#eddie x sienna

[acasualcrossfade]

Ice Cream for Breakfast

Written for @thefreakandthehair Summer Fanworks Challenge 2023

Prompt:  “There’s more ice cream on your face than what’s left in the cone.”

Stranger Things, Steve/Eddie, Steddie Dads, Modern AU (No Upside Down), OC Female Character (Sienna Wayne Harrington-Munson)

Rating: T, mild physical intimacy

Words: 5047

Divider art by: @saradika

Find me on Ao3 at thunderously_halo :)

Summary: Steve and Eddie decide to take their four-year-old daughter, Sienna, to get ice cream. For breakfast.

Steve stood in the doorway of their daughter’s playroom as he watched Eddie twirl dramatically. 

Eddie wore his usual black plaid pajamas and gray tee, but sported their daughter’s princess hat on his head. The gossamer tendril at the end fluttered as it followed Eddie through a series of what Steve was sure was an attempt at a leap and a pirouette. The princess hat was tied with a ribbon under his chin as their daughter, Sienna, watched cross legged on the floor in silent amazement. 

It was almost too precious for his heart to handle.

Sienna giggled as Eddie twirled. “Daddy dancing!” she shouted with glee.

Eddie balanced on his tiptoes and then rhythmically glided through the playroom, stepping over building blocks and plastic pieces of food from the kitchen set and Sienna’s abandoned blankie. He hummed as he went and ended with a dramatic bow before falling playfully to the floor. He fell to his back in feign exhaustion. 

“See? Princesses can definitely dance,” Eddie explained. “But oof, Daddy is completely danced out.” 

Sienna wasted no time at all as she scrambled from her seat to climb onto Eddie’s chest. “Daddy dance!” she shrieked, clapping and bouncing, her small legs bracing Eddie’s torso.

Steve stifled another laugh as he caught Eddie wince as Sienna’s body weight crashed into his sternum before he caught her and cuddled her close to kiss her brown curls. He gently reclipped one of her sparkly barrettes she wore; Robin had gifted them and Sienna had screeched in excitement and demanded to clip them in right away. It’d been weeks and Sienna hadn’t taken them out and even slept with them in. The other pink barrette was in a tangled droop in her hair, proof that she’d slept in them again. 

The pink barrettes matched her pink pajamas that were printed with overlapping blue and purple electric guitar emojis. Eddie had thought them cute and got a few pairs, arguing that they were too cute to pass up.

Sienna caught sight of Steve in the doorway and gasped. “Daddy!” she shouted and climbed off of Eddie and straight into Steve. She fell easily into his awaiting arms and he lifted her up. 

“Morning, my sweet pea,” Steve greeted, tickling her and kissing her forehead and cheeks. “I see someone danced out dad.”

Sienna giggled and pointed at Eddie who was now sitting up. “Daddy dance!” She turned back to Steve with her hazel eyes sparking. She smiled wide enough to show off her tiny teeth. “Daddy dance good.”

“I think someone’s a fan of your dance moves,” Steve smiled as Eddie stood to say good morning.

Steve kissed Eddie softly, pausing to also peck a kiss on his cheek. He could tell there was a heavy tiredness behind Eddie’s brown eyes. 

“What time she’d get up?” he asked.

Steve remembered Sienna crawling in their bed last night and falling asleep between the two of them, her soft feet pressed against his back. She’d woken early and both he and Eddie had switched between whispering encouragement to go back to sleep. After an hour, Eddie gave up and took her downstairs to quietly play. 

Eddie leaned on him and yawned. “4:43am,” he sighed. “Should be primed for a nap at what, like ten?”

Steve nodded as he smiled at Sienna, poking her belly gently. “That’s been your usual, huh?”

Sienna responded by pointing at the table. “Ice cream!” 

“Ice cream?” Steve asked, eying Eddie. He was usually behind Sienna’s sudden want for sugar.

“We were also having an ice cream tea party,” Eddie explained. “She’s been all about the ice cream lately.” Eddie wasn’t lying. Sienna loved ice cream and had been the reason for their near-daily evening walk to Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlour. She loved getting her kiddie scoop of double chocolate chip while demanding a taste of Eddie’s usual Rocky Road and Steve’s Turtle. She’d stick her fingers in the caramel of Steve’s ice cream, marveling at the way it would stick and stretch between her small fingers before licking it off. It only added to the mess that was her eating ice cream, but Steve loved it. And he always made sure to pack extra wipes.

They’d been to the one in town enough times that the owner knew their family personally and had even lent them the keys for one of their late night date nights. It was hard to imagine that years ago Steve had worked one of their locations in Hawkins; it was how he met Robin.  

“Ice cream princess,” Sienna said before giggling and snuggling into Steve’s neck. He hugged her back. 

“Ahh, you want to be an ice cream princess?” Steve asked.

“Daddy princess, Daddy princess,” Sienna giggled. She pointed to Eddie, who still wore the pink princess hat.

“You want me to be the ice cream princess?” Eddie asked her. “Because I’d be honored.” He met Steve’s eyes. “She had me as the tea maker this morning so clearly I’ve moved up a few ranks.”

“I queen,” Sienna explained, squirming in Steve’s arms and he set her down. She went straight to her small play table and held out a plastic piece of cake from her playset. “I queen, you princess.”

Eddie nodded seriously. “Sit here,” she instructed and then reached for a piece of plastic cake.

She handed it to him as Steve joined them. “Eat?”

“Oh, this looks delicious,” Eddie smiled. He straightened the tipping princess hat on his head before he took a pretend bite of cake.

Steve sat obediently at the table and Sienna gave him a plastic mug. “Ice cream tea!” she laughed. She pretended to blow on it. “It hot.”

“Is it made of melted ice cream?” Steve asked. He took a pretend sip. “Because that tastes just like ice cream.”

“Not melted,” Sienna shook her head and her curls bounced. “It just hot ice cream.”  

Steve nodded knowingly as she handed a mug to Eddie.  

“Oh, we’re having ice cream for breakfast?” Eddie inquired, taking the mug. 

Sienna nodded. “Ice cream for everyone.”

 “Ooo, it’s yummy,” Eddie mused. “Do you have any pancakes or cereal? I would love to have it to go with my ice cream.”

Sienna shook her head. “Only ice cream!” she shouted gleefully.

Steve smiled and took an invisible bite of his cake. “Well, I’m loving this ice cream, even if it is for breakfast.”

“What if we did have ice cream for breakfast?” Eddie suggested, his voice holding the lilt of an idea in motion.

“We are having ice cream for breakfast,” Steve replied, gesturing to his plastic cake.

Sienna had moved on to play in her play kitchen, busying herself with the play pans and skillets. She put a pile of peas in a pan as she hummed.

“I mean having ice cream for breakfast for real,” Eddie explained. “It’s a Saturday morning and we can go to the park after, run off all the sugar, and be home for naptime.”

Steve grimaced as he remembered the way Sienna had refused her afternoon nap after sneaking one too many pieces of Halloween candy. It had ended in a meltdown and a very late nap that had thrown off the entire day.  

“I’m not sure having that much sugar will bode well for naptime.”

“We’ve also got nothing in the calendar tomorrow,” Eddie went on. 

 Steve glanced at his watch. “It’s barely seven. Nothing’s open.”

“Says the man with the keys to Scoops,” Eddie countered. “And just think of the adventure ice cream for breakfast could lead to. Maybe we could have ice cream for breakfast and breakfast for dinner tonight. Start a whole tradition.” Eddie’s eyes sparkled with the idea.

“I dunno,” Steve resisted. He glanced at his daughter who was carrying the pan with the peas in it to serve him.

“Ice cream,” Sienna said confidently. “Yummy!”

She reached her arms out to Steve and he took her in his. As she burrowed into his neck, Steve found his excuses starting to melt. Eddie was right. It was a weekend and what was the worst thing that could happen? She got hopped up on sugar and ran it off at the park? And they had other foods they could have her eat later in the day. Healthy ones, like peas and carrots. 

He inwardly cringed. He sounded like such a dad.

“I can see you thinking,” Eddie smiled. “Does that mean that I should get her shoes?”

Steve took a deep breath and then nodded. “Yeah, let’s do it. And maybe we can make it a tradition.”

Eddie’s face broke into a wide smile. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” 

Steve planted a kiss against Sienna’s small birthmark at her ear. “Well, what do you say, Sienna? Want to go to Scoops to get ice cream for breakfast?”

Sienna’s face went wide with excitement. “Ice cream!!!” She scrambled out of Steve’s arms and jumped around. “Ice cream, ice cream, Scoops! Ice cream, ice cream, Scoops,” she cheered. Her small feet bounced her around happily and she grabbed her blankie. “Blankie too?”

“Yep, we’re all going to Scoops,” Steve smiled. “Daddy’ll help you put on your shoes.” He turned back to Eddie. “And her bag’s still upstairs from when we came back from the library storytime yesterday?”

Eddie nodded as Sienna wiggled happily in his arms. “Yeah, I left it up there to remind me to add more wipes.”

“Okay, I’ll get us packed and meet you at the car.” Steve stood to head upstairs but Eddie grabbed his wrist to pull him close.

Eddie kissed his lips softly and smiled. “I love mornings with you,” he murmured. “Even if they sometimes start before sunrise.”

“Mornings with you are nothing in comparison to how much I love watching the two of you eat ice cream,” Steve teased. “The extra wipes will be for the both of you.”

Eddie smiled and kissed Sienna’s cheek. “Like father, like daughter.” He pecked another kiss on Steve’s cheek. “See you in the car.”

Steve headed to the kitchen, smiling as the house was filled with the sound of Sienna’s laughs as Eddie put on her shoes. Before Steve made it to the kitchen, he heard her tell-tale whines as Eddie convinced her that they couldn’t take every single toy in the car with them. 

Since Eddie still wore his pajama pants, Steve stayed in his, but chose to slip on a different shirt that had less holes in it. Then he found the diaper bag and thumbed through its contents. 

He’d packed her diaper bag enough times to do it with his eyes closed, but when he noticed her extra pair of clothes missing (the spilled juice at the library yesterday, he remembered), he went to grab another pair from her dresser. When he opened the drawer, his heart squeezed at the neatly folded pants and shirts organized in sets. He took a pair with flowers printed on the shirt and pants, looking at how much they like clothes for a tiny person. Which is what Sienna was now.

When had she gotten so big? 

He remembered how nervous he was the day she was born, and it wasn’t until her little body was placed in his arms when it all was suddenly real. He was a dad. A father. He’d held her close as her tiny body snuggled against him. Steve’s jangled nerves had calmed as his love for her poured over any anxiety he had. Whatever the future held, he’d be there by her side.

Steve smiled at the memory and packed her extra blankie and before he let himself think too hard about it, her pacifier. She’d mostly outgrown it, but in dire cases, she still found comfort from it. He zipped up the bag and shouldered it, and then closed the shades before leaving the room. 

Downstairs was quiet when he returned to the first floor, and Steve adjusted the bag on his shoulder before reaching up to the shelf next to the fridge. He patted his hand around on the third shelf, feeling for the brass key to Scoops. Sure enough, he felt the cold metal meet his hand and he grabbed it and pocketed it before leaving the house. The front door lock clicked and Steve turned to see the door to their van open and Eddie leaning in as Sienna ran around on the inside.

“So that’s a negative on getting her buckled in?” Steve joked as he approached the car. “I’m surprised she even made it in the car at all.”

“Me too,” Eddie huffed. He had one knee in the car as he tried to reach her. “I’m about two seconds away from letting her get an extra topping if she can just buckle in.”

“Sienna,” Steve called as he dropped her diaper bag in the backseat. She stood in the middle aisle of the car looking like she was contemplating hiding under the seat in the back. “We can’t get ice cream unless you buckle in.”

“I know it’s your least favorite part of the car,” Eddie added. “And we’ve got to drive because we’re going to the park after ice cream.”

Sienna still stood with her arms crossed, but had inched toward her seat the mention of both ice cream and the park.

Eddie managed to reach her before she made the climb into the front seat and lifted her into her car seat.

Immediately, the flurry of kicking began, followed by whiny tears.

“It’s your least favorite, I know,” Eddie sympathized. “And you can kick and scream, but we’ve still gotta buckle you in. It helps keep you safe.”

Sienna writhed, pushing her small body up into a stiff board as she flat-out refused to bend into her car seat.

Eddie kept nodding in sympathy and Steve helped him catch when she finally went lax, snapping the top buckle together as Eddie clicked in her other buckle.

Sienna squirmed and cried, her face pinched and red.

“I know, baby,” Steve soothed. “I know it’s uncomfortable.” And they’d done everything they could to help the process be better, from seatbelt covers and toy distractions, but it was a simple fact: Sienna hated being buckled in. 

“I can drive,” Eddie offered. “You want Daddy to sit back here with you?” he asked his daughter. 

Sienna nodded pitifully.

“And he can read some stories?” Eddie asked, nodding to the pile of books next to her car seat. 

Steve was already pulling out a book and handed Eddie the car keys. “I think the ride’s long enough for The Little Engine That Could,” he mentioned to her.

Sienna’s teary face pouted but she reached for the book. “Story?”

“Absolutely, sweetie, I’ll read to you,” Steve said as Eddie started the car and started to drive. 

Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor wasn’t anything fancy. It was white and wooden and had a simple nautical theme to it. It had a few stairs in front, and a ramp on the side, both painted white with the railings wrapped in thick rope. There were two doors to go in and out, and each had half a helm on it. They were bronze but golden with use, and they gleamed in the morning sun.

Steve used the long brass key to click open the lock and stepped to the side to punch in the code to disable the alarm. Once it was disabled, he took a minute to take in the empty, eerily quiet parlor. It was a complete opposite to how he usually saw the place; in the evenings, the counter was bustling with people placing orders or waiting on their order, and kids of all heights peered into the ice cream display freezer with excitement and awe. 

But now the parlor stood still. The chairs were stacked on tables and there was only the low hum of the running freezers. The oddly harsh white lights of the ice cream display freezers gave the parlor a soft glow, almost as if it was bathed in quiet magic. But the quietness was shattered as Sienna ran in behind him, weaving through the small aisles between the tables and climbing into one of the booths. 

“It’s crazy to be here in the morning,” Eddie mentioned as he looked around for the lights. “It almost seems too quiet.”

Steve braced himself for the brightness of the fluorescents, but instead, Eddie had turned on the ambience lights over the ice cream, giving the whole place an even softer glow. The ice cream looked welcoming under the lights, and Steve was suddenly hit with memories of endless evenings and shifts spent slinging ice cream with Robin. Steve made a mental note to give her a call later.

The freezers were cold to the touch. Flavors upon flavors of ice cream lined the double freezer including everything from sherbert and bubblegum to fruity gelato and cookie dough. 

He made his way behind the counter, already looking for where the scoops were kept. Sure enough, they hung next to the freezer and he grabbed one, flipping it in his hand. He caught it easily and smiled. Some things you just didn’t forget. 

 “Ahoy there,” Steve called. “Would you like to sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I’ll be your captain.”

Eddie face flashed with something like want as Sienna ran up to the counter.

 “What would you like, sweet pea?” Steve asked her. Eddie lifted her so she could see the freezers and she pointed with a wondered gaze at all the flavors. “Try? I try?” she asked.

“You can try a three,” Steve instructed. 

“I’m tempted to ask you to make me that banana split sail boat,” Eddie laughed as he browsed the flavors.

Steve made a face. “I swore on my last shift that I’d never make one again.”

“Was it really that horrible?” 

“No, no, it’s not the ice cream that’s the issue with it. It’s the stupid sails that go on top of it.” Steve rolled his eyes at the memory. “Do you know how hard it was to get that sail shape out of a waffle cone? During a busy shift?” Steve shook his head. “Never again.”

Eddie pondered that for a second before nodding with understanding. He adjusted Sienna in his arms so that she could press her small hands against the glass.

“So what do you think, kiddo?” he asked her. “Anything looking good?”

“All of them!” Sienna rocked excitedly in Eddie’s arms, pointing at all the flavors trying to decide. 

It took three samples for Sienna to settle on double chocolate chip, and it took Eddie seven samples before realizing he wanted one scoop of Rocky Road and one scoop of Moose Tracks. 

Steve pulled the ice cream scooper out from the hot water and started scooping. His arm remembered the ‘S’ motion to scoop, and he watched the small scooper yield a perfectly round scoop of ice cream. He added it easily to the small cup he held in his other hand. 

“That’s for Sienna,” he said before pulling out another clean ice cream scoop for Eddie’s.

“Mm, my man still got it,” Eddie purred, watching Steve add his scoop into a cup. 

“Never lost it,” Steve replied. The scoop made its way easily through the ice cream, and as Steve added into the cup, he looked up to watch Eddie as he monitored their daughter as she ran between the tables

The sight was almost too much. 

He’d gotten used to looking up from behind the counter to see a line of customers, but now, looking up to see his husband chasing their daughter made his heart skip. And most of all, he got to watch as he did one of the things he did best: scoop ice cream. 

He was tempted to pinch himself; this was beyond any life he could have dreamed for himself.

“You want to add the fudge?” Steve called to Eddie as he finished his order. 

Eddie had gone crazy at the sight of the hot fudge sundae faucet when they’d first visited and each time after.

“Oh absolutely.” Eddie rushed out excitedly. He grabbed his cup of ice cream off the top of the freezer and then held it under the faucet to coat it in hot fudge. 

Steve snickered. “I see you take your hot fudge with your ice cream instead of the other way around.”

“You know it,” Eddie winked. He took a lick of the hot fudge sauce and nodded appreciatively. “They know what they’re doing with their hot fudge.”

Steve didn’t bother trying to hide his stare at the peek of Eddie’s tongue. 

Sienna shrieked as she ran back towards them and Eddie scooped her up with one arm. “You having fun?” he asked, giving her an open smile.

“Playing tag!” Sienna wiggled as she fought to be put down. Eddie complied and she took off again. 

Steve focused on scooping his own ice cream, glad when Eddie was working to get Sienna in a seat. Once Steve came with her cup and spoon, she wasted no time digging in. 

Eddie studied his pool of hot fudge before digging in. “Okay, that’s delicious,” he smiled, ice cream already on his lips and face. 

Steve was tempted to lick it off.

Sienna waved her spoon, sprinkling Steve’s face with chocolate specks. “Oops,” he gasped. “Here, spoon goes here. You can wave the napkin around if you want, though,” he tried, guiding Sienna’s spoon through the ice cream for another bite

Sienna just smiled her toothy grin and took another bite of ice cream. The cone stood in her melting ice cream and she grabbed it to happily crunch on it.

“Is it good?”

She nodded happily. “Yummy!” Her focus was on the cup and spoon in front of her and how to get another successful spoonful. 

“You’re doing really well with that,” Steve commented. 

“Like you,” she pointed at Steve and his spoon. “I like you.”

Steve’s heart threatened to burst. “Yeah, you’re using your spoon just like me, kiddo.” 

He snuggled closer to Eddie. 

“I can’t believe it,” Steve mumbled into Eddie’s shoulder. 

“What?” Eddie asked. He offered Steve a bite of his and Steve ate easily off his spoon. 

Steve swallowed before answering. “Ugh, I always forget how good Rocky Road is,” he laughed.

“Glad I’m always here to share,” Eddie smiled sweetly. “What can’t you believe?” “That we did this. And that I get to feed you ice cream on a Saturday morning.” Steve smiled.  Steve fed Eddie a bite of his, being sure to add a little extra fudge to the bite before he ate it. 

Eddie nudged his knee. “And I’m thoroughly enjoying it,” he said with his mouth full of ice cream. 

In the end, Sienna’s small hands were covered in sticky chocolate ice cream and most of the cone was already broken and soggy in the melting pool of ice cream. Still, Sienna continued dipping her fingers in the chocolate pool before taking a piece of cone and sucking on it happily. Her face was smeared with chocolate and bits of ice cream cone. One small piece had even gotten stuck on above her eyebrow.

“There’s more ice cream on your face than what’s left in the cone,” Steve laughed. 

But Sienna was perfectly content to dip her fingers into her cup of now-melted ice cream and lick them gleefully.

Eddie didn’t fare much better and when Steve looked over, Eddie had a ring of chocolate around his lips and cheeks. 

“You match our daughter,” Steve laughed. He leaned into Eddie and kissed him, choosing at the last second to lick the corner of Eddie’s mouth. It was the best tasting chocolate Steve had ever had. 

Eddie kissed him back but when he went to stroke Steve’s cheek, he remembered his hands were covered in ice cream. “I’ll get the napkins,” he smiled. “We can pick up all this later.”

“Holding you to that, by the way,” Steve replied as Eddie returned with another stack of napkins. He reached for one to clean Sienna’s face.

“Here, sweet pea, let me see your face,” Steve guided. Sienna obediently looked up at him. Her hazel eyes looked up at the ceiling as he dabbed her mouth and cheeks with the clean napkin. 

The napkin did nothing but stick to her face and hands and Steve grimaced. Everything had gotten stickier.

“Calling an SOS,” Steve requested, thankful that Eddie was already grabbing the wipes from the diaper bag. “Hand me a few,” he added. “She’s definitely going to need more than one.”

The wipes were better and once Sienna’s cheeks and lips were clean, Steve moved on to her hands. He played This Little Piggy as he cleaned each finger, his own face breaking into a smile at her giggles as he tickled her.

Steve finished his ice cream and once Sienna started climbing off the booth to start pulling down chairs, they figured it was time to go.

The drive from the mall to the small park wasn’t far and Sienna ran towards the park as soon as they’d arrived. 

“Bet she’ll be tired once we hit the swings,” Eddie said, giving Steve a nudge.

Sure enough, Sienna spent the first twenty minutes running around making silly faces at her dads and then found her way to the slide. She was more than happy to climb up again and again to slide down to either of her father’s waiting arms. 

“Again, again!” she clapped each time she fell into their arms. 

And they went again and again before Sienna pointed towards the swings. “Sings? she asked, pointing at them and looking at her dads. 

“You want to swing?” Eddie asked. “I can push you.”

It took Eddie a second to get her legs through the swing holes, but once she was in place, he pushed her.

Steve came up behind him and hugged him from behind as he pushed Sienna.

“She loves the swings,” he sighed. 

“Just like you,” Eddie nudged. “Now come on, show her how you swing.” He turned to Sienna, who now had a permanent smile on her face as the world swung by. “Sisi, watch Daddy,” Eddie encouraged her.

Steve climbed on the swing and kicked off the ground, letting himself swing back and forth slowly to start. He hadn’t done this in years and once he was sure the swing was sturdy, he pumped his legs then leaned his head back. The sudden rush made him gasp in surprise, then laugh as he righted himself and kept swinging.  His continued laughs echoing around the park with his daughter’s.

Sienna was already copying Steve and putting her head back. And she screamed at the rush of it all as she held on tightly to the side of the swing but her face was a wide toothy smile. This continued until she grew more pensive, glancing around at the world as Eddie gently pushed her.

It was another few minutes before Sienna was rubbing her eyes and Eddie slowed the swing to hand her her blankie from the diaper bag. She took it and buried her face in it.  Then she reached her hands towards Eddie.

“Mm, I think someone’s getting tired,” Eddie mentioned as he stopped the swing to lift her out of it. She snuggled into his shoulder. 

Steve was already grabbing her bag and took the keys from Eddie as they headed back to the car. It was time to go home.

The car ride home was quiet and although Sienna had nearly had a tantrum as she was unfairly buckled in again, it took Steve’s calming reading voice to distract her. She’d quieted as she listened and it took until they pulled up the driveway for her to start dozing off. 

Eddie nodded to him. “I can get her stuff,” he offered. 

Steve nodded and carefully unbuckled Sienna. She shifted and opened her eyes as Steve got her from the carseat. But once she was in his arms, she used his shoulder as a pillow and her other arm curled loosely around his neck in comfort.  

“She sleepin’?” Steve stage-whispered to Eddie. He wanted to make sure before he took her upstairs. 

Eddie nodded. “I’ll meet you in her room.”

Steve made his way into the house, feeling his daughter snuggle deeper into his arms. It was times like these when he wished she could sleep in his arms. They’d tried it once, but Steve found that Sienna slept better when she was in her own bed. 

He unlocked the house one-handed and slipped off his shoes before heading upstairs. Sienna was warm against him and she smelled like chocolate. He kissed her gently as he climbed the stairs and was glad when the shades in her room were still drawn from last night. Carefully, he laid her in her bed and covered her before pressing a kiss to her temple. 

Eddie came up behind him and squeezed his shoulder. “She’s out.” He knelt down to stroke her temple and kiss it.

Steve nodded as he placed her blankie next to her. “Out like a light,” he whispered. He clicked on the baby monitor. He nodded his head to the door and Eddie followed him out.

Once they were downstairs, Steve fell into the couch and Eddie fell on top of him.

“Well, I’d say that was the first successful ice cream for breakfast adventure,” Eddie smiled.

“It was,” Steve agreed. He met Eddie’s eyes after clicking the baby monitor on. Sienna slept soundly upstairs. “And I think we could make it a semi-annual tradition.”

“And maybe a monthly one during the summer?” Steve rolled his eyes. “Leave it to you to want more ice cream. You sound like our daughter.”

Eddie smiled at that. “She is pretty smart. And I have a feeling she’s going to love doing breakfast for dinner.”

“I think so too,” Steve agreed.

They went on talking for a bit before words turned to touches that turned to kisses. And Steve welcomed it all, loving all of Eddie and his adventures, and looking forward to more.

[carolmunson]

the boy is mine | masterlist

an ongoing collection of ficlets and blurbs by writers of the eddie munson x reader fandom using the same prompt. if you wanna take a crack at it, the guidlines are here!

the boy is mine (luna's edition) by @abibliophobiaa the boy is mine (bluey's version) by @blueywrites the boy is mine (bug's edition) by @munson-blurbs the boy is mine (jo's edition) by @jo-harrington the boy is mine (gab's edition) by @vvitchwords the boy is mine (powder's version) by @powderblueblood the boy is mine (leah's edition) by @eiightysixbaby the boy is mine (taylor's version edition) by @superblysubpar the boy is mine (ziggy's edition) by @trashmouth-richie the boy is mine (roe's version) by @hellfire--cult the boy is mine (amy's edition) by @rehfan the boy is mine (dalia's edition) by @eddiemunsons-missingnipple the boy is mine (cheese's edition) by @br0ck-eddie the boy is mine (hannah's edition) by @writinginthetwilight the boy is mine (amy's edition) by @bangaveragewhitewine the boy is mine (claudia's edition) by @jamdoughnutmagician the boy is mine (v's version) by @lonelysatellites the boy is mine (red's version) by @corroded-hellfire the boy is mine (h's version) by @be-ready-when-i-say-go the boy is mine (the wheels edition) by @wheels-of-despair the boy is mine (emmy's edition) by @upsidedownwithsteve the boy is mine (kittie's edition) by @mrsjellymunson the boy is mine (rose's edition) by @rosebudsgarden the boy is mine (viv's version) by @vivwritescrappythings the boy is mine (z's edition) by @uglypastels

the boy is mine (shiv's version) by @justmyheart the boy is mine (iona's version) by @eddiethefreakkmunson the boy is mine (hope's version) by @hopeluna the boy is mine (eddiessluttywaist's edition) by @eddiessluttywaist the boy is mine (chloe's version) by @doomsdaybby the boy is mine (meg's version) by @courtingchaos the boy is mine (betty's edition) by @bettyfrommars the boy is mine (icallhimjoey's edition) by @icallhimjoey (rpf edition) the boy is mine (carol's edition) by @carolmunson the boy is mine (belle's edition) by @angelgirlworld222 the boy is mine (jade's edition) by @jadewritesficshere the boy is mine (hannah's edition) by @rip-quizilla the boy is mine (manda's version) by @manda-panda-monium-writes the boy is mine (desi's edition) by @lilmissdoomandgloomfics the boy is mine (hdyagimr's version) by @howdidyouallgetinmyroom the boy is mine (mar's edition) by @serasvictoria the boy is mine (sienna's version) by @belokhvostikova the boy is mine (call-me-eds edition) by @call-me-eds

[munson-blurbs]

I would actually LOVE to read about the proposal! How did it go down? Was Harris there? I think a blurb about that would be really special :)

Single Dad!Eddie x Fem!ReaderSeries

Summary: A lazy Sunday morning turns into something much more special, thanks to your two favorite guys.

Warnings: pretty much none, just proposal fluff and a smidge of suggestive language at the end

WC: 1.3k

A/N: The proposal/Harris calling Ms. Sweetheart "mommy" was also requested by @hippiefairy02, @cheesewritings, @enam3l, @peachysink, and a handful of anons!

March 1998

“Ms. Sweetheart?”

Harris’s soft voice doesn’t carry over the sounds of running water and the sponge squelching soap bubbles along the lip of a coffee mug, the remnants of a lazy Sunday morning breakfast. He clears his throat and tries again, tugging on the back of your bathrobe as he shouts.

“Ms. Sweetheart?!”

You jump, pulled from your own thoughts, nearly dropping the cup among the sea of dishes cluttering the sink. Eddie had made scrambled eggs and toast for the three of you; a gesture you’d thoroughly enjoyed until you realized that the clean-up fell on your shoulders.

“Jeez, Har. What’s the emergency?” You catch your breath, allowing your heart rate to settle back to a normal rhythm, and shut off the faucet.

Harris wrinkles his nose, the bridge creasing in confusion. “There’s no ‘mergency,” he says, releasing his grasp and motioning for you to follow him. “I gotta show you something.”

You oblige with a soft laugh, haphazardly grabbing a dish towel to wipe the suds from your hands and wrists, and let him lead you to the kitchen table. Crayons are strewn across it, blues and purples and reds intermingled around his artwork. 

“Whatcha drawing?” you ask, hands bracing the back of the chair he’s plopped down on. You peer over his shoulder and smile. It’s a picture of you, Eddie, and him. A full-fledged kindergartener, he’s been adding more details to his stick-figure family portraits: a vase of wildflowers sits atop a sienna oval table, black squares and rectangles above it represent the various photo frames hanging on the kitchen wall. This picture looks different than Harris’s usual set-up; he typically draws himself in the middle of you and Eddie, each of his hands overlapping yours and his dad’s. Today, he’s drawn you, then Eddie, then him. And your hands aren’t linked; instead, he’s used a silver crayon to place something in Eddie’s cartoon palm.

You furrow your brows and gesture towards the mystery object. “What’s that, Har?” It’s better not to guess, lest you say the wrong thing and inadvertently offend him. Just last week, you’d asked him if a small blue object in the sky was a bird, and he was on the verge of tears trying to explain that it was a UFO. 

“Can’t you see the alien?” he’d wailed, pointing to a little green dot you’d assumed was a rogue eye.

Now, Harris grins. “It’s a proposing ring!” he announces. “That’s why you’re smiling so big!” Sure enough, the curved line of sketch-you’s mouth extends to both cheeks. 

Real-you can’t help but mimic the beaming expression. Just the idea of Eddie proposing to you has you feeling giddy. You’d marry him tomorrow if you could; all he has to do is ask. Though your pulse quickens at the thought, you don’t want to build up Harris’s hopes for something that may not happen for a while. Pressing a kiss to his scalp with a soft giggle, you remark, “A proposing ring? That’s so silly!”

“Is it?”

The unexpected sound of Eddie’s voice has you whirling around, startled for the second time this morning. He’s still wearing his pajamas, flannel pants perfectly complementing your own cozy attire. He bites the inside of his lip, and when he takes your hand in his, you can feel it tremble slightly.

“Sweetheart, I…” he starts, trying to remember the speech he had rehearsed an absurd amount of times. He clears his throat before speaking again. “Sweetheart, I wake up every morning and go to sleep every night grateful for you. Never in my life did I think I would find someone who loved me the way you do; someone who loves my son like he’s their own.” He chokes up at the last part, blinking back the tears so he can press on. “Sometimes, I still can’t believe I landed such an incredible, thoughtful, beautiful woman.”

You offer a small laugh, slightly easing his nerves, and he manages to smile. “You…you’re the love of my life, and my world is infinitely better with you in it,” he continues, pulling a small velvet-covered box from his pocket and sinking onto one knee. With shaky fingers, he opens the box to reveal a princess-cut diamond on a thin silver band. “Will you marry me?”

“Oh, my god.” Elation and disbelief simultaneously surge through you, eyes going misty as the realization hits you. Eddie’s actually proposing. He wants you to be his wife, and he wants to be your husband. “Yes, Eddie. Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” You’re laughing and crying, tears streaming down your cheeks; you sloppily wipe them away with the back of your hand.

Eddie stands up, the ring still in its case. You expect him to slide it onto your fourth finger; instead, he turns to Harris with a knowing expression. “Your turn, Har.”

Before you can question it further, Harris takes your hand in his, just like Eddie had. “Ms. Sweetheart,” he looks up at you with wide, exuberant eyes, “will you be my mommy?”

You scoop him up into your arms; he’s almost too tall for you to do it comfortably, and it pangs at your heart. “Yes, I will be your mommy, Harris!” You kiss his cheek with an exaggerated mwah, placing him back on the ground as he excitedly kicks his feet.

With that, Eddie puts the engagement ring on your finger triumphantly, pulling you in for a hug that squeezes the breath out of your lungs. His lips find yours without hesitation, kissing you as long as Harris will allow before the kid becomes impatient.

“Mommy?” The title rolls off of his tongue so easily, bringing with it fresh batches of tears for both you and Eddie. Mommy. You’re Harris’s mommy. The close bond you’ve already developed strengthens in that moment, and you vow to wear your badge of Chosen Mom with pride. 

“Yeah, Har?” 

“Can we celebrate with ice cream?”

“It’s, like, 9:30 in the morning,” Eddie laughs, scrunching his nose. “I don’t even think Scoops Ahoy is open yet.”

Harris pouts but ultimately relents, on one condition. “Then…can we go when it opens?”

You look at Eddie, who delivers his seal of approval with a quick nod. “I think that can be arranged.”

As Harris cheers, you sneak a glimpse of the new jewelry adorning your finger. It daintily sparkles even under the kitchen lighting, a perfect depiction of your love for one another. 

Eddie’s hands snake around your waist, chin resting on your shoulder. “How’d I do?” he asks with a goofy, lopsided grin. “Is my future wife happy with her ring?”

You turn around, draping your arms around his neck and pressing your body against his, desperate for a moment of intimacy. “I love it. And I love you, Eddie Munson.”

“And me?” pipes up a little voice. 

“Both of you,” you amend with a giggle. Pleased with your answer, Harris returns to his crayons and construction paper. 

Eddie’s voice is a melodic whisper in your ear. “After our family ice cream date, maybe you and I can celebrate a bit more privately?” You can practically hear his teasing smirk at the raunchy implication. 

“We can pick up champagne on the way home,” you murmur back, heat blossoming in your belly. You’re no longer just a girlfriend, but a fiancée, a future wife, and there is nothing else you crave more than the touch of your future husband. 

And while you and Eddie finish washing the dishes with a plethora of stolen kisses, Harris picks up a green crayon and titles his drawing, just like he’d learned in art class:

Mommy, Daddy, and Harris. 

--

[oneforthemunny]

gone fishin' |dad!rockstar!eddie munson x nepo baby!reader|

prompt: doing my own prompt again from #munnysummergame. domestic fluff with dad!rockstar!eddie :)

🐙- domestic blurb!! any of the dad!eddie’s take their kids to stay with wayne for a mini vacation (or staycation if they’re in hawkins). I love grandpa!wayne and dad!eddie make my ovaries cry.

contains: fluff lol. that's it no warnings just sweet dad!rockstar!eddie and grandpa wayne :)

"I mean... if you want to." Eddie's grimacing face says it all, eyes darting from his uncle back to his youngest.

Vega bounced on the tips of her toes, a grinning, bubbling ball of energy, ecstatic to be back with Grandpa Wayne. The summer trip back to Hawkins, before spending the remainder of July in the Hamptons, was annual for the Munson family. Wayne traveled to you when he could, but in his older age you wanted to make it easier on him, more accommodating; the opposite of keeping baby Vega.

At four years old, she was...energetic, and that was generous. Eddie had invested in a leash after her dash down Rodeo Drive, the ever chaotic child that kept you all on your toes. While you didn't doubt that Wayne would take care of Vega, you knew he would, you worried, truthfully, if he could.

Wayne lifted a brow. "Well, of course I want to, boy." Wayne gruffed, eyes rolling over Eddie's rigid frame. Even as a grown man, a father, he could tell when he was uneasy about something, read him so easily. "You don't want me to?"

"No," Eddie shook his head. "It's not that. It's just...I mean as long as you feel up to it-"

"I feel fine, Ed." Wayne rolled his eyes with a huff.

"Yeah, Ed." Vega parroted with a far greater attitude than she should at four. You blamed Persephone, Vega was observant- copying the seventeen year old's every move.

"Vega Jo," Eddie glared at her, a stern warning glare that had her giggling, hanging on Wayne's leg, laughing maniacally at his expense. Not quite the reaction he was hoping for, only praying that the name didn't stick. Not the way 'mother fucker' had- the drop off line at the elementary school is brutal, ok?

Wayne pressed his lips together to fight back a smile. "You go on. Go to Mike's party, and I'll take care of this one." Wayne petted Vega's unruly curls, already puffing and frizzing in the Hawkins' humidity.

"Are you sure?" Eddie asked again.

Wayne huffed in annoyance. "We're goin' fishing', Miss Vega. Tell you Daddy and Mama bye." Wayne glared at Eddie lightly, pushing off the wall to head towards the garage.

"What's going on?" You emerged down the hall, lipstick in hand. "Where's Vega going?"

"Grandpa's taking me fishing!" Vega cheered excitedly, a wide toothy grin dazzling up at you.

"Is he?" You asked, brows raised and voice lilting to that high octave you fell into when you baby talked. "That sounds like so much fun, baby. Is it just you and Grandpa?"

"Yes." Vega lisped, swinging her arms back and forth by her side. "Jus' me and Grandpa. Not you, or Sicily, or Sephy, or-or Ed." She giggled wickedly.

You hid your face to hide your smile. Fuck, kids were funny sometimes. It was hard not to snicker at Vega every now and then, especially at Eddie's expense. Sicily and Sienna didn't hold the same courtesy, doubling over each other in the hallway. Eddie glared at them, turning back to Vega.

"You better stop that, Vega. Or you're not going anywhere. I'll make you come with me." Eddie pointed at her in warning.

You watched it unfold in slow motion, the same scenario. Vega's little grin melting into a sweet smile, swaying until she scampered and hugged Eddie's legs tightly.

"I jus' kiddin', Daddy." Vega grinned, chin resting against his knee to look up at him with a sweet look. She patted his calve with childlike gentleness, the final nail in his own coffin.

You could practically see Eddie melting before your eyes, reaching down to hoist her on his hip. You hid your eye roll, shaking your head lightly. Your heart swelled nonetheless. How was this the same man you met nearly twenty years ago? The same rough and mean and nasty man, who now could be so gentle, not just with you and the girls, but with himself.

Eddie gave her an exaggerated mean look. "You better be kidding, Vega Jo. Better be good for Grandpa Wayne."

"Yes," You nodded, your hand rubbing over the cotton material of her little shirt. "Look at Mommy, baby. You have to be very, very good for Grandpa, ok? Listen to him and no running, Vega. That's not a funny game at all."

"I won't." Vega sighed heavy, like she was bored of the conversation.

"Vega, I'm being serious. You gotta stay close to Grandpa. Do what he says- are you listening to me?" You watched her tip back in a backbend, Eddie's arms holding her in place on his hip. She looked up at you, upside down with a grin.

"I'll be good." Vega repeated. "I'll listen."

"Yeah, right." Kensington muttered, passing the two of you to get to the kitchen.

"Kensie." You grit, eyes cutting to the fifteen year old, so angsty and moody all the time.

"I am good!" Vega growled, scowling at her older sister with a furrowed brow, a scrunched nose- the same expression she got from you. The look on Eddie's face told you that.

"Ok," You held your hands up. "You are very good. Very, very good, and you're gonna have so much fun catching fish with Grandpa, aren't you?"

"I-I'm gonna catch a big fish, like this big Mama." Vega stretched her arms out wide, nearly smacking Eddie's nose in the process.

"Yeah? You gonna bring it home? We can fry it up tonight. Dinner's on you." Eddie teased, tickling her sides so she shrieked.

"Ready to go?" Wayne called, holding a tackle box and two fishing poles- an old, black one and a bright pink one with various Disney Princesses on it.

Vega squirmed out of Eddie's grasp, flip flops smacking against the hardwood of the lake house towards the front door. "Be good, Vega!" You shouted after her, nervously pressing your fingers to your mouth. "I have my phone, Wayne, if you need anything-"

"-I got it, darlin'. You all go have fun. Don't worry 'bout us." Wayne gave you a warm smile, shutting the door with his foot behind him.

You hesitated for a moment, looking over at Eddie carefully. "She'll be good, right? He's got it."

"Vega? No way." Eddie scoffed, shaking his head. "But he's got her. He won't let anything happen to her." You frowned, lips jutting in a pout. Eddie sighed heavily. "I'll go check on them after a little bit, ok? In case it gets too much."

***

Eddie wasn't sure if it was the heat or surely someone had slipped something in his drink. He'd felt fine, pressing a kiss to your cheek before excusing himself, climbing in the car to go check on Vega. The best part about Hawkins was everywhere took ten minutes to get to, at most. The lake house was on the outskirts of town, a farther drive, but nothing he couldn't get to quickly.

Eddie didn't hear shrieking or crying or cackling, only hearing the eerily quiet sound of the breeze through the trees and the water rippling. His heart lurched, heavy steps pounding towards the back yard. The lawn that backed up into the lake, the bank meeting the soft grass where he saw them; Vega and Wayne, sitting in their own little chairs.

Vega was calmly sitting there, watching the bobber in the water, her own little pole slipping while she chatted with Wayne softly.

"...You don't like them Webkinz anymore? They not doin' it for ya?" Wayne asked gently, reeling in his line.

"No. I don't-I don't really like them anymore, because I like to play on the Wii. Me and Zarah play Just Dance a lot, but she alwaaayyys beats me." Vega sighed heavily, shoulders deflating. "She's so good at it. She can hit all the moves."

Wayne snorted lightly. "Yeah? You'll get there soon, Vega. She's a lot older than you, bigger. She's got more coordination."

Vega paused, nose scrunching when she looked over at Wayne. "What's coorginmasion?" She stuttered out the word with a grimace.

Wayne laughed. "Coordination. Means you can move quick. You'll get there. You're still little bitty. Got lots more growin' to do."

"Daddy tells me that too." Vega hummed. "He's really tall. Got lotsa co-or-di-nation." She sounded it out slowly, in between deep breaths that had Eddie grinning.

Wayne grinned. "Yeah? You'd think he would. Your Daddy can be a little clumsy sometimes."

Vega giggled loudly, nearly dropping her pole. "Yeah..." She sighed, far too heavy to be four. She'd definitely heard that from you or Eddie.

"Catch any big ones yet?" Eddie asked with a grin, arms crossed over his chest when he stepped forward.

Vega perked, curls whipping her face. "Daddy! You sneaked!" She giggled, swinging her pole around, ripping it through the water to point at him accusingly.

"Easy, Vega, easy. Gotta be gentle. Scarin' all the fishies, baby." Wayne cooed calmly, maneuvering his own pole away. "What're you doin' here, boy?"

"Just came to check on you. Make sure everything was alright." Eddie hummed. "Catch anything yet, Vegie?"

"No." Vega pouted, shaking her head. "No big ones. Grandpa said they're probably in the middle of the lake 'cause that's where all the sunshine is."

"Yeah?" Eddie grinned in amusement. "He's probably right."

Eddie sat down on the cool grass next to them, under the shaded trees, a hand on Vega's back to steady her on her makeshift chair, a turned over bucket. "Guess no dinner then, huh?"

Wayne huffed at him. Vega shrugged. "Grandpa has honey buns so we're good." She said easily, eyes cutting over to Wayne's, copying the way he slowly reeled his line in.

"Honey buns?" Eddie gasped. "And you didn't share any with me, Grandpa?"

"No. They're just for us." Vega declared.

"That's right." Wayne nodded. "Vega said we should use 'em for bait. The fish might like 'em." He grinned at the younger girl.

Eddie watched in awe as Vega sat peacefully, not fidgeting or bouncing or trying to jump off the bucket. She sat, chatting with Wayne, calmly and slowly, careful with her reeling and casting- well, as careful as a four year old could be.

Eddie felt his phone buzz in his back pocket, a text from you, no doubt. "Well, if you two are good, I'm gonna go back." Eddie hesitated, standing slowly.

"We're alright." Wayne nodded, eyes not leaving the water.

Eddie hesitated, leaning down to press a kiss to Vega's head, before ducking over to Wayne. "Did you... Did you give her something?" Eddie asked quietly. Wayne's head snapped to him in question. "Like to calm her down? I don't care if you did just-"

"Boy, get out of here." Wayne scoffed, shaking his head at Eddie. "We're just having a nice, relaxin' fishin' day, right, Vega?" He glared at Eddie.

"Yes." Vega chirped, tongue poking out in concentration, turning the gears around.

"I got it handled." Wayne nodded. "Handled you for many years, boy, think I can handle this one."

Eddie nodded, raising his hands lightly. "Just call me if you need me." He said, backing away slowly.

"I got it." Wayne huffed. "Get outta here so we can get another honey bun. Let's see if them fishies like it, Vega. Maybe that'll help 'em bite."

Sure enough, Vega was bounding towards the two of you hours later, buzzing with excitement to show you what she caught. A bass in the bucket, swimming in the half filled orange container.

Wayne grinned proudly, patting her back while she rambled and showed off her fish to you, Eddie, and her sisters.

"She caught this?" Eddie asked, lifting a brow carefully.

"With her pink fishin' rod." Wayne laughed. "Caught that damn fish. Wouldn't touch it and didn't want it to die, so we put it in the bucket 'til you got back. She wanted to show ya." He boasted.

"Damn honey bun trick worked. 'Bout to use that one on my next fishin' trip with Roy." Wayne laughed.

[weclassybouquetfun]

Maybe if Matt Damon wore Versace instead of Dior, we could unite the TALENTED MR. RIPLEY / RIPLEY universe.

2024's RIPLEY's Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott) with 199's THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY's Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) and Donatella Versace.

Speaking on merging universes, has anyone introduced Troye Sivan (who played young Wolverine in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) to Hugh Jackman?

Hugh going Met Gala solo after split from wife Deborra-Lee Furness

Troye in vintage Prada

The Wrap Up: Who Wore What

Go on Girls, Give Us Nothing: Team Chloe!

Sienna Miller, Greta Gerwig, Emma Mackey and Zoe Saldana

Wisdom Kaye in custom Robert Wun

Eddie Redmayne and Hannah Bagshawe in Steve O Smith.

Morgan Spector (Willy Chavarria) and wife Rebecca Hall (in Danielle Frankel)

Mindy Kaling in Gaurav Gupta Couture

Elle Fanning in Balmain

Olivier Rousteing, Creative Director of Balmain

Lil Nas X in Luar

Elizabeth Debicki in Dior

Jaden and Willow Smith

Brie Larson

Rita Ora in Tom Ford and Taika Waititi in Marni

Nicki Minaj in Marni

Harris Dickinson in Prada

Michael Shannon in Balenciaga

Emily Ratajkowski in Versace

Alexandria Daddario

Ben Platt and Noah Galvin

Cardi B

Cardi and Shakira

[havecourage-darling]

Firsts: The First Argument

AO3 link || Part 7 of 12 (each chapter is a standalone)

<< The First Time || Masterlist || The First Conversation >>

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Female Henderson!Reader

wc: ~9.7k

warnings: cursing, angst

A/N: thank you all for your comments! I was feeling a little bogged down by work and a few of you commented/sent me messages that made my lil grinch heart grow. I love you forever, srsly lmao

“Eddie,” you said, head tilting back further so he could have better access to your neck. “I have to go soon.”

“Mhmm,” he hummed into your skin, the vibration shooting down your body. You let him continue his trail down to your collarbone, leaving small bite marks on your skin. Already sore from the night before, you couldn’t help but twitch when his hands drifted lower.

Eddie’s smile turned smug and you rolled your eyes. His touch softened and you, like the predictable sucker you were, melted into it. The huff of laughter that fanned across your skin meant he’d noticed too.

“I’m going to be late,” you said, voice trailing off as he pressed his hips into yours. “I know what you’re doing.” You tried not to let your mind wander and kept your eyes on your favorite baseball cap up by the ceiling.

“I’m not doing anything,” he said, blinking up innocently at you, “can’t a guy kiss his girlfriend without ulterior motives?”

“Guys can, you? No chance,” you said, laughing at his disgruntled expression as you climbed off his lap. You pressed a hand down your shirt, trying to flatten the wrinkles his wandering hands caused, and looked around for your bag.

“Where are you going anyway?” He asked, kicking his feet up onto the table, fiddling with his rings.

Smiling triumphantly when you found your bag you made sure you still had everything. “Farrah is coming to get me,” you said, absently, “she wants to go to the mall that’s like an hour away. She needs to buy something.”

“Girl’s day again?” Eddie teased. You rolled your eyes and tried not to encourage him; you knew he was only joking but it had become sort of a habit. Someone always wanted to go to the mall and it became a whole adventure really. Last week was Sienna needing new boots. The week before that Angelina needed to get her hands on a perfume. To be fair, you had been the one to start it all – asking them to accompany you to get a new jacket for winter. In the end you hadn’t even bought it, you liked wearing Eddie’s anyway.

“I’m not sure,” you frowned when you didn’t spot your jacket. “Have you seen my coat?”

“You mean my coat?” Eddie snorted, standing and unearthing his cargo jacket from what felt like thin air. You grinned, pulled on your hoodie and let him help you into it.

A car honked outside Eddie’s trailer and you peeked out the window.

“That’s Carlos!” You said.

“Carlos?” Eddie asked, his brows furrowing.

“Yeah, you know him and Farrah don’t really go anywhere without each other,” you winked, kissing Eddie one last time, “I can’t tease them considering…well, us.”

“Come on Henderson!” A third voice shouted. Eddie leaned around your shoulder to glance at the car.

“Who’s that?”

You squinted and waved when you saw Ben sitting in the back, practically hanging out the window.

“That’s Selena’s brother, remember? She’s probably riding with Sienna and Angelina.”

Eddie frowned and you paused, feeling like you were missing something.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” You prompted when he didn’t answer. His uncertain expression cleared, as if wiped away, and he smiled down at you. Eddie leaned down to kiss your temple and squeezed your shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow princess.”

“Hey Munson!” Carlos shouted out, motioning at you to hurry.

Eddie nodded, lifting a hand.

“Hey guys!” You smiled, tossing your bag in before you slid into the back seat next to Ben. Before Carlos could pull away you popped your head out the window, your cheeks a little frozen from the cold and cupped your hands around your mouth.

“I love you!”

Eddie’s small smile broke into a grin and Carlos groaned loudly.

“Oh, like you don’t do the same with Farrah,” Ben said, defending you loyally. You offered him a fist and he laughed, bumping it.

“Alright, alright let’s just get there so we can get this over with,” Carlos said, driving out the park.

Eddie bobbed his head along to the music, his van parked outside your home. He’d honked twice and saw you wave out your window.

Gathering speed as we head down the runway

Gotta get airborne before it's too late

“Running, scrambling, flying,” Eddie sung to himself, fingers hitting his steering wheel to the beat. The guys had been thinking of covering this song for their next gig but Eddie was a little apprehensive. He knew Rick didn’t care what they played at the Hideout as long as they played something. Eddie wasn’t too sure their new place would be such a great idea. He didn’t want to scare them off – he was almost sure that if they could spread the word a bit more, just drawing in a little more people, so that they could get paid.

And holy shit wouldn’t that be something? Getting paid to play music. To shred on his guitar.

They had to get the setlist right. Eddie frowned, looking for his scrap of paper that he’d been using to scribble on.

“Hey you,” your voice carried from halfway up your driveway.

Eddie popped up, grinning when he saw you wrapped up in his jacket. He teased you about it a lot but, he loved how you looked in it. Eddie turned the heating up as far as it could go – not that that was saying much in his van – he knew that you usually ended up shivering in here.

“Princess,” Eddie bowed his head, loving the grin you shot his way. It’d been almost a year and half and he still couldn’t get enough of you. Judging by the way you pulled him into a cold kiss as soon as you hopped into the car, you couldn’t either.

Eddie couldn’t help his smile. He knew you loved him, you said daily, but he was still a little in awe of it.

“I brought you some leftovers,” you said, stopping briefly to sniff the air. He was about to ask what you were doing when you brought the cookie up to his mouth. Eddie took a bite of the new cookie recipe you’d been trying and felt the sweetness melt on his tongue.

“This one is just as great as the last one,” he said, starting the car.

You tried to hide a delighted smile behind your exaggerated eye roll. “You can’t keep saying that for all of them!”

“Sweetheart, they’re cookies. They’re all good.”

“You’re biased,” you said, laughing when he wiggled his brows.

“Fuck yeah I am,” he said, bringing your hand up to his lips. Your hands were still cold, despite the heating and Eddie felt his stomach dip. He really needed to get the heating looked at the next time he passed by the mechanics.

“How was your morning?” You asked, something flashing across your face. It was too quick for Eddie to recognize and the light turned green before he could analyze you.

“A little stressful,” Eddie admitted, “we’re trying to get the setlist just right.”

You sighed and he knew you understood the battle. “Can I help?” Eddie grinned, loving how you always offered.

“Gareth might actually like that,” Eddie laughed, “it’ll give him a break from arguing with me.”

“I’m not fighting Gareth for you,” you joked, “he’s scary when he gets all huffy.”

An image popped up in Eddie’s mind and he could see Gareth turning red as he huffed, stubborn in his decisions. “You know, he can be,” Eddie agreed. He turned into the diner, where you had your first non-date, and parked quickly.

“Is that why the van smells like cigarettes?” You asked nonchalantly, pulling on your gloves.

Eddie closed his eyes and fought the groan that resonated in his chest. Fuck, shit, fuck. He’d promised you the last time you’d brought this up that he’d try to cut down. In his defense, after this morning’s shitty rehearsal, he’d needed one for the drive home. He’d completely forgotten that you had the nose of a bloodhound and a few hours wouldn’t have been enough to get rid of the smell. Shit, it was probably on his breath still too.

Reaching for the gum he kept in his cup holders, he chewed on a piece hesitantly. “Rehearsals were tough?”

You chewed on your bottom lip, looking indecisive and small. Eddie hated that – he knew you’d taken a while to work up to asking him to consider quitting smoking. You didn’t care much about the weed, considering Steve he’d laugh if you did, but you really didn’t like the cigarettes.

While you had never outright said it to him but he could tell. The way your eyes would tighten when he lit one in front of you, your eyes would track the movement as he brought it to his lips. Eddie knew you too well to know that you were hiding your displeasure despite never really saying anything.

Eddie watched you fiddle with your zipper – unsure and you shrugged.

“I’m sorry,” he said, wanting to erase the disappointment out of your expression.

“You don’t need to be sorry,” you said, trying and failing to summon your usually bright smile. As if you knew he wasn’t buying it, you reached for the door and hopped out.

Fuuuck, Eddie dropped his head onto the wheel and winced when it throbbed. He was such an idiot.

He really did want to show you he could quit, he could. He hadn’t even been smoking for long – since his first round at senior year, the one he met you. Ironically, the month before the Halloween dance. He’d bummed some off his uncle and while he wouldn’t say he couldn’t live without them; it wasn’t as easy as he’d thought it would be. He’d also…admittedly hadn’t been putting much energy into it, despite promising you.

“It feels a little like I should be sorry?” He said, his tone making it sound like a question. Eddie jogged up to where you waited and watched you try to school your expression.

“You said you’d try and this is you trying,” you said, small smile not reaching your eyes.

Eddie’s heart sank into his stomach. Shit, he really did need to start trying. You didn’t wait for him to reply and turned to pull the door open. Eddie scrambled to hold it for you but you were already waving at your waitress and sitting in your usual booth.

The fluorescent lights today seemed to beat down on him a little more than usual, the beginnings of a headache blooming at the base of his skull. He felt his palms get clammy and he frowned when he saw you pick up the menu. In the year you’d been coming here together you’d ordered one of the same three things, you never looked at the menu. He leaned against his elbows and tried to peek at you over the plastic menu.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I did say I would and I don’t break my promises,” he tried again.  

You nodded, smiling, eyes still on the menu.

Eddie nudged your foot with his and you brought your eyes up to meet his. “I’m serious.”

He watched your robotic customer service smile morph into a small – but real - one and he released the anxious grip he had on the table. “I’m sorry,” you exhaled, eyes darting down to his hand. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. I never want you to feel like you have to change yourself for me.”

Eddie almost laughed. Right, like you were asking for much? Poor him, his girlfriend cared about his health and didn’t want him to smoke cigarettes. Only you would feel bad for trying to keep him healthier.

“You’re not,” he assured you, hating the anxious expression that had overtaken your face. “You don’t ever make me feel like I need to change. If anything, you might be a bad influence on me. You should really be trying harder.”

The familiar indignation that rose to your cheeks made him want to pump his fist in victory.

“Same as always?” The waitress, Doris, interrupted.

Eddie nodded, shooting her a grateful look. She nodded, walking away as quick as she’d appeared.

“You never talk about it,” Eddie said. Dustin had briefly mentioned it but he wanted to hear it from you.

“He didn’t die from it,” you said, eyes not meeting his again. “He took me to one of his appointments, halfway through, and he made me sit outside…I overheard my dad’s doctor tell him that the cigarettes hadn’t helped.”

Eddie’s heart ached at the look in your eyes. Like you were lost in a memory that you’d have rather forgotten. He knew exactly what that felt like.

“I – it’s clearly me being a paranoid loser,” you said, shaking your head, “I just…”

You didn’t say the words but you didn’t have to. Eddie knew what you meant. You didn’t want anything bad to happen to him either.

“I get it and I mean it,” and he did – he had half-heartedly managed to lower the number of cigarettes he smoked but he hadn’t stopped buying them. He still carried a pack with him everywhere he went. Not anymore.

Eddie made a dramatic show of pulling the cart from his jacket and dumping it into the trash.

“No more!” He shouted.

You laughed, ducking when the other customers turned around to look at Eddie. The waitress, familiar with his antics, rolled her eyes.

“Are you sure?” You said, anxiously biting at your bottom lip.

He was – he did want to do it for you but mostly he wanted to do it for himself.

“I am. This is for me, you know?”

Your answering smile made his heart jump back up, arms reaching out for yours.

Eddie felt ridiculous.

“You look fine,” you told him, the fifth time that night.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said.

You rolled your eyes and shot him a look that said he wasn’t fooling you. “You keep tugging at your tie.”

“I’m just not used to it,” he said, feeling like the biggest poser in his button down and tie. Wayne had looked like he wanted to laugh when he’d asked him to borrow one.

“You look great,” you said, wiggling your brows enough to make him smile. You were ridiculously cute when you tried to be suave. “I promise to peel it off you later, right after we get home.”

Eddie snorted at your corny tone but the image of you tugging him onto the bed by the tie had him shifting uncomfortably “Smooth,” he teased.

“Worked, didn’t it?” You winked.

Holy shit, did you have him wrapped around your finger. Eddie would remember to be embarrassed but he hadn’t ever managed the energy to care. He almost stumbled into you when you stopped suddenly at the front doors.

“Princess, I need a little warning – whoa, hey, what’s wrong?” Eddie watched your hands tremble as you whirled around and dug your face into his chest. How had you gone from teasing to scared so quickly?

“What if it’s the worst thing anyone’s seen?” You asked, voice muffled by his jacket. Your breath frosted in the air, evaporating quickly into the cold. Eddie rubbed his hands up your arms, trying to warm and reassure you.

“From what little you’ve shown me,” he said, pointedly, ignoring your snort, “they’d be fucking out of their minds not to love it. You’ve got talent bursting out of every cell, okay? So even if they don’t like it, fuck ‘em.”

“Eddie!”

“I said it. Fuck. Them. You’re good at this and you don’t need their validation,”

Your head lifted from his chest, your smile genuine and while your anxious shoulders hadn’t dropped all the way – they weren’t as tense. He’d take the win.

“Ready Henderson?” He asked, intertwining your fingers with his.

“Ready,” you said, walking into the gallery.

Eddie had celebrated with you when you found out that your photographs were chosen to be included in your school’s annual art exhibition. You’d tried to downplay the achievement but he knew that only ten out of hundreds were chosen. This was a big fucking deal and he couldn’t be prouder of you. Which is why, if he had to conform to the man and wear a tie – he’d do it, no questions asked. Even if he did look ridiculous.

He watched you check your coats in – you still insisted on wearing his old ratty cargo jacket and goddamn if it didn’t make some stupid male part of his brain happy – and Eddie pulled you back into his side.

Both of you ignored the fact that you were buzzing like you’d taken a hit of something. “Come on, I don’t care about this stuff. Take me to what I came here to see,” Eddie teased, delighting in the way you grinned.

“Alright, I guess we’ll have time to look at it after,” you said, pulling him towards the photography section.

The second the picture frames came into his field of vision; he knew which were yours. It was like a magnet and his feet took him towards them.

Eddie felt your curious gaze beside him, your eyes on his expression, analyzing no doubt for any reaction. He lacked the words to describe how amazing they were. He knew you had a knack for this, he’d known it from the second you’d told him you wanted to try your hand at it.

“Oh my God, you hate it,” you teased, bumping his elbow.

“I’m never going to leave you alone after this, you know?” He said, throwing his arm around your shoulders. “What is it that you say when you see me at a gig?”

“It comes natural to you, like it’s an extension of who you are,” you said quietly.

Eddie nodded dumbly. “That’s what this is Peach,” he murmured, still looking across your five photographs. “Are those the-”

“-flowers you got me on our first date? Yeah. I pressed them to save them. I thought they’d look nice with a fresh bouquet.”

“Lightning in a bottle,” he read the caption. Eddie’s heart tripped, his stomach flipping the way it always did when it came to you. The way he always hoped it would. He couldn’t believe you’d dedicated one your photographs to him. No one had done something like that for him before. Before he could formulate his thoughts into words, someone behind you cleared their throat.

“Do you two ever not look disgustingly in love?” the voice called out.

Your head turned and Eddie rolled his eyes good naturedly when he saw Angelina standing there with her hands on her hips. Sienna appeared over her shoulder, looking a little ruffled.

“I’m sorry, I tried to stop her,” she huffed, looking down at Angelina with affection.

“You guys came!” You said, your face lighting up.

“Of course, we did, doofus,” Angelina said, tugging you into her arms and squeezing tightly. Her bracelets clinked together as she waved a hand excitedly. “Yours are the best here.”

“Angie!”

“What? I said what everyone was thinking,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Excuse me, Ms. Henderson?”

Eddie straightened at the sound of a man’s voice. Your spine seemed to follow suit because you turned a little stiffly. “Yes?” You called you replied looking a little unsure.

“Ah, I see you found her!” A second older man walked over to you all.

“Professor!” You squeaked, your voice a little high pitched. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

You wrung your fingers but your expression looked deceivingly calm. He reached out to squeeze your shoulder and smiled when you calmed.

“I wouldn’t miss it, especially once I found out my favorite student would be showing her pieces,” he said, smiling warmly.

You immediately looked flustered and ducked your head bashfully. Eddie wanted to tease but knew you’d just get more embarrassed. “Oh, I’m sorry, Professor Jacobs this is my boyfriend, Eddie Munson.”

“Pleasure,” the man said, shaking Eddie’s hand. “I see Ms. Young and Ms. Jones made it too.”

“Hi Professor,” Angelina and Sienna waved, beaming.

“If you don’t mind, could I steal you away for a few minutes?” The professor asked, motioning to the first man. “I wanted to introduce you to someone.”

You blinked and Eddie elbowed you, reanimating you. “Yes, of course, I’ll be right back.”

Eddie watched you straighten your shoulders and nod along to something the professor was saying. Angelina sighed. “Well, I don’t know about you guys but I’m parched. Drinks?”

Eddie and Sienna nodded, eyes still on you.

“God you two are worse than mothers,” Angelina snorted, disappearing through the crowd.

“Is she frowning?” Sienna whispered, rising to her toes. Her arm gripped Eddie’s and he tried to be more discreet but probably looked just as obvious.

“That’s just how she looks like when she’s pretending to listen,” Eddie whispered back, pretending to look at a nearby photo. Sienna followed suit and her nose wrinkled.

“What is this?”

Eddie blinked, looking up at the large black and white image. A fruit? Wait, no was that the edge of a chair?

Sienna snapped her fingers. “It’s a swimming pool!”

“Why would anyone photograph an empty swimming pool?”

She shrugged. “What’s the caption?”

“Unicorns in the mountains,” Eddie said, biting on his lip to keep from smiling.

Sienna’s elbow hit his ribs painfully. “It’s artistic,” she said, wiggling her fingers.

Eddie shook his head; it really wasn’t funny – as an artist he knew that. But still, unicorns? Wait, was it a dog?

“I hope he’s telling her something good,” Eddie said, sighing, not wanting you to have your night ruined.

“He’s probably trying to convince her about NYU,” Sienna said, moving onto the next photo and looking even more confused.

“What?” Eddie asked, voice a little too loud.

Sienna shot him a look. “The photography program? She was offered a spot for next year.”

“What?” Eddie sounded like a broken record but he couldn’t believe it. NYU? Fuck yeah, that was big leagues. You deserved this. His sudden burst of elation came crashing down as Sienna continued.

“She turned it down already,” Sienna whispered as a couple passed closely, shaking her head, “Angelina won’t let her live it down but I guess I understand.” Eddie’s heart dropped to the floor.

You’d turned it down? Why would you turn an opportunity like that down?

“What won’t I let who live down?”

Eddie barely registered Angelina’s presence.

“NYU,” Sienna said, shrugging. Angelina’s eyes darted to Eddie’s before widening pointedly in Sienna’s direction.

“Sienna,” Angelina hissed, shooting her a look. Sienna straightened, as if struck by lightning, and Eddie’s heart dropped next to his stomach. You’d told them but not him.

“Fuck.” Sienna looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here. She stumbled over her words before muttering something about the bathroom.

“Don’t overthink it,” Angelina said quickly, as Sienna darted away, “she was going to tell you but she hadn’t rejected it officially until two days ago.”

“Two days ago?” He croaked.

Why hadn’t you told him?

“She was overwhelmed, you had that gig coming up, she was making sure the photos came out perfect for tonight, and you know how she gets,” Angelina’s voice was soft, like she was trying to soothe a cornered animal. Eddie knew you were nervous about tonight and that he’d been busy with the band but…why wouldn’t you just tell him?

“Why did she turn it down?” He asked, watching you shake hands with the men.

Angelina grunted and Eddie turned around to look at her.

“Angelina.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know, she won’t tell me all of it – I…you know why, Munson.”

Eddie didn’t know what to do with that.

“Hey,” your voice startled him. He turned and saw your eyes beaming up at him. “Professor Jacobs said he thinks one of my photographs will sell. Can you imagine? Someone wants to pay actual American dollars for my photo!”

Your happiness, despite the recent truth bomb, made a smile creep onto his face. The gut instinct to ask you, demand to know why you’d say no, died just as quickly as it rose. This was your night and…if you hadn’t told him yet he needed to trust that it was for a reason. You always did things at your pace and he didn’t want to ruin this for you.

“Of course, I can,” he said, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, “they’re the best ones here. Jones and I can’t figure out what that one is.”

Squinting, you stepped forward and bit your lip. “Is it a house?”

Angelina snorted and Eddie smiled down at you.

“Hey, where’s Sienna?”

Eddie was being weird. You’d noticed it at the gallery last night but he’d been trying to cover it all afternoon. He’d offered to swing by for you this morning but you had to go in to cover one of your co-workers’ early shifts. You’d driven to his trailer after work and picked up on his mood almost instantly.

It wasn’t a mood, per say, but more like he was…off.

“Did you want to see if we could catch a movie? I think Nancy is going, we could invite Angelina or Jeff. I think he said he wanted to see the new release.”

“Hmm,” Eddie hummed.

“Eddie?”

“What? Sorry, I missed that.”

You narrowed your eyes at him and he scratched the back of his neck.

“I asked if you wanted to catch a movie tonight?”

“Sure, yeah,” he said, eyes returning to his guitar. “What time?”

“I think it’s at seven,” you said, checking your watch, “we’ve got like three and half hours.”

“Wait,” he straightened, “what time is it?”

“3:40,” you said, settling more comfortably onto the couch.

“Fuck,” he stood, almost dropping his guitar. You sat up, shocked. Eddie was never careless with his guitar.

“What?” You asked, glancing around the room instinctively.

“I told Rick I’d be by at four to stock up,” he groaned, pinching his nose, “he’s going to bitch when I’m late.”

You immediately grabbed your bag and his keys. “Come on then, let’s go.”

“What?” He asked, stilling.

Glancing at him, you opened the door, shivering when the cold air burst through. “I said come on, we can make it if we take the shortcut on Delancey.”

“Uh, no,” he snorted, “I’ll go and you can wait here. I’ll swing back for you and drive us to the theater.”

What? You frowned. “That’s driving twice as far for no reason, I can just go with you. I’ve never met Rick anyway.”

“He’s not really interesting, I promise,” Eddie said, tugging his leather jacket on. “I’ll be back.”

“Eddie, you can’t be serious, you’ll be hours,” you said, closing the door. “I’m coming with you, don’t be stupid.”

“I said no!” He said, shoulders tensing.

You blinked at his outburst, taking a step back.

“What the hell is your problem?” You asked.

“My problem?” Eddie’s expression contorted into something you’d never seen before. Was he mad? What the hell had you done? “My problem is that I’m going to go pick up drugs and you want to come with me!”

“Yes?” You said, incredulous. “I’ve literally sat in the car before while you sold to someone Eddie, I’m not blind. Besides, stop acting like you ever sell anything other than weed-”

“I got the special K!”

“That was twice! Regardless, why would I care?”

“Because you should!” He huffed, crossing his arms. “I don’t want you there!”

You took a step back, as if he’d shoved you. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” you snapped, temper awakening.

“What don’t you get? You can’t come to restock, period, that’s it.”

“Are you worried someone’s going to see?” You asked, trying to find out why he’d suddenly lost his mind.

“Yes! I don’t want you involved.”

You snorted. “Well, it’s a little too late don’t you think? The whole town knows we’re dating!”

“I care!”

“Oh, now you care,” you said, narrowing your eyes at him.

“What does that mean?” He asked, crossing his arms, brows furrowed and mouth twisted downwards.

“You never care! That’s your thing, isn’t it?” You shouted. “So why would you start now? Even if it’s about me?”

“I have always cared about you!” He said, expression fierce.

You rolled your eyes and took a few steps away from him. “No, you care about what it would say about you if people were talking about me!”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” He said, looking confused and annoyed. You didn’t blame him, this was starting to get ridiculous.

Opening your mouth to repeat it – to be honest you weren’t sure you knew you could – he threw his hands in the air and exhaled loudly.

“Whatever! You know what, you’re right. I don’t care about any of it – not school, not about my reputation, and certainly not what snotty people think of me.”

Was that a dig at you? How had you gone from going with him to restock to caring what other people thought of you? Unless he didn’t want you there for another reason? Did he think you were snotty? Just because you cared a little didn’t make you a snob! You felt yourself getting defensive.

“Well, not everyone has the luxury of not caring Eddie.”

The silence felt like a roaring pulse in the room.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked.

“That you shit on people who conform to society but I have to care sometimes okay? I don’t have the money to pay for college. I need to get good grades or else I don’t get a second chance okay! I can’t just repeat a year.”

Eddie’s face flinched like you’d slapped him.

“That’s not what I meant-”

“No, by all means, say what you really feel.”

You groaned; you were just trying to defend yourself. “Not everything is a dig at you! If I would’ve meant to say it, I would’ve said it!”

“Right, like the way you told me about the NYU program?”

You froze. How the hell had he…you closed your eyes. That’s why Sienna hadn’t been able to look at you. You were going to kill Angie; she should’ve given you a heads up.

“Right, didn’t think I knew, did you? Maybe, just maybe, because you didn’t tell me.”

“I was going to tell you!” You were – today actually.

“Right, when? Because Angelina said you’ve known for days,” he said, expression full of hurt.

“Soon! Okay? Today. I was worried…well I was worried you’d react like this!” You threw out your hand at him. “Irrational!”

“Irrational? Oh, I’m being irrational?” You nodded, crossing your arms. “Why? Because I won’t let you come with me on a drug run when I’ve told you I don’t like it when you come with me to stock up, I’ve always told you that.”

You put your arms on your hips. “Which I’ve respected despite the fact that I don’t know why! I know what you do Eddie, I’ve always known, for fuck’s sake I bought from you! The night we officially met, the one you say is a good memory, was right after you sold Steve a joint. We hid out in Rick’s house for days when the town thought you were a murderer. I’ve always shown you the worst and best parts of me. Why do you hide this from me?” Your heart sunk at the sight of his changing expression.

“Because I’m embarrassed! Because this is who I am, some drug dealer that has to feel worried about how I don’t make enough money at my real job so that maybe I can afford a better car? So that one day I could take some classes? Or better yet, so we can find an apartment that isn’t a total shithole? One I can actually afford? One you deserve? Or are we going to pretend it’s been almost six months since we stopped looking at places?”

“Don’t you dare put that on me,” you hissed, “you’re the one who found something wrong with every apartment we saw! I work at a fucking bookstore Eddie! What do you think I’m earning? Millions? I’m on a scholarship!”

Eddie rolled his eyes and your temper flared beyond the point of return.

“You don’t know what this feels like!”

“Because you won’t talk to me about it!” You yelled back. “If you would just open up-”

“Perfect, smart, talented, Henderson. With the poor, stupid, local dealer. You’d obviously never lower your standards to be with me,” he said, frowning, “who was I trying to kid? I won’t ever measure up and it’s about time we both stopped pretending I will! I just drag you down – I’m doing it now.”

“Don’t make this about the internship,” you hissed.

“You don’t see it, you just don’t see it,” he shouted, surprising you both.

“Then fucking show me!” You snapped.

Eddie’s eyes flashed and he started picking up speed. “The day you didn’t invite me along to the mall with your friends! I thought that was a girls only thing and then Carlos and that new guy is there?”

You gaped, at a complete loss. “I didn’t ask if you wanted to go because I know you hate shopping!”

“Last I checked it wasn’t your favorite either!”

“But they asked me to go, I was going for them!”

“I would’ve gone for you, but you didn’t even think to ask?”

You hadn’t. You wanted to spare him what you thought would’ve been a hard trip.

“And you think that’s because I’m embarrassed of you?” You asked, heart breaking. “You think I’d do that? That I’ve been acting these past, what, seventeen months? That I’m that big of an asshole? Like the rest of them?”

Eddie shrugged and you felt your heart sink further. How could he?

“Please, tell me how you really feel about me,” you said after a moment, mortified to feel pressure behind your eyes. Did he really think that about you? That you thought you were perfect and he was just some loser? Were you just lumped in with the rest of the judgmental assholes of this town? “I didn’t know you thought so highly of me.”

Eddie’s shoulders slumped and he pinched the bridge of his nose, regret already overtaking his expression. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Right,” you laughed dryly, “but that’s what you said. Or didn’t say.”

“Henderson-”

Incensed, you stood, not knowing what to do with the sudden rush of adrenaline. “And for your information, I’ve never said I was embarrassed! You’re the one who acts like you need to go around rejecting people before they hurt you first. Steve was an asshole but he was never mean to you, right? Nancy might seem stuck up but she’s just quiet and doesn’t open up to strangers. She’s never been rude to you.” You crossed your arms, not knowing what to do with them.

“Angelina and Sienna have always been your friends. Carlos and Farrah show up to almost all your gigs – they tell anyone who’ll listen about how good Corroded Coffin is. You’re up on your high horse so sure others are judging you – and yeah, some of them are, but you don’t give anyone a chance!”

Eddie curled into himself and you hated the pang of sympathy you still felt. Unfortunately for the both of you, once your temper was roaring – it was hard for you to break the fire.

“If you want to talk about secrets,” you said quietly, “why don’t we talk about the fact that I saw that internship application for the recording studio in Indianapolis in your drawer last month.”

“I…” Eddie sputtered, looking like you had pulled the rug from under him.

“It’s easy to point the finger, isn’t it?” You sneered. “I have never been embarrassed or unaware of who you are Eddie. Sometimes I feel like I know you better than you know yourself. I know you’re a good person and you deserve better than what you allow yourself to have. It’s like you’re clinging to these things that you hate doing as a form of punishment. If you’re so ashamed of selling or of how you think people perceive you then do something about it. Stop acting like you don’t care, stop projecting onto me, and stop assuming you know how I feel. Because clearly you don’t.”

At the resounding silence, you starting packing up your bag.

“Where are you going?” His voice sounded panicked.

“The hell away from you.” You snapped, grabbing your keys and shoving your feet into your shoes.

“So, what, you’re just going to run away? That’s real mature!”

“Whatever!” You snapped, feeling like you could punch his stupid, heartbroken, face. God, why is it even when you were mad you felt the desire to pull him to you.

“Yeah, whatever!” He snapped back, anger resurfacing.

“I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to be around you right now. I want to be alone,” you reached for the door, stumbling over your feet, “and you know what! I know you’ve still been smoking! So next time don’t promise to do something when you won’t even put an effort in!”

Slamming the door felt satisfying, the jolt in your arm ached and you stumbled to your car. How had that escalated so quickly? You didn’t even remember what it had all started with. It wasn’t until you were almost to your house that you broke down. Tears clouded your eyes and your lungs felt like they couldn’t draw in air.

Fuck.

“Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in,” Robin said, her arms crossing, and Eddie felt like he wanted to shrivel up and die.

More than usual.

“Buckley,” Eddie greeted, hesitating by the door.

“She’s not here,” she said, leaning her hip against the counter. “You missed her by ten minutes.”

Eddie’s heart jumped. You’d been here?

His expression must have looked as pathetic as he felt because Robin’s glare softened minutely.

“Alright, Robin, he looks miserable – let’s go easy on him,” Steve said. He walked out of a nearby aisle with the box of tapes in his arms. “Hey man.”

Steve slapped Eddie’s hand, bumping his fist after and saluting him.

Eddie hated to admit that you had been right about Steve, not that it surprised him. You were right about most things. Steve was a good friend, one he could count on, and a loyal one. Once he got passed the hair, the popularity, and the persona he carried, Harrington was pretty cool.

Not that Eddie would ever tell him that. He’d never let him live it down if he did. Dustin already jokingly referred to them as co-parents.

“Hey,” he said, chewing on his lip, “I need advice.”

“Hmph, how the mighty have fallen,” Robin snipped.

Steve winced at her tone, but Eddie couldn’t blame her. He knew Robin’s loyalty to you was unmatched. “She’s clearly Team Henderson,” Steve said.

“So should you! You’ve known her for most of your life you traitor,” Robin said, stepping away from Eddie.

“Robin, look at him,” Steve hissed.

Eddie wanted to resent that but who was he kidding? He knew he looked bad – worse than usual. His mood wasn’t helpful either. Gareth and Jeff had all but barred him from practice. It’d been a week since your fight and Eddie hadn’t gone that long without talking to you in over a year. It was a humbling experience to realize that he really didn’t know what to do without you. Which was fucking pathetic but he was desperate.

The next morning, Eddie had woken up with a pit in his stomach and he knew he’d been an idiot. He’d tried calling you but you wouldn’t talk to him. Dustin was even starting to sound worried. The first, and only time, he tried to talk to you in person, you’d sent out Dustin. He’d passed along the message from you – that you’d like to be left alone and you’d call him when you were ready to talk.

That had been five days ago. Eddie’s skin was starting to crawl and he knew he had the tendency to lean towards the dramatic but – he couldn’t help but feel like if he didn’t do something soon, he’d lose something he wasn’t prepared to lose. Something he couldn’t lose. But he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t want to show up unannounced, he couldn’t keep calling, he had no blueprint to follow. You’d never fought before – this was new territory for him.

On the fourth day, Eddie had gotten wasted in Gareth’s garage and Jeff had looked at him so pitifully that Eddie knew he must’ve looked bad. Gareth had been the one who suggested he go to Robin and Steve. So here he was – because he was desperate.

Eddie felt Robin’s inspecting stare and was surprised to see her animosity drop. “You do look a little pathetic,” she admitted.

“Thanks,” Eddie said dryly. “I just…need help.”

“And you thought coming here was the best place to get it?” Robin snorted, making Eddie’s heart drop. “That’s ballsy, Munson, even for you.”

“You’re the safer option than Dustin,” Eddie joked flatly.

Steve laughed. “Yeah, avoid Dustin as long as you can.”

“Please,” Eddie cleared his throat, wishing he didn’t sound so pathetic, “can you just… she won’t answer my calls. She doesn’t want to see me. I don’t know what to do.”

“She’s mad,” Robin said, pointedly. “You basically called her stuck up and judgmental.”

Eddie felt his chest tighten. How the fuck had he gotten here? “I didn’t mean to-”

Robin huffed, crossing her arms again and Eddie closed his mouth.

“You know I was starting to think you guys weren’t normal,” Steve said, pensive, when Eddie turned to him.

“What?” Eddie blinked.

“You guys never fought with each other and that’s not normal, it can’t be normal!” He said defensively, turning to Robin. “It’s been more than a year without you guys having a real fight. Everyone fights! Shit, I’ve lost count of how many fights we’ve had.”

Robin picked at her nails, reeking of superiority. Eddie wanted to melt into the floor.

“Robin, please I already feel bad enough,” Eddie said, rubbing a hand down his face. “I can’t apologize if I can’t find her. It’s almost been a week.”

“She was listening to Elton John,” Robin said quietly.

Eddie froze. No…you couldn’t be. Things weren’t that bad, were they? Not Elton John bad. “Which song?” He demanded.

Robin ignored him and disappeared through the back door.  

“Steve,” Eddie turned to him, voice a little pleading.

Harrington groaned and shook his head. “I’m Still Standing.”

Eddie closed his eyes and his heart all but stopped in his chest.

“Well fuck,” Eddie said, nodding as he slowly let his head hit the counter, “fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Alright calm down it’s not unfixable,” Steve said, walking over to him. Eddie felt him pat his shoulder. “At least she’s moved on from Tina Turner?”

“She was listening to Tina?” Eddie closed his eyes and sighed. Shit. Maybe he really had fucked this up beyond no return.

“What’s love but a second-hand emotion?” Robin sang under her breath as she walked past them both, shelving more tapes.

Eddie straightened, his stomach flipping uncomfortably.

“Robin,” Steve said, shaking his head, “don’t sucker punch him when he’s down. Look at him.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she said, humming to the beat.

“She only listens to that album when she’s pissed, remember that fight she had with Dustin?” Eddie said, feeling worse than before.

Steve winced. “I said it’s fixable not that it wasn’t bad…” He snapped. “What about flowers? You should just show up to her next shift. She can’t stay mad forever.”

“I don’t know,” Eddie sighed. He’d avoided ambushing you at work, worried he’d make it worse. “I’ve never…gone this long without talking to her. I don’t know who to ask – she’s the one I’d ask in this situation. She’s my best friend. Isn’t that pathetic?”

Robin’s eyes snapped to his and her expression looked pitying.

“I’m telling you man, chocolates and flowers,” Steve insisted, “she’s got the early shift tomorrow.”

Robin groaned and Eddie heard her drop the pile of tapes. “Dingus, you give the worst advice.”

“Hey!”

“You,” she said pointing a finger at Eddie. “Are you sorry?”

“Yes.”

“Do you realize what you did wrong?”

Eddie frowned and Robin squinted at him. He nodded, not wanting to ruin his only chance.

“She misses you too,” Robin said, sighing, “you’re both pathetic really. She thinks you’re mad at her but she’s also mad at you. You look like a kicked puppy and it’s weird when you two fight. You need to talk it out.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do!”

Robin raised her brow. “She likes white calla lilies,” she said, pointing to the market across the street.

“I know what my girlfriend likes,” Eddie said, defensively. He wasn’t an idiot. Well…

“She’s at home,” Robin said and Steve choked. “Her mom is at work, Dustin’s in school, and she called out sick from the store.”

“Robin, she’s going to kill you,” Steve said, looking worried as Eddie reanimated.

Eddie smiled and kissed Robin’s cheek. “You’re my friend too – even if I take her side.” He watched her small smiled before it vanished. “But you can’t keep carrying the baggage without trying to deal with it. You both messed up but for the sake of this not happening again, you gotta try Munson.”

He felt a surge of affection for her. “I owe you Buckley,” he said, half running back to his car.

“Yes, you do!” She yelled out.

“And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you,” you sang loudly, and off key, “you'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use!”

Licking the batter from the spoon you were using, you danced in place. Robin was right, who needed men? They were all stupid.

“Have you tried talking to him? Instead of ignoring him like a ten-year-old?” Steve’s voice echoed in your head.

You’d been ignoring his calls, making Dustin tell him you weren’t home. Your mom had looked suspicious but you hadn’t wanted to tell her and swore Dustin to secrecy. Your heart had grown when he offered to beat Eddie up for you.

In reality, you were hiding from the fact that this fight wasn’t entirely on his shoulders. You knew you had made a major mistake not telling him about the program. You never lied to Eddie, about anything. Were you hurt by what he’d said? Yeah. But you’d said hurtful things too.

Fuck, you grunted, feeling the wind in your sails die. You needed to apologize. This whole argument was so stupid. You knew Eddie was insecure about his financial situation – despite you not being that much better off, you knew it was a sore spot for him. So, what did you do? Poke at it until he exploded.

You had stood there, pointed out all his insecurities, and then had the audacity to be insulted when he insinuated that you were like the rest of them. Hadn’t you done exactly what he was worried about?

Groaning, you winced at this mess. You really had to call him. Tonight. You were done hiding because you were embarrassed by what you’d said and how you’d acted. He’d been wrong, but so had you. Plus, you missed him. You didn’t know you could miss him this much – it really was worrying.

The doorbell interrupted your musings and you covered the mixing bowl so none of the cats could get to it. Lowering the volume to the sound system as you padded to the front door, you wondered who it was. Robin had said she would be by during her lunch break. Had she ditched Steve and come by earlier?

Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid

And I'm still standing after all this time

“Did you leave King Steve alone – Eddie?”

“Hi princess,” he said, bouquet of lilies in hand.

“Hi,” you said, suddenly aware that you were wearing one of his AC/DC t-shirts and your oldest pajama bottoms. You ran a hand down your hair and winced when you felt how frizzy it was. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know,” he said, frowning, “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” you reassured him, opening the door further, “I’m not…busy?”

A ghost of a smile flashed across his face. “No, I mean, I’m sorry.”

The knot in your chest tightened further.

“Why didn’t you come by earlier?” You asked, feeling immediately stupid. Clearly, he didn’t come find you, you wouldn’t answer his calls – idiot. He was respecting your space. “That was such a stupid question, I’m sorry-”

“No, it’s okay,” he said.

“I could’ve come to you too, or answered the phone or-”

“Princess.”

You snap your mouth closed, shooting him an apologetic look.

“I’m just going to start, okay?” He asked. You nodded and motioned for him to follow you to the living room.

“I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you,” he said, eyes on his fingers. He twirled his rings, a clear sign he was anxious.

“Me neither,” you said quickly, “I’m sorry Eddie.”

He shook his head. “You didn’t say anything I didn’t already know on some level. I’ve asked Bert if I could pick up more hours at work and Jeff thinks we’re close to getting paid gigs. I think…no, I know I want to stop.”

“Not because of me, right? Because I meant what I said-”

“No,” he surged forward, taking your hands in his. “I want to do it for me. You were right – I think I’ve kept myself back for long enough.”

“I’m glad,” you said, squeezing his hand.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” he mumbled, eyes going back down. He played with your fingers, his index finger tracing the lines on your palm. “You said you didn’t want to be around me and I don’t know, I thought I’d fucked up. It took a year but I finally fucked up like I always thought I would.”

“Whoa, whoa, what,” you said, stopping him. “Eddie, we’re not breaking up?”

“We’re not?” The hope in his expression broke your heart.

Your mind worked overtime trying to remember if you’d indicated that. “Unless…you want to?” Your voice cracked and Eddie’s eyes widened.

“No! That’s not – definitely not. I just thought…after our fight, you didn’t want to see me anymore?”

Relief flooded through you. “Eddie it was a fight, everyone fights.”

His brows furrowed and you saw genuine confusion bleed into his eyes. “In my family, when you fight and people leave, they don’t come back. I don’t want us to break up. I swear, it won’t happen again. I just need a chance-”

“Hey. That’s not how we work okay? Sometimes I’ll need space. You’ll need space from me. It’s normal, Eddie look at me. I was leaving the moment - I wasn’t leaving you. Okay? I’m sorry that you ever thought I would,” your heart broke a little at the fact that he thought that’s how arguments ended, “I love you, Munson. A fight over stupid shit like white lies about college courses and internships are not strong enough to break us.”

His smile widened but you could still see the shadows in his face.

“If you leave, I will come after you,” you teased. “Until you tell me you don’t want me around, I will always follow where you go.”

“Really?” His voice started to return to its usual cadence.

“Eddie, you dove into lover’s lake and into a world you had no idea about just because you were following me,” you reached out for his arm, “you’ve literally followed me into a layer of hell. Why is it surprising that I would do the same for you?”

He shrugged.

You resisted the urge to sock him in frustration. “Do you know when the first time I realized I loved you was?”

“My mother’s death anniversary?”

You shook your head. “The first time we had sex,” you said, rolling your eyes as his lit up. “It’s a cliché, I know, but I was nervous and you made a stupid joke-”

“-hey, it made you laugh-”

“-and I just knew. I knew that you loved me too,” you said softly. “I knew you weren’t ready. We grew up very differently, and I’m sorry for not realizing sooner that that means we don’t process things the same way.”

“It’s not your fault,” Eddie added, inching closer to you. “I need to step up. I’m not used to people caring about me like this. I know we’ve been together for a while but…it still feels new to me.”

“That’s okay, we can learn together,” you said, stepping towards him, “I don’t know what I’m doing either Munson. I didn’t live in the same city as my first boyfriend.”

Eddie sighed and twisted one of his rings. “I have to ask,” he said, expression apologetic, “about the program.”

You felt a little flare light up within you but you stomped it into submission. Nodding, his eyes darted around nervously.

“Can you honestly look at me and tell me that I had no weight in that decision?” Eddie asked, expression twisting, as if he already knew the answer.

“No,” you said, not wanting to lie, “but-”

“I knew it!”

“Eddie, shut the hell up and let me speak,” you said, poking at his chest.

Eddie frowned but sat down on the sofa.

“Thank you,” you exhaled, “yes, okay? I admit that I didn’t want to go that far from Hawkins because I know you need to be here for your upcoming gigs and all the work you’ve put into the music scene here can’t go to waste. I know that.”

Pacing the length of the couch, you didn’t know how to explain this properly.

“You’re my boyfriend, Eddie, you’re more than that – you’re my best friend. I…you…”

Eddie opened his mouth and you shot him a glare. His jaw snapped shut and you pinched the bridge of your nose. You knew what you wanted to say but felt a little hesitant. You knew Eddie loved you – you’ve known that before he said it to you. You didn’t want to rush through this, rush him, but…

“You’re it for me, okay?” You said, annoyed for feeling cautious about saying it. “I love you so much and I know people say that your college boyfriend isn’t the one you settle down with but I don’t want to settle with you.”

“You don’t?” Emotions flashed across his face.

“No!” You said, frustrated. “I want to see the world with you, I want to build our family – even if that’s just me and you – I want to go to your gigs, I want to photograph things, I want to travel, I want to be with you always. Okay? You’re it for me.”

Eddie’s expression softened completely, his eyes on you.

“So, when you ask me when deciding if I should uproot my whole life for a single class in a school I haven’t been accepted to, where my scholarship does not apply, in a city I can’t afford, just to see if maybe it amounts to something – if you had any weight in that decision? Yes, you did. But not because you hinder me, I know we can make it through long distance. We made it through monsters, murder charges, and the Upside Down. Long distance for two years wouldn’t kill us.”

You ran a frustrated hand down your face.

“I love you so yes, every decision I make going forward is going involve you because I’m not just me anymore – we’re us,” you said, “but even then, I wouldn’t put my own ambitions on hold for you because that’s not how we work. Okay? If I had really, truly, wanted to go – despite not being able to afford it and frankly not wanting to – I would’ve made it work. But I didn’t. I was just trying to figure that out before I told you.”

Silence. You were breathing a little hard, amped up, and you shot him a look when he didn’t say anything.

“Can I speak now your majesty?” Eddie said, smile blossoming.

You huffed, crossing your arms. “Your Majesty is how you address a queen, I’m your royal highness, thank you very much.”

Eddie’s arm tugged you to him, stumbling over your rug. “I know what I said,” he said before dropping his lips to yours.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I wasn’t trying to make the decision for you. I was just…panicking. My dad, he – totally eclipsed my mother and turned her into a shell of who she was. I never want you to give up anything for me. You deserve whatever you want.”

“I know that,” you said, softening, “I don’t want you to give up anything for me either. We’re not those people. We’re not two halves of a whole. We’re two whole people who choose each other. None of this fate bullshit. I choose you, okay?”

Eddie shook his head and pressed his lips to your forehead. “How the fuck did I get so lucky?”

You snorted. “I still annoy you when I click my pen when I study remember? And I’m never going to stop stealing your milkshake after I’m done with mine. I will always press my cold feet to your legs to get warm in the mornings. You have to love me despite that.”

“You could just order two milkshakes,” Eddie grumbled, “and wear socks to bed.”

“Yours tastes better and you radiate heat, it’s not nice not to share it.”

Eddie tried to hide his smile but you felt it anyway.

“I choose you too,” he said.

You grinned, watching his matching smile chase away the lingering darkness from his expression.

“I’m telling Steve and Robin you said I was your best friend,” Eddie teased.

“I will gut you,” you said sweetly. Eddie threw his head back and laughed. His shoulders dropped and he sunk into your touch. Yeah, you’d be okay. More than okay.

[thevampirelevi]

Adventureland | Part I

Masterlist

"Flight of Icarus." (part 1/7)

cw: vampire!eddie x fem!reader, mentions of grief, mentions of blood, introduction; no actual interaction between reader and eddie (yet)

wc: 1041 ☆

After the events of the Upside Down, a confused- albeit somewhat the same - 'Eddie the Banished' crawls his way back to Hawkins and seeks refuge in the now abandoned theme park, where he one day finds an equally confused - albeit somewhat the same - you.

The horizon ahead of you resembled something of an unfinished Michelangelo project with all of its ‘cadmium orange’ and ‘cobalt blue.’ The further south you drove, the more you found evidence of a burning ‘sienna’ in the mix as well, brushed onto that plaster sky still wet from the rain earlier today. You thought if you pushed the gas just a little more, you might soon start to see outlines of God extending his hand to Adam, but you were going 55 now and the only change in scenery was that the clouds were quickly taking on a darker hue.

The sun is setting and you’ve not even touched the asphalt of the fairgrounds yet. Maybe you should have admitted that you were somewhat lost one ‘Sattler Quarry’ ago, but you were too determined to turn back now. You had your mother’s Lou Reed cassette in your car stereo, playing “Perfect Day” from side A. You could sometimes listen to the whole tape without crying, and you had already had your mind set on today being one of those days.

You were also fixed on reliving some of your favorite memories with her, which is what brought you back to good ol’ Hawkins in the first place. Before the days of factory smoke pollution and L trains, you went through a good portion of your growing pains in Roane County. Then your father’s job pulled your family of three to Bloomington, before dreams of your own pulled you out of ‘Indie’ altogether.

But now you’re back, for the first time since the funeral. Has it been a year already? It felt like only yesterday to you, but so did all of your other resurfacing memories at the very moment you drove into your old hometown. Most of which plagued you the second your car neared that playground. You didn’t dare look in the direction of the schools, it took one year in Chicago and a whole other sabbatical year in New York for you to at least try to forget every classroom you’d ever entered since kindergarten. You had to practically reinvent yourself just to be free of any of the names you’d ever been called haunting every mirror you met. You prayed you wouldn’t recognize anyone, and moreover that no one would recognize you, especially those whomst had made you hate this town in the first place.

“You’re going to reap just what you sow,” sings your janky car radio as you cruise down Morehead Street, passing an abandoned house just as the Roane County Fairgrounds come into view. 

It had only just now occurred to you to consider whether or not you were dreaming as you silently sat in your car, staring past your rearview mirror and at the broken bulbs of the large and all too familiar ‘Adventureland’ sign. Last time you had caught even a glimpse of this place was in February of 1986, surely it couldn’t have been completely stranded since then?

The flecks of light snow you’d seen giving the place an almost powdered sugar finish last time, were now replaced with heavy and mangled vines, as well as wilder patches of moss. You could see that a bird had made itself a home in the ‘U’ of the buzzing sign, but there was no telling if it had belonged to the murder of crows that quickly flew away from the pavement at the creaky sound of your car door slamming once you stepped out of your station wagon.

It wasn’t the cold suddenly nipping at your nose that made you regret stepping out just as soon as you did, nor the fact that you were seemingly utterly alone. Rather, it was the slight prick of fear at the possibility that you weren’t.

Be it your intuition or not, you pushed that and all of your other worrying thoughts aside. Catching a peek of sunlight dancing on the broken glass of one of the carousel’s mirrors ahead of you, you used what little daylight there was left and the fact that there was still electricity powering the very broken sign as motivation to tread farther and approach the gates for a closer look at least.

Almost as if a sign to continue and no doubt only fueling your curiosity, you found the undone chain hanging from the rusted iron wickets of the gate to clearly have been cut with bolt cutters or something alike, as if anticipating your arrival. Determined to get at least half of what you came here for, and even more determined not to run away and cry at what might arguably be the biggest roadblock to your plans, you made your way inside the at least somewhat abandoned theme park.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆───── ⋆⋅ᓚᘏᗢ⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

The sound of metal scraping against the gravel of the ground made Eddie’s head snap toward the direction of the park entrance hundreds of feet away. Of course, thanks to his annoyingly heightened senses, he’d heard the sound of slightly balding tires screeching to a halt before that - but that itself wasn’t a rare occurrence here.

Occasionally, someone would journey too far past Forest Hills, only to find a more and more desolate and straight up abandoned version of Hawkins. But, like clockwork, they’d all turn right back around and rejoin the rest of society. This, along with the scavenging raccoons in the trash cans and squirrels climbing up and over the fences, or even the whisperings of things lurking in the woods nearby, were all sounds that Eddie had learned to ignore. In fact, most of his time here was spent trying to ignore all signs of life.

But this rare sound, a sound so rare he’d stopped worrying about locking the gates back up long ago, meant that not only was a human nearby, but now they were coming closer. 

So close, in fact, that he could smell the iron in her blood and hear just the faintest ‘thump, thump, thump,’ of her heart synchronizing with the steps she made drawing nearer and nearer to his hiding spot; his favorite ride when both he and Adventureland were alive, ‘Flight of Icarus.’

And man, Icarus sure was flying too close to the sun.

[liaromancewriter]

The Love Language Test

Premise: Sienna and Max explore which of the five love languages works for them.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Sienna Trinh x Max Valentine (M!OC) Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 1,350

A/N: Requested by @storyofmychoices from this prompt list - preparing lunch. Submission for @choicesprompts Rewrite challenge. It's inspired by this Blue Bloods scene in S11 between Eddie and Jamie about their love language. I'm also using @choicesflashfics week 40, prompt 1 (in bold)

“What’s your love language?”

Sienna Trinh pursed her lips as she glanced over the top of the tablet and waited for Max Valentine to answer.

It was after dinner, and they were in his home office. He was catching up on emails while she was parked on the couch, keeping herself busy. She had started hanging out here when he wasn’t on calls and found it comforting to have him close.

“My, what now?” he asked without looking up, his hands flying across the laptop’s keyboard, eyes focused on the screen.

“Love language,” she said. “You know, the way you like to express and receive love. There are five of them, but we each have one or two that speak to us the most.”

Sienna explained patiently, repeating the words she’d read in an online article. “If couples communicate using each other’s love languages, the relationship can become even stronger.”

“Sex,” he chuckled, turning his head to wink at her. “Just let me finish here, and I’ll happily show you.”

Sienna rolled her eyes. “Be serious.”

“I resent that,” he joked, eyes back on the laptop screen. “I’m always serious about sex.”

“Why does Cassie know all about this, and you don’t?” Sienna mused, fighting back a yawn as she stretched out on the comfortable couch and pulled a fleece blanket over her legs to keep them warm.

Until recently, she had been under the impression that as twins Cassie and Max were more alike than different in their tastes and interests. But she was slowly realizing the error of her ways.

Cassie loved junk food, and Max was all about eating healthy. Cassie inhaled coffee by the gallons. Max preferred tea. She was an optimist and a big believer in fate. Her brother was a realist and inherently skeptical. And yet, Sienna loved them equally but in completely different ways.

“I keep telling you, babe. We’re twins, not clones,” Max retorted. “Besides, Cassie majored in psychology at Georgetown and has always been interested in this stuff. I’d be surprised if she didn’t know it.”

Sienna rubbed her eyes and checked the time at the top of her screen. She should get up and get ready for bed but felt way too comfortable to move. She’d just started a new job last week, and her body was still adjusting after a two-month break.

That reminded her. She still had to put her lunch together for tomorrow. She’d meant to do it earlier, but it slipped her mind.

She yawned again and fought to keep her eyes open, losing the battle as she sank deeper into the couch.

Sienna woke up the next morning in their bed wearing the Wharton tee shirt she’d stolen from Max’s closet. Slightly disoriented at first, she gazed at the ceiling as she tried to remember the events of last night.

She remembered bantering with Max about love languages, and then her memory was fuzzy. She had wanted them to do an online quiz, but she must have fallen asleep before she could suggest it.

Sienna really wanted to learn his love language, and hers too in this relationship.

Max had arisen before her as usual, but his side of the bed wasn’t cold to touch, so it must not have been long. She yelped when she saw the time and quickly climbed out of bed.

A short while later, she was dressed for work except for tying back her hair. Desperate for coffee, she rushed into the kitchen to throw some snacks together since she wouldn’t have time to make anything.

She pulled up short at the sight of Max behind the counter and delicious aromas wafting from the stove.

“Good morning,” he said affably, walking around the kitchen peninsula to lock his hands around her hips and buss her on the cheek. “You look beautiful today. You should wear your hair down more often.”

He turned away to pour coffee and handed her the mug. “Heard you moving around and figured you’d need this before long.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, enjoying how his hand lingered over hers around the mug before he let go.

She sighed in pleasure as the first hint of caffeine hit her taste buds. “Something smells amazing, and it’s not just the coffee.”

Sienna watched him above the rim of the coffee mug. He wore the loose pants and tee shirt he’d slept in and hadn’t showered or shaved.

“I made you lunch,” he said, voice muffled as he reached inside the lower cabinet for a roll of wax paper. “It’s a roast beef melt on a French baguette with caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms. Just the way you like it. ”

Sienna felt her heart turn to mush as he deftly wrapped the sandwich and covered it with foil to keep it warm. That’s when she noticed her lunch bag on the counter, the cover unzipped and flipped open. Inside were a trail mix snack, a small container of strawberry yogurt and three chocolate chip cookies.

Setting her mug down on the counter, Sienna moved into Max and wrapped her arms around his waist, tilting her head back to meet his puzzled gaze.

“Thank you for this,” she nodded toward the lunch, “and knowing exactly what I need.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, cupping her face. “Taking care of you is my absolute pleasure. I’m so grateful fate brought us together.”

“I thought you didn't believe in fate,” she teased.

“I didn’t...until I met you.”

She smiled dreamily at the words, stretched on her toes and kissed the underside of his jaw.

Max tenderly put two fingers under her chin, raised her face, and then lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was short, sweet, and perfect for the moment, she thought, their foreheads leaning against each other.

“Let’s have a quick breakfast, and then I have to grab a shower and get dressed,” he said, stepping back. “I’ll make sure to be at home on time today. Maybe we can watch a movie or hit the blues club? A night out on the town. Would you like that?”

Sienna shook her head out of a daze as she glanced around the kitchen, her eyes narrowing as she put two and two together.

“Wait a minute.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Did you just practice the five love languages on me?”

She held up one hand and started counting. “Gave me coffee, complimented my appearance, kisses and hand touches, made my lunch, and a mouthwatering one at that, just because, and now quality time as a couple.”

Max just shrugged. “I read up on them last night, and they looked interesting. I didn’t know which was yours, so I figured I’d run an experiment and do all five.”

“I find that incredibly romantic,” Sienna admitted, mind boggling at the lengths he’d gone to at such short notice. “And also mildly terrifying because of how good you are at them.”

He smirked. “What can I say? Valentines are competitive as fuck and overachievers when we go after what we want.”

Max reached for her hand and tugged her close. “By the way, your love language is definitely acts of service. You practically had heart eyes when you looked at the lunch bag.”

“I know,” Sienna said. “I’ve always done things like this for everyone, but someone is looking after me for the first time in a long time. And it makes me feel so cherished.”

He squeezed her hand in acknowledgment. “In case you’re wondering, mine is quality time. I know I can be a workaholic at times. Okay, most of the time,” he amended when she made a face. “But spending time with you, just us, even if it’s having you hang out in my office while I answer emails? That’s what I love most.”

Hand in hand, they stood in the middle of the kitchen, eyes locked on each other. They needed to get to work, but both were loathe to let go of this perfect moment.

“Five more minutes?” she whispered.

“Five more minutes.”

---------------

All Fics & Edits: @annfg8 @bluebelle08 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mainstreetreader @peonierose @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @socalwriterbee @takemyopenheart @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Max & Sienna only: @aallotarenunelma @storyofmychoices @kyra75

[friendswithclay]

“Black and sienna bowl, c1970, half circles in sgraffito, 2 3/4” x 3 3/8’’, Signature DA. Collection of Nadine and Eddie Bash Chander, AZ”

[kob131]

"The writers aren't going to listen to their fans, because they can't even be bothered to listen to their own staff, because they "learned their lesson" to "listen to their gut" and "stick to their guns," and to ignore anybody who tries to educate their CisHet White Male selves on the matters of positive and accurate representation. Not just queer, but with everything. It happened with Jaune>Ruby, it happened with the White Fang, it happened with Emerald, it happened with Flynt Coal, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again, it happened with Yang, it happened with Cinder, it happened with Tyrian, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again, it happened with Pilot Boi, it happened with Ghira, it happened with Blake, it happened with Leo, it happened with Ilia, it happened with Sienna, it happened with Adam, it happened with Oz, it happened with Salem, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again, it happened with Terra Cotta, it happened with Ironwood, it happened with Marrow, it happened with Elm, it happened with Vine, it happened with Harriet, it happened with Clover, it happened with Qrow, it happened with Winter, it happened with Penny, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again - over and over and over and over and over, the fans have spent the past ten years explaining exactly how and why [X problem] was actually a real, tangible problem, with the writers either blatantly ignoring it, or hand-waving it away with vague and empty promises to "be better about it," only to pull the exact same shit all over again.

Ten years of hundredth chances, ten years of patient (or in some cases, not so patient, which is why we get villainized) adherence to the "Just Wait" rule, ten years of practically begging to see even tiny improvements only to be left hanging (or worse, to be directly baited as Eddy admitted happened with Fair Game, and then to be attacked directly by crwby itself and treated as if we were "just imagining things" and that we were "just horny salty fanboys" and that "it's not bait if we never intended to canonize the worm in the first place" and that it's our fault we were foolish enough to think Rooster Teeth would include queer rep and tentatively bit down on the hook) ten years of having it be PROVEN to us that the people who do most of the writing for RWBY write it specifically with a White Straight Male audience in mind, because at the time of RWBY's creation, data shows that Rooster Teeth's fanbase was 93% Male identified and 7% Female identified, and the separate demographic that was attracted solely to RWBY itself was just basically bonus income on top of that."

I saw this and I think it's a good showcase of an older RWBY critics. So let this be a lesson to the RWBY stans who not so coincidentally sound exactly the same.

For those who don't know what they're referring to, an old RWBY AMA on Reddit had this from Miles-

"-Boi howdy, did that take us by surprise. There's always a background character that gets super popular. Last season it was the Waitress. This season it was Pilot Boi and Cute Faunus Guard. Interesting story, we originally had a line for the Pilot that subtly told the audience he had a boyfriend back in Atlas (this was done in our attempt to get better about having more LGBTQ+ representation). However, when scripts went out to the team, a number of crew members were concerned that our first homosexual character with a line of dialogue addressing his sexuality was going to die in the very next episode and was "also kind of a selfish jerk". Soooo, we scrapped the line. Next thing we know, he's the most popular character of the volume and we're kicking ourselves for not sticking to our guns."

And the whole spiel is about how they wanted to keep Pilot as LGBT due to his popularity even though he's bAd rEP. Except that what makes bad representation (being stereotypical, being one dimensional ect.) makes a bad character IN GENERAL. It's why bad writers, no matter their subgroup, can't write good representation- You have to be a good writer. And given that Pilot Guy was so prevelant in Volume 5, he clearly resonated with/entertained so many people. So making him LGBT would have made a fan favorite LGBT, making it far more likely he'd be accepted. That's what happened with Illa. It's what happened with May.

But then, they don't care about the writing. Read it again- they care that the people don't have the right fucking genitals or melatonin content. Or rather, they don't get what they want EXACTLY when they want it. So they lash out like selfish children, crying about how thy don't get their cookie until after dinner. Except they DID get their cookie and they're being a greedy shithead.

Example? OP's own fucking examples.

Jaune>Ruby? Only happened in Volume 1...in the most shallow way possible (given that Ruby herself was a big part of JAUNE'S OWN ARC). Volume 2 gave her the involvement with the actual plot as well as her moment with Penny, Volume 3 gave her Penny's death, Pyrrha's death and being the driving force behind THE REST OF THE SHOW and Jaune got...a half baked arc that was made about Ruby in the only Volume where it got more than a episode (Volume 4).

The White Fang? Basically just "FUCK YOU FOR NO SUPPORING MY POLITICS!" With said politics being "Let me be as racist as a person from the 1920's.'

Emerald? Basically 'HOW DARE YOU MAKE A VILLAIN DARK SKINNED?!' while ignoring that she was a better person than her white cohorts (Roman, Mercury, Cinder).

Flynt Coal? Calling racism over a name (because 'black black')...while ignoring the German 'White White' girl.

Yang? That they skipped over her character arc...then gave her the lion's share of Volume 5 which they ignored because Jaune got mad at the woman who murdered his best friend for nothing was right there.

Cinder? Talking about her being a bland villain...which got shot and killed in Volumes 7 and 8.

Tyrian? Something something 'psychopath is offensive to people with mental disorders'. Completely ignoring LEGITIMATE PSYCHOPATHS..

Pilot Boy? See above.

Ghira? Something about him not being allowed to be seen as competent. ... Even though they accept Sienna being competent despite doing ACTIVE harm because Blake said so...in the same monologue saying Ghira was just as effective and more stable, just slower.

Blake? Her acting 'like a bitch' in Volume 4 despite the very clear reason of 'I just went through tramuatic events and am going through an arc.'

Leo? That having a Fanaus headmaster be a villain was racist. Even though he was still better than every other villain not named 'Emerald' present. He even got a shot in against Raven.

Illa? Psycho Lesbian...right in front of Adam 'Wannabe Racial Supremacist' Taurus. Also got redeemed and everyone went mysteriously quiet, almost like no one wanted to own up to their bullshit.

Sienna? See the WF section and add in racism accusations because Indonesians can't handle a fictional character dying apparently.

Adam? See WF section AGAIN.

Ozpin? Calling out the CRWBY for having the leader of the good guys preaching trust keeping VERY IMPORTANT secrets because 'uwu sad backstory'...after spending three years calling him the true secret bad guy.

Salem? Something about her not being a good villain because generic, cookie cutter complaints that really mean 'You will never appease us, slave.'

Terra Arc-Cotta? 'Racism' 'Why?' 'Fuck you!!!'

Ironwood? Some bullshit excuse about prosthetics that fails when you look at everyone with prosthetics which is just a cover for 'Gimmie my husbando or else.'

Elm, Harriet, Vine, Marrow? See above because no one talks about them outside of being an extension of James.

Clover and Qrow? 'We decided they were gay which not even half of the LGBT fanbase saw so you did a bad.'

20 swings, all misses.

This is not some grand outlier either. I have seen HUNDREDS, if not a THOUSAND criticisms. I have seen about a couple dozen stragglers and a half dozen consistent producers of good criticism...of which only THREE (Faboover, that Whitely Blog and Dual) are still around.

It's all just entitlement. 'You dared to ascertain your ownership over something you made so now I will bully you into compliance.'

As OP would say, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Tens of thousands of chances on hitting a fucking t-ball. They always miss, split their head open on the bat and then try suing for damages after proclaiming themselves so much better than the coach.

Fair Game is a perfect example. Nothing was explictly romantic...or even implictedly. It was just some guys bonding. I have seen actual ship baiting (Amorshipping from Pokemon) and Fair Game does not fit. People picked up on some flirty animation that the WRITERS didn't intend for, used a character for their purpose and people shat themselves. Blaming them for YOUR immaturity is fucking disgusting.

But hey, this is how the crowd has ALWAYS worked. Don't give them what they want immediately? 'Kill yourself, Monty hates you.' Give them a background couple? 'Give us a major character, kill yourself.' Give them a tragic villain with a defined personality? 'Psycho Lesbian, kill yourself.' Give them a couple with a child? 'Doesn't count, kill yourself.'

Time after time after time after time after time- They demand shit by using their DEAD FRIEND as a soapbox and bludgeon and then move the goalposts so they can threaten and attack them.

We know this for a fact- the Camp Camp blog incident provided the psychos.

Oh did you think I forgot? Silly little fragile hypocrite- I will never forget.

You fucks are some of the most psychotic pieces of shit I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. I also remember how the very SECOND you got push back, that you had to eat your own shit for once, you cried foul.

No matter what you fucks try, I will not forget. And you will NEVER escape your bullshit.

You don't deserve to be listen to. You deserve every little bit of pettiness and disdain...times a hundred.

P.S. They do mention the Glassdoor incident...for half a paragraph.

"ACTUAL LIVING PEOPLE got hurt? Eh...BU WHAT ABOUT MY EGO?!"

[0shewrites0]

about me |

Hi, I’m Rae! This blog is all about LITG (and maybe a little TVD & RC sometimes too) 🤍

ao3 name |

SweetlikeCinnam0n

The reason behind that?

fav islanders of seasons 1-8 |

🦋 S1// Levi, Tim & Rohan

🦋 S2// Lucas, Kassam, Carl & Gary

🦋 S3// Seb, Harry & Ciaran

🦋 S4// Will, Oliver & Youcef

🦋 S6// Lewie, Toby

🦋 S7// Alex, Joyo

🦋 S8// Jin, Kyle

chat to your fav LI’s | overview

💬 There are Bobby, Bruno, Gary, Lucas, Will, Oliver and many more (to come)!

💬 a little tutorial on how it works

fanfics | LITG

📝 Lucas x Sienna - I’m Yours (completed)

📝 Kassam x Aaliyah - Seamless (completed)

📝 Eddie x Liv - if not today, maybe tomorrow (HIATUS)

📝 Lucas x MC - A Fine Line Between Hate And Love (one shot about Elisa entering the Villa on Day 20)

📝 Lucas x MC/Lucas x Blake - crossroads (completed)

📝 Toby x MC - It was meant to be you (s6 finale rewrite / one shot)

📝 Alex x MC - liquid gold (s7 villa fic, ongoing)

📝 Alex x MC - a thief and a liar (s7 Christmas AU two chapter fic)

📝 Jin x MC - rainbow (s8 one shot, part I of Tempting Fate, vol I)

📝 Jin x MC - cotton candy clouds (s8 one shot, part II of Tempting Fate, vol I)

fanfics | RC

📝 Malbonte x MC (HS/HS2) - Dead of Night (ongoing)

📝 Amen x Evthys (SCN) - his neferut (one shot)

prompts |

🍀 All Your Lies - prompt: Lie Detector Test || Kassam x Aaliyah

🍀 Too Many Maybe’s - prompt: the recoupling where Eddie doesn’t want to waste his time with MC 😭 || Eddie x MC

🍀 A Bite Of Your Love - prompt: monthly prompt competition on r/LITGFanFiction on Reddit || Youcef x MC

🍀 One More Chance - prompt: the one that got away / returning!Lucas (part of the litg s2 tumblr gift exchange) || Lucas x MC

🍀 The Heart Wants What It Wants - prompt: rewriting Operation Nope || Gary x MC

🍀 Of moss irises and monochrome worlds - prompt: all things Christmas || Ciaran x MC (part of the litg discord Christmas gift exchange)

🍀 Like salt and pepper - prompt: friends to lovers || Tai x MC (part of the monthly prompt competition on Reddit r/LITGFanFiction)

🍀 burgundy in my veins - prompt: mermaid AU / soulmates || Rohan x MC (part of the litgff discord trope roulette)

🍀 the ghost of you - prompt: write something for Oliver (anon ask) || Oliver x MC (READ THE TAGS ON AO3!!)

asks & requests |

📩 What life with Kassam would look like

📩 Song lyrics/quotes that remind me of I’m Yours and Seamless

📩 Would Will (s4) and Lucas get along?

📩 Does Lucas deserve to be cheated on by MC with r!Henrik?

📩 Suresh & Hazeem’s last names

📩 Lucas dating an insecure girl - what would that look like?

📩 Yandere Lucas ??

📩 Henrik as the best man at Lucas’s wedding 🥹

📩 what’s up with Lucas’s disaster recoupling speech and is he worse than Rahim?

📩 Would Lucas date someone who’s into pastel goth aesthetic?

📩 Lucas x MC diagnosed with ADHD

📩 yandere!Lucas x MC

📩 yandere!Klaus Mikaelson x human fem reader hc’s

📩 yandere!Klaus Mikaelson x reader pregnant w/ Hope

📩 21st century non-hybrid yandere!Klaus Mikaelson

📩 request: Tai x MC - Like salt and pepper

📩 request: Oliver x MC - the ghost of you

more fun stuff |

✨ Kassam’s moodboard & face claim

✨ Aaliyah’s moodboard

✨ Aaliyah & Kassam - art

✨ I’m Yours moodboard (Lucas x Sienna)

✨ theory: Why Lucas brings back Blake

✨ moodboard: crossroads (Raven)

✨ Lucas’s 🌶️ scenes

✨ Lucas being his protective self 🥺

✨ moodboard: Eddie Harris

✨ moodboard: Olivia Machado (if not today, maybe tomorrow)

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

After 4 years, 2 months and I do not know how many days of writing, editing and re-editing, revamping, and checking for mistakes. I finish the one-shot that I want to finish so badly.

Buster Shot, a story mainly focus on the relationship between the wizard, Janaya and his guitar-playing imagomancer godsister, Corral Lynn-Foster, and how Corral play a role in some of the people from Townsville in Janaya’s life. Along the way, two more certain people Janaya and Corral known from Echo Creek are mentioned in the story.

Warning: The present in the story is before summer break ever started, so it this one-shot is a prequel to the main storyline, The Neighbours. However, the epilogue contain major spoilers of after Volume 1 of Neighbours. Please be advised.

Sienna Grey (AJ x Mee Mee), Candy Nguyen (Omi x OC), Sunny & Bryce Langston (Hugh Langston x Bubbles Utonium), and Naseem Chan (Dennis Chan x Sanjay) [all mentioned] belong to @cooltmoney95

Nebula Butterfly Lucitor (Tom Lucitor x Star Butterfly), Antoine Diaz (Kelly x Marco Diaz), Tamara Jackson (Punching Judy x Rudolph Jackson), Raymond Pedrosa (Ashley/Katnappé x Raimudo Pedrosa), Ethan Corduroy (Wendy Corduroy x Eddie Brock), Kristen and Wendy Beatles (Kuki Sanban x Wally Beatles), and Bradley McPherson (Buttercup Utonium x Dexter) [all mentioned, except for Nebula and Antoine] belong to @ej-cappy-universe

Corral Lynn-Foster (Jackie Lynn-Thomas x Frankie Foster) and Winnie Beatles (Kuki Sanban x Wally Beatles - mentioned) belong to @beanielune

Janaya A. Bloodworth-Thomason (Kyle Bloodworth-Thomason x Janna Ordonia), Holly Test (Brain Freezer x Mary Test - mentioned), Beppi Creecher (Creepie Creecher x Tarantula Boy), Mirage B. Fagry (Patrick Fagry x Stocking Anarchy), Clarence King (son of Mouscedes King x OC), and Niko Corduroy (Ethan’s little sister) belong to me

Corey Junior (Jackie Lynn-Thomas x Corey Griffin) and Luna (Oskar Greason x Yumi Yoshimura) belong to @coreyriffinbeastxmode

[stranger-masters]

It's A Date! (G.L.W)

OC Name: Sienna Dyer.

Sister: Natalia (Nancy Wheeler).

Best Friend: All, but mostly Gwydion Lashlee-Walton (Gareth from Hellfire Club).  Summary: In practicing for his role, Gwydion has to play the drums. Sienna wants to learn, so he teaches her. Gwydion X OC.  Tags: Fluff, romance, cute awkward Gwydion, adorable Gwydion, drumming, flirting.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

      Sienna Dyer, Natalia's little sister, loved her older sister's friends, and they loved her. She'd grown close to all of them as Nat's character progressed in the show, and she thought, easily, that her best friend, before Season 4, was Noah and Millie. They still were, but for some reason, Sienna and Gwydion Lashlee-Walton, AKA Gareth Emerson, were closer now. 

Over time, she realized she was in love with him. 

      Apparently, it was obvious to a few people: Natalia and Maya, Finn, both Joes, Gaten, and Sadie and Noah and Millie. Gwydion and Sienna didn't see it. If they did, they didn't speak about it. She was nervous and shy, and he wasn't wanting to ruin what they already had. 

"Gwydion!" Sienna sang, hugging the boy as he sat at the fake Hellfire table during a break in scenes. Last year, Sienna got cast as Eddie's "estranged sister," Hannah. "Hi." Gwydion laughed, hugging her awkwardly, as he had to reach up instead of around. He grinned, big and dopey, and Gaten snorted, making Finn smirk. "What?" Gwydion and Sienna tilted their heads, and Caleb shook his head, "Wow."       As the break ended, Sienna was aware of Gwydion, like she always was, and thought, I'm gonna do it, right after this scene pack. She stayed in character very well for being distracted, trying to figure out what to say. When the scene pack ended, she walked up to Gwydion, talking to Gaten and Finn. "Can I talk to you?" She blurted, and Gwydion blinked. "Okay." He didn't ask anything as she led him a little ways away. "So...we're friends, right?" She started, and Gwydion nodded. "Yeah, why?"  "I like you." She said, avoiding his gaze. "I have for a long time. Like, I'm In Love with you," She whispered, making emphasis on "in love." She didn't know how much courage she had left, so she needed to hurry. "I wanna know if you feel the same, and if you do, cool. If not, I'm sorry for bothering--" He swept forwards, kissing her, and she shut up.  "YES!" They heard Gaten shout. "THEY DID IT!" "Hell yeah!" Finn yelled.  Gwydion and Sienna laughed as they pulled away. "Fan club much?" Gwydion pretended to glare, then turned to Sienna. "If it's okay with you, I wanna take you out to a movie." "When?" Sienna asked breathlessly.  "Tomorrow night?" She smirked, kissing him shortly. "It's a date!"

[oneforthemunny]

this has been on my mind forever but would you ever write a blurb about rockstar!ed and nb set in 2024? like the girls are all grown (maybe sephy and kensie have babies themselves?!) and it’s them all back home for someone’s birthday or an anniversary or something and nb and ed are just as in love as the day they got together? LOVE U AND UR BRAIN EVIE X

i think if my math is correct, this would be their first year as true empty nesters?? like every kid is over 18??

i could see them all coming together for mothers day or even easter. even if they don't celebrate it, they always go to malibu or just home bc that's what nb did growing up, just to be together.

it's planned so everyone can be there. you know eddie and nb go all out, especially bc they really miss the girls.

persephone i could see maybe having a baby or one on the way. definitely married and happy, successful in running her own businesses with nb. she sees them the most.

kensington... like i don't know, i feel like she's still kinda insane and she'd def not have a kid. idk why i could see her just rolling up and announcing she's dating someone completely off the wall like pete davidson or something.

which you know vega exploits. she definitely makes a tiktok about it lol. she thinks it's hilarious and that's how the news breaks. i think vega would still live in la but in the downtown scene of la bc she's living it up as a true nepo baby lol.

the twins, i feel like sienna travels a lot. like genuinely does not stay in one place very long at all. she maybe has an apartment in west hollywood but she loves to travel.

sicily just feels so new york to me. i think she'd be big into the fashion scene, or just enjoys new york in general. either way, she'd come home.

i also feel like zahra would enjoy new york too, more of the music side of it. she kinda floats back wherever and spends time here and there.

they all visit individually, some more than others, but it would be one time when they'd all be together. eddie would proudly show off his garden, cuts bouquets for them. they'd definitely fight, bicker like before, but it's calming in a way. soothing just to have them all together.

i honestly am not sure, it's hard for me to think of the dynamic of them a lot older, but i feel like it'd be very content and peaceful. what both rockstar!eddie and nb would both want and they finally have.

[daisyjoners]

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 + jasper&aspen

@moonchlvd​.

ask meme: put ‘shiplist’ in my ask and i will post 1-3 songs that remind me of our muses/ship.

desumano não poder usar taylor swift nos nossos plots mas infelizmente tristeza faz parte dessa vida, então bora lá:

don't make it harder on me (chloe x halle): eu tinha deixado essa meio por cima outro dia que essa música encaixa com eles mas hehe é totalmente a aspen com o jasper não largando o osso (não largue) perto dela enquanto ela tá tentando organizar o casamento com o homem mais chato do mundo!!!!!!!!!! simplesmente: “i need you to stop lookin' at me like that, we are just friends now, you already had your chance” E “if you smile at me again i may do somethin' stupid” (spoiler, foi e fez) E “so you need to stop bein' so nice to me ‘cause a part of me has moved on but a part of me is so weak”.

happy whitout me (chloe x halle feat joey bada$$): novamente as gatas aqui pq sim e realmente encaixa hihi, mas aí serve tanto pra ele com o markinhos da galera quanto ela com a olivia (tortura não é entretenimento). em resumo, a música é sobre a pessoa ficar lembrando do relacionamento que não tem mais com alguém que já tá com outra e ficar de coração partido com isso rsrs. sabe: “and i remember you would hold my hand and call me baby while we dancing in the parking lot so slow, bittersweet, those memories when i see you with her now” E “and it breaks my heart to see you happy without me” E “i wish the feelings would just go away, i still be thinkin' 'bout you to this day”.

if i could change your mind (haim): essa aqui é mais o lado do nosso amado nerdola, e dessa vez eu vou só passar aqui as partezinhas pq acho que falam melhor: “back when you were mine, i was too young to know you were the one to find” (otário) E “if i could change your mind, i would hit the ground running, it took time to realize and i never saw it coming” E “now, i won't go, i won't run away this time, you're all i want to know” E “if i could change your mind, i could make you mine, make you mine”.

silver springs (fleetwood mac): a vez da aspen de novo porque ela merece depois do jasper ter sido um ovo mole com ela vinte anos (um eddie) atrás, embora aqui não seja realmente toda a música (apesar da vibe contar), e mais um trecho específico: “time cast a spell on you but you won't forget me, i know i could have loved you but you would not let me”.

what could have been love (aerosmith): como eu não sou a sienna pra passar o pano total pro jasper no presente momento, vou dizer que é bem feito estar encaixando outra vez em música de sofrimento aqui rs. como podemos ver: “iwake up and wonder how everything went wrong, am I the one to blame?” E “close my eyes and see you lying in my bed, and i’m still dreaming of that day” E “ what could have been love should have been the only thing that was ever meant to be, didn't know, couldn't see what was right in front of me” E “and now that i'm alone all I have is emptiness that comes from being free” (esse último trecho em específico hihi) E “an old friend told me that you found somebody new, oh, you're finally moving on, you think that i'd be over you after all these years, yeah, but time has proved me wrong, cause I'm still holding on”.

[havecourage-darling]

Right Side Up // 1

Princess Peach Series

|| Masterlist || AO3 || Chapter two: If I only could >>

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Female Henderson!Reader

wc: ~5.8k

warnings: cursing, mild smut, S4 spoilers, angst with a happy ending

A/N: Hello everyone! So, here she iiiiis - I've had a lot of people ask if I'd be writing a S4 follow along and ta-da! (There should be 6 chapters total.) I'm keeping it in the Princess Peach world, meaning the reader is a Henderson. If you have not read any of the other installments in this series, I personally think you'd still enjoy this but you might be a little confused. Being totally up front, this is absolutely a fix-it fic, Eddie did not die and I have no idea what you're talking about canon, okay cool. Now that we're all on the same paaage...

Chapter One: If I only could

“Are you the prettiest baby in the whole world?” You asked the wide brown-eyed stare focused on you. “Who’s the bestest boy? Oh, yes, it’s you!”

“If you keep that up, I’m going to get jealous,” Eddie said from his trailer door. You ignored him and Frank – Eddie’s neighbor’s dog who stayed over occasionally – went belly up. His muzzle was now littered with white hair but his waggling tail and endearingly excited pants made your heart melt.

“Oh, you’re so handsome, what a good boy,” you cooed, fingers scratching at his pink stomach. One of his little legs twitched happily as your nails caught the right spot.

Eddie’s mouth twisted into something achingly familiar and his eyes glinted. “That’s what you say to me when you lick my-”

“Edward!”

A flash of your events this morning crossed your mind and Eddie smirked. “And I’m the pervert?” He said knowingly.

You shot him a glare, one that he knew you meant: behave.

Eddie’s laughter floated over to you and you rolled your eyes, pulling Frank into your lap. You laid down, sprawled onto a blanket that you kept in Eddie’s van, and bathed in the first warm sunny day in a while. The wind still had a bite to it at night but the afternoon sun was just enough to lull you into a nap.

“So,” Eddie said, settling down next to you, with two glasses of water. You gratefully took one and drank half in one go. “Spring break is soon.”

And it couldn’t come soon enough. You’d been swamped with papers and last-minute homework assignments for the entire week. Submitting your last paper tonight would be the last thing you’d have to do before being blissfully worry free for the entire week to come.

“Thank God,” you muttered, “I don’t want to look at a goddamn economics book again.”

No matter how much Sienna promised you that you’d eventually get it – econ was something dragged up from the seventh layer of hell.

“Spring break is only a week sweetheart. You’ve still got half a semester to go.”

“Never. Again,” you said, pushing out your bottom lip. As predicted, Eddie swooped in and kissed you. Smiling into it, he kissed you once more before leaning back. His hand came down to rub Frank’s velvety ear.

“So, how about we go somewhere for our anniversary?”

“This far in advance?” You asked, looking up at him and shrugging. “I guess we could make reservations for September now.”

“What?” Eddie blinked at you, confused. “Our six-month anniversary, Peach.”

The warm breeze hit the trees behind you, the leaves creating a glittering cascade of sunbeams as they shook. Eddie’s hair fluttered over his shoulders and you got the urge to curl a finger around a strand.

“Next week?” You asked, attention coming back to him. “Do you want to do something special?”

“Well, you just seem so excited,” Eddie said, pretending to be hurt.

Laughing, you leaned forward to kiss his cheek in mock apology. “I’m so sorry, wonderful boyfriend of mine, of course I’d like to do something with you.”

“That sounded better but you could still work on the delivery,” Eddie retorted, “it sounded a little sarcastic.”

Raising a brow, Eddie tried to fight his smile but you saw it anyway. “What are we doing?”

“More like where are we going?”

Perking up, you placed Frank onto the ground between you and crossed your legs. “Eddie.”

“Princess,” he said, his goddamn smug smile making your stomach flip in excitement.

Plucking some of the blades of grass from the ground you chucked them at him. “Where are we going?”

Eddie shot you a look as he pulled them out of his hair. “Gareth’s uncle has a cabin in the woods a few towns over, by that big lake,” Eddie snapped his fingers as if he’d forgotten the name.

“Lake Monroe?” You squeaked, having always wanted to go there. Nancy and Mike had gone like four summers ago and it was beautiful. She swore you’d love it, the hiking trails looked amazing.

“That’s the one,” Eddie smiled at your excited bounces, “his uncle is loaded and has some big house by the lake. It’s got like three floors and a pool.”

Holy shit, you don’t think you’d ever been in a house that big.

“Eddie, don’t mess with me,” you said, pressing your hands together.

“I would never sweetheart,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. “Gareth says he’s in Europe or something for work. I already talked to Keith and for a very humble exchange he agreed to give you Sunday through Thursday off.”

What? Eddie had talked to Keith for you? Shit – sometimes even you were afraid of Keith and you were probably his favorite. Well…his least hated.

“You braved Keith for me?” You asked, touched.

Eddie snorted. “Once I showed him how much I was willing to bargain for, he accepted pretty easily,” he said.

“Still,” you insisted, he’d been planning this for some time if everything seemed set in stone. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“What can I say?” Eddie said, buffing his nails and grinning at you. “I’ll do anything for my warrior princess.”

“My hero,” you swooned, throwing your arms around him and squeaking when he fell onto his back, “if this is what you’re planning for six months, what’s a year going to look like?”

“I’ll get you a flight to the moon,” Eddie joked. “Fleetwood Mac will be there with some pizza ready for a private concert.”

“Would we be alone?” You asked, realizing you weren’t sure if any of your friends were invited.

“On the moon? I’d hope so.”

You smacked his shoulder. “At the lake, dork.”

Eddie’s brows wiggled. “Can’t wait to have your way with me huh? Don’t worry, the house is on directly on the lake and the nearest neighbors are like three miles down the road. You can scream all you want and no one will hear us,” he said, nipping at the underside of your jaw.

“That’s not what I meant,” you said, pinching his side.

He jumped and shot you a glare. “Why is it always violence with you?”

“You love it,” you said, squeezing his shoulder three times – the words left unsaid. Eddie’s playful glare softened into something familiar, something he’d shown you since the first month you’d started dating. Sometimes you thought you’d explode with how much you loved him. The way your heart sped up when you were with him was ridiculous and probably unhealthy.

Eddie’s eyes trailed down your face, his hand coming up from your waist to cradle your cheek. His thumb brushed against your bottom lip and you nipped at the pad. His eyes darkened and you saw the words reflected back at you. Heart singing, you let him pull you down into a slow kiss.

“Yeah,” he said, lips tracing what he couldn’t say onto your skin, “I do.”

This was the first and last time you offered to swap early morning shifts with Keith. You groaned as you started sorting through the returns.

“Remind me why we said yes to a Thursday morning shift?” You called out to Steve, who was half asleep next to the computer.

Well, you knew Keith had you where he wanted you – at his beck and call until your last shift on Saturday. He’d been sure to let you know he’d graciously allowed the time off on short notice because of your strong work ethic. Robin had laughed so hard he’d heard from his office.

“Because we’re money hungry, Keith sucks, and Robin has school,” he groaned, rubbing sleep from one of his eyes. “I will give you all the money from my next paycheck if you go across the street and get us coffees.”

You snorted so hard you almost choked. “Tough sell Harrington. You’re closer to the door.”

“You’re the better person,” Steve huffed.

“I am,” you agreed, laughing when he shot you a look. “Uh, Steve?”

“What?” He said, voice muffled as he hid his face into his elbow.

“Is that cheerleader walking towards us Chrissy Cunningham or am I hallucinating without the caffeine in my bloodstream?”

Steve sat up, squinted, and turned towards the windows. “Oh shit, it is.”

“Fuck, do you see Carver around? He’s just like fucking Tommy,” you hissed, hating the little spark of panic you felt in your stomach. It was too early to start a fight.

“No, she’s alone, oh shit – she’s really coming this way,” Steve said scrambling up and trying to look like you both weren’t just gawking at her.

The bell above the door rang as she pushed it open, a bright smile erupting on her face. Her eyes were wide and you couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“Hi,” you said stupidly.

“Hi! Good morning!” She grinned, waving at a stunned Steve. You kicked him under the counter and he grunted.

“Hey,” he said. You shot him a look – smooth, Harrington.

“Can I help you find something?” You asked, a little thrown by her sunshine energy. Something…felt off about her. Trying your best to look nonchalant, you took in her jittering leg and wringing hands.

Chrissy’s face turned a fascinating beet red and you glanced at Steve who shrugged. “Um, I was actually looking for Eddie,” she mumbled, eyes widening even further.

“Oh,” you blinked, “well, um, he’s not here? He’s probably just waking up to be honest. He doesn’t really hang around here during the mornings. I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon.”

Her eyes shifted and you felt a surge of possessiveness.

“He’s my boyfriend so, if you’re here to set up some prank I can assure you that I won’t take kindly to it. I’m not someone you want to piss off either.” You felt Steve come up behind you, his foot nudging yours.

Chrissy’s eyes jerked up to yours and she shook her head earnestly. “I wouldn’t do that, I swear!” She turned her eyes to Steve and he nudged you again. “Really, I promise.”

And for some reason – you believed her.

“Oh, well, he’s um…not here,” you finished lamely. Chrissy scuffed her shoe on the carpet and you winced as an awkward silence settled. Steve cleared his throat after a beat and Chrissy jumped as if she’d been poked. Why did she look so spooked? You glanced at the doors, looking for anyone waiting for her. If you hadn’t been so thrown off, you’d say she looked…scared.

Her eyes darted around the store nervously. “He talks about you a lot, you know? I’ve seen you at the movies with him. You both make a cute couple,” she said, expression shifting to something soft.

“Oh,” you said, scratching at the back of your neck, “thank you.” What the hell did you say to something like that?

She leaned in closely, eyes anxiously on Steve. “I’m, um, looking to buy,” she whispered. You bit back a laugh, not wanting to come off rude but you doubted that Chrissy knew how to even roll a joint. Shit, you barely knew how to roll one.

“I don’t help Eddie out with that side of his business,” you said and you didn’t. Eddie was trying to save up as much as he could for a new apartment, one you had an inkling he was going to ask you to move into eventually. Which, was probably why he was taking so long to save.

You knew he felt embarrassed at being known as the local drug dealer no matter how many times you assured him otherwise. He was waiting for graduation to find a better job - you thought he’d like the record store downtown. Either way, Eddie rarely let you come with him to deliver and even less to stock up again.

“He actually had a gig a town over so that’s probably why you haven’t seen him,” you said. “I’ll tell him to keep an eye out for you. He’ll bring you what he has tomorrow.”

“Thank you so much,” she said, looking desperate and relieved. With another curious glance, you realized that she actually screamed of exhaustion, like she hadn’t slept in weeks.  

“Are you okay?” You asked her, throwing it out there. Chrissy looked startled and she, once again, looked nervously around the store.

“Yeah, totally, I just really need something,” she said, cheeks pink. “Thank you for helping.”

Before you could say anything else, she all but ran out the doors.

“Well, that was weird,” you said after a beat of silence.

Steve laughed, dropping his head back into his arms. “Everyone gets stressed in the last final months before graduation,” he said, eyes closing, “you almost choked me out when I spilled my soda over your textbook.”

“I had a final the next day!”

“I barely got the cover wet!” He retorted.

You rolled your eyes and chucked a paperclip at his head. “The cover is important too!”

The man in question barged in a few hours later, five minutes before your shift ended.

“Lady Henderson,” he called out, smile wide and eyes bright. You grinned, shifting your body towards him and taking in his outfit. He’d worn his favorite black Metallica t-shirt – the one with the tear in the collar - and your smile widened when the memory of Eddie ripping it as he tore it off you a few weeks ago flashed across your memory.

The mischievous glint in his eyes as he kissed your cheek said he knew what you were thinking of.

“Hello,” you said, grabbing his chin and kissing him properly. He made a happy noise that you wanted to sink into and almost jumped when Steve’s groan echoed in the empty store.

“Every time! Do you need to rub salt into the wound guys?” Steve said, huffing. He’d been conned by Robin into staying with her until closing and was cranky about it. Robin, however, looked like she’d won a gold medal.

“Hey Munson,” Robin said, coming out the back with a stack of tapes.

“Lady Buckley,” he greeted, bowing.

Without preamble, you’d grabbed your bag and sweater, already ducking under the counter. “See you guys on Saturday!” You called out, not having a shift tomorrow since you normally had class.

This time, however, Eddie wanted to take you to your favorite Italian restaurant two towns over to celebrate the beginning of spring break and your road trip up. He’d made the reservations earlier yesterday and you could practically taste the garlic bread already.

Intertwining his fingers with yours, Eddie brought your hand up to his lips. “I missed you,” he said.

“I missed you too,” you said, pushing the door open and pulling him towards his van. “Did you tell Wayne about our trip?”

“Yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes and flushing a little. “He loaned me his duffel to take with me.”

“That’s nice?” You said, not sure why he was turning red.

“He’d packed about a month’s worth of condoms,” Eddie said, huffing.

You froze, stopping in front of the van. His eyes were firmly on the door in front of you and you threw your head back in laughter.

“I don’t know why you find this so funny. It’s weird when your family knows you’ve having sex,” Eddie grumbled, opening your door for you and herding you in. You were still chuckling when he hopped in on the other side. “Princess, please.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, hiding behind your hand. “It’s just – so funny how much you hate it.”

“I’m glad my pain brings you pleasure,” he said, smiling. Eddie threw the van into reverse and pulled out the parking lot. The radio blared to life, surprising you, and you turned the volume down a little.

“You know, considering how much you can’t keep it in your pants we’ll probably go through them before we’re back,” you said, batting your eyelashes at him, never one to skip the chance to tease him, “especially considering the bathing suit I’m bringing with me.”

Eddie groaned and you knew that he was picturing you in the suit you’d shown him earlier in the week.

“I remember being worried that if I didn’t tie it hard enough the top slips off,” you said, tapping your chin, “since we’ll be alone it doesn’t seem like that’ll be problem. Right, sweetheart?”

“Princess, I’m driving,” he said, shifting himself.

“You’re too easy,” you smiled, tucking a leg under you.

Shooting you a glare, he sighed. “What movie did you get for us this time?” He asked, voice still a little strained.

“Since your pick last week was horrible, I went for a classic.”

“Not Splash again,” Eddie sighed.

“Hey, it’s dealer’s choice – no complaining! I sat through a Nightmare on Elm Street for you.”

“At least let me grab some beer so I can get through it,” he said.

“Deal,” you said, bumping his fist.

After a pitstop for beer and pizza, you were snuggled into the sofa in a pair of shorts and Eddie’s Hellfire t-shirt within the hour. Pressing play, you watched as Tom Hanks followed Daryl Hannah.

“You know, The Breakfast Club wasn’t as bad as this – and that’s saying something,” Eddie complained, dropping into the couch next to you.

“Ah, ah, no commentary please. Besides, you like romantic comedies!” You said as Eddie pulled your legs onto his lap.

Eddie shot you a look. “I am a man of many genres-” you snorted and he ignored you, “- I simply don’t like this one.”

“Well tough luck,” you said, sinking further into the cushions. You could feel Eddie’s eyes on you as Daryl observed the televisions curiously. “You’re not watching the movie.”

“You’re more interesting,” he said, “did you know that you mouth along to some of the lines?”

“I do not,” you huffed, poking him with your foot. His hand caught your ankle, his fingers dancing across the delicate skin making you tense up. “I know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he said, innocently glancing up at you.

Yeah, okay, you snorted. “We’re not even halfway through the movie,” you groaned. Eddie’s hand drifted higher towards your bare thigh. “Eddie.”

“Hmm?” He said, pressing a kiss to your knee. A jolt of electricity that always hit you whenever Eddie was around shot through you.

You resisted for a few more minutes, his lips traveling up to your shoulder. While your attention had been slipping, you’d only closed your eyes when he bit down onto the sensitive patch of skin at the base of your neck. “I hate you,” you breathed, your voice hitching when he nudged you onto your back.

“Sure seems like it,” he teased, hair curtaining around you. Legs falling open, as if by habit, Eddie grinned as he settled between them. “Absolutely loathe me, do you?”

“You’re unbearable, you know that? Next week I’m seducing you two seconds into your movie.”

Eddie chuckled into your skin, the rumble of his chest travelling into your own. “Feel free to feel me up whenever you want, princess. I promise you; I won’t fight it.”

“Shut up,” you said, patience snapping. Lifting your hips to press against his, he hissed at the pressure. Before he could say something smug and full of himself, you fisted his hair and brought him down to you. Lips clashing together, you wrapped your legs around his hips and kept him close. Swallowing one of his groans, you tugged on his hair lightly and Eddie froze.

“I feel like the situation has managed to run away from me,” he panted, jumping when you palmed him through his pajamas. “Sweetheart, if you keep doing that this is going to end before the fun really begins.”

Huffing a laugh, you let your hand drift up higher to his side and Eddie’s eyes screwed shut as you bit down onto his neck. “Your sorcery won’t get the best of me,” he said shakily.

“Won’t it?” You smirked, lapping at bite. With a grunt, Eddie managed to capture both your wrists and press them above your head. He grinned, stupidly excited to have caught you off guard, and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. Keeping your arms up, despite his loose hold, you let him take the upper hand.

Daryl, on the television, cried and you caught a flash of blonde that reminded you of something.

"Oh,” you said, Chrissy’s face swimming to the front of your mind. “Cunningham was looking for you." You squirmed as he sucked what would no doubt be a very visible hickey onto your neck.

“Who?” Eddie asked, uninterested, as he focused on nipping your skin. He dropped your wrists to ruck your shirt up above your chest. His hand quickly unhooked your bra, pulling it up, and his warm hand had your breath hitching as he trailed light touches across your bare skin.

“Cheerleader,” you breathed when he licked at the valley between your breasts, hands kneading your skin.

“There’s a lot of them.”

You sighed as his teeth scraped across a particularly sensitive spot. “Blonde, short, bubbly.”

Eddie huffed, breath fanning over your skin and your skin erupted in goosebumps. “Princess, that’s half the squad.”

You sighed, pulling back from his grasp. “She’s Jason’s girlfriend? I think.”

“Sure?” He said, "I'm trying to seduce you over here and you're talking about cheerleaders."

“Don't worry sweetheart, Jason's not my type,” you joked.

Eddie nipped at the swell of your breast in retaliation. "Please don't say another dude's name while we're naked together. I'm sensitive."

"Bossy, bossy," you said, shoving him over so that you were on top. Eddie's arms came to rest behind the back of his head and he grinned at the view. You trailed a hand down his chest, stilling above his buckle. "Look, just..."

Sensing your shifting mood, he propped himself up on his arms and ducked to catch your eyes. "What? What's wrong?"

“She looked desperate, scared? I don't know," you said, trying to remember her expression. "Just - could you make sure she is…okay? Before selling her anything.”

“Yeah, I’ll take a look,” he assured you, "don't worry."

“Yeah? Thank you," you kissed him, relishing in his immediate reciprocation.

“Can I go back to what I was doing now?” He asked, eyes dropping back to your chest.

Pretending to consider the situation for a beat, you nodded. “Proceed.” Without waiting, you laughed when he surged up and suctioned himself to you.

“Hold on, let me take this off,” you said, starting to pull his shirt over your head.

Eddie’s hand on yours made you go still. “Wait, can you keep it on?” He asked, pupils blown.

You glanced down at his club t-shirt and grinned. “You want to remember this every time you wear it, don’t you?”

“Am I that easy to read?” He asked, shameless.

Kissing him deeply, you smiled into it. “To me? Yeah.” You pulled your bra out from the sleeves and tossed it onto the floor.  

Eddie grinned, ecstatic at your answer, and leaned over the back of the couch to break open the new box of condoms. You let out a surprised burst of laughter and Eddie quirked his brow. “Wanna share with the class?”

“Nothing, just that – Wayne’s gift is being useful already.”

He froze. “Henderson, definitely don’t mention my uncle’s name when I’ve got a condom in my hand,” he groaned, shaking his head, “that’s worse than the first one.”

“Sorry, sorry,” you laughed, not sounding even remotely sorry. Eddie growled, flipping you back over. Out of breath, and astounded that neither of you had tumbled off the sofa, you caught sight of the time. “Hey, it’s officially Friday.”

“Two more days until we’re on the road,” he said, kissing you, “and out of this fucking cursed town, even if it’s just for five days.”

“Gosh,” you said, voice bright, “I wonder what we’ll do for five days? All alone…in a cabin in the woods…”

“I’m sure we’ll entertain ourselves somehow,” Eddie said, hands inching towards the seam between your thighs.

You gasped, heart fluttering when he smiled. “I’m sure we will.”

“Are you wearing the shirt I had on last night?” You asked, squinting against the sun streaming into his trailer and sipped your coffee.

Eddie glanced down at his chest and smiled. “Guess I am.” He flipped the pancake and slid it onto your overflowing plate. Sleep clung to both of you, making everything fuzzy.

“Why do I feel like that wasn’t an accident?” You asked, drowning your fluffy pile in syrup. “At least wash it first.”

“I resent the implication,” he said, grasping at his imaginary pearls. “How dare you even imply that-”

“-I mean it’s a miracle if that didn’t get dirty after what you did.”

“We did, you mean?” He said, waggling his brows. “I surprise even myself sometimes.”

“Oh, so humble too,” you grinned, giving him a sugary kiss when he bent over your shoulder for one.

“You’re the one who screamed so loud I thought Max’s mom was going to come over and ask if we were okay,” he teased, “was that a new record?”

“Shut up,” you grumbled, hiding your smile behind your mug. You hadn’t been able to walk straight last night and Eddie was being unbearable about it.

Eddie smirked, humming as he placed the pan in the sink. He sank into the seat next to you, curling his ankle around yours. The vinyl table rocked a little when either of you placed your elbows onto it and the sounds of the trailer park waking up snuck its way into your peaceful quiet but to you, these mornings were perfect.

“Hey,” you said, curving your fingers over his wrist. “Do you mind dropping me off before you go in?” You usually slept in and drove yourself home on movie nights.

“Sure,” he said, chewing on a bite, “I can pick you up at eight? The campaign should be done by six. That way we’ll have enough time to make it to the restaurant.”

“I got a new outfit for tonight,” you said, licking a drop of syrup that had trailed down to your wrist, feeling his eyes on you,“I think you’ll like it.”

“Yeah?” Eddie’s eyes darkened and you smirked. “What color is it? How short?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” you said, licking the tip of your fork clean.

Without much warning, Eddie grabbed your wrist and dragged you towards his room. You stumbled, taken by surprise, hand reaching for your half-full mug. “Eddie, wait – my coffee’s going to get cold!”

“I’ll brew you a new pot,” he said, pushing you down onto the bed. You bounced once before you watched him rip his pajamas off. “We’ve got thirty minutes before we have to get out of here. Good news? I’m only half dressed.”

“Oh, but I’m the insatiable one,” you snorted, already wiggling out of your shorts.

“It’s that spell of yours,” he said, chasing your lips, “it’s too strong, warrior princess.”

Laughing, you gave into his nudging and wrapped your legs around his waist. “It won’t fall or falter, you know. I make sure it’s ready to weather whatever comes. You’re mine, remember?”

A genuine, small, smile grew on Eddie’s face, the heat in his eyes softening to something deeper – something dear to you.

“Yeah, I remember.”

It had felt like Eddie had just dropped you off home when the phone rang. Sprawled on your bed, you groaned. Crawling towards your night stand, you barely managed to grab the receiver before it stopped ringing.

“Hello?” You huffed, a little out of breath.

“Mrs. Henderson?” A familiar stern voice called out.

You straightened, eyes widening. “Yes?” You said, clearing your throat to try and imitate your mother’s. “Who is calling?”

“We’re calling from Hawkins High. This is the front office and I’m calling because your son has requested he speak to you urgently.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Hello?”

“What the fuck?” You hissed. “A little warning would be nice. What’d you do this time?”

“Nothing!” He squeaked. “Please, please, please-”

You groaned. “No, Dustin, I had a long night and today’s the first day of spring break. I was going to nap. I haven’t slept more than three hours in a week.”

“Have I ever told you how you’re my favorite? Of all time?”

“Ugh, Dustin.”

“I swear, I’ll owe you for the rest of the year.”

“What? What do you want?”

“I forgot my midterm paper for English on my desk.”

“You want me to bring it to you?”

“Preferably within the next two hours. It’s my last class of the day and like worth half of my grade!”

“Dustin,” you whined, not wanting to move.

“Please?”

“Fine,” you hissed, knowing there’s no way you wouldn’t have done it anyway. “You owe me.”

“Holy shit, thank you!”

“Language!”

And that’s how you found yourself back at Hawkins Highschool, a visitor’s pass stuck to the front of Eddie’s hoodie – that you’d stolen – looking for your little brother like Gollum following the one ring.

“Jesus, where the fuck is he?” You grumbled, checking the time.

Lunch, you realized. Spinning on your heel, you made your way to the cafeteria. Right as you turned into the hallway, a familiar voice shouted your name.

“Buckley!” You grinned, throwing an arm around her. “Skipping out on lunch?”

“More like late to lunch,” she grumbled, wrapping her arm around your waist. “My calculus teacher gave me a few extra minutes on my midterm.”

“Aced it?”

“Listen, Cs get degrees,” Robin snorted, pushing the swinging doors open into the chaos. “What are you doing here? I thought you took the day off to catch up on sleep.”

“Dustin,” you sighed, “forgot his English paper. I’m thinking of making him cook me breakfast every morning until Christmas.”

“Oh, or do your laundry!”

You gave her a high-five. “I like how you think.”

“I’m gonna grab food – Dustybuns is with your boyfriend by the windows, see you tomorrow?” She said, squeezing your arm once before stumbling off towards the questionable food.

Glancing towards the tables on the left-hand side your eyes met Eddie’s. Confused, he straightened and lit up anyway. Looking to see what had caught his eye, Mike followed his stare. Smiling, he nudged Dustin who scrambled to his feet and jogged over to you.

“Oh my God, you’re the fucking best,” he said, snatching the folder from your hands. “I owe you my life.”

“I was thinking laundry for the rest of the year,” you said, wrapping your arm around his shoulders.

“What?” He screeched; gob smacked. “Don’t you think that’s a little far?”

You narrowed your eyes at him and he grumbled. Walking over towards their table, you were suddenly intercepted by a wall of muscle. Jason Carver’s patronizing eyes took you both in.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite Henderson siblings,” he sneered, quick hands snatching the folder in Dustin’s hands. Your brother squeaked, eyes widening and you sighed. Was there ever going to be an end to this?

Without hesitating, and with speed that would make Max proud, you grabbed the folder back from him. Pushing Dustin a step behind you, you took one towards Jason. “I know it’s been a while since you’ve last seen me, Carver, but if you need a refresher of that sucker punch I gave you before I graduated; I’m happy to do an encore.”

His eyes narrowed and he took another step forward, his chest almost brushing against you. “I don’t remember what you’re referring to, unfortunately,” he hissed.

Eyes flashing, you clenched your hand and Jason’s eyes shifted to them. “You should call your buddy Tommy, see how picking on me and my brother ended up for him,” you said loudly, his friends snorting behind him.

While you hated the confrontation and they’d both taken every opportunity to take jabs at you – you’d learned very early on that you could never roll over. With a swift move forward, Jason flinched minutely but it was enough for you to smirk.

“Catch you later Carver,” you said, grabbing Dustin’s sleeve, and hitting his shoulder with your own as you passed by.

“Holy shit,” Gareth said, eyes wide and excited. “You just almost punched Jason Carver.”

“She just got him to flinch,” Jeff hissed, glancing over at their table. “I forgot how badass you are.”

“I didn’t,” Eddie said, his arms coming to your waist and pulling you firmly into his lap. “Hey warrior princess.”

“Hi,” you said, kissing his temple.

“Ugh, guys, please,” Dustin groaned.

You glared at him and he shrunk. “I suggest you not say anything lest I shred that folder.”

“Holy shit, that was so hot,” Eddie said into your ear. You rolled your eyes and tugged on his shirt.

“I can’t believe you really wore that,” you said.

“It’s the last campaign,” Eddie said, grin mischievous, “what else would I wear?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Mike asked, eyes wandering over Eddie’s regular Hellfire shirt.

Eddie snorted and you sighed. “Nothing,” you said, shaking your head.

“Still smells like you,” he muttered. You reached beneath your leg to pinch his and he jumped. “Now, now, no need to resort to violence.”

“I’ll show you violence,” you grumbled, leaning into his warmth.

The bell rang, a five-minute warning, and like always, everyone in the cafeteria ignored it.

The basketball team stood, however, and a pair of blue eyes burned a hole into your back.

“I should’ve known, the town Freak and Henderson would shack up together,” Jason said as he passed towards the door. A few of his friends chuckled, shooting you looks.

Jesus Christ did these guys not have anything better to do? You’d forgotten how judgmental this town could be. “Do you just like the sound of your own voice?” You snapped back. “The adults are having a conversation sweetie; remedial math is that way.”

Gareth snorted, water coming out his nose and Jeff pounded his back, eyes riveted.

“You just let you girl handle your battles?” Jason called out, trying to have the last word.  

“Uh, yeah, I make a cute damsel in distress,” he said, batting his eyes and everyone at the table laughed. Jason and company scowled and disappeared through the doors.

“See you tonight?” Eddie asked, kissing the edge of your jaw tenderly. You pecked him once before standing up. “Can’t wait to see the infamous outfit.”

Grinning, you walked towards the side exit. “See you,” you said, and with the eyes you felt watching you why not take a page out of Eddie’s book? You blew him an exaggerated kiss, knowing he’d get your point. Eddie pretended to catch it and tumbled backwards off his seat with excessive force. The table laughed, Dustin pretending to gag, and Eddie dusted his shirt off as he stood. He pretended to put in his pocket and smiled at you.

“Behave, children are present,” Eddie said loudly, a fake bashful expression on his face.

You winked, grinning, and disappeared out door. Dinner tonight couldn’t come fast enough.