#we finally got him talking about Eddie and himself I won’t let any of you spoil my joy

[drunkeddiediaz]

If I see any vile take like ‘RyAn dOeSN’t WAnT BUdDie’ after that interview 🔪🔪🔪

[xoxoladyaz]

locked in lowercase (inside a vault)

For @steddie-week Day 3: Longing (1,032 words)

Tags: Mutual Pining, Unrequited Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Light Angst, Hopeful Ending

“Eddie, man. I think you should talk to him.”

Eddie snorts. “Oh, really? What’s with the sudden change of heart, Emerson? That desperate to knock me down a peg?”

“Dude,” Gareth sighs, and the defenses he’d so easily garnered up fall just a little. “Look, I know I wasn’t all that thrilled about Harrington in the first place – ”

“Oh, that’s the understatement of the fucking century, Gare-bear - ”

“ – but,” Gareth ignores Eddie’s attempts at cutting him off, “that was before I saw how miserable you are without him. Like, dude. We made it. We’re on tour right now, and all you wanna do when we’re not on stage is sit on the bus and play Patsy Cline. You,” Gareth taps Eddie on the chest, “you should be having the time of your fucking life right now, but it’s like you’re not really here with us, man.”

Eddie lets Gareth’s words sink in for a moment. The kid’s not wrong, of course, but he doesn’t get it. He can’t. Eddie barely has the words to describe how the feelings started or what his feelings even are, but any time he bumps into anyone that has that look in their eye, that whole I wanna take an up-and-coming rock star for a ride shine, Eddie turns tail and practically runs the other way. It’s not to say that he hasn’t tried – oh, he tried, especially in those first few cities after first leaving Indiana – but it either didn’t happen or it didn’t end well for either party and eventually he just stopped trying. 

Because none of them were Steve. 

And the worst part is, it’s fucking hopeless. The King never, ever gave Eddie even the slightest inclination that it wasn’t just “babes” for him. (Although, to be fair to Steve, Eddie himself didn’t really know until he was too far away to do anything about it, and that’s assuming Eddie’s balls got big enough to even fucking try something.) Steve was kind to Eddie, sure; hell, he was even calling Harrington his best friend at the end, before they left for tour. But then Eddie started wanting and, even worse, started knowing that he wanted any eyes that looked at him in pleasure to be big and brown and belong to Steve and – well, he hasn’t been playing on this side of the field for long, but even a newbie like him knows just how this is going to play out. 

(Which translates to: he slowly stops calling Steve until he isn’t calling him at all. He takes “Head Over Heels” off the set list. He puts the swim team sweater he stole from Steve’s closet at the bottom of the “extra clothes” pile in the back of the bus. And instead of going out after every show, instead of trying and failing to find some peace in the bottom of a bottle like his dad, he sits in the tour bus and plays Patsy Cline on his acoustic under his fingers bleed.)

“It’ll only make things worse, Gare,” Eddie replies, fishing aimlessly in his pockets for the last of his Camels. “I’ll get over it. Eventually.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you will, but he won’t.”

Eddie’s fingers still in his pocket. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me. You don’t think Robin chews my head off every time I call to check in?”

(It’s just Eddie’s luck, of course, that Gareth’s first-cousin-and-childhood-best-friend happens to be Steve’s other half.)

“Then why don’t you stop calling?” Eddie finally finds a cig and pulls it out of his pocket, only for it to get snatched out of his fingers.

“Because I’m not an asshole, asshole,” Gareth snaps. “And I’m getting really sick and tired of getting yelled at every time I call home because somebody refuses to man up and deal with his feelings.”

Eddie turns in place, glaring at Gareth. “I am dealing with my feelings!”

“By not dealing with them, dumbass! And for the record, you’re making it even more noticeable by notdealing with them! Hell, even Byers asked me about it the last time he called, because why else would you just drop Harrington all together? It’s been like a year, man, you have to deal with this at some point.”

“I – I didn’t know until a month and a half ago, Gareth, what the hell do you mean by the last year?”

Gareth snorts. “Seriously? Seriously. Holy shit, you’re serious. Fucking – really, man? Now I owe Jeff money.”

“GARETH!” Eddie snaps. “What do you mean, the last year?”

Something is on Eddie’s face, some expression that he can’t control, because Gareth’s eyes soften and grow sad. “Eds, man, you wear your heart on your fuckin’ sleeve and your feelings all over your face. All anyone gotta do is see you look at Steve and know.”

“Know? Know what?”

Gareth’s voice is almost a whisper now. “Do I really need to say it?”

The wounded beast in Eddie’s chest shudders. “No.” He pulls his eyes away from Gareth, refocuses on the rings on his hands – and more specifically, the ring made from an antique spoon that Steve had made him when they were going through his parents’ shit.

(It was the only piece of Steve he couldn’t bear to hide away these last six weeks.)

“Does – does he?”

(Eddie can’t finish the question; hell, Eddie doesn’t even know what he’s asking.

Thankfully, somehow Gareth does.)

“Go call him, Eds,” Gareth says. He squeezes Eddie’s shoulder, a benediction for courage, and then leaves the tour bus, leaving Eddie alone and staring at the phone at the end of the bus.

(Maybe there’s a world where Steve feels, can feel, has felt the same. Maybe there’s a world where, when he told Eddie that he’s taking a break from dating that it meant taking a break from dating someone who wasn’t Eddie. Maybe Steve’s been trying and failing to get past this too, and is spending his nights by the phone like Eddie, waiting for someone to call.)

The phone only rings twice.

“This is Steve.”

(And maybe that world is this one.

But he won’t know until he tries.)

“Hey, Stevie. Got a minute?”

[bornonthesavage]

Eddie wouldn’t say he loves his job. He isn’t sure anyone actually loves working in organized crime, but hey, it pays the bills. And he’s good at it, so that’s a plus. All he has to do is pick up bags, drop them at predetermined destinations, and then collect the money. Easy. That is, until it goes wrong. Because of course it does. Things always go wrong for him.

“Where’s the rest of the money?” Sam asks. He’s Eddie’s boss, a greasy dude with shifty eyes.

Eddie frowns. “What are you talking about? It’s all there.”

“No, it’s not. You’re short five hundred. What, you think you can steal from the Harringtons and I won’t notice?”

Eddie’s eyes go wide as he realizes the situation he’s in. “Whoa, dude, what? No! Why would I steal? I’m not stupid!”

Sam takes a menacing step forward and Eddie tries to move back, but feels his path stopped by a thick chest. Yeah, this isn’t looking good.

“Give the money back now, and maybe I’ll let you go. If you don’t, you’re not going to like what happens next.”

Fear coils in Eddie’s stomach. If he had the money he would give it back out of his own pocket. As it stands, all he’s got is the 15 bucks that he’d planned on using for dinner tonight. He’s completely screwed.

“Sam, please, you have to believe me. I didn’t take anything!”

Sam glowers. “Fine, that’s how you wants it.”

Eddie’s grabbed on both sides by strong hands. He tries to fight but knows it no uses. The hired muscle are twice his size, and while he’d probably be able to outrun them, there’s no getting out of the their grasp.

He’s dragged from the office and thrown roughly in the trunk of a car. This is it, he thinks. This is how he’s going to die. They’re going to take him to some river and throw him in with bricks tied to his feet. He’d heard of this sort of thing happening, sure, but he’d never thought it would happen to him. Because he wasn’t stupid enough to cross the Harringtons. They were the most powerful crime family in the country, and Eddie valued his life, thank you very much. But apparently none of that mattered.

The ride is bumpy and it feels like it takes forever. But maybe that’s just Eddie, to out of his mind with fear to pay much attention. He tries to escape, kicking at the trunk and looking for a release lever. Of course, there’s nothing. When they finally come to a stop, he prepares himself to fight. The trunk opens and he tries to launch himself at the nearest thug, but the angles all wrong. He’s thrown the ground with ease, gravel crunching beneath his body.

“Get up,” one of the goons snarls, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him up.

Eddie looks around, trying to get an idea of his surroundings. He’d thought they’d maybe be out in the middle of the woods or near a body of water, but there’s none of that. Instead, they’re outside a massive mansion.

“What the fuck? Where are we?”

He’s pulled forward. “The big boss is out of the country, so we’re taking you to his son. We’ll let him decide how to handle you.”

Ah, shit. That wasn’t much better. He hadn’t worked for the Harringtons for three years without hearing all the horror stories. Sure, Thomas Harrington was in charge and had a reputation for violence, but Eddie had heard plenty about his son as well. A rich boy with a mean streak, they said. So what would he do to Eddie for apparently stealing from his family? Nothing good, that was for sure.

Eddie barely had any time to look around as he was dragged through the mansion and pulled through a set of double doors into an office, where he was thrown to his knees. Slowly, he brought his eyes up.

The first thing he saw were the pair of shiny black shoes. Nothing at all like his own worn out pair of shit kickers. His eyes travel up over a pair of sinfully long legs and thick thighs, all wrapped up in a pair of dress pants that probably cost more than he made in several months. Beyond that was a red silk shirt, only partially buttoned to reveal one of the nicest chests Eddie had ever seen. He sort of hated himself for thinking that, even now.

Finally, his gaze reached the face of the man himself. Steve Harrington was every bit as gorgeous as people said he was, and maybe a bit more. With a strong nose and defined chin, brown eyes that looked a little bored, and perfectly styled hair. Because of course it wasn’t enough that he’d been born rich and powerful. No, he also had to be unbelievably pretty.

Steve brought a cigarette to his lips and took a drag. “Who’s this?”

“This,” one of the thugs says, kicking Eddie’s foot, “Is just a low level piece of shit who thought he could steal from you, sir. We brought him here to let you decide what to do with him.”

Steve looked back to Eddie. “Is that true? Did you steal from my father?”

“No!” Eddie cried.

“Liar,” one goon snarled. “He was short by $500.”

“I swear, I didn’t take anything! I wouldn’t do that, I’m not a fucking idiot!”

Steve just continued to look at him, though he now seemed a bit curious. “Then where did the money go?”

Eddie shook his head. “I have no idea! Do you really think I’d risk my life over five hundred bucks? If I was going to steal, I’d take a lot more than that, I can promise you.”

To Eddie’s relief, though he wasn’t sure how great that relief should be, Steve laughed. He had a nice laugh, very full and bright. If Steve is amused, Eddie can use that. He’s good at being amusing. If the prince needs a jester, he can be that.

“What’s your name?” Steve asks.

“Eddie.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty four.”

Steve nods and takes another drag from his cigarette. “Right.”

He then reaches into his back pocket, and Eddie withdraws into himself. Is he going to pull a gun and just end him right here? At least that would be quick. But it’s not a gun, just his wallet. Steve flips it open and takes out a few hundred dollar bills, before tossing them at the floor by the goons feet. They flutter down like rich person confetti.

“To cover what’s missing,” he says.

The men glance at each other, as if unsure of what to do, before bending down to collect the money. “Uh, yes sir. We’re sorry to have bothered you. We’ll just get this waste of space out of your sight.”

They go to grab Eddie again and he struggles. He’s pretty sure that once he’s out of this room, his time will be up. But then Steve holds up a hand.

“Oh no, leave him here with me.”

Now the guards looked even more confused, and the sentiment was shared by Eddie. Was Steve some sick sadist, who wanted to torture Eddie here all by himself? But the thugs weren’t going to defy their boss. They gave him a shove, forcing him down to his hands, then retreated out of the office. Once the door was closed, Steve made his way around to the other side of the desk and sat. Eddie sort of thought he should get up off his knees, but he didn’t want to make any sudden movements. Maybe now was the best time to plead his case.

“Please, sir, you have to believe that I didn’t take that money.”

But Steve only shrugs and puts his cigarette out. “I don’t really care if you did. Honestly, it would be kind of funny.”

Eddie just stares at him, sure he heard him wrong. “Um, what?”

“Yeah,” Steve says, kicking his feet up on the desk. “My dads an asshole. I’ve stolen from him hundreds of times, and either he doesn’t care or he doesn’t notice. So really, it makes no difference to me.”

Well, this definitely wasn’t how Eddie had thought this was going to go. He still sort of thinks this is a trap, a ruse to get Eddie to admit that he’d actually taken the money.

“Right. So… I’m not in trouble?”

“Nah.”

“Oh. So, can I go then?”

And now Steve gets this certain look in his eye, one that’s bright and sharp, and Eddie almost feels like a prey animal caught in the mouth of a wolf den. But Steve is still smiling, and it seems genuine.

“You can if you want. Or…”

Eddie waits. He’s really not sure where this is going. What else can he want from him? When Steve doesn’t go on, just continues to stare, Eddie raises his eyebrows. “Or what?”

Steve shifts forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk and his chin in his hand. “Now, maybe I’m completely off base with this, so correct me if I’m wrong here. But you were checking me out when you first got here, weren’t you?”

Eddie’s mouth goes dry and his heart jumps in his chest. He hadn’t thought Steve had noticed.

“Please, Mr. Harrington, that wasn’t… I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Call me Steve. I hate when people call me Mr. Harrington. And you didn’t offend me. The opposite, in fact.”

Eddie just stares. This can’t be going where he thinks it’s going. Where he’s hoping it’s going. “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Steve says, his smile growing wider. “I know when someone’s interested in me and you,” his eyes roam over Eddie’s body, “Are very interested.”

He’s cocky, that’s for sure. Eddie hates that he likes it. He really, really likes it. To his embarrassment, he even feels himself twitch in his jeans.

“So I guess you have two choices,” Steve continues. “You can get up and leave right now. No one will stop you and you’ll be free to go on your way. Or… You can stay. And we can come to an arrangement of an entirely different sort.”

And Eddie knows he should leave. He should get up and walk out right now. Because Harrington is nothing but trouble. He can see it written in every line of him, from that cocksure grin to those $3000 shoes. But Eddie’s never claimed to be smart. And he’s never been able to turn down a bit of trouble.

He leans back on his heels, titling his head in a way that draws Steve’s eyes to his neck, and grins.

“I’m listening.”

[estrellami-1]

Writer prompt: i want this in everyone I like's writing so Steve having a panic attack/migraine (both at the same time are also fine) and he goes to where he knows he is safe Wayne Munson (Wayne found him the 1st time it happened & took care of him). So now when he feels it happening he goes to Wayne, who comforts him & takes care of him

Okay I was literally JUST talking to @i-less-than-three-you about this fic by @xiaq about how the world needs more Wayne and Steve interactions and then I remembered this ask exists and I got SO excited 😂

Anyways. I’m sorry it’s here so late but hopefully it suffices! ❤️

The first time Steve meets Wayne, really meets him, in any way that matters, he’s halfway into a panic attack.

Eddie isn’t answering his walkie. This in itself isn’t immediate cause for concern; he’s usually one of three places, so Steve takes it one step at a time, rationally.

He calls Gareth, because maybe the band had a practice today that he’d forgotten about.

Gareth says no, he hasn’t seen him since Sunday at Steve’s for Hellfire.

Okay. Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Feel the pressure release. Call the garage.

“Nah, boy, Munson ain’t been ‘ere for ‘bout two days,” the man drawls.

Steve takes a breath, politely thanks the man. Hangs up.

Considers his options. He could call Eddie’s trailer, but he knows himself, knows the anxiety coiling in his stomach, gripping at his lungs, and he knows talking to him won’t be enough; he needs to be able to see him, to touch him, to hear his heartbeat.

He drives to the Munson trailer. Wayne opens the door. “Steve,” he nods.

“Hi,” Steve says. “Um. Sorry. Is- is Eddie here?”

Wayne frowns. “Eddie? He hasn’t been here for three days.”

Air evades him. Gravity doubles, and he stumbles, reaching out to the doorframe for support. “Th-three days?”

“That’s right,” Wayne confirms, and Steve’s head fills with static, with wrong wrong wrong, with the need to find Eddie, to talk to him, to make sure he’s okay, because they think the Upside Down is gone, there aren’t any more gates that they know about, but never say never and Eddie’s been missing for three days-

“Steve,” Wayne says firmly. Steve distantly recognizes they’re both kneeling: Steve just outside the door, Wayne just inside it. “Take a breath, kid.”

Steve tries, but he can’t, it stutters and gets stuck halfway in and he has to fight to get it out again, finally does in one big explosive sob, and Wayne slowly extends his open hands, places them on Steve’s shoulders when he doesn’t flinch away. “Steve,” Wayne says again, still just as even, but how can he be calm when Eddie’s missing, except he doesn’t know about the Upside Down, does he, so he wouldn’t know to- “Take another breath,” Wayne continues. “In and out, nice and slow.”

His hands are rubbing on Steve’s shoulders, two points of white-hot contact where the rest of him is numb, and Steve follows his hands, breathes in when his hands stroke up, breathes out when his hands go back down. In, out. Up, down. “Good,” Wayne says after a few moments. “Can you hear me?”

Steve manages a shaky nod, still trying to time his breathing.

“M’kay then. First things first, Eddie’s okay, he left Monday to visit family in Kentucky. He’ll be back by Friday.”

Steve deflates, scrubbing his face as he sighs. “Sorry.”

“‘S alright,” Wayne murmurs. “Wanna tell me what that was about, son?”

Steve bites his lip. “Nothing. Just… Eddie didn’t answer his walkie. Then I called Gareth and the garage, and they hadn’t seen him-”

Wayne curses softly. “And I didn’t help with my answer,” he says grimly, then sighs and stands, offering Steve a hand up. “C’mon in,” he says. “I’ll get you somethin’ to drink, and we can call the idiot and yell at him.”

Steve huffs out a breath of a laugh, accepts Wayne’s hand. “Thank you,” he murmurs.

Wayne waves him off, directs him to the couch. “Tea first,” he says. “I swear by it after somethin’ like that.”

Steve nods. Tries to not panic again, grabs a blanket to fidget with. Stills when he hears Wayne’s voice as he putters around in the kitchen. “I swear, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve told that boy to tell people where he’s goin’,” Wayne gripes. “But does he listen? No. God knows why. ‘M pretty sure it’s punishment for everythin’ I got up to as a kid that my parents had to deal with.” He sighs, eventually brings a mug over to Steve. Wraps both his hands around the warm ceramic. “Slow sips,” he says. “Take your time.”

Steve dutifully takes a sip. “Sorry again,” he murmurs, looking down at the blanket in his lap. “I’m sure you’ve got things to do.”

“Right now, my priority’s makin’ sure you’re okay,” Wayne answers.

Steve takes another sip, swallows the responses on his tongue. “How’d you know what to do?”

He smirks self-deprecatingly. “‘M a vet, Steve,” he answers. “I’ve seen shit. I’ve seen how people deal with the shit I’ve seen. I had to learn, real quick, how to calm them down. And how to calm myself down.”

“Oh,” Steve whispers. “Um. You said Eddie’s visiting family?”

“Yeah, his momma’s brother’s out there. Got a wife and three kids, Eddie adores ‘em. Spent near a whole summer out there once, I swear he got back and I barely recognized him. And the accent, Lord Almighty, he says mine’s thick.”

Steve chuckles. “You said he’ll be back Friday?”

Wayne hums. “Should be. Might be Saturday, if he finally gets his shit together too late in the day to make the trip.”

Steve giggles. “So probably Saturday.”

“So probably Saturday,” Wayne agrees, checking his watch. “Eds should be back at the house by now, wanna see if we can’t reach him?”

Steve shifts. “If- if you don’t mind.”

Wayne makes a face like he’s offended Steve would think that, then waves him over to the phone. He dials and waits. “Hey, Diane.” A pause. “Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.”

Soon enough Eddie’s on the line, and Steve can hear him even though his ear isn’t the one pressed to the receiver. “Wayne! Holy shit, they’re all so big, ‘s like I’ve missed ten years ‘stead’a ten months, did’ja know Elsie’s got braces-”

“Eds,” Wayne says, stopping Eddie’s rant in its tracks.

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t tell your friends.”

Silence, then, “Shit.”

“Uh-huh. And you didn’t answer your walkie.”

“Oh, shit, shit, who- I don’t think I brought it, what- was it a code red, who called-”

“Eddie.”

“Yeah?”

“Steve’s here.”

“Fuck,” Eddie murmurs. “‘S he pissed?”

“No, but I am.”

“Panicked?”

“Bingo.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Maybe this’ll finally teach you your lesson,” Wayne says before handing the phone to Steve.

“Eds?”

“Stevie.”

Steve sighs, presses his forehead to the wall. “I was worried, asshole.”

“I’m so sorry,” Eddie says quietly. He sounds it. “I- d’you want me to come home? I can, I mean it’ll take me a couple’a hours, like six, but I can.”

“Eddie, you love your family.”

“Well, yeah, but if you want me there-”

Steve sighs, feels a small smile stretching across his face. “No. But you can tell me about your family.”

Eddie does. Wayne stays by his side the entire time, a comforting presence. When Steve hangs up, he smiles at him. “Wanna stay over Friday? Wait for him?”

Steve bites his lip. “I don’t want to intrude.”

Wayne sighs, gestures him back over to the couch. “You love him,” he says. “And he loves you enough to drive six hours back here just because you want to see him. You’re gonna be in each other’s lives for a long, long time. Might as well get comfortable now.”

Steve gapes at him. “He- he loves me?”

Wayne tilts his head to the side. “You didn’t know?”

“No- I mean, I know he flirts with me, but he’s also just like that-”

Wayne laughs. “He absolutely is not,” he informs Steve. “He’ll plan his entire day around seeing you at work.”

Steve blinks. “He only comes in for a little bit!”

“Yet it’s only when you’re there,” Wayne says, then sighs. “Maybe I shouldn’t’ve interfered. I figured you two woulda gotten around to it sooner or later. Just also figured I could help it along. You’re welcome here Friday. Or any day.” He stares at Steve. “I’ve never been rich. But I’ve been lonely. It don’t matter how much money you got. It can’t hide the fact that you’re still alone.”

Steve stares back, then slowly nods. “Okay,” he whispers, slowly stands from the couch. “I, uh. Guess I’ll see you Friday.”

Wayne tsks. “You got work?”

“No?”

“Then come sit down and watch baseball with me. Lord knows Eddie never will.”

Steve smiles at that, sits back down on the couch. “Who’re you rooting for?”

Wayne hums. “Cubs. Always do, if they’re playing. You?”

“The Mets.”

Wayne stares at him. “Boy, what the hell you sayin’?”

Steve shrugs, smiles. “I like rooting for the underdogs. And hey, they won last time!”

“Yeah, against the fuckin’ Pirates,” Wayne all but spits, causing Steve to collapse in laughter.

They watch the rest of the game. And if Steve falls asleep midway through the second inning, and if Wayne covers him with a blanket, well.

That’ll stay between them.

[takenbypeter]

Are you jealous?

Eddie Brock x reader

Words: 1140

Author’s note: this takes place after no way home

FLUFF BINGO

Peter.

Eddie couldn’t point out why that one name sounded so off putting to him. All he knew was that there was this new kid at your work and you’ve been talking about him for the past two minutes.

You were currently going on about how bright the kid was. How he was a hard worker which you were glad about considering your last couple coworkers have been slack offs. But that name just kept pricking the back of his brain. Well that and Venom’s voice that never shut up.

Unsure when you were planning to give him the chance to talk he interrupted you, “sorry, what did you say his name was again?”

“Oh, his name is Peter, um…Peter Parker I think it was.”

‘Peter Parker! Eddie, we know Peter Parker!’

You continue on, your voice becoming background noise while Eddie seems to be putting pieces together.

This happened for a while, his facial expression growing weirder by the second.

“Yeah he just started this week but he’s already gotten down so much…” you tilted your head sentence being interrupted by the fact that Eddie hadn’t met your eye for a minute now.

“Hey,” that seemed to get his attention, “have you been listening to me?”

“Hm? Yes of course I’m listening to you,” he said motioning for you to continue and after giving him a side glance you did.

‘Tell what we know.’

Eddie’s face scrunched up and you tilted your head pausing and wondering if he had something to say but when he didn’t, you continued.

‘Eddie we promised no more secrets.’

‘Eddie. Say it.’

Eddie brought a hand up covering his mouth, while he mumbled a shut up which Venom obviously ignored.

‘Say it. If you won’t I will.’

“Eddie? Eddie are you okay?” You asked concern clear on your face. He hasn’t said much the past few minutes and his expressions kept shifting in odd ways.

‘Don’t be a loser Eddie. Say it.’

That was the last straw for Eddie. “Can everyone just be quiet for one…second!”

That got the both of you quiet. Shifting in your seat you push yourself away from the counter table, “seems like Venom has much more interesting things to say than me, so I’ll just leave you and Venom to it then.”

They watched as you made your way to the couch only a few feet from them. You couldn’t blame Eddie for his outburst, you knew Venom was always in his ear. There was nothing he could do about that.

“Look what you did, Eddie.”

“What!? I did?!” He whisper-yelled, “no buddy, this is all you.”

“If you just said what I told you to say then we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“No if you never got in my head we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

You heard some more back and forth, trying to block it out to give them privacy. Sure you were slightly concerned but ultimately those two usually worked things out on their own.

You heard, “okay I’m going,” followed by some footsteps and then Eddie plopped himself on the other end of the couch.

He didn’t make any movements he just sat there.

“I’m not going to bite, you can come closer,” you said, refusing to look his way yet.

“Right.” He scooched over a tiny bit.

You two sat there for a moment, heads turned to the screen and you were beginning to wonder if he’d actually say something anytime soon. But you didn’t get to wonder too long.

“I’m sorry,” he started, already positioning his body towards you. “That outburst was in no way directed towards you.”

“I know that Eddie, it’s okay.”

You sit there again before you finally ask curious what all the fuss was about anyway, “so what was that all about?” You question, pointing towards the counter where you all were seated just a moment ago.

Eddie pushes his lips into a line and brings his eyebrows together causing a wrinkle to crease in the center of his forehead.

“What were you jealous or something?“ you tease causing him to give a little laugh. “No. I’m not jealous.”

‘We are a little.’

“No. No.”

He pauses again and your curiosity builds up, “so…what is it then?”

Letting out a breath he decides it’s better to tell you now than have you sit here mad at him for not telling you. “Okay, so remember when I told you that I was like sucked into a portal into another universe and you made that face, the one that makes me feel like I’m crazy.”

He paused and pointed at your face, “that’s it, you’re doing it right now.”

You shook your head quickly, shaking off your expression, “no I’m not. Go on.”

“Well when I was sucked into that…other place, there was a guy. His face was everywhere, on tv all over the news, he was sorta a good guy—a hero. He had superpowers and everything. Well that guy—that kid was named Peter Parker.”

Although you tried your best to conceal your expressions you couldn’t help but have your eyes widen at the revelation.

He nodded before continuing, “but it seemed like the whole world turned on him for killing one guy is what I understood.”

Eddie takes a moment to think and when you’re about to ask him something he starts abruptly, “—and if he’s the good guy and he’s a kid and people are turning on him for killing one guy, a bad guy I would assume, what does that make me?”

You angle your body laying a comforting hand on his leg while he goes on. “Venom eats people—granted it’s bad people, but it’s still people,” he faces you expression torn, “am—am I the bad guy?”

You barely wait a beat before protesting his worries, “hey don’t start with that. Look at me,” to make your point you gently reach out and press your hands against his scruff that covered cheeks his skin feeling warm against yours.

“You are not the bad guy here,” his eyes are all big and wide while he looks up at you from his brown hues. “What Venom does is…unorthodox yes but you are not bad. Eddie you have your own problems—just as any one—but one word I would never ever use to describe you is bad. You do your best with what you have.”

Eddie’s looking at you one moment and then the next his forehead is pushed against your shoulder.

“Better?” You ask as he responds with a nod against you.

After a moment of just resting like that he mumbles out, “thank you, I needed to hear that…and I’m sorry for yelling earlier.”

“Yeah that was uncalled for,” you joke and he smiles against your body, thankful for being so fortunate to have you by his side.

[forays-into-fiction]

Why Don’t You Put on a Show

This is a fic for anon who sent in this request, I hope it lives up to your expectations and it’s at least somewhat what you were after. I know next to nothing about Playboy so I’m pulling most of this out of my ass lol

Part 2: When It Rains, It Pours  

Minors DNI

Contains: Rockstar!Eddie x Reader, All smut right at the end, Protective!Eddie, Honorifics/ Petnames (Sir, Babe, Baby, Sweetheart, Princess), Dry Humping, Strip Tease, Oral fixation, Slight Dom!Eddie/Sub!Reader, Slight Degradation/Name-calling (Slut), Dirty Talk, Unprotected Sex, Some Aftercare

You had been relaxing with Eddie in a moment of downtime, he was sat on the couch strumming away on his acoustic guitar working on something new for Corroded Coffin. You were curled up with a book, glancing at him every so often admiring his look of concentration, his little tongue poking out between his lips. The moment is interrupted by the phone ringing and you move to answer it.

“Ok, yeah. Thank you. Bye.” You hang up the receiver in the cradle a little shellshocked.

“Who was that, sweetheart?” Eddie pauses his strumming to ask, looking over to you.

“So… uh… I just got a call from someone at Playboy. They want me for a photoshoot.” You explain numbly.

“What?!” He exclaims incredulously.

You rush to assuage any of his concerns, “They’ve said it will be very tasteful, nothing to worry about. And we’ll be doing an interview too, you could… you could come with me for support.”

“No, I won’t let you.” He says firmly.

You cross you arms over your chest, tensing at his response, “Let me. Let me, hmm…it’s not up to you to let me or not. I am my own person and I am sick and tired of all the rumours people keep spreading about me… about us.”

“I’m just trying to protect you, y/n. You don’t know what it’s like doing these interviews. They pick apart every word you say, twist it around so it means something else entirely. I don’t want you to have to go through that, people aren’t entitled to you, or us… or… or…”

You soften at his tone, moving to sit beside him on the couch, rubbing his arm, “I know, babe, but maybe this’ll help satiate everyone’s curiosity, maybe it’ll die down after this.”

“I just don’t want you getting involved in something that could hurt you, there are people out there that can be so nasty. You know how people were to me before all of this, I don’t want anything like that falling back on you.”

You grasp his hands between your own looking into his eyes deeply, “People already say some shitty stuff about me babe, I know. I can ignore it, what’s some random person on the street matter? I’ll be ok, I want to do this.”

“You’re sure? There’s no talking you out of it?” He persists.

“Yep, I’m sure, I’m gonna do this interview. Really stake my claim on you, shout it out to the world ‘I love Eddie Munson’ and maybe that’ll finally shut everyone up.” 

The two of you stand before the sprawling mansion, “It’s very ‘Gothic-Tudor’.” You muse, staring up at the impressive detailing.

Eddie wraps an arm around you drawing you closer and pressing a kiss to your neck, “You wanna live in a place like this one day?”

“Oh, god no what would we do in a place this big?”

He smirks devilishly, “I think you know what we’d be doing in a place like this…” he wiggles his brows at you suggestively before continuing, “…sex, I mean sex.”

You roll your eyes at him, “Obviously you mean sex Eds. When are you ever not horny? Jesus.”

“Jesus ain’t got nothing to do with it babe, I may have the hair but that’s about it.”

You give his shoulder a shove, “Oh, ha ha real funny guy you are. Come on let’s head in.”

He grabs your wrist as you turn towards the door, tone shifting more seriously, “You sure you’re ready for this? No going back once everything is out there.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure.” You assure him.

“Alright then, let’s go.” He gives a sweeping gesture, indicating for you to proceed and follows along behind you.

The man who greets you at the door introduces himself as Lawrence, he’ll be the one conducting the interview. As you step into the great hall, you can see straight through to the terrace on the other side and the backyard beyond, to your left there’s an ornate double staircase, chandelier dangling from the ceiling before it. You are led through an archway to a living room, you take in the art on the wood-panelled walls before taking a seat with Eddie on the three-seater couch.

 “Ok, so the way we’re going to do this is, Mario is going to take y/n for her photoshoot.” Lawrence gestures to the man who has just entered the room.

“Now y/n is definitely the focus of this issue, but we were hoping we could get a few questions in with Eddie over here, while we have him.” He turns gesturing to your boyfriend.

“Once the photos are all done, y/n can join us for her interview. How does that sound?” He glances between the pair of you waiting for a response.

 You’re a little nervous, shifting uncomfortably, you thought you’d be able to have Eddie there while the photos were being done. He gives your hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze before answering for the pair of you, “It’s not exactly what we expected, but yeah that’s fine, right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I’ll be ok.” You say more to him than the interviewer.

“Great! That’s perfect.” Lawrence claps his hands together and Mario motions for you to follow him, you drop Eddie’s hand a little reluctantly and rise from the couch.

You’re led to a bedroom that’s been decked out for the photoshoot, lighting, those white reflectors, a backdrop screen, camera positioned on a tripod, the works. A team of people stands waiting with a rack of risqué outfits, another waiting to do your makeup, you’re feeling a little overwhelmed but they guide you through explaining, “You have a very mysterious image and we want to bring that out with these photos. How do you feel about…”

 The whole process passes by in a whirlwind, you feel like you’re barely absorbing anything they say, just reacting. Before you know it you’re slipping back into your own clothing and heading back to the living room.

 When you are reunited with Eddie, he moves to stand beside you pressing a kiss to your cheek, “How was it babe?”

“Uh… it was good, I think. It all went by so quick, I’m not sure I even had time to take it all in.”

He rubs your shoulder, “That’s ok, you ready for the interview now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

He leads you back to the couch, Lawrence grins at you and you give him a small smile back, before beginning hesitantly, “I… um, I’m not really sure how this is supposed to go. I’ve never done one of these before.”

“Just answer the questions, be yourselves and have fun… I’ll take it from there.” He replies, that doesn’t sound too bad you think to yourself.

“Ok, y/n how do you think you’re handling your new found fame along with your boyfriend’s rocket to stardom?”

 “It has been kind of a wild ride. I don’t really know why anyone is interested in me. I mean he’s the rockstar… I’m just like his little groupie, like I don’t really have anything to do with the band.”

 Eddie interrupts to add, “Oh, sweetheart you are so much more than that, I don’t know what I’d do without you… without all your support and love throughout all of this.”

 He turns to Lawrence, “You know, back when we were only performing at that little dive bar just outside of Hawkins. To no one mind you, but a handful of sloppy drunks with nothing better to do. She was out there putting together posters and making shirts and singing our praises to anyone that’d listen. She was our number one fan from day one. Well, that was after I finally convinced her to come see us play.” He chuckles.

 You feel yourself beginning to flush with embarrassment, “Oh shush, that makes me sound so bad… so desperate.”

 “No, it doesn’t, I think it’s cute.” Eddie says, slinging an arm around your shoulder.

“Yes, very cute…” Lawrence mumbles offhandedly scribbling away in a notebook. “Do you have a favourite Corroded Coffin song, y/n?”

 “Oh, that’s a hard one…” you giggle, “I love all their songs really, but a favourite… hmmm, I’d have to say it was the one Eddie dedicated to me on their first album.”

 He scribbles a little more before looking up, “So, everyone is dying to know, how did you two meet? How did all of this start?”

 “We, uh… we actually met in high school. Started dating our senior year,” you look to Eddie for support and he nods, squeezing your hand in his breifly, “Eddie had to repeat his final year a couple of times and I became his tutor and friend at first. I know a lot of people thought he was dumb because of that but that is so not true, he is soooo smart, just has a little trouble concentrating sometimes.”

They let you continue rambling, “And he is so talented, I mean clearly… but I remember one time we were sitting in his bedroom, he was sat on his bed strumming on his guitar along to a song he put on the radio. He’d said it was some new song by Metallica he was trying to learn. His hair was gathered up all low, messy in a hair tie, a pencil tucked behind his ear. Every now and then he’d pause the cassette, to make some notes in the book beside him, his tongue poking out between his teeth. I just couldn’t look away, I remember thinking ‘how could someone be this pretty’.” You sigh and look up at him.

 Eddie gapes at you, “Babe, that was way before we even started dating, I had no idea.” He chuckles then continues in a teasing, singsong voice, “You had a crush on meeee, that’s embarrassing for you.”

You slap him playfully, “Oh, shut up we are literally dating it’s not like you didn’t have a crush on me… and you’re the one that admitted it first so ha.”

You poke your tongue out at him and he does the same.

 “Awww, you were high school sweethearts that’s so precious.” The interviewer responds in a patronising tone. “Do you think you guys will last? How do you handle all these women throwing themselves at your man?”

 You feel a heat rising in your cheeks, tensing at the question. You ball your hands into fists trying to control the emotions that threaten to overwhelm you, he’s definitely hit a sore spot for you, one of your biggest insecurities. Eddie places his hand over yours rubbing gently before springing to your defence. 

“That was a very rude question, how dare you imply I would cheat or leave the love of my life for some stupid hookup. I love my fans, don’t get me wrong, but that is never happening.”

The interviewer presses on, “Yes, of course, but we want to know how she feels. It must be hard even-”

Eddie cuts him off firmly, “No. If you continue with this question we are leaving.”

Lawrence throws his hands up in defeat, “Ok. Ok, I’ll stop. So, how do you think your relationship affects the band?”

 The next question does little to brighten Eddie’s sour mood, but he answers, “Well, I for one think it’s great. She gives us all so much support, she inspires me and I think that is great for the band. They all love her too, she’s like family to them.”

 Lawrence turns to you, “And how do you feel about it, y/n?”

 “I don’t know I’ve never really thought about it, I just… I guess I just want whatever’s best for them, whatever that entails. I am so proud of all of them and all their hard work, it’s really paying off for them.” You answer honestly, if a little shakily.

  “So, you’re not worried about having a Yoko situation?” He presses.

 “What? No, why would I be worried about that? I would never do anything to interfere with the band.” You answer slightly taken aback.

 “What’s he mean, babe?” Eddie whispers in your ear, a little confused.

 “He’s talking about Yoko Ono and John Lennon, people say that she’s the reason The Beatles broke up.”

 “Ok, man what the fuck?” Eddie jumps to his feet, “Are you really that desperate for some scandal, some little juicy tidbit that isn’t even true? Why can’t this just be about us, who we really are? You know either way the issue is gonna sell. No one cares about the shit that you write anyway.”

 “Then why are you here?” Lawrence counters.

 “Because she thought… you know what never-mind we’re leaving.” He grabs your wrist pulling you from the couch and stomping away.

 “You know what they say, any publicity is good publicity…” Lawrence shouts after your retreating forms. Eddie pays him no attention dragging you out of the mansion.

You’re speechless for a moment but when you get back out to the front door as it slams shut you tug on his arm bringing him to a halt.

“Eds, what if… what if they don’t run the issue? What if all of that was just for nothing?”

“That ass will probably find a way to work our little storm out into it, spin it like we’re the bad guys. Or maybe he’ll just make up some other lies it doesn’t matter to them really as long as they get their cut.” He scoffs.

“Come on let’s get back to our room.” He huffs out.

You spend the rest of the trip back to your hotel in silence, Eddie quietly fuming, you sitting there numbly.

He opens the door to your room ushering you in and closing the door behind him, turning to face you and sighing, “How’re you doing?”

The floodgates burst and tears stream down your cheeks, he pulls you into his arms and you blubber into his chest, “He was so mean… I di-didn’t think it would be like that… so confrontational…so demeaning…”

He rubs soothing circles into your back, pressing kisses into the top of your head, “I know. I know, it’s ok. Don’t pay any attention to what that idiot said. I love you. I’ll never leave you. You are the best thing in my life.”

“Y-you promise?” You ask shakily, tilting your head up to look at him.

“Oh, sweetheart of course I do. And you know me man of honour, man of my word.” He jokes.

You giggle, breaking out into a watery smile, “How do you do it Eds? Why do you do it?”

“The interviews, the publicity? It’s hard, but I love the music more and that feeling of stepping out onto a stage and performing… it’s exhilarating. It’s also good to have people looking at me like I’m not just some loser freak-”

“Hey, what have I said about calling yourself that?” You admonish him.

He waves a hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah. But the rest that’s the price I gotta pay and I hate that I gotta drag you into that. Tried so hard to keep you away from that part of my life.” He sighs heavily.

You lean back into his chest and he rests his head on top of yours, you mumble into him “I wouldn’t trade it for the world, you know? I love you, Eddie. I have always loved you. I hope you know I’m here for you when this stuff does get bad.”

“I know, it’s good to hear it though.” He sighs.

“Guess what came in the mail today…” He waves an envelope in your face as you step through the door.

“Uhh… I don’t know were we expecting anything?” You hum searching your memory for some clue.

He pulls out a glossy magazine and you see your own image staring back at you, along with the words ‘Inside the lives of rockstar Eddie Munson and his Mystery Girl’. You cringe, “Oh god! That’s out now? How bad is it?”

“Nah, not yet. We got an advanced copy, didn’t bother reading that stupid article, who gives a shit what that asshole has to say about us…” He lets out a low groan, “…but babe I looked through it and God damn is it sexy. Those photos of you, so hot I almost couldn’t wait ‘til you got home.”

“What do you mean, I wasn’t even doing anything in those photos… you definitely have more racy photos of me than that.”

“Yeah, but you’re in Playboy that’s really fucking hot, my girlfriend’s a model.” He grins at you broadly.

You giggle, smiling back bashfully, “Shut up!”

He pounces on you, kissing you fervently, groping at your ass.

“How about we take this to the bedroom?” He grinds his hard length up into your clothed core and you whine nodding your head against him.

He leads you to your bedroom, you don’t need to see him to know he’s grinning from ear to ear.

He sits on the bed grabbing your hips and pulling you to stand between his spread thighs. You lean into him and tilt his head back, pulling him into another kiss, your hands fisting into his curls. His tongue slides over yours insistently as he reaches around you, kneading the swell of your ass between both hands, you feel the hard press of the rings around his fingers. The two of you break apart gasping for breath, he’s pulling you to sit, straddling his lap. You move to steady yourself with your hands on his shoulders, but he grabs your wrists holding them crossed behind your back. He uses the leverage he has over you to pull you against him, conveniently dragging your mound over his persistent erection. Repeating this action over and over as your head falls against his, your eyes flutter closed as you moan breathily.

“That feel good, sweetheart?” He teases.

You hum with a nod, “Mmhm… so good.”

He chuckles at your response, “It’ll be even better once we get rid of these clothes.”

With the grip on your arms, he pulls you further down his legs til you’re just resting on his knees. You whine and open your eyes to look into his, his dark pupils encapsulating majority of his irises.

“How ‘bout you put on a show for me? Just like in that magazine.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. If I got the real thing in front of me, why would I bother with anything else?”

“O-ok…” he lets you pull away from his grip, sliding off his lap, “…wait here a minute.”

You disappear into your closet, re-emerging shortly with something clasped in your hands.

Eddie leans back on the bed, resting on his elbows as he watches you curiously, “What’s that you got there, princess?”

“You’ll see.” You reply evasively, making your way over to your vanity. You slip a cassette into the radio on the vanity, pushing some buttons…

 ♫Step inside

Walk this way

You and me babe

Hey hey♫

 You turn back around to face him and he laughs bodily, “Oh babe, you had that queued up perfectly, if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said you planned this.”

You give him a sly smirk, “Maybe I did plan this… well not exactly like this, but you know… I had it on standby.”

“Oh, so my dirty little girl wants to strip for me… interesting, well go on the song’s not gonna last forever.” He smirks back devilishly.

You sway your hips to the music, running your hands over your body, slowly moving towards him. You strip off your clothing piece by piece, teasingly, seductively. You move to straddle him once again, now only clothed in a matching black lacy bra and panties set adorned with little pink bows, one nestled between your cleavage the other at the middle of the waistband.

“So, you weren’t planning anything today huh? What’s this then?” He hooks a finger into the waistband of your panties.

You pout back at him, “Just wanted to feel cute today, that’s all.”

His fingers move to toy with the bow positioned above your crotch, “Well, you are. Look at you all wrapped up, bows and all, just like a little present. And it’s all for me.”

 You whine, dropping your forehead to rest against his nodding against him, mumbling, “Mhmm, all yours, baby.”

  He pulls you into another heated kiss as you grind down against him, the music continues in the background, another song having started up. You tug on his shirt whining into his lips, he pulls away hooking a hand in the collar of his shirt slipping it over his head smoothly. You latch onto his neck kissing and sucking your way down his chest leaving red marks in your wake. When you get to his pants, you’re unbuckling his belt without hesitation as he looks down at you pupils blown wide and with a lopsided smirk. Just as you’re rolling down his boxers to follow along with his pants, he’s pulling you back up, “No time for that now.”

You pout at him, “Awww, but why?”

“’Cause if I don’t get my dick in that wet, little cunt of yours I might just explode. You can suck my dick some other time.”

“You promise?”

He huffs rolling his eyes “God yes, just get over here.”  

He drags you onto the bed, flipping you over so that he’s hovering over you. He presses soft kisses into the swell of your breasts, his hands snaking around you to undo the clasp. He tosses the bra over his shoulder pausing to suckle at your nipple and nipping on it gently to your strung-out moans. “What… what happened… to… to ‘no time for that’.” You pant out as your hands twist into his curls.

“I’m getting there.” He mumbles grinning against your skin before continuing to trail teasing kisses towards the elastic of your panties. He grips the fabric between his teeth dragging it down your legs, before popping up proudly grinning with your panties still clamped between his teeth.

You snatch them away from him tossing them across the room, “Alright, that’s enough come on and fuck me already.”

“Ohoho, someone’s got bite. Settle, or you won’t get anything.” He reprimands you.

“Yes, sir.” You mumble back faintly, eyes downcast.

He presses you back into the mattress, drawing back down between your thighs with his head, “Just want a little taste, ok.”

He runs his tongue between your folds, collecting the slick that has gathered there, “Oh baby, you’re always sooo wet for me… so sweet too.”

He plunges his fingers into your heated core, you can hear his rings clink together at your entrance as he pumps them in and out slowly, they come away sticky with your juices.

“Wanna taste?” He presses his fingers to your lips, not waiting for an answer, “Come on suck on them, you wanted something to suck on, didn’t you?”

Your mouth falls open of its own accord, tongue darting out to lap at his fingers and he replicates his earlier actions, dragging his fingers in and out of your mouth. You whine around the digits, your tongue swirling around them as you imagine sucking on his cock.

“That’s it sweetheart… alright enough now.” He pulls his fingers out of your mouth and you pout back at him.

“Don’t look at me like that… ok, maybe I’ll let you suck on them some more later.”

You grin at him with those words, humming in response, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolls his eyes, but you know deep down he enjoys it just as much as you do.

Gripping his shaft at the base he drags the head along your folds briefly nudging at the bundle of nerves that sets you shivering in anticipation. You don’t have to wait too long before he’s plunging his length into your wet heat, your walls stretching easily to accommodate his size. He grinds into you firmly with a groan as his head falls forward, eyes fluttering closed and drawing your lips into his own in a burning kiss. You whine into his lips as the motion of his hips stimulates your clit even further, “Move, please.”

He pulls his hips back accommodating your request, pulling almost all the way out before slamming back in, “Like that?”

“God, yes… please… just like that.”

He chuckles darkly, repeating the motion a few more times before his hips slow into a steady roll.

“You know every guy in the world is gonna be jerking it to you when that magazine comes out.” He teases and your walls flutter around him, “Oh, you like that do you… thought you were my little slut-”

“Yes Eddie, I’m yours… only yours.” You gasp.

“Then why does the thought of other guys get you going so much hmmm?” He presses his thumb into your clit in lazy circles.

“Dunno…” you whine.

“That’s ok, I like it too… knowing that I have something everyone wants and it’s just mine… all for me… they can all dream, but this little pussy belongs to me.” He punctuates each sentence with another thrust. You’re tightening around him, lust coiling in your belly like a spring just waiting to release.

“You’re close, baby… I can feel it, the way you’re squeezing around me. You wanna cum?”

“Yes, please sir… need it…” He’s right, you are close, so close, you can feel little shocks of electricity emanating throughout your limbs. Right on the precipice, just need that little push.

He groans, “Love the way you beg for it, do it again.”

“Pleasepleaseplease sir… Please let me cum.” Your whines jumble together, tears gather in the corners of your eyes.

“That’s it cum for me, baby.” He growls.

That’s all it takes for you to come apart on his cock, screaming his name and he’s following along right after you spilling his seed into you as your cunt grips him like a vice. He collapses on top of you, both of you panting heavily, you relish in the feeling of his weight pressing into you, pinning you to the mattress.

“God, I love you Eds.” You breathe out.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He mumbles in your ear.

You feel him shifting, about to roll over, but you wrap your arms around him keeping him in place.

He looks down at you curiously, “Can we just stay like this for a minute?” You sigh.

He brushes a hair out of your face, pressing a kiss to your temple gently, “Of course we can princess.”

You stay there until his cock is softening and slipping out of you, your combined releases dripping out between you onto the bed. He hums into your hair, “Come on, lets get cleaned up now.”

He’s pulling you off the bed gathering you up in his arms and carrying you into the ensuite.

He lets your feet fall to the ground and you lean against him as he begins running a bath, adjusting the temperature to suit and adding some bubble bath liquid. As you wait for it to fill, he rubs along your back soothingly, “Well, that was something wasn’t it, babe?”

“That was amazing Eds, always is with you.” You hum back.

The bath is mostly full and he helps you in, sliding in behind you, still leaving the tap running to fill even further. He scrubs a loofa over your body pausing as you lean forward to shut off the water. Then proceeds to wash your hair, massaging your scalp comfortingly. Once he’s finished his routine you return the favour, giving him the same treatment.

[aidaronan]

24 for the Steddie/Spotify wrapped prompt!

Welp. This one got away from me and is less a ficlet and more of just... a fic, but here we go! 24 - Scary Kids Scaring Kids - Watch Me Bleed

Lucky Number 42

Tags & Warnings: Blood, Time Loop, MCD but it’s a time loop so…, maybe it's supernatural or maybe it's maybelline It’s March 27th for the 41st time, and Steve doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the sickly colors of the Other Sky. He won’t forget the blood either, the way it stains Eddie’s shirt and mats up his pretty hair. The way it gushes through Steve’s fingers as he tries to hold it all in yet again, as though if he just squeezes tight enough, it’ll finally—finally—work this time around.

“Guess we’ll try again, huh?” Eddie smiles, red pooling in the cracks between his teeth. “Fuck, Stevie, why’s it always so cold?” Nearby, Dustin sobs uncontrollably. Steve won’t forget that sound either. It’s seared into his brain, all of it. The same day over and over and over again, both of them stuck in it together. Changing everything, changing nothing.

“What is it you told me, Eds? 42 is the answer, right?” Steve squeezes his hand tight, his heart so full of love and yearning and clogged-up grief that he can feel it all spilling painfully into his chest. “That’s gonna be it for us. Lucky number 42.”

But whether he heard him or not, Steve doesn’t know. Eddie’s gone again, his eyes empty, his hand limp. Steve sinks into the dirt and hugs his knees, letting his forehead fall against his folded arms.

He has a mental tally running, everything that’s worked, everything that hasn’t.

There’s really only one direction left, the one direction Eddie wouldn’t entertain when Steve suggested it 28 days ago, 24 days ago, 15 days ago, 7... The more they fell for each other, the more vehement Eddie got about how that particular avenue was off limits, ‘un-fucking-entertainable, actually.’

It’s the only way though, has to be. There isn’t any other way left.

Taking a few deep breaths, Steve raises his head and crawls for Dustin, still crying, completely unaware of how many times they’ve been here before.

“I love you, Dustin. I love you and I’m sorry your childhood got absolutely shit on, and I hope you know you deserve better than all this.” Steve will say it again on the next loop, too, when it’ll actually (hopefully) count. But he needs to say it now. For himself.

“This can’t be happening,” is Dustin’s choked-out reply.

Steve wants to say that it’s okay, that he’ll fix it. But he and Eddie have also talked about how maybe all of it’s some kind of personal hell built just for them. So maybe there is no fixing it.

All Steve knows is he can’t watch Eddie die again, and he can’t watch anyone else die in Eddie’s place.

So…

So.

“I know.” Steve holds onto Dustin’s arm, waiting for the girls to make their way back to them so they can get out together, so Steve can shower and fall into bed and do what needs to be done. “I know,” he says again. And he does know. Fuck, he knows 41 times over.

It’s exactly three hours and twenty-seven minutes later—it always is, give or take five minutes—when Steve finally lays his head on his pillow., curled protectively around Robin’s back. It’s another half hour or so before she cries herself to sleep.

Then countless unquantified minutes before Steve manages to drop off. On the edge of consciousness, he dreams a voice quietly speaking the number, “two.”

#

When Eddie asks the plan for the day, Steve lies. They sneak into the woods near the clearing and they have each other wholly, primally, sex forged from bonding in a way that only they could ever understand. And then they plan.

And Steve lies.

He suggests they rehash Day 13 with Day 42’s knowledge, plus Day 17’s solution for saving Max. He talks Eddie through the hang-ups, through the objections, feeling a sickening mix of resignation and guilt with every inch of ground he gains in convincing him.

In the end, Eddie nods. “Let’s do this then. Lucky number 42.”

“The answer to the universe, life, and, uh, all the other stuff.”

Eddie huffs a small laugh and looks at Steve fondly, cupping his cheek. “How many roads must a man walk down indeed.”

When they kiss for luck, Steve focuses on every single millisecond, on the way Eddie’s lips feel, on the hands on him—small of his back, back of his neck—and on the feeling of Eddie’s hair sliding hairspray-rough through his fingers. Every little breathy sound, every note of birds calling, bugs flitting.

Life.

It may not have been everything Steve wanted, but he got to have this. For one fleeting moment, he got to fall in love and to be part of a small family of misfits. Some people never got that lucky.

“I love you, Stevie.”

“I love you too.”

It feels like a blink before they’re outside of the trailer, Dustin locked in the bathroom in Right-side-up Hawkins. It’s just them and their makeshift armor—spear and nail bat against the swarm.  

Eddie looks at him and nods.

Steve looks back and chokes down a sob, summoning all the bravery he possesses. “Eddie. I’m sorry.”

“Wh—”

This is the easy part, years of sports and fighting all culminating in this moment. At full speed, Steve plows into Eddie, tackling him to the ground, covering his body with his own.

They’re already biting by the time Eddie reacts, fighting like hell, pushing with all the strength of someone who spent years hauling around band equipment and theater props. Eddie’s strength is mostly in his thighs though, a force he uses to drive the rest of him. If Steve keeps him on the ground long enough…

“You motherfucker. You motherfucking fuck! You fucking son of a goddamned…” A feral scream, a shove that Steve counters by squeezing Eddie’s arms tight against him. Eddie growls, broken and desperate, “Stevie, please.”

They’re both fighting hard and with all the love in their bones. Apologizing over and over, Steve forces his fingers deep into the dirt, gripping the roots of rotten hell-vines hard even while the bats chew, even while he cracks his fingernails, and his hands bleed along with his body.

He’s halfway dead by the time the bats drop, and he knows it.

Eddie pushes him off and gets onto his knees and Steve can’t help but smile because Eddie is gloriously and beautifully okay. There’s a bite on his arm along with a few scratches from their tussle, but that’s it. He’ll make it this time. He’ll make it.

“I did it,” Steve says, falling onto his back despite the fact that it’s nothing but open wounds. “I did it. You’re alive and no one else is gonna…”

Eddie replies with a broken scream, with hands that reach for the bloodied hole on the side of Steve’s neck, that try to turn him over to see where else they need to press.

“Don’t.” Steve grabs weakly at his wrists. “Please, just… Let me. See if it works.”

“Fuck you, Steve.” Eddie blinks out several tears. “Fuck you. I said not this. Not this.”

“It’s the one thing we haven’t tried, Eddie. Maybe this is how it was always supposed to go, you know. Why we couldn’t break—” Steve coughs wetly. “God, it really is cold, huh?”

“Just… Just stay, okay, Stevie. Be stronger than me. Hold on, and that’s how we’ll break it, yeah? With you living.”

In the distance, Steve can hear Dustin finally bursting out of the trailer, crying his name.

He blinks up at Eddie’s brown eyes and smiles at the warmth of his hands on him.

Somewhere else, he can hear voices, unfamiliar and new.

“Oh,” Steve says, the edges of his vision going black, swallowing up Eddie’s face. “So there really is something else after all.”

#

Death, it seems, is darkness. Not terrifying but restful. Not cold, not warm either.

Just floating, quiet and peaceful.

“Two.”

A voice flows out of the void, a voice Steve thinks he may have dreamed once or even more than once. It’s quickly followed by more, all speaking rapidly from everywhere and nowhere.

“Four in cold blood. Undoing.”

“Two from love’s sacrifice. Healing.”

“And so it is. See how it all knits back into one.”  

“Then it is done. Send him back.”

Steve tries to open his mouth. “Where—?”

He never finishes the question.

#

Steve blinks awake to the rhythmic sounds of a machine beeping.

He slowly turns his head to find Robin curled up in a chair next to him, snoring softly with a book steepled open in her lap.

“Rob?”

She startles awake and locks eyes on him before exclaiming with a smile that goes instantly tearful, “Holy shit. Steve.”

From a lumpy bag by her feet, she unearths a walkie-talkie, nearly flinging it at him in her haste to use it. Her hands are shaking when she brings it to her face.

“Hey, uh, everyone. We’re… We’re having a good hair day.”

There’s a chorus of voices, all of them expressing some kind of joy and relief, all of them saying they’ll be there as soon as they can.

“Already in the van. Munson over and out.”

He’s there within five minutes, hair in a messy bun that implies he might have genuinely thrown it up while steering with his knees.

Standing in the doorway, he pauses, eyes on Steve. Steve feels like his entire stomach might drop out under the weight of that gaze. If he’d had any reason to wonder if Eddie remembered all the loops, he’d have no doubt now.

“Hey Rob, can I have a minute with Stevie boy here before the entire Scooby Gang shows up?”

“Uh…” Robin looks back and forth between them, furrowing her brow at Steve before getting up. “Yeah, sure.”

She softly closes the door on the way out, and just like that they’re alone.

“I should kill you all over again for what you pulled, you know?” Eddie says, sitting down and reaching for Steve’s hand.

“You should.”

“But then again, here we are.”

“Here we are. How long was I…?”

“Dead? Or here? Because you did die. I checked your pulse, listened for a breath, fucking everything. And then the girls showed up and out of the blue, you twitched a fucking finger, so Nance and I… You’ve been in the hospital for a week.”

“I had a dream. Maybe. Or maybe it wasn’t a dream at all. I don’t know.” Steve thinks about it again, the infinite peace of the void. “There were, uh, voices, and I think they were saying you and I both had to be willing to die for each other. Like specifically two people in love. To undo Vecna. Are the gates…?”

“Closed, but that could be because Nance and Robin flambéed him alive.”

“Yeah.”

“More things in heaven and Earth though, Stevie. We did just repeat March 27 for a month and a half. Maybe someone was looking out for us. Or they just really fucking hate Vecna. There are many options for motive here.”

Steve rubs at Eddie’s knuckles with his thumb. He hadn’t even taken the time to put his rings on. “So many.”

“It’s over though,” Eddie says. “All of it. The suits cleared my name in five minutes and Hopper ripped the local PD a new asshole. Only question now is…” Eddie gives the spot where they’re holding hands a pointed look. “Now what?”

Steve thinks for a second, mouth twitching at every stolen happy moment in those 42 days of hell. Every smile, every kiss, every sneaky sweaty fuck. Every little conversation that made him laugh, made him feel, made him fall. “Do you remember Day 19 when I asked where you’d go if you ever left Hawkins?”

“I do. By then we’d already given each other hand jobs so I had exactly zero qualms about saying I’d go to San Francisco where I could be gay as hell and also make the heaviest of metal.”

“Yeah, well.” Steve shrugs. “I’m assuming I have to stay in this hospital for a little longer and probably sign, like, another pile of papers that say I won’t tell anyone the government broke Hawkins because they were experimenting on little kids. But after that, why not?”

“Why not? Just like that? ‘Eddie, let’s move in together and also let’s do that in California.’ That easy, huh?”

“We just lived through the end of the world 42 times, Eds. Why the hell can’t it be?”

Eddie laughs quietly and looks down at his lap, shaking his head, a few tendrils falling out of the bun as he does.

Outside of the room, Steve hears a series of sneakers squeaking on linoleum. The door bursts open and Eddie quietly pulls his hand away. But he’s smiling ear to ear when he leans back to let a gaggle of teens throw themselves semi-gently onto Steve for half-hugs.

“Well okay then, Stevie,” Eddie says over the sound of six other people talking at once. “If that’s what you want.”

[harringtonswriting]

Bestie. Bestie you know I have to. Obsessed with:

“this sounds like you’re flirting with me.” “...i have been trying to do that for three years now.”

Steve or Eddie, whoever your heart desires 💓

bestie i looooooove this!!! thank u thank u for sending it in!! i picked eddie hehehe i hope you don't mind!! 💕

...

“You sure this is enough food, Eddie?”

You’re teasing him, and you know he knows that, which is why he rolls his eyes with a smile on his face as he opens a bag of chips to pour into a bowl.

“You laugh now, but when you see how much food those little shits can put away, you’ll understand,” he tells you. He scrunches the empty bag in his hands before he throws it in the garbage bin under the kitchen sink. The kitchen counter, as well as the table, are all covered in various kinds of snacks, from chips to cookies to candy. Eddie’s also got beers in the fridge for him (and maybe Steve, but if Steve’s driving he probably won’t have any, which you know Eddie is counting on so he can have more for himself), along with juice and pop. A feast fit for a king, he’d told you when he called you earlier that morning and asked you to pick up a few things on your way over to his place.

Today is the day that Eddie is going to be teaching you, Robin, and Steve how to play Dungeons and Dragons.

He’s so proud of himself for finally being able to talk the three of you into it. This is what he told you would be a one-shot; a one-off adventure that’s only supposed to take a few hours, something that’ll let you get your feet wet and understand how things work before you join a campaign. Eddie had tasked you with creating your own characters, giving you a list of options and some basic ideas for backstory. He’d also invited some of the kids to join in too—you knew Dustin and Erica would be coming for sure, and you’d bet that Lucas, Mike, and Will would probably tag along too.

Since there were going to be that many people joining in, Eddie had asked you to come by early to help him set up. Wayne is out of town on a fishing trip, so you’ve all got the trailer to yourselves. It didn’t take long for you to help Eddie with some spot cleaning in the living room when you’d gotten there, last minute snacks and drinks in hand, and then you’d set up the new coffee table so that everyone could sit around it and play. While Eddie was bringing out his maps and books and gaming screen and shooing Ozzy away from knocking over his miniature figures, you were placing cushions and blankets on the floor to make it as cozy as possible.

Once you’d finished that the two of you had gotten all the snacks ready. And now that was done, the two of you could relax and spend some time together until the others got there. Which may be part of the reason you agreed to come over early; you enjoyed spending time with Eddie, especially when it was just the two of you, and you figured this would be no exception.

Your crush on Eddie was kind of an open secret, though neither of you had ever done anything about it. You’d always been kind of unsure as to whether he felt the same way; sometimes he’d flirt back, sometimes he’d ignore it altogether. But he never complained and never once told you he was uncomfortable, though you’d never really talked about it in detail. You hoped that one day you might cross the line you’d been toeing at for the last few years, but given how open you’ve been, you wanted to let Eddie take that leap, let him decide when he’s ready. If he ever is. You hope he will be.

But for now, you grab a glass of water for yourself and Eddie cracks open a beer.

“Hey, lemme see your character information before everyone else gets here,” he says, taking a long drink before putting his beer down, and making a grabby hands gesture towards you.

“I thought you wanted everyone to wait to introduce their characters when we start.” That was what he’d told you before, and Steve and Robin had confirmed he’d told them the same thing when the three of you had gotten together to try and come up with characters so that you didn’t accidentally all choose the same thing. Not that you’d told Eddie you did that, though Steve probably ended up telling Dustin.

“Yeah, but you’re different,” he insists, and you feel your cheeks get warm as you smile and roll your eyes. You go and grab your bag to fish out the notebook you’d done all your writing and planning in; once you’ve got it, you put your bag back and hand it to Eddie. He starts thumbing through the pages, scanning over what you’d written while he hums to himself. He doesn’t make any comments out loud, though, and the longer he goes without saying anything the more self-conscious you start to feel. Does he love it? Hate it? You can’t tell based on his expression, though you see the way that one of his legs is bouncing, which means he’s thinking.

“What, never seen a character that good before?” you ask, your tone teasing as you break the silence between you. Eddie’s leg stops bouncing and he shakes his head.

“Oh, yes, this is a masterpiece. Shut up and let me read,” he says, no real heat in his voice as he rolls his eyes. You raise your eyebrows and lift the corners of your lips up into a smirk.

“Maybe you should make me,” you tell him, the words rolling off your tongue as you lean against the counter. You’re absolutely aware of how it sounds, and by the way that Eddie’s cheeks start turning a bright pink you know he is, too. You can’t help yourself, though, because you do love flirting with him. Even if it goes nowhere. His leg stops bouncing, and you see him grip your notebook just a little bit tighter in his hands. He doesn’t look up, though. It’s silent for a moment until he clears his throat.

“You know, that sounds like you’re flirting with me,” Eddie says. He seems to be maybe a little confused, or maybe he’s teasing you. Does he not know that you really were flirting with him? You wish he’d look up so you could see his eyes; they’re always so expressive, showing off what he tries to hide, but you can’t see them now. And so now you’ve got a choice: you can deny it, or you can admit it. And you aren’t quite sure how he’d react to either option.

Well… this could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, so you say, “...I’ve been trying to do that for three years now.”

This time, Eddie drops your notebook. It hits the ground and a few loose pages flit out to land by your feet. He looks up at you, brown eyes impossibly wide as his mouth hangs open just a bit. You straighten up from where you’re leaning on the counter, feeling nerves start to creep in. This wasn’t the reaction you were expecting.

“Wait, I’m sorry, how long?” he asks, but doesn’t wait for you to answer before he continues with, “Three years?” He seems to be in complete shock, and while you’re feeling nervous, you’re also a tiny bit offended.

“Did you really not know?” Was your flirting really that bad? You didn’t think so, at least not until now. Robin and Steve could tell you were flirting with Eddie, with how much they’d teased you about it once they’d figured it out, and you were pretty sure some of the others you both hung around with knew too. How did Eddie not pick up on it? Steve said the guy was dense, sure, but you’d always thought it was an exaggeration.

“I thought you did that with everyone!” Eddie’s throwing his hands in the air, the apples of his cheeks going from pink to red and the blush starts creeping down his neck. It’s cute, but it’s probably not the time to tell him that.

“No, just you!” Which is the truth; you didn’t flirt with anyone else the way you did with Eddie, at least not on purpose. But apparently he hadn’t picked up on that.

“Oh my god,” he says, and his hands come down to tangle in his thick, black curls. He starts muttering it to himself, and the lack of a positive reaction is starting to eat at you. Your stomach twists because maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe you’ve overstepped, here, and Eddie doesn’t feel the same way as you. Which would explain why you’ve spent the last three years, since the day he’d walked into your shared English class with a well-worn copy of The Hobbit and did his book report on how Tolkien had shaped modern fantasy. His passion, his eagerness, and the way he talked with his hands completely endeared him to you, and you’d asked him to explain the difference between hobbits and dwarves to you after class. That’s when it all started. But here, in his kitchen, seeing how Eddie is reacting, you wonder if maybe this wasn’t all some big mistake.

“Eddie, it’s fine that you don’t feel the same way, and I promise I’ll stop now that I know it makes you uncomfortable,” you tell him, bending down to gather up your loose papers and shove them back into your notebook. You swallow past the large lump forming in your throat, a little embarrassed by it all as you stand back up. “I’m sorry. I… I should probably go before the others get here.” There’s no way you’re sticking around after this; you don’t know if you can spend the next few hours thinking about this with everyone else around.

“Wait!” Eddie’s exclamation takes you by surprise, and his hand reaches out to wrap around your wrist. His hand is warm, a reassuring weight that brings you out of your thoughts. You look at him, and while his cheeks are still red, he’s got a serious look on his face that you rarely get to see. “Sweetheart, I promise it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, I just can’t believe I didn’t notice before now. Please don’t leave.” Which loosens the lump, just a bit, and he tilts his head a little as he smiles at you. It’s a little bashful, his head ducking slightly. “Also, I never said I don’t feel the same way. Just so you know.”

“Sweetheart?” you ask, picking up on the new moniker he’s using. It’s cute, and it’s got your chest swelling with hope because maybe he does feel the way you do. He opens his mouth to reply when there’s a loud bang on the front door.

“Hey, Eddie, open up!” It’s Dustin Henderson, no doubt with the others behind him, and Eddie jumps just a bit.

“Shit! I hate Henderson’s timing,” he curses, and you can’t help the laugh that comes out at how Eddie’s face falls into a pout. Not that he’d ever admit to pouting, of course. “Look, we definitely need to talk about this, I want to talk about this, but if I don’t let them in, Henderson's gonna keep doing that til he breaks the door down.” Which wouldn’t surprise you. You nod, smiling at Eddie.

“Eddie! Open the damn door!” Dustin continues, banging louder this time.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Eddie lets go of your wrist, sighing. He raises his voice, yelling out, “Dustin Henderson, I will not hesitate to give you disadvantage on all your saves if you don’t give me a damn minute!”

Dustin immediately ceases his banging on the door, and instead lets out a frustrated yell before he falls silent.

“We’ll talk after the game, okay, sweetheart? I promise on my honour as Eddie the Banished, Master of Dungeons, that we’ll talk and you can flirt as much as you want, as long as I can flirt back.”

“If you know how to flirt back,” you tell him, and he lets out the sweetest laugh you’ve ever heard as he walks over to the door to let in an angry Dustin, a grinning Robin, and the other exasperated members of the party.

[morganski-19]

Steddie Week Day 7: Free Space

@steddie-week

read part 1 here

Finding himself sitting in his van parked in front of the Harrington house, Eddie taps his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the song blaring through his radio. He came here pretty late for Steve's terms and without much of a plan. Only to explain himself and hope Steve would forgive him. Forgive him for running away after their kiss and avoiding him for a week after it. 

Eddie hopes after everything, Steve will understand. If things had played out differently, he would have stayed. Would have asked Steve to come home with him. Finish the path of wandering hands and soft moans that started in the locked bedroom. But then Eddie had to get in his head and force himself to think that Steve and Nancy were back together, that he was putting himself between something he should just leave alone. 

He blames it on the alcohol. Messing with his brain to tell him things that weren’t true. Make him think that Steve would actually do that to him. Brought his old form of thinking back to his head. Eddie wouldn’t have thought twice about Steve doing this to him if he’d never got to know him. Revert the Steve he had fallen for back to the old, fake version he was in high school. Not the real, kind-hearted, thoughtful Steve he knew now. 

It’s funny really. If Eddie had really thought about it, he would have noticed that the looks in Steve and Nancy’s eyes were not of love, but of worry and thankfulness. Steve isn’t the type of person to kiss someone else while he’s in a relationship. Or even kiss someone and do a complete one-eighty and get with someone else. That might have been the old Steve Harrington but it’s not the new one. And even then, Eddie had a feeling that old Steve Harrington wouldn’t leave someone completely hung out to dry without at least telling it to their face. 

Finally deciding he’s had enough, Eddie shuts off his car and exits, slamming the door. He marches up to the Harrington’s front door, praying that Steve won’t just shut it in his face. Doing a few quick shakes and deep breaths to get himself ready, he finally knocks 

It opens a few moments later with a disheveled Steve behind it, hair not falling into its perfect place, and comfortable sweats adorning his body. “Oh, so now you want to see me.”

Eddie tries to put on one of his smiles, make light of the whole situation, and hope that it will make the bitterness leave Steve’s voice. He can’t force it, only hoping that the sincerity will come through anyway. “I need to talk to you.”

Steve scoffs, rolling his eyes. “And the other times I tried weren’t good enough for you?”

His gaze meets Steve’s, filled with a mix of anger and sadness. “Those times were different. I misunderstood-”

“You misunderstood,” Steve interrupts. “No, I think I was the one who misunderstood. See, I thought there might be something between us. Something I’ve been wanting for a while and I had the stupid thought in my head that you wanted it to. But you were so ashamed that it happened that you just hide from me for a week and now you’ve come here to say that you want to talk. I don’t think we have anything to talk about.” 

Every part of Eddie is telling him to run, let it go, and just move on from it. But Steve’s too important for that, and he deserves to know what really happened. Steve starts to shut the door, but Eddie stops it, slamming his hand against the wood. “I saw you with Nancy that night,” he blurts out.

“What does Nancy have to do with any of this?”

“When I came down from the bedroom, I saw you pull her into a hug and kiss her forehead. Blame the alcohol or whatever, but I thought you two had gotten back together. That you kissing me was just a fluke because you couldn’t have her, and then you could so I ran. Ran away from the party, away from you. I … I knew I couldn’t handle the rejection so I just decided that I was never going to let it happen. 

The door opens fully again. “Come in. 

Eddie lets out a relieved breath, walking inside the house. He turns to face Steve, the anger from before morphing into hurt. Steve crosses his arms and stares at Eddie, searching his eyes for some sort of understanding. 

“Do you know what happened that night?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nods. “Robin told me about it when she came over earlier today.”

“Why would you think that I would just kiss you and go back to her like nothing happened?”

Eddie rubs his eyes. “I don’t know. It’s happened before. Guys kiss me just to mess with me before going back to their girlfriends. Looking back, I know you wouldn’t do that to me. But in the moment and after the way I saw you look at her a few months ago-”

“You thought that I would do what all those other guys did,” Steve finishes the sentence, taking a step toward Eddie. “I’m sorry for making you feel that way.”

“And I’m sorry for not letting you explain why you did it.”

Steve reaches out and pulls Eddie into a hug. Eddie returns it, sinking into the other’s touch. “I forgive you,” Steve whispers as they pull apart, pressing his forehead against Eddie’s. 

“I forgive you too.” Eddie leans forward, closing the gap between them, pressing his lips against Steve’s.

You can totally stop here, or you could read the full version here on my ao3. (warning: it gets spicy)

[love-kurdt]

Swooping, Sloping, Cursive Letters: 36

word count: 688

PLEASE READ THIS IS ME TRYING FIRST, AS THIS STORY RELIES HEAVILY UPON THE CONTEXT OF TIMT

September 29, 1990

Dear Will,

This past month and a half has been nothing but absolute chaos. First off, I finally had my official gay bar initiation! I was invited back in August by my friend Alexis and some of our other friends from our Gender Studies elective course, which was good, because at least I’d be around people I knew. They ordered me this neon blue cocktail I can’t remember the name of, probably because I chugged it so fast (just kidding, I think it was called a Blue Lagoon), and I was instantly picked up by the Prettiest of Pretty Boys™. He introduced himself as Wes Butler, and we had sex in the storage closet of the bar. It was actually my first time “topping” (I put topping in quotations because you can’t really top if you’re both standing). But it was cramped, it was hot in a bad way, it was messy, and it ended quicker than it began. It was not a good time. Moral of the story: I don’t do closets. I spent my whole life in one, and lost you in the process.

If you thought that experience was weird, let me tell you about this nerd rave I went to last Friday. Some acquaintance from one of my lit courses told me about it after class, saying it was at a beat up old house on the edge of campus, at five o’clock. When I showed up, it was like I’d entered the drama club room at Hawkins High. Dim lighting, red ambiance, and about a dozen different fantasy and sci-fi related activities happening throughout the house. I was so overwhelmed, and I had no idea where the hell to begin. Despite my love for writing fantasy, I’ve tried not to interact with anything remotely nerdy at the risk of it reminding me of you and sending me into a downward mental spiral. I’m scared that one day, if the spiral is spiraly enough, I won’t be able to come back from it. But anyway, this guy came up to me and said “Is it me or do you not have a clue what’s going on, either?” I turned to face him, and my eyes nearly fell out of my fucking skull, because I was either hallucinating, or Eddie Munson had come back from the dead. We immediately sparked a conversation about how we were just normal dudes who like literature and D&D, and felt incredibly out of place amongst all the cosplayers, almost like it was a convention. I don’t know how exactly we got from Point A to Point Z, but within half an hour of meeting Walker Brooks, he was fucking me into his Lord of the Rings bedsheets. Out of nowhere, he started talking to me in Elvish– I actually looked up and translated the phrase he used most frequently, “N- a man boui an ada.” It means, “Be a good boy for Daddy.” Yeah… yikes. I won't be seeing him again.

It’s no wonder why I keep going back to Wyatt. When we hook up, it’s like he erases all the other bad experiences. He’s so gentle with me, which is honestly what I crave the most. I just want affection. I just want love, while most of the other guys I’ve been with only want to get their dicks wet. But Wyatt is different– he cares about me. He’s my friend, above all else. And because he’s my friend, he offers to listen whenever I need to talk, no matter what. I think he knows my entire life story up until this point. Which means he knows about you and everything that happened last year. Don’t worry, he doesn’t hate you. He just… isn’t your biggest fan. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, though, because you’ll never have any reason to cross paths with each other. If, by some miracle, a reason does emerge, I won’t hesitate to introduce you two. 

But it’s just pathetic for me to hope at all at this point. So I won’t. Hope, I mean.

Love,

Mike

-

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[babygirl-diaz]

Help Me Hold Onto You (Buddie Omegaverse fanfic)

((Based on this prompt I got in my ask: after Eddie gives birth, he is insecure about his body and Buck shows him how attractive he is. This fic contains mpreg so you've been warned!!!))

***

Buck smiled as he watched Eddie cooing to their 1-month-old daughter while holding her close to his chest and feeding her. The omega looked exhausted. He was barely getting any sleep. Both of them were barely getting any sleep. Having a baby at home meant that they were on her schedule. But something else was off about Eddie lately. Buck couldn’t put a finger on it. He recoiled from Buck’s touches, his kisses, like had been burned. Initially, Buck thought it was because he was tired and needed some space after the delivery but now the alpha wasn’t so sure. 

Eddie got out of bed with Cheyanne and put her in her crib. He kept his face and body turned away from Buck as he buttoned up his shirt. Buck went over to him and wrapped his arms around the omega who tensed. Buck didn’t let him go though. He instead buried his face in Eddie’s neck and sniffed his scent glands. “You’re so perfect,” he whispered. “I love you.” 

“Buck,” Eddie squirmed in his arms before pulling away. “Our daughter is the one who is perfect,” he said dismissing him. 

Buck frowned slightly. “Yeah, she is, but so are you.” 

Eddie scoffed and pushed past Buck to go to the bathroom. He didn’t lock the door so Buck went after him and closed the door behind him. 

“What are you doing?” Eddie asked. “Wait your turn. I am going to take a shower.” 

“Maybe we can save water and take a shower together like we used to,” Buck suggested. 

Eddie frowned at him. “That always ended with us having sex.” 

“And that’s bad why?” Buck asked confused. 

“Buck, I’ve just had a baby,” Eddie replied. 

“Yes, a month ago.” 

Eddie scoffed at him .“Well, I’m sorry, how much time do you think is appropriate for me to recover?” 

“Eddie, that’s not-” Buck let out an exasperated sound. “-that’s not what I meant. You can take as much time as you want to recover. But I think there is something wrong.” 

“What do you mean?” Eddie’s frown deepened. 

“I mean, you won’t let me touch you anymore.” When he noticed Eddie was about to take offense to what he said, he quickly added, “Not just sexually. You won’t let me touch you. Period.” 

“I have a lot on my plate, Buck. Excuse me if having sex with you doesn’t take top priority.” 

“I told you this isn’t about sex,” Buck tried telling him again. 

Eddie let out a sigh. “Please. Just go, Buck. I want to shower in peace.” 

It took Buck a month but he finally, finally, noticed something. Eddie refused to take off his clothes in his presence. He was actually waiting for Buck to leave. That’s when he also noticed how Eddie wore more baggy clothes these days. Long-sleeved shirts that were double his size and large sweats that were too big for his hips. 

“Are you leaving or what?” Eddie asked annoyed. 

“Eddie, take off your clothes,” Buck said instead and refused to budge. 

Eddie looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. “What?” 

“Take off your clothes,” Buck repeated himself.

“What part of I’m tired and don’t wanna have sex do you not understand?” Eddie sounded even more annoyed now. 

“I don’t wanna have sex,” Buck told him. “I just want you to take your clothes off. In front of me.” 

“No,” Eddie replied simply. 

“Why not?” 

Eddie gave him another exasperated look. “Because I don’t want to.”

“There has to be a reason for that,” Buck continued to push him as he got closer to him. 

“I don’t need a reason to refuse to take off my clothes for you,” Eddie told him. 

“Yeah, you do. You’ve never been shy about taking off your clothes before.” 

“Because that’s before my body became this- this horrible!!” 

Eddie’s outburst had Buck stop in his tracks and look at him like he had grown a second head. 

“Eddie, what the hell are you talking about?” 

“I love our daughter and I don’t for a second regret having her but I didn’t expect pregnancy to take such a toll on my body,” Eddie explained and he looked so dejected and embarrassed that it broke Buck’s heart. “I’ve got this ugly ass scar from the C-section and my stomach is all flabby and has lost its form.” 

“Eddie, since when do you care about that?” Buck asked. 

“I know it’s superficial but I just don’t feel comfortable in my body anymore!” Eddie told him. “You wouldn’t understand.” 

“I know this isn’t the same thing but,” Buck started to say. “I was a little chubby when I was a teenager and I hated my body. So I started starving myself.” 

“You never told me this,” Eddie pointed out. ‘Then what happened?” 

“One of the teachers realized this and talked to my parents about it,” Buck shrugged

“And?”

“And my parents being my parents didn’t really care and just told me to eat something,” Buck replied. 

“Your parents are a piece of work,” Eddie said through gritted teeth. “But how did you get comfortable with your body?”

“Maddie helped me. The teacher then told her and she made sure that I knew that there was nothing wrong with me. That I was perfect the way I was.” Buck gave Eddie a pointed look as he stopped next to him. “Let me do the same for you, Eds.”

Eddie gave him an unsure look. “I don’t know about that.”

“Do you trust me?” Buck asked 

“More than anything,” Eddie replied without missing a beat. 

“Then trust me on this,” Buck said, going for Eddie’s shirt. “May I?” 

Eddie looked hesitant but then he nodded. 

Buck took off Eddie’s shirt and tossed it aside. He wanted to tell Eddie how beautiful he was but he needed him to believe him. So he turned Eddie around, facing him towards the mirror as he got behind him. 

“Buck,” Eddie said desperately and looked away from the mirror. 

“Eddie, look at yourself. Please.”

Eddie slowly looked at himself in the mirror.

Buck didn’t say anything. Instead, he kissed Eddie’s shoulder and ran his hands down Eddie’s sides. He then kissed the back of his neck, followed by his other shoulder. 

He then turned Eddie to the side and gently kissed his lips before kissing the scar on his shoulder from the bullet wound 4 years ago, “This scar tells the story of how you survived,” he said kissing it again. There was another similar scar on his other shoulder, which was from another bullet wound from his time in Afghanistan. “This also tells the story of how you survived one of the toughest periods of your life.” 

He kept kissing down his body, His lips trailed down Eddie’s stomach which made Eddie gasp and gently push at his shoulders. 

“Did I hurt you?” Buck asked looking up at Eddie from where he was on his knees. 

“No, but it’s just- I don’t know-” Eddie said unsurely. 

Buck pushed Eddie’s sweats below his pelvis. “This scar right here,” Buck said hovering his finger over the C-section scar below his navel. “...it represents the beautiful life you brought into this world.” 

Buck placed kisses all over Eddie’s stomach. He then got up and pulled Eddie kissing his lips deeply. He turned him towards the mirror again and looked at him through it. “You’re gorgeous, Eddie. Doesn’t matter if you have an 8-pack or not. You’re beautiful inside and out. And I wish you could see that.” 

Buck noticed tears in Eddie’s eyes. 

“I don’t feel beautiful,” Eddie admitted and his voice sounded so broken. “I don’t know if I ever will.” 

“You will,” Buck assured him. “I will stand here right beside you and show you every day just how beautiful you are if that’s what it takes.”  

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Halloween Cinderella; Eddie Munson x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this was for a favor for a dear fav. blog of mine @sweetpeapod when she needed some help in clearing out some requests so to the requester who asked this of her during her last event, look no further than here.  Now I made some changes to the request (just some small minor stuff to fit with the time period and all that) but other than that the only warnings are swearing, cheating, some minor angst but also some fluffy, comforting and a bit flirty Eddie.  Hope you enjoy this my lovelies and to @sweetpeapod​ thanks for sending this fic my way, had a blast writing it and I’m happy to help anytime you want your inbox cleared of some work :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​​

@queen-paladin​

@gay-and-ready-to-cry​

___________________________________________________________

*Halloween 1984*

I still don’t even understand why I even came here to begin with? All I wanted to do was stay at home, do candy duty and just wait for this day to be month to be over.  Not to say that I don’t like Halloween cause I do, but the fact that my douche of a boyfriend dumped me just a week before we would go as our couple costumes of Kane and Ripley from Alien.  That’s something I can’t look past, especially when he admitted to cheating on me with some slut from the swim team.

So my best friend/brother from another mother Ferris (who was dressed as Michael Myers) thought it would still be a good idea for us to go to the party just to rub Jefferson’s face in it.  And believe me when I say that it is hard to say no to Ferris Worthington, the boy’s as stubborn as a mule and won’t take no for an answer.

And that’s where I am.  Sitting in my car, parked right outside Heather’s place where the party was debating whether or not I should go in or just drive away and lock myself in isolation.

“Goddamn it Ferris. Why do I always let you talk me into these things seriously why?” I said talking to myself.  “Because I was a jackass in a previous life. Now grow a pair and get your sexy Ripley butt in there!” I said knowing what he’d say if we had drove together.  “I hate you so much, you better be in there and I swear there better be some serious booze if not a little buzz of the Mary Jane.” I said muttering to myself again as I got out of the car and locked it.

I walked up to Heather’s house and opened the door and already blaring music was playing, streamers were flying everywhere, and over a hundred people were already in the large mansion.

“Think I’ll also be needing some earplugs too and maybe whiskey instead of beer to drown this noise out.” I said adjusting my fake rifle further up my shoulder.  I had been fabricating with my dad since the start of summer, he actually works on indie horror films so he’s gone some weapons and makeup sculpting skills.

As I walked through the crowd of seniors and even a couple of juniors that somehow managed to sneak in, I noticed a problem.  Ferris said he’d be dressing up like Michael Myers from Halloween, well I’m barely at the living room and already I spotted three different Michael Myers masks.

“Brilliant move Ferris. Seems like every freaking guy in here had the same idea you did.” When I finally got to the living room, low and behold there were about seven, maybe 10 other Michael Myers at the party.  I mean Jesus Christ there are other slasher killers you can choose from; Freddie Kruger, Psycho’s Norman Bates, Leatherface, Jason, any of those guys but nope everyone chose Michael Myers.

Again not that there’s anything wrong with it, Jamie Lee, perfect final girl material and an extreme badass next to Sigourney Weaver, but come on guys.  Ferris could’ve at least given me something to distinguish himself from all the other Michael Myers’ at this party.

“Okay so first thing I’m gonna do is find that smug son of a bitch, then kick his ass for making me search for him, and then drink, drink, drink.” I said to myself before going in and walking to the first Michael Myers costume I saw.  “Ferris?!” the person turned to me and motioned to them to take their mask off. They removed their mask and I saw it was one of the football players.

“Sorry.” He told me before putting his mask back on.  Okay one down, nine to maybe a dozen or so to go. I moved through the crowd, keeping my plastic rifle close to me and walked up to the next Michael Myers I saw.

“Ferris is that you under there?!” the person lifted up their mask and it was some other random dude, probably from either another school or even a former graduate (by a year or two).

“You got the wrong guy, sweetheart. But if you stick around, I can make you forget about him.” He said as he eyed me up and down with a lustful look in his eyes.

“Yeah and I’d like to tell you a joke about my vagina but you’re never gonna get it.” I said walking away annoyed.  One by one I asked each Michael Myers I saw to remove their mask, but all of them turned out to be a bust.

I was now by the drinks deciding to just get me some spiked punch and just accept the fact that either Ferris had ditched the party all together and lied to me, or the little shithead is hiding somewhere knowing I’d probably kill him for making me search for him.

I soon took notice of another person coming up as Michael Myers coming to get a glass of punch.  I set my cup down and turned to the guy and told him.

“Need I ask if that’s you Ferris?” the guy soon turned his attention to me and removed his mask.  Unlike the rest of the guys who had short hair underneath, this guy had long, shaggy brown hair.  Deep brown deer like eyes, maybe even puppy brown.  “Oh.” I said dejectedly returning to my drink.

“Just what every boy dreams of hearing from someone who's just seen your face for the first time.” He told me.

“I’m sorry. Really I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just I’ve been searching for my friend for what feels like hours. He told me he came as Michael Myers and low and behold, almost every guy came in dressed like the guy.”

“I know. At first I was gonna come as Freddie Kruger, but then one of my little sheepies whose part of the drama department in charge of makeup fell sick and couldn’t come to work on my makeup.”

“No kidding, they were really gonna do that?”

“Yeah. Said his dad or uncle or whatever works with VFX makeup in Hollywood. Has his own shop and everything of all the face casts and costumes he’s sculpted. Would’ve been so metal but unfortunately I got stuck with Old Michael. No offense the dude is one badass mother fucker, but the mask just suffocates me.”

“That’s a shame. Cause that is a very lovely face, a really handsome face that I’d hate to see be suffocated and—” oh shit please tell me I did not just say that to some stranger.  I slowly turned to him to see him pondering on what I just said with a smirk before he turned to me and asked.

“Lovely face? No wait scratch that, really handsome face?”

“Can I just the spiked punch made me say it?” I gulped defeatedly.

“You know what they say, drunken lips brings out sober thoughts.”

“That doesn’t even rhyme!”

“Who cares if it does?”

“I do!”

“What are you? The rhyming police?”

“Yes and I’m placing you under arrest for crimes against poor rhyming.” He laughed before saying.

“Whatever you say, Ellen Ripley.”

“You know you’re the first person to actually say who I am.”

“Uncultured swine’s!” he said exasperatedly as he gasped and placed his hand over his heart dramatically.

“Right!? Alien is a badass movie. If they ever think about making a second movie they better not fuck it up.”

“You never know.” He shrugged.  “But if I may be inquired to ask your real name? Just so I can put a name to the girl who called my face handsome.”

“(Y/n). (Y/n) (l/n).”

“Munson. Eddie Munson.” We shook hands as I said.

“With an intro like that, surprised you didn’t come as James Bond.”

“Ehh, cool guy but boring films.”

“WHAT!?”

“Oh don’t tell me…..”

“Uncultured swine!” I exclaimed.  Once again he shot his hand to his heart and threw himself backwards which made me laugh.  “How could you think the Bond films are boring!?!”

“I’m sorry but they drag the plot too long and the humor is kinda stale.”

“Which Bond films have you seen?”

“What was that last Bond film that came out last year?”

“Oh Octopussy with Richard Moore? Okay I will give you that, that one wasn’t as good. But if you get to watch any of the Sean Connery ones, I swear you’ll think he’s the best Bond ever.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that.�� A brief moment of silence came around us.  It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward but—comforting? “Hey, I don’t normally ask this but uhh…..do you wanna step outside? Party’s getting more crowded and all that. I was gonna offer that to you earlier when I saw how dejected you seemed earlier.”

“I’d actually like that. Promise not to murder me once we get outside Michael?” I teased his character’s name at the end.

“Oh sweetheart, if anyone’s gonna murder anyone it’s you who’d murder me Ripley. You took on a fucking alien with an extended alien tongue. Compared to that, I’m mere child’s play.” So Eddie and I walked out of the house and into the backyard.

Hardly any people were outside.  Most of them having a quick smoke break or to get some air from the mass of bodies that occupied the house.  As Eddie prepared himself a smoke, he offered me one and I thanked him and he offered up his lighter.

I took a deep inhale before exhaling the smoke as I felt the cigarette between my index and tall finger.

“So the guy you mentioned earlier, you said his name was Ferris?”

“Yeah, Ferris Worthington.”

“Hold on, Ferris Worthington?” he asked me as he turned to me.

“Yeah.”

“About yay-tall, short brown hair, always wears a sweater vest?”

“Yeah. Wait how do you know him?”

“You kidding me? Ferris the Cunning Paladin. Dude may dress like a nerd but he’s one smart son of a bitch in my campaigns. He told me he was gonna dress up as Jason from Friday the 13th and I’ve been looking for him everywhere. We were gonna try to battle it out in front of everyone. Find out just who would really win in a fight.”

Oh that little shit! I’ll kill him I swear!

“Really? Cause like I said before, he told me he was gonna dress up as Michael Myers. Seems we’ve been played.”

“It would seem so.” He said taking an inhale of his cigarette.

“I should’ve known. I’ve known that boy since we were in kindergarten and he always does shit like this. He knew I didn’t want to come to the party anymore and he still managed to somehow convince me only to stand me up just like my douche of an ex-boyfriend!” I ranted angrily and when I turned to see Eddie looking at me stunned I exhaled deeply and shook my head. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t wanna hear me rant, so I wouldn’t blame you if you left me to my misery.”

“I may be known as the ‘Freak of Hawkins High’, but being the King of the social outcasts does come with its priorities.”

“And what’s that?”

“Being a good listener. Since I’m not so stuck up in my head of my own vanity and pride, I can take time to truly listen to those who need to rant, scream or shout. Not like those who follow the force conformity of ignoring other people’s problems.”

“I don’t know Eddie—”

“I won’t pry, if you tell me to drop it, we’ll drop it. But—you do seem like you really need to rant, and it seems like Ferris didn’t really take your feelings seriously.”

“Lately he hasn’t.” I took another intake from my cigarette before exhaling the smoke out and stomping on the last bit of bud that was left.  “My ex-boyfriend, cheated on me with some bimbo from the swim team. And he told me he had been cheating on me for five months while we were still together. Not only that but he dumped me for said bimbo through a note he put in my locker.”

“Jesus what a cowardly dick.” I laughed coldly.

“I wish there was a word to describe him. Couldn’t even work up the balls to break up with me face to face. Anyway, we had planned to come together to this party with me as Ripley and him as Kane. Even made a tiny alien baby to have pop out of his chest and everything.”

“That would’ve been so metal.” I nodded.

“I hated him so much. So much so that I felt like Halloween was ruined for me. I’ve actually wanted to do a couple’s costume ever since we went out. I planned, prepped and tried to come up with a cool costume duo that wasn’t gonna be predictable or standard.”

“I hear yah. I may not look it but I can respect a good costume couple, and already seeing you I would’ve like to have seen that.”

“Sorry to disappoint in not having the other half.”

“Not disappointed. You still look pretty badass. I mean your rifle alone looks awesome.”

“Just your basic nerf gun that I painted and redesigned a bit.”

“Metal.” He said impressed.  “And seriously, I meant what I said when I called your ex a cowardly dick. He shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“I know I shouldn’t let it get to me this badly but—he was the first guy who really took interest in me. And not just because he wanted to have someone to fuck or please him. We did have a lot in common, but then it turns out he had to fuck some other girl behind my back just to keep what was between his legs satisfied. Sometimes I feel like something’s wrong with me.”

“Hey,” he came in front of me.  His head tilted downward so he could try to look me in the eye. Eventually I looked up at him and he continued, “There is nothing, okay absolutely nothing wrong with you. The relationship failed because of him, not you. If he couldn’t see the beautiful woman that was standing right at his side, then it’s his loss.” I felt my cheeks heat up as I crossed my arms over my chest and said.

“Did you just—call me beautiful?”

“I’m not the only one with a good looking face.” He said with a small grin.

“Eddie, I appreciate the comment but…..if this is some attempt for you to be Prince Charming and swoop in on a girl who’s emotionally vulnerable, this isn’t the right way to go about it.”

“I know. I’m just giving a lovely girl a compliment. I don’t expect anything in return.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?” We turned around and speak of the devil there stood Ferris with his lifted up Jason Vorhees mask.  “This was not how I pictured this going!!”

“Did you seriously think I would want another relationship so sudden after my last one?!” I snapped.

“If it gets you to stop mopping, yes! Plus you guys were really hitting it off! C’mon Eddie’s a good guy just kiss him already!” I shook my head at Ferris.

“Permission to beat the shit out of this little turd, my lady?” Eddie asked me.

“He’s all yours.” I said.  Eddie put his mask back on and as quick as lightning, he charged at Ferris who let out a girlish scream and went running for the hills.  I shook my head and decided to just head home knowing that all of this was just Ferris Worthington’s scheme to make me have another man just so I would stop my bitching and mopping.  

Monday at school, I was opening my locker to get my trig book when a note fell out of my locker.  I picked it up, unfolded it and read it.

Hey Ripley,

The party was fun, sorry about Ferris. He says he’s sorry for what he did. And don’t worry, even if he doesn’t mean it, I’ll make sure he pays for it at our next D&D campaign hehehe (devil face drawing).

Anyway, I meant what I said about both your ex being a douche and you being beautiful.  Now I’m not trying to flirt or start an instant relationship but if you ever want to rant or punch someone, give me a call.  Just know you’ve got someone on your side who will really listen to you, be your punching bag, or even a shoulder to cry on and won’t complain at all. Hope to see you around the school, or just reach me here.

XXX-XXX-XXXX

Eddie aka Michael Myers #9

He even drew little devil horns around his name.  I smiled and folded the note and put it in my flannel pocket over my heart.  I grabbed my book and headed off to my trig class with a slight pep in my step.

[smurphyse]

Fuck You, Munson | Eddie Munson

Smurph's Masterlist | Zero to Hero Masterlist

Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, depictions of gore, monster fights, descriptions of blood, overuse of 80s song lyrics

Summary: You grow anxious that Eddie won't wake up. When he finally does, he's in for the shock of his life when he meets the crazy girl who saved him

Two weeks have passed since I found Edward Munson in the Darkness being preyed upon by creatures of nightmares.

After stripping him from a distance with my powers, I learned that he is in fact a boy. One with more tattoos than I’d think one would have at a young age. They look handmade, etched stick-and-poke ones likely done in dim light with as much precision as he could muster.

I cleaned him, and day by day his wounds are healing. His body reacts normally, healing at a rate I know is good with my assistance. He’s even going to the bathroom regularly… something I never wanted to have to worry about or clean up. At least Screech and Clem shit outside.

But he still hasn’t woken.

His pupillary reactions are normal, his eyes flicking back and forth beneath his lids as he dreams. I can tell when he has nightmares from the whimpers and whines that come from the bedroom. I usually stop what I’m doing and go inside to check on him, and a soft hand on his arm or brushing fingertips along his forehead seem to make them ease.

It took a few days to put all of his broken bones back in place, and I gagged with every snap and squelch of them pulling back into his skin. I couldn’t even take his rings off until I fixed his busted hands.

Who the hell wears this many rings? I’d thought angrily as the knuckles went back into the sockets with soft pops. I made sure to clean the blood from them before stashing them away in a box on a bookshelf for safekeeping.

Deciding it was too difficult to wash his unruly hair via a bucket and cocking his head over the side of the bed, I tied it up in a bun. I thought about shearing it all off, but the memory of Papa doing that to me as a child made me settle for an updo. We could be bun-buddies, and even if he never woke up I’d delight in it a bit.

He slept now on my bed, covered halfway with some quilts I found at a flea market, breathing softly. The rattling in his lungs died down after a day or two of clearing the blood coming in, and now he snored quietly when he wasn’t having nightmares.

I did my best when it came to healing the large gashes on his abdomen, but there was only so much I could do. I’m not exactly a surgeon even with my military training, which was meant to keep fellow soldiers alive so they could make it back to base. Unfortunately I’d left Edward Munson with thick scars stretching up his belly, chest, and neck… but at least he was alive for now.

He’d become a part of my household. The first few days I tiptoed around to let him rest, worried he might startle again and hurt himself. Now, I putter around like I did before he came, listening to the radio or talking to myself or Clem and Screech. I ignored him for the most part until I had to bathe him with a sponge before bed each night.

A few times a day I change his bandages and clean his wounds, check him over for any new signs of bodily stress. He’s healing well… getting better every day, but it keeps bothering me that he won’t open his eyes on his own. 

I want to see them again, want to talk to him to figure out how he got here. I haven’t ventured out into the Dark since I brought him here, scared he’ll die in my bed by himself, so I haven’t been able to find the gate he came through. I need to close it like I have the others that pop up every few months.

I rarely venture outside of the Haven for this exact reason… I want nothing to do with the Darkness or Henry or any of the shit outside of my property. Not anymore.

Tonight I glare at him as I sit on the edge of the bed, lip curled into a frown. As I have for the last two weeks, I take my flashlight and flick it on. I gently lay my hand on his cheek and pull on his eyelid just to see them open. Glassy brown stares back at me, but there’s no consciousness to be found.

I flick the light back and forth in irritation. “Wake up so I can send you back where you came from!”

To my surprised horror, his eyeball moves, his pupil dilating for just a moment. A sharp grunt bursts from his chest, and I yelp and release him. Protectively, I pull my arms to my chest as his head lolls back to one side.

I watch him curiously for a few moments, expecting him to finally rouse. His breathing goes back to normal and he relaxes into the mattress. Creeping closer, I reach out with a cautious hand and poke his cheek.

Nothing.

As extensive as my military training is from my time with Papa and the lab, I know nothing about comas. What the hell am I supposed to do if he doesn’t wake up? Just sit here every day and take care of him until he finally dies? Ugh, then I’ll have to bury him.

Stomping my foot like a child, which I immediately regret when Papa’s face pops up in my mind to give me a disapproving look, I grumble and head for the kitchen. I’ll cook myself some dinner instead of worrying about him. At least I know one of us will be alive for leftovers tomorrow. If he dies, I won’t have to keep mushing up food and feeding him through a tube. It’s gross anyway, and I’d rather bury him than keep doing that.

“Fine,” I mutter, turning on my heel and walking out the door. “Fuck you, Munson.”

Eddie’s head pounds like the bass at a Corroded Coffin show, only he’s not enjoying himself nearly as much as he does in a shitty bar outside of Hawkins as he shreds on stage. Struggling to open his eyes, his futile attempts to put a steadying hand beneath himself fail. His limbs refuse to cooperate, as does the rest of him. The slits of sunlight that come through each time he tries to peel his eyelids apart make them shut immediately, and soon enough he gives up.

The memory of the demabats swarming him as he played on his guitar keeps jolting him awake, but he can’t tell how much time passes between nightmares. He hears someone talking now and then, sometimes yelling, but mostly he hears music… shitty music. Everything from Bowie to Redbone to Cher plays in his head, and he quickly decides through his mind fog that they’re the cause of his migraine.

He manages to open his eyes after what feels like years of trying, blinking heavily through dim lighting. His head rocks to the side as another terrible song blasts through the speakers he can’t focus enough to find and turn off.

"Baby, baby, I don't know what I'm doing," the Kinks play, making Eddie wince. This shit’s so old… he bet Steve picked it, the dork. "Everything I do, it turns to ruin."

His eyes finally slide into clarity, surrounded by a dark shadow. He finds himself in a small cabin room. An array of houseplants litter the place, vines hang from the walls and trail up through the ceiling cracks, poking into the wooden beams and disappearing. A few sit on tables and shelves, one hangs above him above the window where he lay, succulents line up on the windowsill.

Eddie sits up slowly, gasping painfully as a shock rips up his belly and seems to burst through his chest. He rips the thin quilt from his lap only to discover himself buck naked… and his abdomen covered in long tendriling scars.

Tears spring from his eyes as he runs a shaky finger down one of them, wincing at the pain that emanates from the redlined puckered skin. He counts five in his limited eyeline, all thick branched and scabbed over.

How did I survive? he wonders in shock. The last memory that surfaces is Henderson clutching his leather and denim as Eddie bled out in the Upside Down, sobbing as he proudly proclaimed he was no longer a coward.

Eddie was sure he was going to die and he wasn’t scared.

Henderson. Harrington. Nancy and Robin, Lucas and Max.

They need to know he’s awake, that he’s okay. Soft singing floats in from another room, and Eddie figures it’s Nancy from the terrible taste. He looks around for his clothes, but the only thing he can see is the blanket he threw to the ground. 

Eddie reaches for it, the bed creaking with his shifting weight. His stomach burns with a renewed round of pain as he grunts in annoyance. Finally he sits back and lets out an irritated sigh.

“Wheeler…” he tries, but his voice cracks dryly in his throat. Licking his lips he tries again, but even less comes out, “Harrin… oh fuck it.”

Swinging his feet onto the hardwood floor, face scrunching and heating up with the effort as he struggles to grab the blanket. He stretches until he can pull it close, kicking it up and pulling it back over his lap. The last thing he needs is Nancy or Robin seeing his dong when he’s vulnerable like this.

Wrapping the blanket around his waist, he tries to stand. The world shifts beneath him, his vision dragging and threatening to black out. His fingernails dig into the nightstand as he waits for the spots to blink away, eyeing the bookshelf lining the wall to gauge his path toward the music.

“Come on, baby, I don’t mind. Two lonely people, the helpless kind.” Eddie hears someone singing along, the floor creaks with her movements. “Come on, baby, love me ‘til the sun shines.”

Saliva floods his mouth as he smells food… it’s like he hasn’t eaten in weeks, and the gurgling of his stomach burns as badly as the scarring on his chest.

It takes him through the end of the song to tug himself up enough to stand. Sweat beads across his forehead as he struggles to keep the stupid blanket around his waist. Eddie usually wears a hair tie around his wrist but it was gone or he’d have used it.

“Clem! Screech!” a voice calls as he makes his way slowly toward the door. Inching along, Eddie peeks as much as he can, watching the shifting shadows through the light pouring in. “Dinner!”

He hears a barking noise, then the scarfing of food. Where the hell did they take him? None of them have pets beside Dustin.

As she comes back in, a screen door creaks shut. The music turns up a little as another old song plays, “Well, she was an American Girl. Raised on promises.”

Her voice is sweet, but Eddie doesn’t recognize it as he struggles his way toward the door. "After all it was a great big world. With lots of places to run to. Yeah, and if she had to die tryin', she had one little promise she was gonna keep."

Leaning heavily on the frame, Eddie finally catches a glimpse of the singing girl with the weird taste in music. She sways in time in front of a kitchen sink, surrounded by an army of dishes as she washes them in sudsy water. Her dark eyes watch the window, the vined plants above on a shelf drape between two nails to form a curtain. The cabin is small, one big room besides the bedroom he’d been sleeping in. Teensy string lights hang around the walls with the plants, and Eddie hears a storm brewing in the distance over the music.

But she is what makes his heart stop in his chest.

She’s not Robin or Nancy or Max, and Eddie doesn’t recognize her from school. She dances in place in nothing but a ratty old flannel, her chocolate curls flung up in a messy ponytail as she smiles out the window. Eddie makes a face as he realizes his own aren’t tickling his shoulders, and finally feels that it’s held up in a tight bun. 

He tugs and releases his curls as he eyes her tanned legs, the soles of her feet dusted with a bit of dirt from not wearing shoes. A bruise blossoms on the back of her thigh and a scratch is healing to a pale jagged pink as she washes a coffee mug. He cranes his head to trail his gaze down the soft curve of her jaw, the supple swell of her cheekbone and full lips of her profile as she focuses on something outside. She’s beautiful, and Eddie swallows thickly as he struggles to speak.

“Hey…” he starts, but again it comes out weak and cracked. Eddie clears his throat and pushes off the door, stumbling on shaky legs as he pads into the kitchen.

Eddie reaches out to touch her shoulder, and suddenly her head turns to face him, dark eyes bright and fierce. Her hand shoots out and he’s flung back. His eyes clamp shut as he braces for the impact of hitting a wall, but a lightning fast screeching erupts behind him.

Instead of hardwood his ass hits something soft, and when he cautiously opens his eyes he finds himself plopped on an old flowery printed armchair. Eddie pants as he looks around in shock, but the girl lets out a happy yelp.

“Oh my god!” she yells excitedly, jumping in her spot. “You’re awake!”

She dries her hands off with a towel she snatches from the counter before tossing it aside. Hurrying over, she drops to her knees in front of him. Her hands go straight for his damaged stomach, warm fingertips grazing across his skin. Eddie winces and flinches away.

She pulls back with wide eyes, holding her hands protectively to her chest. She gives him a sheepish smile, “I really thought you were going to die, Edward.”

“Uhm, it’s Eddie…” is all he manages to croak out, and she nods to herself and taps her temple.

“Eddie, okay,” she grins, then sticks out her hand for him to shake. “Zero.”

Eddie makes a face, and she lets out an awkward sigh. She glances around for a moment before slapping her hands down on the tops of her exposed thighs, “You probably want some clothes, huh?” 

Eddie looks down only to realize he was sitting on display for this strange woman to see. He tugs on the blanket to cover himself but she waves a hand nonchalantly, “I’ve seen it already. Don’t worry.” Eddie watches in horrified shock as she gets to her feet and walks back in the bedroom, speaking as though she knew him and this wasn’t some fucked up nightmare. He has no idea who she is and she’s seen him naked? “I’ve been waiting for weeks for you to wake up and I really thought you were gonna die in my bed…”

A drawer opens and closes, then she makes her way back in and hands him a pair of sweats and a flannel. Eddie takes the pile with a shaky hand as he continues her rambling. 

“It was easier to keep you naked, and it was less laundry for me to do…” she trails off as he stares wide-eyed at her. She cocks her head, “Are you okay?”

Eddie licks his dry lips and shakes his head slowly, “Who are you?”

“I told you, I’m Zero,” she frowns, putting her hands on her hips.

“Okay… Zero,” he says slowly, leaning as far away from her as he could into the back of the chair. “Where are my friends?”

Zero frowns and looks again toward the window, “ You were the only one I found.”

Panic surges through him at the thought. Dustin, Max, and Lucas are just kids and the rest of them all have families who will look for him. He puts a shaky hand under himself to get up, but she flicks her wrist and he’s pushed back into the chair once more.

“I didn’t find any bodies, so I’m sure they’re fine.” She frowns again as he tries to get up again, but he can’t seem to move, “You shouldn't even be out of bed, okay? When I found you you looked like minced meat. I’m surprised I put you back together again, Humpty Dumpty.”

“You found me?” he asks incredulously. “What the hell were you doing in the Upside Down?”

Now it was her turn to make a face, “What the hell is the Upside Down?”

“Where you found me,” Eddie hisses. He points out the window toward the night even though they were far away from it all. Rage began to course through him at her indifference. “Purple clouds and lightning? Flying monsters and vines everywhere?”

Her dark eyes widen as her gaze follows his finger, her jaw dropping slightly. Zero nods slowly before turning back to him.

“I think you should get some sleep.”

Eddie watches angrily as she unfurls the sweatpants and grips the waistband. She watches him expectantly but he doesn’t budge.

“What were you doing there?”

She sighs and shakes them again, but when he sets his jaw and glares she tosses them on his lap. “I could tell something was going on out there so I went to investigate and found you, okay?”

“You found me?” Eddie asks as fresh hurt blossoms through his chest. "They left me there?"

Zero shrugged, "They probably thought you were dead. I did."

“Where am I?”

“In a cabin.”

“Where am I?” he asks again.

Zero groans dramatically and stalks off toward the front door. Her hand waves toward him and the armchair starts to shake. Eddie lets out an embarrassing yelp as it lurches forward by itself across the hardwood, following Zero out onto the porch.

The midnight blue sky hangs above them as the armchair scooches outside. Eddie grips the armrests tightly until it stops moving and has to peel his fingernails from the fabric. Stars pierce the sky, glittering like thin sparkling tulle in the warm night. A soft breeze glides through, but it doesn’t cut with its chill. Instead, it calms, and his hair dances over his shoulders in time.

Zero points out toward the distance where the blue meets angry pulsing purple and red. The storms Eddie heard over the radio rumble ten times louder now that he sees it, and his damaged heart drops low into his stomach.

“We’re in the Haven,” she says solemnly. Her eyes glisten with wetness as she watches the storm forming. She points again, “That’s the Darkness, or as you call it…”

“The Upside Down,” Eddie finishes for her in revulsed horror. “We’re still in the Upside Down.”

Zero nods, “You never left.”

Smurph's Masterlist | Zero to Hero Masterlist

Notes: Lmao you guys don't know what I went through making this gif small enough for Tumblr... anywho how do you think Eddie's going to deal with being in the Upside Down?? How do you think he and Zero will get along now that Eddie's awake?

ST Taglist: @tlclick73 @theloser007 @sadbitchfangirl @chaoticcancer  @harrys-tittie @assassinsasha23 @spacedoutdaydreamer @legendarytrashcopeclipse 

[lisalay00]

Pancake

꒷꒦⋆⑅˚₊┈ • ┈ ・ʚɞ ・ ┈ • ┈₊˚⑅⋆꒷꒦

It was an exam-busy exam week. Every day, I've been scrutinizing another subject book. Yesterday, I was so into the physics formulas that even they'd flashed my dreams. I felt nauseous. And now, I was losing my mind in Edgar Alan Poe's Raven. I had no idea what I was reading. I was too off.

My mind stormed out the thoughts as the door knock interrupted me losing in more.

‘Hey!’ I heard Eddie’s husky voice behind the door without hesitating I opened the door. He was standing in front of me alive. I jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly.

‘God, I miss this.’ He chuckled and leisurely his hands traveled on my back. He leaned back and grabbed my chin. I realized what would happen next so dragged him inside, not to be seen.

Eddie was in my senior year, I was in my junior… We have known each other since primary school. Dating was expected for his uncle, especially; he always said that we were meant for each other even though my Mom was quite offensive yet, she was glad to date someone I’d already known. However, Eddie was quite the kind of guy that parents never want for their daughter. He has tattoos, swears a lot, and has long messy hair. At least, for my mom, he was.

 His exams had already ended last week. So he was free as a bird when I lost myself in the logarithm problems. It was kind of a habit of me going missing during the exam week that’s why Eddie hates exams weeks. Hellfire club friends found a way to creep out somewhere else in his mood in these weeks. But, they usually whine up all the time.

He smirked at my concern and grabbed my chin again. Positioned himself in front of my table.

‘You are one to talk!’ I joked around. His naughty touches spread through my hips and ended to grab them and pushing me to my table. I closed my eyes and sighed as he was leaning closer to my face.

Our lips collided finally; He forced me to wrap my arms around his neck. He smiled between the kiss then I let him get inside. Our lips were gently moving, finding a perfect harmony it was getting more fierce and more and more. He moaned into my lips and we parted unwilling to breathe. Didn’t take too much time he leaned back and this time, it was more rough and wild.

He lifted my body from the table and stepped to my bed.  Unlike his kiss, he was deadly slow and gently left me on the bed. I trembled with the coldness of my bed. Even though we were still fully dressed I felt like my body was in the oven and we were burning high in there.

He spread my legs apart and placed himself closer. Our T-shirts were the only obstacle between us.  Not too late he took the hem of my T-shirt and took it off, like ripping them off.

He tried to throw my T-shirt to the other side of the room. However, It stayed hung on my headboard, it was dangling on it, sighted the piece of cloth a light chuckle spread from his mouth forcefully.

‘I didn't make any plan for this.’ He breathed out. I closed my eyes as I inhaled his hot breath into my lungs. ‘My mom gonna piss off.’ I chuckled as he laughed at my answer.

‘I told her we are just studying.’ He said melodically, stealing another kiss.

‘She won’t believe you, Munson.’  I folded my fingers into his curls taking a quick gaze on his dark brown waves.

'You are so beautiful.' He took me back to his attention; his sparkling brown orbs had me rumbling my heart.

This time, I escaped from his hands before grabbing his jacket's collar and smashing our lips. I took off his jacket from his sleeves and pushed it without looking where it went.

There were a couple of books on my bed, he tossed it elsewhere. I heard the flying paper sounds around the room. He landed himself on the bed and positioned me at the same time. It was the longer the more passionate kiss I was about to forget to take a breath.

However, good things didn’t last long. We actually forgot to lock the door, again and it lead to barging in for my mom easily.

We parted unwillingly. He tossed his jacket to me.

‘We got caught up!’ He wrapped arms around me not forgetting to lean a wet kiss on my cheek.

She was looking at us tiredly and left the pancake plate on the table. 

‘Is it poisoned?’ He teased; she rolled her eyes and murmured something.

‘Don’t forget to study honey!’ She passed his words. I nodded as she closed the door behind us.

I turned to Eddie; he was looking at me.

‘I think we should eat later.’ His devilish smile caused me to laugh him back. He pushed me back to my bed.

꒷꒦⋆⑅˚₊┈ • ┈ ・ʚɞ ・ ┈ • ┈₊˚⑅⋆꒷꒦

[oddree13]

Restless Year - Chapter 9

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

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(Read on AO3)

Chapter 9 - Vienna

Steve can’t tell if the bus depot is too busy or not busy enough. It’s the day after Christmas and the traffic in and out of the city was enough to make him consider taking the train and not his car. But then he remembers that his last few subway rides had left him absolutely green and he doesn’t know how much luggage Max has. 

Steve’s not sure where to position himself, bouncing on his feet nervously. He stands outside of his car looking at the crowds of people milling in and out of the terminal trying to spot Max. He ignores the odd glances people throw his way for his sign, but the eye roll from Max will be worth it. He knows Eddie will never let him live it down if he doesn't hold up the sign with Mel Gibson in futuristic leather for her.

His misery ends a few minutes later when his spies red hair. Max takes one look at Steve and speeds her stride to snatch the shitty printout from his hand. “Tell Eddie he needs to be a dad before he makes dad jokes,” she quips as she lets Steve pull her into a hug. 

“It’s good to see you too Max. Was the bus alright?”

“It was fine, I had a whole row to myself. But my walkman crapped out before the last half-hour.” Steve reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fresh pack of double-a batteries, tossing it to her. “This is why you're my favorite, don’t tell Eddie.”

“Yeah, yeah until he does something amazing for you then suddenly it’s ‘Eddie you're my favorite, don’t tell Steve’. Now get in the car, it’s fucking cold.” Steve opens the door for Max and puts her bags in the trunk before pulling out of the station. Once they’re on Lake Shore, Steve tells Max what the radio presets are so she can stop scanning the static looking for music. “Or you can just talk to me for fifteen minutes, it won’t kill you.”

“I don’t want to talk about-”

“Did it sound like I was asking about the reason for your visit? Stop trying to pick a fight. Unless you want to talk about it, I’ll assume you wanted to visit Eddie and me and see Chicago. We can talk about college, what you’ve got playing on your walkman, or I can tell why Eddie is not to be trusted picking movies anymore.”

“Oh no, what did he make you two go see?” Max asks, taking the bait.

“I wanted to finally go see Back to the Future II, but he wanted to see Born on the Fourth of July. Which is how I spent last night listening to Eddie rant about the American war machine over dim sum.”

“Okay two things. One didn’t he get like a huge government payout after the whole Vecna thing? And two, what’s dim sum?”

For the next ten minutes, Steve rambles about Eddie’s weird relationship with their government money. Then he tries, badly, to explain dim sum, swearing it is a lot better than he is making it sound.

***

“Any particular reason you wanted to rise and shine with my ass instead of staying at the apartment with Steve?”

“You said a staff recommendation slot was up for grabs, and I’m sure your store could use some of my impeccable taste.” 

Years of being around Max have taught him to read between the lines , so Eddie can only laugh at her delivery. “I’ll make sure to use a tastemaker such as yourself to the best of my ability. But if you do spend too much time at the shop, I’m going to have to actually pay you. Do child labor laws still apply to you? How old are you now? Sixteen?”

Eddie is shoved for his sarcasm. “I’m almost nineteen, you ass! You and Steve really need to stop looking at all of us like we’re kids. I’m in college! I’m an adult, I do adult things.”

“What adult things do you do, Red?” Eddie teases and looks over to see a blush on her cheeks. The implication isn’t lost on Eddie and he wants to ask if he needs to give her another talk. Then he wants to ask if it was Lucas or El, or both, but he doesn’t. Instead, he pulls her to his side and kisses the top of her head over her beanie. “C’mon, coffee shop is right here, and do your best to be nice to Rody. He keeps me supplied with donuts and caffeine. We’re getting a box for the morning crew because it's everyone’s first day back.”

Eddie waves to Rody behind the counter who takes a look at Max and smiles. “Ed, is this the kid you were telling me about?” Rody shouts. Max, predictably scrunches her nose a bit at the word kid.

“Yeah, yeah. This is her. Rody, Max. Max, Rody.”

“She looks nothing like Henderson,” Rody remarks, and now Max looks indignant.

“I keep telling you Rody they’re not related, just a big pack. I’d stop your teasing while you’re ahead though. Out of all my pups, she’s the second meanest,” Eddie boasts. 

“Wait, who is the meanest?” Max asks, offended to not have the title. 

“Erica. Erica is terrifying Max and don’t you deny it. Now tell Rody what sugary monstrosity you want for a caffeine vehicle.”

The coffee shop is only two blocks from Smash. Eddie walks up the steps and opens the door, flicking on the lights to illuminate the floor. Max whistles as she takes in the view. “Steve’s photos did not do this place justice,” she says in awe, and walks towards the new release display to look through the offerings. Eddie finds it endearing that Steve sent photos of the shop to everyone, unwilling to let Eddie’s accomplishments go unnoticed. 

Placing the donuts behind the register, Eddie lets Max explore and wanders to his office. He managed to run the shop semi-solo the day after Christmas, Steve helping with exchanges until it was time to get Max, but Eddie is looking forward to having staff back. It doesn’t take long for the first arrival, and he hears Carmen greet Max with enthusiasm. When Eddie doesn’t hear sobbing he figures all is well.

When Max makes her way into his office she leans against the door frame, leveling him with an unamused look. “Seriously? Reading a magazine is considered work nowadays?” she interrupts, making Eddie tilt down his copy of Kerrang! to look at her. 

“I’m sorry, do you know of a better way to find new music that doesn’t involve me suffering through several hours of VH1 and pop radio?” His question actually makes her pause. None of the pack beyond Steve, Dustin, and maybe Robin know the legwork that goes into his job. He doesn’t get an answer and watches Max fidget and worry her lip. Taking pity on her, he picks up the latest copy of Spin from the top of the pile and gestures to the space next to him. “Read through it, mark anything interesting with a sticky note.”

Max walks to the sofa and settles in next to Eddie. “Does Steve ever help you with this stuff?”

“He does. For all that I used to make fun of his music taste, it comes in handy when trying to curate a pop section. And even I have to admit some of it is just catchy.”

His confession has  Max  leaning forward, forgetting the magazine in her lap to gape at him. “Eddie Munson is admitting to liking a pop song! I knew you liked older pop music, like 1950s stuff, but what did Steve play that made you crack?”

“Atomic…”

“Blondie! Steve broke you with Blondie!” 

“Look I’m not proud, okay? But you come home to Steve Harrington belting it out in the kitchen as he cooks dinner and tell me you wouldn’t come to enjoy it.” Max tosses her head back cackling and spends the next few minutes ribbing Eddie until they’re nearly breathless with laughter. Once the giggles sputter to a stop, she decides she wants to vet the choices in the listening booth. 

When Eddie is done marking up a few magazines he steps out to find Carmen covering their mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. He’s about to ask what is so funny, when he sees Max leaning against the recommendation display, absolutely tearing into Jamie. 

“I dunno, I just like my songs to have an ending. A point even,” Max cracks holding up Phish’s Junta. “Like I get it, you need a soundtrack for your hackey sack marathon or your latest trip, but do better man.”

“Shouldn’t you do something about that?” Carmen whispers to Eddie, who suddenly remembers he’s the boss.

“Right, right.” Eddie walks over to the pair and puts his hand on Max’s shoulder. “Sorry about her. I’d like to say she inherited my know-it-all attitude about music, but she came like this. I just encouraged it. Max,” Eddie sighs, doing his best to sound stern, “go to my office and let my employees do their job. Jamie, I hope you had a good Christmas.”

“Thanks, Eddie, I did,” Jamie mumbles and looks like he’s about to ask more, but he catches Max’s glare behind Eddie. 

Eddie turns around and marches Max back to his office, closing the door behind him. “Look I’m not a fan of Phish as much as the next sensible person, but care to explain what that was?”

Max sinks back onto the sofa twisting her mouth as she debates what to say. “I might have promised Robin and Nancy I’d do them a favor.”

“And I’ve got an idea what that favor is. Can we please call that mission accomplished?”

“That depends, what are you offering?”

“You can curate the listening booth for the month of January. Way better deal than a rec spot all to yourself.” Eddie knows he shouldn’t be rewarding this kind of behavior, but he never claimed to be above pettiness.

***

Steve leans over the sink and watches as blood drips down into the basin. It's the third nosebleed he’s gotten in the past few weeks and that might be the final push he needs to get a humidifier. As if a ruined pillowcase wasn’t enough. Turning the tap he scoops water into his hand and roughly washes his face before shoving cotton into his bleeding nostril. That’ll have to do for now, he thinks and walks out of the bathroom and into Max. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles, his hand reaching up to make sure nothing dislodged itself. 

“And here I thought El was the only one with powers.”

“Ha, ha very funny. Just winter taking its toll. Nothing cooler.” Steve walks past her and into the kitchen to get their breakfast started. He puts on the coffee pot and gets out some latkes from the freezer to reheat them. Eddie might be sick of them but Steve’s been waking up every morning pleased to bite into the salty crispness. They just seem to hit all the right notes for him.

“Max what do you want to eat?” he yells into the apartment only to turn around and see Max standing behind him. 

“I’ll take eggs, no need to yell Mom.”

“And to think I missed any of you,” Steve mumbles as he pulls out bread and eggs from the fridge. “Dustin is coming back for New Year's Eve, by the way. He and Eddie organized some New Year's Day campaign, which is frankly shortsighted to me. Who wants to do all that math hungover?” Steve cracks the eggs into the pan and stands back away from the stove. Lately, the oddest smells are putting him off and he wonders if along with a humidifier, he should deep clean the fridge.

“Why are you standing like that?” Max bumps Steve from the stove and takes over, sending him off to make toast. 

“Eggs have been grossing me out this last week. I think all my poor food choices during finals are catching up with me. Can’t stomach coffee. Eggs, mustard, and a few nights ago the sensation of corn in my mouth made me ill. I think I’m starting to see why Karen Wheeler randomly did those juice cleanses.”

Steve turns to see Max’s eyes boring into him. “Hey Steve, when did you and Eddie get together?”

“May of ‘87, you know this.”

“No Steve, I mean when did you and Eddie bond?”

Steve doesn’t answer the question right away because he has to stop and process what Max is implying. It’s been about two months. Two months. Steve looks at the calendar on the fridge as if it would tell him anything other than today's date. Then he thinks of the calendar in his room that has his next heat penciled in for early February. His mind just repeats all that information over and over again until Max repeats her question. 

“Steve, when did you and Eddie bond?”

“Two months ago.”

The answer hangs silently in the air and Max turns off the burner. “Well, let’s eat and take a trip down the street.”

“No, no, I know what you’re thinking, and no. I’m on birth control and-”

“And if I remember the very awkward birds and the bees talk you and Eddie gave all of us more than a few times, birth control isn’t always effective.”

Steve doesn’t answer. He leans against the counter and tries to not let himself get too far into his head. A part of him knows that Max is right, and even a part of him wants her to be right. But there’s another part of him that is terrified that she is. 

*

“Can I come in now?” 

Steve is sitting on the floor, the offending stick resting on the counter. He has fifteen minutes to kill and doesn’t think he can make it through it alone. He reaches up and opens the door. 

Max walks in and sits beside him, not bothering with distance. He takes in her red converse and is thrown back to the bathroom of Starcourt Mall. He’s on the floor again having a heart-to-heart with Robin that would change his life for the better. He just hopes that whatever the test tells him will do the same.

“I don’t get why you’re so scared,” Max begins, breaking the silence. “Your whole goal has been to have a literal van full of children Steve, so what’s got you so freaked out?”

Steve gives her a watery laugh, unable to stop his emotions from bubbling up through his eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing Max. I don’t know how to take care of a baby. I don’t know if I’m really ready for my body to change. A part of me thought I’d have more time to figure it out. That I’d be done with school or have a job. That I wouldn’t tie him down so soon.” He didn’t intend for the last part to make it past his lips, but it’s out there now.

“Do you honestly think Eddie thinks that way?”

Steve shakes his head. The rational part of him doesn’t believe it, not one bit. The irrational part of his brain thinks that if that little stick has a plus sign Eddie is going to walk. That all their bedroom talk and teasing is just for foreplay and not something he actually wants. 

“As for knowing what you’re doing, you did fine with all of us,” Max admits softly. “If you need proof, I’m here right now, with you instead of my own mother.”

“Can I ask you something? And it’s not about why you’re here instead of Hawkins.” Max nods. “Did you mean what you put in your letter to me?” Steve doesn’t have to clarify what letter, Max has only ever given him one. He couldn’t bring himself to read it that summer, or even the next. No, Steve had finally opened the letter the night he and Eddie seriously talked about leaving Hawkins. He needed to make sure it was the right call, and the envelope buried at the bottom of his desk seemed like it might give him the answer. 

When Steve tore it open, he wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of him thought the page might be blank and that Max just feigned writing to get all the guys off her back. He also thought that if anything was written it would just be her telling Steve off for worrying, that she wasn’t his responsibility. But it didn’t say any of that. 

The letter was surprisingly void of Max’s biting sarcasm. Over two years removed from that afternoon, and Steve can still read the fear she wouldn’t show them between the lines. She admits to him that she didn’t like him at first. She writes that when she listened to Dustin and Lucas talk about him that he had too many similarities to Billy to possibly be a good person. But all that changed the first time he took a punch for her. ‘I was just some punk kid with an attitude and you still put yourself on the line, and for some reason, you’re still doing it.’ And for that she thanked him. Thanked him for not trying to replace Billy, but for being something better than a big brother for her. When his eyes got to the bottom of the letter and he saw it signed ‘Love, Max,’ he knew. He knew he’d be alright leaving because the kids would be alright too.

“I meant it then. I still mean it now. You and Eddie...you two never tried to fix what was broken with any of us. You two just worked with it and waited until we asked for help. Which is why I can’t understand you being so nervous about that stick up there because that kid is going to get what we all wish we had.”

“And what’s that?” he wonders, meeting Max’s eyes for the first time since she stepped into the bathroom.

“Steve Harrington as their actual mom.”

Steve wipes his eyes and opens his arm towards Max who leans in to complete the hug without comment. She lets herself be held until the alarm on Steve’s watch goes off telling them the test is done. Before he can hesitate, Max leans forward and pulls the stick off the counter.

“What does it say?”

Max just smiles and turns the test around to show Steve the little red plus sign.

[libraryofloveletters]

Crazy In Love

Eddie Diaz x Reader 

Warnings: mentions of injuries, Eddie can’t do math or cook for shit, friends to lovers :))) 

Category: Fluff

Word Count: 2.1k

Author’s Note: takes place after Stuck (2x04) when abuela breaks her hip. Also, this was supposed to be for 911 readers week but I didn’t finish it in time sooooo just take it now instead :) 

-----

The phone rang, your arm stretched over the pile of dishes on the counter. “Hello ?” you answered, putting it on speaker and setting it back down.

Eddie’s voice rang through the speaker, echoing through the empty apartment. “Hey, can you do me a huge favour ?”

“If you're gonna ask me to bake a cake, I have literally no time, honey. I’m really sorry but I need to finish this order-” Eddie sounds like he cut himself off before saying something as you explain that you’re busy.

“Eds? Are you there ?”

“Yeah- yeah, I'm here.”

“What’s up?”

“You’re busy, I don’t want to bother you.”

You can’t help but roll your eyes because no matter how busy you are, you always made time for Eddie. He sighs heavily, so much so that you can hear him thinking.

“Eddie, what is it ?”

“Can you pick Chris up from school ? I know you’re busy but if you can’t, that’s ok-” “of course I can pick him up!”

The sound of a breath being released before a feminine voice called out for him. “I gotta go, Abuela needs me but he’s off at 3. Thank you, y/n - really.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Eddie.”

He mumbles something before hanging up. You glance at the phone screen - 2:24. You had enough time to change and shove the dishes in the dishwasher before having to head out so you did just that.

You had picked up Christopher from school a million times. His teachers knew you well enough that Eddie no longer had to call and let them know he wouldn't be picking up Chris but that you would be.

Standing outside of the school, the PTA parents were gossiping within their little bubbles, talking about the other members behind their backs but smiling in their faces. You bit back a smile before walking towards the gate. The students were lined up by the door, waiting for the bell to ring.

The moment it does, the students come running out with their teacher a few feet behind them in an attempt to keep up with them. One by one, their teacher lets them out, Christopher finally spotting you and this teacher waves hello as they open the gate for him.

“Y/n! What are you doing here!?” his little face lights up with a smile.

“Your dad asked me to come get you, he's with abuela.”

The two of you start making your way back to the car when Christopher asks you what his plans for the afternoon were. Soon you realized that Eddie didn’t give you any explanation as to where to go or what to do after you picked up Chris.

“How does ice cream and then abuela’s sound ?”

“Can we take some for her and dad too?” Chris asks as you help him into the car.

“Of course we can.”

----

Christopher was lugging his backpack over his shoulder when you knocked on the door, two containers of ice cream in hand. Eddie opens the door, grinning at his son whose face matches his father’s.

“Hey kiddo” Eddie kneels, wrapping the boy in his arms. Christopher’s arms extend around his father, “hi dad, we bought ice cream” he points out the obvious.

Eddie glances up at you, the ice cream tucked under your arm - he flashes you a smile.

“Oh yeah?” he lets go of Chris. “Did you have any?”

“No,” he shakes his head, his hair flopping around as he snickers. Eddie pushes the hair from Christopher’s forehead. “So what’s this on your face?” swiping his finger on Chris’s chin, a little smudge of brown on his finger from the leftover ice cream.

“Paint.” Chris smiles at his father sweetly.

“Uh huh, paint.” he chuckles, stepping aside for Chris to come further into the house.

“Thanks for picking him up,” he leans on the door frame, stretching and his arms lift above his head as he does. You can’t help but glance down at the area of exposed skin - eyes glued to the man in front of you.

“Y/n?” Eddie’s waving his hands in front of you, eyes raising from their previous spot to his face - the blush was creeping up on your face whilst that stupid smug smile of his was on his.

“Would you like to come in?”

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude.”

“You won’t be.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Stepping in, you take in the house. You had been by Isabel’s once or twice before but you had never come inside the house. The walls were painted a warm yellow colour, the furniture was spotless as was the rest of the house. Isabel sat on the couch with Chris beside her as he told her about his day at school.

“Chris, did you wash your hands?” Eddie calls, the door shutting. Chris doesn't answer which is an answer in itself. “Go now, please.” Eddie’s voice sounds closer, glancing behind you to see him beside you.

Chris grumbles but gets up, Isabel turns her attention to you and Eddie. “How are you feeling ?”

“As well as someone can with a broken hip” she gives you a smile.

“I’m glad you’re okay, you gave Eddie a scare” giving him a playful shove. “We got ice cream, vanilla and toffee. Chris said toffee was your favourite” handing her the small container. “It is, thank you. That’s so sweet of you.” she smiles, pulling the top off.

“No need to thank me, it was Christopher’s idea.”

“Ah, well I'll thank him when he comes back out.” she says smiling, “Eddie, a spoon please ?” she glances at the man beside you. He hums, stepping away for a moment to get her a spoon.

Chris comes running back in after washing his hands. “Dad! Can we stay over? Abuela said it was okay” he’s beside his father now, looking up at him with his big brown eyes that were practically begging him to let him.

You, Eddie and Isabel all knew that Christopher had his father wrapped around his finger and would ultimately get his way but Eddie had to give him a fatherly response and say no, they should go home. Isabel doesn't usually butt in but this time she did.

“Mijo, stay. I could use the company.” She says, patting the spot beside her and Chris makes his way over to sit beside her.

Eddie sighs, if he had a soft spot, it was for the two people on the couch. “Fine, just tonight then.”

Isabel smiles, satisfied with his answer. “y/n, stay for dinner darling. Eddie’s cooking” “Yea- who said I was cooking?” Eddie butts in, shocked at the assumption. “I did, mijo. Don’t worry, I'll tell you what to do.”

“Buddy, why don’t you finish up your homework so you can relax for the rest of the night ?” Eddie calls out to Chris, who again groans. He loved school but despised homework - as did most kids.

“I have math, I need help so I can’t do it because you’re busy.” Chris says plainly, thinking his statement will get him out of his math work because Eddie can’t do math for shit.

“I can help.”

“Y/n, you don't have to-” “no, it’s fine. C’mon kiddo” Chris grumbles, making his way to the dining room table, the two of you taking a seat when Eddie helps Isabel up and to the kitchen.

You can hear them talking and her telling Eddie to cut things a certain way or not to put too much of something into the pot. It only took 20 minutes for Christopher to finish his math homework, he brought it into the kitchen to show his dad.

“Look! I’m done! Math’s easy when you understand it.” that last bit was a little dig at Eddie and his math skills. You ruffled Chris’s hair as he walked back into the living room.

“Did he just-” Eddie watches his son make his way to the couch.

You hold back a laugh,“Mhm hm” Eddie shakes his head, chuckling. “Here, taste this.” he picks up some sauce from the pot, holding the spoon over his hand before handing it to Isabel.

Her face twists when she tastes it, “Eddie, I love you honey, but that’s terrible.” you press your lips together, holding back a chuckle.

“What?” he pouts, sighing. “I swear it tasted fine ten minutes ago.” sitting beside Isabel in defeat.

You pick up another spoon and taste some for yourself, your expression matching Isabel’s from moments ago. Eddie had remembered to put everything in, except the paprika and the salt, you add a bit of both and stir the pot. Taking the spoon from Eddie, you pick up a bit of the sauce and hand it back to Isabel.

“Ah, that’s better.” she hums, making you smile as she hands you back the spoon. Eddie sighs, letting you know that he was still there.

"Why don’t you go see if Christopher wants to watch something or if he wants a snack ?” his grandmother nudged him, a signal for him to leave the kitchen. “y/n can take over for you”

“Abuela, you can’t invite them in and have them work for their dinner.” he says, making her laugh.

“It’s okay Eds,” waving him off. “I don’t mind, really.”

Eddie left the kitchen and made his way over to the couch, listening as Chris told him about his day. He glanced back to see if everything was alright but he noticed that the two of you were laughing as you told Isabel something. Eddie would be lying if his heart didn’t skip a beat.

He stopped seeking his parents’ approval of who he dated- for a matter of fact, it went out the window when he brought Shannon home the first time but seeing you with an abuela made him so warm and happy, he couldn't help but smile.

---

Eddie’s hand slipped onto your hip, his chest against your back. “Can I help you, Eddie?” you mumble, your eyes on the dishes in front of you.

He hums, hands coming around and arms now wrapped around your waist. Eddie felt your wet hands pull his hands off of you, “Isabel and Chris are in the other room, stop it”

His head tilted, that innocent look on his face, “stop what?”

“Eddie,” turning to face him, “shh I don’t want to hear it” he cuts you off, hands back on your waist.

“I don’t think I've ever loved someone the way I love you.” His words come off so sweet and loving but hit you like a ton of bricks.

You loved Eddie, more than anything but you had never actually told him nor did you ever feel the need too. It was always implied that as friends, you loved and cared about each other.

Eddie always knew he loved you, there was never any question about that but something about you, seeing you with an abuela and how great you were with Christopher (as you always were) just pushed him over the edge.

He had to tell you.

“Y/n, you know I love you- and before you say anything, I know I’ve never actually said it to you but I didn’t feel like I had too, you knew I did.”

“I know.”

“Yeah.”

You were still gathering your thoughts, trying to come up with the words to tell him you loved him too but Eddie’s expression changed. His brows furrowed, eyes studying your face - the worry had set in.

What if you didn’t feel the same way ? God, he’d feel so stupid if he embarrassed himself like that.

The years of friendship were enough for you to realize how he was feeling. You were lacking words and you know what they say, actions speak louder than words.

Your hands reach for his face, now cupping his cheeks. Your lips meet his, he pulls you closer to him- if that's even possible. It was a few moments before you pulled away.

Eddie smiles lovingly at you and you’re sure you have the same expression plastered on your face. “Um- I think that says it.” you hum, smiling at him.

“Doesn't mean you can't say it,” he pokes fun at you, making you roll your eyes playfully.

“Eddie?”

“Y/n,”

“I love you.”

---- 

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