#eddie wants to shotgun with chrissy

[mangoslam]

Chrissy Ran Away - 2/3 - Fic

Chapter 2: Did you feel the ground beneath us start to move?

Eddie wasn’t being so friendly to her now. He’d barely spoken to her since she turned up covered in mud and leaves with a fucked up knee. He seemed to be doing his best to avoid her completely. What if Chrissy ran from Eddie after her vision? What if it pushed them apart? They share a joint and it gets much much worse. My take on 'Chrissy lives'. Chrissy and Eddie talk. This whole chapter is Chrissy/Eddie 1-1.

Word Count: 5,295

Chapter: 2/3

Warning: Drug use and lots of angst.

Also on Archive of Our Own.

Previous Chapter 1/3 here.

Next chapter up 3/3

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“You want…a hit?”

He made it sound like she’d just announced she wanted to jump in the lake naked. 

She swallowed. 

The backdoor opened out onto a little patch of grass which overlooked the lake. It wasn’t Chrissy’s first time at Lover’s Lake. She’d come here a couple of times for weekend parties or when someone wanted to swim right now and couldn’t wait to drive the extra few hours to go to the larger lake on the other side of town (which offered stores nearby with magnets and postcards, as well as a place to rent fishing stuff). Lover’s Lake was pretty though and Chrissy actually preferred its quiet secluded charm. Even though she hated the way she looked in her swimsuit she was a pretty good swimmer. She could swim across the lake and back easy. 

Not at night though, obviously. 

The lake was pitch black now though she could see the ripples sparkling on the water and where the treeline met the navy blue of the sky. 

Reefer Rick had obviously enjoyed sitting out here to… presumably smoke?...as he had a nice set up here. While inside the house was sparse and devoid of any decoration or attention (her mum would disdainfully describe it as a ‘bachelor pad’ like on the TV) he’d actually made some effort out here to make it look nice. 

A dozen or so wooden chairs and camping fold outs formed a circle around an old log burner. Some of the chairs even boasted rain-proof cushions.Tall metal poles (camping poles maybe?) had been set up purposefully around the circle with what looked like old fairy lights trailing between them. Contrasting wickedly with this aesthetic was a large tin bucket with empty beer bottles and cigarette butts inside. She could even see an empty bottle of the same whiskey her dad liked. Behind her, by the wall of the house, lay a fishing rod and a load of chopped up logs for the fire (wet and useless now). One of them still had an axe embedded in the side. 

Just beyond the patch of grass she could make out a small dock which snaked around the side of the house to the boarded up boathouse. She wondered if Rick ever dragged a chair to the dock’s edge and fished that way? That’s what she would do. 

Her grandfather used to take her fishing. She used to squeal at the worms but she enjoyed it all the same. He only took her brother now. 

Rick evidently liked sitting here in the evenings with the lights on as he enjoyed the last rays of sunset. Perhaps alone or perhaps with company. Friends. Maybe he had a girlfriend? It would be pretty romantic to share this place with someone special. She recalled Eddie’s words from yesterday about Rick being a good guy despite being in prison and Nancy shooting him down. Maybe…maybe it was possible to be both? A criminal and a good guy who enjoyed sunsets and fishing and drinking beer with his buddies? 

And who was it hurting really? 

She didn’t think Jason would like this place. He’d turn his nose up and say things like ‘white trash’ and ‘run down’ and ‘fucking boring, Chrissy’. 

But she liked it here. It was peaceful and private and secret. Her future was already mapped out before her like a storybook (edited carefully by her mom and dad and even Jason had a look in) but maybe one day she could have a private place like this. 

Yeah with two crying babies at her feet, her waist thick with another, and a god-damned gourmet dinner to plan, she thought archly. Jason had already said they would hire a cook and cleaner. She only had to stay in shape and give him the children he would never spend time with. 

She knew she was a beast for being down about this. She did. She knew it was ungrateful and wicked. But she couldn’t help but just want…

Whatever. Cry me a river, right? 

She wondered if Eddie had a girlfriend he brought to magical places like this to watch sunsets and laugh and make out with. He never mentioned a name or hinted there could be someone but Chrissy was starting to see there was a lot more to Eddie Munson then the rumours would suggest. Just like Fred. Just like Rick. Maybe even like her? 

Eddie was watching her take everything in but his expression was unreadable. He had his shield up. 

She realised she still had to answer his question. Oh yeah. Right. Weed. 

“If that’s okay?” When he didn’t answer right away she added, her heart thudding, “I can pay you obviously. Sorry. I know it costs a lot and it’s your business. I’m not asking for any favours. Sorry. Twenty dollars, right? I have cash in my purse.”

He spoke slowly. “No, it's fine. You don’t need to pay me, Cunningham.”

Eddie had half risen from one of the wooden chairs when she came out and let himself sink back down again. Chrissy had an idea and quickly reached back inside the house for one of Dustin’s torches before firmly closing the door behind her. She chose one of the wooden seats on the opposite side of the circle, careful to give him some of the distance he clearly still wanted. 

“I’ll keep this on,” she tapped a bubblegum-pink nail to the torch laying at her side but made sure it shone down onto her thigh to smother most of the glow. She didn’t want any late-night hikers (or whoever the hell else came to the woods at this time of the night) to spot the light and bother them. The lake was incredibly secluded with only one access road but like Nancy said - they didn’t need any more trouble. “If there’s any danger or problems…from the upside-down …then I’ll see it flicker.”

Eddie nodded and stretched out his long legs. 

They observed each other silently in the near darkness and Chrissy pulled the borrowed blanket up around her shoulders. Even though it was spring it was still chilly and she wasn’t wearing very much. Though her baby-blue nightshirt covered far more of her than Nancy’s did, it was made from the same light breathable cotton. All of Chrissy’s night clothes were conservatively cut with buttons to her chin and her knees firmly hidden (though this one was sleeveless). She'd seen more trendy sexy outfits at the mall and in the magazines, but knew her parents would throw a fit if they ever caught a flash of silk or lace. They would immediately ask her who exactly she was buying these outfits for. God forbid she wanted to wear something just because she liked it and wanted to feel the silk against her skin. 

In contrast Eddie had shrugged on his leather jacket though his usual patched denim vest was noticeably absent. She wondered if leather would feel just as great on skin as silk did? 

“It’s pretty here, Eddie. Rick picked a good spot,” she offered softly. 

“Yeah.”

“I came up here last summer with some friends. I wanted to swim but nobody was keen on the idea. I forgot my sunscreen though and my shoulders and nose turned pink. Jason thought it would be funny to cool down in the lake and tossed me in,” she smiled weakly. “So I guess I did get my swim.” Her pale skin always freckled and burnt in even the slightest ray of sunshine. Her mom hated it. 

She offered this out as some kind of olive branch but Eddie simply lit the joint and put his lighter away with a soft clink of metal. It’s like pulling a tooth out, she thought. 

The only other noises around them were the gentle lapping of water against the side of the dock and the quiet windchime Rick had hanging by the back door. The only light came from the torch at her side and the moonlight above which was bright and piercing. 

“I thought Nancy was taking the second watch,” he said instead. 

“I couldn’t sleep. Nancy was out cold when Robin came up and it didn’t seem fair to wake her up. Not when she’s been so nice. I don’t mind. I’d like to help.” Chrissy said quietly. “Couldn’t you sleep?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll be alright though. I’ve pulled plenty of all nighters.”

She wondered if he was having nightmares too. It was the sort of the thing that they should discuss and perhaps bond over, having experienced it together. She and Eddie were only here right now because of that one shared horrible event. 

She didn’t ask though. Neither did he. Maybe she should have. 

“You’ve smoked this before, right? At a jock party or something?” he asked. “Just so I know. I don’t want you to like black out or puke. Harrington will kill me. He seems like your delegated guard now.”

“My friend Amanda from the cheer squad bought some for us after the homecoming game last year. I tried it then. Do you know her?”

“No. I don’t know Amanda.” He said it like it was obvious. Like how she’d not known who Fred was.

She almost flinched. 

“Well…she got some. Jason and his friends do it sometimes though he lies and says he doesn’t.”

Eddie made a noise in the back of his throat at the mention of Jason.

He took a long drag from the joint and passed it over to her. The earthy smokey smell rose up between them. 

She thanked him quietly. 

Before she could lift it up to her lips though he asked, “I really don’t want to be that person who tells you what to do, but are you sure this is a good idea, Cunningham? You…you’re going through a lot. What if this makes your…visions…whatever they are…worse?”

She’d thought about it too but she could see goosebumps on her arm and it furthered her resolve. The chill helped make her feel more awake and alive and steady. She suddenly felt like she was in the exact right place. 

“Maybe it will, or maybe it won’t. Maybe it’ll help stop me thinking about them all the time. This is all crazy, Eddie. I can’t imagine some weed will make it crazier. I only want a little bit anyway.”

Eddie didn’t say anything but she could feel his eyes watching her face. 

She took a short drag and softly exhaled. She was surprised she didn’t cough. She’d coughed her lungs up the first time. 

“I don’t know which bit of the last two days is the weirder. Seeing all that last night…finding out science fiction is in fact not fiction…that Wheeler keeps guns under her bed…or you Chrissy Cunningham sitting here smoking a joint with me at Reefer Rick’s while all those guys are asleep.” He was running a hand through his messy hair and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe any of it. That was understandable. 

“Maybe all of the above?” she replied gently. She took another drag and passed it back. 

She could already feel the warmth of the joint in the tips of her fingers and the slow haze uncurling in the back of her head. She wouldn't need more than another few tokes to get buzzed. 

They sat quietly for a few moments. It wasn’t the nice comfortable silence that they’d all eaten dinner in, but more of a hush. As though the darkness around them was holding its breath and waiting for something to happen. He was clearly not in the mood to make conversation with her but at the same time struggled with the silence. That seemed to be something Eddie struggled with in general. Maybe it’s why he rambled so much? Made himself so present and big? Her successful smoking of the joint seemed to have made him forget for a second that he was trying to ignore her. 

“Glad to see you don’t chief your spliffs, Cunningham.” Chrissy must have looked completely confused because he explained. “It means hogging it. Some people weren’t taught how to share.”

“Oh. You’re welcome?”

She suddenly felt silly at her inexperience even though it wasn’t exactly her first time. She didn’t know any of the words and terms for weed, or molly, or reefer? (was that a word?). He probably thought she was a total drip. She tried to recall some of the stuff Amanda and the other girls said when they were messing around before. She remembered Stacey giggling and saying she’d tried it and said…what was the word? 

“Are we shotgunning?”

Again Eddie looked at her like she wanted to jump in the lake naked. This time pushing him in too. He actually coughed. 

“Are you…D-Do you know what that means?”

“It’s a way of smoking it with someone else…right? Sorry. Am I wrong? Stacey said she’d done it with her boyfriend.”

She’d not heard Eddie sound embarrassed before. She didn’t even know he could get embarrassed like other people. He clearly was now though. “It’s… when two people smoke together, yeah, but one person inhales and exhales into the other person’s open mouth. It means you can get high without the joint.”

Chrissy felt like she was blushing from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. She was so glad it was dark. 

“It’s definitely definitely not what we’re doing right now, Cunningham. I think I’d know. Jesus Christ, I feel like I’m corrupting your little soul even telling you about it.”

“Oh…wow. Stacey missed that part out.” 

“Not something in Carver’s wheelhouse, I expect.”

The idea of Jason of all people doing something like that made her nearly giggle. Jason would faint if she even mentioned it. He didn’t even know she’d tried weed. “No way. He’d say something like ‘good girls don’t do that stuff, Chrissy.”

It sounded so intimate. So private. Had Eddie ever done it? Unlike Jason, she could easily imagine Eddie doing something like that. He was so alive. So vibrant. There was no way she was asking him though. 

Eddie passed her back the joint and she took another small drag. 

“Good girls do that stuff. Trust me.” 

Interesting. She didn’t know what to really say to that so instead looked at her bare feet which were curled up beside her. 

“I mean…you came to me for drugs…what two days ago? I thought it was a joke at first, the queen of Hawkins High asking little old me for weed. I was sort of expecting to get jumped when I walked into those woods, you know? But no, there you were all alone in your white sneakers and little pink backpack. It was like some bizzaro dream. And then, if you can believe it, you asked all sweet and innocent like for something stronger and got into scary Eddie’s van. Fucking crazy. Definitely not a good girl move.” 

“I didn’t even know what stronger was,” she admitted. “I just…”

“You would have taken whatever I gave you, huh?”

“Yeah…probably.”

It was an irresponsible thing to admit, she knew that. But her need to just forget and sleep and finally put an end to her nightmare visions had overridden any concerns about her safety. 

Don’t cry, Chrissy. It’s time for your suffering to be over…

“For the record…I wouldn’t have let you actually take the ketamine. I was already having second thoughts when…”

When it happened. He didn’t want to say the words and neither did she. 

The memory seemed to rise up between them and she heard him shift. 

She cleared her throat and thought about something else to say. “I smoked weed a month ago when I thought it might help me stop being so hungry all the time…I was on a crash diet trying to fit into some dress my mom bought for a church thing.”

Woah, why was she admitting this? She could hardly blame the weed. She’d only had a little. 

Maybe she just wanted to exchange one worry for another. One she could manage. 

Obviously smoking the weed hadn’t worked and she’d ended up eating so much. Cookies, chips, two whole chocolate muffins. Her mom was so mad when she found the empty packets in the bin and Chrissy never did fit into the dress. The seriously fucked up thing? She checked the label of the new dress afterwards and her mom had deliberately purchased one a size too small. 

Eddie took a long drag and sat back again. 

“Fuck sake. Seriously. They say that rock music and weed and fucking Dungeons and Dragons are responsible for creating little demon children, but that magazine you’re holding? That’s the true filth. None of the people in that magazine are real or healthy. They’re like zombies. And the stuff they advertise? Pure crap you don’t really need. Kids can go crazy trying to be like that. It’s all such bullshit. Capitalist bullshit.”

Maybe he too was exchanging one emotion for another. 

Eddie didn’t sound embarrassed anymore. He sounded really annoyed. 

Chrissy didn’t really know about what capitalism was or why Eddie felt it was so bad. She’d read about it in one of her classes (she couldn’t recall which one) and thought it was to do with the Russians maybe. Didn’t they hate capitalism and America out there? Chrissy didn’t mind asking questions in class where the teachers all liked her and she could do no wrong but Eddie seemed so certain of his views that she didn’t want to sound stupid in front of him again. Not that he’d ever say that or use that term, but he’d probably roll his eyes when he thought she couldn’t see. Though Chrissy’s average was B+ she suspected Eddie (and most people actually) presumed she was some dumb cheerleader. It came with the territory. 

And the models? Yes, she knew the models on the magazine cover were not like him or her or people she would spot on the sidewalk. She knew they probably starved themselves all the time to look like that. God, like she did really. 

But Eddie didn’t know that. How could he? 

“That crap’s bad for you, Cunningham, it’ll make you crazy trying to look that way. Only sad moronic sheep think that any of that stuff matters.”

Yeah, he wasn’t wrong. Hurt though. 

“I know it’s not real. I…” She trailed off. She didn’t know what to say. 

He seemed to. “It’s all bullshit. You…You don’t need that crap. I mean…Christ. You’re Chrissy Cunningham.” 

She flicked at the magazine weakly. “I just wanted something to read for the nightshift, Eddie.”

She could hear the gentle windchime behind her. Her hand trembled. 

Was it just her or was his tone more gentle now? Had she managed to pull him out from his anger about magazines, capitalism, and who knows what else? 

 “Don’t you read books? You know, other than for class. I’m sure Nancy or Robin have some you can borrow. Rick might have some. Dustin’s brought some fantasy stuff along too. Kid’s read The Hobbit more times than I have.”

No. That sounded like sympathy. Her dad always said that was akin to pity. 

Chrissy passed back the joint and didn’t speak for a moment. 

Instead she lifted her head to peer up at the night sky above them. The moon was so bright and the stars were shining magnificently. That’s a word they used in storybooks, right? It was hard to really appreciate their beauty where she lived in town…but out here? With no traffic or buildings or street lights? 

They God-damned twinkled at her. 

She tried to collect her thoughts. She’d come out here to share his joint, yes, but she’d also come out here to try and speak to Eddie and maybe find out why there was this…distance...between them. He’d purposefully built a wall up between them for some reason (in the woods there’d been no such wall. That had been easy. Simple. Nice). Her joining him out here on this dark patch of grass was the same as her tapping against that wall looking for weak points. If he only opened up a little and talked to her properly, she could pull out a fucking sledgehammer and break it down. She couldn’t lift it alone though. She needed his help.

(Were good girls allowed to use sledgehammers?)

“You use my full name a lot, you know? I know you do it sometimes with Dustin, though with him it’s like a joke because you like him.”

He wasn’t expecting her to say that. She could tell because he was now leaning forwards towards her. 

She went on. “You’ve even dropped Wheeler and Buckley. But with Steve you haven’t. Same as me. It’s always Cunningham or Chrissy Cunningham. You say it like…like it’s a title. A thing.”

“You are Chrissy Cunnginham,” he said. Like that’s all he needed to say. 

“So?”

“Seriously? You’re really asking me this? Look, I know it’s your name and it doesn’t matter to you in your sparkly pink bubble or whatever, but to everyone else at our damn school that name means something. It’s got weight. To those kids who get picked on, bullied, slammed against lockers. Kids like Dustin and Nancy’s brother Mike? They got it real bad last year. Real bad. You know what you mean to people like them? You’re fucking untouchable. You should have seen Dustin’s face when you patted his shoulder earlier - it was like fucking Christmas to the kid.”

She felt her heartbeat quicken. “I didn’t know about Dustin or Mike. If I’d known…”

“What? You’d help them? You’re surrounded by people who give us freaks shit every single day. Your asshole boyfriend Carver? The guy who laughed and threw you in the lake? Did you hear what he did to that kid two weeks ago? Their parents had to pick them up.”

She didn’t know. He could see she didn’t. 

“Honestly, Cunningham, I’m not trying to be a dick or attack you or anything, because you just don’t God-damn know. That’s the whole problem. You’re just this perfect pretty Barbie cheerleader who just oozes sugar and sparkles and rainbows, you know? That’s what you are. You know how many kids look after you when you walk down a hall? How many teachers fall like putty in your hands? You’ve never experienced anything like what us freaks have. It was the exact same with Harrington before he graduated though I think you’ve got him beat.” 

Chrissy felt tears come to her eyes though she tried her hardest to blink them back. He was right, she didn’t know about this. Was that an excuse though? Was not bothering to look beyond her safe bubble just as bad as those bullies?

“Steve’s a good guy…You’ve seen how he feels about the kids. About Dustin.”

“He’s alright…He’s not what I thought he’d be like.”

“You mean like mean and scary?” she quoted quietly. “You know what I think, Eddie Munson? I don’t think you have a clue.”

She’d kept her voice quiet throughout this whole conversation, never once raising it or showing any of the frustration or anxieties she was feeling deep down. How fucking scared she was. Quiet and soft. It’s how she always spoke. She was good at controlling it. 

Now though, she let a slither of that frustration shine through. It was only a tiny tiny fraction but it was there and she could tell he noticed because he dragged the joint on the grass to extinguish it and crammed it into one of the used bottles. 

“I might be some Barbie doll. I might be popular, and a cheerleader, and all those things that repulse you. I might hang around with people who are mean and nasty but now I know that I’ll change things. I might hang out with people you don’t like and act a certain way, but you know what? You’re the same as Jason. The same as those shitty bullies. You might not punch down, but you’re still punching and right now it seems like I’m your target. You hate being called a freak? You hate being put in a box just because of the things you like doing. What did you call me? A sad, moronic sheep. I’ll have you know I like being a cheerleader!” 

She’d gotten to her feet at some point and she pulled the blanket around her tighter. Eddie stood too and looked like he wanted to interrupt, but she didn’t let him. She kept talking. Soft. Measured. But there was weight to it now. 

“I’m proud of being a cheerleader and it helped us earlier when I climbed through that window.”

“Nearly risking your neck!”

“I like being in a team. I like being part of something. Just like you do with your D&D. And you know what? Screw you, I love to read books though you’ve made the assumption I don’t because I read magazines and I get grades just handed to me. My dad has an entire wall of bookcases in his office full of books on geography and art and languages. Subjects I happen to love. I’ve read them all. I’ve got my own bookcase in my bedroom where I keep my favourites. You know what my favourite book is? No. You’ve never asked. You just assume…”

“Cunningham, wait…I mean, Chrissy…”

“It’s Little Women, Eddie. My grandmother gave it to me.”

Eddie was holding out his hands like she might be calmed by it. Like she was a wild animal or a child. 

“I don’t know why I’m even justifying my life to you, but here I am because you don’t ask. You know when I started freshman year I was a member of four different clubs? Yearbook, chem club, drama, photography? I loved photography. You won’t believe how much I loved it but I had to give them up for cheerleading after I made one wrong step in a cheer routine. One mistake, but it nearly injured someone.”

“Chrissy, please.”

“I think you sound jealous, Eddie Munson.”

That made him look at her. Really look at her. He’d moved closer to her (when did that happen?) and she could feel his eyes on her shaking balled up hands, the blanket she had wrapped around her like armour, her pale pale face. 

“Jealous of Steve. Jealous of me. But you know what else? You’re a hypocrite. Because you know Steve is a good person, but you’re still treating me like an enemy.” 

“I know.”

God, his acknowledgement of the way he was acting was like a breath of fresh air. She took a deep breath of it. 

“I’m so tired, Eddie. I can’t…”

What was she even doing? What did any of this matter right now when they had demons and wizards chasing them? Why did she care that Eddie didn’t look her in the eye? What was he to her? 

She felt a wave of exhaustion drape over her like a cloak then, wrapping around her limbs like it wanted to pull her down to the floor like a dead weight. She was so tired of being scared and worried and upset. She was tired of feeling hungry all the time and smiling when she wanted to yell and shout. She was tired of being sad. She’d been sad for so long now that it was a surprise Vecna had waited this long before targeting her. She wasn’t shouting now though she had every reason to. 

She felt a yawn shudder through her body like a tidal wave. She thought (or maybe she was hallucinating again) that Eddie’s arms might have twitched just a little bit then like he wanted to…Who knew. Push her away? Hug her?

She should just leave and go back to bed. Maybe she would be able to sleep now instead of staring up at the ceiling and picturing her own death over and over. Wake up tomorrow and apologise to Eddie and blame her quiet outburst on the weed. But she didn’t. She made it worse. 

Her voice cracked. 

“I’m sorry I ran. I’m so sorry I ran away, Eddie.”

Did she imagine it or did he flinch back like she’d physically wounded him? 

Memories of Eddie shouting her name suddenly flooded her senses. His terrified voice yelling her name. Yelling Chrissy. Just Chrissy. 

Chrissy, come back! Don’t just leave! 

And she’d been so full of terror, the taste of smoke and ash still clawing at her throat. Her feet pounding on the ground. The leaves and mud on the ground when she finally fell sobbing to her knees. 

“I shouldn’t have done that. I know you were scared after what happened and I should have stayed to help you. Talked to you. Been there with you when Max and the others got there. It wasn’t fair to leave you alone to explain. You never asked for any of this and I feel so awful that I’ve dragged you into it. But please…please…don’t blame me for it now. Please don’t shut me out. I’m so sorry, Eddie.”

She didn't know what she expected from Eddie. She hadn’t planned on saying any of this to him like this. 

Help me break down the wall, Eddie, she thought. We can swing the sledgehammer down together. Talk to me. Shout at me even.  

But Eddie didn’t want to tear down the wall. Not now. He didn’t want to look her in the eyes or confide in her. And her saying sorry would not change any of that. 

Eddie let out a noise that sounded like a wounded animal and he beat his fists together. She saw in the moonlight that he was crying. He actually used one of those trembling fists to punch the wall by the back door although it must have hurt. 

He was breathing very deeply. Suddenly the peace and quiet around this little patch of grass seemed to come crashing down and she could hear it roaring in her ears. 

“I can't do this, Chrissy. I can’t. I’m holding on by a fucking thread, okay? And if you see me shake or slip up then it’ll all come tumbling down, I swear to God. You… saying sorry and how you wanted to be there for me? I know what you want from me, Chrissy, I do, I can see it written on your face in blood, but I can’t do it. I’m a coward. I’m no hero. You’re going to bring me to my fucking knees and I won’t be able to…get back up. I’m not strong enough.”

She knew she was crying too. 

“Eddie…”

“...and you’ve given yourself a fucking manicure,” he continued with a laugh that sounded so empty and dead. He turned his back to her and she could see the tightness of his shoulders, his back, his arms (she’d never noticed Eddie’s strength before but she could see it now in his bare forearms as he clenched his fists). “You shouldn’t have come out here. Go back inside and I’ll finish the watch. Take my bed. You need to get some rest.” 

She was being dismissed. Chrissy slowly walked back to the door. She glanced back but didn’t know what to say to make everything better. She’d said enough. 

“Go to sleep, Chrissy.”

She went to Steve’s room just like he told her and lay down on Eddie’s side of the bed. The sheets were cold now. 

She’d never had a panic attack before but she had one now. She smothered it into the blanket, her wrists trembling and her chest racing. 

Tick tick tick. 

----

A/N: Poor Eddie and Chrissy. They're really struggling to connect and communicate. The next chapter will be the aftermath with a surprising turn of events.

Was the end super melodramatic? Hell yes. Give me that sweet sweet angst.

I see Chrissy's loves all the girls in Little Woman. She doesn't have a favourite.

[chelseeebe]

take me (home)

18+. mdni. smut. violent descriptions. older!eddie x reader zombie apocalypse au. no use of y/n!

🎧home - daughter.

the world had gone to shit. the undead roamed the earth and the people were evil. can you learn to trust again? can you teach a grumpy, greying man to trust someone again?

an: hiiiii!!!! i am so sorry for my absence and honestly i have nothing to say about it other than i am lazy. i really got into the latest season of tlou and thus got inspired to write some zombie au with eddie wherein he’s a little older and a lot grumpier. i really want to make this a series but i know what i’m like so can’t promise anything

♱

robin is going to die. 

in the middle of some forest in wyoming, all alone. 

you’ve tried. and tried. again and again. every pharmacy picked clean for miles. 

no antibiotics, not even a damn clean bandage you can wrap around her ankle. 

“just go!” she screeches, collapsing on the snow-covered ground, “fucking leave me— please,” her voice begging now, desperate for you to just listen. 

“i’m not fuckin’ leaving you here robin, i won’t fucking do it,” peering seriously through the trees for some shelter, just some relief from the cold. 

she’s paler than usual, the infection now reaching her bloodstream. you’d hoped it wouldn’t get this far, that something would come along before you were made to decide between dragging her further through the state or to hunker down until she passed. 

robin’s eyes slide from your worried face to somewhere behind, causing you to turn with haste, bow drawn at whatever it was. 

a girl. 

two girls. 

with a shotgun pointed at your face. 

they look clean, well fed and strong. 

nothing like your grime covered body, littered with scratches and wind burn. 

“stop right there!” pointing your arrow at the round-faced girl, “don’t come any closer or i’ll put one right between her eyes,” mostly a threat to the gun wielding woman next to her. 

she doesn’t look scared, which figures. you wouldn’t believe you either. but her hands remain up, a gesture of peace and goodwill. 

“i’m chrissy, this is nancy,” nodding to the other lady, “we want to help you, and your friend,” they stay put, a solid ten yards between you. 

nobody wants to help anybody anymore. that wasn’t how the world worked now. not without some ulterior motive. 

you scoff, keep the bowstring pulled taut, “i don’t believe you,” narrowing your eyes. 

you could do it right now. take her out. 

and then what? 

that shotgun was dead-set on your forehead, you’d be gone before you could entertain reaching for another arrow. 

“she’s not bit?” the other girl asks, one eye squinted behind the barrel. 

you look at her, a scrawny girl with an angry face. she’s small but she clearly knows her way around a gun. 

“n-no. she tripped— some miles back, cut her ankle, we’re clean,” spitting your words. 

she hums, sharing a look with the girl in front. 

“nance, lower the gun,” ordering her companion who complies easily, “we have medicine.. and food and water,” her foot creeps forward, leaves crunching underneath her leather boot. “she looks sick,” averting her gaze to robin’s pale face, “let us help you.”

you want so badly to believe her, more than anything in this world. 

what if they weren’t lying? 

was it even worth the risk?

“you can keep the arrow on me— if it helps,” nodding gently, “but we have to go now, before they come,” glancing around the bare trees, it was only a matter of time. 

your bottom lip trembles, unsure of whether the cool feeling sliding down your face were tears or snow drops. 

it’s the only chance you have of getting robin help. 

fuck fuck fucking fuck. 

fingers trembling as you drop the bow, running to get robin from the cold, damp floor as the two girls join you by her side, her arms slung around their shoulders. 

the winter is bitter here, cutting your skin and stinging your lips. it’s why robin is so sick, with no relief from the weather and a severe lack of food, her body had succumb to the infection. 

“okay,” nancy orders, “keep that bow up, take out anything you see and we’ll carry her,” hoisting your only friend from the ground, “our camp is straight ahead, through that clearing there.” 

you do as instructed, sending silent prayers to whomever would listen that this wasn’t some sick ambush. that robin would be okay. 

please please please be okay. 

stumbling through branches and bushes, heaving laboured breaths as the hard wind sets in, whipping at your clothes. 

it’s surreal. 

a gigantic metal wall, almost knocking the rest of the air from your lungs. you wouldn’t make it out of there if things went south. 

“steve!” nancy hollers, waving her arm around the thick fog, “open the gate! we have wounded!” 

the metal creaks as a gap appears before your face, people rushing to the entrance— to robin. 

she’s gone before you can protest, into the arms of a surly stranger. 

everything’s happening too quickly. whizzing around your head like flies. one minute you’re in the scathing winter and the next placed in front of a screaming fire. 

it’s dizzying. 

robin’s not here. 

you should go. try and find her, get her away from these people and their gawping eyes. 

but you’re so warm. 

and dry. 

and your shoulders feel light for the first time in months. 

it’s hard not to let the fatigue take over, you shouldn’t. you really shouldn’t. 

yet your eyes blink shut, and your limbs relax into the tattered couch and suddenly everything is dark. 

-

you awaken in the same room you were rushed into, with no recollection of the last hour.. hours? the sun had gone down, nothing but darkness from outside the windows.

your ratty jacket no longer hanging from your shoulders but a woven blanket placed carefully over your body instead. 

did you take it off? 

did someone undress you? 

your lungs gasp for air, sitting upright as you attempt to come to grips with everything. 

“hey hey—,” a familiar voice echoes. finding her round cheeks and soft eyes, a little reassurance even now. “you’re okay.. you’re safe,” speaking gently, for your understanding. 

“rob.. where’s robin?” sticking by the crackling fire despite your urges to bolt. 

she smiles, surely a good sign, “robin’s okay,” nodding, “she’s in the nurses station, she’s on an iv. a little worse for wear, but she’ll be okay.”

your head lols back, breathing out. that’s all that mattered. robin was alive. 

“you slept for some time,” her soft chuckle ringing through the room, “you hungry? or you can shower first? it’s your choice.”

it just all seems too good to be true. the catch is coming, no doubt. 

you nod anyway, if you were going to die; at least it was out of the storm. 

chrissy, guides you through the halls, shooing away the nosy citizens. all wanting to get a good look at the new girl. 

“they’re not all bad,” she laughs, walking straight past the line of people, “some soup i think,” an order thrown at the long haired man behind the counter, “and some bread, quickly if you can,” your eyes catch her wink, her authority was not understated here. 

people respected her and her orders, that was obvious enough with nancy. 

she ushers you over to a mostly empty table, gesturing for someone to bring water, a lanky boy with shaggy hair jumps at it, a jug in hand as you sit. 

something felt.. off. it’s as if they had never seen someone like you before. 

“how ‘bout we give her some space, hmm?” chrissy hums, shooing the crowd onwards. gratefully, they do disperse, leaving you to eat, “please excuse us, we haven’t seen new people in.. forever,” she chuckles, “i’m just gonna check with eddie about where you’ll be staying, no one’ll bother you here and then we can get you settled in, okay?”

her tone is oddly settling, calming your nerves as you tuck in, leaving you to the now empty canteen to plead your case. 

she’d known it wouldn’t be easy, especially with eddie the way he is at the moment, but you and robin deserved a chance at this. 

eddie huffs, pulling his chair closer to the oak desk, “it’s more mouths to feed— we can barely keep these people fed.. how’re we gonna help two more?”

she’s trying to fight your corner, you were more than capable and robin seemed pretty crafty. chrissy had asked her about the hand-sewn makeshift holster as they were taking her to the nurse.  the group could use that, utilise your skills for good. for the betterment of hawkins. 

“alright,” bowing her head, trying her hand at a new tactic, “d’you remember when hop found you?” blinking slowly, “all skin and bone. that nasty cut on your lip.. what’d he do for you? what if he hadn’t have helped you? hmm?” cocking her head to the side. 

this angle was fool proof, eddie owed his life to hopper and he knew that better than anyone. 

he sighs again and she knows she’s won. meeting her twinkling eye with a scowl she knows isn’t serious. “fine,” exhausted from the conversation alone, “but they help out, go huntin’.. whatever it takes to earn their keep.” 

chrissy grins, she’d won the war. “she knows her way around a bow and arrow, give it a few days and i’ll send her out with nancy,” her eyes don’t mistake is worry, hand poised on the door, “this is good, eddie.. stop worrying.” 

eddie begrudgingly follows her out of the room, shooing the growing crowd from your table. the sudden lack of eyes on you cause you to look up, meeting his heavy gaze immediately. 

“you bit?” straight to the point. wasting zero time in getting to the gritty stuff. 

your head shakes, pushing the empty bowl away from you, “not bit.” 

he huffs, lips pressed tight together. he’s older than the rest of them, creases by his eyes and a slight greyish hint to his head of curls. nobody still alive today had had it easy, that was for certain. but eddie looks as if he hadn’t had it easy before the world turned to shit. 

a mean, stoic presence that was necessary for survival nowadays. but theres a softness there too, hidden underneath his exterior. you see it flash across his face when you clutch your side, bruised and aching from the long winter you’d faced. 

there’s a scar that starts on his chin, right through to his top lip. is it wrong to think it makes him look better? 

it’s definitely unholy. 

“everyone pulls their weight ‘round here,” laying down the rules, harshly pulling you from your adolescent fantasies. “and everyone answers to me, understood?” driving his seniority home, making sure you really got it. 

your head nods on its own again, “understood.” 

he wants to say something else, you can tell by his lips pursing but he doesn’t, slinking off back to the small room he came from. 

you shouldn’t have come here. 

it all felt like a mistake. 

you certainly shouldn’t have let the older man in charge of this hell hole creep into your mind the way he so suddenly had. 

-

chrissy puts you up in one of the empty houses, a little away from everyone else while you adjust to living with people other than robin. 

she gets to stay in the large, main building. a makeshift ward that housed their sick and needy. you don’t envy her, surrounded by coughing and spluttering, strangers poking and prodding at her wound. 

though at least her leg was now less hideously purple and terrifying, her wit and snappy attitude had come back in droves. 

she sits now, legs dangling off the bed, “i just don’t understand why i can’t help in the kitchen or something?” her tone full of disgust, “you’re the one that can shoot, not me.”

“d’you only wanna work in the kitchen because vickie works in the kitchen? because last i checked, you can’t cook for shit either,” bursting into giggles. 

“shut the fuck up, that’s not true, i mean— it’s not the only reason anyway,” rolling her eyes in jest. 

it was nice, calming even, to joke like this again. to be able to. everything had been so serious for so long, it was kinda hard to remember that at the end of all this, you were just girls. girls with crushes and nonsensical fantasies. girls that liked to gossip and giggle.

you try not to think too much about it, for the sadness weighs too heavy. the knowing that your previous life was non-existent now.

“alright,” chrissy announces, striding into the room, breaking the tender moment in half, “you’re good to go,” throwing a thumbs up at robin. “i spoke to will and he said the infection’s all cleared up, just rest up for a couple more days and you should be back to normal.” 

robin looks almost startled, the reality had hit her that this wasn’t just a fly-by visit and was in fact your new home. leaving the ward meant integrating properly, something neither of you had done in years. 

you’re certain you can figure it out together, well it was that or you could sneak out in the middle of the night. you’d follow robin wherever. 

the older lady smiles softly, “i trust you two’ll be okay together,” her eyes glide over to the window, where eddie looks sheepishly through the window at her, “i’ve gotta go, come find me in a little bit and i’ll get you some new clothes,” rushing off without another word. 

you watch after her, watch how her smile grows ten times bigger, how his hand met her elbow to guide her away from your prying eyes. 

“d’you think they’re together?” blurting out what was supposed to be an inside thought. 

“duh,” like it were obvious, “you saw the way she smiled at him.. why?”

you scoff, grabbing the pile of robin’s discarded clothes, “no reason.” 

her eyes narrow, you’d spent far too much time together for her to not pick up on your transparent feelings. 

“do you have a crush on him?” giggling like a schoolgirl, “he’s old!” 

“he’s not that old,” offering your hand for her to take, “besides, i don’t have a crush on him— i’m a grown woman, rob.” 

“mmhmm,” limping her way out of the room, quieting the conversation before the snooping residents of hawkins could hear. 

it’s not as if it’s a serious fantasy of yours, more likely just the result of five years with extremely limited contact with the opposite sex. 

give it a week and you’d be over it, for sure. 

-

weeks do in fact fly by. 

assimilating into the town, slowly becoming a part of their community even if you’re wary and unwilling. 

it’s not that the people here aren’t nice, it’s just a lot to handle. 

eating at a set time— hell, eating regularly at all had been a shock to your system. the constant pang of hunger had been replaced by a feeling of fullness. your body fuelled by food and not sheer anger. 

and sleeping, in a warm bed, all night. 

the softness of it all had turned you into a new woman. no longer peering over your shoulder for the first sign of danger, now looking forward to playing board games with vickie and robin. 

you can’t help but wonder if perhaps it’d be a mistake. to soften up and embrace this life fully. every other group had fallen, this one was no exception to that rule.

it doesn’t matter today. because today you were going out.

you’d been itching to get your hands on your bow again, after all, spending two years with it glued to your side, your hands felt empty without it. 

the only thing stopping you, seemed to be eddie. 

waiting at the armoury for nancy who is supposed to be hunting with him, but had asked you to step up in her place. it was a muttered excuse about being tired though you’re sure she could see how antsy you were getting. 

eddie doesn’t even turn to give you the turn of day, shovelling a spare magazine into his jacket pocket instead. 

you clear your throat, decidedly the best way to get his attention without startling him, “hey uh— nancy asked me to cover her shift.. she said she’d spoken to chrissy?” unwaveringly nervous under his gaze, “i-i’m more than ready, if you’re worried.”

eddie turns, giving you a once over before scowling. he blinks, as silent and stoic as he’d ever been. you assume he’s trying not to freak out over the sudden change 

“can i trust you to save my life out there?” cut-throat. straight to the point. 

“yup.”

he wavers, contemplating your answer before nodding, “alright. then let’s go,” swinging the shotgun over his shoulder and marching off towards the gates before you can even think to grab your bow. 

it’s the first you’ve been out of the gates in weeks, but you’re not even slightly nervous. 

in fact, you’re excited. as much as hawkins and it’s people were a welcome relief, it also felt a tad bit suffocating. 

the forest smells exactly as you’d imagined it, crisp and earthy, with no signs of rotting flesh anywhere. 

you scamper along behind eddie, appreciating every step that lead you further away from hawkins. 

“so.. where are you originally from?” scanning the tree line for any signs of the undead. it was a mile or so to the traps by the river and eddie hadn’t said a word. 

he huffs in response to your question, irritates by your mere presence. “indiana. you?” obviously not interested in conversation. 

“well,” dragging your feet behind him, “i was born in missouri but i was in boston for college when this all happened,” shrugging, like he cared. 

he doesn’t honour that with a response, keeping his mouth closed and his eyes on the trees. 

“how’d you get to wyoming?” daring another question. 

this does it. 

he snaps, turning around to glare daggers at you, “y’know me and nancy don’t usually talk.” 

you pause, humming softly, “well, i’m not nancy.” 

“you sure aren’t.”

the audacity. 

his nonsensical issue with you was becoming too much. 

“i didn’t ask you to bring us here,” dropping your bow before you let the arrow fly right through his eye, “so you can stop acting like i’m some burden— because i’ll leave, you don’t even have to ask,” scoffing loudly, hoping you’d finally gotten through to him. 

he goes to speak, a rebuttal to your home truths but you cut him off before he has the chance. 

lifting the bow in a blink, your eyes move rapidly, finding the movement in the bush before it reaches eddie and takes a bite out of his shoulder. 

“eddie, duck,” drawing the arrow back and firing without much thought over his left shoulder, sticking the groaning infected in the forehead. 

if he wasn’t already before, eddie’s stunned into silence, taking heaving breaths as he finds the body on the floor and then meets your eye. 

“i didn’t know you could shoot like that.” 

no thank you, no appreciation, nothing. 

maybe he just wasn’t capable. 

“well, someone had to do it,” catching your own breath after a trickle of excitement, “robin’s about as straight as a circle,” his eyes flicker, narrowing slightly, “her aim i mean,” coughing through your blunder. 

eddie hums, coming to lean against the large oak behind him, “right.. so.. she’s not into vickie then?” 

your eyes widen, wondering if you had just guaranteed your exile from the town with a comical fumbling of words. 

“no— i-i mean i don’t know, how would i know?”

oh my god. 

he smiles for what must be the first time in his life, “relax, you’re good, she’s good.. y’know, that’s all good here,” swigging from his bottle. 

oh. 

maybe you’d actually done some good here, putting in a good word for robin with her friend could have zero negative consequences, could it? 

unless vickie was violently homophobic, you suppose. 

“is vickie.. good too?” pushing the boundaries for the sake of your love-sick best friend. 

eddie chuckles, he actually laughs, you weren’t sure if his body was even capable of something so human. 

“she is, she.. wanted me to let robin know but i guess you can do that for me,” his attitude far more relaxed than it had been the entire time you’d been here. 

who knew that all it took to crack eddie was to almost put an arrow through his eye?

you nod, accepting your newfound duty, “i’ll put in a good word,” sharing a smile, albeit short and likely forced, it made your heart swell. 

he looks away almost immediately, like it’s a struggle for him to get the words out, as if he was allergic to being nice to you, “there’s a.. a thing tonight, for hops birthday,” avoiding your eye at all costs, “you don’t have to come, but you and robin are welcome,” standing from his perch. 

the nerves, or more likely excitement bubble over, “oh.. okay, y-yeah we’ll be there,” a failed attempt at playing it cool. 

it was the first real indication that you were welcome to stay, robin needn’t have worried, not with vickie on her side. you on the other hand, had been slow to warm up. 

which was understandable after years of scampering around the country with robin, protecting not only yours, but her life too. the people in hawkins had got comfortable, well adjusted to their lifestyle, they had no idea what remained outside of the walls. 

well, maybe except for eddie. 

“shall we carry on?” he asks now, gesturing deeper into the woods. straight back to business, seemingly unaffected by his brief moment of kindness. 

you nod anyway, following him through the trail with an embarrassingly excitable thumping in your chest. 

-

the music plays on, an old folk record from a band you’ve never heard of, accompanied by people dancing around. 

it reminds you of old, a sweet, reminiscent feeling of college and the not knowing where a night will take you. 

people laugh and talk and sing, though you find it easier to stick to the sidelines. still not so comfortable with these people to let your guard down completely. 

evidentially robin didn’t feel the same, chattering away into vickie’s ear while simultaneously hanging from steve’s shoulder. she belonged here, that was clear. 

you were just hoping that eventually, you did too. 

before you can convince yourself to leave for the comfort of your own house, eddie joins you at the bar. sidling up to the empty spot without a word. 

when will this not be so awkward? 

he sighs, a bid to get your attention, “y’having a nice night?” resting against the bar, the sterile stench of the home-brewed moonshine wafts both from his glass and his pores. 

“yeah! thank you for inviting us,” your eyes are on robin, and vickie, twirling around the room to the folk beat blaring behind. “it’s nice to feel normal again,” your heart aches a little, not out of jealousy but pride. 

proud of your best friend, proud that she was herself again. she’d found a home in hawkins, and for that, you were proud. 

eddie nods, following the pair too, “yeah.. i ‘ppreciate you coming,” his words come out easier now, warmer, more sincere. 

the conversation stills, but it’s not so tense anymore. 

when you finally conjure up something to say, eddie speaks first. knocking the words from your tongue. 

“everybody in this room is looking at you,” he mumbles, keeping his gaze set on the crowded dance floor. 

your cheeks burn in immediate response, was he drunk? trying to embarrass you? whatever it was, it wasn’t right. 

“i don’t.. i don’t think so,��� shying away. 

eddie’s lips curl upward— definitely drunk if he were smiling at you again. “you don’t think so?”

“nuhuh.”

“i mean, i don’t blame ‘em,” he blurts, the slur in his voice only becoming clearer. “i would if i could bring myself to look at you,” swirling the liquor in his cup, a pitiful attempt at playing cool. 

he’s trying to get into your head. it was so transparent that he had picked up on your juvenile crush and decided to exploit that. 

“wha.. what are you doing?” completely exasperated. 

eddie shakes his head, a strand of his hair coming free from his lazy bun to frame his face, “‘m sorry, i’ll see you around,” pushing himself from the bar, striding off before you can muster up enough courage to call him back. 

the air turns cold, abruptly snapping you from your haze and back into the room. 

-

“no, i have to go,” you announce, getting up from your spot on vickie’s couch. you’d spent the evening with both her and robin watching movies, actual movies on an old vhs the town seemed to share. 

“d’you want me to walk you back?” robin looks up, the begging look in her eye only obvious to you. 

you hum, contemplating whether pissing her off was worth it or not, “i should be alright, wouldn’t want to trouble you,” wiggling your brows. 

it was honest, you hadn’t seen her so happy in years. 

“thank you for having me, really,” heading to the door, “don’t do anything i wouldn’t do,” staring straight into your best friends eyes. 

the evening air sends a chill down your spine, you wonder if wyoming ever gets warm because it certainly didn’t feel like it was capable of getting the sun. 

a five minute trundle from vickie’s house to yours, that was all it was supposed to be. 

but you find your feet wandering. 

eddie’s words hadn’t left your brain since saturday night. what did he mean? 

the darkness conceals his body at first, the outline of his figure only made obvious as you near. 

the lowly strumming of his guitar is carried by wind, so you wait. watching his fingers pluck the strings, playing a tune you don’t recognise. 

he’s blissfully unaware until the wood creaks from under your feet, his head shooting up to catch who or what was watching him. 

“christ, you scared me,” eddie exclaims, banging his palm against the body of his guitar, “what’re you doing out at this time?” 

you don’t speak. not yet. stood at the bottom of porch with a pounding heart and sweaty palms. 

he sighs, knowing precisely what you were doing here. 

“what did you mean?” a simple question, with a tricky answer. 

he leans his guitar against the railing, staring straight down at the splintering wood, “i was drunk,” he states flatly, shaking his head ever so slightly, “i can’t even remember what i was saying,” he’s stoic, back to being the asshole who had questioned you your first day. 

you can’t believe a word he says, a pathetic cop out. 

“i don’t believe you,” stepping up to him, “you weren’t that drunk.. i-i know you weren’t.”

crack. 

a branch snaps from somewhere behind you, the wind picking up and bringing a nasty chill with it. your jacket stupidly hanging on the wall behind your front door. 

eddie stands up tall, but intimidating he is not. 

“okay, what d’you think i meant? hm?” 

there hadn’t really been enough time to consider. you know what you’d have liked him to mean but that wasn’t necessarily the truth. 

“i don’t..” losing courage by the second, “i don’t know.”

blink.

your back knocks the brittle wooden fence, not hard or out of anger. his hands gripping firmly onto your hips eddie no longer a distance away but mere inches. 

“do you know now?” 

you nod, watching his tongue peek from his mouth, teeth grazing his lip, taking every inch of willpower not to smash his lips against yours. 

a whirring, churning feeling settles in your stomach. a hunger different to the one you had felt for so long. 

lust. 

insatiable desire that is only ever quelled one way. 

“too much?”

“n-no,” struggling to catch both your breath and any sane thought that was left in your head. 

“not here,” he growls, fingers curling around your hand whisking your trembling body through the door, into his house. nobody came here. this was eddie’s territory and they respected that. 

a house in the far corner that overlooked the tiny town. a watcher, guardian, whatever he wanted to call himself. 

it isn’t that much different from yours, or vickie’s for that matter. they’d settled in what was a standard suburb before all of this, cookie cutter houses for cookie cutter folks you figure. 

before you can even form an opinion on his decor, his hands find your hips again, twirling your body, taking instant control over the situation. 

you’re not even certain that this wasn’t some alcohol-induced dream. you’ll awaken any minute now with an uncomfortable feeling and no longer possess the ability to look him in the eye. 

the way your arms snake around his neck feels mechanical, a habit you’d had for years even. 

eddie blinks, knocking his forehead against yours, “can i?” his age showing through his gentle words. 

“please.” 

closing the space to crash his mouth to yours, his body knocking into yours in a hopeless attempt at clawing his way closer. 

the tension snaps at long last, lighting the ignition that awakens you. you can’t get enough, can’t get any closer, not with your chest pressed flat against his, hips grinding mindlessly for any hint of relief. 

it’s been so long since you’ve felt another touch like this. so long since you’d even entertained the idea of having this again. and now, within a matter of weeks, eddie had forced his way into your mind, his tatty leather jacket and gruff voice were now imbedded within your veins forever. 

eddie hums, trying to pull back but your lips are unrelenting, not willing to let him work his way out with misspoken words. 

“not.. not here,” he gasps, walking your bodies down the creaking hallway. 

his hands don’t stop, roaming everywhere they can reach, slipping underneath your shirt and back down into the backs of your jeans. grabbing and caressing your flesh, utterly encapsulated by exploring every inch of you. 

your lips part again as you reach his bedroom, dark and awfully minimalist. reminiscent of a typical bedroom you’d find yourself in on a saturday night once upon a time. 

his grip doesn’t let you dwell on it too long, pulling you right back in with a kiss. 

“wai- wait,” you rush, keeping a steady grip on his shoulders, “i thought you and chrissy..” reluctant to finish when his lips find your neck, his stubble grazing your skin with every movement. 

eddie cackles, vibrating against your jaw line, “you thought.. what?” forcing you to finish your sentence. 

you grumble, partly due to his talented mouth and the other for the hole you’d dug yourself into. “..together?” shifting your thoughts to your question though it’s useless when his teeth come out to play. 

“no,” answering definitively, “not together, just friends.. from before,” his fingers skim your waist, bringing the hem of your shirt up with his hand. 

your throat hums, a sort of half-moan, half-grunt, “oh.. i-i uh—,” losing your train of thought as his palm finds your bra, groping and grabbing over the thick material. 

“huh?” he teases, drawing circles around the now erect nub with his thumb. 

every slight touch makes your skin burn and your nerves work overtime to keep up and you aren’t even undressed yet. 

“fuck, i don’t know— please just touch me,” sliding your hands underneath the collar of his jacket, itching to get it off. 

eddie groans, letting go of your body to get his jacket off himself, his arms thick and tattooed. a shock to you, seeing as they were hardly seen from beneath the scuffed thing. 

there’s so much about him that you’re begging to find out about, other than his name and the fact that he was a phenomenal kisser, you knew nothing at all. 

your shirt is next, his fingernails scratching your hips as it’s lifted over your head, landing on the floor as quick as it was pulled off. 

there’s no time to feel insecure, as you’re sent tumbling backwards, landing on the soft mattress with eddie not far behind. 

“you’re beautiful,” he mutters, if it were any quieter you wouldn’t have heard it. 

it doesn’t take long for your cheeks to burn, the heat rising from your stomach to your chest immediately. 

he moves down, dragging his fingers along every curve on the way, until he’s knelt on the floor between your legs. touch like this feels so foreign, nobody had spent this much time and care on you even before the world went to shit. 

he’s gentle, something you’d thought he was incapable of, tugging at your jeans until they rest at your ankles. 

the air is cold but eddie keeps you warm anyway, his palms leaving burns in their wake. 

a thousand and one thoughts rumble through your brain at once; what if you couldn’t handle it? what if he was repulsed by you? god knows that shaving your legs in the apocalypse was useless.

perfume and moisturiser were a thing of the past, you don’t even half resemble the wild girl from college anymore.

“it’s been a long time,” a fair warning, you could already feel the damp sensation rubbing between your thighs, there’s no saying how much you can take. 

eddie grunts, his deep, rumbling chuckle making another appearance, “d’you think i care?” his fingers keep your knees wide open. 

he doesn’t get it. 

so you give him a hint. a really, very obvious one. 

fingers curling around his wrist, “i mean.. before this started long,” keeping your grip tight around him. 

cocking his head to the side, he smiles, tongue washing over his parched lips, “yeah, i heard ya. i don’t care,” breaking away from your hold to spread your legs further, trailing his finger tips down your skin until he reaches your clothed cunt.

skirting over your clit with a solitary finger, his gaze transfixed to your face, drinking up every single contortion, every curse and moan. 

his fingers hook into the waistband of your underwear, teasing them down your thighs until the cool air hits your cunt, send shivers down your spine. 

“shit,” he mutters mostly under his breath, “i’ve barely touched ya,” as if you weren’t already ashamed of how needy you’d already become. 

“i told you..” barely a squeak, your cheeks burning in sheer shame for the pool between your legs. 

eddie just tuts, refusing to repeat himself again. he just wants to hold you into the mattress until you’re begging for relief, shaking against his tongue. 

but that’s a little much for the first time he gets to even touch you. 

so he doesn’t. 

instead, pulling you by your legs to the end of the bed, his grip on your thighs would surely leave markings in his wake. clutching on as if his life depended on it. 

he stands, the tent in his jeans made increasingly obvious as he moves on top of your body. it’s both foreign and completely familiar all at once, like you and eddie have danced this dance a thousand times before. 

you haven’t, of course. 

you’d barely seen him smile before tonight. let alone this. 

he scuffles with his jeans, keeping one hand wrapped tight around your thigh, keeping you open for him. not once letting his eyes flicker, resulting in an awkward fumble to get his jeans off. 

it’s an impossible feat not to stare open-mouthed as his cock springs out of his boxers, already leaking and far bigger than you could’ve ever expected. 

there’s a semblance to the first time you were ever in this position, a little intimidated while hungrily anticipating what was to come after. 

you just hope you don’t scare him away. 

“didn’t nobody teach you it’s rude to stare,” he bites, but the sarcasm is thick, dripping off of his tongue. 

as if you were being scolded, your eyes fly upwards, bottom lip trembling, begging for a rebuttal but nothing materialises. 

eddie takes full advantage of your flustered state, pressing down to kiss your puffy lips, grinding his hips tenderly against your own. 

his fingers slide down from your hip to fist his cock, teasingly slapping the glistening tip against your clit. 

agonisingly slow, drawing out every last second before everything would change forever. 

okay, you’re being dramatic. 

his cock harshly pulls you from the battle inside your head, nudging against your hole, gently knocking his forehead against yours. 

a quiet, muted, “please,” is all you can muster, soft thighs keeping him as close as the space allowed. 

with that, he slides inside, encased by the soaking wet warmth of your cunt. eddie’s lips part, grunting as his balls meet your pussy. 

everything feels electrified, as if the universe had always meant for this to happen. your two bodies meeting was destined to happen thousands of years ago. 

“fuckfuckfuck,” he groans through gritted teeth, beads of sweat melding together on your shared foreheads. 

you need him closer somehow, deeper. until you can feel his cock in your throat and a buzzing in your head. 

eddie presses his lips to yours in a haste, muttering rushed expletives into your open mouth. 

you break away from his lips to moan aloud, throwing your head back against the pillow to allow him into your neck, which does with a grateful murmur. 

“y’sound just as sweet as i thought,” he pants against your skin, sucking away but only lightly, not enough to leave any evidence of his presence. 

your mouth is uncontrollable, pleasure overcoming your entire body, every stroke evokes ripples through your nerves. 

“f-fuck eddie.. feels so good,” slurring your words, rolling your eyes to match. the closeness is inescapable, balls slapping against your thighs, his tongue rough against your neck and jaw. 

cumming before all this was a rarity, but now it felt as if anything less would be downright impossible. your stomach flips already, tightening and turning with every pump of his hips, every time he brushes against your clit. 

eddie groans, long and melodically, moving faster as he coaxes your orgasm from you. 

“mhm, tha’s it sweetheart.. let me feel you,” pulling his face from your neck to watch your face full of bliss, ecstasy overcoming your features as the waves crash over, figuratively and literally. 

your chest heaves, moving rapidly, “oh my god,” gasping when the wetness reaches your thighs, your release gushing, coating his pubes, his cock and his sheets. 

“shit darlin’,” speaking softly yet with sheer amazement, “‘m gonna cum.. you’re gonna make me fuckin’ cum,” pressing his wetted lips to your cheek, breathing in your scent. 

“please..” you huff, digging your fingertips into his back, “cum for me,” whispering now, plump lips grazing his ear, your words punctuated by his increasingly feeble thrusts. 

the noises are guttural, coming from somewhere within. you’re too exhausted to truly care but can feel him pull out regardless, his cum spurting over your thighs, painting a perfect picture. 

“jesus fuckin’ christ,” he pants, leaving a solitary kiss on your forehead, gazing down to admire the mess you’d made. 

you’d like to say that that was only because it had been so long, but deep down you know that you’d only be lying to yourself. 

“y’gotta get up,” he nudges, “gotta change these sheets baby girl,” speaking into your skin, though it does nothing but lull you further into your slumber. 

“mmm,” shaking your head, “i wanna sleep,” nestling in to the blanket, hoping he’d leave you be. 

“nuh uh,” eddie sighs, his arms coming to scoop you from the bed, carrying your tired body bridal style to his couch, “i’ll be quick,” setting you down to get to work. 

-

you had somewhat, maybe foolishly, expected warm arms to wake you up, reality crept in and the harsh chill encased you instead. 

paper crinkles underneath your arm, left haphazardly on his now-empty pillow. 

‘gone on patrol. help yourself - e’ 

wow. 

a gentleman. 

you weren’t really expecting flowers or breakfast in bed but then you weren’t expecting to wake up in his house alone either. 

it’s cold in here, you suppose he spends more time away from it than he does in it, which makes sense as to why he doesn’t heat it but christ. 

you had to somehow sneak out of here and back into your own house without a soul seeing. at least robin would more than likely still be with vickie, just leaving the rest of this cursed town to avoid. 

this wasn’t how you’d pictured this going at all. 

he couldn’t even force himself to see you out? to make sure you got home okay after making you literally tremble beneath him? your release still all over his sheets. 

you almost feel nauseous about how easily you had let him in, how utterly delusional you must have been to ever believe that this was even slightly serious. 

getting yourself dressed quickly, too fast to let your self do something you’d regret. 

maybe he was scared. he’d run off to protect himself..

no— he didn’t deserve your pity, not when a goodbye was too much for him to give you. 

you refuse to dwell too much on your surroundings, trying to ignore the slight insights into who eddie was as a person. his guitar, the paintings, the books. everything that made him more human, not the machine you saw pacing the walls. 

it’s quiet outside, still too early for the majority of the town to be up and pacing. you could slip right on by without anyone caring too much about where you were the previous night. 

joyce wags her fingers as you pass by, sat on the porch with will, both completely oblivious as to where you were coming from. 

robin isn’t home either; your house just as quiet as eddie’s had been. 

you mustn’t dwell. 

it was over. 

a short lived fantasy that had sent your delusions running wild. this was the end of the world, there were no happy endings anymore, at least not with grouchy middle aged men. 

-

you don’t see him for the rest of the day. 

he’s not at lunch. or dinner. or even wandering around like he usually was. 

robin can tell somethings wrong, roping steve and jonathan in to try and draw it out of you, or to cheer you up. 

it didn’t matter, neither were working. 

“we sing too y’know,” steve beams, standing at the other side of the table, his elbow almost knocking jonathan clean over. 

there’s a loud protest from the boy, but the noises turn to static when you see him. 

the leather jacket. 

disappearing from the doorway the second your eyes leave jonathan, a blur that you weren’t even certain you’d actually seen. 

how long had he been stood there? watching you, like a coward. 

steve blurs before your eyes, unwarranted tears well up, forcing you from the table and out into the frosty evening air.

eddie’s no where to be found, not even a glimpse of his hair. it’s just you, the snow, and a desire to get as far away from this wretched place as possible.

[taintedcigs]

GETAWAY CAR — rockstar!e.m. x f!reader

CHAPTER SEVEN: SHE'S THUNDERSTORMS

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✦ summary: in which corroded coffin performs at the hideout (wc: 9.3k+)

✦ warnings — angst, ANGST, arguments, FINALLY SOME DESERVED FLUFF, jealousy, jealous!menace!eddie, the kiddos make an appearance!!!, uhmm kissing,,, eddie and p are an old married couple, drinking, smoking/weed, uhm thats it i think.

✦ pairings — rockstar!eddie munson x fem!reader, past billy hargrove x fem!reader

✦ authors note — not proof-read i tried but i cant do it. pls ignore all mistakes. SO VERY SORRY FOR THE WAIT. hopefully this makes up for it. as usual the song is by arctic monkeys, and the other song mentioned is lover you should've come over by jeff buckley. but we'll pretend like its all by corroded coffin so shshsh.

anyway ily all pls interact + like + reblog to support me! i'd also LOVE LOVE to chat about anything abt this series it literally is my baby!! pls dont hesitate to send me an ask about anything mwah thank you for reading💗

series masterlist | series playlist

“Dude, I’m telling you it was not my fault.” Gareth exasperated desperately, hands up in the air in defeat.

But Eddie was quick to shake his head, “You drove her here, how is it not your fucking fault, Gareth?” He spat, bitter and angry. 

“She insisted! She wants to apologize to Pinky!”

“What?” Confusion etched across Eddie’s face. 

With an annoyed sigh, “Yeah, the whole fuckin’ world has to revolve around her,” Gareth muttered under his breath, knowing that saying anything about you would drive Eddie crazy. 

“Watch it,” Eddie warned, mouth downturned in disgust almost immediately. 

“What? It’s the truth.”

“Gareth, I’m not gonna tell you this a second fuckin’ time, okay? Don’t do that shit around me and never say one fucking word about her again, you got that?” He gritted through his teeth, his hand unintentionally clenching into a fist. 

“Jesus Christ.” 

“I mean it,” Eddie spat.

“Fine, fine!” Gareth threw his hands up in defeat, both of them downing their drink before scurrying away. 

Shit.

You knew you shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but it wasn’t your fault. You were just trying to get a drink for the group, surfing through the sea of people—which was unusual for The Hideout. Still, you guessed the only celebrity from Hawkins was enough to have people swarming in, and Gareth and Eddie happened to be chatting right behind you. 

Even though it stung to hear Gareth talk of you like you were the fucking anti-christ, hearing Eddie defend you like that had that familiar warmth spread through your entire body. And you hated it, you hated the soft spot you’d always have for him, how it would take you back to five years ago when he would be there for you, every single time. 

Fucking great, you had so many people to avoid tonight; Chrissy, Gareth, and Eddie. 

With a sigh, you quickly disappeared into the crowd, carrying a tray of drinks for everyone. Plopping it on the booth with a slight sloosh. 

Everyone reached for it and you were quick to slap away Max, Lucas, and Dustin’s curious hands. “Oh, come on!” Max protested with a groan. 

“Not legal,” you hummed with a narrowed gaze. “Yeah, I’m sure you were legal when you were shotgunning beers and smoking joints like it was your lifeline during senior year,” Lucas mumbled under his breath, quick to get settled into his seat with a huff. 

You gasped dramatically, “Lucas Sinclair!” Exclaiming as he gave you a simple shrug. 

“So what’s new with you and Mr. Rockstar, now?” He teased, and you narrowed your gaze at Max who snickered underneath her hand. 

“Nothing,” You mumbled, shying away from everyone’s gaze on you. 

“Good thing, we can always ask the other party, too,” Dustin chimed in with a smirk, head pointing toward behind you. 

There was a slow tap on your shoulder and you were quick to jerk your body around. 

Of course.

Eddie. 

His soft gaze was dumbly addicting, that boyish grin curled deliciously on his lips while amber eyes took you in wholly. 

His gaze wandered to your figure, the midnight blue dress embracing your figure, accentuating your curves, its hem grazed against your mid-thigh, allowing him to get a glimpse of your sun-kissed legs, simple but exuding how breathtakingly pretty you were. 

He couldn’t place why your brows were so tightly pinched together, or why your arms were crossed against your chest, plump lips downturned with a pout. Still, you looked so pretty, so alluring that he could barely form any sentence. 

Mind captured entirely by you, almost feeling paralyzed while he took you in. 

“H—hey!” He stammered, awkwardly putting his hands in the back pocket of his chained black jeans. He was just him, and oh, god, you were you. 

Plush lips that curled into the prettiest smile, the most captivating eyes, even when you seemingly looked upset, brows pinched together, those glossy lips downturned, you were perfect. 

You ignored Eddie’s greeting, your piercing glare was still not that noticeable to him, all he could think about was how beautiful you looked, and how he was glad that he saw you before his set. He wanted nothing more than to see you watching him perform the songs he wrote all about you. 

“Wow… Uhh—you look… amazing,” He mumbled, breath getting hitched on his throat when he saw your unreadable expression. 

And all you could do was give him a tight-lipped smile. Almost immediately wiping that glow off of his face, face going momentarily blank. 

But he should’ve expected this, he knew you wouldn’t jump into his arms at any opportunity, he deserved this. He needed to do more, he needed to win you back. 

He opened his mouth to speak, desperate, needing your approval, but you interrupted. “I—I’m going to get a drink,” you mumbled, face flushed with heat, you didn’t know how to act either. 

Eddie glanced over at the tray of drinks on the booth, with his head tilted, “there’s a bunch of drinks over there,” he mumbled, he didn’t want you to leave. 

“I can see that, but I still want my own,” you sassed with a narrowed gaze, not letting him talk back once you left to go to the bar. 

Eddie watched your figure leave with a deep sigh, turning to the booth to take one of the drinks. “I really fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Yup,” Steve muttered with a nod, and Eddie was quick to give him a death glare. 

“So, will you finally enlighten us on what happened with you and Mrs. Grumpy over there?” Dustin huffed impatiently, grabbing three drinks from the tray now that you were gone, handing the other two to Max and Lucas with a grin.  

“She didn’t tell you guys?” 

“No! Which is a shame because she usually can’t say no to my adorable face.” Dustin blinked quickly, batting his eyelashes while Eddie shook his head at him with a chuckle. 

“Oh c’mon, Eddie, just tell us!” Max let out an impatient huff, her captivating icy blue gaze was pleading in a way that he could never say no to.

These doofuses would always be his weakness. 

“Yeah, Eddie, pretty please?” Lucas added exaggeratedly, mocking Max as she hit him in the chest playfully. 

“Fine, fine!” He sighed, running his hand over his forehead in frustration.  

“But nothing really happened and I don’t think it’s—” When he felt everyone’s gaze piercing through him, he was quick to shut up.  “Okay, okay!” He huffed.  

“She came to my trailer guns ablaze and then just slammed the note against my chest, calling me a coward, and then I told her off—”

“Wait what?” Max was quick to interrupt him, brows pinching together. 

“Yeah, I told her I wasn’t the one who left.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, didn’t you kiss Chrissy in front of her?” Max taunted.

“Yeah, and did you not bring her to Steve’s?” Dustin added. 

With a huff, he turned back to Steve. “Jesus, Harrington, did you gang up all of them against me?” He just gave Eddie a shrug. 

“That’s not even the point! Everything has just become too convoluted with us,” He spat, anger returning quicker than you intended to, while the rest of the gang sipped their drinks with an ‘oof’.

“It’s not convoluted, just tell her how you feel!” Max inquired, gently, almost like she was trying not to tip him off. 

“I—” He took a deep breath. I will. He wished to say, but saying it out loud felt too real. And you were right, he was a coward.

“I’m gonna properly apologize and make things right by her,” he muttered, taking a big sip from his drink. 

“You better hurry up, rockstar,” Steve taunted smugly, the weird face he pulled was making crinkles appear on Eddie’s forehead.

Eddie’s head cocked toward Steve, aggressively. “You better tell her how sorry you fucking are.”

With an all-knowing snort, Steve’s finger accusingly pointed towards something behind him. “Or someone else might swoop in.” 

“Fuck off, Harrington,” Eddie mumbled, rolling his eyes before he turned around with a huff. 

Oh, shit. 

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Steve’s accusatory finger, a slight ‘shit’ escaping from Robin’s lips which Nancy elbowed gently to shut her up. 

Eddie could barely move, his entire face feeling hot and jaw clenching involuntarily, jealousy shooting through him faster than the alcohol swimming in his system. 

Because there you stood, in front of the bar, with your head tilted sideways, a pretty grin sitting on your lips, mellow gaze looking up at the guy in front of you—dirty blonde, hair cut shorter than Eddie’s but almost as long as Steve’s, wearing the most expensive and tidy outfit Eddie had ever seen—making him feel stupid for choosing to wear those black chained jeans. 

His scowl was anything but pretty, brows furrowing in a way that made him look like a complex puzzle, eyeing the way this stranger was touching you. 

“Oh, isn’t that—” Robin spoke up, and the entire table shushed her because they also realized exactly who that was. 

James.

Your ex, not Billy, of course, the other douchebag before Billy. 

He really wasn’t much of a douchebag, a genuine, nice guy, and to make matters worse he was a total gentleman; attributes Eddie would never call a typical high school Jock. 

The relationship only ended because he went to college one too many states away, the distance getting between the two of you, but Eddie always referred to him as ‘the douchebag’ The jealous feeling sunk into his chest even then. 

Rich kid, a jock in high school, older than both of you, someone who had his life together. Everything that Eddie never was. Everything Eddie always wished to be.

But now, seeing you with him made something almost click in Eddie’s head, like he was meant for you as he suited you much better than Eddie ever would. 

He could treat you much better than Eddie would, sure Eddie had his name now, the riches he never had back in high school. But he was still just Eddie.

And he was certain James never kissed Chrissy, he’d never fuck up like Eddie did.

He watched the way your eyes lit up when he was animatedly talking, his gentle touch on your arm, the smile that curled on your lips. 

What if he asked for your number? What if he wanted to reconnect? What if you said yes? Just because Eddie had been a total fucking idiot and couldn’t see what was right in front of him? 

He tried so hard to push the idea of the two of you together back into his mind. To make sure it never left, to make sure it never manifested. 

But the way his jaw clenched and the deadly glare burning through both of you showed that he couldn’t. 

He was jealous, a type of jealousy that quickly translated into anger, one he could almost feel on his skin, hot and prickling rage stabbing into his body, agonizingly slow, making it harder for him to stay glued there and not do anything the more he eyed the hold James had on you. He was standing too close for Eddie’s liking. 

Usually, he’d let this feeling sink back into his mind, take a breather, smoke a couple of cigarettes, and then act like nothing was wrong for the rest of the night while he spent it sulking. Keep that rage caged in his chest, so he could keep his feelings contained. 

But he couldn’t do that this time, no. He wasn’t going to be stupid enough to let you slip through his fingers, not again. He was going to fight for you, he was going to show you that you belonged with him. 

No matter what Mr. Fancy Pants could offer to you, he needed to tell you how he really felt, he needed to make sure you knew. Because even if he could feel the insecurities jabbing into his brain, he always knew, deep down that there was something there between the two of you. Something always left undiscovered because both of you were cowards.

He couldn’t let that happen again, he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. 

“Oh, I get the appeal now,” Max murmured, breaking the silence between everyone, and earning a hard glare from Eddie. 

“What? He seems nice, has pretty hair, much better than Steve’s, and that outfit probably cost more than your wedding,” Max spoke bluntly, now earning more than just the hard glare of Eddie, mouth hung open Steve looked offended, Nancy and Jonathan narrowed their gaze, but Robin snickered behind her hand, almost giving Max her approval. 

“Max!” Lucas reacted before them and Max furrowed her brows, a smirk earning her way to her lips. “You’re still my number one Lucas, don’t worry,” She hummed, pinching Lucas’ cheek and ignoring Dustin’s groan.

“Dude, why would you do that?” Dustin whispered, eyeing Eddie worriedly while nudging Steve by his jacket. 

With a dramatic huff, Steve pulled his collar back, “Relax, I know what I’m doing.” 

Eddie’s fingertips absentmindedly traced the rim of the glass in front of him, his eyes never leaving the two of you when he downed the drink, slamming it back on the booth, making everyone flinch. 

“I’ll be right back,” Eddie muttered, a forced chuckle escaping his lips. 

“What are you even going to do?” Robin inquired, almost mocking.

A smirk landed on Eddie’s face. “I’m not going down without a fight, Buckley.” 

“Not this fucking time,” he hissed, almost all the brows of the gang raising at his determination.

“I’m gonna tell her how I feel, and I’m not letting another douchebag ruin this,” Eddie mumbled, and a dumb smirk was placed on everyone’s face almost too quickly.

He was going for it, and the soap opera was continuing, the gang watched in excitement.

“Was he ever really a doucheba—” Dustin’s worries were quick to die down when he threw him a deadly glare.

Without another word, he stormed off to the side of the bar. Quick, too fucking quickly that it almost gave him a whiplash. He didn’t know what had taken over him, eyes burning the back of their figures as everyone else at the table watched him with a proud look. 

But the child-like jealousy he felt within his body was uncontainable, it felt like his face was almost too hot to touch, he was desperate, quite literally. 

The tap on James’ shoulder was anything but gentle, making him turn to Eddie with his pair of brows furrowed, and Eddie’s muscles were quick to tense. 

His dark gaze only softened when he looked back at you, muscles relaxing, and creased brows returning to their normal form. 

The jealousy eased inside of him, not dissipating quite enough, but slowing with one gaze from you.

Back in the booth, with another sip from his drink, Lucas huffed, “Five bucks says they’ll confess by tonight.” 

Robin was quick to snort at him, “You’re trusting them too much, kid, Steve’s ‘little push’ might help them,” She mumbled with a roll of her eyes. “But Jesus fucking Christ, just look at her face, she’s going to go off at him. The most they’ll probably do is have another fight, get just a little bit close to talking about their feelings, and then do it all over again.”

Steve, ignoring Robin’s theories, exclaimed with a smirk. “Ten bucks that Pinky will sleep with Eddie tonight!”

“I second that,” Max said with a grin.

“Steve!” Nancy warned with a disapproving tut. 

“What?” He huffed. 

“They’re kids!”

“We’re nineteen!” Max groaned. 

“I turn twenty next month!” Dustin chimed in. 

“Still!”

“Fine, fine!” Steve sighed with a glare at Nancy, “Then ten bucks that they’ll kiss tonight!” 

“No fucking way.” Robin shook her head. 

“Nah, they’ll at least kiss tonight,” Jonathan said with crossed arms. 

“Are you guys seriously betting on our friends?” Nancy said with a furrowed brow. 

They all nodded vigorously, “Fine,” Nancy muttered. 

“Then I second Steve, ten bucks for them sle-kissing.” Nancy corrected herself, earning a wicked grin from Steve. 

“Come on!” Robin groaned, dissatisfied by Nancy’s answer. 

“I agree with Robin,” said Dustin with a shrug.

“Finally!” Robin exclaimed, hands rubbing together in victory. “Someone with common sense. There’s no way those idiots are going to do anything but fight, just watch her come back here, all fuming about how much she hates Eddie.”

They all shrugged, going back to continue watching the soap opera unravel in front of them. 

“James!” Eddie greeted with faux excitement, a grin playing on his lips, amber gaze remaining on you. With your brows creased, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ you mouthed behind their awkward hug.

He shrugged, and his hands clutched James’ shoulder harshly, making him chuckle awkwardly. “Munson, the man of the hour!” He greeted him with a beaming smile.

He really was too nice for his own good, wasn’t he?

“I’d ask what you were up to, but it seems you’ve been doing just fine, rockstar,” James exclaimed, returning a friendly slap to Eddie on his shoulder—in a much nicer way than Eddie intended with his.

You smiled uncomfortably, your gaze still throwing daggers at Eddie, who was actively avoiding it. “I have to say that last album? Fucking Christ, had it playing over and over again for days.” He beamed again, much to both of your dismay.

That all-knowing smirk on Eddie’s face disappeared, the unexpected compliment seemed to make him uncomfortable, conflicting with the defensive walls he had put up.

“Uhh—thanks man,” he chuckled awkwardly, casting a quick, scrutinizing glance at you, catching the small smirk on your lips.

“What have you been up to?” He asked, curiously, desperate to know what the two of you were talking about, nervous to see if the two of you would do anything more than this.

The confidence in the way James held himself, his slicked hair, his fancy outfits up close, Eddie’s insecurities washed him over once again. Now with that part of his brain convincing him that the two of you would somehow end up together again.

“Oh, you know, I was just in town, got a nice job here, thought I’d stop by to see Corroded Coffin play, been seeing the posters everywhere—great marketing by the way,” He hummed, flashing Eddie a smile. 

And Eddie returned a forced one, lips pursed together in annoyance. “and then I thought I’d get a drink, but then I heard this familiar voice next to me, yelling to the guy next to her to fuck off for attempting to steal her drink, and I thought oh that’s Pinky.” Eddie couldn’t help but not keep his gaze on you, studying your features, almost gauging your reaction, trying to nitpick something to fuel his jealousy. 

“Been a long time, but I’d never miss this one’s sassy voice and that pretty face,” He mumbled with a sly smirk, making Eddie’s face scrunch and almost making him scoff out loudly. 

“Oh, stop it!” You mumbled with a smile, all flattered, and Eddie’s gaze narrowed, jealousy overtaking him again. 

“So you two are… reconnecting for the old times' sake, huh?” Eddie asked through gritted teeth and you rolled your eyes at him. 

“Eddie—”

With a smile, James turned to you, “I mean I’d love to grab a drink, are you free tomorrow?”

“Ah! I wish I could, but I need to help Nancy out with some wedding stuff.”

“How about next wee—”

“She’s busy,” Eddie interjected quickly. 

“Eddie!” You warned with your brows raised, heat rising to your cheeks, what the fuck was he doing? 

“Can I just—steal you away for a minute?” Eddie turned to you with his jealous gaze, hand gently having a hold on your arm. 

“Oh, sure, man!” 

“No!” You and James exclaimed in unison. 

James stared at the two of you with his brows furrowed, both of you breathing heavily, an intense gaze connecting the two of you. With a sigh, you followed him out of the crowd, an apologetic smile thrown toward James. 

“What the hell are you doing?” 

You scoffed, “Me? What the hell are you doing, Eddie?” You snapped, naze garrowing. 

“I’m not locking lips with James that’s for sure!”

“Jesus Christ I was not locking lips with—” You halted abruptly, the absurdity of the sentence hitting you like a wave. Taking a moment to breathe, “What are you a child?”

“Well, if pointing out the obvious means I’m a child then so fucking be it!” The words tumbled out of his mouth harshly, almost lost in the din of the bar. 

“The obvious? Do I need to remind you that you were the one who kissed Chrissy?” You accused sharply, your anger returning and cutting through Eddie’s jealousy like a knife. 

“Look, I—I’m genuinely sorry for that, Pinky, I am. I should’ve never done that, it was a mistake—” His voice strained, getting lost amidst the background clamor, their set was about to start and Eddie could careless. 

He took a step closer, but you didn’t budge. “You don’t kiss someone as a mistake, Eddie! You don’t invite them to brunch as a fucking mistake!” You snapped, tone a poignant mix of bitterness, jealousy, and an equal amount of hurt. Teary yet ablaze gaze bored into Eddie's, breaking his heart more and more. 

His shoulders sagged under the weight of your words, the realization of the irreparable damage sinking in. 

He took a step closer, a desperate attempt to bridge the emotional gap.“Will you just listen to me?” Eddie's plea hung in the air, the room seemingly shrinking as you and Eddie’s gaze connected. Your breaths mingled, heavy with unspoken words that pulsed between you. 

Only inches apart, and you couldn’t help it when your gaze drooped down to his lips, then back to his mellow eyes.

“Eddie, this is the fifth fucking time they’ve been calling you.” Gareth’s irritating voice snapped the conversation, loud enough to have you almost jump back, as you threw Gareth a daggering gaze. 

“Just fucking wait for a second,” Eddie spat, trying to dismiss him, but the moment was gone. 

And Gareth wasn’t having it. “No way, dude we go on in like five minutes,” He scoffed, momentarily dragging Eddie by his arm.  

“Fine, fine!” Eddie scowled, shaking off the hold.  

“You should uh— go.” 

“Let me explain,” He almost begged, desperate. 

But with another dismissal, you left. 

Eddie wanted to drop everything and run to you, apologize, tell you what he felt, but somehow, some way he was always managing to fuck up the things between the two of you, now. 

It was like he was fourteen again, his dad letting him know that he always managed to fuck up something good, that he was destined to the Munson name. Like he could never manage to do something right.

Wayne, Jonathan, Corroded Coffin, and Nancy all changed that belief. 

But, you? Oh, god, you made him believe that he was good, you pulled him out of that darkness, you were the first one to believe in him, you were the one who encouraged him. You made him feel like he was on the right path, always. 

And you were the one who mattered, if he didn’t have you believing that now, what else did he have? 

With a hand on his shoulder, Jeff was dragging him back, he stared at your figure leaving, and with a sigh, he headed backstage. 

-

Aurora was the fifth song they sang, and it should’ve gotten to you, the way his gaze didn’t leave yours, how vulnerable he sounded, the way he barely even made eye contact with the guitar he was supposed to be focusing on, that should’ve gotten to you. 

But it didn’t. 

Your glossy gaze and your crossed arms, as everyone else around you cheered for him, did nothing but upset you more and more. 

Everything was so confusing that you couldn’t even make sense of yourself anymore. Yes, you were mad about everything with Chrissy, but you also knew he didn’t know everything that transpired between you and her. 

Chrissy and Billy should’ve been enough for him to not want anything to do with her, yet you still believed him when he told you it was a mistake, that he would’ve never done it if he knew. And the pool… the things he said in the car. Hours ago when you went to his trailer.

Sure, he was sorry, and he said he’d prove himself to you. 

But none of you ever out loud said anything, it had always been a cowardice dance around your feelings, and you were afraid that if this dance ended, then it would be all too real. It would all be over.

A heave of breath exited your lips, attempting to drown away the worries, but they were spiked up the second the song ended and Eddie spoke up again. 

“This next song is for my friends over there, Nancy and Jonathan,” He exclaimed with a grin, finger excitedly pointing towards the two of them, it was the first time his gaze had left yours, involuntarily your head turned to your right. 

“They’re getting married this weekend, and were kind enough to let me and my dipshit friends play,” He said with a sheepish grin, and Nancy and Jonathan shyly smiled at him, waving him off in a dismissive way, 

“So this is for the soon-to-be newlywed couple, and for the special girl next to them, who’s mad at me for a lot of reasons, and she has every right to be, I was a total ass.” He earned chuckles and some cheering from the crowd, who unintentionally all faced you. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but hey, maybe this might help my case, huh?” He said with a grin, his gaze was dangerously addicting, full of promises, and you couldn’t help the way it made stupid butterflies appear in your stomach. 

It was so easy for him to get you like this, you were starting to feel pathetic. 

Speechless, and the heat quick to rise to your cheeks, you were trying to ignore the whispers and stares from the crowd, but it was basically impossible. 

The opening chords were enough to rattle your memory, the dreamy guitar riffs from Eddie sweeping in echoing the space as if it was just the two of you. 

You knew exactly which song he was playing. 

And the vocals, added with Eddie’s smooth, sultry voice were enough to have your heartbeat raising making you almost feel small, haziness overtaking your mind. 

And it only brought back one memory to your mind. 

FIVE YEARS AGO.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

Another job interview, another opportunity you feel like you have missed.

It hadn’t been long since the two of you had arrived in Los Angeles, yet every passing minute felt like you had been wasting away your time, you needed a job, and no one in stupid LA was hiring you. 

A groan escaped your lips when you plopped yourself onto the couch, right next to Eddie who was way too into scribbling something into a notebook. 

Wait… was he using the…? 

“Is that… the notebook?” Your eyes lit up happily. It was such a small, stupid thing. 

But for you, it was important. That notebook was important. And you never actually thought he’d care about it, but it looked like he was carrying it in his back pocket. 

“Is that a crime?” Eddie sassed.

With a scoff, you narrowed your gaze. “No, doofus! I just didn’t think you’d actually use it.” 

Almost taken aback Eddie sat up straight on the couch, knees brushing against yours now. “Are you kidding? Half of this bad boy is filled with lyrics.”

“What is the other half made of?” You asked with a dangerous grin. 

“You’d have to kill me to find out.” Eddie enunciated dramatically, tone drooping lower to mimic mystery. 

“Oh, come on!” You huffed, curiosity getting the best of you. Scooting closer to him, you pouted. “Can’t you at least give me something?” You asked, all doe-eyed, tone sticky sweet, in a way that always got to Eddie. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” He groaned, almost melting into you, “You know I’ll give you anything if you ask that sweetly.”

You grinned happily, clapping your hands together in victory once he ripped up a page and handed it to you. 

“That is the chorus of a song I’m working on,” He mumbled, eyes nervously following you, waiting to read your reaction.

She's thunderstorms

Lying on her front, up against the wall

She's thunderstorms

Your eyes blinked quickly to process everything. It had been not too long since the both of you had come to L.A., Eddie was desperately trying to send the band’s best material to any label who was willing to sign them. 

And you had just gotten out of a horrible relationship, things had not been steady enough for the two of you to ever discuss anything about your feelings, always tip-toeing around it, but too scared to ever actually delve into it. 

Yet, you could tell this was about you, something about being described as thunderstorms stuck to your mind, maybe he somehow meant it as good. But all it reminded you of was destruction. And he wasn’t wrong. 

It was like everywhere you went, something horrible followed, exactly like a dark cloud looming over, waiting to strike anyone daring to be near you. 

Your hand flew to your mouth, teeth grazing through your nails anxiously. “Who’s this thunderstorm girl?” You asked, masking your nervousness with a brittle smile. 

He snatched the notebook back, ignoring your little huff. “Someone I went to school with,” He answered cooly and then leaned further into your face with a grin. “I was drivin’ around one day, then saw this girl’s car on the side of the road, to be nice I helped fix her car but then she became totally obsessed with me.” He recalled the first time he met you, animatedly.

“Oh, is that so?” 

“Yeah, didn’t leave me alone for years.”

With a narrowed gaze, “Asshole,” you bantered.

“That’s so weird,” He hummed with a smirk “That was her favorite nickname for me,” quipped Eddie and you stuck your tongue at him childishly. 

With a slight push on his elbow, he drew closer to you. “So… what did you think?” He coaxed nervously, you could tell it was important to him, yet being this close was making your mind spin. 

“I like it,” you muttered, unable to face his beautiful features when he was so close, and your mind spinning with the fact that Eddie thought of you as destructive, too.

“That’s it? You… just like it?”

“No that’s not it, it’s just—” With a sigh you snatched back the notebook from his hands. “It’s just… isn’t this bad?” 

“What?” His brows creased together in worry, “W-which one did you not like I can change it-” You shook your head, interrupting his anxious ramble.

“No! I love all of them! But describing… uh—this girl,” Tip-toeing around it, causing Eddie to smirk. “As thunderstorms? Isn’t that bad?” 

“No, not at all. It’s a metaphor.” He shook his head, explaining gently.

“She embodies the essence of thunderstorms—unpredictable and explosive. She has the power to create chaos and destruction, and on the surface that might sound bad, yet within that destruction she sparks a new life. You know, making it so much better,” He hummed, licking his lips.  

“And she also feels like a thunderstorm, intense and electrifying, shaking up your life, in the best way possible.”

“Oh. Wow,” You mumbled, gaze turning mellow with how well he explained everything, heart melting with how he saw you, not just from the surface, like he could peel the intricate layers of your existence, appreciating every part of it. 

“Uhh, then I love that actually,” you concluded with a smile, attempting to mask the fluttering in your stomach. Did he really see you in that way? 

Did he really see you as someone worth all of this? You tried to ignore the tears prickling in your eyes, begging to pour out, but you weren’t going to ruin this moment. 

You didn’t deserve him. In the slightest. He didn’t deserve to get caught up in your bullshit. You shouldn’t have dragged him here. You were being selfish, but, god, did it feel good. 

To finally feel safe, to finally have someone take care of you, to finally have someone you could rely on. After everything, didn’t you at least deserve to be a little selfish? 

But that feeling ate away at you, even though you shook it off for the moment, it was eventually going to return. And it did. 

“You do?” His brows raised in surprise, it made you want to fuck all and just grab his cheeks and kiss him, lips plush together until the two of you couldn’t breathe. 

But you couldn’t afford that, you couldn’t afford the feelings, nor could you afford the fallout. You couldn’t lose him. 

“Mhmm,” You answered with a broken smile, hoping he wouldn’t notice. He always did.  

“She sounds special.”

“She is,” Eddie agreed, eyeing you with a worried look. “Very, very special,” He repeated, he could tell something was off. 

But it was okay, because he was here for you now, and he wasn’t going to leave. 

NOW:

Suddenly the room felt suffocating. 

Eddie’s gaze on you felt mocking.

It was stupid, he had just dedicated the song to you, yet all your mind could focus on was everything bad that had happened. Ruining everything good that happened with him. 

How were you even going to be with him if you couldn’t even handle this?  

Fear, trust issues, being afraid of not knowing how things were going to go, if you would fuck this up too, then that was it for you. No one else could compare, and you knew that. 

Maybe if you just knew that the same went for Eddie, if you just could see that the five years you spent apart had been just as hell-ish for him if not more. The constant thoughts in his mind reminded him that he could never be over you, truly. Sure, it hurt less now, but the scar was still there, scabbing the second someone mentioned you. The realization of knowing no one could ever be you etched onto his skin. 

“Hey… you okay?” Steve’s concerned voice snapped you out of your thoughts, Eddie’s voice served as a background noise while his gaze was still stuck on you. 

“Y-yeah, I just—” You faltered, face growing numb and anxiety increasing when you suddenly needed some air. 

Too much, all of it was too much. 

Eddie could almost sense it, he grew worried at your frowny brows and your tear-streaked gaze. 

“I’ll be right back,” you mumbled, body jerking back scurrying out quickly when you ignored everyone calling out for your name. 

Eddie’s vocals almost halted, missing a few notes on the guitar before Gareth was quick to snap him back to it. 

His head cocked toward your direction, desperate, nearly begging to stop the show, but all of them shook their head quickly, and once Eddie turned back to see the look on Jonathan and Nancy’s face, he realized he couldn’t do this to them. 

This was his friends' wedding, and he owed this to them. When the song ended, he was quick to mouth to the others, “After the next song, we’re taking a break.” It wasn’t a request, it was final.

And frankly, the rest of them were too tired out to even argue with a hot-headed Eddie.

“So how is your plan working, dingus?” Robin jeered at Steve.

“Shut up.”

There were a couple more people outside, all leaning against the wall, chuckling while talking over each other loudly, the smoke of their lit cigarettes quick to take over your senses. 

With a cough, you leaned further away from them, mind still unraveling what had just happened. You didn’t even know what was happening anymore. 

You wanted to smoke, hand itched to reach for the pocket of your jacket and light one to take away your stress, but you could barely breathe as it was right now. 

A light tap on your shoulder snapped you away from your thoughts. 

Who was it now? 

You huffed loudly when your head cocked back.

Fucking great. 

Chrissy.

“Oh, Jesus Christ!” You pinched the bridge of your nose in annoyance, this just had to be your luck, your feet picked up quickly, hand quick to reach for the door and go back inside.

“Please, please don’t leave,” She pleaded.

Your hold on the door remained, barely glancing back at her, “Just leave me alone!” You snapped. 

“I just want to apologize, please, then I’ll leave you alone, forever.”

“Please, just five minutes.”

You shouldn’t, you really shouldn’t. 

Your hold on the door faltered, and with a deep sigh, you turned to her. “Fine.”

“Five minutes,” You warned, your patience already wearing thin.  

Her face lit up, blinking a few times to make sure she heard you correctly. “O-oh, okay, good,” She cleared her throat.

“First of all, I’m sorry, for everything, for what I said five years ago, for what I did with Billy, for using what he did to you like a fucking joke. For w-what I said about your parents.” She stammered.

“It’s too late, I know, I fucked up, I shouldn’t have done any of those things, you didn’t deserve it. You deserved a better friend, someone like you.” She almost looked at you like she was waiting for your approval, gauging your reaction, your expressionless face encouraged her to continue. 

“I was bitter, jealous. Which isn’t a fucking excuse, I know, I was just—” she took a deep breath. “You were everything I wanted to be, careless, had all the boys' attention, and you didn’t even have to try, you didn’t have to do anything, and they’d just fall at your feet. And I was stupid, bitter, and insecure enough to envy that.”

“That’s not my problem, Chrissy.” You spat out with your gaze narrowing, you couldn’t handle her pity party right now.

“And really, you wanted to be me? Chrissy I didn’t have parents, my boyfriend was a narcissistic asshole.I was broke.” You scoffed with an ironic chuckle, shaking your head in anger.

“I know, I know. It was stupid, and I was stupid, and you didn’t deserve any of that.” Sincerity. Something you haven’t seen from her in years.

“I just wanted to tell you that none of it was your fault.” Now your gaze narrowed, a chuckle rolling on your lips. 

You opened your mouth to speak, to protest. “No, I know you’re going to say you didn’t think that but I know you do. Even though you hate me, which I don’t blame you, I know you like the back of my hand, you blame yourself, you always did it. And I’m telling you shouldn’t because it was all my fault. A-and I shouldn’t have done whatever I did with Eddie, I practically took advantage of him like he did to me and then got mad at him, oh god, I’m such a fucking bitch, aren’t I?”

Your eyes blinked quickly to process all of it. Her apology didn’t mean anything, her words didn’t mean anything. But deep down, you knew she was right, even if you wouldn’t admit it. Because you spent many nights blaming yourself, for even opening up to them in the first place. 

“First of all, breathe,” you mumbled with annoyance.  

“Second of all, yes you are,” you huffed. 

“And, taking advantage? What do you mean?” 

“Some fucked up part of me wanted him because I knew you wanted him back then, a-and he was right there and he was being nice to me and—” Chrissy took a deep sigh, big blue eyes staring into you knowing that you were not going to like what she was going to say.

“I should’ve known.”

With puckered brows, you crossed your arms against your chest. “Known what?” 

“That he was still hung up on you,” she muttered.

You were quick to roll your eyes, “Chrissy���”

“No, no just listen.” But she wasn’t going to let you spiral.

“Look you were dumb enough then—” You threw her a glare, so daggeringly cold that she stopped.  

“Sorry,” she muttered before continuing, “Look, the two of you wasted a lot of time. And I know it’s funny hearing this from me because I took part in it, but I’m only saying this because he’s a nice guy, even though I don’t particularly like him right now, he’s a nice guy, and you deserve someone like him.” She enunciated, azure hues embodying such sympathy that had you taken aback.

“You loved him back then, too. I could see it, and I could see it in him, too. That’s what I always wanted, and maybe that’s why he intrigued me so much. But I knew he never got over you.” 

You could feel your heart skip a beat, it wasn’t anything new, but hearing this from her, it meant something. 

You needed to take control of your feelings, and hearing Chrissy’s words was doing nothing but fuel them more. “Chrissy stop—”

“No, Pinky! He told me! He told me it was you! It had always been you!” She exclaimed, her face growing a nice pink color as you stood frozen.

Your brain felt mushy, rest of your body felt so warm, but still that anger lingered. Why couldn’t he just tell you this? Why couldn’t he just show you?

“What?” You mumbled, brows pinched together.

“Yes!” She exclaimed, sighing at your reaction.

“Look, I just wanted to tell you this, and tell you to get your head out of your ass. I know I’m the last person you wanted to hear this from, but I had to at least make one thing right for you because I know I fucked up every other thing.”

You wanted to tell her to stay the fuck out of it, you wanted to tell her it was all because of her. That she basically ruined your life. But it wasn’t true. It wasn’t all her, it was Billy, too. It wasn’t all her, Eddie played a part in it, too. 

But you weren’t going to waste your breath, you didn’t need to blow up in her face for her to know she was wrong, she needed to let that feeling sink in. You weren’t going to forgive her, and you didn’t need to make a fuss about it to feel real. 

This was it. A closure. 

“I’m sorry, for everything. And I know that you won’t forgive me, but that’s okay. I’m sorry, but please listen to what I just said. Please don’t get in your head and try to ruin something this perfect, okay?”

A peaceful smile appeared on your lips, and you took a deep breath. “You’re right, I won’t forgive you.” You weren’t going to give her any satisfaction or approval, her words didn’t mean a thing. 

“Goodbye, Chrissy.” You mumbled. 

You could see her stammering, struggling to open her mouth, because she couldn’t say anything else, and this is what she promised, five minutes. It was over. 

You backed yourself against the wall, fingers fishing out the pack of cigarettes sitting in the pocket of your jacket. 

Without having anything else left to say, she left. And you heaved a sigh of breath, the tip of your cigarette smoldering when you lit it. 

You inhaled with eyes squeezed shut, head swirling with much to think about. But at least you were alone. Finally, some space for you to think, and to lay out a little bit of your stress with the most unhealthy outlet.  

And of course, that peace lasted for about a few minutes, just when you had finished your cigarette, squishing the remains on the nearest trashcan, Eddie appeared, lightly squeezing your arm to have your attention.

“What?” You snapped when you saw him, eyeing the way he looked taken aback. 

His hands held up in front of his chest in defeat, clearly not understanding your sudden rage. The laughter around you had died, people who were smoking outside the bar were clearly more entertained by your drama. 

With a huff, you dragged Eddie away from it all, still close to the bar but far away to not have any other distractions. 

He sighed, brows etched with worry. “Why did you leave?”

Your hand flew to your forehead, trying to calm your nerves, trying to clear your mind. “Eddie, are you kidding me?” You scoffed, arms wrapped across your chest defensively. “You can’t just drag me away from James, dedicate songs to me and—”

His forehead puckered. “Why not? They’re all about you anyway,” he said with a sly smirk. 

“Aurora, She’s Thunderstorms, Zero, Forget Her, Resolve, Fool, two fucking albums, all dedicated to you, you know that.”

“These notes? These stupid notes I’ve been carrying?” He huffed loudly, hand quick to fish inside of his back pocket, aggressively flipping through the pages. “Even if every nerve in my body were numb I’d still be able to feel her.” He turned the page toward you before flipping again. 

“I have tried to forget you but I can’t, you invade my dreams, my mind, my whole fucking life. You’re stuck in me and I don’t have the heart to get you out.” He shook his head, reciting it all like it was nothing, but you felt all of it. 

His notes making you dizzy. His words scrambling your mind like never before. 

“She’s the tear that hangs inside my soul forever. That one is uh—in a song, too,” he mumbled, cheeks flushing with how passionate he was getting, and you held your breath, it’s like you were staring into his soul. 

Stark naked. Laying bare, he really was doing this. And you didn’t want him to stop, even though your mouth suggested otherwise. 

“And so much more embarrassing stuff that I don’t want to include to not ruin my chances,” he muttered with a lazy smile, and you hated that you could feel it in your skin, the flutters, stomach flipping in the best possible way. 

“All fucking about you. Because it was you, from the moment we met.”

“S—stop,” your mouth betrayed you, it was the furthest thing from the truth, and you needed to hear more. You needed the reassurance, you needed him to convince you. More than anything in the world. 

But it was all so scary, and he was so close to you that you could feel his passion integrated into your veins. 

“Why, Pinky, why should I stop? Why do we have to tip-toe around each other, huh?” He was desperate, eyes flashing with a newfound of desire for you, he wasn’t going to let it go this time.

And it scared you, him being this determined, getting so close to what you actually felt was making your skin crawl, because the way you could feel your heart thumping against your ribcage wasn’t normal. What he was making you feel wasn’t normal. “Because w—we can’t!”

“We can’t what?” He complained, a deep sigh escaping his lips. 

“W—we can’t do this, you can’t—”

He shook his head with his brows puckered. “Who are you to decide that? I want to, I so badly want to,” He spat, taking a step closer to you, face merely inches away from you. 

His gaze was dangerously inviting, those alluring amber eyes melted into yours, making your pupils dilate, breath hitching as you struggled to keep him away. “Please, Eddie, d—don’t.”

You gulped, hand raising to put a space between the two of you, but it was impossible. He was in your veins now. “Too much has happened, you with Chrissy and—” You didn’t even know what you were blabbering about, just anything to stop your feelings from getting out. 

“Chrissy was a mistake!” He retorted with a hiss. He hated that you saw Chrissy as a problem between the two of you. Yes, he fucked up, but it really was a mistake, he’d take it all back in a heartbeat if he could. 

Your gaze narrowed, that pettiness returned when you scoffed. “Which time, when you kissed her or when you brought her to brunch?”

Eddie let out a bitter chuckle, shaking his head when he looked at you with a dumbfounded look. “Jesus fucking Christ…” He took a breather. “I can’t believe you’re doing that again,” he mumbled, realizing that it wasn’t going to be easy to get you out of this mindset. 

It was going to be hard, to convince you of anything, and he understood that, he had trust issues himself, but he wasn’t going to back down. This was it.

You crossed your arms against your chest, gaze avoiding him momentarily. “Doing what?” You muttered.

“You just— you get scared when things get serious, running away when it gets just even a little bit too real,” He scoffed, angling closer to you, fingers ruffling through his curls in frustration.

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah! You call me a coward and fucking look at you!” He snapped, hands gesturingly pointing to you.

“Scrambling just at the thought of us being together.” He argued, some part of him feeling a bit insecure, that maybe you didn’t want this. But, no, he saw that glint in your eyes, he knew the little angry twitch on your lips. You felt the same. And all you needed was a little push. 

You breathed, mind scrambled and trying so hard to convince yourself to leave. “T—that’s not it, you—uh you just don’t get it!” You complained with a huff. 

Another step closer. One more step and his lips would be on yours, Eddie knew this, you knew this. His gaze momentarily drooped down to your lips, then back to your dilated pupils. 

“Then make me understand, let me help you, don’t fucking run, not this time.” It was a little jab, but something needed to get you to spill, he was playing all the right cards and you were getting overwhelmed.

“J—just stop!”

“Why? Fucking why? Tell me one good fucking reason as to why we shouldn’t try it, we never even gave it a chance!” He ranted, veins in his forehead popping with how much he was trying to keep it all together. And you weren’t even trying. 

“We wouldn’t work, okay?” 

He shook his head. “Not good enough,” He argued. 

“W—we’re on two different paths now, Eddie.” You didn’t have any good excuses, he was right. 

“Not good enough.” Once again, that same arguing tone. 

You huffed. “Too much time passed and—”

“Not fucking good enough!” He cursed, hands landing on your shoulder to keep you in place, and your cheeks flushed immediately, while still trying to deny it. You were pathetic.

“Stop being a fucking coward!” He seethed, eyes fiery and red. 

Why were you insisting on being so fucking stubborn? You were driving him crazy, yet it wasn’t going to stop him. 

Coward is what had you scrambling. Because you knew he was right. “Fuck you,” You spat, body jerking quickly to leave, feet picking up quickly as Eddie groaned loudly.

So. Fucking. Stubborn. 

He was quick on his feet, letting curses slip past his lips before he yanked you to him, earning a small gasp from your lips before you finally faced him. 

Gaze mellow, but just as fiery, your furrowed brows and dilated pupils only encouraging him more and more. Flutters in your stomach had never left, your skin was burning, everywhere, but specifically on the hold he had on you. 

You didn’t manage to utter anything else, you couldn’t because he had you this time. There was no running away from it, your heart was hammering so hard inside of your chest that you were sure he could hear it. 

His hold on your arm was firm but somehow gentle, letting you know that he wasn’t going to let you go.

You opened your mouth, wanting to speak, but he interrupted, his hands now firmly cupping your cheeks, squishing you with force, and you couldn’t help the contended sigh that left your parted lips. “I’m not letting you run away, not this time,” He mumbled, words sounding like silk falling from his lips, all you could do was gaze into him. He stood inches away from you, breath fanning against your face.

He licked his lips desperately, gaze drooping to your candy-glossed, needy lips. Face so close that you could feel the desperation radiating off of him. And you shared it. You managed to take a quick breath before his hand fisted your hair and his mouth crashed down to yours.

He pressed you harder against his chest, breathless, your lips molded together, a perfect fit. And he could taste the Cosmopolitan on your tongue, a tinge of alcohol mixed with your sweetness, making his head spin, a taste he realized he’d never have enough of. 

Those little thumps your heart did were now out of control, possibly pounding a million beats a second. His small stubble scratched against your chin, rough, it should’ve made you uncomfortable yet all it did was make you kiss him harder, shutting up your brain as your mouth replied to him, kissing him back with just as much force, you melted into him, melted into his hold, and you let him engulf you, fully, completely. 

Plushy lips slightly parted apart, his tongue slipped past between your teeth, your hand finding its way to his hair, feeling the curly strands between your fingers, it’s softer than you expected and your lips parted to let out a slight whine as you tugged at them.

All those years of wishing, all those years of wanting, yearning, and needing exploded into this. Kissing like your lives depended on it, chests pressed against each other, Eddie’s hand slipping to your waist, desperately tugging you closer to him as if that was even possible. 

Your heart exploded into your chest, his tongue not wavering the chance to explore yours, sucking on it, greedily, desperately. 

The background noises disappeared, the cackles of the girls, the booming music coming from inside of the bar, and the honks from the busy street. They ceased to exist and it was just you and him. Feeling each other, completely, fully. 

You knew at some point one of you had to pull away, but none of you dared to, it was just pure desire, a hunger that couldn’t be sated. 

All the years spent yearning and pining, acting like two fucking idiots. 

He wanted to breathe you, drink you in, and he wasn’t intent on letting you go. Ever.

You from five minutes ago who wanted to refuse him, refuse this was an absolute fucking idiot. Gone. You tasted like the sweetest honey and he tasted like everything you wanted and more. It’s even needier than the first kiss, more sure, it’s like a promise. 

This is it. Both of you can feel it. This finally changes everything. 

final authors note — uhhhh so yeah... if yall wanna talk about that my asks r open LMAO.

[shieldofiron]

Vibe Check

Part 1, Also on Ao3 here and tumblr here

Parties suspend all the regular rules. Girls who are sworn enemies stumble out of the bathroom arm in arm, giggling. Steve catches a glimpse of Nancy Wheeler making a drink for Heather Holloway and he was pretty sure they hated each other.

"It's the vibes," Argyle says.

"Theta House parties are just the best," Eddie shrugs, "can't help that we're the best."

But at the moment, Steve is trying to imagine how he's going to feel about this the next day.

"I lost fair and square, Harrington," Billy's voice sounds like a sawed off shotgun. And it's true, he did lose beer pong. But Steve can't quite connect in his mind how they got from there to here, tequila pooling in his belly button, lime in his mouth. Billy's supposedly the loser in this situation, right? So why are Billy's eyes sparkling.

Chrissy shakes salt down Steve's chest, and he knows he's gonna be sticky tomorrow.

Billy rests his hands on Steve's hips, and his thighs spread automatically, triggering cheers from their audience. The pong table sways beneath them, or maybe that's the shot Steve took earlier, the one Billy fed him while cooing.

Billy slots between his thighs, and Steve's chest tighetens.

The tequila is warm, but Billy's mouth is hot, tongue digging into Steve's belly button, sliding up along the path of salt that Chrissy made. Steve closes his eyes against the swaying spinning room when their lips meet around the lime, and Billy sucks, pulling it into his own mouth and lingering, lips just touching the edges of Steve's open, panting mouth. He pulls back, something unreadable on his face, his hands still stroking the skin on Steve's hips.

He pulls the lime free and turns back to his audience, rousing a cheer from the crowd. For a moment Steve feels kind of panicked, cold and bereft suddenly, but Billy grabs his hand, pulling him up to sitting.

"Ready for another round, Harrington?" Billy's eyes sparkle, and his thumb brushes the back of Steve's hand, setting off sparks. "Maybe I'll win, this time."

It's just the vibes, the party atmosphere, that has Steve nodding along. He wants to spread Billy out on the table and do a shot off of those perfect abs. You know. For the vibes.

---

Thanks to everyone who fed my frat boy obsession but especially @ginandtonic714 for telling me about frat boys doing shots off each other's bodies.

[starryeyedjanai]

feeling lucky, feeling charmed

kinktober prompt: shotgunning | @eddiemonth prompt: committed 3.7k | explicit based on this post

Summary: When Eddie texts him that he has "some new stuff" for him to try, he rushes over because it's been a stressful week and he could use the distraction - getting smoked out by his dealer who sometimes lets him try new strains or whatever for free sounds like the perfect way to de-stress. And yeah, maybe it's a little weird that Eddie always asks him to strip down to his underwear when they smoke, but Steve is paying way too much in rent to turn down free weed, even if it means being ogled a little.

read on ao3

Steve will never understand how he ends up in these situations.

This is just like the time he ended up with Tommy's dick shoved down his throat because he can't say no to a challenge or a dare.

Well, at least that time with Tommy confirmed some things about himself that he was questioning. Having a cock down his throat wasn't as revelatory as it felt like it should have been. It was less of an oh moment and more of a yeah, that makes sense kind of moment.

So when Eddie texts him that he has "some new stuff" for him to try, he rushes over because it's been a stressful week and he could use the distraction - getting smoked out by his dealer who sometimes lets him try new strains or whatever for free sounds like the perfect way to de-stress.

And yeah, maybe it's a little weird that Eddie always asks him to strip down to his underwear when they smoke, but Steve is paying way too much in rent to turn down free weed, even if it means being ogled a little.

But anyway, it gets hot in Eddie's trailer and Steve mentioned it one time and Eddie told him to strip and he did. So now Eddie just says he wants Steve to be comfortable around him and Steve starts taking his clothes off. It's a weird set up, but it's free weed.

It's not every time he comes over, but he feels like he has a Pavlovian response at this point - Eddie will text him and Steve will throw on something comfortable and easy to take off. Honestly, he thinks being this committed to the bit is something that should be applauded.

Eddie opens the door and lets him inside. The air inside is filled with the smell of weed and Steve can already feel himself relaxing. It's been a bitch of a week.

"You wanna get comfortable?" Eddie asks and one side of Steve's mouth quirks up.

He just nods and starts taking his clothes off - well worn sweatpants and an old gym shirt.

He sits down on the couch and lets Eddie get his fill of looking at him for the time being. It always makes him shiver a little, the way Eddie's eyes track up and down his body, the way he has his undivided attention. It's flattering, a little. Maybe a little weird, but it makes him feel good, knowing there's someone who wants him, even if he never does anything about it.

Eddie sits next to him on the couch and starts rolling a joint and Steve lets himself look around while he does.

He's always just a little fascinated by Eddie's place. He likes looking at what mugs are on the drying rack to see which ones from his collection he's been using - there's a black mug with bat wings sitting on the counter this time - and what magazines he's been flicking through on the coffee table-

His breath gets caught in his throat when he spots something - shorts maybe? - on the floor, shoved under the arm chair, like someone was taking off their clothes in a hurry.

He's stretching over and reaching out and grabbing it before he realizes what he's doing, almost like he's in a trance. It's a skirt. There was a skirt shoved half under an arm chair in Eddie's living room and Steve doesn't know what to make of it.

Eddie's distracted so he doesn't notice right away, but he looks up when Steve asks, "Whose is this?"

Steve tries to keep his tone light, but the words come out accusatory anyway.

Eddie looks at the skirt in his hands and a slow smile spreads on his face. "Oh, Chrissy was looking for that."

"Chrissy. Cunningham?" Steve asks, wondering what the hell she would have been doing taking off her skirt in Eddie's living room. Does he do this with other people? Ask them to take their clothes off and look at them too?

"Yeah, she's a friend," Eddie says, going back to finishing the couple of joints he's been rolling.

"A friend who takes off her skirt in your living room? What, did she walk out of here without it somehow?" Steve asks, not sure why it bothers him. Why does it feel like a betrayal? Why did Steve think that was their thing?

"I mean, she borrowed a pair of shorts because she was in a hurry. And yeah, she stayed the night." He's nonchalant about it, shrugging his shoulders as he finishes up and presents the joints with a ta-da motion.

"Why was Chrissy staying over?" Steve asks before he can stop himself. He shouldn't care, is the thing. He should put the skirt down and let Eddie light the joint and stop thinking about it.

"Why do you sound like a jealous girlfriend?" Eddie asks and Steve glares at him. Jealous? Jeal- oh fuck, is he jealous?

"I'm not j- I just, Chrissy doesn't seem like your type," he says, stammering through maybe the worst sentence he's ever produced.

"Chrissy's kind of everyone's type, man. The whole innocent cheerleader thing really does it for people. But we're friends, mostly."

"Mostly," Steve says in a tight voice, trying to will himself to let this go, willing himself to let the skirt fall back onto the floor, but he doesn't, his grip on the skirt tightening despite wanting to let it go.

"Yeah, when she's not dating anyone and I'm not dating anyone, we hook up sometimes. But she is dating someone right now, so she slept on the couch when she stayed over." Eddie scoots closer to him and lights the joint, taking the first drag.

"Oh," he says, shoulders dropping, the fight leaving his body. Eddie smirks at him, so he scoffs and insists, "I'm not jealous."

Eddie hums and takes another drag. "Sure," he says, blowing the smoke in Steve's direction. "You wanna put that on?" he asks, nodding to the skirt.

Steve's brain short-circuits a little bit. He looks at the skirt still clenched in his hand and then looks back at Eddie. "Why would I do that?"

"Because I asked you to," Eddie says, tilting his head and looking at him with heat in his eyes, flicking his gaze up and down his body, like he's imaging what Steve's going to look like when he pulls the skirt on - because there's no question that he's going to do it now.

Eddie asked him to, so he stands up and looks down at the skirt in his hands, the thoughts running through his head a little hazy even though he hasn't even taken a drag of the joint yet.

The skirt has a stretchy waistband, but Steve knows it's going to dig into his hip bones because Chrissy is tiny and Steve is a lot bigger than her.

He steps into it and pulls it up anyway, over his underwear, and it's actually not that bad, fit-wise. It's snug around his waist, but not as tight as he thought it might be. Other than being a little bit snug on him, it's short and flowy and kind of nice.

His heart is beating fast in his chest when he looks up and sees Eddie looking at him.

"Looks good. Pretty," Eddie says, reaching a hand out and tugging the bottom of the skirt out to the side. He looks up at Steve and raises an eyebrow at him before pulling his hand away.

Steve goes to sit down on the couch, somehow feeling more exposed than he does when he's just in his underwear, but Eddie stops him.

"C'mere, princess," he says, gesturing to his lap.

He doesn't know what makes him do it, why he doesn't just shrug it off and laugh like he normally might, but he sits down in Eddie's lap like he asked, knees on either side of Eddie's legs, heart beating a mile a minute. Eddie's jeans are rough against his thighs.

Eddie runs a hand up Steve's leg as he hands the joint to Steve and he shivers at Eddie's hand on his bare thigh.

He takes a drag and tries to relax, tries not to think about Eddie's hand on him, playing with the hem of the skirt, too close - much too close - to his dick.

"Good boy," Eddie says under his breath and Steve coughs out smoke on his next exhale.

Eddie smooths a hand up and down Steve's bare back as he stops coughing and it feels like his skin is buzzing everywhere Eddie touches.

It's maybe been a while since anyone's touched him, so that must be why he's reacting like this, leaning back into the touch, not asking him to stop, letting his other hand that's riding higher under the skirt go unchallenged.

Eddie plucks the joint from his hand when Steve's breathing goes back to normal.

He says, "We're gonna try something. Since you seem to have forgotten how to inhale properly."

He takes a drag and Steve sits there, perched in his lap, buzzing with anticipation.

The hand that was high on his thigh, thumb almost touching his underwear, recedes from under the skirt and comes up to grip his chin.

Eddie grips Steve's chin and digs his thumb in to get him to open his mouth.

Steve let his jaw drop open. He knows what's coming and he lets it happen.

He lets Eddie lean forward and he tilts his head the opposite way of Eddie and lets him seal their mouths together as he breathes the smoke out of his lungs and into Steve's mouth.

It's smooth and nice and even though he knows how to smoke, thank you very much, he's always loved shotgunning.

Eddie drops the hand that was holding his jaw back to Steve's thigh as he takes another drag. He leans forward again, seals his mouth to Steve's and Steve breathes in his smoke again, feeling the tension drop from his body as he puts his hands on Eddie's shoulders.

Eddie runs his hand up and down Steve's thigh underneath the skirt again as they exchange smoke over and over again, Steve opening his mouth obediently each time Eddie leans in.

It kind of feels like an out of body experience - Eddie's hand getting closer and closer to touching Steve's dick where it's starting to tent the skirt, Eddie's mouth dry against his as he breathes the smoke from his lungs out and into Steve's mouth. It's so fucking surreal and Steve is so fucking turned on.

He keeps waiting to feel Eddie's tongue in his mouth, for him to push his hand further into his lap, for Eddie to kiss him for real, but it doesn't come. They keep doing the same thing until the joint is most of the way done, until Steve's brain is as swirly as the smoke floating above them.

He comes to the conclusion that Eddie's waiting on him. Maybe he's been waiting all along. Since the first time Steve stupidly stripped for him just because he said he should.

Maybe he's been patiently waiting for Steve to be the one to make the move, to make sure they're on the same page.

Even now, with Steve perched in his lap, wearing a fucking skirt, Eddie isn't taking the bait.

So Steve watches as Eddie reaches around him to stub out the end of the joint, discarding it in the ashtray on the coffee table, and then he watches him settle back into the couch, content to just have Steve in his lap, running his hands up and down under the skirt.

Steve's dick is hard and he knows Eddie knows that, knows he can see it when he looks down at where his hands are placed under Steve's skirt.

He shifts in Eddie's lap, leaning forward, getting right up in his face, nose to nose.

Eddie smiles lazily at him. "Something you want, princess?" he asks, and something about the set of his mouth, how fucking cocky he sounds, is driving Steve insane. He has to get his mouth on him.

He scoots his hips forward, displacing Eddie's hands, so that he can feel Eddie hard against him, so he knows he hasn't been reading this wrong. The long line of Eddie pressing against him tells him he hasn't.

He closes the gap between them and kisses him, deep from the start, tilting his head and licking into his mouth - tasting him beneath the taste of the smoke lingering on his tongue.

He gasps into Eddie's mouth as his hands find a home on his hips underneath the skirt, dragging him even closer, perching him right on top of his cock, rocking him against it as their tongues stroke against each other.

Eddie grips his ass and grinds their cocks together, only a few layers of fabric between them.

Eddie pulls away from the kiss, a string of spit connecting their lips and Steve, kiss-dumb and horny, leans forward to lap at where it's hanging from Eddie's lip, breaking the strand.

This reignites Eddie, it seems, as he rocks Steve against him harder and kisses him again, biting at his bottom lip.

He pulls away to say, "You wanna get your cock out, pretty boy?"

Always a question, always Steve's decision. That makes him insane for some reason.

"I will if you do," Steve says, already reaching down to flip the skirt up.

Eddie pulls a hand away from Steve's ass to pop open the button of his jeans and get the zipper down, his other hand still possessively gripping Steve's ass.

Steve pulls his cock out of his underwear, tucking his underwear under his balls, as Eddie gets himself out of his underwear.

His heart is racing in his chest looking down at both of them, seeing the wet tip of Eddie's cock. He wants it in his mouth.

He watches as Eddie strokes himself, spreading the precome down his cock. He watches as Eddie gathers both of their cocks in his fist, hissing at the first touch against his cock.

He groans when Eddie grips them tighter together, their cocks lining up, the heads bumping up against each other in his fist as he strokes up.

He lowers the skirt again, letting it cover them, the motion of Eddie's hand slowly jerking them moving the skirt up and down.

His breath is stuttering in his chest and he needs to get his mouth back on Eddie's.

He leans in again and kisses him, moaning into his mouth - the feeling of Eddie's lips against his, his tongue against his, his cock against his, is so heady.

He rocks into Eddie's grip, letting him lick into his mouth again, letting him suck on his tongue.

He kisses back, bringing his hand up to cup Eddie's neck, holding him where he wants him.

"Fuck, sweetheart," Eddie whispers against his mouth, shifting like he wants to get closer, like Steve in his lap isn't close enough - Steve feels the same.

"Want you inside me," he says, whining against Eddie's mouth as he squeezes their cocks.

"Yeah?" Eddie asks. "You want me to fuck you?"

He nods, rolling his hips, fucking up into Eddie's grip.

He only whines a little as Eddie pulls his hand away, reaching into the couch cushions and digging around. He pulls out a small bottle of lube and a strip of condoms.

He snickers at Steve's indignant look.

"Would you believe me if I said I don't actually do this all that often?" Eddie asks and Steve rolls his eyes.

"What, you don't have pretty boys in your lap every time you offer them free weed?" Steve asks, trying not to let it show how much he really hopes he doesn't.

"If I offered every cute boy I dealt to free weed, I'd be out of business, babe. You really are the only one other than Chrissy who gets anything for free from me," Eddie says, rubbing a soothing hand up his thigh.

That soothes the sting a little. He asks, "Why do you offer me freebies?"

Eddie smiles, the same easy smile he always has, soft and fond and oh-

He says, "Maybe because I was hoping we'd end up like this."

"With me in your lap in a skirt?" Steve asks.

"It's not exactly how I imagined it happening, but you're extremely susceptible to suggestion, my dear," Eddie says, snapping the waistband of the skirt.

He's not about to say that he likes doing what Eddie asks him, so he asks, "Are you gonna fuck me or not?" and hopes he doesn't sound as petulant as he feels.

Eddie answers him by placing the lube and condoms in his hand on the couch next to them and sliding his hands back up Steve's skirt. He pulls his underwear further down and Steve has to nudge up to get them to slide down his thighs.

There's a more efficient way to do this, but he lets Eddie struggle to get him out of his underwear because he's still a little miffed that he just has lube and condoms chilling in between the couch cushions.

He ends up having to stand anyway to get them all the way off, but it's still a win in his book when Eddie leans forward and nudges his skirt up to mouth at Steve's cock.

He runs his tongue over the shaft, licking him from root to tip a few times before pulling away and tugging him back into his lap.

"The skirt stays on?" he asks, the corners of his mouth turning up a little.

"The skirt stays on," Eddie agrees, grabbing the lube again and warming some up on his fingers.

Steve grabs a condom and tears it open as Eddie's fingers find his hole under the skirt.

He rolls the condom on Eddie as Eddie pets at his hole and mouths at his neck, biting little marks into his skin.

He groans when Eddie presses a finger inside, the slide smooth from the lube. He fucks a second finger inside and manages to hit Steve's prostate.

His resulting moan is loud and he can't even be mad when Eddie looks a little smug.

"Fuck me," he says, bouncing on Eddie's fingers.

Eddie pulls his fingers free and spreads more lube on his cock before pulling his shirt off one-handed with his clean hand and wiping the other on the shirt once it's off.

Steve should not find that as endearing as he does. It's objectively a weird thing to do, but at least it's efficient.

He sits up and holds the skirt up and Eddie holds his cock still for Steve to sink down on it.

He sighs as he sits back down in Eddie's lap, bottoming out on his dick. He leans in and presses his mouth to Eddie's jaw, kissing down his neck as he rolls his hips slowly.

Eddie's hands are back on his hips underneath the skirt and he bounces Steve in his lap, his breath picking up as he moves him faster on his cock.

"Fuck, sweetheart," he pants and Steve preens.

He sits up and puts his hands on Eddie's knees behind him as leverage, fucking himself on his dick, letting Eddie control the speed of his hips.

Eddie groans and leans forward, capturing one of Steve's nipples in his mouth. The angle makes Steve's dick grind against the inside of the skirt and Eddie's stomach as his hips move.

He's probably getting precome all over the inside of Chrissy's skirt, he realizes. He's going to come all over it, get it wet and messy.

He takes over and drops into Eddie's lap to grind on his cock as Eddie moves to bite his other nipple.

One of Eddie's hands leaves his hip to take Steve's cock in hand, jerking it fast and tight.

He moans loud at the triple attack - Eddie's hand on him and his mouth on him and his cock grinding deep inside him.

Eddie pulls back and his free hand comes up to grip the back of Steve's neck to drag him into a messy kiss.

Steve licks into his mouth sloppily as he rocks his hips in Eddie's lap, getting closer and closer as Eddie thumbs at the head of his dick.

He gasps into Eddie's mouth as he rubs his thumb along the sensitive skin under the head of his cock.

The motion of his hips gets more desperate as Eddie returns to stroking him with a tight fist.

He chokes on a groan as he comes, spurting up onto the skirt and over Eddie's fist, grinding his hips down and clenching around Eddie's cock.

Eddie thrusts up into him, rabbiting his hips as he chases his orgasm and licks into Steve's open mouth. He shudders through the aftershocks as Eddie fucks up into him and keeps stroking his sensitive cock.

He can feel it when Eddie's cock jerks inside of him, when he starts to come into the condom. His kisses get more uncoordinated, he groans against Steve's mouth, and his thrusts turn into grinds.

Steve melts into his lap and lets himself be kissed as they come down, his heartbeat slowing down as the kisses turn softer, as Eddie's hand stills on his cock.

They pull away from each other's mouth and Steve looks at Eddie, somehow feeling higher than before.

"You got your skirt all messy," Eddie says, pulling his hand off Steve's cock and wiping his hand off on the outside of the skirt, messing it up even more.

Wait-

"My skirt?" he asks, his brain moving a little slower than normal.

Eddie smiles at him, ducking forward and kissing him briefly. "Yeah," he says. "It's not actually Chrissy's. I don't think you could fit one of her skirts, no offense. She's tiny."

"It's not hers?" he asks. Eddie shakes his head. "When you say my skirt-"

"I mean I planted a skirt to make you jealous. Or I hoped you'd be jealous anyway," Eddie says, nudging him up so that he can pull out.

"You're kind of devious, you know that?" he asks, sighing a little as Eddie pulls out.

"But you admit you were jealous," Eddie says cheekily.

"I'm not admitting anything. You're a goddamn conman," he says with a laugh.

"Conned my way right into your pants. Or- skirt, as it were."

Steve grumbles about it some more, but he has to admit, it was effective.

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

"So," Robin says after they clink their molotov cocktails together, "do we also get to talk about the whole cousin situation now?"

Steve looks across the field, where Eddie and Dustin are defending themselves from invisible enemies. Gareth and Lucas are swinging the finished spears at each other while Erica shakes her head at them, working on a third. It looks like Nancy is showing Max the proper way to hold a shotgun, which isn't nearly as bizarre as it probably should be.

"What's there to talk about?"

"Are you doing okay?" Robin asks.

Steve doesn't mean to making a scoffing noise. It just leaves his body involuntarily. "No. But I'm not the only one not doing okay. Now that we know Vecna doesn't have to do the whole weeklong build up to murder town, that he could get any of us, as any time and he's just being a sadistic bastard-"

"Steve. He'll take the bait. If nothing else, we have to believe that."

Steve looks from Max to Gareth, then back to Robin. "Yeah. Right."

Robin is quiet for a moment, before her eyes flick away and back to him again. "Do you want to talk to Gareth? He was... God, Steve, it was awful, hearing him scream for you. While Vecna was... Anyway, I know you two are like avoiding each other for whatever reason, but I think you can let go of whatever it was."

"I just wanted to keep them safe, Robbie," Steve swallows down the sob that wants to break free. "I never wanted them involved in this. I was so scared that I'd somehow infect them with the Upside Down that I just kept them away and it took Chrissy anyway. It-it-"

"It hasn't taken Gareth, though," Robin says softly, cutting Steve's spiral off. "It hasn't taken him. But he needs you. I think you need him, too. You should talk. Before we drop him at the Creel house. Because."

She doesn't finish, but that's fine. Steve knows what she's saying. They could die today. Any one of them. Chrissy died without Steve making it right. He'd started to work on hanging out with Chrissy again, but it was all surface level. He didn't even apologize. With Gareth he could justify, however shitty that was to do, that he was staying away because Gareth asked him to.

Chrissy hadn't asked for Steve to step out of her life. He'd done that himself in '83.

He can't do right by Chrissy anymore, but he can try with Gareth.

He stands and Robin gives his knee two solid pats before he walks away.

"Dustin, you piss off Steve somehow?" Eddie asks.

Gareth, in the middle of facing off with Lucas, pauses to look around, which gains him a light tap to his side by Lucas' spear. Sure enough, Steve is stalking their direction with a grim determination on his face.

"What, why am I the one getting the blame?" Dustin says, offended.

"It is usually you," Lucas adds, which earns him a squawk of indignation from Dustin, who shoots back, "he could be coming to lecture you for making Erica do all the spear making!"

Steve doesn't approach either boy, though.

"Hey, can we talk?" Steve asks once he comes to a stop in front of him.

"Got some end of the world regrets, Harrington?" Gareth says, trying to keep his voice lighter than he feels. He wants to tease Steve, not bully him.

He must succeed because Steve gives a chuckle and says, "I don't think we have time for all the end of the world regrets, so, uhh, just the one for now."

"We're cool, dude," Gareth says, eyes flicking from Steve to Eddie. The kids know, Gareth told them himself, but Eddie doesn't. "I started it."

"Yeah, but I graduated and still pretended you didn't exist. Which isn't what you asked for."

Gareth shrugs, because he doesn't know everything but he knows enough. Learned this isn't anyone else's (besides Eddie and his) first rodeo or whatever. That there have been other times, dating back to the year Will Byers was lost for a week. "Dude. Seriously. We're cool. You've been dealing with... whatever the fuck this is. So, just, like promise to be around more once we all survive this."

Steve looks pained but before he can reply, Eddie cuts in, "I'm sorry. How do you know each other?"

Gareth looks to Steve, who just shrugs as if to say your friend, you responsibility and honestly? Fuck Steve Harrington. Keeps traumatizing secrets and pushes Gareth away and also throws him to the wolves. Except, this is the secret Gareth has been keeping from Eddie. He sighs and turns to Eddie. "Well, uh, Steve's my cousin. We used to be super close before I started high school. Actually, Steve here is the reason I joined Hellfire!"

Eddie seems to go through all 7 stages of grief before settling into a confused. "I'm sorry. Steve talked you into joining Hellfire?"

"That is not what I did!" Steve defends himself.

"God no. He just went into great detail about how loud and obnoxious and attention-grabbing the current president was, as if that would make me want to not meet you for some reason."

"It was a warning!" Steve yelps at the same time Eddie sing-songs, "You think I'm attention-grabbing, Harrington?"

Dustin, Lucas, and Erica are all laughing at Steve has he tries to sputter through what he meant by attention-grabbing ("It's hard to not pay attention when he's shouting from the top of a lunch table!"), and Gareth just watches on, amused.

After they fight an... evil wizard? Vecna or whatever his name is. Once this is over, Gareth is going to sit Steve down and make him tell him everything, but that can wait.

He wants to watch Steve flounder trying to defend himself from the accusations of watching Eddie just a bit too much back in high school.

Later, as they all pack up and load up in the RV, Nancy stops Steve from entering the RV, ushering everyone past until Gareth and Steve are the only ones left outside.

"Are we acknowledging that you're cousins, now?" she asks.

"You knew!?" Steve sounds surprised. Gareth's surprised, too.

Nancy just rolls her eyes. "Steve, I've been to your house." When that just makes Steve look confused, she rolls her eyes and says, "there are family pictures covering almost every inch of your living room."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Robin pipes in, appearing in the doorway with an angry expression.

"It wasn't really my thing to talk about, was it?"

"Yeah, but did you even check in with Steve? If you knew, and knew what happened to Chrissy- you didn't even ask if he wanted to go to the funeral!"

"Robin!" Steve hisses.

Nancy doesn't look upset by whatever accusation Robin seems to be trying to make. "If Steve wanted to go, he could have said something. We aren't his keepers. But, also," her gaze goes from Robin to Steve, "I didn't want to pry or seem pushy. I figured you'd tell us when you were ready."

Robin frowns but doesn't say anything else, disappearing back into the RV. Gareth gestures for Steve and Nancy to go first, and then he's closing and locking the door behind him before heading to sit by Eddie along the back bench seat. A bunch of shit has been piled there, so Gareth shoves it off the seat and to the floor. The pile of things ends up being a hazard and he almost brains himself while turning to sit down; something under his foot slides and Eddie saves him, yanking him to fall onto Eddie. After some fussing and laughter from those around, Gareth gets seated and looks down to see what almost killed him.

It's a phone book.

Eddie leans in close once they're back on the road to town to whisper, "so, you just let me go on all those rants about King Steve and never once thought to tell me you were related?"

Gareth just gives him his best impression of a King Steve smirk and says, "I would have hate to have deterred you from talking about your favorite school subject."

It's worth seeing the scandalized look on Eddie's face, even as the man socks him in the leg for the comment. "I hate you, man."

Gareth rubs his leg and says, "you don't mean that."

There's a long silence from Eddie after that before he says, "you're right. I don't mean that. And. Uh. In case I don't- in case it goes south down there but ends up fine up here, I just-"

"No," Gareth growls. "Fuck you, Eddie. We're going to be fine. All you gotta do is shred on your guitar and get the hell out. You're going to be fine."

"You didn't see the bats."

"Eddie."

"Fine. It's gonna be fine," Eddie agrees and falls silent.

Gareth frowns at that. Eddie must really be worried, to not argue back like he usually does. Gareth's worried, too, but what can he do?

He thinks about his mom. When did he last tell her he loves her? If they don't succeed tonight, will he get a chance to say it again? Will anyone get a chance to say it again?

Gareth looks down at the phone book at his feet.

"Wait, does anyone have change for a payphone?" Gareth asks from somewhere behind him. Steve turns in his seat to look into the back of the RV.

"Uh, yeah," Robin digs into her pockets, but then narrows her eyes at Gareth and asks, "wait. Who are you calling?"

"I have to let my mom know I'm alive. Just... hear my voice," Gareth says. "She needs to know I'm okay. It's already been too long since last we talked and... after Chrissy she was..."

Robin's face drops into the guiltiest look Steve's ever seen on her face and she produces her wallet, dropping the whole thing into Gareth's open hand. "Yeah, no. Sorry. There's still plenty of time for a phone call before the end of the world. You better return my wallet, Cunningham."

"I'm not going to rob you, Buckley," Gareth says before ducking out the RV with Max, Lucas, and Erica.

Steve tries not to let the guilt well up in him as they drive away. Gareth had wanted to come with Team Kill Vecna but Steve had quickly argued against that. He wasn't going to let Gareth anywhere near the Upside Down.

So it was decided. Max, Lucas, Erica, and Gareth at the Creel house, Dustin and Eddie on distraction, and Nancy, Robin, and Steve were going to face down Vecna.

There was still hours to go before they'd try, with a time set for 9:20ish, since that's the time Vecna's been enacting his curse according to Eddie's broken watch. Plenty of time to fortify Eddie's house in the Upside Down, plus the almost 40 minute walk to the Creel house from Forest Hills.

This was going to work. It had to.

Max and Lucas opt for hiding around the back of the house, waiting for time to pass until it's closer to dark, and Erica said she was going to snoop around the abandoned playground, so Gareth decided to head to the payphone a couple of blocks down the street.

He makes it halfway there before Erica scares the shit out of him by saying, "why do you need a phone book?"

Gareth yelps and spins, stupidly trying to hid the book behind his back even though he knows she already saw it. "I- uh, no. No reason."

Erica eyes him and he's suddenly very aware of whatever Eddie saw in her that night at Hellfire, that let her join the club. She's pretty scary for a middle schooler. "Do I look stupid? Who are you calling." It's not a question. It's a demand.

"I'm going to try and get a hold of Eddie's uncle," Gareth answers, trying to sound like an authority figure. "Tell him he'll find Eddie at his home at eight tonight. I know you all are so used to not telling people but this is- we need a real adult and Wayne's an army vet. He'll know how to help. He'll want to help."

She purses her lips, stays quiet for a moment before she nods. "I'm usually surrounded by stupid people, but you're kind of not one. I've got more change if you need it."

Gareth calls the plant and asks to speak to Wayne Munson. It's a bit of back and forth before the secretary agrees, but only if Wayne agrees to speak to a Gareth Cunningham. The plant must be getting calls from angry locals.

"Are ya really Gareth, or are ya just wantin' ta yell at me for helpin' raise the devil incarnate?" Wayne sounds tired and Gareth feels bad for him.

"Eddie would love for you to call him that to his face when you see him again."

"Thank God, son," Wayne sounds relieved. He must recognize Gareth's voice. "Ya okay? No one's harrassin' ya, are they?"

"No. Listen Wayne, I'm going to say something crazy but please just listen and do your best to be casual. I know where Eddie is. Or, where he will be at eight tonight. He's.... not physically hurt but he's going to need you. He might hate me for telling you this but I had to."

There is a pause where all he hears through the phone is a long inhale followed by a slow exhale. "Mmm hmm. I appreciate yer concern and glad ta hear no one's botherin' ya just for knowin' Eddie."

Gareth is only confused for a moment before he realizes Wayne is trying to make this conversation sound routine from his end. "Just. He's going home. But please don't show up until after eight. If you... if you beat him home he might run. Try to keep you out of this, y'know?" Gareth is just lying now, but he's a teenage boy in a garage band that plays in a dingy bar at the edge of town. That is to say, he knows how to lie off the cuff.

"I read ya loud and clear. I'll let ya know as soon as Eddie's been found safe so ya can quit worryin'. I gotta get back to it, but thanks for reachin' out."

Gareth hangs up and looks to Erica. "Well. Let's hope I haven't ruined everything."

"Let's hope that you know Wayne as well as you think you do."

[keirametzbrassknuckles]

I am a gay Eddie truther but also I think (capital p) Platonic hellcheer is basically made of dreams and marshmallows and everything good in the world.

[marvelsswansong]

hiii, can i request an eddie x reader where eddie is kinda in love with the reader but they don’t notice and every time he tries to tell them, they just don’t understand it, but they start to realize it towards the end of the story? and can it have some angst and a lil pinch of fluff?

ofc u can love <;3

tags: Eddie x gn!reader, reader is super oblivious lmao, failed love confessions, pure fluff, happy ending ofc, Steve giving good advice, Dustin & Mike & Lucas being the chaotic lovable trio

☆ word count: 2K+ ☆

⚠️ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞.⚠️

The moment Eddie realizes he likes you more than a friend - your head leaning against his shoulder on a late movie night, lips slightly parted from exhaustion whilst all he can think about is waking you and snuggling in bed with you - he's determined to let you know that he loves you.

Well, except by actually saying it of course.

You're smart, he figures, so he decides to slowly drop the hints for you to figure it out yourself. After all, you two have been friends since the beginning of high school so he doesn't want to risk making the friendship awkward by suddenly blurting out: "I know we've been best friends for forever but I love you."

He'd start out by subtledly giving you special treatment. You want to sit in the front seat? Mike is sitting in the back of the van, even if he called shotgun minutes beforehand. You forget to bring lunch money? Eddie refuses to lend Gareth an extra dime but scrambles to pull out a crisp $5 from his back pocket to give to you upon hearing from Chrissy that you forgot to bring your wallet today.

And whilst no one gets to sit on Eddie's throne except him: when Eddie and the kids find you falling asleep on the throne on the one day they were all running late, the metalhead cannot find it in himself to shake you awake and command you to sit in one of the other plastic chairs.

No, instead he opts to push the club session to next week, draping his jacket over your bare shoulders before lightly shaking you awake. The boys are there to witness (and gaze in awe at) the way Eddie's features scrunch up in adoration, tender fingers gently brushing against your cheeks as he lowly whispers into your ear. You stare up at him, bleary eyed, half unconscious, but Eddie doesn't mind.

No, he chuckles and offers you a piggy back ride back to his van.

"Dude what the hell! When I tried to sit on your throne you nearly stabbed me in the ass with a fake sword." Dustin questions loudly, making the senior turn around with a menancing glare.

"Shut up, Henderson! Just get the door for me, would you?" he asks, tilting his head sideways. Lucas and Mike snicker behind the curly haired boy as Dustin rolls his eyes but obliges (for your sake more than Eddie's), propping open the metal green door so Eddie can carefully carry you out the building and strap you into his front seat to drive you home.

But when you don't seem to pick up on any of it, Eddie amps it up: he starts getting touchier with you (whilst still being respectful, of course). His ring clad fingers will toy with yours under the table whilst you're talking to the Hellfire Club over lunch, and though you raise your eyebrows in curious interest, you don't stop him.

He'll find excuses to hold onto your hand or to wrap an arm around your waist - "it's really crowded here and I don't want to lose you," "it's awfully windy on this side of the road today", "i don't like how the group of guys across the street are staring at us" - and it'll elicit countless eyerolls and jokes from the guys, but you'll just brush it off as Eddie being your overprotective, kind, loyal best friend.

In fact, Eddie's lowkey crushed when the two of you are leaning against the front porch steps at a house party and he messily presses a kiss against your cheek, telling you that you're the best thing to have ever happened to him... And your response is to squish his cheeks and smile widely, cooing "aw, you're so sweet to me, Eds. You're awesome too."

"How much longer are you going to be toturing poor Munson?" Robin would question when you eventually walk over to join her on the dance floor, letting your best friend twirl you on the spot under the flashing lights. You'd frown, quickly glancing over at Eddie (you can't see his expression because he's smoking with his back turned to you) before looking back at Robin.

"What'd you mean? Is something wrong with Eddie?"

Robin hums, not wanting to be the one to spill the secret: it'd be unfair, she thinks.

"Never mind. Just... keep Eddie close, yeah?"

You roll your eyes at that.

"Duh, when do I not? He's one of my best friends, we're basically attached at the hip."

Eddie would be slowly losing hope at this point, kicking rocks with his head pointed downwards and dragging the soles of his shoes on the floor, that Steve would have to step in and give him a little kick in the right direction.

"Your problem is that you keep doing things that could be written off as friendly! Make a grand gesture that CAN'T be construed as anything but romantic." Steve urges, shaking Eddie's shoulders.

So Eddie books a reservation for a couple's dinner in this upscale restuarant an hour's drive from Hawkins and tells you about it one night when he's having a sleepover at your place.

"Hey, so you know how we're having a three day weekened this week cause Friday's a national holiday?" he casually mentions, trying to maintain a nonchalant facade. His heart is beating at what feels like a million miles per minute, hands anxiously drumming against the pillow he's squeezing to his chest, but you seem none the wiser.

Legs kicked up against the headboard of the bed, hair messily spread out onto the sheets as you look away from the book you're reading.

"Yeah, why?"

"I was wondering if you'd be up for like... a short road trip on Friday? There's this place an hour's drive from here that is known to do the most amazing pasta and there's a couple's discount with free dessert at the end too and I-"

Your eyes light up at the mention of free dessert, book long forgotten.

"Free dessert and pasta? Oh my god, Eddie, you're a fucking genius! Yeah, let's go."

The way you so casually speak about the dinner indicates that you're taking this NOT as a date but as a brilliant scheme by Eddie to get free food, so he has to awkwardly chuckle and attempt to reign you back in.

"Yeah but to be clear, we're going as-"

"Hold on." you shush him, sitting up to answer the ringing house phone. Eddie's impatiently squirming in his seat throughout your entire call, through which you giggle and play with your stray hairs. "Sorry, that was just Mason. You were saying?"

Eddie feels ice prickling in his veins, dread washing over him in waves.

"Who's Mason?" he asks, even though a part of him would rather not know. You shrug.

"Oh, he's just a guy from the town next over. I have to meet up with him tomorrow so he was just calling to check in. Why?" you question, innocently cocking your head to the side.

If you can see the heartbreak reflected in his eyes, you don't say anything. Eddie forces himself to smile and be his upbeat self for the rest of the night, practically scrambling to plug in the VHS tape into the television when your parents open your bedroom door and remind you and Eddie they'll be gone for the night.

"Are you okay, Eds?" you question him half-way through the movie, noticing that he's chosen to sit far away from you (usually he'd be right up against you, sharing a blanket draped across both your laps with a popcorn bowl in the middle). Not to mention, he hasn't been making his usual funny commentary, responding to your quips with short smiles and awkward grunts. "Are you mad at me or something?"

"What?" he blinks at you, slowly, voice tired and monotone. "Oh. No, of course not." he assures you, but the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Okay then..." you trail off, staring him up and down before moving closer to sit right by him. You snuggle right up against his chest like you usually do and Eddie doesn't protest - his breath hitches in his throat because in his mind, you've got a boyfriend now (some douchebag named Mason, he bitterly thinks).

But he likes this. He likes having you near him, feeling the weight of your head on his shoulder, your warm hands accidentally brushing against his whenever he goes to grab some popcorn. So he decides he can be selfish for the night. And let himself live in a fantasy where you and him are together and this is just another date night for you two.

Eddie quickly relaxes into your touch, puts an arm around your shoulder, and lets himself believe for that night.

You only became aware of Eddie's love for you when a fight breaks out between Lucas, Dustin and Mike, who have been having an ongoing bet about when you'd figure it out. Eddie's running late to Hellfire and you promised to sub in for Gareth (who was running a high fever) and you walk in to see the three boys nearly threatening to tear each other apart.

"Woah, woah, what the hell is going on?" you have to put your foot down, placing your backpack down on the floor with a thud. The teens immediately pause their fighting at the sight of you, with each of them practically elbowing each other in the face whilst rushing up to you.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Mike interrogates you, breathless.

"Figured what out?"

"About Eddie." Lucas cuts in impatiently. You blink slowly at the kids, still not getting it. Dustin throws up his hands in surrender and has to be the one to spell it out.

"Oh my god- HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT THAT EDDIE LOVES YOU YET? LIKE, ROMANTICALLY LOVES YOU? WANTS TO KISS YOU AND TAKE YOU ON DATES, LOVES YOU?"

"What?" both you and Eddie question at the same time - you, shellshocked, and Eddie, just having walked into the conversation. The boys know better than to stick around and scram out the room, avoiding Eddie's murderous gaze. The tall senior wants nothing more than to go after them and teach those little shits a lesson about privacy - but he can't. Not when you're staring at him, confused and surprised, eyes dazed at the revelation.

"Is what they're saying... true? Do you love me in that way?" you're totally flabbergasted, head spinning at the newfound information. Eddie doesn't even really need to confirm it, not when he's suddenly flushing pink and shuffling on his feet, refusing to meet your gaze.

"Uh... yeah." he says carefully, peering up at you through his long lashes. "I've been trying to tell you - well, I guess, show you- for like, a month or two."

"So all the... rules you let me break, the affectionate gestures, that couple's dinner you booked us..."

"I was trying to tell you I love you, obviously. Well, I guess not so obviously because the freshmen had to be the ones to break the news." he sheepishly adds, scratching his neck. "I know you have a boyfriend so we can just uh, pretend this didn't ha-" he begins to explain himself away, waving his hands around frantically.

"Boyfriend? Who told you I had a boyfriend?" you question, face scrunching up in disgust. Eddie frowns at that, stepping closer towards you.

"I think his name was Mason? You talked about hanging out with him a couple of times?"

You laugh at that, soft giggles filling the empty room.

"Eds, Mason is just a family friend that I tutor. His parents pay me $20 to tutor him in English Literature and History."

"Oh." is all Eddie can offer, his shoulders deflating. He's a total idiot, he realizes, having moped around for a whole week thinking that he'd blown his chances with you without even checking to make sure that this 'Mason' was actually your boyfriend.

"So... are you gonna kiss me now?" you tease, backing him against the wall. He smirks at that, raising his eyebrows.

"Are you telling me it's okay to kiss you?"

You shrug, fingers tracing his bottom lips.

"I don't know, Eddie, but I'm pretty sure when you love someone you're supposed to kiss them. You love me and I love you so-"

His lips are on yours before you can even finish your sentence, cold fingers wrapping around your waist to pull you right against his chest, the kiss tasting like faded smoke and honey balmed chapstick.

"Say it again." he practically begs you, voice whiny and expression soft. "I've waited so long to hear you say you love me, so please. Say it again."

"I love you, Eddie Munson."

Eddie doesn't let you get away from him for five minutes straight, insisting you kiss him over and over to make up for "all the time lost."

As for the boys, none of them win the bet - they're left to each hand over a crisp $10 bill to Robin at Family Video when they admit that she was right. You didn't figure it out, Eddie never ended up saying it - one of the boys spilled it beforehand.

[dinodinodin0]

Since you like her so much

Part two of The other woman part three part four part five

Pairing: Eddie x best friend!reader

Warnings: drug use, alcohol use, angst

After 10 minutes of waiting his van halted in front of you.

Eddie had his arm resting out his window, as he calls over to you "hey, doin alright doll?"

God. Doll. He can't make this any harder for me can he?

"yeah, yeah I'm doing alright. Just.. needed a ride back," you say, climbing into his shotgun.

The beginning of your commute back was jarringly quiet. Or, loud, rather. Everything else was loud. The sound of his wheels whirring on the asphalt, the sound the seats made when you shifted, Even the tapping of his fingers on the steering wheel.

"y'know, you've been real quiet lately Y/N."

He breaks the silence, yet you grit your teeth at his comment.

"yeah?" You reply, with slightly more distain then you'd meant.

"yeah.. whatever's bothering you, you can always tell me."

He looks over to you for a second before he continues driving.

No. No I can't. I haven't told you for three years and I won't tell you now, and I especially won't because it's Chrissy.

You acknowledge him by nodding, adding to the already stark and stifling quiet.

He parks in your houses driveway, opening the door for you.

"hey uh. Can you ask Chrissy if she maybe wants to hang out with us tomorrow? I mean we just learned she smokes so you know, thought we could add her to our usua-"

"why don't you just ask her yourself?" You scoff, walking up to your front door and fumbling with your keys.

Since you like her so much, you add under your breath.

"yeah I.. guess I should, right?" He laughs nervously, trying to keep the air light.

You don't respond.

".... Well, I'll see ya tomorrow sweetheart, alright? Bright n' early as per usual" he smiles slightly, before swiftly getting into his van and driving off.

Asshole.

The next morning, you see Eddie's van parked outside of your house as he honks his horn, calling out to your window.

"y/n!! M'here to pick you up little lady!"

You have a raging headache, and his honking isn't making it better. You feel awful about how coldly you treated everyone yesterday, it wasn't either of their faults you liked Eddie.

You had thought that after three years, it would at least have faded, but no. And that was your own pathetic problem, not theirs. So as you shoved your feet into your shoes and pulled your sweater over your head, you walked out your front door with a smile.

"I'm coming!" You Hollar, seeing at Eddie who was checking an invisible watch on his wrist.

Youre about to hop in shotgun like you usually do, but stop in your tracks.

"oh, sorry y/n! Ed's said I could ride on the passenger side this morning. I hope that's alright with you?" She blinks, batting her eye lashes. With anyone else, that'd sound sarcastic. Somehow it makes it worse that Chrissy doesn't know how she's making you feel.

"not at all!"

And you hop in the backseat.

The entire ride Chrissy and Eddie talk, laughing at eachothers stupid jokes, gasping at eachothers stupid stories. You don't say a word the entire ride.

Eddie holds your door open, "m'lady,"

You smile through clenched teeth, not able to muster up a laugh.

In class, all you could think about was Eddie. You bowed your head on your desk, sulking.

Goddammit.

Why couldn't I get past this stupid crush?

It'd be different if you had told him, or if you were dating. But you weren't, and to the best of your knowledge he had no idea you liked him.

And if that wasn't enough, it felt like Eddie was slowly moving away from you.

And closer to Chris.

You felt betrayed by the both of them, though they didn't actually do anything to actually offend you. It was silly. All of this was.

Now at Eddie's trailer you all sat in a circle as Eddie rolled.

You didn't really mind Chrissy coming, you did love having her around. It really was just the implications, and how much you didn't like them together.

After a little while, the paper was more than half through, and you were all laughing and coughing together.

"y'know what Ed's? I'm gonna grab a drink. I'm raidin your fridge." You say, speach slower than usual.

"I'm not sure that's too good of an idea, princess, you're mixin' stuff and you got school t'morrow" he says, a hand reaching your shoulder to narrowly stop you from reaching his refrigerator.

You scoff, and grab a Redhook,

And another

And another one.

The blunt was basically just a stump at this point. You were arguably sober, but the argument would have no basis, and would be objectively wrong. You were drunk, and high, and not thinking straight.

Chrissy got up, smoothing out her skirt.

"hey guys, m'gonna go use the ladies room, okay?"

Eddie nods and you raise you hand to wave bye to her, all lazy like. Like you were a muppet being controlled by some puppeteer who really hates his job.

"m'gladdd she's gone," you slur, words coming out of your mouth with zero stops.

Huh? Eddie says, tilting his head.

"So.. so I can get you alllllll t'myyy self!"

Eddie chuckles, thinking it was just drunk, stupid words. People say stupid things when they're intoxicated, and you had a history of just letting your thoughts flow.

"you two have been avoiding me for soooo long..m'startin to think you hate me Ed's," you sniffle, slouching into his shoulder.

"I don't hate you, m'sorry ya feel that way."

"yyyeah. I'm glad you don't hate me, because I loveee youuu," you whine, teary eyed.

He laughs, patting your head but you suddenly snap up, offended.

"not like the way you're thinkin'!! M' in love with you." You blurt.

Eddie tries to respond, shocked, but you interrupt.

"and I'm tired of pretendin' that you aren't ignorin' me to go suck Chris's face off, you two love eachother sooooo much, but you didn't even like Chrissy until I introduced you guys!! " You get up, stumbling and almost tripping on your own feet.

"hold on, are you serious y/n? Do you think me and Chris are sucking faces and that I just suddenly don't like you or something??" He says, raising his voice and standing up in front of you. He completely eclipses you, but you daringly raise a finger at him.

"yea, and I hope Chrissy finally screws you so you can get rid a' her as easilly as you're getting rid of me-"

Chrissy opens the door.

"e-everything alright in here?"

A/N sorry if this one's a tad long guys! Got carried away at four am. I hope you guys enjoyed this one :)

Tag list *it wouldn't add some ppl srry guysies :(*: @rebelcthulhu @ietss @soclover3000 @mddieeunson @charliiexx @bambi-munson @nightless @creativedogs @erodahellfire @thecraziestcrayon @yourfavoritefangirl @eddiemunson4ever @televisionboy @kellysimagines @comic-harley @chloebeansack @estellaisaloser

[mangoslam]

Headcanons about chrissy and dustin relationship?

Oo. Another excellent prompt! Thanks 'nony.

I've seen some great fics linking these two and think it could be a really cute relationship honestly.

Dustin has a crush on Chrissy at first (who doesn't though, honestly?) so he blushes a lot and gets tongue-tied.

None of the younger kids really hang around with cheerleaders and it takes some time to trust that Chrissy wants to sit with them. Dustin though? Nah. He's 100% on board with Chrissy Cunningham invading their lives and welcomes her with open arms. He even saves her a seat next to him at the lunchtable.

When she asks him about D&D and his character, man, he gets INTO IT. He sits with Chrissy for a full two hours going into detail about different races, classes, lore. He kind of expects her to laugh at him, but Chrissy really loves his enthusiasm. He even offers to help her make her own build (but Eddie's already got this covered).

Chrissy loves the way Eddie protects Dustin, and the way he looks up to Eddie. It makes her fall for Eddie all the more (she also loves the competition between him and Steve - what neither of them know is Chrissy soon becomes Dustin's OG babysitter)

She finds herself keeping an eye out for him at school and when she hears one of the jocks making fun of his D&D book? Well, she stands up for him. She laughs when Dustin flings his arm around her shoulder after and lets them swagger away (Eddie watches and snorts into his shoulder).

(when she finds Dustin upset when one of the bullies tears up his character sheet, she hugs him so hard and tells him he's the best and to never change).

Chrissy gets the cold shoulder from her so-called friends when she starts picking Hellfire more and more and this really gets her down. If Eddie isn't around to cheer her up, then Dustin steps up to the plate and does his best to make her smile and laugh (Chrissy kisses his cheek the first time he does this and Eddie later pulls him into a giant hug).

Chrissy meets Suzie and yeah, she's hella' smart and cool. Chrissy reminds Dustin about buying candy, opening doors, reminding him to get a Valentines Day card. She even tried combing his hair. She tries really hard not to be overbearing but she's a cheerleader for a reason, right?

He sort of reminds her of her own brother - or rather, what her brother could be like if free from her parents influence. Dustin is really playful with her and not afraid of breaking her (like others sometimes do). He treats her like one of the gang.

Dustin picks up on Eddie's feelings pretty quickly and is the one to point out his 'soft eyes' whenever Chrissy is around. He also notices how Chrissy gets all pink and fluttery when Eddie looks her way. He's a Hellcheer #1 fan.

(though it's seriously not fair he never gets to pick the music in Eddie's van but he lets Chrissy pick whatever she wants - Chrissy also gets to ride shotgun)

He notices she doesn't eat much but doesn't really get the why (that's not his place) - but he always offers her his spare snacks and jelly sandwich. Sometimes she accepts and says 'thanks' really quietly. Chrissy starts bringing snacks to Hellfire Club and this is all good in Dustin's book.

He introduces her to Star Wars and she starts calling him 'R2' because yeah, he's the most useful person to have around and (usually) saves the day. Dustin fucking beams when she does this. They start having little inside jokes. He calls her Daphne from Scooby Doo - but only jokingly - he knows she's no damsel anymore.

During the battle with Vecna? He watches Chrissy's back although he pretends not to. She's comforted by him at her side and they are a good team. He knows how important Chrissy is to Eddie (and to him) and doesn't want her to get hurt.

[nervousgardenerkid]

Why don't I do it for you?

a/n: it's finally here!! the moment you've all been waiting for! i'm so so happy with out this turned out and i really hope you all like it! i'm thinking of changing the title but i honestly don't know what to LMAO idk "the other woman pt.2" sounds bland i need some zest i hope you guys enjoy reading this cause i definitely enjoyed writing it! read part one here! credit to the gif owner! enjoy the story yall <3 why tf they look so good in this gif i'm BARKING bruh

Steve watched you in the ammunition store playing around with Dustin, you both stopped deciding it was time to be serious before bursting into another fit of giggles. He let out a sigh grabbing a bottle of gasoline and put it in the shopping cart roughly causing Robin to flinch.

“Are you okay?”

Steve chuckled and nodded his head. “yup. just peachy!”

Dustin ran up to Steve and Robin with a wide smile on his face. “Guys check it out! y/n gave me a bandanna and tied it like eddie’s! pretty sick right?” Dustin asked while doing a pose. Steve smiled then looked around the shop, his eyes frantically looking for you in the big store.

“Hold on, where's y/n?”

-

You cocked the shotgun, a small smile on your face at how easily you handled it.

“How much is this?” You asked the man working the counter.

“$120.99, but I'll throw in twenty rounds buckshot for you.”

you smiled at the man and nodded while inspecting the gun that was in your hands.

“Hey, can I see this pretty 357 please?” you heard a familiar voice ask. the blood in your veins ran cold and you shivered. you turned your head and let out a curse when you saw Jason Carver. You quickly look back down at the gun trying to shield your face as best as you could, your breathing picked up a bit as you gripped the gun.

“y/n l/n.” you heard him say. You close your eyes and let out a sigh. you forced a smile as you looked at him.

“I didn't expect to find you here.” he said while holding a gun in his hand.

your heart was beating out of your chest and the only thing you could think to yourself was please don't let them find eddie.

“yeah, well it's just, scary times.” you say while looking at him. Jason wasn't the best looking guy in your book, but he also wasn't the ugliest. You took this time to study him. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin looked a shade paler than usual.

“I'm sorry,” you began. “about um, Chrissy.”

He nodded his head at you and put down the gun he was carrying. “Want my advice?”

The word no was on the tip of your tongue. You could say it but the minute he stepped closer everything you once knew fled your mind.

“Shotguns aren't good past anything besides killing birds,” he said standing up straighter. He took a step towards you.

“I mean they have power, sure, but not much range.” He was up close now. You could see the bloodshot red color in his eyes and sweat dancing along his forehead.

“That's just gonna force you into close-up combat, and someone can just grab the barrel like this,” he grunted out as he grabbed the barrel of the shotgun. You let out a gasp as he pulled you toward him.

“And redirect it,” he said. You glared at him and tried snatching the gun back, but you were unsuccessful.

“You know Eddie, right?”

“Only because I tutor him.” you lied.

Jason smirked and shook his head. “I don't buy it, I've seen you come to school with him and even eat lunch at his table. You're one of them, aren't you?”

Your breathing picked up. “What are you talking about?”

“Where are Henderson and Munson?”

“I don't know.”

Jason’s eyes scanned your face. “you're nervous.”

“Like I said, scary times.”

“Everything okay here?” Steve asked, coming up behind you. Jason let go of the gun barrel and looked at Steve.

“Harrington didn't expect to see you here either.”

Steve nodded his head and pushed you behind him. “Yeah well, when your girl wants to protect herself, who are you to stop her?” he said with a tight-lipped smile.

It took everything in you to not roll your eyes at him calling you his girl. Jason’s eyes darted around the store and you prayed to whatever greater power was out there that the rest of the group left the store.

“Nancy with you?”

Steve stood straighter. “Why?”

“Her brother, he's in that cult right?”

Steve made a face. “Mike?”

“Mike…is he here?”

You pushed past Steve and stood in front of Jason, all fear left your body and was replaced with anger. You were angry at Jason for wanting to bring harm in the kid's way, you were angry that the whole town thought Eddie Munson was capable of something like this, and you were mad at Steve. You were mad at him for coming in and acting like your knight in shining armor, and you were mad at him for calling you his girl when you're the furthest thing away from it.

“No, he isn't,” you said in a firm voice.

Jason nodded his head not even looking in your direction. “His friends here?”

Steve opened his mouth ready to say something but you beat him to it. “Jason, if you know what's best for you, you'll leave me and my friends alone. Are we clear?”

Jason’s eyes met yours and if looks could kill you'd both drop to the ground in an instant. The customers in the store suddenly disappeared and you drowned the noise out.

“Are we clear?” you asked again, stepping closer to Jason.

“Crystal,” he said with a smile.

-

“What the hell was that?! You get a gun in your hand and all of a sudden you stand up to a guy who's three times your size?!” Steve exclaimed while running towards the mobile home. You ran in behind him letting out a sigh of relief when you saw that everyone was safe.

“Just drive Steve!”

Eddie stood up from his spot. “What's going-”

“Your old friends are here!” Erica told Lucas once she settled into her seat.

Steve starts the vehicle and drives off in an instant. You're sitting in the passenger seat looking out the window when you lock eyes with Jason who's standing outside of the store. None of your eyes leave each other until you're out of each other’s view.

“Hey, hello! Are you gonna answer me?” Steve asked while looking at you before he focused on the road again. You let out a scoff.

“Jason isn't three times bigger than me.”

“Really? That's all you got from that?”

You turned your body to glare at Steve.

“What about you?”

He furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

“When my girl wants to protect herself, who am I to stop her?” you mocked him. “I didn't need you to step in, I had it handled.”

“Didn't look like it to me,” he muttered under his breath.

You took a deep breath. “I didn't need you, Steve.”

“I'm just saying, you look scared-”

“Stop. I didn't need you. I don't need you.”

Steve took a glance at you. “Are you serious? Now? You wanna do this now?” he asked, slightly raising his voice.

“I'm not some pathetic girl who needs saving Steve! I'm fine! I can handle my own shit.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah right.”

You unbuckled your seat belt ignoring Steve when he asked where you were going.

“Last time I checked it was always you who came crying to me. I had to save you, Steve! Countless times, and never once did I hear a thank you. We're done, Steve. Whatever the fuck kind of relationship we have, it's over.” your voice was cold and quiet as you stormed to the back of the mobile home and you sat the furthest away from everyone.

Nancy made her way to the passenger seat and took a seat. She cleared her throat and looked at Steve.

“Trouble in Paradise?” she asked quietly.

He led out a dry chuckle. “Yeah, you could say that,” he said while sniffing and wiping at his eyes.

Nancy looked back at you and smiled when she saw you tossing candy into Max's mouth. “She doesn't mean it you know, she's just upset right now.”

Steve shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn't matter, you heard what she said, we're done.”

“You'll both be fine Steve, just give it some time.”

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

“It's silly but, I actually always had this dream that I’d have a really big family. I'm talking like a full brood of Harringtons, like maybe five or six kids.”

“Six?!”

Steve smiled. “Yeah, six little nuggets, three girls, three boys.” he felt tears begin to prick his eyes and he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. “Every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we’d pack into something like this,” he said, waving his hand around to gesture to the mobile home. “and we’d just see the country. You know, the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone.” He looked in the rearview mirror, his heart clenching when he sees Eddie tying a matching bandana around your head, your smile as bright as ever.

“We’d end up in some beachside town in California, spend a week parked in the sand…” he wiped away a stray tear that fell down the left side of his face, and focused back on the road. “I'd probably learn to surf or something.”

Nancy smiled. She wondered if Jonathan ever thought about a future with her like Steve has with you. The only difference is that Jonathan knows he's talking about Nancy. “That sounds nice.”

Steve glanced at her then back at the road. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, except for the part about six kids.” Nancy decided to play with fire.

“I don't think y/n would have that many.”

“What-”

“Sounds like a total nightmare!” she exclaimed while looking out the window and laughing.

Steve rolled his eyes and pointed to the kids in the back. “If only I had some practice.”

“Fair enough.” Nancy laughed out. A comfortable silence was shared between the two of them before Steve decided to break it.

“Hey, I have a question.”

Nancy let out a hum and closed her eyes.

“Did you mean everything you said?”

Her eyes opened and she looked over at him. “When?”

“When we broke up.”

Nancy cleared her throat and she sat up. “I don't know…I was upset about what happened to Barb, and I still am,” she said in a hushed tone. “but that didn't give me the right to take it out on you. I'm sorry for that.”

“Did you ever love me?”

Nancy’s gaze dropped down to her hands as she nervously played with her fingers. “At times.”

Steve nodded his head. “But not all the time, right?”

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

Steve wasn't sure what hurt more. Was it that Nancy never really loved him as much as he loved her? Or was it the fact that you had your head in Eddie's lap trying to get some sleep, his leather jacket draped over your upper body acting like a blanket? His hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles turning white when he saw Eddie gently tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You peeked one eye open and smiled at him letting out a giggle that Steve only seemed to hear.

Steve stopped driving the car noticing they were near an empty field. You let out a squeak at the sudden stop and blushed when you felt Eddie's arm on your waist.

“Careful there, I know you're falling for me but don't take it literally,” he teased.

You rolled your eyes, sat up, and handed him his jacket. “Yeah right, you wish Munson.”

You all stepped out of the vehicle letting out groans as you all stretched your muscles out. Everyone went to their own area of the field. Robin and Steve stayed near the home while filling empty bottles with gasoline and stuffing rags in them. Max and Nancy went a little further out. Nancy was sawing off the barrel of the shotgun you bought while Max watched.

“Is this legal?” Max asked her while holding the old ice chest and the end of the shotgun still.

“Actually, I think it's a felony.”

“Right,” Max said, nodding her head.

“But it guarantees one thing, I won't miss,” she said before she knocked off the barrel with the saw.

Dustin and Eddie were making shields that had nails facing the opposite direction. You let out a giggle when you saw the pair play fighting, both of them trying to make the best out of a moment like this.

You sat with Erica and Lucas, making your own versions of spears for everyone. Erica tried telling you about what she found under Lucas’ bed but he kept screaming every time she mentioned it. Eddie walked up to the three of you with a smile on his face.

“Sinclairs, y/n.” he greeted. “How are the spears coming on?”

Lucas gave him a thumbs up before Erica rolled her eyes at him.

“Flip that damn thumb around.”

Lucas glared at her. “What?”

She handed you the spear she was working on and took Lucas’. “It's too loose Lucas. This isn't a basketball game where they blow the whistle when your shoes fall off.”

You giggled and looked up at Eddie when you saw he offered you a hand. You stood next to him listening to the siblings bickering.

“Okay, for the record my shoes never fell off.”

“Okay, for the record it's kinda hard for your shoes to fall off when you're riding the bench.”

That made Eddie snort.

“And yet for some reason, you show up to every game!”

Erica let out a questionable hum. “Except for the one that mattered, plus mom and dad forced me.”

Lucas shook his head. “Bull! Mom and dad can't force you to do shit!”

Erica smirked. “Well, even though you're a bench riding loser, you're still my brother. Just the facts.” she finished before handing Eddie the spear. You handed her her spear back and ran towards Dustin who was playing with the shield.

“These look sick, dusty!” you said while picking one up.

“Thanks! Eddie was talking about if we had some paint it would look even better.”

You nodded your head trying to figure out what they'd paint on their shields.

You held the shield up in the air and made a surprised noise. “It's light.”

“And durable,” Eddie added. He grabbed the shield from you and handed you the spear Erica gave him.

“No more retreating from Eddie that banished,” he said to himself. You placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“We're gonna clear your name, don't worry. Eddie the banish will soon be Eddie the hero.”

Eddie smiled at you and dropped the shield, crossing his arms over his chest. “You think we'll win?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “I've only done this three times, so sorry if I seem a little cocky.”

Eddie chuckled and brought you into a hug. “Never change l/n. Promise me that.”

You pulled away and narrowed your eyes at him. “Only if you promise to stop talking like you're gonna die.”

-

“I just don't get it,” Steve said under his breath.

“Get what?”

Steve looked at robin and furrowed his brows. “He graduated like two years ago.”

“So?”

“So he's in college, which means he was visiting on spring break and fast times was returned like…I don't know, a week ago?”

Robin looked at Steve in disbelief and rolled her eyes.

“Unless she has like, I don't know some horn dog brother that we didn't know of. Which is possible, or she's just really into-”

“Steve!” Robin said, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“What?”

“I don't care!” She put down the bottle she was holding, giving her full attention to Steve. “And I don't understand why you do either with everything that's going on! Honestly,” she said with a sigh. “This feels like the perfect time for that little pull of the rug because in the face of the world ending the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low.”

Steve looked at her and gave her a small nod. “Yeah, I mean I get you there but I still have hope,” he says while taking a glance at you and handing the bottle he was holding to Robin. A small part of him wants to give up. He wants to let you go and give you the space you need and have you come back whenever you're ready, but there's a much bigger part of him that refuses to let you go. Steve knows he's lost a decent amount of fights, but he will not lose the fight when it comes to you.

He has so many questions running through his head like why does ignoring him hurt him more than the breakup with Nancy did? And when the hell did you and Eddie get so close? He's never even heard you talk about Eddie!

Robin took the bottle with a smirk. “Not everything has a happy ending.”

“Yeah, yeah believe me I know.” he steals another glance at you, rolling his eyes when he sees Eddie throw you over his shoulder while Dustin chants: banish her! Banish her! Banish her!

Robin lets out a breathy laugh and follows Steve's gaze to you.

“I'm not talking about failed romance,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I just, I have this terrible gnawing feeling that…it might not work out for us this time.”

Steve looked at her with fear and confusion visible on his face. “You think we shouldn't be doing this?”

Robin paused, trying to think of the right thing to say knowing they were all a little in too deep now.

“I think we're mad fools, the lot of us,” she said, pouring more gasoline into the bottle. She let out a sigh looking at all of the people she loved and considered her closest friends. “but if we don't stop him, then who will?”

They both chuckled when they saw Dustin fall to the ground, you hopping over him like a game of leapfrog with Eddie not too far behind. Erica and Lucas twirled the spears around and made stabbing motions trying to get used to the feeling of it in their hands, while Nancy practiced aiming the gun Max gave her suggestions here and there.

“We have to try, right?”

Steve gave her a slight nod, his gaze finally meeting hers. “Yeah.” He held up a bottle and tilted it toward her.

“To killing Vecna,”

Robin had a smile on her face as she reached behind her to grab a bottle, clinking it against the one Steve had. “Slash Henry,”

“Slash one.”

-

taglist <3 :

i tried tagging everyone but tumblr couldn't find all of y'all for some reason :( im sorry i hope y'all can still see it tho! <3

@drxwstxrkxy @steveismyboi @555stargirl555 @fujiihime @stevesdick (i love your @ it makes me giggle) @hcloangcls @louweasleymalfoy @kiki17483 @sweetcreatue98 @spideyjass @keerah19 @freezaz123

[crazycookiecrumbles]

Awkward Car Trips

Masterlist

A/N: Another part of my Idiot!Verse installment! So, hope you enjoy! Feedback/Reblogs appreciated

Takes Place during Season 4

Pairings/Characters: Steve Harrington x Reader

Warnings: swearing, smartassery, dustin being overbearing, steve being an idiot, max being angsty

It was times like this where Steve just couldn’t understand why you were able to be Dustin’s actual babysitter for so long. Dustin Henderson was so damn obnoxious that he wanted to stuff his stupid hat down his throat. 

See, what happened was the second you guys left the library to continue on your main quest and not the side quest, as Dustin put it, things kicked off in typical fashion when it came to those two. Dustin proclaimed that he had shotgun to keep all unnecessary sexual tension from taking over, all the while, Steve was shouting that Dustin was being ‘a real dickhead’ and that he was making things awkward.

“Awkward? Who’s awkward? I’m not awkward. Are you awkward, Y/N?” Dustin turned to you, waiting for an answer.

You sighed, “Now I’m just tired.”

Although, what really surprised you and threw you for a loop was seeing Max sitting in the car when you had arrived. She wasn’t even in the library when Steve and Dustin came in, and you had no idea how long she had been with them, but Max was sitting there, quietly watching the two morons bicker.

“Are you awkward, Max?”

“I’m annoyed,” she told Dustin who glared at Steve.

“Okay. So you’re the only awkward one, dude,” Dustin told Steve who sat there clutching the steering wheel, staring straight ahead at the library doors, wondering exactly what moment it was that solidified his attachment with Dustin so he could go back in time and undo it.

“How long have you been here?” You sighed and asked Max.

“Like, in Hawkins or — “

“In the car, smart ass.”

She smirked satisfactorily to herself, hiding it as she turned her head for a second before wiping the smirk off her face, “Awhile. You should’ve seen them shouting about you before they went in.”

Steve glared at her through the rearview mirror, “Didn’t you have headphones on? I thought you couldn’t hear anything.”

“Just one ear,” She replied while Steve groaned.

“Why were you shouting about me?” You crossed your arms over your chest and stared at the ack of Steve’s head, because he refused to turn around and face you. 

“No one was shouting about you. We were just talking about coming in to get you.”

“Steve has unresolved feelings towards you. It’s very romantic comedy of him, if we’re being quite honest. It definitely sickens me,” Dustin exclaimed.

You sighed and looked to the teenager you were so fond of, “Hey, Dustin, remind me how that song from Neverending Story goes.”

“Touché,” he muttered while Steve smirked and started the car.  You sighed and shook your head, watching Steve as he pulled out of the lot and began to drive.

“So…where are we going?” You asked the three of them, waiting for someone to loop you in, “And just what are we dealing with?”

“Buckle up, buttercup, we’ve got a lot to fill you in on. Hope you didn’t have a big lunch,” Steve said. “First, we’re dropping Max off to see Ms. Kelley and do some investigative work.”

You frowned, “Why are we investigating the guidance counselor?”

“That’s part of the lore we have to tell you. Remember Vecna?” Dustin turned to look at you.

“Uh…what, is that in Eddie’s campaign? You know I can’t remember all your Dungeons and Dragons —“

Dustin groaned and looked to Steve, “This, this is the woman you love, just saying.”

“Eat shit, Henderson,” Steve shouted.

“I will smother you, child!” You shouted at the same time.

Max shook her head and readjusted her headphones over her ears so she could tune out Dustin telling you about everything with the latest monster of the year, Chrissy, Eddie’s involvement, and their theory of what was going on. This was pandemonium, and you had a sinking feeling in your stomach the more Dustin went on. You felt like you were right and totally validated to be afraid and not really wanting any part of this, it really was just getting worse every time one of these monsters came back.

They dropped off Max at Ms. Kelley’s home so she could go inside and talk to her. The three of you waited in the car in an uncomfortable silence. You were thinking about how many close encounters you could possibly have before this whole Upside Down thing caught up to you. Steve was thinking about everything he could possibly do to keep you and the kids safe, and Dustin?

Well, Dustin had different priorities.

“Is this going to be a thing?” Dustin asked. “The air being thick with sexual tension because the two of you are stupid?”

“I remember when you used to be nice to your babysitter. I miss those days. You were such a cute little bastard,” you told Dustin who rolled his eyes.

“Don’t embarrass me, Y/N. You know you’re the best babysitter — sorry, Steve, but she was first — but, like, come on, you guys!”

Steve groaned, “Dustin, enough —“

“No, not enough! You two are obviously super into each other. What the hell has to happen before you two admit it? I mean, god, I’m going to be legal to drink before you two finally kiss!”

“Dustin, it’s not — we just —“ You stumbled over what to say. You didn’t know what to say. Was now the right time to be doing this? Hardly! And you certainly didn’t need a third-party butting in with his opinions and demands of your relationship.

“Y/N, I’ve known you since you moved to town, and Steve is the only guy that’s gotten you to blush and act like a girl and shit like that,” Dustin exclaimed.

You felt heat rise in your cheeks, “Totally not true.”

“Yeah, okay. And you,” He glared at Steve who scoffed. “She is the best, most awesome person in the world and you’re being a little chicken shit about this whole thing. Steve, if you don’t marry her and become the ultimate babysitters duo, then you’re just wasting your life!”

“Whoa, who said anything about marriage?” Steve shouted.

“I am too young to be married!” You shouted at the same time.

Dustin sighed and stared up at the sky, as he seemed to be doing this often when it came to your relationship with Steve. He shook his head and stared out the windshield as he tried to figure out what to say to you two to finally get things moving, “Look, all I’m saying, is you two have a great thing. I mean, Steve, I didn’t even like you for a super long time.”

“I know.”

“You were such a douche.”

“I’m aware, Henderson.”

“I mean, really, you were King Douche.”

You snorted and muttered quietly, “Sluttington.”

“Wow. You two are hilarious,” Steve rolled his eyes dramatically while Dustin turned to you and grinned. “What do you want me to do, confess my undying love for her in front of you?”

Dustin shrugged, “I don’t mind.”

“I mind!” Steve shouted.

You blinked several times before raising your hand up as you spoke, “Hold on. Are you in really love with me, Steve?”

Steve sputtered. His cheeks reddened and he gripped the steering wheel as he tried to figure out what to say. He could hardly breathe at the moment, and now he was stuck with you and Dustin trying to find the right words to say. Ugh, this used to come so easily to him, why was he messing this up now?

“Y/N, I —“

“Steve, I —“

You both were cut off by Max suddenly opening the door and sliding inside. She looked between everyone and held up the keys, “I got them. Are we ready to go?” She frowned when she saw Dustin cringing and smack his palm into his face. “What?”

“They were going to admit they love each other, finally,” Dustin said.

“Oh, well don’t let me stop you two. That’s been years in the making, as far as I’ve been told,” Max said.

“See? Thank you!”

“We weren’t. I—“ Steve shook his head and turned back around and started the car up. “Hawkins High is next, right?”

Dustin frowned a little as he realized that maybe he pushed this issue a little too hard, “Hey, man. Look, I — “

“Let’s just go,” you put your seatbelt back on and leaned against the window. “Before Dustin tries to bully his way into everyone’s relationships like he’s the boss.”

Steve scoffed, “Right? You have to humble yourself, man. You’re coming on way too strong.”

“I agree,” you chimed in with Steve. “It’s aggressive. Quite frankly, it’s a little creepy of you. Is this what happens when you miss Suzie?”

“I hate you,” Dustin announced out loud as Steve drove, “I hate you both so god damn much.”

[ladymercury8]

A Missing Munson | Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: A Hawkins High student is murdered, Eddie doesn't answer your calls, and then the Goonies appear on your front door asking for your help in locating the missing Munson boy. Looks like your boyfriend's wanted for homicide. [2.6k]

Warnings: S4 SPOILERS! Vague mention of drugs. Angst -> Fluff.

❃❃❃❃❃

The last people you expected to encounter knocking on a Saturday afternoon were standing right in front of you: Dustin Henderson, Max Mayfield, Steve Harrington, and Robin Buckley. Each adorned with an awkward smile and wave.

Considering the repeated doorbell rings and pounding knocks, perhaps you should have suspected it was Dustin. After all, he performed the same obnoxious performance whenever he came to any of your and Eddie’s D&D meetings.

You stared at the certainly varied group in confusion, eyes squinting in suspicion. It wasn’t the first strange occurrence of the last twenty-four hours. First, a Hawkins High student was murdered. Then, Eddie never answered your calls – and you tried ringing plenty. You started to fear that Eddie was the victim himself, but admonished yourself for even considering it. “He’s probably just high,” was your solution, though you vowed to visit him in the evening.

And now, the Goonies were on your doorstep. You knew them all solely by name and reputation. Dustin was the only one of the four who you were close to.

“Uhhhhh hello?” You questioned in a confused tone, squinting against the sunlight, pulling down your Hellfire Club t-shirt, ‘for your modesty’ as Eddie liked to say with a cheeky wink.

“Y/N, do you know where Eddie is?” Dustin immediately asked, pushing past you and into your small house, slamming you flat against the door as the others followed.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” you replied, closing the door behind you, finally noticing their frightened expressions, your eyes darting from one to the other. “Why? What’s going on? Is he OK?”

“We don’t know,” Max spoke timidly. “Sit down, cause this is gonna sound… crazy.”

You glanced at their serious expressions, ever the more muddled.

“Can we trust her?” Steve whispered to Robin, though everyone heard it. He would, of course, have his reservations – especially considering you were the girlfriend of Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson.

“Yes,” Dustin replied, confident and stalwart.

“If it has to do with Eddie, you have no choice but to tell me,” you added.

“You’re in for a ride,” Robin smiled.

���❃❃❃❃

You were flabbergasted. Speechless.

They had told you a true tale of terror, which you wouldn’t had believed had it not been for two things: a) the fact that, as fantastical as it sounded, it explained the supposed ‘curse’ of Hawkins, all the mysterious disappearances and deaths, and b) that you were a passionate D&D player, fantasy lover and overall nerd with a wide range of superstitions.

The Mind Flayer, a Demogorgon, Chrissie Cunningham’s mutilated body… you believed every word they uttered. Above all, you were convinced Eddie had nothing to do with it.

And when Dustin asked if you knew where Reefer Rick lived, you shrugged, “Of course. Doesn’t everyone?”

Which is how you ended up in a car with the gang, searching for Eddie and arguing about his innocence.

“I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, don’t think we can rule it out,” Steve said from the driver’s seat, one hand leaning on the windowsill.

“That’s crazy! Eddie didn’t do this! No way!” Dustin exclaimed.

“You can’t defend him just because he’s your new best friend who you think is cooler just cause he plays your nerdy game!” Steve retorted.

“I never said that! But yes, I can!” Dustin caught Steve’s gaze in the mirror, “You don’t know him like I do, Steve. OK? When we got to high school, Mike and me? Nobody was nice to us. No one except Eddie and Y/N.”

Sitting shotgun, staring at the fleeting scenery behind the glass window, you smiled softly at the memory of Dustin and Mike as awkward and utterly lost freshmen.

“OK, well, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he’s a super nice guy, but then he’s murdering women on the weekend. I’m not saying anything, but we can’t presume anything, and we can’t rule it out!” Max threw in, rolling her eyes at Dustin’s unwaveringness.

“Yes, we can.” Everyone grew silent, all eyes turned to you. It was the first time you had spoken up, though you didn’t move your gaze from the window. “Eddie would never do this.”

“All I’m saying is that we can’t rule it out. It’s Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson we’re talking about. I saw Chrissy enter his trailer. He could have gotten high and accidentally killed her. Temporary insanity, that sort of shit. Who knows, maybe he changed his last name, what if he’s actually related to Charles Manson,” Max continued.

“If we believed rumors so easily, I would think of Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington, over here, as the dick of the decade. But, alas, Dustin assures me that that’s false; and I, for one, like to give people a chance. One, Eddie has never been violent, not even when high. He wouldn’t kill an ant, let alone a lady. Two, he’s certainly not related to Manson. And three, Eddie’s not a freak. He’s only my freak,” you finished.

Maybe it was your firm tone, or the fact that you were a stranger to this evidently established dynamic, but everyone shut up as you continued to guide Steve through winding, darkening roads.

❃❃❃❃❃

Upon reaching Reefer Rick’s house, the sun had already set, and night began to take over. Standing up, you stretched your legs before you took the lead in approaching the house. Dustin followed on your heels and proceeded to ring the doorbell… adamantly.

“OK. Well that’s settled, I guess he’s not here,” Steve said as Dustin began slamming the door with his fist, much like he had done at your place.

“Eddie! It’s Dustin!” The boy yelled, continuing to pound. Steve muttered a small “great” under his breath.

“Eddie!” You joined in, attempting to look through the glass. Steve, once again, scoffed, “alright then.”

“Look, we just want to talk!” Dustin shouted through the mail flap as you all began to encircle the house with your flashlights. “No cops, I swear. We just wanna help. Eddie!”

Dustin continued to knock vehemently, pressing the doorbell repeatedly, starting up with, “Rick! Reefer Rick!”

“Don’t scream that,” Steve admonished him, hitting him softly on the shoulder. “He’s not there, just-”

“He could just be really high,” Dustin replied.

You walked over to the side of the house, flashlight in tow, remembering the boathouse at the back. The remnants of their conversation echoed: “Is that a foot?” “No, that’s a shoe.”

“Hey, guys?” You called out, and as they approached you, flashlights in pointing in one direction, you all managed to illuminate the decrepit building. You knew Eddie would be there. You felt it in your gut. Because you remembered the time he had pushed you against the wall of the boathouse, on the side of Lover’s Lake where nobody could see you, lips ravenously trailing down your neck, his hair tickling your skin.

All of you approached, lights shining against the dusty windowpanes. Robin creaked the door open slowly, cautiously, calling out, “Hello? Is anyone home?”

“Eds?” You yelled upon entering.

“What a dump,” Steve remarked as you all started searching. Steve caught your attention when he turned his flashlight off, and you watched as he grabbed an oar, ramming it into a piece of tarp that covered a boat.

“Steve!” You cried out, running towards him, reaching for his arm to stop him.

“What are you doing?” Dustin asked incredulously. At no reply, he repeated, “What are you doing?”

“He might be in here,” Steve answered, continuing to prod with the oar.

“Exactly why you shouldn’t do it!” You cried out to no avail.

“Just take the tarp off!” Dustin demanded.

“If you’re so brave, you take the tarp off,” Steve retorted. And truth be told, neither Dustin nor you were afraid of encountering Eddie. But both of you were terrified of encountering something much worse: a demon, a body… Eddie’s body.

You heard Max say, “someone was here,” shuffling some wrappers and bottles around on a table.

“Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran,” Robin added.

“Don’t worry. Steve will get him with his oar,” Dustin spoke, sardonically.

“I know you think you’re being funny, Henderson,” Steve continued with the goddamn oar that you wanted to hit him against the head with, “but considering the fact that everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times,” Dustin nodded, smiling, “personally I don’t find it funny in the slightest-“

As a figure moved from under the tarp, Steve jolted. Everyone was yelling, a conglomeration of screams and Steve’s shouts of, “Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” Before you knew what was happening, before you could register the scene in front of you, Steve was slammed against the wall of the boathouse by the figure, a broken bottle placed to his throat.

It was Eddie.

The voices continued in cacophony, Steve’s “woah, woah, woah!” merged with Dustin’s, “Eddie! Stop!”

“Eddie!” You called out, desperately. At the sound of your voice, his head snapped towards you. There was a feral look in his eyes. His hair was wilder than usual, untamed. He looked lost. Like a frightened animal attacking, not in anger, but in terror, in self-defence.

“It’s me, Eds,” You placed your hand against your chest, keeping your distance as Steve squirmed against the glass. “It’s Y/N. Here’s Dustin,” you grabbed Dustin by the sleeve, pulling him next to you.

“This is Steve,” Dustin gestured towards the terror-stricken boy.

“He’s not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?” You asked slowly, as Eddie’s gaze turned back towards the Harrington boy.

“Right. Yeah,” Steve whispered, out of breath, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” You called out, and he promptly followed your instructions as the instrument fell with a clang.

Eddie tightened his grip, bringing the bottle even closer to Steve’s neck as the latter squirmed and groaned in pain.

“He’s cool! He’s. Cool,” Dustin assured Eddie, hands in front of him.

“I’m cool, man. I’m cool,” Steve managed.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie spoke through gritted teeth, gaze not falling from Steve. You knew you needed to catch his attention, to help him emerge from his stupor.

“We’re looking for you, Munson,” you answered.

“We’re here to help,” Robin quickly added.

Eddie finally turned to your huddled group, eyes searching, panicked.

“Eddie, these are our new friends. You know them. You know Robin, from band,” You signaled towards her as she mimed her trumpet.

“This is my friend Max,” Dustin chirped in, as she waved awkwardly. “The one who never wants to play D&D.”

“Eddie,” you finally locked eyes with him. “We’re on your side. Baby, I’m always on your side.”

“I swear on my mother!” Dustin yelled, voice raw as everyone confirmed his declaration. “We swear.” “On Dustin’s mother.” “Yeah Dust-Dustin’s mother.”

Eddie stared at Steve, contemplating, before finally releasing him. Harrington fell to the floor, uttering “Jesus Christ,” under his breath as he hunched over. The tension ebbed out of the room, the immediate danger removed.

Eddie stood, back against the wall, slowly sliding down into a crouch. His breath was ragged, his gaze fixed on a nonexistent point ahead. He looked incredibly shaken, refusing to let the bottle go.

You slowly, cautiously approached him, kneeling down in front of him. “Eds,” you searched for his gaze, unable to find one. As you began reaching your hand out to his, Dustin spoke from behind you, “We just want to talk.”

At those words, Eddie jolted, flinching away from your touch. Your heart plummeted. “OK, it’s OK,” you held your hands out, glancing behind you and signaling at Dustin to take it slow.

“We want to know what happened,” Robin chirped in.

Eddie’s hands were trembling, and your chest felt heavy at the sight, watching him so afraid. His eyes were welled with tears.

“You won’t believe me,” he sniffled, finally bringing his gorgeous doe eyes up to yours.

“Try us,” Max retorted.

“I believe everything you say,” you spoke softly, “you know that. Got me wrapped around your little finger.” The ghost of a smile broke out on his lips. “And these kids have a pretty damn convincing story. For all I know, even Mordor might be real now.”

“I didn’t kill her, Y/N,” Eddie’s face fell once again at the memory. “You gotta believe me,” he cried out, a tiny tear dropping down his cheek.

“I know, baby,” you steadily reached your hand out, scanning his every movement for signs of discomfort. He allowed you to approach, your thumb caressing his face and wiping the tear away. “I know.”

He melted into your touch, desperately reaching out for you, wrapping his arms around your body, situating his head on your shoulder, leaning his head against the side of your own. A cascade of affection. Your hands reached for his hair, combing through it, caressing his scalp.

“Oh Eddie,” you mumbled under your breath, kissing whatever part of him that you could reach. From the corner of your eye, you could see Steve’s sympathetic look, as if, for the first time, he saw Eddie as human.

When Eddie calmed down sufficiently, he pulled away softly, and sat down on an empty crate. You sat next to him, taking his hand in your own.

“Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh… and she just, like, hung there,” Eddie started to explain to everyone. “In the air. And her bones… Uh, she…,” he closed his eyes, wincing at the memory. You rubbed his knuckles softly, comfortingly. “Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It… it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling,” he tried to gesture. “I… I didn’t know what to do so I… I ran away. I left here there.”

Eddie swallowed, his Adam’s apple prominent. “You all think I’m crazy, right?”

“Of course not,” you said.

“Don’t bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds!” He yelled, and you flinched slightly at the tone. But at seeing the remorse in his eyes and feeling the squeeze of your palm, you knew his outburst was involuntary.

“We’re not bullshitting you,” Max spoke up.

“We believe you,” Robin added, a phrase repeated a dozen times that night.

“Dustin!” You locked eyes with the curly-haired boy. “Just tell him what you told me.”

Dustin spoke up, all attention on him, “Eddie, what I’m about to tell you might be a little… difficult to take… You know how people say Hawkins is… cursed? They’re not… way off. There’s another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours.”

“Like ghosts and shit?” Eddie asked, confused, but not mockingly. Open minded.

“There are some things worse than ghosts,” Max chimed in. “These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they’ve come back before. That’s why we needed to find you. That’s why we needed Y/N, to guide us to you,” Dustin explained.

Dustin, Max and Robin’s voices started overlapping, prodding: “If they’re back again, we need to know.” “That night, did you see anything?” “Dark particles, maybe?” “It would almost look like dust, swirling dust.” “No, man!” He cried out. You could sense Eddie was overwhelmed. “There was nothing you could see or uh… touch.” Eddie paused, moving his head towards yours, yet refusing to meet your gaze. “You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn’t move. It was like she… she was in a trance or something.” “Or under a spell,” Dustin attempted.

“A curse,” you added.

“Vecna’s curse,” Eddie finished, finally locking eyes with you.

It was too much, really. You saw Eddie’s exhausted expression, his beaten up body. You placed a kiss to his knuckles and then to his temple, pushing his hair behind his ear. “I think that’s enough for tonight. What you need is some Honey-Comb and a joint.” 

❃❃❃❃❃

Thank you for reading! x

[bigdumbbambieyes]

i can’t stop thinking of Billy & Chrissy

i just love these two so much 🤍

original post and handcanons one & two

• Chrissy always rides shotgun. Always. It’s Billy’s rule. And if anyone tries to take that spot from her, Billy glares at them as Chrissy awkwardly stands outside the Camaro, waiting for them to move to the back because she knows that’s her spot.

• When they get high together, Chrissy calls him ‘Silly Billy’ because Billy gets giggly when he smokes. He hates the nickname, especially when Eddie begins to use it, but he can’t be too upset since he knows Steve thinks it’s cute.

• Chrissy softens Billy in the same way Billy hardens Chrissy. He holds his tongue more and considers putting himself in other people’s shoes while Chrissy speaks up a little louder when she’s uncomfortable and begins to talk back to people when they’re rude to her.

• Before Billy and Steve start dating, they hang out as a group with Chrissy and Robin, just to…test the waters. To see if they’re allowed to be near each other again and try to make some kind of friendship work. The girls call their hang outs ‘friend dates’ because they both know that their guys are into each other but they’re taking it slow. Almost too slow. Eventually, once they’re comfortable, Billy and Steve stop asking the girls to hang out with them and the girls are ecstatic.

• When Chrissy and Eddie get married in their late twenties/early thirties, her father has passed on and her mother outright refuses to go to the wedding - so Billy walks her down the aisle. He manages to keep a poker face until he sees how blissfully happy she is to take Eddie’s hand and stand next to him, joyful tears in her eyes as the couple quietly giggles in excitement together. Chrissy’s happiness means the world to Billy and he wipes at his eyes when he’s sitting down again, feeling Steve rub his back soothingly as they watch their friends marry.

• (tw minor unintentional self harm) After leaving the hospital, Billy’s anxiety can get so bad that when he overthinks, he chews on his fingernails until they’re red and sore - even picks at the skin of his thumb nail until it bleeds, but he never notices until it’s too late. Chrissy, on the other hand, does notice and tries to help by bandaging what’s hurt and carefully applying lotion to his hands, even brushes on some cuticle oil from her manicure set. It helps sometimes, but it isn’t until Steve gives him a silver ring to twirl around his middle finger that he significantly stops biting and picking.

• Billy picks out Chrissy’s nail polish when she can’t decide between two colours. Usually he leans towards blue, specifically powder blue, but he also thinks pinks and purples look good on her.

• After Steve asks Billy to go to a movie, with just the two of them, Billy asks Chrissy to help him pick out an outfit for the date. She knows that he doesn’t really need help with it (he probably had the outfit picked out months ago) but she knows that his anxiety has probably skyrocketed. He fiddles with his hair too much in the mirror, tries to get ready as he usually does by hyping himself up, but he’s so nervous. He really likes Steve and doesn’t want to fuck this up, not again, so by the time Chrissy arrives at his house he’s so close to cancelling the date. She sits him down on his bed and sternly tells him no, he’s not going to do that to himself and Steve, that’s not fair to either of them. And he knows she’s right, so he quietly thanks her and gives her a quick hug. It helps his anxiety to have Chrissy tell him what’s what.

• Billy and Eddie can sometimes be seen tying up their hair with a green scrunchie on hot summer days.

• (tw ed recovery) Chrissy can sometimes forget to eat when she’s busy, and while she does try her best with her recovery, it happens. She has complicated feelings about it; she wants to slip back into old habits and return to that familiarity, but then feels guilty about feeling that way. She opens up about it to Billy, who can’t fully understand but he acknowledges her struggle and gives her his support. When she’s busy with school and practice and homework, he’ll often pack her snacks in little ziplock bags and silently hand them to her when they’re alone in his car or at school. She eats every single snack and squeezes his hand in silent thanks, unable to believe how lucky she is to have such a friend in her life.

• When they graduate, they get matching tattoos: a small, simple sun in black ink. Chrissy gets hers on the inside of her left ankle while Billy gets his on the inside of his left wrist. They agreed on the sun because they had found solace in each other at what was the darkest time of their lives - they were each other’s sun, providing warmth and comfort. They keep the meaning of the tattoo to themselves because it’s theirs, so when people ask, Chrissy says it’s to remind her to be happy like the sun and Billy says it’s none of their goddamn business (but he’ll tell his friends that it’s a reminder of home: California).

[dreaminginpencil]

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[lipstickmarks]

!!!! No fr I don't agree with the headcanon that it would have taken a while for hellcheer to hookup. They would be making out in a matter of days if vecna hadn't showed up. They were flirting hardcore and she was laughing up a storm in the woods. Even Joe agreed that they were on the outskirts of falling in love. They might not have been official for a little while because I agree with Joe, it would've probably been a liaison type of deal.

yeah! and chrissy very much needed to blow off some steam so it was a recipe for the perfect rendezvous!

I didn’t intend for this to be a full on fic but i got a lil carried away 😳

warnings: drug usage (weed), shotgunning, nsfw sexual situations but no actual smut

Eddie goes to find the special k, but this time Chrissy follows him into his room. He picks up on her discomfort and decides two things in this moment: 1) he’s going to put on some music and 2) he’s not giving her any hard drugs.

Chrissy agrees to stick to weed (she was getting a little apprehensive about it anyway) and Eddie invites her to sit on his bed and go through his cassettes while he rolls some joints for them.

She finds a Billy Joel record which Eddie happily puts on for her.

They are literally in his bed, leaning against the wall while he teaches her to smoke. Chrissy’s cheer jacket and Eddie’s jacket/vest are laying haphazardly on the floor. They pass the joint back and forth, shoulders grazing and legs brushing up against each other.

“Look at that, you’re a natural.” Eddie praises as Chrissy passes the joint back to him.

Soon, they finish the joint and Eddie starts to roll another but Chrissy’s fingertips on Eddie’s bare wrist stop him.

“I don’t like inhaling it. I mean, I wanna keep going but…”

The corner of Eddie’s lips turn downwards. Chrissy doesn’t like that.

“Afraid I’m fresh out of edibles. That would be the other easiest way.”

Chrissy raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of establishment are you running here?”

It’s a fun change of pace- Chrissy making him laugh for once. He’s surprised at how easily she pulled it out of him and she’s surprised at how much she loves the sound of his laugh.

“You know, technically, there is another way if you don’t want to smoke it yourself.”

“What is it?”

Eddie finds himself unable to meet Chrissy’s eyes when he says it.

“It’s called shotgunning or a shotgun kiss. Basically one person takes a hit and blows smoke into the other person’s mouth.”

When he looks back at Chrissy, she doesn’t look perturbed, or angry or even weirded out.

Her eyes are wide with wonder, her lips parted in anticipation. Eddie realizes now that her hand is still wrapped around his wrist.

“Can we try it?”

And really, how could he say no?

So he rolls a joint, lights it, takes a hit and nods for Chrissy to come closer. They’re sitting face-to-face, legs criss-crossed and knees touching. Chrissy’s hands automatically go to Eddie’s knees for balance.

She leans in, parting her lips slightly and Eddie meets her halfway.

He brushes his lips against hers, gently blowing the smoke into her mouth.

Chrissy felt a jolt run up her spine. She feels dizzy, lightheaded. and borderline intoxicated but it’s not from the weed…

Eddie exhales slowly and, having no other excuse to linger, begins to pull away. When they each open their glossy, lidded eyes, they just stare at one another. A thick silence fills the room, like the quieting of an orchestra before a mighty crescendo.

It takes one single synchronized heartbeat before their music crescendos.

Chrissy and Eddie move in perfect sync, crashing their lips back together. Eddie waists no time in hoisting Chrissy up by the waist and situating her on his lap. Chrissy’s hands wade into Eddie’s hair as they kiss with a mad fervor.

They relish in the feeling of one another, of the heat and passion in their kiss. When Eddie slides his tongue into her mouth, Chrissy emits a muffled moan that Eddie so wishes he could record to have forever.

Eddie’s hands remain firmly planted on Chrissy’s hips while Chrissy is more experimental with her touches.

She moves her hands from tangled in his hair to cupping his jaw to resting on his chest. She slides her hands down and the fabric of his “Hellfire” shirt comes with it.

“You know…” Chrissy mumbles between rushed kisses. “Earlier, I didn’t get to see your full tattoo.”

Eddie parts from Chrissy’s lips to trail kisses down her jaw and neck.

“Chrissy Cunningham… if i didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted me to take my shirt off.”

Chrissy whimpers when his lips ghost over a particularly tantalizing spot on her neck. She flattens her hands on his chest and gently pushes him back against the wall.

Her blue eyes, reddened from the weed are blown out with lust and desire.

“Please?”

His answer is to yank his Hellfire shirt off and unceremoniously toss it to a corner of the room, forgotten as if it were a used dish rag.

Chrissy’s reached out and traced the outline of the demon tattoo with her fingers. Her eyes wandered down his surprisingly toned chest to the happy trail that faded into his jeans.

Eddie gripped Chrissy’s chin between his forefinger and thumb, guiding her head up to look into his brown eyes.

“Have I piqued the kitten’s curiosity?” He asked in a teasing tone.

Chrissy swallowed, not out of nervousness but anticipation.

“Eddie, I want you. I need you.” She pleaded in a whisper. She slid forward on his lap, grinding down on his crotch slightly, making Eddie gasp and grunt all at once.

His expression shifted lightning fast. He was now the one with blown out doe eyes. Chrissy leaned down to whisper hotly in his ear.

“Eddie…”

She didn’t have to say anything else. Just hearing his own name whispered that way, like it was the answer to a centuries-old philosophical question was making his head spin.

If Chrissy fucking Cunningham wanted him, she had him. For as long as she wanted, however she needed. A physical release; a boy toy, a spring break lover, something more? Eddie didn’t care. His one and only purpose was to serve and pleasure her.

And based on every single day that followed, every single rendezvous at lover’s lake; every single tryst at Eddie’s trailer, every single liaison at Chrissy’s house…

the feeling was very very mutual.