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angel-of-the-moons · 6 months

Text

Chocolate and Cream

Eddie x Venom x Curvy!Fem!Reader

TW/CW: NSFW, SMUT, inappropriate use of chocolate, Venom's tongue should be a warning on its own, oral (Fem Receiving), piv sex, creampie, protected sex (personal headcanon that Venom can make it so the baby batter don't bake ;)), Venom is a great source of birth control, a bit of fluff, food play(?), Eddie and Venom love you so much, spme anal, squirting, Eddie and Venom definitely bang too tho IMO (PSA: PLEASE DO NOT PUT CHOCOLATE ON YOUR KITTY LADIES THAT'S HOW YOU YOU GET INFECTIONS)

MINORS DNI I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT YOU CONSUME

A/N: Woo! My first Eddie/Venom fic! (Technically) This is based off a private fic an old friend of mine requested that I wrote years ago, adjusted more for a curvy reader, part of some of my self-indulgent fics regarding us gals on a thicker scale :)

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You took one last look in the mirror, proudly nodding your head at your handiwork. It was a pain in the ass, for sure to get done, but with the help from some people in an anonymous kink forum, they were able to help you get this surprise for your lovely boyfriends.

You see, one of your boyfriends had this "thing" for chocolate. He needed to consume an insane amount of it or he'd have to resort to... other methods of gaining a certain chemical to sustain himself...

And of course, that's how this lovely idea came to be. Edible panties were soooooo boring!

Your body covered in chocolate-based body paint however...

You had painstakingly painted cute little hearts over your body, with some artistic swirls for extra flair. You kept your apartment freezing to avoid your body heat melting it too much, or while you painted around your nipples, the rolls of your belly, and of course somewhere far more intimate...

Then came the waiting game. You didn't know when they'd be home from running their "night errands". You knew full well what that meant, and you didn't really focus too much on that fact. It helped you sleep easier at night

You should have thought this through, though. If you sat down on your couch, the chocolate would stain it. You could sit on one of your dining chairs, but the surface was far too cold for your poor bare ass to handle right now.

Shit. Well, you could always--

You jumped back with a shriek, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and held it out, obscuring the view of your body from the hulking dark mass that squeezed through your apartment's window.

You relaxed slightly, your breath escaping you in a sigh.

"Venom!" You scolded. "You gave me a heart attack! Why can't you and Eddie use the front door?"

The large creature grinned, revealing jagged fangs that sent shivers of excitement up your spine. Or maybe you were just cold.

"It is faster, this way." Venom replied.

He tilted his head at you, and how peculiarly you were holding the blanket, concealing yourself from him. Then... He tipped his head back, sniffing the air.

"We smell chocolate." He growled, his voice excited as he tilted his head at you. "Are you baking, sweet thing?"

You suddenly felt very small, very awkward. Like a bunny caught in the trap about to be devoured by a hungry wolf. You'd be lying if you didn't feel a little turned on.

You also felt very stupid. God, this was so silly. Why did you...

Venom began to stalk closer, having to lean down to avoid hitting his head on your low ceiling.

"What are you hiding, sweet thing?" His voice rumbled lowly.

"Uhm..." You peep, squirming backwards, awkwardly looking around for a way out of this stupid situation you got yourself into.

"What." Venom said, each word punctuated by a step. "Are. You. Hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" You lie.

"Really?" He purrs, his tongue laving out to taste at the air. "Because it smells like you're hiding something delicious from us."

"I..." You take a step back further, only to bump into the wall, squealing when your bare back makes contact with the cold drywall.

And in a blink of your eyes, Venom was there, his large, opalescent eyes narrowing at you, his maw curling into a lascivious grin.

Yeah. He was definitely salivating.

"What are you hiding behind the blanket, sweet thing?" He purred once more, his massive paws gripping the plush knit quilt.

"Uh--"

"Last chance."

"It's... Uh...." You flounder for an excuse.

In the span of a few seconds, the blanket is ripped away and you squeak, your arms locking and Venom's eyes get big and his head rocks back as he looks down at you.

(Holy shit.) Eddie's voice breathed from inside his head.

Venom's grin spreads even wider as he tilts his head slowly in the other direction. "I knew you were hiding something delicious."

"I just... I wanted to, uh..."

Venom pressed his mouth to your throat, and you could feel his heavy, wet breaths as he inhaled your scent, his large hands gripping the upper parts of your arms as he held you there, against the wall, just breathing.

It felt like forever you were standing there, the feeling of him just... breathing on you was enough to get you hot and bothered.

"You smell delicious." He grumbled against your throat, opening his mouth to let his tongue slide out.

The moment it wrapped around your throat was electric. It sent a throb of arousal straight through to your core.

You let out a watery sigh, your breaths leaving you in trembled gasps as his tongue slides lower, through the chocolate on your sternum, and wrapping around your pebbled nipple, the chocolate melting and smearing under his hot breath and saliva.

"Did you do this for us, sweet thing?" Venom asked as he pulled away, looking down at you. "You wanted to surprise us? Hmm?"

"I... I got the idea online, and..." You said, somehow finding it within yourself to still be embarrassed.

"It is a tasty surprise." He said lowly, curving a taloned finger along your cheek. He leaned in and placed a small, unusually chaste kiss to your cheek.

"But you definitely taste better." He whispered into your ear.

You couldn't suppress the little noise that comes from your throat.

"Let us clean you, sweet thing."

Fuck, why did his voice have to have that bone-vibrating frequency? Why the fuck did it have to be so sexy?! Him and Eddie both! Especially Eddie's morning voice! Ugh! It wasn't fair how easy they could just render you stupid.

Venom got on his knees in front of you and brought his mouth to your chest, swiping his hefty tongue through the chocolate, a low rumbling emitting from him the whole time, sending those wonderful tremors through your very bones as he took his time cleaning you, licking up every drop of chocolate from your body, moving lower and lower...

Fuck, you'd swear Venom's purring would be a great substitute for a vibrator. Not that you ever needed one. The moment Venom could pick up on your scent and told Eddie, they were all over you. It was especially bad when you were about to start your cycle. Venom would go feral and pounce on you the moment he picked up on your hormones.

Your train of thought derailed somewhere around the thought of that one time Eddie woke you up with his hand between your legs and crashed into the station of Venom's tongue plunging through your now-soaked folds.

"We were right. You do taste better." Venom purred right into your cunt, making you gasp and cry out. "Though the chocolate compliments your taste well."

"Fuck!" You cry as he hoists your legs over his shoulders, pushing you up the wall with how forcefully he was thrusting his tongue inside of you; his massive arms caging you in and his hands groping and squeezing at your breasts as he voraciously ate you out.

You felt his tongue press against that wonderfully world-spinning spot inside your spongy walls, drawing out and drinking down more and more of your slick as he snarled into your puffy folds.

Your nails clawed at his arms, doing no damage to his odd "skin", and if anything it was encouraging him to go further.

You felt the tip of his tongue press on your cervix before rolling back around and curling, the pink muscle writhing and wriggling inside of you like it was fighting desperately to become a part of you.

You had half a thought to let Venom bond with you for a little while and do something like this with Eddie...

You practically sobbed when Venom brought one of his hands down, squeezing the plush rolls on your belly, kneading them lovingly before pressing down beneath your belly button, where he could feel his tongue bulge and roil inside of you.

The orgasm that you were starting to feel build exploded, going off before you had a chance to prep, your eyes rolled back and you arched your spine, your mouth opening in a silent cry, your body unable to find its voice as everything came crashing down onto you; his tongue eagerly lapping up each drop, every bit of your sweet cream.

The moment his tongue slid out of you, you felt empty, bereft of his contact. You whined when he pulled away, and he kissed your neck, licking the skin again.

"Don't worry, sweet thing. Eddie just wants his turn with you, now." He snarled, easing you down onto the floor, his hands caressing your legs gently as he stood.

As his head reached height with yours, his scary, alien visage peeled and melted away, revealing Eddie's gorgeous eyes, full lips, and patchy stubble.

"Hey, baby." He chuckled, giving you a kiss as he pulled you against him.

"Hey..." You said, your voice weak and shaky.

"Nice surprise, by the way." Eddie smirked at you, his hands going down to grope and squeeze at your plush ass, his thumbs tracing every dimple. "Vee loved it."

"I could tell." You smile up at him.

"So... Let's move the after party to someplace more comfortable, huh?"

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God it always surprised you. It didn't matter which one of them fucked you, but somehow they always did it in a way that made you feel like they were trying to bully their way into your guts with their cock.

You whimpered as Eddie hugged your legs against his chest, snapping his hips up into you with so much vigor that he kept rocking you up the couch cushions. Hell, one of the cushions was a few thrusts from being pushed off the couch entirely.

"Fuck you're so fucking tight." Eddie groaned, looking down at you as every soft part of your jiggled and bounced with the force of his thrusts. He loved how you looked when you were utterly fucked out. Venom did, too. Venom's favorite "hobby" that Eddie teased him for, was how he loved to grab you and squish you in his hands, and move you up and down on his cock like a sweet, soft little toy.

Of course, you enjoyed it, too.

Eddie moved your legs so they were on either side of him now as he leaned down and kissed you hard, his plush lips and tongue greedily dancing with yours, your soft hands sliding up his back, feeling the droplets of sweat roll off of him.

Eddie had hips, and he certainly knew how to use him. The way he arched his back and gyrated them, you were tempted to joke and say he should start pole dancing. Maybe you'd bring it up with him when he wasn't currently stuffing you nine different kinds of full with his fat cock.

The tickling of the short hairs at the base made contact with your clit at every thrust, sending little flames of pleasure licking up your spine.

"Eddie..." You moaned, gripping hard at his shoulders and squirming your hips against his.

He gritted his teeth and groaned, dropping his head into the crook of your neck. "Fuck, baby." Eddie hissed, "You gettin' close?"

"Mhmm--" You say, nodding with a weak mewl.

You feel him grin against your throat and he sucked on your skin, leaving a nice, dark present on your skin. He pulled away, soothing the sting with his tongue.

"Oh-kay--" He grunted, leaning back as he slowed his thrusts almost torturously slow.

The black mass that is Venom slinked around Eddie's torso, thick tendrils moving out and gripping beneath your knees, gently forcing them as comfortably close to your head as possible, your cunt fluttering gorgeously around Eddie's cock so well that you felt Venom shudder.

Eddie stopped moving for a second that felt like hours, before he leaned over, one hand on the back of the couch and the other gripping the arm of it behind your head before sending on hard, brutal thrust down.

The moment he did that, you shrieked so loud you were sure your downstairs neighbors could hear you--hell, maybe the people down in the street heard how well Eddie was fucking you (with Venom's help, of course).

The sinful sound of his cock sliding in and out of your hole, your slick-coated skin slapping against each other was deafeningly loud to your ears as he fucked you with his newfound leverage over you, hitting your g-spot at just the right angle it had your brain going almost numb from the pleasure.

When you cum, you cum hard. You soak Eddie's stomach and your thighs as your pussy clamps down on him. You got so tight that Eddie's pace stuttered and almost stopped, a gravelly whine crawling out of his throat.

"God... Fuuuuuck, baby..." He panted hard, grinding his hips down into yours, bringing his knee up and pressing one of your thighs tighter to your body.

"E-Eddie--" You mewl.

"Just--Just a bit more, baby, I promise." Eddie hissed, his eyes closing in pure bliss as he fucks the absolute heaven that is your sweet little cunt.

"God--damn!" Eddie practically squeaked.

You see Venom's head materialize over his shoulder and he grinned down at you through your glazed-over eyes.

Oh god. That was a favorite trick Venom liked to pull. Whenever Eddie was close to coming, sometimes Venom liked to force a tendril up his ass, squirming and tickling his prostate.

"Vee, you little shit--!" Eddie moaned.

"Keep fucking her, Eddie." Venom purred, his tongue sliding around Eddie's throat.

"Gonna beat your fucking--" He hiccuped, his hips stuttering and jolting into yours. "--beat your ass for this..."

"You say that every time. NOW KEEP FUCKING HER." Venom snapped, forcing the tendril deeper into Eddie's ass, this time pressing with more force on his prostate, eliciting a broken moan from him as he slapped his hips harshly into yours, your sweet cunt leaving a nice creamy ring around the base of his cock.

"Fuck, baby..." You whine, feeling tears burn in your eyes as your second orgasm starts to build.

Venom can sense it, and you were fucked the moment his head snapped to look at you.

Completely, utterly fucked.

A smaller tendril splits off from the ones still pinning your legs up, and latches onto your clit, pulling and tugging and rolling in a way that has the air knocked out of your lungs.

"Oh shhhii-iIiIII-iit..." You sob, clawing desperately at Eddie's shoulders, feeling Venom's tongue wrap around one of your wrists, eagerly lapping at your skin as if he could taste your nectar from that alone.

You and Eddie cum almost simultaneously, your orgasms slamming you like a runaway freight train.

You once again soak Eddie's stomach and crotch, your spray and cum dripping down to soak the couch cushions as Eddie's hot seed floods your soft, now-pliant walls, groaning as Venom presses inside of him, making his hips jerk until he's fucked every last drop into you.

Venom finally releases the two of you and Eddie collapsed, Eddie laying across your plush body, your rolls, and cute squishy fat being the perfect pillows for him. (Your breasts too, as he buried his face in them.)

The two of you breathe hard, your sweat mingling between your bodies as you cool off, shivers causing goosebumps to rise up and down Eddie's back as his heart slowed, the heavy echoes still pattering against yours.

"Eddie?" You breathe.

"Yeah." He grunted, voice muffled by your breasts.

"I think we're going to need to steam clean the couch."

Eddie and Venom both broke out laughing.

And here you were, worried about chocolate staining your couch. Turns out it was the cream that was the problem.

#eddie x venom x reader #eddie x venom #eddie x reader #eddie brock x venom x reader #eddie brock x you #eddie brock x reader #eddie brock x venom #venom x you #venom x reader #venom x eddie

945 notes · View notes

afewproblems · 11 months

Note

50. "I need you to forgive me."

You know why...

But please!!!

I know this took forever so I hope you will forgive me! (Also when I originally received this ask I had just posted part one and mentioned in the tags that prompt 50 could be a good 'fix-it' prompt for a follow up, and well, here we are! Also when I received it, I laughed for a solid minute, like evil laughed so thank you @happymediummm )

Part Three of Prompt 53. 'I'm flirting with you!'

Part One, Part Two

It's on Friday that the cavalry arrives.

Dustin bangs on Eddie's bedroom door, with a mace by the sounds of it.

He's about to snark that Dustin doesn't play a class that uses martial weapons when he hears the kid yell--

"Eddie! You have five seconds before I come in there and get you myself, I got your uncle's permission and everything!"

Eddie groans and detaches himself from the bed flipping the pillow he had been wallowing in away from himself.

He stomps towards the door and flings it open, leveling an unimpressed glare at Dustin who barrels past him into the bedroom.

Dustin crosses to the desk, his head on a swivel as he looks around the small space, Eddie scoffs as he steps towards Dustin, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing Henderson?" Eddie spits out as Dustin shrugs his hand off, he seems to spy what he's looking for as he crows a single, 'Aha,' and makes his way to the dresser.

"Seriously, Dustin, what are you doing here?"

"Saving you from yourself dude," Dustin scoffs as he takes a tape out of his pants pocket, the familiar writing on the label makes Eddie's stomach fall into his feet.

It's Steve's tape.

"No, nope, absolutely not," Eddie snaps.

He reaches for the cassette in Dustin's hand, only for the little shit to spin away from him and toss the tape from his right to his left hand in a move that seems so much like the teen's babysitter that Eddie wants to scream.

Dustin manages to pop the tape into the player and hit play before Eddie can get close again.

A few notes of a bass guitar reach Eddie's ear and his hands drop from Dustin's shoulders as he perks up…he knows this song.

"What the fuck Henderson?" He breathes out with wide eyes that flick back and forth between him and the cassette player.

'Oh yeah!

Some people say my love cannot be true

Please believe me, my love, and i'll show you

I will give you those things you thought unreal

The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal--'

"You are being an idiot," Dustin says matter of factly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he frowns at Eddie, "I don't exactly know what you said, but I think I got the gist out of Steve earlier today when Robin wasn't acting like a guard dog".

His dark blue eyes scan Eddie as he shakes his head, "you thought it was a joke, do you know Steve?"

Eddie rolls his eyes before crossing to the cassette player and slapping the stop button. All at once the sounds of Black Sabbath halt, leaving the room in tense silence.

"Look," Eddie snarls, "I've known people like Steve over the years, it's all the same bullshit--"

"Stop it!" Dustin snaps, he steps closer to Eddie and jabs a finger into his chest, "you don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

Dustin's cheeks are flushed with anger as he shakes his head again, "he's nothing like that Eddie, you're being an asshole!"

"What is all the yellin' about?" Wayne's voice trickles through the door, a hint of concern running through it as he leans against the frame, eyeing both Eddie and Dustin warily.

"When I gave you permission to barge in here I don't remember agreeing to participate in a screamin' match son,” Wayne says, biting back a smile at the indignant expression on Dustin's face.

"Sorry Mr. Munson, but Eddie's being an idiot!" Dustin crosses his arms once more as he looks from Eddie to Wayne challengingly.

"That so?" Wayne laughs, "care to argue the charge," he directs at Eddie who rolls his eyes.

"It's nothing Wayne, Dustin is leaving now--"

"Steve made that tape for you," Dustin yells, pointing at the cassette player, "and you threw it in his face!"

"That true Ed?"

"It was a stupid joke," Eddie growls as Dustin throws his hands up in the air, "it doesn't mean anything".

Wayne looks at Eddie for a long moment, his face unreadable.

"Steve Harrington?" He asks softly.

Dustin nods nervously at Wayne before shooting another glare at Eddie.

"The one that came by your hospital room every day till you woke up Ed? The one they couldn't get to leave on the day you opened your eyes, that Steve Harrington?"

"So?" Eddie huffs, wrapping his own arms around his chest tightly, incredibly aware of the two pairs of eyes trained on him.

"Wayne, you told me I had to be careful of who I opened myself up to, I'm just following your advice!"

Wayne sighs, lifting his hand to pinch into his eyes.

"You'd be lucky to have a friend like Steve," Dustin grumbles as he moves to the bed to sit down. He pulls up his legs up to his chest and glares at the back of Eddie's head.

"Kid, I think Ed and I need to have a conversation, alone," Wayne says quietly to Dustin.

Eddie watches in fascination as Dustin opens his mouth to argue, but after whatever silent conversation takes place between the teen and his uncle, Dustin merely huffs and slips off the bed.

"Listen to the damn tape and get your head out of your ass," Dustin bites out as he passes Eddie, he levels one last impressive glare at the metal-head before leaving the room.

Wayne sighs as he makes his way over to the bed to sit, taking over Dustin's vacated spot.

"So, Harrington, huh?"

Eddie scowls and says nothing, leaning against the dresser. He winces as the sudden weight of his shoulder jostles everything, causing his loose D&D dice to fall off the edge and plink and plunk across the floor of his room.

The D4 will be a bitch to accidentally find with his feet later on, but Eddie ignores the mess and continues brooding against the dresser.

Wayne scratches his face, tapping an unsteady rhythm against his jean clad knee with his other hand, "okay," Wayne says gruffly from the bed as he shifts to stand.

"I don't know what ya did or said, but it was enough to make that kid beg his way in here," Wayne huffs, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the open door.

Eddie shrugs, refusing to lift his gaze from the floor. He hears Wayne sigh and the shift of fabric as he steps closer.

"You were so small," Wayne mutters suddenly.

Eddie looks up in confusion, but Wayne isn't looking at him, his eyes are trained just over Eddie's shoulder.

"When you came home that day, all black and blue," he shrugs and scratches his face again, "I didn't know how to help ya, and you wouldn't explain".

Eddie swallows roughly, horrified at the sudden brightness of his uncle's eyes. A man he has only seen cry twice since he's known him, the first time was at Eddie's mothers funeral, the other was the day Eddie woke up at the hospital all those months ago.

"I don't think I could stand it if anything happened to you Ed," Wayne breathes out wetly now as he roughly scrubs at his face, "and you being in the hospital, you were suddenly that small kid again, standing on my porch all black and blue".

Eddie feels his own eyes sting as his uncle turns slightly to wipe his face again, "What are you saying?"

"You weren't alone this time, Ed," Wayne says softly as he steps towards his nephew and grasps him gently by the shoulders, "you have so many more people looking out for you, hell --one of em' carried you home".

"I think a person like that deserves at least a chance to know you, and to see what I see".

It's Eddie's turn to swipe at his misty eyes, "What's that?" He asks with an unconvincing cough to hide the wobble in his voice.

Wayne smiles, giving Eddie's shoulders a soft squeeze, "a damn good kid with a big heart, who I hope knows how to apologize when it's needed".

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Then I'm wrong, and we'll get through it," Wayne tugs Eddie towards him without warning into a tight hug and reaches behind Eddie to press play on the cassette player; the sound of guitar and drums begin again as Ozzy's voice fills the room.

'Your love for me has just got to be real

Before you know the way I'm going to feel--'

"But for the record kid, I don't think I am".

***

Eddie listens to the tape.

He listens to it again and again, both sides. Steve filled both sides with music for him…

He lays on his bed while it plays, staring a hole into the ceiling as the last few piano notes ring out before the tape stops, filling the room with silence.

The songs don't all go with one another and out of a dozen there's about eight he knows. The other four seem to be a mixture of songs he's heard Steve play in the beemer with the kids, or while dancing in his kitchen with Robin.

it's not an expert mix by any means, but Steve did manage to collect a decent amount of metal songs just for Eddie and even a one he's never heard before --since when did Scorpions write love songs?

After hours alone in his room, sitting on his bed, listening to Steve's tape over and over again, there is one thing he can't deny.

Steve Harrington has feelings for him…had feelings for him, and Eddie ruined it.

He wants to take the version of himself that pushed Steve away and shake him.

Eddie winces as he pictures the devastated expression on Steve's face when he left. His normally bright hazel eyes and wide goofy grin were left pinched with hurt.

Eddie had done that, taken six months of tentative friendship, of lingering glances and soft teasing smiles -how had he missed those, and tossed this delicate thing away from himself like it was nothing.

He looks over at the glowing green hands of the clock by his bed. It’s nearly midnight; Dustin left a few hours ago now and Wayne is now at work.

Eddie breathes out a sigh through his nose as a sudden wave of determination flows through him.

He looks towards the far wall by the door, his Sweetheart hanging up on her hooks.

Dustin had apparently insisted on grabbing it, doubling back on a severely sprained ankle while Nancy tore a verbal strip off his back for wasting time as an unconscious Eddie slowly continued to bleed out in Steve's arms.

Eddie shivers, it had been so strange to consider everything that happened, or what he was told happened during the gap in his memory.

Steve had been the one to carry him out while Robin and Nancy helped compress the worst of his wounds with torn fabric and left over gauze from the patch job they had done for Steve.

He vaguely remembers a string of words, a whispered sentence that made no sense as Eddie drifted in and out of consciousness but now…

'You can't do this, come on Munson, open those stupid beautiful eyes of yours, who's going to yell at us about the corruption of youth in America huh? We need you man, I-I….'

Eddie had really been so fucking clueless.

He gets up from the bed and crosses to the wall, taking the guitar off the hooks.

At least now, he has a plan.

***

It was a shit plan.

Cutting down the road the kids had taken to calling Mirkwood and through the woods by Loch Nora seemed pretty sound in theory, giving Eddie the element of surprise and hiding him from any watchful neighborhood eyes.

What he had not taken into account, however, was the pitch darkness, the unfamiliar maze of trees he now found himself in, and how fucking heavy his portable amp was going to be.

Perfect.

Eddie stumbles over a fallen log, nearly careening into the mulch and rotting leaves of the forest floor. The half moon above him, not nearly enough to light his path through the thicket.

At least this version of the woods feels alive, Eddie thinks to himself; the smell of damp dirt and the sound of frogs and crickets singing in the darkness is infinitely more appealing than the strange forest they had found themselves in a mere six months prior. And with the gates finally sealed, the most dangerous thing he could come across would probably be a rattler or a coyote.

Eddie peers around at the thought, he's not quite sure he's entirely comfortable even running into those animals anytime soon…especially the snake.

Finally, after another ten minutes of walking, warm yellow light begins to sift through the trees ahead of him as he brushes away low branches from his field of vision.

Eddie hikes up the guitar strap higher up his shoulder and steps fully into the light that illuminates the Harrington backyard lawn and pool.

Eddie scans the back of the house, flipping the mental map of the Harrington home around to visualize which window was most likely to be for Steve's bedroom.

He steps further into the yard, setting down the heavy amp onto the concrete patio before leaning down to grab a handful of wood chips from the shrubs next to the house.

Here goes nothing.

Eddie tosses one of the pieces of wood at the window above him.

It barely connects with the windowsill before dropping back down onto the patio with a muted clack.

Oh this is humiliating.

He tries again and again to hit Steve's window with the wood chips in his hand, each one completely misses the target. One bounces into the eavestrough, another careens off the siding and back into the pool behind Eddie.

"Fuck this," Eddie growls, throwing the rest of the wood chips back into the shrubs as he snatches the cord for his amp and shoves the plug into the nearest outdoor outlet.

He turns the volume down slightly, the plan won't work if the cops get called on him immediately.

Eddie takes the guitar off his back and plucks a few notes, adjusting one of the tuning keys until the sound is just right.

"Here goes nothing, come on Stevie," Eddie whispers as he begins to play.

"I hear the ticking' of the clock, I'm lying here the room's pitch dark," he sings softly, strumming out the cords, it's slightly harsher than the piano but sue him, Eddie only managed to play it once through by ear at home before he left the house.

This was Steve's last track on the tape, and Eddie's sure he put it there for a reason.

He listened to the song again and again, slowly picking up the cords as he did so.

He could do this, he picked up Master of Puppets in just a few weeks, Eddie could handle Heart.

Eddie keeps going, his voice carries over the yard, growing in volume; so much so that he misses the patio door slowly slide open and the sound of a pair of feet padding onto the patio.

"What are you doing here?" Steve's voice calls out to Eddie from the door, he jumps, nearly dropping the guitar. His hand jolts on the strings as Eddie attempts to keep his hold on the instrument, letting the guitar scream for him.

Steve stares at him as Eddie unplugs the amp cord and swings the guitar around his back once more with shaking hands, his thoughts spinning, trying to figure out how to start.

"I listened to the tape," Eddie says softly, Steve cocks his head slightly to better hear him, his face shuttering as the words register.

Eddie's heart races as he watches Steve begin to turn towards the patio door once more, he needs to act fast.

"And I need you to forgive me," he blurts out, louder than he intends, but Steve does pause with his hands on the door handle.

"Why's that?" He says sharply, dropping his hand away from the door, turning to fully face Eddie once more.

Eddie chews his lip nervously as Steve's gaze hardens the longer they stand in silence, his arms come up to wrap around his chest tightly.

"I thought you were playing a prank," Eddie sighs, saying it aloud makes him want to deflate, to walk right into the pool and sink to the bottom.

If the look Steve gives him is any indication, Steve would be more than happy to watch him go.

"That's a lot of effort to put into a fucking prank Munson," Steve bites out, there is no heat to the words though. He just sounds tired, resigned.

Shit.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Eddie mumbles, he reaches up to scrub his hand over his face, missing the way Steve's face softens ever so slightly and his arms drop from the way they seem to be holding him together.

"But I'm not going to make excuses," Eddie takes a step closer to Steve, his heart threatening to break through his ribcage the closer he gets, "I'm sorry for how I reacted and for thinking you could do something like that".

"I know you aren't like that, you're honest, and kind," Eddie reaches out and takes the tape from his back pocket and gestures towards Steve with it, "and so fucking thoughtful it makes me ache to think I ruined everything".

He puts the tape back in his pocket, Steve’s eyes watch him curiously now as he does, it fills him with wary hope, enough to keep talking.

"So, I need you to forgive me Steve, because I hope you'll let me make it up to you sweetheart".

Steve's face tips down suddenly towards his socked feet and the cold concrete patio, making it impossible for Eddie to make out his expression. He holds his breath as the silence stretches between them.

"Robin was right, you can be such an asshole," Steve says quietly, Eddie's chest tightens painfully at the words.

Eddie nods once,doing everything in his power to keep his face neutral but the downward curl of his lip is unstoppable as he reaches down to pick up the amp.

"But," Steve says, taking a step away from the door behind him, "as someone who was an asshole for a long time," Steve says quietly, pressing the palm of his hand into his chest, "I think it would be pretty hypocritical to not let you make it up to me".

He's grinning now. It’s small, barely stretching across Steve's freckled face, but it's warm and just for Eddie.

"What did you have in mind, Sweetheart?"

Steve is quiet for a moment, his eyes dart over Eddie's face before he finally whispers, "can you finish the song Eds?"

"I think that can be arranged, " Eddie hums with a bright grin of his own.

He swings the guitar off his back again, quickly plugging it into the amp.

Eddie looks up to find Steve smiling softly at him as he takes a seat on one of the pool loungers. He pulls his legs up to rest his arms on his knees, basking in his own private concert.

As the first pink and orange rays of sunrise begin to bloom on the horizon behind him, slowly painting Steve's face gold, Eddie can't help the relief that flows through him.

He looks down at the shy grin Steve gives him, his hazel eyes bright in the new day's light, and thinks, 'holy shit, I almost missed this'.

"You don't know how long I have wanted, to touch your lips and hold you tight," he picks up where he left off, his voice mixing with the slow rhythm of the guitar, “you don't know how long I have waited, and I was going to tell you tonight--”

Eddie watches, surprised as Steve swiftly gets up from the lounger and walks towards him, his expression determined.

"I think that's my line," Steve whispers as he leans in to cup Eddie's face in his hands and kisses him.

Eddie short-circuits.

The kiss is chaste, short, not much more than the brief press of warm chapped lips against Eddie's own, but the way Steve lets his hands move from Eddie's face to his hair and neck, holding him in place. The way Steve steps into Eddie's space so all he can taste, smell, and feel is Steve.

It’s exhilarating.

Steve pulls back slightly before placing a second kiss on Eddie's lips, his eyes half lidded and a deep red flush staines his cheeks and ears a bright red. Steve looks much more debauched than necessary and Eddie suddenly wishes they weren't outside, that he could take Steve into the house and show him exactly how sorry he is.

"I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait, did you learn all of them or just that one?" Steve asks, his voice slightly breathy, he still hasn't let go of Eddie or stepped away.

"Just that one," Eddie repeats dumbly, feeling the urge to walk into the pool again as Steve laughs.

Oh Eddie loves that laugh.

“You sure,” Steve asks again, his eyes crinkle at the sides as he smiles widely, “I thought maybe you could show me some of the other songs you know, inside?”

Either he’s dreaming or Steve is a mind reader because holy shit.

Eddie nods, unable to even form the words as Steve reaches for the amp and gently takes it out of his hands. Steve transfers the amp to his right hand and takes Eddie’s now empty hand with his left as he leads him towards the patio door.

Eddie watches, transfixed, as Steve looks back to shoot him another warm smile as they step over the threshold of the back door, and the words his uncle said earlier in the evening come back to him as Steve leads him towards the living room.

‘I think a person like that deserves at least a chance to know you, and to see what I see’.

Eddie halts his movement, grabbing Steve’s hand firmly in his own, pulling him backwards until Steve turns, his eyebrows furrowed in wary confusion.

“Thank you, for giving me another chance,” Eddie says softly. He lets the hand holding Steve's own move to trail up and down his arm, eliciting a shiver from Steve.

“I mean, you gave me one, you came back right?” Steve says softly.

Eddie's heart twists at the words, he feels his face fall slightly at the thought that Steve could ever think he was somehow at fault for this, “I was an idiot, that wasn’t your fault at all sweetheart”.

Steve looks at him again, his eyes scanning Eddie’s own for what feels like ages, his expression unreadable.

“Co’mere,” he murmurs eventually, letting go of Eddie to sit on the couch. He pats the cushion beside him, with the same soft smile from earlier, “play some music for me”.

There’s more to unpack here, more to talk about, other apologies to whisper in this beautiful man's ear.

But for now, he swings his guitar in front of him and slowly walks over to Steve.

Steve asked for music, and who is Eddie not to oblige?

@ihavekidneys @superchellerific @zerokrox-blog @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @croatoan-like-its-hot @messrs-weasley @samcoxramblings @warlordess @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @lostonceandneverfound @shunna @fairytalesreality @estrellami-1 @rlpersephone3259 @zaphodkilledthespeedforce @newtstabber @grtwdsmwhr @uwujinniee @anica-d @imzadidragonfly @orangeandthefairroadkill @starman-jpg @nabatute @goodolefashionedloverboi @wheatnoodle @novacorpsrecruit @lolawonsstuff @redlegumes @paintsplatteredandimperfect @scheodingers-muppet @thephantomhood @0o-queendean-o0 @blackholegladiator @nerdfighteratheart @hallucinatedjosten

(I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, thank you very much for following along with this little story everyone!)

#this ask brought me so much joy #seriously you guys are the best #steddie #steve harrington #stranger things #eddie munson #steve x eddie #afewproblems writes #afewproblems answers #fixing misunderstandings #we made it sad and then made it better #oh eddie you oblivious sunfish #that boy thinks you hung the moon let him kiss you #Steve still needs some serious therapy for that self esteem #wayne munson gives expert advice and loves his nephew #dustin henderson takes no shit #I think I'll title this Essential Songs to Woo a Metal-Head on AO3

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ambrossart · 1 year

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Post Prom - Part II

⏪ part one

summary: after leaving prom, you and eddie go to the hideout to reminisce and listen to music. one thing leads to another, and you end up going back to his trailer.

pairing: eddie munson x dwm!reader word count: 7,167 warnings: language, new relationship, underage drinking, reminiscing about the past, pent-up feelings finally being expressed, very slightly NSFW, mostly just a lot of making out, plus a little dry humping, nothing too explicit, some suggestive language, talk of sex but no actual depictions of sex, eddie being adorable, eddie being romantic

This short story is the epilogue to Dancing with Myself. For proper context, I highly suggest you read that before reading this.

Eddie had to fiddle with the lock a few times before the front door would open.

While he jiggled his keys and cursed under his breath, you stood on the step below with your stomach all knotted up like macramé, watching the tiny moths flutter beneath the gleam of the porchlight. This wasn’t your first time standing here. You had been here before, almost six years ago, when you came and started banging on Eddie’s door at ten o’clock in the morning, yelling for him to get his stubborn ass outside. The memory made you giggle. You had been so nervous back then. Shit, you were nervous now… just a different kind, you supposed.

A soft creak drew your attention back to the front door. Eddie pulled it open with a triumphant smile and held it for you.

“Well,” he said, “this is it…”

And right before you went inside, you saw Eddie suck in a shallow breath. He was nervous, nervous about letting you see inside his house—his private, most intimate place—completely unprepared. You felt honored and grateful to know he trusted you that much.

Smiling, you brushed past him and walked through the front door. As soon as you did, you were overcome with this overwhelming and indescribable warmth that spread through your whole body. It felt less like you were entering Eddie’s house and more like you were entering his world. After years of standing outside it, only ever getting as close as the front porch, you had finally been allowed inside. It was hard not to get a little emotional about it.

“Sorry about the mess,” Eddie said, but honestly, you didn’t even notice it. Your feet moved on their own and carried you deeper inside, into the living room. There, you found a dark brown sofa chair sitting in the far right corner and a light brown loveseat resting against a draped window. A bit worn, both of them, but still in good shape. Pushed against the opposite wall was a small television, a writing desk with a built-in shelf, and a roll-out folding bed, where you imagined Eddie’s uncle resting after a long night’s work. It was a charming room, well-lit and cozy, full of all these random little knickknacks that you could have spent hours browsing through. There were hats hanging on the walls, dozens of them, and long wooden shelves lined with nothing but souvenir mugs, more than you could even begin to count.

“You know, your uncle could open a gift shop with all this stuff.”

Eddie was watching you from the front door, a faint smile on his face. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, he’s quite the collector.”

You nodded absentmindedly and proceeded into the kitchen, humming as you ran your hand along a small dining table set for two, with mismatched chairs.

Eddie gave you a bemused look and said, “What are you doing?”

“Just looking around,” you answered with a shrug. “Why? Do you not want me to?”

“Uhh, no,” Eddie said, a little taken aback. “Go crazy.”

So with his permission, you did. You fingered through some of the clutter on the counter, cracked open a few cabinets and drawers, snuck a little peek into the fridge—just a quick one to sate your curiosity, perfectly harmless. And as you did this, you imagined Eddie growing up here: making breakfast for himself before school, doing his homework at the counter, eating dinner with his uncle at the dining table. Did he use the upholstered chair or the simpler metal one leaning against the pantry? You couldn’t quite decide.

Then you moseyed down the hallway, looking at this and that. You pushed open the door, switched on the light to see into the bathroom… and stopped dead in your tracks when you reached the bedroom at the end of the hall.

Your stomach flipped twice, end over end. Yeah, you didn’t dare step foot in Eddie’s room. Instead, you spun around and went scurrying back the way you came, feeling much less adventurous than before.

As you shyly approached, Eddie said, “Well, did you enjoy your little tour?”

“I did,” you said while you played with the tip of your pinky. “Yeah, I really like your house.”

“Well, good,” Eddie said with a crooked, bashful smile. “I’m glad you like it.”

And then you both fell silent, listening to the low hum of a lightbulb that wasn’t quite screwed on tight enough. You stood with your back pressed against a metal storage rack. Across from you, Eddie was still by the front door, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. He had his left hand on the backrest of one of the dining chairs, and his nails kept scratching against the upholstery as he slowly curled and uncurled his fingers. His silver-plated rings winked at you every time they caught the light. After a while, it was starting to drive you crazy.

Those damn rings, you thought, they’re gonna be the death of me, I swear.

Eddie’s voice made you jump.

“I’m gonna grab a beer,” he said. “Do you, uh, want one?”

“Sure,” you said.

After all, a little liquid courage couldn’t hurt, could it?

Eddie grabbed two cans of beer from the fridge, opened one, and handed it to you. “Thanks,” you said, and then he went into the living room and made himself comfortable on the sofa.

No, on the loveseat.

Eddie threw his feet up on the coffee table, cracked open his beer and took a few slow sips. Upon lowering his drink, he turned to you and made a beckoning motion with just the tip of his finger.

This one simple gesture set your nerves on fire! You made it only a few steps into the living room before you backpedaled into the counter and huddled against it like a coward. It dawned on you now, actually now, that you and Eddie were finally, truly, alone. Yeah, this wasn’t two kids whispering downstairs in a basement or two high school students flirting in a public restroom on prom night. This was you and Eddie.

Together.

Alone.

Oh fuck, you thought as a shiver ran up your spine. You brought the aluminum can to your lips and took the biggest gulp of your life.

Now Eddie was getting up and walking toward you. He sank down beside you with his beer in his hand and said in a hushed voice, “Why are you hiding?”

“Why are you whispering?” you said, and Eddie’s face scrunched up adorably, like he didn’t have a clue.

“I dunno,” he answered in his normal voice. Then he took a long, long drink and wiped his wet lips with the knuckle of his thumb. “Seriously, though, why are you hiding from me?”

You opened your mouth, closed it, and turned away. “You make me really nervous.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Really? Well, that’s… interesting.”

You looked over your shoulder and saw his lips curl into a proud grin.

“Oh, don’t get all smug now!” you said, giving him a little shove.

“I’m not, I’m not. It’s just…” His face softened with a gentle smile. “It’s a good feeling, knowing I make you nervous.”

Eddie’s words made you blush. You set your beer aside and burrowed deep into Wayne’s jacket. “I’m not used to you being like this.”

“Like what?”

“All… confident and flirty. I dunno, I guess I’m just used to you running away from me all the time.”

Eddie’s brow furrowed. “I never ran away from you.”

“Really?” you said with a teasing smirk. “‘Cause I can think of at least four separate occasions where you saw me and immediately took off in the opposite direction.”

“Well, that’s… because I was scared of you.”

You bent your head and started to giggle. Eddie watched you out of the corner of his eye, struggling to hold in a laugh of his own.

“You finally admit it.”

“I finally admit it…”

Eddie put down his beer and smiled at you. Then his eyes took on a strange glint, as if inflamed by some mysterious spark of emotion. Without speaking, he rolled his weight onto his right arm and swung his body over yours, pinning you up against the counter.

His deep brown eyes bore into yours as he said, “Luckily, I’m not fourteen anymore.”

Your lips parted with an inaudible gasp. No, you definitely aren’t, you thought, and drew away from him a little. This was too much. The house was too quiet, Eddie was too close, and you… you were silently chanting the Lord’s Prayer in hopes of banishing the evil spirit that was currently possessing your thoughts.

Your eyes closed as Eddie’s nose grazed your cheek.

“Hey,” he whispered, “can I tell you a secret?”

You nodded vaguely, unable to speak. When you opened your eyes, Eddie was hovering over you and staring at your face with a soft, almost sleepy gaze.

“You make me nervous, too,” he said. “Pretty much on a daily basis.”

“Really?” Your nose wrinkled in disbelief. “You don’t seem nervous.”

“You don’t think so?” he said. “C’mere.”

He took your hand and held it to his chest. His heart thundered desperately against your palm.

In a flustered voice, you said, “Okay, if this is a move, it’s a good one.”

Eddie’s chest shook as he laughed. “Well, good,” he said. “I’ll make sure to use it on the next girl I invite over.”

A smile tugged at your lips. “Shut up,” you said, but you didn’t raise your hand to smack him like you normally would. Instead, you closed your eyes and let your hand melt into him, feeling his heat, feeling his heartbeat, riding each wave of his ragged breath. Was this what it always felt like? When Eddie saw you in the hallway, in the cafeteria, in class, did his heart ache for you just like this? It almost seemed impossible, didn’t it? Before tonight, this would’ve been nothing more than a fantasy, but now… right now… it felt too real to be anything but true.

You laid your head on Eddie’s chest, felt his heart jog and then settle back into a steady rhythm: slower than before but still beating strong. Then you felt his arms wrap around you and pull you tighter against him. You nuzzled your head into his chin. He pressed his lips to your hairline and sighed against your skin.

“I really missed you,” he said.

After that, time seemed to stop. You raised your head off Eddie’s chest and smiled at him. He kissed you softly on the lips and drew back with smoldering eyes. You touched your hand to his face, gently brushing your fingers over his bottom lip, and he leaned in and kissed you again, taking the last six years of yearning and heartache and igniting them into passion. His grip on your waist tightened. Your fingers curled around the back of his neck and pulled him closer. You kissed slowly, deeply, and then he grabbed your hips and lifted you onto the counter.

Items scattered and shifted. Somewhere behind you, a cup fell with a hollow clink. You broke the kiss, laughing, and craned your head to see where it landed. Eddie hooked his hand around your jaw and pulled you back, kissing you again and again until

Brrring! Brrring!

the phone rang.

The sound blared through the silent house like a fire alarm. You and Eddie broke away and stared at each other, breathless and bewildered. Then you buried your face in the crook of his neck and crumbled into giggles.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Eddie said, looking up with a wide, defeated smile. He cupped your face and pressed one more kiss to your lips, and as he pulled away, he whispered in a slow, forceful voice: “Don’t move.”

He went to the ringing phone and lifted the handset off the wall.

“Yeah?” he said while rubbing his forehead.

“Hey, man!” It was Gareth, calling at almost two in the morning. “I thought you’d be home by now…” Lips smacked and popcorn crunched. In the background, an old sci-fi movie was playing. “So, how’d it go, dude?”

“Uhh, good.” Eddie glanced back at you and a smile came to his face. “Really good.”

He turned around, looked for a seat, and sat down on top of the kitchen table. Meanwhile, you had climbed down from the counter and were now carefully rearranging the ruffled layers of your taffeta skirt, making sure they lay neatly against your thigh. A guttural sound emerged from Eddie’s throat as he watched you. He closed his eyes and cursed his friend’s timing.

“No shit,” said Gareth in disbelief. “You actually got Chrissy to dance with you?”

“Uhh… no,” Eddie said. “You were right, man, that was a terrible idea.”

A terrible and wonderful idea. It brought him straight to you.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, buddy,” Gareth said. “How’re you doing?”

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m, uhh…” You caught his eye and gave him a sweet smile that he couldn’t help but return. “I’m better than ever, man.”

“Is that Gareth?” you asked.

Eddie nodded, rolled his eyes, and said, “Uh-huh…” while his friend’s voice faded into the background.

He watched you fidget in sheer boredom for a while: tracing random patterns on the counter with your finger, flicking the lampshade and making it spin, picking up a pair of pliers, fiddling with them for a second, and putting them back down. Then you leaned forward and laid your chin on your palm, giving him a coy, impatient little pout that awakened something primal within him. The handset slipped out of his hand, pulled the coiled cord taut, and clattered to the floor. Eddie picked it up and clumsily brought it back to his ear.

“Hey, I gotta go, man.”

“Huh?” Gareth said. “What do you mean, you—Wait, are you with someone right now?”

Eddie didn’t answer. He was on his feet and moving.

“I’ll, uhh, talk to you later, buddy.”

“No, wait! Eddie! Eddie!”

“Don’t call me back,” Eddie said. He pulled the handset away from his ear and

“Edd—”

hung it on the base with a click.

During all this, you were snickering with your hand over your mouth. Eddie stepped away from the phone and—suddenly, it was ringing again! Your laughter grew into muffled snorts. Eddie picked up the phone and growled: “Fuck off!” then slammed it back down. And when it rang a third time (because, of course, it had to ring a third time), he grabbed the cable and yanked it right out of the socket.

“What if there’s an emergency?” you said, giggling, as Eddie came toward you.

“I… don’t care,” he muttered dazedly, and he scooped your face into his hands and kissed you.

This was not a chaste, gentleman’s kiss. This was a lover’s kiss, full of heat and passion, desperation and desire. You closed your eyes and parted your lips as Eddie trailed kisses down your chin and along your jaw. His calloused hands, strong but tender, traced down your neck and tugged on the collar of Wayne’s jacket, pulling it over your shoulders, down your arms, and letting it fall to the floor. “Watch the jacket,” you said, and a sharp gasp escaped you. The contrast between the warmth of Eddie’s hands and the coldness of his rings made you shiver as he caressed your bare arms, slowly, gently. He kissed his way up to your mouth, cupped the side of your face, and slipped his tongue between your lips. You curled your hand into his shirt and let out a soft moan.

But then he drew back with a wince.

“Hey, I didn’t plan this or anything. You know that, right?”

Eddie’s dark eyes passed over your face, searching for any signs of doubt. “I mean… I didn’t bring you here to uhh, y’know, try to get in your pants.”

Your grip on his shirt loosened. “Oh,” you said, and looked at the floor with an embarrassed smile. “Well, that’s a little disappointing…”

(because you were definitely trying to get in his)

As those words left your lips, the air between you became thick with tension. You timidly ran your hand down Eddie’s chest, a faint blush rising to your face, and his eyes grew wide as realization washed over him.

“Oh shit,” Eddie said. He gulped deeply, combed his hand nervously through his hair, and spoke in a heated, trembling voice: “Umm… are you sure?”

You pulled him in by his shirt and kissed him. As you broke away, your eyes were calm and unwavering.

“I’m sure.”

The world seemed dreamlike as your body sank into Eddie’s mattress.

His fingers interlaced with yours as he slowly crawled you backwards toward the wall, his chest above yours, knees astride your legs while he pressed soft, tender kisses to your greedy lips. He pushed down on your chest gently and the mattress came up to meet you: your elbows fell one after the other and your head landed gently on the pillow. Eddie’s scent lingered in the fabric, a mixture of sweat, soap, cologne, and cigarette smoke. You breathed it in deeply and shivered.

All the while, his hands never left yours. They rubbed against your palms, slid between your fingers, and pushed your hands deeper into the mattress. Your eyes rolled up to the ceiling as he kissed down your neck and along your chest, the moisture of his mouth lingering everywhere his lips touched. The sensation overwhelmed you. Your chest heaved with heavy breaths as you stared around Eddie’s bedroom with half-lidded eyes, taking in everything—the posters on the walls, the clothes strewn about the floor, all the clutter on his desk, dresser, and nightstand: beer cans, guitar cables, cassette tapes, empty packs of cigarettes. Next to the desk was an acoustic guitar with a message painted on the body. You had to sit up and squint your eyes in order to read it.

“This machine slays dragons?” You threw your head back against the pillow and giggled. “Wow, Munson, just when I thought you couldn’t get any nerdier…”

Your laughter broke into stifled gasps as Eddie caught your skin between his teeth. He nibbled gently on your collarbone and ran his tongue up your neck, then trailed lazy kisses from the edge of your jaw to the corner of your mouth, stopping there as he leaned back onto his left elbow.

While playing with your fingers, he said with a cheeky little smile, “Sorry, were you saying something just now?”

“Uhh, no,” you said, feeling breathless and dizzy. “I, umm…”

Eddie lowered himself back down until his mouth was hovering over yours, close but not quite touching.

“You forgot?” he said in a low voice.

Your head bobbed slightly as you stared at his lips, desperately craving the contact that was currently out of reach. You moved up to kiss him and he pulled away, a smile dragging up the side of his face.

A frustrated huff blew through your nose. “Please,” you said, and immediately snapped your mouth shut.

Shit, you thought. That one was gonna cost you.

Eddie’s eyes brightened with surprised delight. “Uh, what was that? Did I just hear you say please?”

“No,” you said as a shameful heat engulfed your face.

“Oh, I think I did,” he said, chuckling. “Uh-oh, now I have to make you say it again.”

“I’m not saying it again.”

“Yeah, well, I kinda need you to say it again, so…”

The corner of Eddie’s mouth lifted into a tantalizing smirk as he parted your lips with his thumb, drawing a whimper from deep in your throat.

“Please,” you whispered, and a switch went off in his head.

All of a sudden, Eddie’s eyes darkened with a naked, carnal lust that made your core clench and quiver with need. You arched your back as he lowered himself back down to you, and when he reached your lips, he kissed you with a hungry motion that left your whole body crying out for more. You dug your hands into his back, pressed yourself tighter against him. He ground his hips into yours and sucked gently on your neck, leaving faint marks all over your skin. Your breath hitched as you felt his hardening length through the fabric of his jeans. He moaned against you and moved back to your face, kissing your mouth, your chin, your cheek, and he whispered huskily into your ear, “Are you a virgin?”

The question hit you like a sobering slap.

“Maybe,” you said. “So what?”

“Hey, you don’t have to get defensive. I’m just asking, okay? It’s important that I know.”

“Okay, well… now you know.” You recoiled from him and turned your head to the side, staring at the heap of clothes on his floor. A lump formed in your throat as thoughts churned in your head. You swallowed hard and said in a small voice, “I take it you’re pretty experienced.”

Eddie gave you a funny look. “Well, I’m not that experienced. Mostly, I just watch a lot of porn.”

A giggle burst out of you, making your chest feel fluttery and light. When you turned back, you were welcomed by Eddie’s warm, comforting stare. He kissed your lips softly and a smile illuminated your face.

“So Corroded Coffin doesn’t have any groupies?”

“Not unless you count Gareth’s mom… which I do.”

You two broke into laughter. Eddie took your hand, pressed a few kisses to your knuckles, and leaned down to kiss you. As you parted, a question slithered its way into your mind:

“Hey, can you really tie a cherry stem with your tongue?”

Eddie arched his eyebrow. “Have you been thinking about that all night?”

“Well, not all night,” you said with a sheepish smile. “So, can you?”

Eddie snickered, his warm breath fanning your face. “No,” he said. “No, I was just trying to make you blush.”

“Oh,” you said, and felt your face get hot again. Well, you could’ve fooled me.

The previous urgency of his desire was replaced with caring deliberation. His hands gently caressed your waist, your hips, your thighs, tracing around every curve until he had each one of them memorized. You felt short of breath as he lowered his head and started kissing your breasts through the fabric of your dress. A whimper rose in your throat and you withered helplessly against him. You dragged your foot up his left pant leg, ran your hand up his right arm, feeling his hair between your fingers, drawing over his tattoos, pushing up his sleeve to squeeze the hard muscle of his bicep. He kissed the tops of your breasts, your chest, the side of your neck, and felt your hand on his face, beckoning him.

You both shared a moan when your bodies reconnected. Soft breaths filled the room as your hunger for one another grew, your hips moving together in a slow, passionate rhythm. Eddie panted against your lips, stared deeply into your eyes, and when his hand slid between your thighs, you pulled away and said through the static of your thoughts,

“Umm, Eddie? I don’t mean to kill the mood or anything, but umm… do you have a condom?”

The resulting silence was deafening. Eddie’s lips grazed your cheek and he drew back with a muddled expression, his mouth open, eyes slowly blinking, blinking, blinking.

You shrank away from him and grimaced. “It’s just, umm… you know, getting pregnant on prom night wasn’t quite the cliche I had in mind.”

You forced out a laugh and it instantly died in your throat. Great, you thought. Turns out, you hadn’t killed the mood at all. No, what you did was far more sadistic and cruel. Instead of taking it out in one clean shot, you missed all its vital organs and now you had to watch it limp away and die a slow, agonizing death. Way to go, sharpshooter.

Eddie shook his head and, finally, the haze in his eyes began to clear.

“Uhh… right, shit,” he said, “just, umm… hold on.”

He climbed to his feet, pulled out his wallet, and froze as soon as he peeked into the fold.

“Shit,” he said under his breath.

You pressed your lips together and nodded. “You don’t have one, do you?”

“No,” Eddie said quickly, with a little tremor of panic in his voice. “No, I do… just, uhh…”

He went to his dresser and started going through all the drawers: pulling them open, rifling through them for a minute, then slamming them closed. Then he went to his desk and did the same thing. With every slam, your cringe deepened. It was like watching a massacre in slow motion. You had shot and missed and now Eddie was savagely beating the mood to death with a rock. Just put the poor thing out of its misery already!

“Eddie,” you said.

He pushed his palm toward you. “Don’t… Don’t go anywhere,” he said in a distracted voice, and he spun around and stumbled out of the bedroom.

“Where would I even go?” you said, baffled. Then you slapped your hand to your forehead and cursed yourself for saying anything at all. Of all the times to listen to your gut, you chose now—now, when you were this close to living out all your horny teenage fantasies with the man of your dreams. What happened to the angel and the devil on your shoulder? Should you? Shouldn't you? The funny little back-and-forth? You figured there’d at least be a little bit of that, but nope! The stop sign went up and you slammed your foot on the brake right in the middle of a four-way intersection: crash, smash, KABOOM!

“Goddammit.”

You sighed, rolled onto your side, and started shuffling through the comics you found beside Eddie’s bed.

“Hey, you have Creepshow!” You plucked it out of the pile and opened it to the first short story. “Have you seen the movie? Oh my god, Munson, that last one with the cockroaches… boy, did that mess me up for a while. I freaked out every time I had to turn on the light in the kitchen. And I have a pretty strong nerve when it comes to horror. Michael Myers, Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, zombies, monsters, blood, gore, stabbing—I watched Cannibal Holocaust, for God’s sake! But fucking bugs? Yeah, I draw the line there. It’s like that movie, The Fly, that scene with the spiderweb… Nope, I turned my TV off so quick. I still haven’t finished that movie. I’ll probably watch the remake when it comes out, though, ‘cause… well, I do love Jeff Goldblum.”

You figured Eddie wasn’t listening and, honestly, you didn’t care because your silly babbling was the only thing saving you from the discomfort of this incredibly awkward situation. Without it, you would have spontaneously combusted out of pure shame. Eddie, meanwhile, was fumbling around helplessly in the kitchen: slamming cabinets, opening drawers, cracking open the…

fridge?

You looked up in bewildered amusement, then casually flipped to the next page. “I don’t think you’re gonna find any condoms in the fridge, Munson.”

“Yeah, well, there weren’t any in the oven, so…”

The fridge closed with a quiet thud. A moment later, Eddie appeared in the doorway with a hopeless expression on his face.

“You’ve completely lost it, haven’t you?”

“I’m the Sahara,” you said, and Eddie winced at your brutal choice of metaphor.

“You’re the Sahara, huh?” He pounded his fist on the doorframe a couple times, then hung his head and chuckled miserably to himself. “Great, just great.”

He slumped down by your feet and sat doubled over with his elbows on his knees. The seconds dragged on like hours as you two sat on opposite ends of the bed, not saying a word to each other. You kept flipping through the comic, but you didn’t read any of it, not a single word. You thought you had ruined the whole night.

You sucked in a quiet breath and—

“Sorry,” Eddie said, making you jerk your head up in surprise. As you looked at him now, he seemed strikingly timid, like the fourteen-year-old boy who could barely hold your gaze. “Guess I should’ve been better prepared before I, umm…”

His shoulders bounced with light, easy laughter.

“What’s so funny?” you asked.

“Nothing,” he said while fiddling with the ring on his right hand. “It’s just, uhh… y’know, I’ve thought of this moment for a long time, a long time, and now that I finally got you here…” A peaceful smile touched his face. “It’s just funny how it all worked out.”

“Yeah,” you said. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Eddie sat up and turned toward you. “We don’t have to rush this,” he said. “In fact, it’s probably better that we don’t.”

“Yeah,” you said.

Then, with a shy dip of your head: “Except now you’ve got me a little curious.”

“Hm? About what?”

“Well… you said you’ve thought about it…”

Eddie grunted low in his throat, a guilty, guttural sound.

“Uh-huh,” you said, snickering. “So… how was I?”

“You were, uhh…” He ground his jaw in thought for a minute, then closed his eyes and said with a deeply satisfied sigh, “Sensational.”

That sent you over the edge! You fell over, chortling hysterically until your stomach started cramping and you just couldn’t take it anymore. While drying your eyes, you said, “Sensational, huh? Well, there’s a bar I’ll never reach.”

“Yeah, I’m not too worried,” Eddie said.

The conviction in his voice threw your heart into a panic. You turned away, pressed your burning face into the cool pages of Eddie’s comic book, and pretended to go back to reading. That’s when you felt the bed dip as Eddie stretched out beside you, lying on his stomach with his elbows supporting him.

“So you’ve been snooping, huh?” He gestured toward the comic with his chin. “What’d you find that’s so interesting?”

“Creepshow.” You turned to the next page. “Hey, why do you have this, anyway? I thought you didn’t like horror.”

“Yeah, well… apparently, I’m Halloween-themed.”

Your breath hitched in mid-sentence. You lifted your eyes off the page and met Eddie’s affectionate stare.

“I still don’t get what that means, by the way.”

“Yeah, neither do I,” you said, and let out a quiet laugh. “I thought I knew when I said it, but now that I think about it, it doesn’t really make that much sense, does it?”

You gave Eddie small smile and went back to reading. He lay next to you for a bit longer, observing the subtle changes in your focused expression. Then he suddenly got up and started rummaging through his desk drawers again. The familiar slamming sound made you giggle.

“Okay, the condom fairy doesn’t exist, Munson. No matter how many times you open that drawer, a box of condoms won’t magically appear.”

“Oh, I’ve already given up on that dream,” Eddie said. He crossed the room, dropped to his knees, and started digging through all the junk under his bed.

Now you were getting a little curious yourself. You climbed to your knees, put your hands on the edge of the mattress, and peered down at him.

“I’m not interested in your porn collection, either.”

Eddie popped his head up and smiled at you. “This isn’t where I keep my porn,” he said, and tossed you a flirty little wink. Then he went back under the bed and—“Holy shit!”—dragged out a black three-ring binder.

Your jaw dropped as soon as you saw it. “Wait, is that…?”

You gasped excitedly and made a “gimme” motion with your hands. When Eddie couldn’t meet your demands fast enough, you snatched the binder off the floor and sat down with it in the middle of the bed. He didn’t seem to mind.

“Fuck, man,” Eddie said while scratching the back of his head, “I haven’t seen that thing in years.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” you said, and swept some of the dust off the cover.

The binder looked exactly the same as you remembered, right down to the black-and-white Black Sabbath sticker with the giant rip in the corner. You opened it up and started flipping through it like it was a fully illustrated, limited-edition novel from your favorite fantasy author. It had everything: character sheets, ability guides, spell lists, equipment and inventory tables, maps, drawings, detailed notes from every session, and all these little extra reference pages to help describe his character’s attacks, actions, and movements, because Eddie wanted to sound so cool during combat. You couldn’t stop smiling as you went through it. It was like a little time capsule.

“It’s so weird,” Eddie said in a quiet, captivated voice.

You looked up and saw him sitting directly across from you, staring not at the binder but at you.

“What’s weird?” you asked.

“I dunno, it’s just… sometimes when I look at you, I get these little flashes of back then. It’s kinda freaky, actually, like déjà vu or something.” Eddie’s face flushed a light pink, seeming to catch him by surprise. He immediately shook the thought away. “Uhh, sorry. Go ahead and keep snooping.”

Your eyes lingered on him for a moment longer, then went back to the page. You turned to the next section and said, “Oh my god, here it is! The Shrieking Queen’s Catacombs, Scottie’s infamous campaign. How many pages are there of you just complaining about me, Munson? Let’s count, shall we? Uhh, one, two, three…”

You flipped to the next page and a loose paper slid out.

“What’s this?” you said, and casually looked it over. “Well, this looks like a very poorly rendered dungeon map.” Laughing, you examined it closer. “The Labyrinth of Neverending Nightmares. Ohhhh, how spooky… Wait, this doesn’t look like one of Scottie’s, though. No, his are like ten levels deep and full of all these annoying traps that someone always gets caught in, and by ‘someone’ I mean you, Munson. Then I have to get you out because for some reason you can’t roll higher than a fucking two…”

You giggled at the memory, then showed Eddie the paper and said, “Okay, I give up. What is this?”

“It’s mine,” Eddie said with a modest smile, making your face fall in astonishment. “Yeah, that’s my dungeon. Or at least one of them, anyway. I thought I chose one of the better-drawn maps, but obviously not…”

Your eyes were wide as you listened to him. When you finally blinked, they became wet and blurry.

“Wait, what? You wrote a campaign? How come you never told me?”

“I was working up to it,” Eddie said. “I had it in my backpack for like two weeks ‘cause I kept chickening out. And by the time I finally gathered up enough courage to do it, well…”

“I killed you.”

“Yeah…”

The words echoed in your mind like a curse. You buried your face in your hands and cried out in anguish: “Oh my god, I’m a monster!”

“Well, you’re a really pretty monster,” Eddie said with a light-hearted chuckle, but you didn’t laugh like he thought you would. Instead, you sat hunched over with your hands covering your face, sniffling back tears. He reached for you and gave your shoulder a shake. “Hey, come on, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. I’ve already seen you cry way too much tonight, and I really don’t like it.”

He leaned over and brought his lips close to your ear.

“Hey,” he said softly, “it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It matters to me,” you said, and raised your chin to look at him. The compassion in his eyes almost made you burst into tears again. You didn’t deserve it. “Four years, Eddie. That’s a really long time. I can’t help but think of all the things we missed out on, and now…”

Now they were all piling onto your chest like bricks. The weight of it was enough to crush you. You lowered your head and felt your eyes well up with guilt and grief.

“But we didn’t miss out on anything.” Eddie gently took your face into his hands, dried your tears with his thumbs. “We’re still gonna do everything. I’m gonna take you on a date, a real date ‘cause I don’t think this one technically counts. And I’m gonna meet your parents, which I’m already kinda dreading, if I’m being totally honest. And we’re gonna, y’know, cut class and go make out in my van. That’ll be really fun. Yeah, I’m actually really looking forward to that one. And then, uhh, let’s see… we’re gonna have our first fight in like three weeks, so I better start preparing for that now ‘cause I just know you’re gonna fight dirty. Yeah, you’re definitely gonna hit me below the belt a couple times. But that’s okay ‘cause the make-up sex will be fantastic—y’know, once we actually have condoms. I’ll buy some tomorrow. A big box.”

You snorted under your breath. “I think a regular box is fine.”

“No, just… trust me,” Eddie said. “We need a big box.”

You blinked at him for a second, dumbstruck and speechless, your cheeks all aflame. Then your head slipped out of his hands as your whole body collapsed into giggles.

With a shadow of a smirk, Eddie said, “You think I’m joking right now, but I’m not. I’m buying the biggest box they have.”

“Please, stop,” you said, barely able to breathe.

“I’m just saying, I’m gonna be fully prepared next time… assuming there is a next time, anyway.”

You lifted your head and smiled at him, your face glowing in the aftermath of your laughter. “There will definitely be a next time,” you said. Then you placed a feather-light kiss on his lips, drew back, and he pulled you in for another, deeper kiss, his hand coming up to cradle your jaw.

“So, is it scary?” you asked afterwards.

“Is what scary?”

“The campaign you wrote, is it really scary?”

“I made it extra scary just for you.”

“Wow,” you said with an awestruck grin, “an extra scary campaign just for me? Well, now we have to play it… Can we?”

In a tender voice, Eddie said, “You’re the only one I’d ever play it with,” and you felt your eyes tear up again.

Choking them back, you returned your attention to the binder and discovered something that made your heart swell with indescribable joy.

“Hey… this looks familiar.”

It was the character sheet you had made for him. He had kept it, after all.

“I tried to fix it,” Eddie said while you carefully brushed your fingers over the softened wrinkles in the paper. There was a giant iron burn in the middle.

“How hot was the iron?” you asked.

“Oh, it was scorching,” Eddie said. “Yeah, it’s a miracle I didn’t burn the house down.”

Your laughter rang together effortlessly. For a second, it was like you two were back in middle school, giggling and goofing off in Scottie’s basement while everyone else stared at you and wondered what was so damn funny. It was a surreal feeling, being together like this again. In fact, it felt a little like

Déjà vu… Yeah, that is weird.

You touched the burn mark gently. “I thought you threw this away.”

Eddie furrowed his brow and shook his head, as if the thought had never even occurred to him.

Then, after a brief period of silence, he said, “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“Do you still have your journal?”

The question brought a smile to your face. “You know I do.”

Eddie nodded and put his hand over his mouth, concealing an ever-growing smile of his own. With his lips pressed against his knuckles, he said, “Okay, so… how many pages was I really in? I’ve always been curious.”

You went quiet for a minute, trying to count the pages, but you soon realized it was pointless. Even if you counted them a thousand times, the answer would always be the same.

“Not nearly enough,” you said, and Eddie’s eyes lit up with amazement.

“That’s… a really good answer,” he said, surrendering an embarrassed laugh. “Shit, okay… yeah, I think I need a second to recover from that one.”

He turned away and tried to regain his composure while you sat and watched, resisting the urge to tease him. Outside, a car was pulling up in front of the house across the road, its headlights flashing through the cracks in Eddie’s blinds. The sound of the engine made you both pause and reflect.

“I should probably take you home,” Eddie said.

“Yeah,” you said, “but then again, it is very late.”

“It is very late…”

“And you’re probably tired…”

“I am really tired…”

“Plus, you’ve been drinking…”

“You’re right, I have been drinking… so have you.”

“Mhm,” you said, and felt your heart quicken with a surge of anxiety and excitement. “So, for both our sakes, I think the safest thing would be for me to just stay here tonight.”

You hid your eyes as you said this, worried you might’ve overstepped and crossed some invisible line, but then you heard Eddie let out a quiet, contented sigh and you felt silly for worrying at all.

“Okay,” he said, smiling to himself.

He went to his closet, pulled out two shirts and presented them to you. “All right, pick one: Slayer or Megadeth. Choose wisely ‘cause this decision could very well determine the future of our relationship.”

You pressed your lips together and thought hard about it for a while.

“Megadeth.”

"Good choice," Eddie said, and tossed it to you. Then he gave you a pair of his boxers, blushing a little as he did. “Umm, I’ll be outside waiting on the porch, so uhh… just knock on the window when you’re done, ‘kay?”

“Okay,” you said, giving him a timid smile.

The air felt lighter, crisper as Eddie stepped onto the porch and sank into his uncle’s chair, a chair he had sat in over a hundred times: in the morning before school, at night while he watched his uncle leave for work, when he needed to think, when he couldn’t sleep, when he was simply bored and didn’t have anything better to do. Now here he was sitting in this beat-up old chair again, this time waiting for you.

Instinctively, Eddie reached for his cigarettes and realized he wasn’t wearing his jacket. Normally, this would make him grunt in frustration, but tonight he just threw his head back and sighed happily into the cool night air.

This was a good night, he thought, probably the best night of his life.

Then he heard your gentle tap, tap, tap on the window, stood up, and went back inside.

⏩️ bonus scene

taglist:

@loserxdenbrough @sweetpeapod @videogamesandpoorlifechoices @afriwrites @andromeda-andromeda @boeutiful @holdonmars @ramona-thorns @jules-tv @munsonbb @shadow-h-cipher @lagataprrr @secrethologramflower @lostinwonderland314 @unknidthots @to-the-world-kpop @neewtmas

@aizawash0e @albedobrainrot @alina-janelle @allexthakatt @allie-smile @ameliachs @anxiousstark @apolixyan @aquariusbarnes @asshats23 @atreyuinthemidle2 @bakulova @bbyitskt @blacklikemysoulx @blankcanvas48 @booksarekindaneat @breehumbles @bria25163 @buckys-black-dress @buckysxgal @callmeyesterday @cam-peggio @camilledove @candlelightniall @captainskyline @carolineesnell @cateycollins @cazza2009 @chaoswrites @chesirehaz @chicha027 @chxosunbound @cinnamoonsworld

taglist reblogs to follow.

DWM MASTERPOST

FANFICTION MASTERLIST

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #fanfic #stranger things 4 #eddie munson x dwm!reader #dwm short #dwm #dancing with myself #ambrossart

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flowercrowngods · 1 year

Note

you said soft things so have this little thing very loosely based on how my first birthday after I moved away from home to live hours away from my family my brother got me a flower delivery thing each month for half a year. So for six months I had the same guy deliver flowers to me, it wasn’t anything but like… it could be, I can make it steddie (it’s 3:30 am and I wrote this in my notes so sorry for any mistakes)

So, Steve who moved kind of far away for college and is living in a shitty student apartment and hasn’t decorated it a lot and Robin thinks he needs something nice to look at every day and something to remind him he has people that loves him when he convinces himself that they’ve forgotten about him now that he’s away. So she gets him a flower delivery once a month with notes saying encouraging messages or bad jokes, sometimes a tiny update. It helps him, he’s not doing badly or anything and actually enjoys studying but he misses his friends.

Then we have Eddie who’s the flower delivery guy, it’s his side job, or it’s his main job and then he also gets payed to play some gigs sometimes. Either way, he delivers flowers. Mostly it’s to old people from their grandchildren, for birthdays, and from someone’s partner, often a partner that has fucked up (he also hand writes the messages that come in with the order and he’s had to write some very pleading apology ones in his time)

He has a monthly order to the same guy, the same gorgeous guy who last time opened the door looking so soft with glasses sliding down his nose and hair all messy and holding a cup of half drunk coffee and gave him such a warm smile he almost proposed to this stranger on the spot.

Every month he’s both so excited to deliver his flowers and also dreads it because he’s 99% sure this guys girlfriend sends them, that they’re long distance and she gets him flowers every month with little notes that he has to write, this month it was ‘I scraped up my whole leg climbing up the tree outside my window sneaking back into my room, I don’t know how you used to do that all the time.’ So like, obviously high school sweethearts if he used to sneak into her room.

So, it’s great because he gets to see this guy who’s stupidly pretty and always gets this wondrous look on his face like he’s still in awe about the flowers months in and that’s honestly the highlight of Eddie’s day. But, it’s awful because he also has to hand him flowers from someone else knowing he’s just some insignificant middle man.

Steve at this point gets more excited about the guy who delivers the flowers than the flowers, he loves them and all but this guy who comes every month and with a dimpled smile hands them over is taking over his brain. He doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable by asking him out though, like he’s doing his job and it feels inappropriate.

He complains to Robin who time after time tells him to just ask the guy out, if he says no it may be a little awkward but it’s a tiny interaction once a month it’s fine. Steve knows she’s right but still doesn’t, is afraid to break the spell of their monthly exchange. Robin grows tired of his pining though and the next time she places an order she makes the note ‘the guy who gets the flowers wants to ask the delivery guy out but keeps chickening out so I’m doing it for him: Delivery guy with bangs and ‘the prettiest brown eyes’ will you go out with Steve?’

Eddie reads that message of the order, has to write that message out with wide confused eyes and hope rising in his chest. When Steve opens his door he shoves the flowers at him and blurts out “I thought you were dating Robin”

Steve gives him a confused look, which yeah of course he does, so Eddie takes a breath and tells him to read the note. The confusion on Steve’s face slowly fades and is replaces with red cheeks and a sheepish smile.

He clears his throat and glances up at Eddie. “She’s my best friend,” he tells him, “may or may not get to keep that title depending on how this goes.”

Eddie is feeling too many things to say more than a breathy, “yes.” At Steve’s raised eyebrow though he clarifies.

“Yes I’ll go out with you.” Then a sudden horrifying thought hits him, “if you actually want that and your friend isn’t joking or got it wrong or-“

“Does 8 o’clock tonight work for you?”

Eddie nods and Steve’s smile gets wider with each frantic jerk of his chin.

“It’s a date then.”

and then on their first date, eddie gets flowers for the first time. doesn’t have to deliver them, doesn’t have to give them away, no, these ones are his to keep, and he allows himself to take a deep breath for the first time, getting to enjoy the way they smell, the way he always watched people do. never once taking his eyes off steve, who watches with a smile. 🥹

#and on their second date steve gives him a bouquet of dried flowers. ‘so they last longer’ he says with a blushing smile that eddie really #really wants to kiss (to make it last longer hehehe)#steddie fic #steddie #ughhh my HEART i love this i love you thank you so much it means the world 🥺🤍🌷#🤍#thank you thank you thank you 🥹🥰🤍🌷 flowers for you come on 🌷💐🌼

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chaos-is-beautifvl · 2 years

Text

𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐩

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: eddie munson x fem!reader

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: eddie has never put much thought into who your dad is and why he’s never met him until one evening when he wishes he never knew || inspired by daughter of a cop - tv girl

𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: hopper!reader, fluff, getting caught, tickling (think that needs a warning), hopper being overprotective, eddie being scared for his life, mike being a little shit as always

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2075

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: thinking of writing a part 2 where hop talks to joyce like he did w/ mike. i have a lot of ideas for this story that i didn’t include so this might be a little mini series if you guys are interested feedback is golden & i’d love to hear you what you think! feel free to send a request, guidelines here!

part two preview! part two here!

buy me a coffee ☕️!

Three things set off Hopper’s dad alert when he got home.

First was the van parked in his driveway. Now, this wasn’t a big deal. His kids always had someone new around. After the fourth person, he stopped keeping track.

Second was the repeated calls of your name to see if you were home, followed by him walking through the house to your room. He was slightly surprised to see that your bedroom door closed. Not that the rule necessarily applied to you, but you always had your door ajar due to you constantly listening to music.

That led to the third thing that activated his protective papa bear instincts. Not only was the music louder than usual, but the metal banging playing inside your room was definitely not your music.

So, when adding each thing together, the outcome was not a good one.

He didn’t allow himself to think about what was going on behind the door before he barged in. What he found was neither what he expected nor wanted to see.

A little before

The two of you were introduced through the kids and instantly hit it off. After much pining from the both of you and unabashed flirting on Eddie’s part, a date came. Then another. Then another. Then another until you were spending most of your time, both free and at school, with the eccentric brunet.

You convinced Eddie to really try at his studies this semester. He kept mentioning how ‘86 was his year, but as you so kindly reminded him, it wouldn’t be his year if he didn’t do his work.

So, like a good friend, you offered to help him study. That resulted in an exaggerated groan from Eddie, who fell to the ground, acting as if he had died. Nevertheless, the brunet gave in, and the two of you made your merry way to your house in his van.

No one was home, and Eddie never paid much attention to why he hadn’t met your dad or how anytime he came over, no one was there. Truthfully, you were saving Eddie by not introducing the two just yet.

You mentioned before that your dad was a bit crazy, and of course, Eddie laughed you off, saying no one was crazier than him. Oh, how wrong he was.

Eddie was listening to you explain the chemistry homework with an apparent disinterest when he suddenly stood. You halted your talking, staring at him quizzically.

“You look so comfortable sitting there,” Eddie said, a smile surfacing on his face. You let out a confused chuckle, “Thanks...?”

He squinted, bending into a crouching position. You narrowed your eyes in realization.

“Eddie…” He slowly crept over to you, a wicked smile on his face. “Edward Munson, don’t you dare—” You squealed as the brunet stuck his tongue out before pouncing on you. His hands found their way to your sides, fingers dancing across your skin.

“E-Eddie!” You squirmed around, messing up your previously made bed as you attempted to free his torture.

Now, contrary to what others might think, Eddie is a sweetheart. A big softie. You have always thought positively of him until this very moment when you think he’s a bit of a monster.

Your uncontrollable fits of laughter turned into pleas. Though you admired Eddie’s agile fingers while they strummed on his guitar, they were now the cause of your despair.

“I’ll stop on one condition,” Eddie said, pausing so you could speak. You told him you would do anything if he stopped. He grinned devilishly, “I’ll stop if you say ‘Eddie Munson is the freakiest of all freaks’.”

You snickered, brows raising - this time not because he was tickling you but because you were amused. “Seriously?”

“No? Okay, then.” Before you had a chance to say anything, Eddie was back to his torture. That continued for a few more seconds until you couldn’t take it anymore.

“Okay, okay!” You squeezed out in between laughs. “Eddie M-Munson is the freak—” His fingers ran across your exposed ribcage, and you squirmed, attempting to get the rest of your words out in one go. “Freakiest of all freaks!”

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

You looked up to see Eddie grinning as he hovered over you. You weakly slapped at his arm, panting. “You’re a menace, Munson.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he stared down at you. “And you’re really pretty.”

Your face flushed. Not that Eddie hadn’t complimented you before, but you weren’t expecting it, especially after he had just finished torturing you only moments prior.

“So are you,” was your breathy reply. He really was.

A hand came into view, and you thought Eddie would tickle you again until it rested on your cheek. “Can I kiss you?”

You swore he could feel the warmth rushing to your previously flushed face and hear your heart beating out of your chest at his question.

Before you could give him an obvious answer of “yes”, your bedroom door flung open. You almost didn’t hear it over Eddie’s loud music playing from your cassette player.

You barely had time to react when you heard the words: Get. Off. My. Daughter.

Eddie was quick to hop off of you, stumbling over a fallen pillow in the process. Once you finished adjusting yourself, you turned to your dad, heart beating out of your chest - but not in the pleasant way Eddie had.

The brunet standing next to you looked equally terrified as Hopper stared you down. You reached for his hand to calm him. Hopper watched your movements like a hawk.

When he started speaking, he was eerily calm. That made you worry more. “Who are you, and why are you in my daughter’s room?”

Eddie glanced at you, and you squeezed his hand reassuringly. “We weren’t doing anything, Dad. He was just tickling-”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Okay, not much you could do there. It was Eddie’s turn.

“My name’s Eddie.” His hold on your hand tightened. “And like she said, we weren’t doing anything, you know?”

Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose as if to push off an impending headache. He breathed in sharply. “No, I don’t know, Eddie. And it didn’t seem like nothing when you’re in my daughter’s room, on top of her with her shirt pulled up.” He took a step closer, and Eddie backed up.

“So, you tell me, punk…” Hopper’s eyes widened as he poked Eddie in the chest. “Why the hell are you in my daughter’s room?”

“Um- I-” Eddie tried to form a response that wouldn’t further anger the man in front of him. He winced, his explanation more of a question than a statement. “We were studying…?”

Hopper turned around, his back facing you. Eddie sent you a wide-eyed gaze, mouthing something like: ‘this is your dad?!’ You could only shrug, offering him a sympathetic look. You leaned over and whispered, “I told you you wouldn’t want to meet him.”

You were so right about that, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Eddie couldn’t help laughing. It was short - a chortle or a snicker at most. Your eyes widened as Eddie slapped his free hand over his mouth.

Your dad cackled as he tapped his foot, hands on his hips. Just as you were about to call out to him, he turned around and lunged at Eddie, who let go of your hand to dodge his attack.

It was your turn to look shocked. You quickly recovered as Hopper tripped over the same pillow Eddie had when he lunged again.

“Eddie,” you called. “I think you should go. Like now.”

Eddie was already snatching up his lunchbox. If your dad was this worked up over simple tickling, he didn’t want to know what he would be like if he found out that Eddie dealt drugs.

“Great idea, Y/N! Already thinking of it!” As he turned to dash out of your room, Hopper got up and chased after him. He reminded you of an angry bear, which was something you’d laugh about after the fact. You followed after, hoping you wouldn’t have to take Eddie to the hospital after this.

Eddie ran outside, fumbling with his keys. He was too busy trying to run for his life that he hadn’t noticed the kids standing in his path.

An arm shot out, stopping Eddie from bumping into them. “Woah, man,” Mike said. “What the hell are you doing?”

El clung to Mike’s other arm, and you tried to tame the wild animal that was your dad from killing your boyfriend. Eddie planted his feet and pointed to the burly man charging at him like a bull.

“That! That’s what I’m doing, Wheeler. Running from that!”

Again, if this were a different situation, you would be laughing your ass off, but now wasn’t the time if you wanted Eddie to stay alive. And, you really wanted him to stay alive.

“Wait, what? Why is Hopper-” While Mike could be annoying as shit at times and pretty oblivious most of the time, he caught on surprisingly quick. He glanced at Eddie, then Hopper, then you - then back, and Mike knew what happened. A laugh escaped him, jolting his body, and El looked at him in confusion.

“You and Y/N,” he sputtered out more laughter, and honestly, it wasn’t that funny. “Oh, man, this is gold.”

“Yeah, yeah, Wheeler, laugh it up. Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie had dropped his keys from fumbling hands for the umpteenth time. He was visibly sweating, and you felt sorry for him.

“How long has this-”

Mike was cut short by a frustrated growl as Hopper struggled to rise from the ground after you knocked him over with a pillow. “I’ll call Joyce if you put one finger on him.”

That seemed to knock a little sense into the man. Keyword: a little. But it did give Eddie more time to sort out his predicament. An ecstatic “aha!” came from the brunet as he finally found the correct key and hopped into his van.

The engine roared to life and ironically got Hopper started again. He jumped to his feet, not even worrying about the dirt on his clothes, and ran towards the van.

Thankfully, he didn’t make it in time because what Eddie did once he knew he was safe was a little risky, even for him. As he pulled out of the driveway, he stuck his head out the window. “It was nice meeting you, Y/N’s dad! Maybe next time you won’t try to kill me! Bye!”

Now, this time you did laugh. Eddie was living up to that menace title. Hopper disrupted the small amount of peace when he turned to you with a livid look. He reminded you of a cartoon character - you were sure there was smoke billowing from his nose and ears.

“Inside, now!”

You rolled your eyes at him, letting the previous events settle in. When you didn’t move, he snapped his fingers. “Now, Y/N!”

“Fine!” You followed him inside, shutting the door to keep Mike’s nosy ears out of your conversation, not that it would help any. Before he could open his mouth, you quickly voiced your grievances.

“Dad, what the hell was that?”

Hopper turned to you with a wild look. The only time you had remotely seen him like that was when Mike was getting on his nerves with the amount of time he spent with El that one summer.

“Oh, ho, missy. You don’t get to say anything.”

“But, Dad,” you huffed frustratedly. “We weren’t doing anything.”

“No buts!” He stalked over to your door, yanking it open. “And from now on, keep the door open three inches!”

“I’m not a little kid.” Maybe not the best thing to say, but you were upset. He had misread the entire situation, scared away the first and only guy you were interested in, and was now trying to make you follow some bullshit rule that he gave El when she and Mike were sucking each other’s faces off.

“Okay, then. You’re right.” You nodded, satisfied until he opened his mouth again.

“Three feet! This door stays open three feet. How’s that for not being a little kid.”

Hopper left you standing in the hallway with your mouth agape and your eyebrows furrowed. Welp... That’s what you get for being a daughter of a cop.

#this was so fun to write #chaos-is-beautifvl #chaos.writes 🖋#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x hopper!reader

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zaynmirrors · 10 months

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A/N:

Hello all! New fanfic here. Let me know if you want to start a tag list. If you guys have any ideas for chapters, anything! I take requests, it just takes me a minute to upload them. Let me know what you think!

Tw: eventual smut, abuse (not from current characters), mom!reader, youngmom!reader, children, others I haven’t thought of yet.

Pairing: Eddie Munson & Mom!Reader.

Dustin Hendersons older sister

FIGURE YOU OUT:

Chapter 1

When Dustin had invited his friends over he didn’t anticipate his sister and niece falling asleep on the couch before they were supposed to arrive.

His original plan had been to have a movie marathon but now he was unsure if they’d both be able to sleep through the noise. He’d known you were up practically all night, he’d heard the frustrated groans and heavy feet even from his room at the top of the stairs.

Normally his well behaved niece would sleep through the night and barely even fuss but the poor two year old was battling an ear infection. “Dude do you think we’ll wake them up if we just watch the movies?” Mike asked hushed as he looked over at the back of the older woman.

“Look I don't want to wake either of them” Dustin sighs quietly, “Y/N was up all night” Lucas made a sympathetic face, and glanced over at the subtle movement of Dustin’s sister.

When y/n graduated highschool, she had run away with her lover leaving their mom distraught. Y/N returned almost a year later, heavily pregnant, crying about how her supposed highschool sweetheart had left her.

Y/N didn’t really like to talk about it in detail, Dustin understood that there was more to it but never pushed. He was happy his older sibling was back, and enjoyed being an uncle.

The loud banging on the door startled the boys, all eyes looking to y/n. The banging continued, causing Dustin to scramble up and jerk the door open. “Dude” he hissed looking up to the curly headed senior.

The smile on Eddie’s face faltered, confused at the not so friendly greeting, “that’s no way to greet a guest Henderson” even his normal speaking voice was boisterous.

“My sister’s asleep on the couch” Dustin spoke quietly causing Eddie to try and peek around the foyer to see for himself. He gave an apologetic smile and pushed past the younger boy.

“What’s the plan, boys?” Eddie asked, trying to be quiet. They all shrugged, unsure what would be quiet enough to not wake the two fast asleep on the couch.

Dustin spoke “y/ns usually a deep sleeper” shrugs and continues, “we can just try going ahead with the movie marathon” The rest of them nodded in agreement, Dustin went to the kitchen and began gathering snacks, the others followed in order to help.

Y/n jolted awake, unaware of the group of teens in the kitchen, or the repeat senior who was supervising them. She looked down making sure the small child wrapped in her arms was still asleep.

She took the opportunity to unwrap from the child and stand, stretching. Y/n took the blanket off the back of the couch covering the toddler with it. The quiet chattering of the teens had reminded her of Dustin’s plan. She felt awful as well as embarrassed.

Y/n made her way to the kitchen and leaned against the frame, “if I ordered pizza would you boys eat any?” This caught the kids off guard causing them to jump, y/n chuckled not aware of the taller man on the other side of the room.

They talked amongst themselves and then nodded in agreement that pizza would be good. “I’ll go order, Dustin can you-“ she didn’t even need to finish her question before he nodded understanding to keep an eye on the toddler.

Y/n called the local pizza place putting in a decent sized order. Treating the teens was the least she could do, especially as she’d realized they had tried to be quiet and still were.

She took the opportunity to freshen up, which just consisted of fixing the loose ponytail and brushing the sleep smell off her breath. Y/n wanted nothing more than to curl into the bed and go back to sleep, but that wouldn’t be fair to either Dustin or her child.

The outfit that was currently being worn was fine, she was going for comfort rather than impression. When y/n came back out and glanced over at the couch her child slept on, tucked into the corner of it was a tall curly headed man.

Dustin had mentioned Eddie before, however, the thought of him being what looked to be almost her age never crossed her mind. He looked at her child as if she was a bomb waiting to go off. Normally she wasn’t much of a worry, but there was no telling today.

“Here let me-” Y/n started and bent down to pick up her child to give Eddie more room, as he was frantically telling her it was okay. Jovie was picked up carefully and carried to the room she shared with her mother.

Mike smirked and looked at Eddie, “Scared of a baby Munson?” Eddie went to say something but stopped when y/n walked back into the room and spoke, “What’re we watching?”

Dustin had no qualms against his sister joining, she was into just about the same things he was. “I think we’re going to watch a bunch of horror movies” he looked to the rest of the group to make sure they were in agreement.

“Oh! In that case-” she held up a hand, hurrying off to her room again, this time returning with a stack of movies. “Steve dropped these off” Dustin carefully took the stack and looked through it, passing the tapes to each of the boys to get approval.

“Half of these are new releases” Mike states, in shock. Y/n shrugged unsure of what to say, though she knew the gesture was more than just friendly from her babysitter. She wouldn’t entertain the idea.

“You guys cool with these movies then?” Dustin asked and each of them voiced an agreement. He made quick work to start up the first movie, while y/n paced waiting for the pizza afraid that the doorbell would wake up her child.

Eddie made his way to the foyer once the smell of melted cheese wafted into the living room. “Need help?” he asked lowly, y/n gasped not expecting the voice behind her. “Sorry,” he apologized.

Y/N shook her head, “No, you’re fine.” Said nothing else handing over two boxes of pizza. He made his way back to the living room strumming up excitement with the food. Y/n follow behind him shortly after, as she went to set her two boxes down an all too familiar cry erupted. “Fuck, I’m sorry boys” everyone but Eddie mumbled out a dismissal, not caring about the one small cry.

She went to go check on the ill child, Jovie stood in her crib, face crumpled in a grumpy expression. “What is it grumpy butt” y/n asked as she picked up the disheveled child. “Hungry?” Jovie nodded, placing a small hand over her left ear. “I know, time for medicine.” Jovie fussed, y/n bounced her trying to soothe the child “Hey, Uncle Mike and Lucas are here” This seemed to perk the child up.

Y/n smiled as she made her way back to the living room, “My and Lu!” Jovie shouted grabbing everyone’s attention. Making grabby hands at the two boys sitting next to one another.

“Hi Jo” Mike said just as excited, albeit fake enthusiasm. Mike also knew y/n disliked- no hated her child being called Jo. So this was his way of annoying her like any “normal” sibling would.

Jovie’s feet made contact with the floor and went to the two boys, dustin looked over them catching y/ns attention “want me to wait?” He’d been asking about the movie, she shook her head not wanting to throw more of a damper on their movie night even more than she already thought she had.

Dustin went ahead and started the tape while y/n grabbed the medicines from the kitchen. “Come in booger butt” she said sitting on the floor in front of the couch that still held an enamored Eddie.

Eddie watched as y/n expertly spooned each fruity smelling liquid into the toddlers mouth, then rewarding with small cut up bits of pizza. As if they still wouldn’t taste like the gross fruit flavored medication. As much as Eddie wanted to watch the movie, he’d be completely fine watching her all night.

Y/N barely made it through the first movie, Eddie noted when he had glanced from the screen to her. The child however was wide awake, being entertained by Dustin at least at the moment.

In between movies Dustin laid a blanket around his older sibling careful not to wake her, especially as he places a couch pillow behind her neck. It was clear to Eddie, Dustin cared deeply for his sister almost more than some siblings would. Eddie may have thought her ex or baby daddy or whatever, was just a piece of shit and left her to raise the baby on her own. Which is why Dustin cared so much.

Two more movies down and everyone decided to pause for a bathroom break. Eddie was the first back to his seat, noticing the toddler sitting in the middle of the couch as if waiting for him to return, “heydoh” she said clearly trying to say hello.

“Hi” he said, unsure what was happening. Then looked around for Dustin, “I’m Eddie” he continued holding out his giant ring clad hand.

Jovie examined his hand and took her tiny one wrapping it around his pointer finger. He’d almost melted at the gesture, never having an interaction like this before.

She tried to say something but whined placing a hand over her left ear. Eddie looked down to y/n to see if the sound had woken her up but she might as well have been dead.

“Your ear hurt?” Jovie nodded in reply to his question. He glanced around the room trying to find the medicine or grab Dustin’s attention.

Dustin who had overheard was already preparing the medications came over and handed the small measuring cup, “how do I-“ Eddie went to ask but was ignored, he swallowed down the anxiety.

Jovie instinctively opened her mouth ajar, Eddie carefully placed the rim of the cup against her lips and tipped it back. She coughed causing Eddie to curse “oh shit”

“She’s fine” Dustin stated, “she’s dramatic, aren’t you Jovie” she giggled like she knew exactly what he was saying to her. “Thanks for doing that”

Eddie mumbles a no problem as the child crawls in his lap. His arms fly up into the air unsure of where to put them. Jovie made herself comfortable in his lap, uncaring of who he was and focused on the movie. One that he wasn’t sure she should even be watching but if Dustin wasn’t concerned; He wasn’t going to be either.

Hours went on, the Hendersons’ mom had come home to a living room full of sleeping teens and her grandchild. She let them be and went on to bed herself, y/n awake, panicked as she was unable to find her daughter. She stood looking around only to find her tucked away in Eddie Munsons arms as he laid flat across the couch. She smiled softly at the sight contemplating on pulling her from his arms.

Y/n had no intention of waking him up but she’d feel safer if her daughter was asleep in her crib. As she tried to gently take Jovie from his arms, they tightened around her slightly and y/n decided to not worry about it. Her brother wouldn’t be friends with some weirdo, right? She made sure to place a blanket over the both of them, once she was satisfied that Jovie wasn’t going to roll off the couch she made her way back to her bedroom, changed her clothes and crawled back into bed.

Chapter 2

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cacoetheswriting · 11 months

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pearl: june & july 1985

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 4.5k chapter summary: reunions aren't always happy on the first try.

content warnings: best friends to lovers, slow burn, mutual pining, adult language & mature themes, stubborn idiots in love, quite angsty, a little fluff, mentions of the upside down / blood / character death / loss of a parent, grief and grief management, emotional hurt / comfort, self-doubt / insecurities, mentions recreational drug use, use of pet names - if i missed anything, pls let me know!

pearl masterlist

June 20, 1985

With another failed senior year behind his belt, Eddie was feeling mighty sorry for himself.

He really banged on graduating this year so he could leave Hawkins behind forever, along with all the memories he had associated with this place.

Memories of you.

His grip on reality was slipping and this time it wasn’t because of the weed.

Yeah, he smoked the devils lettuce more over the last six months than ever before, but that’s not what had him tripping. You did, or rather the memory of you and how badly he fucked everything up before last Christmas.

Starcourt Mall had quickly become the only place in Hawkins not tainted by the memory of you.

Eddie didn’t like coming here, it was too colourful, too cheerful. On afternoons like this though, when he found himself reaching for Pearl and the scarf you left behind, Starcourt Mall was exactly where he needed to be.

Turns out that, unfortunately, the universe had other plans. Apparently it didn’t want him to escape this literal hell that’s been seeing you everywhere he went, or hearing the sweet sound of your voice in every possible surrounding. Apparently the universe didn’t want Eddie to forget you despite his desperate need to.

A belief affirmed when Eddie walked by the food court.

“Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose. Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free.”

What the fuck— he froze in his spot, just outside Scoops Ahoy. At the end of the locale, behind the till, was the girl he'd been desperately trying to get over, and right next to you, singing his own terrible rendition of Me and Bobby McGee was fucking Steve Harrington.

Eddie's jaw clenched instinctually and his fingers balled into fists at the sight in front of him. Fury began to burn through his veins as you tilted your head back in laughter at Steve dancing around you, holding an ice-cream scooper in front of his face like a microphone.

Not only were you back in Hawkins and the metalhead somehow didn’t know, you were also hanging around Steve the Hair Harrington, singing a song deemed to be only yours and Eddie’s.

Back in December, when you two saw each other last, you gave Eddie shit for lending a tape of what you yourself declared to be the album that’s defined your friendship. Even though the underlying subject of that argument was larger than the tape in question, looking at you now, Eddie was hurt.

Yeah, it was mostly his fault you weren’t friends anymore, he knew that. But despite his shitty behaviour towards you, this was a stab in the back 'cause you were twirling around Harrington, singing along, “Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee”, as if nothing you shared with the metalhead mattered.

Eddie observes as you playfully slapped Steve’s chest, the biggest smile gracing your features. He didn’t realise just how much he missed seeing your smile until this moment, and every fibre of his being ached because he wasn’t the reason for your happy reactions anymore.

Time seems to have come to a standstill.

He's not sure how long he's stood there shamelessly staring, but whatever spell he found himself under is broken when a group of kids runs past him. In that same moment, you disappear into the back of Scoops Ahoy and Eddie knows he doesn't have long before you return so he hurries inside — maybe Harrington can give him some answers.

“Ahoy, how can I help you today?” Steve announces excitedly when Eddie approaches, however, the playful charade is just that, a charade. The second the metalhead stop at the till, Steve leans in close and grumbles, “She doesn’t wanna see you, man. Either get some ice-cream or get lost.”

“How do you know I’m here for her?” Eddie scoffs, trying to play tough.

Harrington rolls his eyes. “Dude, you’re not fooling anyone. I freaking saw you standing out there for the last fifteen minutes, eyeing her like she’s some prize you can never win.”

The sigh that escapes Eddie's lips is defeated.

“Look man, I’m not here to cause a scene, okay? I just wanna know how long she’s been back in Hawkins.”

“And then you’ll leave?” Steve sounds sceptical but Eddie nods 'cause regardless of what the King of Hawkins may think, Eddie really wasn’t in the mood for some big confrontation.

“Okay dude, okay. Ehm… I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but she dropped out of college in early March and was back here about a month later so… guess the answer you are looking for is April.”

April. You've been at Eddie’s fingertips for the guts of three months and he didn’t have a clue. How the hell did you manage to steer clear of him for this long? Hawkins isn’t that big of a town.

“Now, are you getting a scoop or—”

“Nah man, I’m going.” Eddie mutters and shoots Steve a weak smile. “Thanks, eh… I appreciate you being honest with me. I don’t know what she told you—”

“Munson, whatever went down between the two of you is none of my business. All I know is she made it quite clear she didn’t want to see you and as her friend, I owe her to see that request through.”

Sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Eddie chews down on his bottom lip.

“Yeah, I get it. See you around, Harrington.”

Dropping his head, Eddie's exit is just as quick as his entrance. He does make one more mistake though. He decides to look back at the till. Not really because he thought he’d see you again, but that’s exactly what happened. You're at Steve’s side again, only this time your attention is elsewhere.

You are looking right at Eddie, a perplexed expression on your face.

The metalhead lifts his hand and waves at you rather awkwardly. To his surprise, you do the same. The action, albeit small, is enough to ignite a glimmer of hope within the curly-haired boy. One that's quickly squashed by a feeling of resentment and he heads in the direction of the exit as you follow him with your longing gaze.

“You said you didn't wanna talk to him,” Steve defends his actions for shooing Eddie away.

“I know.”

Over the last couple of months, Steve Harrington had become your knight in shining armour.

Ever since Christmas of 1984, he’d been at your beck and call, from driving down to see you every other weekend while you were still at college, to helping you with various basic chores for your mom.

You weren’t quite best friends, but you were inseparable. Steve made moving back to Hawkins easier. He was actually the first person you told about your decision to drop out and the boy couldn’t have been more supportive. He even came with you to convince your mom this was for the best — although, it was not like she needed much convincing because ever since your dad passed… well, she hasn’t entirely been herself.

She is a big reason why coming home was the right thing to do. Your mom needed you now more than ever and you needed her just the same.

To say you hadn’t quite come to terms with your dad’s death would be a severe understatement. Yes, you learned how to cope with the day to day, and honestly, you were on the right path to fully allow yourself to feel all the emotions you'd been somewhat suppressing, but then you found out the truth.

Back in February, you came to visit your mom for her birthday. At first, she didn’t want anything extravagant, but after bumping into Karen Wheeler at the store, your mom decided that company is perhaps exactly what she needed. “The house has been so empty since your dad’s funeral,” were her exact words.

That’s how you ended up sitting in the garden on the snow-covered patio furniture with Steve and a bunch of kids he swore he didn’t babysit.

You don’t exactly remember who let the word Demodog slip first — Steve thinks it’s Dustin because apparently that boy can never keep his mouth shut. Once you noticed the horrified look on all of their faces, you knew it was a word you weren't supposed to hear.

After much nagging and borderline blackmailing, you came to learn a lot more than you had bargained for: the Upside Down, Jane’s real identity, Eleven, along with her crazy superpowers, and most importantly, the events that transpired at Hawkins Lab in November 1984 leading to how your dad really died.

By the time you had gone back to college, the scary creatures those kids described had invaded your dreams. You weren't eating, you weren't sleeping. You basically forgot how to function. Your grades began to slip and it didn’t take long for your to realise you no longer felt a passion towards American Literature.

Although being back in Hawkins terrified you, being around your mom, seeing you smile for the first time since November, and being around Steve, cleared the dark fog that had formed within you. By the time summer had come around, you were genuinely happy again.

That feeling lasted until today.

The second your gaze landed on a leather clad frame with a set of curly brown locks, your heart stopped. A certain melancholy overcame you as his doe-eyes locked with yours. He waved awkwardly and when you lifted your hand to do the same, you realised you haven't been completely happy.

There was an Eddie shaped hole in your heart. It’s been there since your last conversation in December, if not earlier, the funeral perhaps. You just subconsciously decided not to address it.

You watch him hurry away and something inside of you snaps, or maybe it clicks into place. Either way, before Steve can do anything to stop you, you rush out of Scoops Ahoy and in the direction Eddie disappears in.

He’s not hard to spot in the crowd. His dark attire is easily noticeable amongst all the neon of other Starcourt Mall goers. You debate calling his name, but then again you don’t really want to talk to him with so many people around. Your first conversation since December should be somewhere more private — especially since you're not sure exactly what you want to say.

Once outside however, you're forced to make a brisk decision.

“Eddie?”

The sound of his name causes him to halt. He slowly spins on his heel and the two of you are now standing face to face, only an arms length apart, for the first time in months.

“I thought you didn’t want to see me,” his tone is surprisingly harsh, “Or did Harrington lie to me?”

“Well, I-I…” you inhale, fidgeting with your work uniform. “N-no, Steve didn’t lie. But then I saw you anyway, outside the shop, and I-I… well, I don’t know exactly.”

The metalhead is agitated. You can tell by the way he runs a hand down his face before crossing his arms across his chest.

You begin to panic.

How stupid of you to run after him like some pathetic school girl in love. How stupid of you to think even for a second you could have a normal conversation considering how badly the last one ended — “Perhaps space is exactly what we need,” the argument is now ringing in you ears, “We clearly forgot how to be there for one another.”.

“Forget it,” you mutter, “I don’t know why I followed you out here.”

You're about to walk back inside when suddenly Eddie’s hand is holding onto your forearm, preventing you from going anywhere. Your shocked gaze shifts to his grasp on you and the feeling of his skin on yours sends a shiver down your spine.

After a split-second, you nervously lift your eyes to meet his.

“Why didn’t you tell me you came home?”

There’s a sense of urgency in his question. Urgency and a hint of betrayal. You hesitate to answer as there are a number of different scenarios running laps across your mind. All you are certain of is you won’t be made to feel guilty for this decision.

“Are you forgetting you’re the one that said we needed space from each other?” You bite back, snatching your hand free from his strong grip. “I’m giving you what you asked for, Eddie. What more can you possibly want from me?”

“Your behaviour is fucking confusing!” Eddie yells, earning the two of you some rather questionable looks from other patrons of Starcourt Mall. He’s quick to notice the odd glances and composes himself briskly while taking a step towards you.

“I’m supportive, you’re agitated and then ignore me. I try to give you room to breathe, you give me shit for being a bad friend. I stand up for my own feelings, it’s wrong. I tell you what you want to hear, I agree about spending time apart, and you follow me out here only to be a bitch. I’ve done everything you wanted these last few months and you continue to give me a hard time.” Eddie exhales sharply then continues, “Okay, I get it, perhaps you were staying true to our promise by not telling me you were back in Hawkins, but if you really didn’t want to see me, why the fuck did you follow me out here?”

“You actually think time apart is what I wanted?” You ask, focusing on that part of his speech.

Eddie nods, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and your lips part slightly in shock.

“I never wanted this. I never wanted to be away from you for this long. If you took the time to read the letters I left you, you would fucking know that!” You jab your finger into his chest with all the power you can muster.

He grabs your finger, squeezing it. “I kissed you and you fucking froze me out,” he practically hisses, though the pain in his eyes betrays his angered front “And you're apparently dating Harrington now so fuck me, I guess, for thinking you felt something too.”

“This is pathetic, Eddie. I can’t believe you.”

He opens his mouth for a rebuttal, but he never gets the chance to say anything because you're both interrupted.

“There you are!” Robin hails your attention and Eddie drops his hold on you immediately. “Steve said something about finding you? Can you believe that guy? I literally just got in for my shift and he has me running around the whole mall as if he doesn’t finish work in ten minutes—” She stops, glancing between you and the metalhead.

“Everything okay?” Robin asks.

“Yeah,” you reply, perhaps a little too quickly, “We were just catching up.”

You can tell she doesn’t entirely believe you and honestly you couldn’t blame her since you and Eddie didn’t necessarily display the body language of two people having a friendly talk. But Robin doesn’t say anything to point out the stiff dynamic. Instead, she links her arm with yours and starts to slowly pull you away from the curly-haired boy.

“Is your mom still making bolognese tonight? Do you think she’d mind if I crashed your dinner? I love pasta.” Robin babbles while you shoot Eddie one last look. He dips his head, avoiding your gaze, and begins to trek in the other direction, assumingly towards his van.

Your heart is aching as you watch him go. Once again you are victims of poor communication and seriously bad timing.

July 4, 1985

Holidays really aren’t Eddie's thing.

Even growing up he thought the Easter Bunny was dumb, Halloween just a little too childish, and the magic of Christmas purely designed for people with big happy families — something he wasn’t privy too.

That all changed when you waltzed into his life.

Eddie was quickly fascinated by how you easily made every single holiday special in some way, even the really obscure ones like National Pizza Day, or National Cat Day. By simply being yourself, you made these celebrations fun and unique.

4th of July in particular had become Eddie’s favourite.

Every year, the two of you would enjoy a barbecue at your parents house, Wayne would be invited too. Everyone would watch the firework display from the backyard, and then you and Eddie would leave to camp out by Skull Rock.

The night was usually sleepless. You’d smoke, exchange ghost stories, and fill your stomachs with junk food you had previously taken from your parents' press.

Last 4th July, Eddie almost told you he had feelings for you.

This year, you wanted nothing to do with him.

Wallowing in his own self-pity, Eddie decided to spend this 4th of July in bed. He stocked up on soda and snacks, and planned on getting so high, he would think the fireworks were aliens coming to abduct him.

He had just about cracked his window open to allow for minimal ventilation during the night, when someone started banging on his door. Uncle Wayne enters moments later, the expression on his face is one of horror, but then also relief and Eddie's stomach twists into a knot.

“Oh thank heavens you’re here, boy.” Wayne exhales.

“Where else would I be?” Eddie questions, slowly crossing his room.

Wayne waves his hand dismissively and turns on his heel, walking away from his curly-haired nephew. A huff escapes Eddie's lips when he's forced to follow.

“Where else would I be?” He repeats.

“Doesn’t matter, kid. Just glad you’re safe.”

“Come on, Wayne. Don’t be like that.” Eddie probes, “You came running into my room as if something happened and now you just expect me to drop it?”

Uncle Wayne sighs. He’s facing his nephew now, hands on his hips. “Thought you’d be at Starcourt Mall for some reason. Glad you’re not is all.”

Eddie's brows furrow. “Starcourt Mall? What’s happening at Starcourt Mall?”

'Cause he's not at Starcourt Mall, but someone he knows, and despite everything, someone he still cares for quite deeply, most likely is. His insides fill with dread. Judging by his uncles behaviour, something bad has happened and Eddie can’t just stand here knowing he could do more, knowing he could at least try to see you.

So he doesn't waste any more time, running back to his room to throw on a pair of disheveled sneakers, before pushing past Wayne to get to the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“Starcourt Mall.”

“Eddie—”

“She could be there,” is all Eddie says. It’s all Wayne needs to hear. He throws his nephew the keys to the van and Eddie hurries outside.

The entire drive to the shopping centre, Eddie is feeling frantic. He still has no idea what happened, but his entire body is shaking. Even though you and him aren’t exactly on the best of terms, at this moment in time, you are everything to him. The mere thought of losing— no, he can’t be focused on the bad things right now.

Unfortunately, he’s right to be scared.

Chaos unfolds in front of Eddie’s eyes the closer he gets to Starcourt Mall. It seems the entire fire department has passed him on the way and as he turns the corner, he knows exactly why.

Bright orange flames engulfed the entirety of the venue. Eddie has never witnessed a fire of this extent, but he is smart enough to know the probability of someone making it out alive are quite slim. All he can do now is hope you weren't inside when the fire started. All he can do is hope he can find you amongst the crowd gathered in the parking lot, before rushing to your house just in case you’ve been there all along. Safe.

He parks the van as close as he can and sneaks under the police tape when no one is looking. There is so much going on, Eddie isn’t sure where to focus his attention. People screaming, children crying, first responders running up and down. His heart is in his throat while he looks around like a headless chicken, feeling frantic.

Suddenly, there’s an arm on his shoulder and he panics some more, thinking he got busted, though when he shifts in his spot to meet whoever has grabbed him, he feels relief.

“Dude,” Harrington drops his hold on the metalhead, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Even under the night sky, Eddie can see the brunette boy looks rough. Judging by the red-ish bruises on his face, whatever happened to him, had nothing to do with the fire. But Eddie doesn’t care about that right now. There is only one person on his mind.

“Where is she?”

Steve knows exactly who Eddie's asking for and he’s kind enough not to put up a fight. Instead, he points in the direction of an ambulance closest to the burning mall.

You had never been more scared in your life.

Stories of the Upside Down had haunted you ever since you found out about the other world under Hawkins, but they had been just that, stories. Then a couple of days ago Dustin showed up at Scoops Ahoy with some Russian code and things quickly evolved from there.

You were convinced you were going to die when the Russians took you, Robin, and Steve as prisoners. You were convinced you were going to die when they chased you around the mall. You were convinced you were going to die when Billy showed up out of nowhere, followed closely by what the kids called a Mind Flayer.

Despite all of the events from the last few days, by some heavenly miracle and thanks to a lot of dumb luck, you survived.

Well, most of you.

Your eyes dart to Max. She’s resting her head on Lucas’ shoulder, patiently waiting for her mom to arrive on the scene. You swallow thickly at the memory of the young girl screaming over Billy’s lifeless body. You can feel her pain. You can feel all of their pain.

Especially Eleven’s.

Your focus shifts to the girl that saved you all. She’s wrapped up in a police blanket, Mike and Will by her side. She seems frozen. The boys are trying to talk to her, but she’s blanking them out completely. It’s not until Joyce approaches that the young brunette displays some sort of emotion. Throwing her arms around the woman’s neck, you can see her start to cry. No girl deserves to lose her dad. Especially not the way she did. You unfortunately had that in common now.

Sliding your arms into the jacket you were given by one of the fire fighters, you stand, about to walk towards Eleven. You're thinking you can hug her. Tell her you're here for her 'cause there’s nothing that brings people closer than shared trauma. But before you can do any of that, someone steps in front of you, blocking your view.

You lift your gaze.

“Jesus Christ, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Eddie breathes.

In a flash, his arms are wrapped around your waist. You return the hug instantly, squeezing him tight while your fingertips tangle themselves in his bouncy curls. You take a moment to inhale his musky scent. The thought of why he’s here crosses your mind, but you shove past it because at the end of the day, you’re simply glad he is.

The two of you couldn’t possibly be any closer, yet you're tugging at each other’s clothes and limbs as if you were trying to become one. His ring-clad fingers are digging into your flesh while you push your body further into his chest. You can feel his heart beating against you and you're convinced he can feel yours too.

“Fuck, princess, you have no idea…” he whispers in your ear, the remainder of his sentence fading into the night. “I thought I lost you. For real.”

“I’m right here,” you murmur into his hair. You didn’t entirely feel like yourself, understandably so, but you knew in your soul Eddie needed to hear those words.

He pulls back slightly and gently cups your face in his hands. “I don’t know about you, but pretending to hate you has been absolutely exhausting.”

The admission lingers in the air between you, causing a smile to tug at your lips.

“I missed you so much, princess.”

“I missed you too, Eds.”

Corners of his mouth also tip upwards into a timid smile He proceeds to take in a deep breath, his thumbs caressing along your jawline.

“I-I read your letters,” he admits then lets out a soft chuckle, “Actually, full transparency, I re-read them maybe fifty-six times, if not more.”

Your own smile grows wider ‘cause suddenly everything feels okay again.

“You’re bluffing.”

Eddie proceeds to lift one hand. “Cross my heart,” he says, mimicking his words.

“Those letters are all I have— had of you. I know I acted quite unfairly considering everything you were going through. I know I said some harsh things. Those letters you left me, they made me realise just how much I need you in my life and I should have told you that the last time we stood in this parking lot, if not sooner. I’m sorry, princess,” he pauses, “For everything.”

“I’m sorry too, Eddie.” You express, “I’ve been acting really selfishly since, and even at the funeral.”

But he shakes his head and intertwines his fingers with yours.

“Sweetheart, you have every damn right to be selfish. Losing someone important to you like that… Hell, if I lost you, I would probably burn this whole town to the ground in my grief.”

He grimaces and briefly looks around. “Sorry. Burn is probably the wrong choice of words in this instance, but you get my point.”

The chuckle that escapes your lips is soft.

“It’s okay, Eddie. I-I.. I’m just really glad you came, that you’re here. Suddenly this whole thing doesn’t seem so bad anymore.”

“And I’m glad you’re okay, “ he states and hugs you again, placing a delicate kiss on your crown.

The two of you stand there for a moment, embracing one another. Your hands have since moved to his back, under his black t-shirt. The feeling of his soft skin under your palms is so soothing, you almost forget where you are and the circumstances surrounding your situation.

It’s damn near perfect, hiding from the world in his embrace. And you think perhaps you love him more than before, if that’s even possible considering how much time you spent apart.

“Can I ask you one more thing?” Eddie asks, breaking the spell as well as the hug. He pulls back although his hold on you doesn’t end because he takes your hand.

“Anything.”

The metalhead nervously scratches the back of his neck.

“This is really stupid and it’s seriously not the time to be asking you this, but I just gotta know. Shit. Did you mean what you said in those letters? What you wrote about me?”

You suck in your bottom lip between your teeth. Eddie senses your apprehension because he’s quick to add, “It’s no big deal. I-I was just curious.”

Squeezing his hand, you exhale softly.

“Every word, Eds.”

Eddie fails to conceal a smile. He swings an arm around your shoulder, hand still holding your own, and as the two of you wander back towards his van, you know for sure your feelings for him have only grown stronger — despite everything that’s happened.

You love him with every fibre of your being, though that’ll continue to remain unspoken, for now.

The crossed out lines on your unsent letters being the only tangible proof.

pearl masterlist | main masterlist

& tagging some cool people that expressed interest in this lil series: @cactusangie , @spenciesprincess , @capitanostella , @ashlynnkennedy , @ms1oftheboys

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

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lightvixxen · 2 years

Text

You have kids?!

Fluffy innocent act blurb

Not exactly a pt3 but I hope this holds yall over til the weekend <3

Summary: reader finds out Eddie has 2 kids after their mom drops them off.

Warnings: tooth-rotting fluff, swearing, mentioned smoking but no smoking.

Taglist: @thefreakofhawkins86 @yaspillz @eiriancrow @eddiemuns0nl0ver @stunnababy2212 @strangerthings1983fan @fieldofsecretss @3rriberri

The clock read 8 am, and Eddie was rudely awakened to the sound of someone banging their first against his door. He groaned rolling over, looking at you, smiling to himself. You looked so beautiful, splayed out in his bed, in his shirt as sunlight streamed in through the curtains. The moment however did not last long as the banging got louder.

“Fucking hell-” he mumbled walking to the door in nothing but sweatpants. “Alright, alright! I fuckin heard ya!” he yelled at the door, yanking it open. Only to be met with the sight of his baby mama and his twins saying “daddy!”, then he realized that today was Saturday, and his weekend. “Edward.” Eddie rolled his eyes, “don't know why you insist on calling me that, you barely know me.” the kid’s rushed him, holding onto his legs “oh no! I'm being attacked by cute gremlins!” They laughed at his fake screaming, as he pulled two giggling messes into his arms “you two miss daddy?” he asked, hugging them tightly.

The two kids nodded, they both looked like a smaller version of Eddie himself. Curly brown hair and adorable brown puppy eyes. Of course, the moment was ruined by the witch that gave birth to them. “Remember, their bedtime is at right, and nothing too sugary. They have school on Monday” Eddie rolled his eyes once again “fucks sake, I'm their dad, not a babysitter, your rules don't apply at my house.” their mother scoffed “whatever, also, can you drop them off at school Monday? I won't be available.” Eddie put the kids down, ushering them to go play. “of course, you won't be, you never are.” with that, he slammed the door in her face.

After turning away from the door, he saw two brown-haired masses running back towards him. “Daddy! Our room is still locked!” his daughter- Aurora, told him, his son Ozzy, full name Oswald, Eddie despises it though, trailed after her. “Sorry Pumpkin! Daddy forgot it was the weekend, didn't have a chance to unlock it last night.”

Eddie made his way back to his room, quietly entering and grabbing his keys, trying his best not to disturb you. Before slipping out and unlocking the twin’s bedroom. “Alright, you little monsters, play while I make some pancakes.”

---

You awoke to the smell of pancake batter and tiny voices giggling, you moaned, rolling over in Eddie's bed, realizing it was 9:15 am. “Shit! Wait... it's the weekend.” slowly, and groggily you pushed yourself out of the warm bed. Settling to slip on some pajama shorts under Eddie's shirt and calling it a day. As you walk out, you see a room that is never open whenever you're over, wide open filled with toys and childish decorations.

“Hey, Eds! Why is...” you stop in your tracks, seeing two little kids, the spitting Images of Eddie sitting at his dining room table, same mop of brown hair, and big brown eyes staring back at you. “Morning sweetheart, hum, these are my Kids...” He points to what you assume to be the boy of the two, dressed in a dinosaur shirt and shorts “that's Oswald or Ozzy as I like to call him, and Aurora.” he points to the little girl, She’s in an adorable floral dress.

Everything clicks for you at once. “You have kids?!?!” you almost yell, your Eddie? The one who smokes every night, and cusses like a sailor is a father! Eddie nods “yeah, they're twins and five years old, I only have them every other weekend so you never had the chance to meet them.”

Before you could reply, Aurora is hopping down from her seat and running up to you. “Your the girl Daddy talk about all the time aren’t you! You’re really pretty” She beams at you, and you feel your heart fucking melt, she was absolutely adorable, Eddie on the other hand was horrified. “You little snitch! You pinky promised you wouldn’t say anything if you met her!” He ran up, scooping her into his arms. Laughter erupted from her as he picked her up. “Awe you talk about me?!” you gushed, “Nope! Don't believe anything these monsters say! They're liars!” he joked, putting Aurora back into her seat.

Ozzy gasped at the accusation from his father. “Nuh-uh! Only sissy is! I didn't say anything!” Ozzy leaned backward “Sissy didn't lie about how pretty she is though! Way prettier than mommy!” both you and Eddie laughed at this, a little boy saying, someone else is prettier than his mom, that's priceless! “Oh, I am so telling her you said that Oz!” Eddie said in between laughs, “But your right she is prettier than your mom.” He looked at you with admiration. “Now…who wants to go to family video and annoy Uncle stevie while we pick out a movie?” Both of the kids chime in with “me’s!”. It was going to be a fun weekend.

#eddie munson #eddie x female reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x plus size reader #eddie deserved better #dad!eddie munson #dad!eddie #dilf!eddie #dilf!eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson blurb #innocent act #lightvixxens eddie

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stevethehairington · 1 year

Note

33 "Close your eyes and hold out your hands" for Steddie? 🖤

helloooo, thank you for sending this in!!!! 💕 i LOVE this one and omg i have been wanting to expand upon the idea i had below for SO long and this gave me the PERFECT chance to do so so THANK YOU ahh.

33. "close your eyes and hold out your hands"

Let it be known that the Munson’s are collectors.

Wayne has his baseball caps, his mugs. Eddie’s mother collected vinyls. His father — prison sentences.

And Eddie? Eddie collects rocks. Sometimes buttons, occasionally shells, if he can find them. Feathers, once in a blue moon. But mostly rocks. Big rocks, small rocks, rocks that are round and perfectly smooth, rocks that have jagged edges and funky protrusions. Rocks made of coarse granite and rocks made of translucent quartz, and once, notably, a rock made of sleek, inky obsidian. He collects gray rocks and brown rocks, green rocks and red rocks. His favorites are the purple ones that crack open to crystals.

So Eddie collects rocks. But he never keeps them for himself.

You see, every rock he finds — every bottle cap, every loose coin, every lost charm — he gives to Steve.

And Steve? Steve holds onto every single one of them. He keeps a shoebox tucked away safe and sound beneath the bed, and inside the shoebox is his trove of cherished treasures. All of the things that Eddie has gifted him with over the years. Every so often, he’ll take the box out, sit on the floor, and sort through the trinkets. He’ll smile at the sea glass and marvel at the marbles, and count all of the rocks, laughing as the number climbs and climbs. (His favorite is the purple one too.)

The trails are a pretty good place to find rocks — the best, actually. This is something that Eddie has learned personally.

In his bid to find hobbies outside of carting overgrown children to the arcade and the local diner and holing up in stale basements to watch movie after movie, Steve takes up hiking of all things. There’s something about the combination of a good workout, fresh air, and the chance to become one with nature or some bullshit like that that ends up being too damn irresistible to him. He takes to it like a fish to water.

Eddie, to the surprise of them both, likes to tag along on Steve’s hikes. Or — likes to isn’t quite right: Edide tags along. Outdoorsy activities have never been his favorite, and exercise isn’t exactly his idea of a fun time, but Steve likes both of those things, and Eddie loves Steve. He wants to be able to do things with his boyfriend, things that Steve likes. He wants to show his support for Steve’s interests the same way that Steve shows support for his.

So Eddie goes on hikes.

Has been going on hikes for the past three years now, believe it or not.

The hikes are hell, mostly. Uphill battles that leave his lungs burning and his calves straining and his feet aching. By the end, his bangs are always stuck unflatteringly to his forehead, and his shirt is soaked through.

Even after all this time, they still don’t get easier.

(That probably has something to do with Eddie’s healthy appetite for cigarettes and chalices of mountain dew and those god damned Scotcheroos of Claudia Henderson’s that he can never just eat one of. But whatever. Some things are too good to give up.)

The twinging muscles and the fucked up hair and the general funk seeping out of his skin are always made worth it when they finally reach the peak and Steve positively glows. The way his smile stretches across his face, big and bright; the way he angles his face towards the sun and breathes in the clean air; the way he turns to Eddie and grabs his hand and says, “Isn’t this great?” in the most genuine, wondrous manner.

“The greatest,” Eddie always agrees, and he means it every time.

They are also made worth it by all of the rocks that Eddie finds along the way. Because old habits die hard. (Or not at all, in this case.)

It is these two things — the hiking and the rock collecting — that come together as the perfect catalysts to set in motion the plan he’s been hanging onto for months now.

“Isn’t the view beautiful?” Steve asks, looking out past the edge of the cliff they’d just made it to the top of. In the distance, the sun is just beginning to peak out from behind the trees, casting a golden glow across the lake below.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Eddie replies, nearly tripping Steve up as he sidesteps into his space to lean in close and pop a kiss to his cheekbone.

Steve ducks his head and bats Eddie’s shoulder with his free hand, laughing softly. His other hand is clasped in Eddie’s, hanging between them and swinging lightly with each step. “Cheeseball,” he says, and Eddie just laughs.

They continue to follow the path, enjoying the view of the lake and the dewy morning air and the companionship of one another.

As always, it doesn’t take long before something hidden away in the greenery catches Eddie’s attention. He perks up, dropping Steve’s hand before he darts ahead towards a little patch of dandelions.

Steve shakes his head fondly as Eddie crouches down and starts to pick something out of the weeds. He wonders idly what it is, exactly, that snagged Eddie’s eye this time.

There are a few dandelions between his fingers when he rises back to his feet and starts towards Steve again, but there’s something else too — something clutched safely in the cup of his hand, concealed by his fingers.

He comes to a stop in front of Steve, bouncing on his heels as an enthusiastic smile spreads across his lips. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands,” he instructs with a tilt of his head.

Steve obliges, always willing to go along with the silly little rigamarole Eddie puts them through each time he has a new trinket for Steve. His eyes flutter shut and he extends his hand.

“I gotcha another rock, Stevie,” Eddie says softly, pacing something gently into the center of Steve’s hand before folding his fingers securely around it.

Eddie’s gift settles into his palm and it feels lighter than any of the other rocks Eddie’s given him. Steve contemplates what kind of rock it might be, what it’s going to look like, if there’s any defining feature that drew Eddie to it in the first place.

“You can look now,” Eddie says.

Steve opens his eyes, and looks down at his hand. Slowly, he unfurls his fist and —

Oh.

It’s not a rock that sits against his palm. Not the kind you find on the ground anyways.

It’s a ring. The rock in question — a diamond, small and tasteful right in the center of a thin silver band.

Steve promptly loses his breath.

When he looks up with shining eyes, Eddie is kneeling in front of him. He’s still red in the cheeks from their hike, kind of sweaty too, with his hair sticking up from where it’s tucked behind his bandana. They’ve had plenty of time to cool down, but he looks breathless, as he gazes up at Steve with big, hopeful eyes and a crooked little smile.

He’s beautiful.

“So what do you say, Stevie?” Eddie asks, holding his little bouquet of dandelions. “Wanna add that one to your collection too?”

The laugh that bubbles up and out of Steve is giddy and electrified and tinged with wetness as the happy tears start to spill over his lashline. He closes his fingers back around the ring and he stumbles forward to fist his other hand into the front of Eddie’s t-shirt and haul him to his feet so he can tug him into a kiss.

“Yes,” he mumbles against Eddie’s lips, “yes, yes, yes.”

Eddie’s arms curl around Steve’s waist and he laughs too, until they’re smiling into one another’s mouths more than kissing.

Steve grabs Eddie’s wrist and flattens his hand, depositing the ring into his open palm. He sticks his own hand out then, the left one, and wiggles his ring finger eagerly. “Put it on me!” He requests.

Eddie laughs, but does just that. He takes Steve’s hand gently into his own and slides the ring down the length of his finger until it fits snugly at the base, right there against his knuckle. It glitters in the sunlight, and Eddie draws Steve’s hand up to his lips so he can press a sweet kiss just above it.

“Thank god you said yes,” Eddie says, twining his fingers with Steve’s and pulling him back in for another kiss in between. “If you made me climb a whole ass mountain and then said no…” he trails off, shaking his head.

Steve snorts. “You love it,” he says. “You love me.”

Eddie softens. “I do,” he says. “And I get to do it forever now.”

“Forever sounds pretty damn nice,” Steve tells him.

“It sure does.” 100 ways to say i love you prompts

#asks #vecnuthy #steddie #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #mack writes #macks ficlets

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luminnara · 2 years

Text

Opposites Attract | Billy Hargrove x Reader

Requests are open! | Commissions are open!

Summary: you’re super nerdy—you’re all about D&D, sci-fi, comics, and everything that people like Billy Hargrove and his new pals make fun of. In fact, they think it would be a great idea to bet on whether or not Billy can make you like him. Lucky for Billy, he’s already got a thing for you…but what if you don’t like him back?

You didn’t know how you ended up being stuck right in front of Billy Hargrove in not one, but two classes senior year, but you hated it.

He was always right there, gaze burning into the back of your skull, boots sometimes kicking the legs of your chair, fingers occasionally yanking on your hair or shirt if he decided he just had to have your attention. You would always turn towards him, looking totally annoyed, to see one of those infuriatingly handsome smirks on his infuriatingly handsome face and find out that he forgot a pencil again or something equally stupid.

When you were lucky, he left you alone after that. He’d manage to sit quietly and you would do everything in your power to ignore him, spending your time doodling in the margins of your notes or dreaming up new scenarios for your campaign. Sometimes, you even managed to forget that he was there.

When you were unlucky, though, Billy made himself a nuisance. He insisted that you acknowledge him every five minutes somehow, whether it be by kicking your chair, accidentally shoving you when he stretched, or leaning so far forward that you could feel his breath on the back of your neck.

Not only did it send a flurry of butterflies through your stomach every time he did it, but it also really, really pissed you off.

“I can’t believe him,” you growled one day as you clutched your books to your chest. “I mean, seriously, who does he think he is? He’s so annoying, and it’s not like he ever actually needs anything or has anything useful to say—Eddie, are you listening to me?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, totally. Sounds shitty. Hey, did you decide on a class yet? I gotta get this campaign started this week or I’m gonna fuckin’ lose it, man.”

You rolled your eyes and slammed your locker shut. “Elf. Paladin.”

Eddie Munson, one of your only friends, gave you a grin. “And I’m sure you’ll blow us all away with your holy might, toots. Thanks. First session on Wednesday.”

His usual sweet, goofy expression brought a small smile to your face as you walked with him down the hall. “Good. I need a distraction.”

He slung an arm around your shoulders. “And a distraction you shall get, o fair maiden, in the form of the gnarliest, most fucked up—“

“Freak.” Someone grunted as their shoulder slammed into his, sending you both stumbling a few steps.

You shook it off and just kept your attention on Eddie. “More fucked up than the last one?”

“Oh, trust me, it’s gonna be brutal.”

“Better be.” You grinned. “I’m graduating this year. Gotta go out with a bang.”

Down the hall, Billy Hargrove was watching you with a thoughtful expression on his face. You and that weirdo Munson, huh? You looked close. He had his arm around you. You were always hanging around him and his little pack of freak nerds in the cafeteria. But seriously, that guy? You could do way better.

Namely, you could do Billy.

You just never seemed to pick up on his advances, and he was growing frustrated. How the hell was he supposed to get you talk to him if you never did? Was he supposed to use the direct approach, the one that worked on girls like Carol? Or were you way too nerdy for that?

“Hey. Hargrove.” Tommy H elbowed him. “How ‘bout her?”

Billy turned to snarl at him, but when he followed Tommy’s gaze, he saw that he was nodding towards you.

“What about her?” Billy asked.

“Bet you can’t get a date with the nerdiest bitch in town.”

“The hell are you talking about?” Billy scoffed. “I can get a date with anyone.”

“So you’re in?” Tommy grinned. “Get that super dork to crush on you by the end of the week, and I’ll get you a 12 pack.”

“...Alright. Fine.” Billy sneered. “It’s a bet.”

-----

Every so often, you got paid a decent amount of cash to “babysit” a group of kids who really didn’t need a sitter.

As far as you knew, at least.

Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Will--that kid, who got kidnapped or whatever not too long ago? Yeah, that Will--El, and Max, Billy Hargrove’s younger sister. Stepsister. Whatever.

Even when you were only hired to keep an eye on one or two of them, you usually ended up hanging out with the whole gang. You got the feeling that they knew that you knew that you didn’t need to be there, but it was easy money, and you’d been babysitting them since they actually needed it, so none of you really minded. And besides, you actually had a lot of the same interests, so all you ever had to do was order pizza and sit around while they argued about movies or told you about their campaign.

“You guys are so good at D&D,” you laughed, pulling your feet up as you sat on the couch.

“Well what about you?” Mike asked eagerly. “What are you playing right now?”

“We haven’t started, but Eddie swears it’ll be brutal.” You snorted. “Hey, don’t you guys start high school next year? Are you gonna join the club?”

“Of course,” Dustin scoffed. “I mean, what else would we do? Sports?”

They all laughed, though you noticed that Lucas’ was more nervous than the others.

“Well good, because even if Eddie somehow manages to graduate, they’re gonna need more players.” You turned your attention to Max and El. “How bout you guys?”

El gave a small shrug. “I’ve never really…played.”

“I’m sure the boys would be glad to teach you,” you said, reaching for a slice of pizza.

She smiled. “I might like that.”

“Yeah. Yeah! We can totally do that!” Mike said enthusiastically. “We just need to write your character—“

Your eyes shifted to Max as she sat there, looking somewhat cross. “What do you think?”

“Look, no offense, but the nerd shit really isn’t my thing.” She said, as nicely as she could manage.

You noticed that her leg was bouncing, something she only did when she was anxious or upset, and you frowned slightly. “You okay?”

“I’m fine!” She snapped. “I mean…yeah. I’m fine.”

“Max…” Dustin groaned.

“What?”

“You did get permission to come over here, right?”

She was quiet for a moment, and you knew that the answer was going to be no.

“Max, are you serious?” Dustin complained. “Is that psycho freak gonna come looking for you?”

“Are you talking about Billy?” You asked.

“Duh! He’s a total dick, and I swear, if I ever have to see him again I’ll—“

The doorbell rang.

It was way too much of a coincidence for you to not believe you were about to see an angry Billy Hargrove ripping the door off its hinges, but as everyone froze and the seconds ticked by, there was nothing. Just a tense silence, broken only by the ringing again.

“Oh man,” you groaned as you stood. “Anybody else wanna be the babysitter for a change and take responsibility? …no? Great…”

You steeled yourself, reaching for the knob and twisting it slowly…and there he was, just as expected, only he was leaning in the doorframe, looking pissed off but not as angry as you’d been bracing for. He exhaled a puff of smoke in your face before giving you a curious look, and you could practically see the wheels turning before he spoke.

“Well, well. Didn’t expect to see you here, sweetheart.”

“Well, here I am.” You cleared your throat. “Can I help you with something?”

He looked past you, eyes shifting towards the kids. You saw anger there, a bright spark of rage flashing across his entire face as he spotted Max. She looked back at him stubbornly, setting her jaw and daring him to say anything, and you got the feeling that this was a normal thing for them.

“Maxine.” he bit out, voice dangerous and low, “been lookin’ all over for you.”

“Piss off, Billy.” she spat.

He was holding himself back, and it was taking so much effort that he though you should be proud of him, because he was doing it for you. You, who was standing in his way, ever the dutiful babysitter, keeping the lion in its cage even though you had no idea what you were doing. But god, he wished that you did. He wished you knew how much he wanted to be good for you.

He forced a tight smile onto his face. “Come on. Su--your mom is worried.”

The tone in his voice was serious enough, earnest enough, that Max recognized the urgency in it. She didn’t like Billy, not really, but she knew how rough his dad was with him, and even though he was her shitty stupid stepbrother, the thought of him on the receiving end of Neil Hargrove’s wrath wasn’t a pleasant one.

“...Right. Yeah.” she cleared her throat, glancing around for her sweater. “I’ll, uh...be right out.”

The others looked at her in confusion and you raised a brow. When you looked back at Billy, you saw that he seemed thoughtful, pensive, almost, but by the time his eyes snapped back to yours, his expression had returned to that devil may care aloofness that he was so good at.

“Didn’t know you babysat, sweetheart,” he said, relaxing his posture slightly.

“Oh, yeah...” you smiled sheepishly. “I mean, these guys don’t really need it anymore, but I don’t mind the extra cash. I’m sorry if Max wasn’t supposed to be out, I just sort of assumed she had permission since the party is always together--”

At the word party, he snorted, and you were reminded that Billy Hargrove was, in fact, an asshole and not at all your type of person.

“Nah, Max loves to run off. It’s no big deal.” he said with that gorgeous smile of his, even though he was absolutely downplaying how extremely pissed and stressed he was thanks to his sister. “Besides...she’s in good hands here, I can tell.”

You blinked. Was that...a compliment? Was he capable of those? What the hell?

“Well…thanks,” you mumbled, trying to ignore the butterflies in your stomach.

“Anytime,” he winked.

And even though it was a weird exchange, a big part of you hoped that you could talk to him again, about more than just “I’m not giving you another pencil” or “quit kicking me.” You were hoping for a real conversation, because you were hoping that there was more to Billy Hargrove than pretty eyes and a bad attitude…

And the next day, your wish came true.

And the day after that.

You suddenly found Billy lingering around every corner, greeting you with that gorgeous smile and asking how you were as if he genuinely wanted to know.

And you told him.

And he listened.

Billy hung on to every word you said like they were his lifeline, paying extra close attention whenever you said you liked something. He noticed everything, more than anybody else would, because he was good at watching people and good at taking in his surroundings, and with you right in front of him, he had plenty to focus on and memorize.

And he felt himself falling with every new “thanks, Billy” that you gave him.

“I mean it, baby.” He said, every time. Because he did.

And goddamnit, you were really, really starting to like him. He was holding doors for you, he was carrying your books, he was telling you how much he liked your outfits…and it was working, all of it, and by the end of the week, you were sighing and wishing that he would ask you out for real.

And then Tommy H came and fucked it all up.

“Damn, Hargrove, you did it!” He cheered on that Friday, approaching the two of you as you stood at your open locker.

Billy gave him a sharp glare. He was finally making progress with you, and the past week had been like heaven on earth for him…and here was this chucklefuck, coming to screw him over because of some stupid bet.

“Guess i owe you that beer, huh?” Tommy grinned, clapping him on the shoulder.

Billy wanted to break his arm.

“I’ll be honest, I really didn’t think you could pull it off. I mean—“ and Tommy turned to look at you, lip curled in a nasty sneer that you knew all too well. “—this one’s like, the prudest prude in town.”

“Excuse me?” You asked haughtily.

He leaned towards you. “But you’re just like every other girl, huh? Creamin’ your pants over Hargrove.”

Your nostrils flared angrily and your face felt like it was absolutely on fire as you turned your gaze from Tommy to Billy. “Are you saying this was a fucking joke? A bet?”

Billy immediately straightened up, and for once, he was struggling with what to say. “I—no, look, it wasn’t—“

“Fuck you, Billy Hargrove.” You could feel tears threatening to spill down your cheeks, but you weren’t about to stand there and cry in front of them. No fucking way.

So you slammed your locker and spun on your heel, marching away with your head down. You didn’t know where you were going, but you needed to run, get away from them, get away from the guy you knew you shouldn’t have started to trust.

Tommy let out a loud laugh as he watched you go. “Aw, I think she’s crying over you! That’s so fucking patheti—“

Billy interrupted him with a fist to the jaw.

“You fucking idiot!” He snarled, grabbing the front of Tommy’s shirt and slamming him against the lockers. “The hell’s your problem?”

Tommy looked confused, eyes wide as he tried to process what had just happened to him. “Yo, what the hell, man?”

“You ever make her cry again, and I’ll make you cry twice as hard.” Billy growled. “Is that fucking clear?”

Tommy nodded quickly, and as much as Billy wanted to stay there and beat him to a pulp, he knew he needed to find you. Because he needed to fix this before you never spoke to him again, even if that’s what he deserved.

He found you outside, sitting alone at a picnic table. Your forehead was resting on the top, your elbows on either side of your face as your hands covered your hair. You looked smaller than usual, all curled in on yourself, and Billy wanted to punch himself in the jaw for dragging you into this and ruining everything.

He approached you, clearing his throat when he was a few steps away. “Hey.”

“Go away, Billy.” Your voice was muffled.

“I wanna talk.”

“I said go away,” you said, louder this time, though your voice was heavy from your crying.

Billy shoved his hands in his pockets nervously. “Tommy’s a fucking idiot. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious that he does.” You said.

“No. He doesn’t.”

You sighed loudly, picking your head up to look at him. “I know how this works. I’m the weird nerdy girl, and you’re the hot bad boy jock, and your shitty jock friends probably bet on whether or not you could get between my legs this weekend.”

“First of all, I’m not a jock.” He growled. “Second of all…Fuck.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Look. It was a bet, but I only took it because I wanted to…get to know you.”

For a moment, all you could do was stare at him. He held his breath, hoping beyond hope that that was enough, that you would believe him and he could take you out for burgers or something and you could both just move on. When you finally opened your mouth, he straightened up slightly, standing at attention for whatever you had to say as if it would help his chances.

“How am I supposed to believe that?” You asked.

“…what?” He barked.

“You heard me.” Your lips pressed into a thin, unimpressed line as you looked up at him. “How am I supposed to believe that anything you’ve said this week was genuine? God, I feel so stupid…just leave me alone. It’s not like you care anyways.”

“Hey.” He growled. “Don’t you fucking say that.”

“Say what?”

“That I don’t care.” His eyes were dark, his teeth bared like an angry dog. “I do care.”

“…prove it.”

He rolled his eyes and you expression only hardened.

“Prove it, Billy. Otherwise I’m gone.”

“Fine.” He hissed. “I’ve been listening to you talk all fucking week.”

“Is that seriously supposed to make me feel better?” You scoffed. “You just can’t stop insulting me today, can you?”

“No, babe, I’ve been fucking listening to you.” He repeated. “Your favorite color is moss green. Not pine, not forest, moss. You like vanilla shakes and you love dipping your fries in them. You’ve got a cat named Peter and a dog named Lucy and you want a lizard but your folks keep saying no.”

As he spoke, your eyes widened. Had he…had he really been paying attention, like you had so naively hoped?

“When you were six, you fell and scraped your knee and you’ve still got the scar. You like DnD, Audrey Hepburn, and Fangoria. You can’t fucking swim, and you took ballet until you were nine.” He sighed. “That good enough for you?”

You were speechless.

“I…uh…wow,” you stammered, your anger fading away.

“I told you. Tommy is an idiot.” He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them at his sides, fingers clenching into fists and then relaxing again over and over as he fidgeted. “I only took his bet because I wanted to win. And because I wanted an excuse to talk to you.”

“You could have just talked to me like a normal person,” you said dryly.

“You’re always with Munson.”

“Well, yeah. He’s like, my best friend, so…”

“Is that it?” He asked hopefully.

“What?”

“You’re not dating that guy, right?”

The look on his face was almost endearing. “I’m not dating him.”

He visibly relaxed, fists unfurling as his shoulders dropped slightly. “Good.”

“You…really remembered a lot,” you said, chewing at your lip. “So…I guess maybe I owe you an apology for some of what I said just now. But Tommy is still—“

“Still a dick. Yeah.” He held up a hand for you to see, his knuckles red and angry. “Already took care of him.”

You felt your heartbeat quicken slightly. “Huh?”

“Soon as you left, I socked him.” He said, sounding incredibly serious. “He comes out here before I’m cooled off, something’s getting dislocated.”

“How…chivalrous.” A smile tugged at the edges of your lips. “My knight in shining armor.”

“Don’t drag me into your weird fantasy shit.”

“I think you’d be great at Dungeons and Dragons!” You argued.

He chuckled as he stepped closer, asking for permission to sit with his eyes. You scooted over a bit and he took that as an okay, sitting with his back to the table, legs spread obnoxiously to take up extra space as he leaned back on his elbows.

“You’re…nicer than I expected,” you said as you looked at him. “This whole week, you have been.”

“Yeah, well. People have layers.” He said absentmindedly, fishing in his pockets for a cigarette. “Babe, you got a smoke? …nah, you’re too goody two-shoes for that…”

You laughed lightly as you watched him and he froze, glancing up at you with those bright, wide eyes of his. He loved the sound of your laughter.

He wanted to hear more of it.

Giving up on the cigarette hunt for the time buying, he instead turned his full attention on you and cleared his throat. “Look, this whole thing was shitty. Lemme take you out to the diner later ‘n make it up to you. Deal?”

“…all right.” You smiled, even though your eyes were still puffy from crying and you were tired behind belief. “Deal.”

#billy hargrove imagine #billy hargove x reader #Billy Hargrove #stranger things x reader #stranger things

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hbyrde36 · 3 months

Text

Times Like These (The Anniversary Edition)

CH 1 CH 2

Chapter 3: Chrissy Wake Up

✨See the end for another amazing piece of art made for this chapter!!!

WC: 7185 | AO3 link

"Are you sure you have it?"

Eddie swayed on his feet as he came-to, but quickly steadied himself.

He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, grinning widely as he threw his head back and shouted, "Fuck yes!”

Looking over, he was delighted to find Chrissy exactly where he expected her to be. “Girl, you are a damn sight for sore eyes, you know that? Hang on, I'll be right back."

He rushed to the back of the house, feeling more hopeful than ever as he took up his old acoustic guitar again and sprinted back out to the living room. He could do this, he knew the song like the back of his hand now. He may not have been able to actually practice it before, but the hours spent alone in his room honing his guitar skills over the years made him confident that he could pull it off regardless.

He returned just in time to see her eyes roll into the back of her head, and didn't waste another second before he began to play.

“Many times I tried to tell you"

"Many times I cried alone"

"Always I'm surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone"

"Don't want to leave you really"

"I've invested too much time to give you up that easy"

"To the doubts that complicate your mind"

Eddie strummed the guitar and sang his heart out, pouring everything he had into those lyrics, but still, about halfway through the song she began to lift off the ground.

"Chrissy, wake up! Come on, you've got to fight him.” He pleaded, still keeping time on the song as he begged her to hear him. “You can do this, Please. Just follow the sound of my voice."

"Clear your mind and do your best to try and wash the palette clean"

"We can't begin to know it, how much we really care"

"I hear your voice inside me, I see your face everywhere"

Suddenly, Chrissy took a deep gasping breath, like a swimmer rising to the surface to take their first gulp of air. She tumbled to the floor and Eddie quickly dropped the guitar, throwing himself down next to her.

His heart pounded as he scooped her up into his arms, crushing her tightly to his chest.

“You’re okay, you’re back. I’ve got you. It’s all gonna be okay now.” He muttered the words over and over again as they both shook uncontrollably, her tears soaking through his shirt.

They sat like that for a long time, until her crying stopped and Eddie’s pulse slowed, finally pulling apart to look at each other.

She stared at him, her gaze bouncing from one eye to the other as she spoke. “I don’t… I don’t know what just happened but I'm pretty sure you saved my life.”

“What did you see?” He asked, reaching up to brush the bangs out of her eyes.

“One second I was standing here waiting for you to come back, and the next I was in my house, except, it wasn’t right. My mom and Dad–” She cut herself off, shaking her head.

Whatever she saw must have been awful.

“And then this– man, this monster, started calling to me… came after me. I ran, but there was a door. I- I couldn’t open it. That’s when I started to hear it. I heard you singing, telling me to fight, so I did. I got around him somehow and this- this opening appeared across the room.”

Chrissy paused, glancing up briefly at the spot on the ceiling she’d just fallen from.

“It was you. I could see you here playing for me. I ran to you and then I was back.” She gave him a weak smile, tipping herself over to rest her forehead on his shoulder. “How did you know to do that?”

Eddie wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to tell her everything, but it would take a while to explain and he knew they should probably get going. He wanted to try and bring the others in as soon as possible.

“I’m gonna explain, I promise, but we need to go– now, and I need you to trust me for a little while. Do you think you can do that?” He asked.

She didn’t even hesitate. “Sure, Eddie. I trust you.”

He felt a little guilty about that, not entirely sure he had earned her blind faith, but for now he’d take it.

"Thanks.” He said, rising to his feet and offering her a hand up. “Come on, time to pay a little visit to my neighbor."

Eddie knew Max’s mom wasn’t home, she rarely was these days, so he wasn’t shy about pounding his fist on the door when they walked up to her trailer.

"Red!" Eddie called out loudly as he knocked.

He paused to listen, hearing no sign of the girl inside though he knew for a fact she was in there.

"Come on, Red, I know you're there. It's Eddie from across the street!"

When there was still no answer from within, he wracked his brain for what he could say to make her come to the door.

"Please, kid, it’s—this is a code-red type situation here."

Bingo.

A beat later she was opening the door. No more than a crack, but it was progress.

"What do you mean by code-red situation?" She asked through the small opening.

"I need you to get on your walkie and alert the troops. You saw the way the lights flickered tonight, and you know what that means."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I saw. Doesn’t explain how you know what it means."

Eddie sighed, it was gonna be a long night. "I know more than you think. Just call it in, alright? I'll tell you everything I know once everyone’s together, I'm not going through the whole thing a hundred times."

She didn't move, staring him down as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Damn, did these kids all come with an attitude or was it something Harrington had trained into them?

"Please?" He begged.

She rolled her eyes, but stepped back to open the door the rest of the way and let them in. They followed her into the living room where he could see her radio was already out sitting on the table. She’d definitely seen the lights then, and it seemed like she’d already been thinking about calling the cavalry.

All three of them took a seat on the couch as Max picked up the walkie and raised it to her lips.

"Uh, hey, guys?” She said into it, a little unsure.

A few seconds later Dustin’s voice crackled over the line. "Max? You have to say over when you're done talking. Over."

"Yeah, it’s me dumbass. Over.”

"Thank you. So, what’s up? Over."

Eddie held a hand up to stop her before she could answer. "Maybe it’s best if you don't mention me or Chrissy, for now. It'll be less confusing if they think it's just you."

She scowled, mumbling, “Whatever," before pressing the button again. “I'm calling in a code red. Over."

“Max?!” Suddenly, Steve's frantic voice came roaring out of the device. “Max, what’s wrong? Is it your mom again? Are you okay? Are you safe?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, purposely avoiding looking at either of them. As if Eddie would judge, the poster boy for growing up with shitty parents. There was a reason he lived with his uncle, and he didn’t know much about Chrissy but he was pretty sure she could relate at least a little.

"No, yeah, I’m fine, it's just. Listen, I only want to explain once. Could you get everyone together?" She said, borrowing Eddie’s line.

"Sure, let’s meet at my house. Do you need a ride?" Steve asked.

She looked to Eddie, who shook his head. “I’ll drive.” He said quietly.

Before she could relay the message to Steve, Dustin cut in over the walkie. "Jesus Fucking Christ, you guys are killing me. Say over when-you-are-done-speaking! Over!"

“Language! Over." Steve replied.

Max heaved a long suffering sigh. "Thanks, Steve, but I have a ride. Over."

"Okay. Be safe. Over."

"See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Dustin said, somehow finding a way to sound smug even through the bad signal. “I'll keep calling around, make sure everyone knows to head to Steve’s. And I do need a ride by the way, Harrington, and you better make it quick. Over.”

“Seriously?” Steve muttered under his breath, though it was picked up by the radio anyway. "Copy that, Dustin, but I could do without the attitude. Over"

Max turned the thing off as Dustin began his repeated calls to the rest of the party, throwing it back down on the table.

"Let me get changed, and we can go,” She said.

Eddie nodded absently, trying to think if they needed anything else before heading out.

"Oh! Uh, random question. Do you by any chance have any Pat Benatar on tape?”

Max tilted her head. "Yes, actually. Why?"

"Great, uh, go ahead and grab that for us, and your Kate Bush tape too while you’re at it… and your Walkman."

Her brow furrowed deeply but surprisingly she didn’t ask anymore questions, setting off for her room without another word.

Eddie looked at Chrissy, who had been completely silent through the entire exchange, sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Hey,” he said softly, taking in the way she’d started to sink into herself. “I’m gonna run back over to my place and grab my tape player for you to use, we’re gonna need it. Are you okay here?"

She nodded but didn’t look up at him, continuing to stare at the floor. He hesitated, pursing his lips. He hated to leave her there alone, even just for a minute, though Max was only in the other room. He should have thought to grab it before but he’d been understandably distracted at the time. They were going to Steve’s house anyway, he probably had something she could borrow, right?

No, he wasn’t taking any chances this time, not after everything he’d gone through to get this far. What if Vecna took her again while they were en route and he couldn't play to save her?

Mind made up, he squeezed her shoulder, whispering, “I’ll be right back,” and headed outside.

It only took a minute for him to run back into his house, get the Walkman from his room, and rush back out again. His foot was coming off the last step just as a nearby car door slammed. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed the jeep that had pulled up out front.

Jason Carver’s Jeep, to be exact.

The absolute last person he felt like dealing with right now.

What was he even doing here?

Looking for Chrissy seemed like a good bet, but hell if Eddie knew how he’d found out about their drug deal.

“Shit” Eddie cursed, with feeling.

In all the other loops he and his van would have been long gone by now, but saving Chrissy took time, and convincing Max to let them inside had wasted even more. Had Jason come here each time and left assuming no one was home, only to find out the next day that his girlfriend had been laying dead just inside the door?

Eddie shivered at the thought. It almost made him feel bad for the guy.

Almost.

"What did you do to her, Freak?! Where's Chrissy?!" Jason shouted as he rounded his car, stepping right in Eddie’s path.

"Don't know what you're talking about, man.” Eddie said, raising his hands in a push-away gesture. “I’ve been home alone all night. I was just heading out now to work a few parties. So, if you could just let me past to my van, I’ll get out of your hair.”

He wouldn't actually leave without Max and Chrissy but hoped if he made a show of leaving Jason would take off too

"Bullshit,” Jason scoffed. “She didn't show at Benny's after the game, and then I find out one of the guys thought he saw her leave the school with you, of all people."

Eddie rolled his eyes, and Jason snatched him up by the collar, cocking his other arm back. "And you're gonna tell me where she is right now, or I swear to god..."

"Oh, fuck you, man." Eddie spat, shoving at Jason hard enough that he stumbled back.

“No wonder Chrissy came to me when she was having a problem instead of talking to her boyfriend about it. You don’t give a shit about her, you just want to control her.” He was giving up the ruse a bit by admitting he’d seen her, but Eddie didn’t really care right then.

Unfortunately, It was the wrong thing to say if his goal had been to deescalate the situation.

Jason growled, honest to god growled, lunging forward to clock Eddie right in the face. There was a telltale crack as his fist connected and Eddie knew instantly that his nose was broken. He rocked back, the sudden burst of pain behind his eyes stunning him for a second, but he recovered quickly, returning the favor with a powerful jab to the other boy’s jaw.

They traded a few more rushed blows before the door to Max’s trailer burst open, her and Chrissy spilling outside, momentarily interrupting the fight.

For a second he was worried that Chrissy would take Jason’s side and run off with him before he could explain what was happening, and what she needed to do to keep herself safe. She looked back and forth between the two of them, but in the end her concerned gaze had settled squarely on Eddie, rather than her own boyfriend.

Jason turned, realizing who it was that had just appeared across the way, and called out to her. Eddie took advantage of the distraction and kicked out, landing a hit to the side of Jason’s knee that sent him to the ground, screaming.

Eddie stepped wide around him, waving the girls over as he headed to his van.

“Let’s get out of here.” He called out.

Chrissy hesitated, her eyes sliding back in Jason’s direction for a split second, but to Eddie’s relief both she and Max got into the vehicle without further discussion and the trio took off, speeding the entire way to Loch Nora.

When they arrived at the Harrington house Eddie sent Max up to the door first, since she was the only one of them Steve was expecting, and they could hear his voice through it before he even answered.

“This better be important, Mayfield. I was on a date and–” Steve cut himself off mid sentence as the door swung to reveal that Max was not alone.

“What the..” Steve muttered as he looked from her, to Chrissy, his expression running the gambit from annoyance, to confusion, and ultimately settling on concern as he took in Eddie’s face.

That was… unexpected.

“Shit, Munson. What happened to you?”

In his rush to get there Eddie had almost forgotten about the state of his face. He’d used a few spare fast food napkins to staunch the blood flow from his nose as he drove, but other than that he hadn't really thought to clean himself up. It wasn’t that bad, he’d had worse dust ups before, but still, he probably looked like a mess.

“Oh, uh.” Eddie said, eloquently.

Talking wasn’t always his best thing around Steve lately, most especially when he was talking to Steve.

“It's nothing, I'm alright.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing.” Steve said sternly. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Max is my neighbor.” Eddie said in place of a real answer, ignoring the fact that it didn't explain Chrissy’s presence, or really anything at all. He just needed to get in the door.

“May we come in, your highness?” He gave a shallow bow, trying to put on a bit of his usual persona even if he wasn’t feeling it.

Steve heaved a sigh, long and loud.

“Sure, why not, " he said and finally moved aside to let them in.

"Who's that with Max?” Dustin's voice came from somewhere in the house. “I could have sworn it sounded like…" He went on, coming to a screeching halt as he rounded the corner.

“Eddie?”

"Hey, Henderson." Eddie said, and it came out much softer than he intended it to. He couldn’t help it after…

"Wait, what’s going on? What are you doing here? Why is Chrissy Cunningham with you? And what the hell happened to your face?" Dustin asked the questions rapidfire, not taking a single breath in-between. It would have been impressive if it wasn’t so annoying.

Eddie should have been used to the kid’s style by now but it still made his head spin.

"Okay that's enough!” Steve interjected with a loud clap. “Dustin, you and Max take Chrissy to the kitchen, she looks like she needs to sit down. Robin’s in there making some coffee."

“And you,” he continued, pointing a finger at Eddie. "You're with me. Let’s get you cleaned up first and then you can tell us what the fuck is going on.”

Steve turned on his heel and headed straight down the hall to a staircase, not even looking back to make sure Eddie was following. He stared at the other boy’s retreating back, not quite believing the direction things were going. He’d expected confrontation, or some level of animosity from Steve, at least until he explained things, the same way it’d been at the beginning every other time.

It was all different now though, wasn’t it?

He wasn’t facing Steve for the first time since the younger boy’s graduation as a murder suspect on the run, hiding in another drug dealer's boat shed. This time around he was just a guy who’d shown up on Steve’s doorstep with a busted face. Granted he’d been accompanied by one of Steve’s favorite children, which was probably the only reason he’d been granted entrance honestly, but now that he was here the guy seemed hell-bent on taking care of him, even if–as far as Steve was aware–they barely knew each other.

–

Steve went up the stairs and turned down a hallway, passing one bedroom before heading into another as Eddie followed behind, trying to keep up.

It dawned on him suddenly that he was in Steve’s house– about to walk into his actual bedroom, a place Eddie had never expected to get to see with his own two eyes. Steve’s prowess in the sack was legendary among the girls of Hawkins High, to the point that not even Eddie was immune from the gossip about it, and no matter the circumstances his little gay heart couldn’t help but be a little curious about the place where that particular magic happened.

He stepped through the doorway and stopped dead, mouth agape as he took in the nightmare he’d just wandered into. He honestly wasn’t sure what was worse, the plaid everything, or the distinct lack of anything resembling a personality.

“I know, it’s awful. You can say it.” Steve said as if he’d been expecting this exact reaction.

“Well somebody has to, Jesus Christ Harrington.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Steve said, shaking his head. He moved through the room to another door that opened to a small private bathroom and motioned for Eddie to come in.

He took one more look around the monstrosity that was Steve’s inner sanctum and shuddered before following.

Steve sat him down on the closed toilet lid and quickly got to work, carefully wiping away the dried blood on his face with a warm washcloth. It must have been worse than he initially thought because it took several rounds of rinsing and rewetting the cloth before it finally came back clean.

Steve was quiet through the whole thing, not saying a word as he dabbed at a split on Eddie's eyebrow and another on his bottom lip with a cotton ball soaked in disinfectant. Eddie was similarly silent, mesmerized by the movements of Steve’s hands, and the calm that had settled between them in their temporary bubble, a little afraid that if he said anything, he’d say too much.

When it seemed like they were done Eddie moved to stand, only to be stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, champ. We still have to do something about that nose.” Steve said.

Eddie groaned. ”Haven't you done enough? It’s fine.”

He’d never had a broken nose before but he imagined setting it to be a painful process, and it hurt enough as it was. It was manageable though, and he wasn’t exactly worried about it healing crooked when the odds of him surviving past the next week were questionable at best.

“If it’s the pain you’re worried about, trust me, it’s not as bad as you think.” Steve said, seeming to read his mind, half of it anyway. “Look, I’ve had to set my own a couple times now and it only hurts for a second, promise.”

Of course Steve had had broken noses, plural, over the years. It made sense considering how the guy regularly threw himself head first into any and all trouble, especially if it meant protecting his friends, but it wasn’t only the pain that was making Eddie hesitate. The other problem, perhaps the bigger one, was how all this soft touch and care was affecting him in—other ways.

He wasn’t unaware of the fact that he was developing a crush on Steve, as much as he was doing his best to ignore it, and he absolutely could not handle it getting any worse. Which was exactly what was happening right now.

Unfortunately, one look at Steve’s face told him he wasn’t getting out of this without a fight.

Eddie grit his teeth, accepting his fate. “Get on with it then, Harrington.”

Steve's touch was firm but gentle as he cradled the side of Eddie's face with one hand, placing fingers strategically on either side of his nose with the other. And just like that, with a soft crack and a split second of discomfort– it was done.

Eddie blew out a long breath when Steve finally released him, and it felt as if all the adrenaline that had been building up inside him was drained from his body along with the air he expelled.

He suddenly felt exhausted, raw. These last twenty minutes or so in the bathroom had been his first opportunity to really slow down and process what he’d been through to get to this point.

He closed his eyes and leaned forward resting his head in his hands, careful of his injuries, as he started to spiral.

The worst part of it all was the absolute certainty that he could still mess this up. Even if the others believed him, there was no guarantee that any of it would change the final outcome. He only knew his own path after all. He had no idea what had happened to the others—Steve, Robin, and Nancy; Max, and the Sinclairs; the group in California that they could never seem to get hold of but were pretty sure had been affected as well.

Then there was the wild card.

In saving Chrissy, Eddie had snatched one of Vecna’s victims right out from under his nose. Would he keep gunning for her, or would he set his sights elsewhere? Had saving one person only doomed another in her place?

Eddie’s heart raced along with his thoughts, his pulse pounding loudly inside his own head. Suddenly he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

“You okay?” Steve asked.

It snapped him back to the present.

“Nah man,” Eddie managed out between rapid shallow breaths. “I’m pretty goddamn far from okay.”

He felt more than saw Steve crouch down in front of him, his broad hands wrapping around Eddie’s, prying them away from his face.

“Hey, you’re okay.” Steve said softly, still holding his hands, squeezing in a way that felt… grounding.

“You’re okay, you’re safe,” he continued. “Eddie, can you look at me?”

Eddie forced himself to open his eyes and found Steve staring back at him, his own eyes full of concern.

“Try and take some slow deep breaths with me.”

Steve took several exaggerated breaths and Eddie did his best to mimic him, taking as much air as he could into his lungs before blowing it out as slowly as he could manage, repeating the process over and over until his heart didn’t feel like it was trying to escape his chest anymore.

Eddie shook his head. “This whole thing is so fucked, Steve.” He said, letting out a painful hiccupping sob as tears fell freely down his face. He was acutely aware that the other boy had no idea what he was talking about and probably thought he’d lost his mind, but he couldn’t seem to stop.

“I mean… I have no idea what I’m doing.” He continued, voice quivering.

“Why did it have to be me?”

“Hey shhh, it’s alright. It’s gonna be alright.” Steve said, rubbing a thumb over the back of Eddie’s hand in soothing circles.

“You don’t know that!" Eddie wailed, pulling his hands out of Steve's grip to wrap his arms around himself.

Steve took his outburst in stride. “You’re right, I don’t. And I know we don't really know each other except through school rumors and Dustin, but I’ve been through some– stuff, and, um, maybe I could help?”

Eddie broke out in a watery laugh. Only Steve Harrington could reduce the horrors he’d seen down to, I've been through some stuff, and of course the guy was already offering to help with almost no context. The perpetual white knight, indeed.

“Yeah. You’re a good dude, Steve.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, a hint of shock on his face, not dissimilar to the way he’d reacted the first time Eddie had said those words to him, what felt like a hundred years ago.

“Okay.” Eddie said, sniffing back his tears and rubbing at his face. He couldn’t believe he’d let himself fall apart like this.

“So, Max, uh, she called in that code red because I asked her to. I was going to wait and tell all of you at the same time, but, maybe I should… I dunno, warm up or something? Start with just you?”

He felt strangely okay with the idea of telling Steve about things ahead of everyone else. Something about the whole screaming-crying-breakdown thing made him believe that, unlike the last go-around where he’d been anxious about convincing Steve specifically, this time it would be okay..

Steve looked as confused as ever, but nodded, pushing himself up to stand as he asked, “Can we at least get out of this bathroom first?”

–

“I’m just gonna like, blurt it all out.” Eddie said after a few beats of silence.

They were sitting on the edge of Steve’s bed, not quite touching, but it was a near thing. Eddie wasn't sure if he was happy about it or if it was adding to his overall stress. He kept his gaze on the floor as he spoke.

“Chrissy Cunningham died in my trailer after being psychically attacked by some creepy dark-wizard guy who lives in the Upside Down. And I know what you must be thinking, it’s impossible right? Because she’s downstairs in your kitchen right now, but you would be wrong. Also, yes, I know all about the Upside Down. Well, not all about it—not important. Anyway, I saw the whole thing and I ran. The rest of the town assumed that I killed her, but you, Dustin, Robin, and Max found me and helped me out– saved my life, more than once. Then I actually helped save your life when we got stuck in the Upside Down together, although I maintain you did that all on your own, but you insisted on thanking me, so.” Eddie shrugged.

“Um, I hotwired an RV so we could gather supplies to make several very illegal weapons that we then took back into the Upside Down, to fight said creepy-wizard-guy, and um, I died.” He paused to take a breath, finally chancing a look at Steve to see how he was taking it, but the other boy’s expression was unreadable.

“And that was just the first time around. I’m stuck in a time loop. This is my 4th time living through this same week, including the original run. I’m not entirely sure if that makes this the third loop or the 4th to be honest, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

“Shit, man. That’s… That’s a lot.” Steve said, after a while.

“Yup.”

“Have you told me before? Any of the other times?”

“Just the last time. I didn't really know what was happening before that. I remembered dying and all, but half the time I just thought I was living in my own personal Hell to be honest. I did eventually tell Dustin right before…” Eddie stopped himself short, shaking his head. “He convinced me to tell all of you each time I came back.”

“Okay, makes sense. What went wrong last time?” Steve asked.

Eddie wasn’t sure if Steve was just humoring him or if he really believed what he was saying, but either way this was the part he felt worst about. He’d hoped he could get away with not explaining the last loop but he should have known someone would ask.

“I told you, Robin, Dustin, and Max about the loops. You believed me eventually, but I realized we couldn’t fix things yet because I hadn't managed to save Chrissy. So I asked you if we could keep it between us and just let things happen the same way again, so that hopefully I’d get another shot.”

“You just let yourself be killed again?!” Steve blurted out.

“You weren’t too happy about it then either, but once we had a little heart-to-heart about it…'' Eddie hesitated, eyes drawn to the glowing light of the pool, visible through Steve’s window. “I think you understood where I was coming from.”

“Oh.” Steve breathed, following his line of sight.

A sudden knock startled them both. Steve flinched and their knees brushed, the simple touch making Eddie’s skin break out in goosebumps.

“Hey Steve?” Robin called through the door. “Um, everyone’s here. Except for Lucas, he’s not answering his Walkie.”

“We’ll be right out!” Steve shouted back, turning to Eddie with a clear look of concern. “Is Lucas in danger?”

Eddie shook his head, though knowing where he was the answer was debatable. “Sinclair’s out with his basketball buddies tonight, I'm pretty sure. He’s okay, always meets up with you at some point.”

Steve sagged in relief. Which, Eddie supposed, answered that question.

He believed.

“I guess it’s time to do this then.” Eddie said, fiddling nervously with his rings.

“Hey, I believe you, okay?” Steve said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “They’re gonna believe you too and I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”

And Christ, Steve really needed to stop touching him, and being sweet, it was getting out of hand.

“Thanks, Harrington. Careful though, If you keep being so nice, I’ll start to think you actually like me.” Eddie teased.

It was a stupid joke. He knew Steve liked him well enough as a friend, if that’s what they were now. At least as much as you can be friends with someone you kept forgetting because that’s how time loops work apparently. He had to turn it into a joke for his own sanity. It had to be a joke, because otherwise it might start to feel like something else, and there was no way it was something else.

Steve grinned. “Oh, so we’re back to Harrington now, are we Munson? I thought we were closer than that.”

Eddie felt his cheeks warm and jumped up from the bed, making a beeline for the door to hide his blush. “Shut up, Steve.”

–

The kids, who really weren’t kids except for maybe Erica but Eddie couldn't help thinking of them that way, had taken over Steve’s living room. Like a pack of slobs they had the entire surface area of the coffee table littered with chip bags, candy packets, and soda cans. They were loud too. Max was arguing with Mike about god knew what, while Dustin and Erica fought over the TV remote, giving Eddie plenty of cover to slip by unnoticed as he came back downstairs.

He almost felt bad for how long he was leaving them all in suspense, but he wanted to check in with Chrissy and see how she was doing before anything else. He already felt bad for disappearing with Steve for so long.

He expected to find Robin keeping her company, but less expected was Nancy huddled together with the other two girls at the counter, talking quietly over matching mugs. Three sets of eyes looked up in surprised tandem as he entered and briefly Eddie thought, this is what it must feel like to be a deer caught in headlights.

He hesitated in the doorway unsure of his welcome, but as soon as she saw him Chrissy slid off her stool and went to him, wrapping him up in a tight hug.

She might have been small but her grip was strong and Eddie had to stop himself from melting into the embrace. He’d only just stopped blubbering, and she'd easily set him off again if he did.

“How are you holding up?” He said, pulling back sooner than he wanted to, and shot her a teasing smile. “Are the other girls being nice to you?”

“I'm okay. What about you?” She asked, searching his face, gaze lingering on the various dings and bruises he was now sporting.

“I’ll be alright. Harrington’s a pretty good nurse.” He smiled again, this time a little too wide and he winced as it pulled at the split on his lip.

She grimaced. “I’m sorry about Jason. He’s a jerk, I should have broken things off a long time ago.”

Eddie shook his head. “Not your fault. Carver’s always had it out for me, he just needed an excuse.”

–

All eyes were on Eddie as the group gathered in the living room. He took a seat on the lone armchair, which just so happened to face both couches, giving him a whole new perspective on the term hot seat. He was no stranger to being the center of attention, what with the shouting in the lunchroom and DM-ing Hellfire, but considering the stakes, this was far more nerve wracking than that.

“We saw him like two hours ago at D&D, what could have happened since then that’s such a big deal?” Erica was saying when he tuned back into the conversation.

“If you brats would shut up for five minutes maybe he’d tell you.” Steve said, moving to stand just behind the chair Eddie was in.

He appreciated the show of support but honestly the proximity was only making him more nervous, and not only because of the way Nancy and Robin were both shooting them curious glances.

“She’s not wrong,” Mike agreed. ”I had to sneak out of my house for this! If my parents find out I’m gone they won’t let me go see– “

Dustin cut him off. “Dude, just give him a second, alright?”

“Thanks, buddy.” Eddie said, when the cacophony finally died down. He wondered if this would ever get any easier. Hopefully he'd never have to find out.

Time to rip the Band-Aid off, again.

“I’m stuck in a time loop.”

What felt like hours later, but in reality was probably only about 45 minutes, Eddie had told his whole story, leading right up until present day when he showed up at Steve’s house with a busted face. When it was all done he was met with complete silence.

For about 3 seconds.

He was honestly surprised they had held out this long.

After that the room erupted into chaos. If he’d thought it was loud before, it was nothing to the volume now. Everyone was talking, shouting questions at him and at each other. Robin was rambling a thousand miles an hour, mostly to herself, while Nancy was staring back and forth between him and the notes she’d begun taking almost as soon as he started talking. The only notable absence to the arguing and spitballing was Dustin, who had gone uncharacteristically quiet.

Steve came out to stand in front of the group with his hands raised, presumably to tell them all to shut the fuck up again, but just as he was about to speak they heard the front door crash open and slammed closed, and a second later Lucas came bounding into the room. He was covered in sweat, chest heaving and out of breath as he stared wide-eyed at the assembled mass, doing a double take when he spotted Chrissy.

“I… don’t know what’s going on here, but Jason Carver has lost his mind. He thinks Eddie kidnapped Chrissy and now he, Andy, and a couple of the other guys are out looking for him.”

“Not this again.” Eddie whined, sliding down in his seat, pouting.

“What does he mean again?” Lucas said, scanning the room, looking from one friend's face to another, before looking back at Eddie. “He was limping pretty bad, did you two get in a fight?”

“Wait, how did you even know Eddie was here?” Steve asked.

“I didn’t. I ran home to radio Dustin about it and I got Erica’s note that there was a code-red. What’s going on?”

“Dustin and Mike can explain it all to you but first everyone needs to call home.” Steve said. "Make whatever excuses you have to, but I think it would be best if everyone stayed here together, at least until we have a better handle on this.”

Nancy shook her head. “Mike’s supposed to leave for California in the morning.”

“Well obviously that’s not gonna happen now. No way!” Mike said.

“I get that but we still have to go home, and you have to come up with a story to tell mom and dad for why you’re not going.” She said.

Mike pouted. “Fine.”

“All right, you two do what you have to do but be careful. Make sure you know each other’s favorite songs, like Eddie told us, it helps.” Steve said, raising his voice as he continued to make sure they were all listening. “That goes for everyone. We should probably make a list so we’re prepared if this asshole targets anyone else.”

“Are you really buying all this, Steve?” Nancy asked, not even bothering to keep her voice down.

Eddie wasn’t exactly offended, per se, but he was certainly regretting his initial speech about Nancy and her show of true love to Steve when they were in the Upside Down. He had nothing against her, in theory. She was a badass, that’s for sure, but whether it was wishful thinking due to his own ill advised crush, or something else, he could see it now. They might care for eachother, but she and Steve were not a good match.

“Is it any weirder than everything else we’ve been through?” Steve asked her.

Nancy frowned, and Eddie could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. She didn’t like it, but his point was good enough to give her pause. “I guess not.”

And it seemed like… that was it.

If Steve and Nancy were on board, the rest of them would go along with it. Even if they didn’t all believe him as completely as Steve did, or he suspected Dustin did, they believed him enough to plan, plot, and strategize. Enough to band together at a moment's notice—to make special mixtapes for Max and Chrissy so they could listen to their favorite songs on repeat without having to rewind a tape every three minutes.

The rest of the evening went by in a bit of a blur. Eddie was drained, and let himself fade into the background as Nancy and Mike left, and the others who remained began sleeping arrangement negotiations as though they’d done this dozens of times before. It occurred to him belatedly that with what this group had been through together over the past three years, they probably had.

He kept expecting Dustin to approach him, to want to talk to him, maybe even yell at him for dying so many times, but instead he seemed to be purposely ignoring him, except for shooting the occasional sideways glance his way when he thought Eddie wasn’t looking.

At some point Chrissy had actually fallen asleep on the couch, and Robin graciously offered to share the bed in Steve’s guest room with her. A move which Eddie couldn’t help raising an eyebrow over. He didn’t know Robin had it in her.

Good for her.

He didn't actually know for sure if Robin was gay, to be fair. She hadn’t come out and told him or anything, but over the days, weeks, whatever, he’d picked up a vibe from her. The same vibe he suspected he gave off as well

Sure enough as the two girls said their goodnights he could see the panic written all over poor Robin’s face. She caught his eye and he gave her his most encouraging smile.

He was glad to see that they had bonded, at least a little. Chrissy could use someone to talk to about all this, some support. Eddie was there for her, no doubt about it, but she needed more than just him.

The party fell like dominoes after that. Erica and Max called dibs on Steve's parents room at the first opportunity, leaving Dustin and Lucas to fight over the couch and loveseat. Which honestly shouldn’t have been a fight since Lucas was way taller and needed the extra space, but apparently the couch was comfier.

Eddie decided to stay out of it.

It was all working out fine. Everyone had a buddy, someone to watch out for them if any weird shit happened in the night.

Well, almost everyone.

“I guess that just leaves you and me, Munson. As long as you don't mind sharing a queen sized bed?”

“No, that’s–” Eddie squeaked.

He’d been so naïve to think the most stressful part of the night had passed.

Eddie cleared his throat and tried again. “That’s fine.”

Steve smiled and again led the way upstairs to his room, turning lights out on his way as they moved through the house, all the while Eddie did his best to recall the deep breathing exercises he’d done with Steve in the bathroom earlier, since he was pretty sure he was about to have another panic attack.

Chapter 4

Art by the incredibly talented @penny00dreadful!!

And thanks to you as always also for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader. 😘

Reblogs are always appreciated and if you want to be tagged, just let me know! I'd be more than happy to do so 💜

Taglist: @hitlikehammers @pearynice @cranberrymoons @thoroughlycollected @blubblesandink @finntheehumaneater @brbsoulnomming @estrellami-1 @hellion-child @mentallyundone @manda-panda-monium @spicysix @kikidoesfanfic @dreamwatch @lawrencebshoggoth @stillfullofshit @lil-gremlin-things @mamafaithful

#steddie fanfic #time loop #pov eddie munson #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie #steddie fic #fanfic #hbyrde's anniversary project

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bmodiwrites · 1 year

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So, our power went out this morning & my s/o and I made a blanket fort by battery light to snuggle under. For some reason, as I drifted off to sleep, this little idea stuck with me. Here's the result of 5AM wanderings...

Slamming the case of his guitar down, Eddie let out a long breath.

After four hours of what could only be called terrible practice, Eddie was glad to have the instrument packed up and out of his sight for a while. Though Corroded Coffin saw some recent success, their attempt at creating new music wasn’t going all that well and everyone knew it.

What should’ve been an easy way to relax after a week of shows turned into bad playing that gave way to silly arguments. In the handful of years they’d been a working, functional band, Eddie hadn’t ever felt so put off by the people around him. They weren’t making music – just a mess.

Lingering behind everyone once Gareth finally tossed in the white flag gave Eddie the opportunity to calm down and come back to Earth. There was no guarantee that he would’ve made it out of the parking lot without punching Jeff across the cheek if they all walked out together. Eddie hated being called out for bad lyricism and Jeff hadn’t held back once he got started. Despite agreeing with him, Eddie’s temper was on a hair trigger, close to going off at any minute. Taking a second to let everyone leave in peace was the only way for the band to stay together.

Even in a fit of red, Eddie understood that.

Once the aggressive need to barrel people over dropped by the way side, Eddie felt able to get on his feet and out the door. On top of not wanting to ruin things with the band, bringing home bad energy was never a good idea. Steve’s ability to read people had only gotten stronger having survived Vecna. Any bad juju immediately put Steve on edge – especially where Eddie was concerned.

Of course, the mere thought of Steve worked wonders in its own right. No matter where Eddie was on the spectrum of freaking out to breaking people’s noses, conjuring up little pictures or memories of Steve always helped to soothe him. Their three year relationship played a huge part in the control Eddie now had over himself. His rambunctious personality and lifestyle was a lot easier to manage when each night didn’t end with a possible arrest.

By the time that Eddie made it out to the parking lot, his mood was a lot lighter. He already forgot most of the turmoil sitting on his chest – the weight there was easily replaced with the scorching flame of something unnamable Steve and Eddie’s feelings for him always brought about. Getting into his car, Eddie almost had a smile on his face.

The drive back to their little shared apartment finished leveling Eddie out – his steps walking to the door were filled with anticipation, not anger and dread. It still blew Eddie’s mind that his heart started to pound harder and harder the closer he got to his place of rest. Coming home, crossing the threshold of a place that still didn’t feel real – it was overwhelming.

Still, Eddie hoped the excitement would never fade. There was something nice about the promise of forever.

Shaking his head, Eddie blinked back to reality just in time to notice the front porch light wasn’t on. He passed Steve’s car in the parking lot on his way in, so his boyfriend had to be home. The confusion of what could be up had Eddie’s brow quirking and his stride hastening. Their apartment was usually a lit beacon shouting the comfort of home into the void. Darkness, after finding out all the scary things that creeped about in it, scared Eddie.

He was quiet as he opened the front door. Whether Steve was out for the count napping or taken hostage by something from the Upside Down, making a lot of noise wasn’t going to help the situation. Having surprise on his side seemed like the only weapon Eddie had at his disposal.

A shaking hand reached down to grab at the chain that dangled from his belt loop. Eddie gripped it hard to stop the noise of it banging against his leg. If push came to shove, he could fling his heavy wallet at an enemy a little easier now.

More surprise to wield.

Slowly, Eddie walked through the kitchen into the living room. Their tv was eerily off, adding to the blackness of the emptiness. Noticing that Steve’s slumped over form wasn’t on the couch, Eddie let out a breath and continued down the hall.

One by one, Eddie cleared the rooms – upon first glance, nothing was out of the ordinary.

That should’ve made Eddie’s pulse quiet but he still felt on edge. With only one room left to check, Eddie was nervous to peel back the curtain and peek behind it. If Steve was in trouble, the game officially started, the fight was on. It was now or never.

Sucking in a huge breath, Eddie gripped the doorknob of their bedroom until his knuckles turned white. Eddie squeezed harder then, delaying the inevitable that came with flicking his wrist and opening the door.

The squeaky hinge had Eddie holding his breath – he made it through the entire apartment without making any noise, leave it to the final moment to give his position away. No matter how much practice Eddie got being stealth and sneaky and heroic, the end result never matched up to his expectation. When all was said and done, Eddie was just a goof, even fate and the wide universe knew and understood that truth.

A soft groan coming from the bed stopped Eddie’s downward spiral in its tracks. Eddie went on high alert again, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. The darkness of the room made it harder to focus, but Eddie’s eyes eventually got adjusted enough to make out Steve’s body curled up in a ball on the comforter.

Another garbled noise had Eddie dropping his chain in favor of walking to the bed and getting his hands on his obviously suffering boyfriend. All the thoughts of danger dropped to the floor because Eddie recognized Steve’s hands on his head for the very regular, very normal thing that it was.

A bad night for Steve.

Trying not to make too much noise on his approach, Eddie sat down on the edge of the bed. For a second, he merely lingered there, allowing Steve to know he was there without saying anything. Eddie’s heart rate came back down and a sense of peace filtered into the room. Finally, a hand shot out to brush against Eddie’s leg. The touch was fleeting but cue enough for Eddie to move in a little closer.

His hands were feather light when returning Steve’s touch. Eddie scooted across the mattress until his hip was pressed against Steve’s drawn up knees. No stirring to pull away happened, so Eddie continued. Soon, his fingers brushed up Steve’s arm and shoulder, settling on the length of his neck. With the most adorable sigh Eddie had ever heard, Steve pushed back into the touch.

“You okay, babe?” Eddie asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Steve pushed back into Eddie’s touch in answer. Speaking, it seemed wasn’t in the cards right now.

“Is it your head?” Eddie questioned as he brushed his fingers into Steve’s hair, tugging the strands gently.

Again, Steve arched into Eddie’s touch but said nothing.

Breathing out an affectionate huff, Eddie needlessly nodded. The darkness made so much sense now.

Eddie lingered in Steve’s space for a few minutes, wordlessly petting him into a stupor. The pained sounds he walked in to hear disappeared into contented hums until Steve seemed to drift off into sleep. When Eddie felt him slump, he pulled his hand away.

“No,” Steve mumbled, his whole body stirring for the first time. “Don’t go.”

“I’ll be back. You need medicine and water. You’ll feel better, Stevie.” Despite all of that being true and Eddie’s counter being sound, they both knew Steve was absolutely going to get his way.

Especially when Steve pulled out the big guns. “I just want you. Hold me – please.”

Sighing, because Steve was gorgeously manipulative and Eddie was absolutely there for it, he tucked his chin to his chest in defeat. “You’re lucky I love you,” Eddie muttered in jest.

He got up as gingerly as he could to toe off his shoes and shrug out of his vest and jacket. The cropped shirt he changed into after sweating his ass off at band practice made his skin prickle in the cool air, but Eddie quickly got over it. Steve was hot to the touch and begging to be snuggled back to normalcy. The chill wouldn’t linger around long.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, Eddie crawled into his usual spot, a feeling of lightness washing over him. It didn’t seem like he’d been close to breaking half of his life apart just half an hour earlier. Everything in him was light and easy enough to carry now. As his hand settled over Steve’s waist, digging into Eddie’s favorite little spot of hair on that flat stomach, contentment threatened to overwhelm him. Emotional whiplash prickled like sparks on his skin.

After a moment of having Steve in his arms, gratitude washed everything else away.

Steve leaned back so beautifully into Eddie, fitting all their joints and curves together. Eddie palmed Steve’s belly while Steve arched into Eddie’s frame like the house cat he truly was. Like puzzle pieces, they wiggled and shifted until they fit together perfectly. Eddie’s earlier thought about a healing touch became more and more real as the minutes went by. Steve calmed down to the point where he started to snore ever so slightly.

The breathy puffs of air meant, at last, Steve was truly asleep.

For a moment, Eddie thought about climbing out of bed to get Steve what he needed, to turn on a few lights in the apartment and get started on dinner. He imagined himself being a responsible adult that took care of his partner with the grace of someone who wasn’t selfish and hooked on the feeling of their bodies melding together. The urge to be that person lingered just long enough for Steve to subconsciously reach down and grip the hand Eddie hand on his belly.

His decision was so easily made.

Settling in, actually relaxing, made Eddie’s own tiredness become obnoxiously apparent. His arms seemed to weigh a ton and all ideas of doing anything but pulling Steve closer were sufficiently buried under comfort and an ease so sweet Eddie forgot about his troubles.

Seconds before Eddie drifted off himself, the fingers tangled with his own squeezed and Steve stirred. “Love you.”

Humming, Eddie leaned his smiling lips into Steve’s neck, pressing a sleepy kiss there. “I love you,” he muttered back, settling into the mattress further.

Sometimes, the universe forced shit to slow down, gave signs of its own. For once, Eddie appreciated the gesture, leaning into it completely.

#steddie #stranger things #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington x eddie munson #bobbie writes #a sleepy little ficlet #baby boys #<3

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geminigengar · 2 years

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Ange De La Morte Preview

eddie munson x addams!reader

short snippit of one of my WIPs

warnings: none

it was your first day at hawkins high. stalking the corridors to your locker, you felt countless eyes on you analysing you like scientists waiting for a chemical reaction. your peers parted as you trekked through the halls, hastily moving as if you were contagious. even the passing teachers seemed nervous to approach you.

needless to say you were underwhelmed.

you were used to the stares certainly, as they were guaranteed to accompany an addams wherever they went. you were disappointed though, since you had heard some horror stories of the supernatural and odd occurrences that were rumored to have taken place in the small indiana town. so far it seemed to be just that- rumors. rumors made up to scare kids into behaving or they'd taking away by the big, bad boogie man. and judging from the stares, you were those scary stores manifest.

as you opened your locker, resigning to another mundane year of boring people you would never understand or care about, you collected your necessities for your next class: textbook, notebook, pens, fire ants, highlighters. the necessities.

you were about to close your locker when you spotted him behind you in your locker mirror left behind by the last occupant.

the first thing that caught your eyes was a head of dark curly hair before you noticed the smile underneath his bangs. his laugh as he spoke to his friends reached your ears as you bit your lip. the laugh was insanely loud, high pitched, and utterly obnoxious. you loved it.

you closed your locker before he caught you starring. by the time your sorted out your bookbag and turned around he was gone; much to your disappointment.

walking into your first class only to see him in front of the only open seat in the room brought a smile to your lips. you mentally sent a quick thank you to grandmama, who'd told you she would make sure the ancestors would make this your year. it certainly was starting out to be.

the boy turned around as you took your seat, openly gawking at you and you couldn't help but smirk at his reaction to you. you raised an eyebrow and he quickly looked away and cleared his throat.

your teacher started speaking before the boy had a chance to explain himself. the man announced your arrival to the class- a new student who'd just transferred from new jersey. he motioned for you to join him at the front of the classroom to introduce yourself, which you had no intention of doing. "no thank you."

"i'm sorry?"

you looked back up at your teacher from the book you had brought to class, 'a clutch of vampires.' a gift from your mother as a reward for your grades from the previous year.

"i said 'no.' thank you though." you didn't notice the stares of your classmates or the slack jawed surprise written on your teacher - mr caldwell's face. you did however feel the gaze of the boy in front of you, looking back into his dark eyes only to be met with a mischievous, downright devious grin that gave you butterflies.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munso x y/n #eddie munson x goth!reader #eddie munson x addams!reader #eddie munson x addams reader #stranger things imagines #st imagines #stranger things x reader #addams!reader #goth!reader #my own writing

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blaqcats-fics · 1 year

Text

(He’s) Just a Phase — Part 1

MASTERLIST

Word Count: 3.1K

November 1993.

Steve cursed lowly as he tried to light his cigarette. The wind was not on his side today, and he was growing increasingly annoyed with every passing moment.

The day had begun with a literal pile of dog shit. He had woken up, sleeping past his alarm, and his service dog, Bowie, had left him a present. Steve stepped into it and thus set the mood for the rest of the day. From then on, Steve missed the bus, causing having to walk to the music store where he worked out with his guitar case heavy on his back and Bowie at his side. It also didn't help that it had rained the night before and a car passed by without slowing down and drenched him in cold water.

Thankfully he had arrived at work in one piece. He was in break now, letting Bowie take a moment to eat some food and to allow himself a smoke, even though that was becoming a failure itself.

‘Fuck it,’ Steve grunted, running his hand through his hair, grimacing as his hand tangled in his hair. It had grown out far longer than he was used to. It looked like his mother’s hair — long, unruly, and stuck between the questionable state of wavy and curly. He was sure that it rivaled Eddie’s almost, except he didn't have poorly chopped bangs.

He glanced down at Bowie, watching as he finished eating his kibble, before looking up at Steve with big brown eyes. Steve smiled, leaning down, gently petting him as he picked the bowl up. ‘Was it good, boy?’ he asked, chuckling as Bowie’s tail thumped against the ground. ‘Guess so. C’mon, back to work, bubby.’

Steve opened the door to the store, watching as Bowie trotted back inside. Steve followed in after Bowie, going behind the counter. ‘Back from break!’ he called out.

‘Gotcha!’ Sam called back.

Samuel ‘Sam’ Carter was a fifty-year-old retired drummer, and Steve’s boss. He was intimidating to look at, covered in tattoos from head to toe, and fitted into a biker-gang aesthetic, but despite the intimidating exterior, Sam was a sweetheart. He was also one of the few people Steve met in the past month that was helping him understand the current queer culture.

Sam, surprisingly, was an active member of the drag community in Seattle and was more than happy to take Steve under his wing, saying that Steve looked like a lost puppy begging for shelter.

Steve was a lost puppy looking for shelter when he came to Seattle. He had left Indianapolis on a whimand didn't stop to think of the consequences. Luckily, Sam was able to situate Steve with a job and a place to stay.

‘Oh, yeah, kid!’ Sam called, walking out from the back of the store, clipboard in hand from doing inventory. ‘Gale called and said she found something that you might be interested in.’

Steve glanced at him as he opened the cash register to count the cash for the third time. ‘What’d she say?’

‘Anthem, the bar down where Gale works, is having an open mic night. Gale says there may be a producer there, but she can't promise anything,’ Sam said, walking to the counter. He paused and made a scrunched face at Bowie, speaking in a baby voice at him.

Steve rolled his eyes at Sam’s actions, but was otherwise interested. This was an opportunity, even if it could be a failure. ‘She say what time it was?’

‘Around 9 tonight.’

‘Tonight?’ Steve exclaimed. ‘I don't gave anything to play! Fuck!’

Sam scoffed, ‘I’ve seen you scribble in that notebook of yours; you have something.’

Steve chewed on his lip anxiously, glancing down as Bowie nudged his leg. He took a shaky breath, fixing his glasses on his face that had gradually fallen down his face. ‘Those aren't lyrics. They, uh, I don't know, it's just venting.’

‘Sounds close enough to music for me,’ Sam said. ‘How about this, I’ll call Rachael to cover your shift, and you go figure your shit out for tonight. You ain't going to get anywhere without nipping opportunities by the ass. You aren't going to get your man back without working for it.’

Steve hummed, nodding. He didn't bother correcting Sam. This wasn't about getting Eddie back. He was sure Eddie was happier off without him lingering in his shadow. Life had just started to work out in Eddie’s favor. All Steve wanted to do was apologize and make up for hurting Eddie, even if hurting him had never been his intention.

‘Oh, before you head out, Paul can't do their routine Saturday night, do you want to fill in their spot?’ Sam asked. ‘I know you aren't familiar with the scene, but stepping out if your comfort zone can be fun sometimes.’

Paul (Monique on Saturdays and Mondays) was one of Sam’s liners at the club he owned. They were one of the more popular drag queens that worked there. Steve enjoyed their shows, finding them loud and exciting. However, Steve never found himself wondering what it was like to be a queen.

Steve shook his head, ‘If it was Minnie, maybe. Paul is too much of a star to fill in for.’

Sam snorted, ‘Ain’t that the damn truth. You’d make a pretty girl, Stevie.’ He sent Steve a wink.

‘I think I need to finish sorting out my internalized homophobia before I start examining gender and how I want to be perceived. I don't need to give myself a stroke,’ Steve grinned. He picked up his case, adjusting it comfortably on his back. ‘Plus, if I had a pair of tits, I don't think this world would survive.’

‘Christ, kid,’ Sam laughed. ‘Get out of here.’

Steve rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his face. He called Bowie and left for home. He knew that if Eddie was still with him, he'd love to meet Sam.

That night, despite practicing for hours, Steve could feel his skin crawling. He was a bundle of nerves and he left as if someone had jump-started his heart with a faulty engine. For a brief moment, Steve wondered if Eddie always felt this way before going on to play a show. Maybe, but Eddie was always a bundle of nerves.

‘You good, ‘Evie?’ Gale asked, handing him a shot. ‘Look like you could use some liquid courage.’

Steve glanced down at the shot and hesitated. He started at it for a moment before shaking his head. ‘Best not. My nerves already make me sick to my stomach,’ he said.

Gale shrugged, taking the shot and downing it herself. ‘More for me,’ she winked. ‘You ready to play your little heart out?’

‘No,’ Steve said, raw honesty in his voice. ‘Performing was never my thing. I don't think it even is my thing. I was good at sports in high school like I was a full-on jock, but this? I wouldn't gave touched this with a twenty-foot pole.’

Gale hummed, her eyes fleeting over him, taking in his appearance. ‘Sure don't look like a jock now with that hair of yours, and that outfit. It screams homeless instead of jock,’ she joked.

‘I got it from Walmart,’ Steve frowned. ‘It was comfy and cheap.’

The woman sighed, ‘Baby, you look like the bastard child of Kurt Cobain, but with Tommy Lee’s stupidly sexy hair.’

Steve stared at her. ‘I know Cobain is from Nirvana, but who the hell is Tommy Lee?’

‘Some pretty boy from Mötley Crüe,’ she explained. ‘They’re either a metal or rock band. Who knows the damn difference?’

Eddie does, Steve’s mind supplied.

He pulled his gaze away from Gale, looking at the stage, listening to, well, something. ‘Is that poetry?’

‘Kind of,’ she said with an uninterested shrug. ‘Spoken word, I think. You like it?’

Steve scrunched his nose, ‘Not my cup of tea.’

‘It’s powerful,’ Gale said. ‘It were louder, maybe I would like it, but eh.’

‘Eh,’ Steve agreed. He glanced around the bar before settling his gaze back on Gale. ‘Sam said something about a producer?’

Gale rose her brows, ‘Is that why're so worked up?’

Steve felt his cheek warm. ‘Possibly.’

‘I don't know kid. Boss told me that there could be one, but didn't give me a name or a face.’

‘Shit,’ Steve grunted. That made his anxiety even worse. Actually, Steve wasn't sure if it did make it worse. The dread had already been lingering, but now it felt more real.

‘You’ll be fine. I'd be more worried if you didn't know how to song,’ Gale joked. She glanced down towards the end of the bar where an older man was flagging her. ‘You’re on next, ‘Evie. Take a breath and focus on the reason you're even out here.’

Steve didn't say anything as she walked away. He glanced back at the stage, swallowing the lump in his throat. He pushed himself off of the stool, moving through the small crowd of people and he suddenly felt as if he was back in Indianapolis, pushing through the crowd, looking for Eddie. It was a familiar, but ghostly feeling that made the hairs on the back of his hair raise.

That had been the year's ago, and Eddie was far from his reach.

‘A round of applause for Kaitlynn and James for their wonderful performance!’ the announcer spoke loudly into the mic. Steve couldn't remember his name. It was Dave, Derek, or something. He knew it started with a D. ‘Next up in tonight’s roster is the mysterious ‘Evie!’

Steve licked at his front teeth, sucking in a breath. He went to the stage, passing by Kaitlynn and James. He took a moment to pull his guitar from his case, checking the tuning before sitting down on a bench in front if the microphone. He coughed slightly, the sound feeling the room. ‘A big thank you for anyone who came out here tonight. My name is ‘Evie and this is my song, uh, enjoy?’

‘Evie was a stage name. Gale and Sam suggested he used one, even if it wasn't far off from his actual name. It helped hide him for now, at least until photographs were involved, and Steve did whatever he could do to avoid his face being anywhere.

There was a small applause of encouragement and a loud whistle that most likely came from Gale. His lip switched and he adjusted the weight of his guitar in his hands.

‘I’m starting at the glass in front of me,’ he sang, voice loud in the room, the microphone and speakers filling the room with his voice. ‘Is it half empty? Have I ruined all you’ve given me?’

He strummed the guitar, his stomach twisting in knots as he sang. He didn't know if it came from the anxiety of performing or from how a giant lump of panic started to form in the back of his throat.

He took a deep breath, pushing the lump away, his eyes stinging. ‘Don’t tell me I will make it on my own. Don't leave me tonight. This heart of stone will sink ‘til it does if you leave me alone,’ he sang, his voice cracking.

Steve remembered the long nights when sleep never plagued him. He remembered sitting up in bed, giving his attention to an unaware and sleeping Eddie. He used to watch him sleep and watched as all the stress lines were even out on his face, making him look younger. Eddie had looked so peaceful, and sometimes Steve would stare and count the light freckles that kissed his face. It was his form of counting sheep.

‘Don’t tell me I will make it on my own. Don't leave me tonight. This heart of stone will sink ‘til it does if you leave me tonight. Don't leave me tonight,’ Steve sang, tears glued to his lashes as he played the last few notes.

He blinked away the tears, moving his eyes to rub them away. He could barely hear the applause over the loudness of his thoughts. He sent the crowd a weak smile before moving and heading off stage, not bothering to stop and put his guitar away. He merely grabbed the case and walked back to Gale.

‘Give me a Long Island,’ he mumbled, taking a moment to put the guitar up and leaning it against the bar.

Gale reached out and touched his shoulder. ‘Baby, you sure you don't want something lighter? We both know you're a lightweight.’

‘That’s the point,’ Steve mumbled. He knew better than to develop a co-dependency on alcohol. That was how you get addicted to it, but addiction runs in his veins and for once, Steve wanted to bury the voices.

The woman sighed, ‘I’ll get you a drink, but it's not going to be a Long Island. Go sit in one of the private rooms, I’ll get Frankie to bring you the drink.’

Steve nodded, getting off the bar and moving through the crowd again, heading towards the back.

‘Hey! Excuse me!’ someone called out. Steve ignored them, figuring that they were just trying to get through the crowd of people like he was. ‘Wait a second! ‘Evie!’

Steve paused, turning around, frowning as a smaller woman made her way to him. She couldn't be much older than he was, but she looked far more foot together then he did. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘What’d you need?’

‘Mind if I join you? I saw you were heading to the private rooms,’ she said.

Steve frowned, ‘Uh, if you're trying to like, um, you know...’

She must have caught on to what he was saying and flushed red. She waved her hands frantically. ‘No! No! Not at all. Happily married with two demons to prove,’ she said, wiggling her hand, showing off the simple silver band.

‘Oh, shit, sorry,’ Steve said, flushing in embarrassment. ‘You call your kids demons?’

The woman merely shrugged, ‘They sure the hell aren't angels. Either way, mind if I join you? Rather not have a conversation in the midst of chaos, ya’ know?’

Steve nodded. ‘Yeah, of course. What’s your name?’ he asked, leading her to the back.

‘Kacey Williams,’ she introduced. ‘I’m a talent agent from Los Angeles.’

Steve stumbled over his feet a bit. His hand froze above the doorknob, turning to look at her with a deer-caught-in-headlights look. ‘You’re a talent agent?’ his voice cracked.

‘Yes, sir,’ she beamed. ‘I’m technically on vacation, but talent waits for no one! Even if you were a bit nervous.’

‘Was it really that noticeable?’ he sighed. ‘I told Gale, the bartender, that I’m new on the scene, or whatever it’s called. Music wasn’t an interest until recently.’

Kacey hummed. ‘First time preforming then?’

Steve shrugged, opening the door and letting her go in first. He closed the door behind him, moving to set his case on one of the sofas. ‘In front of a lot of people, yeah.’

‘Well, it could have gone worse. Like you could have froze up or throw up on the front row,’ she said, sitting in a chair.

‘I doubt I would even have stage fright. I'm used to being looked at all the time. I justed to be on the swim team, and I played basketball for a while.’

‘Reformed jock. Who would have guessed?’ Kacey grinned. ‘Well, there's a bit to work on, but would you be interested in giving stardom a chance? You have something that I think a lot of people need to hear.’

Steve sighed, sitting next to the guitar case. He brushed his hair from his face. ‘I’m going to be honest with you,’ he said. ‘I only came tonight in hopes to meet an agent, and here you are, but what I’m doing with my music — it’s not what you probably want to deal with.’

Kacey hummed, ‘I think I'll decide that for myself. Tell me what I could be working with.’

Steve chewed on the inside of his mouth and picked at the hole in his jeans anxiously. ‘Back in ‘89, my ex and I broke up. Uh, I fucked ruined our relationship. I made a lot of mistakes. They were tired of being second to everything, and they wanted more. So, yeah.’

‘That doesn't tell me why your here, attached to your shitty guitar, looking for an agent.’

Steve snorted. ‘I couldn't get my head out of my ass for a while. At least not until recently. I want to apologize for the damage I did — the relationship I ruined with my unfair opinions. I just can't reach them right now, they're too far out of my reach. If I get my voice out there, then maybe they could hear me.’

‘So you want to get your ex back?’

‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘That’s too selfish and way to much to ask. They have a steady life. They seem happy. I'm not going to fuck it up by trying to win them back. I just want them to know that I'm sorry. Maybe its closure for myself.’

Kacey hummed, ‘And what's going to happen if you go big, get your voice out there? What are you going to do afterwards?’

‘Finish my contract up. Go home and go back to working the same nine-to-five job,’ he said.

‘That’s depressing, ‘Evie,’ she said.

‘It’s life,’ he said back. ‘There’s something else I want to do, if I were to get into the scene. It's my plan that you might not like.’

Kacey leaned back, pausing when Frankie walked in, handing Steve his drink. She spoke up after Frankie left. ‘What’s your plan?’

‘I want to be open about my sexuality,’ Steve said. He swallowed thickly. ‘I don't want to hide the fact that I’m bisexual, and I don't want to hide the fact that every song I have ever written is about a man that I would kill for.’

Kacey stared at him, eyes wide. ‘That’s asking for death threats.’

‘Bowie is out. Elton John is out. Freddie Mercury was out. It may not be accepted still, but why do I have to hide when they didn't?’

‘It’s more complicated than that, I think,’ Kacey breathed. ‘But you doing this, it might ruin your reputation and the offers you receive. It’ll be hard.’

‘I’m prepared to do whatever it takes,’ Steve said seriously.

Kacey nodded. She opened her purse, pulled out a card, handing it to him. ‘This is my business card. I don't give these to many people, so don't go sharing it around. Think about what you want to do, then give me a call Monday morning. If you still want this Monday, with the risk, then I’ll work on getting you a plane out to LA,’ she said.

Steve looked at the car, nodding. He already had his answer. Monday he would call her. That was his only option — risks included.

NOTE: thank you guys for reading and the reblogs! if you want to be on the tag list, just comment that you want to be! i’m not sure how frequent these updates are, but my mind is brewing a lot of ideas. at the top, there's a link to the series masterlist which also has a master list to my other works (which are on ao3)! the song attached is the one Steve sang for open mic :)

TAGLIST: @swimmingbirdrunningrock x @cinnamon-mushroomabomination x

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