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astraariel · 9 months

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you belong with me

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: you're in love with Eddie, but he has eyes for Chrissy.

word count: 7.1K

warnings: none!

tags: based on "you belong with me" by taylor swift; no upside down!au; childhood friends to lovers; pining; not actually unrequited love; slight angst; fluff; chrissy's a sweetheart

author's note: for some reason my hyperfixation for eddie resurfaced so lol yeah this is what this is. excuse the grammar mistakes, enjoy ♡

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The trailer park was quiet except for the murmurs and soft noises that the residents made whilst partaking in their nighttime routines.

The soft ambiance provided comforting background noise as you made your way over to Eddie’s trailer, you were excited to see what movie he had picked from the Family Video tonight.

Eddie and you had made it a tradition to go over to each other’s houses and watch a shitty horror movie while eating pizza to critique said shitty movie.

This week it was Eddie’s turn to host.

You first met Eddie when you were eight. You had gotten home from school for the day, your mom inside fixing up dinner whilst you played with your jump rope outside. You remember the sun burning down on you but that didn’t deter you from continuing your time for outside playtime. You had been on your twentieth jump with your pink jump rope when a truck pulled up to the trailer beside yours. Your curious eight-year-old self’s attention diverted to the mysterious boy hopping out of the pickup truck. His denim overalls were loose on him, a strap was unbuttoned showcasing his white ribbed shirt underneath. His gaze met yours, and before you could look away, he offered you a crooked smile, wanna see a trick? You quickly nodded and watched him dash over toward you, his hand had retreated into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards.

Later at dinner, your mom mentioned how the new boy, Eddie, had moved in with his uncle and was going to be your new neighbor. “He’s a little older, but why don’t you play with him after school, honey?”

Funny to think years later that some silly card trick is what caused you two to be inseparable.

The door swings open before you even make it up the short steps. “You know I've told you multiple times you can just walk in, right? I never lock the door.”

Your eyes skim over Eddie’s bare arm that was extended, your eyes glance over his recent addition of tattoos that peeked from his sleeves. “Yeah, and I've told you multiple times that that is a safety problem.” You waved a finger in front of Eddie as he swatted it away with a scoff.

The familiar home of Eddie and Wayne’s trailer met your eyes as you slipped your shoes off; Wayne’s copious mugs displayed on the walls always grabbed your attention when you walked into the trailer. They offered a sense of home that you loved so much.

Eddie had gone to his room to fetch the VHS of his movie pick while you busied yourself with grabbing the pizza menu and walking over to the phone to place the order.

“What do you want, just pepperoni? Or do you want something else - and don't you dare say pineapple.” You call over to him while leaning on the table holding the phone in your hand.

Eddie’s curly hair appears in the hall as he makes his way toward you, exaggeratedly sighing “Fine, just pepperoni.”

He saunters off to the TV before shouting back, requesting garlic bread while fiddling with the VHS.

You quickly order the food and walk over to the couch where Eddie was sitting waiting for you so he could play the movie.

“What monstrosity have you picked for us today, Munson?”

♡‧₊˚

The sound of students chattering with each other filled your ears as you were rummaging through your locker.

Your usual attendance of watching the guys play during their band practice was missed Saturday due to your mom requiring you to run errands all weekend so you haven't seen Eddie since Friday.

Meaning you left Eddie to his own devices for far too long and you're about to unknowingly pay the price.

“Jesus Christ!”

Speak of the devil.

The sound of your locker closing was muffled by the loud shriek that came out of your mouth.

“Eddie, how many times have I told you not to scare me like that?” You sputter out quickly whilst holding a hand up to your chest.

Eddie offers you a sheepish smile, “Sorry, princess, I was just too excited to see you.”

Your heart flutters slightly at the statement.

The whole “falling for your best friend trope” was a dumb cliche. In the early years of your friendship with Eddie, your mom would make offhand comments about how “oh you two are so cute together” and “you are both so going to fall in love with each other, just watch.” Your kid self always scrunched your nose in disgust and had you turning your head in the opposite direction. But you weren’t sure when the look of disgust turned into you turning your face to hide the blush that was settling on your cheeks.

And yeah so what if you knew that Eddie Munson drank his coffee with an insane amount of creamer and sugar and how he would never admit it, but that he had a soft spot for ABBA. How he gets this one specific look on his face whenever he’s telling you about the new campaign he’s currently working on; how his eyes glow with excitement just reciting all the things he’s planning on introducing and adding for the guys. That he smiles so wide you can’t help to notice the dimples he has and how they just fit his face. How you want to just kiss him all over and just constantly wish to see him happy and smiling.

Yeah, you’re totally in love with your best friend.

“So… I was thinking over the weekend.”

“Oh, that’s never good.”

He ignores your comment by rolling his eyes playfully. “I was thinking that I have been in this hell hole for far too long. And I haven’t done anything memorable.”

You send a confused look at Eddie, “What about how you have weekly lectures on the lunch tables in the cafeteria, or how you helped raise the drama club funding due to badgering Principal Higgins constantly for a month.” Beckoning for him to explain, you begin to walk to class.

He rolls his eyes again, “Okay, Miss Know-It-All, I meant more…you know.”

“No I don’t know, Eddie.”

He hesitates slightly before continuing “Well, I was talking to the guys and well they think I’m insane but you won't, right?” His wide eyes look over at you expectantly.

“I guess that depends on what you’re about to say.” you tease.

He was nervous, you noted. He wouldn't meet your eyes as he begins to fidget under your stare.

He scratches his head before saying, “I'm gonna ask Chrissy to prom.”

You stop walking, your head spinning to Eddie’s. Your eyes were wide open, which were shifting between his own in disbelief. People walked around you but not without complaining and calling out “Watch out” but you couldn't care less about what was happening around you. Your mind was reeling; it was attempting to decipher whether or not he was telling a joke or not.

He wasn’t.

Fixing your composure you look forward and keep walking. “Isn’t prom in two weeks, that’s kinda a short notice.” You attempt to keep your voice as neutral as possible.

You had known about Eddie’s crush on Chrissy Cunningham since middle school. It had been during the talent show, Eddie had come after you to gush about how she had looked so pretty waving her pom poms in the air that night. Chrissy had done some cheer routine which had gotten her the most applause putting everyone else's show to shame. Regrettably for you, you were the follow-up after her spectacle. You can’t say your flute solo, which you had worked hard on the week leading up to the talent show, was a show-stopper after that.

You didn’t hate Chrissy, you never did and probably never would. She, unfortunately, is the nicest person you’ve ever met, she always talks to you when you have classes together, and how she actually complimented you on your flute solo after you had gotten off the stage even though you had messed up the first measure of the song.

You just couldn’t help but compare yourself to her. You wanted to hate her. You assumed it would be easier to hate her, but that wasn’t the case. You simply hated the fact that you weren’t her. You were the complete antithesis of her; it was honestly ridiculous. While she was the head cheerleader, you were in the stands wearing a stupidly hot outfit and a dumb hat while also playing the flute. You weren’t at rock bottom of the social hierarchy but you still weren't high, you were in the band for Christ’s sake.

You couldn’t fault Eddie for falling for miss pride of Hawkins High, the star-studded cheerleader that was Chrissy Cunningham.

“Well, I heard from the cheerleaders that she rejected Jason Carver already so she’s free and totally doesn't have a date so I figured… well that I would ask her,” Eddie whispers the last part before stopping at your first-period classroom door. “What do you think?”

You shift your gaze to the quickly depleting students in the hall before looking back at your best friend. “You should totally do it.” you say while avoiding his eyes, “I’ll see you at lunch, kay?”

You walk into your class before he can say anything back, choosing to drown your sorrows in algebra instead.

♡‧₊˚

Prom had always been a bit of a dream for you. You had fallen for that American high school cliche, ever since you were ten.

You were driving around with your mom when you passed by Enzo’s and had seen so many people dressed up standing outside waiting in line to get in. Your mom explained to you that it was the senior prom that weekend; since then you had looked forward to the moment in your senior year where you would get to wear your new expensive dress you had bought solely for the event.

After you had gotten home that day, you had rambled to Eddie for the rest of the evening while he pushed you on the swingset at the trailer park. He had just shrugged you off and stayed quiet. You paid him no mind and ignored him by beaming at his face with a toothless grin,

“You’ll go with me to prom right, Eds?”

“Only if you let me swing now.”

“Deal.”

You’d like to say you haven't been in love with Eddie till recently but you’d be lying to yourself.

In your recent years of high school, you found yourself daydreaming about attending prom with your best friend, you always played it off as of course, you’d attend this huge event in your life with Eddie, he was your best friend. If you ignored how much he hated conformist bullshit things such as prom. And each time he got held back, the closer and closer you got to both of you being in the same senior class, your hope grew.

Of course, those were always cut short whenever you had caught Eddie looking at Chrissy at lunch or he’d rant to you about how she wrote the most beautifully, detailed short story in English that day and how she would make such a great DM. Or how at the basketball game last week when halftime was over and the band was given a break you had gotten water and had spotted Eddie in the crowd; even though he has sworn up and down (and publicly) that basketball was dumb. You had just shrugged it off as him supporting Lucas, but you knew deep down it was because of Chrissy.

But you refused to acknowledge otherwise.

You should honestly be happy that he’s going to prom now, granted he wouldn’t be going with you. Nor would he take pictures with you. You both wouldn’t awkwardly be posing in your living room together at your trailer as your mom took a million photos along with Wayne taking the day off to see his boy all dressed up for the prom. Or how your fingers wouldn’t tremble while attempting to pin his corsage on his tux hoping you didn’t poke him. Nor would a single shy smile be transpired between the two of you as you walked into the school gym-turned-prom venue.

Nope, he’d be doing that with Chrissy Cunningham.

You took painstakingly slow steps as you currently walked to your last class of the day. You weren't looking forward to seeing Eddie again. Opting for skipping lunch to wallow in your self-pity in the library instead.

Therefore, you hadn't seen Eddie since morning when he stabbed you in the heart unknowingly with his newfound decision, and honestly, it was probably for the best. It’s not like you were going to ask him to prom anytime soon anyways.

The sound of your footsteps stopping in front of the classroom reached your ears. “Just play it cool,” you mutter to no one. You took a deep breath and walked into the classroom, immediately heading toward your seat in the back corner.

Eddie was already in the seat beside yours, his wide doe eyes met yours when he hears your steps and flashes you a smile, “Sup, where were you during lunch, Gareth’s mom made these killer cookies today.”

You look over at him, “Oh I went to the library, I had to catch up on some homework,” you lie.

He didn't say anything back just simply letting out a noise signaling he heard your excuse while nodding.

“Well anyways, about earlier.” he raises his eyebrows, “I’m gonna do it today.” He whispers so that people couldn’t listen in.

“...are you?” your tone was neutral.

He shifts his eyes away from yours. “I need to do it now while I have the confidence because if not, I'm gonna psych myself out,” he nods to himself, “Yeah I'm gonna wait for her after her practice is over.”

You study his side profile. His brown eyes were looking at the ceiling in concentration. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, you find your eyes tracing along his jawline. His hair was a little messy, signaling that he had been running his fingers through it all day.

Willing yourself to say something, “She’ll say yes, Eddie, and if she doesn’t it’s her loss.” You swallow slightly and offer him a small smile.

His hopeful eyes look at you.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

♡‧₊˚

“This is officially the worst day ever.” You groan as you walk into the Family Video.

Steve looks over at Robin from where he was reshelving tapes.

“Uh oh, what happened?” Robin asks reluctantly

“Everything, Robin, everything that could’ve ever gone wrong, has gone wrong.”

After the whole Chrissy-prom-Eddie fiasco yesterday, you had declared the rest of the day a time for self-pitying. All you wanted to do was lie in bed with the covers drawn and completely shut out from the world so that you could comfort yourself in the sad exile you had made.

That was until Eddie called.

Since your blinds were drawn, you hadn’t noticed Eddie coming home earlier. Hence why when the phone rang you almost jumped out of your skin.

Debating whether or not to pick up, you looked at your window longingly knowing who it was on the other side. You ultimately decided to stand up and answer because if you didn't you knew he would just come over instead. And you didn’t exactly what to face Eddie right now, memories rushing to your mind reminded you of how much they were like a slap in the face.

“She said yes.”

He didn’t even wait for you to say hello before revealing his triumph win.

You zoned out after that, not processing the dial zone indicating that he hung up already. You could only recall a little after you walked back to your room that he was going to hang out with the guys because he had promised they’d celebrate the news if she said yes.

The morning had come and gone with you forcing yourself to get out of bed so that you could make it to school today. Eddie met your morning daze with his usual smile when you hopped into his van, you returned it with a small smile but stayed silent. You’d just use the excuse of having stayed up late last night due to catching up on some non-existent homework. Eddie on the other hand took this as permission to gush about how he was finally stoked about something concerning school for once and that he’d be able to share the experience with the girl he had been pining after for years. You simply offer him quiet hums to signify that you were listening.

School was no different, having forced yourself on autopilot, just mindlessly walking to and from class. You attended lunch today, not wanting to rile suspicion and worry with the group, and chose to suck it up and sit through Eddie rambling about how Chrissy had smelled like strawberries and vanilla while he had asked her the million-dollar question.

How she, quote, “had the most radiant smile shining up at him the entire time he talked to her.”

You also chose to ignore the smiles and slight waves she offered him when she made eye contact with him during lunch as well.

Yeah, you weren’t having a good day at all.

Your eyes scanned the store, relief settling once you noticed that it was empty except for your two friends seeing as you didn't bother to note if anyone was there before you blurted out about the nightmare that was your life currently.

Thank god it was a Tuesday afternoon and no one was there to witness your sad-sad life.

Steve was now standing beside Robin having moved during your entire speech after he finished his task.

“It’s just one dance, you know?” he offers, “It’s not like they’ll start dating.” He chuckles awkwardly in hopes of comforting you.

Unfortunately, that was the worst thing he could have said.

“Wait, what if they start dating?” You were going to pass out. “You know, I can’t even be mad at Chrissy, I mean, she’s genuinely the sweetest person. And Eddie, god Eddie, he’s so ecstatic about this, I mean, he’s been pining after her since middle school…middle school! And here I am being a bitch because I couldn't get my shit together and just confess to him about how I feel.” you sigh and drop your head on the counter “He deserves this one thing at least, who am I to get in the way of it?” you say with your voice slightly muffled.

Robin smacked Steve’s shoulder before walking around the counter over to you. “Sweetie, don't get so upset with yourself.” She rubs your shoulders, “Don’t let this small inconvenience deter you from enjoying your prom. Remember? You’ve been looking forward to this since you were ten!”

You look up at her and glance at Steve, meeting his eyes. “Don't let some dumb guy ruin this for you,” he says.

“But he's not some dumb guy, he's Eddie,” you whisper.

“Well, you got me, babe, kay? You can come along with Vicki and me, we’ll have an amazing time together just us, no guys - well that doesn't bother me - but you know what I mean, just us gals, what do you say?”

You don't reply so Robin continues, “This is me officially asking you to prom, are you gonna reject me or not?” she bumps your shoulder with a slight smirk on her freckled face.

You smile at her, “Okay.”

♡‧₊˚

After Robin had invited you to accompany her and Vicki to prom, you felt a little better. It helped you keep your mind off Eddie and allowed you to look forward to the event of which you’d be attending with your other best friend.

It had been almost two weeks since Eddie had asked Chrissy to prom and she had evidently accepted with a “sure why not!” Eddie had ranted to you about how he had a nice conversation with her and how she seemed genuinely excited for prom (you cried in the bathroom after that.)

The entire school was reeling over the fact that Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson was taking the queen of Hawkins High, Chrissy Cunningham, to prom. Jason was livid but every time he tried to say something to Eddie during lunch, Chrissy would shut him down, which you were grateful for.

Another reason why you couldn’t hate her.

Along with Eddie being over the moon about taking his dream girl to prom, he could never seem to shut up about her either. At any possible time, whether at lunch or on the drive home from school, or even during your own personal hang-out time; Eddie always seemed to be talking about one person.

And that person was not you.

Last weekend, Eddie had knocked at your door in a panic about how the suit he was wearing was too big on him and that he looked like a loser, “you always look like a loser.” You pulled him inside so that you could grab your mother’s sewing kit and figure out how you were going to help him tailor Wayne’s old suit to fit him better. “Thanks, princess, what would I do without you?”

While you played tailor, you let it slip that you - surprisingly - haven’t bought a dress yet so in return, he offered to take you dress shopping. The next day he came barreling into your room announcing that the two of you were going shopping at the mall in the town over in hopes of finding your dream dress.

You're one hundred percent sure that Eddie’s cute little reactions every time you stepped out of the dressing room will forever replay in your mind for the rest of your life. Even for the dresses you immediately dismissed and deemed ugly, you were still praised by him.

“I look horrible in this, what even are these sleeves?”

“I kinda dig the sleeves, makes you look like a real princess, princess.”

That smile, god that smile of his. Perhaps it was your delusions or maybe you genuinely saw a flicker of something in Eddie’s eyes when he would glance over your figure, drinking in your body in the dress you were currently showcasing for him. Either way, you were quite literally fooling yourself entirely because he wasn’t going with you,

he was going with Chrissy.

When you got home that day, you decided that you weren't just going to sit around anymore and cry about how things weren't working out. You have been looking forward to prom since you were a kid, you were going to fulfill that ten-year-old you’s dream.

Pulling your blinds close so that they could block any sort of visual that you'll get from Eddie when he got home you grabbed your walkman and climbed into bed. You weren't in the mood to talk to him at the moment, it was Friday meaning the prom was tomorrow and you were currently losing your mind.

Sadly, God wasn’t through with tormenting you just yet.

The sound of the phone ringing ricocheted throughout your house, forcing you to pull yourself up from your current spot on your bed.

“Hello?”

“Wanna go for a drive?”

No, you wanted to wallow in your self-pity and die.

“Sure.”

After slipping on some shoes, you walk out of your trailer and trek the small way toward Eddie’s. He was leaning against his van, cigarette in hand. The moon showered Eddie in its light, making him look ethereal. You didn’t check the time before you left but you knew it was a little late already, the moon was high in the sky, set for the night that was to come.

You hadn’t heard him get home earlier you wondered where he had been the entire day. He must have gotten home just now. Weird.

His head perks up at the sound of your shoes hitting the gravel, he gives you that dimpled smile you love so much and drops the cigarette on the ground before putting it out with his shoe. “Thought we both could go for a drive, hop in.”

He didn’t wait for you to reply and simply walked around to the driver’s side and turned the ignition on.

You took your place in the passenger seat and instantly rummaged through the glove box to look for a new cassette to play.

He looks over at you as you pop in Dio’s The Last in Line, wordlessly. The beginning cords of “We Rock” play as you sit back and look out the window.

“Where are you taking us, ole mystery man?” you say after a couple of minutes.

“Oh, it’s a surprise, fair maiden.” he laughs softly, “Not really, uh I'm just heading to Lover’s Lake.” His voice is soft, almost too soft. It confuses you slightly, prompting you to look over at your best friend. His eyes were focused on the stretch of road ahead, it felt like he was ignoring your eyes.

The both of you don't say anything after that, simply basking in Ronnie James Dio’s voice till you arrive at your destination.

The soft shutter of the ignition indicated that Eddie had parked already, so you quickly unbuckle yourself and crawled to the back of the van while Eddie cracked open the doors.

He had settled on a lone area off the edge of the lake. It was quiet. You took a quick glance at the dashboard before leaving your seat and noticed that it was nine already. The moon shined on the soft ripples coming from the lake, relaxing your surprisingly tense shoulders.

“Here,” Eddie’s voice cuts the air, offering you a blanket from the back of his van to you.

“Thanks,” you say after a beat, “so, are you excited about tomorrow or are you completely shitting yourself about taking your dream girl to the prom, Munson?”

You peer down to look at his knees that were on display with the worn-out jeans he loved to wear so much. The glint of his rings sparkled signaling that he was drawing shapes on his thigh. One of his nervous ticks, you noted.

You focus your vision back on the water ahead of you, ignoring his stare; you will yourself to not make eye contact with his brown eyes.

You can do this.

You will not lose your best friend over some silly crush.

“Let’s…not talk about Chrissy. I wanna talk about you. I feel like I don’t know about anything that’s happened to you in the last two weeks.” he pauses for a second, “I’m sorry that I’ve just been talking about her all the time recently.”

The unexpected apology throws you off, you look over at your best friend and bump his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

The question hangs in the air for a bit, it seemed as if he was mulling it over. Your eyebrows twitch in confusion.

“You remember that day when you learned what prom was and declared to the entire town that you were going to attend it once it was your turn?” His eyes were glassy.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t stop talking about it for weeks, you threatened me that if I wouldn't shut up you’d tape my mouth shut.” You laugh quietly at the memory.

After your laughter dies down as you glance over at him. He looks at you and smiles. “I’m not…,” he hesitates, “I’m not sure…how I should style my hair tomorrow,”

Your smile falters slightly before you catch yourself and beam up at him, “I love your hair the way it is, Eds, keep it like that.”

He nods at you and looks away, “We should probably get back, I didn’t tell my mom where I was going,” you murmur.

“Of course, can’t have the princess getting in trouble, can we?” he grins at you.

Oh, how you love him.

♡‧₊˚

If you were to tell fourteen-year-old Eddie Munson that he would be attending prom with the girl he’d been crushing on. He wouldn't have believed you.

He’d turn to his best friend and laugh in your face with her, cackling to the insane statements along with her. That same best friend who encouraged him to ask Chrissy in the first place. The same best friend who has dreamed about prom since she was a kid and the same best friend whom he wouldn't be attending it with.

You’d think Eddie would be excited, but he couldn’t help but have a small feeling inside his heart that hurt.

He drums his fingers on his steering wheel, the anxiety pooling in his stomach. His eyes glance over at your trailer, your blinds were pulled but he could see a sliver of light peeking through, most likely from your lamp. It was quiet in there, he assumed you were listening to your walkman. You had always preferred listening to your music with your headphones rather than blaring it out loud as he did.

He closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh. “Fuck, she was right,” he mutters.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what Chrissy had said.

He had been walking out of the school after he had finished pre-planning everything he wanted to do in the next Hellfire session. Yesterday, the guys had completely thrown him off so he needed to fix up his original idea for the next session next week. It never hurt to start early.

He was making his way over to the picnic table in the woods behind the school so that he could smoke before he left home for the day. His eyes glanced around the parking lot before passing through it, not many students were loitering around; choosing to immediately book it after the bell seeing as it was Friday and on top of that the Friday before prom.

He had barely stepped onto the grass that led to the woods when he heard his name being called.

He looked over his shoulder only to see Chrissy walking toward him. “Hey, Eddie,” her polished nails were waving at him, causing him to stop in his tracks.

“What’s up?” he shoots her a quick smile.

“Oh, were you busy? Because I really need to talk to you.” Her pleading eyebrows were creased in a slight worry.

“Ah nah, I was just heading to my spot to smoke before I went home.” his gaze shifts back to her, “Walk with me?”

Chrissy simply nods and begins walking beside him.

Eddie attempts to find something to say during the short distance to the picnic table, scouring through his brain in hopes of making the walk less awkward than it was.

It was never awkward with you.

He shook his head before he realized he had finally reached his destination, he sits down and pulls out a cigarette before beckoning Chrissy to say what she needed to say.

She takes a deep breath. “When you asked me to go to prom with you, I was inclined to say no.” She pauses for a second before catching herself, “Not in that way, um, I just never really thought you liked me. I mean I don’t think we’ve ever really talked before.” She thinks for a bit, “Maybe during the middle school talent show…” Her eyes shoot up to his, “god what was the name of your band, it was such an insane name, I loved it.”

“Corroded Coffin” Eddie answers with a smile.

“Corroded Coffin! Oh my gosh yes!” She laughs before looking off to the side, “I honestly thought you were dating someone already.” She says your name, “Yeah I could’ve sworn y’all were dating, so when you asked me to go to prom, it completely caught me off guard.” She nods to herself in confirmation.

At the sound of your name, Eddie perks up. “Wait you thought I was dating her?” He quickly laughs, waving her off. “No, we’re not-we’re not dating, we’re just friends.” He doesn’t meet her eyes.

“I don’t think you want to be.” She says quietly.

His eyebrows screw together, “what?”

“Look, I don’t know you too well and I don’t really know her too well either,” she bites her lip slightly, “I think you should go with her…to prom.”

Eddie just stares at her, not saying a word.

Chrissy sets her bag down and sits down now, “I’ve seen you during lunch, well god, I mean how could I not!” she laughs and shakes her head quickly, “Your face just looks so…in love when you look at her. It’s like you hang onto every word she says to you. And I’m not sure you realize that. And if you haven’t, she hasn’t either and is probably devastated that you asked me to prom and not her.”

Eddie finally looks into Chrissy’s eyes now. Her eyes were big and full, they look a little glassy like she was going to cry, but not of sadness, no, Eddie didn’t think she was upset, she looks like she was in awe. In awe at him. At the love that he had not for her but for his best friend. Her face looked like she yearned for this supposed love that she claimed he had for you.

She smiles, “So, I’m not going to prom with you, Eddie,” Chrissy says with a tone of finality.

“Thank you…for this intervention,” he looks away, “didn’t know I needed it.” his voice was quiet.

Chrissy laughs but doesn’t say anything as she gets up, she ruffles slightly with her bookbag and slings it onto her back. She begins to walk away before she turns around to look at Eddie one last time. “I better see you at prom tomorrow and not alone.” She sent him one last smile and walked away.

Surprisingly, Eddie wasn’t upset or sad, instead, he was relieved.

He sits there in silence for what felt like an eternity. The afternoon sunlight beamed on him like stripes due to the trees providing a bit of shade for him. He felt like he was processing everything and nothing at the same time.

He had to leave, he had to get to you now.

Eddie’s mind was still reeling when he was getting close to Forest Hills, as much as he wanted to park in front of your trailer, run into your room, and tell you all that he was thinking,

he simply couldn’t.

So instead he doesn’t turn into the trailer park but rather keeps driving.

How could he have been so blind? All these years of pining after Chrissy Cunningham he thought it was her he wanted. He thought that whenever he would talk about her smile and how her face would light up a room it was Chrissy he was talking about but in actuality, it was you. It was always you.

It has always been you, ever since he had moved in beside your trailer into his uncle's. It has always been you cheering for him like when he had gotten nervous to go on stage for the talent show and Jeff had thrown up backstage. It has always been you whom he would talk to all through the night after you would slip through the window in his room. It has always been you listening to him rant on and on about the new campaign he was preparing for the guys. It has always been you. It will always be you.

And now it was dark outside, the moon replacing the sun for the night. Eddie sits submerged in your presence at Lover’s Lake. He knows that you suspect something is off about him.

“Are you okay?”

No Eddie wasn’t okay. He wanted to scream to the world that he had been in love with you for the longest time. To lose his voice after telling you about all the little things he loves about you, how he was stupid for not realizing sooner and for making you go through the last few years of him pining after a girl he never even loved.

But instead, he gives a lame excuse of not knowing how to style his hair.

He sees your smile falter but doesn't say anything.

And then you offer him that beautiful smile of yours.

God, he hates himself. Why couldn’t Eddie just say that he loves you? He curses himself for being such a coward.

Oh, how you love him.

Oh, how he loves you.

♡‧₊˚

You spent the morning lounging in your bed basking in your sadness before you force yourself to get distracted with the makeup and the music from the reality that was your life.

So what if the guy you’ve been in love with was going to prom with someone else? Totally not the end of the world, right?

“Sweetie, you should be leaving to pick up Robin or you’re going to be late.” Your mom’s voice echoes throughout the trailer.

“Yeah, I'm almost done” you yell back as you grab your heels.

Your eyes dart over at your window. You couldn’t help to notice that Eddie’s van was still parked, meaning he hasn’t left to pick Chrissy up yet. It was getting late already, prom was at seven but it was already quarter past and you had assumed Chrissy would want to get there early or something.

You finish putting your heels on and go to look in the mirror. This was it. You were finally going to attend prom, granted not with Eddie but you were still going with your friends.

With one last look in the mirror, you grab your purse and head out of the safe haven that was your room.

The sound of your doorbell rings throughout the trailer, “I’ll get it,” you say as you pass your mom in the kitchen.

Weird, must’ve been Robin.

A smirk finds its way on your face as you walk up toward the door. “No way, you drove here yourself-”

You open the door, fully expecting a dolled-up Robin (to her standards) in front of you, but to your surprise, it was someone else.

Eddie.

He was standing there in his tux that you had helped tailor. His hair’s down, it looks freshly washed and his curls look bouncy as ever; he had taken your advice that you had told him at the lake. He’s wearing that iconic jewelry of his, the rings he had on extenuating his long fingers. He chose to ditch the tie altogether and instead unbuttoned the first two buttons on the shirt, showing a sliver of his collarbones to the world.

“Uh, no I walked over actually,” Eddie says with a laugh.

After getting over your initial shock you smile at your best friend. “Eds, what are you doing here?”

You look at him expectantly and notice his eyes scanning your form, he swallows quickly before he looks back at you. His face had a slight blush to it.

No way. Did Eddie just check you out?

Eddie doesn't reply so you begin to ramble nervously. “Look at you,” you force a laugh, “Look at you going to prom” without me.

He just stares at you, not saying anything, so you continue. “I can't believe you're going with your dream girl,” you smile sadly, “you did it.”

He finally seems to process that he was standing in front of you and quickly stutters out, “Chrissy dumped me,” your eyebrows shoot up, “yeah, I’m not going with her anymore.” His eyes scan your face.

You blink, “Oh, I'm sorry I didn't - you didn’t tell me.”

“She’s not my dream girl”

“Huh?”

“She’s not my dream girl. You are.”

Were you going insane? You didn’t say anything, you couldn’t say anything. What did he mean that you were his dream girl? You simply stared at Eddie, blinking not saying a word. Your mouth was closing and opening attempting to locate words but your brain was currently malfunctioning.

“I don’t think I understand?” your eyes shift behind Eddie’s form, searching for something.

This was a joke. Surely Chrissy was going to pop out from behind and yell “Sike!” and then they were going to laugh in your face because Eddie had found out that you’ve been in love with him and had found it hilarious. This must have been some cruel prank that they were pulling.

But no one comes out. Eddie doesn’t laugh in your face but instead, he steps forward.

“Princess, you’re my dream girl. You always have been, I was just too blind to notice.” His brown eyes look at yours.

Those wide, loving eyes of his. God, you love him.

“I realized that I wasn't in love with Chrissy, she was just a crush that I had when I realized I would never be able to be with you. I think in fear of being rejected by you, I inadvertently did it anyway by developing that fantasy idea of her. It’s not Chrissy I've been in love with all these years, it's you.” He finishes his confession with a final sigh of relief.

You gulp. “You…love me?”

“Of course I love you, how couldn’t I?” he says with a shy smile.

That’s all you needed.

So you kiss him.

After years of pining. After years of wondering why Eddie wouldn’t just look your way. Of vying after him, you finally have his attention.

The kiss feels rushed like the two of you were chasing the years of lost time. Cursing at the other for having been missing out on this one single act. Hell, at this moment you're not sure how you were able to go years without kissing Eddie, and you don’t ever want to know how again.

He pulls away reluctantly. “So,” he pecks you once more, “if you’ll allow me, I made a deal, and I intend on keeping that promise, sweetheart.”

You crinkle your eyebrows in confusion for a second before it hits you,

he remembered.

A grin breaks out on your face. The childish voices ring in your memories.

“You’ll go with me to prom right, Eds?”

“Only if you let me swing now.”

“Deal.”

“I’d love to, Eds.”

A grin splits onto Eddie’s face, “Whew, thank god, I almost thought I had gotten all pretty for no reason.”

You felt giddy. Your heart was overcome with emotion, you hoped you wouldn't wake up from this dream.

But this wasn’t a dream. This was true.

Interlacing your fingers with Eddie’s you close the door and smile, “Yeah, let’s go to prom together.”

“Wait, what about Robin?”

“Ah, I already called her.”

“Oh, how presumptuous of you.”

“Big words, fair maiden, you know just how to get me going don’t cha, princess?”

#astraariel♡#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson oneshot

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eddiemunsons80sbaby · 8 months

Text

Everybody Hurts

Chapter 4

Pairing: EddieMunsonxReader

Summary: You needed to escape, escape from your life, your messy divorce, and all the pitying looks. Looks you couldn't ignore when everyone in town had known you and Cam, had known your shame and failure. So, you took the first job you could get, teaching third grade in a town called Hawkins. Little did you know, you were walking right into another messy situation, a messy situation with big brown eyes and long dark waves. But he's resistant, at times unbearable and you start getting curious about the town's past, his past, especially when things don't start adding up.

18+ Only for eventual smut

Next chapter: 09/20

Word Count: 5.8K

Masterlist

1 2 3

You pushed open the door to the small cafe, breathing in deep, letting the smell of cinnamon and coffee soothe you after a restless night. Millie glanced up from behind the counter, a wide smile crinkling the corners of her eyes at the sight of you standing in the doorway. She lifted a hand, waving you over, already pulling a warm cinnamon roll from the bakery display.

“I told you that you’d be back,” she teased, placing it in a bag and on the counter.

“You did and you were right. Best cinnamon roll I have ever tasted, hands down,” you laughed, pulling your wallet from your purse. “It was the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning.”

Well, that wasn’t entirely true but you’d rather not admit that you’d been thinking about something else that was almost the same shade as cinnamon alright, but it wasn’t a baked good. It was those eyes, intense and burning, challenging your own across the flames. You didn’t even want to admit to yourself how much he’d managed to get under your skin, crawling and burrowing deep.

“You want a latte to go with it?” asked Millie.

“Yes, please,” you responded, impressed that she remembered your drink of choice after one time considering how many orders she must handle in a day.

“So, did you get to explore much of our town yesterday?” the sweet lady questioned as she foamed the milk for your coffee.

“I did, actually. I went to the library and grabbed a couple books and then I went down to the lake for a bit. I stopped into the Hawkins diner to grab a late lunch and wound up making some new friends.”

“Well, that’s wonderful,” beamed Millie, slipping a sleeve onto the paper cup and handing it over to you, her fingers darting across the keys of the cash register to ring up the sale. “And who are these new friends?”

“I don’t know if you’d know them…”

She laughed, waving her hand dismissively in your direction, “Darling, I have lived in this town my whole damn life. There isn’t anybody I don’t know within the town limits. Where do you think they all get their coffee from?”

“Oh…well, I met Max Mayfield at the diner and she invited me out to a bonfire with her friends at the lake last night. There were a whole bunch of people there. Umm…there was Robin, Steve, Mike, El, Lucas, Argyle, Jonathan, Nancy, Will, and this guy named Eddie.”

Your cheeks blazed hot as you spoke his name and you found yourself once again questioning why. It was like you had no control of your body’s reaction to even the mere mention of him.

Millie’s lips flattened against one another and she nodded, “You met yourself a nice group of people then. I get pizza from Argyle’s every single Friday night. Boy could use a hair cut but he makes a mean pie. Who ever heard of pineapple on pizza? But I’ll tell you, he knows what he’s doing. And I take my little Bella to Robin’s grooming place every month for a shampoo and a cut. And Officer Harrington is just the nicest guy. He’s always in here picking up donuts for the station. So, what did you think of everyone?”

You had the distinct impression that Millie was fishing for something specific but what she hoped to catch, you couldn’t be sure.

“Oh, I loved them. They were a great group of people. I thought they were all really nice. Well, most of them were anyway. Eddie didn’t seem to like me all that much.”

“And why would that be? You seem perfectly likable to me.”

“I don’t know,” you admitted with a shrug. “I didn’t do or say anything. I mean, at least I don’t think I did. Well, I may have after he was rude to me but he said stuff first. He was kind of a jerk from the moment he saw me, acting like I was some intruder on his little group and wasn’t welcome.”

“Well, now, you be a little patient with that boy, okay? He’s been through a lot and it’s…well, it’s made it hard for him to trust new people but he’ll come around. He’s a sweetheart, really. He jumped my car for me just a few weeks ago when it wouldn’t start and he came over and helped me clean my gutters last year. My husband, Roy, keeps trying to act like he’s still twenty years younger than he is. He’s stubborn as a mule. He refuses to accept that there are things he just shouldn’t be doing anymore and that man’s gonna kill himself one day. I happened to be complaining about it when Eddie was in here grabbing some coffee and he just offered. Came over that weekend and went up that ladder and took care of it. I tried to pay him but he wouldn’t have it. He did let me give him some cookies though. The people in this town have been unfair to him, downright cruel if you ask me, and it’s not right. That boy’s been through enough. Don’t you go doing it too.”

Your eyes widened, shocked at Millie’s tone, as if you were the one who should be sorry, as if you were the one who’d been so damn irrational. You tried to mesh the image of the rude man you met last night who could barely carry on a civil conversation with the picture that Millie was painting but it was difficult. Based on what the coffee shop owner had told you, Eddie sounded like the nicest guy in the world so what was it about you that made him so damn unpleasant?

“I won’t. I like to come to my own conclusions about people,” you assured her. That was something you’d learned as a teacher. Previous teachers always wanted to laundry list all the bad qualities about a kid but you never wanted to know. You wanted to meet the kids yourself, build a relationship, and make your own judgment calls.

“But he makes it a little difficult when he’s rude for no reason,” you tried.

Millie raised her eyebrows at you and you groaned.

“Fine. I will try to give him a chance but only because it’s you asking.”

Millie smiled, clearly mollified, “That’s my girl. Just for that, I am going to add in a chocolate chip cookie for you to enjoy later.”

“If you keep giving me free treats, you’re never going to get rid of me.”

“Maybe that’s my plan,” the jovial woman laughed. “Maybe I’m just ensuring you stick around for a while. I think this town could be better with you in it and I think you could be better in this town.”

Your head tilted, a bit taken aback by her statement. “Oh, I think you’re going to be stuck with me for a while, especially now that I’ve found some friends. Speaking of, can I ask you something? You don’t have to tell me if it’s none of my business. I didn’t want to ask Max because it seemed rude with us not really knowing each other that well yet, but do you know why she wears sunglasses all the time?”

“Oh, that…” Millie paused, resting her arms on top of the bakery display. “Listen hon, that’s some ugly business that you don’t need to worry yourself about. That girl got lucky, very lucky that that’s all she was left with. That’s all I’m going to say about that, okay?”

“But…”

The woman held up her hand, “Darling, I don’t like talking about that time. This whole town would just rather forget it. It was a dark time for Hawkins. We’ve all moved on and there’s no point in dredging up bad things from the past that we can’t change. You’re new here and you’re so young and starting fresh after a divorce. Don’t be worrying your head about ugly stuff that had nothing to do with you.”

“Wait. How did you know I was divorced?” you asked, almost certain you hadn’t mentioned it yesterday.

“Young girl starting over in a new town? Hiding here for four months before you finally unveiled your pretty little face to us all? Getting all hung up on the mysterious new guy you met last night? Please. That has all the markings of a relationship gone wrong and a girl trying to find her place in the world again, to get a second chance.”

“I…what…mysterious guy…Millie, all I said about Eddie was that he was rude and didn’t seem to like me. I am not hung up on him.”

“Maybe so but he’s also the only one that made your face go bright red when I asked you what you thought.” She reached across the counter, patting the top of your hand with a wink. “Listen, I think it’s wonderful. That boy needs a good girl. He needs someone to love and someone that will love him, treat him with kindness. He’s been alone for far too long.”

You snatched your hand back, “Whoa there. It’s nothing like that. I just met him and trust me, he didn’t seem like he was looking for anything romantic or anyone new period. I believe he even stated that he has no need for new friends.”

Millie snorted, rolling her eyes, “Of course he did. I’m calling it right now. You two will be in here getting your morning coffee together within the month. I can tell attraction when I see it and it’s written as plain as day all over your face.”

“You’re wrong, Millie. There is not any kind of attraction going on,” you argued, shaking your head and grabbing your breakfast, suddenly eager to get out of the cafe and away from the woman who seemed adamant to hook you up with the one person who didn’t seem keen to even breathe the same air as you.

“We’ll see about that,” she sang, wiggling her fingers at you as you hurried out the door.

____________________________________________________________

You had never been so relieved to see your house, something you thought you’d never think after spending months cooped up inside it. You strode up the walkway, trying to push all of Millie’s words out of your head. It was all you’d been able to focus on during the walk home, almost walking into a car you didn’t see, the driver honking angrily at you.

That woman didn’t know what she was talking about. She didn’t even know you. She couldn’t see your attraction to Eddie written on you. It didn’t work like that and it didn’t matter anyway. You had no intention of pursuing anything with a guy whose mood was as pleasant as being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway when you really had to pee.

You stepped up onto the front porch of your house, the warm cup of coffee between your hands. You pulled your cardigan tightly around yourself. The May morning still held onto the chill of the previous night, the day not quite warming up yet. The sun was shining bright, the sky a bright blue that promised a pleasant spring afternoon. The puffy white clouds, gathered in heaps, reminded you of marshmallows, quickly bringing your thoughts back to last night.

There was definitely something strange going on in this town, something strange with that group. Lucas’s response, that they’d all been through a lot, felt like a collective answer about something specific. Dustin and Robin had gotten very weird when you asked what they’d all been through. And yeah, everyone went through shit and you couldn’t begin to imagine the hardships Robin had gone through, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more than that. It felt like they all got together every year on that beach because of something they’d all dealt with together, something dark and ugly as Millie had described it. Hadn’t Max begun to say something at the diner about it being more than just a celebration of spring arriving and then cut herself off?

That wasn’t to say that, strange or not, you didn’t enjoy all of them. You did, very much so. They had been so kind, welcoming you into whatever kind of private celebration they were clearly having. Everyone had been so sweet and friendly and seemed more than happy to have you join their little party on the beach. Almost everyone at least.

Your eyes fell on your coffee, a pair of eyes the same shade flickering through your mind, haunting you, just the way they had last night as you had lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep that just wouldn't come. You’d spent most of the night tossing and turning, your brain replaying every little interaction you’d had with the grumpy mechanic, getting more and more irritated with yourself for even caring.

And why did you care? You’d just met him. This Eddie guy was nothing to you. So, why were you letting him consume your thoughts, steal your chance at a good night’s rest? It had been a fun night if you took him out of the equation. Why were you allowing him to ruin it for you, to become the one thing you could focus on out of the entire evening?

It was those eyes, damn it. They’d looked at you with such hardness and disdain but then a moment later had melted into this warmth that had seeped into your skin, flowing through to the tips of your fingers and toes. And something else…behind the bravado, the arrogance, there was something haunted about him, something hurting.

You would swear there was a pain just beyond the obvious annoyance. There was more to that man than met the eye, things he was trying to keep buried deep, covering them with his attitude. It felt like he was trying to hide in plain sight, to protect himself but you didn’t know what from and honestly, why were you making it your problem to fix? It wasn’t. He wasn’t your problem.

You rested her forehead against the post of your front porch with a groan. Jesus, what were you doing? You didn’t know anything about this guy. You were allowing Millie’s words to infect you, to contaminate you. You were probably making shit up in your head to excuse why he’d been such a dick to you when the answer was probably so much simpler than that. He just didn’t like you. He didn’t like some newcomer crashing their little party and why should he? You’d had no right to be there, not really, especially if it had always been their thing.

Alright, enough of that. You had just stopped obsessing over one guy, trying to break down every gesture and comment to figure out the internal workings of his mind and how he could do the things he’d done. You sure as hell weren’t going to start obsessing over another one. That was not part of the new you, new life plan.

Eddie didn’t like you, plain and simple. And yeah, he was sexy as hell, heartbreakingly beautiful actually, in a very annoying and infuriating kind of way, but he was still just a guy and not a very likable one anyway.

Even if he’d sat outside your house to make sure you got in safe, that didn’t mean anything. He probably just didn’t want to have to explain to his friends if you’d gone missing or been murdered in your garage and he’d been the one to take you home. Wouldn’t want to be the last one seen with you, the number one suspect when the cops started asking around.

“Ugh!” you growled loudly, rolling your head, a satisfying pop loosening your stiff neck from your restless night. No. You were not going to do this. You didn’t give a shit why he didn’t like you. It didn’t matter.

It was Sunday and by the looks of it, it was going to be a beautiful day. You stepped down off the porch, turning to face the house. You took inventory of your space, trying to paint a mental image of what you wanted for the spring and summer. Lots of vivid bright colors to brighten up your days, a full garden to keep you busy and give you something to fill your time over summer break that was now only a handful of weeks away. You would go to the greenhouse and get some plants. Nothing like some physical labor and getting dirt under your fingernails to get out of your own head and back to reality.

The only problem was that you didn’t have a car yet and there was no way you were going to be able to haul all of those plants back on your bike. Did you really want to make multiple trips, buying only a couple things at a time? You pulled your cell phone from your pocket, flipping it open, scrolling through the numbers that your new friends had punched into your phone last night.

You considered calling Steve for a moment but quickly dismissed it, not wanting to give him the wrong idea if he’d been leaning in that direction even slightly. The way he’d wiped the marshmallow from your mouth, his thumb lingering over your lips, made you think he just might. You definitely didn’t need that kind of complication in your life right now. You scrolled back up to Nancy and pressed the call button.

“Hello?” she answered after three rings.

“Hey, Nancy. It’s me.”

“Oh! Hi!” Nancy sang happily as if your call was the best thing that had happened to her today. It bolstered your confidence a bit, having felt just a tad presumptuous for calling her, for assuming she might want to hang out after meeting you once. “What’s up?”

“Well, I’ve been meaning to get some plants for my garden at my new house and it’s supposed to be a beautiful day. I was thinking about running to the greenhouse, but then I remembered that I don’t have a car. Kind of hard to haul a bunch of plants on a bike. I was wondering if maybe you’d want to tag along and possibly be my transportation? I know it’s kind of last minute and it’s kind of a big ask for you to donate time on your weekend. If you’re busy, I totally understand.”

“No. I’m not busy at all,” Nancy laughed. “Jonathan and I are just laying here in our pajamas being bums this morning. We’ve got nothing going on today. That sounds like fun, actually. A lot more fun than hanging here with him and his friends later. You want me to call Robin? We could grab some lunch or something and make it a girls day!”

“Oh…yeah, I would love that. That sounds great,” you grinned, pleasantly surprised at how excited you were. After months of wanting nothing more than to curl into a ball and be alone, you were genuinely looking forward to spending time with people.

“Okay. Give me just a bit to get ready. I’ll shower and call Robin and then we’ll come pick you up. What’s your address?”

“Oh, it’s 444 Euclid.”

“Seriously? You’re right around the corner from us!” Nancy shrieked happily. “We’re practically neighbors. Alright, I should be there around eleven. Does that work?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect.”

You hung up, that feeling from yesterday creeping in again. That feeling that was eagerness for the day ahead that you hadn’t felt in so long. No more going through the motions of eat, work, sleep for you. You had friends now. You had plans. You had a to-do list that was growing longer by the day, things you wanted to do to make this place your own. This was definitely the beginning of a new chapter and you found you were excited for what life had in store for you for the first time in a year.

___________________________________________________________

“Thank you so much,” you told your new friends as you sat on the front porch, enjoying lemonade, a well deserved break after some hard work in the afternoon sun. “This would have taken me forever by myself. I can’t wait to see what this looks like when everything finally starts to bloom.”

It had taken you a few hours of sweaty, dirty work but you finally had everything planted in the garden. You had not expected Nancy and Robin to help you with the planting. You’d figured you would go to lunch, head to the greenhouse, and then they would drop you off and you would spend the rest of the day working in your garden. But they’d insisted and you hadn’t been ready to be rid of their company so you’d agreed. It had been far more fun that it would have been alone.

The three of you’d had a very nice lunch at the diner, chatting with Max in between her taking orders and serving other customers. You were somehow now going roller skating with everyone on Thursday. You were taken aback by this group’s instant acceptance of you, how easily they included you, but you were also incredibly grateful for it, knowing you needed to actually start living your life if you were going to start having one.

At the greenhouse, you had strolled along every aisle, Nancy and Robin extremely patient as you looked for plants of various colors that would give you the vision you wanted so badly. You’d bought a couple of large hostas that would be a pale blue, some Black Dragon coleus that would be a deep burgundy color, pink Hollyhock, blazing orange Day Lilies, bright yellow Black Eyed Susans, and some Butterfly Weed. You’d also bought two large pots for your porch and some purple Coneflowers for those. A couple bushes to frame your porch and you were feeling almost giddy at the picture that painted itself in your mind, what your house would look like in another month when everything started really growing.

This place was finally starting to feel like your own, a place you could see yourself settling in for the future. A sense of peace and tranquility fell over you as you sat on the porch with your friends. This was your safe space in the middle of the chaos that was life. This was a space that could be filled with love and happiness in the future, a space that could be filled with friends, a space that could be the site of memories you would remember far into the future.

“No problem,” Robin replied from where she sat on the floor, her back resting against the brick of the porch, raising her glass slightly. “Here’s to us kicking ass and getting all this work done in one afternoon.”

“I will definitely cheer for that,” you agreed, leaning forward in the swing to clink your glasses carefully. “Seriously, I would probably be working on this until dark if it weren’t for you two. Possibly still working on it through next weekend.”

“Well, we are pretty amazing,” Robin grinned.

You smiled, “You will get no argument from me.”

Nancy tilted her head, “I can’t wait to see what it looks like when everything starts to bloom. This house is really cute.”

You leaned back, taking a sip of your lemonade, smiling softly. “I really do love this house. This swing is actually what clinched the decision for me. Maybe a stupid reason to buy a house. I know it needs some work. It’s a bit of a fixer upper for sure but it has so much character and honestly, I’m looking forward to the manual labor. My brain could use the distraction for a while, especially with weeks of nothing but endless days ahead of my soon once school lets out.”

“I’m sure,” Nancy commented, her tone gentle, not pitying but empathetic. You were thankful for that. You’d run to Hawkins to get away from all the pity. You couldn’t bear it if your new friends started looking at you like that too. “I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for you. To find out your husband is cheating is bad enough but with your best friend? What kind of friend does that?”

“Not a very good one,” you replied, tugging on the edge of your sweater. “I thought she was. I mean, Cassie and I had been friends since tenth grade, since I first moved to Galena. She was the first person who was friendly to me, you know? I walked into my first class, Geometry, nervous as hell because it sucks being the new face, wondering if anyone is going to talk to you. The moment I sat down she was asking me all kinds of questions about myself and rambling about her life and it didn’t stop all morning because we wound up having every single class together. Cassie always said it was kismet. We were platonic soulmates or something, destined to meet and be in each other’s lives forever.”

“Sounds like you and Steve,” Nancy laughed, looking knowingly over at Robin.

“Yeah, besides the fact that he’s not a woman so completely not romantic territory for me, Steve is pretty much everything else to me,” Robin agreed with a chortle. “I couldn’t stand him in high school. Oh, he was awful. He was such a prick. So many dumb girls were always hanging all over him, desperate for any small ounce of attention the King would bestow on them.”

“Hey!” Nancy shouted, looking offended.

“Sorry, present company excluded, obviously,” Robin snorted dramatically with a roll of her eyes.

“Wait…you and Steve?” you asked, shocked though you didn’t know why. You didn’t know these people that well but honestly, you could see it. Nancy looked like the kind of girl that would have dated a guy like Steve Harrington back in high school. Hell, you had been the kind of girl who dated a guy like Steve Harrington in high school.

Nancy’s cheeks flushed, her lips pressing together as she shook her head, “Yeah, my sophomore year into my junior year. I was over the moon that Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington wanted to give me the time of day. I felt like the chosen one, like I’d won the boyfriend lottery. All the girls were so jealous of me because I had managed to snag the King. But uh, it didn’t end up working out, obviously.”

“Why not? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind. A lot of shit went down,” explained Nancy, her eyes squinting as if she were having to think far harder about the answer than she should have. It seemed like a fairly simple question. Relationships failed all the time. “My best friend, Barb, she went missing and I kind of spiraled out of control. I mean, I completely lost my shit. Jonathan’s brother, Will, also went missing. It was a really ugly time and Jonathan and I grew closer, kind of clung to each other, during it all. Two people who were going through the same thing, shared trauma…at least that’s what we were told. It wasn’t too long before I realized that I’d fallen hopelessly in love with him. I still feel awful about doing that to Steve. It wasn’t the right way to go about it but I realized that as much as I liked Steve, I wasn’t in love with him. You probably think I’m an awful person now, don’t you? Especially after everything you’ve been through.”

“No, I don’t,” you assured her, surprised to find that you meant it. “I mean, you can’t help how you feel. The heart wants what it wants. Love makes you act like a crazy person and do shit you never thought you were capable of.” Honestly, the relationship stuff was the last thing you were focusing on from everything Nancy had just divulged. “But…your best friend and Will went missing at the same time? Obviously, they found Will. But what about your friend, Barb? Did you find her? What happened? Where were they?”

A flash of agony flickered over Nancy’s face, almost as if someone had pinched her suddenly. She curled her fingers in front of her, examining her nails carefully. You got the impression that your questions were bringing up some very painful stuff for her and you were sorry for that but you couldn’t help the curiosity you felt about what exactly was going on here. Every little snippet of information they gave you only left you with even more questions.

“No…uh, we never found Barb,” she answered, her voice cracking painfully. “There was a lab here at one time. Hawkins lab. Nobody in the town really paid too much attention to it. It was just some big building and no one knew or cared what they did in there. It turned out they were doing some illegal testing and Barb was accidentally exposed to toxic chemicals. They tried to hide the body, to conceal what had happened. The government wanted to cover it all up, brush it under the rug, but it all got brought to light in the end. We had a funeral with an empty casket but at least we had some closure. At least her parents got some closure. They were…it was so hard for them, not knowing, you know? They sold their house to pay for a private investigator. He was actually the one who blew the story wide open.” She cleared her throat. “Umm…and Will…it turned out that he got lost in the woods for a week. He was just a kid and he was exploring and he couldn’t find his way back. But luckily, they found him. He was in bad shape, had to spend some time in the hospital, but obviously he’s okay now.”

“Yeah, they actually had a funeral for him and everything but then miraculously there he was,” Robin added and you didn’t miss the look Nancy shot at her from the side, as if she’d said more than she should have.

“You had a funeral for him when he’d only been missing for a week?” you asked in disbelief. “That seems kind of fast. I mean, people go missing for months, years even, and they don’t do that. Did you all really think there was no hope that quickly?”

“Oh,” Robin squeaked, suddenly looking nervous, as if she realized the mistake she’d just made. “Umm…well, they had the funeral because they thought he was dead. There was a body of a boy who drowned found at the quarry.”

“A body? Whose body?” you demanded, extremely invested in this story.

Hawkins was such a small town. It seemed so quiet here, so quaint and normal. Missing people, government lab cover-ups, and bodies being found was the last thing you’d ever expected to come across when moving here. When Millie had told you this town had a dark past she hadn’t been exaggerating.

“We don’t know,” Nancy interjected quickly. “It was another kid, around Will’s age. But the body was really decomposed from being in the water for so long so it was almost impossible to identify. They just assumed it was Will because he was the only kid missing in town. But then he turned out to be alive and they never could identify who the kid was that they found in the water. Whoever it was wasn’t from around here.”

Your brow furrowed as you listened to the explanation, thinking it sounded insane. Did the people of this town really just believe that a random body was the boy that was missing without any identification done? And what about this random kid that drowned? They just let it go? Where did he come from? He had to belong to somebody. Someone was out there missing their child, never knowing what had happened to him. How had no one come forward to claim him?

This was all beginning to sound like some weird dystopian novel to you: government conspiracies, illegal lab testing, misidentified bodies, cover-ups, Max’s need for sunglasses, Eddie’s story about rabid raccoons attacking him. How did a small town like this have such a sordid past? And why would a government lab set up operations in such a small town unless they were trying to stay hidden? What were they really doing there? Something bigger was going on here, something none of them seemed to want to talk about.

“Hey, what are you doing for dinner?” Nancy asked loudly, breaking you from your dive down the rabbit hole. You looked up to find your new friend looking at you eagerly.

“Dinner?” you asked, trying to follow the sudden change of topic. “Oh, I was probably just going to make grilled cheese or something easy and maybe work on my lesson plans. I didn’t get a chance to finish them at school, story of my life.”

“No, you’re definitely not doing that,” Nancy told you. “Come back to my place with us. Jonathan was ordering pizza for him and the guys and he always orders way more than we need anyway or Argyle just shows up with extra.”

“Thanks, but I really don’t want to intrude again,” you said, shaking your head. “I already butted into your annual friends thing last night and I feel kind of bad about it. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Oh nonsense,” Robin huffed, rising to her feet. “You are our friend now. You’re not intruding on anything. We’re inviting you. We wouldn’t invite you if we didn’t want you there. The guys aren’t going to care and if they do, screw them.”

“Yeah, screw them,” Nancy agreed with a smile. “We can grab a bottle of wine and go hang out in the backyard if they’re being idiots. Who needs those dumb guys anyway?”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” you relented with a small shrug, not wanting to show how pleased you actually were.

“Of course we’re sure,” Nancy asserted with a smile.

You really didn’t want to overstay your welcome, so to speak. You didn’t want them to get tired of you or think you were clingy. They’d just met you and you didn’t want to come across as needy, even though you really kind of were. Needy for human connection, for conversation, for fun, for something to do, something to fill your time with.

“Let me just clean up a bit and change clothes?” “Sure, take your time,” Nancy told you, sipping her lemonade. “Robin and I will be right here waiting when you’re ready.”

Those words were like a balm to your heart but you’d never tell them that. Hearing that you had people, people who would be there waiting for you when you were ready, was like a band-aid over the wound that had been bleeding out for months. You were ready, more than ready to let it heal over.

Chapter 5

Taglist

@tlclick73 @bebe07011 @eddiesguitarskills @witchwolflea @strangerfreak @emilyslutface @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @corrodedcoffincumslut @mmunson86 @josephquinnsfreckles @katethetank

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dwobbitfromtheshire · 8 months

Text

Anchor

A/N: it starts off a little angsty and then gets a little silly. I hope the sex scene isn't too silly. I just think that sometimes sex with Eddie can be silly. He's a silly man.

18+ MINORS DNI

Summary: Steve needs to come down from his panic attack. Eddie helps him out.

It was the fourth of July, 1986. . .exactly one year since Starcourt. Steve had been feeling twitchy all day and very on edge. He couldn't sleep last night either. Nightmares plagued him all night long. He heard the term from Hopper before. The anniversary effect. He knows the signs of PTSD. Hopper had sat them all down to explain what to look for and what to do when something like this happened. Steve should have called Eddie to cancel, but Steve had been looking forward to hanging out with one of his best friends all week. This would be the first time they would be hanging out alone, and for some reason, Steve was really looking forward to that. A knock on the door nearly caused him to jump out of his skin.

"Is he knocking to the beat of a Metallica song?" Steve asked himself, and he smiled softly. "It's definitely Eddie."

Steve opened the door and grinned at the sight of Eddie. He wore tight black cut-off shorts, a stripped crop top with cut-off sleeves, and his hair was braided down his back. There were sparkly butterfly barrettes pinning his bangs back.

"Uh, hey, Eddie," Steve said, staring at him in confusion.

"El was hanging out at Max's trailer, I didn't want to say no to the kid," Eddie said, shrugging his shoulders and grinning.

"You spoil her," Steve said grinning fondly at him.

"She deserves it," Eddie said.

"Yeah, she does," Steve said. "By the way, did you knock to the tune of a Metallica song?"

"If you know it through a door, then something tells me that you've been listening to it without me. Stevie. . .are you a secret fan?" Eddie asked, smirking.

"Shut up," Steve said blushing.

He didn't want to tell him that he was listening to the music when he wasn't around because, well, he didn't know why he did it. He recognized the top Eddie was wearing. It was his old black polo that he had given Eddie. It looked better on him than it ever did on Steve. He grinned when he realized that Eddie had ripped off the buttons, leaving a slit open in the middle of his chest. He was showing off his tattoos and not just his tattoos but his scars as well. Eddie had never been afraid to show them off.

"You going to let me in, big boy?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, right," he said stepping aside.

Just as Eddie was walking by him, a set of fireworks went off in the distance. Steve jumped and grabbed Eddie's bicep, gripping it tightly.

"Stevie?" Eddie asked softly.

Eddie placed a gentle hand over the top of Steve’s hand. The sight of Eddie's nails painted a red glittery color caused him to break from his reverie, and he laughed.

"The food is getting cold," Steve said as he closed the door behind Eddie.

"Don't worry. The fireworks fuck me up too," Eddie replied as he followed him into the kitchen. "Stevie! You ordered my favorite. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me."

"Please, if I were trying to seduce you, I would do better than pineapple pizza," Steve replied.

"You dare insult the food of gods?!" Eddie exclaimed and Steve laughed.

"You and Argyle should start a long-haired, weed smoking, pineapple pizza loving club," Steve laughed.

"Oh, we already have," Eddie said cheerfully. "By the way, that dude can smoke me under the table."

Steve tried to focus on what was happening inside of the house. They were watching a movie, their empty plates lying on the coffee table. Eddie was sitting so close to him that his shoulder was brushing against his. He tried to focus on Eddie, but there were fireworks going off outside, and suddenly, the guy on the TV started speaking Russian. Steve tried to breathe but found that he couldn't. His chest hurt, and his entire body was trembling. He let out a gasp as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Who do you work for?!"

"I told you! Scoops Ahoy!" Steve screamed. "I swear!"

Steve screamed when they hit him again. He wanted it to stop. He was begging it to stop.

"I don't believe you! How did you find us?!"

He was crazy. This man was crazy. After he hit him, the man ran a hand through his hair, and it was sickening how gentle he was because Steve knew it wasn't real. It was just another tactic. Steve hated the way he leaned in at first, and then he yanked himself away. He hated that he was crying.

"Shh, shh, it's okay," the man said softly. "Just tell us who you work for, and this will all stop. It's okay."

"Steve?!" Eddie's panicked voice broke him out of his memory.

Steve was gasping for breath, and he was crying. Why was he crying?

"I - can't -," Steve trembled.

"Stevie, can I touch you?" Eddie asked.

Eddie placed his hands on his shoulders. Steve flinched but relaxed when he realized it was Eddie who was touching him. He trusted Eddie. The fireworks were still going off, and Steve still couldn't breathe.

"I was telling the truth, Eddie," Steve sobbed. "They still wouldn't stop. T-they wouldn't stop."

"You need to breathe for me, Stevie," Eddie said. "Focus. Breathe in and out, okay? Can you focus on my voice?"

"I'm trying!" Steve snapped.

"I've been reading about this. Okay. Um, you need to focus on the moment. You're safe, okay? Nothing is going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you, okay? Stevie, do you trust me?" Eddie asked.

"Of course," Steve gasped.

"I need to anchor you. I need you to come back down, and this is the only way I can think to do it. Can I?" Eddie asked and Steve nodded.

Eddie cupped his face and pressed his lips to Steve’s softly. He could feel Steve relax, and his breathing became steady. Steve started moving his lips against Eddie's, softly at first, and then it became hungry. Eddie could taste the salt of his tears on his lips and the desperation on his tongue. Steve broke the kiss, smiling.

"I think I'm properly anchored now," Steve said, and another firework went off. "Ugh, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"You're telling me that you need help, big boy?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

The two young men stumbled upstairs, and once again, Eddie was pushing Steve against a wall. This time, it was the wall of his bedroom, and he was pressed up against him completely, grinding against Steve’s thigh as they kissed. Steve broke the kiss to take off his shirt and smirked at the hungry look in Eddie's eyes. Eddie grinned and went to take off his own shirt. . .and got stuck.

"Steve! Something went wrong! I got stuck! Steve! Stop laughing, asshole! How am I supposed to see your tits?!" Eddie panicked.

Steve continued to laugh as he helped Eddie out of his shirt. He took off the butterfly clips and set them on his dresser. He cupped Eddie's face and kissed him deeply.

"That was very sexy," Steve giggled.

"Fuck off," Eddie said.

Eddie grabbed him by the back of his thighs and picked him up into his arms.

"Jesus!" Steve exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm stronger than I look, big boy," Eddie winked as he threw him onto the bed. "Now watch as the Magnificent Munson makes his lovely assistants' pants disappear!"

Eddie unbuckled Steve’s pants before yanking them down and completely off, tossing them behind him.

"Voila!"

"You're crazy!" Steve giggled.

"Oh, baby, you have no idea," Eddie laughed maniacally.

He placed his knees on either side of Steve’s hips and leaned down to kiss him. He moved his lips down to his neck, his chest, and then down to his stomach. Eddie grinned mischievously.

"Whatever is that you're going to do, don't do it," Steve warned.

Eddie pressed his lips to Steve’s stomach and blew a raspberry near his bellybutton. Steve burst into laughter. Eddie sat up a little.

"I'm sorry, is this not how you blow someone?" Eddie asked innocently.

"No, Eddie!" Steve giggled.

"Are you sure?" Eddie asked and blew another raspberry on his stomach.

"Eddie!"

"I'm sorry, I think you're going to have to come up with a safe word," Eddie said and blew yet another raspberry.

"Anchor!" Steve laughed.

"That's a good safeword, baby," Eddie said, pressing a kiss to his stomach.

He started kissing the rest of the way down until he came to Steve’s boxers. He grinned and took the elastic part in between his teeth. Using his mouth, Eddie lifted up Steve’s hips and dragged his boxers down until they were off completely. Still in his mouth, he shook his head and then spat them on the floor. Steve shook with laughter.

"Are you putting on a show, or you going to fuck me?" Steve grinned.

"Can't I do both?" Eddie asked.

It finally happened, Eddie was now deep inside of Steve.

"Are you going to move?" Steve asked.

"Gentleman, make sure you keep your arms and legs wrapped around your metalhead at all times!" Eddie said as if he was a train conductor. "Most importantly, enjoy the ride. All aboard the Munson express!"

Eddie slowly started to thrust into Steve and grunted as he moved. Steve moaned, gripping Eddie's back tightly. It wasn't long before Eddie started to make train noises as he thrusted inside of him. Steve rolled his eyes back as he laughed, his body shaking around Eddie's dick.

"Eddie!" Steve giggled.

"You feeling a little unsafe, Stevie? Do you need to use the safeword?" Eddie asked.

Somehow, Steve arrived on time. Eddie had followed soon after, spilling into the condom. Steve was still laughing when Eddie left and came back to clean him up.

"I don't know how I managed to laugh and cum at the same time. That is the silliest sex that I ever had," Steve grinned. "I don't want to have sex with anyone else ever again."

"That was my plan all along, baby," Eddie said, snuggling into Steve’s side.

Steve finally managed to get some sleep that night with a smile on his face and the man of his dreams in his arms even with the fireworks going off outside. All was well.

#stranger things #eddie munson #stranger things s4 #joseph quinn #eddie stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson lives #steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fanfiction #eddie got really nervous it was his first time

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billys-pretty-babe · 1 year

Note

Hi 🤍 I have a request if you don't mind... So, remember that scene in season 2 where Billy enters the room and and sees Max getting ready for the Snowball ?

I believe that Neil punished Billy for not bringing Max home that night. I think in addition to hitting him, he probably also forbade him to go to that ball. I mean, everyone is preparing for the ball but him: he's not ready at all and doesn't seem to be about to go out.

And that's where my idea came from. Could you write a fic where Reader, who is best friends with Billy, decides to secretly visit him that night (through the window) and keep him company instead of going to the Snowball because she really likes him and doesn't want him to be alone ? In the end they have an amazing time together (laughing, listening to music and maybe slow-dancing too) and Billy is all flustered because he didn't expect anyone to think of him that way. 🥺🤍🤍🤍

May I Have This Dance?

Pairing : Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Summary : ^^^^^

Warnings : Swearing, Billy calls the reader babe, Neil Hargrove shows up at the end for a brief moment.

Word Count : 907

A/N : Requests are open. Thank you @moonlightfountain for the request, I hope I did your beautiful idea justice!!

The Snowball, something that every teen looked forward to but not that everyone could afford. You knew that Max was going to go along with Billy who had two different girls to take.

"Why do you even need two dates?" Billy chuckled, "One for each arm, babe."

You knew there was an incident but that was all you knew. You drove past the school, everything lit up, girls in their dresses and boys in their slacks and nice shirts as you drove to Cherry Lane. Billy's Camaro was on the road, Neil's truck was nowhere to be seen. You drove to your friend's house a few houses down before walking to Billy's house.

Once you made it you tested his window, seeing that it was unlocked before carefully sliding it open and climbing through. Billy laid on his bed, cigarette between his slightly chapped lips, Motley Crue Shout At The Devil vinyl playing in the corner of his room. "B," he looked over at you, his eye beginning to bruise a little. "What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the stupid dance?" You shook your head, shutting his window.

"Vickie said you cancelled so I came over here to check on you." He nodded, blowing out the mouthful of smoke, "Well, I'm alive, you can leave now." You rolled your eyes and made your way to his bed, the bed was small but you made it work. He looked at you, "Why are you still here? You have a date." You waved him off, "He'll understand, you're me important to me than some stupid dance plus we still have prom to go to so I'm not missing anything important."

He nodded and put out the cigarette before he turned to you, "Was Vickie mad?" You laughed, "I think she was more mad at the fact that you had two dates." He laughed with you, his nose scrunching a little. Vince Neil sang in the background as you both talked. "Okay but what fruit do you think you'd be?" Billy raised a brow, "A fruit?" You nodded and he hummed, pretending to think. "Pineapple, I use it to make my cum taste good." Your jaw dropped, you couldn't help it and Billy cackled, trying not to fall off of his bed.

"Are you serious?" He laughed and shook his head, "No, just pulling your leg but your reaction was priceless." You shook your head, flicking him off. "Can I change the record?" Billy nodded and you sifted through his contained of them, making comments here and there, "Donna Summer?" Billy laughed, "Hey, don't judge. I don't judge you for your weird obsession with rockstars." You rolled your eyes and grabbed the She Works Hard For the Money record and you turned up the volume a little and you laid back down, the record sleeve in your hand so you could see the tracklist.

Every song had passed before I Do Believe (I Feel In Love) and you stood up. "May I have this dance," you asked, putting your hand out and Billy raised a brow, "You serious?" You nodded, "As serious as you are about that car out there." He laughed and stood up, taking your hand in his and he turned up the volume once more. He kicked his bed a little to make room to dance considering he had the smallest room in the house.

You and me, we're together.

He pulled you to his body quickly, taking you by surprise. "I don't know how to dance." You laughed, "Me neither." You both laughed and swayed to the music.

I do believe I fell in love.

He quickly spun you before catching your hip in his hand and one of your hands moved to his shoulder as you held the other as you guys danced around the room.

Oh let me love you. Oh let me kiss you. Baby, I'm fallin', your love is a callin'.

"You trust me?" "Sometimes." He laughed and spun you again before dipping you slowly, his curls falling to frame both of your faces. Your breath hitched, your eyes searching his blue ones, his pupils dilating and he leaned in a little before the front door slammed shut and you both quickly pulled away a little, you trying to catch your footing and he quietly apologized and turned his music down.

"Billy," Neil yelled out and Billy looked at you, his eyes sad. "Go home, I can deal with him." You nodded and squeezed his hand, making sure you had your jacket before climbing out of his window and you jogged to your car. You took backroads back to your house, thinking about what had just happened.

Was Billy going to kiss you? Would you have let him kiss you? Is Billy attracted to you? Is that why his pupils dilated?

You asked yourself questions until you got back home and continued to ask them as you made your way to your bedroom. You got yourself ready for bed and as you laid down you came to your conclusion.

You're in love with your best friend.

You sighed and looked at your bedside table to see a picture of Billy as Lover's Lake as he looked at the stars, the cherry of the cigarette lit up as he took a pull from it. You smiled, admiring the picture before you fell asleep, wondering how Billy felt about you.

#billy hargrove x female reader #reqs open #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove x f!reader #billy hargove imagine #billy hargrove x you #female reader #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things billy #billy-eddie-steve-babygirl fluff

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marco-newgate · 12 days

Text

Marco X CisFem Reader

"Good morning lass." Pops murmured emerging from the hall that lead to both of your respective rooms.

"You're up early." You turned toward the single cup coffee maker taking his dark roast blend out of the cabinet and pouring it into the reusable metal cup.

"Could say the same for you. The sun isn't even up. I wish you'd been like this in your school days." He chuckled taking a seat at the table.

"Don't underestimate me; I can still sleep the day away if given the chance. Still two sugars and a drop of milk?" The old man nodded, "I just wanted to get some apartment hunting done before work."

"I hope you're not in a rush to leave, we only just got you back."

"You talk like I wasn't home every Sunday evening." You placed his cup on the table and took your seat in front of your laptop.

"You know you can stay as long as you want. There's more order when you're around and I miss my only daughter."

"Thanks pops. It'll be a while; I'm just looking at places right now." You smiled.

Marco shambled down the stairs yawning. His lavender button down falling open, revealing the white cotton tank beneath that you could faintly see the outline of his chest tattoo through. A black tie hung over his shoulders.

"Morning F/N, pops." He continued to the coffee maker taking his mug from the hook below the cabinet.

Pops hummed standing to make his way to the patio to watch the sun rise. This was a morning ritual he'd had as long as you'd known him. Occasionally on cold mornings you'd join him, neither of you breathing a word, just simply enjoying the view.

"Morning Pineapple ~ " You sipped your coffee, "You were out late."

"Was I?" The blond cocked his head, "I didn't know I had to report in yoi."

"You don't." Your brows knit, "I was just surprised you're up so early."

"It is a school day." He sighed buttoning the shirt.

"Kids have electives first period now?" You asked.

"It's block scheduling now yoi. I have four hour and a half classes a day." He sat next to you.

"What's first on your agenda?"

"Art four is first period today. They're my smallest class so we're doing silk screening."

"Ah that's so cool. I had to retake algebra two senior year so I had to drop art." You frowned.

"I remember." The blond chuckled, "Pops was so disappointed."

An embarrassed flush spread over your cheeks.

"You want me to make you a tee shirt yoi?" He flipped his collar up and started to fumble with the tie.

"Really? It's been a super long time since you made me anything." You smiled watching him clearly have a hard time, "Come here you aren't doing it right."

He scooted toward you and tipped his chin up.

"I have to make an example for them anyway." He hummed.

"OK I'll give you one of my plain shirts before you leave." You wove the tie around your fingers, "How do you wear a tie every day and not know how to tie it?"

"Thatch ties them and I leave them that way yoi." You rolled your eyes, "How do you know how to tie them?"

You chuckled as he glanced down at you brow cocked.

"Thatch. He said it'd be a great way to impress a boyfriend one day." You winked, "Impressed?"

"I can't believe he was teaching you how to seduce guys in high school." He scoffed looking away from you as you straightened the tie.

"I was too awkward to use those skills anyway." You laughed sitting back to admire your work, "There you look sort of respectable."

"It was useful in the end huh?" Thatch's voice chimed from the doorway.

His hair was down and his shirt was stained with lipstick and missing buttons.

"Look at you walk-of-shaming on a Monday." You laughed crossing the room for another cup of coffee.

"Ah yeah." He flashed a cheeky smile, "Gonna hit the shower before anyone else gets up."

"Yeah I gotta get going too yoi." Marco stood cuffing his sleeves.

"Oh the shirt." You disappeared down the hall reappearing with a heather gray v-neck.

"Thanks. Have a good day at work." He tossed your shirt over his shoulder and pecked your cheek before heading out the door.

"D-did Marco just kiss you?!" Ace practically shrieked - obviously as surprised as you.

You whipped around to face the wide eyed raven unable to find any words and even if you could you weren't breathing.

Breathe!

Ace crossed the room grabbing your shoulders and scrunching his freckled face.

"What's going on here F/N?"

"I- I don't think he even knows he did it." You breathed.

"How could he not? He doesn't do stuff like that." He argued.

"I'm just as confused as you." You shrugged out of your best friend's grasp.

"Heeeeey F/N!!!" Luffy called stomping down the stairs, "Can you drop me off at the campus library on your way to work?"

"S-sure ya got 10 minutes to get ready and meet me at the car." You replied screwing your travel lid onto your coffee cup.

Ace just stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"Don't make a big deal out of it. It was nothing." You tapped his cheek and turned for the door stepping out on the porch.

"What happened to Marco?" Pops asked from his seat on the bench swing, "He came out here red as a tomato."

"No idea." You replied coolly before kissing the old man's cheek and hopping down the steps, "Have a great day pops!"

"You too." He called back.

#second chances #lyndsyh24 #marco the phoenix #marco x reader #one piece #whitebeard pirates #x reader #whitebeard one piece

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pdhsofficial · 7 months

Text

"Colombia in Colors" by Pineapples

#pdhs_official #pineapples #pineapples don't have sleeves #photoshoot #inspiration #editorial #fashion #fashion week #Bogotá #graphic #pattern

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ghostinthelibrarywrites · 1 year

Text

the moon will sing a song for me

The first of two chapters of my fic for @fandomtrumpshate is up! It's a gift for Kali, a modern with magic AU featuring werewolf!Jaskier, lots of pining, questionable taste in pizza toppings, and angst with a happy ending (in more ways than one.)

Relationship: Geralt/Jaskier

Rating: E

Warnings: none

Summary: When Jaskier returns after a full moon trapped in his wolf form, Geralt knows something is terribly wrong with his best friend and roommate—who Geralt may or may not have been pining over for the past decade. But as the days pass and Geralt, his fellow witchers, and Yennefer fail to figure out what's wrong with Jaskier, Jaskier starts to lose himself to the wolf. Can Geralt get him back before it’s too late?

You can read the first couple of scenes below or the whole thing here on AO3!

***

"So, are you going to kill me?" the werewolf asks through a mouthful of pineapple and pepperoni pizza. There's a string of cheese hanging from his bottom lip.

"Do I need to kill you?" Geralt hopes he sounds less uncertain than he actually is.

Nothing about the call they received at headquarters an hour ago about a vicious werewolf on Hierarch Boulevard prepared him for this. Not because he found a vicious werewolf, but because he found a young man busking outside a pizza parlor, wearing a seasonally inappropriate flowered shirt and a pair of jeans with so many holes in them, they may as well have been shorts.

When the kid—he only looks a couple of years younger than Geralt’s age of twenty-three, but he has a baby face that makes Geralt think ‘kid’—realized that the man standing over him was a witcher, he seemed more resigned than terrified.

“If we’re going to do this, you’re going to buy me a slice of pizza first,” he said and bewildered, Geralt agreed. And somehow ended up buying him an entire pie.

Now, the werewolf shrugs. He's doing everything he can to look casual, though Geralt can smell his anxiety. "I sure hope not."

"We got a call that you were menacing people on Hierarch Boulevard."

The werewolf's eyebrows draw together. "Look, I know my cover of 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' wasn't my best work, but calling it menacing seems like an overreaction."

“Hm.”

“First of all.” The kid raises his piece of pizza as if making a point. “You’ll notice that I was playing my guitar. That’s impossible to do in my wolf form. I’ve tried. Second of all, we’re two weeks from a full moon. Even a baby werewolf probably won’t lose control this time of month. I’m twenty. I’ve been able to control my shift since I was like fourteen. Third, if I was going to go berserk, I wouldn’t do it in my favorite busking spot. I have a rapport with all the local business owners and mauling people is bad for business.”

“Then why would someone call and report you?”

The werewolf lets out a laugh entirely devoid of humor. “My guess is that it was that fuck Earl de Stael. He’s my girlfriend’s other boyfriend. We’ve never gotten along and lately he seems to have a bug up his butt, thinking Victoria likes me more than him. Which she probably does, but he has a trust fund, which more than makes up for the lack of personality and the terrible taste in clothes."

“Hm,” Geralt says again, because he really doesn’t know what to say.

“So.” The werewolf grabs a fifth slice of pizza. “What’s it like, being a witcher?”

“Not sure yet,” Geralt says mildly. “Only got my certification six months ago.”

“Is it true that you’re like a super soldier?”

“I don’t know about that.” Geralt shrugs.

“I mean, they did something to you.” The werewolf gestures at his face with a pizza crust. “Unless you were born with golden, slit-pupiled eyes?”

“I wasn’t. My eyes were green.” Geralt isn’t sure why he says that, but the words just come out.

“Fascinating.” The werewolf wipes his mouth on his sleeve. “So, am I your first werewolf?”

“No.”

“Did you buy the last one pizza?”

“No, I killed her.”

The werewolf’s heartbeat picks up and his eyes flick towards the door. “Ah.”

Geralt grimaces. “She had killed one person and was an active danger to three others. I had no choice.”

And he still threw up afterwards.

The werewolf smells afraid and Geralt hates that. The hardest thing about waking up after the Trials was suddenly being able to smell how scared everyone was of him. He tries to sound gentle, or as gentle as he can sound with his fucked up, gravelly voice, as he says, “Look, I’m not going to kill you. From what I can tell, the most monstrous thing about you is your taste in pizza toppings.”

The werewolf’s relief morphs into outrage, his mouth dropping open to reveal a ball of chewed up cheese, bread, and meat. “What in Melitele’s name is wrong with my taste in pizza toppings?”

“Pineapple and pepperoni?”

“The sweetness of the pineapple and the spiciness of the pepperoni—”

“No.”

“Just try it.” The werewolf shoves the tray of pizza at him. “It will change your life.”

“Hm.”

“Come on.” Blue eyes twinkle at him with mirth. They’re pretty blue eyes, Geralt can’t help but notice. “Do you trust me?”

“I’ve known you for fifteen minutes.” But Geralt takes a slice of pizza. Because he’s hungry and a little curious. Not because of the blue eyes.

“What do you think?” The werewolf sits forward.

“It tastes like shitty pizza with pineapple and pepperoni on top.” Geralt drops the rest of his slice back on the tray.

“So amazing?”

Geralt only grunts in answer.

The werewolf puts a hand over his heart. “How disappointing to learn that my new best friend has shit taste in pizza.”

“We’re not friends.”

“You saved my life. Well, spared it. I think that makes us friends.”

Geralt wants to say that the werewolf’s life was never in any danger, that no witcher he knows would have walked up to an innocent person who wasn’t even in wolf form and killed them. But then he thinks of some of the older witchers he’s met—like fucking Varin—and rethinks that. “I don’t even know your name. We can’t be friends if I don’t know your name.”

“Well, that’s easy enough to fix,” the werewolf says. “I’m Jaskier.”

***

Ten Years Later

The house is always too quiet on full moons.

When Geralt and Jaskier first moved in together eight years ago, it took Geralt months to adjust to all the noises his new roommate made. He and Jaskier had been friends for just over two years at that point, but Geralt had still been taken off guard by the sheer volume of noise that Jaskier could make. He even brushed his teeth loudly and his snores kept Geralt awake every night until he invested in a white noise machine and a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

But over the years, Geralt has grown so accustomed to the noise that the silence that greets him when he steps through the front door may as well be a roar. He’s used to coming home from his hunts to the sounds of Jaskier puttering around the kitchen on a mission to make late night pancakes, strumming on his guitar, or snoring in front of the TV. He always waits up for Geralt to come home from his hunts—or tries to, at least—even after all these years.

“If I go to bed before you get home, how will I know if you’ve had your insides torn out by a wyvern and are lying in a ditch somewhere?” Jaskier demanded the last time Geralt told him that the waiting up was unnecessary.

“That was one time.”

“Oh, you’ve only been disemboweled one time. How silly of me, I won’t worry anymore.”

The silence of the house is broken by a meow as Roach comes to greet Geralt, tail twitching in irritation at the indignity of being left alone for hours.

“Hey, girl.” Geralt scoops her up, scratching under her chin. “How’s it been?”

Roach meows at him again. She never likes full moons either.

“I know,” Geralt says. “He’ll be back in the morning.”

That earns him an unimpressed look. Geralt almost reminds her that he’s the one who found her in the basement of a wraith-haunted abandoned house when she was just a tiny ball of fluff and brought her home to nurse her back to health, and then remembers that arguing with his cat that she should love him more than she loves his roommate probably isn’t a good sign. Anyway, he can’t begrudge Jaskier Roach’s love; his friend is far too lovable for anyone’s good, including Geralt’s.

Geralt carefully puts that thought out of his mind as he makes his way into the kitchen, Roach tucked under one arm. If Jaskier were here, he would be peppering Geralt with questions about tonight’s alghoul hunt, fussing over Geralt’s nonexistent wounds, and complaining loudly about the stench of necrophage that lingers on his armor. Geralt tries not to pay attention to the pang of regret in his belly as he heeds Roach’s pitiful meows and adds some fresh wet food to her half-full food bowl.

He checks the fridge to make sure they have enough eggs, then takes a rib-eye steak out of the freezer to defrost. When Jaskier comes home around dawn, exhausted and smelling like rabbit blood, Geralt will have breakfast waiting for him so Jaskier can wolf down an entire steak, a dozen eggs, and a pile of toast before going to bed to sleep off his full moon hangover. Geralt will spend the day curled up in bed with him, keeping him warm and comfortable.

If Jaskier were part of a pack, he would spend his full moon gamboling around the woods with his fellow werewolves and spend the day after collapsed in a puppy pile with his packmates. But Jaskier doesn’t have that. He spends his full moons alone and the day after, all he has is Geralt. While Jaskier usually is usually sanguine about his estrangement from the Novigrad and Lettenhove packs, it always seems to weigh on him in the days after the full moon. It’s the least Geralt can do to try and ease his loneliness.

Roach meows at him again and Geralt realizes he’s been staring out the sliding glass door at the woods behind their house, watching for a glint of blue eyes in the dark. He looks down to find his cat staring up at him in clear judgment. “Fuck off,” he tells her. “You miss him too.”

With an irritable twitch of her tail, she returns to her food and Geralt heads down the hall to wash the alghoul blood out of his hair before he goes to sleep. Dawn—and Jaskier—will be here before he knows it.

***

Geralt wakes to sunlight streaming through the window and Roach stepping on his face. He groans as he relocates her to the pillow, glancing at the clock to see that it's well past 8 AM. It takes him a moment to realize what’s wrong with this picture: the sound of the sliding glass door in the kitchen should have woken him hours ago when Jaskier returned home. Jaskier is never sneaky, especially when he’s clumsy with exhaustion the morning after a full moon.

“Fuck.” Geralt stumbles out of bed and across the hall to Jaskier’s room. He’s unsurprised to find the door ajar and Jaskier’s bed still empty, the blue and yellow comforter crumpled on the floor, just like it was the night before. Jaskier’s scent of eucalyptus and mint is present, but faint. He didn’t sleep here last night.

There are plenty of good reasons that Jaskier may not have returned home last night, Geralt tells himself, even as his sense of unease grows. Maybe he met another lone wolf last night and they’re off somewhere, cuddled together as they sleep off the moon’s effects. It wouldn’t be the first time Jaskier has forgotten to tell Geralt when he was going off with some new paramour.

But lone wolves like Jaskier are vulnerable, both to trophy hunters and to other werewolves. Jaskier has no pack to protect him if he gets into trouble. Hell, Earl de Stael alone has tried to kill him at least a half a dozen times in the past decade. The thought of Jaskier in a hunter’s snare or falling under another werewolf’s claws sends a nauseous feeling crawling up Geralt’s throat. Not panic. Witchers don’t get the luxury of panic.

A scratching noise from the kitchen distracts him from his not-panic. Heart pounding a bit too hard than a witcher’s should, Geralt hurries down the hall to the kitchen and finds Roach standing at the sliding glass door, meowing insistently. There’s a bear-sized wolf with brown fur and bright blue eyes standing on the back porch, panting in clear agitation. Geralt only occasionally sees Jaskier in his wolf form, because Jaskier rarely shifts outside of full moons, but he would know those blue eyes anywhere. He can see the fear in them.

“What the fuck, Jaskier?” Geralt slides the door open and immediately winds up with a face full of fur as Jaskier jumps up, nosing at his face insistently. Geralt stumbles back under the unexpected weight and Jaskier backs off, whining apologetically. His ears are pinned back and his tail is tucked between his legs. Even trying to make himself look as small as possible, he takes up most of their tiny kitchen.

“What happened?” Geralt runs his fingers through Jaskier’s fur, searching for signs of injury. There’s a bit of dried blood crusted around his mouth, but that more than likely belongs to whatever forest critter was Jaskier’s dinner last night.

Jaskier only whines in response.

“Why are you still a wolf?” Geralt asks.

Big blue eyes stare up at him mournfully.

A horrible thought occurs to Geralt. “Can you not shift back?”

Jaskier shakes his massive head from side to side.

Geralt knows that young werewolves often have this problem. Jaskier likes to laughingly tell the story of shifting into wolf form in his middle school bathroom after a pretty girl asked for his number and not being able to shift back for the rest of the day. But Jaskier isn’t a pimply preteen, but a thirty year old man. Outside of a full moon, he should be in perfect control of his shift. Most of the time, the only signs that he’s not perfectly human are his penchant for extra-rare meat and his superhuman stamina (which Geralt has only heard about secondhand.)

“Did someone do something to you?” Geralt demands.

Jaskier whines and shakes his head again.

Geralt has a thousand other questions, but Jaskier can’t answer any of them right now and seems to be growing more agitated by the minute. Running what he hopes is a soothing hand down Jaskier’s back, Geralt says, “It’s going to be okay, Jask. I’ll call Yenn. Whatever happened, she can help us sort it out.”

***

“What the fuck have you gotten into now, Jaskier?” Yennefer demands, arms folded over her chest in clear disapproval.

From the wreckage of what was once their couch—it turns out that the couch they picked up at a yard sale six years ago wasn’t structurally sound enough to support the weight of a full-grown werewolf leaping onto it—Jaskier grumbles.

“Don’t start,” Yennefer snaps. “I just had to get up early the morning after a full moon for this.”

Normally, Geralt is amused by Jaskier and Yennefer’s bickering. When he first met Yennefer, she and Jaskier couldn’t stand each other. By the time he and Yennefer broke up, she and Jaskier were such good friends that Geralt was a little worried that Jaskier would choose her friendship over his. But he and Yennefer managed to make it through their breakup and become better friends than they ever were lovers, and now she and Jaskier meet up for brunch every other weekend. They bicker constantly, complain about each other endlessly, and would both happily kill anyone who so much as looked at the other one wrong—including Geralt, he often suspects.

But Geralt can’t find any amusement right now, not when Jaskier still looks so frightened. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I don’t think he can shift back.”

Yennefer frowns down at Jaskier.

“Can you fix this?” Geralt hears the thread of desperation in her own voice.

“You’re assuming there’s something to fix.” Yennefer walks over to the werewolf, putting a hand on his snout. Jaskier closes his eyes and leans into the touch. Her expression softens. “I’m going to have to look into your mind, Jaskier. I’m not going to see something that will scar me for life, will I?”

Jaskier huffs.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” But Yennefer still slides her hand up to rest on top of Jaksier’s head and closes her eyes. Geralt’s medallion starts to hum around his neck while she works her mind-reading magic. He tries not to look visibly impatient as he watches the two of them for what feels like an eternity.

Finally, Yennefer steps back and Geralt asks, “What did you see?”

“Nothing.” She frowns down at Jaskier. “He doesn’t know why this has happened and neither do I. If there’s a curse on him, it’s subtle enough that I can’t detect it. He has no memory of being attacked. He’s not injured. There’s no explanation that I can figure out.”

“Then how do we fix it?” Geralt’s voice comes out rougher than he intends.

Jaskier whines, ducking his head.

Yennefer shoots Geralt a sharp look. “Of course I’m not going to let you stay a wolf, Jaskier. You’re coming with me to the Conclave at Thanedd next month, remember? I can’t tolerate that many sorcerers without you there to scandalize them.”

Jaskier makes an annoyed grumbling noise.

“What’s he saying?” Geralt asks.

“He says he’s more worried that he’s going to miss his gig with Priscilla on Friday night,” Yennefer says. “Maybe he was cursed by someone who wants to have a nice night out without listening to his warbling.”

Jaskier barks and Yennefer reaches over to scratch his nose, which causes him to huff, even as he leans into it.

“So what do we do?” Geralt asks. “If it’s most likely not a curse, how do we turn him human again?”

Jaskier whines softly into Yennefer’s hand and she frowns, all the humor leaving her face.

“What’s wrong?” Geralt demands.

Yennefer hesitates, then shakes her head. “Nothing. He’s just being his dramatic self.” Pulling away from Jaskier, she turns to Geralt. “I’ll see if I can find a spell to safely force a shift. In the meantime, I’m sure there’s someone in the Novigrad Pack who will know something.”

“You’re assuming we can find someone in the Novigrad Pack that will help us,” Geralt says and Jaskier barks an agreement.

“Wave your swords around if you have to. Most people find that sufficiently motivating.”

Geralt is about to argue, then notices Jaskier looking at him with big, worried eyes. He knows he’ll wave his swords at whoever he needs to if it means hearing Jaskier’s voice again and seeing his eyes spark with laughter instead of worry. With a sigh, he crosses the room to kneel down in front of his friend, leaning his forehead against Jaskier’s. He doesn’t even complain when Jaskier licks him on the chin, even though his breath smells like dead rabbits and worse things.

“We’ll figure this out, Jask,” he murmurs, burying his fingers into soft brown fur. “We’ll fix this, I promise.”

***

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#the witcher #geraskier #geralt x jaskier #geralt of rivia #jaskier #ghost's fic #ghost's writing

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