues & Teeth

"On some level, I think I always understood that these hands of mine were clumsy, not clever. And I tried to do the best that I could, but try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to hold you. It's a secret I keep tucked inside my chest with this heart of mine that's guilty, not remorseful. There is love that doesn't have a place to rest but it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders. [...] On some level, I think I always understood that a ship could never really love an anchor. So, I did the only thing that I could and severed the rope to set you sailing from my harbor. There are times when I still wonder about you. You are someone I have loved, but never known. And you'll never see the reasons I had for keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you. [...] Do you ever think of me and my two hands? And wonder why they never soothed your fevers? And wonder why they never tied your shoes? And wonder why they never held you gently? And wonder why they never had the chance to lose you?" — Never Love an Anchor

"I swear, I didn't mean it. Now listen close, you owe me ears for dropping eaves. Forget it all. You caught me in a moment weak, and sometimes I just can't help myself. Sometimes I can't help myself at all. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me. Remember when I could tell you not to smile, when you were mad? And you would always crack, and we'd both be laughing in the end. Now you're not so quick to forget. [...] What happens now? Do we have another go? Do we bow out, and take our separate roads? I'll admit I've had my doubts.But I want to be let in, not out." — Allies or Enemies

"On the broken backs of all the words we spared, like little soldiers in the trenches. It was a march we made towards ruin and despair, but we held hands all the while. I swear that I loved you. [...] Beneath the table you would offer up my bones, and all the dogs would lick your fingers. And I dragged you through every room inside our home, but you still held me at night. I swear that you loved me. [...] We didn't give up, we wouldn't dare surrender. It was an honest loss. Now the aftermath will ring with songs you've sung, all of our words sent home in boxes. I fought with tooth and nail before the flag had flown, but you were already gone." — Little Soldiers

"I tried it your way, you tried it mine. The white flags still aren't waving, this ain't the good fight. I'm putting my foot down, weak knees and all. Finally standing on my own after the great fall. Once and for all. [...] I only fought for love at your request. Didn't think you'd be the one to leave me clutching at my chest. Remember, you're the one that gave up when my blood runs dry. You could still carry me away but you'd leave me here to die. [...] Dodge bullets and fire spray, my blood's forever on your hands. When my ghost sings my battle cry you'll be too sorry to dance. [...] Once and for all, what does that mean? It's a promise I'm making that I don't actually believe. Once and for all means I've tried it before. So many times that I'm just fucking tired. I'll never be able to close that door." — Once & for All

#AND THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE SONGS #i need to make a playlist wait #screaming shaking sobbing #most of them are from buggy's pov but it's not my fault he's the relatable one idcidc #one piece #buggy the clown #red haired shanks #shuggy

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mikeysbabygirl · 2 years

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DEAD GIRLS TELL NO TALES

Masterlist-

NEXT CHAPTER-

Pairing : Bonten!Rindou Haitani x fem!reader. Bonten! Ran Haitani x fem!reader

Synopsis : " 'cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead "

" Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned"

What if their first love came back ? What if everything they thought had happened that night was a lie ?

WARNING : +18, Minors DNI. This story will contain explicit smut, heavy scenes as violence, sex work, sex trafficking.

Word count : 10k ( I talk a lot sorry )

Please let me know if you want to be added to the tag list !

CHAPTER 01:

And if you were asked, what could you say about being a woman ?

Being dismissed, raped, told to shut up and bake cookies. Because a man who speaks his opinion is still a man, but when a woman speaks her opinions out loud she suddenly turns into a bitch. And you were okay with it, really. If being a bitch means being a woman who won't bang her head against the wall obsessing over someone else's opinion, then you would gladly wear that name as a crown.

The rules are simple, If you're a girl, you are allowed to be pretty, cute, sexy, just don't act too smart, don't stand up for yourself. If you're a boy, on the other hand, there are no rules.

To not be mistaken for what you were not, you liked men, men sure are cool, and strong, and leaders.

But that alone wasn't enough to tell if they deserve to live or not. It wasn't enough for the man you were watching.

Gross...

Disgust increased inside you at the way he was eyeing you from his table, a young pretty raven haired girl sitting on his lap, barely seventeen...

It was way too easy for them to mistake the look on your eyes, full of murderous instinct with a seductive one, what a bummer... Not that it didn't work on your favor, you knew by the end of the night, he would be yours, eternally, the last one he would give himself to.

You sure were no one to decide who should live and who should not, you never claimed to be god. But in that case, where were him ? How could he let all of this happen to those young girls ?

He wouldn't allow all of this abuse, sure he was missing. And you were pretty sure he wouldn't mind if someone did the job until he would come back.

Masashi Ogawa, what a powerful, influential man. A forty-year-old politician, 6'2" full of empty promises and superficial smiles, 182 lbs of perversion.

Underneath it all, the designer suits and the perfect dad next door's hairstyle, sleeps a disgusting human being, one that only wakes up when ships from Saudi Arabia would anchor in Tokyo's harbor.

He was an essential part of the equation, was, because from the sultry looks he was giving you from his table on the club, you already got him wrapped around your finger.

He occupies a high place in the hierarchy of La Compagnie, an underground organization wearing a fresh cute french name, as fresh and cute as the colleen and high school girls working to fill their pockets.

La Compagnie is a living hell, managed by the dirtiest devil to ever grace the earth, Hiroto Mori.

Once upon a time, a man you called dad.

Politicians, lawyers, supreme court justices, doctors and many more involved in minor's trafficking and pimping. It would take a year to explain how it goes behind closer doors, but to summarize everything, La Compagnie has been active since so many years, maybe even before your birth, a very well planned organization.

He stood up, your heart missed a beat as you watched him hold the girl's hand and start walking down the stairs separating your floor from his VIP one, every step he was making, you knew toward you, made this huge club shrink in size. Your sweaty palm caressed your inner thigh discreetly, checking on the garrote attached to your garter belt, you sighed as he got closer.

Four years of planning, training, four years of hatred and grudge, this had to work, you took so many risks for it, everyone sacrificed so many things for it, It has nothing to do with your humanity or your conscience, these are of no use when dealing with such monsters.

This is the right thing to do, your mind kept repeating. So many broken families, so many destroyed lives, someone has to do something, otherwise this nightmare would perpetrate for years.

And as much as you worked for it, convinced yourself that it was not such a big deal, you knew your world and life was about to change completely.

Not that it didn't already...

He and his mistress passed by your table, his arm wrapped around her waist. She didn't look at you, like a rag doll she just stared straight ahead, but he did. He gave you a suggestive look followed by a supposedly charming smile, a silent invitation. You wouldn't have been able to hear his words anyway because of the cacophony and music of the club.

You returned his smile with a slight nod, faking your interest on his silent offer. You could feel his burning gaze on your body as he passed by, and suppressed a disgusted shiver. You hated to remember you only wore that dress for him, a tight short white dress that gave you that angelic air he adores, this surely was what caught his eye on you, and you hated that you had to use your body to get to him.

Women are not defined by their body, and if often they would use it to achieve their goals, it only showed how men got easily distracted. Right, why should a woman feel guilty about using her charm to fulfill her goal, if a man doesn't feel shameful to fall for it ? It was their fault in the first place if a nice ass got them losing their minds.

Just like Masashi, letting his guards down for a beautiful pair of breasts. If he took some time to overthink it a little bit, he would have figured out that there is nothing good in him that would make a twenty two lady interested in a threesome with him and a teenage girl, way too young to be in such a club.

Men will be men, you shrugged as you drank down what was left from your drink. Making sure your lipstick wasn't ruined before getting up, adjusting your dress and silently taking the same path they just walked to.

A few meters further on, you could see him pass the dance floor to rush into a rather dark corridor located at the corner of the club, surely the one that leads to his private apartments. A remote room, it was perfect, the plan followed the path traced. You felt like a god that night, the rules were yours, the destiny was yours to write, and the punisher was none other than you.

The sound of your heels clicking on the floor had something extremely empowering when you stepped inside the corridor, the loud music and people's voices from the dance floor were muffled now, your senses were sharp, alerted by every little sound since you couldn't see much of things due to the darkness, following slowly where their footsteps sounds were leading you.

Finally, you arrived at the end of that long corridor, and you were met by his sultry eyes analyzing you from head to toe with a huge smile, he was standing inside his room holding the door largely open.

He didn't recognize you, it's been years now, you grew up, you changed, you barely recognized yourself.

-" C'mon little lady, don't be shy " he opened the door he was holding a little bit more, making space for you to step inside.

Shy, you would have laughed if you could. If only he knew...

You entered the room silently with a smile, eyes roaming around every corner of that one. It was a spacious room, very refined. There is no doubt that this club belongs to him. The walls painted in dark colors contrasted with the light colors of the bedding, on which incidentally was sitting the teenager, wearing a dress much too tight for her own comfort.

Her features didn't show any fear, which told you she has been by his side long enough to turn numb to everything. Her brown eyes were so empty, and under the low light, you could see some bruises adorning her pale skin here and there. Just as a good puppet, she sat on the edge of the bed with her hands on her lap, and didn't moved an inche when Ogawa closed the door and slowly walked toward her, stood next to the teenager and moved her hair to the side to start placing kisses on her neck's skin.

His dark eyes looked up to you, who were still standing close to the door, and he smiled on her neck.

-" That's my good girl, her name's Shuko".

No, no she's not. Her name's Lisa, you stole it from her, as well as her life and youth.

-" as for me, you can call me daddy" he stated with a wry smile.

What if I called you dead, instead? You stopped yourself right in time from rolling your eyes.

A small laughter left his mouth when Lisa whimpered, he pulled her hair slightly to lift her head up so she was kissing him, and you had to swallow the bile coming up your throat.

The morality of this world has sunk deep down into its own unheard rock bottom, leaving a few bubbles to reach the visible layer. But the human eye has accepted its virtue on the merits of wealth, power, race, religion, fortune, fame and forged promises. Bypassing the penultimate truth. Every seed was conceived from the womb of unbiased morality.

And if you had doubts running to your head previously, now looking at the shell of a human being Lisa turned into after they stole her innocence, every bit of it disappeared into an ocean of hatred and rebellion.

She, as well as million other girls and boys could not do anything, they had to accept their fate. But you, you rose up from the death, the ball was in your court.

If the price of saving those lives was your humanity, your soul, then be it.

Then fucking be it, you thought as you watched him gesture you to come closer, sliding the straps of Lisa's dress to uncover her young bruised breasts.

Lions were raising from their slumbers, turning their head up to the sky. Hearing their roars felt like claps of thunder, breaking from the spell they were under.

Looking through her awakened eyes, lions were raising from your slumber.

With a slow, teasing step, you approached where he was standing. You could see he was struggling to contain his excitement through his eyes, and you wondered if he could see your hunger for blood through yours.

When you were in front of him, with a slight smile you ran your hands over his silk shirt, unbuttoning it at the same time under his burning glance.

-" gorgeous" he whispered, eyes lost on your features, your smile widened, eyes still focused on your task.

You chose to stay silent, he didn't have to hear your voice, he didn't even needed to, isn't it what they liked ? When women were being silent ?

Deathly silent. You were afraid that if you opened your mouth, all that would come out would be a sob. You were sure a strong woman now, but this, this was the most exciting event you ever experienced, and that meer fact was frightening.

Hell, just what kind of cursed dirty creature were you, to get excited for what you were about to do ?

You were done with his shirt, and lifted your head to look him in the eyes, feeling Lisa's hues on you as well. You couldn't quite tell what she was thinking about, her expressions were unreadable, and you were sorry she had to witness what would come, she already went through a lot...

-" What's your name ?" He asked, tilting his head to the side curiously.

And for a second you wondered, what would he think if you told him your real name ? Would he even remember ? Would he regret ? Would he be scared ?

Surely not, you were a little lamb back then, a seventeen little girl thrown to the wolves, just as Lisa.

Good, now you would give him a reason to be scared.

Ignoring his question, your palms laid flat on his chest to push him on the bed, his dark brown eyes flickered with surprise at the strength of your push, but it was soon replaced by lust when you straddled him, knees sinking in the mattress on each side of his body with your dress riding up your thighs. The man gulped down, his hands came caressing your skin, roaming way too high under your dress, but you let it slide, he wouldn't make it long enough anyway.

Looking at your brighter eyes, he lifted his head from the mattress, lips parted to welcome yours. You bend over a little more, reaching for the garrote and taking it out, his eyes widened slightly, burning with excitement.

-" I could never tell you were into this " his sly smile showed his ignorance, he was so wrong to think all of this was a kind of game, you were done playing long ago.

You saw the girl startling next to you two on the bed, you didn't gave it much attention, sure they used to beat her with things like that according to the bruises on her body. She must be thinking what her role was into this, wanting to be obedient and avoid any punishment , if only she knew from now on, she wouldn't have to take orders from anyone.

The garrote was a leather lace, very good looking, it had nothing to do with the weapon used since antiquity, so much that he had mistaken it for whatever sort of sex toy. But it was pretty strong, unfortunately he won't be alive to testify it after.

Impatient, he buckled his hips against yours, palms trying to get your closer to his body, your smile disappeared right then, frustration starting to get the best of you, you always had a short temper anyway.

Leaning just a little more against his ear, he moaned shamelessly, you did nothing but starting to wrap the garrote around his neck, so softly you didn't even recognized the strength you worked for four years to get. You were not really into those role plays or games, but sure rope games implied fake choking, and you started thinking he really was into it from the bulge growing in his pants.

He felt your smile widen against his ear, your eyes looked at the girl on the edge of the bed, heavy with meaning, then you whispered.

-" The hunt... Is on "

He couldn't comprehend your words, because as soon as you spoke, both of your hands pulled agressively at each side of the rope, and his eyes widened while his hands flew to his neck, trying to free himself from the grip.

Lisa got off from the bed, a cry left her mouth, eyes watering and body trembling, standing as far as possible from you. She eyed the door, thinking about running away but you shot her a look that immediately dissuaded her, which made her only start crying louder.

So, so burdened with a Machiavellian mind, diseased with hemorrhagic heart, sickened by corruption. You couldn't see him as a human being suffocating under your grip, you saw him as a result, the remnant of the bad in a corrupted society, and you had to eradicate it.

It was far from being easy, he moved like a ragged beast under you, flailing around, clutching and clawing at your thighs, trying to reach your neck, throwing a couple of hasty punches at your chest.

But evil isn't supposed to be easy, it never was. Human brain is coded for compassion, guilt, for a kind of empathic pain that causes the person inflicting harm to feel a degree of suffering that is in many ways as intense as what the victim is experiencing.

You looked at him trying and trying, turning blue and cyanotic, hearing his strangled sounds and the muffled cried and pleads of the teenage girl.

It was a mess, the rope burning your hands until almost drawning blood, the scratches on your skin, you tried your best to stay there straddling him while he fought for his life, just like he was drowning, he never seemed to reach the surface.

You could see the fear and anger in his eyes, and hear Lisa begging for whatever, but you were not there anymore, it was like you were looking at them, at you from above, like a god.

Taking a human's life was a weird experiment, somehow hard to describe. It was awful, it smelled like blood, brought unwelcomed fear of yourself and shame into you, but the adrenaline made you swallow it gladly, take it until the last breath of the life dying like a candlelight under your hands.

You were strangling him, and guilt was a demon strangling you from inside, but everytime you heard a broken cry from the girl struggling to keep her body steady near the window, you pulled at the rope harder, rage seeping through your eyes until he couldn't find the strength in him to hit you or scratch you anymore, to move anymore.

And you became too dizzy, dancing with your demons to notice his hands turning cold, the more his grip on your thighs loosened, the more you distanced yourself from reality, beasts roaring inside you commanding to surrender your soul. You kept losing your reigns, letting them take away every bit of life, as you lose humanity bit by bit, you kept blurring away from this world.

You looked at what used to scare you in the eye, and showed them the devils they created in you.

They told you. They told you to never look in their eyes, that it would make things easier for you, but you did. You stared at his eyes slowly getting lost in the background, and you took all the damage that came with it because taking a life isn't supposed to be easy, it is supposed to make you feel hideous, it is supposed to make you want to stop, and every fiber of your dying soul begged you to stop, that it still was not late. Yet, there was this rotten part, the one smiling deviously and making you wonder why would you stop when they didn't? Why would you have mercy on them when they didn't have any for you or for anyone else ?

His hands started slowly falling on each side of his body, you looked absent-mindedly as his pupils dilated, spiders crawling upon your brain, you could feel them wrestling for control.

You didn't let go of the garrote, even when his lips parted open, even when his head fall back on the mattress, not even when Lisa's cries stopped.

He was the first on a soon mountain of corpses you would lay your head on, the first stain of blood on your soul.

You killed yourself that day.

It wasn't a bad thing.

It wasn't the whole,you just cut the parts that don't define anymore. Embraced the truth, in order to make this world a better one, or at least this country.

You killed yourself, but the real you survived and was building from the pieces bit by bit.

He was now lying under you, lifeless, silent. The room was too silent, deathly. You couldn't stop looking at your mess, your masterpiece, from where he was now, he couldn't hurt anyone anymore.

The silent treatment was hard to take, you would rather take a verbal beating to fill the holes inside.

Surrender came in a different form, as if holding to the rope was a kind of denial for what you did, but as you as you let go of the weapon, the truth fell on your shoulders, and it stinks.

Your eyes trailed to the mirror on the vanity not far from the door, you looked at your reflection. Stared at the reaper into her deep cold eyes, and you weren't scared of her.

You lived in hell for years at a time, learned to accept that bringing your soul back from the abyss, you must have forgot some parts. It was strange to look at her reddened hands because they looked nothing like yours, they were heavy, weighting on you as a silent reminder for what you just did.

And you got up, taking your weapon by the way. You weren't guilty, maybe it was too soon to feel it, yet you were numb, and scared.

Scared that you were not yourself.

Or more precisely scared that you were yourself, this is you.

Afraid of what's hidden in the rotten parts, of what they turned you into.

They killed her, the young you.

Silent now was your heavy chest, for when she left your heart grew still, you wished to slay yourself for the thirst you felt even after this, the hunger. But what has died you cannot kill.

The young girl's eyes widened and her back pressed against the wall when you turned to look at her, Lisa couldn't believe it, the beautiful, stunning woman she saw on the club was now nothing more than a monster, your eyes were so lifeless, devoid of humanity when you made small steps toward her, and her heart was bleeding from fear and anxiousness. Though she already went through the worst, being sold and used at fifteen, she never saw something like you.

Never saw a man like you, no, you were a woman, graceful, Lucifer disguised as an angel, you held yourself so proudly that she thought the world belonged to you.

Like a god.

-" Please" her voice came out as a muffled cry, through your rough and numb surface, she managed to make your heart squeeze in your chest with those tears in the corner of her hues. You reached for the syringe that was also hidden in your garter belt, taking it out and seeing her gulping down, tears starting to run down her cheeks again.

- " Please no, I didn't do anything... "

-" I know." You took off the lid of the syringe, making eye contact with her shaking form again. " For your sake, it is better to not remember anything ".

Her eyes went from you to the drug in your hands, then back to your face. It was easy to figure out how frightened she was, fisting her hands on her sides when you came closer, she didn't even showed the same fear for the man previously, no, you were really something else.

-" When you'll wake up, they'll take you back to your family, 'kay, Lisa ?"

Her eyes widened, her chest tightened, it has been so long since no one called her by that name, your voice was so empty yet your words wanted her to relax, and made her relax despite she didn't wanted to.

Her family, so many ones promised this, just to take advantage of her body and leave her in that living hell again, no one could free her, all those were empty promises.

But you had nothing to do with them, you didn't even looked at her body, you looked at her without prejudice or expectations, you didn't asked for anything, you were frightening, but something about you had her wanting to surrender, she could do nothing even if she wanted to anyway.

Making a last step toward her, you thought it would be better to warn her about what would come. She grew into such a world, these last years, where no one asked for her permission, consent, treated her like an object. And though you would do what you had to do with or without her answer, she needed to feel like she took the wheel, like she has some power.

-" Now, gonna stick this needle into your jugular vein, and you're gonna fall into a deep slumber. " You explained, removing the bubbles from the syringe. " When you'll wake up, the cops would take your statement, but all you would remember is him taking you, and only you " your eyes warned her. " to this room, then, everything blacked out, and you found yourself in the hospital with your crying mother next to you, is it okay Lisa ?"

A lump forming in her throat, she nodded her head absent-mindedly. All of this seemed so unreal, ethereal, could she really trust you now ? Would you really bring her back to her family?

After two long years, it sounded impossible, but you just killed Masashi Ogawa, her worst nightmare, a man feared by thousand others on the underground. You made it possible and a desperate, immature part of her inner self wanted to believe you, as you rested your hand on her bruised neck to tilt her head to the side.

-" Gonna hurt ?" Her broken voice shattered your heart. She looked like an injured puppy, eyes wide stuck on yours, searching for some maternal instinct. You shook your head, shushing her as you slowly penetrated the needle inside her vein.

-" nothing will hurt anymore, I'll make sure of it " the liquid slips smoothly inside her body, emptying the syringe, she stared at your with fear and tears in her brown hues, slowly going half-lidded while her body started relaxing. You caught her, by wrapping your hand around her waist, and her head fall back, she whimpered faintly.

-" I've got you, I'm here to make it better ".

And she blacked out, finally closing her eyes and falling into a deep slumber. You rested her body carefully on the bed, as far as you could from the dead one.

Dead, you still struggled to believe it. Numb, you couldn't recognize your own body, as if you were projected out of it, flying somewhere and seeing it from above. Your actions were those of an automated, took the phone from his pocket, they gave you his password anyway.

Scrolling through many of his secret recorded videos at La Compagnie's hotel, you chose a random one of them, they were all equally incriminating.

The video was a short one, not more than four minutes but everything was there, from the way he used that obviously too young girl's body, to the way she wouldn't stop crying under him. You rolled your eyes, couldn't believe he held such an evidence with him so nonchalantly, but then only made your blood boil because it was once again a proof that they weren't scared of anything.

Except you. You swore to become their worst nightmare.

Alaya Kuuro, yes, this one would make the job. She was a honest journalist, dedicated her life fighting for the weak never asking for repay.

In less than an hour, everyone would know about Masashi Ogawa, a cheerful politician.

Involved into minors embezzlement , the one who takes care of their change of identity, false papers, and sell the girls at auction like vulgar antiques, to old perverts thirsty for power. You pressed the send button, not even bothering to type any text with it, they would eventually know it is a murder when the morning comes.

Sure this would create a huge hole in your dad's plans, his business would be put on hold, waiting to find someone else to change the girls names and identities, otherwise how could they send them to different places all around the world?

It was all that you needed to paralyze La Compagnie for now, so you could hunt properly.

This is it, this is the hunt.

You never claimed to be a hero, you knew killing would turn you into a villain yourself.

May god forgive them, they killed you, and you were born from your own ashes like a phoenix.

May god forgive you, you were born a villain in a world that needed a hero.

•••

He removed the last bouquet of flowers he brought, and another fresh one soon replaced the latter, much brighter, much younger. It was a routine for him that everytime he would come, a bouquet of your favorite flowers would be laid on the grave. If he could, he would do it everyday. He hated, loathed to see those flowers fading, somehow, it only exacerbated his pain and reminded him of how your body should be doing the same, six feet under. Therefore, he didn't knew it but replacing those ones were one of the few coping mechanisms he found, and if he wasn't more often busy with Bonten's business, it wouldn't bother him to do it every single day of the year.

Ran's nostrils were invaded by the scent of freshly cut grass and the freshly deposited flowers, the early winter's raindrops threatening to start pouring at anytime from the gray monotonous sky, everything around was just so depressing, he couldn't stop feeling that same emptiness he tried to fill with drinks, drugs, and many other thing he knew you would probably don't like. But you were not there anymore.

He couldn't believe that he would ever swallow the pain of missing you, just the sound of your name still strikes his heart in such a way that he couldn't breathe. And he understood four years ago that love was a bound that death could not part, gone from his arms, held in his heart, you were.

-" I always liked to call you angel " his lazy smile stretched a little more at the memory. " Never expected you to become a real one ".

It also became a routine to talk to that tombstone, Rindou used to find it stupid at first, but he saw him little by little starting to do it too, until telling you about everything, the most boring details of his life. This might have sounded weird or even out of character for what they were doing on daily basis, but when it came to you, nothing was out of character. They knew you even before they knew this delinquent life, nothing would change their rather soft nature when it comes to you.

-" I think rain's coming " he tilted his head to look at the heavy clouds above. " D'ya still hate it when It rains, even there ?".

He had to undo his necktie slightly, feeling a lump forming in his throat. It was like the words were choking him, he struggled to get them out yet he kept trying because he just couldn't bring himself to let go.

He tried, God knows Ran tried to overcome it, and he hated thinking about it but he even tried to replace you, it only made him feel even more pathetic since he never could.

Fuck, it happened four years ago, how much before he could finally wake up without an empty hole in his chest ? How much before he could finally be able to say he overcame the grief ?

He knew Rindou didn't neither, they both just cared about you so much that they were still there, visiting the grave every now and then. Talking about that one, he was standing few meters away, giving his brother some intimacy. It was weird because they both knew how much they were suffering, yet they hated talking about it or showing it, outside this cemetery at least.

It was like your name became something forbidden out of this place, a silent pact they both respected.

-" you sure would call me pathetic if you knew everytime it rains I feel nostalgic " a little laugher left his mouth, while his hand brushed his hair back. "I'm not pathetic, I just... "

Four years of him trying to put this into words, articulate this loss, and he still struggled to find the right ones. It just didn't felt right, at first, talking to this tombstone had something soothing, but now it only makes him cringe, and he would've stopped, but he wasn't ready to let go of the last thing that was left behind you.

The truth was that the pain was still there, the emptiness was still there. All your friends were done grieving, your family stopped coming to visit, or to change the flowers, and the world seemed to turn as if nothing happened. And the truth was that he hated it, the world seemed to only revolve around you when you were alive, around your smile, around the way you would curse them then fix their fight injuries as if nothing happened, how hypocritical it was that it didn't shattered when you left, that everyone except them carried on with their life.

Those memories made him close his eyes faintly, cursing under his breath because of how they were burning. He promised he would not shed another tear, yet everytime he remembered about your years together, his chest would tighten until he wanted to scream, to cry out for help or rather just die there and stop feeling anything.

-" If i could, I'd bargain with time itself to bring ya back t'me, to us" he turned slightly to look at his younger brother, who noticed him and kept his gaze as impassible as he could. " I'd do it. I'd give a piece of m'life to see ya again ".

But he could not, and he felt like the most useless man in the world. He let the world take you from them when he was supposed to protect both you and Rindou since your childhood, he promised he would, and he failed. And it was nothing compared to the failure he ever knew, this one tasted like a curse, this one would never be repaired.

-" I fucking can't. All I'd ever be able to do is to... love you... 'til my last fucking breath."

He barely believed you could hear him, he didn't believe in fairytales or anything else and knew for fact you were nothing more than old bones surrounded by worms, this habit of talking to the tombstone was mostly for him, his sanity, to keep him grounded. And it was unfortunate because he would have liked you to hear those words, the ones he had always been afraid to say to your face.

It was cruel to think that what drove him to realize his feelings was to see the earth being thrown over your coffin, if he could turn back time, he would say it, he knew he would say it until his tongue felt sore, but it was too late now, and he had to live with this heavy burden, carry it to his deathbed.

He stood up as best he could, dusting off his suit pants. Ran put his hands in his pockets and smiled faintly one last time.

-" your spirit's better not leave our side, angel. Or I'll bring it back by that cute ass of yours".

Without adding anything else, he turned his back and walked a little further away from the tombstone. He took out a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket and lit it, while looking at his younger brother who was walking without a word to where he was crouching a few seconds earlier.

About Rindou, he usually preferred to sit, with his back against the tombstone. He was everytime careful to not crash the flowers his brother brought, and would lift his head to look at the sky, it was somehow better to forget about everything around.

Growing up, he had his own notion of grief, thought it was a sad time that follows the death of someone you loved and you had to push through it to get to the other side. But within these last years, he learned there was no other side, no pushing through, rather there is absorption, adjustment, and acceptance.

Rindou found out grief was not something to complete, but rather to endure. He wished it would have been a task to finish and move on, but it became little by little an element of himself, a new way of seeing, a new dimension of self.

He wasn't better than his brother in this matter, he tried by many ways to move on, to forget about it and just let you rest in peace, but this death... It exposed parts of him he should never have seen, it brought tears to his eyes he never shed before.

-" dummy" his strong voice calls, he remembered how you used to hate that nickname first, getting slowly used to it by the time. He still found it silly talking to a stone, but he saw Ran doing it, and Ran still looked like dealing with things better than himself, so he just took it from him, hoping it would help him as much as it did for his brother.

-" I saw ya again last night".

Ah, yes. There would be those cursed nights where he would dream of you, what a stereotype, yet it is logical when you think about it, sometimes when he falls asleep thinking about you, his subconscious finds nothing better to do than to torture him with memories or fantasies that never happened. Most of the time would it be those nights before he came to visit, which made sense since they would be talking about it with Ran.

He would not say he hated those dreams, or maybe he did, he could never tell. They were painful, annoying, still if it happened that you didn't wander in his sleep for too long, he would find himself grumbling about it.

In fact, he didn't hated the dreams themselves, rather hated waking up from them.

-" nothing new, you were jus' home, with us. I... I think at some point, I loved you back to life. Loved ya back t'me".

It is in these times where he would allow himself to let his guards down and take the time to acknowledge how badly scarred is his heart. When only Ran and you would be around.

His heart still suffered your loss, he woke up each morning feeling lost, and just pushed through his day, pushing those memories back in his head, and just sits between the black and white, the pain of your death and the memories of your life.

The dreams were cruel, a constant reminder that things could have been better, but will unfortunately never. And suddenly, he feels that time is moving too slowly, understanding that the whatever something he was waiting for would never happen, that he was even more lost than what he thought he was, with exhaustion seeping through his skin.

-" Then I wake up. Prolly high again, you would hate it, but let's be honest, it feels s'damn good 'cause it's like amnesia, makes me forget about all the stupid little things. "

Then he would finally come down from his high, and act like he was okay.

He learned to hide everything, to act as if he couldn't do any better. He would get through his day, do his job and laugh with his trio. He would party the whole night or feel the adrenaline of late night missions, and just pretend he didn't hated how his chest was full of hollow.

His eyes trailed to his brother's shape, from where he was standing and smoking his cigarette.

-" Ran says we'll be just fine. But I'm not fine at all." He scoffed, feeling frustration rising inside him again. It was always like this, he was always like this, he couldn't found why every emotion he struggled with was automatically assimilated to anger.

-" No I'm really not fine at all". He looked at the drop that had just wetted his wrist, and turned his gaze back to the sky. No, no it wasn't raining.

-" this has to be just another dream. You're fucking dead, why in hell what I feel for you is not ? Hm? "

There were many stages to grief, Rindou went through all of them without ever reaching the last final one, acceptance.

It all started with the denial, feeling shocked, numb and confused, avoiding to face the truth and letting himself be easily distracted by anything that could steal his attention from what was actually happening.

The one he never seemed to get over was the anger, though. It wasn't just rage and discomfort of not controlling anything, it was also the embarrassment of having done absolutely anything, the resentment. The more time passed by, the angrier he was against the world, the unknown one that did this to you, himself, and even against you.

-" Hate ya " a nervous laugh escaped his mouth, despite the burning sensation inside his chest, he kept a composed voice. " I hate ya with all the damn love I have f'ya".

Because him too, just like Ran, wished to tell you someday.

He even considered himself closer to you than what Ran was, and was fearless about confessing, making you his because he craved you all day long, but he never had the chance to, now he was only left with regrets.

-" bitch said it was jus' us three against the world, then just left it. You left-"

-" enough, ya losing your shit, Rin' ".

He gritted his teeth, frustrated that Ran cut him off, but he knew he was right, it was useless to keep letting his anger get the best of him. The truth was that he was just upset at himself for not being able to protect you, he couldn't help but wonder, what if you stayed inside that night ? What if they weren't so high and were actually able to walk you home ?

Then things would have been different, sure they would, nothing would have happened to you if he just stayed by your side.

He didn't truly blamed you, he just struggled with all the guilt and pain, with the thought that he could have made things better but would never have the chance to.

He thought Ran would find him pathetic, but against all odds he just patted his shoulder with one hand, while standing up next to Rindou's sitting form. The youngest brother refused to look up and meet his elder's eyes, they habitually never shared their thoughts and resentment about this, it was better to avoid any conversation about you, Ran managed to get a hold of himself without any help, he had to the same.

With a bitter taste in his mouth, he stood up and dusted off his pants and threw a last glance at the tombstone, holding back a cringe. Four years, still it was eerie to read your name on that stone, it just didn't look right, there were no mistake but he still couldn't comprehend what it was doing here, like it didn't belong to this place.

He welcomed the cigarette that his brother placed between his lips with a weary face and waited until he lit up this one.

" We'll be fine " he repeated, just as everytime they came here. He wasn't as naive as to think Rindou still swallowed his words, still he kept this routine more for himself than anyone else. And in exchange Rindou said nothing, accepted that Ran needed to have the upper hand and feel like he could control things, it kept him grounded to take care of him, even though he would never admit it.

Both silently walked out of the cemetery, eyeing from time to time the amount of people gathering somewhere for someone's funerals, hearing the mourners crying and sniffling. It had been a long time since crying affected them given the work they did, blood and death were their inevitable companions.

Once outside, they both climbed into Rindou's Bentley Mulsanne, Ran watched silently while this one were busy chosing the playlist, he never had a say in the matter when it came to music, and stared at his stern expression while he started the car, entering the main road and huffing in frustration at the traffic jams. The elder turned his head to the window, and tossed his cigarette before clearing his throat.

-" I think that's my last time coming here".

Silence. Ran's lavender eyes ventured toward the seat next to him, he caught the frown between his brother's brows and spoke again.

-" Enough of this shit. We should move on".

Rindou's hands gripped the steering wheel harder until his knuckles were pale, he couldn't believe those words came out from his mouth when he was the very one to insist on visiting so often.

" We should move on" he hated how he told it with such an ease, he never knew the words left his brother's mouth bitter.

If things were as easy as he made it sound, they wouldn't feel like this even after years, if moving on was an option, they would have. Yet it still haunted them like a nightmare, the biggest loss they experienced, did he really thought that stop visiting the graveyard would help with it?

-" easier said than done" Rindou scoffed, keeping his eyes on the road as he felt his brother's on him.

-" never said it was easy. But we can't keep being wrecks, this shit got the best of us, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want this for us. "

Though he was rather a stoic one, he didn't missed his micro reactions as the twitch of his eyebrows or his puffed chest.

And though he would never admit it, but Rindou was hurting, Ran's words felt like being stabbed in the back, from his closest one moreover.

He had his eyes narrowed on the road, mind in confusion. It was the first time he felt betrayal, and experienced the loneliness that came with it. Thinking that Ran might start moving on without him made him anxious and extremely frustrated, he didn't want to let go, he could never, but he also could never watch his brother overcoming the thing and be the only one left behind.

-" You have no idea what she would've wanted" he said through gritted teeth, the elder rolled his eyes, annoyed by the way Rindou always thought he was the only one suffering.

No one knew what took place behind closed doors, what Ran Haitani was behind his smiling mask, cognac glasses and random girls, ones that never seemed to be enough to fill the holes inside. He managed to hide it well during the day, but whether was he in an empty bed at night or sleeping with someone, your memory never left him, your face never faded. He had enough of his brother behaving as if your death impacted him the most.

-" why not ? She was my fucking person too, y'know it" He ran his hand on his hair, sighing from frustration and taking his eyes from his brother's shape who was still focused on the road. " I'd rather take a bullet to not feel this, she left us and took all the world with her, right ? That's how you feel, and I know it cause that's how I do too".

-" Don't... " He started, glaring at him, bulging veins on his forehead.

-" Feels like being flayed alive. Like you would rip up the whole world for daring to keep going without her, right ?" He insisted, watching Rin's ears reddening with anger. " Like she wasn't everything -"

-" and you wanna do the same !" His voice rose several octaves, he could feel his blood flowing faster from the outrage. Those words made no sense to him, Ran was just being hypocritical. He was talking about suffering from your absence and yet admitted that he wanted to move on. He was angry at the world for forgetting but he wanted to do the same, it was selfish but he hoped with all his heart that he would not succeed.

-" I never said I wanted to forget, I could not even if i wanted to " he scoffed bitterly, ignoring the way Rindou rolled his eyes. " But I can't pretend this is fine anymore. It's unhealthy, and miserable. Keep coming here won't bring her back."

If Rindou's throat tightened with a knot, Ran's one was burning like hell. Saying this out loud was a slap for both of them, though it was something obvious still letting go was a foreign fight that seemed scary, even the elder who was willing to still was reluctant toward it.

-" You said you'd never lemme down " he hid his helplessness by his cold demeanor and by avoiding his gaze, through his frustrated state, and even through the walls he built around his heart for so long, Ran still felt his chest tightening because of those words. him too, looked away and avoided to stare at him while answering.

-" Did I ever ?" He watched his reflexion through the half opened window, noticing his frown. " It's still us three against the world. I'd never quit hunting down the one who did this to our princess, we walked down this path for this after all".

He caught Rindou clenching his jaw just like everytime they would talk about that one man who stole everything from them, the only one who dared approaching what was theirs.

And he couldn't blame him, he has been in the same state though his rage was colder than his brother's one. Ran was more like an ocean that never settles, the calm before the storm and Rindou was the rage living within its center, his anger was eating him alive while the elder found a way to silence it and postpone it until that day, the one they would finally understand what happened.

-" What is it that the crackhead wants anyway?" Rindou ended up switching the subject, tired of the current one.

-" Said Mikey needed everyone, don't know no more " he shrugged, his brother hummed in silence and he took a turn that led them a few minutes later to the Bonten headquarters.

After parking the car, they entered the skyscraper and took the elevator to the second-to-last floor, to the meeting room. The soothing silence of the elevator was quickly replaced by the usual hubbub as they entered and saw their colleagues already seated around the large meeting table.

-" We almost waited " Takeomi grumbled from where he was sitting on a chair at the left side of the table, next to Kakucho.

-" You should know I don't give a fuck about that " Ran answered while getting to his usual seat next to Sanzu on the right side, just between him and Rindou who followed him silently.

As for the end of the table, it was occupied by Sano Manjiro who had his eyes glued to something on his laptop, ignoring his executive's conversations.

To Takeomi's left and in front of Rindou was sitting Mochizuki, and Koko was also working on his laptop at the other end of the table, sitting on the opposite of his boss.

-" Y'only do give a fuck when it comes to dead people anyway" Sanzu's words made almost everyone in the room go stiff, even their boss shifted his eyes from whatever he was working on to look at them. Him as well as everyone around knew how much of a faux pas it was to talk about it, Sanzu was a bastard to bring it up and by the way Ran's usual smile faltered and his eyes darkened and narrowed, everyone could easily say how mad he was.

-" Watch your fucking mouth" his tone was all but hostile, low and dangerous, Haruchiyo flashed a provoking smile and tilted his head to the side, earning death glares from both the brothers.

-" chill, I'm just saying this as Bonten's number two. It's inappropriate to make the boss wait for some dead chick ".

-" Still better than anyone alive" Rindou's firm voice cut like a knife, preventing his brother from going any further with Bonten's number two. He deserved anything that Ran would do to him, but not when Mikey was there, who knows how he would react and Ran's anger was more frightening than his brother's one, he had to admit.

-" in the meantime you're the one wasting our time Is you" Kakucho cleared his throat and replied to Sanzu who just rolled his eyes dramatically. " We didn't bring all of you here for that".

-" What is it about ?" Ran asked while his brother leaned against his seat, eyes venturing between Kokonoi and Manjiro who lifted both their eyes from their laptops.

-" This." Mikey's authoritative tone shut everyone down, he turned his computer so it faced everyone around the table and played the video on the screen, a journalist started talking right after in what it seemed like a crowded neighborhood, Rindou's eyes widened slightly when he recognized the place.

- " This morning the lifeless body of the famous entrepreneur Kaito Abe was found in his own house at around seven o'clock in the morning by his wife returning from a trip. Do you have any suspects Sergeant Kiba? "

The dark haired woman offered her microphone to the man with a police uniform, that one adjusted his hat before clearing his throat.

-" we still know nothing about the one who did this, Alaya. The primary investigation revealed nothing unusual, no signs of forced entry, the alarm was still active and the neighbors reported nothing suspicious. "

-" But we can tell for sure the one who did this is in fact the same one who killed mister Masashi Ogawa, isn't it ?"

-" We have no evidence to link the two crimes. "

-" what about both the videos my department received ?" Alaya asked, talking about the recordings her newspaper rushed to spread everywhere. " Both men appeared in a compromising situation with underage girls, did you start investigating about that ? Why haven't we heard anything from the girl that was found in mister Ogawa's room ? "

-" please excuse me, I am not allowed to talk about these cases "

-" Mister Kiba do you think the one who did this is trying to tell us something ? Mister Kiba ?"

But the sergeant was already leaving the camera's view, cutting through the crowd of journalists and civilians gathered in front of Kaito Abe's house.

-" it happened in our territory " concluded Rindou when the video stopped playing.

-" It is not a coincidence that two men of La Compagnie found themselves killed and exposed within such a short amount of time " added Ran, earning a significant glance from his brother to which he understood the meaning.

They learned about La Compagnie's existence only two years ago through their spy inside Hiroto Mori's political party, and if they had to be honest, the only thing they were satisfied about was that you never got to know your father's whereabouts. During your teenage years together, they always suspected your father to be more than just a politician, but it was only after the incident that they noticed how suspicious his acts were and started doubting his motivation to find his daughter's murderer.

It gave them a purpose for this dance of life, a purpose for this anger within , for the demons bleeding through their body and into their minds. They would have died to just torture Hiroto Mori's pathetic body slowly until they got the truth out of him, but they were only teenagers back then and needed someone greater behind them. One thing led to another, and they found themselves Bonten members, in exchange Sano Manjiro managed to turn one of his men into an informer inside that political system, and they ended up learning about the underground human trafficking organization your father created along with nine other influential men, well, seven now, since two of them were six feet under.

La compagnie has grown within the last years, extended to many other countries and established links all around the world. Their main goal was trapping young naive girls or kidnapping young tourists, changing their identities and creating fake identifications then selling them all around the world during auctions, or as for the one's who weren't bought by foreign men, forced to prostitution inside Hiroto Mori's gigantic Hotel.

Though Bonten was also implied in illegal activities such as prostitution, drug dealing and organized crime, they only hired consenting prostitutes and above anything else, of age, adult and legally responsible for their actions. They all loathed La compagnie, not only for this but also for competing with their business, on the other hand the brothers knew your heart would have shattered if you knew about it, you never really were close to your father still you had a strong sense of morality, things would have gone bad if you ever learned that.

For their great misfortune, they never seemed to reach the truth about you, or about what your father knew about that night. He accepted the totally improbable and non-credible suspect that the police arrested and did not inquire after that, which led them to suspect that he knew much more than he was saying.

-" I don't understand, why are we interested on this ?"

-" 'Cause it happened in our territory, Mochi. When two influential men get killed in an area dominated by our gang and we know nothing about, we can't just ignore it" replied a frustrated Kokonoi, rubbing his temple to soothe his headache. As if they weren't already busy enough with the decrease in their prostitution incomes, since apparently La compagnie stole most of the clients with their underage girls, they also had to deal with a new potential threat. He knew even more exhausting days were yet to come, and he had to figure out a way to catch up with the loss in incomes.

-" Isn't it something we should be happy about ?" Takeomi grunt. " Those assholes are in the way of our business".

-" for now, he seems to be only after La Compagnie's guys. But who says it's not some vigilante who wants to clean up the city ? Who says we're safe from any attempt ?" Kakucho argued with the man next to him who was busy lighting up his cigarette. The raven haired man growled when Sanzu leaned over the table to speak.

-" far be it from me to question your words, Boss" he started, earning a frown from the so-called Mikey. " But I don't think whoever did this could be a threat for us."

-" Those politicians are pretty average when it comes to fights " Ran agreed, rolling up his shirtsleeves. " There's no point in comparing or worrying".

After that, all eyes were on their boss sitting at the end of the table. The latter leaned back against his seat and intertwined his fingers, placing them against his chest, and looked back at his computer.

-" This, is not an angry murder" he acknowledged with austere tone. " This is pure malice. Have you learned nothing from me ? "

They all shut up. Looking at the blond man turning the computer towards them, two different images where represented the respective bodies of Masashi Ogawa and Kaito Abe, both stripped, bearing strangulation marks around the neck.

-" the execution-style-murder. The one who did this knew what he was doing".

-" leaving no trace each time " Kokonoi picked up. " Without being spotted either before or after".

At those words, Rindou leaned over the table and with the permission of his boss grabbed the laptop and started scrolling through the newspaper article, frowning a little more at every line he read.

-" they're goddamn right to be worried. Ogawa was killed inside his own crowded club, Abe inside his own house with both his children sleeping in their bedroom. And each time, no clue has been found, nothing."

-" the perfect crime." Concluded Kakucho, raising his eyebrows toward the others as a way to say " I told you so ".

Both Ran and Sanzu glanced at each other, while the others still proceeded the words. Well, maybe they were wrong to underestimate this murderer, his modus operandi was not violent, rather controlled and well calculated. The killer was not afraid of being caught in the act either, committing murders in such crowded places was not the work of any delinquent.

Each time, he exposed the truth of the men he killed to the entire world, and it happened to be influential man. It clearly was an act of rebellion.

-" That is mainly why I think we're dealing with a vigilante" the boss added as the others nodded in understanding.

-" is this why you wanted us here, boss ? " Ran questioned. " You want us to find the one who did this ?"

-" Let's say we did, are we gonna kill him ?"

Manjiro took the time to think about his subordinate's question. On the one hand, having a Zorro in their territory could be problematic, especially if he decided to meddle in their affairs, but on the other hand, this purge that he seemed to be leading against the members of Hiroto Mori's secret organization was working in their favor, eliminating their direct competitors without them having to do the dirty work. They sure could have dealt with La Compagnie for overshadowing their business but those ones had the whole Tokyo's police in their pocket, so many important people were involved into this and it would be a pain in the ass thing to deal with, even for Bonten.

He took another minute to ponder whether it would be wise to get involved into this vigilante's business, his dark eyes ventured toward Hajime who straightened his back as soon as his boss looked at him.

-" Koko, remind me what both their roles were within the organization."

Kokonoi cleared his throat " the first victim, Masashi Ogawa was the one in charge of the auctions and giving the girls fake ID. As for the second one, Abe manages a car and truck assembly line. His vehicles were used to transport the "merchandise" discreetly to the ports and ships where the auctions were held. "

-" not the top guys, still pretty useful ".

-" I don't get it" the elder of the Haitani's slapped his hands on the table, leaning over and earning everyone's attention. " If that vigilante wanted to ruin La Compagnie, why not attacking the leader ?"

-" guess it's not that easy to approach a man of such consequence " Sanzu shrugged, Ran hummed at his answer but they were all cut off by Rindou's edgy tone.

-" Fuck no, you don't get it, none of you. " He pushed the laptop back toward his boss and removed his gloves under everyone's curious eyes. " They are freezing La Compagnie. If they can't sell the girls worldwide anymore because of the lack of transport and fake IDs, their sales figures would drop considerably" he explained.

-" On the other hand, if they killed Hiroto" concluded Mikey, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully.

-" His vice president would take over as if nothing happened" the youngest Haitani completed, things started getting clearer now for them. " Whoever is doing this is making sure La Compagnie would never rise again, that's fucking genius".

Silence fell on the room while they were all busy thinking about the words exchanged. The youngest Haitani was probably right, if he was not the strongest of the siblings, he was undoubtedly the most intelligent and calculating, he might even be the brain of Bonten after Koko of course. He was a logical thinker, and what he was saying actually made sense for everyone there, making them nod in understanding and making his boss raising his eyebrows and opening his mouth to talk.

-" In that case, I want you to find out who hides behind this shit".

All the executives turned their heads towards their boss, surprised by his decision, waiting for him to elaborate.

-" shall we get rid of the vigilante?" Sanzu was ready to start investigating for the identity of the latter, to launch a real manhunt if that was his king's will.

-" No. Not for now " the Sano's dry tone brought him out of his thoughts. "

-" The enemy of my enemy is my friend " Kokonoi stated in front of the executives questioning looks.

-" that's right. What he's doing now is unwillingly serving Bonten's pockets, let's just keep an eye on that man and see what his next move will be".

-" How are we even supposed to find him ? He's like a ghost " Ran grunt to which all of the men there agreed.

They all watched as their boss stood up from his seat, absolutely careless about their reluctance and started heading toward the door, quickly followed by Kokonoi and Kakucho.

-" I don't care how you do this. Hunt him down, turn the whole fucking town upside down, look for him in every single house and every shit hole if needed".

They were listening to their boss's orders without reluctance now, aware that a seething Manjiro Sano was the last thing they wanted to deal with.

-" I want his name on my desk by the end of the week".

#ran haitani smut #ran haitani x reader #ran smut #ran haitani #haitani rindou #rindou haitani x reader #rindou my beloved <3 #bonten rindou #rindou angst #rindou x you #bonten x reader #bonten smut #polyamory #tokyo rev fluff #mikey tokyo revengers #tokyo rev x you #tokyo revengers angst #tokyo revengers smut

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avtrbee · 2 years

Note

please more gojo and fushiguro kids or gojo and his first years + yn moments!!

Notes: a little angsty and implied past!SatoSugu/Reader, Sugu still loves them, but they aren’t his goals anymore. reader is a female here w/ she/her pronouns. this is more getou centric than it is yn x gojo but there are a sprinkle of fushiguro kids here!! hope you enjoy (more notes at the end of the fic :>)

Three's a Crowd

summary: Suguru leaves and massacres his village, leaving you and Satoru with the consequences.

tw: jjk0 spoilers, mentions of murdering children

Satoru marries you as soon as it settles within him that Suguru was never coming back.

It came to no surprise to no one, you two were betrothed in childhood, after all, only you weren’t supposed to marry a year earlier. Satoru tried to play it off, waving his hands dismissively, with an easy smile on his face. “Why bother waiting? We’re only delaying the inevitable.”

In truth, he sees you fading. You were quiet most of the time, a far cry from the firecracker of a sorcerer you once were. He would spot you in the most random places staring into space, trying your best to recall every conversation you had with Suguru. Maybe you were trying to recall the past to see hints you overlooked, any clue that might have foreshadowed Suguru’s sudden change. Either way, Satoru sadly watches you walk around the campus aimlessly, with no real destination in mind, staring at the sky, the grass, and the trees, but never really in your head.

There is a certain look in your eyes, the kind that tries its best to look normal but it’s only a mask to hide utter numbness. It grips Satoru’s heart like a vice when he recognizes it and sends him into a blind panic. He’s seen that look before. You were a ship without an anchor, mindlessly floating away to the sea, oblivious to where you were heading.

So he’ll be your rock if it meant he could keep you here with him. He had not noticed Suguru fading away, spiraling deep inside his own head, the world collapsing on his shoulders until he finally snapped, leaving him to run away from high school and back to his hometown. If only Satoru noticed, if only Satoru saw, then maybe he would still be here.

He knows of your dutiful nature. Satoru knows every detail about your upbringing and how your clan has instilled into you how to be his perfect bride and wife, and he knows how you hated being reduced to such a thing. But he married you anyway knowing that this marriage will override anything else going inside your brain. He knows that your childhood lessons will take over. It is manipulative, but if this is the only way he could keep you from leaving, leaving like Suguru did, then he’ll take it. He can’t lose any more people. That is a lie. He can. He can’t lose you.

“Hey, welcome back.”

Your voice greets him as soon as he closes the door and Satoru can’t help but to sag his shoulders in relief. It was always good to be home. Home is where he could relax, let his guard down in peace knowing that no assassin or curse would even dare to enter it. Home is where he could shed the skin of the Strongest Sorcerer and simply be Satoru. Home is where his wife is.

You give him a bright smile as he trudged down to the hallway with his heavy steps echoing on the floor before he threw himself on you, his arms encircling you to a hug.

“Hey-” The scent of apples fill his sense of smell as his nose nuzzles on your neck like a cat, promptly ignoring your protest. It was when he felt your hands run through his hair and settle on his neck did he finally relax, almost melting onto you on the spot. Home is safe. Home is you.

“Someone’s needy today.” You tease, but never for a second loosening your grip. You need this as much as he does. He is home.

“I just missed you, ‘is all.” His response is muffled on your neck. He sniffs you loudly, like some dog sniffing for bombs- prompting a short laugh from you- before letting you go with a grin on his face.

The past few years have been bliss. Satoru is happy and you’ve been so happy recently which makes him even happier. There is a certain bounce on your step, one that he hasn’t seen since the Star Plasma Vessel, and you’ve been smiling and laughing more- a far cry from the void and empty look you gave everyone months ago. And your eyes, god, Satoru is willing to kneel and praise whichever god exists if it meant your eyes were back to their usual sparkle.

Getting you back was hard, but you were worth it. Satoru would have to drag you to cafe’s, encouraging you to try out their menus, desperately trying to ignore the way you seem to function in autopilot, like you’re doing things but you’re not really there. You would raise your spoon to your lips, tasting sweets that Satoru knows is tasteless in your mouth, and whisper quietly how you like it just to assure him.

But now you’d casually hint on new stores or cakes you’d like to try, you even insisted on watching movies every first Sunday of the week- barely any watching and more kissing and fucking, if he’s honest- but god, he’d do whatever you’d ask him to. Sometimes he’d come home and you’d surprise him with a date with a reservation to some steak restaurant in some skyscraper with the view of all of Tokyo below you.

If this was what marriage was like with you, he would have married you sooner.

But he had news. Bad news. The kind that punches a hole in his heart, leaving him numb and hollow. The kind that would make you spiral again. Satoru finds his hand on your cheek, and he relishes how you nuzzle it.

He wants to stomp his feet on the floor like a child, throw a tantrum, break a vase or two. It wasn’t fair. He just got you back, and now you might drift away again- floating through each room looking like you’d rather be anywhere else.

“What is it?” You ask, and your voice brings him out of his thoughts. Satoru has realized too late that he has let his guard down way too quickly around you. Again. You do that to him.

He feels your palm grip his hand that was on your cheek like you were bracing yourself for a storm. On your hand he sees your marriage ring glint under the light. Satoru takes a deep breath. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard,” he admits. Yaga would have definitely contacted you, but maybe his sensei had wanted him to break the news. “All sorcerers above Grade level 2 are ordered to prepare for war.”

Satoru braces himself for your response. He’d protect you from all of this if he could, but even he knows what the enemy is capable of. They need every sorcerer they could get, especially one as valuable as a semi-special grade Gojo Y/N. You are not an anomaly like him, but Satoru has seen you in battle. He would win the fight against you, but you would make him work for it.

“I see,” you whisper, bringing his hand down back to his waist before letting go. “What are my commands?”

“We will gather in Shibuya as soon as we can. The Night Parade of 100 Demons will start at sundown.” A glance at the clock shows that it’s already 5PM, and he didn't need to look at the window to see the sunlight slowly fading. Satoru has tried to delay this news as long as he could.

“But what about Megumi and-” You begin but he cuts you off.

“They will be safe. I’ve put up extra enchantments and you know that no one can beat your talismans,” he teases. “No curse will be able to enter this house once we leave. And if they do, Megumi will know what to do.”

“Does Tsumiki have her glasses?”

Satoru nods. Tsumiki had begged and begged for a pair, and despite your protests, you found yourself embedding your cursed energy in a pair of glasses when she shed a few tears admitting she felt left out.

A pregnant pause holds the room and finally, you ask, “Did he do this?”

Satoru freezes and braces himself. There was no use on lying to you. You know him inside and out just like he knows you. “Yes.”

To his surprise, you flip your hair and scoff. “Figures. Only he would name an attack that dramatic.”

It made Satoru’s mouth twitch in amusement. “Let's go say good night.”

“Something is wrong,” you murmur, looking at the Tokyo skyline. You stand before your colleagues, squinting at your environment. Civilians have been long evacuated, with veils covering the entire city. Tokyo’s skyscrapers look so unimpressive with all the curses curling and floating around them in different shapes and sizes.

From your position, you could already spot several curse users taking their positions. You spot a foreigner and a woman on top of a building looking down at you. At your peripheral, you see a huge curse open its mouth widely, revealing two girls inside. Those must be his daughters, you think.

You see the blonde one stand and scream enthusiastically, “Here we go!”

And as if by cue, the battle has begun. You feel your cursed energy surge through your body as you reach out feeling a cursed sword materialize out of a pocket in space in your hand. You run to the nearest curse with one thought in mind- where was Suguru?

You were either rusty or you just miscalculated how many curses Suguru had at his disposal, so it must be the latter. You defeated the first curse you had pretty quickly, but another has popped up in its place as soon as you exorcised it. But that was a few hours ago.

You don't know what time it is, and somehow you've been pushed back to the outskirts of Tokyo as this snake-like curse had you following him like a car chase. You hear an ear-deafening boom! and the ground beneath your shakes violently. You suspect it was another one of those giant curses that you saw back in Shibuya, so you quickly materialized throwing knives out of the air to throw at the snake to end the battle quickly. Your knife hits its head, and almost immediately the curse sizzles away in smoke.

Your head lifts and searches the sky for the source of the boom or any sign of a giant curse, but instead, you found yourself frozen in your place. You didn't even realize you were near Jujutsu High, which sends you into a short panic after remembering that Yuuta and Maki were left on campus.

It was almost painful to see him this way- struggling to walk, relying on the wall to hold his weight. His right face was scarred and his right arm is so bloody you were surprised he hasn’t passed out from blood loss.

You have never seen Suguru so weak…yet so strong. His eyes that used to look at you with such warmth are replaced with cold determination. His mouth that spoke comforting words to your ears now mutters about a ‘next time’, whispering reverent mumbles about Rika. Suguru is far too gone.

But why does your heart still yearn for him all the same?

It takes him 5 exact seconds to notice you.

“I was wondering when I’d see you,” he greets as Suguru slumps on the wall before sitting down. He has an easy smirk on his face- an expression you’ve seen a hundred times before- like his left hand wasn’t squeezing his right shoulder to soothe his missing arm.

“Suguru,” you managed to greet him without stuttering.

Suguru’s eyes rake your body up and down before finally settling on your hand where a ring shines on your finger. “Finally tied the knot, huh? I suppose I’m years late to offer my congratulations…” He sniggers, before looking you in the eye. “I visited your house before I dropped by-” Suguru said as you felt your blood run cold and your stomach drop. “I understand why you took the Zenin kid under your wing, but the monkey? I-”

“If you lay a hand on Tsumiki,” You warn, your hand buzzing with cursed energy as an axe appears on your palm. I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” Suguru taunts daringly, with a smile on his face. He stares up at you from the floor like he was a king staring down at a peasant. “What will you do to me, if I did? What would you do if I said you’d go home to two rotting corpses in your house, Y/N-chan?”

“Then I will kill your daughters,” You reply with a cold tone as a newfound anger you’ve never felt before surges through your body. You walk towards him slowly, before crouching down to his height. “You think I didn’t hear of a Buddhist monk supposedly creating miracles in the countryside with two girls following him around?” You whisper in his ear. “My children for yours, Suguru.”

It was a lie if you ever knew one. In truth, you wouldn’t know what you’d do, but Suguru didn’t need to know that. But as you met his unflinching gaze, you somehow knew Suguru had caught you bluff like you caught his.

Suguru let out a huff of laughter while you suddenly realized how close you were as you felt his breath warm your face. He looks at you again, this time with the eyes you were so familiar with- cold eyes now looking back at yours with a warmth like he always did. And with a whisper so soft and gentle that you’d think Suguru wasn’t dying or insane, that you weren’t in an alleyway, but instead in your bed at jujutsu highschool, sandwiched between two men who loved you the most, with each hand clutching the other, he whispers, “You’ve changed.”

You fight back a scoff. It's been a while since you've seen each other, but you suppose he's right. High school Y/N have just hit him in the shoulder for such a statement. You were a sorcerer, and being indifferent to death is a common thing. You've experienced missions where your partner loses his life while you got to go home- high school Y/N was alright with that. But you were still so naive. You thought you knew loss and death well enough to be numb until you lost Suguru. Maybe it's why you cling to the people you have left so tightly because you aren't sure you'd survive another loss again.

He raises his remaining hand to cup your cheek with his thumb caressing your face. You close your eyes trying to relish in his warmth. When was the last time he spoke to you like this?

“You changed me,” you admit as you gave him a sad smile. There were so many things you wanted to say, so many apologies threatening to burst from your lips, countless unsaid confessions that want to spill out but your lips only quivered when you opened your mouth. But then Suguru gave your cheek a soft squeeze like he was telling you that all of the things you wanted to say but couldn’t- he knew. He always had.

“I’ve done many things that I don’t regret,” he confesses, “but the last thing I ever wanted to do was to hurt you.”

A breath hitched at your throat. You opened your mouth to say something- anything, but Suguru has dropped his hand from your face and turned his head away from you and towards the street. “You finally made it, Satoru.”

The mention of Satoru made your head twist to the street to find him standing in all his glory. Without a word, you stood back up and walked towards your husband. You feel your axe disappear as Satoru reaches for your hand, pulling you close to him as soon as you were near. His two large hands cup your face, twisting gently while eyeing little cuts and specs of blood littered across your face. His eyes stare at you asking a silent question, are you okay?

You give him a smile. What have you ever done to deserve such a husband? Always so attentive and kind to almost anyone but himself. Instead, you kiss his cheek in response before walking away from the two men. You stopped after a few steps, closed your eyes, and blocked their conversation out of your ears.

You had your closure. It was time for his.

“You should atleast curse me as I go.”

here's my masterlist

a/n: (skip to the break ("-") if you don't wanna read this extra bits of info about this fic :3

Gojo mentioned Maki and her glasses once in passing and ever since then she has been begging for a pair. I think Gojo also enrolled her in some sort of self-defense classes just in case.

Y/N"s cursed technique here is something a combination of Steven Universe's Pearl and Fairy Tail's Erza's abilities. Like Erza, she can summon weapons and armor to enhance herself, and like Pearl she stores said weapons in some kind of "arsenal" (like how Pearl stores her staff inside her gem). I imagine her arsenal will be her Domain Expansion tho hehe

Y/N can also make cursed weapons with her cursed energy!!

i love gojo,,,but lately ive been deep inside my satosugu feels :(( theyre like my dream tag team honestly, THE dream tag team tbh. this fic was supposed to be longer with the ending supposed to be of satoru's initial breakdown after he blasts suguru but i felt like i was stretching the fic wayy too much. (i'd probably still post it if you guys wanna read it but pls dont expect much lmao) please dont be scared to comment or express how you think, or if you have any tips/suggestions on how i could improve my writing <3

#satoru x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #getou x reader #suguru x reader #getou suguru x reader #satosugu x reader #satosugu

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hbyrde36 · 8 months

Text

Life is a Game (and True Love is a Trophy)

Chapter 9

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 ao3 link

*Eddie*

Eddie pressed his fingers to his mouth as he walked down the front steps, still feeling the ghost of Steve's soft lips against his own. He felt like he was walking through a dream, instead of the nightmare that his life had become in the past 24 hours. Though that feeling began to drift away rapidly as he got into his fan and drove away from the trailer, and Steve and Eleven.

Once he was alone, with nothing to distract him and no sound other than the hum of the engine, Eddie couldn't help but start spiraling, just a little.

Could Steve have really meant what he said, when it was far more likely that he had just latched onto Eddie because he was the first person who’d helped him after two years in what was essentially captivity?

Did Steve actually like him, or was this some kind of Stockholm Syndrome thing?

No, that was for kidnappers.

Florence Nightingale syndrome?

It was a slightly better match, but it wasn’t as if he’d nursed Steve back to health or anything.

Okay, so maybe there wasn’t a fancy name for it, but the two of them had been pulled together under wild circumstances. Was it so surprising that they might cling to each other as anchors for their respective ships in this storm?

A little, considering they were both boys and he had been 100% sure that Steve Harrington was straight, right up until the moment he’d kissed him!

Eddie knew, at least for his part, that it was more than a thing born of shared trauma. He’d been crushing on Steve for years, and had fantasized about kissing him countless times. The reality of it had been better than he could have ever imagined, too good to be true in fact, or maybe that was him projecting his own fears.

It was a scary thing to be handed everything you ever wanted, and even more frightening to accept it when you’ve spent so long being absolutely sure that it would never be an option.

As he pulled into the high school parking lot he decided to just put the whole thing out of his mind for now, as best he could anyway. There were much more important things to worry about than his love life.

The bell rang, and he watched from his parking space as students began pouring out of the school. He spotted Mike and Will first, the two of them having grown so tall this year that they stood out from the crowd. He peered behind them, knowing Lucas and Dustin wouldn’t be far off. The four boys were rarely without each other, except when Lucas had basketball practice of course. Which he must have today, Eddie realized, when he found Dustin bringing up the rear on his own.

He stepped out of the van and made a beeline for the boys, wanting to catch them before they got on their bikes and took off.

“Hey shitheads!” Eddie shouted, hands formed around his mouth to boost the sound.

All three boys whipped their heads in his direction. Dustin’s expression morphed from a wide happy grin into a worried frown in an instant. Mike and Will just looked confused. Eddie jogged the last few feet to them, in a hurry to get everyone on board and get back home as soon as possible.

“Is everything okay?” Dustin asked, at the same time Mike said, “Where were you today?

“Everything is fine” Eddie began, holding significant eye contact with Dustin, then looking at the others. “But there is something back at the trailer that I need you all to come see.”

Dustin gasped.

“What is it?” Mike asked, sounding annoyed.

Will was quiet, watching it all go down with a slightly amused smile on his face. He was definitely in the running to be Eddie’s favorite today.

“All will be revealed in due time, young Wheeler. Go throw your bikes in the back of the van. I’m gonna see if I can snatch up Sinclair before his practice starts.”

Mike opened his mouth, either to ask another question or to argue, but Dustin elbowed him in the ribs and told him to hurry up. Will had already unlocked his own bike from the rack and was walking it towards the parking lot.

Yup, favorite kid.

Eddie set off in the direction of the gym. He opened the door only to see Chrissy who had just come from the girls' locker room. It was perfect timing.

She smiled at him and ran over, her sneakers squeaking on the court as she did.

“Eddie! You weren’t in school today. You okay?”

He smiled in return. Chrissy was a literal ray of sunshine and he couldn’t help but react to that, no matter how weird his day had been.

“Yeah, I just had some family stuff to take care of.”

He scrambled for a way to ask her to come with him. If things did pan out the way they feared, she was in very real and immediate danger, and he just couldn’t imagine letting anything happen to her.

He didn’t really want to give anything away until he could prove it, and there were too many prying eyes and ears for him to just blurt out - I found Steve Harrington in the woods! But he had to try something.

“I know you’re about to start cheer practice,” Eddie began, “But…uh, do you remember all that stuff we talked about in the library?”

Her smile faltered a bit but she nodded encouragingly.

“There’s been some developments and I'd really like to fill you in on what I found out, if you wanted to come back to my place? The boys are coming too, my cousin and his buddies.” He added quickly, worried that she might somehow take his invitation the wrong way.

Chrissy glanced nervously around the gym, and he was pretty sure she was about to agree to go, when two things happened at once. The outer doors swung open loudly, revealing Dustin, Mike, and Will, who must have gotten tired of waiting and came to look for him, he guessed, while the door to the boys locker room was also thrown wide as the entire basketball team came trotting out. They were buzzing with pent up energy and Jason Carver was at the head of the pack.

He spotted Eddie immediately and rushed over. With no hesitation the jock planted himself between him and Chrissy.

Jason crowded Eddie as he shouted in his face, “Get away from her, freak! She doesn’t want to talk to you. What are you even doing here?”

“Jason, stop!” Chrissy shouted.

He waved her back dismissively. “No, no, it’s alright babe, I got this.”

Eddie grit his teeth, fuming, and not only because of the way Jason was talking to him, he could deal with that, but the way he was so openly dismissive of his girlfriend. Someone he was supposed to love. Chrissy deserved better.

“What is it, Munson? You like to watch the girls while they practice, huh? You got a thing for looking up their skirts?” Jason accused loudly, then lowered his voice to a sinister whisper. “Or is it the boys locker room you’re more interested in getting a peep at?”

It was a dangerous accusation, and it unnerved Eddie a little that Jason might have suspicions about him. If he’d said what he did a little louder, there might be a lot more guys looking to jump into this fight. He tried his best to ignore it like he would any other barb, but it was an effort to keep from overreacting and rising to the bait

“Oh fuck off, you neanderthal. We were just talking.”

“What did you call me?”

Eddie looked at Chrissy over Jason's shoulder and rolled his eyes. She stifled a giggle, stopping abruptly and going wide-eyed when Jason turned his head to glance back at her.

“Don’t worry about it, Carver.” Eddie answered. “Now, if you would just kindly back the fuck up so I can finish my conversation with the lovely Ms. Cunningham here, I’ll be out of your hair in a jiffy.”

“I don’t think so. What makes you think she wants to talk to somebody like YOU anyway?”

In Eddie’s defense, it had been a long and mostly no good very bad day. He stepped into Jason, closing the very small gap that remained between them until they were almost nose to nose.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” He said, jabbing the other boy in the chest with his finger.

Jason shoved Eddie away from him hard. He stumbled, but Will, Mike, and Dustin were all there to steady him.

“Stop it, Jason! He's my friend!” Crissy shouted again, still hovering but trying to stay out of the way. This time her boyfriend either didn’t hear, or completely ignored her.

Eddie shoved Jason right back, pleased when he had to take a step back to maintain his balance. Unfortunately, Eddie hadn’t really been in that many fights. Guys usually took one look at him and backed off, assuming he carried knives and shit just because he wore leather and a battle vest. He was briefly a drug dealer, so maybe that had something to do with it too. So, he was a little unprepared for Jason cocking back a fist and punching him square in the face.

Chrissy looked like she was about to jump on Jason’s back to stop him but suddenly Lucas was there. He caught Jason’s arm, stopping it before he could land another hit.

“I knew you weren’t really one of us Sinclair! I should never have told the coach I had a good feeling about you! I’ll have you thrown off the team for this!” Jason shouted.

He shrugged himself roughly out of Luca’s grip and walked back over to where the rest of the team was doing warm ups and pretending not to watch the drama unfolding in front of them.

Chrissy looked torn. She watched Jason walk away, bouncing her eyes between him and Eddie as she gnawed on her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said to Eddie. “I don’t know why he gets like that.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.”

She nodded a little to herself, sending a sad smile his way and turning to follow after her boyfriend.

Eddie sighed. He’d have to let her go for now and hope that tomorrow wouldn’t be too late. He felt like an idiot, he should have known better than to approach her when that meathead was bound to be close by.

“You good?” Lucas asked. Producing a small towel from his pocket and handing it to him to dab away the blood from his nose.

“Yeah, sorry if I made trouble for you.” Eddie said, gesturing off towards the rest of Lucas’ teammates.”

“Don't worry about it, they all know how Jason can be. I’m sure the whole thing will be forgotten by tomorrow. What are you guys doing here anyway?”

“We need you to come with us.” Dustin butt in.

Lucas looked at all of them in turn. “Party business?”

“Don’t ask us,” Mike said, hooking a thumb in Eddie's direction. “He won't tell us shit.”

“I’ll tell you everything when we get to the trailer, I promise. We can’t talk about this here. You in, Sinclair?” Eddie asked.

“Fuck it, why not. Didn't feel like dealing with Jason’s attitude today anyway.”

“Good choice.” Eddie said, grinning. “Come on boys, let's get out of here.”

On the way back to his van, Eddie noticed Nancy and Jonathan about to get into her car. He’d thought for sure that he had taken too long and missed them, but somehow he’d gotten lucky. Maybe the eldest Wheeler got caught up doing newspaper stuff after school. Whatever the reason, he was grateful. He told the boys to get in and trotted over to the couple.

Eddie found he had mixed feelings towards Nancy. She’d been so great about the investigation thing and told them everything they wanted to know, and she was nice about Eddie’s own reaction to it all, but there was a small part of him that bubbled up with jealousy when he thought about her and Steve being reunited.

He knew she was with Jonathan now, and had been for a long time, much longer than she’d dated Steve, but the thought still set his teeth on edge. He shook it off, he had no reason to think they would still be interested in each other, and even if they were, it’s not like he had a claim on Steve now just because they’d made out a little bit. Nancy cared about Steve, and she deserved to know that he was alive and safe. Well, as safe as any of them were now.

“Shit, man, what happened to you?” Jonathan said as Eddie got close. He must still have some blood smeared on his face.

Eddie shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “A disagreement between me and one of our resident jocks. No big deal. Listen, uh, are you guys busy right now?”

The two of them shared a look. “Not really, why?” Nancy said.

“I can’t tell you here.” He was getting really tired of saying that already. “I’m sorry to be cryptic about it, but I think you’ll understand when you see. I’m taking all the kids back to my house right now, could you follow us there? There's something I need to show all of you.”

The couple looked at eachother again, confusion clear on their faces, but for whatever reason they agreed. Probably because he already had their brothers roped into something. Oh well, he'd take it. This had all gone much easier than he thought it would, apart from the black eye he could feel forming.

The short ride back to the trailer park was uncharacteristically quiet. Dustin remained silent, though Eddie could practically hear the thoughts churning in his head. The other boys knew at this point that Eddie wasn’t going to give in, so there was no point in questioning him on the way.

He pulled in front of the trailer and got out, ordering the boys to stop when they tried to walk right inside, insisting they needed to wait for Nancy and Jonathan.

He and Steve hadn’t exactly planned this part but Eddie made sure to stomp his feet on the steps so that anyone inside would hear them coming. He turned to his small assembled crowd, feeling like he should give them some kind of warning.

“So, this might be a bit of a shock. Just…everybody try to be cool, ok?”

Eddie spun back around quickly to avoid the several sets of very concerned eyes that were aimed in his direction. He opened the door and stepped inside, doing a quick sweep of the room, finding Steve and Eleven sitting at the kitchen table with Wayne. He stepped further in, letting everyone trail in after him.

Wayne, who’d had a sandwich halfway to his mouth, let it drop from his hands to hit the plate with a little thud. He rubbed at his face muttering, “God damnit Eddie.”

Eleven didn’t seem surprised at the influx of new arrivals, Steve must have filled her in when she woke up.

“Wait, is that?” Lucas started to ask but was cut off by Nancy’s gasp of, “Steve?!”

Steve stood, giving her a little wave. “Hey, Nance.”

She hesitated, just staring at him for a handful of seconds before stepping forward and throwing her arms around him. “You’re alive.” She murmured softly into his chest, eventually pulling away to look at his face.

“Oh my god, you’re alive!” She said again, much louder this time and with tears in her eyes. “Are you okay?” She asked, reaching up to cradle his face in her hands.

Eddie had that feeling again. He knew it wasn’t right but he felt like she was touching something that belonged to him. He held the jealousy in, Nancy and Steve had been something to each other once upon a time, and they were entitled to this without his interference.

Steve lightly took her hands and lowered them from his cheeks. Then he finally looked up and met Eddie’s eyes, smiling as he said, “I’m okay, Eddie’s been taking good care of me.”

Oh and didn’t that make his stomach flutter. Eddie could feel himself blushing a little under Steve’s gaze, glad that no one was really paying attention to him. Everyone was too focused on the missing person in the room, now found, and the young girl at the table who was a stranger to all of them.

Steve broke their stare after a moment and looked around at the rest of the assembly crammed into the small space of the trailer.

“Hey guys.” He said, nodding to the younger boys.

Dustin, he greeted by name, causing the other three to look his way accusingly. He shrugged at his friends, mouthing the word sorry while looking far too smug to mean it, before walking over to take a seat next to Eleven.

“Hey man.” Jonathan said, finally emerging from a stunned silence as Nancy came back to stand near him. “I’m, uh, glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks.”

“So that’s it? You found Steve?!” Mike blurted out, finally losing patience. Honestly Eddie was surprised he’d lasted this long. “I mean, not that that’s not cool and all but what’s with the secrecy, and why is he here instead of with his parents or Hopper?”

Eddie finally sidled up to Steve, close but not touching like he really wanted to. He wasn’t sure how he was meant to act now in general, let alone in front of this many people, so he was happy enough just to be near the other boy.

Steve wasn’t.

He took that one step closer that caused their sides to brush and rested his hand on Eddie's lower back where no one else could see. “Are you still sure about this?” He murmured the question softly into Eddie’s ear.

Eddie nodded, even as his heart started to race from the gentle touch and the feel of Steve’s breath on his skin.

“There’s a lot we need to tell you all, starting with introducing you to someone. This is Eleven. She and I have been held against our will at Hawkins lab for the past two years.”

Mike, Lucas, and Will’s jaws all dropped simultaneously. Dustin grinned from his place next to the girl. She looked a little shy suddenly with all the attention and Eddie noticed Wayne gave her a little pat on the back in support.

As he watched the interaction, and how the girl smiled up at his uncle, it hit Eddie suddenly how lucky he was to have made it out of that place when he did. Luckier still that Claudia had found him and took him home. He could have died, or been made to spend the rest of his childhood in that place the same way Eleven had. He honestly wasn’t sure which one was worse.

Steve and Eddie took turns telling their parts of the story and then together explained the parallels between the game and the real world. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, it didn’t take much to convince the boys that they were telling the truth. They quickly accepted the fact that much of what they had played through was real and they even took Eddie’s backstory in stride, though they had a lot of questions that he didn’t have the answers to.

Jonathan and Nancy were a bit harder of a sell. He was quietly skeptical, while she kept trying to poke holes in everything and seemed completely unwilling to accept that anyone could have the type of power they were claiming. Finally, with a flick of her hand El sent a magazine that had been sitting on the kitchen counter flying in Nancy’s direction. She caught it on instinct, her mouth opening in a soft ‘oh’ of surprise as her brain caught up to what it had just witnessed.

The rest of the room went dead silent at the display, save for Dustin who was giggling like an idiot at having finally seen what he’d been waiting for since the morning. He offered her a high five, which she returned with gusto, smiling wider than Eddie had ever seen her in their short acquaintance.

Things went a lot quicker after that.

Wayne didn’t say much throughout the explanation, which wasn’t surprising to Eddie, his uncle had always been a quiet person, but he watched the man's face fall as they reached the end and had to tell of Eddie’s character's death at the hands of Vecna via the demobats.

“You boys said things don’t always go the same as your game, right? Do you think…does that mean…is that likely to happen, Eds?” Wayne's voice shook as he finally spoke. His worry for his nephew clear as day.

“We’re honestly not sure.” Eddie admitted reluctantly.

“That’s why we wanted to tell everyone who might be involved as soon as possible,” Steve added.

“There’s more too. Fred, and Patrick were victims in the story, and Chrissy. I tried to get her to come with us but her boyfriend interrupted.” Eddie said, mostly to Steve since the others had been there.

“Yeah! You should have seen it, Steve.” Dustin jumped in. “Eddie got a good shove in but then Jason punched him in the face.”

Wayne shook his head, grumbling softly, “Gonna have to call that school tomorrow. Ain’t right letting my boy get hit like that.”

“I’m fine.” Eddie insisted, catching his uncle’s eye.

“Jason Carver?” Steve asked, jaw tightening every so slightly.

Lucas nodded, answering him.

Steve touched his fingers lightly to Eddie’s chin, examining his face carefully. “Did he hurt you?” He said softly.

It was almost too much, the way Steve was looking at him, and a lump formed in Eddie’s throat. “I’m fine.” He forced out, hoping his voice sounded more normal than he felt. He swallowed hard and tried again. “I'll probably have a hell of a black eye later, but that’s all.”

“So, what do we do now, what’s the plan?” Will asked.

Steve and Eddie shared a look. “We hadn’t really worked out much past telling everyone what we had figured out.”

“What about Max and Billy?” Lucas asked.

Steve frowned. “Who is she again?”

“Max is a girl the boys tried to make friends with, she and her shitty brother, Billy Hargrove, moved here the fall after you got taken.” Eddie explained.

“What do you mean, tried to make friends?” Steve asked.

“We were all hanging out at the arcade once, a few days after we met Max. Billy showed up early to pick her up. He saw her and Lucas holding hands and he freaked out.” Dustin said. “I’m pretty sure if we weren’t in public he would have killed lucas.”

“Yeah, he said some pretty messed up stuff.” Will added.

Lucas sighed sadly. “She wouldn’t talk to us again after that.”

Will patted him on the arm. “She doesn’t talk to anyone, Lucas. It’s not your fault.”

“He’s right.” Mike agreed. “She always acts pissed off, but sometimes when she thinks no one is looking her eyes go all sad. I don’t think she has any friends.”

Eddie didn’t like the sound of that. “So, she’s alone, and possibly depressed.” He pointed out, looking at Steve.

“And If Henry picks his victims like you said, then…” Steve trailed off.

“She’s screwed.” Eddie finished the thought. “Do any of you dipshits know where this girl lives?”

The younger boys all shook their heads, they didn't know.

“Cherry Street.” Wayne answered out of nowhere.

Everyone including Eddie stared at him for a moment in surprise.

How and why the hell did Wayne, of all people, know where this girl lived?

“That boy you were talking about, the racist one? I know his old man, Neil. He’s a supervisor at the plant and a real piece of work, apple doesn’t fall far, y’know? You go get that girl, but be careful.”

Eddie gaped at his uncle. “You’re seriously on board for this?”

Wayne laughed. “As if I could stop you. You boys go, I'll handle things when Jim gets here.” He paused to check his watch. “Which should be any time now. Probably better if you stay out for a while and let me explain to him what’s going on. He’s gonna blow his stack.”

“Jonathan and I can stay and help you explain it to him, Mr. Munson. If that’s okay with you?” Nancy offered.

“It’s fine with me, and please call me Wayne.”

Steve wanted El to stay behind too. She wasn’t happy about being left out while her brother put himself in danger, but she agreed once Eddie promised to keep an eye on him for her. It was decided that the four younger boys would go along with Steve and Eddie to the Mayfield/Hargrove house, because at least she knew them a little from school, and it would be less creepy than two older boys showing up alone unannounced.

They were getting ready to leave when there was a knock on the trailer door. Eddie, thinking it was Hopper coming early, opened it without hesitation.

It wasn’t the police chief, it was Chrissy Cuningham.

She started profusely apologizing the second he opened the door, but stopped abruptly in the middle of her speech and let out a loud gasp when she spotted Steve hovering behind him.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you found him!” Chrissy cried out.

Eddie took her by the hand and pulled her inside, he didn’t want to risk his neighbor overhearing anything. “Actually, he sorta found me.” Eddie told her.

She smiled brightly at Steve and hugged him before turning back to Eddie. “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”

“This, and a lot more actually.”

Chrissy looked around, finally taking notice of just how many people were inside the small home.

“Why don’t we take her with us?” Steve suggested. “I think I can explain it to her on the way.”

Eddie shrugged and looked at Chrissy. “You up for a little field trip?”

Dustin called shotgun. Eddie would have preferred to make the trip with Steve sitting by his side, but he and Chrissy had crawled into the far rear of the van so they could talk, giving the back seat to the other boys.

The whole way there Eddie couldn’t stop staring through the rear-view mirror at the two of them huddled together. It wasn’t a jealousy thing this time, it was the fact that Steve kept catching his eye in the reflection, and smiling in a way that would’ve made his knees give out if he wasn’t already sitting down.

When he almost missed a turn for the second time, Dustin elbowed him hard in the side. “Eyes on the road, Romeo.” He kept his voice low enough that Eddie didn’t worry about the other boys hearing it over the music, but he still blushed and swatted at the kid’s arm. “Shut up!”

It turned out that Chrissy knew exactly where the house was, since Billy had been on the basketball team with Jason before he graduated. They parked a few doors down, trying to scope out the situation a little before going in.

It looked like the kids' parents must be out, as the driveway was empty, but a blue camaro that Eddie knew belonged to Billy was parked out in the street. That was going to be a problem. He had known better than to hope that the girl would be home alone but he still didn’t have any idea how they were going to do this.

“What if I went up to the door and distracted him?” Chrissy offered.

“Yeah! And then we can sneak around the back and find her window or something!” Lucas said.

Eddie chewed on his thumbnail, thinking. “If me or Steve get caught sneaking in a young girl's window we’ll get arrested.”

Honestly if they got caught doing this, getting arrested for that would be the least of their worries.

“You two can stay here then and keep watch. We got this.” Dustin said.

Eddie didn’t like it but he didn’t have any better ideas, so he reluctantly agreed. At least it was dark out now, so the kids had a decent chance of not being seen.

Chrissy slipped out the back door of the van, and they all watched as she walked up to the front door and rang the bell. It didn’t take long for the door to open, revealing Billy, silhouetted in the doorway by the lights inside the house. They weren’t close enough to hear what was said but just based on the guy's body language she must have been doing something right. He leaned against the doorframe with his hip, smirking at her as he listened to whatever it was she was saying.

They didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep it up so the boys quickly spilled out, going through a neighboring backyard to come up behind Max’s house.

With everyone else now gone, Steve climbed over the back seats and settled in next to Eddie, taking his hand right away and squeezing it. It would have been romantic, holding hands with Steve in the quiet dark, had they not been so worried about the others and what could go wrong.

About five or ten minutes had gone by since the boys had left the van, and Billy was still happily chatting with Chrissy by the front door. Eddie should have known that things couldn’t be this easy, that something was about to go wrong.

Out of nowhere, all of the lights in the house began to flicker wildly. Eddie’s heart sank. It had to mean what he thought it meant, there was no way it was a coincidence. They’d almost been too late, still might be if they didn’t get in there right now and try to help the poor girl.

Without a word he and Steve both leaped from the car, perfectly in sync about what needed to be done, and ran for the house. Chrissy was already looking in their direction, a panicked look on her face. Billy was distracted looking around at the blinking lights. Neither of them stopped or slowed their steps as they approached the door to the home, pushing right past a bewildered Billy and into the house beyond. He recovered quickly, following closely at their heels and shouting at them to get the fuck out of his house.

Eddie could hear distantly that Chrissy was trying to stop him or distract him, but he couldn’t concentrate on what was being said. They needed to find the girl.

Thankfully the house was small and the second door they tried turned out to be her bedroom. It was a crazy scene. The young redhead was standing in the middle of her room stock still, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. He could see the boys standing on the other side of the window, they were banging on the glass and shouting. It looked like she'd been walking towards the window to talk to them when the attack started.

Finally Billy fought his way into the room. Eddie was sure that under normal circumstances fists would be flying by this point, but with the lights flashing and his sister having some sort of episode, it was chaos, and the guy didn’t seem to know how to respond to it all.

“Music right?” Steve said.

“Yeah, let’s just hope it works. Everybody look for a walkman!”

Chrissy, Steve, and Eddie started to tear the room apart as Billy continued to shout.

“What are you doing to her?! You better get the fuck out before I call the cops”

Chrissy quickly found it lying on the girl's bed half obscured beneath a throw blanket. She shoved it in Eddie's direction. He popped it open, and after all of this he was still somehow surprised to find that the tape she’d last listened to was in fact Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. He shook his head, rewinding the tape to the start of the last song that had been played before shoving the headphones over the girl’s ears.

He heard more than saw Steve bodily shoving Billy out of the room. Eddie was worried about him getting hurt, but he had to trust that he could handle it. Eddie had his hands full trying to save this girl. Once she was okay he could worry about everything else.

The song began, the volume loud enough that it could be heard in the room which had grown quiet in Billy's absence. When Eddie had envisioned this moment, the young girl’s first battle with Vecna, it had been to the soundtrack of Running up that Hill. Though he was a metal guy first and foremost, he enjoyed all kinds of music, and was able to appreciate Kate Bush for her theatricality. He didn’t know why that was the song his mind conjured up, had never thought to question it. That wasn’t the song that was currently blasting out of the girl’s headphones now, however Jig of Life felt more than appropriate under the circumstances.

🎵I'll be sitting in your mirror Now is the place where the crossroads meet Will you look into the future Never, never say goodbye To my part of your life🎵

“Come on, Red. You can do this.” Eddie murmured, shaking the girl by the shoulders. He wasn’t sure if she could hear him, and even if she could, he didn't know what he could possibly say to help her fight this thing.

🎵No, no, no, no Oh-oh-oh-oh let me live She said come on and let me live, girl She said come on and let me live, girl Come on, let me live This moment in time, she said It doesn’t belong to you”🎵

The lights stopped flickering so suddenly that it was jarring, and in the same moment Max’s eyes shot open. She gasped as if rising out of a deep pool of water, swaying on her feet, and would have fallen if Chrissy hadn’t been there to catch her. Max grabbed on to Chrissy's arms, gripping tight as her breath came in short gasps. She looked frantically around the room searching for a danger that was no longer there.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. It’s over. I got you.” Chrissy rocked the girl gently, murmuring comforting words into her hair over and over again as she fought to control her breathing.

Now that Max was free, Eddie finally tuned in to the noise happening in the rest of the house, and he could hear that the raised voices in the other room had reached a fever pitch. It wasn’t only Steve and Billy that could be heard now, but the younger boys as well.

He locked eyes with Chrissy over Max’s head. “Stay with her, I'll be right back.”

She nodded rapidly. “Go! Help them!”

Eddie rushed out to the hallway and found everyone in the living room. Steve was in the middle of it, the only thing standing between an enraged psychopath and the four younger boys. From what he heard, it sounded like Steve had been trying to explain to Billy some of what was going on, but he was refusing to listen. Then the boys had come bursting in, and Hargrove took one look at Lucas and lost it.

Billy had his back to Eddie, so the asshole didn't see it coming when he creeped up behind him, snatched a commemorative plate right off the wall, and smashed it over his head. Unfortunately, it didn’t knock the guy out like he had planned, but it did send him to the floor. Eddie jumped on him, holding his upper body down, while Steve quickly got the idea and took hold of his legs. Eddie yelled at the boys to find some rope or anything they could use to tie him up with. They returned quickly with a handful of zip ties and a roll of duct tape. They made it work, finishing the job off with an extra piece of tape over Billy’s mouth for good measure.

Chrissy and Max chose that moment to come out of the young girl’s bedroom, both staring open mouthed at the scene before them. Max’s eyes were wide but sparkled with amusement as she watched her step-brother struggle against his bonds.

“What are you going to do with him?” Chrissy asked.

“I have no idea, but at least we shut him up for now.” Steve said between heaving breaths. He sat down on the floor hard, using the hem of his shirt to dab the blood from his split lip. Eddie tried not to stare at the strip of exposed skin that the move had caused, but it was a losing battle. He knew it was fucked up to ogle the poor guy while he was bleeding, but he felt less bad about it when he realized that Steve was watching him right back, eyes full of intense desire. Apparently seeing Eddie smash a plate over some douchebag's head had really done something for him.

Dustin cleared his throat loudly, purposefully, interrupting the moment before either of them could do or say something they might regret in front of all these people. Eddie didn’t know whether to thank him for it or throttle him.

Lucas was the first to approach Max, the other boys following close behind him.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asked. The tender expression on the kid’s face told Eddie that his little crush on the redhead hadn’t dimmed at all since that awful night at the arcade.

Max gave him a small smile. “I have no idea what's going on or how you and your weird friends got me out of there, but yeah, I’m okay.” She said.

Chrissy stayed by Max’s side even as the boys swooped in to try and cheer her up, the poor girl was still clinging to her hand like a lifeline.

“Maybe we should take him back to the trailer with us, Hopper should be there by now. Maybe he can hold him for something down at the police station?” Steve suggested, mostly aiming the idea at Eddie since the others were occupied.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Eddie agreed. He offered a hand to help Steve. He took it, letting the touch linger a little longer than necessary once he was on his feet.

Eddie raised his voice to be heard over the small roar of all the younger boys talking at once. “Hey Red, you got a problem with us kidnapping your shitty stepbrother?”

“No.” Max answered quickly, then hesitated before continuing, “but uh, I don't think I want to be alone right now. Can you take me too?”

Chrissy released the girl’s hand in favor of wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she said, “I think you’d better come with us anyway so we can try to explain what’s happening to you.”

Eddie caught her eye and nodded in agreement. “We’re definitely not all going to fit in my van this time. Maybe we could take two trips?”

“One of you could drive Billy’s car. I know where his keys are.” Max supplied helpfully. Eddie was really starting to like this kid.

Together, he and Steve managed to pick Billy up to carry him to the car, the others going out ahead to keep watch and open doors. Halfway down the front yard, their captive started thrashing violently, causing them to drop him to the ground. Luckily for Billy, the lawn was pretty lush and probably cushioned his fall well enough, though Eddie sincerely hoped he hurt something in the fall.

They were working on getting him back up, Mike and Lucas now helping now too, when Eddie heard a rustle in the bushes separating Max’s house from her neighbor’s.

Great.

The last thing they needed right now was for some nosy housewife to spot them in the middle of - whatever this was - and call the police.

Eddie shushed the group and had them lay Billy back down on the ground. He crept over to where he’d heard the noise. It was very dark in the side yard, since Max’s house didn’t have any outside lights other than the single bulb on the porch. He squinted as he got close, trying to see if there was really someone there or if it was just a raccoon, only to get blinded as the creeper turned on a flashlight that was aimed directly in his face.

“Jesus H. Christ,'' Eddie shouted, stepping backwards as he threw his hands up to shield his eyes, and proceeded to trip over a branch and fall flat on his ass.

Steve was at his side quickly, making sure he was okay, and helping him up.

The mystery person with the offending flashlight had also come out of hiding. Eddie blinked a few times, trying to force his eyes to adjust. It took a second, but once they did he realized they were standing face to face with Robin Buckley.

“What are you doing?!” She asked accusingly.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Eddie insisted.

She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing the two of them curiously. “So...you don’t have Billy Hargrove trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and you and your merry band of freshman, along with whoever else, aren't getting ready to take him and his step sister god knows where?”

Eddie sighed. “Okay, it’s exactly what it looks like, but I swear we have a really good reason.”

“We’re not trying to hurt anyone.” Steve added.

Robin tilted her flashlight up again, shining it directly in Steve's face this time.

“Wait a second…Harrington?! I thought you were missing!” She all but shrieked.

Eddie slapped his hand over her mouth as he said, “Technically, he is still missing. It’s a long story.”

Robin glared hard and he lowered his hand for self preservation.

He turned to Steve, they hadn’t really talked about bringing Robin into things. She had mostly served as Steve’s side-kick in the game, and she wasn’t a victim of Vecna’s. She also wasn’t friends with anyone in the party, Eddie knew her from band but that was all. Now he wondered if there was some reason why, out of all the people in Hawkins, he had chosen her to be NPC-Steve’s best friend.

Steve seemed to read his mind. “You want to tell her?”

Eddie shrugged. “At this point we might as well.”

“I really love the way you’re talking about me like I'm not here, guys. Doing wonders for my belief that what you're doing has no nefarious purpose.” Robin said, clearly rolling her eyes despite the fact that they could barely see her.

“Look, we can explain everything, but you’ll have to come with us.”

She stared at the two of them, then looked towards the gaggle of kids behind them keeping watch over Billy. Finally, her eyes settled on Chrissy, going just a little wide as she recognized the cheerleader.

Oh, that was interesting.

“Okay, fine.” She said. “ But if anything happens to me I will haunt your asses!.”

Chapter 10

Thank you @penny00dreadful for beta reading once again!

Taglist: @yeahhhh-suga @steddie-there @goinsteddie @brbsoulnomming @the-s-is-silent @paintsplatteredandimperfect @estrellami-1 @herebedragons404 @epiclazershark @mentallyundone @hardboiledleggs @manda-panda-monium @ellietheasexylibrarian @sofadofax @5ammi90 @bestwifehaver @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @soaringornithopter @buckleybarnes @adaed5 @goodolefashionedloverboi

As always, i'm happy to add or remove anyone from the taglist. Just let me know!

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #canon is just a crazy game of d&d #sort of #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve and el sibling supremacy #good uncle wayne #chrissy cunningham #max mayfield

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