#eddie munson fix it fic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-wild-wolves-around-you · 2 years

Text

tell me we'll never get used to it

Pairing: Eddie Munson/Fem!Reader; Eddie Munson/You

Summary: Sequel to "i can't carry it for you, but i can carry you," but this one can technically be read as a standalone.

Set a few weeks after the finale, you and Eddie are finally healed enough from your ordeals to have sex. You both get a little stoned on California weed, and then Eddie confesses to you that not only is he a virgin, he's also self-conscious of the scars the demo-bats gave him. So you seek to reassure him, remind him how much you love him, with both your words and your body.

Rating: E(xplicit). Minors DNI

Warnings: smoking/shotgunning weed, smut, virgin!eddie munson, loss of virginity, oral sex (f/m receiving), fingering, unprotected sex, vaginal sex, creampie, praise kink, dirty talk, pet names, riding, scars, self-confidence issues

A/N: I started this fic with the intention of making something quick and smutty, and then it turned into... this. And this fic stems from my deep seated belief that Eddie Munson deserves to get really high and have really tender loving sex, and since the Duffers are cowards, I did it myself. Also, as much as I love bad boy, sex-god Eddie, I just head cannon Eddie Munson as a virgin because come on, lol, he's a DnD nerd who plays in a "weird" band, sells drugs, and failed senior year twice. I love him with all my heart, but the boy has never gotten his dick wet lmao

(And, yes, I took the title from a Richard Siken poem, sue me)

Ao3 Link: Here

“‘Kay, kids, I think it’s time to pack it in,” Steve said as he stood up and clapped his hands.

“What?!” Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will protested in unison, snapping their heads up from where they were crowded around your long coffee table.

“We’ve barely even started,” Mike argued as his eyebrows furrowed sharply.

“Yeah, the sun hasn’t even set yet,” Dustin added, stabbing an accusatory finger at where the fading orange sunlight was filtering in through the living room window. “We’ve got like, at least thirty, thirty-five minutes before we need to leave.”

“But we’ve been playing for hours,” Robin groaned as she flopped over on the couch, into the space Steve had just vacated. “I’m bored.”

“You’re only bored because you died,” Dustin shot back. “By tripping off a cliff, I might add, which I’m still not sure how you did that…”

“And this is nothing,” Nancy scoffed from beside Robin. “Mike once ran a marathon forty-eight hour session in our basement, starting Friday and going all through the weekend. That room smelled disgusting by Sunday night.”

“Shut. Up. Nancy!” Mike was sitting cross-legged on the floor, and he turned and scowled at his sister over his shoulder. He was blushing, and when El giggled from where she was leaning against Mike’s opposite shoulder, he only blushed harder.

“Only telling the truth,” Nancy said as she raised her hands.

“I believe you,” Steve muttered and then ducked when Dustin threw a six-sided die at him. “Hey! That’s it! Party’s over. It’s past your bedtimes, so pack up all your little toys and dolls.”

“Hey, no need to disrespect the game, Harrington,” Eddie said from behind you.

He was sitting in the recliner your mom’s boyfriend bought only a few months ago, and he looked every inch like a king on his throne when you glanced up at him from where you were sitting— also cross-legged —between his feet. Since he’d been discharged from the hospital, he hadn’t let you leave his side, and he always had to be touching you, not that you were complaining. Right now, both of his legs were pressed against the outside of your arms, and one of his hands was idly playing with your hair.

“I have respect for the game,” Steve huffed with his hands on his hips, like a disgruntled mother. “But like Robin said, it’s been hours, and you know Agent Mustache gets pissed when we’re not back in our homes by sunset.”

All at once, the teasing atmosphere in your living room evaporated, and you watched as everyone’s smiles slowly faded.

It had been three weeks since everything went to shit. Three weeks since Hawkins was split in half by the Upside Down’s gates. In those three weeks, a lot had changed. For one, Hawkins felt like a ghost town now. Most people had either fled or been evacuated. But there were still a few hold outs: a couple of simply stubborn people who didn’t like being told what to do, a handful of others who just had nowhere else to go, and some old men and women who’d been born in Hawkins and planned to die there, too.

And, of course, the families of the kids in this room. El had needed to stay to deal with the gates, and Mike of course wasn’t leaving her, which meant neither were Dustin, Lucas, and Will. Steve, Nancy, and Robin felt like they needed to protect the kids, and you and Eddie had already given a pound of flesh to the cause, so what was a little more?

The government hadn’t been too happy with the number of liabilities left on their hands, but Mike pointed out that he and his friends had already broken into a secret lab and a Russian spy operation, so slipping back into Hawkins would have been child’s play. The government just gave up trying to make them leave after that.

Instead, they’d instated a curfew. A heavily enforced curfew. Soldiers armed with flamethrowers roamed the barren and broken streets of Hawkins at all times, but at night the patrols doubled, bright headlights sweeping the darkness for anything that moved.

Surprisingly, nothing had happened yet. In fact, it had been relatively quiet. The gates were still a ghostly specter that haunted the town, spewing forth ash and killing all plant life within a certain radius. But nothing else had come through the portals. No demo-dogs, or bats, no Demogorgons, nothing. El and Will said it felt like Vecna was biding his time, licking his wounds, preparing for his next big move, so everyone was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But there were only so many strategy meetings a group of teens could sit through, only so much prep and training they could do. Sometimes, everyone just needed a break, a few hours to not think about monsters, or the world ending, or the fact that Max still hadn’t woken up, no matter how hard El tried to reach her.

And that’s where Eddie Munson came in. Eddie, with his infectious smile and enthusiasm, his elaborate storytelling skills that ensnared his audience and made the real world just fall away. Everyone had become an honorary member of the Hellfire Club, even Steve “the Hair” Harrington. Not everyone was particularly good, but it was a fun way to pass the time, a nice reprieve from all the life-and-death situations this group somehow always found themselves in.

But now, reality had come calling once again.

“Ugh, way to kill the mood, Steve,” Dustin sighed, breaking the morose silence as he flopped back onto the carpeted floor.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the bad guy.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Blame me all you want, but we still gotta get going.”

The kids all grumbled as they started packing up, and as if on cue, Jonathan suddenly came stumbling in through the back door off the kitchen, coughing and watery-eyed. He’d excused himself about half an hour ago, and it wasn’t hard to tell what he’d been doing on your back porch.

“Hey, guys are we, uh, heading out soon?” he drawled. “Sun’s setting.”

He blinked slowly at everyone, and you saw Will roll his eyes, which made Mike, Lucas, and Dustin stifle snorts. Then Dustin got this mischievous look you knew too well, and he turned to Jonathan with a startled expression.

“What are you talking about, dude?” the kid asked. “We’ve been here all night, that’s the sunrise.”

Jonathan balked and snapped his head toward the window, which caused the whole room to break out in laughter. Blushing, the older Byers rubbed the back of his head, and Nancy smiled as she walked over, placed her hand on his arm, and murmured something to him in a reassuring cadence.

You didn’t know what was going on with Nancy and her so-called boyfriend, especially with the way Steve was staring at the pair of them, but you were a professional at minding your own damn business, so you turned away from them, craned your neck back, and looked up at Eddie behind you.

“That was a good session, Munson,” you said, smiling up at him as you leaned your temple against his knee.

“I know.” He smirked, but then he narrowed his eyes at you. “Wait, why do you sound surprised? All of my sessions are good sessions, Obi. You might be a Jedi Master, but I am the Dungeon Master.”

Even after all this time, that stupid nickname he gave you made butterflies erupt in your belly.

“Of course.” You nodded, making sure you face was very serious. “You are the Dungeon Master to end all Dungeon Masters. No one can hold a candle to your genius.”

“That’s more like it,” Eddie said with a pleased expression, and he wrapped a lock of your hair around his finger. His eyes were dark and deep as he stared down at you, but his touch was soft when his thumb brushed the side of your face.

You leaned into his hand with a sigh, but the moment was abruptly broken by Dustin making a gagging noise.

“Ugh, get a room you two,” he groaned.

You whipped your head around and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Um, this is my house, Henderson,” you reminded him. “And didn’t your babysitter say it was time to go, anyway?”

Dustin made an affronted noise, and you laughed as you stood up and stretched your back. But before you could move to help pick up some of the various snack bowls scattered around the living room floor, two hands suddenly snaked around your waist, tugging you backward.

“Munson!” you gasped as you fell into his lap, the chair rocking back from your added weight. You turned your head to chide him, but then Eddie seized your lips, one of his hands coming up to cup the back of your head.

Instantly, the living room, your friends, and the rest of the world faded around you. Eddie had this… magnetism about him or something. Every time he looked at you, touched you, especially kissed you, it was like nothing else existed except the two of you. Now wasn’t any different, and you sighed as you opened your mouth to his probing tongue.

But all too soon, he pulled away, and when your eyes fluttered open, he was smirking.

“Okay, yup, time to go,” you distantly heard Steve mutter, followed by a chorus of agreements.

“Heh, worked like a charm,” Eddie whispered in your ear, and you knew he was just joking around, but his warm breath brushing your skin made you shiver.

You didn’t want to completely embarrass yourself in front of your friends, though, so you shook your head to clear it, pushed yourself off Eddie’s lap, and walked everyone to the door. The sun was just starting to dip below the tree line, and you could see a government Jeep roll by the end of the street, but everyone lived pretty close, so they should able to beat curfew.

Nancy and Mike climbed into Nancy’s car to head back to the Wheelers’, and Steve was practically the designated carpool, so he was dropping off Robin, Lucas, and Dustin. Jonathan was taking Will and El back to the combined Hopper-Byers residence, and even though his eyes were still bloodshot, you knew Jonathan was a cautious driver and would get them all home.

Maybe just a little bit slower than everyone else.

You stood on your front porch and waved goodbye until the last car slipped out of sight, and you fought back a yawn as you dropped your arm. Then your eyes trailed to the reddish sky, searching the streaks of black clouds that perpetually hovered over the gates.

It felt so strange to be living a somewhat normal life with the apocalypse hanging over everyone’s neck, but what else were you supposed to do?

“Obiii-wannn.” Eddie’s singsongy voice pulled you from your thoughts, and his arms wrapped around your waist as he tugged you back against his chest. Then he pressed a kiss to your hair and rested his chin on the top of your head. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“All the shit rolling around up here would definitely cost more than a penny,” you snorted and leaned back into him.

“Ah, well, never mind then, cuz I’m broke.”

You laughed as you turned in the circle of his arms, and the lopsided grin you loved so much was beaming down at you. You rose up on your tiptoes to kiss him, but before your lips could meet, the sharp honk of a car horn blared behind you, making you jump.

Glancing over your shoulder, you saw one of the government Jeeps stopped in the middle of the street in front of your house, and the soldier in the passenger seat gave you a pointed look through the open window.

You blushed as you fell back on your heels, but Eddie just wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you against his side.

“Evenin’, gentlemen,” he called out as he put two fingers to his forehead in a jaunty salute. “We were just heading inside. Keep up the good work!”

The soldiers seemed unimpressed with him, but Eddie just snickered as he turned and steered you back into the house.

“Tough crowd,” he said as you shut and locked the door behind you.

Since the town still needed power, and since he was used to the hours, Wayne had continued to work nightshifts— with ample guards, of course— so he wouldn’t be home until after dawn, and he had a copy of the key to let himself in.

“I don’t know why you have to antagonize them,” you sighed, referring to the soldiers, as you turned to your boyfriend.

“Because it’s funnnn.” Eddie grinned, and he reached out to pull you against him again. “And I’ll take all the fun I can get these days.”

You didn’t blame him for that.

Still, you playfully rolled your eyes as you pulled away. Eddie made a whining noise in the back of his throat and grabbed after you, but you batted his hands back.

“Help me pick up first,” you chuckled. “Then you can Velcro yourself to me while I warm up dinner.”

“Nooo, let’s just pick up everything later,” Eddie said with a cajoling grin.

“And let Wayne trip over all this shit in the morning when we inevitably forget and fall asleep?” You raised an eyebrow and gestured to the living room floor, which was still strewn with snacks and the various odds and ends that came with every DnD session.

“Fine,” Eddie pouted, but then he got a mischievous glint in his brown gaze. “That just means you’ll have to wait longer for my surprise.”

You couldn’t help it. Your curiosity was piqued.

“What surprise?” you asked as you narrowed your eyes at him.

“That’s not how surprises work, Obi.” He smirked and wagged a finger at you, spinning on heel. “You’ll just have to wait and see now. Cleaning up comes first after all. It’s so very important.”

You knew that when Eddie got like this, he would tease you to the point of torture. He would pick up one paper, one stray chip at a time just to drag it out until you eventually broke and gave in to his demands.

“I am a hostage living in my own home,” you muttered, bending down to pick up an empty bowl covered in Dorito-dust fingerprints.

“How’s that Stockholm Syndrome treating you, baby?” Eddie asked with a wink, and you turned away from him so he couldn’t see your stupid, dopey smile.

God, you loved him. Even when he was being annoying.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem in the mood to torture you too much tonight, because he helped you pick up relatively quickly. He did distract you several times by brushing up against you on his way to the kitchen, and then twice just to full on kiss you, but eventually the living room floor was no longer a death trap. You’d mostly just stacked the mess in different places— empty bowls on the kitchen counter, and DnD supplies on a living room end table— but at least it wasn’t underfoot anymore.

And it wasn’t like your mom or her boyfriend were here to bitch at you, anyway.

“Alright, Munson,” you said, and you turned to him and placed your hands on your hips. “What’s this surprise?”

“Aw, I think you can ask a little nicer than that, sweetheart,” Eddie teased as he faced you in the middle of your living room. His dark-brown eyes were dancing with a playful delight, and he tapped the fingers of his right hand against his lips, like he was trying to hide his shit-eating grin.

He wasn’t successful.

But two could play this game.

You dropped your arms from your hips and slowly sauntered up to him, closing the distance in three strides. Some of the cockiness went out of his gaze the closer you got, and once you came to a stop in front of him, you slowly wound your arms around his neck, pressing your chest into his. Then you rose up on your tiptoes and brushed your lips against the shell of his ear.

“Pretty please?” you breathed, punctuating the question with a flick of your tongue against his earlobe.

Eddie groaned deep in his chest, and you knew you’d won.

Smirking, you dropped back onto your heels, but Eddie latched his hands onto your hips to keep you from pulling away. When he looked down at you, his eyes were narrowed, and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

“You are evil,” he deadpanned. “Evil Obi. You might have all the others fooled, but I can see the horns holding up your halo.”

You grinned, stuck your tongue out, and lifted your hands up to your head in the symbol for horns, copying a face Eddie had made many times.

It worked like a charm, because the fake-hardness to his expression melted, and he bent down to slant his mouth over yours.

“Is this my surprise?” you giggled against his lips. “Not that I’m complaining, but it isn’t exactly a surprise when you kiss me every five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Eddie gasped, pulling away from you with wide eyes. “Shit, I’m way off schedule. No way am I gonna make my daily quota now.”

You giggled again and playfully shoved his shoulder. “I’m serious. You have me dying with curiosity now. What’s the surprise?”

“Well, we definitely can’t have you dying,” Eddie said with a smirk, and one of his hands left your hip to dig around the back pocket of his jeans. After a moment of rummaging, he withdrew his hand with a flourish and dangled something in between your faces. “Ta-da!”

You blinked and leaned back a little to bring the object into focus, but the smell hit you before your brain processed what was in the small plastic baggie.

“No way,” you murmured, reaching up for the bag of weed. “Where the hell did you get this?”

The two of you hadn’t smoked anything besides cigarettes in weeks. Eddie had suggested maybe going back out to Rick’s to see if the drug dealer had anything stashed since Rick himself was still in jail, but Lover’s Lake was a hot zone with Watergate being in the center of it, so neither you nor Eddie wanted to take the risk for a little grass.

“I have my ways,” Eddie said as he tugged the bag out of your reach. “A good man never reveals his sources, like a magician never reveals his tricks.”

You raised an eyebrow at him and crossed your arms over your chest, and he caved in less than thirty seconds.

“Alright, twist my arm, damn,” he grumbled. “IIIII might have told Byers— the older one— that my pain levels have been… higher than they actually are, and he was a good enough friend to give me some primo pain management all the way from California.”

“Munson!” you gasped, your tone half scandalized, half amused. “You conned Jonathan out of what is probably the last of his Cali stash?”

“It was for a good cause!”

“And what cause is that?” you asked as you tried to keep from laughing, but it was hard when Eddie was standing there pouting like an innocent puppy while holding a bag of illicit substances.

“Becauseeeee… I wanted to get high with you?” Eddie replied with a sheepish smile. “And I think I deserve it after being such a brave hero, don’t you?”

“You’re really going to milk that forever, aren’t you?” you deadpanned, but secretly you were happy that he saw himself as you did, even if just a little, even if he tried to make it a joke.

“Forever and ever, baby.” He grinned before shaking the bag at you. “So, what do you say, Obi? Do you want to enjoy your surprise, or do you want to be a goody two shoes and give Byers back his weed?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, trying to look conflicted, but really, there was no question.

“Fine.” You snatched the bag out of his hand while his grin widened. “But I’m rolling. You always make them too fat.”

“No such thing,” Eddie snickered, but he dutifully followed you back to your bedroom.

You went over to your desk while Eddie sauntered over to the bed. Before your mother left, you always kept your papers and lighters hidden deep in a junk drawer, or even in the floorboards after David moved in and started giving you shit when you came home from Eddie’s smelling particularly skunky. But now she and David were gone, and Wayne honestly didn’t give a shit. He even sometimes smoked a bit himself to deal with the pain that came from working in a powerplant for thirty odd years. So, your tray was just sitting in the corner of your desk, and you pulled it towards you as you flicked on the lamp in the opposite corner.

Behind you, Eddie had grabbed his guitar from the side of the bed and was idly strumming out the riff of a Motorhead song. Gareth had given him a small amp after the Munson trailer was destroyed, but Eddie was always respectful and kept the volume at a tolerable level, unless you asked him to crank it up. It might be strange to some, but you found the heavy rock chords soothing, and you hummed along absently as you picked up your grinder.

“Obiiiii,” Eddie sing-songed from the bed behind you, and he suddenly paused his strumming.

“I haven’t even started yet, Munson,” you said without looking back at him. “Patience.”

“But why are you allllll the way over there?” he asked, and you could just imagine the pout on his face. “Just come roll it on the bed.”

“You know that never ends well,” you snorted, shooting a look at him over your shoulder. And yup, he was pouting. “We always end up spilling it, and I am not picking crumbs out of my carpet and wasting what little we have.”

“We don’t always spill it,” Eddie argued, but when you just cocked an eyebrow at him, he huffed. “Okay, maybe, like, eighty percent of the time.”

“So basically always.” You shook your head and faced forward again, opening the bag of weed and trying not to greedily inhale like a crazy person. God, you’d missed smoking. Your anxiety had been through the roof this past week as everyone waited for the other shoe to drop. You just wanted one night to not think about it. “Just give me five minutes, and I’ll come join you.”

“That’s soooo long, though,” Eddie groaned from behind you. “I don’t know if I’ll make it that long.”

You glanced at him again to see he’d sprawled back dramatically on your pillows, his guitar laying across his chest. He was staring at you with those puppy dog eyes again, but your gaze got sidetracked by the sliver of pale skin just visible between the hem of his black hoodie and the tops of his black and torn jeans— both hand-me-downs from Jonathan, though Eddie was a bit taller. Heat bloomed to life in the pit of your gut, but it was quickly extinguished when you saw the edge of a pink and still-healing scar.

That night, filled with blood and the shrieking of bats, suddenly filled your mind, and now you wanted to be close to him, too, to feel him pressed against you, warm skin and beating heart.

You didn’t say anything as you turned back to the desk, quickly gathered your tray and supplies, and stood from your chair. You crossed the room in two strides, but instead of sitting on the bed itself, you sat on the floor between the wall and the side of the bed. Pressing back against the mattress with Eddie’s legs dangling to the left of you, you stretched out your own legs and set the tray of supplies between your thighs.

“Wait, are you telling me that worked?” Eddie laughed from the bed above you.

“Hush, I’m working,” you muttered, but you leaned your shoulder into the side of his leg to quell the latent panic still haunting the corners of your brain.

He was fine. He was sitting right here beside you, alive, and the two of you were going to get high, so all was right with the world.

You repeated these things to yourself as you slowly ground up some of Jonathan’s weed, but almost like he could hear your thoughts, Eddie suddenly swung himself upright. Then he slid down to sit beside you on the floor, leaving his guitar against your pillows. His legs were longer than yours, so when he stretched them out, his toes brushed the edge of the wall in front of you.

“That’s better,” Eddie sighed as he leaned against you, settling his right hand on top of your thigh.

It was still strange to see his fingers bare, but the ring he previously wore on that hand was now perched on your middle finger, the black stone clicking off the grinder as you turned it. He’d given it to you a few days after he got out of the hospital, at first just lying on your couch with his head in your lap and playfully stacking his rings on your fingers. Most of them were too big, but the gemstone one fit, and he’d grinned so wide when he told you to keep it that you couldn’t deny him.

After a moment, Eddie started idly tugging at the dangling strings of your jean cutoffs, and his touch distracted you enough that you almost dropped the grinder and spilled everything.

“Munson.” You shot him a quick glare, and he grinned, stilling his hand but not taking it away.

“Sorry, princess,” he said. “I’ll be good.”

“I highly doubt that,” you muttered as you carefully opened the grinder, set it on the tray, and reached for the rolling papers.

“I take offense, dear Obi,” Eddie gasped, and his hand squeezed around the meat of your thigh, his thumb slipping under the hem of your shorts.

Your breathing stuttered as the papers crinkled in your hands, and you shot the dark-haired bastard another heated look.

Eddie glanced down at his hand like it wasn’t his, and then he moved it further down toward your knee and shot you another disarming smile.

“Okay, now, I’ll be good,” he said.

You shook your head but didn’t respond this time, instead focusing on the task at hand. Very slowly and very carefully, you bent one of the rolling papers into a shallow trench and then tapped some of the ground-up weed out of the grinder and into the paper. By some miracle, you didn’t spill any, and you set down the grinder and capped it before you started rolling the actual joint. Once you were satisfied by the overall size and shape, you brought the joint up to your mouth and licked the edge, your fingers nimbly rolling the paper into a cylinder and twisting off the ends.

“Ta-da.” You smirked and flourished the joint as you looked up at Eddie, but your smugness evaporated in an instant.

Eddie was staring at you with such an intent expression that you felt naked. His pupils were dilated, turning his already dark eyes into pools of black that glimmered with something you couldn’t name, and his gaze was locked onto your lips. You also realized his hand had tightened around your thigh again, and your skin broke out into goosebumps.

“Um…” Your voice cracked, your mouth suddenly dry, and you snaked your tongue out to wet your lips, Eddie tracking the movement like a predator tracks its prey. “Munson?”

His named seemed to snap him out of hit, and his eyes flicked up to yours.

“What?” he asked. His voice was raspy, rough, like he’d swallowed nails and gravel.

“I, uh…” You fought to regain your composure and suddenly remembered the joint in your hand. “I finished. And I w-will say, it looks pretty perfect. Definitely not too fat.”

Eddie stared at you for a long moment before his gaze finally drifted to the joint between your fingers, and now that his eyes weren’t boring into yours anymore, you felt like you could breathe.

“Hmm, I’ll be the judge of that, Obi,” he said as he plucked the joint from your hand, his voice back to its usual teasing cadence. He narrowed his eyes at the joint, inspecting it from every angle at great detail and making exaggerated faces. After a few moments, he clicked his tongue and looked back at you, and the hint of a smirk was tugging at his lips. “Well, I don’t know about perfect, but it’s pretty good. A solid eight out of ten.”

“Excuse me?” you scoffed, playing along. “And where did I lose two points?”

“The ends are messy,” he said with all seriousness. “And since there are two ends, you lose two points.”

“Fine, then give it back.” You reached out for the joint. “I’ll smoke it all by myself, messy ends and all.”

“Well, now, let’s not be too hasty,” Eddie laughed, leaning back and extending his arm out of your reach. Then he pressed the fingers of his opposite hand to his ear and nodded like someone else was talking to him. “Wait, what’s that? I’m hearing from the other judges that your score has been reconsidered! Perfect ten out of ten.”

“That’s what I thought.” You smirked and sat back against the mattress, picking up the lighter from your tray and tossing it into his lap. “And because I’m so nice, I’ll even let you light it up.”

“Your charity knows no bounds, Obi.” Eddie stuck the end of the joint between his lips and grinned as he picked up the lighter. “One of the things I love most about you.”

His tone and expression were joking, but there was a genuine earnestness to his eyes that made your cheeks flush.

But then he was striking the lighter, bringing the flame to the tip of the joint, and inhaling. You watched his cheeks hollow, the tendons in his neck standing out in stark relief, and the sight made the heat in your face travel down to the rest of your body.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“Shit,” Eddie exhaled a few seconds later, smoke curling from his lips and rising to the ceiling. The acrid smell hit you like a wave, and already you felt your body relaxing.

No, you needed this.

“Don’t hog it, Munson,” you muttered, nudging your elbow into his arm. “Sharing is caring.”

“And you said I needed patience,” he teased but handed the joint over.

The second it was at your lips, you inhaled slowly, holding the breath deep in your lungs until spots of color began to dance in the corners of your vision. Then you exhaled all at once, a sharp release, and your ears rang slightly as you started to cough.

“Fuckkkk.” You dropped your head back against the edge of the bed. Tears blurred your view of the ceiling, but then you blinked, and drops of warm water trailed down your cheeks.

“I know, right?” Eddie snickered, taking the joint back from you. “This shit’s way better that what I got from Rick. I didn’t know Byers was such a connoisseur.”

“Connoisseur,” you echoed and then giggled. Your head already felt a little swimmy, but that might be from the coughing and lack of oxygen. “That’s a funny word.”

“Blame the French, sweetheart,” Eddie chuckled before he took another drag.

The two of you passed the joint for a few rounds, and you felt like you could melt into the carpet. Every knot in every muscle you had unwound bit by bit, and the horrors of the Upside Down and the impending future faded until they were nothing but a distant memory.

“Hey, Obi,” Eddie murmured what felt like minutes and hours later. “Pssst, Obi.”

“Hmmm?” you hummed, lolling your head to the side to look at him.

His face was less than a foot away, so close you could count every pore and laugh line, and his brown eyes were hooded and glassy as they skipped over your face. He was holding the still-smoking joint between his middle and index finger, like he would hold a cigarette, but when he caught your gaze, he shifted his grip so he was holding it more firmly between his index finger and thumb.

“Can I try something?” he asked, and there was a glint in his gaze that you knew you should be worried about, but you felt too relaxed to worry about anything right now. “There’s this thing I’ve always wanted to try…”

“Sure,” you mumbled, and Eddie grinned before he brought the joint to his mouth and inhaled again, the cherry on the end flaring orange.

Then he held the joint out of the way and leaned forward, and dull surprise sparked through your veins when his lips met yours.

You opened up to him instinctively, inhaling sharply just from his proximity, and Eddie seized the opportunity to shotgun the hit he’d taken into your mouth. Your eyes fluttered closed as his tongue chased the smoke past your teeth, and he flicked the point of it against the roof of your mouth before he pulled away.

You held your breath for as long as you could before exhaling, and when you opened your eyes again, Eddie’s gaze was locked on your face. His eyes were black once more, his head backlit by the lamp on the bedside table behind him, and you suddenly realized what that something in his gaze had been when he’d watched you roll the joint. Because it was there again.

Lust.

Your stomach immediately bottomed out inside of you as every hair on your body stood on end.

It had been three weeks since Eddie woke up in the hospital, three weeks since the two of you confessed your feelings to each other, since he moved into your house. He even slept beside you in your bed every night. Not at first, of course. For the first two nights, he just “slept” on your living room couch while Wayne took the master bedroom. But by the third morning, you couldn’t ignore the dark bags under Eddie’s eyes any longer and so confronted him. He had eventually confessed that he hadn’t been sleeping much. Kept being woken up by nightmares and then panicking that something was in the house and running to check on you in your bedroom. You had laughed a little, then, to his confusion, and told him you’d been checking up on him, too, the pair of you seemingly missing each other like ships in the night. Hell, for all you knew, you were the ones waking each other up.

After that, Eddie moved into your bedroom for both your peace of minds, but like a gentleman, he tried to take the floor. He piled it with sheets and blankets and pillows, assuring you it was fine, but that lasted all of five minutes after the lights were dimmed.

(You never turned them out completely at night, both you and Eddie too uneasy in the dark.)

Emboldened by the shadows hiding your furious blush, you were the one who broke and asked him to just come lie in the bed with you, and after only a few beats, Eddie had slowly and quietly climbed up onto the mattress. He’d been stiff, stretched out beside you on his back, and in an effort to help him relax, you’d rolled on your side to face him, tentatively placing your hand on his chest to show him it was okay. He’d immediately subsided into the sheets, sighing, and turned his head to brush a kiss against your brow. And the two of you slept that night with no nightmares, for either of you.

Since then, you’d slept every night in the same bed as him, and more and more lately, you woke up with him wrapped around you, his front to your back, holding you tightly against his body.

But it had never been sexual. (Well, you had woken up a few times with his morning wood pressed against your back, but that didn’t count, that was just an…unconscious physiological response, and you always pretended to be asleep until he rolled out of bed to go to the bathroom.)

Either way, nothing had happened between you two except for a few heavy makeout sessions, and those never happened in your bedroom. The living room, the kitchen, the hallway, but never the bedroom. And whenever things got too heated, Eddie was always the first to pull away, to press one last kiss to your brow and step back, changing the subject to something innocuous.

You knew it had been because the two of you were so injured at first. You’d only ditched the sling a few days ago, and your arm was still sore, needing to be exercised every morning and night. Eddie had also recently received the all-clear from the doctors, and you wondered if he’d just been waiting to make sure neither of you got hurt.

The look in his eyes was definitely not hesitant now, and you felt your core throb in response.

A thousand thoughts tumbled through your brain like rocks in a dryer, a very slow dryer, because everything felt slow and languid around you, like it always did when you got high. Your skin was lightly buzzing, but your tongue was heavy in your mouth, and Eddie’s hungry gaze continued to pin you to the spot like a butterfly pinned beneath glass.

“Do you…” The words fell from your mouth unbidden, slow like molasses, but nervousness suddenly traced its hand down your spine, making you shiver.

“Do I… what?” Eddie murmured after a moment of silence. His voice was lower than usual, made rougher by the smoke, and you suddenly remembered the joint in his hand.

For courage, you leaned forward and plucked the remnants of the joint from between his fingers. There was maybe one good hit left, so you took it, the embers burning your fingertips as the smoke swirled into your mouth before you held it there. Then, as Eddie’s black eyes swallowed you whole, you bridged the distance between your lips and his. He opened dutifully beneath you, inhaling as you exhaled, and one of his hands came up and cradled your jaw, long fingers framing your face.

Once your lungs were emptied, you pulled back a fraction, and since you were feeling a little more brave, you trapped his lower lip between your teeth and tugged. You let him go just as quickly, but Eddie’s fingers had burrowed into your hair now, holding you in place.

Your eyes fluttered open— when had you closed them?— and you could see a tiny version of yourself reflected in Eddie’s wide pupils. Then he exhaled sharply, a curtain of smoke rising between your faces, and you were just about to pull further back when he lunged forward and smashed his mouth against yours.

His sudden ferocity startled a gasp out of you, and Eddie cupped your face more soundly as he leaned forward, his tongue delving past your lips and pulling up a moan from deep within your chest.

You had just enough sense left to drop the ashes of the joint on your tray before you were tangling both hands in Eddie’s hair and kissing him back with equal intensity. The rings on his left hand felt cold against your temple, your cheek, but everywhere else you felt hot, so hot. His mouth was like a furnace, a fiery brand, tasting of ash and smoke.

You were both gasping for breath every time your lips parted, but then one of you would dive back in for more, teeth and tongues clashing. When his left hand trailed from your cheek down to your neck, you thought you were going to combust, and then his other hand tiptoed up your thigh, and you knew you were going to burst into flame.

The apex of your thighs throbbed again when his fingers brushed the hem of your shorts, and you whimpered before you ripped your mouth away, gasping for breath and dropping your hands from his hair.

“Come back here,” Eddie muttered as he chased after you, but then he suddenly hissed and froze.

The pained note in his voice abruptly cleared some of the fog from your mind, and you blinked as your gaze zeroed in on him.

“Are—” God, your voice sounded wrecked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Eddie nodded, but his eyes were tightly closed as he faced forward and leaned back against the bed again. “Just… twisted a little too far.”

His right hand ghosted over his side, and you chewed on your swollen lower lip.

“Sorry,” you murmured, guilt stabbing through you. He was still healing, and here you were being a horny mess.

Eddie opened the eye closest to you, and then, when he saw your expression, he opened the other and turned his head to face you.

“Nothing you should be apologizing for, princess,” he said, and his smile turned a little sheepish before he continued. “That was… so fuckin’ hot.”

His voice took on that gravelly quality again, and you could feel slickness pool in your panties.

“Yeah,” you breathed, the filter between your mind and mouth nonexistent, shrouded by smoke and the buzzing feeling in your veins. “It was.”

Hunger flashed in Eddie’s gaze again, and he reached his arm out to you.

“Come here,” he muttered, flexing his fingers in a grabby motion.

“I’m sitting right next to you,” you said, but you didn’t fight it when his fingers gently latched onto your wrist.

“Not close enough.” Eddie pouted at you, tugging your arm.

You were half turned anyway, so you kneeled and shifted to fully face him, shuffling forward until your knees were pressed to the outside of his thigh.

“Closerrrrr,” he hummed and tugged at you again.

You realized he wanted you to straddle his lap, and a wave of heat washed over you from head to toe.

“I-I don’t want to hurt you again,” you tried to argue.

“You didn’t hurt me in the first place, Obi,” he said with a lopsided smile, the one that always tore down all of your defenses. “I just turned in a weird way. Buttttt, if you’re sitting right in front of me…”

He yanked at your arm a third time, and to keep from falling over, you clumsily slung a leg over his lap. Once you regained your balance, you hovered over him with your knees digging into the carpet on either side of his thighs, and he grinned up at you.

“Now I don’t have to turn at all,” Eddie finished, sounding proud of himself, but it was hard to be angry at him when his hands were settling on your hips, thumbs rubbing at the jut of your hip bones through your shorts.

“That’s… good,” you said. The slow-firing synapses in your brain were unable to come up with anything else.

“Doing okay there, sweetheart?” he asked as he smiled up at you. His thumbs were still stroking your hips, slowly driving you insane.

Your mouth was so dry, but you swallowed as best you could and nodded.

“Yeah,” you murmured, but then you wobbled on your knees and had to put your hands on his shoulders for balance.

“You sure?” Eddie chuckled before he tugged on your hips. “Why don’t you sit back a bit, Ms. Weeble-Wobble.”

You slowly sat back on his thighs, careful to not crush his legs, and Eddie smiled when you were at eye level.

“Hi,” he said, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to the tip of your nose.

“Hi,” you giggled back, and then giggled again as you settled more comfortably on his thighs. “Shit, this stuff is good. I feel like I could float away.”

“Yeah, we’re definitely moving to California,” Eddie snickered and squeezed his hands over your hips. “And don’t worry. I’ll keep you anchored, princess.”

“You always do,” you sighed, and something flashed in the dark depths of his bloodshot eyes, but it was gone just as fast, fleeting and mercurial.

“What were you going to ask me before?”

“Huh?” You blinked to focus on his face a little better, and Eddie was staring at you intently.

“You started to ask me something before you took that last hit,” he clarified. “You said, ‘Do you…?’”

You frowned as you tried to remember, wading through smoke and the memories of his mouth hot against yours. Then you suddenly recalled why you’d taken that last hit in the first place, and your face burned with embarrassment.

“I don’t remember… it was nothing,” you said, squirming in his lap and then stopping when the movement pressed the seam of your shorts into your clit.

Fuck, when did you get so wet?

“Well, that’s not contradictory,” Eddie teased. “Which is it, Obi? You don’t remember, or it was nothing?”

“It was stupid,” you amended and refused to meet his eyes, staring instead at a spot on the bed above his shoulder.

“I highly doubt that,” he scoffed, but when you stayed silent, he reached out, gently took your chin between his thumb and index finger, and turned you to face him. He was still smiling gently, but his eyes were serious. “Nothing you say or do could ever be stupid.”

The sincerity in his face and voice made you blush even deeper, and you wished he would just drop it, but Eddie Munson was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something, and he stared at you patiently as he waited for you to respond.

“Fine, it’s… embarrassing,” you huffed, and you shifted your hands on his shoulders so you could fiddle with his curls.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Eddie smirked and turned to playfully nip at your fingers. “Come on, tell me.”

You stubbornly shook your head, pressing your lips together, and Eddie narrowed his eyes. After a moment, a familiar glimmer of mischief flashed across his face, and one of his hands abandoned your hips to cup your cheek.

Then he leaned forward until his lips were just a hair’s breadth away from yours, but he paused before kissing you.

“Not even if I say pretty please?” he whispered as he tossed your earlier words back at you, warm breath fanning across your lips.

His proximity, the warmth of his hands on your cheek and hip, and the high still buzzing through your body, it all overwhelmed your senses, short circuited your brain, and your mouth opened of its own accord.

“Do you want to have sex with me?” you blurted out.

Your words echoed in the deafening silence that followed, and Eddie’s eyes widened in surprise, his teasing expression going slack.

You were so embarrassed, you were sure your blood was going to start boiling.

“W-Wait, no, that’s not what I— that was stupid, oh my god, forget I said that… like that,” you rambled. Your tongue felt clumsy and alien in your mouth, and at this point you wanted to bite it off. Instead, you slammed your eyes closed and tried to pull away. “Never mind, I’ll just—”

“Woah, hey, now,” Eddie said, clamping his hands around your waist and keeping you seated on his thighs. “Where’s the fire? Come on, Obi, it’s okay. We all say things we don’t mean when we’re high.”

You peeked open your eyes to see him smiling at you reassuringly, and he was just so beautiful, so kind, that you couldn’t stop yourself from digging your hole even deeper.

“I… did mean it,” you murmured, and again your words seemed to surprise Eddie, his fingers flexing around your waist. You thought you saw his pupils dilate even further, and that gave you the courage to go on. “I-I mean, I know I’m high, but tonight isn’t the first time I’ve… thought about this. It was bad enough when we were just friends and I thought I didn’t have a shot with you, but ever since that first time you kissed me in the hospital, I’ve been… And I know we’ve both been healing, and the world is set to end at any moment, but I just… I want you, Eddie.”

You were panting for breath by the end of your little spiel, and you bit your lip as you searched his face for a reaction. You hadn’t been very eloquent, but you hoped he understood what you were trying to say.

Eddie’s pupils were definitely blown now, swallowing his irises into inky pools that contrasted with his reddened sclera. He exhaled shakily and licked his lips, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his throat clicked with a swallow, and you thought you could feel his fingers tremble where they were still resting on your waist.

“Are—” Eddie started, stopped, cleared his throat. Then his gaze met yours, and you were surprised to see the uncertainty there. “Are you sure, Obi? B-Because I don’t want you to feel like you have to. I’m perfectly fine with taking things slow, just kissing you— god, just kissing you is already enough to drive me fucking insane. So we don’t have to rush. I don’t… I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret. I don’t want to hurt you. Never want to hurt you.”

That last sentence was murmured softly, Eddie’s face twisting, and your heart twisted along with it. This man. This ridiculous, noble, gentle, kind man. You loved him with your entire being.

“You could never hurt me, Eddie Munson,” you said, leaning forward to brush your lips against his. The kiss was soft, barely there, and you didn’t seek to deepen it. Instead, you pulled back and moved one of your hands to his cheek, stubble scraping across your palm as your pressed your forehead to his and stared into his eyes. “And if you want to wait, that’s okay with me. Because I agree, kissing you is pretty awesome.”

Eddie cracked a smile, some of the tension bleeding out of his shoulders.

“But,” you continued, your voice dropping low, and Eddie fingers tightened around your waist in response. “Just so you know, I could never regret anything I do with you. How could I regret something I’ve been dreaming about for almost an entire year?”

Eddie sucked in a breath and held it, and under your palm, you felt the muscles of his jaw flex as he ground his teeth together. He studied your face for a long, endless moment before he suddenly jerked his hips up. His belt buckle just barely brushed your clit through your shorts, but it was enough to tear a gasp from you, pleasure zapping through every nerve in your body, and Eddie snapped.

One of his hands left your waist to grab the back of your head, and then he was tugging you forward, crashing your mouth against his.

“Fuck, okay, yes, god, yes,” he gasped between kisses, and his hands were everywhere, in your hair, dragging down your spine, grabbing your ass to pull you against him.

“I… take it… you don’t want to… wait?” you couldn’t help but tease in the brief moments he released your lips.

“You’re not the only one who’s been dreaming of this, sweetheart,” he muttered as his mouth left yours, trailing across your jaw and down your neck. He pressed a kiss over your pulse point, and your breathing stuttered.

“Then maybe we should turn those dreams… into reality?” you suggested and tilted your head back to give him more access. The fact that he wanted you just as much as you wanted him made you bold, and you ground down into his lap to further emphasize your point.

“Shit,” Eddie hissed, and then his mouth was on yours again, hungry and insistent. His tongue traced over every one of your teeth before he pulled back and nipped at your lip, his voice coming out in a desperate gasp. “J-Just tell me what to do, Obi. Fuck, I’ll do anything, anything you want, just tell me.”

It could have just been dirty talk, but you thought you detected a strange note of uncertainty to his words, and the fire building in your gut cooled a degree as you pulled back and looked into Eddie’s face. His eyes were glassy and full of lust, but you saw insecurity there, too, and a question jumped to the forefront of your mind and off your tongue before you could stop it.

“Have you… done this before?” you asked.

Eddie winced slightly, more of that insecurity blooming on his face, and you felt him start to fiddle with his rings against your right hip.

“Well, um, technically, no, b-but I know the general gist. Talk floats around the boy’s locker room, ya know, and all those magazines under my bed certainly painted a picture— shit, fuck, forget I said that. What I’m trying to say is all of my knowledge is, uh, theoretical, not practical. Not a lot of girls lining up to sleep with the trailer trash freak who sells drugs and worships Satan and… wow, I’m really selling myself here, huh? So sexy. Shit.”

Groaning, Eddie clenched his eyes shut and dropped his head back, but you chased after him, rising up on your knees a little to lean into his chest.

“Hey,” you muttered, and when he wouldn’t look at you, you reached out with both hands to cup his face. “Hey, Munson.”

Reluctantly, he tilted his head up and opened his eyes, and you smiled.

“Hi there,” you giggled, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose like he had done to you earlier.

“Hi,” he grumbled back, but he let you brush his bangs out of his face and met your gaze.

“For the record,” you said as you ran your thumbs over his stubbled cheeks, and you couldn’t help but dip down and press a quick kiss to his parted lips. “I still think you’re very sexy.”

“Uh-huh,” Eddie muttered, sounding unconvinced.

“I’m serious.” You met his eyes again before your own started to trail over the features of his face. “Sexy. Handsome. Pretty. Beautiful. I think of at least one of these words every time I look at you. Your eyes always make me feel like my lungs forgot how to work, and every time you smile, especially if it’s directed at me, the world stops for just an instant. And don’t even get me started on the tattoos and jewelry. Chicks dig that stuff, you know?”

You ended on a partial joke because Eddie had started to squirm under your praise, but then he looked up at you, shifted one of your hands off his cheek, and pressed a kiss to your palm. He looked less uncomfortable now, less insecure, but his smile was still tentative.

“So… I haven’t ruined my chances, then?” he asked, and seeing the lust spark back to life in his eyes made you clench your thighs together.

“Definitely not,” you muttered as you hovered over him, your lips slowly descending toward his again.

“And you’re sure it doesn’t… bother you? That I haven’t… you know?”

“Not at all,” you breathed. You were less than a centimeter away from kissing him, but a sudden thought popped into your head, and you felt it only fair to voice it. “Does it bother you that I have?”

“No.” Eddie’s response was instantaneous, full of sincerity, and you couldn’t wait any longer. You dove down and slanted your mouth over his, and Eddie groaned against you, his fingers digging into your waist. All of his hesitation was gone now, and his hands burned a path down your back to cup your ass. You whimpered into the kiss, and your noise seemed to spur him on, because the next thing you knew, he was shifting his feet behind you and pushing upright.

“Eddie!” you gasped as you tore your mouth from his. “Be careful!”

“I got you, sweetheart, don’t worry,” he chuckled once he was fully on his feet, his hands tucked under your thighs that were wrapped around his waist.

“I’m more worried about you hurting yourself.” You frowned. You weren’t exactly thin, not like Nancy and Robin. “Put me down.”

“As the lady requests.” Eddie smirked and then turned, throwing you down on the bed beside his guitar, which he immediately moved out of the way and onto the floor. He was grinning when he looked back at you, but he seemed to freeze at the sight of you sprawled across the mattress.

You were wearing jean cutoffs, his old Metallica shirt that Dustin saved from the trailer, and a worn red flannel on top. It was a casual outfit, not even especially cute, but Eddie was staring down at you like you were wearing the sexiest set of lingerie.

“Fuck, Obi,” he breathed as his eyes pinned you to the mattress, and you squirmed under his scrutiny.

“Well, are you just going to stand there and stare at me, Munson?” you asked, cheeks flushing.

“Hell no,” he said, and then he was climbing onto the bed, hovering over you on his forearms and claiming your lips once again. He wore a new guitar pick necklace, the pick having fallen out of his copy of The Hobbit the other night. At some point, he’d apparently forgotten he was using it as a bookmark, but now it was hanging on a loose silver chain, brushing your jaw and neck as it dangled from his throat.

The two of you made out for a minute, but then Eddie started pressing kisses down your neck. When he reached your collarbones, he paused to dip his tongue into the hollow between them, and you moaned as you arched your back. The weed high was still making everything feel tingly and cranked up to eleven, and you could already feel that your panties were sticking to you beneath your shorts.

“Eddie, please,” you gasped as you buried a hand into his mane of curls.

“What do you want, Obi?” he muttered against the base of your throat, licking the skin there again.

“You.” Squirming, you arched up into him again, brain fuzzy with pleasure. “I-I want you. Want you to touch me.”

“Shit, sweetheart,” Eddie groaned before he lifted his head to seize your lips in another kiss. “Where? Where do you want me to touch you?”

“Everywhere,” you whined, reaching for the hem of your own shirt. It suddenly felt stifling in your bedroom, and you could feel sweat bead along your brow.

Eddie let out a litany of curses, but he helped to slip the shirt off over your head, and then you reached behind yourself and undid the clasp of your bra with a flick, too impatient to wait.

As you tossed the bra away and fell back onto the bed again, you saw that Eddie’s wide eyes were glued to your breasts, and his mouth hung open like the hinge of his jaw had broken.

“Oh, f-fuck, you’re so gorgeous, Obi, god, I want to put my mouth on them.” His dark gaze flicked to yours, begging. “Can I? Please?”

You wanted to tease him, but the earnest way he asked your permission made your pussy clench around nothing, and all you could do was nod your head.

Eddie wasted no time, diving down and immediately dragging his tongue over one of your nipples. The shock of his wet, hot mouth made you gasp, then whine as he closed his lips around you and sucked.

“O-Oh, shit,” you moaned when he reached up and tweaked your other nipple with his nimble fingers.

“Feel good?” he mumbled, words muffled by your flesh.

“So good,” you breathed and then cried out when he ran his teeth across your nipple. “F-Fuck! Don’t stop, don’t…”

You trailed off into another moan as Eddie flicked the nipple he wasn’t sucking on, the nub pebbling between his fingers.

“Goddamn, you make the prettiest noises, princess,” the metalhead muttered between your breasts, switching from one to the other. “Better than I ever dreamed of. And I’ve dreamed about sucking your titties a lot.”

The vulgar confession made more slick pool in your panties, and you whimpered as you reached an arm down, wiggling it between the two of you until you found the button of your jeans. But you couldn’t open it from this angle, and you groaned in frustration.

“Please, Eddie,” you begged, using your other hand to tug at his hair until he released your nipple with a slick ‘pop.’

“What?” he asked as he looked up at you, and his eyes were glassy with pleasure. You could also feel where he was hard against your thigh, and you pressed up into his bulge, making him stutter out a moan.

“Pants,” you gasped, reaching for the button of your shorts again. “Help me… help me get them off.”

“Shit,” Eddie exhaled with wide eyes as he watched you lift your hips, and then he was fumbling into motion. “Yeah, here let me just…”

With his help, you were able to push your cutoffs down your thighs and kick them away, but he stopped you when you reached for your panties.

“Eddieeee,” you whined, but he clasped your wrist firmly and pressed your hand into the bed beside your hip.

“Slow downnnn, Obi,” he said, that familiar teasing lilt in his voice, and he flashed a lopsided smile as he started to crawl down the length of you. “There are some things I want to savor.”

“Sadist,” you pouted, and Eddie opened his mouth like he was going to retort, but then his eyes zeroed in on the apex of your thighs.

“Fuckkkkk,” he breathed as he lied down on his stomach, legs dangling off the bed and his gaze glued to your pussy. “You’re so… wet. Did I do this to you?”

The awed disbelief in his voice made you moan, and you tried to clench your thighs together, but Eddie grabbed them, fingers digging into your skin.

“No, don’t hide,” his said, voice breathless. “I— fuck, I want to—”

He broke off suddenly and then just darted forward, licking a hot stripe up your slit that you felt even through the soaked fabric of your panties.

“Oh!” you gasped, the syllable cracking in the middle, and your hips bucked toward his face.

Eddie pulled back as he licked his lips, and then his wide eyes flicked from your pussy, to your face, and back again.

“S-Shit, you’re right,” he rasped out, and his fingers started clawing at your hips, tugging your panties down your thighs. “These have to go, gotta get out of the way, f-fuck.”

You giggled a little at his frantic fumbling and the way he threw your underwear over his shoulder, but then his hands were sliding up your thighs again, prying them apart, and the laughter hitched in your lungs when his eyes zeroed in on where you were wet and trembling.

“Je-Jesus Christ.” Eddie swallowed sharply as he lowered himself onto his stomach again, his gaze still locked on your pussy. “I— Jesus H. Christ. God, you look so pretty, so… Fuck, can I taste you, Obi? Please?”

Your whole body flushed, from the tips of your ears to your toes, and you squirmed beneath him.

“Y-You don’t have to,” you muttered. Despite not being a virgin yourself, you’d actually only slept with one other person, and he never did that to you. In fact, the whole “losing you virginity” thing took less than five minutes and was ultimately pretty unsatisfying.

“Oh, I want to, baby,” Eddie corrected as his eyes finally clicked to yours, dark with hunger. “Holy shit, do I want to.”

The last remnants of saliva in your mouth dried up, but you felt more wetness trickle out between your legs.

“O-Okay.” Your voice shook as you nodded, and Eddie grinned like you told him he won the lottery.

Fuck, he was going to destroy you.

Eddie wiggled a little to get more comfortable, but after a moment, he ended up just kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed, tugging you down until your butt met the edge of the mattress.

You gasped as he parted your thighs to make room for his broad shoulders, and he smiled as he trailed kisses up each of your legs before he pushed them back so your feet dangled near his ears.

In this position, you felt vulnerable, all of you laid out and laid bare, but the absolute adoration and lust in Eddie’s eyes chased away any of your lingering insecurities.

“Damn, I wish I had a camera,” he muttered as his gaze dragged over you, hot enough to burn. “You look… so fucking incredible.”

“Eddie, stop teasing me,” you huffed, reaching out to twine your fingers through his curls. “Please.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely, pretty girl.” He smirked, but then his cocky expression grew a little hesitant. “I-I’ll probably fuck it up at first, but just tell me what feels good. I want to make you feel good.”

You nodded frantically, but all your words were lost when Eddie leaned forward, his breath fanning over your slick folds. His fingers dug into the meat of your thighs as he anchored himself, the rings on his left hand cold against your overheated skin. Then the flat of his tongue dragged across your pussy, and your vision whited out.

“F-Fuck!” You tossed your head back as pleasure zapped through you, and you unintentionally tugged on Eddie’s hair, pulling him further between your thighs.

“Oh, god,” Eddie whimpered, and then he was suddenly licking you with fervor, delving between your folds until his nose bumped into your clit. Even that slight stimulation to your bundle of nerves had you jolting, and Eddie noticed, shifting his mouth upward, tongue swirling in circles that made you see stars.

“Eddieeee,” you keened to the ceiling when he sucked your clit between his lips, and he immediately popped his head up so you could just see his wide eyes and slick mouth over the curve of your belly.

“Holy shit, you taste so fucking good, Obi,” he said, voice guttural. “Am I— does it feel good, too?”

“Y-Yes, fuck, Eddie, feels incredible,” you panted as you tugged at his hair. “Please don’t stop.”

Eddie stared at your flushed and writhing body for a moment before he was diving back between your legs, tongue and lips everywhere. He was a little sloppy, saliva mixing with your arousal and making everything slick, but his eagerness made up for it. He was also very attuned to your every sound and twitch, so when he dipped his tongue into your entrance, and your moans rose in pitch, he started swirling the tip of his tongue around your hole until you were practically sobbing. Then he fucked his tongue into you as far as it could go, his nose pressed firmly to your clit, and your eyes rolled into the back of your head.

You didn’t know if it was the weed still singing through your veins or if it was just Eddie, but your orgasm crept up on you without warning. One moment, Eddie was pressing a sucking kiss to your clit before fucking his tongue back into you, groaning at the taste, and in the next instant, your spine was arching off the bed as every muscle in your body locked up.

“Shit, I’m-- ohhhhhh!” you wailed as Eddie rapidly thrust his tongue into you, shaking his head at the same time so his nose flicked back and forth over your clit.

It felt like you shattered into a million pieces, lights and colors exploding behind your tightly shut eyelids. You could distantly feel your legs spasming and clamping around Eddie’s head, but he was still moaning as he tongue-fucked you through your climax. You whimpered and clawed at his hair, feeling like every nerve in your body was an exposed live-wire, chanting his name until you ran out of breath.

Once your whines took on a slightly pained quality, Eddie pulled his mouth away, and it was like you were a puppet whose strings got cut, because you immediately slumped into the bed.

Air sawed in and out of your lungs as you gasped for breath, and you stared blindly at the spinning ceiling while you slowly descended back into your body. Your limbs felt like they were filled with static, but you mustered up enough energy to lift you head and look down toward the foot of the bed.

Eddie was still kneeling on the floor between your legs, and you felt your walls flutter around nothing at the glimmer of your juices smeared across his chin. His breathing was as ragged as your own, and his hair was wild, mussed by your fingers. When he caught your eye, he exhaled sharply and half-heartedly dragged the back of his wrist against his chin, his chain bracelet glinting in the light of your lamp.

“Jesus Christ, Obi,” he grunted out, and his black eyes threatened to swallow you whole. “That was… fuck, that was so goddamn hot. I could feel you fluttering around my tongue. Shit.”

He reached down with his right hand, and though the edge of the bed hid it from view, you knew he was palming his cock through his jeans. His obvious arousal made you throb again, and you bit your lip.

“I’ve… I’ve never cum that fast,” you confessed, and your cheeks still flushed with embarrassment even though the man in front of you had been tongue deep in your pussy just seconds ago.

Eddie groaned at your admission, and then both of his hands were latching onto your inner thighs again, thumbs smearing saliva and slick into your skin.

“Do you— can you do it again?” he asked, his dilated eyes flicking from your folds to your face. “I want to see you do it again. Wanna see you cum, pretty girl.”

His pet names made more slick drip out of you, made your thoughts fizz out into static for a moment, but then you frowned and propped yourself up on your elbows.

“What about you?” From this angle, you could see his lower half, and his cock was straining against his tight black jeans. It looked like it hurt. “I want to make you feel good, too. Can I put my mouth on you instead?”

Another groan rattled deep in Eddie’s chest, and he had to reach down again to press the heel of his palm into his crotch.

“Christ, that’s fucking tempting,” he panted, but then his eyes drifted back to your pussy, and they got that hungry glint in them as he leaned down and darted his tongue between your folds.

You cried out as your elbows buckled, your spine falling back to the mattress.

“But you just taste too goddamn good, baby,” he muttered against your clit. “Wanna make you feel good again. Want you to fall apart on my tongue, my fingers.”

You whined as he started licking at you once more, and soon you could feel the coil in your gut tightening bit by bit. This time, Eddie focused his mouth around your clitoris, alternating between flicking it with his tongue and sucking it between his lips, and when your legs started twitching around his ears, he snaked a hand down your belly and pressed a finger to your entrance.

You immediately shoved your hips down, sucking his finger in to the knuckle, and the two of you moaned in unison, the sound rattling through your bones.

“O-Oh, fuck,” Eddie hissed as his twisted his finger inside you, pressing against the walls of your pussy. “Fuck, Obi, you’re so wet and goddamn tight. Holy shit.”

“Eddie,” you whimpered, clenching around him. His finger was thicker than any of yours were, but it was still not enough, so you bore down, tears gathering along your lashes as you begged. “M-More. Please, Eddie. Y-Your finger f-feels so good— fuck! So good. I need another one, please.”

You were practically sobbing now, humping into his hand, and Eddie leaned down to pepper kisses over your inner thighs.

“Shhh, shh, it’s okay,” he soothed, and you felt the tip of a second finger prod at your entrance. “It’s okay, baby, I got you, give you everything you want. Anything you want. Here you go… shit, you gotta relax sweetheart, let me in.”

You whined but listened as best as you could, and a moment later, he slotted both fingers home inside of you, drawing a shout from deep within your chest. Your pussy immediately clamped down around both digits, but Eddie twisted and spread them inside you, stretching your walls, until he brushed up against that one spongy spot that caused you to wail.

“Fuck, is that it, baby? Is that the spot?” he grunted, pressing more insistently on it.

You couldn’t respond because your toes were starting to curl, your moans rising in pitch, but apparently that was all the response Eddie needed because he suddenly started thrusting his fingers, hard. They nailed your G-spot with pinpoint accuracy, squelching through your wetness, and then you felt his thumb brush over your clit.

“Cum for me, Obi,” he said as he pressed on your pleasure zones from both the inside and outside. “Cum on my fingers. Want to see it so bad, baby, please.”

The coil in your gut spun tighter and tighter, but it finally exploded when Eddie leaned down and sank his teeth into the flesh of your inner thigh.

Your mouth dropped open in a silent scream, and you felt yourself levitate off the bed as your second climax crashed into you like a tsunami wave. The weed in your system amplified the sensations once again, sending your mind into the stratosphere and your limbs spasming like you were being electrocuted. Then there was a gush of wetness between your thighs, and Eddie’s guttural groan echoed through your bones.

The world blacked out around you for a moment, and when you came to, you were sprawled limp on the bed. Your chest heaved as your lungs fought for oxygen, but the sensation of a wet tongue dragging across your thigh caused you to jerk.

You blearily glanced down at Eddie, and a gasp whistled between your teeth at what you saw.

His curly head was propped against your thigh, which he was still kitten licking, but what shocked you were the droplets dripping off his cheeks, jaw, and bangs. Then you shifted, and you realized you were lying in a very wet spot.

“F-Fuck!” You propped yourself up on shaking elbows, disbelief burning through you. “Did I…”

You trailed off, unable to complete the sentence, and Eddie’s eyes finally met yours. They looked like twin oceans of oil that were threatening to suck you under.

“Squirt?” he finished your hanging question, and his tongue flicked out to lick a drop of your juices off his chin. “Fuck yeah you did. Hottest thing I’ve ever goddamn seen.”

“Shittttt, I’m sorry,” you groaned and covered your face with both hands, falling back onto the bed as shame spiraled through you. “I-I forgot that smoking sometimes makes me do… that.”

It had happened twice, both times after you left Eddie’s trailer high and had to come home to satiate the burning ache between your legs. It had been embarrassing then— when you were alone, and no one saw you shamefully wash your sheets in the middle of the might— but it was mortifying now.

Eddie was silent for a moment, but then you felt him shift, the bed dipping as he climbed up onto his feet and hovered over you.

“Did you miss the part where I said that was the hottest goddamn thing I’ve seen in my life?” he asked, and when you wouldn’t reply, he used one of his hands to pry yours from your face. His fingers were tacky against your skin, and you flushed when you realized it was from your orgasm.

“R-Really?” you asked tentatively, finding his eyes, and the lust in his brown gaze almost set you aflame.

In response, Eddie lowered his hips, rolling them against your own until his erection pressed into the crease of your thigh. He was hard as steel, and since he was still somehow fully clothed, his belt buckle and jeans scraped over your sensitive skin deliciously.

A whimper caught in the back of your throat, and Eddie dove down to seize your lips. You groaned at the tangy taste of yourself, and he rolled his hips into your thigh again.

“What do you think?” Eddie asked against your lips, the question half growl, and even though you’d already cum twice, desire ignited in your belly again.

“I think you’re wearing too many clothes,” you muttered as you reached down to grab the hem of his hoodie, but the instant you brushed fabric, his fingers latched onto your wrist, his grip tight and unyielding.

You thought he was teasing you again, but when you looked up at his face, the lust that had been there was suddenly gone, replaced by an uneasy fear.

His expression immediately made you still.

“Eddie?” you asked and shifted your head to meet his gaze more directly under the shadow of his bangs. “Are you… okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” He smiled shakily and cleared his throat before he turned the wattage up on the smile, but it still looked forced. You stared at him patiently for about ten seconds, and when Eddie saw he hadn’t convinced you, he sighed and averted his eyes. “It’s just, uhh, can I keep my shirt o-on?”

The question hung between the two of you for a moment, and Eddie seemed to hunch more into the curtain of his hair.

“If that’s what you’re comfortable with, of course,” you said as you frowned at him, frown deepening when he seemed to sigh in relief. “But… can I ask why?”

His sudden change in demeanor concerned you, and you could feel your desire fading, taking a back seat as you hesitantly reached out and cupped his face. Eddie ground his jaw beneath your palm, but when he finally met your eyes, his expression fractured.

“It’s just—” he started, stopped, took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he turned his head and nuzzled into your palm. “I… don’t exactly look pretty from the neck down anymore. Damn bats really ruined my bikini body, ya know? And I just didn’t want my s-scars to ruin the mood, but hey, would you look at that, I did it all by myself, huh?”

He laughed in a dry, self-deprecating manner, but you immediately tilted his head up.

“Eddie, look at me, open your eyes,” you said firmly, and after a moment of hesitation, he obeyed. His deep brown eyes looked so lost now, so uncertain and scared, it broke your goddamn heart. “Eddie Munson, I want you to listen to me, and listen good. First off, you didn’t ruin anything. Secondly, and more importantly, you are the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met—”

He opened his mouth, probably intent to argue, but you narrowed your eyes at him, and his lips pursed shut.

“You are the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met,” you repeated as you held his gaze. “Both inside and out. And I know for a fact that will not change no matter what’s under your shirt. I-I love you, Eddie. Did you forget that?”

“No,” he murmured, voice strained.

“Good,” you said. “Because I do. Munson, I love you so much it drives me insane. Literally insane. Insane enough that I dove head first into a hellish dimension and took on an army of bats with a lighter, a can of hairspray, and a busted shoulder.”

Eddie cracked a smile at that, his eyes going soft as melted chocolate. “My warrior princess.”

“Damn straight,” you huffed before you grew serious again. “But I love you, Eddie. Love the way you are so passionate about everything, be it DnD or learning a new song on the guitar. I love the way you’re always looking to make someone smile, someone laugh, or feel included. And I love how fiercely loyal you are, even to the point of stupidity. So nothing about you could ever be ugly. Especially not your scars. Because those scars mean y-you’re still with me, still alive. I’m, fuck, I’m so goddamn grateful for those scars, Munson.”

Your voice grew rough with tears, the backs of your eyes burning, and Eddie’s face twisted.

“Fuck, Obi, no, don’t cry. Come here.” He quickly gathered your naked body up in his arms, and then he half-carried, half-dragged you up the bed until you were both settled against the headboard. “Shhhh. I’m sorry. Shit, I’m such an idiot.”

“No, no, you’re not,” you argued, rubbing your face into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around you. He sighed into your hair, the sound tortured, and you knew you needed to lighten the mood. “Well, maybe a little. Sometimes. But not right now.”

“Ah, so the truth comes out.”

You snorted as you wiped your eyes against his hoodie and lifted your head off his shoulder, and Eddie immediately brushed back the hair hanging in your face. The two of you were settled on your sides—you, on your right, and him on his left— and his other hand, the one not in your hair, was wrapped around your back. His fingers trailed over your spine, spreading shivers, and you flushed a little when you remembered you were naked. You were naked, thighs still tacky with your release, and one of your legs was slotted between his.

“Sorry, again,” Eddie murmured as his eyes roamed over your face. “For, you know, ruining the mood and making you cry.”

You shook your head before you leaned up, pressing your lips chastely to his.

“Stop apologizing,” you said. “If anyone ruined the mood, it was me, the crybaby.”

Eddie smirked, his thumb brushing against your lower lip. “A very cute crybaby.”

You nipped at his thumb in retaliation, but when you felt his breath hitch, you flicked your thumb across the pad before drawing the whole digit into your mouth. Eddie stopped breathing completely then, and his eyes darkened as they stared intently at where your lips were wrapped around his thumb.

You sucked in briefly, hollowing your cheeks, and something twitched against your thigh from where it was wedged between his.

“Shit, Obi—” Eddie started, then hissed when you rocked your thigh into his crotch.

“I still haven’t made you feel good,” you whispered once you released his thumb with a pop. “Can I, Eddie? Please?”

“Fuck, how am I supposed to say no to that?” he groaned before he captured your mouth with his. When he pulled away, he was breathing hard, muttering against your lips as he rocked against your thigh. “Asking so sweetly, almost as sweet as you taste. Fuck, I love you, Obi. You know that, right? Tell me you know that.”

“I know, I know, love you, too,” you gasped and pressed your naked body against him, losing yourself in his kisses for a moment before you pulled away. He chased after you with a whine, but you placed your hand on his chest and pressed him back into the pillows propped up against the headboard. “But let me take care of you this time, baby.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and then exhaled shakily as you carefully straddled his lap. “F-Fucking-- Christ, you’re so beautiful, Obi.”

“Mmmm, you, too,” you hummed and pecked a quick kiss against his lips. Then you leaned back a little, met his eyes, and took the hem of his hoodie between your fingers. “Let me see you?”

Eddie bit his lip and looked a little hesitant, but after a moment, he nodded.

You smiled and gave him another kiss. “Thank you.”

Even though he’d given you consent, you still took it slow as you worked the hoodie up over his chest and tossed it to the side. Eddie flicked his hair out of his eyes as his hands settled tentatively on your waist, and you ducked to press your lips against the tip of his nose.

“Hi, there, handsome,” you said, reveling in the slight flush that spread across his lightly freckled cheeks. You traced the spreading red hue with your lips, then your tongue, shifting as you trailed across his jaw and down his neck.

“Obi,” Eddie rasped as his fingers flexed around your waist.

“Shhhh.” You dipped your tongue into his collarbone like he had done to you earlier. “Unless you want me to stop, just lie back and let me make you feel good. Do you want me to stop, Eddie?”

“N-No, fuck, no,” he stuttered, tilting his neck back to give you more room.

You smiled against his skin and sucked a quick hickey into the base of his throat, causing him to moan, but then you pulled away and shuffled backwards so you were kneeling more over his knees than his thighs. Eddie’s fingers slipped from your waist as you sat up more fully, and you felt him stiffen slightly below you as you gazed down at his bare chest.

You were careful to keep you face completely neutral, but your heart ached inside your chest for the boy beneath you. You’d seen glimpses of him shirtless before, usually when he spilled something on himself while you two were getting high at his trailer, and he stumbled around his room half-naked to look for a semi-clean shirt. So, the long, pale expanse of his torso wasn’t necessarily new to you. You even knew all of his tattoos by heart, mostly because he loved showing them off. There were the bats, the wyvern, and the puppet master on his right arm, on his forearm, tricep, and inside of his wrist respectively. Then there was the black widow spider below his left collarbone and the skull of a demon below the spider, just above his heart.

Except both the spider and the demon were unrecognizable now.

Eddie’s chest and abdomen were covered in ropy scars, pink and knotted and barely healed. Slashes marred the tattoos on his chest, so the images were dissected and distorted. But the scars on his stomach— above his right hip and below the left side of his ribcage— were worse. These scars were more jagged, both from the demo-bats’ teeth, and from where you’d burned him with a serrated knife to cauterize his wounds. The skin there was more red than pink, and you frowned as you ghosted your fingers over the raised lines, almost but not quite touching.

“Obi?” Eddie asked, and the quiet timidness in his voice snapped you out of it.

You flicked your eyes up to find him starting at you with his lip caught between his teeth, and the tinge of fear in his eyes made your throat tight again, but you shoved it down.

“I was right,” you said instead. “Still as beautiful as ever, Munson. Truly, it’s a little unfair.”

“I-I think that’s my line, sweetheart,” he scoffed, but a small smile tugged at his lips, so shy and endearing that you had to crawl up his body again to kiss him.

Eddie opened his mouth to your tongue, groaning when your naked body brushed against his. For a second, you were worried you’d hurt him, but then his kiss turned more bruising, and one of his hands came up to grope your breasts, tweaking at your nipple and causing you to groan this time.

“S-Shit, how are you so goddamn soft everywhere?” he gasped against your lips. “My hands must feel like f-fucking sandpaper.”

“No,” you moaned as your pressed into his left hand, his rings cold against the hot flesh of your breast. “Your hands feel s-so good… but stop distracting me, Munson.”

You pulled back and pouted at him, and before he could stop you, you started kissing your way down his neck again. This time, you didn’t stop at his collarbones, and you hovered over him reverently as you oh so softly dragged your lips over his scars.

“So handsome,” you muttered, pressing a kiss to his sternum. “So fucking handsome, baby. Love you so much. Every bit of you.”

“Fuck, O-Obi,” Eddie whimpered above you, and you felt him buck his hips.

You didn’t want to torture or overstimulate him too much, so you continued down his torso, pausing only briefly to dip your tongue into his bellybutton and run it across his happy trail. When you got to the buckle of his belt, you glanced up at him, finding him staring back at you with eyes as wild as his hair.

“Is it okay if I keep going?” you asked as you reached for his belt.

Eddie bobbed his head sporadically but then seemed to swallow and find his words. “Yes. Christ, yes, please.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely, pretty boy,” you parroted his earlier words back at him. It was supposed to be a joke, but you saw the breath hitch in his chest, and you felt his cock twitch beneath your fingers.

Oh. He seemed to like a little praise. This knowledge made you throb, and you filed it away to use later.

Instead, you focused your attention on opening his belt and jeans, and you immediately started working both his pants and boxers down his thighs. Eddie lifted his hips to help you, and after a brief tug, his cock sprang out and slapped against his belly, causing him to moan.

You quickly shoved the rest of his clothes down his legs, and Eddie kicked them off before you knelt in the V between his thighs.

“Christ,” you breathed. It was one of Eddie’s favorite words, and it was the only thing you could think of as you stared at his straining cock.

You admittedly hadn’t seen many dicks in your life, but his was by far the prettiest. Were dicks supposed to be pretty? Because his sure was. It stretched out maybe seven inches, arching towards his belly button, and the girth of it made saliva pool in your mouth. At the base sat a bush of dark brown curls even more wild than the hair on his head, and at the tip was a little mushroom cap, beading with pearly fluid.

“I-Is that a good, um, Christ?” Eddie asked nervously.

Instead of answering, you leaned down and licked up the underside of his cock, pausing at the tip to lap at his precum, and Eddie cried out, his hips leaping off the bed.

“Mmmm, you taste as good as you look, Munson,” you sighed and licked your lips. Then you shifted, positioning yourself flat on your stomach between his legs, your own kicking up into the air behind you. Eddie’s thighs tensed when you slid your hands across them, one snaking further up his pelvis to grip the base of his cock and tilt it toward you.

“Ohhhh, son of a—” Eddie whimpered as his shaft throbbed in your hand. It was warm, and softer than you imagined, and you couldn’t stop yourself from sticking out your tongue and swirling it around his head.

“I’m not exactly an expert at this, either,” you confessed, feathering a kiss under his mushroom shaped head. “So tell me if you do or don’t like something.”

“Obi,” he gritted out with his head pressed back into the pillows and his eyes tightly shut. “I can’t even fuckin’ look at you right now because I’m on the edge of losing my absolute shit. Y-You could probably just sit there like that for a minute, and it would be enough.”

“But where’s the fun in that?” You smirked, feeling high off the power you held over this man. And from the weed, too, if you were being honest.

Then, before he could say a single thing in retort, you fitted your lips over the head of his cock and sunk halfway down.

Eddie wordlessly shouted as he thrashed, and you had to use one of your hands to press his hips back into the mattress. The other you used to grip the base of his shaft, and you pumped softly as you swirled your tongue around the portion in your mouth. His skin tasted a little salty but clean, and the smell of him was more pungent here, muskier. It drove you a little crazy, and you felt drool dripping past your lips as you slowly started to bob your head.

“Fuckkkkk, Obi, holy shit, t-that feels—” Eddie broke off with a whine, and suddenly his fingers were tangling in your hair. He didn’t push your head down, though, just held you there as he twitched his hips upward, his shaft throbbing against your tongue.

After letting him shallowly thrust for a minute, you pulled back until his head popped free of your mouth, but you didn’t go far, pressing kisses to his tip and using the saliva running down his shaft to lubricate your still-pumping hand.

“God, you’re so hard, Eddie,” you muttered absently, feeling him throb between your fingers. “Does this feel good?”

“Ohhh, so good, so fucking good, you have no idea how good,” he babbled as his fingers scratched pleasantly against your scalp.

“Hmmm, excellent,” you hummed and licked at his leaking head like a lollipop. “Because I want to make you feel as incredible as you made me feel.”

“Fuck, baby, you’re already— AHH!” he cried out, voice cracking, as you suddenly took him in your mouth again and deepthroated him.

You gagged a little, eyes stinging, as he hit the back of your mouth, but your breathed in through your nose and swallowed, feeling the walls of your throat cinch around the head of his cock.

“Shit!” Eddie’s voice rose an octave, taking on a panicked pitch, and then he was suddenly, frantically, yanking at your hair. “F-Fuck, Obi! Stop, shit, stopstopstop!”

You immediately pulled your head back, his dick sliding out of your lips with a wet slurp. Your breathing was ragged as your looked up to find him in a half-seated position, his face contorted and eyes closed, and your stomach immediately churned.

“A-Are you okay?” you rasped, your voice hoarse but concerned. “Fuck, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

You used your arms to push yourself up and away from his pelvis, until you were kneeling again between his thighs. Eddie panted as he slowly collapsed back onto your pillows, and one of his hands came up to push the damp bangs out of his face while the other flopped across his hips.

“Eddie?” you prompted when he didn’t answer, and finally he cracked open a single eye and tilted his head to look at you.

“You… didn’t hurt me,” he muttered, and he still sounded a little breathless. “I just— fuck, that felt so good, sweetheart. Too good. I, um, almost… ya know, i-in your mouth.”

“Oh.” You smiled, your concern melting away as your desire reignited. “You could have, you know. That was kind of the goal, Munson.”

Eddie exhaled shakily, and you saw his dick twitch where it laid against his stomach, still red and slick with your spit.

“Jesus Christ, don’t say stuff like that, Obi,” he breathed, and he reached down to squeeze the base of his cock. “I-I don’t want to… finish… in your mouth. This time.”

The ‘this time’ made the heat in your gut travel up into your chest, and your smile widened at the implication that he planned to do this again. Because you wanted to do it over and over, for the rest of forever. Until you got sick of it, though you didn’t think that was possible.

You’d only gotten a taste, and yet you knew you were quickly becoming addicted to Eddie Munson.

“Oh, really?” you asked with a smirk, slinking up his body until you were straddling his lap. Your pussy hovered right over his cock, but you stayed hovering above him as you met his glassy gaze. “Where do you want to finish then, Munson? What do you want?”

Eddie’s hands settled against your hips, and his eyes were wide as he gazed up at you with naked adoration etched across his face.

“I-Inside,” he stuttered and then swallowed as his fingers tightened around your hips. “God, Obi, I want to be inside you so fuckin’ bad, I— t-there’s a condom, in my jeans. Can I— let me grab it.”

“Since when have you started carrying around a condom in your pocket?” you teased.

“Since I started waking up every day with your ass pressed against my morning wood,” Eddie said, making your pussy throb, and he patted your naked thigh as he twitched beneath you. “Come on, let me up, it’ll only take a second.”

“Actually…” You bit your lip as you placed one of your hands on his sternum and gently pressed him back down into the bed. “I was thinking… y-you’re clean, since you’ve never, um, been with anyone. And I’ve only, uh, d-done this once, and I’ve been tested since then. Also, I’ve… been on birth control for years now, it helps to regulate my cyc— never mind. What I’m trying to say is we don’t need a condom… if that’s alright with you?”

You didn’t know where you found it in you to be embarrassed after everything you and Eddie had already done together, but your cheeks flushed with heat all the same. You were still hovering over Eddie’s lap, but that quickly changed when he suddenly lunged out and yanked you down onto his chest. You squeaked in surprise, barely able to catch yourself by bracing your hands on the bed beside his shoulders, but then Eddie was devouring your mouth, teeth and tongue and hands everywhere.

You moaned as his fingers skimmed up your sides, detouring to your breasts and nipples for a moment before they continued upwards to cup your face. His tongue swiped across yours one last time before he ripped himself away, and he panted against your mouth as he pressed his forehead to yours.

“That’s… holy shit, that’s so fucking hot,” he whimpered as he bucked up beneath you, and the brush of his bare dick on your wet folds punched a groan from your chest. “Obi, Christ, Obi, I need to be inside you. Fuck, please, I just— I’m gonna die if I’m not inside you in the next thirty seconds.”

“I already told you once, you’re not dying on me, Munson,” you said, snaking a hand down between your torsos to grasp the base of his cock.

Eddie whined again at your touch, but it was nothing compared to the strangled sound he made when you notched the head of his dick against your dripping cunt. You sat up a little to get the angle right, but then you paused and smiled at the tense, panting man beneath you.

“Love you, Eddie. I love you so goddamn much.”

“Fuck, I love you, too, sweetheart, I— OH!”

He broke off with a shout as you pushed your hips down, popping the head of his dick past your entrance. The stinging stretch made your eyes roll back into your head, and a guttural groan echoed up your throat as your slowly sank down, inch by inch, onto his cock.

“S-Shit, Eddie,” you whined once you sat in the cradle of his pelvis. Your walls ached and fluttered as they tried to accommodate him, and it felt like he was lodged all the way up in your chest. The first and last guy you’d been with definitely hadn’t felt like this.

“Fuckkkk,” Eddie practically sobbed out, and his nails dug into the skin of your hips, hard enough to leave bruises. But he managed to lift his head from where he’d thrown it back into the pillows, and his hazy, unfocused eyes found yours. “Christ on a fucking crutch. A-Are you okay, Obi? You’re so goddamn tight.”

“It’s cuz you’re f-fucking big,” you shot back, your voice a little breathless as you gently settled your palms against his belly, careful to avoid the worst scars. The stretch of him inside you still ached a little bit, but it was beginning to fade, and you slowly rocked your hips against his.

You moaned at the dual sensation of him moving inside your pussy while his pubes tickled your clit, and Eddie cursed again as his fingers clamped down around your waist.

“Wait, s-stop, stop,” he suddenly hissed, and you froze above him, lifting your hands off his stomach.

“Sorry, did I—” you started to ask, but Eddie quickly shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

“No, you just feel too goddamn good. Again.” Eddie laughed shakily before he took a deep breath and let it out slow. Then he opened his eyes, and he smiled up at you sheepishly. “Sorry. You’re just… so fuckin’ beautiful, and I’m on a virgin hair trigger here, and—”

“Eddie, it’s okay,” you cut him off with a smile, reaching down to pry one of his hands off your hips so you could press a kiss to his fingers. “You have nothing to apologize for. Do you feel good right now?”

“Good doesn’t even fuckin’ scratch the surface, sweetheart,” he breathed out, and when you released his hand, it immediately fell to one of your breasts, brushing over your nipple. “This is quite literally the best goddamn day of my life. Don’t know how it could get better from here.”

“I think I have an idea.” You smirked before you leaned down and slanted your mouth over his, rolling your hips in the process.

Eddie’s groan was muffled by your tongue, and you whimpered along with him as you lifted a few inches up his shaft before sitting right back down. You swirled your hips with him rooted deep inside you, and his hands ghosted up your spine, pressing you against him.

The two of you rocked together as you kissed, but you needed air eventually, so you tore your lips away, burying your face in the crook of his shoulder as you gasped for breath.

With his lips free, Eddie took to babbling, and every word out of his mouth just made you drip and clench around his cock.

“O-Oh, fuck, baby, you feel sooo good, so goddamn good. So wet and-- Fuck! Squeezing me so tightly. Christ, you’re driving me insane, I can’t even t-think. My brain is on fucking fire-- god! Obi. S-Shit, Obi, w-wait. I’m sorry, wait, waitwait.”

You froze midroll and whimpered as his cock brushed that special spot inside you. Eddie panted as he clutched you to him, but after a moment, he slowly relaxed into the sheets, and you carefully propped yourself up on your hands.

“Sorry,” Eddie muttered as he blinked up at you.

“I told you, you have nothing to apologize for,” you reminded him with a smile, but he still looked so contrite, so you clenched around him, rising up a little and sinking back down so he could hear the wet noises coming from between your bodies. “Hear that? That’s because you turn me on so much, Ed. You’re the one making me so wet. I could probably just sit here on your cock and cum without either of us moving. That’s how good you feel inside me.”

“Goddamn it, Obi,” he gritted out as he clenched his eyes shut again, his hands clutching at the top of your thighs. “I’m trying not to cum here, and you’re not helping.”

“But I want you to cum,” you said, sitting up fully and starting to rock on his cock again. From this angle, you could almost feel him in the back of your throat, and you tossed your head back as you settled your palms against his belly and rode him in slow but deep movements. “I, ah, want you to cum deep inside me, pretty boy. Want— fuck, want to feel it.”

“Oh, shit,” Eddie hissed and bared his teeth. Then his hands wrapped around your hips again, guiding you a little bit faster. “S-Shit. I— Can you cum again? Wanna feel you cum on my cock. Fuck, I want that so bad. What can I do?”

“Touch me,” you gasped. The coil in your gut was tightening again, wound tighter and tighter by the insistent press of his cock deep inside you.

“Y-Yeah, yeah, I can do that,” he groaned, shifting his left hand from your hip, and the cold bite of his metal rings against your heated and swollen clit made you cry out.

“Eddie!” You jolted further up his cock than you had been, and you were so slick that you just slid right back down, your ass meeting his pelvis with a wet slap. The head of his cock knocked against something inside you that made you see stars, and suddenly you were bouncing on his dick, rapid and wild, your eyes rolling back into your head.

“Fuck! Oh, god, oh, Christ, O-Obi, Obi, I’m— shit, I’m cumming.” Eddie’s voice rose into a high-pitched whine, his fingers and rings blindly bumping against your clit, his hips bucking off the bed to meet yours. “I’m cumming, fuck, cum with me, cum with me, baby, please!”

“Yes, cum inside me!” you sobbed as he snapped his hips up into yours, and your third orgasm of the night hit you like a freight train. “Eddie!”

You felt his cock thob in the tight clutch of your walls moments before you were filled with the warmth of his cum, and the sensation heightened your own climax. Your whole body spasmed, lightning in every nerve, and you only distantly felt Eddie tug you down onto his chest, his tongue invading your mouth, his sobs and curses muffled by your lips.

The two of you rolled and writhed against each other as you rode out your climaxes, but eventually your thighs burned too much, so you just collapsed limp on Eddie’s chest while he thrust up into you a few more times. You whimpered from oversensitivity and the aftershocks of your orgasm, and your brain felt like slush between your ears when Eddie finally gasped, shuddered, and stilled beneath you.

A long moment stretched by in silence as you both caught your breath and returned to your bodies, but Eddie was the first to stir, his hand feathering up your spine. It tickled slightly, so you involuntarily clenched, and then you both groaned as you tightened around his softening cock.

“Fuckkkkkk.” Eddie laughed, his chest rumbling beneath you, and his palm pressed flat between your shoulder blades. “That was… holy shit. I… I think I might have died. I think this might actually be heaven.”

“Why do you keep trying to die on me?” you grumbled as you lifted your head off his shoulder and pouted at him.

“’M not trying to, baby.” Eddie smiled and cupped your cheek, but then he bit his lip, his dark-brown eyes searching your face. “Was that… okay… for you?”

You blinked at him. And then again. “Munson. Did you not just make me cum three times?”

He blushed, but his smile was equal parts sheepish and proud. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Damn right you did,” you sighed, wincing as a cramp started up in your thigh. “But, um, I need to… dismount now. Leg cramp.”

“Oh, shit, yeah, let me—” Eddie paused and glanced down at where you were still connected, and then his eyes darted from side to side, searching. “My shirt, I—”

“Too slow,” you groaned, and you pulled up without warning.

His half flaccid cock slid out of you with a wet sound, and both of you whined. You could feel something start to trickle out of you and onto your inner thigh, but you just flopped onto your back, Eddie scooting over to make room for you against the headboard.

“Sorry,” you hissed as you stretched your legs out, pointing your toes. “Couldn’t wait. Damn Charlie horse.”

“Want me to rub it?” Eddie asked, and he shifted partially onto his side next to you.

“No, it’s fading, I’m okay,” you sighed, relaxing into the bed and turning your head to look at him. But he wasn’t looking at you. No, his eyes were glued to the inside of your thighs, and when you followed his gaze, you blushed. Your skin was wet, glistening in the light of the bed side lamp, and you could feel more wetness seeping out of you and onto the covers.

Oh, well. You needed to wash the sheets anyway. Thankfully, you had spares for tonight.

“Eddie,” you muttered when he just kept staring, and you tried to close your legs, but he suddenly reached out and stopped you, his fingertips pressing into the tacky skin of your thighs.

“No, wait… can I…” He trailed off as he glanced at you, and you wanted to tell him no, were already squirming with embarrassment, but you found yourself nodding yes.

Yes to whatever he wanted.

Eddie smiled before he scootched down the bed a little, and then he was pressing your thighs open, his fingers brushing against your sopping folds and spreading them apart.

“Fuck,” he breathed as he gaped at your swollen pussy, and you moaned, walls fluttering, pushing out another glob of his cum. “Goddamn, you look…”

He trailed off again, and you felt his thumb swipe up your slit, collecting his cum, before he slotted it back inside you.

“Ah!” you gasped, the sound transforming into a moan and then a whimper. You closed your thighs around his wrist and arched your back, trying to scoot away. “Eddie, s-sensitive.”

“Oops, sorry.” He immediately withdrew his thumb, but he paused a moment to inspect the slick glint of your combined juices on his skin.

You reached for his hand without thinking, meeting his wide eyes as you pulled his thumb to your mouth. Gently, you wrapped your lips around him, swiping your tongue over the pad of his digit. The taste was salty and tangy but not bad, and your eyelashes fluttered a little as you hollowed your cheeks.

When you released him, Eddie exhaled sharply, like he’d been holding his breath, and then he was swooping down to kiss you again. His tongue stabbed into your mouth, chasing the remnants of your combined flavors, and you moaned as you wrapped your arms around his neck and tugged him down to lie half on top of you.

“Whoa,” Eddie laughed against your lips. Then he pulled away to stabilize himself so he didn’t fall off the bed or crush you. “Careful there, Obi. I might trip, fall, and end up with my dick inside you again.”

You giggled at the corny joke and pecked another kiss against the corner of his mouth. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

“You are so evil,” Eddie groaned as he wrapped his arms around you, trapping your own against his chest. “Evil, evil Obi.”

“Muhahaha,” you murmured sleepily, settling against him. But then your eyes fluttered open, and you saw the scars inches away from your nose. Tentatively, you traced your fingertips down the pink, ropy tissue, and when Eddie tensed slightly, you leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the remnants of his spider tattoo. “I didn’t hurt you, though, did I?”

“Princess, what you made me feel was the opposite of pain,” Eddie sighed and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “You made me feel… fucking fantastic. Is it weird if I thank you? Because I feel like I should thank you. You know what, I’m doing it. Thank you, Obi. Thank you for rocking my goddamn world.”

“You’re welcome.” Giggling, you pressed another kiss to another scar. “And thank you, Munson. I… I love you.”

“Fuck, I love you, too,” he breathed as he placed his fingers under your chin and tilted your face up. His lips brushed over your so sweetly, and his opposite hand traced idle patterns against the bare skin of your back.

When he pulled back, he was smiling that smile you loved so much— the one that crinkled the lines around his eyes and made his dimples stand out— and there was a hint of mischief in his chocolate brown eyes.

“Now, what do you say to us rolling another joint, raiding your kitchen, and going round two?” Eddie smirked.

“I think…” you said with a smile, tickling your fingers against his chest until he giggled and pulled back. “That you better hurry up and get rolling, Munson.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned and smacked another kiss against your lips before clambering out of bed.

You laughed at his overexaggerated hurried pace, the way he kept glancing at the clock on your nightstand with increasing faux-worry. He somehow managed to roll another joint without spilling anything, and you felt your breath hitch a little as you watched him lick it closed.

Yeah, you were definitely addicted to Eddie Munson now.

But you didn’t really see the problem with that.

2K notes · View notes

cacoetheswriting · 1 year

Text

pearl: march 1984

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 3.2k chapter summary: eddie realises he might like you as more than just his best friend.

content warnings: best friends to lovers, slow burn, mutual pining, suggestive & mature themes, adult language, use of pet names, emotional hurt / comfort, self-doubt / insecurities, recreational drug use, mentions of alcohol - if i missed anything, pls let me know!

& psa: images used in the header don’t depict readers physical attributes! these are also described vaguely, if at all, in the story.

pearl masterlist

Detention.

Frankly, a terrible concept and quite possibly one of the worst ways to punish misbehaviour ‘cause who did it really benefit, really? Definitely not the students since it just made them resent everyone involved in the situation even more, and not the teachers either as they do not want to be stuck minding careless brats after their already exhaustingly long day at work.

Detention was dumb. And you weren't just thinking that because of the half-crumpled slip in your hand.

Exhaling, you slowly open the classroom door and enter. There’s a hesitant sway in your strut as you approach the desk, handing the mangled piece of paper to the teacher that drew the short straw today — Mrs. Click.

Judging by the look on her face, she was just as happy to be doing this as you were, only reaffirming your already strong belief that detention was in fact dumb.

“Take a seat,” Mrs. Click grumbles before burying her nose back in the book she was reading.

You don’t bother responding, she clearly wouldn’t care anyway. Turning instead on your heel, you scan the room of delinquents until your eyes land on the one specific culprit that landed you in this mess in the first place.

Not surprisingly, Eddie’s eyes are already on you. He’s got a stupid, shit-eating grin plastered across his face and you can’t help but to roll your eyes at him — what a dingus.

“I can’t believe you’re actually pleased with yourself,” you huff while sitting down in the free spot next to him.

The metalhead chuckles silently before sliding his chair closer towards you.

“And I can’t believe you’re actually annoyed with me,” he teases in response, “It’s just as much your fault as it is mine.”

Your brows string together. “Are you shitting me, Eds?”

He shrugs, still smirking. “I’m just saying, princess—”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“—, if it wasn’t for your inability to control yourself around me, we wouldn’t be here,” Eddie teases, nonchalantly throwing one arm around the back of your chair.

“Eddie, and I say this with love, you’re delusional.”

“Quiet,” Mrs. Click calls out without lifting her head.

Letting out a faint breath, you lean in your best friend's direction. The curly-haired teen mirrors your movement and the two of you are now mere inches apart — a proximity that in recent months has become all too familiar. But not in a weird way. Eddie was still just your friend, nothing different. Not really. Simply, ever since it became apparent you would be graduating without him this year, being as close to one another as platonically possible, brought some comfort.

“As I was saying,” you begin in a whisper, “I was simply trying to get you to stop annoying me with your childish behaviour. I didn’t think you would land us in detention.”

He gasps inaudibly, placing a hand to his cheek as his mouth pops into an ‘o’ shape. Again, you roll your eyes at his dramatics then gently flick his forehead in an attempt to get him to quit it. The metalhead’s smile is wide as he lets his arm fall back down onto the desk.

“Well, I just hope you didn’t have any plans tonight,” Eddie teases, the shit-eating grin plastered across his face growing wider by the second.

“As a matter of fact, I did have plans. Thanks to you, Eds, I had to cancel on a friend of mine. We were supposed to go to the movies. I should be drowning in popcorn and overpriced soda, instead I’m stuck here with you,” your response is honest and there’s a hint of annoyance detectable in the sound of your voice.

Eddie’s eyes widen slightly and for a split-second you think you said something that hurt his feelings, but then he opens his mouth, confirming your suspicion about not feeling an inch of remorse for landing you in this hell.

“Princess, you’re hurting my feelings. I didn’t realise you had other friends.”

“I told you not to call me that,” it comes out in a half-hiss, half-giggle.

“Quiet,” Mrs. Click repeats and you glance in her direction. Her tone was slightly more stern yet she still doesn’t lift her head from the book in front of her, although you are mighty aware the third warning wouldn’t be as congenial.

Since you seriously did not want to have to do this again tomorrow, ignoring Eddie’s quiet babbling, you reach inside you backpack to retrieve a cassette player. Proceeding to make eye contact with the curly-haired boy, you place the headphones around your ears, silently showcasing you were done with the conversation and just wanted to be left alone for the remainder of your mutual time in this teen prison.

Thankfully, Eddie seems to get the hint. He drags his fingers across his lips in a zip-like motion before shooting you a wink and leaning backwards in his chair.

As the metalhead was no stranger to passing time when forced to stay longer after school, he spent the next hour or so taking what he believed to be a much deserved nap. You on the other hand spent the entire hour staring at the clock on the wall with intensity.

Time dragged. The cassette ended long ago and you felt no effort to rewind it, instead sitting in silence with the headphones still covering your ears.

Eventually, Mrs. Click clears her throat and you immediately turn your attention to her.

“Alright,” she begins and glances at the watch strapped to her wrist before looking up at the group, “I hope you all learned your lesson and we won’t have to see the majority of you here again.”

Her eyes flicker to Eddie and she sighs, “Mr. Munson, please be cautious not to drag your friends into your messes in the future, understood?”

“Noted, ma’am.” Eddie offers a charming smile and you can’t help but snicker next to him, a reaction that causes the denim clad teen to nudge your side with his elbow.

“Good,” the teacher nods at his response, “You’re all free to go then.”

Scrambling from your seat, you slide a bag strap up your arm, resting it on your shoulder, before walking towards the door. Eddie is close behind, as always. He says a sweet goodbye to Mrs. Click and he hurries after you out of the school building.

“I don’t know about you,” Eddie quips, unlocking his van, “But this was a lot of fun. We should definitely do it again sometime.”

You find yourself rolling your eyes once again while settling into the passenger seat.

“Eddie, please be serious. This isn’t funny, this was detention.”

He chuckles lightheartedly. “So? I get detention like every other day, you know that. These teachers, they have it out against me,” he says in his usual theatrical tone.

“They don’t have it out against you, Eds. Everyone wants to see you succeed.”

But he ignores you.

“Can I have that tape you were listening to earlier?”

He’s swift to change the subject because he knows where this conversation is heading — you graduating, him staying behind — and you're painfully aware he doesn’t want to talk about it right now, (or ever, if he could have things his way).

Eddie has only once admitted that he can’t bear the thought of you leaving and he wasn’t entirely sober when he said it, leading you to believe he didn’t even remember talking about it.

Considering avoidance of the topic also worked in your favour, you obey and hand Eddie the tape. He rewinds it with ease and places it inside the cassette player of his van. The first couple of tough yet vulnerable notes from Janis Joplin’s Pearl album blare through the shitty speakers.

Eddie starts the van, rhythmically tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and a smile tugs at your lips as you watch him begin mouthing the lyrics. His eyes are on the road ahead, his curly brown locks are blowing with the light breeze coming in through the parted window.

“Hey, Eds, since you ruined my plans for the afternoon, wanna drive down to Lover’s Lake and share some of your stash with me?”

Eddie smirks at the question.

“Lover’s Lake, huh? Is this your sneaky way of getting me to make out with you, princess? ‘Cause you know you don’t have to convince me too much.”

“No, shut up,” you scoff and playfully smack his bicep, “this is your way of apologising for landing me in detention. Also, in your dreams, hot shot.”

“Ugh,” the metalhead groans, “can we please just agree the fault lies with us both? I can’t have you making me feel guilty until the end of time,” he whines and glances in your direction, “And, side note, aren’t you always the one telling me to chase my dreams?”

Eddie’s insinuation isn’t lost on you, but this kind of flirting blurred the line between platonic and something more which was dangerous so close to your departure.

“You’re an idiot.”

He laughs, looking back at the road as the song ends and the next begins. Eddie starts to hum along with the melody and you watch him, slowly bobbing your head to the beat. The soft sounds he’s producing are so angelic, it causes your heart to soar then crack all at once.

Playing cat and mouse with the subject of graduation worked for you too because you weren't entirely sure you could handle the real world without Eddie. He’s been a permanent fixture in your life for years now. The only person who truly knew every single thing about you. The only person that’s ever cared.

“Okay,” he says eventually, breaking you away from your thoughts, “Lovers Lake it is, princess.”

You gently smack his bicep once again. “Seriously, Eds, don’t call me that.”

“Sorry,” but he’s not. You're certain he’s not. Just like you know he’ll do it again, and again you will tell him not too.

The drive to the new destination is relatively quick. Eddie finds a space to park and cuts the engine causing the music to end mid tune. He tilts his head to look at you, wiggling his dark brows, and you can’t help but giggle at his ridiculousness while unfastening your seatbelt.

You proceed to squeeze in between the seats, into the back of his beat up van. Eddie follows suit, although one of his many metal chains gets caught somewhere in the process and he gets stuck.

“Ehm,” he clears his throat, “A little help please.”

You laugh then skoot towards his trapped frame, scanning for the culprit.

There’s a sudden shift in dynamic. It’s a little strange. Proximity usually isn’t an issue, but you can feel his eyes on you, scanning the side of your face, as you tug at the chain, fingers grazing against him. The air feels unnaturally heavy and you're fighting with yourself not to meet his wandering gaze.

“You know this thing has doors, right?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Eddie bites back playfully.

“Don’t lie,” you begin, fingers mangled around the chain causing this current situation, “You like to stare at my—” But you catch yourself by biting on the inside of your cheek before the rest of the sentence slips from your lips.

There is a semi-awkward moment of silence.

Still avoiding his gaze, you eventually untangle Eddie’s metal chain, freeing him from his shackles, and push back further into the van. The curly haired boy sits across from you and in the spirit of continuous avoidance of yet another topic, he’s quick to whip out a pre-rolled joint from the inside pocket of his denim jacket then lights it.

“Go ahead, princess,” he offers, the joint between his fingers, ready for you.

“No, no,” you protest, “Dealer first.”

He lets out a lighthearted chuckle but shakes his head. “Take it,” he pouts, “it’s heavy, my arm is starting to hurt.”

“Did anyone ever tell you how dramatic you can be?” you joke but give in, taking the joint and placing it carefully between your lips.

It’s moments like these that are your favourite. It is moments like these that make you think how lucky you are to have Eddie in you life.

But it’s also moments like these that make you realise how fucking hard it’s going to be to say goodbye.

And Eddie feels exactly the same way.

Landing the two of you in detention wasn’t the plan. It just sorta happened and honestly, rather selfishly, he was glad that it did. God only knew how many afternoons he had left with his best friend, so he had to make every single one of them count.

This one was turning out to be quite perfect. Just you two, sitting in the back of his beat-up van, about to share a joint.

Eddie observes as you closes your eyes, inhaling the smoke. A warm feeling settles in his core. Honestly, he found himself experiencing this certain tingle more and more lately, although he couldn’t quite decipher whether it was because you were leaving soon and this was serendipity towards everything the two of you share, or whether there was a different underlying reason, one he was undoubtedly afraid to act on.

— Most likely the latter.

Simply put, you had waltzed into his life and flipped it completely. Eddie had spent years putting up emotional barriers, guarding and shielding his heart from further suffering, yet after the very first conversation he held with you, the walls started to crumble.

The metalhead adored your openness, honesty, and effortless ability to be unapologetically yourself. No bullshit. You brought out this sweetness in him, a side he didn’t even know he had. It was as if you took a metaphorical sledgehammer and banged against his emotional barriers until there was almost nothing left.

Almost.

“So,” Eddie begins as you take another puff, “tell me, what’s your favourite song on the record? ‘Cause I don’t think I’ve ever asked you.”

“On Pearl?”

He nods as you pass him the joint.

“Probably A Woman Left Lonely, the lyrics are just next level. I mean all of her songs have these hidden meanings and a level of emotional maturity I can only hope to reach one day, but A Woman Left Lonely in particular…”

“Well, the fevers of the night, they burn an unloved woman,” Eddie quotes melodically before taking a puff and your eyes widen in surprise. A reaction that causes a chuckle to escape his lips.

“What? Didn’t peg me for a Joplin fan? I am a musician, after all.” Eddie quips as you reach for the joint, which he gives up without question. “Or did you think I forgot Pearl is your favourite album?”

“No, I—” you hesitate and Eddie can tell you're not sure what to say. “What’s your favourite song then?” you asks instead and he smacks his lips together, pondering the question for a moment.

You pass back the joint and he takes it from between your fingers to light it again before inhaling, then exhaling a heap of smoke.

“Me and Bobby McGee,” Eddie answers eventually, “I know it’s not a Joplin original but her voice, damn, she does things with that song that literally make me feel weak.”

A smile circles your lips. “Sing some of it for me.”

The request catches Eddie off guard and you can sense his hesitation because you're quick to add a witty remark, “You are a musician, after all.”

The slight jab at his earlier point makes Eddie smirk. “Touché, princess. Touché.”

And you shrugs as if it’s nothing, but the mischievous glimmer in your eyes devices you. Eddie knows you know that he can’t refuse you. He knows you know there is nothing in this world he wouldn’t do for you. He knows you knows that when it comes to him, you hold all the power.

“Okay,” the metalhead clears his throat and reaches for an acoustic guitar hidden under a blanket. With the joint still between his fingers, he begins to strum the intro chords from memory: G - C/G G - C/G G.

Your gaze is fixated on his frame. He can feel your attentive eyes on him as you tap the palms of your hands against your knees in rhythm.

This isn’t the first time the two of you have done this. Thinking about it now, he actually tends to play the guitar for you a lot, although it’s usually more heavy metal than blues rock, and he hardly ever sings just for you, so he's wondering, why did you ask him to sing? And why was he suddenly feeling nervous?

“Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin’ for a train. When I’s feelin’ near as faded as my jeans,” Eddie warbles melodically, now playing D7, “Bobby’s thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained. And rode us all the way into New Orleans.” C/G G

“I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana. I’s playin’ soft while Bobby sang the blues,” he effortlessly switches to C and muster up enough courage to look up at you — which could have been a big mistake because the smile gracing your near perfect features nearly causes him to fumble up the next part of the lyrics.

“Windshield wipers slappin’ time, I’s holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine. We sang every song that driver knew.”

D7 C

“Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose. Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no-no.” Eddie continues, strumming G, and to his pleasant surprise, you join in for the next part of the chorus, harmonising without flaw.

“And feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues. You know feelin' good was good enough for me. Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.” G A A

He holds the last chord for a second longer, not breaking eye contact. His heart is battering inside his rib cage and if he didn’t know any better, he would say it was about to explode.

After ultimately coming to a full stop, Eddie rests his arm on the neck of the instrument. Neither of you speaks for a moment. You're beaming at him and he can’t help but return the happy expression, before putting the bud of what was left of the joint between his lips.

“I guess you are a musician,” you quip and Eddie smirks.

“You doubted me?”

“Maybe.”

You're teasing. Eddie doesn't care though. All he really wants to know is if you liked his mini rendition of the song. Although, wanting to spare himself the humiliation just in case you didn’t, he doesn't dare ask for you opinion.

But it seems you can read his mind ‘cause as he manoeuvres to open the sliding door and discard the reminisce of the joint, you tells him exactly what’s on your mind.

“In all seriousness, that was like really really good, Eds. From now on, I’m definitely going to ask you to sing for me more often. Perhaps A Woman Left Lonely next? Or not just Janis,” you ramble excitedly, once again unknowingly causing his worries to dissipate.

Proceeding to sit beside you, Eddie once again reaches for the guitar. You let your head fall on his shoulder as his fingers strum random chords.

“You know that Irish band U2? I think your voice would really suit Sunday Bloody Sunday. Or, actually, any of their songs really.”

And as you continue listing different artists, an unfamiliar feeling settles in Eddie's core.

Well, shit.

pearl masterlist | main masterlist

#eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fix it fic #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson best friend #bestfriend!eddie #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x best friend reader #eddie munson story #eddie munson series #pearl (eddies version)

567 notes · View notes

harrywavycurly · 9 months

Text

Trouble Next Door Part 8: Exhale

Masterlist: Here

TW: Cursing, mentions of cheating

Tag List: @sinczir @rach5ive @bruher @kellyxo1 @tiannamortis @makingmunson94 @angelina16torres-blog @tlclick73 @gretavankleep37 @melaninjhs @amira0303 @robyn-118 @idkjoequinn @jaydaaasworld @squidscottjeans @rockstarmunsons @alanamarie @dandelionnfluff @aol19 @eddiesguitarskills @vampdaisy @br66klynbaby @raven-rust @daisyridleyyyy @i-love-ptv @josephquinnsfreckles

A/N: Now I know some of y’all won’t like this update but people handle things like this differently and I hope y’all can understand why Reader is reacting the way she is and if you’ve ever been in this situation I’m so sorry and just know you deserve all the love✨

*Eddie just needs you to take a few deep breaths*

276 notes · View notes

helpwhatsthis · 1 year

Note

could I request smut of best friend Robin coming across photos of reader and Eddie sending one another nudes 😱 then later on reader and Robin sext?

eddies girl- r.b./e.m

thank you sm for requesting babes!

I changed it bc I am very picky abt my modern aus, but there are definitely still nudes and this is way better than sexting.

ignore the use of time period inaccurate toys!

disclaimer that there are no relations between eddie and robin! (if anyone tries to argue with me about robins sexuality, prepare to have a molotov cocktail thrown in your window ♡)

▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞

robin had know she was fucked from the moment she saw you punch a russian in the face during summer of 85'.

she'd known she was even more fucked the moment she pulled open eddies nightstand in search of a song to save nancy.

before she could even move her eyes to the contents of the drawer, eddie had started screaming and running toward her. the tapes were forgotten from both of her hands when she gazed down to see god knows how many photos of one of her best friends in such... compromising positions.

if it hadn't been for steves screams to hurry up, and eddies pointed yet still terrified stare- she thinks she would have laughed from the shock of it all. because if she was a little more perverted (and a lot less rushed) it would have been like striking gold to her.

she can't deny to herself how many times she'd thought about the small glimpse she'd had. once everyone was safe, and eddie and max had been released from the hospital, it was all she had thought about for days. she'd barely left her room. every time her eyes closed, she saw it. saw you. tied up to your headboard, eddies hellfire shirt bunched up over your tits, and his hands pressing on your stomach. your head thrown back in ecstacy.

and with the sight came the questions. would you ever, in a million years or another lifetime let her touch you like that? what would you sound like? do want to fuck eddie as much as he talks about wanting to fuck you?

now her thighs are clenching together in the dusk surrounding the lake. she feels like a preteen boy, about to blow her load in her jeans while you moan along with joan jett to cherry bomb.

how could she not? your eyes are glassy and bloodshot, smoke falling from your nose. your black bathing suit leaves nothing of your body shape to the imagination. but most of all, even in the low light she can see the dark hickies on your skin.

"she's so fucking perfect, isn't she?" eddie muses softly, his knee bumping her own. guilt immediately fills her being when she looks back at him. even though his skin is covered in harsh scars, and there's a fear lurking in his eyes, he smiles as he watches you.

he loves you.

and you love him.

"to the ends of the earth, teddy" you had whispered in the back of steves car while begging him to hang on.

"i- I mean yeah, sure-" she stumbles on her words, sure shes been caught staring for too long.

"cool it, buckley." he smirks, turning his gaze to her. "I know you want to fuck my girlfriend, there's no reason to freak out."

"I don't!" she blurts, probably a little too loudly when you and steve turn back to look at her.

"shut up rob," he laughs, smacking her shoulder. "I know you have a shitty sleep schedule, and you have work tomorrow. so me and the succubus are gonna head home."

"dick" you grit, reaching up to slap his ass harshly as he stands.

why the fuck is he covering for her right now?

she's seen how possessive eddie can get, even before his escapades in an alternate dimension. since then, they'd only increased tenfold.

"we'll finish this conversation later." he murmurs, leaning down and feigning a kiss goodbye on the top of her head.

▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞

"-and she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it. and he's holding her in his arms late-late at night-"

robin groans, throwing her head back against the headrest of steves passenger seat. "alright, sorry springfield. I can't handle you tonight."

she reaches to turn down the radio, causing steve to fake a moan of agony.

"shit, robin. is this y/n. again?" he asks, glancing at her pitifully.

"yes, again." she snaps. "it's like she knows exactly how to work her way into the most minute crevices of my brain" she explains exaggeratedly with her hands.

much to her annoyance, steve just chuckles.

"and eddie knows-" she looks at him, finally allowing her fear to show through. she knows that some point, eddie had threatened a guy within an inch of his life, all because he heard from someone who heard from someone else that the guy had a crush on you.

she did not feel like having eddie threaten to put a pipe bomb in her mailbox. or whatever deranged shit came out of his mouth.

"and how would he know?" steve asks skeptically.

because all I do is stare at her boobs,

or because I stole one of her shirts,

maybe even because sometimes I wake myself up moaning her name in my sleep.

"I don't know." she lies. straight through fucking teeth. "but he told me he knows."

▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞

"alright, I'll be back in a few." you huff, grabbing eddies keys so that you could pick up steve and some take out. "love you, bubba" you hum, pressing a short kiss to eddies lips that makes robin painfully aware of being the third wheel.

"love you too." he smiles blissfully as he watches you walk out the door. it takes less than a second for him to turn back to her, cheshire grin upturning his lips. "let's get down to business-"

he wiggles his brows at her, causing her to roll her eyes. "and what would that be, edward?" she snaps, looking anywhere but his face. she knows that if she looks at him too long, she'll become a sobbing, apologizing mess.

"well, all three of us are off thursday." he shrugs. "and wayne is going out with some fishing buddies-" he smirks, biting his lip as he leans toward her.

"that means y/n and I are gonna have that new, big nda money house all to ourselves... unless of course you wanna come over?"

and she can see it vividly now, playing behind her eyelids. she's not stupid. she nows eddie fucked you on every surface of the new place after you'd bought it with your hush money.

it's a nice place, a really nice place actually. it's no harrington mansion, but you have eddie have a big plush bed on the second floor.

she wonders what it'd be like, to fuck you the king size bed you share with your boyfriend.

"and what would happen if I did come over?" she bites the bullet, looking skeptically at eddie. she almost wishes she hadn't when she sees the victorious look on eddies face.

"well y'know, it's not like I've put too much thought to it-" he laughs, eyes lost in thought as he absent-mindedly picks at the couch. "but you probably come in and find her tied to one of the kitchen chairs, wand buzzing against her puffy clit and begging someone to fill her up."

and she can almost hear it then, the loud buzzing and your whines for him.

no, for her.

"and of course I'd be mean, tell her no. and you'd get to play the hero, making her cum over and over on your pink cock."

there's a burning in her stomach, and she almost cries out when she clenches her thighs.

"god robin, she gets so wet for you. I make her tell me about how she wants your fingers inside and your tits in her face when im fucking her."

and she can't suppress it then, a soft moan pulling from her throat. she pulls her knees under her chin, peering up at him through teary eyes. he smiles, almost warmly as he claps a hand on her shoulder.

"so come over, or don't. s'up to you darlin'."

▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞

her hands are shakey as she reaches to close the mirror on the visor, letting out a huff of anxiety.

"you're really gonna do this?" steve ask, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I guess so, and if it's horrible I'll call you when you're on break and make you come pick me up." she shrugs, looking back out the window.

"It's not gonna be horrible, rob." steve states, even though he knows very well that his is definitely out of her comfort zone.

she's so lost in her own head that she barely notices when he stops the car in the driveway.

"oh god-" she murmurs softly, gazing at the front door.

"It's just eddie and y/n, you'll be okay." he promises, reaching out a squeezing her hand.

the walk to the door feels endless on her trembling legs. she almost can bring herself to knock when she finally reaches it. but she does.

"It's open!" she hears eddie call from inside.

before she even has the door all the way open, she hears you cry out.

"eddie, please." you beg, hands fisting your binds and hips trying to wiggle away from the vibrations. it's a fruitless effort, only adding stimulation to your swollen cunt.

your beautiful. it's a simple thought, and the first thing that occurs to her as she stares into the the living room.

she thinks that eddie must have the self control of a god, being able to write nerd shit in his notebook while you're tied up and jerking around like that right in front of him.

"god eddie, please make it stop." you pant, body slumping and pushing your clit into the toy harder.

he only smiles, reaching out and turning it up a setting. you practically scream, head falling back and making her knees feel weak.

"come torture her a bit, buckley." he smiles at her. "lose the clothes on the way." he hums, going back to his notebook.

and she's waited so long to see you like this that she obeys without a second thought, striping down to her underwear and sitting beside him on the couch.

from here, she can see all of you. you're chest is heaving so hard it makes your tits bounce. there's visible tremors running through your belly. and your cunt, fuck. it's leaking everywhere and your puffy clit is twitching against the head of the wand.

"r-robin-" you choke, voice broken. "please make it stop?" you you beg, tear filled eyes pleading at her.

"oh y/n." she hums, reaching out to wipe the tear tracks from your cheeks. you push into her touch, and jerk a second later when eddie flicks the handle of the wand.

"make her cum." he says, relaxing back into the couch with his arms behind his head.

"how?" she asks, not able to tear her gaze from your clenching hole.

he sits up wordlessly, reaching for the clasp of her bra. he stops, eyes asking for permission. she nods, and seconds later the material is falling from her chest.

the sound you make is strangled, wanting nothing more than to feel the hard buds of her nipples against your tongue.

"do whatever feels right?" eddie shrugs.

and so she does, standing from the couch and pulling down her panties. your whining, body keening toward hers as you watch her undress.

she can help herself, hands caressing your face and she guides it so that your chin rests on her sternum.

it almost feel natural as she moves her hands to the sides of her breasts, pushing them and effectively smashing you between them.

and she giggles, fucking giggles, as you sob into her skin.

"can I kiss her?" she asks shyly, looking over her shoulder at eddie.

"you can do whatever the fuck you want to her, robin" he grins.

the next thing you know, her mouth is on yours, her tongue running along yours. you don't even notice her moving, so consumed by her mouth. she drops on your lap, folds warm and wet against your legs as her hand wraps around your neck.

"f-fuck" you cry into her mouth when she squeezes slightly.

and then she's in a daze, hips rocking against your mound and causing you to thrust into the vibe.

you take her tit into your mouth, nearly biting at her nipple and making her moan.

"oh fuck, that's it y/n" she gasps, hands tugging your hairs.

"go on and cum for her, baby." eddie encourages, reaching out and squeezing you knee.

it's euphoria as you let go. cunt clenching and feeling your pulse everywhere. your deaf to your owns screams of pleasure, deaf to both of their praising words. it's just wave after wave of bliss.

when you come to, the wand is clicked off. your head is resting on robins shoulder and her hands are rubbing soothing circles on your back.

"come on, princess. buckley isn't done with you yet." he hums, beginning to untie you.

"your getting payback for that teasing." you threaten, making robin laugh.

"oh yeah, and how is that?" he smirks.

"when is steves next day off?" you smile devilishly up at robin.

▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞▞

621 notes · View notes

munsons-maiden · 2 years

Text

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 - 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕

Is there a better trope than patching up each other’s wounds while silently pining for each other? I hope you enjoy this chapter! - Love, Kiki 🖤

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | Eddie Munson x female reader

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 | THEN. You’re the only survivor among the Mind Flayer’s victims, thanks to your friends - but after the Battle of Starcourt, you find yourself adrift in a sea of nightmares. Until an encounter in the woods with Eddie The Freak Munson offers an unexpected life line and turns your world upside down. NOW. Four months have passed since the winter night you walked out of Eddie’s trailer and his life for good. But when the mysterious headaches and nightmares return full-force and something wicked stirs in sleepy Hawkins, starting a witch hunt against Eddie, you realize that there are two things in this world that might be more persistent than you’d thought: Evil…and love. The story is told in two timelines: the past (after the Battle of Starcourt) and the present (during the events of season 4).

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 | angst with a happy ending, fluff, smut, it turned into a fix it fic for ST4

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | SMUT (you need to be 18+ to read this story!), angst with a happy ending, attempted assault, bullying, canon-typical violence

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 | ~16 k (it’s easy to split the reading into chunks if you like)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | allusions to SMUT (only read if you’re 18+ years old! virgin!Eddie x virgin!reader), mentions of attempted assault, canon-typical gore & violence, blood

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 & 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 ♡

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔 ▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕

[Sunday, March 24th, 1986. NOW.]

With Eddie’s name ripping from your throat in a desperate scream, you barrelled through the door and into the boat house.

The first thing you saw in the half-dark inside, pale moonlight spilling through the boathouse’s open back to illuminate the scene in front of you, was Eddie.

His back was pressed against the furthest wall, cornered like a fox on a hunt by Jason and Andy. His ringed hands were wrapped around the wooden hilt of one of the old boat’s oars, raised like a spear to keep the two away from him, and his dark eyes, already wide with panic, screamed with raw terror as they met yours, as you lunged forwards – and a resounding “NO!”, ripped from his own throat to mingle with your scream when a pair of hands grabbed you from behind, pulling you back as Eddie made to dart towards you, but Jason and Andy blocked his path.

“Ed-“, you cried, but your words were cut off by a hand being clamped over your mouth, muting you, your desperate thrashing futile against this sudden chokehold you were locked in as a voice you recognized as Chance’s crooned into your ear, “Not so fast, slut.”

Even in the half-dark of the boathouse, with only the moonlight filtering in through the building’s open back to illuminate the gleeful sneer on Andy’s face, the menace glinting in Jason’s cold eyes as steely as that of the crowbar in his fist as he looked at you, you could see that Eddie was trembling, unshed tears of panic glittering in his huge dark eyes to mirror your own as your eyes locked across the small space.

“How did you get out of your cage, little birdie,” Andy drawled as Jason’s eyes bore into yours, icy shards of hatred and…something else as you struggled against Chance’s hold, his arms locked around you like creepers, holding you against him with such force that you felt the air being squeezed from your lungs, forceful enough that you feared your bones might snap any moment as his hand pressed harder against your mouth, rendering you mute and helpless. As helpless as Eddie in his own corner.

“Aw, look at this, Freak,” Jason said, ice-cold gaze never leaving yours as he twirled the crowbar in his hand, “Looks like your little slut got it bad for you, huh?”

“Maybe he fucks better than he looks,” Andy drawled with a lewd grin, eliciting a chuckle from Chance, his breath hot and wet against the back of your neck to make you flinch, more tears pricking your eyes as you watched Eddie avert his gaze from you at the memories roused by Andy’s gloating words.

Of kisses shared beneath the silver light of a star-splattered November night sky, of wandering touches and gentle whispers that ended in nothing but heartbreak and pain.

“You were a distraction, Eddie. An adventure. Did you truly think this could be real?”

“You don’t mean that. You said it meant something.”

“I never said that, Eddie. That was you. I just told you I wanted it.”

Andy Warren’s vile words were twisting the knife you’d plunged deep into Eddie’s heart that night.

The way Eddie had averted his eyes from yours at the jab hadn’t escaped Jason, told him everything he needed to know – and for a heartbeat, his lips curved into a malicious, gleeful little smirk as he drawled, “Look at that. Did the little slut have enough of you, after all? What did you think? That a cheerleader would want anything more from you than screwing around a bit?”

At the sight of defeat – pure, all-consuming pain and defeat in Eddie’s gaze as he held Jason’s, his trembling fists tightening around the oar he was holding raised between them – rage blazed through you.

You wanted to hurt Jason. You wanted to scratch out these ice-cold eyes, rip away the gleeful smirk, make him pay for all his small and big cruelties against Eddie.

But you were useless. Locked in Chance’s grip, muted by his hand clamped over your mouth, and so fucking useless.

When Eddie didn’t reply to Jason’s taunts and humiliations – didn’t reply because of course he believed them after everything you’d said yourself that night – Jason uttered a dismissive scoff.

It was still there, that chip in his pride because you’d rejected and fought him, had bitten and punched him in the face before Eddie had ripped him away from you – and no matter what he suspected had actually happened between the two of you, it was evident that you might have let Eddie The Freak Munson do what you’d denied Jason. That someone had chosen The Freak over the King of Hawkins High.

It had been nothing but a game to Jason – and Eddie had won it without ever trying to play.

You’d always suspected that Jason had been wary of Eddie; his outspokenness, his refusal to bend beneath Jason’s bullying.

That’s why Jason had been hating Eddie long before he’d thought Eddie had taken his prize possession as well – because that’s all Chrissy had been for Jason. A beautiful trophy to show off. And it dawned on you that Jason was actually scared. Because if he didn’t believe Chrissy had been in Eddie’s trailer for a simple drug deal that night…

“Come on, tell us, freak,” Jason said quietly, his eyes holding this dark edge you still couldn’t quite pinpoint as he turned away from Eddie and took a step towards you, “Tell us what the little slut let you do.”

“Yeah, don’t be shy, freak,” Chance cooed, his breath stirring your hair as you struggled, fought to angle your head as far away from his face as his restraining grip allowed, “Tell us the dirty details.”

Jason took another step towards you, his lips pulled into a sneer as a new wave of fear clawed at your chest because once again, you were trapped, the memories of that night in the woods clawing their way to the surface, of Jason’s stale breath, the tase of blood and beer and sweat as he’d forced his lips on yours, his knee forcing your legs apart as he pressed you against the picnic table – but the tip of the oar shot out to block his path as Eddie reacted, stopping Jason mid-movement.

“Don’t touch her.” Eddie’s voice was trembling with terror, choked by the tears of panic he barely managed to suppress, his fists around the wooden hilt quivering with such force that the entire oar shook as his gaze locked on Jason’s.

There was something else glittering beneath the panic in Eddie’s umber eyes. It hadn’t been there before, not even beneath Jason’s jeers.

Dark and feral.

You struggled against Chance’s chokehold once more, his arms locked around you like creepers and his hand clamped over your mouth to mute your shouts as Jason’s own hand slowly closed around the tip of Eddie’s oar.

The rotting old wood splintered away in Jason’s fist like crumpling paper before he continued to stalk towards you.

Before you realized what was happening, though, Eddie jumped forward in another desperate attempt to stop Jason, the broken end of the oar raised – and Eddie’s suppressed roar of anger turned into a cry of agony as Andy’s crowbar smashed into his left knee, sending Eddie tumbling to the ground as your own vision momentarily blurred with the force of your tears at the sight, at Eddie’s scream ringing through the air.

With a scream of your own, silenced by Chance’s hand pressing hard enough over your lips now that you tasted blood, you struggled to break free, to get to Eddie who was cowering on the floor, but it was futile. Chance’s arms around you were as unrelenting as an iron chain.

And then, Jason was in front of you, blocking Eddie from your view. “What did you let that freak do, huh?”

His voice was calm, frozen as the surface of a lake in winter, but the slight tremble beneath the surface told you it cost him a lot of restraint to keep it in check. “Did you let him do what he forced Chrissy to do? Huh?”

With Chance’s hand still clamped over your mouth to mute you, there was nothing you could do but reciprocate Jason’s glare, to lace your own tear-stained glower with all the disgust and revulsion you harbored towards him while fury flared through your veins, momentarily melting away the panic with the raw, all-consuming hatred you were feeling for this monster in front of you.

And you did what you’d done when Jason had forced his lips on yours in the woods all those months ago.

You bit him. As hard as you could.

With a pained hiss, Chance pulled his hand away from your mouth – just as Jason’s own hand shot out to grab your jaw, fingertips digging into your skin with such force that you thought the bone beneath might snap like the old oar in his vise-like grip as he inched closer, until he was close enough for you to count the smattering of freckles on his pallid skin even in the dim light of the moon.

For his breath to fan across your face. Just like back in the woods, when he’d pinned you against the picnic table.

The whites of his eyes were bloodshot. And there still was this gleam you couldn’t decipher as he breathed, “Tell me what the freak made you do. Tell me what he forced Chrissy to do.”

“You mean what you wanted to do to me?”, you hissed through gritted teeth.

“I said,” Jason repeated slowly, his grip around your jaw tightening to elicit a pained wince from you, “Tell us what the freak had you do with him.”

There was a movement in the corner behind Jason as Eddie pushed himself up from the ground with a pained hiss, gaze blazing with panic and despair and rage, something so foreign in his dark eyes, one hand still clutching the broken oar, its splintered end raised towards Jason like a stake ready to be driven through a vampire’s heart – but Andy was faster, the crowbar in his hand whirring through the air for a second time.

This time, he aimed for Eddie’s side.

“EDDIE WATCH OUT!”, you screamed, but the warning came too late.

The blow to the ribs threw Eddie against the boathouse’s wall with a groan of pain that made bile rise in your throat as the air was knocked out of him, the broken remains of the oar still clamped tightly in his fist the only thing between him and Andy now, who was twirling the crowbar in his hands with a taunting grin at Eddie. His eyes were closed, face contorted in agony as he fought against the pain, his other hand pressed over the spot on his side where Andy’s crowbar had hit home. Even from a distance, in the sparse pale light of the moon, you could see he was close to passing out, the cold sweat on his face as Andy stepped closer, the crowbar raised for another blow –

“Not yet,” Jason directed, one hand raised in the gesture of a king holding court as your tears started to fall.

“Let her go,” Eddie choked out. Pleaded. The pain and raw, primal panic straining his voice were ripping out your heart.

With a derisive snort, his hand still clamped around your jaw, Jason turned around to face Eddie.

The only thing holding him upright was the wall at his back – and the only thing separating him from Jason and his friends was the splintered end of the oar he was clinging to like a lifeline. His hair was a wild mess of dark curls framing his face, skin paler even than usual in the moonlight that made his tears of pain glitter which had started falling down his cheeks as his eyes found yours, wide and filled with horror.

“Wanna make a deal, Freak?”, Jason spat. “You let go of the oar. And I let go of your little slut.”

“No,” you breathed, your eyes beseeching Eddie to keep the oar, his only fighting chance – and with defeat swirling in his dark gaze, Eddie’s fist around the wood loosened.

And the oar clattered to the floorboards. The sound rang through the tense air like the crack of a gunshot.

“No”, you breathed when Jason let go of your jaw. And strolled back towards Eddie, who was still hunched against the wall, dark curs falling into his face as he tried to straighten himself despite the pain Andy’s crowbar had dealt, his right hand splayed against the rusty metal of the wall to gain some sort of balance, while you hissed and trashed against Chance’s still unrelenting grip, kicking and squirming…to no avail. He was so, so much stronger than you.

“You said you’d let her go,” Eddie winced, and Jason sneered.

“I said I’d let her go. Not that Chance would.”

Andy let out a gleeful little laugh.

“So, we finally get to talk,” Jason drawled, coming face to face with Eddie, who was pressing himself against the wall, chest heaving with panicked breaths as his eyes landed on yours, a fleeting second of mutual understanding, as you desperately tried to come up with a plan, a way out of this fucked up mess – and your scream barreled through the air of the boathouse as Jason’s fist collided with Eddie’s jaw, slamming the back of his head against the wall before Andy grabbed him, ripping him away from the wall and into a chokehold as Jason commanded, “Hold him. I’m not done yet. I haven’t even started.”

With a flash of grim satisfaction in his eyes, Jason’s fist hit home a second time, Eddie’s muffled groan of pain ringing through the air as he doubled over with the punch to the gut, sinking to his knees. The only thing still keeping him from falling face-first to the weathered floorboards was Andy’s grip around his arms, fingertips digging into the worn leather of Eddie’s jacket as he slumped in the stronger guy’s grip, curls spilling forward to hide his face.

“STOP IT!”, you cried, throwing yourself backwards against Chance with as much strength as his chokehold around you allowed for – but it wasn’t enough to throw him off balance, and his grip tightened so painfully around you that you were sure the bones of your upper arms would snap like twigs. Snap like poor Chrissy’s limbs under the strain of Vecna’s curse.

Jason’s eyes had turned into shards of ice as he glared down at Eddie’s slumped form.

“What did you do to Chrissy?”

His voice was calm. Dangerously calm, fissures already crawling over its frozen surface with the pressure of unadulterated hatred beneath.

And into the silence, his voice barely enough to be heard over the happy lapping sound of the waters of Lover’s Lake splashing against the posts of the boathouse, Eddie uttered on a broken whisper, “She just wanted drugs.”

The scream lodged at the back of your throat was muted with your terror when Jason’s fist hailed down for a third time, hitting the side of Eddie’s face with such force that his head snapped to the side, curls flying, before Jason’s hand shot out to grab Eddie’s jaw, bending down, closer, like he’d done with you only moments ago as he seethed, “She was not a druggie. She didn’t do that shit. So what. DID. YOU. DO. TO. CHRISSY. FREAK?”

“HE DIDN’T DO IT! HE’S INNOCENT!”, you screamed – but the words died in your throat as Jason bent down to pick up the crowbar he’d discarded on the floor, and horror, overpowering horror, clawed at your chest.

“Jason, don’t you think we should just call the cops?”

Jason’s head swiveled around to glance at Patrick, who’d kept quiet until now, kept to the shadows until you’d eventually forgotten he was even there.

He didn’t look well. There was cold sweat pooling on his face, his breathing strangely shallow as his gaze flitted from Jason to Eddie and back.

“We got him, Patrick,” Jason replied, almost gently, his tone so reasonable while he was lost in his own little world of violence and bloodlust and vengeance like a king descended into madness, “Do you think the cops will do her justice? They think Chrissy was a druggie. They said she was seeing him for drugs when he lured her to his home with his twisted games. No. The cops can have my leftovers.”

Dread settled in your guts.

A kind of dread you’d never felt before; a dread no creature of the Upside Down had ever been able to instill in you.

“I know what you did, Freak,” Jason spat, attention zoning back in on Eddie. Stray strands of his dark hair were plastered to his tear-stained face, to the blood that was running from the fresh cut on his brow where Jason’s fist had hit him. “You snapped her bones. One by one.” Jason’s voice was rising, each word spat with venom. “Enjoyed her screams, probably. Caught in your sick little game.”

The metal caught a beam of moonlight falling into the boathouse as Jason placed the crowbar under Eddie’s chin, forcing him to lift his head, and you barely managed to suppress the sob clawing its way up your chest at the sight of Eddie, bloodied and beaten and so utterly broken, the gaze in his beautiful umber eyes dimmed with the haze of the blows to his head, by the terror shining in their depths. More silent tears were rushing down his face, dripping to the denim of his vest alongside the blood as Jason crooned, “Let’s give the Freak a taste of his own medicine.” The smile tucking at his lips was nothing short of cruel. “I want to see how many bones we can break before we need a new crowbar.”

There were no screams left in you.

Only panic, and dread, hacking black talons into your insides, clawing at your throat alongside the tears that kept silently spilling down your cheeks at the sight of Eddie - sweet, gentle Eddie who’d never hurt anyone in his life; who’d chosen kindness when it would have been so easy to let the scorn and bullying he faced for simply being different turn his heart as cold and empty as Jason’s; who’d made it his task to take care of all the other outcasts and freaks, to give them a safe space to be themselves, be proud of who they were instead of succumbing to the bullies – slumped in Andy Warren’s unrelenting grip. Bleeding and bruised and dazed with pain and panic, his head slumped again as Jason pulled the crowbar away. His wild mess of curls fell over his shoulders to veil his features from your sight; only the glitter of tears on his pale cheeks and the dark rivulets of his blood were visible beneath the dark mess of his hair as they dripped onto his shirt, his denim vest, the weathered floorboards of the boathouse.

And when Jason straightened himself and raised his head to the faint beam of moonlight seeping in through a gap in the building’s roof to illuminating Jason’s face – the panic in your chest turned into horror.

Raw, unadulterated horror at what you saw in his eyes.

They weren’t simply frozen anymore.

They were wild. Livid. And you finally realized what it was you’d caught a glimpse of earlier tonight at the townhall; this thing which had been lurking beneath the surface all this time, like the scales of a sea monster glittering beneath a lake’s waves. It had broken that surface now, revealing itself in plain sight.

Madness.

Jason Carver wasn’t the calm, collected kind of monster any longer.

He wouldn’t stop, you realized.

He would kill Eddie.

And his friends…they’d let it happen.

And they’d all get away with it because Eddie…Eddie was fair game. Nobody would care – on the contrary. The mood at the townhall meeting had been clear as day. They wanted Eddie gone.

They would celebrate Jason Carver as a hero once again.

And Jason…Jason was too far gone, descended into this world of self-righteous vengeance, lost in his own madness.

Jason would kill the boy you loved more than anything in his world.

After everything you’d done to keep Eddie safe from the Upside Down and its horrors, from the Mind Flayer and the horrid swarm of these things with their wings and talons and teeth…the monster which would take Eddie was human.

“Where should I start, huh, Freak?”, Jason droned now, prodding the crowbar against the red demon face on Eddie’s Hellfire Club shirt to push him backwards, against Andy, drawing out the power he was wielding. The knowledge that he had all the time in the world to do to Eddie whatever he pleased.

“I didn’t hurt her.” Eddie’s broken sob mingled with the happy gurgling noise of Lover’s Lake lapping at the posts of the boathouse, so out of place, and you could see these dark sparks of madness flashing in Jason’s eyes at the words as he stared down at Eddie, slumped on his knees, held only by Andy’s grip like a puppet on a string.

“Fine,” he spat, “Andy, we’ll start with his hand.”

“No,” you breathed, your whisper mingling with Chance’s gleeful snicker.

“Jason –“ Patrick begun, but you didn’t think Jason could even hear him. And Patrick shrunk back, ignoring the plea in your gaze to do something, to stop Jason when Andy heeded the unspoken command, this sickening grin on his face as he reached out to force Eddie’s hand to the ground, fingers splayed on the weathered wood of the floorboards, his rings glinting in the half-light of the moon.

“Your guitar days are over, freak,” Andy taunted, and beneath the mess of dark curls spilling into his face, sticking to the blood running down his temple in dark rivulets, you could see Eddie squeeze his eyes shut, preparing for the agony of his bones shattering beneath the blows of Jason’s crowbar – as the dark force of your own rage and despair finally crashed over you like a tidal wave.

At the thought of Eddie, who loved music so much, his skilled fingers plucking the strings of his beloved guitar. The memory of how he’d played hours and hours for you that Saturday, turning his heavy metal songs into slow, soothing lullabies which chased away the nightmares as you’d fallen into a deep slumber, the first peaceful one ever since last summer; all the memories and horrors chased away by Eddie’s gentle voice, the melody he coaxed from his beloved guitar. Eddie, so shy about his skill and so proud about his band, bashful as he was talking about their gigs at The Hideout. How you’d have loved to cheer for him in the front row, to watch him play. Watch him do the thing he loved the most, more even than he loved playing D&D: playing his guitar.

Eddie, whose heart you’d broken to keep him safe from the monsters of the Upside Down, only for the monster that was Jason Carver to get him now.

Time seemed to freeze as Jason drew back the crowbar for the first blow to shatter the bones in Eddie’s hand to forever steal music from him before he’d take his life as well.

With that scream of fury finally ripping free from you, your mind went blank as wrath and despair blazed through you, searing through your veins like a wildfire to consume everything in its path, burn it to down until there was nothing left of Jason and his friends but cinders for ever daring to lay a hand on Eddie.

The crowbar never hit its target.

A second scream filled the half-dark of the boathouse before Jason could smash the tool into Eddie’s fingers. Chance’s scream, as he let go of you, stumbling backwards, away from you as Jason froze mid-movement, mad eyes locking on Chance, then on you, as you barreled forwards to tackle him away from Eddie – and Jason shrunk back, shock widening his cold eyes.

It took the fragment of a moment for you to realize that it wasn’t you he was shrinking away from…but the sight of Chance, the sleeve of his letterman jacket having gone up in flames as he screamed, shrugging it off, the flames hissing as the piece of clothing hit the floor.

The dry, wooden floor.

And all Hell broke loose.

[Monday, November 4th, 1985. THEN.]

It was there again.

The wooden door, suspended in the night sky, stars scattered around it like splatters of paint against a black canvas, their eerie silver light falling through the colorful glass, the crimson petals of the stained-glass roses.

Dread freezing you, you watched the slow movement of the brass doorknob as it was turned from the inside, watched the door swing open.

One inch, two inches, three.

Watched the spidery fingers crawl through the gap, the movement slow, careful almost, as something started to run down the warm wood, over the brass doorknob, dripping from the door’s bottom and into the endless sky like rain.

Only it wasn’t rain.

It was blood.

Seeping from the crimson petals of the stained-glass roses as the door creaked open to reveal whatever it was this horribly disfigured hand belonged to.

And finally, you snapped out of your trance. A muted scream on your lips, you turned to run – away from the door, the hand, the stained-glass roses, away –

You didn’t get far.

A gasp tore from you as you tumbled to the ground, tripping over the tangle of creeping vines on the ground, your hands shooting out to catch your fall, push yourself back up to your feet to keep running…

And your gaze fell on the vines.

On what was beneath the vines.

The pattern of black ink on pale skin.

Bats.

A swarm of them; tiny bats forever frozen in black ink.

It hadn’t been the vines you’d tripped over. It had been something underneath them.

An arm.

Dread clawing at you, you slowly turned your head.

And your eyes met a pair of umber ones, wide and hollow and empty. So horribly empty, the life snuffed out from them.

There was blood.

So, so much blood.

Covering the ground, the vines wrapped around his torn and broken body, smeared across his lips, coating your own hands.

Eddie’s blood.

And when the muted scream ripped from you, the stars started to slowly drift down from the skies.

They had never been stars.

They were particles.

Your eyes flew open.

You barely made it to the bathroom before you retched, eyes squeezed closed as the flurry of images from your nightmare hailed down upon you. They’d engraved themselves into your memories.

Sobs started racking your body as you curled up on the ground, the cool tiles of the bathroom floor pressed against your feverish cheeks as hot tears streamed down your face.

And from the headphones you were still wearing, with the Walkman clipped to the waistband of your pajama shorts because the mixtape was still the only way to find a semblance of peace, floated the tunes of I Remember You.

[Sunday, March 24th, 1986. NOW.]

Reefer Rick’s boathouse was on fire.

The moment Chance had let go of you with a scream, you’d darted forward, ready to tackle Jason away from Eddie, slumped in Andy’s grip, bleeding and broken and half-conscious – but tackling Jason wasn’t necessary.

Face slack, he was shrinking away a step.

Not from you, you realized as you whirled around to the still screaming Chance, but from the flames climbing up the sleeves of Chance’s letterman jacket as he was frantically shrugging it off.

It all happened in the fragment of a second.

The crowbar clattering to the ground, Jason darted past you towards Chance, to help him get rid of the blazing piece of clothing with Andy following suit, letting go of Eddie who slumped forward like a puppet with its strings cut.

You caught him before he could fall over, your hands on his shoulders to stabilize him as his forehead slumped against yours while Chance was still screaming in the background as he tried to stamp out the flames devouring the fabric of his letterman jacket which had fallen to the ground, sending more and more sparks flying for the weathered old wood of the floorboards to catch fire, the whole structure a fuse ready to be set ablaze.

One of your hands came up to his cheek as you pressed, “We need to get out of here.”

At the sound of your voice, his eyes fluttered open. His gaze was dazed, unfocused as he blinked, before he groaned, “Yeah.”

“Can you walk?”

“Gotta,” Eddie pressed through gritted teeth, the word morphing into a low agonized groan spilling from him as you moved to loop his arm around your shoulder and help him get back up.

Your heart sank as your eyes darted to the boathouse’s door.

The good news was, Jason and his friends were gone.

The bad news…

In the seconds it had taken you to help Eddie get back on his feet, the fire had spread, flames climbing the wooden frame of the boathouse’s door to block the exit as smoke started to fill the space, filling your lungs to make you cough and stinging your eyes as your gaze flitted to the little old boat just as Eddie breathed, “The boat.”

“We gotta hurry,” you added.

With another pained gasp, his hand flying to his side where Andy had hit him with the crowbar, Eddie untangled himself from you to limp towards the boat, swaying precariously in his tracks – if from the pain or Jason’s blows to his head, you couldn’t yet tell – and you thanked your past self for the presence of mind to free the old thing from its lines and set it afloat already. It hadn’t even been two days ago.

The boat swayed when you jumped inside, the heat of the fire already burning on your skin, making sweat drip down your forehead and drying the tears on your cheeks as you reached out to help Eddie climb in behind you.

The smoke filling the boat house had turned into an impenetrable wall by now, greedy flames devouring the dry, weathered floorboards as they climbed up the posts supporting the roof, towards the wooden beams above, like creeping vines on a trellis.

It wouldn’t take long until they’d consumed the posts – and then the roof, the whole structure, would collapse right over the two of you.

“Try to start the motor,” Eddie choked, suppressing a cough as he limped towards the vessel’s front and dug out an oar out from underneath the assortment of ropes coiling on the boat’s floor, this one gladly more durable than the one he’d grabbed to keep Jason away. With his features contorted in pain beneath the sweat and tears and the blood streaming down his face from the gash on his brow, Eddie begun to row as your fingers were digging into the rope tying the boat to its pole on the boathouse’s ground, the material scraping and biting your skin as your trembling fingers frantically worked to loosen the knot, the smoke choking you, singeing your lungs.

The knot loosened.

And not a second too soon, if the low, resounding groan of the wooden beams of the roof above was any indication as you gripped the floorboards and pushed with all the strength you could muster, giving the boat an extra nudge to get out of this chaos of smoke and cinders and flames.

A trembling exhale of relief escaped you when the cool air of the spring night hit your sweaty skin as Eddie steered the boat out of the burning boathouse and onto the lake, the clear night air filling your burning lungs as you whirled around to look at Eddie.

He’d stopped rowing, his fists clamped around the oars hilt while he looked as if he were fighting hard to remain conscious.

For a heartbeat, the two of you stared at each other in shaken silence, your labored breaths filling the cool night air, the water lapping at the boat with happy gurgling sounds as your eyes scanned Eddie’s blood-smeared face, illuminated by the orange glow of the small inferno devouring the boathouse behind you, his eyes wide with shock, the reflection of the flames dancing within them as he breathed, voice coarse from the smoke of the fire, “Jesus H Christ, how…how the fuck…?”

He was interrupted as, with a resounding groan that echoed across the lake and made you whirl around to face the shore, the boathouse collapsed. Sparks rose into the night alongside the smoke, the heat of the fire prickling on your skin as smoke rose into the air.

“Let me do that,” you said softly, reaching out to grab the second oar from the bottom of the boat, the assortment of empty cans, sandwich wrappers, ropes and boxes Reefer Rick had collected there clattering around on the ground as you pulled the oar towards you.

Just as a shout pierced the night, ringing across Lover’s Lake and the small space Eddie’s rowing had brought between your boat and the shore, and your heart plummeting to the bottom of the lake as you recognized the owner of the voice.

“HEY FREAK!”

Your head whipped around towards the four figures standing on the grass of the shore, illuminated against the glow of the flames devouring the remains of the boathouse.

Jason and his friends.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!”

“Shit,” Eddie breathed. It was an accurate assessment.

Your heart plummeted to the ground of Lover’s Lake when, against the backdrop of the dying flames, Jason shrugged off his own letterman jacket and dove into the water, a second one of his friends following suit while the other two remained on the shore.

You didn’t waste another second.

Your hand shot out to pull the engine’s string and get the rusty old boat motor started, but nothing happened. There wasn’t even a cough from the engine.

Whirling around to face Eddie again, your hands wrapped around the hilt of your oar and your gazes met, wide and wild and panicked in the moonlight as understanding passed between the two of you, and Eddie jumped to his feet, the boat swaying and pain contorting his features as he climbed towards the back to switch places as you plunged your oar into the water and started paddling.

“It – doesn’t – work,” Eddie hissed through gritted teeth, anger and pain and despair lacing his coarse voice as with each word, he ripped at the string, each pull more forceful than the next until you feared he’d just rip it out.

“Maybe try a bit gentler?”, you panted, muscles burning from the exertion of rowing the boat, the lake splashing with every draw of your oar as sweat ran down your back underneath your sweatshirt.

Eddie threw you an indignant glance over his shoulder which would have been hilarious, hadn’t it been for the blood smeared across half his face and the jocks in the water set on hunting him down to kill him.

“What do you want me to, sweet talk it? Fine,” he turned back to the rusty old boat motor, a trembling hand patting the metal with barely contained frustration and panic as he implored, “Please. Please, okay? You gotta help us out here, sweetheart, ‘kay?”, before pulling the string again, gentler this time, as the ghost of a relieved smile played on your lips at the realization that he still had that gallows humor, even now, broken and bleeding and hunted.

The engine, though, stayed dead.

And the noise of splashing water told you Jason and his friends were drawing closer quickly. Far quicker than you were able to row the boat out of their reach.

“Almost got him!”, Jason’s shout mingled with the splashing sound of the lake, the frantic sloshing noise of your oar cutting through the water.

With a hissed, “Fuck,” Eddie snapped again, panic taking the wheel again as a fresh wave of adrenaline surged through your own system to propel your movements to paddle faster.

“Come on,” Eddie cursed, begged, one hand patting the rusty old motor as he pulled the string, over and over again, “Come on. Come. ON! HELP US OUT HERE, SON OF A BITCH!”

The engine answered with a weak splutter as Eddie slammed his hand against the metal with a frustrated, “No?! FINE!”, before he grabbed the second oar and started helping you row, panic and adrenaline taking the sharp edge of the pain he was undoubtedly feeling as he plunged the oar into Lover’s Lake – but it was too late.

Jason had reached the boat. Eddie jumped to his feet, the oar raised and ready to pounce down, his eyes trained on Jason as he roared, “Hey, stay back, there! STAY BACK!”

There was something new in his voice, feral despite the tremor of fear laced within as he wielded the oar, placing himself between you and the spot where Jason was trying to clamp his hand around the boat’s edge and pull himself out of the water as Andy Warren drew closer on your own side of the boat, and with a fresh wave of fury, you rose to your feet, your back pressed against Eddie’s and the dripping oar raised in your hands in a silent warning to stay back as Eddie thundered, “I SAID STAY BACK!”

“What you gonna do with that oar, slut?”, Andy drawled, his hand clamping around the boat’s edge to pull himself up as you let the oar hail down, the wood smashing into Andy’s hand with enough force to hear the crack of bones underneath. Andy’s scream made Eddie whirl around as the jock let go of the boat’s rim, and grim satisfaction barreled through you at the echo of his pained outcry in the spring air, the picture of Eddie, slumped in Andy’s grip as he splayed his hand on the floor, ready for Jason’s crowbar to smash into Eddie’s hand still fresh.

“Fuck around,” you dared, “And find out.” And that dark, twisted part inside of you wished Andy would do exactly that, simply for the satisfaction of doing to Andy what he’d have done to Eddie.

But Jason’s shout rang through the air – directed at Patrick, this time.

“Patrick! Hey, Patrick! What are you doing?”

Your head whipped around to the other side of the boat, to Jason, who’d stopped swimming towards you his attention on Patrick a few feet behind him in the water. Patrick’s was gaze trained on something in the distance, above the surface, eyes wide with…terror.

“Come on, Patrick! We almost got him!”

Patrick didn’t react.

And then…he was pulled under.

“ANDY!”, Jason’s shout for help pierced through the night, a splash from your side of the boat telling you Andy was heeding the call while you stared, at the ripples in the surface of Lover’s Lake where Patrick had vanished, as if he’d been pulled under, Eddie still as a statue beside while Jason’s shouts for Patrick rang through the new, deadly silence which had settled over Lover’s Lake.

There was a moment of shell-shocked stillness – before Patrick…was lifted out of the water and into the skies, like a doll in the invisible grip of one of those claw cranes at the arcade as dread coiled in your guts, your free hand shooting out to grab Eddie’s arm in silent terror as all four pairs of eyes stared at Patrick, suspended in the skies.

As his bones…his bones started to snap.

One by one.

You didn’t know who of you moved first, whether it had been Eddie or you to take the first step backwards to shrink away from the horror of Patrick’s body being twisted like a ragdoll in the sky – but it was enough to tip the boat.

Neither of you screamed as you tumbled backwards into the lake.

[Wednesday, November 6th, 1985. THEN.]

It was the third lunchbreak in a row you’d spent outside in the cold, hidden beneath the bleachers at the edge of the sports field, your gaze trained on the tree line of the patch of woods, the branches naked as they reached into the steely skies.

You hadn’t eaten.

You hadn’t slept.

There was no way anymore for you to fall asleep without Eddie’s mixtape – and no way to stop crying as soon as you listened to the songs he’d picked for you.

You knew you’d have to return to the cafeteria again at some point, face the fact that you’d see Eddie again, across the room. Make up an excuse for Robin and Nance as to why you’d avoided them for the past few days.

But not today. There was no strength left in you for that.

Back in the building, the halls still empty because lunchbreak wasn’t over yet, you rounded the corner to get the books for the next period out of your locker –

And froze in your tracks at the sight of the lonely figure walking down the hallway towards you.

It was the first time you saw him ever since Saturday. Since that November night.

He looked miserable.

His hair was unkempt as if he’d run through a hurricane, messier than you’d ever seen it, and the wrinkled flannel dress shirt he was wearing underneath his leather jacket looked as if he’d grabbed it from the laundry without realizing it was his uncle’s, the yellow-green-blue checked pattern so out of place on him, a weird contrast to the even more wrinkled DIO shirt beneath.

There were shadows under his eyes, deep enough to tell you he might have even gotten less sleep than you had over the past few days, and his eyes, those beautiful umber eyes…they were hollow as he stared back at you, as frozen as a deer in the headlights.

For a few heartbeats, the two of you stayed like this, gazes locked, the memories of everything you’d shared beneath the myriad of stars scattered in the November night skies above coming alive in your minds. And everything that happened after.

There was nothing you wanted more than run into his arms.

To tell him how sorry you were. That you loved him; more than there had been stars in the night sky.

To turn back the clock, to put this moment with him beneath the stars into a tiny little snow globe frozen in time, safe and sound beneath the shield of polished glass, forever.

To tell Eddie Munson that he’d left a beautiful tattoo of fingerprints on your skin, his kiss on your lips and his handprint on your heart.

You whispered the words in your mind as you stared back at him, into those beautiful umber eyes.

For these fleeting heartbeats, you stood frozen in this empty hallway. Eddie on one end, you on the other.

Worlds apart, hearts broken into a million pieces still calling out for each other.

With a trembling inhale you wouldn’t have noticed hadn’t you already known him like you knew the pages of your favorite book, Eddie turned.

And walked away.

[Sunday, March 24th, 1986. NOW.]

You’d thought you’d seen it all.

A parallel dimension. Monsters with faces opening up to reveal rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Shadows that lived, possessed.

Blood turning black.

Doors suspended in the night skies amidst a sea of scattered stars.

But this…what had just happened with Patrick…it was the most horrid scene you’d ever been forced to witness.

The sound of his bones snapping would stay with you until the end of your days.

And when you imagined Eddie, who’d been so horribly oblivious and left in the dark about the terrors bleeding into Hawkins, witnessing the same with Chrissy…you wanted to retch. And you wanted to weep.

But there wasn’t time either of these things as, lungs and arms burning from the exertion of steering the boat to shore, you let your oar clatter to the bottom of the boat, rallying every last dreg of strength left in your body to drag yourself out of the boat and onto the soft grass of the lakeside alongside Eddie. Your knees gave in and you sunk to the ground, water plastering your soaked clothing to your body, your hair to your face, sending shivers through you in the cool spring night air.

“Shit,” Eddie breathed as he let himself fall to the ground beside you, burying his face in his trembling hands as he hunched over. “Holy fucking shit.”

Like you, he was soaked from the plunge into Lover’s Lake.

The two of you were lucky that it had been a mild month so far, the spring sun having warmed the waters of Lover’s Lake to a point where, despite it still being cold, it wasn’t dangerously cold anymore. You were grasping for silver linings.

“Jesus. Fuck, man,” Eddie breathed again. “Jesus fucking CHRIST.” It was the softest, most contained scream you’d ever heard anyone utter as he raised his head from his hands. The gash on his brow was still bleeding, half of his face smeared with blood, wide eyes flitting to a point behind you, and you turned to follow his line of sight.

To the glimmer in the distance, the remnants of Reefer Rick’s boathouse, the dying flames setting the night aglow with their orange hue between the trees.

And with the adrenaline slowly fading from your system it dawned on you what had just happened.

You’d set this fire.

You’d burned down Reefer Rick’s boathouse.

With your…with your what? Your mind? Like El? That wasn’t possible.

“So, um,” Eddie spoke up, his voice a few pitches higher than usual, his bottom lip trembling as he was trying really hard to compose himself, “Where did. Uh. Where did the inferno come from?” He raked his fingers through his sodden curls, his hand trembling so hard that you feared he might rip out a few strands, the heel of his hand smearing the blood that was still seeping from the cut on his brow where Jason’s fist had hit home.

It dawned on you that he’d been out for long enough to not realize what had happened. Hell, you hadn’t realized it yourself – but Eddie had no clue.

You needed it to stay this way. Until you figured out what was happening. Why it was happening.

For a heartbeat, all you wanted to do was scream and holler at the night skies.

It didn’t stop.

It fucking didn’t stop.

You replied with the first thing that came to your mind. “Lightning?”

Eddie lifted his head to glance up at the cloudless night sky arching above. “Uh-huh.”

You glanced down, at your palm. At the pattern of blisters on your skin, left from when the doorhandle had singed you about an hour ago as you’d broken free of the supply closet Jason and his friends had locked you in.

It hadn’t been a hallucination.

Something had happened.

You quickly closed your fist, pulling the sodden sleeve of your sweatshirt down to cover your hand, praying Eddie hadn’t noticed.

Though before either of you could utter a word to break the shellshocked silence, the distant wail of sirens pierced the tranquility of the night.

Drawing closer, as your gaze found Eddie’s, the panic returning full-force.

Jason had made it to the shore with Patrick’s body. And he’d called the cops.

“We need to get away from the shore,” you breathed, jumping back to your feet as fast as your legs allowed for.

“Fuck,” Eddie breathed, a half-whisper, half-sob, muffled as he buried his face in his hands again.

Silent sobs were racking him, tremors running through him as he vehemently shook his head, teetering at the edge of a full-blown breakdown.

Because Eddie Munson’s official body count, as far as the police were concerned…would now be three.

Triple murder.

There had been many who’d faced Death Penalty for less.

You needed to get him away from here. To a new hiding place until Robin would return with the others, figure out what had happened, and – hopefully – find you. And you needed to do it now.

“Can you run?”, you urged, grabbing Eddie’s arms to help him back to his feet, the pained gasp ripping from him at the movement making your heart bleed, but you needed to move.

“I’ll make do,” he grimaced, a hand shooting out to press over his side where the crowbar had hit him, and you realized that you’d have to take care of his injuries at some point.

“Uh. What are you doing?”, Eddie inquired as you climbed back into the boat and started to rummage through the stuff which had collected at the bottom.

Sandwich wrappers, ropes, a soaked pack of cigarettes – and a triumphant little huff escaped you as you lifted a half-full bottle of whiskey into the air.

“I mean,” Eddie began slowly, swaying before he rested his hands on the boat’s ledge to support his weight as his confused frown deepened, “Some problems might be delayed if you drink them away but I’m pretty sure this isn’t one of them.”

You tucked the whiskey bottle under your arm before you delved back to the assortment of stuff Reefer Rick had collected in the boat as you announced, “We need to take care of your wounds. And this –“ you reached for a little tin box, your determined smirk widening a little as you opened it to find an assortment of fish-hooks and fishing lines and what looked like actually clean cotton handkerchiefs within, a switchblade on the side, probably for gutting fish, “This will do.”

You jumped out of the boat, storing the tin box of Reefer Rick’s fishing tools in the front pocket of your soaked sweatshirt, the bottle of whiskey still tucked under your arm as you grabbed Eddie’s elbow to support his weight.

“Time to go.”

“Anything in mind?”, he questioned, the wail of the sirens rising to a whole chorus as the first flickers of flashing police lights illuminated the shore in the distance.

“The woods? We’re…” You cut yourself off at the sudden burst of memories flooding you as you finally recognized your surroundings.

You’d been here before, on this side of the lake. Last year. On a beautiful sunny September day, one of the last days of summer. Skipping classes with Eddie after a flood of condoms had poured from your locker under the eyes of the entire crowded hallway because it hadn’t been enough anymore for Jason and his friends to simply smear the word SLUT across your locker door.

Another day, another time, on which Eddie had saved you.

Tears stung your eyes and stole your words at the memory of the summer sun filtering through the crowns of the trees, painting streaks of milk-chocolate brown into Eddie’s dark curls as he’d grinned at you, nearly toppling over a tree root sticking up from the path.

And for a split second, you could read it all in Eddie’s dark eyes, reflecting the very same memories, a mirror image of the heartbreak in your own chest, before he averted his gaze.

“Skull Rock,” he said quietly. “Let’s hide there.”

[Saturday, November 9th, 1985. THEN.]

Your breath was forming little clouds of white lace in the air as you wrapped your arms tighter around yourself, the fabric of your winter coat rustling softly. But no coat in the world could ever shield you from the kind of cold you were feeling, had been feeling, for the past seven days.

A cold seeping through you from within, colder than the Mind Flayer had ever felt when it nestled in your mind. Because this kind of cold…it was festering in your heart.

And yet it wasn’t enough to finally numb the pain.

Seven days.

It had been seven days since the night Eddie had kissed you, since his caresses had sent you into blissful delirium as he’d whispered all these sweet nothings to you – only that they hadn’t been sweet nothings. He’d meant them all.

Seven days since you’d broken Eddie’s heart and your own to keep him safe.

It hurt. And it would never stop hurting.

Seven days since the old nightmares had been replaced by a whole new kind of horror.

Of the moment the light in Eddie’s beautiful umber eyes had shattered into a myriad of pieces alongside your own heart underneath the force of your cruel words.

Of the Mind Flayer’s spidery shadow looming in the thunderclouds, watching Eddie.

Of the door, and of Eddie. Caught in a swarm of these beasts, their eerie screeches fading against the agonized scream ripping from Eddie as these things pounced on him, tearing and ripping and devouring.

The only thing keeping these things at bay was the mixtape Eddie had made you.

A cruel reminder of everything you’d lost. Every beautiful what-if that would only ever stay a daydream. And yet, you couldn’t stop listening to it, over and over again, because this mixtape…it was all you’d ever have left of him.

He’d move on. Find someone else, someone who didn’t have a stain on their soul and darkness in their heart. And the memory of you would blur over time, the ache numbed until there would be nothing left but a fading scar.

And above all else, he would live.

He would finally graduate. Walk that stage and snatch the diploma, probably flipping principal Higgins the bird as he walked off stage. He’d read Lord Of The Rings, plan campaigns and play D&D with his friends, play his beloved guitar.

And you would be the girl who’d so cruelly broken his heart on a cold November night, underneath a sea of glittering stars.

The tears had already started falling when you rested your back against the wooden top of the picknick table, eyes trained on the skies peeking through the bare branches of the trees surrounding the little clearing as your thumb, numb with the cold, found the button of your Walkman to press play and the first notes of I Remember You floated through your headphones, the first song on the mixtape.

You wondered if he was on the roof of his trailer right now, gazing up at the same stars.

Thinking of you.

Beyond the blur of tears, the first few shooting stars bled from skies, falling in showers of silver light and scattering dust in their wake.

Yes, you’d never be anything more but the girl who broke Eddie Munson’s heart.

But Eddie Munson would forever stay the boy you loved with all of yours.

[Sunday, March 24th, 1986. NOW.]

“Careful,” you winced at Eddie’s pained flinch as he let himself fall down onto the mattress someone had left in the slim spot between the two boulders forming Skull Rock, before you knelt down on the carpet of dead leaves in front of him.

The short run to Skull Rock – it couldn’t have been more than ten, fifteen minutes, drawn out with the limp in Eddie’s walk slowing the two of you down as you’d stumbled through the thicket – hadn’t done much to dry the two of you.

Just like your own, the water of Lover’s Lake was still soaking Eddie’s clothes, darkening the denim of his vest above the leather jacket and plastering the Hellfire shirt to his chest. Up close, you could see the outline of a chest tattoo beneath, making you wonder what it might be.

His hair falling around his pale face in a wet mess, as black as the night sky above in its sodden state.

“Yup,” Eddie agreed through gritted teeth, rings glittering in the beams of moonlight seeping through the canopy of leaves above as he pressed his hands over the spot on his side where Andy Warren had hit him with the crowbar, before he quipped, “Wait, careful with the wounds or the mattress?”

“Both,” you chuckled, and Eddie’s mirthless little smirk turned a little less mirthless as he glanced at the faded moldy fabric of said mattress before he deadpanned, “I guess if I don’t die of internal bleeding or shit within the next hour, one of the thirteen STDs I just caught by touching that mattress will finish the job.”

He looked horrible. There was still blood running down from the cut on his brow where Jason had hit him, running down the side of his face, strands of his wet hair plastered to the dark crimson rivulets.

Your heart squeezed painfully in your chest at the memory of Eddie trying to keep Jason away from you, so fierce in his attempts to protect you when it had been him they’d hunted, his bones they’d tried to break.

His life they’d wanted to take.

Robin’s words flitted back to you, spoken only hours ago.

I see the way you look at him when you think nobody’s watching. And I see the way he looks at you.

Then, you’d been certain that whatever Robin had seen in Eddie’s eyes when he was looking at you had been nothing but residual hurt.

But the way he’d fought to protect you at the boathouse, the ferocity in his eyes…

“Okay, let me see,” you said softly, breaking your train of thought as you gestured for Eddie to remove his hands from the spot on his side, scooting closer until you were kneeling on the filthy mattress beside him, your knees brushing his thigh as Eddie gave you a nod.

Biting your lip, you grasped the hem of his Hellfire shirt, carefully peeling the sodden fabric away to reveal the damage Andy’s crowbar had done, tears pricking your eyes again at the memory of Eddie’s agonized groan when the metal had knocked the wind from his lungs.

But before you could lift the shirt far enough to assess the skin over his ribs, Eddie’s hands shot out, gently grasping your wrist to stop you mid-movement.

The touch sent showers of sparks zapping along your nerves to make your broken little heart sing with his touch, and Eddie breathed, “Wait. What about you, monster slayer? Are you hurt?”

How was it possible, for your heart to painfully squeeze yet soar all at the same time at the sound of the old nickname, as softly spoken as Eddie always had despite all the pain you’d caused him? The way he still cared so deeply while believing your lies, that he’d been nothing but a distraction?

“I’m not the one who got beaten up with a crowbar,” you replied quietly while an incredulous little smile curved your lips.

“Yeah,” Eddie quipped, “I got a lot more respect for pinatas now.” Before you could utter a reply, his expression softened even further, concern darkening his gaze as he slowly turned your hand in his, scanning the pattern of blisters on your palm, and for a moment, your heart sank at the thought that he might have seen more than he’d let on, had connected some of the dots. Instead, he softly asked, “Does it hurt?”

“No,” you lied, “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You’ve never been a good liar, you know,” Eddie said gently, his thumb flicking over your wrist, grazing the skin over your racing pulse in the softest fleeting touch as the lump in your throat grew while your mind flitted back to that November night.

“There’s never been an us.”

“I don’t believe you. Not a single word.”

Before you could muster a reply, Eddie added, “What happened at the townhall meeting?”

You swallowed, focusing on his fingertips still holding your wrist, the way your heart was fluttering like a frantic little bird in the confines of your ribcage. “They found out about Reefer Rick’s. I wanted to warn you, but they noticed me and locked me up.” When you glanced up again, there was this spark of dark ferocity settling in Eddie’s gaze, mingling with the softness as he asked, his voice so gentle, “Did they hurt you?”

“As I said…I’m not the one who got beaten with a crowbar.”

Because he’d dropped the oar, his only means of defense, for the fragile hope that Jason might have let you go. Without a single second of hesitation.

“Let me see,” you repeated softly, and Eddie let go of your wrist, leaving behind an empty feeling on your skin, in your chest, that old ache which had never numbed in the first place flaring anew as your gaze caught on the sliver of his skin already exposed. The v-line on his stomach running down towards his belt buckle; the shadow of his happy trail dipping below the waistband of his ripped jeans.

What the fuck is wrong with you, the little voice in your mind chided – the rational part, probably – to snap you out of your ogling as you quickly focused on an empty can of pringles someone had discarded at the foot of one of the boulders, taking a few moments to collect yourself, which were interrupted as Eddie inquired, panic rising in his voice, “Do you really think it’s that bad?”

No, I’ve just been busy ogling you like a creep, the voice in your mind replied, and you cleared your throat before you quickly replied, “No, just…”

I can’t stand to see you in pain. How hypocritical, considering you’d put a matching set of bruises on his heart four months ago.

Opting to cop out of this one, you stayed quiet as, with a careful movement, you lifted the rest of the soaked Hellfire shirt to expose Eddie’s upper body – and winced at the sight of the bruise already blooming beneath his pale skin like the petals of a black flower, right below his ribcage.

“Shit,” Eddie assessed.

“It’s…it’s not that bad,” you tried, meeting Eddie’s gaze as he cocked an eyebrow and clarified drily, “No. Shit, as in, goddamn it can you stop looking at me as if my guts were falling out.”

“I’m sorry,” you replied, the ghost of a smile playing on your lips to mirror his own, “Just…does it feel like something is ruptured? Like, your spleen or a kidney?”

“You truly know how to take the edge off things, huh,” Eddie retorted, but the end of his sentence was cut short with a hiss of pain as you let your fingertips graze over the black bruise, pulling away with a wince. “Sorry! I’m sorry, I thought I’d feel if your ribs were broken.”

“Fuck,” Eddie breathed, already moving to bury his face in his hands again before he seemed to remember the still bleeding cut on his brow and let his hand sink to his side with a frustrated groan, before he uttered meekly, “Can you check? If my ribs are broken?” He sounded so defeated. So devastatingly tired and defeated and scared.

“It’ll hurt,” you warned.

“It already does,” he retorted. He had a point.

You reached out again, fingertips gently grazing the edges of the bruise, pressing down a little as you followed the curve of his ribcage, biting the inside of your cheek to keep it together at Eddie’s pained sharp intake of breath while your fingertips wandered over his skin, trailing the outline of his ribs to examine the bone beneath as Eddie threw his head back, eyes closed tightly as he seemed to bite back an anguished groan that turned into a relieved exhale when you pulled your fingers away again.

“I don’t think anything’s broken,” you stated, before you gently pulled the shirt back down, “But we need to take care of that cut now,” you added, already pulling the tin box of fishing supplies out of your sweater’s pocket, placing them on forest floor beside you, next to the bottle of whiskey.

It wasn’t exactly a first aid kit, but it was better than nothing.

“Uh. What are you doing with these?”, Eddie inquired cautiously as he watched you rummage through the tin box with Rick’s fishing supplies, inspecting the assortment of fish-hooks while his expression grew more and more alarmed.

“That cut on your brow will need stitches,” you announced, and Eddie’s face grew a little paler.

“Need, like, ‘or else you’ll die’? Because I don’t know if I can stomach you patching up my face with a fish-hook. There’s only so much I can take in a single night.”

“It’s too deep for the bleeding to stop on its own. And we don’t want you to get blood poisoning.”

You raised one of the fish-hooks to your face, inspecting it.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie breathed, observing you bend the fishing hook into the crescent shape of a surgical needle with a nauseated stare before he slowly added, “I dunno if I should ask. But you look like you’re not doing this for the first time.”

You gave him a little smirk as you proceeded to thread the fishing line through the fish-hook-turned-makeshift-needle.

“I patched up Steve Harrington with a bottle of vodka and dental floss.”

“Holy shit. Was it…was it one of the Demodogs you told me about?”

“Nope. It was Billy Hargrove.”

“Huh. I wonder who won that fight,” Eddie muttered under his breath, a trace of bitterness in his tone.

“It was Max,” you stated, snickering at Eddie’s crestfallen expression before you added, “She sedated Billy.”

“I knew the little redhead was a tough cookie but Jesus, I had noooo idea.” He sounded as if he couldn’t exactly decide whether to be bewildered, scared, fascinated or all three. “Maybe we should just sic her on Vecna. Let her take Sinclair’s infamous little sister and let ‘em hand that son of a bitch’s ass to him.”

“Wait.” You gave him a quizzical stare. “You know Erica Sinclair?”

“Shit, I don’t know the girl. I got burned by her. Destroyed.” Eddie chuckled. “She actually ended the Vecna in my campaign, come to think of it. Rolled a natural twenty last second.”

“What is Erica Sinclair doing in Hellfire?”, you teased.

“Have you ever tried to tell her no?”, Eddie deadpanned, cocking an eyebrow.

You snorted. “Hell, no. I’m not mad.”

“She was the sub for Lucas. He copped out for a game of balls-and-laundry-baskets that night. That was a few days ago, actually.”

“Oh. Yeah. He actually dealt the winning blow,” you said with a smile – but the giddy feeling in your chest about joking around with Eddie like you’d used to do died and wilted like a bouquet of flowers at the thought of that November night. Of the basketball game he’d visited just so you wouldn’t have to feel alone as you cheered for Jason.

Your eyes burned as you fiddled with the fish-hook in your hand, and the awkward silence which descended over the two of you made it evident Eddie had been plunged into the very same memory.

Of kisses beneath the glittering stars that ended in pain and heartbreak, your words the match to set all the bridges between the two of you ablaze, burn them down to nothing but cinders.

Just when you thought the quiet was too much to bear, though, Eddie stated, “So, Steeeeve Harrington got bested by Billy Hargrove.” There was a gloating little smirk tugging at his lips as he seemed to mull this over.

You couldn’t hold it against him. Before Nancy, Steve had been a total jackass. You’d loathed him with a passion as well. But Steve wasn’t that person anymore.

“He’s a nice guy, you know,” you smiled, “He changed. Nancy changed him.”

Something else flashed in Eddie’s eyes as he let out a little scoff.

“Yeah. Sure. If you say so.”

You knew the roots of Eddie’s disdain for Steve, his wariness for all the people who were like Steve. Steve himself might not have bullied Eddie – but it didn’t change the fact that Steve, once upon a time, hadn’t exactly met people like Eddie with kindness.

“I didn’t know you were friends with Harrington,” Eddie said quietly, his gaze trained on the links of his bracelet he was fiddling with.

“He’s one of my best friends,” you said. “Has been for the past two years.”

There was a flash of hurt in Eddie’s dark eyes as he nodded, dark curls spilling into his face. They were slowly beginning to dry.

You were my best friend, you wanted to tell Eddie, but the words were stuck in your throat.

How long could the two of you continue it, this weird dance around the topic of what had happened that night? Of what you’d done; why you’d done it?

“Nancy changed him,” you tried again. “He was a jerk, but he’s one of the good guys now.”

Eddie let out a breath that sounded like another barely suppressed scoff before he replied, “Yeah. Good for him.” And when he finally glanced up at you, you could tell he was irritated. Annoyed, even.

You gave him a little frown. “For someone who hates being put in a neat little box of prejudice,” you countered, “You’re certainly doing it a lot, yourself.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said quietly, his gaze unwavering as it rested on you, “The last time I got involved with the popular crowd, it didn’t exactly end well for me.”

It was like a punch to the gut. But you deserved it. You deserved all of his resentment. You’d deserve all of his hate either, if Eddie Munson had been capable of it.

He continued, “I mean, I was probably stupid to invite Chrissy Cunningham of all people to my trailer for a fucking drug deal, but she was pretty persistent about the Special K and I didn’t exactly add a boogeyman from a parallel dimension framing me for murder as a possible risk factor.”

“Chrissy,” you replied hollowly, your mind finally catching up as you pulled out one of the cloths from the tin box.

His prior words had never been intended to be a jab at you.

The relief flooding you made a lump grow in your throat before you reached down to grab the bottle of whiskey, pouring a generous amount of the clear liquid over the cloth in your hand before you glanced up at Eddie.

He was watching you, his expression searching as you raised the whiskey-soaked piece of fabric, as if he was waiting for you to say something.

“I’ll clean you up before doing the stitches,” you said softly, “Can you – lie down? Preferably in this little beam of moonlight.”

The open bottle of whiskey in one hand, the cloth in the other, you gestured at the small patch pale light the weak beams of moonlight seeping through the crown of the trees above cast onto the filthy mattress as you added, “Because else, I won’t see shit.”

Even in the half-dark of the nightly woods, you could see the queasiness in Eddie’s expression as he gave the fish-hook you’d bent and placed on the lid of the box on the ground an alarmed side-eye.

“Eddie?”, you repeated softly when he didn’t react, “Are you ready?”

“What’s the alcohol level in that whiskey?”

You tilted your head, squinting at the label to discern the small print in the weak lighting. “Um, sixty per cent. That’s good enough to clean a wound –“

You cut yourself off as Eddie grabbed the bottle from your hand, throwing his head back as he took two long swigs of the amber liquid, his hand holding the bottle shaking like leaves before he set it down and pressed it back into your hand with a small, curt nod that looked as if he were currently fighting hard to keep it together as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

You wanted to take his hand, to take him into your arms and tell him everything would be fine, to kiss away all the cuts and bruises and tell him how brave he’d been back at the boathouse.

But of course, you couldn’t do that.

Heart heavy, you watched Eddie lie down on the mattress with another pained wince at the movement as he shuffled to position himself so the small patch of moonlight was hitting his face, his dark eyes intently following your movements as you inched closer, cloth and whiskey bottle at the ready.

He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed, “’kay, ready when you are.”

Placing the piece of cloth so the whiskey wouldn’t run into his eye, you raised the bottle, pouring a generous amount of the amber liquid over the gash in Eddie’s brow, biting the inside of your cheek to keep focused on the task at hand as his hiss of pain filled the silence of the nightly woods while the whiskey ran down the blood-coated side of his face.

“Fuck, that burns,” he choked through gritted teeth, his hands curled into fists at his sides as he fought his reflex not to shrink away.

“It’s okay,” you soothed, pouring some of the whiskey over your own hands before you started to clean the side of his face, fingertips grazing his skin to gently brush away the stray curls which were sticking to the already drying blood which kept seeping from the gash, “It’s going to be okay.”

“Is it?”, Eddie breathed, and his eyes fluttered open to meet yours.

Even knowing him as well as you did, it was still such a stark contrast to see Eddie, who seemed so menacing and rough with his tattoos, his wild mane, his ripped denim and worn leather, look so small and scared and vulnerable.

And it dawned on you that even now, even with everything that had happened between the two of you, Eddie – who carried his weirdness, his loudness, his outspoken endearing theatrics like armor – still felt comfortable enough around you to strip himself of all these things. To allow himself to be vulnerable in front of you.

An overwhelming surge of love, of affection and fierce protectiveness flooded you. Gently, you brushed another stray strand of wet hair from his forehead, and Eddie’s gaze turned strangely intense as he glanced up at you.

“We’ll fix this mess,” you promised. “Stitch by tiny stitch.”

It was clear neither of you was talking about his injuries any longer.

There was a heartbeat of silence filling the space between the two of you, broken by the distant hoot of an owl, a fluttering of wings mirroring the flutter of your own heart as you lost yourself in Eddie’s dark gaze – before reality came crashing back in, and you raised the fish-hook.

“I’ll make it quick.”

“Scars are pretty fucking metal, come to think of it. And it can’t be worse than the Kitchen Scrapper.” Eddie contemplated with the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

You blinked. “The – the who?”

“That’s the guy from the trailer park who did all my sweet ol’ tatties.”

“You – you got tattooed by a guy named the Kitchen Scrapper,” you repeated.

“He was the only one who’d to do them for a few bucks. He made his tattoo gun himself.”

“Why is he called the Kitchen Scrapper?”

Eddie pursed his lips as he thought about that. “I have noooo idea. The guy works at the slaughterhouse down in Pine Mills so come to think of it, something like, I don’t know, The Butcher would have been more fitting.”

“And you still thing you’re not brave,” you quipped with a quiet laugh, before you shuffled a little closer to him on the filthy mattress, angling yourself, but you needed to be closer to patch that gash, to even see what you were doing in the sparse light of the moon.

“Eddie?”

“Hmm?”

“Um. I need to…I think I’ll need to sit on your lap to do this.”

There was a beat of awkward, crestfallen silence as he stared up at you, before he quickly said, “Yeah. Yeah, sure. Scoot over.” He did an awkward little gesture with his hands.

Heat burning in your cheeks, you moved to his lap. Straddling him.

Trying very, very hard not to think too much about the position.

And the images of that November night kept flitting back to you – of everything that had happened before you’d shattered both your hearts to pieces.

The way Eddie had kissed you, so gentle and fierce at the same time, of the way his touches had left burning trails of sparks on your skin as you’d buried your fingers in his hair, the sweet noises he’d made as you’d rolled your hips against his –

You cleared your throat, heat flaring once again in your face at the tingle in your chest…and the one not in your chest but…deeper, while shame crept over you because he was bleeding and bruised and hurt and hunted by a town for horrible crimes he hadn’t committed and waiting for you to patch up the wound Jason had given him because Eddie had let go of the goddamn oar so they’d let you go –

You gave a curt nod – to steady yourself, this time – and placed your free hand on the side of his face to gently angle his head a little further into the pale beam of moonlight, and something sparked in Eddie’s eyes at the touch, mirroring the sparks in your own chest.

And for a fleeting heartbeat, you stayed like that. Straddling him, your hand cradling his cheek, watching each other, a flurry of unspoken things swirling in the space between you.

Then, you broke the moment.

And set to work.

Eddie’s sharp intake of breath as you pierced his skin for the first stich made your insides twist, and you bit your tongue to draw your focus on the task of mending his wound as well as the fish-hook-turned-surgical-needle and the pale twilight the moon was casting through the canopy of leaves above allowed for.

The rivulets of blood still running from the gash in his brow mingled with the silent tears of pain streaming from Eddie’s eyes, running down his temples and seeping into the dark strands of his drying curls as you worked, and his chest was rising and falling with shallow breaths as he tried to reign in the pained noises clawing at his throat as his features contorted with pain.

“It’s okay,” you cooed softly, over and over again so he could focus on your voice rather than the agony of the fish-hook being pierced through the wound that was deeper than you’d initially thought, “I’m nearly done. You’re doing good, Eddie, you’re doing so good.”

“Better than Harrington?”, Eddie choked out through gritted teeth, “When you patched him up with vodka and dental floss?”

“So much better,” you confirmed gently, fingertips working on the second stitch, “Steve fainted.” Eddie didn’t need to know that Steve had been unconscious already when you’d patched him up.

There was the tiniest flicker of a very Eddie cheeky little grin before pain won over again and he breathed, “Gonna rub it under his nose so hard.”

His words were cut off by a strained groan of pain that made your heart bleed even more for him, and with a tremor in your own voice, you soothed, tying the fine fishing line into the third knot, “Just one more. You’re doing so good and it’s just one more stitch to go and we’re done, okay?”

A strangled noise left Eddie’s throat in reply as you pierced the fish-hook through his skin for the final time, tying the fine line into the last knot before grabbing the gutting knife to cut the line.

“Done,” you breathed letting the hook and knife fall to the tin box with a soft clatter, and Eddie’s trembling exhale of relief filled the air, his eyes still closed.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah,” he choked, “Gimme a second.”

You stared down at the now blood-soaked piece of fabric in your hand as you contemplated where to put it, and – as if he’d read your mind – Eddie snickered, “You could just leave it in that corner over there,” he nodded at the foot of the nearest boulder, “Something blood-stained would really contribute to the ambience of the empty beer cans and used condoms. Don’t look into that corner, by the way.”

You chuckled, letting the bloodied fabric fall to the ground beside you for now.

Until now, you’d successfully danced around the imminent realization that Skull Rock was Hawkins’ most famous make-out spot, thanks to Steve.

With a shaky breath, Eddie slowly sat up, your hands shooting out to his shoulders to steady him, your knees digging into the moldy mattress as you supported his weight.

For a heartbeat, you just stared at each other.

You were still on his lap, straddling him, and now that he was sitting…he was close, his face mere inches from yours.

Letting your hands fall away from his shoulders, you cleared your throat before you said, “We should clean up the rest of the blood, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed quietly, his expression timid, and you averted your gaze, face burning as you reached for another fresh piece of cloth to soak with whiskey. There wasn’t much of the amber liquid left in the bottle, but it would do.

Raising the fresh cloth in one hand, you placed the other to cradle the side of his face – and for the sliver of a second, Eddie’s dark eyes flitted down to your lips, before they found yours again, the expression within unreadable as he watched you dab the soaked cloth at the freshly mended cut, working your way to the side of his face as he tilted his head a little to the side, leaning into the touch of your palm on his cheek.

You knew the gesture was meant to give you better access to the blood-crusted other side of his face, but…your heart wasn’t as quick to catch up. And your goddamn memory was quick to provide the matching images of that night; the way Eddie had leaned into your touches as he’d kissed you, the way he’d shuddered when you’d ran your fingers down his back, tracing the curve of his spine.

Your skin prickled underneath the intensity of Eddie’s umber eyes as he quietly watched you, your fingertips working to brush away a few especially rebellious, half-dried curls which had fallen into his face again, gently holding them out of the way as you cleaned the dried blood coating his skin.

Did you imagine it, or had the space between the two of you shrunken even further?

“So, uh,” Eddie’s murmur broke the silence, his voice low, “What now?”

“I told Robin to get the others and meet us at the boathouse after the meeting. So, when they arrive and meet the cops which will be flocking around the scene by now, they’ll search the woods for us. They’ll find us. Maybe their visit at Creel house this afternoon even sparked a few new insights regarding Vecna’s whereabouts.”

“You really got a whole monster hunter family,” Eddie assessed. “Still dealing with that revelation, by the way.”

“Of the Upside Down?”

“Of the kids I adopted into Hellfire turning out more badass than I could ever dream of being. Shit. Like, Mike Wheeler? Hunting monsters? With Steve The Hair Harrington? Gonna be totally honest with you here, Steve Harrington not being a total douche was a shocker that hit way harder than the whole monsters-from-another-dimension shit. And then it turns out that the girl with the superpowers was Mike Wheeler’s girlfriend which – if I’m being totally honest with you here – I didn’t even believe existed, so that’s that. And these freshmen are goddamn heroes while I’m…still running.”

The bitterness in Eddie’s tone stung.

“There’s no shame in running,” you echoed the words he’d told you all these months ago.

“Yeah,” he scoffed quietly. “That was before I discovered that running away seems to be my goddamn default.”

“Eddie –“, you began, but he shook his head, his umber eyes finding yours in the half-dark, glittering in the pale beams of moonlight falling down upon the two of you, and you let the rest of your sentence fade into the cool spring night air.

On Eddie’s lap, it wasn’t cool anymore, though.

You were close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body, through his own soaked clothes, the Hellfire shirt already beginning to dry beneath the leather jacket and denim vest, just like his curls.

One hand still resting on your cheek, you assessed your handywork. The four stitches to mend the cut had stopped the bleeding, and you’d managed to clean the blood from his face.

There was still a bit of it sticking to the curls of his bangs, and you reached up to gently clean it away from the strands underneath Eddie’s attentive gaze that made butterflies sear in your belly and made your heart do backflips and your pulse accelerate, before you let the fabric fall to the ground.

With the blood gone from Eddie’s face, you could see the shadows of bruises forming underneath his skin already where Jason’s fists had hit home. One beneath the cut on his right brow, one on his temple, and one – darker than the others already – on his jaw, and your heart seized painfully for him as you let your fingertips graze the bruises, one by one, the touch fleeting and light like the brush of a feather – before you realized what you were doing, and your fingers stilled.

“Sorry,” you breathed, “Does that hurt?”

“No,” Eddie murmured, his gaze briefly wandering back to your lips again before he swallowed, meeting your eyes.

His face was only inches from yours, his lips close enough to smell the whiskey on his warm breath as it fanned over yours.

You knew you should probably increase the distance between the two, and you should definitely get away from his lap, stop straddling him – but you couldn’t.

The gravity which had always pulled you towards him was back full-force. Only it had never stopped. It had always been there, from day one.

And so, you didn’t move away.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Eddie added on a whisper, and you gently traced the curve of his cheekbone, down to his jaw, fingertips grazing the outlines of the bruises as he asked softly, “What are you thinking?”

“That I’ll kill Jason when I ever see him again.” Only as the words floated in the slim space between you, you realized they were the truth.

Eddie’s expression turned stern as he said quietly, “You won’t.”

“Because he’s big and strong and I don’t stand a chance? I fought monsters before.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Eddie said softly. “You’re a monster slayer. But you’re not a killer.”

You swallowed. “You don’t know anything about me, Eddie.” It was a dark whisper, an echo of the words you’d spat at him that night.

“I don’t believe you. Not a single word.”

“Because you don’t know me, Eddie. You don’t know anything about me. You never have.”

The hurt in his eyes as you said the words left no doubt that he was remembering them as well.

But to your surprise, Eddie said quietly, “I think I do. More than you want to believe.” His tone wasn’t hurt. It was soft.

You don’t know what happened last summer, you wanted to tell him. You don’t know that the Mind Flayer got me and what it made me do, and you don’t know that part of me liked it. Enjoyed it, to hurt the person who hurt me. And that’s why I know I wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Jason. Not a single second. Not after what he did, tried to do, to me – and especially not after what he did to you. Jason Carver had hurt Eddie. The next time you’d see Jason, you were ready to make him pay.

And the fact that Eddie didn’t think you were capable of that, proved your point even further.

There were still so many things he could never know – things that would forever snuff out the warmth he still held in these beautiful dark eyes when he looked at you, even after everything you’d done to him.

Apart from that, you’d slammed that door close for a reason, locked it behind you and threw the key away – and the reason hadn’t changed.

Because your dreams were still filled with everything you’d seen that night.

The door with the stained-glass roses, the hand creeping through, the Mind Flayer watching the two of you, watching Eddie, a looming spidery shadow in the crimson skies…and the swarm of monsters pouncing on Eddie, ripping him apart.

You could hardly tell him about these things. That your nightmares were filled with his anguished death cry as the Upside Down devoured him.

When you didn’t reply, Eddie breathed, “Is that why you did what you did? Because of all the monster shit? Is that why you left?”

“I told you why I left.”

“Because I was nothing but a distraction.” There was so much pain laced in his voice, his eyes; his gaze pleading you to tell him no, reveal the truth he was so desperately hoping for.

Yes, Eddie had been dragged into this mess now. He knew the tale, of the Upside Down and its monsters. But he could still get out of this because he wasn’t marked. He wasn’t stained, carrying around that dark, festering imprint you were carrying on your own soul. It was an easy equation – the Mind Flayer would forever be a part of you. And this connection, whatever it was…it would be Eddie’s death, if he came to close. Even if he saw the darkest part of you and still chose to stay…the Mind Flayer’s mark on you would cost Eddie’s life.

Nothing had changed.

And if you needed to suffocate that spark of desperate hope in his umber eyes as he gazed at you now, the moonlight glittering within their depths as he held your gaze and waited for your reply…that’s what you’d do. Everything to keep him safe.

“Yes. You were a distraction. It has never been anything more.”

You should move away, increase the distance between the two of you…but you couldn’t.

The spell he kept holding you under, this strange gravity drawing you towards him like a star to its twin, a moth to a lonely night in the dark, was too strong, overpowering every rhyme and reason, everything in you that screamed to keep this door locked.

And so, you stayed. On his lap, straddling him, your palms cradling his cheeks.

And you could see that Eddie didn’t believe you, saw it in the fierce spark in his eyes even before he said quietly, “Then why did you come back for me?”

His whiskey-breath prickled on your lips, mingling with your own, heart racing wildly as the space between the two of you shrunk, the moonlight dancing in Eddie’s pleading umber eyes as they held yours captive, stealing every last ounce of willpower from you.

You opened your mouth to utter a reply, conjure another lie, but Eddie whispered, “No more lies. Tell me the truth, or nothing at all. But no more lies. Please.” His voice was barely more than a rasp, so soft, as soft as his pleading eyes while the space between you shrunk, magnets drawn to each other, his face so close that the tip of his nose brushed yours, his lips nearly grazing your own as he added on a breath, “If it didn’t count, if nothing of it mattered…why did you go to the trouble to find me, monster slayer?”

Because I love you.

I’ll always, always love you, Eddie Munson. And I always have.

You couldn’t say it, no matter how hard you wished you could.

But his proximity had stolen your voice anyway, had chased all the lies you were ready to tell from the tip of your tongue as you inched closer still –

And your lips brushed his.

It was fleeting, ephemeral as the touch of a moth’s wing, the ghost of a kiss…

Before it turned into a real one.

Your heart skipped its next beat, Eddie’s own sharp inhale filling the air in the sliver of space between the two of you, as his lips met yours again.

It was greedy. Desperate.

And all your resolve crumbled like a house of cards in a hurricane as you melted into the kiss. Until your chest was pressed flush against his, your fingers tangling in the drying strands of his hair to pull him closer as Eddie’s hands shot up to your back, holding you against him as if he were scared you’d fade away like mist in the sunlight if he let go now, and the softest of moans spilled from your lips as you parted them for him, fire blazing through your veins at the sensation, giddiness and love and longing and everything in between to mend what you’d broken, to put all the shards of your heart back together –

“EDDIE!”

Never in your life had you moved so fast, back to your feet, mind spinning and heart racing and chest heaving with labored breaths as you as you jumped away from Eddie, just as Robin rounded the boulders of Skull Rock, Nancy and Dustin and Steve hot on her heels, Max and Lucas trailing behind, as Steve chided, “Don’t be so loud, man. That’s –“

He cut himself off as their gazes met your own, wild and panting, before Dustin’s gaze fell on Eddie, who’d jumped to his feet in time with you, a soft wince escaping him as Dustin tackled him into a hug.

And Eddie’s eyes met yours over the boy’s shoulder as he patted Dustin’s back.

Even from the distance, you could see that his pupils were blown, the soft blush dusting his pale cheeks visible even in the weak moonlight, and you quickly averted your gaze as Robin inquired, “What the fuck happened? The boathouse is in cinders, there’s police all over the place –“

“Are you hurt?”, Nancy questioned, her gaze flitting from you to Eddie, who was in the process of untangling himself from Dustin’s bear hug, looking as rattles as you felt.

“No,” you breathed, just as Eddie retorted, “Yes.”

Robin’s eyes narrowed as they darted between Eddie and you, before she said, “You look a little… disheveled.” There was a small huff escaping her as Nancy not so subtly slapped Robin’s back, and Steve’s gloomy expression turned even gloomier as he turned to Eddie, waving at him while he inquired, “What happened?”

Eddie’s hand shot up to his hair, the strands tousled where your fingers had raked through them, caught in the heat of the moment of the kiss only moments ago before he stammered, “Uh. It’s…windy.”

There was a beat of silence as you watched Max’s eyebrows shoot up and Luca’s brow furrow in confusion as he stared at the absolutely unruffled foliage of the trees above, before Steve muttered, “Not your hair, man, your face.”

You were having a hard time ignoring the way Robin’s gaze was boring into you. She’d truly mastered the art of side-eyes.

“Oh,” Eddie replied. “Yeah. Had a run-in with Jason and his mob of jocks.”

“Before we took an accidental swim in the lake,” you added.

“Vecna got Patrick,” Eddie finished. “McKinney.”

“What?!”, Dustin called out, in time with Lucas.

“When did he die?”, Dustin pressed, “Patrick, I mean.”

“Fuck,” Lucas muttered under his breath.

“I didn’t exactly check the time –“ you began, but Eddie called out, “I did. Well, sort of,” as he glanced at the watch on his wrist. “We fell into the lake right then, so my watch broke…nine twenty pm. That’s when he…when it happened.”

“That’s when the lights burst,” Nancy breathed.

“What did you find out at Creel house?”, you inquired, your gaze briefly locking on Eddie’s. He was still panting, his eyes still wide and the blush on his cheeks mirrored the heat in your own as your whole face felt like it was burning, and you quickly averted your gaze when Dustin spoke up, “We found Vecna.”

“What?”

“He’s there,” Max said, “At Creel house. In the attic, on the other side.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” Eddie muttered, drawing out the words in his usual lilting tone.

“But if he’s there…”

“Then all we need to do is find a gate,” Dustin interrupted, “Go to the Upside Down –“

“And drive a stake through his heart,” Max finished grimly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

In the weak moonlight, she looked like a ghost, the shadows under her eyes nearly blue, her headphones at the ready around her neck. With a glance at Eddie, she said, “Thank you. For saving my ass. I’ve been told Kate Bush was your idea.”

Eddie scratched the back of his head, his eyes flitting to you before he said, “Yeah. No worries. It was a gut feeling rather than some genius epiphany.”

“Wait – a stake?” Steve furrowed his brows. “Is Vecna – is he a vamp?”

“It was a metaphor.”

Another thought came to your mind. “But we still need a gate.”

Dustin grinned as he pulled something out of his sweater’s pocket, the thing catching the moonlight in a glint of silver as he raised it in the air, “I think we already found one.”

Eddie’s brows shot up. “A gate. Just like that?”

Dustin’s grin widened. “When the Demogorgon attacked, it left a gate. And we already know that gates to the Upside Down mess with the magnetic field of the earth.” And you finally recognized what the thing in his hand was as he raised it again, before he announced, “And ever since we went into these woods, my compass went nuts.”

“With a capital ‘N’,” Robin smirked.

With an expression warring between fascination and dread, Eddie took the compass from Dustin’s hand. “Son of a bitch,” he breathed.

“Exactly,” Dustin grinned.

You didn’t need to look at the compass to know the needle was spinning like a record in its player.

“So, uh, all we need to do,” Eddie summed up, still staring at the whirring needle of Dustin’s compass, dread slowly winning its fight against fascination on his face, “Is follow wherever the needle is spinning faster.”

“Which will be Lover’s Lake,” Dustin added. “Where Patrick died. If my theory’s correct, and they always are.”

“Jesus,” Steve breathed, rolling his eyes, “Henderson, you gotta keep that ego in check.”

“Wait, the lake’s where we’re coming from,” you protested. “There will be police, the firefighters –“

“They’re gone,” Steve interrupted. “Which is why we need to go now. They’ll be searching the lake and the surrounding woods for Eddie as soon as the sun rises, so we need to go now and see if Dustin’s right.”

“I am,” Dustin said. “Jesus.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” you interjected, pinching the bridge of your nose at the flood of new information, “There was a third quote-unquote murder and they’re not searching the surroundings right now? Isn’t that weird?”

“Oh. Yeah. You don’t know,” Robin spluttered. “The whole town’s gone haywire.”

Max uttered a scoff. “The townhall burned down.”

There was a beat of crestfallen silence as Eddie’s head snapped up, eyes locking on you as the world started spinning.

“Just went up in flames,” Steve confirmed. “Must have been right after you left.”

You curled your hand into a fist at your side, fingernails digging painfully into the blisters covering your palm.

The blisters from the doorhandle at the townhall, which had singed you right before it had sprung open. Just like that.

Just like Chance’s letterman jacket had caught flames.

“Oh, and that’s not all,” Max added as an afterthought, stepping towards you as she pulled something out of the pocket of her jacket, holding it out for you.

It was a folded piece of paper.

“You never saw because you were already on your way back to the boathouse this morning,” she explained, “But remember when I said I drew what I saw when Vecna got me? That place he didn’t want me to see?”

Your hands trembled as you unfolded the paper, mind going a mile a minute as your thoughts raced around her previous words.

The townhall burned down.

Just like the boathouse. And the connection between these places, of course –

You unfolded the paper.

Just that it wasn’t a paper, you realized now. They’d glued several pieces of paper together like a puzzle, and someone had outlined the silhouette with a black sharpie, lines crisscrossing the pattern of red to form a house. Probably Creel house, you realized.

And your sharp intake of breath filled the silence of the spring night as your eyes fell on the center of the house.

On the front door.

The bouquet of flowers, drawn with messy swirls of crayon at the center of the door.

Crimson stained-glass roses.

[Friday, March 15th, 1986. ONE WEEK BEFORE CHRISSY’S DEATH.]

The silence of the dream mingled with the music floating through the headphones of your Walkman at the frayed edges of your consciousness, Eddie’s mixtape tethering you to a sliver of reality as you shrunk backwards.

It was there again.

The door, suspended in the night sky, amidst the sea of glittering stars.

Just like always, like every night since that November night four months ago.

You knew what came next, the nightmare a familiar companion by now – albeit one to which’s horrors you’d never grow accustomed.

It would creak open, a deformed, spidery hand creeping through.

You would turn and run.

And you’d watch him die, hear his death cry lace with the music, the chorus of a million eerie shrieks as the creatures pounced down on Eddie in a hailstorm of wings and claws and teeth and ruin, mingling with your own scream when you eventually bolted upright in bed.

Your mind clung to the music of Eddie’s mixtape, your tether, your lifeline, the lighthouse’s beam guiding you to shore.

A nightmare, a nightmare, just a nightmare…

There was the silhouette behind the door, behind the stained-glass roses bleeding crimson.

But this time…something was different.

The brass doorknob didn’t turn.

The door didn’t creak open.

The deformed hand didn’t crawl through the crack to fold around the wood.

There was just the door, and the starry night skies.

And mingling with the music, the lyrics floating through the dream, was a voice.

So beautifully familiar, soft as it painted your name into the air in its musical lilting cadence.

And so horribly, horribly scared.

“Eddie?”, you answered, whirling around, eyes scanning your surroundings for a flash of his umber eyes, of messy dark curls and soft lips, of leather and denim and the glint of his rings – but there was nobody there.

Just a void filled with silent, distant stars.

“Eddie?!”, you called out again – and this time, he answered, his voice growing more desperate as he called out your name.

Screamed your name.

“EDDIE!”, you cried out, spinning faster and faster as his voice morphed into a horrid cry of agony – and your eyes fell on the door.

The silhouette behind, fists hailing down on the wood from inside, making the door rattle in its hinges as you darted towards it.

“EDDIE!”

“HELP ME!”

“EDDIE I’M RIGHT HERE!”

“GET ME OUT!”, he screamed, “HELP ME! LET ME OUT!”

He was behind that door.

With that thing, the silhouette with its deformed spidery hand.

Panic clawed at you as your hands wrapped around the brass door knob.

It was cool against the skin of your palm.

And through the petals of the crimson stained-glass roses, Eddie’s eyes stared back at you, wide with terror as he placed one hand on the glass and whimpered, “Let me out, monster slayer. Please.”

Without a second of hesitation, you turned the knob.

And ripped the door open.

But Eddie…Eddie was gone.

And your eyes flew open as you bolted upright in bed, the sweat-soaked sheets tangled around your legs as your chest heaved with shallow breaths, heartbeat thundering in your ears.

It had been just a dream.

Only a dream.

…right?

[Sunday, March 24th, 1986. NOW.]

It was the door from your dreams.

The door from your dreams was the door to Creel house.

The door to Vecna’s lair.

The door you’d ripped open in your nightmare nine days ago.

Exactly seven days before Chrissy Cunningham’s bones had snapped, one by one, on the ceiling of Eddie Munson’s trailer.

The stained-glass roses of Max’s painting swam before your eyes, blurred into splotches of red as your body went numb, and you sunk to your knees, onto the carpet of dried leaves, your friends’ voices rising around you, muted as if you were underwater as realization crashed over you like a freezing wave.

You’d opened that door.

Vecna had tricked you.

And you…you had let him in.

▹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞

----

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 | I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ♡

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠/𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭! 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 ♡

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fix it fic #stranger things eddie #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson slow burn #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things x y/n #stranger things fanfiction #joe quinn

2K notes · View notes

meet-me-backstage · 3 months

Text

🜸

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎸 Virgin!Eddie Munson x Fem!reader

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 🎸 You play at the Hideout with your band, Stake For My Valentine, every night - you're considered the metal queen of the bar and your band are the rulers of the roost, famously loved by the Hideout's local drunks. However, when a band named Corroded Coffin land their first gig there, the sparse crowd warm quickly to the unique and awkward charm of the leading metal head, Eddie Munson.

However, you don't warm to him so easily - in fact, you don't warm to him at all. Eddie, on the other hand, worships the ground you walk on and doesn't hesitate to make it known, leading to a cold rejection from you.

Band rivalry occurs - you vs. Eddie, Stake For My Valentine vs Corroded Coffin.

You hate each other... but one night everything changes when a plan is created and executed by yours and Eddie's bandmates with the intention of bringing you two together and harmony between the bands.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊-𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕, 𝒔𝒎𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈!

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 🎸 bad language, angst, mention and consumption of drugs, mention and consumption of alcohol, sexual innuendos, mention of blood, Eddie wearing eyeliner bcuz damn😍, some typical bar fight drunkard violence and SMUT so you must be 18+ to read‼️

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 🎸 10K words.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 🎸 bad language, angst, mention of smut, blood, mention and consumption of drugs and alcohol.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 (𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐱, 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 ‘𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧’ 𝐨𝐫 ‘𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬’ 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭!)… 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭!

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠!

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 <𝟑

⇜ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 • 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 • 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓

'He's just a loser with a guitar.'

'You're a dick but I think I've fallen in love with you.'

'I fucking hate you Eddie Munson.'

'No I don't.'

You stare down at your lyric book with tired eyes, trying to decipher the scribbles of words that you'd crossed out and areas where you'd pressed the pen so hard against the paper that you ripped away some of it. They were all lines that you'd written over the weekend, ever since you'd gotten home from almost fucking Eddie Munson outside the Hideout, from realising that he had been the most beautiful guy you'd ever met and from crying so hard about him that you thought your eyes may fall out due to being so exhausted.

Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie are sat in the back room that had once been only yours, you can't help but think about how much the dynamic had changed since Corroded Coffin had stumbled through the doors behind you - you'd been so occupied with them that you realised that you hadn't even spoken to your band since last Friday...

Since I fucked it all up... I used to tell them everything... they're my best friends, my only friends - well, maybe not anymore since I've kept secrets and treated them like complete garbage... but we were always there for each other at school - always, surely they'll forgive me? I don't know, maybe Saturday night was the last straw, maybe I've fucked up one too many times.

You hear Cherie's voice through the door, it's muffled, but loud and it snaps you away from your thoughts.

You quickly slam your lyric book shut in your hand and take a deep breath that lasts for about five seconds before exhaling...

I've got nothing to lose now... I just hope Alyssa kept her word about not telling Elektra and Cherie what happened between me and Eddie.

With a determined stare, you head straight for the door like a missile to it's target, your worn and cracked black leather boots, as usual, thudding on the old floorboards of the Hideout. They can hear your footsteps because as soon as you start walking their voices go quiet, immediately knowing that it is you who had just entered the bar rather than a drunk that has nothing to do apart from sit at the bar and drink all day on a Monday.

You knock on the door, your knuckles brushing against the red tape that label the initials of yours and Eddie's bands on it.

Elektra clears her throat, you assume it's her because a few seconds later she calls out to you, "Come on in!" She didn't sound like her usual self who would crack a joke or dirty innuendo whenever you would walk into the room, starting band practice with a bellow of laughter from all four of you.

You grip onto the handle of the door, your forehead almost touching the wood before you slowly push it open, revealing your bandmates one by one.

Alyssa is sat on the manky rug in the middle of the room, tapping away at it with her drumsticks loosely gripped by her hands. Elektra is stood by Alyssa wielding her black and purple Jackson Dinky electric guitar, she's staring down at it so you can't see her face because her black hair, identical to Alyssa's, which is styled into a shorter mullet than her younger sister's, is falling in front of her green eyes, also identical to Alyssa's. Then, lastly, you see Cherie, with her bleach blonde hair as bright as ever, she is sat on the couch with her black Danelecto 58 Longhorn bass guitar nestled in the space beside her.

"Hi," you sigh, stepping into the room and gently setting your guitar case down beside you before turning around and shutting the door. The creak of the door being closed completely grabs all three of your bandmate's attention. They all look disappointed, confused, disheartened and it's all so quiet suddenly, Alyssa's drum beat couldn't be heard, Elektra is holding tightly to the neck of her guitar and Cherie has her mouth tightly shut. "Sorry I'm late," you mumble.

"Again," Elektra adds, rolling her eyes after.

You blow a puff of air out of your mouth, glancing down at your boots, briefly thinking about the words you'd rehearsed for them all day yesterday. "I - er I know - I'm sorry - I'm letting you guys down. I've been a real selfish bitch the last few weeks-," you sigh out with a nervous chuckle before your eyes flicker between all three of your friends, "I'm completely aware of that now and I'm sorry - so fuckin' sorry. I've not listened to you, I've been slacking at band practice, I've kept you in the dark, I've not been a good friend and I almost got us kicked out of here by Keith... I know now that it's all my fault - not Corroded fuckin' Coffin's... I - I guess I just didn't want to admit that I'm not as good as I thought."

"But you are, V," Cherie, who is, as usual, your number one fan even after letting her down.

Both Alyssa and Elektra nod in agreement with Cherie. "Exactly - that's why we're all so confused," Elektra, confesses. "You've never ever let us down in all the years that we've played together - so why are you now?" She pleads for an answer, accentuating her words by pointing the neck of her guitar at you.

You fiddle with your fingers, picking at the already chipped black nail varnish on your left index finger because you hadn't exactly prepared to answer that exact question. "I dunno - but I promise I won't fuck up any more than I already have, okay?" You look at each of your bandmates earnestly.

Elektra shakes her head while looking you dead in the eye, "Why're you avoiding the question?"

"I'm not!" You retort defensively.

"Vamp," Elektra states sternly, raising her thin dark eyebrows at you.

You realise again that you're acting the exact opposite way that you'd promised not to act, "Sorry - sorry - I er - I guess it's the... the competition." You bring a hand up to your forehead and shake your head at yourself, "It got to my head because - we've always been the band of weirdos who play metal music here every night without fail - and then suddenly these even weirder weirdos come into the picture and-," you let your hand fall from your forehead back down to your side, "We're not the only ones anymore and I felt - threatened by 'em because it was always just us... but I should've known that it wouldn't stay that way forever."

Elektra and Cherie nod in unison, but Alyssa stays completely still and silent which attracts your attention.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Al?" You take a step towards her while pointing your thumb over your shoulder towards the door behind you.

Alyssa looks at you, still hurt by what she'd seen you doing with Eddie on Saturday as her eyes are sunken in from not sleeping and her lips are pointing downwards at both corners of her mouth. She shakes her head, "Whatever you've got to say, you can say it here because we're a team - that's what a band is, right?"

You exhale through your nose, nodding at the same time, "Right," you mumble under your breath and fiddle with your fingers, still picking away at the black nail varnish on your nails. "I-."

Am I really going to tell them about what happened between me and Eddie?

Should I?

Yes... no... yes, no more lies, Vamp... no - I can't do it... I have to, to prove to Alyssa that I'm still as serious as I was when we first formed our alliance in school... besides, what happened between me and Eddie - it was nothing, it meant nothing... but if it meant nothing, why would I tell them? As far as Eddie is concerned, it never happened and we're never gonna kiss again, he sure seemed determined about that... I should forget about it all too, and I should definitely forget about how good it felt to kiss his lips...

You realise that your silence is raising suspicion from Elektra and Cherie, who are examining you wearily with crossed arms and expectant looks on their faces now, while Alyssa is nodding for you to just spit your words out... probably urging you to blurt out your undying love for Eddie Munson, to admit that your judgment of him and his band had been entirely wrong - therefore ending the little feud between Stake For My Valentine and Corroded Coffin that you'd caused so that she and Gareth could run into the sunset together finally.

I admit that I'd been wrong to try and stop Alyssa from having feelings for him... even though I still don't understand why of all the weirdos and freaks she fell for Gareth - I mean, I guess he is kinda cute and can play the drums like a champ... plus he's totally her number one fan - I'm sure if I asked him, Alyssa would be his favorite drummer of all time... so who am I to deny a friend her happiness for the sake of Eddie fuckin' Munson?

You look at Alyssa with big, apologetic eyes. She is still silently pleading with you, holding her drumsticks in a vice-like grip while she waits for your words. "I just wanted to-," you shake your head, closing your eyes for a moment before staring at Alyssa again, "I owe you an extra apology, Al - I'm - so - sorry about what happened the other night-."

"Wait - what happened the other night exactly?" Elektra asks with a quizzical look on her face, her petite nose scrunching up slightly as she stares down at Alyssa.

Alyssa sheepishly looks between you and her big sister, clearly feeling guilty for keeping what she had seen occur between you and Eddie a secret from her own flesh and blood... "Al did nothing wrong, El - I'm not gonna let her take the flack when it was all me." Elektra drags her eyes away from Alyssa to you, still with her arms crossed. Her pale face with dark eyeliner around her piercingly light green eyes intimidate you, making you break eye contact and instead you focus on your fingers still chipping away at your nail varnish, "I - I did something really - really - really fuckin' stupid."

Cherie furrows her fair brows, looking at Elektra, who looks back at her, confirming that they are just as confused as the other person.

"What did you do, V?" Cherie asks, tearing her longing eyes away from Elektra to look at you again.

You don't have to lift your head up to know that all six of your bandmate's eyes combined are staring into your soul right now... I need to just spit it out right now. You gulp, struggling to speak because you're too busy trying to relax your heartbeat and choking on your spit that had gathered in your mouth from trying to process words that just refused to leave your mouth, "I - I-."

"Vamp," Elektra interrupts before uncrossing her arms lazily, "If we don't have trust anymore we've got nothing left - so we may as well call it quits-."

Your neck snaps up so quickly to meet eyes with your bandmates that you almost get whiplash from the desperation because you are not ready to give up on this band yet, and definitely not because of a reason that doesn't even exist anymore - I mean nothing to Eddie and he means nothing to me... and Stake For My Valentine mean everything to me. "I-made-out-with-Eddie-after-his-gig-on-saturday-because-he-wrote-the-most-beautiful-song-for-me-and-also-Rodrick-was-making-out-with-some-girl-he-met-that-night-I-think-and-Alyssa-saw-the-entire-thing-oh-and-I-made-our-fifteen-fans-hate-us-because-Rodrick-got-me-drunk-the-night-before-and-I-called-them-all-assholes-for-going-to-Corroded-Coffin's-first-gig-here-."

All three of your bandmates look entirely bewildered by your rambling, with wide eyes and their mouths hung open in shock that your mouth could move so fast.

Cherie's back has thrusted forward away from the couch, leaning closer to you as if it can help her try to understand what you are saying, but she realises that she can't because she uses her hands to motion you to calm down and stop talking, "Woah woah woah, slow down, V!”

Elektra nods in agreement with Cherie. "I think I can vouch for us all by saying that we got none of that," Elektra gestures to Cherie and Alyssa, who nod in agreement, "Could you start again and maybe - step on the break a little for us?"

You nod, staggered breaths leaving your mouth while trying to catch as much air as possible because your rambling has left you pretty light-headed, "Okay - okay." Deep breaths, Vamp - here goes nothing... you bring one of your hands up to scratch the back of your neck, "I sorta made out with Eddie after his gig on Saturday-."

"You sorta what?!" Elektra blurts out before covering her mouth with one of her hands, her silver bangles around her wrist clashing loudly against each other from the speed.

You nervously glance at Cherie, who had loudly gasped at your confession, before acknowledging Alyssa, who also looked shocked that you'd actually told them. You give Alyssa a small nod before audibly inhaling another long breath, "Yeah er - I came onto him after he er - I mean - after I saw Rodrick with another girl-."

"But - I thought you hated Eddie?" Cherie asks, completely gobsmacked.

"So did I," Elektra adds while Alyssa mumbles a sorrowful 'me too' in sync with her sister.

"I do," you gulp, fleetingly looking down at the stained rug underneath your feet, "I do hate him," you repeat with much more assurance, though your face doesn't show it. You blink... if I just keep talking about how much I hate him they've gotta believe me eventually... "I hate him so much, he's so - he's so - ugh, everything he does just infuriates me so much that I just wanna-," kiss him so hard that it bruises his lips? Slap his cute face silly while I give him the ride of his life? Suck his soul out through his dick? Sit on his face? "Die? Yeah - he makes me wanna - die."

Huh - that has an interesting ring to it. I should write it down in my lyric book.

Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa all exchange bewildered looks. Cherie then mouths a shocked 'wow' at Elektra while Alyssa looks up at you, even more confused than she appeared to be before you’d opened your mouth about Eddie.

"I thought-," Alyssa speaks, but before she can reveal that Eddie had written a song about you, or the way that you looked at him like you look at your electric guitar... which is totally not true because I could never spare a spot alongside my Pink Special or Eddie Van Halen in my heart - there is no space for Eddie Munson in there and there never will be... you shake your head frantically.

"I - I did it to get back at Rodrick," you interrupt Alyssa boldly, defensively, lying through your teeth while trying to maintain confident eye contact with her.

"But-."

"There's no other reason, Al," You declare before chuckling nervously, "C'mon - why else would I kiss Eddie Munson?"

Alyssa's face drops a little, her eyes, rather than being wide, they are now sad again, reminding you of the disappointed look that she sent you when she left you alone with Eddie on Saturday, "Cause you like him like I like Gareth?" She suggests with a small, hopeful tone of voice.

You hear Elektra and Cherie giggling to themselves, they fill in the silence after Alyssa's suspicion towards your denial for having feelings for Eddie.

Your head continues to shake frantically in complete denial, "No - no, not like you and Gareth," you tell her with another nervous laugh after, "You and Gareth - you're perfect for each other, I understand that now and I shouldn't have gotten in the way of the two of you just because he's the drummer in a band we're in fierce competition with... but there is no me and Eddie and that's all there is to it."

You spot the glint of happiness in Alyssa's dark green eyes, but it leaves as quickly as it comes when you continue to deny anything more than indifference for Corroded Coffin and hate for Eddie Munson. It frustrates her because she saw how you danced to their music, how you gave the lead singer heart eyes throughout their entire gig and how you genuinely enjoyed yourself in the presence of Corroded Coffin despite the battle between them and Stake For My Valentine to claim the Halloween gig. She thought that you felt it too, a connection between the bands that overpowered the competition... but perhaps you weren't quite as on the same page as she thought you had been.

"So - what about Eddie?" Alyssa asks, her voice almost sounds afraid.

Your head tilts to the side and you shrug your shoulders, trying to act as casually as you can, as if you hadn't been able to get Eddie off of your mind since you cleared the air between your mouth and his… and failed, "What about 'im?"

"How does he feel about what happened?" She asks matter of factly, one of her dark brows raising at you.

It feels like your heart is sinking down your body at the reminder of how yours and Eddie's last bicker battle...

'Don't you dare follow me this time, Munson - because I won't be kissing you again!'

'Good!'

'Fantastic!'

A drawn out, quiet sigh leaves your lips, "Nothing," your shoulders hunch over slightly after you shrug them, "He hates me as much as I hate him-," you take in each of your bandmate's facial expressions and they all look completely unconvinced by your answer, "but we're both on the same page - we're here for the music. We're all here for the music, aren't we?" You question them as a way to divert their attention from you and Eddie.

All three of your bandmates hum in unison, looking amongst each other and you nod in response to their agreement.

"So we're all in this battle to win the Halloween gig back, right?" You speak entirely with confidence now, ignoring the joy that you felt when you were at Corroded Coffin's gig and completely thinking about the joy you'll feel when your fans vote Stake For My Valentine as the winners of the Battle of the Bands... if I win their loyalty back tonight.

"Right," Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa all respond in sync, nodding at the same time.

You nod slowly with a hopeful smile on your face and determination in your eyes, "Exactly, so we've gotta blow our crowd's minds tonight with epic solos and new material," you keep nodding, looking between your bandmates, who are staring at you with intense excitement in their eyes, their postures are gradually lifting from being slouched before, "We can't waste a second today so what'd ya say?" A cheeky grin spreads across your lips.

Cherie mirrors your cheeky grin before nodding eagerly, "Let's fuckin' do this," she jumps off of the couch and hops towards you while lifting her arm up, waiting for everyone else to do the band chant that the four of you usually do before a practice or gig.

Elektra steps forward and stands directly in front of you, a smile spreading across her lips too as she lifts her hand. You give her a small nod before looking down at Alyssa, who looks up at you wearily for a few moments before deciding to join the triangle that you, Elektra and Cherie had made. You all stand in a circle now with your arms lifted, your firsts balled as if you are holding wooden stakes and are about to drive them through a kneeling vampire in the middle of your circle.

"Three - two - one... watch it!" In unison, you all clench your fists, "Look behind you - beside you - inside you - don't underestimate a Vamp's power - it hides in plain sight - it hides before your eyes!" You all move your heads in the directions that you chant before dramatically tearing your eyes away from each other and looking down at the space in front of you within the circle. "Drive a stake through the heart and knock 'em dead!" You throw your arms down together as if you are going in for the killing of an imaginary vampire, a ritual that you'd all created and participated in for good luck since your very first gig at the Hideout.

The four of you cheer as if there hadn't been any tension between them and you, they're all driven by the adrenaline that the chant always gives you that would usually last until the end of a practice or a show, but this time the energy is very short-lived as your cheers fade quickly into an awkward silence.

Elektra clears her throat as realisation spreads across her features, "We don't have any new material."

"Ah ah ah - that's where you're wrong," you bring your hand that's still holding your lyric book up to your face, waving it beside your head while you smile devilishly, "I've got the perfect song for us to play tonight right here."

Elektra wraps her arms around her black and white striped t-shirt, hugging herself and pressing her fingertips into the back hem of her black leather pants, "I'm a little scared," she says with a chuckle.

"You should be," you tell her with a giggle.

⎈ 🎸 ⎈

By the time you're ready to go on stage you're high and drunk, which isn't usually a problem when you haven't been an emotional mess for days. It was what the four of you usually did during practices and before gigs just to take the edge off, to get rid of nerves and any stress or pressure. However, tonight you feel it all and with each pint of beer that you downed and each drag that you took of weed, your emotions seemed to heighten rather than lessen.

With each hour that passed during your practice, you noticed Rodrick's absence from it - he'd usually join your practice by sitting on the couch ogling you or maybe take over on the drums briefly while Alyssa took a small break. There was no sign of him today, but you were sure that he was just hiding away up in his room all day.

The four of you now are sat on the couch, squished together like a bunch of fish in a fishbowl, sharing one last joint before going on stage.

Each time you pass the joint to each other in a line that's going back and forth, you sink more into the couch with your limbs intertwined with Alyssa's and Cherie's, who are sat on either side of you.

Elektra is sat on the other side of Cherie, and has her arm flirtatiously wrapped around her... you'd have been a fool not to notice the massive crush that they had on each other since high school, fleeting looks, touches and blushes at your table in the cafeteria, so you and Alyssa weren't surprised when they announced their 'on the low' relationship when you all left school... they'd blossomed just as you had when the four of you found the Hideout because not only could they play the music they loved, the pair could also love each other and not be afraid of what anybody thought of them in a place where they could be free - you could all be free.

You can hear the bar starting to get rowdy on the other side of the door, muffled chattering, glasses clinking and music playing from the stereo... another ordinary night at the Hideout, you think with a dreamy smile, resting the back of your head on the couch... little do they know, we're about to play the goddamn bar right down.

A small knock interrupts your daydreaming and all four of you sit up in sync, staring at the door like deer in headlights.

When you see Rodrick's face peeking his head through the door and frame you feel the same boiling in your blood that you felt on Saturday when you saw him kissing someone else.

I wonder if she's here tonight?

His brown hair is more wild than usual, he's gelled it into more of a spiky texture, and is wearing what he usually wears, his old 'Löded Dyper' shirt that you woke up in on Saturday afternoon last week, a pair of ripped black jeans and his dirty black converse.

His tired, dull brown eyes flicker at you for not even a second before focusing on your bandmates, "The - stage is ready for you," he mumbles half-heartedly, refusing to even acknowledge your presence in the room before quickly shutting the door and leaving the four of you alone again.

You close your eyes and sink back into the couch while Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa exchange looks between each other, you and the door that Rodrick had disappeared behind.

Don't you dare even think about that asshole - get the fuck up off of this couch and get on that stage.

You monitor your breathing for a moment because seeing Rodrick had instantly brought that night back to you - your heated moment with Eddie. It makes your breath hitch before you take another deep breath, trying desperately to forget the existence of a certain long-haired, doe-eyed, adorable metal head...

I'll show him... I'll show them all.

"Let's fuckin' show them all what we're made of," you state before suddenly springing up off of the couch, almost tripping over the rug and falling face first onto the floor, though you manage to find your balance by taking a few quick steps towards the door.

You throw your arms out towards the door to halt yourself from head butting the wall or floor and close your eyes to brace yourself from the inevitability of falling down, but instead you find yourself hearing the door creak, opening again, and being caught in a pair of arms, "Rodrick I swear to the metal gods above I will swing my fist at your stupid face and shove my guitar up your ass," you ramble angrily, hitting your fists into his chest while your face is also nuzzled into him.

"Woah - Jesus H. - Christ - will you stop - hitting me when - I'm trying to - save you?!" You hear Eddie's voice in between your hits on his chest, but they gradually stop when you realise that it had been him who had caught you before you could fall onto the floor in front of the crowd waiting for you to take the stage.

You relax, hiding against his frame while nuzzling your nose against his chest, now realising that the texture of the shirt he's wearing is completely different to the one Rodrick is wearing... the smell is also different, while Rodrick's smells of weed and cigarettes, Eddie's also smells of weed and cigarettes - but with an added scent of musk that you could easily get used to.

"What are you doing here?" You grumble, gathering the courage to finally look up at him. To your annoyance, he looks as beautiful as ever and it takes everything in you not to wrap your arms around his neck to be even closer to him... but I know I can't... he doesn't want me anymore.

Eddie chuckles, which makes his chest sort of vibrate against your upper half, causing warmth to spread all through you, "I might not want to uh - kiss you - again... but I wasn't gonna miss your show - 'm still Stake's uh - biggest fan y'know," he looks down, huffing a small chuckle whilst blinking his eyes closed so he can avoid eye contact with you.

He can't even look at me now... which feels like a stab to your heart because you realise just now that looking into his pretty brown eyes is a privilege that you took for granted until you no longer had his eyes only on you.

You nod a little, focusing on the silver pendant sat neatly beside his red guitar pick attached to a silver chain around his neck, "No I - I meant - what are you doing here?"

"Oh uh-," his eyes trail from your boots, to your fishnet tights, to your oversized white t-shirt, to your neck, to your eyes, but you could've sworn that for a millisecond he looked at your lips, "I - uh - I wanted to uh - uh-," it's like your eyes have him under a spell because he can't look away now, it takes a massively deep breath for him to get his words out, "'S stupid - but I uh - came to say good luck - so uh - good luck."

"Thank you - I guess?" You mumble nervously, on the brink of crumbling in his arms and telling him that you do, in fact, want to kiss him again.

Eddie hums, tearing his eyes away from you at the same time you awkwardly look away from him, "I should - uh - I should go um - back to - Gareth." He looks over your head, being a head taller than you now means that it doesn't take much effort for him to look behind you, seeing your bandmates watching you both, in shock and holding onto each other for dear life.

You have to stand on your tiptoes to look over his shoulder to see that you have gained some attention from a few familiar faces that you'd see in your usual crowd from the stage - Joan looked shocked, Troy looked a tad more shocked and Victoria looked even more shocked than them combined, probably because you were in talking distance, let alone being enveloped in the arms of your competition... and on top of that, you weren't fighting to get away.

Your bottom lip falls slightly, but you have no words to say as you feel numb... the weed is definitely not helping me right now - I can't move...

Eddie watches you, appearing completely uncomfortable in his arms, horrified by his touch and the audience that you were getting from being close to him. He clears his throat, "Sorry - I uh - I didn't want an - audience either," he sighs, slowly unwrapping his arms from your waist and suddenly you feel so cold... he can't even stand to be seen near me... another stabbing sensation to your heart, you visibly shiver and falter slightly from no longer having him to lean on, which he notices, "you okay?"

So now he cares…

You give him a hard stare while the rest of your body feels numb and warm from the weed and alcohol, "Mhm fine - I'm fine," you slur unconvincingly, causing Eddie to furrow his brows at you and take a step closer only for you to step away, "Go a-away," your voice cracks and you shake your head. Eddie continues to stare at you, his facial features no longer hard or distant, now they are sad and he looks like a lost puppy that has no idea what to do or where to go, whether to help you and stay or do what you say and go... you can see the battle he's fighting in his head so you take a shaky breath, your stare at him turning into a glare, "Go."

Eddie falters, the battle in his head coming to an end as he reaches a decision, he nods and looks down at his fidgeting hands before silently turning himself around and walking away... like I told him to.

You take a harsh breath in through your nose, ignoring the tears that are threatening to spill from your eyes... no no no, Vamp - you said you weren't gonna cry over Eddie Munson again... you exhale as steadily as you can, successfully stopping a single tear from running down your cheeks, "May the best band win, Munson!" You shout to him as he walks through the small crowd that are now only staring at you. You fight the urge to say something like 'what are you looking at?' to the entire group of onlookers that had just witnessed everything including the scene you created after Stake For My Valentine's gig last Friday...

They must think I've really gone off the rails - I've gotta prove them wrong right now...

You look over your shoulder at your bandmates, who are still sunken into the couch watching your every move, before motioning with your hand for them to join you by the door leading into the bar area. "Let's knock 'em dead," you state, referring to your chant with a forced smile, after picking up your guitar and swinging the strap over your shoulder until your Pink Special hits your lower stomach.

Elektra and Cherie walk together with their instruments in one hand and reaching for each other's spare hands, squeezing tightly while they walk and nod your way. They give each other a kiss before running up the three steps onto the platform side by side, being careful not to hit their instruments against the wall because the steps are pretty narrow for two people to be on them at the same time.

Alyssa walks your way alone, wielding her drum sticks tightly in her left hand, but before she passes you at the door she stops walking and leans her mouth close to your ear, "It's for Eddie, isn't it? Not Rodrick," she whispers before pulling away and searching your eyes for the truth.

Your eyes flicker between hers before your guard breaks at the mention of the 'new material' you'd practiced all day long, a song of the lyrics you hadn't stopped writing since the early hours of Sunday morning, "It's for Eddie," you admit under your breath, but loud enough for Alyssa to hear, with a hasty nod.

Alyssa nods with you before giving you a satisfied, closed mouthed smile, “Knew it.” She brings her right hand up to squeeze your shoulder and tips her cowboy hat to you with her left hand while holding the drumsticks, almost dropping them while doing so, making the two of you giggle together.

"Let's - knock 'em - dead," Alyssa repeats your words from before with an amused grin on her face and small giggles in between them. She then grabs your left hand with her right one, pulling you towards the stage and up the small staircase.

You grasp onto your Pink Special with your right hand, clutching the back of it's body to your hip tightly as you run up the stairs with Alyssa. You can hear claps, cheers, but they're not as loud as they had been before the battle of the bands competition had been thought up by Rodrick.

You're facing your band as you take your pink guitar pick from behind your ear and hold it between your teeth, watching your bandmates as they adjust themselves - you wait for their approval to start the first song.

You bounce on your feet, psyching yourself up physically and mentally for the next hour and fifteen minutes because you know that to gain your great, hard-working, dedicated lead singer and guitarist reputation back… I need to put everything into this.

When all three of your bandmates nod you drop your pick from your teeth and let it land in your hand before spinning on your heel to face the crowd... and it's way bigger than you thought it would be - you've got a crowd bigger than when Stake For My Valentine were the only band playing at the Hideout... granted, it is about ten more people than usual, but that makes ten more than the familiar fifteen faces that you usually see towards the front.

A dreamy smile spreads across your mouth when you strum the first chord of Light Me Up, one of the first songs that you wrote when you were a junior at Hawkins High, before you'd even met your bandmates in Stake For My Valentine... it's a fan favorite that you typically play at the end of your gig, but earlier the four of you, with some convincing on your part, decided to move to the very beginning of the setlist.

So when the fifteen familiar faces hear the A chord that sets a moody, but lively atmosphere which sends everybody into a wild frenzy, you notice them all reliving every moment that they jumped and danced to this very song with you for the last two years.

You take a quick step towards the microphone, your lips brush against it, “Hey lovers,” you mumble with a cheeky grin on your face, sending a wink to one of your most loyal fans, Joan, who is now looking at you in awe rather than in shock, “Did ya miss us?”

‘Fuck yeahs’ and ‘we missed yous’ echo throughout the room, causing you to giggle into the mic, but then you hear a ‘did you miss us?’

“Sure I did - you guys are family,” you answer, flashing Lisa, another familiar face, a toothy grin before focusing on your guitar and the instruments being played behind you, signalling you to start singing. “Does what I’m wearing seem to shock you?” You sing into the mic, widening your eyes and looking down at your outfit as if you can’t believe what you’re wearing.

Your eyes scan the crowd towards the back as you sing, but you’re very quickly distracted with the sight of Stake For My Valentine’s booth being occupied by none other than Rodrick, who isn’t alone… you assume that it’s the same girl that he was kissing before, but as you look closer, you can see that it’s not now because she has much longer black hair, while the girl from before had mid-length chestnut brown hair…

so I really was just another name on his list of sex conquests?

That thought alone makes you stutter your lyrics, which diverts Rodrick’s attention from the girl sat opposite him to you. He’s leaning over the table, his face just inches away from her’s, but he continues to stare at you with a devious grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

“I’ve got it on my mind to change my ways,” you sing as your stare on Rodrick hardens. You suck in the anger that you feel, expressing it through your strong voice, “But I don’t think I can be anything other than me - No I don’t think I can be anything other than me.”

Rodrick glares back at you, but is forced to drag his eyes away from you because the girl he’s with grabs his shirt by the neckline and pulls him in for a messy kiss… though his eyes are open and looking at you the entire time his tongue is in her mouth.

“Do you think it’s right - when you knock me to the ground,” your eyelids flutter shut and you turn your face away from Rodrick, instead, putting all of your focus into the dancing crowd directly in front of you, “Well - light me up when I’m down!”

A bunch of your dedicated fans and your bandmates start to sing the chorus with you, “Light me up when I’m down!” An unconscious grin forms on your lips while you sing the line, you bob your head which makes your hair fly crazily in every direction possible.

You’re having the time of your life with your bandmates and your fans, all dancing wildly together and you feel as though, through your music, you’ve made up with them all… like everything you ever did to let them down had been erased by how metal your performance was. Like you’d promised yourself earlier today, you put every fibre of your being into throwing yourself around the stage, your singing and guitar solos… so by the time you’ve reached the end of the second to last song on your setlist, sweat is dripping from your forehead, all four of your limbs are numb and you’re completely exhausted.

You breathe heavily before laughing breathlessly into the microphone because as you stagger towards it you almost fall, but catch yourself by grabbing onto the microphone stand, “Woah - that was close, huh?”

The small crowd cheers in agreement, laughing with you.

“Okay,” you sigh, taking another few desperate breaths to try and calm your frantic heartbeat, “We’ve got one last song for you tonight!”

Another loud cheer in response to you.

You grin mischievously, wrapping your left hand, which is clammy with sweat, around the neck of your guitar while your right one keeps a grip on the microphone stand to keep you stable, “Do you dare to hear it?”

A few screams can be heard from the front, while everyone else cheers again (apart from Rodrick and his most recent fuck buddy, but you don’t give a shit about either of them).

“Well you better because it’s a new little treat-,” you state in a playfully stern tone, scanning the many faces in the crowd, but your eyes unexpectedly land on Eddie’s starstruck one towards the back of the cluster of people before you, “From me to you,” you maintain eye contact with Eddie, the adrenaline buzzing through your body stopping you from being too nervous to admit it. Your fans express their excitement through more cheers, but Eddie’s jaw drops a little and is frozen, just like you had been when he sang his song for you, “Here goes - you make me wanna die.”

You look over your shoulder at Alyssa and nod your head before she hits her drumsticks together, “three - two - one!”

You and Alyssa begin the song together, she starts with a steady beat on the bass drum that accompanies your guitar, you strum a strong, quick and melodious chord pattern that you repeat twice, all while banging your head and stomping your boots down onto the platform in time with Alyssa’s beat, before Elektra and Cherie join you and Alyssa’s playing.

“Take me, I’m alive - never was a girl with a wicked mind - but everything looks better when the sun goes down-,” you continue nodding your head in time to Alyssa’s beat while you sing with your eyes shut, “I had everything - opportunities for eternity - and I could belong to niiiiight!” You end the line with a gradual pitch change in your voice that sounds as smooth as velvet. “Then your eyes, your eyes-,” you sing alone during the bridge of the song, grasping the strings of your Pink Special tightly so they don’t make any sound. Your eyes open and you flutter your eyelashes, swiftly accustoming to the dim spotlight facing the stage, “I can see in your eyes, your eyes,” you find yourself singing softly into the microphone while staring into the pair of brown doe eyes that inspired this song, “everything in your eyes, your eyes-.” Eddie’s lips tug upward now while he looks at you like you’re some kind of angel, it causes a cheeky smile to appear on your lips during the pause between your lines because he was looking at you the same exact way when he first saw you on this stage, “You make me wanna die,” the words come out of you dramatically as you continue to cheekily smile at Eddie, who looks completely gobsmacked now.

Now he knows how I felt when he sang about how much he fuckin’ hated me… and called me a bitch.

“I’ll never be good enough - you make me wanna die - and everything you love will burn up in the light - and every time I look inside your eyes-,” you sing as you throw yourself around with your guitar, swinging your head uncontrollably before freezing in front of the microphone with your hair all over your face and noticing Eddie and Gareth jumping wildly and bobbing their heads to your music, “you make me wanna die!”

You go back to stomping your feet, strumming quick chords on your Pink Special while Alyssa goes back to just using the bass drum to create the same steady beat and melody you played for the intro.

You stare intensely at Eddie which immediately grabs his attention as if you’ve put him in a trance-like state, he stops dancing with Gareth and turns his entire body to face you again, “Taste me, drink my soul-,” Eddie’s mouth parts at your words, making you giggle a little while you sing them, “Show me all the things that I shouldn’t know - when there’s a blue moon on the riiiiise!”

You spin yourself around with your guitar in hand before repeating the bridge of your new song and going into the chorus again, just focusing on the singing and screaming coming from in front of you… you’re sure that no other song of yours has gotten this much of a reaction from the crowd - it almost feels like your second big break, the first being getting your first gig at the Hideout.

After that it’s time for your final guitar solo tonight, which you completely make up as you go along by just closing your eyes, feeling the heat of the room and the vibrations of all the instruments playing behind you… the pitched blackness of closing your eyes allows you to completely concentrate on the music, it’s almost as if it’s only you and your Pink Special in the room. Your nimble fingers slide up and down the neck of your guitar with ease and without you having to even peek an eye open at what you’re doing before ending the solo by shrieking out a high note and using the whammy bar to bend the sound, letting it fade with a light vibration that tingles up your hands and arms.

You can’t feel a thing in your body apart from the tingling sensation from your guitar after that… maybe it’s the weed, the beer, or the metal solo that just flew out of me… your hair is wet and sticking to your forehead and you start to feel dizzy from the fire that is burning your insides. You lazily try to shake your head out of this sudden wooziness, which is spreading to each of your limbs, making your sweat fly off of you…

I’ve gotta get through this - just nine more lines - I can do it!

“I - would die for you, my love - my love,” you sing in a slurred way because even your mouth is exhausted. Your voice that is usually strong, but angelic and smooth, is now weak, “I would - lie for you, my love - my - my-,” you blink profusely, suddenly unable to get your words out that you so desperately wanted to say because your heart is pounding and your brain is fuzzy.

All you can remember in that moment is your song coming to a messy stop.

Alyssa, Cherie and Elektra stop playing their instruments and all that can be heard are gasps and static coming from the amps at the back of the stage.

Then Rodrick, he’s suddenly at the side of the stage pulling out each of your bandmate’s instrument cables from their amps… then lastly he pulls your Pink Special’s cable out of your amp while shouting out for everyone to hear, “Stake For My Valentine are disqualified!”

Your face turns from shock, to horror, then to fury at Rodrick, “I’m - gonna fuck-ing get you - asshole!” You stammer weakly before using the last of your energy to stride towards him, ready to punch his lights out, but on your way you trip over the loose cable that’s still connected to your guitar. It all happens so quickly and you’re completely blind with rage that you don’t notice the dark wire as your right foot catches it, making you stumble forward and hit your knee against the corner of one of the amps by the stairs.

Rodrick, whose eyes are wide from the sight before him, still has that evil glint in them that makes you want to hit him even more.

Though your knee is starting to bleed, the pain hasn’t quite made itself known yet… you’re so numb and tired in your body that you can’t even feel it. However, you can feel yourself falling towards Rodrick after ricocheting off of the amps, and your first thought is of your guitar, so you grasp onto it as tightly as you can, hoping that Rodrick would save you, or at least cushion the fall… but he doesn’t, he moves out of the way.

You fall on your own, determined to keep a tight grasp on your beloved Pink Special while you dart past the steps and collide with the wooden floor below. You can hear muffled calls of your name, footsteps running around you. You can’t bring yourself to move from being so tired and every bone in your body is aching from being so active on stage.

“Vamp?!” You hear Eddie’s voice, which sounds like a plea as he kneels beside you and grasps onto your shoulders, he shakes them frantically but very quickly realises that it’s not helping you in the slightest.

He leans further down, placing the side of his face against the floor so that he’s face to face with you. Your eyelids are fluttering and you can just about see him, but even your vision is blurred and your eyes are fatigued so he looks like a wobbly blob with curly brown hair at the moment.

You feel Eddie’s rough fingertips touch your cheekbone and temple, soothingly rubbing your skin, but he pauses his movements when Rodrick speaks, “She’s cool, man - just give her a minute.”

You hear Eddie mumble angrily under his breath before he straightens his back and turns his upper half in the direction of Rodrick, “Does she look like she’s cool to you?!” He shrieks sarcastically.

Rodrick shrugs, awkwardly scratching the top of his head, “I dunno - but I’m not havin’ her in my bed, it’s reserved for - Maisy here,” he admits while gesturing towards his fuck-buddy for the night.

“It’s Daisy!” The girl sassily corrects him, crossing her arms before muttering ‘fuck this’ under her breath and leaving the circle of your friends, fans and Rodrick around you.

“Looks like she just cancelled her reservation for tonight,” Elektra jokingly states, though there is an undertone of hate in her voice.

“Stillllll, it’s a no,” Rodrick responds with a pop of his lips.

“Well she can’t just stay here on the floor all night, Rodrick!” Cherie, who is sat on the floor behind you, shouts worriedly up at Rodrick.

Rodrick shrugs, “I don’t have the time for this, my dad is back in the mornin’ for the gig tomorrow and everything has gotta be in order so I’ve gotta tidy shit up… just - get ‘er outta here,” he speaks like you laying on the floor after everything he’d done to you is not his problem, before turning away from you and proceeding to casually clear some glasses that had been left on the bar.

Despite how exhausted you are, you can just about see all the glares that Rodrick is being given by everyone around you… it is silent, nobody knows how to respond to his cruelty and lack of care towards you.

Eddie’s fingertips feel even hotter against your face from the anger and frustration that is radiating off of him. Your eyes flicker up at his larger frame that’s towering over you comfortingly, but no matter how comforted you are by his touch, or how tired you are, a tear falls from your eye and touches Eddie’s thumb on your cheekbone, which he immediately notices and unclenches his other hand that is balled into a fist and ready to punch Rodrick in the face. His facial features go from being hard with anger at the way that Rodrick had just spoken about you, to going soft at the sight of you so exhausted and hurt below him.

“E-ddie - I - I wanna go - home - please,” you manage to mumble before your glossy eyes slowly close and everything goes quiet, sending you into a deep sleep while you’re in the exact same position that you fell, on top of your Pink Special in the middle of the Hideout.

“As you wish, sweetheart.”

⎈ 🎸 ⎈

The sound of an engine soothes you in your sleep, along with the small bumps that are being driven over that rock you gently… that is until there’s a sudden bump that causes your upper half jolt forward slightly before falling back against the car seat.

“Shit,” you hear Eddie mumble under his breath.

You start to stir in your sleep and your eyelids slowly flutter open.

Your head is bowed down to your left, facing the driver’s seat, where Eddie is sat. He looks extremely concentrated, like he is trying desperately not to wake you by doing something stupid like driving too recklessly… which is entirely not in his nature because it is famously known around the town that he is a dangerous driver and has been issued with many warnings by Hawkins Police since he first got his licence.

The windows had been rolled open to let as much air in as possible, which has calmed your temperature down by a lot and is blowing your now dry hair away from your face. You slowly bring your hand up to your forehead, rubbing it while you watch Eddie drive.

He notices your movement and looks away from a familiar dark lane he’s driving down to get a small glimpse of you, “You had me - us worried y’know?”

You blink your eyes open wider, though they’re still half-closed, “Where - are we going?” You ask in a strained voice, furrowing your brows.

“‘M taking you home,” he answers, looking back at the road, “You fell off the stage, y’remember that right?”

Realisation spreads across your features as you recall your gig, playing your song for Eddie, Rodrick disqualifying Stake For My Valentine, falling off of the stage and asking Eddie to take you home. “Yeah - yeah, I remember,” you sigh, looking directly ahead of you at the road, recognising shops like Family Video and the community pool that you live nearby. He turns his van to the left into the block that you live in, which causes you to look at him quizzically.

Eddie chuckles, knowing exactly what you’re thinking, “Alyssa told me where you live - don’t worry, I’ve not been stalking you or anything.”

You hum in response… that makes sense.

While Eddie drives somewhat carefully, you take the time to look at your surroundings. You notice empty bags pretzels on the floor, tapes scattered everywhere around the van and a picture stuck to the rear view mirror of a pretty woman with dark curly hair just like Eddie’s, she’s holding a little boy in her arms on her lap… it must be an old photo of him and his mom - cute.

Eddie hits another bump accidentally which makes your knee that hit the amp move slightly, nudging it against the van door and making you wince quietly… now I can feel it - the pain.

“Shit shit shit,” Eddie curses at himself, hitting the steering wheel before glancing at your fishnets which are now ripped at your knee, “Sorry about that.”

You let out a strained huffing noise before examining your knee and the dried blood surrounding the wound right in the middle of your kneecap. You lazily slide your hand down your thigh, unknowing of Eddie’s eyes following it’s every move, to the open gash you’d gained from your fall.

“Don’t touch it!” Eddie squawks suddenly, taking a hand off of the steering wheel and swatting your hand away.

“Jeez,” you giggle uneasily before leaning back into your seat and focusing on Eddie driving again, “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you cared about me or somethin’,” you mumble softly, referring to his words from the other night with a small smug smile.

He looks at you knowingly as he brings his hand back to the steering wheel before shaking his head, exhaling and looking ahead of him, “I do actually - ‘s kinda annoying how much,” he mumbles under his breath.

“What did you say?” You ask, dumbfounded, because you were still slow and tired from the eventful night you’d had.

“Oh - nothin’,” he answers quickly, he takes another glance at your knee and gestures with his thumb over his seat to the back of his van, “I’ve got a first aid kit handy at the back we can use to clear your knee up when we get to your place so - just leave it alone for now, m’kay?”

You nod a little, “Okay,” you answer softly.

Watching Eddie drive, to your surprise, is so calming. You admire the way that his tongue is peeking past his lips in concentration, the way his hair blows in the wind and how he grips onto the steering wheel, his fingers overlapping his thumb because his hands are pretty big… they’d also look pretty nice wrapped around my ne- you notice him smiling at you finally answering him without you backchatting or making a sarcastic comment.

He senses your eyes on him, which makes his heart pound, so he takes a deep breath and is in the midst of turning his head to take another glance at the beautiful sight of you in his van again, causing you to quickly look away from him. Your sudden movement scares him and instinctively he looks back at the road, settling to just enjoying the feeling of you being beside him and maybe stealing a couple of glances at you as you continue to look around his van curiously.

He tries not to hyperventilate about the fact that you are beside him… in his van - alone. He’d not stopped thinking about you or your hands touching him since the moment you left him alone outside the Hideout… you’d been the one in his head, in his thoughts, in his dreams whenever he slept, ate, walked, worked - all the damn time. It was worse enough before he’d found out how it felt to kiss you, but now that he knew he was going crazy, so crazy that he found himself wrapping his hand around his cock every night to the thought of you… even thinking about what it would be like if you would just let him love you.

His thoughts are interrupted when he notices you turning your upper half to take a peek at the back of his van, which causes his eyes to widen, “Wait - wait, Vamp - I wouldn’t look back there if I were you-.”

You furrow your brows at him, looking at him being so incredibly suspicious right now, sweat is practically forming under his eyebrows, “Why not? You got a secret porn stash back there or somethin’?”

“No - j-just - don’t move your head too much, you’ll hurt it,” he stutters nervously.

“My head is already hurt,” you remind him with a hint of sass in your voice.

“Right,” Eddie sighs at himself before looking around the front of his van for anything to distract you with, “Oh - hey, I’ve got these cool stickers over here,” he points at his dashboard, where he’s messily stuck them by his radio, “The bat sticker is lucky,” he emphasises excitedly before his face falls when he notices you giving him a deadpan look. “Totally not interesting - uh - oh - what about some radio?”

“I’m looking, Eddie,” you state with a determined expression on your face.

Eddie’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down, coming to the realisation that you are not going to be distracted, “Okay, okay - just - don’t freak out.”

You smile at him, amused, as he focuses back on the road, staying awfully silent and keeping his mouth tightly shut… surely it can’t be that bad- you think as you turn your head, ignoring the pain that it causes you. Your eyes widen as you see it as clear as day, suddenly your knee and head is no longer the source of your hurt… it’s your Pink Special, placed gently on the navy backseat of Eddie’s van. It’s neck has been snapped away from it’s body and two of the strings are curled, no longer attached to their tuning pegs… your jaw falls open at the murder scene before you, “She’s- she’s-.”

“She’ll be fine,” Eddie interrupts you reassuringly, concern clear in his eyes - it’s such a genuine reaction that you believe that he understands your heartbreak for your guitar.

“Fine?” You retort, sarcasm oozing from your voice, “She’s been snapped in half!”

Eddie keeps his eyes on the road, turning right onto the road you live on which is just opposite of Lover’s Lake. “Yeah, you kinda - fell on her,” he informs you.

Your heart sinks, thinking about how you’d tried so hard to save her from the fall which makes tears start to well up in your eyes again, “Y-you mean - I - killed - her?” You tear your glassy eyes away from your guitar to look at Eddie…

How the hell is she gonna be fixed?

How the hell am I gonna play without her?

What the hell am I gonna do without her?

I can’t be a lead guitarist without a guitar.

Eddie gives you a reassuring smile, “Your Pink Special is gonna be rockin’ out with you again soon - trust me,” he tells you confidently, giving you eye contact that makes you want to take him for his word instantly.

You blink at him, your face blank with tears running down it and dropping onto your oversized t-shirt that’s now stained with your makeup mixed with your tear drops.

“You do trust me, right?” He asks, curiosity laced within his words.

You continue to blink at him as he drives around to your side of Lover’s Lake, near the woods. He doesn’t look at you so that he can concentrate on finding your home, and so that he can hide the disappointment in his face if you say no, “Yes - I think I do.”

After the shock of initially getting over the fact that you admitted that you do in fact trust him, a chuckle leaves his lips and he grins smugly at the road, “So close your eyes and trust me to get you home safe. Does that sounds good?”

Sounds perfect.

Without saying a word, you answer his question by shutting your eyes and relaxing into your seat by pressing your back right against it and nuzzling the side of your face against the fabric of the top of it.

After a few minutes pass, Eddie takes a sneaky glimpse of you, so relaxed that you’ve almost melted into the seat, a little smile spreads across his features, but he finds himself shaking his head, trying not to think about other circumstances where you could be sat beside him like this right now… like driving you home after a romantic diner and cinema date which would be topped off with a quickie at the back of his van… or taking you on a permanent roadtrip outta Hawkins and never looking back… just you, him and your guitars.

He takes a deep, sharp breath while forcing himself to drag his eyes away from you, which you can hear clearly - you steal a glimpse of him too with a timid smile on your lips before scrunching your eyes shut again.

“Home sweet home, sweetheart.”

That’s the second time he’s called me sweetheart… and I’ve not stopped him.

⇝ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐱

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆!!!!! 𝐈𝐭'𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 <𝟑

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 '𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒' 𝐨𝐫 '𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧' 𝐭𝐚𝐠-𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰!

𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 👌👌

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒 ↯

𝑩𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑺

@big-ope-vibes @majesticjellyfishzombie @b-ritney @joyfulcandyrunaway @sidthedollface2 @sillypurplemurple @aysheashea @spookycreepycookie @bookobsessedfreak @lefdepard @rottinglexi @aol19 @loki-loves-cats @eddieslooneymoonie @hllfrclb @weirdkidfromtheupsidedown @bonehead-playz @euphoric-rush

𝑬𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

@introvertedmouse @munsonology @fastnights @kathieycarrerarosshley @marjoriea13 @goldengunspinkrosses-blog @lolalanaie @neteyamsluvts @sadbitchfangirl @emma77645 @seatbacksandtraytables

🜸

95 notes · View notes

stranger-nightmare · 2 years

Text

𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐔𝐩 𝐓𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Part Two

Pairing: Eddie Munson x (female) Reader

Summary: Eddie’s been self conscious about his body ever since the bat incident in the upside down, so you take it upon yourself to show him just how beautiful he is

Warnings: spoilers for vol.2, fluff, angst, smut, mention of scars, praise kink, body worship, insecure Eddie, bit of sub! Eddie, oral (m receiving), penetrative sex (m+f), minors DNI

A/N: this follows straight on from part one so I’d definitely recommend reading that first, the link is just below! I hope you guys like this <33

Read Part One

This is for people 18+ only. Minors do not read on. By clicking ‘keep reading’ you are hereby agreeing that you are 18 or older.

“Eddie, please...” you plead with him sadly. “It’s okay” you try to reassure him gently. “Just let me in. Let me see” you whisper.

“I can’t,” he breathes shakily, “I just can’t.”

You can feel the tremble in his fingers as they squeeze yours tightly, keeping your hands firmly in place.

“Okay, okay,” you whisper gently, defeat etched on your face.

You untwist your fingers from his shirt, signalling to him you were gonna let go. He swallows a shaky breath, his jaw visibly tensing before he gives you a quick nod and lets go of your hands. You sit back on your heels, your hands folding in your lap. Eddie sighs deeply before pulling himself upright, moving to sit against the headboard. You shuffle forwards, moving between his legs. You see a twinge of fear gloss over his eyes as you move to basically straddle him again.

“Shh, it’s okay” you tell him softy, holding up your hands. “I’m not gonna touch you, I just want to be near you. Is that okay?” You ask gently.

Eddie simply nods but you can see his shoulders relax slightly. You nod back at him and you let your hands fall into your shared lap where his own hands were anxiously playing with one another. You place your hands in his, letting him absent-mindedly play with your fingers instead. You give him a moment before you speak up again.

“Eddie...” you start and you can immediately see the tension settle in his shoulders again.

“Baby, we need to talk about this” you tell him gently, his eyes still refusing to meet yours. “You need to let me in. You need to let me see.”

“See what?” He bluffs weakly.

You let out a small sigh of frustration.

“You know what, Eddie. You’re hiding yourself from me. And I don’t just mean emotionally speaking. You practically run away anytime you need to take your shirt off to change or whatever. You freeze anytime my hands go anywhere your stomach. Jesus, Eddie, you won't even let me just hug you” you croak through the tears that were threatening to spill again.

He just sits there silently, his eyes still firmly trained on where his hands played with yours in his lap.

“Do you think I’m gonna judge you or something?” You ask, hurt twinging your voice.

“No,” he stammers quickly. “No, not intentionally.”

He swallows before he continues, his chest rising and falling with another shaky breath.

"But you won't be able to help it, whether you mean to or not. These... scars...” he was hesitant to even say the word, “they’re hideous, y/n. No matter how much you love me; they’re horrible to look at and I just- I don’t know. I don’t want you to see me any differently because of them.”

“Of course I’m going to see you differently because of them,” you tell him, moving your hands to cup his face. “Those scars mark you as a fucking hero, Eddie Munson. A survivor. A fully certified badass. I mean, I knew those things about you anyway, now we just have proof. Certified proof of how fucking incredible you are,” you stroke his cheeks lightly as you smile softly at him.

You see Eddie swallow hard as a tear leaks down his cheek, which you quickly wipe away with your thumb.

“Eddie, I will never see you as anything other than beautiful,” you tell him earnestly. “Not just because of your pretty looks, which do help,” you laugh softly, eliciting a small smile from Eddie, “but because of who you are. You got that?”

Eddie gives a small nod as he sniffs lightly.

“Good” you whisper, giving him a soft kiss on the nose.

You lean your forehead against his, just holding his face and stroking his cheeks, just letting him take his time. His thumbs start to slowly stroke your hips where he held you. His grip starts loosen as he relaxes a bit, the tension melting from his body slowly.

“Please. Just let me see” you implore him after a few moments, releasing his face and sitting back on your heels again.

Eddie clears his throat and quickly wipes away another tear that had escaped his eye. After a moment’s contemplation he gives you a small nod. You return his nod before gently reaching out to grab the hem of his shirt. You keep your eyes on his, keeping your movements slow and gentle, waiting for any signal in case he changed his mind. You slowly lift up his shirt as he raises his arms to let you pull it over your head. Once it’s off you toss it to the side. But Eddie immediately locks his arms around his body, trying to hide as much of himself as he could.

You have to choke back the sob that threatens to rack through you. Not only at the sight of this beautiful boy so self conscious, but from the small peaks of scars that you could see through the gaps in his arms. You take a deep, steadying breath before you tentatively reach out to touch his arms. You can see his body shake as he takes a deep, trembling breath before he lets you slowly unfold his arms.

His eyes look anywhere but at you as yours rake over his body. Tears well in your eyes as you take in the angry red gashes that tainted his sides. The scars were mostly healed now but you could tell they were deep and permanent. They looked terrifying only in the sense that they evoked the memory of when you’d almost lost him. But there was also an odd comfort in them, a reminder that despite this, despite these scars, he had pulled through. You go to reach out a hand before you stop yourself quickly.

“Is it okay if I...” you trial off, reaching your arm forwards but not touching him yet.

He takes another shaky breath before he nods again, his eyes still not meeting yours. You tentatively reach out your hand, letting your fingers lightly brush one of the scars, your touch feather light. You see as well as feel Eddie tense as your fingers slowly but surely explore the contours of the raised skin.

“Do they still hurt?” You whisper.

“Not really. Not anymore” he shrugs sadly, sniffing as he tries to keep his own tears contained.

Your hands slowly but surely start to roam all over his torso, his sides, his stomach, tracing over the lines and swirls of each scar. You then let your hands slowly travel up his body, across his chest and up further until you were cupping the back of his head, your fingers curling into the hair at the nape of his neck. You gently pull until he turns his face to look at you at last, his sad glossy eyes finally meeting yours.

“Eddie” you whisper sadly, your voice threatening to break with tears. “You’re so beautiful” you tell him earnestly.

His eyes look at you quizzically, his mouth opening as he fumbles to find a response. But you don’t give him the time to.

“You’re so fucking beautiful” you say in a firmer tone.

You start peppering his face with kisses, murmuring soft praises as your lips blaze across his skin, going from his cheeks, to his jaw, to his neck, his throat, collarbones, anywhere you could reach. He lets out the quietest of groans as you kiss him all over.

“But these scars...” he trials off and you can hear the insecurity in his voice. “The scars... they’re...”

“They’re a reminder that you survived, Eddie” you sit back up to look at him. “They’re a reminder that you made it, that you came back to me. That you fought a bunch of fucking supernatural bats and lived to tell the tale. They’re fucking metal, babe,” you laugh softly through your tears.

Eddie returns your chuckle with a small, shy smile; “you think so?”

“Oh yeah, super metal” you nod your head. “Totally rad” you joke with him softly.

The two of you both chuckle lightly and you can feel him slowly start to relax again. When your giggles die down you look at him earnestly again.

“Seriously Eddie, you’re beautiful. And these scars are beautiful simply because they’re a part of you” you tell him as you give the back of his head light scratches with your nails.

You lean forward to press your lips against his. You kiss him softly, letting him warm up to your touch again. Slowly but surely he starts to lean more into the kiss, his lips moving with more enthusiasm against your own. You sigh contently as he kisses you back more fervently, gently pushing his tongue into your mouth. His hands seek out your hips and he pulls you into his lap.

When your bare pussy meets the crotch of his jeans you can feel he’s started to grow hard again. You whine into the kiss as you start to grind down on him, encouraging him to grow even harder. He groans softly into your mouth as his hands move with your hips, helping with your bucking motion.

You kiss him hard for another second before you take your mouth off of his and begin your trial of kisses down his face and neck again. Eddie leans his head back against the headboard, letting you access his neck better. You gently bite, kiss, and suck at his skin, leaving your own marks across his flesh. You listen to the soft and gentle sounds of his whimpers and groans as you mark up his skin, slowly making your way further down his body.

You shift your hips back, arching your body as you kiss further down his chest. As you approach his stomach he starts to tense again, his fingers digging into your waist.

“Wh- what are you doing?” He stammers.

“Shh, it’s okay,” you whisper against his skin, continuing to kiss him. “It’s okay baby. I’ve got you. You’re okay. You’re safe with me,” you murmur gently. “And... you’re... so.... fucking... pretty,” you place a kiss between each word.

When you reach the top of his stomach, just above where the scarring starts, you stop and lift your eyes to meet his again.

“If you want me to stop, just tell me okay?”

He looks at you nervously but nods, letting you continue your movements. You shift on the bed, moving yourself back a bit so you could better reach his stomach. You duck your head again and resume your kisses along his chest. At the same time you let a hand slide up his thigh until you find your mark at his crotch. You palm him gently as you slowly move your lips lower down.

Eddie flinches when your lips first make contact with one of the scars. He tenses briefly but he doesn’t stop you. You can feel and hear his shaky breathes as you gently trace your lips further over his scars, placing the softest of kisses to his skin, your mouth brushing featherlight across his body. You hum gently against his skin, moving your way across his stomach to his other side where more scars adorned his skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” you repeat, murmuring against his body. “Such a pretty, pretty boy.”

He groans softly at your words, his hips starting to buck up into your hand where you were still palming his crotch, feeling him steadily grow fully hard beneath your touch. He lets out a breathy “fuck” as you kiss lower down his stomach, making your way down to his belly button. You kiss across his hip bones, the fabric of his boxers skimming your bottom lip. You raise your eyes to meet his, again just checking in with him. He looks down at you, his bottom lip between his teeth, and nods lightly. You smile and give his lower belly another a quick kiss before you go to undo his jeans.

You unzip his jeans, pulling them off him as he shifts in the bed. You kiss your way up his thighs, enjoying the way he was now squirming under your touch. This boy was just as aching and desperate for touch as you had been. You kiss up his inner thighs until you reach the shorts of his boxers. He’s fully hard now, his dick straining in the confinement of his underwear. You smirk lightly at the wet spot where his pre-cum had leaked. You place a kiss to clothed cock, revelling in the groan that sounded from Eddie. He bucks his hips up again, desperately seeking your mouth, seeking to be free from all this pent up tension.

You sit up lightly as you finally slowly drag his boxers down his legs, shucking them off and tossing them aside. His aching cock springs free, slapping against his stomach. His tip was red and swollen, wet with his pre-cum. Eddie’s hands ball into the sheets at his sides when you lean down and lick a gentle stripe on the underside of his cock, right from the base to his tip.

“Oh fuck,” he whimpers so quietly you almost don’t hear it. “Please, please,” he pants inaudibly.

“Shh baby, it’s okay,” you hum, placing a kiss to his swollen head. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” you whisper gently before you take his head into your mouth.

He gasps and shudders at even the smallest sensation of having your mouth on him. You swirl your tongue around his tip, letting it dart into his slit, tasting his pre-cum. Eddie tosses his head back, pushing back against the headboard as he squeezes his eyes shut in pleasure.

You slowly sink your mouth down his length, taking your time to ease him into your mouth. It was more for his sake than yours, you didn’t want to overwhelm him too quickly. You set a slow pace as you bob your head up and down on his dick, letting your tongue flatten against his base as you suck softly. You look up to see Eddie a mess above you; he’s panting, red in the face, his stomach raising and falling rapidly with his heavy breathing, fists balled into the sheets desperately. Fuck, you’d missed seeing him like this.

“Fuck,” he whimpers, running a hand through his hair. “Oh shit, shit your mouth feels so fucking good,” he groans as you steadily increase your speed.

His body coils and tenses as the sensations take over his body. You knew he probably wasn’t going to last long himself, seeing as he was just as touch starved as you had been.

“Wait wait. Stop, please,” he suddenly pants, his hand coming to cup your jaw and gently pull your mouth off him.

You look at him with a silent question in your eyes, worried that this had become too much for him now, that maybe he needed to stop.

“I- I just- I want- want to finish inside you” he whispers breathlessly, his thumb stroking your cheek.

He moves his hand from your cheek to gently cup the back of your neck, pulling you back up towards his face. You smile up at him as you crawl over his body until your lips crash against his again. You both moan into the kiss as his tongue invades your mouth again. He kisses you fervently, breathlessly, his hands flat against your back, pushing you tight against him.

You grind your hips down and feel the tip of his head brushing against your folds. Eddie moves one hand off your body to grab his dick and line it up with your entrance. When you feel his tip push just inside your entrance you sink down onto him, sitting down until he filled you to the brim. Both of you moan sinfully load at the feeling.

“Oh fuck,” Eddie exclaims at the feeling of finally being inside you. “Fuck, you feel so fucking good. Can’t believe I almost forgot how good you feel. So warm and so tight for me” he rambles incoherently, his fingers squeezing your hips roughly.

You moan at his words, your own mind foggy at feeling so full again. So full of him. Eddie throws his head back again, his eyes screwing shut, his mouth twisting. It was as if it was taking every ounce of his self restraint to not blow his load immediately just at the feeling of your warm cunt wrapped around him. You give him a second to compose himself, busying yourself with kissing all over his face and neck, your hands tangling into his hair as you cup the back of his head.

After a moment Eddie’s hands land on your waist, slowly starting to guide you as you rock back and forth on his cock. A string of soft moans and sighs leave the both of you as you gently start to to ride him. He grunts with the effort of restraining himself, trying his best to work you towards another climax before he let himself finish. His eyes bore into yours, watching you intently as you grind onto his cock.

Your eyes search his in return as you slowly bring a hand down his chest. You see his breath hitch and feel him tense again. But he doesn’t stop you; he lets you trail your hand down his chest until you reach his torso, your eyes following the movement of your hand. His hand comes to grab yours suddenly, stopping your movement. You look at him briefly again and see the panic in his eyes, his breathing getting heavier from more than just the effort of fucking up into you.

You look at him gently, trying to convey all your thoughts and emotions through your gaze. I love you. You’re beautiful. You’re safe. We’re okay. You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful. You’re so fucking beautiful.

After a moment he gives you a tiny nod, releasing your hand. You place a quick kiss to his lips before you carry on with your movements. You gently skip your fingers over his stomach, over his sides, feeling the rough bumps of the scars there. You watch the way the skin flexes, rising and falling with his heavy breaths.

You bring your other hand down and gently hold onto his sides, using it to help gain momentum as you pick up your speed. Your fingers skim over the raised skin and you’re careful to keep your grip gentle, not wanting to hurt him or push him too far. Eddie stays tensed for a moment but is quickly lost again in the feeling of you riding him, of being so deep inside you after not having felt your perfect pretty cunt around him for so long.

He tilts his head up to look at you, his nose brushing yours again as your breathes mix.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for everything” he whimpers in a ramble.

You shake your head at him; “no, it’s okay baby. It’s okay” you whisper back, your hands stroking the back of his neck again.

“I love you, I love you so fucking much” he whines as he tips his head forwards to rest his forehead on yours.

“I know, I love you too Eddie” you smile gently, kissing the tip of his nose.

Eddie’s pace then starts to quicken, his thrusts getting sloppy and desperate. His one hand finds it’s way between your bodies, his fingers feverishly landing on your clit as he starts to rub circles around it. His grunts were getting louder and more frequent, his telltale sign that he was getting close. He was desperately trying to get you closer to your own climax so that you could cum together.

“Please,” he pants incoherently again. “I need to cum... I need you to cum with me... please baby, cum with me... cum with me,” he rambles as he rubs your clit even faster.

Hearing him begging for release sent a fresh surge of arousal through you, your pussy clenching around him.

“Oh fuck,” he cries as you feel him twitch inside you. “Fuck, fuck, holy shit,” he whimpers as he fucks up into you a final few times before you feel his warmth flood your insides.

His trembling fingers keep rubbing your clit fervently, which paired with the sight of him coming undone beneath you, finally tips you over the edge yourself.

“Shit, Eddie,” you squeak as your third orgasm of the night rocks through you.

You and Eddie both shake lightly as he slowly fucks you through your highs. A months worth of pent up anger, stress, sadness, it all washes away as pleasure courses through both your bodies. As you. both slowly start to come down you brush some of the hair out of his face and look down at him softly. His big dark eyes stare back into yours. His eyes are alive, looking at you with awe and adoration, the way he used to look at you.

There, you think to yourself. There you are, there’s the boy I know and love.

You heart swells and you lean forward to give him a gentle and tender kiss, his lips reciprocating your action, moving with a soft fervour against your own. He kisses you for while as the two of you catch your breath, coming down from your climaxes. Eventually he bumps your nose with his, his go to signal that he was gonna move to get the two of you cleaned up. He helps lift you off him and gently places you back onto the bed beside you. He flashes a soft smile before he gets up and heads to the bathroom, grabbing a fresh pair of boxers on his way.

You hear water run as he gives himself a quick rinse down before he comes back to the bedroom, boxers back on and a wet towel in hand. As he makes his way back over to you he scoops up the shirt he’d been wearing and a small flare of fear shoots through you. No, he’s going to hide from me again, cover himself up.

But instead Eddie sits next to you on the bed, guiding you to lift up your arms so that he could drape the shirt over your body. He pulls the shirt down your torso and gives you a quick boop on the nose. You feels tears spring in your eyes again, but this time, they were tears of joy. He wasn’t hiding from you anymore.

Eddie quickly but thoroughly wipes you down, cleaning your skin from where both yours and his cum had stained it. He strokes your skin softly with his other hand, following the trail of where he cleaned you with the towel. This, this was the Eddie you knew. The soft and tender boy who was always so lovingly gentle and considerate, so heartbreakingly intimate regardless of how hard he’d fucked you in the past. Once he’s finished cleaning you up he strokes down your nose with his little finger, another signature Eddie move, before he gets up to toss the towel into the laundry basket.

He comes back to the bed again, this time grabbing you a fresh pair of panties from the drawer for you to sleep in. He slips them on you, guiding them up your legs and over your hips. He kisses each of your hips tenderly before he climbs into the bed next to you and lies down on his back. You lie down next to him gingerly, careful not to touch his torso. You were still cautious of not pushing him past his limit.

But not a second later his arm reaches out for you and pulls you against his body. You smile into his chest as his arm wraps around you, his fingers playing lightly up and down your back. The two of you lie in comfortable silence for a while. His hand stroking your back, your fingers dancing across his chest lightly.

“I didn’t even realise just how much I missed this” Eddie hums quietly after a moment. “You were right here beside me this whole time but I was miles away.”

You don’t answer him save for turning your head to place another kiss to his tummy.

“I’m sorry” he croaks and you can hear that he was close to tears again.

You shake your head as you twist to look up at him.

“I was never looking for an apology Eddie. I just wanted you back.”

He gives a small nod before he leans up to place a quick kiss to your forehead.

“I’m here,” he whispers, “I’m here now.”

You kiss his chest and let your fingers trace over his scars once again, content that he was no longer flinching from the touch, no longer hiding from you.

You give him a small smile; “I know.”

Masterlist

A/N: as if I was originally gonna put both parts into one fic, that shit would’ve been ridiculously long!! anyways I really hope you guys liked this, both parts took me a looong time to write so yeah I really hope you guys enjoyed them <33

Taglist // Join My Nightmare Realm // Ko-fi

#stranger nightmare #eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x female reader smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fix it fic #joseph quinn #stranger things #stranger things smut #stranger things imagine

14K notes · View notes

munsonsduchess · 2 years

Text

Girls Got Rhythm

summary: eddie fucks you in his van after a show w/c: 2206 warnings: 18+ only no minors, praise, swearing, oral (f recieving), unprotected sex (you're smarter than that), slight spoilers for Vol 2 authors note: so how are we feeling Eddie Nation? That season finale was ... something huh? Anyway this is probably going to be the first of quite a few fix it fics from me because like Nick Fury said "I recognise that the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision I've elected to ignore it" Not beta'd all mistakes are my own and add flavour. We die like heroes. Please reblog it really helps me out!!

(moodboard by me)

The atmosphere in the bar was electric, bands had been playing all night and now finally it was Eddie's turn, they were the headline act in the Hideout that night. Long gone were the days of playing to five drunks and a group of hicks that wouldn't know good music if it slapped them in the face.

Turns out being wanted for and then acquitted of murder was actually something of a reputation builder in the metal music community. It gave Eddie a kind of street cred he didn't have before and now people were coming from all over to watch Corroded Coffin play.

Throughout it all though he had you, his number one fan. As you'd tell him again and again. You'd been there through Spring Break 86, through Vecna, him almost being mauled alive by those demobat things. You'd never once left him or dipped out when things got out of control and there you were now standing right in front of the stage in possibly the most sinful outfit you could have conjured. Eddie felt his cock stir in his jeans just looking at you, of course that was a pretty regular occurrence on its own but seeing you standing there with your homemade Corroded Coffin shirt, the shortest mini skirt imaginable not to mention your legs wrapped in fishnets leaving nothing to the imagination and Eddie didn't have to imagine what was waiting for him underneath that skirt.

You smiled up at him as he took his place front and centre on the stage, the spotlight shining on him giving his fuzzy brown curls a halo which was at odds with the devilish smirk on his lips as he began playing. The crowd had been waiting for this all night and they were going wild for Eddie and for the band, this was everything either of you could have wanted. You'd both remember this moment in time for the rest of your lives.

It hadn't been easy getting here, putting in hours in the bar waitressing and behind the bar. It was really the only place that would hire you both since you'd made it abundantly clear that unless both of you were hired then neither of you would work wherever it was and having been rejected by everywhere else you'd applied for, even the video store which Harrington assured you both would be an easy place to get hired, you were more than willing to put in whatever hours the management of the bar needed you to if it meant for one night a month Eddie could stand on that stage like the Rock Star he was always meant to be and play to his devoted fans. Even if most of them only came to see the guy accused of murder in such a small town.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

After the set you knew Eddie would be helping the rest of the band carry the equipment back to his van since as big as they were in Hawkins no one else was going to help them carry their gear. Sure enough you found Eddie stood by the stage door slash delivery entrance. HIs hair was stuck to his forehead and the back of his neck with sweat but the smile on his face told you that he couldn't care less about that,

"Hey, can I get an autograph? I'm your biggest fan" you called to get his attention, "honest I am"

"Baby you can have anything you want" Eddie grinned at you holding his arms open so you could slot yourself against him, "anything at all"

"Anything?"

"Name it"

"Well in that case" you leant up on tiptoe to kiss Eddie softly, the leather in your boots squeaking as you did so, "you looked so good up there baby"

"You look better" Eddie said, snaking an arm around your waist to pull you closer to him, "couldn't keep my eyes off you. I thought I was gonna have to jump off the stage at one point and let everyone know you're mine"

"I think the amount of hickies you leave should tell people that"

"Yeah but then you cover up all my hardwork with these" Eddie laughed, his fingers playing with your necklaces, "I think I'm gonna have to prove it again"

You didn't need to ask what he meant. You could feel how hard he had gotten through his jeans and you'd be lying if you said watching him on the stage hadn't had the arousal dripping down your own thighs. You loved watching him play whenever, wherever and tonight was certainly no different.

"So what are we waiting for?"

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

You had thought that perhaps Eddie would have told the rest of the guys that he'd arrange another way for them to get their stuff out of the bar that he'd take you home to your crappy little one room apartment and the murphy bed that squeaked so much your neighbour thought it was an infestation of some kind.

You should have known better. Why would Eddie bother driving all the way home when his van was right there?

Which is how you found yourself on your back with your skirt pushed up around your hips while Eddie knelt between your legs, eyes dark and hooded as he stared at your exposed pussy,

"Baby? No panties?" he breathed, casting his eyes upwards for a second to catch the way you bit your bottom lip as his fingers slipped through the mesh of your tights and ran through the slick forming between your thighs, "you're already so wet, is this all for me?"

"All for you Eddie, love you"

"I love you too sweetheart, I'm gonna love you so much"

Before you could form a sentence your brain short circuited with the sound of Eddie ripping your tights and giving himself better access to your dripping pussy. You let out a moan when he used two ring clad fingers to swipe through your folds collecting your slick and using it to push a finger into your warm wet entrance.

A few mumbled obscenities fell from Eddie's lips as he watched his finger being sucked back into your waiting cunt again and again. How your hips bucked and searched for more, he never got enough of seeing you like this.

Adding another finger he watched as you writhed beneath him, Eddie used his thumb to swipe against your clit and reveled in the broken moan that bubbled out of your throat. He knew he wasn't going to last long but he wanted to be sure you at least got off once before he did,

"Eddie, wanna feel you" you begged, "please baby, just wanna feel you"

"Ssh it's gonna be ok" Eddie reassured you before readjusting his position so he could lay between your legs and lick a stripe up your weeping cunt. Removing his fingers so both hands could grab at your hips and bring your core closer to him.

Eddie loved to go down on you. Loved the way your hips moved on their own and tried to ride his face. Loved the whimpers and moans and cries of his name you made as he tongue fucked your entrance, his fingers drawing fast circles on your swollen clit.

Your hands found purchase in his curls as Eddie sucked on your clit, his tongue drawing obscure patterns as your hips moved in a rhythm all their own chasing the high you could feel coiling in your gut. That white hot heat spreading through your veins as Eddie curled his fingers inside you hitting that spot that had you seeing stars and clenching around his fingers like a vice ,

"So good for me" Eddie praised, his fingers slowing their movements before pulling out. You held yourself up on your elbows long enough to see Eddie cleaning off his fingers before releasing them with a wet pop, "god you taste fucking amazing"

"Eddie - "

"It's ok love. I just - I need you ok?"

You nodded, this is what you'd wanted too while you watched him on that stage. Your legs squeezed together as you dripped slick onto the floor of the bar, which wouldn't be the worst thing cleaned off that floor tonight all things considered.

You reached out and helped Eddie to undo his belt buckle and the zip on his jeans. He was painfully hard and he needed to be buried inside you. To feel those velvet walls clamp around his cock was the closest feeling to heaven Eddie was sure he would ever experience.

He shimmed out of his jeans enough to push them around his ankle, you noticed he'd also chosen to go commando tonight although that might have more to do with the fact that both of you had been ignoring the every growing pile of dirty laundry in your apartment but you didn't care what his reasoning was. Right now all that mattered was there were less pieces of clothing between the two of you getting what you wanted.

Eddie lined himself up to your entrance and leant down to kiss you as he pushed himself inside. Both of you grabbing at the other, your kisses all tongues and teeth as Eddie bottomed out inside you, he waited for a moment so you could adjust until you rolled your hips to signal him to start moving.

Neither of you was interested in taking this slow it would seem as Eddie set a brutal pace almost right away. Pulling almost all the way out before slamming back in harshly filling you up to the brim each time. His tip kissed your cervix as he searched for that spot inside he'd reached with his fingers earlier. The spot that had you clawing at his back, thanking whatever gods that he'd chosen to play that night in a loose black tank top instead of his usual layers of shirts and jackets.

The sounds of moaning and skin slapping against skin filled the back of the van and you were sure people would have noticed the movement inside from the outside but if anyone did notice what you two were up to they said nothing.

You could feel that coil in your stomach tightening again as Eddie's cock brushed against your sweet spot,

"M'close Eddie" you gasped, "m'so close"

"Cum for me sweetheart" he breathed into your ear as his fingers circled your clit harshly once again drawing your climax. You clenched around him as your back arched and you came with a cry of his name on your lips.

With your sweet walls milking him for all he was worth Eddie's own release wasn't far behind yours as he filled you with his hot spend. Your walls fluttered around him as warmth spread through your limbs, nothing but fog and static in your brain as your orgasm took a hold of your body.

When you came back down you found Eddie knelt between your legs again, polaroid in hand as he snapped a picture of your mixed release dripping out of your puffy pussy, "so fucking beautiful"

When he had taken enough pictures Eddie sat the camera back down before gently using his index and ring fingers to scoop up your mixed fluids and push them back into your swollen cunt,

"Eddie" you whined,

"I know sweetheart I know" he placed a chaste kiss on your cheek before fishing some cigarettes out of the glove box, lighting one and offering it to you which you took gratefully.

Eddie watched as you inhaled the smoke before exhaling it in small clouds. He loved watching you smoke, loved the way you held the cigarette so carefully in poised fingers, the way you'd close your eyes when you drew in and the way you exhaled because you'd seen Frenchie do it in Grease and taught yourself to exhale exactly like she did.

"You're staring Eds" you teased, breaking him out of his revelry, "my tits aren't even out"

"Do I need an excuse to stare at my beautiful girlfriend?" he shot back, his smile lighting up the small space between you, "that's what I thought"

You laughed and Eddie wondered if he could record the sound and just play it forever, like the Mayfield kis and her Kate Bush tape,

"Hey, I was thinking" you said, sitting upright and stretching slightly to alleviate the kink in your back from being railed in the back of the van, "you wanna see that vampire movie tomorrow? Since we're both off"

"Whatever you want Princess" Eddie agreed instantly, he would do anything she asked of him,

"Good cause Steve wanted to double date with this girl he's been seeing - " Eddie cut you off with a loud groan and flopped dramatically onto the floor of the van,

"Why do we have'ta go with Harrginton? Why can't it just be us?"

"Tell you what if you say yes to this I'll say yes to anything you want to do tonight when we get home"

"Anything?"

"Anything"

"Oh you're on princess, you're on" Eddie's eyes sparkled with mischief and you laughed again.

God you loved this over dramatic dork.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x fem reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanftion #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fix it fic #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things smut #stranger things fix it fic #duchess writes #duchess.txt

1K notes · View notes

fxllfaiiry · 2 years

Text

✧ ﹒ ♡ ⁺ ៹ ﹒ ♡ ﹒ ✧ ₊

❥ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐯!𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 -

♡ use your panties to jerk off.

♡ steal one of your stuffies and use it to get himself off.

♡ make you wear no panties in public, for easy access.

♡ take lewd pictures of you and keep them in his wallet.

♡ tease you in front of the entire hellfire club, rubbing your slit up and down until you break.

♡ 100% fuck you in front of steve.

♡ give you a plushie covered in his cum, you don’t know that tho.

♡ record you touching yourself.

♡ leave marks everywhere without regard to who sees them.

♡ tell you to hump his pillow so he can later use your scent to get off.

♡ totally fuck your boobs.

♡ overestimate you by tying you up to the bed and leaving a vibrator running on your pussy.

♡ would also fuck you deep and hard with a dildo.

♡ make steve cum inside of you, then lick it clean.

♡ would try to make you cum only by playing with your tits.

♡ make you ride his chest to get off.

♡ would let you suck on his fingers.

♡ would throat train you...while recording the whole thing.

✧ ﹒ ♡ ⁺ ៹ ﹒ ♡ ﹒ ✧ ₊

944 notes · View notes

1-800-munson · 2 years

Text

The Witch || Eddie Munson

Paring: Eddie Munson X Reader

Request: Eddie x reader, where reader is badass and sarcastic/funny, listens to metal among other stuff, maybe also has powers or is into tarot/magic, college age, super bff with the Hawkins gang (she taught Dustin and Co. some cool D&D strategies), a total hidden nerd but seems more mean or unapproachable. And like one day maybe she goes to the cafeteria because Dustin forgot something and that's how Eddie meets her (he heard a lot about her nevertheless) and she also puts Jason (this f***** idiot) in his place and from then on i guess you can develop, like how they meet again (maybe she watches him when he is on the run and have talks and shit) and he invites her eventually on a date - Anon/ @blue-serendipity

Word Count: 1.8k (I think? all I know I accidentally wrote all of st4)

A/N: Thank you so much @burnthoneydrops, for helping me with the tarot card part!!

Send in requests!!

>━━━━༺❀༻━━━━<

“Dusty! Y/n is here, you’re gonna be late!” Claudia said to Dustin through his closed door, Dustin sighed and told suzie to hurry and try to hack the school site. Once she managed to change his grade in Spanish he quickly ripped his door open and said bye to his mom and grabbed his bag from the couch. You honk your horn again, you sighed and threw your head back onto the headrest, you turned up your car’s stereo and hummed along to metallicas, master of puppets. You perked up when Dustin came running out with a poptart and his school bag in hand.

“About time!” you smiled as he hopped in the car. “Sorry! I was talking to suzie!” he explained as you quickly drove to Hawkins high. “How is she doing?” You were very close to Dustin and the party, you were their original babysitter before Steve had come along. And you had been their very first dungeon master. You considered the kids your own siblings. You had been unsure when Dustin one day showed up with Steve Harrington at his side, you and Steve didn’t expect to get along at first, it all had changed the night of the snowball dance when he had helped Dustin try to get the girl he liked, maybe Steve wasn’t that terrible. Steve had also realized that night you weren’t like him and his old friends had assumed, He was surprised to say the least when one night he had walked into the wheeler’s basement and saw you playing dnd with the kids.

“She’s good!” you both kept talking about her and dustin the whole drive to school. You smiled and turned up the car’s stereo louder as your favorite metallica song came on. “What is this y/n?” Dustin asked you, yelling a bit. “Metallica’s for whom the bell tolls, i love this song!” you tapped your fingers on the steering wheel. “Curb y/n!” he yelled, making you laugh. “I can see it dustin.” you smiled and parked the car.

“Talk to you later y/n! Thanks for the ride!” Dustin quickly collected his things and bolted out your car before you could stop him. You chuckled at him while you slung your bag over your shoulder, before you left your car you grabbed the four brown paper bags from your backseat. “Morning y/n!” You turned your head and saw Steve dropping robin off next to your car. “Morning you two!” You greeted. “Oh Steve, good luck on your date with Heidi.” Steve gave Robin a look that said she remembered and you didn’t!

“Don’t you need to go and open the store?” Steve rolled his eyes and drove off. “Nice band hat!” you laughed and smacked the feathers on robin’s band uniform. “Did you do Mr Miller's homework?” Robin asked you as you walked to your lockers. “Yes, let me guess you forgot?” she nodded at you. “Please let me copy your homework! If you let me, if you ever need a kidney I'll give you mine! Just please let me copy it!” she pleaded as you placed the brown bags into the locker.

“Alright, I’ll let you copy it in second period! But if I need those kidney’s you better not wimp out!” you smiled as robin nodded eagerly. “Alright, now let us go sit through Jason's boring speech about high school basketball!” you both groaned and walked towards the gym. You and Robin split ways, her going with the rest of the band and you walked to the bleachers.

You walked over to Mike, Dustin and max. “It’s just that Suzie's a certified genius!” “you do realize el saved the world twice right?” you smiled at the boy’s conversation “And yet, you still have a C in spanish!” you leaned over to the trio.

“Do I get credit or does it all go to my sister who has powers too?” the trio jumped, apparently none of them noticed you standing right next to them. “El and y/n saved the world twice, my bad.” Mike held his hands up.

You groaned as everyone cheered louder as the basketball team walked out. Yourself, Dustin and Mike lazily clapped for the team. You held back a groan as you watched Max dodge lucas’ wave towards her. “You know I think I can speak for all of us when I say, it’s been a tough year for all of hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, how much loss can one community take?”

The gym went quiet. “In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. so last night. When we were down by ten points at half to christian Academy, I looked at my team.” Jason turned to the players he played with the night before. “And I said, think of Melissa, think of heather, think of Billy,” you had a look of disgust on your face. How could Jason use peoples death’s as a high school pep rally speech.

“Think of our heroic chief of police, Jim hopper!” You felt the trio’s eyes on you as Jason brought up your deceased father. “Think about every one of our friends that perished in that mall fire. What did they die for.” you scoffed, that had caught the attention of the people behind you. You looked forward and ignored them.

“For us to lose to some crap school? NO!” the crowd cheered on Jason, “For us to return with our heads hung low in defeat? No! Let’s win this game. Let’s win this game for them, and that’s exactly what we did.” You rolled your eyes. You knew your dad would have cared less about your school’s basketball team winning.

You sighed, thinking his speech was over but was completely wrong. “And that’s what we did! We embarrassed those candy asses in their own house,” you turned to Dustin with a bored expression. “He’s still talking?” you groaned. “And tonight, tonight we’re gonna bring home the championship trophy!” you lazily clapped, “Tonight?!” Mike asked dustin.

“How is that possible?!” Max leaned over to the pair. “It’s called a tournament. You win one game, you go until there’s one team left.” the pair scoffed. Mike stared at Lucas in disgust as he high fived his teammates. You smiled as the teacher’s let everyone go. You waited and walked with robin to your class together.

“How’s your sister doing in california?” Robin asked as you both sat in your seats. “She’s doing good, she’s a little sad since I can't fly with Mike to see her.” you replied while you handed Robin your homework to copy.

“What are you doing this spring break then?” you sighed at her. “I’m gonna work at the police station this break. Turns out my dad’s death can get me more than insurance money!” you smiled, robin’s eyes widened at your words. “It’s a joke robin, you're allowed to laugh.” you both chuckled.

“What are you ever gonna do there?” she asked as she hurried writing down the answers. “I’m gonna be the receptionist and the occasional assistant!” you stated.

❀❀❀

“Are you gonna have lunch with me?” Nancy asked as you unlocked your locker and grabbed the four paper bags. “Yeah, I just have to go give these out!” Nancy giggled at the full bags in your hands. “What’s in those?” she took two from your hand and walked with you to the lunchroom.

“These past weeks i’ve been making max lunches, then Dustin asked for me to make him some and the robin wanted to join in as well.” you explained as you took a bag from her. “Could you take this outside with you, i’ll be out there real quick!” she nodded and walked outside where you and her regularly had lunch.

You walked over to Max, who sat at a table with other loner kids. “Here, Ham sandwich, with no mustard, again my bad, that was Dustin's.” you handed the bag to her, she gave you a nod of appreciation. “Now where’s robin?” you said to yourself as you scammed the room and spotted her eating a school lunch with vickie.

You groaned at her. “Damn it buckley!” you said under your breath. You walked over to Dustin and mike. “Wheeler, Henderson!” you called out for them, you noticed their other friends freeze at your voice.

“Did y/n hopper just yell your names?!” Gareth asked, slightly panicked.

“What did you do to her that she’s calling for you two?” Jeff chimed in. Dustin shrugged and turned to you. “Hey y/n. What’s up?” Eddie watched quietly as you placed down the bags. “Robin isn’t eating the lunch I packed for her, so here’s the turkey sandwich with mustard. For you Dustin and the other is a ham sandwich so you two can fight over it!” you sighed and pointed to each bag.

“Thanks I guess.” you scoffed at mike and smacked the back of his head. “Don’t give me attitude, I'm not steve!” The pair turned to you.

“Now, I'll see you both, I don't know when. Mama bear Steve is picking up your asses after school!” you quickly dropped before walking away from their table. “I don’t want that sandwich anymore.” Mike said to Dustin as the whole table stared at the bag in the center of the table.

“Gareth?” Dustin offered but he shook his head. “I’m good, jeff?” Jeff did the same as gareth.

“I’ll take it henderson!” Dustin smiled and handed Eddie the ham sandwich. “So how exactly do you both know y/n?” he asked as he took a bite. “She was our babysitter and old dungeon master..” the table went quiet before they all laughed at Dustin's words.

“Bullshit, no girl like y/n plays dnd or anything remotely close!” Eddie told the pair as he watched you accidentally bump into jason. “You want something?” The table turned to watch you and jason. “Yeah actually, I want you out my way!” you said with a bored expression. You both glared at each other as you walked past him.

“Yeah, I doubt she plays dnd.” Dustin sighed and unpacked the bag and ate the food. “Speaking of playing, uh, Lucas has to do his thing.” Dustin explained to eddie.

❀❀❀

You sighed as you sat down across from Nancy, under a tree. “So is Jonathan coming down here for spring break?” Nancy went quiet at your question. “Uh, no he’s gonna look after el and will for the break since his mom is working.” she explained, you raised an eyebrow at her. “But Jane said-! Never mind, I'm keeping my mouth shut!” you smiled at her and quickly took a bite of your food. “Are you gonna go see el this break?” she asked, you quickly swallowed your food. “Sadly no, i got a part time job at the police station, turns out i can get more than my dad’s insurance money!” you smiled.

“How are you doing since that happened?” You sighed, everyone would avoid talking about your father’s death around you. “I’m ok, It’s a struggle knowing that my other relative is all the way in cali, but i’m ok..” Nancy rubbed your arm in comfort.

“So when do you start at the police station?” She quickly changed the topic. “I start Tomorrow at six.” you grinned.

The day quickly went by, you smiled as you walked towards your car. You had barely got in when there was tapping on your window, you sighed and turned to see Mike, Erica and dustin. You groaned and rolled down your window. “What do you kids need?” all three looked at each other. “We need you to drive us to hellfire tonight! Please y/n.” Dustin pleaded to you. “Just tonight?” they all nodded at your question. “Fine! But I'm not picking any of you up after!” they nodded and let you drive away from them.

❀❀❀

It was five, The phone hadn’t stopped ringing. You sighed and ran to pick it up. “Hello?” you held the phone between your shoulder and ear as you tied your shoes. “Where are you?” mike asked, making you groan. “I’m going right now!” you groaned and hung up the phone before running to your car.

You picked up Dustin then Mike, Erica had gotten dropped off by her parents. “And why am i taking you two to the school at night, I know you two aren’t gonna watch lucas play tonight.” You asked the pair. “We’re playing dnd- WE COULD’VE ASKED YOU!” Mike realized as you pulled into the school’s parking lot where the three of you spotted Erica waiting.

“Could’ve asked me what?” you question as the pair collected the snacks they were in charge of bringing from your backseat. “We needed a sub tonight, ugh!” Dustin groaned, you laughed at his realization. “We gotta go, bye y/n!” Mike rushed dustin.”Bye you three, oh have a good trip to California mike!” you waved to the trio before they all rushed inside the building.

You went to back out of the parking space but stopped when you saw the notebooks the boys used during dnd. You groaned and turned off your car. You got out and grabbed their notebooks.

“Always forgetting their shit!” you said to yourself as you entered the school. You walked to the clubrooms and quickly spotted hellfire’s. You chuckled to yourself at the hellfire club logo on the door. You knocked on the door. “Who else is coming? I thought Fred was busy with the school’s paper to play tonight?” you heard through the door.

You opened up the door, Eddie turned to the door and was surprised to see you standing there with two notebooks in your hand. “Y/n?” Erica questioned as she watched you walk over to Dustin and mike. “Just here to give you your shit!” you handed the boys their notebooks.

“Now I'll leave you all be!” you walked to the door but was stopped from leaving by eddie asking “You play hopper?” you stopped in your tracks and turned towards eddie. “Why would you like to know?” you placed your hands on your hips as you waited for eddie to reply.

“Henderson let it slip to us that you play, so do you really?” he asked, leaning back into his throne. “Occasionally I do.” you shrugged. You walked closer towards Eddie, he quickly got up from his throne and walked closer as well. “What’s your class and level then?” you both we’re up close to each other. “Mage and i’m a level 16.” you both stared at each other before eddie cracked smiled. “Never thought girls like you would play this sorta stuff.” you stared at eddie “Well i’m full of surprises!”

“Do you mind if I watch you all play?” you asked eddie as you both stared at each other “You can go with mike to get the other chairs.” you nodded and grabbed mike as you two walked to another clubroom to steal the chairs.

“She really does play, damn it!” Jeff cursed and pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to gareth. “You two were betting?” Dustin asked the pair as he opened up a pack of gummy fruit.

“Yep!” Eddie leaned over to dustin. “Is she dating that harrington guy, you talk about?” he asked, Dustin turned to eddie with wide eyes. “Her and Steve, no way! She said she sees him like an annoying older brother, and she threatened to use her- I mean she was gonna beat him up the other day so no.” Dustin explained.

Eddie nodded and sat down on his throne and waited for everyone to be ready to start.

❀❀❀

It had been four-ish hours since you walked into their clubroom and stuck around to watch them all play, everyone in a while you would lean and whisper a tip to Erica as she would play.

You chuckled as you watched them all huddle into a circle to discuss their next moves. You and Eddie watched them amused.

You both tried to listen in. you had managed to catch gareth saying something about fleeting which made Dustin call the others pussies. You chuckled. “Gareth’s right, I gotta tell them.” Eddie said quietly to himself, you looked at Eddie and shook your head. You noticed the blank paper on the floor, you picked it up and quickly wrote something down with Eddie's pen.

“If I may inject gentlemen, lady applejack.” They all turned to face eddie. “While I respect the passion, you’d be wise to take Gareth the great’s concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don’t try to be heroes, not today, k?” You walked behind Eddie, acting like you dropped something and held up the paper that had your writing on it.

‘DON’T LISTEN TO HIM! DON’T DO IT!’ You held up, they each read the paper. Dustin held up his finger towards you both. The group quickly reformed their circle. You folded the paper and stuffed it into your back pocket.

“What should we do?” Gareth asked, “Listen to y/n, she’s won almost every campaign she’s been in.” Dustin told everyone.

“Are you alright?” Eddie asked, turning to see you behind him. “I’m fine, I found my missing bobby pin!” you sat back down, as the other finally decided to do. “Let’s kill this son of a bitch!” you smiled as they listened to you.

“The chances of 20-1!” Jeff explained to Dustin, he held up his finger “Never tell me the odds! Give me the D20.” he titled his head to the side. Eddie smirked and picked up the D20 and tossed it to him.

Dustin took a deep breath in before rolling his dice. You held your breath as the black dice rolled onto the table, you groaned as it landed on a 11. “That’s a miss!” everyone groaned. You handed Erica the dice and whispered a quick good luck. Erica shook the dice in her palms. You sat on the edge of the foldable chair with baited breath as she threw the dice on the table.

Eddie and you both stood up as the dice landed, it was a 20. “Crit hit!” she cheered. You smiled at the group. “That’s why we play!” Erica smiled and posed as Eddie bowed to her. “Told you, she always wins!” Dustin cheered as he hugged you. You chuckled as Erica joined the hug.

“You used your powers didn’t you?” she whispered, making Dustin look at you with wide eyes. You laughed at the two of them “Nope, that was just your pure luck!” you smirked as she let go of you. As she walked to get her notebook, she looked up at you and you acted like you were wiping your nose.

You chuckled at her face. “I assume I'm taking you three home huh? Since mama steve is trying to find you guys a stepmom.” you laughed as you followed the hellfire member’s out of the school. “I’m sitting in the front seat!” Erica told Mike and Dustin as they walked towards your car.

“Hey dustin.” he turned to you. “What?” you looked over and watched Eddie wave to the other members as they got into their car and left. “Is Eddie dating anyone?” Dustin looked at Eddie then back to you. “Don’t do it y/n! He’s my friend!” he pleaded as he got into the backseat with mike. You sighed and watched as Chrissy Cunningham skipped over to Eddie's van and quickly got in after greeting him. “Well, that answers that question..” you groaned as you opened your door.

You had completed your first few official work days, you were finally granted four days off. You had just gotten home when you heard urgent knocking on your front door.

You groaned as you walked over and answered the door. “Wanna go grocery shopping?” Dustin smiled at you. You stared at Dustin for a moment. “I’m gonna snap one day henderson.” you told him as you grabbed the jacket you threw onto your couch. “Great, let's hope it’s not today!” he told you as you both walked to Steve's car. “Hey y/n!” you greeted robin back as you hopped in the backseat with max and dustin.

“So why are we all shopping as a group?” you asked as Steve pulled up to the small grocery store. “We need to get stuff for eddie..” Dustin said quietly as you all got out and walked into the store. “And why can’t he get them himself?” you were pulled by dustin, who explained the whole incident in a hushed voice.

“So eddie’s officially on the run because he might’ve been blamed for his girlfriend’s murder? Wow, that relationship turned toxic quick.” you said to yourself as you pushed around the shopping cart. “Ooh, yoohoos!” you placed a case into the cart. “He didn’t ask for them y/n, put ‘em back.” you looked at steve offended. “You can boss the kids around but watch it with me!” you pointed your finger at him. “Plus who doesn’t like yoohoos? If he doesn’t then i’ll know if he killed chrissy or not” you told him as you placed another 4 pack into the cart “Aren’t you lactose intolerant?” “...No, I just get stomach cramps after I have milk, cheese and eggs.” Steve stared at you. “You're lactose intolerant!” you rolled your eyes and quickly pushed the cart away from steve.

You sighed as you carried four bags in each hand to the boat house, where Eddie was. Dustin kicked the door open with his foot. “Jesus christ!” he groaned. “Delivery service!” Dustin told him. Eddie sighs in relief “Oh and y/n’s here too.” You tried to pop out from behind Steve's frame and attempted to wave at Eddie, Steve doing the same.

“What is she doing here?” Eddie asked as he went back to sitting in the boat, you all sat around him on the deck. “She’s on your side eddie.” Dustin calmed him with those words. “Well I'm not sure, do you like yoohoos?” you asked him as you pulled out a case. He nodded at you. “Alright, I'm on your side!” you smiled and pulled out two bottles and hand eddie one.

“So we got uh, good news and bad news, how do you prefer?” Dustin asked Eddie as he ate honeycomb before taking a swig of the yoohoo. “Bad news first, always!” Dustin nodded. “We tapped into the Hawkins pd dispatch with our cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also they’re uh pretty convinced you killed chrissy.” Eddie looked at Dustin with wide eyes.

“Like, 100% convinced.” Max chimed in. “And the good news?” “Your name hasn’t gone public yet, but if we found out about you, it’s only a matter of time before the others do too, and once that gets out everyone and their shallow minded mothers will be gunning for you.” Robin told him. “Hunt the freak, right?” He looked at everyone. “Exactly.” he sighs “Shit.” Dustin sat up. “So before that happens, all we need to do is find vecna, kill him and prove your innocence.” Eddie stared at dustin. “That’s all Dustin, that’s all really?” Dustin nodded at him. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” “Listen Eddie, I know everything Dustin's saying sounds totally delusional. But we’ve actually been through this kinda thing before. I mean they had a few times, and I have once.” Eddie turned to you and Steve, which Steve nodded at Robin's words while you drank the milk.

“Mine was more flesh based, and theirs was more smoke related, but bottom line is, collectively, I feel we got this.” Robin smiled at him. “You see, we normally rely on this girl who has super powers. But those went bye-bye so- OW!” Steve held his arm as you punched him. “Screw you.” you told him with a blank face. “I literally get no credit.” You groaned out and threw yourself back onto the deck floor. “We usually rely on y/n and her sister who have powers-” Steve jerked away from you. “But her sister lost hers and y/n has her powers still but uh there not very helpful.” you propped yourself up on your elbows and stared at steve.

“Dustin, you’re safe today, I'm gonna get steve.” you threatened as you got up and chased steve around. “We’re technically in a brainstorming phase.” Max told him. “There’s nothing to worry about.” Steve scoffed and nodded in agreement.

“So Hopper has powers?” Eddie asked with wide eyes. “Yep!” you replied as you tried to get steve. “What are they exactly?” you sighed and stopped following steve. “Well, I can move stuff, I could tell when my sister would try to find someone by using her powers and uh I can make people see shit that’s not really there-!” you smiled at your words. “What?” Steve asked as you smiled at him. “I can make people believe something’s there, we can defeat venca and i can make the police and everyone think someone else did the murder! That’s it!” you explained with a smile on your face. Eddie stared at you with wide eyes.

You all panicked when you heard sirens. “Shit!” Steve said as he looked towards the windows. “Tarp!” Robin told you and Eddie, you both quickly tossed it onto his body. Once he was covered you and the others ran to the windows and watched as the cars drove past the house. “Where do you think they’re going?” Robin asked out loud. “With that many cop cars, I'd assume vecna took another victim.” you told the others quietly as you watched more police cars drive past. “C’mon!” Steve said as he grabbed his car keys. You went to follow but stopped when Steve pointed at you. “Not you! You can stay and keep Eddie company.” You looked at Steve with an upset expression. “I told you earlier you can boss around the kids but not me!” you went to walk past steve but he nudged you back.

“Keep Eddie company and make sure no one comes here.” you groaned as Steve closed the boat house door. “Am I that bad?” Eddie asked as he laid in the boat with the tarp covering his legs. You sighed and walked back over. “No, I'm sorry.” you apologized and sat down on the deck, your feet in the boat. “What have you been doing to keep yourself busy while staying here?” you asked as you looked around the house. “I’ve been throwing paper into those old paint buckets.” he shrugged, now sitting up and looking at you.

It had been about two or three hours since the others left you and Eddie in the boat house. You two had been sitting in silence most of the time.

You sighed and put your hands in your jacket pockets, you smiled as you pulled out your deck of tarot cards you had stuffed into the jacket. “What are those?” he pointed to the deck of tarot cards. “Oh these are tarot cards.” you smiled and placed. You picked up the deck of cards. “Want a love reading?” you asked him. “Um, sure.” you smiled and helped him out of the boat and onto the deck. You both sat across from each other. You started to shuffle the deck. Eddie watched as you let the cards fall out of the deck “Are you gonna get those?” he asked you with a confused face.

“You can leave it!” you told him as the last card finally fell out. You smiled and collected the cards and laid them in between you and eddie. “Alright the first card is..the sun, this a good card, it’s about growth and good change. Like things are about to improve, that sorta thing!” Eddie nodded as you flipped the card rightside up. “Next, you got the two of cups, this one is about harmony and partnership. Balance between two opposing forces that whole deal.” you explained to him. As you flipped the card over.

“And the last one is the lovers card, which is about unity and harmony; follow your heart’s desire.” you smiled at him as he took in the reading. “And you got that all from those cards? That’s cool!” Eddie smiled back. “I know right! Jason and his idiot friends call me a witch for being into this kind of stuff. But Screw them and their shallow minded families.” Eddie smiled wider as he watched you rant about jason. “I’m sorry your girlfriend died.” you told him, which made eddie tilt his head at you.

“You know chrissy?” Eddie's eyes widened and he started to shake his head at you. “Oh no, we weren’t dating! She was dating jason.” he explained, which made your eyes widen. “Oh!” before either of you could say anything else you both turned to the walkie talkie, you had placed into the grocery bags. “Dustin! Do you copy?” Robin asked. “Yeah I copy.” he said out of breath.

“So, Nancy’s a genius! Vecna’s first victims date back all the way to 1959 Her shot in the dark was a bull’s-eye!” you and eddie were confused, since when did nancy join robin? “Ok, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now.” he said, still out of breath. “Wait what are you doing?” you and Eddie scooted closer to the walkie talkie. “Breaking and entering into the school, to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files.” you and Eddie look at each other with wide eyes. “They're doing what?!” “Can you repeat that?” Robin asked in shock.

“Just get your ass over here. Stat.” Dustin ordered. “Wait where’s y/n?” Robin asked. “I don’t know probably making out with eddie, she has a-!” You quickly grabbed the walkie talkie and screeched into it “Shut it henderson! WE have a walkie talkie as well!” you screeched into it. “Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean too!” He apologized. “You have a what?” Eddie asked with a smirk on his face. “Nothing, he’s just talk shit, like usual.” you flashed him a smile before walking over to the boat.

Somehow Steve and the others had forgotten to pick you up from the boat house. Leaving you no choice but to sleep in the boat house with eddie. You two decided to sleep on opposite ends of the boat but you both somehow ended up spooning.

You and Eddie woke up around the same time. You both had eaten most of the grocery and both woke up hungry, Eddie somehow managed to convince you into going inside reefer rick’s house.

You both searched the cabinets and pantry, trying to find any kind of food. “Nope!” “Nothing!” you groaned from the pantry. You turned as you heard Eddie snort. “Yeah, you’ll do.” you walked out and saw eddie getting a pot for spaghetti-O’s you laughed and walked up to him “What you don’t like these?” you asked as you opened up the can and poured it into the pot. “Not really.” he told you, you scoffed and turned to him. “Maybe you are a psycho. Who doesn’t like spaghetti-O's?!” you asked as you stirred them. “Oh, get me the other can!” he sighed and handed it to you.

After you had placed the food into bowls you quickly rushed to the bathroom due to an unexpected visit. “Hey Dustin, this is Eddie the banished. You there?” he said to the walkie talkie. “Dustin, can you hear me?” “Dustin?” you grabbed it from his hands and spoke into it “Earth to dustin.” Eddie sighed as he waited. “Hey, it’s nancy.” you groaned as you fixed your pants as you walked over to eddie.

“Wheeler, Hey! Me and y/n are gonna me food delivery very soon.” you grabbed the walkie talkie from his hands. “I need an extra special delivery nance! Very soon, unless you want me bleeding all over the deck floor!” you told her, which made eddie look at you with wide eyes. “No, no, no don’t do that we’ll bring you guys stuff. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” eddie quickly leaned over your shoulder to talk “yeah, yeah, yeah, listen could you pick me up a six pack? I know its stupid as shit to be drinking right now but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves.” nancy stayed quiet for a second. “Sure…wait y/n why are you with eddie?” you groaned.

“Oh because my lovely friends left me here overnight!” She stayed quiet for a second. “Uh, I'll call you back in a second.” “wait nance don’t you dare-!” it was too late she had left.

A Couple Of Hours Later

You both knelt down when you heard a car pull up, eddie turned and peaked out the window. “Shit, shit, shit!” he turned to you as he recognized who it was. “What?” you whispered. He said nothing and rushed to the other window. “What?” he turned to you for a second. “Jason and his friends!” your eyes widen. Eddie grabbed the walkie talkie and tried to get a hold of Dustin or the others.

An hour had gone by and Jason and his goons were still there. “Dustin, Please are you there?...Never mind!” you looked at him confused, he held out his hand. “Ladies first!” you looked at him confused as you got into the boat.

“I wish I didn’t skip gym!” you said as you helped eddie row the boat to the middle of the lake. “HEY FREAK!” you and Eddie turned and saw Jason and one of his buddy’s. “He’s talking to you. Not me!” you told him as you continued rowing. “WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR GOING?!” “Shit.” Eddie looked at you for a moment before he started rowing. Eddie tried to start up the motor but it failed on you two.

You started to try and row faster as you saw Jason get into the water. “Forget it edward!” you told him as you paddled. “Shit, shit, shit!” Eddie cussed as they swam right behind the boat. You started swinging the paddle at Jason to keep him and his friend away. “Hey c’mon let's go, we almost have him! Patrick.” Jason told his friend, who looked frightened. Before you knew it his friend went under water for a minute before popping back in the air. You and Eddie fell out of the boat and into the water in shock at his friend’s body.

Jason was to distracted with his friend being dead that he didn’t notice in the moment you swam away with eddie. Andy had called the police and waited in the front of the house while Jason was in the backyard with Patrick's body.

The next morning you and Eddie had found a construction site. Eddie had the idea to wait and steal a walkie talkie from one of them, luckily one of them had to use the restroom so they took off their toolbelt, when one was looking Eddie grabbed it from the belt and made a run for it, you, following shortly behind him.

You two had somehow made it to skull rock. You chuckled as you both sat down on the ground to take a breather. Eddie tried to get ahold of Dustin and the others “Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?” Eddie spoke into the walkie talkie, you crossed your fingers in hopes of them finally answering you two.

“Eddie, holy shit, are you guys ok?” Eddie curled his finger before he rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Nah man. Me and y/n pretty damn far from okay.” you sighed and leaned your head against the rock. “Where are you guys?” Dustin asked. “Uh, skull rock you know it?” he asked Dustin, “Steve does!” you chuckled to yourself. “Uh, yeah that’s near, Cornwallis and uh-!” “yeah, I know where it is.” Steve could be heard in the back.

“Hold tight, we’re coming. We’re coming!” you and Eddie sighed at his words. “I’ve seen some fucked up shit but that! Was a whole new level of fucked up!” you confessed to Eddie as you both leaned against the rocks. You both stayed quiet for a bit before he broke the silence. “You’re not like how everyone claims you to be, you know y/n?” you looked at him confused. “What like a witch?” you smirked.

“No, everyone claimed you were this mean, bitchy and unapproachable girl, but you're just a big secret nerd on the inside!” you both smiled at his words. “Well, you’re also not how i expected you to be either, i thought you were this weird, mean dungeon master, but you’re very fluffy yourself!” Eddie chuckled, “You got the weird part right.” you laughed and got up and walked around the rock.

“If we make it out of this weird situation, do you think we could uh, never mind.” you turned to eddie. “If we could, what?” he shook his head at you. “It’s nothing, it’s stupid.” you walked over and sat next to him. “Tell me please” He opened his mouth to talk but quickly closed it and dragged you behind a rock to hide as you both heard footsteps coming closer to you two. “Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson,” Steve held back a bush and went through, the others following.

“Skull rock, in your face man. In your stupid, cocky little face.” Dustin looked at his compass confused. “Doesn’t make sense.” “Yeah, yeah, even with it staring at you in the face you can’t admit it. You can’t admit it, you can’t admit that you were wrong, you butthead .” Steve said with his hands on his hips, in full mom mode now. Eddie jumped down from the rock he hid behind, scaring dustin.

“I can concur, you Dustin Henderson are a total butthead.” He sighs as he pulls up his pants a bit. You sighed and went to crawl off the rock, you had no clue how Eddie decided to jump off of it. “Jesus, we thought you guys were goners.” Dustin told you and Eddie as he walked over to hug eddie. “Yeah, me too man.” Eddie confessed as he hugged Dustin back awkwardly. Steve ran over and helped you climb down from the rock and onto the ground. Eddie and Steve had a quiet stare off for a moment before the others came walking up.

You sat next to Eddie who drank out of a flask. “When we swam to shore, I tried to call you guys but uh-!” He took another swig. “Our walkie was busted, drenched so we pulled an eddie and uh ran.” you explained, eddie looked at you slightly offended. “Do you know what time the attack happened?” Nancy asked you both. “Yeah, I know exactly what time it was, our walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked.” he tossed Nancy his watch. “9:27!” Robin nodded. “The same time our flashlights went kablooey.” you watched as Dustin kept pacing “Which means, what exactly?” “That the surge of energy was venca attacking patrick.” Nancy tossed Eddie his watch back.

“Now we need to go to the upside down and drive a stake into his heart.” Max sighed “Why a stake? Is he like a vampire? Is he a vamp?” Steve asked, confused. “It’s a metaphor.” you explained. “A bullet should work on him, right?” Eddie asked out loud. “I say we chop his head off!” you looked at lucas with wide eyes. “I would say all of the above but we can’t do any of that til we find a way to the upside down.” “We need El to get her powers back.” Max sighed.

“Everything was way easier when we had this girl, she had super powers.” You looked at Max and Steve offended, You stood up. “Screw you! Damn you want a gate try the murder spots...” you groaned out. “Hey uh, henderson isn’t cursed is he?” Eddie asked as he noticed Dustin pacing around. “Cursed, no he’s fine, mental..absolutely!” “BOOM!” you all looked at dustin, confused. “Bada, bada, boom! I was right! Skull rock is north.” Steve looked at Dustin “Seriously? You’re serious?” “mmhmm!” Steve crossed his arms. “This is skull rock. Okay? You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong, right now!” Dustin nodded at him. “Yes and no.” Steve groaned and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Oh my god!” he said quietly. “The compass worked correctly when we left the wheeler’s, it was working on curly but it started to slip the further east we went. Now it’s way off.” Everyone looked at each other confused. “When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was!” “So you’re using faulty equipment! You’re still wrong!” Steve sighed. “Except it isn’t faulty. Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?” Lucas itched the back of his head. “An electromagnetic field!” “Yep!”

Dustin smiled at steve. “I’m sorry I must've skipped that class?” Robin told him. “In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will reflect towards that power. So either there’s a giant magnet around here or…” “There’s a gate!” “But we’re nowhere near a lab?” Nancy said out loud. “But what if there’s other gates, smaller, less powerful” “A snack size gate?” “exactly!” “But how, why?” Steve asked dustin. “No idea but all i know is that something is causing this disturbance, and last time we saw something like this it was a gate.”

You looked at everyone with wide eyes before groaning. “Why does no one listen to me! I might join vecna’s team at this point! At least then he might listen to my ideas!” you sighed at them. You stood up and made your way to where they all came through. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going? Eddie’s still a wanted man, we can’t exactly walk through the woods!” you rolled your eyes at steve. “Oh my god steve, there’s a spider on your head!” you squealed, making him and the others panic. “Kill it!” he screamed as nancy ‘’picked it off’’ his head.

You watched them with a smirk as you made the group hallucinate, killing the spider. “Oh god..” Steve sighed and looked up at your smirking face. “What?” “There was nothing there dingus.” Eddie looked at you with wide eyes. “Why does everyone forget I have powers too, good ones at that!” you muttered under your breath as they all looked at you. “C’mon before I actually decide to join team vecna!” You yelled at the group. You stopped and waited for eddie. Who went to grab his flask and walkie talkie.

It had been about 2-ish hours when dutsin finally found the lake. You groaned as he led you all to where Patrick had died. He would’ve walked right into the water if Eddie hadn’t pulled him back a bit. “Oh man, you gotta be shitting me!”

Steve said out of breath. “Call it!” you yelled and smiled as you were right about the murder spots being portals. “I thought these woods were familiar.” Eddie replied. “Lover’s lake..” robin sighed. “My house is over there then what the fuck?! I’ve been near Eddie this whole damn time!” you muttered.

“There’s a gate in lover’s lake?” Max asked, confused as everyone stared at the water before them. “Patrick died here so I assume so” you shrugged. “Only one way to find out.” you and Eddie looked over and saw a boat. You both walked over and yanked the tarp off. You coughed as dusk flew off of the tarp. “It’s in my lungs!” you dry coughed. Eddie smiled and patted your back as you coughed it out.

Steve and Eddie placed the boat into the lake. “Easy, I said, easy man!” Steve bossed Eddie as they held it down. “Sorry dude.” Eddie apologized as robin used his and steve’s head to help stabilize herself into the boat. “That’ll work too I guess.” Steve said quietly. Eddie quickly got in and held his hand out to help Nancy in. Dustin went to walk onto the boat but Eddie pushed him back. “Are you trying to sink us?” You held back a laugh at his words. “This thing holds three people tops, okay?”

Dustin stared at Eddie with an offended expression. “It’s better this way! You look after Max and keep an eye out for trouble.” Dustin scoffed. “You keep an eye out! It’s my theory!” you groaned. “You heard nance!” Robin chimed in “Who put her in charge?” “I did.” you giggled “Compass.” Nancy held her hand out to Dustin, who groaned before reluctantly handing it over.

“Here y/n!” Steve tossed you the backpack. You groaned at the weight. “Where are you going harrington?!” he smirked, he quickly pushed the boat a bit before getting in. “You asshole! You said three!” you groaned at steve. “Sorry,” he whispered. You rolled your eyes before you walked over to the rocks where Max and Lucas sat, waiting.

“Bedtime at nine kiddos!” you and Dustin flipped off the others as they paddled away. “Miss you already!” Robin waved.

“I don’t regret making Steve believe he had a spider in his hair anymore.” you told the other as you all watched them paddle to the middle of the lake. Lucas and Dustin took turns looking through a pair of binoculars. “Wait, wait they’re stopping!” Lucas told dustin. “Why are they stopping?” he questioned, squinting his eyes trying to see what they were doing.

Dustin picked up the walkie talkie. “Guys what’s going on?” Silence is what Dustin was met with. “C’mon talk to me guys, what’s going on?” you and max watched as the pair got robin to answer. “Uh, dustin your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital aah!” you raised an eyebrow at her words.

“Ugh, when did Steve get so hairy!” Lucas shuttered, “Right! I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle but he claims that the ladies dig it.” you quickly got up with max and walked over to the boys. “Let me see.” Max grabbed the binoculars from Lucas and stared right a steve. For about thirty seconds she stared at him uninterrupted, Lucas, Dustin and yourself all looked at each other in shock. “Y/n don’t be shocked! You’d do the same if it was eddie!” Dustin smacked your arm as you watched Max stare at him. You turned your head as you heard a snicker come from the walkie in Dustin's hand.

You smacked his arm and grabbed it from his hands. “Shut up dustin! He heard you!” you fell onto the rocks and held your head as Eddie tried his best to peek at you from the boat. “You guys realize if there’s a gate down there it’s a watergate.” Dustin laughed at his own words. Lucas and Max just stared at him blankly “I’m so hungry, I thought you were talking about watergate salad right now..” you confessed.

A minute had gone by, you snapped your head as you heard footsteps and police walkies. You panicked and shoved Dustin “What y/n! No, Eddie isn’t shirtless!” he groaned. “Police!” you pointed behind you. They noticed the flashlights and quickly ran into the woods.

“Stay with me!” Max told you, Lucas and Dustin before she stood up from behind the log you all were hiding from.

“Hey officers over here! I found the killer!” Max yelled out, making your eyes widen at her. “Shit!” “Go!” Dustin and Lucas ran behind you and max. Dustin tripped and was caught by a police officer. You three stopped and were also caught along with dustin.

They had dragged you all to the wheeler’s house where the kids' parents were. “What exactly were you all doing at the lake?” powell asked your four, the kids all sat on the couch, you stood behind them. “We were umm…” they all looked at each other. “We were going for a walk powell.” you told him with a straight face. “A walk at 9 pm?” Callahan asked you clearly not buying it. “To the lake..we were gonna take a swim..” Dustin squeaked out. “Dusty, Someone was just murdered there!” Ms Henderson told him, close to crying. “Yeah, we didn’t know till we got there..”

“That’s why we didn’t swim!” Lucas chimed in. You scoffed as callahan eyed you suspiciously. “And was Nancy with you at this late night swim?” Mrs Wheeler asked you four, you all stared at each other before answering all at once. “No.” “yes!” “nope!” “yeah she was there!” you all looked at each other with wide eyes, “She was there but she needed to leave mrs wheeler.” you explained politely.

“It’s all a little confusing.” “And that’s when you guys came!” you nodded at lucas. “Yeah, and they dared me to say what I said…about the killer,” Dustin and Lucas chuckled, while you let out a sigh. “Have any of you had contact with eddie?” powell asked looking at you four, “that psycho…killer freak?! God no.” Dustin squeezed the pillow he held.

“Nope, absolutely not.” “No, never heard of him..” you held back a groan at the kid's answers. “That’s a bunch of bull.” Erica said, stepping forward. Her and lucas’ parents scolded her “I mean, you realize they’re lying to you! The whole couch is on fire.” she replied sassily.

“Are you lying to these policemen, dusty?” you felt bad for lying to Ms Henderson. “No, he would never miss henderson!” you replied before Dustin would give himself away. The parents started to argue over Mr Wheeler's comment. “Shut up!” Powell yelled over everyone, causing them to lower their voices. “We’re gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time.” He announced, everyone nodded at his words.

“You two first!” You pointed at yourself and max as Powell stared at you. “Why me! I’m not even in hellfire!” Max groaned and followed two other officers to a different room. “Why me! I don’t even know Eddie like that!” It was somewhat a lie, you and Eddie had got to know each other very well in the past two days of being on the run with him. “Follow me.” powell walked out of the room, you scoffed at him. “Do I need to cuff you?” you stuck your hands out at callahan. “Could you blindfold me as well?!” you told him snarkily before you walked into a spare room the wheeler’s had, callahan following behind you.

You sighed as you sat down on the bench at the end of the bed. “Ms hopper, jason accused you of being at a murder sight of another student, if tell us now and you won’t be in that much trouble.” Powell calmly explained to you. You sighed and looked at the pair “You’d take Jason's word over mine!” you placed your hand over your heart, acting offended. The pair groaned as they tried to get you to open up.

“You think I'd help that- that satanic son of a bitch?!” you told the pair as you paced around the room. “I told you already I was at my house when the others came and asked if I wanted to go for a swim. If you need certain details of what I was doing then I was putting away my dead father’s clothes!” you had participated in the drama club so you really weren’t a stranger to crying on queue. The pair panicked and ended their investigation with you and went out to tell the adults. You sighed and wiped away your fake tears.

“So anything from either of them?” Mrs Wheeler asked as Max put her headphones back on. You sighed and noticed Dustin waving you and max over, you elbowed her and nodded your head towards Dustin's. You both looked at the adults before walking over to him. “Miss Mayfield and Mrs hopper's stories make sense, they really went for a night swim.” Powell explained as he looked at the notes from Max's investigation.

“Honestly I shouldn't have gone with Hopper first, she’s a cryer and kinda mean.” Callahan added. The parents nodded. “We’ll find your daughter Mrs Wheeler, don’t worry.” “I just know one of these little brats is gonna squeal, I just know it! Where are they?” Callhan asked another officer. “Upstairs, moping.” Callahan nodded and walked upstairs to Nancy's bedroom. He could hear whispering.

“Let officer callahan in..” he waited a minute before opening the door, he looked around and saw the open bedroom window and ran over.

“I’m gonna break my fucking ankles if I fall, henderson!” You whisper yelled to Dustin as you tied up the old skates Nancy had in her closet, “Not my fault you don’t know how to ride a bike y/n!” he sassed at you as he tied a rope for you to his bike.

“Hey! Excuse me, Get back here!” You all jumped, you sighed and picked up the pocket knife from your pockets and looked back up at Callahan, “Sorry phil!” you told the man before slashing the police car tires and skated towards Dustin's bike. “GO!” you told the teen as you held tightly to the rope. The parents had heard the yelling and ran outside but it was too late, you all were riding/skating away from the house.

You all had made it to Eddie and Max's trailer park. You all rushed inside. “Ugh, why does it look like that?! It looked like a 13 year old’s acne” You groaned as you looked up and saw the portal. “Get me something sharp!” you looked around and spotted an old broom against the wall. You quickly grabbed it and started stabbing it through the ceiling.

“Eww, it crunched! It’s a crunchy pimple” you squealed and shoved the broom through. Goo fell onto the other side. “Gross it was like a pimple, ugh!” you gagged and tossed the broom through. “No way.” You all could hear steve. Dustin laughed as he looked at the others through the ceiling. “Hi there!” you all waved. Everyone laughed in shock of your theory being right about murder spots being portal’s.

“Holy shit, this is trippy.” you nodded at robin’s words. “Let's get sheets and something soft for their landing!” you order the kids around. Lucas and Dustin tied sheets and blankets together while you, Erica and Max went into Eddie's room and got his mattress.

“IS THAT AN ALF COSTUME!” You laughed hard as you saw Eddie's closet wide open. “More importantly is that what I think it is?” Max pointed to the pack of trojans on his nightstand. Your eyes widen at them. You kept bursting into giggles as you stared at the pack of condoms then towards his bed that had random stains.

“Lucas! You help them, I'll help dustin!” you giggled as you walked out of eddie’s room. You noticed when Max and Lucas pushed Eddie's mattress out, Max was barely touching it.

“Those stains are uhh, i don’t know what those stains are…” you laughed as you finished tying the sheets and blankets together. You handed dustin the pile of tied fabric. “I don’t know how these psychics work but uh, here goes nothing!” he threw the sheets up into the portal, the others let it pile onto the floor. Dustin sighed and let go of the sheets. You all clapped as it stayed still with their weight on it.

“Guess I'm a guinea pig!” Robin told Nancy and the boys as she climbed the makeshift rope. “Oh thank god.” she sighed out as she sat up on the mattress. Nancy, Steve and Eddie stared at each other before Eddie spoke up, “Alright I guess I'll go!” he sighed and hopped onto the rope and climbed through. “That was fun!” He grabbed Dustin's hand and got up from the mattress. “See you on the other side.” Steve told Nancy who chuckled “See you on the other side.” She hopped onto the rope and climbed through. You smiled and went to turn to Eddie but froze as you saw a burnt version of your father and a bruised El,

Will had written to you and told you she had bullies at their school, you had always stuck on your mind.

“E-el?” You stuttered out, frightened by the sight. “It was your fault I lost my powers y/n!” el said as she held her bloody, broken arm. You took deep breaths and tried to remind yourself it was just vecna trying to get to you. “No it wasn’t jane!” You told the girl and you looked around and tried to leave the cabin that was destroyed. Once you exited you saw what you assumed to be vecna’s lair or his home. You walked down the steps and jumped as you heard a clock chime behind you.

“You and your friends were so close to finding out the truth about me!” you jumped and turned behind you, looking for where the voice had come from. “Tell me how is eleven?” you tried to ignore his voice and kept looking around “I’ve been meaning to check on her but as you can tell i’ve been busy!” You jumped back as you saw the mutilated bodies of chrissy cunningham, fred benson and patrick mckinney. You looked around and noticed a door with a rose on it.

You watched as Vecna showed you his life growing up with his powers. “Me and you are alike y/n, i didn’t fit in with the other children either. Something was wrong with me, all my doctors and teachers told my parents I was broken like yours.” You watched a younger venca sadly at his new house. “My parents decided a fresh start in Hawkins would cure me, you understand that pain don’t you y/n?” you sighed as you remember after your mother had left you and your dad, he had moved on and married another woman named Diane, they had a daughter together, but sadly she soon left him after Sara had passed away due to cancer. Your dad had enough and moved you two back to Hawkins, Indiana for a new sour start.

“As if the world would be different there right?” you nodded your head and listened to venca as he showed you more memories. He explained his home had come with a nest of black widows in the vents and how he loved them, since they were similar to him.

“Deeply misunderstood. Like us y/n.” you watched the surroundings change into the attic of the creel house, where young venca had a small shrine towards the spiders. It all changed quickly, you were now outside where you witnessed him kill poor rabbits just like he had killed the other students.

You couldn’t stand it and ran inside the house where you heard vecna once more. “My parents had done terrible things y/n” you looked around as you heard a baby crying. “I showed them who they really were. I held up a mirror to them. My naive father thought it was a demon, cursing them for their sins.” You watched the memories he showed around you. “Our mother’s were alike, they both despised us for our powers, my mother knew I was holding up that mirror, she called a doctor, an expert. She wanted to have me locked away, to fix me. Just like yours tried y/n.” you were surprised when he showed you your own memory.

You watched as little you had heard yelling from the living room, so of course hid behind the stair railing and listened to your parents bicker.

“She needs to be sent away jim! She gave two kids broken noses at her school after they stole her toy! That doesn’t sound like a NORMAL six year old to me jim!” you felt tears build up as you watched younger you hold back tears as well as she listened to your mother talk about you as if you weren’t her own daughter.

“You are not sending her away y/m/n! I won’t let you!” your father stood up from his spot on the couch. “Well then I'm leaving you with that vicious demon I called a daughter!” you counted down the second and on queue she slammed the front door and never came back. You blinked and you were back to venca’s memories. “She left me with no choice.” you watched as younger vecna used his powers to kill his own mother.

“With each life I took, I grew stronger, more powerful.” you watched as his father took him and his sister away from their mother’s corpse. “They were becoming a part of me. But I was just a child, and I did not know my limits yet. And it nearly killed me.” you watched as he tried to kill his father as well but failed due to him passing out.

You watched as the police held his father up against a wall and arrested him. “He was arrested, blamed for the death of my sister and mother, just as I planned.” you sighed as you watched the police take away his father. “But I was far from free, I woke up from a coma only to find myself placed in the care of a doctor, the very doctor I hoped to escape. Dr martin brenner.” you watched as a young brenner walked into the room.

“But the truth is he did not just want to study me. He wanted more, he wanted more control. When papa realized he couldn’t control me, he tried to recreate me.” you watched as Brenner tattooed 001 onto his wrist. “He began a program. And soon, others were born, you were born. And I'm so glad you were y/n!” you shivered as a younger, human version of himself walked closer to you and cradled you in his arms.

“I was glad your own sister was born until she betrayed me and sent me away!” he seethed and showed you, a very young el sending vecna away to the upside down. You looked around as the surroundings changed back to Brenner giving vecna his tattoo. “See there’s nothing to be afraid of is there..y/n?” you froze as Brenner looked up at you. “Take a seat and I'll fix yours!” you shook your head and ran away from vecna or brenner, whoever it was. You groaned as you kept bumping into the walls of the lab.

Meanwhile…

“Y/N! STAY WITH ME, ALRIGHT! HURRY UP OVER THERE!” Steve yelled to the back of the trailer. “HURRY UP!” Erica nodded and ran into Eddie's bedroom where it was torn apart, trying to find any kind of music. “Steve said you need to hurry!” She informed them, going through Eddie's drawers hoping to find a walkman as well. “Yeah, NO SHIT!” Dustin yelled from the closet, Lucas behind him as well. “We’re trying. We can’t find anything.” Max told her while she and Nancy held up cassette tapes of metal bands. “Seriously what is all this shit?!” Robin asked eddie. “What are you even looking for?” Eddie questioned getting a shoebox with tapes in it. “Madonna, blondie, Bowie, beatles! Music we need music!” Eddie looked at Robin with wide eyes “This is music!” he argued back. “What’s her favorite song? Does anyone know?!” Nancy asked out loud which made everyone stop to think for a minute.

“Metallica! Something about balls and trolls!” Eddie stared at Dustin confused before it clicked. “For whom the bell tolls!” Eddie quickly pushed Robin over and grabbed the tape and his tape deck and ran into the living room where Steve was holding you down, hoping you wouldn’t float up.

“I got it harrington!” Steve let go of you and helped Eddie place the tape in while Eddie placed the earphone over your ears.

You groaned as you turned the corner and saw the door barricaded by wood panels. You managed to pry two off the door before you froze as vecna called out for you. You slowly turned and watched as he walked over “What are you doing? It’s not time for you to leave.” you quickly turned back around and tried to pry off the wood panels. “We’re just alike y/n. Join me, why don’t you.” you sighed and grabbed a plank from the floor and swung it at him.

“Or don’t! See what happens to Hawkins then..” you quickly pried off the last plank and ran through the lab door. “Take your seat y/n!” you froze as Brenner stood in front of you. The room had gone pitch black. It was a minute before it came back on and there you were strapped into the chair.

You moved around, trying to worm your way out of the chair as vecna walked closer. “I want you to tell eleven, I want you to tell her, everything you see.” he told you, lifting his hand up towards your head.

Flashes of the creel house falling apart, Eddie's trailer being split into two, A clock chiming, the ground being split like Eddie's trailer. “Tell her...everything” he leaned in closer. “NO!” you thrashed around. He continued to show you flashes of Hawkins being split into two, Eddie with blood on him, your dad alive and fighting something, el with brenner.

“WHY ISN’T WORKING?!” Steve yelled to Nancy and Robin as they watched you, still under vecna’s trance. “I don’t know! It should’ve worked by now!” Robin panicked as everyone watched you, carefully.

You gasped and fell back as you were finally free from vecna’s trance. “Y/N!” Steve hugged you as he held your body from hitting the floor fully.

You panicked and looked around the trailer. “It’s okay, you’re alright y/n!” Eddie helped calm you as you looked at him and still seeing the flash of him with blood all over. “We’re all here y/n!” Steve helped sit you up. Max guided everyone across the street and into her trailer.

“He showed me things that haven’t happened yet. The most awful things, worse than what we’ve dealt with.” you told everyone who raised an eyebrow at your words.

“There was a dark cloud over hawkins. Downtown was on fire, the ground was split into two, so was the old creel house and Eddie's trailer. And don’t get me started about how he showed el or, or my dad!” you stood up from the chair and paced around the small living room, thinking about the visions he had shown you. “There were dead creatures and this giant creature, with a big gaping mouth and that thing wasn’t alone either there was a shit load of monsters.” Erica, Eddie and Steve watched as you paced in front of them.

“An army and they were coming into Hawkins, into our neighborhoods. Our homes and then he showed me my dad alive but he was fighting something and, el she was with Brenner again too! Which isn’t possible cause Joyce has her safe and sound…I hope she does.” You stopped pacing and thought back to the vision of Jane with brenner.

“He was just trying to scare you y/n.” Steve looked up at you as you shook your head at him. “He kept telling me we were alike, our powers are strong, our mothers despise us, our parents moved us to Hawkins for a new start.”

“He kept telling me to join him and he tried to do the same with el when they were both in the lab, but she sent him the upside down I assume.” “Yeah but it’s not real.” you sighed at Steve “Yet steve! It’s not real YET!”

“He showed me gates, there were four gates. Spread out hawkins, the gates looked like the one in eddie’s trailer.” you explained to everyone. “They didn’t stop growing either and this wasn’t upside down hawkins, this was our own hawkins.” Everyone stayed quiet, processing your words.

“Four chimes.” Max was the first to speak, everyone turned to her, confused. “Vecna’s clock, it always chimes four times.” Max looked over at you. “Four exactly.” “I heard ‘em too.” you and max rolled your eyes as you both realized what it meant. “He’s been telling us his plan, this whole damn time.” you scoffed and sat down across steve, eddie and erica.

“Four kills, four gates. End of the world.” Lucas said, looking between you and max.

“If that’s true, he’s only a kill away.” Everyone sighed at Dustin's words. “Jesus christ!” Eddie groaned as he rubbed his face with his hands, “Try ‘em again, Try ‘em again!” Steve told Max who nodded and went to call Joyce's house for the fifth time.

“Anything?” Dustin asked. “No. it rang but it went back to a busy signal.” Steve and you groaned. “Maybe you punched it in wrong, call again!” Steve groaned. “I didn’t punch it in wrong.” Max argued back.

“Well, I don’t know?!” “I think she knows how to use a phone.” “I’m just saying, she could’ve typed it wrong!” Steve told Dustin as he ran his hands through his hair. “Same shit.” you groaned and slouched into your seat. You went to look over to Max but quickly sat back up when you saw El's shadow behind her.

“How is that possible?” “I told you Joyce has this telemarketer job, she’s always on the phone!” Dustin reminds lucas. “Mike won’t stop whining about it.” You didn’t break your stare from your sister’s shadow. “The phone’s been busy for what, three days now? That’s not Joyce, no way somethings wrong.” You made a sound of agreement with Max, a small smile on your face, realizing El needed to have her powers to find someone.

“That fucking shithead!” you muttered as you watched the shadow stand next to max.

“What?” Eddie asked you, you looked away from the shadow at him. “It’s nothing!” you reassured him before going back to watching the shadow. “Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to this! I’m sure of it. But vecna can’t hurt them.” Nancy said as she looked out the window.

“Not if he’s dead! We have to go back to the upside down” you turned to nancy with wide eyes. Eddie and Steve let out a bunch of no’s and nope’s at nance’s idea. “Let’s think this through!” Steve stood up and walked over to her. “What is there to think through?” she asked. “We barely made it out of there!” “Yeah, because we weren’t prepared. But this time we will be, we’ll get weapons and protection. We go through the gate and we'll find his lair and kill him!” you sighed as you got up and sat next to eddie who already looked stressed. You rubbed his back in comfort.

“Or he’ll kill us! Y/n only survived because he wanted her too! He’s not scared of us!” “For good reason, we were wrong about venca. Henry. One, sorry what are we calling him now?” Robin asked, confused. “One” “Vecna” “one “ “henry” “henry” “vecna” you all looked at each other confused. “Right, we’ve learned something new about vecna/henry/one. He’s a number like eleven and y/n, only he’s a sick, evil, male with child murdering version of them with really bad skin! But my point is, he’s super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It’s not a fair fight!” “Why fight fair?!”

“You’re right but that gives us an upper hand, we know y/n and eleven's strengths and weaknesses.” you smiled as you played with eddie’s somewhat knotted hair. “Weaknesses?” Erica asked, turning to dustin. “When they both remote travel, they both go into a trance state. I bet it’s the same with vecna!” you smirked and looked at the shadow behind max and lucas.

“That would explain what he was doing in the attic!” “Exactly! I bet when he attacks his next victim, he’s back in that attic, physical body defenseless.”

“Defenseless, what about the army of bats?!” Steve asked. “Give ‘em a distraction! If they’re distracted they can’t hurt anyone meaning vecna is severely and royally screwed if he’s alone” you smiled at the pair. “And how do we do that exactly?” Eddie turned to you. “Not sure yet.” you groaned and fell back into the couch “Y/n’s right! He won’t stand a chance, it’ll be like slaying a sleeping dracula in his coffin.”

“That sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to vecna’s killings. At least not one I can decipher” You sighed. “We don’t know who he’s gonna attack.” “Yeah we do.” Everyone turned to max.

“I can still feel him, and y/n’s now marked two so either of us could be his next kill…one of us could ditch our songs and focus him on us.” She explained to the others, you quietly groaned as you watched the shadow behind Max.

“Now she knows!” Eddie turned to you with a concerned look. “I’ll keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into the attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart, blow him up with some explosive dustin cooks up. I honestly don’t care how you kill this asshole. Just, try not to miss.”

Everyone stayed silent, trying to figure out an official plan. “Where do we even go for the supplies!” Robin asked, Eddie jumped up and ran to grab the newspaper.

“Check it out. The warzone. I’ve been there once, it’s huge! It has everything you would need for um…killing things!” Eddie explained as he placed a newspaper on the table for everyone to see the ad for the store.

”Is that a grenade! Look how any of this legal?!” Robin asked as she looked down at the flyer. “Well luckily for us it is! This place is just right outside of hawkins! As long as we stay clear of main roads we can avoid cops or uh angry hicks…” he said with an uncomfortable smile on his face.

“If we’re trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn’t go to some place called the warzone!” Dustin pointed at Erica, silently agreeing with her. “Normally I would agree with you but we need the weapons, so i think it’s worth the risk!” Nancy said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Me too!” Erica looked at Lucas surprised. “But It'll take all day to bike from here to there!” Dustin said with a groan.

“Who said anything about biking?” Eddie said as he stood up straight. “What? Do you have a car we don’t know about?” Steve asked, confused. “It’s not exactly a car steve! And it’s not exactly mine, but it’ll do.” Eddie said with a smile. Everyone looked at each other confused.

“Hey, red, you got a ski mask or a bandana, something like that?” Max thought about it for a minute before running to her room. Eddie waited till you all were outside to put on the mask. “I’m gonna pee!” You said as you leaned onto Robin, laughing at Eddie in the mask.

“Y/n, Shush!” Steve shushed you as they all peaked out behind Max's trailer.

“Sorry!” you told Steve, still letting out giggles every now and then. You all followed Eddie as he made his way to his neighbor’s RV. You all ran behind the side of it and waited as Eddie opened the window and crawled into the RV. “Damn..” you whispered to yourself as you watched Eddie hop in “Y/n! Stop looking at his ass!” Steve whispered-yelled at you. “I’m going, I’m going!” you hopped up and had steve help you crawl in fully.

Once in, he ran to the front of the RV, locking the door as he went by. You helped the others get in while Steve walked up to the front with eddie. “Where did you learn how to do all this?” Steve asked Eddie as he hotwired the RV. “Well, while all the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish, or play baseball, my old man was teaching how to hotwire.” you and robin looked at each other shocked at his words.

“Now, I swore to myself I wouldn’t wind up like he did, but now i’m wanted for murder, and so grand theft auto! So I’m really living up to that munson name!” He smiled at steve. “Kinda hot, if you ask me!” you muttered, earning a head shake of disapproval from Dustin and lucas. “He learned how to hot wire as a child and my dad taught me how to shoot a gun! We’re a good pair!” you smirked at the boys, shutting the window you all came through.

“Uh, Eddie, I’m not really sure I love the idea of you driving!” Robin told him, over Steve's shoulder. “Oh I'm just starting this sucker. Harrington’s got her, don’t ya big boy!” Steve looked at Eddie shocked. You all jumped as the RV started up and the owner’s started banging on the door. “EVERYONE HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!” Steve warned, giving everyone a split second to grab something before driving out of the trailer park.

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Lucas and Erica held onto the bar near the door’s entrance. Dustin and Max holding onto the seat cushions they sat on. Nancy, Robin, yourself and Eddie holding onto the car’s dinner table area.

You giggled as you looked up at Eddie on the top of the table booth seat. “Oh they don’t look happy! DRIVE STEVE DRIVE!” Dustin told Steve who pressed the gas pedal and sharply turned the RV, thrashing everyone around in the back.

“I mean it’s not everyday you lose your car and house in one fell swoop!” Robin told Dustin as her and Nancy held onto for dear life.

“Are you head banging?!” you giggled as you watched Eddie, above you. “Maybe, or it’s Steve's driving!” you both smiled at each other. Once Steve had gotten on the road everyone in the back calmed down and got to sit in comfortable positions. You and robin smiled at each other as nancy when to sit by steve mid drive.

You sighed as Dustin sat down in front of you. “What?” you asked him as he gave you a look. “Why don’t you tell Eddie about your feelings for him?” you raised your eyebrows at his words before looking around the RV, robin, eddie and erica were out cold. Lucas and Max were too busy with their own conversation. “I don't know henderson!” you shrugged. “Bullshit!” you turned your head towards steve and nancy up front. “Not bullshit actually.” he rolled his eyes at you.

“Ok, maybe I'm scared that if I have my dad’s curse and one day he’ll disappear or leave me, I guess..I mean look at my dad, mom, el!” you explained. “Eddie’s not like that y/n! He won’t just randomly one day leave you.” Dustin told you.

“You never know! I didn’t think my dad would die and el would leave to go live in cali without me.” Dustin got up from his side of the booth and walked over to hug you. You laughed a bit as he squeezed you.

You dozed off for about 20 minutes before you got shaken awake by robin, telling you all had arrived at the store. Yourself, Max, Robin, Erica, steve and nancy got out of the RV and made your way into the store. ”So much for avoiding angry hicks!” “It looks like hickville in here...jesus christ..” you said as you all walked in and looked around the store. “Let’s be fast!” you all agreed and split up. You walked around the store with a handheld basket and picked up a lighter and lots of lighter fluid, you grabbed three boxes of nails as well.

You walked over to Nancy at the gun case. “Hi, could we see that one please!” you smiled as the attendant got it down and handed it to you. “Try this one nance. That’ll do nothing to vecna.” you told her, handling her the rifle. She cocked it and nodded at you. “How much is this?” The attendants looked over at you both. “120.99 but I'll throw in 20 rounds of buckshot for ya!” you both nodded at him.

“Hey, could I see this pretty .357, please?” your eyes widen at the voice next to you. Nancy and you slowly looked over to jason. “Here you go son.” “Thank you.” Jason stopped as he looked over. You quickly used your powers to hide yourself. You walked away from him but bumped into two other jocks, that broke your focus and showed yourself to them. You recognize one as Andy, he was there the night Patrick died.

“Y/n?” You looked at Andy before quickly running over to nancy. “What are you doing here, hopper?” You shrugged at jason. “I could ask you the same thing!” he walked closer to you. “I know what you did.” you didn’t flinch as he got up close to you. “Good, now leave me be, before I give you the same fate as your girlfriend!” You smirked at him. “Let’s go y/n!” Steve moved you and Nancy away from jason.

You looked back at him and watched as he ran to go get his other friends. You groaned as you walked behind the store and into the RV. “What happened!” Lucas asked you and steve. “Gotta go!” Steve told them, sitting in the front seat. “Your old friends are here!” Erica explained, throwing a bag onto the table. “Y/n threatened Jason too!” Eddie looked at you with wide eyes as you sat down next to robin. Steve quickly started the RV and drove out of the store’s parking lot.

“Oh! Steve, stop here!” you told him as you saw a sign for a small convenience store. “What why?!” you thought for an excuse. “I have to get something here!” “Like what y/n?!” You sighed, did it really come down to this excuse... “I have my period steve!” you yelled, which made Steve quickly turn into the store’s parking lot. You quickly sighed and got out of the RV and ran inside the store and went right to the hair products and grabbed five cans of hairspray. You smiled as the cashier handed you the bags with the hairspray cans.

You quietly got back into the RV, Steve was silent the whole ride. You smiled as he pulled into an empty field near a very empty road. You all unloaded and grabbed the stuff you had bought from the warzone.

You walked with Eddie and Dustin and helped them make their shields. “Ow! My finger!” Dustin groaned as he accidentally smashed his pointer finger with the hammer. “Give it here, tiny child!” you stuck your hand out for the hammer, and got to work. “How’s she feeling?” Dustin asked Eddie, who acted like he was using it. “Light but durable. Deadly. But reliable!” the pair chuckled as you hammered the last nail into Dustin's shield.

“Hear me now! There will be no more retreating from Eddie the banished!” you and Dustin smiled at eddie. “Hey, you’re ready for bat-tle.” Dustin chortles at his own joke. You and Eddie looked at each other with a blank look on your faces, Eddie looked at Dustin, confused. “You get it?” you held back a laugh at his face. “Bat-tle, B-A-T.” Eddie and you stayed silent. “No?” he groans. “I thought I had a good one..” you smiled as you watched Eddie tackle him.

“What are you doing?” Dustin asked Eddie, distraught. “Tackle him!” You cheered Eddie on as he pushed Dustin away. Dustin quickly ran back and tried to tackle and give Eddie a wedgie now. “Give him a wedgie eddie!” Dustin looked at you with wide eyes. “No wedgies! No wedgies!”

“Never change, Dustin henderson!” you smiled as you watched the pair. “You either, y/n hopper! Promise me?” Eddie ran over and tried to hold you into a hug. “We weren’t planning on it!” you laughed as eddie tickled your sides. “Say it y/n!” “I promise!” you laughed out. “Good.” Eddie smiled and let you go. “Good?” “Good!” you all laughed.

“Hey sinclairs how are those spears coming along?” Lucas gave you all a thumbs up, Erica quickly gave Lucas a confused look.

All three of you laughed and kept playing around in the field since you were the first ones to finish. You laughed as Dustin almost fell over the small hill you all sat on.

“Are you nervous?” you turned to eddie. “Of?” he sighed and sat down next to you. “Of being vecna’s next victim?” you thought about it for a minute.

“Not really, I know I have a really amazing group who wouldn’t let me get taken by him!” you gave him a small smile.

“I’ll be really upset if I miss out on your awesome metal concert.” you both smiled and turned to watch dustin.

“I won’t let that happen to you.” You chortle at his words. “Good!”

You all rode in the RV in silence as you dropped off Max, Erica and Lucas at the creel house. Steve parked the RV in the woods, near the trailer park.

After you all went over the plan, you all made your way into the trailer park and right towards eddie’s trailer. You all slowly made it into the portal one by one. You were the last to fall through. You giggled as Steve and Eddie lifted you up off the mattress.

You all made your way out of the trailer to set up. “Hey, guys, listen.” you, eddie and dustin turned to steve. “If things here start to go south, I mean at all, you abort! Draw the attention from the bats for a minute or two. We’ll take care of vecna!” you three looked at each other.

“Don’t try to be cute or be a hero, or something. Okay, you guys are just-!” “Decoys!” Dustin and Steve spoke at the same time. “Don’t worry you can be the hero stevie boy!” you smiled.

“Absolutely, I mean look at us. We are not heroes.” you chuckled as Dustin looked between you and eddie. “Speak for yourself! I got cool powers!” You joked. Steve nodded at the trio and went to walk away but was stopped by eddie.

“Hey steve.” he turned around to face him. “Make him pay!” Steve nodded and walked away with Nancy and Robin towards their spot. You held back a groan, knowing Eddie meant it for chrissy. “I’m jealous of a dead chick!” You muttered to yourself as you went over to the deck.

You sighed as you three finished making a border so the bats couldn’t get to you all if you needed to hide. “Not bad.” “not bad at all!” Dustin and Eddie smiled at each other. “Now for the fun part!” you smirked and walked ahead of the two, into the trailer.

“Jesus christ!” You and Dustin looked around Eddie's room in the upside down. “It’s like she was destined for an alternate dimension.” Eddie was in awe of his guitar on the wall. “What do you two say? Are you both ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world!” You both smiled “Is that a rhetorical question?” Eddie smiled and put the guitar onto his back/

“Let’s do it!” You and Dustin chuckled and grabbed the amps Eddie had in his room and followed him to the roof of the trailer to set up.

You all waited to be told to move on to a new phase. “She’s in, move into phase three!” you all jumped up and got ready. “Copy that! Initiating phase three.” you nodded and watched as Dustin pulled in the amp. “Let’s hope they hear this!” you nodded and turned the volume up. “Chrissy, this is for you!” you looked at dustin with an offended look before turning back to eddie.

“What the fuck, I do all this just for him to dedicate this whole thing to a dead chick?!” you quietly ranted to Dustin as you both hid behind the amps.

You watched as eddie played master of puppets by metallica. You and Dustin smiled and head banged as you listened to him play. You looked through the binoculars and saw the bats flying towards you three. “Eddie, Lockdown in T-minus 30 seconds!” he nodded at your words and kept playing.

“T-Minus Twenty!” Dustin yelled, keeping an eye on them. You smiled as you heard Eddie shredding the guitar. “T-Minus ten!” you got up from the roof and stood. “Five. One.” Eddie finished playing and quickly followed you and dustin into the room you all built earlier that night.

“Move!” you rushed Dustin in. Luckily you all got in before they could get to anyone.

“Dude, most metal ever!”

“Oh my god, oh my god!” You laughed as you watched Eddie and Dustin be excited about what had just happened.

You all could hear the bats trying to get through the wire, you Dustin and Eddie stood with your backs together and kept circling around the portal, looking to see if one had popped through. “Hey dipshits! Give up that easy!” “shhh!” Eddie shushed dustin. “Stop egging ‘em on!” you chimed in, you three jumped as you heard one find its way towards the roof.

“Shit!” you cursed and slowly approached the part of the roof they were at. “They can’t go through there, could they?” as Dustin asked, a bat popped through, scaring you three. You all stabbed it and made your way towards the portal. “You go first dustin!” you rushed him in.

Eddie looked at you and knelt down, preparing to help you in the portal. “You go first y/n.” you nodded and hopped onto the rope and climbed through.

You and Dustin waited for Eddie to do the same. “C’mon eddie!” “We’re so close!” you started to panic as he kept looking over towards the door, where the bats were biting through.

“Eddie?!” you yelled as you watched him drop down from the rope, he looked back at you and dustin. You and Dustin started yelling for him as he cut the rope with the spare axe.

You watched as Dustin caught the rope in his hands. You both stared at it, in shock. “Eddie! What are you doing?!” he sighs and looks up at you. “I’m buying more time!” You groaned and moved dustin off the mattress and flipped it on it’s side. You scrambled to find an empty chair.

“Where are you going?!” Dustin asked as you placed down a chair and practiced your jumps.

“I’ve gotta go save the damn hero!” you told him, as you sighed and jumped into the portal using the chair to boost you. “And she sticks the landing!” you muttered to yourself before looking up at dustin.

“Throw that bag in here dustin!” He quickly does so. You jumped as the bag smacked you in the face. “Oww!” You groaned but quickly brushed off the pain. You grabbed the cans of hairspray.

“What are you doing with those! Styling your hair?!” you groaned at dustin. “Leave it all to me, k?” You gave him a smile before running out of the trailer, you looked around trying to find a trial Eddie might’ve left behind.

Your heart dropped as you saw a swarm of bats, you quickly shook up the can of hairspray and pulled out a lighter from your back pocket.

You ran over to the swarm. You felt your heart break as you heard Eddie's screams from the bats biting his flesh. “Son of a bitch!” you cursed as some of the bats started to bite you as well.

“Y/N! EDDIE!” you tried to turn your head to see Dustin, getting a mini swarm of bats. Your mom instinct kicked in, you struggled to push off some of the bats. You sprayed the fire at bats in Dustin's direction. Dustin panted on the grass.

Thankfully he wasn't hurt at all. You quickly turned to face in Eddie's direction and sprayed every bat that you could see.

“Eddie!” You ran over to Eddie's severely bitten body. You kept spraying the fire as you circled around. You had burned most of the bats, the ones that managed to avoid being burnt got killed by Dustin stabbing them. “Y/n..” You were too busy smashing a bat that was being stubborn on your own leg to notice Eddie calling for you.

“Stupid motherfucker!” you yelled as you kept hitting it with the empty can. “Y/n..” you turned towards Eddie, who had a small smile on his face. “Don’t you ever try being a hero!” you warned him as you hugged him tightly.

“You looked pretty badass, hopper!” He chortles. “Thanks!” you smiled as Dustin approached you both. “If we um made it out of here, do you think we could um, go out together?” You smiled at Eddie and nodded at his words. “You got a date munson! Now let’s get you back!” You whispered to Eddie, “Dustin, grab his legs and I'll carry his arms!” you commanded which the teen listened to.

“Wait, wait it hurts!” Eddie groaned as you and Dustin picked him up from the ground.

Dustin panicked and placed his legs back down. “No! Pick ‘em back up, if we let him rest he might bleed out!” you groaned. Dustin, who picked up Eddie's legs and helped you drag Eddie back through the portal.

You went to run towards the trailer’s small bathroom but quickly stopped in your tracks as you noticed the room around you had changed. You looked around, you noticed the slimy vines that slithered up your legs, you looked up and spotted your sister and Max, who were also trapped in the vines.

You searched around the room, trying to find vecna but quickly jumped as you watched him leave el’s side and walked over to where you were being held. “You and the others have already lost. Just give up y/n.” Your eyes flickered all over the place, you could see el had tears streaming down her face, max was struggling in the vines as she watched you and vecna.

“You won’t be second place in my eyes.” You held your breath as you watched him raise his palm towards your face, all the memories flooded your mind.

“We’re playing dnd- WE COULD’VE ASKED YOU!” Mike realized as you pulled into the school’s parking lot where the three of you spotted Erica waiting. “Could’ve asked me what?” you question as the pair collected the snacks they were in charge of bringing from your backseat. “We needed a sub tonight, ugh!” Dustin groaned.

“You see, we normally rely on this girl who has super powers. But those went bye-bye so- OW!” Steve held his arm as you punched him. “Screw you.” you told him with a blank face. “I literally get no credit.” You groaned out and threw yourself back onto the deck floor. “We usually rely on y/n and her sister who have powers-” Steve jerked away from you. “But her sister lost hers and y/n has her powers still but uh there not very helpful.”

“I would say all of the above but we can’t do any of that til we find a way to the upside down.” “We need El to get her powers back.” Max sighed.

“Chrissy, this is for you!” you looked at dustin with an offended look before turning back to eddie. “What the fuck! I do all this just for him to dedicate this whole thing to a dead chick?!” you quietly ranted to Dustin as you both hid behind the amps

You were brought back to his lair where he stood in front of you, waiting for you to go with him. You looked over and saw El watching you, tears running down her face. You looked right at vecna. “I’d rather chew off my foot.” You were sure if your mouth wasn’t dry you would’ve spat on him.

He let out a grumble and had released the vines around your legs for a second before throwing you up against the door, next to el.

You both watched as he walked over to max and lifted his hand to her face. You noticed how el started to slip for the slimy vines. You gave her a small smile before getting the hint that she needed you to give Henry a hallucination. You nodded and conjured up an hallucination of el and you falling, out of the vines, the images showed you both acting like you were dying. You hid eleven and yourself from his actual site and let him focus on the image of you both on the slimy flesh like floor.

You hid a smirk as you watched the plan work, Henry had been too focused on your and el’s bodies he hadn’t noticed he had dropped max and you outside of the hallucination. Eleven walked up behind him and nodded towards you to let him go from your powers. You smiled and did so, he quickly turned as he was slammed into one of the poles, el had pinned him like he had done to his previous victims.

You rushed over to max and helped her up from the floor. “Where’s Lucas and erica?!” You said slightly panicking, Max shrugged at you and held onto you as you both watched el drain Henry of his powers.

You noticed the bottom of his legs started to smoke, you and Max squeezed each other as he screamed in pain. You and Max walked behind eleven and watched as she made sure to kill him.

You three noticed once he was burnt to ashes how the room around you three started to disappear, “Y/n, your leg!” El pointed out as she gave you and max hugs. “I’ll be fine! You need to come back to Hawkins, I don't care what Joyce has to say. I need to see you after all of this mess.” She nods at you, you both watched as Max disappeared into the air, you assumed Lucas had finally used the music.

“I’m glad you're safe.” You smiled at el as you hugged her one last time before you were pulled back to hawkins. You were greeted by Dustin standing in front of you, with a panicked expression. “Y/n?” You blinked and looked around the bathroom before nodding at dustin.

He let out a sigh of relief before turning behind him and yelling “SHE’S ALIVE, EDDIE!” You followed Dustin out of the bathroom and into the living room where Eddie was laid on the couch. “And the V man is dead.” You smiled as the pair looked at you with wide eyes before staring at each other.

“No more fighting anything then?” You smiled and nodded at Eddie's reaction, Dustin just let out a breath of relief as he plopped down onto the chair beside eddie.

You noticed Dustin had ripped some of the rope and tied it around one of Eddie's bigger wounds. “We need to take him to the hospital!” you told Dustin as you both carried eddie outside, and spotted an empty truck, the owner must’ve stepped inside for a split second. “There!” You and Dustin quickly carried Eddie into the truck. Once everyone was emi buckled up you quickly drove away from the trailer park.

“We just stole another car!” Dustin laughed in shock as you quickly drove you three to the closest hospital. “Hey y/n?” You hummed in response.

“Did either you or el happen to use your, uh powers by chance?” Dustin asked you quietly as you drove.

“Me and Max watched el drain his powers if it counts, and I may have used my hallucinations, why?”You asked Dustin, turning your head towards the pair. Dustin was about the talk but the walkie interrupted.

“We did it!” Robin laughed into the walkie, excited about defeating vecna. “Great, y/n and eleven also caused an earthquake, So if you need us, meet us at the hospital!” Dustin told her as you drove into the parking lot.

You all hopped out of the truck and ran into the ER with Eddie being carried in by you and dustin. “Oh, did you kids experience the earthquake too?!” the nurse asked you three. “Sadly yes.” the nurses quickly got eddie onto a gurney

You were about to sit when the nurse noticed how bitten and bloody your legs were. She had you also taken back to get looked at.

Two Days Later

“Y/n, slow down or you’re gonna rip out your IV!” Steve scolded you as you walked ahead of him and dustin. “You two hurry up! Making the sick one go slow.” You muttered to yourself as you walked towards Eddie's room.

“Jesus.” Steve groaned and pushed the medicine pump behind you.

You smiled as you approached the open door. “Sorry, I'm late.” You told Eddie, who was sitting propped up in the hospital bed with the bed tray over his lap. “Thought you stood me up.” You both smile at his joking tone.

“And miss our hospital date? Never.” You faked a gasp and sat down on the bed near his feet.

“So what are we eating exactly?” You asked, tilting your head as he smirks. “Had henderson buy food from the new diner.” You nodded as dustin and steve walked in panting.

“Here!” Dustin exclaimed, putting the bag on the tray before walking back over to Steve who had stayed in the doorway. “We’ll leave you kids alone, Be good you two!” He jokingly pointed between you and eddie.

“Ok mom!” You smiled as Steve and Dustin left the hospital room. You quickly turned around to see Eddie, who was unpacking the food.

“Have the police tried talking to you yet?” You asked. “They try but I act asleep, so the nurses will kick them out.” He smiles a bit. “Have you gotten ahold of your sister?” You shake your head. “No, Nancy said she’ll try to get ahold of Joyce for me.” You told him as you picked at a soggy fry.

“Eww.” You placed the fry to the side, Eddie looked at you with wide eyes. “You don’t like the soggy ones?” You shook your head. “I’m gonna be honest with you hopper, I don’t know how this is gonna work out if the girl of my dreams doesn’t like the soggy fries.” He jokingly placed his hand over his heart. “Oh yes.” You smiled as you playfully rolled your eyes.

It had been a couple hours since your “hospital date” with eddie. You and Eddie had made your way towards your hospital room, where Robin and Dustin tried to entertain you, Steve and Eddie by dancing to whatever station the nurses had the radio on.

You sat on your hospital bed with a pained expression. “I should’ve let vecna take my sight if I knew I would be seeing these two dancing.” You whispered to Steve who let out a snort, Eddie joining in as well as he watched the pair. “We heard that!” You smiled and gave a thumbs up at the pair.

You sat up straight as you heard knocking on your room door. You watched as robin opened the door for nancy, who carried in two bouquets of flowers. “One of them is from me and the other is from my mom.” She told you as she placed them down on the tray.

“These are from us too!” You turned and smiled as Lucas, Max and Erica walked into the room with balloons. “Aww, thank you guys.” You gave them hugs as they greeted you and eddie. “I love the flowers and balloons so much.” You smiled at the others, who’s sight wasn’t on you but the people in the doorway.

“You haven't seen what we got you yet!�� Your eyes widened at the voice, your head slowly turned to look at the door where you saw your dad, Joyce, Mike, Will, El and jonathan. You looked up at the medicine pump and saw your pain med bag was halfway empty, you turned to the others. “Someone tell Annette my pain meds are kicking in now, my powers are trying to use themselves on me.” Steve shook his head at you, “Oh so you guys see my dead dad too?”

The group smiles at your reaction of seeing your dad alive, in your hospital room. “No, he’s really there y/n.” You nodded at Eddie's words and turned back to face him. “Oh...So where were you? You know how much you owe me for your funeral service?” Hopper let out a laugh at your words and walked over and hugged you.

“Sure missed you kiddo.” You smiled and hugged him back. “2,737 dollars plus tax mister.” You joked as he pulled away from the hug, he smiled and ruffled your hair. “Hey Mike, will!” You waved at the pair who smiled and waved back before greeted the others.

“Y/n!” El rushed over and hugged you tightly, she had been given a talk by Jonathan on how she should be gentle hugging you on the way over to the hospital.

“I missed having you here in hawkins.” You whispered in her ear as she held onto you, the others slowly greeted each other while you and el hugged. “Is that the boy?” She asked you quietly as she motioned towards Eddie, you looked and nodded at her. “Oh yeah.” She smiled and greeted Eddie and the others with mike and will.

“Oh how are you doing honey?” You smiled as Joyce's mom's voice came out as she looked at your bandaged legs. “Sore, It’s gotten better, the bleeding has gone down a bit.” She nodded at the news, “Hey y/n.” You smiled as you smelt Jonathan's shirt from the bed, he smelt like a mix of weed and air freshener. “Hi Jonathan, how’s california?” He nodded. “Cali’s ok, definitely not like hawkins.” You gave him a knowing look and smiled “Oh i’m sure their similar somehow.” You smiled at his wide eye look

After everyone had greeted each other, you all sat and talked about what was going to happen after you and Eddie got out of the hospital. “You guys have government connections?!” Eddie asked the party in shock as he listened to your dad and Joyce's plan.

“Yeah.” You nodded at him before turning back to your dad. “So me and eddie are in the clear, like this never happened?” You dad nods at your question. “Yep, then I get back my job and everything goes back to normal.” He explained, You nod at him, before putting your hand up in Eddie's direction. “No, we still have to graduate ourselves.” You heard Eddie sigh behind you, making a grin appear on your face.

“Wait, does this mean we have to fix the cabin?” You groaned and threw your head back at the thought of cleaning up the destroyed cabin in the woods. Jim let out a chuckle and shook his head “No, we’re buying a proper house.” Yours and el’s heads popped up at his news. “Dips on the bigger room!” You told el who just smiled and nodded.

A Couple Months Later

“Shush, my dad might hear you.” You warned Eddie as he crawled through the window in your new bedroom.

“Doll, I got the greatest news ever!” You smiled at his excited expression. “Well, what is it?” You asked as you watched him crawl and plop himself on top of your body on your bed. “Well you remember that weird guy at the hideout a couple weeks ago?” You had to think about it for a minute before nodding at the memory.

“What about him?” Eddie sighed and smiled wider at you. “Well he liked corroded coffins songs and turns out he was a scout for a record company and we got offered a record deal-!” Eddie was cut off by you squealing and tackling him into a tight hug. “Ooh, congratulations eds! That’s my boyfriend.” You cupped his cheeks and kissed him.

You both kept making out, eddie’s hands going underneath your sleeping shirt, you had stolen from him, You smiled as he pushed himself down a bit more and kissed your jaw before moving to your neck, you let out a moan as he left a mark, You both quickly took off your shirt and threw somewhere in your room, eddie smiled as he went back to kissing your neck. After a bit he looked back up at you “You sure you wanna do this? I’m not pressuring you, am I?” You smiled and shook your head at him.

“I wanna do this eds.” His grin got brighter as he went back to leaving a trail of kisses down your neck and towards the valley of your breasts. A knock on your door startled you both.

“One minute I’m changing!” You yelled out before looking all over your room for your shirt you both had tossed across the room.

“Hide under my bed.” You whispered towards Eddie who nodded and quickly slid under your bed and was thankfully hidden by the bed skirt you, Joyce and eleven had bought when you were shopping for the new house. You quickly put on the shirt and made sure your hair didn’t look all nuts before running to open your door.

“Oh i just wanted to let you know that me and your dad are going out for dinner and probably won’t be back til ten.” You nod at Joyce's words, praying she won’t notice the hickey on your neck. “Kay, you two have a fun night!” You smiled as you leaned against your doorframe as your dad came up from behind joyce.

“We will.” You dad smiled down at Joyce, you held yourself back from gagging.

“Oh hop can you give us a minute, I just need to tell y/n something.” Your dad nodded and walked to the living room. “What did you need to tell me?” You asked Joyce, who had a small smile on her face.

“Did you get burned by the curling iron?” You nodded, not noticing how the shirt had moved a bit too much and Joyce had got a glance at the hickey. “Yeah, I thought it was turned off and I was wrapping up the cord and burnt myself.” Praying Joyce had bought the story.

“Oh ok, I just wanted to say that Max is spending the night here so no fiddling around with the curling iron.” You looked at her confused. She gives you a knowing look. “It’s alright I was a teenager once y/n.” Your eyes widen at her words, she must’ve heard you and Eddie scrambling around your room.

“Alright we’ll be PG tonight.” You told her, she smiled at you before turning to walk out the door. “Oh, goodnight eddie.” You groaned and banged your head against the doorframe.

“Night ms byers.” Eddie told her as he lifted the bed skirt so she could see him. “Smart, I used to hide mine in my closet.” Joyce smiled at both of you before walking towards the living room where our dad was waiting.

You shut your door before turning around to face eddie. “You should go too, before one of the kids bursts in here too.” He nodded and went to climb out your window. You walked over to your window where you leaned out slightly and kissed Eddie once more.

“Sorry, our celebration got cut short.” Eddie smiled at you “Seeing you is the best celebration for me.” You giggled at him, he went to walk away but you quickly called him back.

“Yeah?” He asked, confused, did he leave something in your room?

“Would you settle for a PG-13 celebration?” Eddie looked at you confused. “What is it?” You stared at him for a second before lifting up your shirt and bra.

Eddie’s eyes widened at your boldness, a smile broke out on both your faces. You laugh and put your shirt and bra back down. “That’s one celebration I won’t forget.” He smiled at you.

“Alright, loverboy, goodnight.” You leaned out the window a bit and managed to kiss Eddie's cheek. “Night.” He smiled the whole walk towards his van.

Life was looking up for him, his name was cleared, now his career was just starting and he has a beautiful girlfriend? Yep life was being good to him.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x hopper!reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fix it fic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fluff #stranger things fanfic #stranger things x reader #stranger things x y/n

752 notes · View notes

the-wild-wolves-around-you · 2 years

Text

i can't carry it for you, but i can carry you (an eddie munson fix-it fic)

Pairing: Eddie Munson/Fem!Reader; Eddie Munson/You

Summary: Eddie tries to sacrifice himself and be the hero, but you're not letting him go that easily.

What if there was one more person on Eddie and Dustin's team when they went into the Upside Down? What if they were able to get to him in time?

Rating: M(ature)

Warnings: Adult language, some descriptions of blood and violence. *** Some spoilers for the Season 4 Finale if you haven't seen it.

A/N: Eddie Munson is the new loml. Seriously giggling and kicking my feet just thinking of him. I'm already thinking of writing a smutty ch 2 and another kas fic. anyway, hope you enjoy! <3

Ao3 Link: Here

Update: Links to the smutty sequel - Tumblr / Ao3

“Alright, you’re next, sweetheart!” Eddie shouted, and his elbow shoved you toward the makeshift rope.

You stumbled as you raggedly gasped in the tainted air of this godforsaken place, but you grabbed the length of knotted sheets in your trembling hands.

“What about you?” you asked, snapping your gaze back to Eddie, who was standing between you and the door that the demo-bats were steadily splintering into pieces.

“I’ll be right behind you, princess!” Eddie tossed you a smile over his shoulder, but you could see the stark terror in his dark-brown eyes. “I wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if I left you behind, now would I?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but an all-mighty crack suddenly echoed through the trailer.

“Hurry, go!” Eddie said as he turned to fully face the weakening door.

“Guys, hurry up!” Dustin yelled from above you, and you looked up to see the boy dancing around anxiously on the other side of the portal.

You knew you couldn’t waste any more time, but you threw Eddie one last look before you started pulling yourself up the rope. Your arms burned from the strain, and the unholy screeching of the demo-bats was making your ears ring, but before you knew it, you felt yourself cross the portal, gravity taking hold of you again and pulling you down.

“Eddie, come on, let’s go!” Dustin screamed as your back hit the mattress, and you looked up through the ceiling of the trailer, seeing Eddie’s pale, terrified, dirt-streaked face staring back at you.

You could still hear the demo-bats shrieking on the other side of the gate, could feel the cold splatter of their dark blood on your cheeks and collarbones. Your chest heaved as your lungs worked overtime, heart pounding a war march in your ears, but your wide, unblinking gaze was locked on Eddie Munson.

The dark-haired man was halfway up the rope, just a full more pull ups, and he would fall through and land on top of you. Dustin was still screaming— Eddie, you’re so close! Eddie! Let’s go!—but Eddie slowed, then stopped, and his eyes found yours.

They were scared, so scared… but also resolute, and realization washed over you like an ice cold wave.

No.

The word echoed through your mind before it fell from your lips.

“No!” you gasped, scrambling to your feet. “Eddie!”

But you were too late.

Eddie had let go of the rope, falling back onto his feet with a thud that shook you to your core.

“What are you doing?” Dustin yelled, and he reached for the rope, but Eddie sliced through it on the other side, the length of sheets collapsing onto the mattress at your feet. “Eddie, no! Stop, stop!”

The same words were screaming through your head, but you couldn’t find the breath to voice them. It felt like a fist was squeezing your lungs into clay. The center of your chest ached, and dots began to dance in the corners of your vision, blurred by tears.

“Eddie, what are you doing?!” Dustin moaned as he frantically gripped his head, and the two of you watched helplessly as the metalhead shoved the mattress on the other side away from the portal.

“I’m buying more time,” Eddie said, glancing up, or rather down, at you and Dustin. His dark eyes settled on yours for what felt like an endless moment, and his face twisted with sadness. “Henderson, get Obi out of here.”

The nickname— that stupid nickname— hit you like a blow to the chest, forcing the last bit of oxygen from your shriveled lungs.

Ever since you offered to tutor him last fall— in the hopes of making this his last senior year— he’d taken to giving you nicknames in retaliation, and not the usual “sweetheart” or “princess” he had been calling you from the moment he met you. No, he said that if you were truly going to be his mentor, then he should treat you with respect… by calling you “Gandalf” and “Master Obi-Wan” or Obi for short. Obi was his favorite, the one he resorted to most, to the point where Dustin and some of the others had started to call you that, too.

You had always rolled your eyes and playfully shoved Eddie every time he called you these things, but secretly, you loved it.

And now, it was tearing you to pieces.

“No, Eddie, please!” Dustin wailed, ripping you out of your reverie and back to the present.

Your eyes focused just in time to see Eddie slip out of sight on the other side of the gate, and the moment he was gone, every cell in your body rebelled.

No. No, this can’t happen. He can’t do this. I won’t let him.

All at once, you were suddenly in motion, shoving past a still screaming Dustin and stumbling toward the back of the trailer.

“Obi, where are you going?” the boy yelled after you, but you ignored him.

There was no time for talking. No time for explanations. No time, no time, notime.

You burst into Eddie’s bedroom, the door rebounding off the wall with a crunching sound. You ignored that, too, and frantically cast your eyes around the disheveled and messy room. The sight of Eddie’s guitar on the wall made your gut churn, the phantom echoes of his Upside Down concert still ringing in your ears. You half-expected demo-bats to come exploding out of the ceiling vent again, but you ignored the terrified skip of your heart as you fell to your knees and started rifling through the mess.

“Come on, come on,” you muttered, shoving aside dirty clothes, stray papers, old magazines.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dustin shouted from the doorway behind you. “Obi! We need to get back there! Eddie’s—”

“Aha!” you cheered in triumph, spotting your prize in a plastic bag beneath the dresser. You ripped it from its hiding place and dumped the contents on top of the dresser, DnD figurines and cassette tapes clattering to the floor.

The several cans of hairspray pinged as they bounced off each other, and you snapped them up, shaking them to estimate how much was left.

Not a lot, but enough. Thank god Eddie was a diva about his hair.

You shoved two of the cans into the waistband of your ripped jean shorts, one at each hip, and the third you grasped in your sweaty palm. Then you searched the mess on the dresser for a glint of metal, one you just saw a moment ago…

“There you are, bastard,” you said, snatching up the Zippo lighter perched precariously on the edge of the dresser. There were always half a dozen lighters in Eddie’s room at any given time, most usually lost and forgotten, but you were so grateful for this fact now as you shoved the Zippo in your pocket.

“Obi—” Dustin tried again, but you were suddenly whirling on him, grabbing his wrist, and sprinting back to the gate.

“Give me a boost.” You skidded to a stop beneath the portal and looked back at Dustin, who was pale and gaping at you.

“W-Wha—”

“Dustin!” you snapped, though you didn’t mean to. “We don’t have the time to build another rope, and Eddie is alone against a fucking army of bloodthirsty bats. Give me a goddamn boost!”

“I-I don’t know if I can,” he stammered out.

You frowned in confusion but then remembered the boy didn’t have fucking collarbones.

“Shit,” you cursed before your eyes fell on a rickety yellow chair. “Here!”

You dragged the chair under the gate and clambered up onto it, the metal legs groaning under your weight, but you were short, an inch or two shorter than even Dustin, and the ceiling seemed impossibly out of reach.

“Jump,” Dustin suddenly said, and when you looked down at him, his eyes were still scared but determined. Like Eddie’s had been. “Jump, and if you can reach the edge, I can push you through.”

There wasn’t time to think of alternatives, so you nodded quickly and shoved the third can of hairspray down the front of your shirt, in between your breasts and under the center band of your bra. The metal was cold against your skin, and you swore you could hear your thundering heartbeat echoing through the canister.

“Okay,” you breathed as you wiped your sweaty palms on your shorts. “Okay, I’ll go on three. Ready?”

“Shit,” Dustin said, his expression tortured, but he nodded. “Ready.”

You swallowed sharply as you looked up through the portal, the dark reflection of the Munson trailer staring back at you. Fear started to crawl up your spine like a million ants, but you ignored it as you bent your knees and prayed the wobbly chair beneath you held out.

“Alright, one,” you started, heart in your throat, flexing your fingers to get some feeling back into them. “Two… Three!”

On three, you jumped up with all your might, the chair screeching across the floor beneath you, but then you were in the air, your fingers extending, reaching…

And latching on to the edge of the gate.

The slick vines almost made you immediately lose your grip, but you dug your nails in deep, grunting as your shoulders strained against your body weight. Your legs kicked in the air, finding no purchase, until they smacked into something solid.

“Ow!” Dustin hissed. “Stop kicking!”

“Sorry,” you gasped, but that was all you could get out, because your arms were already starting to shake. You did stop kicking, though, and just hung there for a moment before you felt Dustin’s hands wrap around your feet and start to push.

You gritted your teeth and heaved yourself upwards, and with Dustin’s help, you started to breach the gate. First your head, then your shoulders, but as the Upside Down’s gravity latched onto you, you realized you forgot one important detail.

The landing.

“Oh, shit!” you yelped as your hands lost purchase, and you felt Dustin’s hands slip from your ankles as you plummeted toward the trailer floor.

“Obi!” Dustin yelled.

Your body flailed through the air, and you had just enough time to turn your body so your shoulder— and not your face— took the brunt of the fall.

The impact still knocked the breath and the sense out of you. You also heard a dull crunch as your shoulder crashed into the shitty linoleum tile, and a moment later, red-hot pain lanced through your body.

“Fuck!” you gasped, rolling onto your back and squeezing your eyes shut. A kaleidoscope of colors danced across the back of your eyelids, pulsing in time with the pain radiating from your shoulder.

You must have broken something. At least fractured it. The pain was so overwhelming, your mouth started to fill with saliva, but you swallowed it down, along with the bile rising in the back of your throat.

Eddie. Eddie needed you. He was alone. He needed help.

“Obi!” Dustin shouted again, and your eyes flew open as you sucked in a deep breath.

“I’m fine,” you croaked, dissolving into a cough and then a groan as the motion aggravated your shoulder.

You didn’t have time for this. Eddie didn’t have time for this. It had already been several minutes since you’d seen him. And since you weren’t being eaten alive, the bats must have left the trailer. But you could still hear them screeching, so they weren’t far off, which meant Eddie was still close by.

You could save him.

The thought had you rolling upright, biting through your tongue to keep from vomiting. Somehow, you ended up on your feet, though your vision was blurry with tears.

“I’m… gonna go find him,” you grunted out as you fixed your eyes on the splintered front door of the trailer.

“No, Obi, wait for me,” Dustin pleaded, and you heard him start to scrape the chair back into place.

“Can’t,” you said through gritted teeth, but then you suddenly heart a faint shout coming from outside the trailer.

A very human shout.

Eddie.

You were moving before you realized it, stumbling and then jogging out of the trailer, Dustin’s voice growing fainter and fainter behind you.

“Obi, wait, stop!”

But you couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t. The pain in your shoulder even felt distant at this point, removed, muffled. As you staggered down the road, you reached into your shirt with your good arm and pulled out the can of hairspray that had somehow stayed snuggled under your bra. You were distantly grateful that the cans hadn’t exploded when you crashed into the trailer floor, but then Eddie’s voice echoed out across the trailer park again, and all other thoughts evaporated from your brain.

Because now, he was screaming.

The sound tore at your insides, infinitely more painful than a busted shoulder, and you rounded a corner to see a fucking tornado of bats circling the middle of the road.

Circling Eddie.

He was trying to fight them off, but they were so many, too many, and you watched in horror as one lashed its tail around his neck, yanking him off his feet. You saw him hit the asphalt before more of the bats descended and blocked him completely from view.

No, no, no.

Now, you were running, sprinting, gripping the can of hair spray in your fist like a sword as you used your good hand to dig the Zippo out of your pocket. The bats were so focused on Eddie, they didn’t even notice you approach, and within the blink of an eye, you were upon them. Pain flared through your shoulder like a supernova as you used your bad arm to flick open the lighter, and then you lifted the hairspray in front of it and aimed blindly at the cyclone of bats. You hit the striker as you simultaneously pressed down on the hairspray nozzle, and a column of fire erupted from your hand.

Your distantly heard Eddie’s voice at the back of your head, cackling. Obi uses fireball, anndddd that’s a hit!

And a hit it was.

The demo-bats directly in front of you immediately went up in flames, screeching and shrieking an unholy cacophony. They flailed and pinwheeled into each other, spreading the blaze, and one-by-one, they started to fall out of the sky and crash into the asphalt, little more than piles of smoldering leather skin and ashes.

But more importantly, a path was suddenly cleared before you, and you could see Eddie lying on the ground less than thirty feet away.

Adrenaline was making every nerve in your body buzz and sing, drowning out the terror, so when the hairspray can in your hand abruptly sputtered, empty, you didn’t miss a beat as you tossed it away and yanked another one from your waistband.

The bats were wailing as they burned, and you kept the column of flames going as you stumbled over their smoldering corpses. Some of the flying bastards were starting to catch on, though, and they dive-bombed you as you reached Eddie. You turned your back on his prone form— refusing to look down, refusing to see if he was still breathing because he had to be— and you lifted up your arms as you aimed for the eye of the winged storm.

“Fuck youuuuuu!” you bellowed, spinning in a circle to roast every demo-bat that came within five feet.

One of the bats directly above you shrieked so loudly your ears popped, and you aimed for the fucker just to shut it up. Its ugly snarling face was swallowed by the inferno, and its screech cut off as it suddenly went limp and plummeted from the sky.

You gasped but then remembered Eddie lying at your feet, and you didn’t even have to think about it as you turned and threw your body over his.

The grunt that escaped his chest when you landed on him would have made you weep for joy— alive, alive, he’s alive— but an instant later, you felt the corpse of the demo-bat slam into your spine while still on fire.

You cried out wordlessly as the flames scalded your shoulder blades, the smell of burning hair filling your nose, and you immediately rolled off Eddie. The bat carcass flopped to the side, and you kicked it away, rolling on your back again to put out any residual embers.

The pain in your shoulder was worse now, rearing its head past the adrenaline rushing through your veins, and now your back felt like a charred grill.

But you couldn’t think about that, couldn’t give into the pain, because the demo-bats were still screaming around you, and now they were pissed.

You scrambled to your feet and pulled your third and last can of hairspray from your waistband. You’d lost the previous one in your fall, and there was no time to look for it amongst the smoldering bodies surrounding you. Thankfully, you’d kept hold of the Zippo, because there were still dozens of bats circling overhead, and in the brief reprieve from the flames, they decided to get bold again.

They dive-bombed you in unison, and your heart lurched into your throat as you stood in the face of what now seemed like countless winged nightmares. Their snarling maws, filled with teeth, descended on you like a plague, and you just barely got the Zippo and hairspray up before you were torn to pieces.

Flames exploded into life a moment later, and most of the bats veered off, but one fucker wasn’t deterred, and it swooped and raked its talons across your arm before spiraling off, burning.

“Shit!” you screamed as white-hot agony raced up your arm, and a gush of your own blood arched through the air, glinting in the lightning and flames flashing around you.

The bat had gotten you across your good forearm and bicep, and now both of your arms felt heavy as lead. Your body ached to drop them, to give up, but you refused.

You weren’t going to die. Because if you died, Eddie was going to die, and you were not going to let that happen.

“Come on, you sons of bitches!” you roared at the sky, baring your teeth at the demo-bats.

They screeched out their own war cry and dove once more, and you were there to meet them with flames and rage.

What felt like an eternity passed as you roasted the bats left and right, but then you felt the hairspray sputter in your hand, and your stomach dropped into your shoes. You only had a brief instant to panic before the flames died out all at once, and you stared at the can like it had personally betrayed you. But then you tossed it away like you had the others, shoved the lighter in your pocket out of habit, and gasped for breath as you searched for something, anything, to keep the bats at bay.

A flash of lightning illuminated the gloom around you, glinting off some metal half buried under the embers of a demo-bat corpse. Recognition hit you like a bus, and you lunged forward, dragging Eddie’s handmade shield and spear into your hands. Your busted shoulder screamed as you hefted the shield up in front of you, spikes pointed out, and the fingers of your opposite hand were slick with your own blood on the haft of the spear.

You crouched defensively like you had seen Eddie and Dustin do when they were fucking around in that field what felt like a lifetime ago, and your heartbeat was so loud in your ear, you almost didn’t hear Eddie’s voice.

“Obi,” he rasped behind you, but his voice sounded wrong, wet, and your insides froze. “O-bi… run.”

“No,” you said right before the bats seemed to realize you were out of fire, and then there was no more time for talking.

The cloud of them descended upon you, blocking out the sky, and you stepped back to protectively stand over Eddie’s body as you lifted you shield, closed your eyes, and braced for impact.

The first demo-bat to slam into the shield nearly knocked you off your feet, but you widened your stance and shouted wordlessly, extending your shield arm out until the pain was so great in your shoulder that you almost couldn’t feel it anymore. Bats kept slamming into the metal disk, one after another, and you lifted your spear, expecting one to swoop at you from behind.

But they didn’t.

In fact, after a moment, even the impacts against your shield stopped, and suddenly, it was eerily quiet. The demo-bats weren’t shrieking anymore, they were almost… whimpering. And the sound wasn’t coming from above you. It was coming from… below.

You tentatively peeked beyond your shield, bringing your spear in front of you, ready to impale anything that moved. But when you looked around, your eyes widened. The breath stilled in your lungs.

The sky was clear, and the demo-bats were… dead. Or dying. They twitched and writhed on the asphalt around you like worms after a big rain. Most of them were scorched in some manner, but some of them looked whole and unblemished, like they had just dropped out of the sky.

What the fuck?

You stood there panting for several seconds, but no more nightmares came swooping down out of the black clouds. The vines on the trailers around you didn’t come alive, a Demogorgon didn’t sprout of the ground and attack. There was… nothing.

Was it… was it over?

Before you could think any more about it, Eddie coughed behind you, and you whirled around.

“Eddie,” you gasped as you stumbled forward, your arms going limp at your sides. The shield and spear clattered onto the road, but you barely heard them, your eyes and all your attention focused on the man sprawled out at your feet.

It was the first time you had really looked at him since you started to attack the bats, and your breath immediately caught in your chest.

“Eddie,” you said again, but this time it was more of a whimper, your voice as weak as your buckling knees. You dropped into a kneeling position beside him, the hot asphalt digging and burning your bare skin, but it was all so very distant.

Because there was just so much blood surrounding Eddie.

His Hellfire shirt was torn to shreds, the gaping holes in the fabric matching the gaping holes in his skin. Blood trickled out of the jagged wounds, pooling on the road beneath him, spreading like oil slicks. You could feel some of it warm against your kneecaps, but the rest of you felt cold, ice cold.

“Well,” Eddie said, and his lips were red with blood as they flickered into a faint smile. “You… really proved yourself the master now, huh, Obi?”

“Shut up,” you replied reflexively, your go-to response when he was teasing you, but your voice cracked halfway through as tears blurred your vision. It felt as if you were watching this scene from outside your body, like you were seeing it at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.

Eddie laughed, which was his go to response, but he choked on a groan, coughing, blood now staining his teeth.

His pained noise snapped you back into your body, and you were suddenly moving, shuffling forward on your knees and pressing your hands into his gut. His hot blood pulsed through your fingers, slow and getting slower, and panic started to crawl up your throat.

“Goddamn it, Munson,” you said through your tears, keeping one hand on his stomach as you used the other to unknot the flannel tied around your waist. “Why’d you have to go and be such an idiot?”

You balled up the flannel and then quickly replaced your hand with it. Eddie groaned as you pressed down hard, but you needed to stop the bleeding.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you still muttered, hating the fact that you were hurting him.

“Eddie!”

Dustin’s voice was like the crack of a gun in the otherwise silent trailer park, making you flinch, but you refused to turn and face him. You listened as he stumbled across the bat-strewn asphalt, and a moment later, he was collapsing onto his knees on the other side of Eddie.

“Oh, god,” the boy whimpered, tears already streaking down his face. “Oh, god, Eddie.”

“Bad, huh?” the metalhead grunted beneath you, and you could feel how he struggled to get the words out.

Panic had latched onto the back of your tongue, pulling itself hand over hand upwards, and you knew you were moments away from screaming and never stopping.

“No, no, you’re gonna be fine,” Dustin said as he reached out and gently stroked the top of Eddie’s head. “J-Just gotta get you to a hospital, okay?”

Hospital. The word rang through your head like a bell. You needed to get him to a hospital. If you could get him back through the gate, it was less than a ten minute drive, especially while speeding. He could make it.

He had to.

“Yes, yes, a hospital, we gotta get to the hospital,” you mumbled, the filter between your thoughts and words nonexistent now. Eddie’s blood was still burning your hands like a brand, but the flannel hadn’t soaked through yet. If you kept applying steady pressure, everything would be fine. “Dustin, I need rope, your shirt, anything that I can use to tie this flannel against him.”

“Y-Yeah, of course, here,” Dustin said, immediately shucking off part of his outfit. He handed you something that was part mesh, part ghillie suit, but it was elastic and flexible, which was what you needed.

“Okay, Eddie, I’m gonna have to shift you a little,” you warned, keeping one hand pressed to his torso as you slid your other one— the one holding the mesh fabric —underneath his side.

“Sure,” the dark-haired man mumbled, but his voice was very light, little more than a breath, and his eyes were starting to flutter.

You couldn’t waste any more time, so you shoved your arm beneath him. You skin scraped across the asphalt, tiny pinpricks of pain, but they were so easy to ignore as the you shoved your hand out on the other side of him.

“Dustin, grab it,” you ordered, and when he did, you quickly withdrew your hand and pressed it beside your other one on the man’s stomach. “This might hurt, Eddie, I’m sorry.”

“Wait, wait.” His dark brown eyes flickered open, finding yours. They looked so tired. And scared. “I-I think I just… need a second, okay?”

Dustin stifled a sob beside you, but your eyes were dry as you glared down at the man bleeding out beneath your fingers.

“Eddie, we don’t have a second,” you said. “We need to stop this bleeding before we can even move you, and then we have to somehow get you through the gate, and the hospital is still like ten minutes away, and goddamn it, why did you do this Munson?”

You gasped for breath at the end of your rant, your throat constricting, and the backs of your eyes started to feel hot again.

No, stop it, you couldn’t cry. You couldn’t cry because Eddie wasn’t going to die. You kept repeating this to yourself, even as Eddie coughed again, the sound wet, and smiled weakly up at you.

“I-I didn’t run away this time, though, right?” he asked, a begging for validation behind his dark eyes.

“No, no, you didn’t run,” Dustin said, voice choked.

“You’re… gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay, Henderson?” Eddie’s eyes slid from you to the boy on his other side, and his resigned tone suddenly infuriated you.

“No,” you snarled, Dustin sobbing out the same word. You pried one of your hands off Eddie’s stomach, leaning forward and grabbing both of Dustin’s. Your fingers were tacky with blood against his skin, but you ignored it as you met the kid’s eyes and maneuvered his hands. “Keep applying pressure. Hard. Here and here. Don’t let up.”

“W-What are you doing?” Dustin asked, but he did as instructed while you half turned and groped behind you.

You didn’t respond as your fingers closed around the haft of Eddie’s makeshift spear.

“Henderson,” Eddie coughed, but you refused to look at him. “Say it. Say ‘I’m gonna look after them.’”

“No, you’re gonna do that yourself,” Dustin sniffled as you turned back to face them.

You glanced down and saw blood was starting to drip from the flannel.

“Say it.” Eddie’s face was pleading.

“Don’t say shit, Dustin,” you growled, and then you leaned over and down so your face was hovering just over Eddie’s. “Do you hear that, Munson? I’m not letting your ass die, so shut the fuck up.”

Eddie’s bloody face twitched, too many emotions to name rippling across it, but you tore your eyes away and turned to Dustin.

“When I tell you to, move,” you said as you dug around in your pocket for the Zippo. Once it was in your hands, you flicked it open and laid the homemade spear across your lap.

“B-But I thought you said not t— what are you doing?” Dustin cut himself off, his wide eyes staring at where you were now running the Zippo’s flame along the knife used as the spear’s head.

“Pressure isn’t enough, he’s still bleeding,” you said in a flat, robotic tone, your eyes never leaving the lighter’s flame. “We need to cauterize the wounds. It’s the only way we’ll get him out of here in time.”

“Shittttt,” Dustin whined, and you knew if his hands weren’t glued to Eddie’s gut, they would be tearing at his hair.

“That… doesn’t sound fun,” Eddie rasped quietly.

“It won’t be,” you snapped and finally tore your eyes away from where the flat edge of the knife was beginning to glow orange. “That’s what you get for being stupid.”

“Aww, come on, princess.” He cracked a bloody smile. “You… can’t give me my hero moment? I-I think I was pretty badass. Let me go out in a blaze of glory.”

“No,” you spat, your voice cracking again as tears abruptly returned to your eyes with a vengeance. “No, because what about me? What the fuck am I supposed to do with you gone, Munson?”

Eddie blinked slowly at you, a numb sort of surprise flickering across his features.

“You’ll… be okay,” he said after a moment.

“No, I won’t,” you countered vehemently, and tears started to slip down your cheeks, dropping onto Eddie’s face and neck. “I won’t be okay. Because you’ll be dead, and I’ll spend the rest of my life in love with a goddamn ghost.”

You didn’t mean to say it, had told yourself you would take your embarrassing crush to the grave, but your mind was starting to spiral in desperation.

Eddie’s dark-brown eyes widened, but you snapped your head up to glare at Dustin.

“Move!”

The boy ripped his hands away and fell back on his ass, and you dropped the Zippo, using your now free hand to shove the bloody flannel and Eddie’s Hellfire shirt up and out of the way. His pale torso was soaked in blood, the crimson blocking out some of his tattoos, and you could see where it was still oozing from. Jagged bite and slash marks littered his ribs and sides, but your eyes quickly identified the two worst ones, the ones that were making him lose too much blood.

The spearhead was still glowing as you maneuvered it over Eddie’s torso, and you couldn’t help but find his eyes again.

They were still wide with fear and surprise, but you thought you saw trust there too in the dark depths of his gaze.

Without thinking about it, you leaned down and pressed your lips to his. Eddie drew in a ragged gasp, and you briefly darted your tongue into his mouth, tasting blood. Then you pulled back and stared into his eyes.

“Don’t you fucking die on me, Munson,” you murmured in the space between your mouths.

“Y-Yes, ma’am,” he exhaled, and you seized the moment to position the hot spearhead over the worst of his wounds and press down.

The sound and smell of sizzling flesh hit you, and Eddie yelled out wordlessly as his back arched.

“Stay still, stay still,” you begged, trying not to stab him with the knife pressed to his skin.

Dustin leaped forward and pressed down on Eddie’s shoulder and thigh, anchoring him to the ground and whispering reassurances.

You counted to ten in your head and then carefully pried the knife away from his side. The skin was still streaked with crimson, and now it was red and raised in an angry, jagged pattern that matched the serrated edge of the knife. But no new blood trickled from the wound, and relief made your head swim.

You would still need to get him to a hospital for any internal injuries, but if you could stop the external bleeding, it would buy him some time.

“Okay, okay, just one more,” you panted, picking up the Zippo in shaking fingers to reheat the flat of the blade.

“You hear that, Eddie?” Dustin asked and shook him a little. “Just a little more.”

Eddie choked out a laugh, his eyes glassy and unfocused as he stared up at the dark sky. “’S’all good. It… doesn’t even really hurt anymore.”

Dustin whimpered, and you gritted your teeth, burning the tips of your fingers as you all but pressed the flame into the knife.

“Hey, Munson? Munson! What year is it?” you asked frantically.

“Hmmm, ’86, baby,” Eddie hummed, his voice sleepy. “My year. I think it’s finally… gonna be my year.”

“That’s right.” The flat of the blade was now orange, so you dropped the Zippo again and zeroed in on the second-worst bite. “So you gotta stay alive. It’s your year, and you’re going to graduate, and the second shit settles down, you’re taking me on a date.”

“Am… I?” His dark eyes refocused a little and found yours.

“Yes,” you said and steeled yourself. “So, keep breathing and focus on me.”

“Second part’s n-not hard at all, sweetheart.” He smiled weakly at you, but then his face contorted as you pressed the hot metal into his skin once more. “F-Fuck! Shitshitshit.”

“Shhh, I know, I’m sorry, so sorry,” you babbled as Dustin whined but held Eddie down.

You counted to ten again before pulling the blade away, and again, the skin was ugly and raised, but sealed. Your eyes danced over Eddie’s torso, but the rest of the bite and slash marks were shallow, most already clotted over. It was like the bats only got two good bites in before you started barbequing them.

Thank fucking Christ.

“Okay, okay, that’s it.” You dropped the spear and then hurriedly tugged your flannel and his shirt back over his stomach. You pressed the flannel against his gut, grabbing the mesh ghillie suit that was still underneath him and quickly tying it around his waist.

Eddie groaned, but when you were done, his torso was bound good and tight, and with the worst of the wounds cauterized, you should be able to move him.

He just needed to stay awake and keep breathing a little while longer.

“I-Is it done?” Dustin asked, his voice quiet and sounding much younger than he actually was. “Is he… gonna be okay?”

“I’ve done all I can, and most of the bleeding’s stopped,” you said, and you glanced from the curly-haired boy to the panting man beneath you. “We still need to get him to the hospital. ASAP. Do you hear that, Eddie? We gotta move.”

“I… don’t think I can,” he sighed, eyes fluttering, struggling to find yours. “S-So sleepy.”

“Hey, hey.” You reached out and cupped his face, trying to keep him awake, and his gaze cleared a little as it met yours. “What’s that line, from the Return of the King? The one Sam says to Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom? When Frodo says he can’t go on.”

Eddie blinked up at you, a small crease forming between his eyebrows, but Dustin beat him to it.

“I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you,” the kid recited from memory, and a smile bloomed across your face.

“Yeah, that one,” you said, shifting so you were crouching on your heels instead of kneeling. “I can carry you. But I need you to at least sit up for me. Can you do that, Munson?”

Eddie stared at you with an expression you couldn’t place. He looked on the precipice of either breaking out into tears or into a smile, but his eyes were steady as they held yours.

“Obi,” he breathed, but you could already hear it in his tone, so you started shaking your head.

“Nope, nuh-uh, I’m not hearing any arguments. Can you sit up, yes or no?”

Eddie pursed his lips before jerking his chin down once.

“Alright, Henderson, help me sit him up,” you said, gently tucking your fingers under Eddie’s right shoulder while Dustin did the same on the left. “Slowly!”

Together, you and Dustin painstakingly levered Eddie upright.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” the metalhead hissed through gritted teeth, and then he slumped against you once you had him in a seated position. His breath was hot and damp against the skin of your collarbones, his forehead pressed into the crook of your neck.

“Still with me, Munson?” you murmured as you wrapped your left arm around his back.

“Present and accounted for,” he groaned, rolling his brow against your good shoulder.

“Good, good. Now…” You shifted a little in your crouched position, your thighs and knees beginning to burn. “I need you to drape your arm around my shoulders, and I’m going to wrap mine around your waist. On three, we’re going to stand up, and Dustin’s going to slip under your other arm. Alright?”

“M’kay,” Eddie sighed as he nuzzled his nose behind your ear. “You smell good, Obi.”

Any other time, that sentence would have made butterflies explode into flight in your stomach, but you could hear the slur in his words, and you knew he wasn’t going to stay conscious much longer. The three of you needed to get back through the gate before he passed out.

“You can smell me all you want later, yeah?” you said and jostled him. “Drape your arm over my shoulder, Munson.”

Eddie hummed wordlessly but listened, so you made sure your hold on him was secure before you took a deep breath.

“Okay, one, two, three!”

You shoved upwards, body aching from the strain of Eddie’s additional weight. He was practically limp against you, but you got the pair of you upright, and he managed to somewhat stay on his feet.

“Alright, good,” you grunted, swaying, and you dug your fingers into Eddie’s opposite hip. The hand you had wrapped around his back was the one that demo-bat slashed, and you could feel your own blood still dripping down your skin, but you ignored it as you looked at Dustin. “Grab that spear. Something weird happened to the bats, I didn’t kill them all, so more might come back.”

“Shit, I hope not,” Dustin said, but he picked up the spear anyway before he moved to Eddie’s other side.

It was then you noticed his limp, and your eyes narrowed.

“Henderson, what happened to your leg?” you demanded.

“Well, what happened to your shoulder?” he shot back, raising his eyebrows at the shoulder Eddie wasn’t collapsed against, the one that was starting to ache something fierce now that the adrenaline was beginning to fade.

You winced and then sighed. You couldn’t reprimand him for something you had also done.

“Okay, fine, but never mind helping us,” you said, and you tucked your fingers into the belt loop on Eddie’s opposite side. “I can get him. Just… keep an eye out and lead us back to the gate.”

Dustin frowned, but his leg must have really been hurting because he didn’t argue. He just nodded, spared Eddie one more glance, and turned toward the Munson trailer.

“Alright, Munson, just put one foot in front of the other for me,” you murmured as you dragged your left foot forward.

Eddie stumbled after you, his weight dragging you down, but he stayed upright, his head lolling against your shoulder.

“’M so tired, Obi,” he sighed into your ear. “Can’t I nap first? I’ll study after, promise.”

His words were both slurred and nonsensical now, and you swallowed past the lump in your throat and quickened your pace as much as you could.

“No can do, Munson. We gotta get back to your trailer first.”

“Hmmm… and you gonna spend the night? Got this… new strain from Rick. ‘s killer.”

You’d spent the night at his place before, usually when you were too stoned or tired to drive back to your mom’s house and have her new boyfriend bitch at you for coming in so late. Of course, nothing had ever happened between you and Eddie, besides you drooling on his shoulder or on his couch, but the memory of being so close to him, his warm body pressed to your side while you watched some cheesy horror movie, made you want to scream.

Because his face felt so cold where it was pressed into your neck now.

“Yeah, I’ll stay the night,” you said in an effort to keep Eddie awake. “We can get as high as you want, and I’ll even let you practice Master of Puppets again.”

“I’ve almost… nailed the solo,” Eddie sighed into your hair. “So close. It’s going to be so m-metal.”

The memory of him playing on top of the trailer, rocking out even as an army of bats descended on him, made a slightly hysterical giggle slip from your lips.

“You’re right, it was so metal,” you said just as he stumbled, and you grunted as you caught him. “Hey. Hey, Munson. Eddie!”

“Hmmm?” he hummed, but he started walking again, and you could see his trailer in the distance.

“We’re almost there, so close, just keep walking for me, okay?” You met Dustin’s eye from where he was limping a few feet ahead of you, and while he still looked scared shitless, there was a hint of hope in his gaze now.

“H-Hey, Eddie,” Dustin stammered out, his voice high-pitched. “I-I was thinking, after you graduate, to celebrate, the club should have a one-shot night, and one of the other guys can DM. That way, you can be a player again a-and see that the torch has rightly been passed on. Obi wanted to play too, right, Obi?”

“Y-Yeah,” you said, though this was the first you’d ever even heard of this idea. “I’ve watched you guys play long enough. What do you say, Munson? Help me build a character?”

“You’re a Rouge,” Eddie laughed before he coughed again, and his feet tangled. You managed to keep the two of you from falling over, but his breath was ragged in your ear.

“Really, why?” The question just fell out of your mouth, anything to keep him talking, and Eddie could talk about DnD for hours.

“Sneaky,” he muttered, head lolling against yours, his arm that was draped over your shoulders weighing down on your neck like a yoke. “Sneaky little thief.”

“When have you ever seen me steal something, Munson?” The trailer was so close now, the steps just yards away, the remnants of the front door hanging from its hinges.

“Sneaky,” Eddie said again, but it was more like a sigh. “Snuck into my chest and… stole my heart. Whisked it away and hid it somewhere.”

Now, your feet tripped against each other. You knew he was delirious, barely conscious, speaking nonsense. But a part of you— a very small part buried beneath all the fear and anxiety and fading adrenaline— couldn’t help but wonder.

Did he… share your feelings?

Unfortunately, your brief trip to fantasy land was abruptly cancelled, because Eddie suddenly went completely limp against you and started to pitch forward.

“Eddie!” you gasped, trying to grab him, your arms screaming in pain.

Luckily, Dustin lunged back and helped catch the metalhead, but the two of you couldn’t keep him upright, so you lowered him onto the ground just in front of the steps to his trailer.

“Shit!” Dustin cursed, and he started to hyperventilate. “Shit, no. I-Is he--?”

“He’s alive,” you sighed in relief as you cupped a hand in front of Eddie’s mouth. His breathing was slow but even, just like his pulse when you groped under his neck to check. “I think he just passed out. His… body’s been though a lot.”

“Oh, okay,” Dustin said before he took a deep breath to recompose himself.

Of course, that was when the ground started rumbling beneath you, the Munson trailer creaking ominously.

You and Dustin stared wide-eyed at each other for a long moment, but then the rumbling worsened, followed by red lightning cracking across the sky again, and Dustin grasped at his head.

“Shit, what do we do?!” he wailed.

You glanced down at Eddie’s slack and bloody face for the briefest instant before you started moving.

“Grab his feet and help me get him in the trailer, Henderson,” you ordered, shifting so you could pick up Eddie’s shoulders. “Then you’re going to find whatever sheets or fabric you can in under thirty seconds and tie them together. Ready? On three.”

Dustin scrambled to comply, and as the world continued to shake at the seams around you, you focused on the rise and fall of Eddie’s chest.

He was alive, alive, alive, and you were going to do whatever you had to in order to keep him that way.

~*~*~*~*~*

Two Days Later

Another yawn cracked your jaw as you slumped in the hard plastic chair, and you shook your head, trying to wake up a little.

The sunlight coming through the windows behind you was an orange bordering on red, and the clock on the wall said it was just past seven pm. The sun would set completely soon, and you knew you needed to eat something for dinner, having skipped breakfast and snagging chips from the vending machine for lunch. Your stomach gurgled in agreement, but your heavy eyes and sore body kept you glued to your seat.

The steady beating of the heart monitor wasn’t helping either, the even rhythm like a metronome trying to lull you to sleep, and you scrubbed your face with your right hand, since you left was bundle up in a sling.

As you tiredly dragged your fingers down your cheek, your gaze drifted over to the still form on the bed. In front of you lay Eddie Munson, still breathing, still alive, but pale, his cheeks lacking their usual color, his lips cracked and peeling. He looked… smaller wrapped in bandages and a hospital gown, tucked under sterile white sheets. He also hadn’t woken up since he passed out on the steps of his trailer in the Upside Down. The doctors assured you he would. He’d had some minor internal bleeding, like you expected, but it only took you fifteen minutes after he passed out to get him through the doors of the hospital.

You’d almost killed yourself getting back through the gate, and then almost fallen into a miles’ wide sinkhole, and then nearly crashed the car as you were speeding down the road in a stolen vehicle while the earth quaked to the foundations of Hawkins, but you got Eddie here in time. The doctors said so. He would have some bad scarring— part of that your fault— but once his body recovered from the blood loss, he should be okay.

He just had to wake up.

You glared at Eddie’s sleeping face as you willed him to move, twitch, anything, but he stayed still and silent, and you sighed as you painstakingly got to your feet. You’d been sitting in that chair for hours now, like you had all night and the previous day. You needed to stretch.

Even though it somewhat pained you, you tore your eyes away from Eddie and moved to the window, staring impassively at the orange sky streaked with what look like black smoke, gray ash fluttering down to build upon the windowsill.

Steve had already called to tell you what was going on. Apparently, Mike, his superhero girlfriend Eleven— who you had yet to meet— and some of the others had seen the gates worsening with their own eyes. They were holding a strategy meeting at the Wheelers’ at eight, which Steve invited you to, and you wondered if there would be food there.

You knew you should be more worried, more scared, but all you felt was tired and numb. Everything kind of felt… suspended around you, like the deep breath before a plunge. You were waiting. Waiting for Eddie to wake up. Once he did, you could worry about the gates and the end of the world and whatever else. As long as he was awake.

You continued to stare blindly out at the sky and wondered how it had come to this.

You’d actually grown up in Hawkins. Had fond memories of biking around town, playing in the woods when you were young. Then, when you were about ten, your father got a new job in a bigger city, and he moved you and your mother out of Hawkins for this “great, new opportunity.” That lasted a few years, but when that job fell through, like they always did for your father, your mother finally had enough. She divorced him, and he signed away all his rights, so your mom moved the two of you back to her hometown, completely ignoring that it was your senior year.

She definitely regretted that now.

Small towns were pretty close-knit, so for the ten months you spent at Hawkins High, you mostly kept to yourself. You got good grades since you were good at memorizing and regurgitating information, but your mother was too busy with her new boyfriend to notice. They’d gone to your graduation, though, so that was something at least.

But you didn’t have the money to go to college. At least, not right away. So, you got a summer job at the mall slinging ice cream with Steve “the Hair” Harrington. You’d seen him around school since he was in your graduating class, but since you kept to yourself, you’d never had any interactions with him. He was actually cooler than his reputation made him out to be, in a kind of dorky, endearing way, and you had fun shooting the shit with him, Robin Buckley, and the children that just seemed to flock to Steve for some reason. You’d especially liked Dustin Henderson, specifically because he seemed to get under Steve’s skin in the most hilarious, annoying little brother way.

Then, of course, you got pulled into the whole “Russian spy/Oh-yeah-monsters-are-real” game, which wasn’t how you accepted to spend your summer last year.

But it wasn’t all bad. For the first time in your life, you had real friends. Friends who would literally die for you, and vice versa. Even after the world had been saved— or so you thought at the time— they still stuck around. Robin even helped you get a job at Family Video, and despite some reoccurring nightmares, you were… happy.

Then Dustin and the other kids started high school, met the Hellfire Club, met… Eddie.

Steve always complained about how much Dustin went on and on about this Eddie, but you thought it was sweet. You’d heard of Eddie Munson during your time at Hawkins High, but you never had any classes with him, and you always kept your head down in the halls and left immediately after school. Steven scoffed and rolled his eyes, said Eddie was just a stoner loser, which made Dustin heartily protest, and it always devolved into an argument either you or Robin had to break up.

You could admit you were curious about this Eddie Munson, but it was a mild curiosity.

Then, one rainy day in the fall, when Dustin blew out one of his bike tires and needed a ride home after Hellfire, you offered to pick him up since Steve had a shift that night. You’d run into the room where the club was wrapping up their session, dripping water everywhere, and when you finally shook your wet hair out of your face and looked up, your eyes immediately locked onto dark-brown ones that were staring at you with interest.

You suspected that was the moment you fell in love with Eddie Munson. But the next moment— the one where Dustin introduced you, and Eddie slid off his throne and onto his feet before dipping into a graceful, flourishing bow— was a close second.

For the next several weeks, Dustin had asked you to pick him up from Hellfire, but after Mike let it slip that Dustin’s bike was already fixed, you’d asked the curly-haired boy why. He’d reluctantly admitted that Eddie asked him to bring you around, so the next time the club met, you drove up to the school. Dustin was already leaving with Lucas and Mike, the three of them waving from their bikes, and Eddie had blinked at you in shock when he saw you leaning against your car. Then a wide smile bloomed across his face, crinkling his eyes, and it was all downhill from there.

You started spending time with Eddie in the afternoons or evenings or on your days off from the video store, and you quickly discovered that the hardcore metalhead persona was just a mask. The real Eddie Munson was a nerd through and through. But he was also sweet, funny, quick to smile and quicker to make you laugh.

The two of you spent hours talking about everything and nothing, passing joints back and forth until they were just ashes. You learned that he was actually pretty smart and well-read. His dog-earned copies of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were worn from use and even annotated, and one night, when the two of you were really high, he read a passage from one of the books, doing all the different voices. You had dissolved into giggles at some point, pushed over the edge by a particularly ridiculously voice, and Eddie had looked so proud of himself, dimples prominently framing his wide grin.

His DnD campaigns were also incredibly complex and compelling, and you told him he could honestly be a writer someday. He had blushed and laughed you off, saying he was probably never even going to graduate high school, and the defeat in his voice had twisted your heart. So, you’d offered to tutor him, help him study, in the hopes of getting him to graduation. Eddie moaned and complained at first, but he let you quiz him with flashcards, started taking notes, and his grades had gone up a little in the last few months. As he’d crowed to the Hellfire Club numerous times, he had just needed to pass Ms. O’Donall’s final.

Of course, none of that mattered anymore. Half the town had already fled, and the school was being used as an evacuation center for those who remained. You’d heard rumors that the school administration was just going to pass all its students for the year, to make the paperwork for transferring easier, but you weren’t sure if that was true or not.

You hoped it was. Eddie deserved some good news when he woke up.

You sighed again and knew you needed to start heading for the Wheelers’. With one more glance at the darkening sky, you turned away from the window and went to pick up your jacket from the back of your chair.

But when you looked up, your eyes clashed with dark-brown ones, staring at you with interest.

“Jesus H. Christ!” you gasped, stumbling back a step as your right, bandaged hand flew to your chest.

Your heart was pounding in your ears, and Eddie Munson was staring back at you from the hospital bed. His gaze was glassy and a little disoriented, but it was focused on you, and after a moment, his dry lips parted, his tongue snaking out to wet them.

“Hey, Obi,” he rasped, and a faint smile tugged at his mouth.

You exhaled a sound halfway between a sob and a choke, and then you were stumbling forward, shoving the chair out of the way so you could sit on the edge of the bed.

“H-Holy shit,” you stuttered out, tears blurring your vision as you took Eddie’s hand in yours. His palm was warm against your own. “Fuck, Munson. Y-You took your damn time waking up.”

“ ’M sorry,” he sighed, but his fingers squeezed yours, and a tear finally escaped and trailed down your cheek. Eddie frowned at the sight, and his glassy gaze cleared a little bit. “Why… are you crying, princess?”

You choked out a laugh, more tears spilling down your cheeks. “Because you’re in the hospital, dingus. You almost died.”

“Oh, yeah.” He blinked placidly up at you for a moment, but then his eyes widened, and you heard on the monitor as his heart began to race. “Shit, wait, what happened? I-I remember the bats— Fuck! Where’s Henderson, is he okay? And what about Harrington? Wheeler? Sinclair? And the redhead, oh, fuck, did Vecna get her?”

“Eddie,” you tried to cut in, but he was fully starting to panic now, his fingers digging into your hand, his breath coming out in shallow pants.

“A-And am I in the Hawkins hospital? What about the cops? Fuck, are they on their way? Do we need to start running? I—”

“Eddie!” you said, this time louder, and he cut off with a gasp, his wild and terrified eyes staring into yours.

“Y-Yes?” he asked, his voice quiet and timid.

“Take a deep breath, Christ,” you sighed, and you would have run a hand through your hair if one of them wasn’t in a sling and the other held in a death grip by long, slender fingers, rough with guitar callouses.

Eddie inhaled shakily through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, and his eyes never left yours.

“Good,” you said, a weak but genuine smile stretching across your face. “Now, one thing at a time. What do you want to know first?”

“Henderson,” Eddie blurted without hesitation. “Is he alive?”

“Yes.” You nodded. “Dustin’s fine, just has a sprained ankle. Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Lucas are also fine. And Max is… alive.”

“I don’t like that tone, Obi,” Eddie said as he frowned at you. “What happened?”

He could always read you too easily.

“Vecna… did get her,” you sighed, eyes dropping to where your hand was intertwined with his. “Partially. Mike’s superhero girlfriend Eleven was able to beat him, but… Max is in rough shape. The doctors aren’t sure if she’ll wake up again.”

“Shit,” Eddie breathed, his face twisting. “That… sucks.”

His response startled a snort out of you, and his cheeks flushed a light pink.

“I-I’m sorry, that was stupid to say, I’m just drugged up—” he started to ramble, but you squeezed his hand and smiled at him again.

“No, you’re right, it sucks,” you agreed. “It fucking sucks royally. But apparently there’s a chance Eleven might be able to wake Max up, so there’s some hope.”

“Well, that’s good,” Eddie said, but then he shifted slightly and flinched.

“Are you okay?” you immediately asked, your eyes falling to his stomach, half-anticipating to see him bleeding through his gown.

“Fine, fine, just… sore,” he groaned and pressed his head back into the pillow, his long hair a dark halo around him. “Everywhere.”

“Welcome to the club,” you scoffed, awkwardly waving your sling-bound arm like a chicken wing.

Eddie frowned at your arm before his eyes found yours again. “How did that happen?”

“Well…” You bit your lip. “How much you do remember? From right before you passed out.”

“I… remember jamming out on top of the trailer,” Eddie started slowly as a crease formed in the middle of his brow. “I remember the bats, running from the bats, the bats getting into the trailer, and… oh.”

He flinched again, a little guilt beginning to leech into his eyes, and you knew he’d remembered his “decision.”

“Yeah, oh,” you repeated, your voice taking on an edge as you glared down at him. “You, Edward Munson, decided to fucking oh-so-heroically sacrifice yourself.”

“Aw, come on, Obi.” He tried for a smile, but it withered as your glare increased. “Okay, I know you’re angry, but I couldn’t just let you get eaten by monster bats. Y-You and Henderson, I mean. I was trying to give you both enough time to escape.”

“Did you honestly think we would just leave you there?” you demanded. You tried to sound angry— were angry— but you voice came out a little hurt.

“Well…” Eddie said as he chewed the dry skin off his lower lip. “I’d hoped you would. Especially after I cut the sheets down.”

“All that succeeded in doing was making it harder for Dustin and I to get back, which resorted in his sprained ankle, and my fractured fucking shoulder.” Your words were sharper than you meant them to be, and Eddie winced like you’d struck him. He averted his gaze and started to extract his hand from yours, but you clamped your fingers down around his. “Wait, no, I—”

You cut yourself off, sighed, and took a deep breath.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m sorry,” you muttered, running your thumb across the backs of Eddie’s knuckles. “I just… god, Munson. Do you know how fucking terrified I was when I saw those bats circling you? And don’t get me started on how much blood you lost. I nearly lost my goddamn mind trying to stop the bleeding.”

“You… burned me,” Eddie said, and his eyes narrowed as he fought to remember.

“Yes.” Now, it was your turn to flinch. “To stop the bleeding. I-I didn’t wanna hurt you, but it was the only way—”

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Eddie chuckled, and that lopsided grin you loved so much spread across his face. “You obviously did everything right, since I’m sitting here talkin’ to ya.”

You exhaled shakily because he was right. You’d kept him alive. That was the important part.

“Yeah, well, lugging your ass through that gate certainly wasn’t easy,” you scoffed, but you flashed him a smirk to show you were partially joking.

“How’d ya do it?” Eddie asked, settling back into the pillows as he absently played with your fingers.

“Well, the earthquake certainly didn’t give us a lot of time—” you started.

“Wait, what earthquake?”

“Would you let me finish?” you teased, narrowing your eyes at him, and he sheepishly smiled.

“Sorry, go on,” he muttered.

“Like I said,” you sighed. “Right after you passed out, it felt like the Upside Down was trying to shake apart. So, Dustin and I carried you into the trailer, and Dustin tied together any fabric he could find while I used the furniture to prop up the mattress vertically beneath the gate. Dustin helped tie you to my back in the weirdest piggyback ride ever, and then he clambered up the mattress and through the portal. You and I more fell through, but Henderson made sure we had a landing pad this time, so minimal injury on that front. Then we hauled ass to the hospital. But…”

You trailed off and bit your lip, unsure of how to break the bad news to him.

“But what?” Eddie asked with a furrowed brow.

“But the earthquakes didn’t stop,” you went on as you tightened your grip on his hand. “The gates… grew. They fucking split Hawkins in half. And… they swallowed your trailer.”

“Oh, shit,” Eddie breathed, his face paling, and then his nails dug into your skin. “Shit, Wayne?”

“Wayne’s fine,” you quickly assured him. “He was at the plant when it happened. He was actually here just a while ago. Went out to find something to eat.”

“Thank fucking Christ,” he sighed as some of the tension fled his body, but his eyes quickly found yours again. “So, the trailer’s just… gone, huh?”

“Yes.” You nodded and stroked your thumb across his knuckles again. “Along with half of Hawkins. Butttttt… Henderson was able to grab a few things while I was starting up the car.”

Eddie cocked his head at you curiously, his bangs trailing across his forehead, and you fought the urge to brush them back.

You smiled instead and tried to extract your hand from his, but his grip clamped down around you, and his brown eyes went a little panicked.

“It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere,” you soothed. “Just need to reach under my chair, and I only have one hand at the moment.”

A blush stained Eddie’s cheeks, and he reluctantly released your fingers. “Sorry.”

You just continued to smile at him as you stood and turned around. A small box had been stashed under your chair, but you’d kicked it out of your way when you’d rushed to Eddie’s side earlier. The cardboard box was shoved against the wall beneath the window, and you stifled a groan as you bent down and picked it up with one arm.

“It’s… not a lot,” you grunted as you set the box on the edge of the bed, pressed to Eddie’s thigh. “Mostly just what Dustin could sweep or throw in a box in under ten seconds. But it’s something, and I’d thought you’d like to have something familiar when you woke up.”

Eddie wiggled a little in the bed, wincing as he struggled upright.

“Here, let me help,” you said, leaning over to press the button on the side of the bed. The head of the mattress started to slowly raise, but you didn’t want to put too much pressure on Eddie’s gut yet, so you left the bed in a half reclined position. Then you hit another button to turn up the lights since the sun had fully set by this point, and Eddie blinked in the sudden brightness.

“Alright, what do we got here?” the metalhead asked as he peeked into the box, but his teasing expression turned soft when he saw the contents.

Slowly, he pulled out a few cassettes— Iron Maiden, Megadeath, Judas Priest— along with faded Metallica t-shirt, one of his favorites. Next was his DnD binder, stuffed full of notes, campaigns, and character sheets. And lastly, there were his copies of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

“Goddamn Henderson,” Eddie muttered with a fond expression, and his eyes grew glassy again, this time with tears.

“He also managed to grab your guitar,” you added and grinned, saving the best for last.

“Are you fucking serious?” Eddie gasped as his gaze snapped to yours.

“He’s got it at his house,” you chuckled. “Said he’d keep it safe for you until you got out of the hospital.”

“That fucking kid.” Eddie grinned and shook his head, but his smile slowly faded.

“What?” you asked as you studied his troubled face.

Eddie slowly put all his things back into the box and nudged it back at you, so you took it and set it on the ground at your feet.

“Obi, be honest with me.” He met your eyes dead-on. “Am I going straight to jail from here? Are the cops just waiting for me to wake up to arrest me?”

“Not… exactly,” you said, pursing your lips. “It’s complicated.”

“Oh, you’re killing me, princess,” he groaned. “Am I bound for the gallows or not?”

“You’re not,” you clarified. “All of Hawkins, the police department especially, have more pressing matters to focus on at the moment. Plus, um, Lucas kind of pinned the whole thing on Jason.”

“What?!” Eddie’s voice rose in pitch, and his eyes bulged out of his head. “And the cops believed Sinclair?”

“Well, they kind of had to.” You shrugged. “Especially since Jason couldn’t defend himself. Given the fact he’s dead. But he’s half the reason Max got hurt anyway. He found her and Lucas, attacked Lucas, and broke Max’s Walkman. Then he apparently got cut in half by the gate widening, so Lucas told the cops that Jason was the one who killed Chrissy. He thought Chrissy was cheating on him with you, so he killed her and framed you for the murder. Then he just went psycho, killing more people, and he confessed all this to Lucas before he tragically died in the earthquake.”

Eddie’s eyes grew larger and larger as you spoke, and when you finished, he exhaled sharply.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, his gaze growing distant. “So does that mean… I’m free?”

“For the most part, yeah.” You smiled. “Half the town has fled in the last couple days, and the ones that are left are too busy worrying about the rest of Hawkins just falling into hell. The police exonerated you yesterday at an emergency town meeting, but no one seemed to really care anymore.”

“Fucking figures,” Eddie grumbled, and he rolled his eyes. “They were all up in arms to drag me through town and burn me at the stake, but now they’ve probably already forgotten my name.”

“Good,” you said as you reached out and took his hand again. “Those fuckers don’t deserve to utter your name anyway.”

Eddie seemed taken back for a moment, face slack with surprise, but he quickly covered it up with a smirk.

“Damn straight, sweetheart.” He winked before dropping his head back with a sigh. A moment of silence passed between the two of you, and then Eddie snorted before he started laughing.

“What?” you asked, his laughter contagious, pulling your lips upward.

“Nothin’.” He shook his head, still chuckling. “It’s just… guess I’m not graduating this year, either. ’86 wasn’t my year after all.”

“Actually,” you said as your smile grew, “I heard a rumor the school is just going to pass everyone. You know, in the wake of the ‘disaster.’ So I wouldn’t throw your towel in yet, Munson. I still think ’86 is going to be your year.”

Eddie grinned, a full grin this time, every inch the lively, crazy boy you’d known for months. His brown eyes sparkled with that mischievous glint you loved so much, and he abruptly lifted the hand that was intertwined with yours and pressed a smacking kiss to the back of your knuckles.

“’86, baby,” he crowed. “My year. And it’s all thanks to you, Obi.”

“Shut up.” You rolled your eyes, falling back into your usual song and dance, but Eddie suddenly grew serious.

“I mean it,” he said, all traces of laughter gone from his voice. His dark-brown eyes bored into yours, and your breath hitched in your chest. “I would have flunked out months ago without you pushing me to study, and I would have bled out in that fucked up place if you hadn’t saved me. I owe you. More than I can ever repay. But once I get out of this damn bed, find a place to live, and get a job, I’ll figure out how I can start. You know, if the world doesn’t end before then.”

“Excuses, excuses, Munson,” you teased but averted your gaze, uncomfortable with how deeply he was staring into you. You cast your mind about for something, anything else to say, and words tumbled from your mouth before you could fully process them. “M-My house didn’t get swallowed by the gate, so you could just stay with me, you know. J-Just until you find something else. Or the world ends. Whichever comes first.”

You laughed awkwardly, but you could still feel Eddie staring at you, and when you darted a glance in his direction, his eyes were wide. He quickly cleared his throat when he caught your gaze, but you could see your offer had surprised him.

“W-Well, that’s awfully kind of you, princess,” he stuttered out before plastering on a smile. “But I’m sure your mom won’t be thrilled to have the Munson men move in. And I can’t leave Wayne by himself.”

“Wayne can come, too,” you blurted out, dropping your gaze again. You stared at your scraped up knuckles, intertwined with Eddie’s, and tried to fight back your blush. “A-And my mom won’t be a problem. She… left.”

“She… left?” Eddie repeated in an incredulous tone. “What the hell do you mean, ‘she left?’”

“She left.” You shrugged, still refusing to look at him. “Yesterday morning, after I got done talking to the police, helping Lucas to corroborate the Jason lie, my mom showed up. She and David had already packed up the cars and were ready to get the hell out of Dodge. But I wouldn’t go with her. I couldn’t just leave you. I-I mean, you and the rest of the gang. Shit’s only gonna get worse before it gets better, and I know we’ll need all hands on deck if we’re going to keep the Upside Down from swallowing up the real world. So, I refused to go with her. She got upset, and David got pissed, but I’m nineteen. They can’t make me do anything. So… they left.”

Several beats of silence passed, and when it grew too much for you, you chanced a glance at Eddie’s face. His expression was caught between gaping shock and incandescent rage, and you blinked in surprise.

“Are you… are you alright?” you murmured, squeezing his hand.

Eddie seemed to snap out of it, and his gaze found yours again.

“Am I alright?” he scoffed, voice tinged with hysteria. “I should be asking you that. Your mom just… fuck, I’m sorry, but I can’t believe she just fucking abandoned you in the middle of this shitstorm. What a goddamn bitch. N-No offense, of course.”

“No, you’re right,” you said with a wry smile, and you shrugged again. “She is a bitch. We’ve never had the best relationship, I always reminded her too much of my father. But… at least this way she’ll be safe. David might be a dick, but he actually seems to care about her, and I know my mother would kill him if he tried to lay a hand on her. So… she’ll be fine. And who knows? Maybe, once this shit is all over and Eleven saves the world again, my mom will come to her senses and apologize.”

You and Eddie stared at each other for a long moment. You were the one to break first, poorly stifling a snort, and then Eddie caved after you, and soon the two of you were giggling and gasping for breath.

“Ow, ow, ow,” Eddie hissed as he grasped at his side, but he was still laughing. “Ughh, that hurts, Obi, don’t make me laughhhh.”

“Sorry, sorry,” you snickered, and your cheeks ached from smiling so wide.

The pair of you lapsed into silence again as Eddie caught his breath, and then he flopped his head to the side to meet your eyes.

“So… your house, huh?” he asked, lips twitching up at the corners.

“I-If you want,” you stammered as you felt heat rise into your cheeks. “Granted, it might also get swallowed up at any moment, and you and Wayne would have to decide who gets the other bedroom and who gets the couch, but… yeah.”

You bit your lip and would have picked at your fingers if Eddie wasn’t still holding your hand. His face was soft and thoughtful as his brown eyes considered you, but then nervousness started to creep into his expression for some reason.

He seemed to take a moment to build up his courage, and he licked his lips before he spoke again.

“Can… can I ask you something, Obi?”

The seriousness of his tone made you sit up a little straighter.

“S-Sure.”

“It’s just… my memory is still a little spotty, after the bats got me,” he started, and his thumb started brushing over your knuckles again, like he usually played with the rings on his fingers. “I remember… some things, b-but I can’t tell if they actually happened or if I was just hallucinating from blood loss at that point. I— Look, I’m just gonna come out and ask, and you can’t laugh at me because I’m very injured and fragile and might cry. Alright?”

“A-Alright,” you said, swallowing past your suddenly dry throat.

You had a sneaking suspicion you already knew what he was going to ask.

Eddie took a deep breath, and then his chocolate-brown eyes stabbed into you, pinned you to the spot.

“Did you kiss me?”

Your breath hitched in your lungs, panic sparking along your nerves. You didn’t think he would remember. He’d been dying and delirious, and you were just trying to keep him alive, would have said whatever you needed to in order to keep him alive.

Part of you wanted to lie, save yourself the embarrassment, but you couldn’t with the way Eddie was staring into your soul.

“Yes,” you whispered, confessed, and you braced yourself for his rejection.

You’d never said anything about your feelings because you were sure they could never be reciprocated. Eddie had never made a move in all the months you’d known him. He was always affectionate, touching you in innocuous ways, playing with your fingers, tugging gently at your hair, throwing his arm over your shoulders, but it was never sexual, even when you passed out in his bed with him that one time, too stoned to move. So, he obviously didn’t see you like that, and you were too scared to risk your friendship by saying anything.

Besides, Eddie always talked about wanting to get the hell out of Hawkins and never look back, and you didn’t want to be the thing that got in the way of his dreams. You told yourself you would keep your dirty secret, take it to the grave, and yet here you were, on the precipice of spilling your guts.

“And… did you say that you… loved me? Like in love with me?” Eddie asked as he stared at you intently.

You couldn’t read his expression, his tone, your brain too busy setting itself on fire in embarrassment.

“Yes,” you said again, voice no more than a breath, and you dropped your gaze, unable to bare the rejection that would soon appear in his eyes.

“And did you mean it?”

It would be better to lie. To laugh it off, say you were just spouting nonsense to keep him awake. Tell him that of course you loved him, he was your best friend and nothing more.

You couldn’t, though. You were just so tired, and this secret had been weighing you down for so long. It was time to give it up.

But you couldn’t find your voice now, throat hot and tight with building tears, so you just nodded your head silently.

Eddie inhaled sharply, so sharply it sounded like he was in pain, and you just started babbling.

“I’m sorry, look, we can just forget all about it, really. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m just so happy you’re still alive, and I don’t want to lose you. Y-You’re my best friend, Munson. Besides, we still have all this gate shit to take care of, and—”

“Obi,” Eddie cut you off. Then he said your name. Your real name. He hadn’t used it in months, and it caused a shiver to roll down your spine.

You snapped your head up in shock, your mouth hanging open in a small ‘o.’

Eddie was still staring at you, but now he was smiling, so wide that his eyes crinkled and the dimples besides his mouth almost leapt off his cheeks. Tears dotted his eyelashes, but he looked so happy, you didn’t understand.

“What’s with the surprise?” he laughed when he saw your face. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know, sweetheart.”

“K-Know what?” you stuttered, trying to piece things together.

“That I’ve been in love with you since the moment you walked into Hellfire, dripping wet, last fall,” he said simply, easily, his smile going a little lopsided. “I had to bow to you to keep from falling to my knees.”

“What?” It felt like the breath had been knocked out of you. Your ears started to ring, and your vision darkened at the edges until all you could see was his face.

“Seriously, Obi?” He smirked. “For a Jedi master, you can sometimes be a little slow. Why do you think I asked Henderson to lie to you about fixing his bike? I wanted to see you. At first, I was worried you were just showing up out of obligation toward the kid, but then there you were that day, leaning against your car in the parking lot, waiting for me. That was probably the happiest day of my life. If you discount all the other days I’ve spent with you since then.”

You gaped at him wordlessly, his words echoing around your skull but failing to process.

He… he loved you? He loved you back?

“B-But you never… you never said anything,” you stuttered. “Never gave any indication…”

“I thought I was pretty obvious, the way I’m always hanging all over you,” he snorted. “But I couldn’t help myself. I just… always want to be around you, Obi. You make the chaos in my head a little quieter. You were like this one spot of bright light in this ugly town. But, like you said, I-I didn’t want to ruin what we already had. Besides, I’m Eddie the Freak, and you’re like lightyears out of my league. Why would you ever go for someone like me?”

“You’re not a freak,” you immediately countered, your voice strong in your surety. “Don’t call yourself that. You’re… you’re Eddie the Brave, not the Freak.”

“Wait, I thought you were the Samwise to my Frodo,” Eddie quipped, so he apparently remembered a lot of what you said while he was dying.

“I’m serious.” You frowned. “You were willing to sacrifice yourself for Dustin and me. You’re a hero, Eddie. A truly metal hero.”

Eddie flushed at your praise, dropping his eyes so his long lashes brushed against the tops of his cheeks. He played with your fingers, and after a moment, he raised one of his shoulders in a half shrug.

“Yeah, well, it’s easy to be a hero when you’ve got such a beautiful maiden to save,” he said, eyes darting up to yours, and a smirk tugged at his lips.

“You are seriously the worst,” you groaned and pulled your hand from his, but he caught it again, brought it to his lips, and pressed a kiss to the center of your palm.

“True, but you love me,” he said, but you could see there was a question in his dark eyes, and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face.

“Yeah,” you breathed, cupping your hand over his warm cheek. “I do.”

Eddie nuzzled into your palm and grinned so brilliantly it was like looking into the sun, and you thought that you could handle any nightmare the Upside Down tried to throw at you, as long as you could see his smile every day for the rest of your life. However long it might be.

“Hey, Obi?” he muttered.

“Hmm?”

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, voice quiet and reverent.

Your stomach bottomed out inside you, and it felt like bubbles had replaced the blood in your veins. You felt light, weightless, like you would float away at any moment.

There was only one answer you could give.

“Yes,” you whispered.

Eddie smiled again, softer but no less happy, and he lifted his hand and gently tucked it behind your head. He played with your hair for a moment before his palm slid to the back of your neck, and then he was slowly tugging you down to meet him, and you were leaning the rest of the way to bridge the distance.

His lips were still dry and chapped when they brushed yours, but just the knowledge that it was him kissing you made every hair on your body stand on end. You tilted your head slightly to get a better angle, opening your mouth to let your tongue trace over his lower lip.

Eddie made a small, surprised noise that trailed off into a groan, and then his grip on the back of your neck tightened. He opened his mouth under yours, his tongue darting out, and the kiss deepened, grew more urgent. His other hand reached out to grab your waist, and he tried to pull your even closer, even though you were already half lying on his body.

You didn’t care, though. In fact, you also wanted to be closer, and you were just considering the logistics of trying to straddle him without exacerbating his wounds when you heard the door open behind you.

“Oh!” a voice gasped.

You ripped yourself away from Eddie, but his hand on your waist tightened and wouldn’t let you go far. You shot a quick glare at him before you glanced at the doorway, and your cheeks filled with fire when you saw the middle-aged nurse standing there.

“H-Hello,” you stammered, trying to stand up and failing when Eddie’s hand flattened against the top of your thigh.

“Hello,” the nurse said as she raised an eyebrow at the pair of you, and though her face looked disapproving, there was a hint of amusement in her gaze.

“H-He just woke up a minute ago.” You cleared your throat, and in your peripherals, you could see Eddie smirking up at you, unbothered. “I was… just about to call someone to check on him.”

“Of course,” the nurse said, but she didn’t sound or look convinced. “Well, I’ll need to give him a quick exam, but it should only take a minute. Then I’m sure you and your boyfriend must be hungry, so I’ll have someone bring you guys dinner.”

“Thank you,” you muttered, your cheeks still on fire.

The nurse hummed and approached the opposite side of the bed, but then she paused and raised an eyebrow at you again.

“I’ll need you to get off the bed for the exam,” she said and looked pointedly at the chair shoved against the wall.

“R-Right,” you stuttered, and then you shot a narrowed-eyed glare at Eddie.

He smiled innocently up at you, but he did remove his hand from your thigh, and you hurriedly got off the bed and moved to sit in the chair.

The nurse was quick and efficient in her exam, and she said Eddie was recovering nicely. If he could keep some food down and sleep through the night, he should be able to discharge in the morning.

“Alright, I’ll go see about getting you some dinner,” the nurse said as she made her way to the door again.

“Oh, wait,” Eddie called out, and when the nurse turned to him, he plastered on his most charming, dimpled smile. “Could you make sure we get the red Jello? That’s my girlfriend’s favorite.”

The easy and casual way he said ‘girlfriend’— not to mention the fact that he remembered which Jello was your favorite— made a heat wave flash through your body, and it felt like your heart had been replaced by humming bird wings.

“Sure, hon.” The nurse nodded before she shot the two of you a look. “But I will say that a hospital is a place for healing, so I expect the two of you to be respectful of that.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Eddie said with a completely earnest expression, and he raised his right hand. “Scout’s honor.”

You were too embarrassed to actually say anything, but you nodded your head all the same. Thankfully, the nurse seemed satisfied with that because she left without saying anything else.

But the moment she was gone, Eddie snapped his head toward you and smirked.

“Yeah, Obi,” he teased. “You need to be more respectful of the sacred hospital. Keep it in your pants.”

“That’s it, I’m leaving,” you deadpanned as you rose from your chair. “Goodbye, Munson.”

“No, no, I was just kidding,” he laughed, but when you stepped toward the door, his voice dipped into a whine. “Nooooo, Obi, don’t be mean to meeee. I’m wounded. A wounded hero!”

You shook your head but couldn’t keep yourself from smiling, and somehow, you ended sitting on the edge of his bed again. You were too nervous about the nurse coming back to do anything ‘untoward,’ but Eddie seemed content to hold your hand and ask about everything else that had happened in the last few days.

The nurse soon returned with two trays of food, and while hospital food wasn’t exactly gourmet, it filled the aching void in the pit of your stomach. Eddie also had fun feeding you since he insisted your arms were too injured to move, and some of the mash potatoes did end up smeared across your cheeks, but Eddie was quick to lean forward and lick it off, silencing your complaints and setting your cheeks aflame.

While you two were eating, Wayne came back, and the poor man nearly fainted from shock when he saw Eddie awake, upright, and eating. Once he recomposed himself, he rushed forward to pull his nephew into a hug, and you subtlety slid off the edge of the bed to give them some room. You mouthed to Eddie over Wayne’s shoulder that you were going to make a phone call, and while the metalhead seemed reluctant to let you out of his sight, he nodded.

You left the two Munsons to reconnect in private, and you made your way to a payphone in one of the waiting rooms. You called the Wheelers’ place, and Dustin picked up on the second ring. He’d apparently been waiting for your call, wondering where you were since the strategy meeting was about to start. You regretfully informed him that you wouldn’t be making it to the meeting, but before he started to complain, you told him Eddie was awake.

The boy nearly blew out your eardrum with how loudly he cheered, but the relief and excitement in his voice only made you grin. Dustin rambled out a million questions before he cut himself off and said he was coming to the hospital, but you told him to stay at the Wheelers and go ahead with the meeting. He tried to argue, but you reminded him that Eddie still needed some rest, which he reluctantly agreed with. You assured him that he would be the first person you and Eddie went to see once Eddie was discharged tomorrow, and Dustin said he would hold you to that.

The two of you spoke for a few more minutes before you hung up the phone, and it had been about ten minutes since you left the Munsons, so you slowly made your way back to Eddie’s room.

Wayne was sitting in the chair beside Eddie’s bed when you eased open the door and slid silently into the room, and judging by his disturbed, slack jawed expression, you assumed Eddie was giving him an edited recap of all the Upside Down shenanigans.

“So, yeah,” Eddie finished in an incongruously chipper voice. “That’s the long and the short of it. I know, it’s fucked up, but it’s the truth.”

Wayne was silent for a long moment, and then he sighed and ran a hand over the top of his head.

“Few weeks ago, I might have called you crazy, but now… I believe you, kid,” he muttered and shook his head. “I’ve seen these… gates. Nothing of this world should look like that. So, I believe you.”

“Good,” Eddie sighed as he relaxed back into his pillows, but then he saw you standing by the door, and a grin broke out over his face. “There you are, sweetheart. I was just talkin’ bout ya.”

Wayne looked up as you hesitantly approached the bed. You’d met him in passing a few times, mostly when you would come over to get high with Eddie and Wayne was on his way out the door for his night shift, and you flashed the older man a tentative smile.

“Hi, Mr. Munson,” you said respectfully.

Wayne didn’t say anything in response as he slowly rose from his chair, and he rounded the end of the bed to stand in front of you, still without saying a word.

“Uhh…” Your eyes darted to Eddie, who looked just as confused, but before you could say anything else, Wayne suddenly pulled you into a tight, crushing hug.

“Thank you,” Wayne rasped into your ear, his voice sounding choked. “Thank you for saving my boy.”

Your eyes widened in surprise, but you slowly returned the man’s hug.

“O-Of course,” you stuttered before you cleared your throat. “I-I love Eddie, Mr. Munson. I wasn’t going to let him die, no matter how stubborn he was being.”

Wayne chuckled as he released you, wiping his eyes and flashing you a wry smile.

“That sounds like him,” he said.

“Hey!” Eddie protested from the bed, which you and Wayne ignored.

“Also, just call me Wayne,” the older Munson added.

“Alright, Wayne.” You smiled.

“Can we stop playing the ‘Ignore Eddie’ game?” Eddie pouted from the bed, and when you looked over at him, he made grabby motions in your direction.

You and Wayne shared an eyeroll, but Eddie’s uncle stepped to the side so you could reach the side of the bed. Eddie immediately grabbed your hand and tugged you down to sit on the mattress, and he smiled like he hadn’t seen you in years.

“Hi,” he breathed, already playing with your fingers.

“Hi,” you giggled back.

“Well, that’s my cue,” Wayne grunted behind you, and you turned to see him pulling on his jacket. “The, uh, power plant has asked the people left to take on extra shifts if they can, just until the government aid fully arrives. My shift ends around 3am, so I’ll catch some sleep at the high school before I come pick you up after they discharge you, Ed.”

“Oh, actually,” you interjected as you pulled your hand out of Eddie’s. He made a noise of protest, but you ignored him as you dug around in your jeans pocket and pulled out your keys. Then you turned and extended them out to Wayne. “The key with green paint on the top is my house key. My house is still intact, and, um, there’s no one living there at the moment besides me. I already offered this to Eddie, but you both can stay with me until we… figure out what to do about all this… mess.”

Wayne stared at you incredulously. “I-I don’t think—”

“Really, it’s fine, Mr. Mun— Wayne,” you corrected with a smile. “My place isn’t much, but I know a real bed is a right sight better than a cot stuffed in a high school gymnasium. I’ll, um, probably stay here at the hospital tonight anyway, just in case, so, really, you’ll have the place to yourself. And I can drive Eddie home after he’s discharged in the morning. Just leave my car keys.”

Wayne blinked at you, then at the keys, then at Eddie.

“I’d just take them, Uncle Wayne,” Eddie said over your shoulder. “If you think I’m stubborn, Obi is like an immoveable object. Or an unstoppable force. Or both, really.”

You turned and narrowed your eyes at Eddie, and he immediately raised his hands in surrender.

“See?” he stage-whispered to his uncle out of the side of his mouth, and you rolled your eyes and turned back to Wayne.

The keys were still dangling from your fingers, but after a moment, Wayne reached out, took them, and started to work the green painted key off the ring. When he was done, he returned the others to you, and you smiled up at him.

“Thank you,” he grunted. “This is very… kind of you.”

“Kind is Obi’s middle name,” Eddie teased, causing you to blush.

Wayne spent a few more minutes saying goodbye, and you gave him directions to your house. You also told him which bedroom used to be your mothers, and where to find clean sheets.

Once he was gone, Eddie sighed and subsided into the pillows.

“Man, I’m tired,” he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

“Almost dying will do that,” you said, and though you hadn’t meant to be funny, he laughed. The sound was infections, and you smiled slightly, leaning down to press a quick kiss to his brow. “Why don’t you lay back and get some sleep? I’ll be right here.”

“Will you lay with me?” Eddie asked as he looked up at you through his lashes.

The bastard. He knew you were powerless against his puppy dog eyes.

But you still tried to be sensible.

“You’re still injured, Munson,” you pointed out rationally. “Plus, the bed is like two feet wide, and the nurse is going to rip us both a new one if she finds me in that bed again.”

“Don’t care,” he muttered, tugging at your arm as he fought through a yawn. “I don’t even feel any pain cause of the morphine, and fuck the nurse. I just want to feel you close. I always sleep better with you close.”

The simple confession evaporated the rest of the fight in you, and you sighed.

“Fine,” you relented, like you always did with him.

“Yay.” Eddie grinned and scooted over until his opposite shoulder was pressed against the guard rail.

You shook your head at him as you toed off your shoes, but when you saw the cardboard box half stashed under the bed, you got an idea. Bending down, you rifled through Eddie’s few remaining possessions before your fingers closed around the thing you were searching for, and then you stood up with your prize.

“Ooooh,” Eddie said when he saw the book in your hand, and his brown eyes lit up with delight. “You gonna read me a bedtime story, Obi?”

“Maybe, if you can be quiet long enough,” you huffed as you handed him the book. “Hold this.”

He dutifully took the book from you, and then you spent the next few minutes trying to figure out how to clamber up into the bed without harming either of you. In the end, you were both lying on your backs, hips and shoulders pressed together. Thankfully, your busted shoulder was on the outside of the bed, and you pulled up the guardrail again so you couldn’t roll out of bed in the middle of the night and fully break your already fractured bones.

“Hmm, this is nice,” Eddie hummed as he snuggled his face against your shoulder, his long hair brushing against your neck. “You smell good, Obi.”

“Stop it, you’re tickling me,” you giggled, trying to crane your head away, but he just chased after you.

“Nuh-uh, sweetheart. You said I could smell you all I want if I stayed alive, and here I am, still kicking and breathing. Are you going back on your word, princess?”

“No,” you grumbled and just gave in.

Eddie made a happy noise as he pressed his nose to the column of your throat and inhaled, and then he pressed a quick kiss there that made goosebumps erupt over your skin.

“Okay, I’m ready,” he announced as he plopped the book back into your lap. “You may begin.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” you teased, but you picked up the worn book all the same. “Do you want me to pick up at a certain spot?”

“Hmm, nah,” Eddie said, snuggling up more against you, and his eyes were heavy when you looked down at him. “Just start at the beginning.”

“Alright, but I’m not doing all those ridiculous voices you do for the dwarves,” you warned as you flipped to the first page.

“That’s okay, that’s where I’ll jump in,” Eddie snickered and pressed another kiss to the curve of your shoulder. “Because I know how much you love it.”

You couldn’t even deny that. You loved it because Eddie was always so passionate, just like he was about everything else.

“Deal,” you chuckled, and then you cleared your throat before you began. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

You had to admit, as much as your related to Bilbo and the other hobbits, you didn’t find comfort in a hole, or a house, or any one place.

No, your comfort was the man lying beside you, and no matter what lay ahead for the two of you, and for the rest of Hawkins, you knew you would always have a home as long as Eddie Munson was at your side.

2K notes · View notes