#<-- just in case i know the colors are a bit jarring

[girlpog]

Lil experiment with gradient maps featuring Sisko! I’m super happy with how it turned out! (ID under the cut)

ID: A digital drawing of Benjamin Sisko from Star Trek Deep Space 9 holding a glass up to his right eye and staring at the camera intensely. He is drawn in a cartoonish style, outlined in hot pink and blue and shaded with an overlay of purples. He stands against a red and purple, starry space background. End ID.

#star trek #deep space nine #star trek deep space nine #ds9 #star trek ds9 #benjamin sisko #sisko ds9 #star trek sisko #art #my art #eye strain tw #<-- just in case i know the colors are a bit jarring

[sanctus-ingenium]

hi im so sorry if youve already answered this but how do u go about selecting the colors you use for your works!

hi! i've had this question a few times and every time i've only been able to answer with a vague sort of 'ehhh i just pick them'. but i think i'll actually talk some more about it now since a lot of my art actually takes a lot of beating before i decide on a final palette. but with a lot of them admittedly i already know what palette i'm using, and i organise the whole composition around those colours.

i use like two main palette methods and here they are (once you see it in my art, you won't unsee it). It mainly involves picking one main hue, and then a contrasting secondary colour.

So the most basic is to have a drawing be mostly a small range of hues, in this case the reds and oranges, and adding a single contrasting shade. Here it is the bounce light on the metallic metal parts, and doesn't appear anywhere else. It looks blue but it isn't - if I used actual blue, it would be too jarring and the colours would not appear unified. This is a warm and nice scene. So instead I pick that strong blue and blend it into a small swatch of the base colour. Then I pick from the blended portion, and what I get will be more blue than the base, but not actually blue. In fact it is yellow-orange :) The entire drawing looks warm as a result.

When working with marginally stronger contrast, here I have a cream unicorn on a green background. The main shadows on the unicorn will be the colour of that ambient room temperature bg - green. So I use the same test swatch method to pick a shadow colour which LOOKS green without being too disruptive of the cream unicorn. I increase the saturation and darken the value (moving the colour dot diagonally to the lower right hand corner of the box) and also spin the whole wheel towards green just a bit. Then I blend into the cream and colour pick a shade in the middle. But for the bounce light, I chose to use a common contrast of green - pink. It looks like pink in the drawing but in fact it is a low saturation orange! Using that real pink would be disharmonious. I do the exact same thing - I blend the pink into the bg colour and come up with that orange shade. It looks harmonious.

Now (top example) I am using two contrasting hues side by side. I decide the shadows will be warm, and the highlights in that contrasting zone. That means that for every colour i pick - Islin's skin, hair, his glasses, his shirt collar, his coat - every colour gets slid around the colour wheel until it falls inside that narrow band. And when I am highlighting his skin, I turn the wheel towards green. When I am shading his skin, I turn the wheel more red. I do this for every single element in the drawing.

It's the same for the Rua cover but this time I am not using such a wide band of available hues on the colour wheel, it's much tighter. I did this to replicate the look of a faded print, intentionally lowering the available contrast I had to work with by removing black as tool. It's all in that small cream to red window but it LOOKS purple - it looks like Pascal wears a purple shirt and that the smoke in the bg is lilac. Well, it isn't. That's all red and orange. I pick those colours by, again, choosing my goal "look" - a low-saturation purple, and then turning the wheel into the red range.

Okay so! for this it's just... the exact same thing again. Literally it always is. But since this one is recent I still have the process fresh in my mind. I envisioned it in the car, and I wanted this empty sort of desolate blue bg and a cold, distant overall tone. I ended up making the white on the chessboard & white pieces warmer, cream instead of white-grey, which worked out great. I wanted the blue, I wanted the pale cream/white, and the black of the chessboard. I didn't envision a colour for Pascal's shirt. but when the time came it was an obvious choice. It has to contrast with the bg both in value and hue, without falling outside the cream range already established by the chess pieces. So it's shiny salmon pink :) or orange, whatever you think it is. The only disharmonious part of this palette is the red velvet under the black knight piece - it works, but if I'd taken more care I might have spun the wheel more into orange and it would stand out less. But I don't mind.

#info asks #sorry my handwriting. not good

[bet-on-me-13]

So, you know how there are a bunch of Fics where one of the Robins comes back as a ghost when they die? Most of the time it’s Jason, sometimes Tim, and Dick and Damian once in a blue moon

But has there ever been a Ghost Cass AU?

Cass dies while on Patrol, maybe is was a villainous plot, maybe it was a random goon getting a lucky shot, maybe she was killed by somebody she trusted...maybe...

Whatever way she died, Cass ends up as a Ghost.

I can see 2 different paths this could take, depending on where she reforms:

PATH 1: Cass Reforms where she died

Cass is reformed where she died, probably very soon afterwards or a few hours later. The Batfamily have not had time to get over their Grief, they only just retrieved her Body an hour ago and need to go back to the crime scene to investigate.

And once they get there, they see what looks like Cass’s Orphan costume but colored differently, just sitting there in a daze. She just became a ghost, only a few hours after her death due to her exposure to the Lazarus Pits, and it was Jarring. Not to mention the Pure Ectoplasm she is made of is reacting weirdly to the corrupted Ectoplasm that is in Jason, making her anxious.

Meanwhile [Insert Batfam member] and Jason are confused, scared, and paranoid. [Batfam member] remembers reading a few articles in passing while researching Lazarus Pits. They were about the Ectoplasmic Entities made from Lazarus Water called Ghosts, how they are imprints of a human consciousness after an emotional death. They are also completely malevolent and non-sentient.

[Batfam Member] doesn’t hope to believe that this is Cass, all the research says that this is a pile of goop pretending to be her. Of course this makes them mad, not only is this thing wearing their sisters face, it will also probably hurt people when it gets strong enough using said face. It feels like an insult. And Cass can’t even defend herself to them, since she lost whatever was left of her ability to speak when she became a Ghost, and she is too dazed and weak to do Sign Language.

[Batfam Member] explains what they know about Ghosts to Jason, how this isn’t Cass at all, just an imprint of her memories. They say this right in front of her, which scares her since they don’t seem to consider her a person anymore, just a thing using Cass’s face

Back when they first read up on Ectoplasmic Entities, he made sure to get a small Ecto-Infused Knife for everyone in the Family in case they ever encountered one.

They bring it out, but before they can do anything, the Ghost of Cass recognizes it and runs away. 

Jason is mad that [Batfam Member] instantly went for the knife, or didn’t think to look for any second opinions.

Cass runs to the Batcave, but she gets there as [Batfam Member] is explaining what Ghosts are on the big screen to everybody else. She also sees her own body, laying on a table in the center of the room. She starts to believe that [Batfam Member] is right, that she can’t be the real Cass, just a reflection. And she can’t stay here, the others are bound the believe [Batfam Member] over her now

She runs away, not even revealing herself to her family.

She runs and runs and runs for hours upon hours, non stop, across state lines, until she reaches a place where her instincts were telling her to go. It feels like the air is clear, like she has more energy. She has made it to Amity Park.

From there you can go in any direction you want.

PATH 2: Cass Reforms in the Zone

Cass reforms in a random place in the Zone, in a color swapped version of her Orphan costume. She wakes up to see a sky of green and ground of purple, completely alone, no one around her.

She wanders for a bit, but a run-in with a Monster forces her to run. As it chases her, she finds that she can fly, but so can it.

As she is running, a blast comes from above her and blasts the monster away. She looks up to see a guy with Green-Blue Skin, pointy ears, and white hair, in a Black Hazmat Suit, floating above her.

He introduces himself as Phantom, and explains that she must be a Ghost. She can’t respond because she lost the last of her ability to speak, but thankfully he knows Sign Language

She can’t remember how she died, but she remembers most of the rest of her life. She takes off her mask, and you can see that she looks like normal Cass with Green Skin, white Hair, and the pointy ears. Also small fangs cause I think those are cool.

Danny helps her around, teaches her about the Zone, introduces his living friends, all that. She even meets a cute clone named Ellie, but that’s besides the point. Eventually, after a few weeks of traveling the Zone and learning about her new abilities, she asks if she can go see her family. Danny agrees, but says that first he should teach her how to shapeshift so she can look human enough to go to the living world.

Which is how Danny and Cass learn that Cass is a Halfa (due to her exposure to the Lazarus Pits). While she is thinking of her human form, a ring of gold energy surrounds her and she suddenly has a heartbeat again. She’s also extremely hungry cause Ghosts don’t need to eat, but Halfa’s do (even if it is significantly less)

By the time she goes to see her Family, they are not as high strung or paranoid as they would have been directly after her death, so they are more willing to listen to reason. Also with Danny there (and maybe ellie), he can explain what she can’t.

But now they don’t know what to do, they still haven't figured out who killed Cass, all they know is that she was definitely killed, it wasn’t an accident.

What comes Next? I also don’t know, I need suggestions!

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp #danny phantom #dc #dcu #dcau oc #cassandra cain #cass #bat family #batfam #batfamily #jason todd #dead cass #dead cassandra cain #ghost cassandra cain #halfa cassandra cain #halfa cass #cass x dani #cass x ellie #but just one line #i ship them ok #i love cass #she's adorable #wayne family adventures #mute cassandra cain #mute cass #lazarus pits are corrupted ectoplasm #dani phantom

[presidentbungus]

“What are you looking at so intently?” says Engie like any good Texan boy would, all fluttering eyelashes and blushy grins despite the fact his eyes are behind half a centimeter of tinted glass. Medic puffs out his lips into a little pucker, then smooths back out, and Engie glints with satisfaction at just the lightest dusting of pink that rises to his cheeks.

He makes sure to be just a little extra slow and sultry when he leans over and plucks a beer from the case by his recliner-chair. “See somethin’ ya like?” By which he means: you're staring for a good reason, please, god, aren't you? But he’s too respectful and upstanding to say that, though he considers himself certainly talented at this whole implications thing, and the deep mauve Medic turns when he tosses just a slightly inflected look in his direction indicates he must get the general idea.

“Well—hoo, well.” He spends two seconds frankly adorably stumbling through his words and then that gloved hand darts out and there’s rubber around Engie’s wrist, two long, thick fingers barely touching thumb-to-pointer in a little ring. “I was—er…”

He rescinds the hand, temples his fingers under his chin, caught between sitting and standing and settling in a weird in-between as Engie watches, fascinated. “I was just… thinking… about your heart. And your lungs.” He tilts his head. “And, in a small measure, your brain, I suppose. Er, imagining your breathing, and your circulation, and the oxygen flowing in and out of your limbs, and… so on. Drawing your veins in my mind and, and such.”

… Huh. Maybe he misread the situation.

And he keeps just stumbling through, pushing up his glasses every few seconds, still perched on his heels with his arms wrapped around his knees. “You’re a—private man. I have not seen much of you besides what I have been able to—have the company require,” and his voice pushes up a few notes on the last word, and well he’ll be damned if it’s not the cutest thing he’s ever seen, “but I… think about you.”

He lowers his voice just a little for this one, reclining down onto his back. “Oh, you do.”

“You have a very impressive set of lungs. Even for all the, er, damage." Engie frowns and Medic puts his hands up. "That's a compliment."

"Uh-huh."

"And your heart is a perfect specimen. Strong, and healthy… pulsing with vitality," and his eyes bug out just a little on the last line. "I was almost upset to have to cut it out of you… until, well…"

Ain't that interesting. "Until?"

He smiles sheepishly, wringing his hands together with a frankly disgusting sound of rubber against rubber. “… I may or may not have kept your original heart in a jar. With my other personal possessions.”

He mentally re-catalogues everything of interest in the lab, mentally travels to Medic’s big mahogany former-bookshelf, stacked top-to-bottom with preserved organs in jars, and sees a lot of hearts. A lot of hearts. But, then again, his mind is drawn back to a smallish mason jar near the front, suspiciously unlabeled, amidst rows and rows of perfectly organized bits and pieces.

Yeah, sure.

He's sure Medic is approaching this more from scientific curiosity than any particular angle he'd prefer, but heat's rising to his face before he knows it and frankly he doesn't really feel like putting in the effort to quell it.

And just to press the envelope that tiny bit further, he ventures: "Well I'll be darned if that's not the most romantic thing I've ever heard."

Medic turns the color of his tie. Engineer's sure he follows suit.

#hi science party post for the first time in 16 years youre all welcome (visibly frothing at the mouth) #tf2 engineer #tf2 medic #science party #bird brains #genetic engineering #god ive spent so much time away from these eggheads i dont even remember which ship tag i normally use #tf2 #bungus snippets #engiemedic

[ellieslittleburrow]

Requested by anon : i hope this isn’t too dark but could i request joel with a daughter who’s a recovering addict?? and just how he would deal with that

Warnings : ADDICTION recovery, swearing, a clingy father and a ghostly mention of a blackout.

A/N : i hope you like this, anon.❤❤ Also i have a feeling i conveyed Joel a bit weaker than he usual is??? But in my brain it's the Joel that met up with Tommy again. The exact addiction was also not specified so i tried to make it as neutral as possible. Anyway, enjoy yall! 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️

------

"Hey" A soft smile phantoms over your dad's face as he enters the room. "How are we feeling this morning?" He attempts enthusiasm but fails. You don't push... At least he tries...That's what you keep saying to yourself.

It's been a few months since your last episode. Call it episode of whatever you want, anger, last straw, the moment you gave yourself another chance...

"We're good..." You awkwardly stand in the middle of the room, timidly swinging your foot forward and backward "Should we...?" You throw your chin forward, motioning towards the door.

"Yeah!"

----

Since that last time, living with Joel has been a blessing and a curse. The heavy silence that sets in the car every time you went somewhere, the weight of knowing what occupied both of your minds and not being able to do anything about it.

There were fights. Like that time he entered your room without knocking, causing you to startle and to to swing your habd behind your back.

He'd ruin the fucking surpr-

"What are you hiding behind your back?" His low tone slaps you like thunder and you realize wht he has in mind.

Your heart stings and you scoff. stupid you for thinking about him, yeah?

You hold out the glass jar, examining its contents one last time. A letter, a pocket watch, a small knife and a monarch butterfly you stupidly taxidermied, thinking it was the thing he loved the most. "Monarch butterflies..creatures guided by an ancient instinct to seek sanctuary in distant lands...Kinda remind me of myself..." He'd always say. So you violently hurl the bottle at the ground, meeting his eyes as the bottle shatters. "Well, it was your gift." You force a smile. "There it goes." And before brushing past him, you make sure to spit on the contents, just in case he ever decided to pick them up after you.

He grips your arm as you walk by. But you yanked it away, throwing him a glare before leaving.

He begs later. More than once, for a few days. "I-I-I'm sorry, I-I" He holds your hand. "I can't imagine how much that hurt..."

There were also other times where tears flowed. Tears being his...least favorite thing.

Like that time your body shut down...Went numb and you found yourself on your knees, hyperventilating as you search for air to breathe. Nothing serious, just pure exhaustion and lack of sleep. On his face of the moon, you fell to the ground and were unable to breathe, your colors washed off and your eyes widened....What's happening to you??? He doesn't know.

He rushes down to the ground and leans close to your face, feeling for..symptoms. "What-w-what is it-what's happening?" He shouts through panicky unsteady breaths. And as you struggle to even utter a word or two, tears stream down his face. "Please tell me what's happening."

Again, nothing serious on your side. Just a bad flashback for him, from back when you blacked out last. When he almost lost you.

That being said, bad moments weren't the only things that shaped your relationship. There were good moments too.

Good moments where words weren't needed for him to show how much he cared for you. He'd -not-so-discreetly watch you eat, from the corner of his eyes. and he'd sometimes lay awake, waiting to comfort you.

he'd also supervise you from time to time (More like spy on you).

You once couldn't deal with it anymore. And your prankster attitude couldn't let it slide easily. So you decided to prank him.

On your stroll through the woods, you stopped in your tracks, whirling around to point your rifle at him.

"Show yourself or i'm shooting your eyeballs off." Stern and threatening, you shout.

He startles, abruptly raising his arms up. "It's me!!!! It's me." Fear laces his voice. "It's just me."

A smirk creeps up on your face. "I know." You snort. "I got ya good." You got him goood.

His shoulders slouch and he breathes out heavily. "You sure did."

"Are you following me?" You ask, still keeping the same distance between the two of you.

"N-no, i'm j-"

"Just following me."

He sighs again. "No, i a-"

"Spying"

"NO! I'm just making sure you're not....Just making sure you're okay."

You debate whether to tell him that's literally spying or to just leave it. So you just shrug. "Okay...sure."

It can be suffocating at times, But you appreciate the effort anyways.

"Go home, dude." You turn on your heels and head away from him.

On your road to full recovery, you find yourself missing things that you promised yourself and the world you'd stay away from. With Joel on your side -and sometimes up your ass- You find yourself wanting to run, but always ending up wanting him back by your side. Because as protective and annoying as he can be, he's also always there whenever you find yourself falling back down, easing the burden of being this new person you're trying to be.

------

"Are you listening?"

You smile at him, thrown off by the sudden come back you had to do. "Yeah. Let's go."

--------

Hiiii! I hope yall enjoyed thiis, even though it's different from the usual style ❤❤🌸🥀🥀

#joel miller x platonic reader #joel miller x daughter!reader #joel miller x daughter #daughter!reader #adoptive father troop #father figure fic #father figure #daughter x father #joel miller #last of us fic #platonic reader #sarah miller

[raspberryslushie]

Scrapbooking

Ft. Xiao, Kazuha, Itto, Cyno, Wanderer, Alhaitham, Albedo, Tighnari x gn!reader 

Warnings: Slightly OOC, a few grammar mistakes.

Xiao:

You first suggested the idea of keeping a scrapbook with him when confronted with the problem of your own mortality and the inevitability of fate that most of everyone had to learn to accept. Yet it wasn’t your own end that you were worried for, but rather how Xiao would handle it. Making an album of sorts like this was your way of memorializing all the moments you had together so that the two of you would be able to look back on them in future times.

He probably doesn’t like getting his own pictures taken, and would much rather turn the camera’s lens towards you, so if you either have to compensate by taking selfies with both of you instead, or play a few tricks and catching him by surprise.

Spending time with him doing activities more relaxing like cutting out little paper stars to decorate the pages would definitely be a new experience for Xiao. One time he tried to draw the two of you together but it turned out a little bit questionable ??? (you still pasted it in the book, though). 

When the qingxins begin to bloom, he would pick a few to press and dry for the book because the heart shaped leaves remind him of you. There would definitely be a few other kinds of flowers though, and when you asked why, Xiao would probably explain that they were the other yakshas’ favorites.

You found out that when Xiao thinks you’re not looking, he’d steal a few photos of you that you prepared to be pasted into the book for himself, so you always have to bring a few more pictures just in case.

Treasures the book and protects it with his life like it’s your child LMAO he may find it hard to admit, but really does care about the book especially since you put so much effort into it.

Kazuha:

Kazuha doesn’t mind doing something as domestic as making a scrapbook with you, and would probably suggest it first.

He definitely has a couple pages just full of leaves that he thought looked nice on his walks out.

Other times, you’d find new pages full of scraps of paper that Kazuha scribbled haikus down on, and they all share one thing in common: the subject is you.

Kazuha might begin collecting little rolls of decorative tape too, buying them from crafts stores back at inazuma. I imagine they’d have his signature leaf motifs and also the traditional inazuman ones on them. He’d probably find any excuse he has to use those tape rolls because of how colorful they are… like imagine little tanuki or foxes running across every page.

Contrary to some other people, Kazuha would have no problems taking photos with you, and would take a liking to bringing the camera along in all your travels. He’s very connected and in touch with the world around him, so being able to capture any moment he wishes is an appealing thought. Because of this, your scrapbook is going to be filled with photos of not just the two of you, but also stray cats on the streets, scenic views upon the Crux, firework shows in Inazuma….and the list goes on.

But of course, his favorite part of all of this is spending time decorating the pages with you! His favorite colors to use would of course be the colors of the leaves (they’re practically his brand at this point). If you happen to like those colors too, he’d be even giddier, gladly coloring in any blank spaces with colored pencils. Overall, Kazuha has a lot of time on his hands, but knows that his time is not eternal, so he treasures the book because it allows him to hold onto the past, reminding him when he forgets.

Itto:

Itto is definitely the type to go through all the trouble folding origami stars (especially with how clumsy he could be)…and then get sad when he realizes that they’re going to get crushed if he actually puts them in the book. So you also get him a little jar to put the stars in. Off-topic, but he probably also likes writing little wishes on the strips of paper before folding them into stars, so he gets really excited and thinks that the stars actually work whenever one of those wishes comes true. Who knows, maybe he’s right and there is a paper star god out there listening in on his wishes.

There would probably be a record of all the beetle duals that he has won and badly drawn images of his favorite beetles (like those posters in that one beetle event with Itto 💀).

And like his artwork, his handwriting probably isn’t the most outstanding, safe to say. Despite how enthusiastic Itto may be with the prospect of creating a scrapbook with you, there’s a slight learning curve when it comes to him. But in the end, it’s a good thing for him to try something new that doesn’t require so much energy to maintain. 

Unexpectedly, the book fills up extremely quickly with all kinds of photos (even a few blurry ones because Itto didn’t want to throw any of them out). But that’s all because his simple presence is enough to make the passing of time feel special.

Now that you’ve made one with him, he’s probably eager to share the craft with the rest of the gang too. Whether they pick up on it or not is a different story, but Shinobu is probably the most glad to finally have a way for Itto to sit down quietly.

Cyno:

Cyno might use the scrapbook to also store some of his limited edition tcg cards since he treasures them so much. You thought it was your shared scrapbook, but NO. It was all for Cyno and his card games 💀. All jokes aside though, he would agree to make a scrapbook with you without much hassle. He doesn’t have much free time on his hands between being the General Mahamatra and spending much of his breaks on winning Genius Invocation games, but he’ll somehow always have time for his lover.

Enjoys taking pictures a lot. During hangouts with his friends, he especially likes to photograph his victories…much to the “annoyance” of his colleagues. Still, not all the photos are of Tighnari or Kaveh malding. There are images of group get-togethers at fancy restaurants, birthdays gone by, and festivals spent with smiles. In this way, it shows that despite Cyno’s tough exterior, he does care a lot for his friends.

He probably has a stamp with his name on it with something strange like “CYNO CERTIFIED” and enjoys imprinting it on random pages that he makes. Especially on pages with your photos on them LMAO.

Other than that, he treats the scrapbook more like a photo album. He probably isn’t as heavy on the more artistic approaches to this kind of project, all that matters is that it serves its original purpose of containing your memories together.

Was eating and got tomato or whatever on a page. It's a treasured and framed piece of artwork now.

Alhaitham:

Alhaitham has probably already tried something like this before. Being that he is the scribe of the Academiya, recording the important moments in his life would only come as natural with the nature of his profession as well. However, he treats the whole thing as more of a duty and job that he must do rather than a simple past time. 

He probably has an assortment of pens and inks, so you can expect all kinds of scriptures written down in the book. Alhaitham himself isn’t picky, and most were likely simple gifts from occasions such as his birthday, so he’s even alright with you keeping a few (he’s keeping the set you gave him though–no take backs).

Sometimes you might find him reading the book like it’s some advanced piece of literature. Don’t mind him he’s just lost in his thoughts analyzing every single page. If it makes him happy, so be it.

Takes a photo of the two of you and fashions a bookmark out of it. It's his uncontested favorite now, and specially reserved for the scrapbook.

Loves watching you decorate the book, and especially loves watching you treat his photos like they’re some ancient artifact. It makes him feel all special and pampered inside.

Once he’s done with the first book, he starts another, and then another, and another… It only makes sense to keep the series updated as time goes on, but sometimes you wonder if the grind is getting to him LKAJSF;SA

Albedo:

THE artist. This man’s illustrations are PEAK. He’s one for perfection, striving to capture the world not only digitally with a Kamera but also by hand. In fact, he prefers to do it this way because the process of creating something with his own hands is more memorable to him.

One time he got distracted in the middle of an illustration of Sumeru’s fungi that you asked him to draw and gave them faces??/ that looked strangely like the two of you??? To this day you have no idea what was going on in his mind when he suddenly changed the drawing from scientific to horrific /j but its a unique addition to the book so that’s that ig

But of course, that doesn’t mean Albedo’s photographs are any less beautiful. 

The angles, scenes, framing, and even the filters that were applied were perfected. Sometimes you wonder what his profession would be if he wasn't currently under the Knights of Favonius.

Worries and applies a TON of varnish onto a few pages of the scrapbook. That way the art and photos would last longer.

Takes extremely good care of the book and makes extra caution when he realizes that it may be in danger of Klee (he has all his best work in there man).

Wouldn't tell you it, but he's super proud of having made the book with you, and loves looking over it in his free time as an energy booster LMAO.

Tighnari:

Just like Albedo, I feel that Tighnari would be pretty decent at this kind of activity. With the journaling that must come with his work as a forest ranger, his attention to detail is extremely keen. Not to mention the fact that drawing and taking pictures would be much more familiar to him as well. 

Tighnari would definitely prefer glue sticks to liquid glue, the reason being that there may have once been a small accident resulting in a bottle of runny adhesive spilling all over his fluffy tail. 

He might’ve screamed like a little kid and acted a little grumpier than usual for a whole week.

But with a lot of reassurance from you that all the “bad glue” had been sealed and locked up (“to never see the light of day ever again”), he was willing to try again. 

Unlike Cyno who’s pretty barebones with his work, I think Tighnari would like to dress up the pages that he decorates a bit more. Not too much to the point that it’s overbearing, but a couple ribbons and stickers would do.

The stickers in question are all of little squirrels and birds. THEY'RE sO CUTE KJJDDJLKD

Makes the squirrels stare at the pictures of flowers he took because it's more "accurate that way". In the same manner, he also likes putting stickers of birds around you like you're a Disney princess of some sort.

IM THIS CLSOE TO ENDING IT ALL YOU GUYS DONT UNDERSTAND...... .. . . i kept clicking control z bc its closer than delete and its in my muscle memory and uh control z deletes the whole post haha kjrjkr i had to rewrite it 4 times but thankfully we coolin now lets GOO

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #xiao x reader #xiao #genshin impact headcanons #genshin imagines #kazuha x reader #kazuha x y/n #kazuha x you #kazuha headcanons #kazuha #itto #itto x reader #cyno #cyno x reader #tighnari x reader #genshin fluff #tighnari #genshin fanfic #alhaitham #alhaitham x reader #albedo #albedo x reader #wanderer #wanderer x reader

[salmonpoki]

Rose petals

Pairing: Yuji Itadori x Reader Content: setted after the Shibuya incident arc, manga spoiler, mentions of suicide if you look closely. In this future sorcerers have defeated Sukuna and Yuji Itadori is not executed. All characters are aged. w/c: ~2,3 k

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The sun was rising and the singing of little birds was filling the quiet room. Even the sunlight was entering the room, lighting up the bed. The covers were all wrinkled on one side, wrapped around the figure of your body, keeping you warm. You opened the eyes and all you could notice was the other side of the bed, empty and abandoned. And no one was there.

And you're alone again. Despite the external sounds and the dim light that was coming from the window, you couldn't help but thinking about you were alone, the room seemed quiet and dark. You sighed, your chest moved slightly up and down at every breath. Maybe if you close your eyes again everything will end... yes, it could work. But what Nobara would think about that? No, you shouldn't remember her, your best friend, it hurts too much. Damn, if you could you would have stopped her from going and risking her life and she would still be here with you.

Your days have became lonely without her presence. It was like something have taken away an important part from you, a person that you always liked and loved in your life. You hated that, you hated that with all of your heart. You couldn't do anything, at this point it had happened. You didn't even know why the fate had choose her. But, as we told, you couldn't do anything to change the past. Another sigh left your lips.

Your gaze moved to the sill of the window, where there was a little jar with a red brown rose inside. The flower had been given by none other than Nobara, the person you were crying for. Once straight and brightly colored, now its petals were partly brown and they deteached away from it one by one and his stem was a little saggy. It was as if it reflected your sad state of mind.

You sat down, your feet touched the floor and you stood up, not so ready to start your day. While you were walking to another room, a petal deteached away from the flower, resting on the sill.

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Sometimes when it was raining you used to watch outside the window and looked at the water drops sliding on the glass, almost competing on which drop would reach the bottom first. A game you often played when you were a lively and playful little kid. But years had passed by then and at that time you still didn't know what a psychological pain, a trauma, was. So now you were hypnotized by this drops which ended up uniting, becoming one. You felt like you weren't enough for this world, like someone who shouldn't be here. Perhaps if you take a good knife, maybe you could-

«Ehy, did you hear me?»

«Mhm?» the voice had woken you up from that daydream, bringing you back to reality. You tirned your head, only to see the pink-haired man who was watching you a bit worried. «Sorry, did you said something?»

«I just... I just asked how were you» he answered.

You wanted to cry and scream, again and again, but you also wanted to laugh to mask your pain and your tears. You wondered how he just managed to get through it all, or at least hide his pain well, seeing as he was just a kid when the accident happened. Damn, he may had suffered more than you. «I'm fine» you said with a fake smile. Those two words were probably a defense mechanism against the harsh truth. Maybe it was just a psychological matter: a person asked another person how were they, and then they, the one who was having a bad time and were emotionally destroyed, they tried to hide the problem, perhaps because the person who answered, you in this case, had thought that asking for help was a signal of weakness. Maybe. After you had said that, you continued to sip your drink.

He looked at you with an understanding look, as if he knew how you actually felt. «You don't need to lie»

«You talk as if you don't do it too» you replied. And he looked at you again with the same look, perfectly knowing you were right. Even if everytime he came to visite you he used to say he was fine, you couldn't help but notice he constantly touched the scar on his cheek. A little memory of his opponent.

«But if you ever want to talk I am here...»

«Yuji...»

«...I have experienced your pain too...»

You grabbed his wrist with a little squeeze as if to tell him to stop. He looked at you a bit surprised, but you could also feel his confusion in his look. The pain in your chest returned,your heart seemed to explode at any time. And his eyes met yours, almost disappointed by your trying to avoid the topic. «Stop...» you whispered, trying to hold back the tears.

He sighed, giving up. When your grip has loosened, he stood up from where he was and he walked over, stopping next to you. You stood up as well. You saw him spreading his arms slightly and you understood. You hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around you as well, holding you against him like he was trying to protect you. The tears formed in the corners of your eyes, sliding through your cheeks and falling on his jacket. «Everything's fine» he whispered in your ear, giving you a few light pats on the back «I'm here».

Despite he grew up, you noticed that over the years his character didn't seem to have changed: he still cared more about others than himself and wanted to protect people at all costs. «Yuji, I-»

You heard a ring, and then he walked away from you. He took his phone and put it next to his ear «Hello?». You could hear little voices talking through the phone, but you couldn't understand what they were saying. He mumbled something, the words «Yes» and «No» sometimes had left his lips before he said «Ok, I'll be right there» and hung up. He looked at you again «Sorry, I have to go... they said there's a curse in...» he swallowed «Shibuya...»

There was a bit of bitterness in that word. Shibuya, where all started, where a lot of people died, even Nanami and... Nobara. It still hurt to remember her. You accompanied Yuji to the front door and said goodbye, before closing the door behind you. You were alone again, no one here to listen to you. Tears were still sliding down your cheeks as you curled up on the floor.

Without you knowing, the rose in your room had lost more petals and there were only two left.

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Valentine's Day was a day you hated. Not that you had always done it, in fact, before the accident you liked going out with your friends. But now you're alone and you are forced to watch all the couples walk before your eyes. It seemed like on that day the world was reminding you that people had abandoned you to fate and that you weren't exactly lucky. To avoid reading those words in the looks of lovers, you had decided to stay at home. And now you were alone, alone and more alone. Seems this story talks a lot about loneliness, don't you think? But, if you want to know, you still have Yuji, right? Even if he doesn't pass a lot of time with you, he cares a lot for you. Because you are important for him, aren't you? No, you should stop thinking certain things and question yourself.

You heard someone knocking at the door. You walked through the room, you turned the door handle down and opened it slightly to see who was outside, only to see him «Yuji?!».

The pink-haired man seemed to have been attacked during the battle against the curses; his face looked bruised and was covered in small scratches. Even his clothes were ruined: the sleeves of the jacket were practically gone and some parts of the jacket were torn. You opened the door wide and let him entered the house. You saw how he was limping: hadn't he used the reverse technique to heal his wounds? You carried him to the couch, where he sat down and started breathing almost normally again. Almost, because as you could see, he was on the verge of crying. You could see how he gripped the armrests, how his eyes began to get wetter every second. It made you feel bad for him.

He let out a sob, something that have surprised you. You hadn't seen him like this in a long time, at least since... well, you know when. His bottom lip was slightly trembling and you remembered the guy he once was, affected by a trauma. Death and destruction, that's what he had experienced and he had always blamed himself. You could hear his heartbeat like that time. «I...sorry...I couldn’t...» he tried to speak, but he couldn’t help but stumble over his words «It happened again... I couldn’t do anything...» He seemed on the verge of having an emotional crisis «It's all my fault...I want to-»

«Hey no, look at me» you replied, moving in front of him and cupping his cheeks «It's not your fault. Anything that happened there, it's not your fault» you paused for a moment, only to see his reaction. You could see how he was looking at you, but you couldn't recognize any padticular emotion beyond the sadness and the sense of guilt «You said that if I ever needed you, you were here for me» you continued «And the same goes for you».

He continued to look at you with those big eyes, he was still sobbing and the tears rolled down his cheeks, slightly wetting your fingers «But I-»

His insistence was starting to annoy you, so you decided to shut him up in the only way you could think of at that moment: you gave him a tight hug, practically sitting in his lap while you did it. You had noticed he tensed up as you did so and his breathing hitched. But immediately afterwards his body had relaxed and he had brought you even closer, wrapping you in his arms and burying his head in the crook of your neck. You could feel his chest moving up and down against yours at every breath. It was... strangely comforting to you too. You let out a sigh as you felt him calm down with his sobs, even if a few tears still fell. «Sorry» he whispered, continuing to keep his head still on your shoulder. You passed your hand through his hair, they were soft and silky to the touch to your surprise. You felt your heart beat a bit faster. Why did you feel like in this way? Why had your heart started beating so fast? Anyway, you didn't have the answer for this questions, or at least you didn't have a sure answer. «Can I ask you something?»

The sudden question surprised you and brought you back to reality «Tell me» you said.

«Can I...» he started and his face seemed to have a slight blush «Can I stay here for the night? Just for today, I promise» Was he blushing?

You chuckled, finding his small reactions quite funny. «Of course you can. Whenever you want, you will always be welcome here»

A long sigh escaped his lips while he was still hugging you. Even his heart was beating quite fast as you noticed. You stepped away from him, placing your feet back on the ground as you stood up, and he slowly did the same. As you looked at him again, you saw how he seemed a little sleepy and his cheeks were stained with tears. You ran your fingers over his cheek in a gentle gesture, trying to remove any remaining tears. He let out a small gasp, but then he relaxed again, closing his eyes for a moment. «Sorry again» he repeat himself «I think I am just tired» he looked around, seeming to avoid your gaze. Why was he suddenly shy? Oh well, it didn't matter. You led him into the bedroom, then he lay down and looked at the ceiling. You lay down next and you saw him turn towards you. You felt as if his eyes were penetrating your soul, almost reading your thoughts and the sensations you felt. You touched his cheek lightly and then he smiled weakly at you. Whether the smile had been real you didn't know exactly, but seeing it it seemed so. He hugged you again like before, holding you close to him, as if you were the most precious treasure he had ever found. His breath was more normal than before and he let out a sigh, seemed to be relaxed, for real this time. He gently kissed your neck, that was something that made you blush amd shivered a little, but... he did this because you were just his friend, right? Even when you heard him whisper «I love you» to your ear, but it was probably your imagination, wasn't it? Oh well, at least you spent Valentine's Day with someone you loved.

Before closing your eyes you looked at the windowsill, where that vase with the flower was still located. And you smiled when you saw what was happening.

The rose, once brown and saggy, was growing back in all its beauty.

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a/n: Happy [late🫠] Valentine's Day~

#yuji x reader #yuji x you #yuji x y/n #yuji itadori x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #valentine's day

[athanasius-symposium-of-writings]

The Bird And The Man

Chapter Ten

Rated: Explicit | Warnings: None

Ao3

Chapter Nine | Chapter Eleven (coming soon)

The Baron of the Oletus Manor is an anonymous individual, an enigma, it only seems like Hastur has a connection to the Baron but cannot speak to how deep that connection is. He controls the games, rarely showing his hand when he deems fit, like the time Joseph had sent a letter requesting the game to permit permanent deaths. The Baron only allowed this because he knew the Photographer was not going to fulfill his own request.

Human hearts are fascinating, often capricious, and often selfish. Yet, there are moments like those and many other heartfelt bonding moments within the Oletus Manor, a story with no end, but with plenty of plot twists and on the edge of one’s seat scenarios.

The Baron is quiet, his posture different from others as he wears a blue suit, the color is warm instead of the dark colors the villain would wear in dramatic stories. He brushes off the bit of dust that landed on him as walked out of the Golden Cave exit gate to meet the raven monster lurking in Lakeside Village. The one called ‘Nightmare’ is standing there looking up at the clear starry sky when the Baron approaches in quick strides, he does not like the mud getting on his brown dress shoes.

The only hint of acknowledgment is the way Nightmare crosses his arms and stands up straight to his full height.

“Thinking of the ghostwriter while stargazing. Romantic.” The Baron breaks the silence while lighting his pipe to take a smoke, “You dreamt of them again.” Spoken as a matter of fact.

No response to that, Nightmare uncrosses his arms noting the way the tone is not harsh, cold but not a blizzard.

“You are aware we share dreams, correct?”

There is no response at first but then a slow nod, he is now waiting for the lecture one gets from a father for eating too many sweets or in this case: playing in the honey jar.

“You should know better than to have relations, creature.” Annoyed, a puff of smoke in the air was blown away by a little breeze.

“No. Rules. Broken.”

The Baron glares, a frown on his lips that is holding up the pipe, he takes the pipe out of his mouth as he replies once more, “The unspoken rule of Hunters and Huntees not having personal relations should not have to be explicitly said, Nightmare.” Shaking his head. “I have been too kind in allowing these connections to form.” Not just Nightmare. Miss Nightingale had fought the Baron for these events, the dressing up, and the different match settings. This is to allow the human mind to handle more than it can handle. The survivors were picked for a reason, a mix of various types of people put into a dangerous situation that seems impossible to escape一 Well, it is so long as the Baron wants them to be here.

“The. Heart. Wants. What. It. Wants.” Nightmare says as his head turns to the Baron, the purple eyes behind the plague doctor mask narrow, “I love them.” The Baron looks away when he hears those words, how easily those words come from the creature. The pain of speaking is something he can endure to state his case, “As. You. Will.”

“Orpheus has written enough doomed relationships with his novels for you to know better than assume that.” He refuses to believe he will fall for a Huntee, a person he is using for these games, “This will end tragically.”

The Baron looks up at the starry night sky, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I detest you.” Those words bitter and resentful, venom that could kill a snake. The nights of late have been infested with dreams of you rather than dreamless nights, no longer is it cold and empty. He can vividly see you, a smile that does not match the situation of the manor. Groaning as he shakes his head before smoking his pipe again.

“Detest. Yourself. As. You. Need.” A deep breath is taken in slowly and let out slowly, “We are fools.” A chill in the air is enough to get him moving towards the exit gate and leave back to the manor.

The Baron remains there until he finishes smoking his pipe.

The Baron allows for celebrations, New Year's and the Lunar New Year among them, but none of them specify a year. That is to keep the mystery of the manor, the timelessness, and endlessness going.

The celebration goes on, and the Baron is far away from the events but close enough to see all the participants from survivors to hunters partaking of the drinks and being civil. Miss Nightingale often complains about how well-behaved Jack is during events much to her annoyance.

The Baron allows Miss Nightingale to place judgment on who comes or does not come to join in these events.

A list drawn up and approved by the Baron upon review.

The banned ones due to how unstable they are: Smiley, Undead, Sculptor, Breaking Wheel, and a few others.

As watches close by but hidden, the gathering of the survivors and hunters, the main event soon to start.

As to be expected, no Nightmare.

The creature hates loud noises and this celebration is full of flashing with loud noises, plus a lot of people given no one misses events (Lady Nightingale can be demanding at times).

But there is no you, your first New Year here and you are nowhere to be found.

Orpheus may not be looking for you but the enigma that is the Baron is. Looking for the aspiring author who foolishly fell into his trap like many others here.

The countdown is starting, Orpheus is speaking with Jack while the others mingle with one another. The Lady Nightingale is there watching from the sidelines, her mask pointed toward the dark clear winter sky.

Another year, five years since the Oletus Manor opened its gate to the Nightingale’s song that fateful night.

The Baron looks with Orpheus towards the sky as the fireworks go off.

#idv #idv x reader #identity v #identity v x you #orpheus x you #idv orpheus x you #orpheus x reader #nightmare x reader #idv nightmare #nightmare x you #identity v x reader #idv reader insert #idv orpheus #idv novelist #reader insert #idv x you #fanfiction

[frogsmulder]

Interrupt Me

post-episode Rush; Mulder interrupts Scully as she tries to finish the report; 1.2k words; rated T; tagging @today-in-fic

The video surveillance tape was analysed by Charles Burks of the University of Maryland using a Spectrographic Color Attribute Generator (SCAG) programme, still in the beta-stages of development. While the percentage error for the extrapolation of color values is still greater than the set requirement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the use of SCAG allowed agents Mulder and myself to identify the anomalous appearance of frame 234301 (figure 3)…

Suddenly there was a knock at her motel door. Scully looked up from her laptop to see that the outside world had grown darker, not quite night yet, but that grey that tells the marching of twilight onwards. From behind the wood she heard a familiar muffled voice calling, “Scully? It’s me.” The smile that leapt out across her lips was only diminutive in comparison to the racing of her heart. With a seed of mischief taking root, she pushed the chair back and sauntered over to the door.

“Who’s me?” she called back coyly, fingers resting on the handle.

“Steven Spielberg.”

Scully huffed a laugh and opened the door a jar, peering around the edge “I think that is beyond the realm of extreme possibility.” And then with a smile playing on her lips, she took a good look at his post-work outfit: dress shirt loose from his slacks, collar undone and tie haphazard. She wasn't a betting girl, but if she had to she'd bet that his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows underneath his long winter coat. "Hi."

"Surprise!" he laughed, filling her heart with warmth. "It's the FBI's most unwanted."

She hummed, lost in thought, mind ever wandering when he was around. "I'd hardly say you were unwanted." She paused, as she straightened her posture, sudden sobriety snapping her out of her daydream. “Although, I thought we said no to consorting on cases.”

“Aww, c’mon, Scully? The case is closed.” Mulder offered his best puppy dog impression; wide soulful eyes that made her heart swell just a little bit. Then he waggled his eyebrows conspiritally “And I bought a little something to celebrate."

From behind his back he produced a bottle of screw-top red; something he had clearly obtained from the gas station down the road. It reminded her of their first proper date not long after their new year's fiasco. It had only been a couple of weeks ago but his showering affection was yet to cease and if it were possible she loved him more with every passing moment.

“The case is closed when I’ve finished typing up the report, which I've nearly finished but not yet.” Despite her protest, she opened the door widener, letting him through.

“Party pooper,” he pouted, setting the wine down on the side.

“Why don’t you make yourself at home? I’ll be ten minutes tops.”

He took a step into her space, filling her senses with the smell of his fresh aftershave and salted sunflower seeds. The thought of him putting on her favourite scent, especially for her, just to spend the evening with her made her shiver: a mistake she should know not to make.

His hands rubbed up and down her arms, restless, seeking out much needed contact. Scully looked up into his eyes. He tucked her hair behind her ear, leaving a finger lingering under her jaw. Her heart began to race as it always did when he leaned in to kiss her.

"Home?" he mumbled against her lips. "Mhmm, I think I know where that is."

"Mulder," she sighed, aiming for chiding but instead revealing her desire.

"Got it, Boss." He laughed and kissed her forehead. "But ten minutes tops."

She blushed, embarrassed by how much she already wants him. "Thank you."

Sat down at the desk, Scully was keenly aware of Mulder settling in on the bed behind her. She heard his shoes clatter on the floor and his coat land on the armchair. The springs of the bed squeaked as he flopped down and she knew without looking he was spread like a starfish waiting for her to crawl up next to him and lay her head on his arm. Ignoring her inclination to do just that, she focused on her laptop screen and began to type:

Additionally, the residue found at the same scene was later identified by the FBI's forensics lab as a thermoplastic polyurethane, matching the marks on the soles of Max Harden's shoes. From this, Agent Mulder and I have concluded that it was Max Harden who stole the evidence from the evidence locker…

… The police later searched the rock formation but did not find any abnormalities which could have caused such an effect…

… Whilst it is Agent Mulder's belief that these adolescents were subjected to these effects due to their changing body chemistry, this can neither be substantiated or corroborated by this Agent…

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a nose nuzzled into the crook of her neck. In her concentration, she hadn't heard him move. Scully glanced down to see her suspicions had been correct: his sleeves were rolled up, revealing his forearms and the soft hair along them. She resisted the urge to mirror her arms around his and feel that hair brush against her. He took a deep breath of her scent and moaned appreciatively, setting her skin alight.

"Hey," Mulder whispered, pulling her away from her work and into her body. "Sorry: I got bored and you look so sexy, all professional and serious."

Scully chuckled, offering up more of her neck. "I'm surprised you managed to keep your hands to yourself all this case."

"Trust me, it's been a real struggle." He paused to place a trail of kisses down her neck. "And don't think I didn't see you sneaking peeks too, little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes."

"Saw that, huh?" She tried to sound aloof and indifferent but her voice rasped with her already blooming arousal.

"I always see you, Scully."

His voice had dropped an octave and the words vibrated from her neck through her body.

Report be damned.

Scully turned into him, hand grasping through his hair, yanking him up to see his eyes. They were her favourite shade of dark and playful; he knew he had won over her attention and he was cute with smug self-satisfaction. Her lips sought out their prize in his and she melted into their first kiss in a week. It was slow and gentle and exploratory, teasing and still playful. From the taste of his tongue, she knew he had been snacking on the seeds and the thought of him licking them out of their shells urged her forward.

Breaking away slowly, she rested her forehead against his and smiled with anticipatory pleasure. "Okay…"

"Okay?" Mulder queried.

"Okay, I'll finish the report later."

He glanced over to the side and inclined his head. "Should I crack open the wine?"

"Mhmm, save it." Her fingers wandered down his torso, playing with his tie. She looked up into his eyes. "I want you."

#xf fanfic #msr #dana scully #the x files #fox mulder #my writing

[altruistic-meme]

HI @spaghett-onaplate YOU SAID YOU WOULD LISTEN TO MY SPEECH ABOUT GEOCACHING SO HERE IT IS :) admittedly, i haven’t really done it in years and also i am going to go mostly off my memory so a lot of the technical aspects will be dodgy since i was. 8 or 9 years old when we started doing it and thus everything was handled by my dad. but. Here we go anyway!!

So geocaching is, at its core, a world-wide treasure hunt. You go around to different locations and look for some type of container that was put there, sign your name in the log, and then put it back to be found by the next person. 

What is a “cache”? What does it look like?  That’s one of the best parts: it can look like literally anything! One of the most common caches and perhaps the most well-known is the ammo can:

But people will use anything! Other common cache containers include: peanut butter jars, pill bottles, tupperware containers, and fake rocks. Geocaches come in all kinds of sizes, shapes, colors, styles. Things that my family has found used as geocaches include: a literal battery, a bird feeder, fake pinecone, gatorade bottle. As long as you can fit a little bit of paper inside it, it could be used as a cache. 

Some paper? What is the paper? The log! Whenever you find a cache, you write your name (usually your username on the official geocaching website) and the date. This is used as a way to keep track of the cache, who has found it, how long it has been there. It’s really cool when you find one and find out someone had found the cache the same day you did!

Always bring a pen to sign the log!!! For some caches, there might be a pen inside the container, but it is always best to assume there won't be!

Official geocache website? Yep! This is where my knowledge is incredibly rocky, but I did watch my dad using it sometimes. But from what I can recall, the website is where all of the caches are logged so that you can get the information you need to actually, you know, find the cache! And it’s a community as well; people leave comments on the individual caches, saying that they found it and sometimes giving anecdotes about their experience in looking for it (ex. My family went to the bottom of a canyon here to get a cache once, and we were all dying on the way back up because of all of the stairs. We still make jokes 10 years later about the hellish canyon!). And, sometimes, they’ll say that they couldn’t find it, which does happen quite a bit! Either the cache was too well hidden, or a well-intentioned muggle found an old peanut butter jar covered in camouflage duct tape and thought it was just trash in a National Park, so they took it to dispose of it.

(Wait- muggle? Yeah, it’s unfortunate that the term is shared with that series, but muggle just refers to anyone who is not a geocacher!)

How do you know if a muggle has disposed of the cache you’re looking for? Really, you can’t. It can be assumed if, say, there are a lot of people saying they couldn’t find it and no one saying they could. But sometimes it really is just that well hidden. Oftentimes if it starts seeming like it might be missing, the person who originally placed the cache will go to see if they can find it since they know what it looks like and where it was originally hidden to verify if it’s still there. 

It is for this reason it is always advised to put a geocache back EXACTLY where you found it! This is not always possible, and my family has had to semi-relocate caches in the past if the spot it was sitting is flooded or it otherwise seems dangerous for the cache to be there. But as a general rule, try to leave the cache exactly how you found it in the first place so that others can find it after you!

Who can place geocaches? Anyone! I do not know what all is involved in it, but caches are made by people in the community! It’s not as though there is an official group of people who place every cache. There are way too many for that to be the case. 

Are geocaches only in parks? Nope! They can be found anywhere! National/State Parks (at least here in the US) are very common, but some other places we have found caches include: water towers, highway guard railings, the woods just off the highway, cemeteries, parking lots, people’s yards, community centers, libraries, museums. (Let me tell you, it’s really fun to be 14 years old with your dad, standing outside of your minivan looking at the guard railing on a busy highway. We have had people pull over to ask if we need help before.)

Okay, so what information do you need to find a geocache? The information that we used was usually: 

What size is it?

Micro (battery)

Small (pill bottles, fake rocks)

Medium (ammo cans, pb jars, some tupperware)

Large (water jug, birdhouse)

How hard is it? Easy, normal, hard, etc. 

Coordinates As in, the literal coordinates. We had a handheld GPS for this, but from what I can see they also have an official app which should be able to do the same thing – assuming you don’t go somewhere without signal!

Fun fact! Some large enough geocaches will contain swag! Swag is usually just small, cheap items that are a take-one-give-one system in geocaching. I assume it is something used mostly for kids, but it can be fun to see what kind of swag a cache has! I got a few fun trinkets this way. If you are going to look for a cache that is medium or larger, it’s a good idea to carry a piece of swag with you in case something catches your eye!  Travel Bugs are a special swag item! They’re different from normal swag in that you aren’t meant to keep them. They are often on journeys! You can pick up a Travel Bug from one cache, scan it’s tag to see where it’s been before, and leave it in a cache you find later down the road.

Where can caches be hidden? Anywhere – with one exception: caches should NOT be buried. They will never be underground. But other than that, pretty much anything is fair game! One of the most common places is in a UPS, an Unusual Pile of Sticks, which just means a pile of sticks that looks a little too well-positioned to have fallen naturally. But other places include: gardens in front of businesses (the first cache we found!), hanging from a tree, magnetized to the previously mentioned highway railings, underneath the cover at the bottom of street lamps, inside tree trunks. 

What countries do geocaching? From what I know, every country! I have only ever found US geocaches because I have only left the US once and we didn’t get one in Canada, but I know my Uncle has found them in France as well. This is a world-wide game! I hope to get a geocache next time I leave the US :) 

OKAY that is all of the information I can think of right now. I kind of really want to get back into geocaching now, make my own account! My family found I think over 5000 geocaches from when we first started until now, from all across the country, including at one point I think almost every cache in Georgia. So I would be starting way from scratch, but it would be my own adventure :) plus I would get to revisit some places! (maybe not the canyon.)

Questions? I am open to answering further questions, though again I definitely don’t know everything, I just spent a lot of my youth doing this! But, I do also have access to my dad who knows a lot more of the specifics and details than I do. I also recommend looking at the official website for more information as well!

#that got. long. #in my defense the speech was meant to be like 10min #this could be a 10min speech #anywayyyy i would have sent you this as an ask oscar but i figured it would be better to have it attached to me than to you skdfhsd #ANYWAY!!! #as you can probably guess i highly recommend that people look into geocaching it's super fun #and you get to go for walks through parks a lot of the time!!! #or in fact you could do it ALL the time if you just. choose to look for caches that are in parks exclusively which you could 100% do #ANYWAY I NEED TO GO TO BED I HAVE TO GO TO WORK IN THE MONRING #i spent an hour writing this instead of getting ready for bed sdkhgsdhkg #geocaching #shh ac

[munsonsreputation]

Teenage Dirtbag...

eddie munson x femcheerleader!reader

word count: [30.7k] not proof-read sorry

warnings: no use of y/n (brief mention of name "noelle" inspired by Wheatus) jason being an asshole bf (what's new?), violence, blood, cursing, a bit of angst close to the end, happy ending though (!!!), reader and eddie being oblivious to their feelings, mentions of verbal arguments (jason and reader), reader (18) + eddie (19), nudity but not sexually, a lot of pining....please let me know if I forgot any!!!

_

“Shit.” You muttered to yourself as Mr. Smith pulled your name from the jar and cheerfully ushered you in front of the class.

A held a tight smile widened on your face while you pushed yourself out of your chair and hurried up to the board wanting to get this over with. Mindlessly, your fingers fidgeted with each other before looking up at your classmates staring at you.

You started off with your name and hurried hello before diving into the prompt that all the students before you had to answer, “my favorite color is pink…but I also like black, so I guess I should say my two favorite colors.” mouth babbling while you corrected yourself and waved your hands around, telling the class to ignore you

“…and um the extracurricular activity I’m a part of is cheer,” the hands you had clasped together behind you undid themselves, pointing at your cheer green and orange uniform.

“You forgot your fun fact.” Your teacher reminded and internally you cursed yourself, quickly spitting out the first thing that came to mind.

“My name was actually supposed to be Noelle since I’m born in December, but my parents they uh — I guess they didn’t like it too much, so I got the name I have now.” You revealed stiffly, turning to your teacher, who smiled and nodded, signaling you to take a seat.

“Ok next we have….” 

You let out a small sigh once you sat down and turned your attention to the next student, who was sharing a little about themselves before feeling a tap on your left shoulder. His smile and tall hair greeted your surprised eyes, seeing it was Eddie Munson himself interacting with you. It was his third and hopefully last senior year so you’ve seen his face and heard his voice for the last couple of years but never did you once initiate a conversation with him—until today since you two had the same class for the first time.

“Nice to meet you, Noelle… y’got a pencil I could borrow?” Your eyes traveled to his desk where a notebook full of doodles was spread open with a small piece of broken lead.

Your head nodded, reaching for your pencil case. “You’re Eddie, right?”

He hummed patiently, watching you pick out a red pencil just for him, remembering he had shared his favorite color with the class a few moments ago. It was your first and most likely not the last interactions with the guy, but it went pleasantly well considering your vastly differing social status.

“I like your pick.” pointing at his neckline with the pencil where a beaded chain and guitar pick hung perfectly, then passing it to him.

He bowed his head in thankfulness and sat back in his chair, inspecting you. Half of your hair pulled into a ponytail with a green ribbon tied off into a bow and the rest falling down your shoulders. Your own neckline was complimented with a snowflake necklace paired with some matching earrings.

“Nice jewelry, snowflake.” He chuckled, copying your motion and pointing the pencil at the center of your chest where the pendant fell.

“Snowflake.” It was odd. No one ever called you that and you never expected Munson out of all people to, but it sounded nice coming from his lips.

Despite your inner thinking, you laughed faintly, taking the compliment before turning around and listening to the rest of your classmates’ introductions.

Another hour and a half was spent listening to your classmates awkwardly introduce themselves, followed by Mr. Smith going over the classes’ expectation for the school year. A few times, you would glance back to see Eddie in his own world, continuing to scribble and write notes to himself in that black leather notebook. Lunch finally came around and you were thankful that the classroom wasn’t too far from the cafeteria, so you were able to get in line before it got too busy.

Gripping the red tray tightly, you grabbed a few items before a voice behind you spoke. “Hey you’re Carvers, girl, right?” He was a freshman sporting a letterman jacket and green track pants looking your way.

His face was recognizable, and you smiled, “Yeah, and you’re Lucas! Friends with Nancy’s brother?” You proposed, following the line as you picked up an Apple 

“Yup, that’s me!” He gave you a toothy smile.

“Hows your first day as a freshie?” You spoke curiously, waiting for him as he picked up a carton of milk and you both made your way to the jock and cheerleader table.

“Alright, but I’d much rather be sitting with my friends over there.” He lifted his head towards another table across the cafeteria. You noticed the curly-headed boy Dustin and the tall one Mike, who sat with the so-called freaks with Eddie Munson, sat head of the table.

“…but you know how Jason can get…don’t want him finding out I’m in Hellfire or I’m off the team—you wouldn’t tell him right?” He leaned closer to you nervously, almost with a regrettable tone, but your reassuring smile eased his concerns as you shook your head.

“Of course not, I can keep a secret, y’know. I’ll see you around!” You patted his back as he took a seat and you snuck up beside your boyfriend, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey!” He grinned at you, pecking your lips immediately.

“Gonna sit?” He scooted to make some space next to him and you shook your head.

“I’m actually gonna go sit with Nance and Robin. I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to them all summer, so I think it’s good I catch up with them.” Your eyes tilted to the two girls sitting a few tables away all by themselves before turning back to Jason.

“Dont you want to sit with the other cheerleaders? You know, your kinda group?” It was a question, but it sounded like more of a demand, nevertheless you declined.

You peered down the side of the table seeing all the other girls conversing among themselves and shook your head, “You know they don’t really enjoy my company. I’ll just catch up with you all later!” You gave him another small peck on the lips before making your way over to your friends.

You knew Robin and Nancy since freshman year, sharing some classes together with each of them, but it wasn’t until junior year that the three of you formed some type of friendship. You all had news-writing together and instantly clicked and essentially became a trio for every project. The two girls were terribly wrong about their perception of you as you were a cheerleader from the beginning, so they thought you’d be like the rest if them.

Stuck up, hypocritical, and an asshole.

Needless to say, you surprised them with your brains, beauty, and charm, but what wasn’t surprising was the asshole boyfriend you had. They found it hard to believe that a girl like you had such a disgraceful boyfriend for the last year.

“Lookie cookie if it isn’t our favorite cheerleader!” Robin shrieked, nudging Nance as you got closer enough to hear, causing you to roll your eyes lovingly.

“Hello to you too, Buckley.” Setting down your tray and reaching over to give each of them a small hug.

“How was your summer?” Nancy asked, watching you take a seat and plunge the straw into your juice box, taking a sip before answering.

“Its was great, had a fun time in Florida with my family and now we’re back in this hellhole.” You sighed, looking around at the depressing cafeteria.

“What about you guys?” You took a bite out of your Turkey sandwich and listened to them.

“Got a job at the Family Video with Harrington—you remember him, right?” 

“How can I forget about Mr. Hair himself?” You said, causing the girls to break out into laugher.

“Jonathan and I got summer jobs at Hawkins Press, but the men were total jerks! I swear they only saw me as a personal assistant…they never ever took anything I said seriously!” she wailed sadly, with a hint of irritation in her voice. 

You grimaced, a warm hand coming up to rub her shoulder soothingly. Since knowing Nancy, everyone knew she was a passionate writer that took every aspect of her work seriously and to hear about her horrible experience made you feel terrible for her.

“I’m so sorry you had to put up with that, Nance—but hey, just know that me and Robin think you’re an amazing writer, anyone would be lucky to have you on their team.” Her mood lifted with your enthusiastic and genuine voice, a smile spread on her face and she mouthed a “thank you” 

Robin voiced her agreement before turning to you and changing the topic. “You and jock boy still together, huh?”

You bit your lip and nodded, looking over at his table to see him in deep conversation with his teammates, “Yeah, we just made a year, actually.”

Robin rolled her eyes lightly, watching you keep your eyes on Jason’s body before turning back to give them your attention. Neither Nance nor her were fond of your boyfriend of choice, but they were glad that you weren’t such a dickwad like him. They just didn’t understand you two.

“He treating you good? Making you happy?” Nancy sought out, taking a bite of her salad.

“Yeah, yeah…he umm, actually got us tickets to go to a concert in the next couple of months.” You told them picking up your fork to toy with the peas sitting on the corner of your plate 

“What band?” Robin asked, but her question fell on deaf ears as you continued to play with the wrinkly green veggies, stacking them on your fork.

“Helloooo, are you still with us?” Robin fluttered her hands in front of you, causing you to regain some sort of touch with reality.

“Sorry, what was that?” You shook your head and waited for them to repeat the question.

“What band are you and Jason going to see?” Nancy restated, and you cowered, not knowing if you should lie or fess up the truth.

Chewing your lip between your teeth caused your voice to be slightly muffled as you posed a question for the two, “Promise you won’t laugh?” Nance and Robin, who looked puzzled, nodded their heads in compliance.

“It’s a Christian concert—his parents actually bought the tickets after Jason told them that I wasn’t particularly the religious type.” You replied as they furrowed their brows, looked at each other, and snickered.

“Hey! You guys said you weren’t going to laugh!” Your foot stomped the floor lightly and voice whined, picking up a pea and chucking it at them as they dodged it and continued to giggle.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that we were expecting a band that you actually like! I don’t know, maybe ABBA, Madonna, hell even Bon Jovi!” Robin noted a few of your favorite artists that you adored over any church band out there.

“She has a point—I mean, it should at least be a band that you both like!” Nance defended Robin as they stared at you skeptically.

You shook them off and laughed a little. “Hey it’s always good to try something new, right? And you never know, maybe I’ll like church music and become a god-fearing girl that Jason loves.” You rolled your eyes freely, followed by your friends’ laughter.

Turning your head glancing over at Eddie’s table where he was standing eccentrically telling a story that captivated his friends and even you and you couldn’t even make out what he was saying. But you did see a flash of a smile that he sent your way as you waved at him somewhat before turning back to your friends. 

_

“Who in the hell makes us run a mile on our first day back?” His breathless voice rang behind you on the track field.

The one and only Eddie Munson dressed in his same attire, ripped black skinny jeans, a pair of chucks, and his infamous Hellfire shirt. Sweat beading on his forehead and his already messy hair was frizzing up due to the humidity.

“Hiya Munson.” You smiled, slowing down your pace to run next to him as he caught his breath while keeping up a jog.

“Shit…hi snowflake, didn’t know we had gym together too.” He coughed out, looking at your change of clothing, which was a grey long sleeve, a pair of pink workout shorts, white reeboks, and some tube socks.

“You didn’t bring a change of clothes.” You giggled, watching him crack a smile despite the pain in his side.

“Wearing short shorts isn’t really metal, if you ask me.” He glared, massaging his side as you continued to keep up with his pace.

“Would be a lot more comfortable, though.” Your reply made him laugh through the agony.

“What lap are you on? Can’t believe I didn’t notice you.” His arms moved slightly at his sides, continuing to run, never minding the red dirt ruining his precious shoes.

“Second…well now third.” You breathed as you both passed the flag marker.

“I guess cheer really builds stamina, huh?” He quipped as you nodded, shifting your focus onto finishing in time.

But still you kept the conversation going, “What’d you think? We just dance around a look pretty all day?” 

“Pretty much.” He answered as you nudged him slightly and shook your head.

For a second you were stuck on the fact that he basically called you pretty, but you threw the thought away realizing how stupid of you it was.

“Well, if you wanna get a good grade on our first assignment, you better speed it up, Munson, catch ya later.” You grinned, blindless ly waving behind you as your speeded picked up.

“See ya!” He shouted in this distance, finally taking the time to stop and huff out a much needed breath.

_

After a five-day school week, it was nice to have some relaxation on this Saturday with Jason. You practically begged him to take you to Family Video to see what movies you two would be watching for your little date night together. He wasn’t really the type to stray away from his usual schedule of playing golf and sitting at home watching repeat basketball games, but somehow you convinced him to change it up.

“Welcome to the Family Video! How can I—eeeek!” Robin’s sentence was cut off with her squeal as she saw you enter the store for the first time since she got a job there. She hopped over the counter to embrace you in a tight hug while you dropped Jason’s hand and hugged her back.

“Hey you!” You giggled, rubbing her back warmly before she pulled away and her eyes slid to Jason’s.

“Hi.” she said simply, giving him a half hearted waved that he didn’t return and instead laced your fingers back together.

As much as she wanted to call out his rude behavior, she shook it off, turning her attention towards you, “Anything specific you guys are looking for?” She inquired, leading you guys to the different aisles in the store.

“Ooo Dirty Dancing, by any chance? I know it’s popular, but hopefully you have it in?” You requested to Robin, who smirked and nodded, making her way to the back where she knew there was an extra tape that was just returned.

You felt a tugging on your hand and looked over at Jason, who gave you a conceded look. “Dirty Dancing, babe? Really?” 

You pressed your eyebrows together and dropped his hand. “What’s wrong? Nancy said it’s a wonderful movie and I wanna see it!” He rolled his eyes at your eager voice, causing you to feel ashamed for simply wanting to indulged in something fun.

“Yeah exactly, it contains dirty dancing! It’s a sin, you know, to be watching those kinds of things.” One of his hands rest on his hips as the other pointed at you, his demeanor like a father scolding you for taking a cookie out of the jar.

It honestly made you more irritated than guilty, now.

He shook his head and sighed, leaving you standing in the romance section as he walked over to the…you guessed it—Christian movies! 

Robin had made her way back to you, tape in hand, oblivious to the mini argument that you and Jason had a few seconds ago.

“Hey so I actually hid this one just for you because I had this gut feeling that you were going to come in and—what’s wrong?” 

She sensed something was off when you didn’t immediately jump and screech hearing she had the movie that you were looking forward to watch after hearing Nancy brag about it over lunch.

With your head shaking and shoulders hunched, you opted for the simply answer in hopes of Robin not fretting too much,“N-nothing, just forget about it, I don’t want to argue with him, anyway.” You explained, feeling the sorry look that Robin was giving you. 

The bell chiming caught your attention, and you turned towards the door hearing that voice, “Please! Please! Please tell me you’ve got what I’ve been waiting for?!” 

He wore something different, but not too different from his usual school attire. Metallica band tee and another pair of black ripped up jeans. He went straight to the counter where Steve was holding up the last copy of The Shining. 

“You’re the best for a reason, Harrington!” Eddie declared loudly, practically ripping the tape out of his hands and keeping it close to his chest, which made you smile a little. 

“I’m gonna look around, but thanks for the help, Robin.”

She nodded and went back to work as you strolled over to the thrillers, feeling inspired by Eddie’s passion. Thrillers and horror weren’t usually your thing, but you just wanted to see if there was something you could handle. Your fingers skimmed the different tapes, but sadly, nothing caught your eye. But you just so happened to catch him. 

“If it isn’t the snow angel herself.”

That same voice, but not snowflake…snow angel. Somehow it had a better ring to it than the original nickname he had for you, this was a lot sweeter, more you.

You gawked up through your lashes and beamed, seeing him standing across from you, The Shining still pressed up to his chest as his left hand held a bunch of other tapes that he seemed to snag despite entering the store only five minutes ago. 

“Hey, Munson..jeez, what’re you hosting a movie night or something?” You tiptoed to get a better peek at the different tapes he had that piqued your interest, but not as much as Dirty Dancing did.

“Actually, yeah, the rest of Hellfire wanted to do some sort of bonding thing, so movie night it is.” He told you, looking down at the movies he had.

“What’s do you guys do in Hellfire, again?” You truly never knew as Jason and the rest of the jocks and cheerleaders claimed it was some sort of satanic sacrifice club despite having any factual evidence, only the devil symbol that was used to represent the club. 

“It’s a D&D club. We play Dungeons and Dragons the fantasy game.” He informed you as you nodded. 

“This whole time, I thought you were sacrificing innocent children.” You scoffed sarcastically, making him crack a smile and laugh. 

The two of you continued to stare down at the tapes before you spoke once more. “I’d be up to learn someday, y’know, as long as I can get one of those cool shirts you always wear.” Your openness slightly took aback him and he wondered if you were pulling his leg or not. 

“R-Really?” He stuttered out as you looked back up at him and nodded your head eagerly. 

In his head, he was already planning an extravagant welcome for you despite barely knowing you and even weighting out the probability that you’d actually show up and enjoy taking the time to learn the complex game of D&D.

“Totally, I think it’s badass—“ 

Conversation cut short as the blonde’s voice came closer and went from pleased to seething at seeing who his girlfriend was chatting with.

“Babe, I found—is this freak bothering you?!” Jason was speedily by your side, cutting off the discussion that was going pretty smoothly between you and Eddie. 

“No, he’s not Jason, so please cool it.” You told him firmly, tugging on his sleeve, trying to get him to settle down. 

Eddie wanted to laugh seeing the jock so worked up over an innocent conversation between him and his girl. He almost forgot that you were romantically involved with Jason because of your differing attitudes. Despite your uniform and label as a cheerleader at Hawkins High, you were a total sweetheart, definitely a contrast between the other girls and jocks who hated Hellfire’s guts for no apparent reason.

Jason was still staring angrily at Eddie, who seemed to care less about the entire ordeal, just wanting to continue his conversation with you, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. 

“Why don’t we go pay, yeah?” You suggested to Jason, who, without saying a word to you, left for the registers.

“Sorry about him.” You whispered timidly towards Eddie,

He brushed it off, giving you an unphased looked and mouthing, “s’ok angel,” watching you trail behind Jason like a lost puppy. 

He kept his eyes on you despite walking to the other side of the store to browse any other films he thought the guys might enjoy while listening in on the conversation you and Robin were having on the side of the register. 

“You sure you don’t want Dirty Dancing? I doubt it’s going to be available any time soon after someone picks it up.” Robin waved the tape around in the air, tempting you, but you shook your head, looking at Jason, who was giving you those telling eyes.

Steve handed Jason back his change, and you turned to Robin for the last time, “I’m sure, but thanks anyway. I’ll see you, Monday alright?” You smiled at her before Jason practically yanked you out of the store.

“Uh…okaaaay that totally wasn’t awkward at all.” Robin whispered to herself, setting the tape down disappointed and watched you two drive off in Carver’s douchey ride that she hated oh so much.

She shook her head, turning her attention to her best friend Steve, who was now ringing up Eddie, and caught a glimpse of your goodbye.

“I really fucking hate Carvers’ guts.” She sneered through gritted teeth, Steve nodded in understanding while counting the money Eddie had passed to him. 

Robin rested her head on the counter staring at Steve and continuing on a little rant, “I mean, first of all, he’s just an idiotic asshole, but I can’t believe she’s dating him…really….I mean she’s too good for him. I know for a fact he’s the reason she didn’t get Dirty Dancing!”

Steve glanced over at her and gave her an apologetic stare. “You didn’t hear? He practically screamed at her when you left to go find the tape. I could hear his whiny little voice from the back of the store.” 

Robin sighed, knowing that it was pointless to trash talk Jason because at the end of the day you and him were still together and it didn’t look like it was going to change anytime soon. 

“Dirty Dancing, hmm?” Eddie surged into the conversation, checking out the tape and glancing over at Harrington and Buckley. 

“I’ll buy it.” He shrugged, startling them a bit as they watched him gather a few more bucks from his pocket and slide it over the counter.

Steve snorted, scanning its code and looking up at him. “You really going to watch it? Maybe even learn some moves?” He rose his brows, watching Eddie closely.

Eddie smirked, picking up his tapes and grabbing the change from Steve’s hand. “A better idea, actually.” 

_

Another Monday meant another full schedule of classes that you loathed—but you had to remember that this was your last year of high school before the real world. That you might as well savor the quote unquote simple time of high school before you’d be sucked into college and a new world of academic stress you weren’t looking forward to. Second period chemistry came by quickly and you sat in your seat, but not before waving at Eddie, who was early and already shooting you one of his famous smiles. 

You began taking out your notebook and pencil case, setting it up on your desk as you got comfortable hearing the bell ring and Mr. Smith standing in front of the class ready to get started on the agenda. 

“I hope you all had a restful weekend because the next two weeks are going to be filled with an introductory project.” He announced as the class began to complain loudly about how the school year had just started and they were still trying to get used to the new routine. 

Mr. Smith shushed the class, getting them to settle down and listen to more of his instructions, “Listen, I know it’s a bit soon considering we just started a new school year, but I promise it will be slightly easy because you will be working in partners—and because I’m nice, you will be able to pick your partners!” He spoke, somewhat easing the nervous students who immediately turned to their friends in the class, ready to partner up. 

“However, you must pass this project with at least a C or higher in order to work with your partner again for future projects, so I advise all of you to pick your partners wisely and remember this is not just about goofing off alright?” He allowed a moment for the students to find their partners and, to your surprise, as you were turning around to speak to Eddie, he had already leaned forward, ready to ask you to be partners. 

“Sorry!” You both let out a small laugh as he leaned back and watched you fiddled with your fingers, something you did out of habit, he suspected. 

“Partners?” Your voice squeaked a bit, and he nodded yes before grabbing his bag that was lying on the floor and opening it up. 

“I actually have something for you, partner.” He declared, following your brows rise with curiosity until he held up the tape with a bold grin on his face. 

Your eyes widened in surprise, “No fucking way! Are you serious!” You whisper shouted, feet kicking and hands thrashing around.

The genuine look of gratefulness and excitement spread across your face was enough for his heart to warm up as you picked up the tape and inspected the front and back of it. 

“Buckley told me you were eyeing it but decided not to pull the trigger, figured I’d just get it for you since I had enough.” He wiggled his shoulders freely as you grinned heartily and moved over to grab his hand, which he didn’t expect, causing his heart to skip a little and his leg to bounce rapidly under the desk.

“You really didn’t have to, but I appreciate it a lot… here, let me see if I have some money on me.” You withdrew your hand from his and went into your backpack, hoping to have some bills lying around. 

“Uh uh…absolutely not, angel, just take it as a token of appreciation for defending me against that boyfriend of yours.” He was half joking as you peered up at him and gave a tiny sorry smile for Jason’s relentless behavior a couple of days ago.  

“Gosh, I’m super sorry about him again. I don’t know what’s his deal, he’s always prissy, y’know, but maybe it’s just stress from basketball and senior year.” 

“Maybe he’s just a fuckin’ piece of shit” is what Eddie really wanted to say, but he held back, not wanting to turn the moment sour. 

“s’alright, just make sure you return it on time. Can’t have Harrington threatening to beat my ass, too.” He tapped his desk before settling back into his seat and watching your teeth catch your lip slightly, and nodding your head in a promising way before tucking it into your backpack like a prized possession and getting back to discussing the project that you two would be working on. 

_

You and Eddie both decided you’d switch between his home and yours to work on the project every few days for the next two weeks. And to alleviate some of the stress, you both decided on a specific topic you wanted to focus on so that you could already start brainstorming ideas about how you wanted to present it. 

Instead of heading straight to lunch as you always did, you made a pit stop to your locker, tucking the tape Eddie had given you behind all your books to ensure Jason wouldn’t see it and thankfully you had slammed your locker shut just in time as your lovely boyfriend had popped up beside you from nowhere. 

“Hey you.” He grinned, kissing your cheeks and lips as you squealed and laughed lightly, 

“Sorry, just had to put away some books.” You told him, leaning against the lockers and watching his face. 

“It’s no problem babe, I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow for a little date, after practice, of course. Enzo’s maybe?” He proposed, but you instantly shook your head, remembering the crucial task you had.

“I actually have a chemistry project that I need to work on for the next two weeks—Eddie and I, we’re partners, so I’m heading over to his place to start.” Your voice told him willingly, not in the mood to try to hide it from him, but you noticed his facial expression falter from somber to outraged just hearing Eddie’s name. 

“Munson?! You’re partnered with him! Absolutely not. Are you insane? He’s a freak for crying out loud!” He practically shouted, increasing the attention of some students in the halls who were hanging around and walking towards the cafeteria, making you ashamed. 

You buried your face in your hands and rolled your eyes, hoping he didn’t see. “Would you stop with that? It’s all just a bunch of bullshit! Hellfire is a club where they play Dragons and Dungeons!” You explained softly 

“Or is it Dungeons and Dragons?” Your mind slipped trying to remember which was right, but you shook the thoughts and pulled your hands away to stare at Jason, who didn’t seem impressed with your answer.

“Look, if you really got to know the guy, you’d see that he isn’t as bad as you think. He’s actually really nice and sincere. I don’t think there is a bad bone in his body, honestly.” You confessed unapologetically, as Jason felt his anger rise to a whole other level, hearing his girlfriend defend that freak show whom he despised. 

“You—you don’t even know the guy!” He argued, fingers pointed at you sharply.

“Oh, and I suppose you do?” You crossed your arms sharply as you snapped back swiftly with a huff of a breath.

Quite frankly, you had it with Jason and his disrespectful comments towards people who he didn’t know. Simply making judgements off of them based on what they wore and what they looked like.

You pushed yourself off the lockers and glanced at him once more, “I’m your girlfriend and you need to trust me. He’s a good guy and we both really need to pass chemistry in order to graduate, so for sake, would you please just drop it?”

He didn’t have time to respond as you simply walked away from him and into the cafeteria, kinda just how he left you standing in Family Video last weekend. In need of some serious girl time with Nancy and Robin, who were waiting for you to show up. 

“Oh god, what’s the matter?” Nancy spoke quick and worriedly, seeing you show up to their table empty-handed and your lip curled up in displeasure. 

“Jason.” You muttered as the girls both rushed to ask a few questions. 

“Did he hurt you?” 

“What happened?” 

“You break up with him?”

“Are you OK?” 

You rested your elbows on the table, rubbing at your temple as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and looking at Nancy and Robin. 

“I-I’m fine. We actually just got into an argument about Mr. Munson himself.” You mumbled, watching their eyes widen and shift towards where Eddie was sitting with his club. 

“You—you’re talking about Eddie Munson? The so-called freak, or whatever your lame boyfriend and his friends call him?” Robin confirmed, and you nodded. 

“We’re partners for our chemistry project, so we’re going to be working together for the next two weeks.” You explained as they nodded and sat back, trying to process the deep-rooted insecurity that Jason had towards Edward Munson. 

You bit your lip, taking a single glance at Eddie and turning back to them, “I honestly don’t know why people think he’s so bad, he’s genuinely nice…he gave me the Dirty Dancing tape I was going to get on Saturday.” You announced, causing Robin to gasp and sit up. 

“So that’s what that little shit did with it!” She whispered, a narrow grin on her face as she hit the table with her palm. 

“W-wait, I’m so confused.” Nancy closed her eyes, trying to figure out what the hell the two of you were getting at. 

“Little Miss and her boyfriend came to Family Video on Saturday and she so badly wanted to get Dirty Dancing to indulge in the graceful acting and rated x dancing of Mr. Patrick Swayze and Ms. Jennifer Grey, but she decided she didn’t want it and you wanna know who shows up and miraculously gets the tape for her?” Robin looked between you and Nancy as you rolled your eyes, ready for her big reveal. 

“Eddie Fucking Munson!” the words gladly left her lips, rubbing her hands together with Nancy giving up a tender smile, “Ok I will admit that’s a little cute.” 

“He’s just friendly. I’m sure he just felt bad that I didn’t get it for myself.”

Nancy and Robin shared an “are you serious” look. 

“He could’ve easily accepted the fact that you didn’t get the tape and went about his day with his thriller movies, but instead he got it and presented it to you today. I’m calling bullshit. That son of a bitch has the hots for you!” Robin drummed against the table, making a blush spread across your face as you shook your head, frantically biting back a shy smile. 

“You’re blushing!” Nancy giggled pointed at your cheeks that you hid behind your hands this time. 

“You guys are crazy! Look, I have the tape, so what do you guys say? A sleepover with some Dirty Dancing?” You removed your hands and wiggled your eyebrows at them as they laughed and nodded. 

“Sure, I’ll pick up Robin from Family Video after her shift, and you’ll meet at mine after practice?” Nancy asked you as you nodded 

_

You let out a frustrated scream, throwing your head back against the headrest of your car as your fingers twisted the key into the ignition and still the engine would not falter. 

“You! Stupid! Fucking! Piece! Of! Garbage!” You yelled, getting out of the car and banging on the hood, attempting to get it to magically start somehow. 

It was just your luck that cheer practice had extended for another thirty minutes and Chrissy was running late so she had asked you to lock up the gym, meaning you were the last one in the school parking lot with no one to give you a ride home. 

“That was an awesome campaign, man!” Dustin applauded as he and the rest of Hellfire had exited the building on the other side of the parking lot. 

“I know it was totally unexpected but so much—” Mike’s voice faded from hearing a girl’s shriek and the sound of metal being smacked. Their eyes followed your voice until they landed on you reaching into your side of the car for the hood lever.

“Isn’t that Jason Carver’s girl?” Gareth squinted, watching your tiny figure pop the hood of the car and let out another stream of curse words. 

As much as Eddie wanted to crack a joke, he held it back, seeing as you were truly distressed and on the verge of tears, “She has a name, moron.” Eddie found himself making a jog towards your side, letting out a small cough that caught your attention.

“Need some assistance, angel?” 

A relieved sigh escaped your mouth as you saw him come into view and you nodded, thanking him and watching as he instantly took the weight of the hood from you and peered into the inside of your car.

“Is it bad?” You nervously bit on your thumb, not noticing the group of boys that had formed behind you watching their Dungeon Master assist the cheerleader. 

Eddie clicked his tongue and looked over at you and nodded, shutting the hood and exhaling, “Your head gasket is blown and you’re going to need another if you want this baby to get you anywhere.” 

“Fuck.” You hissed, running your fingers through your hair and turning around, only to be startled by a bunch of boys. 

“Ohmygosh!” You bolted back into Eddie’s chest as he quickly steadied you and yanked his hands right back to his sides after you regained your balanced. 

“Jesus, give the girl some warning, won’t you?” Eddie scolded his friends, swallowing a chuckle he wanted to let out from your jitteriness.

The curly-headed boy bowed his head in apology, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you! I’m Dustin, by the way!” He popped you a smile as you nodded and gave him a small one.

“And you're Mike, Nancy’s brother.” You pointed at the tall boy, who nodded and waved. 

You looked at the other three men who you assumed were seniors. “Sorry, I don’t think I caught your names?” 

They seemed taken aback by your question considering the fact that no one usually acknowledged them, so instead Eddie stepped in to answer as he pointed them out, “That’s Gareth, Jeff, and Kevin. Sorry they’re a little star stuck that the pretty cheerleader is giving them the light of day—or I guess I should say night.” He looked around at the dark sky, then back to his friends, who stood in pure shock.

“H-Hi.” You said quietly, introducing yourself before spinning around to face Eddie, “I umm—could you, um, do you think I could get a ride?” Again, those fingers twiddling with each other and this time with the hem of your uniform. 

He instantly nodded, pressing a soothing hand on the small of your back, guiding you back to your car while the other fished out his keys and threw them to Dustin. “Start up my van. We’ll meet you there. I’m gonna help her with her stuff.” Dustin and the boys walked to Eddie’s van and the three seniors got into their own cars and drove away. 

“I’m really so sorry. I feel like a total lost cause around you.” You confessed to opening up the trunk to grab your bags, but Munson had beaten you to it, already slinging the duffle on his shoulder and picking up your pom-poms, which looked silly in his ring decorated hands. 

“Hey, don’t be sorry alright, things like this happen. I’m just glad you weren’t stranded here all by yourself.” He told you, watching as you shut the trunk and opened your driver’s door to grab your wallet and a few cassettes that you didn’t want stolen from any car thieves that might roam in the late night. 

He couldn’t help but think, where was Jason? I mean, yeah, he could be a fucking bastard to him and his friends, but he thought he would be the charming boyfriend who at least made sure his girlfriend made it back home in one piece.

You shook him out of his thought with your voice, “Yeah, thanks for that.” You smiled, locking up the car and following him to his van,

“So how was your day?” He asked you peering over at you laughing lightly at the ground.

“Besides my car breaking down out of nowhere, it was alright. Cheer was tiring, but when isn’t it right? How about you?” He slid open the backdoor, passing your things to the boys before shutting it.

Eddie spoke, while his gracefully pulled open the passenger door for you, “A little better than usual, we had a good campaign tonight…your carriage awaits.”

“Thank you, again,” you beamed, reaching out to caress his shoulder warmly as you got in and fastened your seatbelt, feeling the door shut and Eddie quickly sliding in the driver’s seat.

You turned your body towards the back where the two boys were sitting and gave them a remorseful look. “I’m super duper sorry for crashing your night. I’ll make it up to you guys one day. Pizza or something like that.” You told them as they both shook their heads. 

“It’s really no problem. You being nice to us is really paying us back if you think about it.” Dustin replied, making you grimace, thinking about how cruel the jocks could be to these innocent kids. 

“Hey, and I’m really sorry about my boyfriend and how his friends treat you guys. I know he thinks calling you freak is a bad thing, but I think you guys are sooo cool. A little eccentric maybe, but that’s what makes people special and one of a kind.” Your eyes slip towards Eddie without really noticing before turning back to Mike and Dustin. 

“Plus, being a jock isn’t as cool as people think it out to be, anyway. I mean, they basically sweat against each other at every practice and game. I’d much rather be in an air-conditioned room playing a cool fantasy game, if you ask me.”

A smirk plastered on your face as your hand reached over and gave each of the boys an encouraging hair ruffle, but your eyes failed to catch Eddie’s in the rear-view mirror that was filled with contentment just hearing you build up the freshman’s confidence and a little of his own. 

He cleared his throat, gaining your attention as you settled back into the passenger seat and he drove off.

“Why don’t we listen to what you got—is that fucking ABBA!?” On your lap was where the tape was resting and he quickly snatched it, inspecting the damn thing and scoffing about how cliche the music was.

“Hey don’t shit on ABBA, it’s pretty good!” You retorted, snatching it out of his hands and sliding it into the slot and “Super Trouper” blared through the speakers as the wind blew your hair in all different directions. You looked beautiful to him, just absolutely breathtaking as the night sky beamed on your face. He got lost in your voice and giggles and before you know it was over.

“Thanks for the ride Munson…oh and thanks for Dirty Dancing, again! I’m having a girls’ night with Nance and Robin.” You beamed, picking up your things and stealing one more glimpse at him while he nodded and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.

“It’s no problem angel, I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

“Tomorrow.” You agreed, waving bye to him and Dustin as they drove off, leaving you and Mike walking up his driveway.

“You’re not as bad as I thought you were, y’know.” Mike spoke to you as he rang the doorbell, waiting for his mom or dad to let you both in.

“Hmm, really?” You turned slightly to him, watching his shoulders move.

“I don’t know, I guess I just thought all the cheerleaders and jocks were cruel idiots, but not you…and Lucas, of course.” He explained as you hummed in approval.

“Just remember to ignore the assholes, alright? It’s all inner insecurity, anyway. If they were satisfied with their lives like they claim they are, they wouldn’t attack innocent people for enjoying different things. And hey, you never know, the person you might think is sooo different from you could actually be just like you.” You patted his back with your pom-poms and heard him let out a chuckle.

“So basically, like you and Eddie?”

“Wait, wha—” before you even had time to ask Mike what he was talking about, his mother had answered the door and greeted you both with a warm smile and hug.

“Nice to see you again, sweetheart! Have you eaten?” Mrs. Wheeler asked, moving off to the to let you in as you shook your head no.

“My car broke down at school, so I actually had to catch a ride with Mike and his friend Eddie, but I can honestly eat whatever you’ve prepared. I’m not picky at all.” You assured her as she guided you to the kitchen, where she made you a plate of spaghetti.

“Do you mind if I made a quick call to my parents? Just have to let them know I got here safely and about my car.” You asked, watching as she nodded.

After a five-minute call with your parents letting them know you’d be spending the night at the Wheelers and letting them know about your broken-down car, they had let you go and reminded you to call them if you needed anything. If there was one thing you were really grateful for, it was understanding and patient parents who did more listening than disciplining.

“Thanks again, Mrs. Wheeler!” You called out as you made your way up the familiar stairs and into Nancy’s bedroom, where she and Robin were already waiting for you.

“Jesus, we thought you’d never show up.” Robin joked, getting up to help you put down your things as Nancy patted an open spot on her bed.

“Sorry I’m late, car broke down and Eddie had to drop me off here.” You explained to them as their gasped filled your ears, making you roll your eyes.

“I’m sorry, did you just say Edward Munson gave you a ride here?” Nancy blurted, patting Robin’s leg frantically.

“Calm down. We weren’t alone. Mike and Dustin were also in the car.” You told them, but still the squealing didn’t stop with these two.

“I swear Eddie is racking up these points, first getting you the tape you’ve been longing for and now being your knight in shining armor? He’s only known you for like a few days and he’s already going out of his way for you—this totally confirms that he’s into you!” Robin pointed earning Nancy’s support, while you ignored them and they kept talking amongst themselves of how head over heels Eddie was for you.

Instead of partaking in their delusions, you opted to enjoy Mrs. Wheelers’ home cooked meal and assurance that you knew Eddie was just being kind to you like he would for any other person. That’s just who he was.

Thankfully, as the night went on, the three of you got some homework done before settling in to watch Dirty Dancing, Nancy did her best not to spoil the movie too much for you and Robin since it was your first time seeing it, but she did let you know when the good scenes were coming up.

“Honey, you have a call.” Mrs. Wheeler knocked lightly on the door and opened it, holding up the cordless phone towards you laying in bed next to Nance.

“She can use mine.” Nancy offered, picking up her landline that rested on her bedside table as Robin paused the movie.

“Thanks.” You said quietly towards Mrs. Wheeler who nodded and shut the door.

Nancy passed you the phone, and you quickly put it to your ear, maybe suspecting your parents calling to check in, “Hello?”

“Babe oh thank god! I thought you were sacrificed for a moment there.” Jason’s voice was filled with relief as you sighed and shook your head.

“I’m fine, Jason. I’m just having a girls’ night with Nancy and Robin, alright? And how did you even know to call here?” You questioned, waiting for his answer.

“I called your house first, but your mom told me you weren’t home, said you were spending the night at the Wheelers.” He said, and you nodded slowly, silence filling the conversation.

“And I—I wanted to apologize for earlier today. You know I didn’t mean to cause a scene or make you upset. I just don’t like the thought of that freak hanging out with you. Who knows what he’s capable of? The last thing I need is to worry about my girl’s safety. I just don’t want him to hurt you or fill your head with sinner thoughts.”

You internally cringed at that whole speech that took him god knows how long to curate. If your boyfriend really thought that Eddie was in danger, then he had another thing coming.

“Just don’t worry about me, alright? I’m a big girl and you need to trust me. And look, it’s getting late so I’ll just see you tomorrow, alright?”

He grumbled and sighed, “Let me pick you up in the—”

“Can’t. Nancy is giving Robin and I both a ride to school, then Eddie is giving me a ride to his place to work on our project. Don’t worry about me….and um, I forgive you, I’ll see you tomorrow, Jason.” You said hurriedly, hanging up the phone and laying back in the bed staring at the pink ceiling.

“Well, I’m not even going to ask what was that about. Let’s just continue, right?” Robin glanced at the television and you nodded, hearing the movie resume as you proceeded to stare into space.

Did you even really forgive your boyfriend for what he did to you today? Or did you just feel like you had to cut him some slack because you felt like you needed to? Sure, you were a bit cold to Jason during the phone call, but his perception of Eddie and his friend group was slowly starting to get under your nerves. At first it was just normal banter between the two groups, but now it was just painstakingly obvious that Jason just wanted to make their lives harder for no reason and you just couldn’t take it anymore.

_

“One last run through girls!” Chrissy shouted, while you heaved, taking a deep breath to prepare yourself for the next round of jumps and flips.

Practice was stretching over half an hour later than usual and if it was any other day you wouldn’t have minded, but you knew that today was your and Eddie’s first session together. Hellfire usually finished the same time as cheer, maybe a little later but you should’ve known Eddie was considerate enough to end his game a little early to make sure he picked you up in time.

“Angel!” Your head jerked towards his voice echoing throughout the gym, gaining all the attention of the cheerleaders who stared at the freak leaning against the gymnasium doors.

“What the hell is he doing here?”

“Such a perv!”

“Scram you freak!”

Their snotty voices overlapped one another in hatred, causing you to roll your eyes and step up to his defense right away, “He’s with me.”

Their mouths held agape as their jeers completely ceased and you waltzed your way over to Munson, giving him a sorry look, “Sorry about them.” you whispered, rolling your eyes at the girls behind you, except Chrissy, who told them all to shush.

He snickered and shook his head, “Hey it’s not like I’m already accustomed to it…you uhh…ready to go?”

You rubbed your fingers together and shook your head, “We’ve got one more run through, but I swear it shouldn’t take more than ten minutes!” You crossed your fingers like a promise and he gave you a reassuring stare.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright…take your time, I’ll just wait outside—” He pointed behind him and you shook your head quickly, mouth not stopping yourself as you blurted, “You can wait on the bleachers! It’s freezing out…”

Gosh, you sounded desperate for him.

He laughed skeptically, glancing at the ogling cheerleaders behind you, “You sure they won’t be uncomfortable with the satanic cult leader in their presence?”

Rolling your eyes, you brushed the girls off, “They’ll get over it,”

“I’ll be over there then.” He pointed to some bleachers, and you nodded, going separate ways so that you could finally finish up practice for the night and not have to endure the comments and judging eyes from the rest of the team.

“One more run through, right?” You snapped as they finally jerked out of their trance and got into position, Chrissy giving you an apologetic smile before she called out the counts.

He watched you and only you as they tossed you up in the air and you held your pose tightly. It just so happened he never attended a pep rally, let alone any games, so he didn’t know what cheer consisted of. Thinking it was just girls screaming a bunch of corny cheers, which that was a little bit of it, he gained a new respect for it, at least for you.

When you finally finished, you said goodbye to Chrissy, the only one who was remotely nice to you, and rushed over straight to Eddie, who stood up and took your duffle bag from your shoulder. It was a kind gesture, something that you didn’t expect, but like you’ve been telling everyone, Eddie was super kind, and this was in his nature.

“I didn’t know you got tossed around like a rag doll.” He said while spinning his keys around his finger, his eyes lingering on your figure for a moment.

You giggle and shook your shoulders, “It’s like second nature to me….and um, sorry for the girls again, they’re really shallow.” You really felt the need to apologize again for putting him in this situation, as you could still faintly hear them snickering while you and Eddie finally exited the sticky gym.

He stopped for a moment, catching your right hand that was swinging, “Angel, what they say really doesn’t affect me anymore, so don’t stress that pretty little head of yours, alright?”

The sudden but simplest physical contact caused your breath to hitch and your heart to flutter. You couldn’t pinpoint where these feelings were coming from, but it wasn’t uncomfortable for you. It just felt different, but a pleasant different.

“Y—yeah…I know, I just umm…I have this stupid habit of apologizing like a million times.” You stuttered out quickly and finally his touch dropped from yours.

“You can do no wrong in my eyes, so don’t ever think you have to apologize to me.” He continued walking towards his van sticking the key into the passenger to unlock to door

“…especially for something you didn’t do.” He added with a smile, holding the door open for you.

“Thanks Eds.” You grinned, settling into your seat.

The drive to the trailer park wasn’t too long, only about a ten-minute drive, but during the ride you and Eddie were able to strike up a conversation about his D&D tonight and how all the boys had a great time with it. You didn’t quite wrap your head around the whole game at first, but it was starting to make a lot more sense as Eddie explained it further. Finally, you arrived at the trailer park and you anticipated being in his personal space for a few hours.

He stumbled a bit through him and his uncle’s trailer, trying to pick some things up and at least make the place look half decent while you stood in the middle of the living room watching him frantically clean.

“Eddie, really, it’s fine.” Your small voice said, shoulders coming together as he finally turned his attention to you and sighed.

“I really should’ve cleaned this place up before I left this morning. I swear I don’t live in a dump.” He held his hands up in defense and you waved him off and smiled, taking a small walk around the area.

The walls were littered with a few pictures that looked like it was from his childhood and there was a small coffee table sitting in the middle of the room where the tapes he bought over the weekend were scattered.

“You live here all by yourself?” You sought, fingers brushing over the walls and smiling at what looked like a baby Eddie dressed up as a cowboy for Halloween.

He came up beside you shook his head. “With my uncle actually, but he works night shifts, so I don’t see him too much unless it’s on the weekends.”

You nodded and finally tore your eyes away from the photograph meeting his, “Do you wanna work in your bedroom or the living room?”

He shuffled around for a second before motioning you to follow him down the narrow hall into a room that you knew was his. A dark red guitar hanging up against his mirror, a plethora of posters stuck to the wall, and a bed that had no headboard or footboard in the room's corner. It wasn’t your style, but it was definitely Eddie’s and despite the room’s limited space, you liked the atmosphere.

“Cozy.” You murmured with a small smile, taking in the personality of his room, setting down your things and taking a seat on the carpeted floor.

“Are you sure this is ok?” He asked anxiously, watching you get comfortable rather quickly

You nodded reassuring, patting the space in front of you so he could get the hint to join, “I like it…really fits the whole look you have going on. Metal.”

“Metal.” He purred, smile inching up on his face before he turned to grab his books to actually use for studying for what seemed like the first time in a long time.

Eddie couldn’t help but stare at you a few times out of the night, basking in your beauty, which in reality were smudged eyeliner and mascara and an oily forehead due to practice a few hours earlier.

Trailing your eyes up from your notes, you could see Eddie staring at you intentlu,“You ok over there?”

He jerked and coughly stiffly out of embaressment of being caught, but you found it to be rather cute, offering a snorted laugh which seemed to ease him a bit.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine…sorry I thought there was something on your face, but it was just the moon shining.” His fingers widened, imitating the light that was flickering in through his thin curtains and highlighting your features as your cheeks blushed.

“You flirt with all the girls who bring around here?” A teasing statement left your lips, and he grunted, shaking his head with a smirk.

“Me?! Flirting?! Bringing girls around here?! Angel you’re the only girl I’ve brought home, but if your boyfriend found out, he’d kick me ass.” He countered back watching you laugh lightly before a frown covered your face at the mention of your boyfriend.

You knew Jason had no limits. If he had found out about you and Eddie’s innocent interactions like these, he’d lose his shit and target Eddie, making his life even harder. Definitely not what you wanted.

Your legs stretched out straight as you shoved your notebook off to the side in the pile with the rest of your stuff. Sighing deeply, you stared back up at Eddie who’s back rested against his dresser, following your every move.

“Jason can be a bit much…all the time actually. Got into a fight yesterday, and it wasn’t pretty.” You admitted, voice filled with disappointment and a twinge of sadness.

He frowned, tossing his notes to the side as he maneuvered a little to sit closer next to you, “You ok? He didn’t hurt you or anything, right?” The question left his lips before he could even stop and you nodded, making sure he knew you were alright.

“No, no, no, he didn’t put his hands on me. Our fights are more verbal than anything. It’s kind of like mixing gasoline with fire when it comes to him and I. When we fight it gets ugly, none of us want to be wrong….though I’m usually always right.”

The smile that broke out on your face wasn’t sincere, and he could tell. It was almost like a pitiful expression to try to get him to think that everything was ok, but he could read you. It was easy. At least for him to notice. He just listened as you continued to talk. He liked hearing your voice….not so much hearing about all the things Jason did to upset you, but if it helped to get it off your chest, then he was more than willing to sit here with you all night.

For some reason, you felt comfortable sharing this information with Eddie. Usually, you’d keep the arguments that you and Jason had between you and him, only really confiding in Nancy or Robin when you were extremely pissed. But you felt OK to share it now, and you didn’t know if it was the coziness of Eddie’s room or simply the safeness that you felt, but you were OK.

Once you realized you had gotten off track and disregarded the project, you caught yourself instantly going into apologizing mode, “Sorry, I’m rambling. It’s a habit.” You withdrew, feeling yourself becoming a bit too comfortable, and Eddie shook it off offering a reassuring smile that made you feel warm.

“‘s’lright, you can always talk to me, if it makes you feel better.”

That made you smile from ear to ear whispiring a soft and quiet “thank you,” before getting back to work.

To you and Eddie’s surprise, the night went fairly well as progress was made for the chem project and you two were easily able to hold a comfortable conversation without fearing judgement or awkward silence. He made you laugh a countless amount of times throughout the night whether it was mocking Mr. Smith’s boring lectures, hearing his horrible gym stories, and attempting a cheer with your poms. Hell, he even played some ABBA and Madonna for motivation after you wanted to give up and take a failing grade.

For the night, he made you forget about all the issues you were facing. It was more than nice. You wish you could spend every night like this.

_

Despite the dislikes of Jason, he learned to deal with it, knowing that you were going to stand your ground and not switch out being partners with Eddie. The last few days were hell for the jock, needing to watch you get into Munson’s car and drive off to his place or yours in order to work on the project while he could do nothing but stay pissed at both you and Eddie. But of course, he’s Jason Carver. He always has a vindictive plan up his sleeve.

He trusted you, but definitively not Munson. He had to make sure Eddie knew you were his girl and his only. That his satanic ways would not get the best of you. He spent the last few days being extra touchy for no apparent reason, purposefully pulling you into kisses that turned into make-out sessions in the middle of the hallway when Eddie would cruise by or right before you’d hop into Eddie’s car and drive off to work.

You never noticed Eddie’s presence and assumed that Jason just really wanted to makeup for being a dick to you, but it was never really that. And today was no different. Before you could even take a seat at his lunch table, he pulled you into his lap and roughly pressed his lips against yours in a scorchingly uncomfortable kiss.

Then there was Eddie, glaring in distaste as he heard you squeal loudly and press your hands on Jason’s chest to shove him away, dying of embarrassment at everyone watching.

“Jesus, they need a fucking room.” Mike gagged from his lunch table, turning away as you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, not noticing Jason turning his attention to Eddie.

“Fuck you, freak.” Jason would mouth, flipping Munson the bird, while Eddie graciously returned it with a scowl.

“The fuck is his deal?” Eddie turned over to his boys, who looked disturbed and genuinely about to vomit after witnessing such PDA.

Dustin rolled his eyes with a grunt, cramming some chips into his mouth. “His deal? Really? Please tell me you didn’t ask the most obvious question?”

The young boy watched Eddie’s face fall in bewilderment, and he groaned. “You are totally oblivious, aren’t you?” Dustin tossed the chip bag down, licking the Cheeto dust off his fingers as Eddie’s face scrunched up in repulsion.

“Jason is jealous of the time you and her and spending—thinks you’re going to take her away from him.” Dustin explained, and the other guys agreed in unison, nodding their head and talking amongst themselves about the situation.

“M-me? Eddie Munson would take her away? She’s not even my type, Henderson, so I don’t know why jock has his panties in a twist in the first place.” He shook his head and sunk back into the chair, taking a glace at you and Jason kissing once more, this time not as obscene, but still gross.

“Sure, she may not be your type, but we can all agree that the chemistry you share is unbelievable and we’re not just talking about the class.” Dustin quipped cheekily, watching Eddie tilt his head down to hide his reddening cheeks.

“Henderson….” Eddie gritted through his teeth, wanting to go back in time and not ask the question to begin with.

“He’s right! You two have a nice dynamic, so it’s no wonder Carvers is possessive of her.” Mike added harmlessly.

“Drop it dipshits.” Munson announced, eventually lifting his head up from the table, only to be greeted by your face staring at him from across the room. A glowing smile and fingers waving towards him before your attention was stolen again by your boyfriend.

_

Two weeks were up quicker than you expected, but Eddie and you had a marvelous time working on the project together. He’d pick you up after practice, or if you were early, you’d stop by Hellfire to wait for him to be done until you’d both work on the project. It was nice having something to do other than the same boring homework you had for other classes, along with having his company. The both of you waiting patiently as you watched your chem teacher make his rounds across the room before finally stopping at Eddie’s desk.

“An A+ this is fucking’ insane!” Eddie pounded his desk cheerfully, your grade circled at the top of the page in bright red ink.

You twisted your body around, holding up your hand that he high fived before continuing to celebrate his first A+ in the last three years. It was kinda adorable to see him so giddy over a grade. To you, it was normal to get decent grades, but for someone like Eddie, it was rare to see. People always doubted his intellectual abilities just because of what he wore and how he spoke, so it became his normal to expect grades that reflected his personality. Not this time, though, at least not under your watch.

“You keep it, hang it up on your wall as a memento.” Your hand patted his, eyes still glued to each other, and that shit-eating grinned that you both had when you two were around.

“Y’sure you don’t want to file it in with the rest of your superb grades?” He shot you a joke with a raised eyebrow, causing you to roll your eyes playfully.

“I’m sure about it, Munson. This certainly won’t be our last A+ together, right? I mean, we’re friends now….r-right?” You don’t know why your voice shook or why you even asked such a dumb question in the first place. I mean, it was pretty much established that you and Eddie were friends, right? Especially after the time and laughter you two shared. It was now a genuine friendship, right?

He nodded and inched closer to you, “Yeah, of course we are, duh.”

“Annnnd if we’re friends, then I think you should definitely check out me and my band tonight. At the Hideout.”

Your head cocked to the side with confusion, and your eyes continued to stare. “You’re in a band?”

He laughed at your astonished state and nodded, “Corroded Coffin. Me, Gareth, Jeff, and Kevin. We write our own shit, but we cover a bunch of other metal songs, too. I guess I could work in a metal version of Like A Prayer just for you.”

The heart beating in your chest fluttered at the simple thought of him remembering the song you were currently obsessed with now. “You’d really do that for me? But it wouldn’t be really metal of you, though? Don’t want to ruin your whole look you’ve got going on.” You looked him up and down with a smirk on your face.

He whistled and shook his head with a grin, “Sweetheart, everything I do is metal—so will you be there?”

In a heartbeat, your head bobbed and a wide smile came up on his face. “Of course, what time?”

Eddie did his best to suppress his excitement with you coming to his show. He knew metal music wasn’t your thing, but to see your instant accord to go made him churn with pride and a mix of nervousness.

“9:30, you need a ride or anything?”

He wanted you to nod your head, yes, but internally frowned when you shook your head. “My dad actually just got my car fixed, so I’m fine to drive myself. Do you mind if I invited Robin? It’s just that she’s been trying to get into new music, so maybe she’d be into your stuff, too?”

“Sure, the more the merrier, angel.”

_

“It fucking reeks in here!” Steve’s stuffy voice called out through the loud music as held his nose shut.

You all walked into the small club where a bunch of old middle-aged men were drinking and smoking among the genetic tunes blaring in the tight space. You had never been here before, so this was all too new for you, but you promised Eddie and you were really not one to break any commitments, and you sure as hell weren’t going to start tonight.

“Where in the hell did you drag us?” Nancy ordered, having a seat at one of the empty tables as the rest of you follow.

“Hey, I only invited Robin, but you guys wanted to come along…and we’re here to support Eddie and his band.” You told them, crossing your legs as you took a glance at your watch. Five minutes until they would be coming out on stage.

“Jesus christ, when I said I wanted to listen to new music, I didn’t mean at the Hideout surrounded by drunks.” Robin choked, pointing at an old man passed out at the bar.

“I think the scene adds character. Eddie and his band are metal heads, so it would make sense they performed somewhere like this.” You argued, following the stage as you saw Gareth and the rest of the guys pop out, then Eddie last.

“Woo Hoo!” You applauded noisily, followed by a whistle, while the lights dimmed.

Eddie looked out into the small crowd and saw your frame, along with the three others, waving and clapping a bit. He gave you a nod with a smirk before delving into the show and getting absorbed in the heavy bass and drums of Corroded Coffin.

Metal was most definitely not Nancy or Steve’s cup of tea, but they seemed to tolerate it for the night, appreciating the deep lyrics of the songs as opposed to the instruments. To Robin’s surprise, she actually appreciated the music quite a bit, but not as much as you, who was bobbing your head to every song and dancing around in your seat the entire set. Now that the night was dwindling, Eddie announced one last song and looked over at you.

“And this last one is for a special angel who came to join us tonight. This is Like A Prayer, Corroded Coffin Style.”

“Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone, I hear you call my name, and it feels like home.”

Your jaw dropped and eyes widened as you watched the way Eddie’s voice beautifully carried the song, “No fuckin’ way!”

You quickly got up out of your seat, hands reaching out for Robins, pulling her along with you as you both danced to the beat of the song. Soon, Nancy and Steve even joined in, enjoying the metal rendition.

His eyes were trained on you while he continued singing the lyrics and his fingers moved against the frets. He had memorized the damn song in just a span of a few hours and somehow convinced his band mates to play along. The lyrics weren’t new to him as some of it was engrained into his memory after listening to you sing it on repeat during the time you and he would work on the project. And no different, just like the image of you dancing carelessly in a room full of people who stared, but they were all faceless to him. It was you who was engrained in his mind. Only you shone in the light, and you always did.

“Thanks everyone, have a goodnight.” Eddie finally ended the show earning hoots and howls from the drunks and, of course, you and your friends. He immediately set down his guitar and hopped off the stage, making his was over to you.

“Eddie, that was amazing!” Your arms had wrapped around his body in a tight hug that he quickly returned, wrapping you up in his arms and inhaling your warm vanilla scent. This was the first time you two were hugging. It felt strange, but still nice and homey.

“Really…you liked it?” He pulled away from you temporarily to look down at your dazzling smile that assured him that you did, in fact, enjoy the show more than you should’ve.

“I absolutely loved it and you kept your word with Madonna!” You hugged him again before he pulled away completely from the hug and swept his fingers through his ragged hair.

“I always keep more word, angel.”

Time seemed to freeze between you two, Eddie kept his eyes trained on you, fidgeting around, and your hands reaching behind you to twiddle with a smile still seeping on your face. That was, until Steve cleared his throat, resuming the moment.

“You guys did pretty good. Still not my type of music to get down to, though.” Steve patted Eddie’s back, earning a small nod.

Nancy stepped in, patting Eddie on the shoulder as well, one of her first real interactions with the metal head. “Yea, same here, but it was really nice to see you guys perform.”

“Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for having us, although you didn’t necessarily invite me or Nancy, or Steve.” Robin spewed quickly as Eddie chuckled.

“You’re always welcome to come. We play Mondays, every other Friday’s and Sundays.”

They all nodded and waited for you to speak up, “Why don’t you guys get the car started? I’ll meet you out there in a minute.” You handed Robin your keys, and they all nodded, saying goodbye to Eddie as they left you two alone in the pub.

“Will you show me more?”

He scrunched-up face and wiggled around. “Huh?”

“More metal music? Maybe tomorrow or whenever you’re free?” You clarified, and he nodded quickly, snapping his fingers.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll bring some tapes. Maybe you can swing by Hellfire if you don’t have practice on Thursday?”

“You’re lucky Chrissy is the captain, and she likes me. I’ll be there!” You said giddily, your insides doing sommersaults, thinking about how much fun you two were going to have.

He looked just as excited, but knew it was getting late and you both still had class tomorrow. “Good—want me to walk you to your car?”

“Please?”

No questions needed as he simply rested a hand on your back and you fell into his touch, mindlessly leaning into him as he escorted you out the Hideout and the middle of the parking lot where the high beam lights from your car basically blinded the two of you.

“At this point they need to kiss.” Robin uttered from the backseat, watching the two figures make a little more small talk in the empty lot.

“Did you forget she’s still with Carver?” Steve flicked her shoulder, causing her to hiss at him.

“The pining between the two of them is killing me! Don’t they feel the connection they have?” Nancy whined, watching Eddie give you another tight hug.

“No, because the two of them are too damn oblivious, dancing around the very clear feelings that are present.” Robin bit her thumb, watching on.

“Does Jason even know she’s here?” Steve asked, shaking his head.

“Nope.” the girls answered, finally seeing the two of you pull away from the hug that seemed to last forever.

Eddie brushed some of your hair from your face and whispered, “Get home safe, alright?”

You bit your lip, nodding assuringly, “Mhm, see you Eds.”

One last smile was shared between you before you finally had to walk away, opening the driver’s door and buckling in, before you drove off you gave him a wave and you could see his mouth move, “See you, angel.”

_

Like you promised, you were there outside Hellfire on Friday, waiting for Eddie to let you in as you picked up footsteps and voices coming from the inside. Then, after a couple of seconds, you were greeted by his face and that smile you came to appreciate seeing on a daily basis.

“Hey—”

He instantly talked over you, guarding the door as he crossed both arms across his chest, “On a scale of one to ten, how good are you at giving advice, angel?”

“Umm, like maybe an eight…why?” You rose your brows only for Eddie to clap and turn his head to his friends, saying, “I’ve got just the person!”

His hand came to wrap gently around your wrist, pulling you into the room, “Hey this wasn’t a part of the deal!” You wailed as Eddie eventually let go, pulling out a chair for you, gesturing you to take a seat with his friends.

You sighed, setting down your things and sitting, “One of my boys really needs some help, and you’re the only other girl I know who seems to have some decent relationship advice.”

He patted your shoulder as he brushed past you, into his throne and you wondered out loud, “Yeah? And who might the other girl be?” lips turned up in curiosity and arms crossing your own chest.

He gestured over to a young girl, a redhead who sat by Lucas, who was skipping basketball practice to secretly attend Hellfire, though they weren’t playing. For a second, you thought that Eddie was hanging out with another girl…not that it even bothered you, anyway.

“Meet Red—” Eddie started before getting cut off.

“Max, my name is Max, I’m Lucas’ girlfriend.” She presented her hand towards you, which you shook politely before introducing yourself.

“Nice to meet you, too. Lucas didn’t tell me he had a pretty girlfriend.” You giggled, observing the young boy who blushed while she smiled proudly at the compliment.

“s’becuase they recently got back together. He pissed her off, so she had to put him in place.” Dustin chimed in as Max shrugged, leaning back in her chair.

“You’re fiery, I like that.” You commended seeing a smirk on her face before turning back to Eddie.

“Care to enlighten me about today’s conversation when we should be jamming out to some metal?”

He was flattered by your excitement at new music but, tapped his fingers against his collarbone, “Metal will come sooner or later. Mike upset his girlfriend…what’s her name again?”

He snapped trying to remember, glancing over at Mike who looked gloomy, “El—she doesn’t live here in Hawkins, she actually moved to Lenora a few months ago but her and her family might be moving back since they don’t really like it there.”

“So what happened with you and El?” You rested your head on your elbow, listening in to Mike’s story.

“She’s upset that I haven’t said “I love you…” I mean technically I did once, but I didn’t mean for her to hear it and now she just expects me to say it allllll the time, but I guess I just let it fly over my head because last night we got into a heated argument over the phone. She read all the letters I sent to her which ends with “From, Mike” instead of “Love Mike,” and now she won’t return any of my calls.”

You let out a shaky breath and nodded, taking a moment to recollect your thoughts and the best possible advice you could give him to save the relationship.

“When she brought it up, what did you say?”

“That I do say it—”

“But you just told me you don’t?”

“That’s what we’re saying!” Lucas, Dustin, and Max all shouted in unison, making you bite back a laugh that you so badly wanted to let out.

“God, would you guys shut up and let me speak!” Mike huffed out in irritation, turning back to you and groaning.

“I-I just think I have a hard time saying it. I mean, I’ve only ever told my friends I love you in a platonic way, but it’s harder to do romantically. I gotta fix this because hearing her cry over the phone and being able to do nothing sucked.”

He sounded terribly awful about the whole situation and seemed like he really wanted to make it up to his girl. This freshman was doing more to make up for his shitty behavior than Jason ever did in the year of you two dating, and it kinda stung to think about, but you brushed it off, not wanting to make the situation about yourself.

“Hey at least you can admit your wrongs and there’s nothing wrong with not being able to say I love you to someone romantically, I can relate to that.” You grabbed Mike’s hand thoughtfully as everyone turned to you and looked in perplexity.

“Wait, you’ve never said I love you to Carver? Haven’t you been dating for like a year?” Lucas furrowed his brows, and you nodded, plainly.

Your eyes peered around confused, “Yeah and?” your shoulders bounced, seeing all their faces drop in shock.

Mike started first, “Well, me and El have been going out for a while too, but I’ve said it once. Granted, she wasn’t supposed to hear it, but I still said it.”

Then there was Dustin, “Me and my girlfriend Suzie say it all the time—and yes, for the millionth time, she does exist, it’s called long distance people!” He looked at his friends who rolled their eyes skeptically.

And last, Max, “Lucas and I say we love each other every time we see each other and every time we say goodbye, it’s cute.”

Gareth’s unexpected voice entered the scene, taking you by surprise, “Jesus Christ, I thought you two were in love, always kissing in the middle of the halls and the cafeteria—”

Eddie, who seemed to have his eyes focused on you the entire time, picked up on your body language and realized you were feeling extremely judged at this moment. Your relationship with Jason put under a microscope that you were finally getting the chance to see up close and personal, recognizing the flaws that lingered between your union ship and feeling a bit disappointed that neither you nor Jason even uttered those three sentimental words.

He felt like shit for practically dragging you into the dragon’s den of attacks and stuck up for you immediately, hoping it would alleviate some of the anxiety you were facing.

“Gareth, shut it! Ignore them angel, they’re dumb.” Eddie spat, pointing a finger at his bandmate and friend, who shrunk in his seat while the rest of the grew rolled their eyes.

You shook your head towards the innocent guy, “No, no, no it’s fine, I-I guess I just never really thought about saying it—”

“Has he said it to you? I mean, he must have, right?” This time Kevin spoke as you turned to shake your head no.

“Well, aren’t we just learning something new about you every day?” Jeff chuckled tightly before going back to doodling in his notebook.

“I mean….do you love him?” Max asked you. The staring of everyone made you somewhat uneasy and the hand that was resting on Mike’s pulled back into your lap as you fidgeted.

“I don’t….w-what necessarily constitutes love?” Your voice whispered, taking your bottom lip between your teeth, and Dustin vehemently sighed, hands moving around in disbelief.

“Oh, my god is she serious right now?” He looked at his friends and then Eddie, who scowled at him disapprovingly.

“Henderson, be nice or else you’re outta here.” Eddie warned with a point, chucking an eraser scrap at him.

“Well, for one, attractiveness…does your stomach fill with butterflies every time you see him?” Max threw it at you, and not even a few seconds later, there was Lucas.

“Two, passion…do you have strong feelings for him, like wanting to spend lots of time together doing things you both enjoy?”

Max cut in abrubtly, adding onto Lucas’ statement, “Even things you may not necessarily enjoy but he does…you’ll even pick up on a thing or two that he likes and he’ll do the same for you.”

Last was Dustin, “And three respect…does he make you feel wanted and respected at all times? Does he talk to you with kindness and make the effort?”

How in the hell did these freshman throw these troublesome questions your way? You’ll never know, but what you did know was that you didn’t have a straight yes or no answer to any of them. But that had to be normal, right? Because love isn’t the same for everyone, right?

“Earth to angel, you still there?” Eddie leaned out of his throne, waving a hand in front of your face until you snapped out of your blank stare and wiggled in your seat.

“I-I don’t know….look El just might be a very emotional person, so it’s best if you two talk it out like adults. Hear her out and take the time to explain yourself to her—find common ground or something. Hell, maybe even write her a sweet poem or a song to make her feel reassured. You might not need to say it if you’re that terrified, but at least express it through your actions.” You said, resting your palms on the desk before getting up.

“Write her a song? Why would she want me to write her a song?” Mike stuttered out confused, watching you gathering your things in your hands.

“I’d want someone to write me a song if I was down. It’s romantic and thoughtful.” You replied, finally gripping tightly to your poms.

“W-where are you going?” Eddie asked, standing up from his throne to watch you sigh and walk towards the door.

“I got to go talk to someone, we’ll do a raincheck for music…I’ll see you tomorrow Eds, and good luck Mike.” You smiled, hastily shutting the door and racing over to the gym where you know basketball practice was happening.

Eddie grimaced, watching you run out of the room before hearing the door close shut, “You dipshits.” He sighed, looking at the kids, who shrugged nonchalantly.

“Jason!” you shouted, securing the attention of the entire team as the thud of the ball bouncing against the vinyl floor deliberately stopped.

He immediately rushed over to you with hands out to his side in confusion, “Babe, I thought you went home because you weren’t feeling good? What’s the matter?”

“I-I need to talk to you…can you get out of practice? Come to my house to talk?”

“Babe—”

“Please, this is all I ever ask from you.”

Instead of trying to reason, Jason walked away from you defeated, heading up to his coach to tell him he needed to take his sick girlfriend home immediately.

“This better be good,” Jason grumbled, picking up his bag and walking past you, heading to his car as he drove to your house.

“Why weren’t you already at home? You told me you weren’t feeling good at the end of school, at that was over an hour—”

“I went to Hellfire alright? I had to help out Nancy’s brother with something.” You confessed, staring out the window, feeling Jason’s eyes burning into the back of your head.

“Hellfire?! That satanic cult run by that freak? I thought I told you he and the rest of them were dangerous! He’s a goddamn teenage dirtbag if I ever saw one!”

You shook your head in disbelief, turning to scowl at him, “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“It means that he and the rest of them are a bunch of losers who are going nowhere in life!”

Thank god he didn’t see your eyes roll when you turned back the other way. Your right hand gripping the seat under you angrily, almost tearing the leather and cushion apart with your nails.

“For once, can’t you just drop that act? I told you they’re good kids who are just a little misunderstood by you and clearly everyone else at Hawkins who has a superiority complex!” Now your voice was spewing with venom and rage over this ludicrous claim.

“You’re naïve, so fucking naïve and stupid for believing that!” He slammed his hands on the steering wheel angrily while you stayed quiet the rest of the drive, not wanting to make matters worse and end up in a preventable accident.

When he pulled up to your home, you instantly unbuckled and snatched your things, slamming his passenger door shut. He observed you with annoyance, not speaking a word to him and keeping a blank face.

“So that’s it we’re not even going to talk?!” He shouted out of the window as you turned, “Well maybe if you got out and followed some social cues you’d see I’m leading you into my home so we can talk like civil individuals.”

He flared his nostrils before turning off his car and following behind you as you unlocked the door and let the two of you into the empty home, as your parents were still both on the way home from work.

“Sit.” You demanded dropping your things on the floor and pointing to the couch that faced the front of the living room.

“I’ll say this alright…I’m sorry for lying to you about feeling sick and going to Hellfire. It was wrong of me to lie to you, but it doesn’t excuse your cruel words that you used to terrorize them. I want this to be the last conversation we have about it, understood?”

You held your hands on your hips, looking down at him, resting his elbows on his thighs, and he nodded pitifully.

“Do you love me?”

“What?”

“You heard me—do you love me, Jason Carver?”

“Of course I do—”

“What is it you love about me?”

“Your smile, your hair, your eyes—”

You shut your eyes tightly, cutting him off, “Something that doesn’t have to do with my body.”

Silence. It lingered between the two of you for too long before you finally opened your eyes and caught his sorrowful face. You’ve been together for a year and he couldn’t even name something besides a physical trait of yours that he loved about you. It told you a lot about his character, something you should’ve analyzed a long time ago before this went too far.

“What are we even doing!” You sighed, bowing on the floor, running your hands through your hair in heartache.

“What are you talking about—”

“I mean, what are we even doing together, Jason! You, me, us, why are we together if we don’t feel anything?” You waved your hands between the both of you and he shook his head, eyebrows raised high.

“I do feel something, baby. I love you, you know that.” He came up beside you brushing your hair out of your face, trying to look through your soul but finding nothing.

You just shook your head, pushing his hands away from you,“Don’t say that because we both know it’s a lie—”

“It’s not a lie! God, what is up with you these days?!”

“When’s the last time you held my hand? Asked about my day? Do you even know what my favorite song it? Tell me Jason? Do you know anything about me at all?” You practically shouted with resentment, knowing that he didn’t know the answer to any of the simple questions.

Again there was silence accompanied by his grunts of dissatisfaction, still trying to reason that he did in fact love you, but you knew that just wasn’t true as it fell on your deaf ears.

“I can’t be with you anymore Jason, alright? I—I thought that’d I’d be satisfied with the two of us together, you know cheerleader and jock, but that’s just all a bunch of bullshit…I need to be with someone who truly knows me, not a person who looks at me like I’m arm candy.”

Your feet backed away from him, signaling it was his time to go, but he stayed, retaliating against your wishes.

“So that’s it? You’re just going to throw a year of us being together away? Because what? Oh! Let me guess! I don’t give you the thrill that Eddie Munson does, right? I knew I shouldn’t have let you hang out with that son of a—”

“What the hell does Eddie have to do with anything that I just said, Jason?”

Now you were pissed. How dare he try to blame this on Eddie when all along it was his fault. Too caught up in his goddamn ego to ever care about you as his girlfriend and now that you had realized your worth he was tryign to twist this. You should’ve known this is some shit he would try to pull.

“Don’t you see neither of us are happy here? All we ever do is fight there days! In your eyes I do everything wrong, and I try to tell myself that you can change and maybe you can, but I’m not happy anymore and you need to accept that!” Your finger pointed at him while the other hand wiped away the tears that leaked from the corner of your eyes.

“I don’t have to accept shit!” His voiced terrified you along with his figure moving to back you up against your walls, his fingers inches from your face.

When your back hit the wall, your heart shook, he could do anything to you now with nowhere for you to run. You’ve never seen Jason this angry before…was this the real him?

“Your mind has been corrupted by the devil and I will not allow you to continue to act like a sinner and throw everything that I’ve worked so hard to build for our futures!” His voice was so low yet vulgar, eardrums rattling while you flinched with each word, trying to appear not intimidated, but it was too hard not to be.

“J-Jason please, you’re scaring me…stop, don’t hurt me, p-please.” Your voice shuddered with fear and eyes distorting with more tears, not knowing what Jason was capable of and warning yourself to be careful with your comments.

“No, you need to understand that we are meant to be and—”

“Step away from her!”

A breath that you didn’t even realize you were holding escaped when your father’s voice bellowed through the living room and pulled Jason away from your space.

“Sir, I can explain it’s not what it looks like!” He held his hands up in defense, looking to you for support but you shook your head, keeping your eye on your dad’s grip that tightened around the collar of Jason’s jersey.

“Please, just leave Jason…and don’t ever come back.” You sobbed quietly as your voice snapped, eyes never meeting his again as they stayed looking at the hardwood floors, watching his feet scuffle out of your home with your father leading the way.

Hearing his car drive off, you ran up the stairs, making a beeline towards your room and collapsing face first on your pillow, soaking up your tears as you sobbed hoarsely. A year’s worth of pain erupting from your sockets after having to put up with him without ever realizing the impending damage his ways had on you. For a while, you thought that Jason and you were truly meant to be, but for the last couple of weeks, it just felt hollow between you two. And no matter how much you wanted to stick around and see the good in Jason finally reveal itself, you couldn’t be that person for him.

No one bothered you.

Not your dad.

Not your mom after your dad told her what happened.

Nobody.

They knew it was better for you to be left alone to deal with your feelings. It’s not that your parents didn’t care, it was actually quite the opposite. But they just couldn’t understand you sometimes—ever since you were a kid, they said you were just “too emotional.” And instead of forcing them to try to understand you, you accepted the fact that they were good parents, but just not emotional available for you to confide in.

_

The next day when Eddie walked into second period, he furrowed his brows, seeing your seat empty. You were never absent, so this was odd. And he knew you weren’t going to be late. You never showed up late, either. Attendance was always important to you, so he knew right away that something was up.

That thought was backed up again when he walked into the lunchroom not seeing you sitting with Nancy and Robin or even Jason. He thought he could brush off the thoughts but you not showing up without a notice didn’t sit right with him…it was like he had a gut feeling that something was off.

He pushed his lunch tray away from his, standing up from his seat without saying a word, causing his friends to react, “Where are you going, man?” Gareth asked stopping Eddie in his tracks.

“I—um, gotta go home, not feeling well…we’re cancelling Hellfire tonight, alright?”

“What! You never cancel Hellfire this is—”

Eddie quickly shushed Dustin, gesturing him to calm down with a simple stare. “I’ll make up for it next week, alright? You can be DM, so work on it over the weekend.”

“Holy shit, yeah, ok, yeah, take care Eddie! I love you, man!” The younger boy shouted at his role model as Eddie walked away and went straight to Nancy and Robin.

He rested his palms on the lunch table, the two girls staring at him dumbfounded, “Hey Munson, what’s up?” Robin spoke, resting her fork down on her plate.

“She didn’t show today?” His fingers tapped anxiously on the top, watching their faces fall with a sad nod, not having seen you this morning either in the halls before class.

“Maybe she had a sick day?” Nancy proposed, which may have been plausible, but still, it was just so unlike you.

He shook his head no and closed his eyes tightly, “She was perfectly fine yesterday so her being sick wouldn’t match up….plus I would’ve noticed if she was under the weather or something.”

It was as if he was talking to himself, trying to formulate the exact reasoning why you didn’t come to school today, and Nancy and Robin couldn’t stop kicking each other under the table over how Eddie was so head over heels for you.

“Do you guys have her phone number or anything?” He tapped his foot against the floor rigorously as the girls each responded.

“I have her landline written in my phone book at home? If you give me your number, I could call you when I get home and give it to you?”

“I can get into her file at Family Video and get you her number from there. But I don’t start my shift until 5:30 and I can only do it when Keith isn’t there or else I’m fired.”

He sighed, shaking it head, knowing he had to get into contact with you soon before he lost his mind worrying. His eyes searched around the cafeteria, hoping he could find someone he knew had your number memorized by heart…other than Jason, of course, but he doubted his pebble sized brain could memorize such an important set of numbers.

“Chrissy.” He mumbled to himself seeing the ginger smiling happily with the other cheerleaders. She was the only other girl on the team that you were friends with, and Eddie remembered that.

“Thanks for the help, ladies, but I think I know who just might have it.” He patted their table, and they nodded, watching as he walked over to the jocks and cheerleader table for the first time.

“Pssst…Chrissy!” He attempted to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to cause a scene today.

She turned, eyes widened with curiosity, “Hmm—oh…h-hi?”

“Can I talk to you outside? I’ll be quick, please?”

Although hesitant at first, Chrissy remembered how you and Eddie’s interactions seemed to have been friendly and sweet, if you could trust him, and she certainly could.

“Yeah, ok.” She whispered back, watching as Eddie quickly exited the cafeteria and waiting for her by the lockers.

Seconds later, she approached him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, “What’s up?”

“She didn’t show up at school today, and I’m worried sick.” He blurted out, and a stunned look took over her face and she nodded sympathetically.

“Yeah, she actually called me this morning saying she was going to miss practice today but didn’t say why,” A frown covered her face, “she sounded a bit upset, though.”

“Like…like sad upset or angry upset?” Eddie asked curiously, and she shrugged, her palm moving from side to side, trying to recall your mood.

“A little bit of both, but more on the sad side.”

He just nodded and stared at the ground for a couple of seconds debating if he should give you some space but Chrissy’s voice came to him, “I don’t know if it’s true but Jason is going around saying he’s single now, so maybe that has something to do with it?”

“What?” He flashed his eyes back to hers and she bowed sadly, “He really seems to not care or if he does he’s doing a pretty damn good job of looking like he doesn’t give a shit for losing a good girl like her.” She rolled her eyes, just thinking about Carver’s stupid face.

“Shit…do you think I could umm…I don’t know maybe get her number? I just want to call and check up on her…you know, as friends?” He fretted with the chunky rings on his fingers and she nodded, reaching out for a pen, and Eddie quickly fished one out from his backpack and passed it over to her.

She caught him by surprise, pulling at his hand, writing the number in his palm with messy black ink.

“She like’s pizza…doesn’t really matter the toppings as long as there’s pineapple chunks somewhere on there, she loves it.”

Eddie furrowed his brows but didn’t question her, somehow filing that precious piece of information in his brain’s catalog knowing that there was a reason she was spilling this material.

“And she really likes that Meadow Gold strawberry ice cream. It’s in an enormous tub but one time her and I finished it in one sitting.” She giggled a little, remembering the sleepover you and she had a few months back.

Finally she capped the pen, looking up at Eddie, who seemed to be making a mental note of the few things you liked, “Hey…Eddie?”

“Huh…yeah, sorry?” He scratched his forehead, furrowing his eyebrows and looking down at Chrissy, who rested a comforting arm on his shoulder.

“You’re a good guy and I know she trusts you…I see it in the way she interacts with you. I mean, I haven’t even seen her be that comfortable with Jason and they were together for a year—you did something to her, it’s made her happy.”

“You think so?” A small smile broke out on Eddie’s face, and she nodded, giggling like a goddamn third grader.

“I really do, and if you want my advice, I think you shouldn’t bother with calling. Show up to her place—”

He cut her off, “I don’t want to seem like a creep.”

“Trust me, you don’t come off as a creep to her, plus its…umm…it’s more romantic if you show up at her front door.”

Eddie coughed out at the use of that melodramatic and cliche word, “R-Romantic?”

“Yeah, that’s how you get the girl…so if I were you get moving, Eddie.” She patted him one more time on the shoulder before he thanked her and rushed down the corridors and out to the parking lot, hopping into this van.

He debated his choices for a while, thinking if he should take Chrissy’s advice and show up to your door unannounced or whether to make a call to you first. For one, he really didn’t want to seem like a stalking creep, and who knows, if by chance you were sick, he was being dramatic and showing up for absolutely nothing and interrupting your rest. But then again, he just had to physically see you to make sure you were ok especially after hearing what Chrissy had to say to him.

Instead of taking the turn he would usually take to go to your home, he went straight deciding to stop at the grocery store to pick up some of your favorite things and then some—the worst that could happen was you turn him away and take the things he got for you. But that was enough for him. As long as he knew you were alright, he could sleep soundly.

Being desperate and still not wanting to look like a creep, he quickly copied your number onto a ripped piece of cardboard he had lying around in his van and licked his palm, rubbing away the black into onto his black jeans. He took a deep breath, grabbing everything from the van and walking out the front door to ring your doorbell.

“Go away.” You mumbled to yourself, hearing the chime of the doorbell echoing throughout your house.

At this point, you had a raging headache and had to make the decision to stay home from school after crying all night. You just couldn’t shake the disappointment you had for Jason. The year that you wasted with him that was always empty and you didn’t understand why you stayed.

Again the doorbell rung, this time a couple of times causing you to groan and get up from your bed, jogging down the stairs and whipping the door open ready to tear a new asshole for the person interrupting your crying session—

“We have the no solicitors signs out front for a—Eddie?” You stopped yourself mid-sentence, staring at a tense but grinning Eddie.

“Hiya angel.” He stood there in front of you, a bouquet of flowers in one hand while the other balanced a pizza box, tub of ice cream, and a few bags of candy and chips.

“H-hey, what are you doing here?” You hastily wiped away at your cheeks, hoping there were no obvious tears, but your red eyes told Eddie all he needed to know.

“Came to check up on you since you didn’t show today. I was worried sick.” He admitted, and you honestly felt like you could collapse onto the floor with how thoughtful he was.

“Y-yeah…I’m good.” Your voice was failing to match your words, and you sighed, shaking your head and running a hand through your messy hair, “Who am I kidding? I’m not ok, I feel like shit.”

The two of you shared a soft and short laugh before Eddie spoke up.

“Can I come in? Maybe we can talk about it?” He offered, and you nodded, stepping away from the door to make way for him before shutting and locking it.

You guided him up the stairs into your room, which was a disaster at this point. The photos of you and Jason that used to flood the walls were torn down and stuffed into the trashcan in the corner of your room. Some of the clothes that Jason had lent you were in a trash bag, along with the gifts he presented you throughout your relationship with him. Along with crying last night, you just wanted to get rid of anything that reminded you of him so that you could finally move on without feeling like you were still surrounded by him in your own room.

“Sorry about the mess. It was a rough night.” You motioned towards the mess before gesturing at your bed so he could sit down.

He was hesitant at first, not because it was his first time in your room. Hell, he’d been in here a couple of times with you before working on Smith’s chemistry project. But this time you weren’t your happy-go-lucky self that you usually were, but he was determined to make you feel good as new.

Eddie quickly nodded, setting down the food first, before standing in front of you awkwardly, “I umm…I got these for you.”

The assortment of flowers were right in front of your face and you grinned faintly, taking it from him and giving him a hug that he quickly returned. It felt nice being in his arms after going through the most difficult and emotionally night, “Thank you, Eds.”

He didn’t let go, not until your unwrapped your arms first, knowing that you probably needed the comfort, “Yeah, of course, it was no problem, really.” He stumbled a bit with his words, finally taking a seat, followed by you sitting next to him.

“Did I miss anything important at school today?” You asked, looking over at him, and he shook his head.

“Just a few notes in Chem, left before gym, but I doubt its anything important.” He informed you and you nodded, looking down at your knees where your hands rested.

“Pizza?” He reached down to grab the box, opening it towards you. The smell of fresh dough and tomato sauce filled hit your nostrils, and you grinned seeing the yellow fruits that scatters on the tops of the slices.

“How’d you know I like pineapple pizza?” You rose your brow, happily picking up a slice and taking a bite.

Eddie chuckled, watching you eat before responding, “A little birdie told me so.” he said simply, taking his own slice and eating.

“Did that little birdie also tell you I like strawberry ice cream by the tub?” You nodded towards the bring pink container seated on your floor and he nodded, still chewing his food.

“Yup, had to make sure I got the best for you, angel.”

“You’re too sweet, Eddie.”

“So is everything alright? Kinda ran off yesterday and I got worried…and sorry about the kids, they’re just talking out of their ass, they don’t know shit about—”

Your eyes widened, shaking your head, stopping Eddie in his tracks of apologizing and looking at you in confusion, “Those kids helped me realize I made the biggest mistake in my life.”

He rose his brows curiously. “Which is what, exactly?”

“That Jason and I were never good together…I broke up with him yesterday afternoon,” You set down your half-eaten slice back into the box, dusting the crumbs off your hands.

He mirrored your actions, watching closely as you raked a rough pass of your fingers through your hair before letting your back hit the mattress.

You took a deep breath staring at your glum popcorn covered ceiling, “I don’t think I ever loved him, Eddie.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, sweetheart,” He tried to reassure you, his face coming into view hovering over you to watch your face display a sorrowful smile and your chest rise momentarily with a “hmph”

“He was my boyfriend for a year, Eds, and never did I ever feel loved by him, and never did I ever feel like I loved him. And—and I don’t understand why I only realized this yesterday, because now I just feel so…..just empty, y’know?”

Truly, Eddie didn’t know much about the whole relationship thing, but for you, he wanted to understand. You had come to him and shared some of the most intimate details of you and Jason’s relationship and Eddie sat there and listened, cracking jokes to try to cheer you up, but he knew that today was different. He wanted to be there for you.

He exhaled deeply, laying back beside you and resting his hands on his stomach, “Feeling so out of place with someone when you’re supposed to be feeling whole?”

The sheets of your bed wrinkling as you nodded your head, “Exactly like that! It’s like this whole time I was living in false happiness with Jason….I was just so undervalued by him. Like—like if I didn’t go along with what he wanted or turned myself into who he wanted me to be, he would make me feel so bad about myself—as if I was the bad person!”

You were screaming more so at the ceiling now, finally pouring your heart out after facing so much unresolved conflict with Jason. No one ever knew about the below surface issues that you dealt with in your relationship, because you never found it in yourself to tell anyone. If you ever did say anything to Nancy, Robin, or even Chrissy, it would be about the minor arguments, and to say that Jason rudely confronting Eddie at the Family Video was a little quarrel said a lot.

“Remember how we ran into each other at Family Video?”

He turned to his side now, resting his head up on his elbow as he faced you, nodding his head, “Yeah, what about it?”

“Jason got upset with me because I wanted to rent Dirty Dancing. Dirty. Fuckin’. Dancing.” hands moving around in the air sporadically, hitting a fist into your palm punctuating each word with frustration and anger, “For crying out loud he basically shamed me all because I wanted to watch a movie that I’ve been excited about! Who would ever want to make their girlfriend feel that way!?”

“Rhetorical question,” Eddie told himself, waiting until you were ready to start talking again as silence begun taking over your small room.

The tears started filling your orbs, blurring the ceiling into a cloudy mess, until finally you blinked, letting them flow off your temples, “A-and yesterday was just pure….chaos.”

His heart broke and concern brewed in his chest listening to your voice break and relentless tears cascaded onto the bed. He reached over calmly, wiping his thumb gently past your under eyes. The touch reminding you that you were safe here, closing your eyes and letting him be the comfort you so desperately yearned for.

“You don’t have to tell me more if you don’t want to,” Eddie murmured ever so gently, this time his fingers pulling away the wet hairs that stuck to the side of your face.

You shook your head, finally opening your eyes to be greeted by his staring deeply into your soul. This whole time he was looking at you like this and you had no idea. He looked so…..complete?

“H-he was so angry, Eddie, just kept screaming at me and talking to me like….like I-I wasn’t even human,” hiccuped cries occupied the room now and you couldn’t stop yourself from burying your face closer to his chest. His Hellfire shirt swamped with your salty tears and your open mouth breathing heavily into his chest.

The arm that was holding his head up swiftly traveled around your neck, carefully pulling you closer to him, if that was even possible—the other arm soothed your back with comforting circles as he whispered reassuring words and phrases.

“You’re ok, I’m right here….shhh, everything is gonna be alright,” his voice echoed through your ears, giving you the courage to continue talking about everything.

Your face pulled away only inches from his chest so that he could hear you clearly, “K-kept telling me that he and I belonged together and when I refused, he—”

Eddie’s faced screwed in anger, pulling you aways bit so that you could look up at his face, “He put his hands on you?” his voice was stern, filled with worry as he did his best to store the anger back, knowing this wasn’t the time or place for him to get riled up over someone putting their hands on you.

You shook your head and a bit of relief settled on Eddie’s face, only for a second though, “Backed me into the wall. M-my dad came home before he could do anything else.”

“Son of a bitch.” He gritted it through his teeth, pulling you back into his chest in a safe hug, his head resting on top of yours in a way to soothe you both. Mostly him, knowing he could’ve gotten up and went to find Carver to show him a piece of his mind—

Your hands, removed themselves from his chest, instead wrapping around him too, “Why did he treat me like that?”

He sighed, shaking his head, unknowingly because he truly didn’t know. You were in angel. Why would anyone want to hurt you let alone treat you so inadequately?

“He never deserved you…you’re waaay too good for him and he probably knew that, but instead of cherishing you, he took advantage of your kindness. God, no one deserves you sweetheart, you’re too good for this world, too good for any lousy guy here.”

You sniffled mumbling against him, but he couldn’t make out what you said, so he hummed causing you to repeat it a little louder, “I….I don’t feel that way, most times I just feel like—maybe I’m just not destined for love.”

“Oh, angel, no that’s not true…not at all and not even a little bit.”

He brought you away from his chest, his hands cradling your face in his hold, while he thumbs away your falling tears, “Anyone would be so lucky to have you, sweetheart.”

Your lips quivered, feeling so vulnerable yet secure with him. His words held real meaning and weight, and you knew that. But you couldn’t quite put your finger one why you were so gravitated towards him. Why he was able to make you feel like this when when all this time you were craving this kind of affection and softness in your—

“Oh shit….you liked Eddie,”

His forehead creased, catching your dazed teary eyes, “you, still with me, sweetheart?”

Eyes blinking rapidly, this time no tears behind them falling, just pure admiration for him, “Y-yeah, you just…you know how to make me feel better.”

A smile covered his face now as he shook his head at your compliment, “You just cried your eyes out and now you’re thanking me?”

“Hmmm, you’re always there for me….even when you don’t have to be.”

He was looking at you in such awe now, his fingers still cradling your face just as an excuse to feel you, “Well, I want to be here for you. You should know that by now.”

Your chest bubbled with a tiny laugh while his fingers pinched the apples of your cheeks earnestly, “I mean first it was renting out Dirty Dancing for you, then being your knight in shining leather when your car broke down…angel what’s next? Saving you from an alternate dimension with big scary monsters?”

Pursing his lips questioning while you rolled your eyes, light laughter filled your bedroom now as if he snuck in some sort of magic to make all the sadness disappear. “Will you still be there for me?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, sweetheart.”

His touch sadly left your skin as he sat up, hands reaching into his pockets to retrieve his car keys, “Give me a sec, I’ll be right back.”

You leaned up on your elbows, listening to his footsteps that jogged down the stairs and out the front door before coming back up with a wide smirk on his pretty face.

“Still up for some metal music?”

His fingers twirled around some tapes as you giggled, getting up and stealing one of them from his hands and popping it into your player. The two of you spent the afternoon listening to music, Eddie explaining each of the bands and the meaning behind the songs. He taught you how to head bang, and despite worrying about the whiplash and neck cramps you’d be feeling tomorrow, it was nice.

Just the two of you here, like this.

No fancy shit. You, Eddie, and the fleeting time that you wanted more of.

“He called me a what!?” Eddie asked unbelievably, stabbing his spoon back into the softening tub of pink goop as you toppled on the floor, giggling like a maniac.

“A teenage dirtbag!”

Eddie joined in on the laughter, inching his way over to you on the floor, taking your shoulders into his hands as he stared down at your still laughing body, “What does that even mean?!”

“I dunno, probably like a person who likes metal music and is in their very own band…super duper cool if you ask me.”

Jesus, he wanted to kiss you so badly, and you wanted to do the same. But instead laughter seemed to incite the same electricity kissing would have. Filling that void for the two of you, but who knew how long it would last?

You sat back up, inches away from his face, your fingers brushing his messy curls behind his ears, “Do you think if we submit a picture of you to Merriam Webster we could get you in the dictionary for Teenage Dirtbag?”

“You dork.” He shook his head, trying to conceal his smile as you threw your head back laughing, “Since you like metal music now, I guess you’re a dirtbag too.”

He poked your nose playfully and beamed, “Touche….then both of us can be in the dictionary!”

You moved back over, spooning a bite of strawberry ice cream into your mouth, while you watched Eddie do the same you spoke with a half full mouth, “Eds, what’re you doing next Friday?”

“Hellfire—why?” He sucked on the spoon, waiting for you to respond.

“Oh, I was just going to ask if you wanted to come to the game so you could see me cheer….but it’s totally ok! I know Hellfire is super importan—”

“I’ll be there.” He announced happily as your eyes widened.

“Really?”

He chuckled, not bothering to answer, instead getting back up and offering his hand. “What d’ya say, we get out of here? We’ll go throw out all this junk and hit up a nice spot, I know.”

Your eyes trailed to the trash bags of Jason’s things and meaningless gifts he’s gotten you, some of which Eddie had pulled out of the bag making fun of his stupid blonde hair and trashing the church music cassettes he got you for your birthday last year.

Nodding, you took his hand, timidly intertwining them as he went and picked up two of the full trash bags with his other, “Oh wait!”

Tugging him along to your desk, you plucked the Iron Maiden tape out from your player. He smiled at the small action knowing you had taken a liking to one of his favorite bands, “You can keep that one,”

You raised your brows, reaching over to open the front door for him, “Are you sure?”

“Yup, think of it as a present…plus I’ve got another at home,” He smiled, letting go of your hand as he pulled the passenger door of his van open for you.

The tape was now pressed to your heart as you thanked him with your infectious smile, “I’ll cherish this forever!”

He was fucked…he really liked this girl.

_

“I don’t know! Do you really think he’ll show?”

You were a skittish wreck in Chrissy’s bedroom, pacing back and forth from her closet door to the window as she sat calmly at her vanity, sweeping on her signature blue shadow across her eyelids. She watched you from the mirror’s reflection and giggled lightly, seeing her friend in such a frenzy over the one and only Eddie Munson.

“Of course he will! Now come on, sit, and let me touch up your hair.” Chrissy suggested, getting up from her seat and looking over at your slump shoulders that made their way into the chair.

“I don’t know why I’m so worried about seeing him, I mean I’m never nervous to see him…I don’t know why I feel like this.” You rambled on and on as she redid some of the curls in your hair and fixed the bow that was keeping your ponytail intact.

“Have you ever thought it’s because you have a crush on him?” She smirked, watching your cheeks turn beet red and your fingers squeezing the edge of the cushioned chair, trying not to freak out at the idea that left her lips, which actually was your little secret.

“Chrissy!” You gasped, shaking your head while she threw her head back and giggled profusely at seeing you so flustered.

“I do not have a crush on him, alright! He’s like one of my good friends.” Your posture straightened as if you were trying to prove something to her when in reality it was really you trying to prove it yourself. You were lying straight through your teeth for no use, Chrissy already knowing you had a crush on him and he had one for you too.

Chrissy’s amusement eventually died down, and she wrapped her arms around you, resting her head on her shoulder staring at you in the mirror with her toothy smile, “I’m just messing with you, and besides you look beautiful and you’re going to kill it tonight just like you do every game. Eddie will be there and he’ll be so mesmerized by you, just like he always is.”

Her words caused you to fall into a daydream, picturing Eddie in the stands watching you go full out with your routine as he clapped and cheered along with the kids, who waved and smiled at you. When the game was over, you’d run into his arms and give him the biggest—

The strong spray from the aresol can pull you out of that dream and caused you to cough loudly, seeing Chrissy coating your curls with hairspray and fluffy them up, “So enough panicking and more getting pumped for tonight, alright?”

_

They were all mildly uncomfortable, feeling way more out of place than normal when they stepped foot in the gymnasium, “I can’t believe you actually cancelled Hellfire to come here.” Mike called out through the loud gym filled with too many students for Eddie’s liking.

Dustin swatted Mike’s arm as they weaved their way through the stands trying to find some open seats, “Tonight could be Lucas’ night and we’re here to support him. Isn’t that right, Eddie?”

He looked over at the older man who said nothing except scan the gym, trying to find you somewhere on the court, maybe doing stretches or warming up with the other cheerleaders, but he couldn’t quite find you yet.

“Really…this is what you gave up being DM for?” Mike whispered to Dustin, pointing at Eddie, who seemed lost in a daze.

“He’s looking for her, I know it!” Max leaned into their conversation and the boys stifled their chuckles, knowing she was most likely right.

“Earth to Eddie, are you still with us?” Dustin snapped his fingers in front of his face, causing Eddie to snarl a bit.

“What is it Henderson?”

“I asked you where Gareth, Jeff, and Kevin were?” He lied in an attempt to finally catch Eddie’s attention.

He finally looked down at him and rolled his eyes, “They didn’t wanna come. Sucks for them, right?”

“Didn’t expect to see you guys here!” Robin’s voice came into sound as she, Nancy, and Steve approached, taking a seat next to them.

“Aren’t you supposed to be with the band?” Max questioned looking at Robin who giggled, “Told them I had to pick up an emergency shift at Family Video. Thank god you guys picked good seats, or they’d bust me.”

“Dingus,” Steve muttered, earning a pinch to the side, causing him to yelp and bicker with Robin for a bit, “Hey, don’t you guys have Hellfire tonight?”

“Came by to support Lucas.” Eddie said, shaking Steve's hands and nodding over at the girls, who smiled.

“Not to burst your bubble, but hasn’t he been on the bench for the last twelve games?” Nancy asked, looking at everyone who frowned and nodded.

It wasn’t Lucas’ fault at all for being on the bench for the beginning of the season. He was actually an incredibly talented kid who just so happened to be on a team with a bunch of meatheads who didn’t want to admit that they actually sucked compared to him.

“Tonight’s going to be different, I feel it.” Eddie reassured them all as their attention went back to the court hearing the horn blare followed by cheers and the band beginning to play.

His eyes veered to the cheerleaders who dashed through the gym entrance shaking their brightly colored pom-poms in the air, getting the crowd riled up for the night. Out of the twenty something girls who stood out on the court, only you stood out to him. He found you instantly the second you ran out there. He couldn’t miss you as you were a sight for sore eyes with your broad smile and twinkling eyes.

“He’s here!” Chrissy nudged you repeatedly, still shaking the poms in her fists as she pointed her chin in his direction.

Your eyes darted to him instantly, catching a glimpse of his cheeky smile and his head of curly hair, “Hi angel.” You could see his mouth say.

“Hi!” you mouthed back, waving your poms at him eagerly and he chuckled wiggling his fingers at you before the basketball players rushed out, signalling you and the girls to take a seat at the benches to watch them game periodically getting up to motivate the players until half time.

The entire night, your focus seemed to drift towards Eddie’s, whose eyes were definitely trained on you rather than the game, but you didn’t mind. Occasionally trying to communicate just by mouthing to each other, which inevitably left the two of you grinning and laughing at your horrid attempts to make out each other’s sentences.

“And we’re up, ladies!” Chrissy called up as the halftime bell rung and the court cleared.

“Let’s do this, Tigers!” You smiled, running behind Chrissy and getting into your respective positions on the court.

Then the music hit.

Eddie grinned like a lovesick puppy, eyes concentrated on your figure that flared your arms out in particular poses while you shouted the Hawkin’s cheer anthem. He pinched himself for not coming to these stupid games sooner if he knew he would be able to watch you do this all the time. You looked so happy, even if it was just some silly cheers, to get the crowd pumping and give the jocks a break from playing balls and laundry baskets.

Your pom-poms were discarded when the music hit, internally preparing yourself for the routine of jumps, flips, and tosses. This routine was different from the one he saw months ago when he waited for you to finish practice. Your moves were sharper, more intense…he would have to ask you about the different routines later.

“Holy shit!” Eddie watched in awe, keeping his focus on you—hands and feet making only milliseconds contact with the ground as you ran and flipped yourself multiple times, across one side of the court and to the other.

His friends laughed, so intrigued by Eddie’s reaction as he was the one person they thought would give less of a fuck over some cheer routine, but he was obviously intoxicated by you.

“Just wait until they toss her in the air!” Max smirked as she leant down to Eddie’s ear,

“Wait they do that—” his head only turning to look at her for a second, before she pushed his head back in your direction.

Reinforcing your hands on top of your hips, you braced yourself before you were tossed up high into the air, essentially twisting your body like a human pretzel before feeling your bases catching you and tossing you up once more.

From this height you could see Eddie clearly, his face painted with amazement and worry—both in a good way. It made you crack out an even bigger smile, throwing a wink his way, and you swore you could see his cheeks redding. But before you could really tell, you felt yourself come back down into the arms of the bases to finish up the routine. Rushing over to your final spot to the left of Chrissy, you were thrown up again, the two of you up in the air with your arms out holding a single leg extended stunt. “Go Hawkins!”

The buzzer sounded on time with the finale of the cheer team, hurriedly picking up their poms and running back onto the sidelines to recuperate. You instantly went for a water bottle, chugging its contents as you wiped the beads of sweat off your forehead, pacing the small space to get your breathing and heart rate back to normal.

Your eyes darted up to the bleachers, certainly catching Eddie who was already gawking at you, “Killed it, angel!” he mouthed proudly, giving you a fist bump in the air as you giggled and smiled widely at him. Somehow for the gym being filled to the brim with faces, he was the only one you could see, let alone care about.

“Lucas has been on the bench this entire game!” Dustin grumbled, tossing his hands into his lap sadly.

Fourth quarter was now nearing the end and Hawkins was only a three pointers away, but sadly all of their shots were blocked or either bricked. Eddie and the gang were surprisingly riveted by the game, and it was easy to follow with the help of Steve, explaining the ins and outs of basketball.

“Well, we aren’t going to win if Jason keeps shooting the ball at this rate.” Max rolled her eyes watching as the jock missed another three pointer resulting in a boo from the crowd.

The whistle blew with a minute left on the clock, the boys huddling with their coach for a few seconds.

“Sinclair is in! He’s in!” Steve shouted, standing up in his seat watching as Lucas stormed the court with his eyes deadset on the basket, knowing that he had to make a shot in order to win it for the team.

You squealed, poms ruffling in your lap as you watched the game begin again while an irate Jason sat on the benches scowling as the coach pulled him out of the game.

The teams ran back and forth with time ticking on the clock, Hawkins needed the three pointer in order to get the lead and the entire gym sat on the edge of their seat, watching and waiting until finally…

“He’s going for it!”

“Come on, Sinclair, shoot it dammnit!’

“Go Lucas on!”

BUZZ! 55-54, Hawkins takes it home with only three seconds left on the clock!

You and the entire gym sprang out of your seat, cheerleaders and the rest of the team storming the court to celebrate the monumental win. Lucas was hoisted up in the air, pom-poms waving with him, shouting out a bunch of congratulations before he was put back down.

“Congrat Lucas—” you were about to approach the young boy to pull him into a hug, but Jason’s figure got in the way. Trapping you in his arms as he pushed you back, your poms dropping from your grips as you tried to pry him off of you, “Get the hell off of me!”

“Shush, we’re all going to celebrate outside….come on guys!”

Your hands didn’t stop pushing at his rib cage, and your shouts for help were drowned out by the loud cheering of everyone around you and could do nothing but let Jason lead you out back, the team of basketball players following to the parking lot.

“Stop Jason, please just let me go!” you struggled in his hold, yelping as he lifted you off the ground roughly, throwing you over his shoulder. The faces of the other players were now visible and you could see them with taunting smirks as they mocked your attempts to get away from Jason.

“Did they plan this?” You thought, as your fists banged on his back, trying your hardest to find a way out, but all you could do was watching as you left the crowd behind, fearing what would come next.

Spotting the blonde hair the poked out through everyone in the distanced you screamed as loudly as you could, “Chrissy!” her head whipped looking around, tiptoeing to find you, but you were nowhere to be found.

“Chrissy help!” You yelled out again, waving your hands in the air, before they were harshly held back down, a player who had been trailing behind Jason held them in his grips, “Stop trying to run.”

That sent shivers down your spine and you knew you were fucked. Jason had planned this out of vengeance and spite.

Your friend pouted, still looking around to find you, seeing as her partner in crime had left her side once you all had rushed the court. And it seemed like the celebration went fairly short, most of the players already heading towards the exit, when usually they would stay back in order to get photos taken for yearbook.

“Shit! We’ve gotta go.” She felt a tugging on her hand, and it was no other than Lucas.

He should’ve been celebrating after capturing the win for his team, but instead he was here, frightened for your well being as he could hear the murmurs among his team mates saying that Jason had a special surprise for everyone outside and it involved you.

Chrissy hesitated, not fully understanding Lucas’ anguish, and he tugged her again. “Your friend is in trouble.” His eyes were glazed over with urgency and her eyes floated promptly to the exits, catching a quick glimpse of you thrown over Jason’s shoulder, with your arms bound by another player.

“Go! I’ll get Eddie!” Lucas didn’t wait, dashing out of the gym as fast as his legs could take him while Chrissy worked on spotting the metal head in the still fairly crowded gym.

“Eddie! Eddie! Eddie Munson!” It wasn’t your voice, but it was a scared voice that called out to him, Chrissy’s voice.

He and the rest of the gang squinted, looking down at the court as she searched fearfully around the gym, trying to find him, “Why is Chrissy Cunningham screaming for you?” Robin scratched the top of her head and turned to Eddie, who looked just as confused as the rest of them.

“Come on, let’s go.” He lead the pact quickly down the bleachers and straight to the ginger, who let out a small sigh of relief and ran up to him, meeting him halfway. She didn’t bother saying anything except tugging on his leather jacket, trying to lead him somewhere, taking him aback, “the hell are you tugging on me for?!”

He pulled his arm back from her hold, not understanding her urgency and the situation that was taking place at that very moment.

“Jason and the rest of the team are out in the parking lot with her. We need to hurry.”

In that moment, it felt like everything was moving in slow-motion, when in reality it all happened too quickly for anybody to really fathom what was going on. All they heard was that you were in trouble and Eddie saw red. He didn’t bother waiting up for Chrissy to lead him to where you were, instead he took it upon himself, pushing and shoving past the other students in order to find you.

It wasn’t hard.

Another crowd had formed right in the middle of the parking lot, a circle of students watching Jason stalk his way towards you with nowhere to run as the rest of the team had created a barrier around you, as per the point guard’s orders. Poor Lucas, you could see him shaking in the crowd mouthing to you that he was going to help you and god you wanted to believe that, but him up against all these meatheads would be an ugly sight you didn’t want to see.

With your jaw trembling, eyes pricking with tears, and your rapid breathing, you were able to make out a single sentence, “J—Jason, please…why are you doing this?” your hands tried to stop him from getting closer to you, Jason stalking you like prey until you bumped back into one of the other players who shoved you off them roughly and right into the hands of your ex-boyfriend.

His arms wrapped tightly around you, essentially gluing you to his chest with nowhere to go, “Stop! P-please let me go, Jason! Someone help me, please!” you shouted loudly, hoping someone in the crowd would step in and see that this was not ok.

But no one did.

“You all wanna know a secret that Little Miss Hawkin’s is hiding.” His blue eyes glared down at you like swords cutting into your conscience, wishing, demanding, to punish you for no good reason at all. That paired with the devilish smirk on his face made you burst into tears, not knowing what he was going to do or say to you in front of all these people, as you were defenseless.

Jason didn’t bother for the crowd to respond to his rhetorical question, instead he vigorously spun you around, your back to his chest, one arm holding your arms down and the other wrapping around your neck tightly, forcing you to look at all the people watching, “She left me for Eddie “The Freak” Munson!”

The laughs and shouts from the strangers didn’t bother you, it was the fact that they stood here watching you be harassed without realizing that what he was doing was wrong and—

Your eyes widened, “Lucas no!” he was running towards Jason full speed, glass bottle he took from someone in hand, slamming over the top of his head as you clenched your eyes shut bracing the impact of the fall and attempting to shield your eyes from any stray glass.

There was no big impact like you anticipated, only slight stumbling as Jason released the hold on your neck but kept you two up right with his grip coming around your body. You could feel a slight stinging coming from your forehead, but that was the less of your worries as you watch the poor freshman begin getting jumped by a couple of the other members of the basketball team who pulled him away from Jason.

You thrashed harshly in Jason’s grip, screaming and crying, “Leave him alone! Stop it, you bastards!” these attempts to kick and yell were insufficient and his constraint around you only got stronger, leading to you letting out another scream, this time a piercing one when you felt your rib cage crunch.

“I-it hurts! Plea…please Jason! You—you’re hurting me!”

Your cries could be heard for miles with how much misery you were in and it even led to the boys who were roughing up Lucas to regain some sort of pity and cut out of their onslaught on the young boy seeing you hyperventilating in Jason’s arms with tears running down your cheeks and blood gushing from a gash that no one could quite make out since it was blurred with crimson.

“Get your fucking hands off of her!”

Eddie’s voice had never reached such volume, packed with so much hatred that it made everybody in that parking lot halt what they were doing and follow the sound of his order. Like a scene in a movie, they made way for the man, hurdling past them with his friends right behind him.

“Holy shit.”

“What the fuck?”

“Lucas, oh my god.”

Dustin, Mike, and Max looked at their friend, bloody nose and a few bruises already starting to settle in on his body as Lucas inched him way over to them, falling at their feet as they bent down to try assessing what needed to be done to help him.

You on the other hand, didn’t have time to prepare as Jason launched you brutally into Eddie’s chest, your legs giving out on you at this point, barely able to hold yourself up from the pain radiating all over your body.

But he caught you instantly, wrapping his arms securely and gently around your body, as you laid there crying, “E-Eddie.” your voice cracked, fingers gripping tightly to his tear soaked shirt, not wanting to be anywhere else except in his arms.

“Let me see, angel.” His tone immediately turning soft as his thumb and forefinger came up to lift your head from his chest, revealing the bloodied mess that covered the right side of your face. His shaking fingers went to his belt loop, quickly undoing the knot on his black bandana and bringing over to your cut to stop the bleeding.

His blood began to boil once more, knowing that Jason had that ball to hurt you this bad…to even hurt you at all.

“I roughed her up a bit since I know you like your girls like that, huh? Don’t worry, you can finish her off, sacrifice her to that devil that you worship.” Jason was so smug, back on his hand wiping away at the blood that poured from the cut on the side of his skull all while tormenting Eddie.

You could feel Eddie’s chest rising and falling at a rapid pace, heart beating so loudly you thought you could see it popping out of his rib cage. He wasted no time, sinking his free hand into his pocket to fish out his car keys, tossing it behind him where he knew Steve was hovering, trying to see if you were ok or not.

Steve was sharp, catching it in midair and instantaneously sinking down to his knees beside Eddie, holding his arms out, “Take her to my van…make sure she and the kids are safe, I’ll be there in a minute.” His voice was stern and serious, doing his best to keep calm with you in his arms, not wanting to startle you even more than you already had been.

“No! Eddie please! I-I don’t want to leave you!” You wept, feeling Steve scoop you out of Eddie’s arms carefully, guiding your arms to wrap around his neck to keep you from slipping out of his hold.

Eddie shook his head, grasping your cheeks in his hand delicately, peering into your eyes, “I’m not going anywhere baby, you need to go with Steve and the rest of them and I’ll be there. I promise.” his lips met your temple before Steve speedily got up, hustling you and the rest of the gang away from the scene.

“S-Steve, we have to go back…Jason—he’ll kill him!” You cried, trying to somehow convince the man who was carrying you to turn back and at least assist Eddie in the fight.

“Sweetheart, you’ve got to trust him ok…Robin get the keys in my pocket….Lucas you alright man?” He called out, feet never stopping until he approached Eddie’s van and looked over at the kids and Nancy, who were together carrying Lucas.

“J-just fucking peachy Steve-o!” Lucas choked out roughly, resting his head on Max’s shoulder.

Robin quickly unlocked the car, sliding the back doors open, first letting you and Steve in, then the rest followed.

“Lock it! Lock the damn doors, Robin!” Dustin screamed, letting go of Lucas’ weight as they carefully put him down on the carpeted floors.

“Eddie…we need to help Eddie! Need to g-go, I want, Eddie!”

Everyone darted their attention back to you, still in Steve’s arms, still in your frightened up state, body trembling rapidly and breathing going shallow.

“Hey, hey come on, shhhh it’s ok calm down.” Steve attempted to rock you back and forth, but nothing seemed to aid the shaking body in his arms.

“She’s having a panic attack.” Max said, standing up and kneeling beside the two of you.

Sweat beading every inch of your body, muscles trembling, and the look of horror spread out on your face. She knew it all too well.

“Water! She needs water!”

Jason stood with his arms held out to his sides like some sort of messiah, “Finally going to fight me like a man, Munson?”

Eddie wasted no time, charging towards him with a tightly closed fist that connected with the square of Jason’s jaw, knocking him out onto the gravel as everyone gasped, but not threatening to intervene knowing that they’d be victim to Eddie’s attack if they did.

His fist didn’t falter despite the unconscious boy beneath him, “Don’t you ever!” Jason’s nose cracked loudly against his ringed knuckles, “put your hands!” his arm swung back down to his face again, blood splattering in the air, “on her again!” the last punch landed on Jason’s cheek followed by crunching, surely his teeth falling out.

And just like that, Eddie got up, wiping the enemy’s blood on his black jeans, turning towards the crowd who looked scared shitless of what they just witnessed, “You’re all sad excuses for human beings” he sneered, pushing past all of them, leaving the bloodied boy a mess while he walked back to where you were.

A knocked sounded on the van door, startling everyone as they did their best to fan you and press a wet towel over your forehead to get you to calm down from the aftermath.

“Shit! Is it Jason?! He’ll kill us!” Dustin screeched, earning a stiff slap on the back of the head by Max.

“Shut the hell up! You’re making it worse!” She whisper scolded, eyes darting down to where you began shaking even harder, not knowing what was going on.

Steve’s hold got tighter, rubbing his thumbs up and down your arms, attempting to get you relax though he too didn’t know who was outside the van, “Hey, hey it’s alright sweetheart, just breathe for me.”

Max, Dustin, and Mike sprang back into action continuing to fan you with the random homework assignments that littered his van—if it wasn’t such a serious matter, they’d joke about how the shit in his van actual had some use, but they knew they’d save this conversation for later—when you were ok.

Robin and Nancy shared a panicky look before. The older one nodded, peering closer to the window to catch a glimpse of who it was continuing to knock as the rest stayed behind her, watching in anticipation.

A sigh of relief left her mouth and her eyes shut, “It’s just Eddie,” her orbs opened back up and quickly she unlocked the door, flinging it open to take in the sight of Edward Munson.

Their eyes widened seeing him standing there so nonchalantly, staring at them back, both fists still clenched tightly with the remaining adrenaline running through his veins. If he didn’t have any composure and you to get back to, he’d probably still be back there, taking his time dismantling the rest of the team and everyone else there who did nothing but watch you get assaulted by Jason.

Regardless of the damage he wanted to do, your cries and whimpers seemed to bring him back to reality. His heartbeat trying to calm itself for you and the anger washing away seeing you in Steve’s arm while he gave him an unsure look if he could keep comforting you for any longer before you broke.

“Jesus, man, you’ve got blood all over your hands.” Dustin swallowed thickly, moving forward to see if there were any injuries to his friend— but he honestly didn’t know if he could handle so much blood in one night.

Eddie grunted, ripping off his signature denim jacket and roughly wiping the dried remnants of Jason’s blood onto the garment, “Not mine…I almost killed that son of a bitch.” He spoke in a hush tone, not wanting to terrify you.

“Give it here, man.” Mike whispered, holding his arm out to grab the piece of clothing, tossing it towards the back of the van where he would deal with it later.

Despite not being able to see what was going on, you could hear and feel Eddie’s presence, and you desperately needed him. You didn’t mind Steve, his attempt to console you actually helped a bit, but you knew deep down in your heart (and so did everyone else), you needed Eddie.

“E-Eds,” Your clammy hands freed themselves from Steve’s hold, blindly reaching out to grab him but you never found him, “I want Eds…please.”

Eddie didn’t know if he could trust himself around you, he wanted to hold you, wanted to take Steve’s place, but wasn’t sure if feeling you in so much pain would make him want to go back out there and give Jason another beating.

Nancy could sense the apprehension from a mile away. The look on Eddie’s face said it all. He was terrified of hurting you more than you already were, but she knew he wouldn’t do that. Never in a million years. She squeezed Robin’s hand, signalling for them to get out of the van.

Nancy stood up, holding up Eddie’s keys to his face, “I’ll drive your car back to your place, Steve will take the kids in his car…she needs you, Munson.”

Still, he seemed unsure.

Robin sighed, her hands resting on Eddie’s shoulders forcing him to tear his gaze from your stiff body in the back of his van, to hers, “You’re not going to hurt her Eddie…she trusts you alright—now please, go.”

He swallowed thickly, nodding his head, watching as the kids began to file out of the van heading over to Steve’s car while Nancy hopped into the driver’s seat and Robin taking the passenger. Steve was the only one that remained, giving Eddie a reassuring look.

“Eddie’s coming alright, sweetheart.” Steve whispered to you, leaning down slightly to lift the damp towel over your face to see your eyes still squeezed shut and your lips and cheeks swollen from crying.

You could feel the van creak lightly with Eddie entering, placing a hand on your calf as he came closer, taking a seat on the floor, holding his hand arms out for Steve to lay you in.

“Nice and easy.” Steve said softly as he transferred you into Eddie’s arms. Your fingers immediately grasping his leather jacket to make sure it was him. “E-Eds” you sniffled, tearing off the covering on your face to see him.

He cracked you a tiny smile, his right hand reaching up to brush the stray hairs away from your forehead, “I’m right here, angel.”

Steve observed, along with Nancy and Robin who were in awe with how the two of you just instantly fell into each other, “I’ll follow behind in my car.” his voice fell on you and Eddie’s deaf ears, not caring about the loud door slam and the engine of the van coming to life as the drive to Eddie’s trailer began.

No one spoke for the ten-minute ride home, figuring that silence is what you needed most in order to get yourself into a calm state so that Eddie could figure out what to do next. Robin and Nancy, however, would take a glance back every so often. Watching as Eddie kept one hand pressed on your temple wound and the other would brush your cheeks and eyes, wiping away any tears that escaped.

“We’re here.” Nancy whispered quietly, pulling up to Eddie’s trailer, parking in the small driveway with Steve’s car pulling up next to them.

Eddie nodded, wrapping his arms back around your body and never letting up eye contact, “Let’s go inside, kay?”

“Kay.” your voice barely a whispered, feeling the van’s door open and Eddie lift the two of you up and out of the small space until the cold air hit your skin causing you to shiver a bit.

You could hear a bit of conversation coming for the kids, asking Lucas if he felt that his nose was broken and being relived when he said no. Then there was Eddie, instructing Nance and Robin on what key was supposed to open the trailer door, until Steve jumped in, helping them out and finally you felt yourself enter the safe space you knew.

He kicked off his shoes, leading them into his home, “You guys can crash here for the night. There should be a first aid kit under the sink and some blankets in the storage closet down the hall.” Eddie announced quickly over his shoulder and rushing over to his bedroom to set you onto his mattress.

“It h-hurts Eds.” You whimpered, not feeling his touch on you anymore. He knelt down beside you, grasping your cheeks in his palms tenderly. He hated seeing you like this. Cheeks coated with tears and eyes that never stopped pouring them out—god if he could take it all away from you, he would in a heartbeat.

“I know baby, I know,” His thumbs continued rubbing your cheeks, swiping away at the tears that feel every few seconds, “Gonna fill up the bath, alright? Get you cleaned up…that ok?” His eyes searched yours carefully, not meaning to step over boundaries or make you uncomfortable, but he didn’t know what the hell to do. He’d never experience something as traumatising as this and he just wanted to make sure you were going to be ok.

You nodded softly, still feeling the warmth of his palms on your making you feel safer than anyone has ever had, “W-will you help me…i—I just don’t know if I can even m-move, but—”

He didn’t hesitate, his eyes speaking from themselves before his mouth did, “Of course, I’ll help you…just give me a minute, alright?” You nodded against his hands, closing your eyes softly when his hands parted, going to stand up and gather some clean clothes from his dresser.

“Gonna run the bath and come get you when it’s nice and warm.” He stopped at his doorway, looking back at you as you nodded, eyes still closed, breathing in the scent of his room.

He hurried, not wanting you to sit in the room all alone by yourself. He wanted to be there with you as much as you needed him to be. Going to the sink first, he quickly washed his hands, scrubbing away the blood that was left in the crevices of his knuckles and under his nails before getting started on your needs. When he got the temperature of the water just right, he plugged the tub, letting the water fill up and adding a squeeze of his body wash to the mix, getting it nice and bubbly for you, before shutting the water off before it overflowed.

Looking around the bathroom, he began getting a few wash cloths, a new towel, and the first aid kit out, setting it on the sink counter so it could be at arm’s length for him to grab. He took a final glance at the bathroom, making sure he had everything he had before returning to his bedroom, but not before stopping in the narrow hallway, turning his head to the left to see the rest of his friends. They were too busy attending to Lucas’ injuries to notice Eddie giving them a gentle smile.

You were in the same position that Eddie left you in—middle of the bed, hands to your sides and your chest rising up and down at a considerably calm rate now, making him feel a wave of alleviation. His quiet footsteps could still be heard by your ears and you turned your head slightly, opening your eyes to see him already kneeling down to your level.

“It’s ready, angel.” He whispered, brushing some of your hair back and you nodded, fingers going to wrap around one of his wrists, attempting to pull yourself up, but instantly seething at the pain in your abdomen.

Eddie was brisk, his hand coming to support your back, guiding you into a sitting position, “Christ, you can ask for help, babe.” he shook his head and you pouted your lips slightly, feeling so useless in this very moment. Eddie was always coming to your rescue and part of you felt bad for dragging him into all of this, but you didn’t have much time to think about it, thoughts burying themselves into the back of your mind as Eddie carefully swooped you into his arms, walking you into the bathroom.

He kicked the door closed with his foot, staring down at you, the dim bathroom lights still making you look gorgeous as ever in his eyes, “I’m gonna put you down here alright?”

You turned your head to where his chin pointed, the closed toilet seat and you nodded, feeling yourself be set down on the hard plastic cover and Eddie kneeling down beside your legs.

His fingers fiddled with each other, something he picked up from you over the past month, “Do you…umm, want me to…undress you?” His face was flushed red asking such an absurd question. He knew you asked for his help, but didn’t know if this was too far or not.

When you went to nod, he shook his head rapidly, taking you aback for a second, but his right hand that rested on your bare knee told you everything, “I need verbal confirmation, baby…I need you to be certain—don’t want to hurt you.”

Even in such a vulnerable and awkward situation, he was still gentle as ever, making your heart swarm with fireworks and stomach fill with butterflies, “Y-yes…want your help Eds.”

“You tell me if you want me to stop and I’ll get Nance or Robin…I swear I won’t take it personal—”

Your hand rested on top of his, squeezing ever so slightly to stop his sentence. Eyes meeting each other filled with so much care and assurance, “I’m sure, p-please Eddie.”

Eddie knew from the look in your eyes that you were a hundred percent sure of your decision and he remembered Robin and Nancy’s words from earlier that night…you trusted him.

He nodded quickly, taking one more look at you, “Yeah, yeah ok, I’ll help you, going to start with your shoes first.” His fingers undid your laces, working your white sneakers and socks off your feet and tossing them to the side.

“Top now, ok?” He stood up looking at you and you croaked out a clear yes that let Eddie know to keep going.

He spotted the white zipper trailing down the right side of your Tigers cheer uniform and he took a deep breath, fingers practically shaking as he pulled it down slowly, allowing its form to loosen from your torso slightly. You brought your arms up as high as they could without causing your ribs any discomfort, and Eddie swiftly guided the top over your arms, then gently helping you bring your hands back down to rest in your lap.

Left in your white cotton bra with some frail lace lining the cups and only your skirt on, you should’ve felt exposed—but still you felt at ease knowing that Eddie’s main priority was taking care of you and not ogling in the sight of your body.

“Skirt or bra first, angel?” He asked quietly, staring only at your eyes as you looked down at your bottoms, wanting out of them immediately since it was covered in some of the parking lots dirt and gravel.

He nodded, holding out his hand for you to take as he helped you up, “grab onto the counter, don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.” His chin gestured to the counter and your fingers immediately gripped the marble, steadying yourself as Eddie worked the similar zipper on your skirt down, allowing the green fabric to pool at your feet.

You could see his breath hitch in his throat, eyes staring down at the garment, just staring at him on the floor, not knowing if he could even take a look at you without crumbling. Even in a moment like this, you affected him but he knew it wasn’t right, not when you needed him to be here for you, so he shoved those fears and thoughts to the back of his brain, eyes snapping up to yours with your lip caught between your teeth.

“Bra first, then bottoms alright?”

“Yes”

His calloused fingers brushed your skin ever so lightly as they reached behind your back, popping the hook and eye closure open with ease and watching as your breasts spilled from behind the cups and the straps loosely handing off your arms, begging to be freed. And they were as Eddie slid them off, adding it to the pile of clothes that formed on the bathroom floor. Again, the same rough yet soft hands came down to your hips where the band of your underwear laid snuggly, hooking his fingers between the flimsy fabric and your skin guiding them down your legs as you absentmindedly stepped out of them.

“Let’s get you in, yeah?” His breath was still a little rough, having you right in front of him wearing nothing but your soft skin. He almost melted, feeling your hand reach out to hold his as it left the counter, needing his assistance to get into the bath.

Eddie held your hand tightly, the other resting on the small of your back, moving you gently towards the tub, stepping into it one foot at a time, until you were able to bend down slightly to lay back, “Nice and easy, babe…is it good?” He watched as you laid back comfortably, lips parting with a sigh and your eyes shut peacefully. “not too hot is it?”

You shook your head, opening one of your eyes to see him resting his arms on the tubs ledge watching you intently, “Perfect, Eds, thank you so much.”

He smiled, shrugging off your thanks, and turning behind him to grab the first-aid kit, shuffling through the contents to find alcohol pads and gauze.

“We have to clean up that cut on your forehead, alright?”

Your eyes opened fully now, frowning slightly at seeing Eddie opening some packets of the alcohol swabs, “Will it burn?”

“Just a little, but not for long, I promise.” He assured you, waiting for you to give him a nod until he leaned closer to your face, hands dabbing at the gash on your forehead, causing you to wince slightly until the sting became normal.

“There’s some glass.” He whispered, coming closer to your face to see the minuscule shards of glass.

“The bottle.” You responded, squeezing your eyes tightly, feeling a sharper pain as Eddie swiped over the gash a little too quickly.

His fingers immediately pulled away after your reaction, “Shit, I’m so sorry.” he apologized, thumb grazing your other cheek and you shook your head, “I’m ok, Eds, it just hurt a bit.” you reassured him.

Still, his face wore a sorrowful look as he went back in to clean it more, “who threw the bottle?”

“Lucas…he hit Jason over the head, but I-I guess the glass must have ricocheted.” You explained, and Eddie let out a small chuckled at the young boy’s courage to do such a thing to the captain of the basketball team.

“Pretty metal of him.” He joked softly, causing you to laugh a little for the first time after the incident.

“Metal,” you agreed with him before quietness fell between you for the next minute or two.

His tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration along with some of the comforting strings of words like, “almost done, angel,” “sorry, sorry, sorry,” and “great job, you’re doing so good babe.” If the words being spoken and the little comforting gestures weren’t already sending you into a frenzy, the complete and utter look on his face was something you couldn’t tear your eyes away. They stared up at him through your lashes, watching his every move.

Eyes squinting, trying to pick out the small shards of glass that were left on your skin.

Forehead creasing every time you would jolt a bit from the pressure of his touch.

And nose flaring every time he had to reach for another swab to wipe up the blood that dried up on your skin.

Finally, when the cut was nice and cleaned, he smiled down at you, patting your head playfully, making a tiny smile break out on your face as you watched him stand up, discarding the bloodied materials, and washing his hands. His eyes kept on yours in the reflection of the mirror, still a smile on his face.

He came back after a few seconds, this time with washcloths, “You want to do it or me?” Eddie held the small gray towels up and you nodded your head up at him, “You please, I can’t really reach without hurting my ribs.” you explained and he nodded, dipping one of the cloths into the soapy water.

Starting with your arms, he carefully glided the warm towel over your skin, the quiet buzzing of the bathroom light that you never noticed before could be heard through the silence. Not that you minded. The towel moved from your arms to your neck, carefully his dry left hand reached behind your head to lift yourself up slightly so he could get the back of your neck. Before you could relish the feeling, his hands had left to grab a new towel, dipping it into the water once more and moving down to your chest and the rest of your body.

This was different for you in many forms. First one being that your body had only even been touched by yourself and Jason Carver and only one of you was the gentle one with it. Jason never did things as intimate as this. Not even in a bathing you sense, but in general his touch was always a bit….rushed and careless.

But Eddie…god he was so gentle with you. Even before this moment, you’d finally realize that all the little hugs, fingers brushing against one another, hands rubbing your arms and cheeks when you were nervous or scared, his hand resting on your back to guide you around. All of it was so delicate.

The way Eddie would remember all the small details about you. Your favorite song, whichever it was, since it changed so often, but he always kept cassettes on him in case you wanted to listen to it and you forgot yours at home.

Him creating a stupid little cute nickname for you that was basically your first name now, all because his memory never let him forget that you were born in the winter and you wore matching jewelry.

How he would keep his promises to you and mean it. When he said he’d be there at a certain time picking you up from cheer practice, he’d be there right on time, hell, maybe even earlier. But god forbid, he was a teeny bit late or his campaign ran a little overtime. He’d apologize right away and make it up to you.

When he said he would play your favorite pop song at the Hideout in front of a bunch of drunks and his stupid friends who didn’t really want to, he did it anyway. Showing up at a basketball game that you would be cheering at for literally only a total of twenty minutes the whole night—he was there. He always kept his word.

You should honestly be pinching yourself for allowing a guy to see you in this state after only knowing him for a month and a half, but it felt so natural and safe. It wasn’t even as if Eddie was sexualizing you when he easily could; he didn’t. He made it his job to make sure you were alright—mentally, emotionally, and physically. You remembered you couldn’t even stand naked in front of your ex-boyfriend for a millisecond before he was throwing himself at you without even asking if sexual activities was what you wanted.

Eddie is who you wanted.

Right here in this very moment you finally knew it, but what you didn’t was that you were once again crying. Tears falling from your eyes, down your cheeks, and into the bath water.

His fingers pulled away from your calves that he was washing, “W-why are you crying…did I do something wrong? Touch you somewhere? I—I’m sorry, I should’ve asked before, but I thought you were ok with me washing your legs, but I-”

“I was so scared, Eddie!” You wept, lip trembling as your teary eyes stared at his, making out a blurry image of him moving himself closer so that he could bring you face to the crease of his neck where you cried softly.

“Shhh, I’m here, angel. No one is going to hurt you, I promise.” His hands let go of the washcloth, letting it sink to the bottom of the tub as his hands wrapped around your body, hugging you close to him.

You continued to cry, paying no mind that you were still naked, half your body engulfed in his arms while the other stayed in the water, “I—I thought no one was going to s-save me,” you admitted pulling away from the space and hiccuping as you wiped away at the tears harshly.

“Everyone…they were just staring at me. They let him do that to me….” She continued as Eddie continued to listen, understanding that she wanted to just hear her.

She shook her head from side to side, rapidly, when the images of the night flashed in her mind. She could still make out the faces of the crowd laughing and scowling at her while she was at Jason’s mercy. And if that wasn’t enough, the fear that crossed her face when Lucas basically sacrificed himself for her.

The thought alone made her feel such an intense internal pain. Squeezing her eyes shut once more, Eddie wasted no time, bringing her into his arms again, feeling the wet tears sliding down his neck and over his shoulder.

“But you came…you—you, I don’t understand, I-I just don’t deserve you.” It was a broken sob, but he still heard every little word.

Humming sounds of disagreement came from him as he hugged you tighter to his clothed chest, “No, baby, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you alright? You’re so perfect…so goddamn precious and you deserve someone who—”

You don’t allow him anytime to finish his stupid speech, not wanting to hear him be so harsh on himself when he was perfect in your eyes, too.

“I need you Eddie…I-I care for you so deeply and…I think—think I love you….”

The words seemed to leave your mouth before you could even stop and think about what you were about to say. That word held so much meaning. You didn’t know if Eddie could handle it after all the shit that happened tonight, so you almost regretted your decision, letting your emotions get the best of you, but this is how you really felt.

You loved Eddie, and you knew that.

The hands that rubbed at your back, halted and you both froze in the hug before you pulled back slightly just to see his face, trying to read him and see if there was anything at all.

“Y-you love me?” Is all he said, looking at you seriously and you nodded.

“I do—I love you, Eddie.”

His heart was racing a million miles per second, trying to grasp the words that just escaped your mouth for the second time. He heard you loud and clear, but he just couldn’t believe that this was real life. The girl that he obviously had developed a crush and deep care for had the same feelings for him. If not maybe even a little stronger. But not for long.

“Eddie…please say something….anything.” Your lips were trembling in fear now, wondering if you had messed up by confession your true feelings for him.

The last thing you wanted was for you to lose Eddie just because you let your emotions get the best of you.

“Can I kiss you?”

“What?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Y-yeah…yes, please.”

His palms held your cheeks in his hold, the two of you closing your eyes in bliss when your lips finally connected in the most passionate yet delicate kiss you’ve received in your life. Your lips didn’t stop moving against one another, keeping the same slow pace until the two of you eventually needed to pull away to catch a breath.

Foreheads resting against one another, and his eyes staring deeper into your soul, he whispered the sweetest four words to ever hit your ears,

“I love you too.”

There was no need for any other words after that. Matter a fact, you and Eddie spent the rest of the bath in complete in and utter silence, but still the air was filled with so much emotion. The happy kind. The both of you were content with the silence, only whispering quiet, “I love you’s” and him peppering kisses on your cheek, lips, and head as he got you dressed in an oversize band tee and a pair of his boxers.

He carefully picked you up again, carrying you out of the bathroom and back to his bedroom, where he laid you down in his bed. Pulling the sheets up to warm up your body, “Gonna go shower and I’ll be right back alright?”

“Don’t be too long please,” you said sweetly, eyes shimmering under the moonlight that peeked in through the same thin curtains. The same eyes that were filled with tears and fear an hour ago, now sparkled with comfort and love.

Eddie nodded, leaning down to brush his lips over yours, “I won’t. Just try to rest your eyes for me, baby.”

You smiled against him, fluttering your eyes closed when he drew away—he paused for a moment, taking in your precious face before quietly shutting the bedroom door to give you some privacy and peace. He gathered your clothes from the bathroom, heading down the hallway to toss them into the washing machine. Eddie quickly had a shower of his own, not standing to be alone without you and longing to feel you in his arms again, knowing you were safe with him.

“Angel?” He spoke softly but still loud enough to hear when he walked back into his bedroom.

You were still in the same place on his bed, but not asleep, just resting your eyes like he had told you earlier, “I’m awake, babe.”

He hummed contentedly, watching as your eyes opened. He was shirtless and his checkered bottoms hung low on his hips, “Light’s on or off?”

“Off please…and do you think you could put on some Iron Maiden?” You suggested

He grinned, clicking the lights off and heading over to his radio, popping in your favorite tape and letting the music surround you, “God, you’re making me fall even more in love with you,”

“Thats the plan.” You lovingly responded, sinking into his warmth when he finally got into bed next to you. Carefully wrapping his arms around your body, being weary of your still injured ribs, and placing a warm kiss to your forehead, “Never going to stop loving you.”

Breathing in his scent, you felt the safest you’ve ever felt in your life, and the most loved you knew you’d be in this lifetime, “Me neither, Eds.”

“Tomorrow we should go see Hopper, file a police report.” He proposed, kissing your forehead as you whined against his chest. It was the last thing you wanted to do.

“Hey,” Eddie moved his head away a little so he could stare at your face in his chest, he reached for your hand, rubbing his thumb against your knuckles, “I’ll be there with you the entire time…I just don’t want him to ever get close to you like that again, he needs to be disciplined, babe.”

You hmph’d aloud, looking up at him through your lashes, “I’m sure you handled it considering you knocked him out cold.”

He couldn’t help the smirk that appeared on his face. He felt proud for doing what he did. Sure, he had to endure years of Jason’s endless bullying, but he wasn’t going to let him get away with what he did to you.

“Yeah, but legally, y’know, it’d be reassuring to know he can’t get into close proximity of you.” His reasoning was fair and you nodded, nuzzling your head back into his chest, “As long as you don’t leave me alone, like you promised.”

Now his fingers intertwined with yours, feeling your pulse in your fingertips and the warmth of your skin, “I always keep my promises, baby.”

“Does this mean we’re official?”

Eddie could feel the smile against his bare chest when the question left your lips, and he nodded, caressing your head with his free hand. “Do me the honors of being my girlfriend?”

“It’d be my greatest honor.” You replied, carefully lifting your head up to connect your lips in a delicate kiss while Iron Maiden’s music continued to play in the background like sweetness.

You both smiled against one another, relishing in this feeling that you knew would never get old, “I’m gonna write a song about us one day,” Eddie spoke through kisses as you giggled, pulling away to stare at his giddy face.

“Yeah? What’re you gonna call it?” You wondered, resting your free palm against his heart, feeling the thumping quicken, all out of tenderness, just staring at you.

“Teenage Dirtbag….how about that?” He wiggled his eyebrows, causing you to grin, resting your forehead against his, pulling him into another sweet kiss that lasted a lifetime before you both pulled away.

If there was one thing you were certain of, it was that you could spend your entire life right here in this very moment with him, as long as it meant never leaving this bed. But you couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and force that guitar in his hands so he could write that song and then the two of you could shout it out from the rooftops for the rest of your love and the world to hear.

“That is so us, baby.”

A/N: Fun fact this is actually the first fic I wrote before "Hey Steven" it just so happened that I finished that one first! I hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you think!!!

#MunsonsReputation #eddie munson #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things eddie #eddie x reader #stranger things fluff #stranger things fic

[maypop-the-dragon]

PSA: Free Software

Reading this may really save your time, privacy, and money! Reblog or share to spread awareness!

Folks often use software that’s expensive and sometimes even inferior because they don’t know there are alternatives. So to those unfamiliar: basically, free and open-source (FOSS) or "libre" software is free to use and anyone can access the original code to make their own version or work on fixing problems.

That does not mean anyone can randomly add a virus and give it to everyone—any respectable libre project has checks in place to make sure changes to the official version are good! Libre software is typically developed by communities who really care about the quality of the software as a goal in itself.

There are libre alternatives to many well-known programs that do everything an average user needs (find out more under the cut!) for free with no DRM, license keys, or subscriptions.

Using libre software when possible is an easy way to fight against and free yourself from corporate greed while actually being more convenient in many cases! If you need an app to do something, perhaps try searching online for things like:

foss [whatever it is]

libre [whatever it is]

open source [whatever it is]

Feel free to recommend more libre software in the tags, replies, comments, or whatever you freaks like to do!

Some Libre Software I Personally Enjoy…

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is an office suite, much like Microsoft Office. It includes equivalents for apps like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, which can view and edit files created for those apps.

I can't say I've used it much myself yet. I do not personally like using office software except when I have to for school.

OpenShot

OpenShot Video Editor is, as the name suggests, a video editing program. It has industry-standard features like splicing, layering, transitions, and greenscreen.

I've only made one video with it so far, but I'm already very happy with it. I had already paid for a video editor (Cyberlink PowerDirector Pro), but I needed to reinstall it and I didn't remember how. Out of desperation, I searched up "FOSS video editor" and I'm so glad I did. There's no launcher, there's no promotion of other apps and asset packs—it's just a video editor with a normal installer.

GIMP

GNU Image Manipulation Program is an image editor, much like Photoshop. Originally created for Linux but also available for Windows and MacOS, it provides plenty of functionality for editing images. It is a bit unintuitive to learn at first, though.

I've used it to create and modify images for years, including logos, really bad traceover art, and Minecraft textures. It doesn't have certain advanced tech like AI paint-in, but it has served my purposes well and it might just work for yours!

(Be sure to go to Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Colors. I have no idea why that's not enabled by default.)

Audacity

Audacity is an audio editing program. It can record, load, splice, and layer audio files and apply effects to them.

Audacity is another program I've used for a long time. It is not designed to compose music, but it is great for podcasts, simple edits, and loading legacy MS Paint to hear cool noises.

7-Zip

7-Zip is a file manager and archive tool. It supports many archive types including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and its own format, 7Z. It can view and modify the contents of archives, encrypt and decrypt archives, and all that good stuff.

Personally, I use 7-Zip to look inside JAR files for Minecraft reasons. I must admit that its UI is ugly.

Firefox

Firefox is an internet browser, much like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. While browsers are free, many of them include tracking or other anti-consumer practices. For example, Google plans to release an update to Chromium (the base that most browsers are built from these days) that makes ad blockers less effective by removing the APIs they currently rely on.

Aside from fighting monopolies, benefits include: support for animated themes (the one in the picture is Purple Night Theme), good ad blockers forever, an (albeit hidden) compact UI option (available on about:config), and a cute fox icon.

uBlock Origin

As far as I know, uBlock Origin is one of the best ad blockers there is.

I was on a sketchy website with my brother, and he was using Opera GX's ad blocker. Much of the time when he clicked on anything, it would take us to a random sponsored page. I suggested that he try uBlock Origin, and with uBlock Origin, that didn't happen anymore.

Linux

Linux is a kernel, but the term is often used to refer to operating systems (much like Windows or MacOS) built on it. There are many different Linux-based operating systems (or "distros") to choose from, but apps made for Linux usually work on most popular distros. You can also use many normally Windows-only apps on Linux through compatibility layers like WINE.

I don't have all four of these, so the images are from Wikipedia. I tried to show a variety of Linux distros made for different kinds of users.

If you want to replace your operating system, I recommend being very careful because you can end up breaking things. Many computer manufacturers don't care about supporting Linux, meaning that things may not work (Nvidia graphic cards notoriously have issues on Linux, for example).

Personally, I tried installing Pop!_OS on a laptop, and the sound output mysteriously doesn't work. I may try switching to Arch Linux, since it is extremely customizable and I might be able to experiment until I find a configuration where the audio works.

Many Linux distros offer "Live USB" functionality, which works as both a demo and an installer. You should thoroughly test your distro on a Live USB session before you actually install it to be absolutely sure that everything works. Even if it seems fine, you should probably look into dual-booting with your existing operating system, just in case you need it for some reason.

Happy computering!

#196 #psa #foss #open source #tech #software #apps #computer stuff #I really hope Tumblr doesn't block this for having links or something. Someone mentioned that being a possibility and now I'm worried. #please reblog #2024-01-26

[honey-minded-hivemind]

I've mentioned an Infected!AU, but may I now present a

🌺LotusEater!AU:

This AU is one I've recently thought of. Imagine the reader waking up, but they don't know where they are. They struggle to remember the previous day, coming up blank. Wherever they are, it is quiet, calm... peaceful, even... but something about it seems a bit...off...

The location could be almost anywhere. For this post, I imagine this:

A pristine facility. White labs and corridors lying underneath a large, grandiose building. Inside, the building is vast, almost like an entire city is fit into it. Rooms filled with pillows and blankets and billowing drapes, perfumed with heavy scents... large halls, almost hive-like, with art displays and statues... many lounge rooms with low couches and dark-stained wooden walls and carpeted floors... pools and large aquariums, full of heated salt water or warm water dappled in pink petals, perhaps cherry blossoms or hibiscus, with floors of cool, black stone... large rooms with balconies, with glass doors and windows and warm, honey-colored silk curtains, overlooking courtyards filled with honeysuckle and cherry trees and roses, the creams and pinks and reds filling the air with the sweetest aroma... everything just seems... perfect...

• The darling is confused. Who wouldn't be? They just woke up in a strange room they don't remember ever seeing or being in. No one is around. It appears to be... a lab? A tray full of needles lay nearby on a metal pan, with little jars full of various liquids grouped together neatly... it is... eerie. With a bubbling feeling of concern, they leave...

• And the halls are clean and white, too. The air is cool and smells of sterile alcohol wipes. A faint trace of sweetness lingers on... And after wandering the pristine labs and hallways, the bby finally finds the exit... only to find they are in a new place that reeks of musky sweetness, thick and heavy like smoking incense... the air is warm, comforting... a haze fills the area like a pale curtain, pooling heavily around the floor like a blanket... everything up here is soothing...

• But yet... no one is there... you wander about, trying not to breathe too deeply, in case the smoke is poisonous or deadly... you pass down smooth floors, and every place you pass by is large and new... entire rooms filled with cushions and soft sheets, thick drapes hanging in various spots, creating shadowed areas... dark wooden lounge rooms with low rise sofas and couches, velvety and elegant, with thick doors and soft carpeting... various corridors with mirrors and paintings and portraits and sculptures, unique and opulent... entire buildings fit inside, various places like museums and aquariums and places to eat, lit up with fuzzy lights and peacefully quiet... even entire pools of bubbling salt water, scalding springs, warm ponds, and petal-covered basins, carved into the cool, black stone, pink petals drifting on top of the water...

• But finally... you find someone...

• It is someone you know, your (unknown to you) platonic yandere (a friend, parent, sibling, mentor, etc.)... You watch them, feeling relieved to see someone finally. You greet them, hurrying over to them, just happy to see them. And when they see you, they light up. Warm eyes gaze at you, a smile breaking out on their face. They call you over, and pull you into a firm hug. They tell you how happy they are to see you, that they missed you, how they feel even better knowing you are there with them. And it feels good. You smile at them, just as glad... then you frown. You ask where you are...

• "I don't exactly know... no one really knows... we just woke up here. But this place- it isn't that bad. We wondered when you'd show up, actually..."

• You pull back a bit. You ask who all is there... And they tell you they aren't really sure... but that everything there is nice... good food, company, sweet smelling flowers, every comfort they could have or want, it was there... except you... but now that you're there... well, now everything is perfect!

• You feel worry fill you. This isn't normal. You know them, and you've never seen them this way before. The person you know wouldn't find any of this good. What person would? With a growing pit of dread in your stomach, you shake them a bit. You ask them if they are high, if they took a pill, did someone experiment on them, they didn't drink kool-aid, did they? They grab your hands gently between theirs, and tell you they are fine. No one hurt them. They aren't being forced to do anything. That everything is alright. They ask if you are okay...

• You take a shaky gulp of air, and try to calm down... you can't let them know you are freaking out... and you give them an uneasy grin. "I'm fine, dont worry about me." And for the first time since you saw them, they frowned. Their brows furrow slightly. But they don't say anything. They sigh, and ask if you want to see the others. They mention how everyone there was wondering when you would finally show up, that they were waiting for you...

• You follow them, feeling uneased by that remark. But you still stay by their side, keeping up with them as you both go to see the others who wound up here... And you do meet the others. And when they see you with them, they break out into wider smiles, stopping their talking to face you both.

• And as everyone starts talking, discussing how excited they are, how peaceful everything is, how comforting this place is... and how everything smells of the sweet, intoxicating scent that permeates the air... you realize something is very wrong with your friends... and you feel your panic building inside you, fit to burst...

• You peep up, voice a little tight, trembling slightly. You ask what is going on, and when you can leave... And the voices stop. Their eyes stare at you, and a few frown. And they ask you what you mean. When you tell them you can't stay, that you all need to leave, that what is going on isn't normal and they shouldn't be acting this way, this isn't them... they don't take it well. Your friends tell you you don't know what you're saying. That this place is good. That you must be transitioning a bit roughly, but it will be okay. You back away, eyes darting to look at them, your body shaking now. The air is filled with the haze, spicy and sweet and weighted. And you realize something, as you stare at these people you used to know, who you loved and tended to and helped when at their lowest... their eyes...

• Their eyes seem to be tinged PINK... and with a fearful noise, you RUN...

• You bolt as fast as you can, and can hear the commotion behind you. Voices shout at you, but you ignore them. You flee, skidding across the floor and dashing through the many corridors. Footsteps can be heard behind you, as well as cries for you to wait, to come back, to not panic... But whatever is going on, you can't ignore it. So with adrenaline rushing through your veins, you race for an exit, hoping to reach the outside and get help...

• Yet, before you can successfully escape... a heavy weight tackles you to the ground... and you realize one of them finally caught you...

• They tell you to calm down, that they mean no harm. A few others surround you, and you feel tears enter your eyes. The person holding you keeps a firm hold on you, their body hugging yours against them tightly... you struggle, your breaths becoming fast and sharp. You feel scared, "no's" slipping from your mouth as you strain to free yourself. You feel another presence, and realize someone else is there now...

• "Shhh... it's okay. I'm here... we're here... just relax, okay? We should have known you'd need a bit more than the rest of us... just relax, okay? You're gonna feel a little sting, it's okay..."

• And you feel a tight pinch on your neck... and slowly, you feel woozy. Your thoughts are spinning, and your erratic breaths turn heavy... then start to slow. Your vision is going fuzzy, and the grip around you lightens a little... the person holding you strokes your head gently... you take a struggling breath, and wriggle, but every move feels tiring and wobbly... your head feels fuzzy, every thought slowed and thick like honey... your vision slowly grows dark, and your eyes slip shut. The hand stroking your head continues, and the grip slowly shifts around you to pick you up. You twitch weakly, but they don't budge, only tucking your body against their's and humming softly.

• "Go to sleep, bby, it's okay, I got you... just sleep a bit, yeah? We'll help you... just rest for now... we'll make sure you feel good, trust me... just don't fight it, alright?... Good kid..."

• And with that, you drift off. They carry their bby back down into the labs, where they can give them something to help with the transition... Hopefully it will keep their bby calm and relaxed, as they work to make sure they receive enough of the same medicine given to them... it made them all feel so good... of course they need to make their bby feel just as good, just as dazed and content as they are, no worries or fears plaguing them as before... and if their bby fights against it, they can fix that. Their bby will feel good, trust them, yeah? It's for their own good...

And this is what I have in mind for the 🌺LotusEater!AU! Now, when I say friend or friends, that means any platonic yandere Marvel character/s you want, especially if it is a platonic yandere I have previously mentioned! Now, I myself enjoy the ones I've mentioned before, so I imagine whichever ones I want for this scenario! And the fun fact: the giant building/mansion/place where everyone ends up? This is a place I visit frequently in my dreams. It is a bit like a hive in a way, with many places all fit inside one special place, yet everything has its own special stuff, you know? The aquariums have bright blue lighting and dark stone walls; the museums are large and grand and full of paintings and statues and halls; the blanketed and cushioned rooms filled with drapes are larger than life, almost like a palace, with warm browns and dark blues and jeweled purples for the silken drapery, and honey, maroon, forest green, wine, and earthy colored pillows and cushions; the halls and corridors are snug and have carpeted floors; the lounge rooms have cozy couches and sofas with thick wooden doors and walls, and a fireplace; not to mention whatever else you can imagine, or that fades from the mind but leaves you feeling satisfied and at peace... even lakes in large fields outside the large, hive-like building, where long, soft grasses sway and lily pads float gently on the water... and a river in the area, giant and lazy and winding, dark and deep with white foam and many woods surrounding it...

How anyone wound up there is a mystery for now... and I might expand on this au later... but this is all for now... I hope everyone enjoyed it, and please remember, everything here is strictly platonic! I hope you enjoyed this sweet honeycomb thought!

#platonic yandere marvel #honeycomb thoughts #platonic yandere x reader #🌺LotusEater!AU #yandere platonic marvel #yandere x-men #platonic yandere xmen #platonic yandere #platonic yandere marvel x reader #platonic yandere xmen evolution #platonic yandere xmen: the animated series #yandere platonic xmen #yandere platonic #🌺lotuseater au #🌺lotuseater!au

[clarepreed]

Slip and Fall

Short Story Summary and Content: 4,518 words, female victim, on-site drowning and resuscitation.

--

“I’m not sure I can jump that.” Ellie peered across the water, trying to judge the distance between boulders.

Mateo stepped up next to her, waving to his sister and brother-in-law on the opposite bank. “Paloma made it, and she’s a little shorter than you. Why don’t I go first, and then I’ll make sure you don’t slip off when you land?”

Ellie was quiet for a few seconds, so he turned to look at her. Her eyes were unfocused as they looked down at the water. She wasn’t an athlete, he’d grant her that, but she was able-bodied and slim, and he didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t make it. He did feel bad that it was making her anxious, however; he wanted her to have a good time, and she had been up until that point. 

He definitely didn’t blame her for being anxious; there’d been a lot of rain recently, and the body of water was swollen and rapid.

He reached out and gripped her shoulder, rubbing his thumb across her collar bone. “It’s okay,” he said. “We can hike back to the parking lot and take that other trail. We’ve hardly started this leg. Paloma and Josh won’t mind.”

Ellie blinked and shook her head, a strand of hair slipping free from her pony tail. “No, I can do it. I’m just being silly.”

He stepped closer and kissed her temple, then reached up to smooth the curl behind her ear. At this distance he could make out the constellation of faint freckles scattered across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. “You’re sure?”

She nodded and offered him a brave smile. “I’m sure. I’m going to back up some so I can run, though. And yeah, please go first. In case I trip or something. Or overshoot.” That last bit was said with a wink. 

She’s so beautiful, he thought. And a very good sport.

“Want me to take your pack?” he asked, reaching for the small, golden yellow day pack she was carrying. She nodded, smiled, and rewarded him with a quick kiss.

“Alright,” he said, turning back to grin at her from her position on the riverbank. “Here I go!”

He jogged a few steps forward and then jumped across, making sure to land toward the middle of the boulder. The landing jarred his bones, and he turned, trying to keep the ruefulness out of his smile as he waved at Ellie. She didn’t need to know the landing made him feel closer to fifty-seven than thirty-seven. He took a step toward the edge of the rock and held out his hands.

Ellie nodded, tugged at the hem of her terra cotta-colored puffer vest, and then took off. She’d probably backed up farther than she needed; her boots splashed in the mud before she hit the rock. She ran across the top, moved to leap from one boulder to the next. Instead, her foot slipped off the edge, dumping her backward onto the rock, arms flying up. She landed hard, legs dangling off the edge, and he heard a sickening crack and a wheeze as the wind was driven out of her. Then she went limp and slid off the rock and into the water.

“ELLIE!” he shouted, shocked at how quickly this was happening. The current carried her unconscious body downstream before he could move. He finally reacted, dropping both packs onto the rock before throwing himself in after her, hands outstretched, trying to grasp her before she was carried too far. 

He belly-flopped, graceless, splashing in nowhere near close enough to grab her. He thought he heard shouting, but he couldn’t spare anyone else a glance as they were both carried downstream. He tried to swim faster than the current was carrying them, his eyes never losing sight of that orange vest.

Ellie’s downstream progress was halted by the branches of a low-hanging tree. She got caught up in it, and he was able to reach her, one hand grabbing the biggest branch above his head to anchor himself, the other darting out to snag the back of her vest. He yanked her backward toward his chest, trying to pull her face out of the water with the same gesture. The smaller branches poked him in the face, scratching across his cheek. He ignored them, quickly releasing his grip on her vest so he could snake his arm around her chest, tipping her head back against his shoulder.

“Ellie!” he shouted, trying to get a look at her face. Her skin was already pale, her features slack. Her eyes were cracked open just a hair, but he didn’t think she was conscious. He shook her, but she didn’t respond. “ELLIE!”

He gripped the branch hard, using his strength to pull them both toward it, then released the branch, quickly lunging for a point closer to the shore. He caught it, barely. He took a deep breath and did it again. He was about to go for a third lunge when he heard Josh shouting from above him. His brother-in-law was laying on a nearby rock, hand outstretched. Then he spotted Paloma on her knees next to him, ready to help.

Mateo lunged once more, caught himself, and felt his feet brush the rocks and sand on the bottom. “I’m going to shove her toward you!” he shouted, and he saw Josh nod and stretch out both hands. He released the branch, planted his feet, and then grasped Ellie under the arms. He heaved her out of the water and toward the other man, thrashing as he staggered forward. Her head sagged backward and her wet, stretched out curls hit him in the face.

Josh and Paloma dragged her out of his hands and up the side of the rock.

In the minute or so it took Mateo to climb out, Josh had her flat on her back and was kneeling at her head, carefully thrusting her jaw up. He scooted around and leaned his ear close to her mouth, his fingers pressing into the pulse point in her neck. Mateo crawled over to them, just in time to see Josh lean down, pinch her nose closed, and breathe into her.

“I don’t have a signal!” he heard Paloma shout. She was standing back, cell phone in hand.

“Paloma!” Josh barked, his commanding tone nothing like his usual speaking voice. Mateo wondered if that was how he spoke when things went sideways during his work as a firefighter. Josh gave Ellie another breath and said: “Run back to the trailhead. Drive until you get a signal or get to the ranger’s station. Tell them one victim, drowned, with a head injury, in respiratory arrest. GO!”

Paloma blanched, staring down at Ellie, but she only hesitated for a few seconds before she turned, thrashing through the scrub toward the trail.

Meanwhile, Josh was breathing for Ellie. Her eyes were still cracked open, glinting through her eyelashes. But she was motionless aside from her chest rising and falling with each forced breath.

“What c-can I do?” Mateo asked, his heart pounding and an icy feeling settling in his stomach.

“Grab my pack,” Josh said between breaths. “Just behind you.”

Mateo complied, dragging it close.

“Small compartment. Plastic case.”

Mateo handed him the small plastic case and Josh popped it open, revealing a CPR pocket mask. He slipped the elastic over Ellie’s head and pressed the mask over her nose and mouth before leaning over and giving her a breath through the valve. He gave her several more breaths before he pulled the mask to the side and leaned close to her mouth again, his fingers pressed to her neck.

Several seconds passed, and he pressed the mask to her face and gave her another breath. Mateo watched Josh unzip her vest and lean close to her ear.

“Ellie! Take a breath!” He called, his voice loud. Then he pressed the knuckles of his fist between her breasts and dragged them up and down for what seemed like a long time before shaking his head and giving her another breath. With her vest open, Mateo could see her stomach was bloated.

Mateo reached out and picked her limp, cold hand off the rock and clasped it hard in his. “Ellie! Please, just breathe!”

She didn’t respond, accepting Josh’s regular breaths without resistance.

“There’s a shirt in my bag,” Josh said, before giving Ellie another breath. “She’s bleeding.”

Mateo put her hand down gently and found the shirt. He scrambled around to the top of her head, looking for blood. Sure enough, there was a bloodied section of wet hair just to the right of her pony tail. He didn’t wait for Josh to give him instructions; he carefully pressed the shirt against the blood, using his other hand to keep her head steady.

“Breathe, cariña,” he said, and heard the beg in his voice.

 This went on for another minute before Josh pressed two fingers into her neck. Then he reached down and pressed two fingers to her wrist. 

“What?” Mateo asked, seeing Josh shake his head.

Josh adjusted the tilt of her head before giving her another breath.

He didn’t respond to Mateo; instead, his brother-in-law let out a rush of air, shook his head again, and then took a deep breath so he could give it to Ellie. He was holding her jaw carefully, making sure he maintained the seal on the mask. Every so often, he checked her pulse. 

Josh was in the middle of one of his cycles of breaths when Mateo realized Ellie’s skin was turning gray.

“Josh!” Mateo exclaimed. “Is she turning blue?”

Josh immediately pressed fingers to her neck and her wrist. He held them there for ten seconds before cursing.

“Dammit, Ellie!” Josh straightened up and clasped his hands together, pressing the heel of his hand down between her breasts. Then he started compressions, deep and fast. Despair sank down onto Mateo’s shoulders as he realized this meant her heart wasn’t beating.

Mateo had never seen CPR performed in real life. The procedure wasn’t anything like movies or even CPR classes led him to expect. Josh was caving in her chest, only for her ribs to spring back up each time he rose off her.

No, no, no, Mateo thought, staring down at his girlfriend as her shoulders shook and her feet rocked. She didn’t want to jump, and I talked her into—

“MATEO!” Josh was shouting at him, and he got the impression he’d been trying to get his attention. “Twenty-nine, thirty!”

Josh leaned over and gave her two breaths before starting again with compressions. He made it to the tenth before Mateo heard a crunch. He flinched, and when he looked up at Josh, his brother-in-law was grimacing. Despite this, he continued exactly as he’d been going, forcing her chest down and releasing it over and over again.

“Next time I hit thirty, I need you to take over breaths,” he said. Sweat had sprung out along his hairline. “Can you do that?”

“Y-yes!” Mateo removed his hand from the t-shirt and moved around to her other side. Her head and shoulders were rocking in time with Josh’s compressions, and he realized there was foam coming out of her nose and mouth underneath the mask. He looked up at Josh. “Is that normal? The foam?”

“Yes, it’s okay. Breathe!”

Mateo grasped her face, trying to make sure he kept her head tilted back, and wrapped his lips around the valve. When he breathed into the mask, there was a slight delay and then her chest rose. It fell when he broke the seal to inhale. He gave her another breath.

He looked down at her, listening to Josh count as he thrust his hands into Ellie’s sternum. Mateo ran his thumb across her cheek, sweeping away droplets of water that had run out from underneath the mask.

“-twenty-eight, twenty-nine-thirty! Breathe!”

As Mateo gave her breaths, Josh was pressing his fingers against her carotid. “After this cycle, we switch,” he said, moving his hands back to her sternum.

Mateo gave him a panicked look.

“—ten, eleven, twelve—I will make sure you do it correctly—sixteen, seventeen, eighteen—”

Sure enough, when Josh hit thirty, he shifted over and gave her two breaths. Mateo jerked himself forward and over her, clasping his hands together and settling the heel of his hand between the hardened dots of her nipples, visible through her shirt. Josh pushed Mateo’s shoulders over his hands and said: “Two inches!”

“One, two, three…” Mateo counted as he forced his girlfriend’s chest down over and over again. The movement felt horrible and violent, but he reminded himself that it had to be, if she had any chance at all. He heard his voice crack and told himself to stop thinking. “—twenty-nine, thirty!”

Josh’s breaths were over quickly, and Mateo was back to compressing Ellie’s chest. 

By the time they reached the end of five cycles, Josh told him to switch off again. His arms burning, Mateo leaned over and gave her two breaths, watching her chest rise and fall. Josh continued the merciless assault on her sternum.

“One, two, three…”

Abruptly, Ellie made a gurgling sound and water surged up into the mask, carrying with it bits of trail mix and breakfast. He jerked the mask off her face, the elastic tangling in her hair, and Josh reached over and directed her face to the side. Mateo watched him sweep vomit from her mouth with his finger before he returned to chest compressions.

“What—”

“She’s not back,” Josh said, his voice gruff. “People can vomit when you’re resuscitating them. You have to keep giving her breaths.”

His hands shaking, Mateo pulled the mask free from her hair and pressed it back to her face, breathing into her when Josh said: “Thirty!”

“There’s more… resistance,” Mateo said, giving her another breath and finding it difficult.

Behind them, Mateo heard something large crashing through the scrub, accompanying by hard breathing. Paloma suddenly dropped down beside him, swinging a black duffel over Ellie and dropping it next to Josh.

“Called... parking lot,” Paloma gasped. “Ranger… coming… ambulance… soon.”

Then she turned away from them and threw up. 

Mateo couldn’t spare much attention for her, though he could hear her breathing hard and spitting.

“Switch with me,” Josh said. He glanced off to the side. “No, Paloma, I meant Mateo. You need a minute before you can help. Just sit and have some water.”

They switched, and Mateo was back to crushing Ellie’s chest. “One, two, three, four—”

“Not quite so fast,” Josh said, unzipping the duffel. “And come all the way up each time so her heart can refill with blood.”

Mateo adjusted his technique. She was so petite; he worried he was doing her permanent damage, assuming she survived. “Six, seven, eight, nine, ten…”

Josh had set the mask aside and come out with a case of a plastic pieces with flared ends. “This will help with her airway until the ambulance gets here,” he said, measuring one of the pieces against the side of her face. “Don’t stop compressions.”

“…eighteen, nineteen, twenty…”

Josh opened Ellie’s mouth, slid the plastic piece between her teeth and then twisted it. The flanged end rested against her teeth.

“…twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty…”

Josh grabbed something else out of the duffel and Mateo heard the rustling of plastic as he continued pressing her chest well past thirty. Then Josh had a bag-valve mask in his hands, which Mateo had seen on television. He pressed the mask to her face and Mateo stopped his desperate assault, watching as Josh squeezed the bag twice.

Then Mateo was back to performing chest compressions. “One, two, three, four, five, six…”

There was the unmistakable sound of a vehicle driving up the trail. This portion, up until the river, was wide enough for a vehicle, though the trailhead was blocked by bollards and a fence.

“Has to be the ranger,” Paloma gasped. “They would have the key for the post at the trailhead!”

“…nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…” Mateo heard a car door slam. “…twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

As Josh squeezed the bag, Mateo heard footsteps in the scrub. Then it was time for him to do chest compressions again. He glanced up briefly when a female ranger dropped to her knees across from him.

“…five, six, seven…”

“I brought an AED, EMS should be here in five minutes, give or take, they’re just up the road. What happened?” She unzipped the AED case and started setting up the device.

“…sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…”

“She slipped, hit her head and fell in. We pulled her out but she was already in respiratory arrest. Lost her pulse about seven minutes ago.” Josh responded. 

“…twenty-seven, twenty-eight…”

“You an EMT?” The ranger asked, pulling out a pair of medical shears.

“Connect pads!” The AED commanded.

“Firefighter,” Josh said, squeezing the bag. “She’s my future sister-in-law. Ellie.”

The ranger nodded and leaned over Ellie, making short work of her wet shirt and bra. When she peeled back the layers, Mateo saw an angry red bruise over Ellie’s sternum. The ranger dried off Ellie’s chest with the dry side of Josh’s bloody t-shirt.

Then it was time for him to press his hands to that bruise and make it worse.

“One, two, three…”

“Connect pads, plug in the connector!” Chimed in the AED. The ranger worked around Mateo’s hands, applying one pad to Ellie’s upper right chest and another just below her left breast.

“…fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…”

“Analyzing rhythm. Do not touch patient.”

“Hold compressions,” Josh said, squeezing the bag. Mateo lifted his hands.

“Analyzing rhythm, do not touch patient.”

“Paloma, do you remember how to use this mask?” Josh asked, squeezing the bag again.

“Shock not advised. Resume CPR for one minute.”

Mateo followed directions. “One, two, three...”

To his left, Paloma and Josh switched places, Josh adjusting her grip on the mask and talking her through its use.

“…twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

Paloma squeezed the bag, and Ellie’s bruised chest rose.

“Sit back,” Josh said. “I’ll take over compressions.”

Mateo scooted down toward her legs. Shortly after, they began to sway as Josh hammered rhythmically on her chest.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”

He didn’t know what to do with his hands; he knew he probably shouldn’t touch her, so they went to the back of his head, gripping hard at his hair.

“…twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”

Paloma dutifully squeezed the bag. She’d been crying, but now her eyes were dry and focused.

“One, two, three…”

Ellie’s abdomen bulged grotesquely with each compression, and her ribcage and cartilage still occasionally popped and cracked. He’d noticed the compressions got easier as time passed, even though his arms ached.

“Analyzing rhythm, do not touch patient.”

Josh lifted his hands and looked at Paloma. “You can give her breaths while it’s analyzing.”

Paloma squeezed the bag.

“Analyzing rhythm. Do not touch patient.”

Another breath. Mateo realized Ellie’s nipples had gone purplish and stiff.

“No shock advised, resume CPR for one minute.”

“God DAMMIT, Ellie!” Josh’s outburst, accompanied by the resumption of his chest compressions, made Mateo flinch. “Where is that ambulance? She needs meds! Fuck!”

“Are you okay to continue?” The ranger asked. Her eyes were kind, belying the sternness of her tone.

“Yes.” Josh was still compressing Ellie’s chest. “Yes. Sorry. You and I will switch after the AED kicks in again. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty…”

Mateo didn’t know when his tears had started, but they were running down his cheeks now. He reached out and squeezed Ellie’s hand hard before releasing it. 

She isn’t going to make it, he realized. We weren’t close enough to the help she needed.

I shouldn’t have convinced her to jump.

He’d planned to propose that summer, had a ring he was paying off at a local jeweler. Ellie had previously told him she didn’t need a ring, but that if it was important to him, she did have some preferences. The ring actually was important to him, even if it was the last vestige of old traditions that he mostly didn’t adhere to.

She’d never even see it, and for what reason?

He covered his face in his hands and let out a sob.

When the AED next chimed in, he made himself pull his hands down far enough to look at her. He did feel a duty to remain present, to not check out. To stick with her to the bitter end.

“Shock not advised. Resume CPR for one minute.”

She still looked like herself, despite her gray skin and the bruises. Her hair was starting to dry and curl up around her face. He could see her chipped nail polish, and her purple boot laces.

“…ten, eleven, twelve…” Counted the ranger, her fresh arms producing effective, hard compressions.

Josh reached over and grabbed Mateo’s arm. “There’s still a chance, Mat. The paramedics can do things for her that we can’t.”

Mateo wasn’t sure if he meant it, and when he looked up, he saw Paloma staring hard at her husband, as though she was trying to decide the same. Then she nodded, noticed Mateo watching her, and nodded again.

A few seconds later, two paramedics rushed out of the scrub and to Ellie’s side. One of them immediately identified Mateo as the loved one and ushered him a few more feet away, as much space as the brush would allow.

“This is Ellie. Thirty-four, hit her head and drowned,” he heard Josh say. “Respiratory arrest followed by cardiac arrest approximately fourteen minutes ago. AED has not advised any shocks.”

Everything became a blur. He heard words like “monitor, intubate, and epi.” Paloma was relieved by Josh, and she hurried to Mateo’s side, grabbing his hands and murmuring a prayer under her breath. A high-pitched whine rose over everything.

Soon, Josh was sidelined while the medics removed the plastic airway and used some kind of metal device with a light in it to help them guide in a tube. Mateo didn’t know what any of it was called, but he recognized that they were intubating her. They inserted an IV and pushed medication. He heard the Velcro of a blood pressure cuff. The ranger was squeezing the bag now while one of the medics performed chest compressions.

Josh was suddenly beside him, speaking quietly. “They do chest compressions after injecting the medication because that will circulate it. The epinephrine will help her heart get to a rhythm that they can shock. They might give her other drugs.”

More time passed. One of the medics was cutting off the rest of Ellie’s clothing. He covered her lower half with a blanket, though Mateo had no idea where the blanket had come from.

A couple of minutes later, and they injected more medication into Ellie’s IV. Mateo watched as the medics switched off just like he and Josh had. One of them used a device with a canister and a tube to suction her lungs. They pushed more drugs and switched off again. This time, he noticed one of the medics pried open Ellie’s eyes and flashed a penlight across them.

“Sluggish,” the medic said.

Another round of drugs and they switched places. Mateo wondered how much her body could take. Or her brain.

One of the medics suddenly reached over and pointed at the monitor. “V-fib!” The medic exclaimed, sounding surprised.

Mateo watched as they placed two floppy, bright orange squares on Ellie’s chest. 

“They’re going to use the defibrillator now,” Josh said.

Mateo’s ears were ringing and everyone sounded like they were speaking underwater. He watched as one medic performed furious chest compressions until the other approached with the paddles, and then both the first medic and the ranger raised their hands. The medic with the paddles pressed them to the orange squares. Ellie jerked, and then one medic pressed his fingers into her neck and the other pressed two fingers into her inner thigh.

The medic with the paddles shook his head, and the female medic leaned in, pressing down on Ellie’s chest for ten seconds until she leaned back again and the cycle was repeated.

This time, after the shock jerked Ellie’s chest and flicked her limbs, they administered more medication and returned to cycles of chest compressions and breaths.

“They’ll shock her again,” Josh said, sounding far away.

He was right. The medic performing chest compressions leaned back, the ranger disconnected the bag, and the medic with the paddles delivered a third shock. The medic’s defibrillator must be stronger than the bystander AED, he thought, watching her body jerk.

The medics pressed their fingers into her pulse points and stared at the monitor.

This time, they seemed excited by what they felt. Mateo blinked at the monitor, which was no longer screaming, and looked over at Josh.

Josh turned to him, grabbed him by the upper arms, and shook him.

His hearing roared back as Josh was saying: “They got a pulse, Mat! Mat, she has a pulse!”

The ranger was still squeezing the bag, but the medics had stopped compressions. He felt lightheaded. Mateo could see the purple marks between her breasts every time her chest rose. One of the medics took the place of the ranger, pausing his squeezing of the bag and looking down at Ellie’s chest for several long seconds before nodding and squeezing the bag again, this time seeming to take cues from whatever he saw when he looked down.

“She’s making some respiratory effort,” the medic said. “Ellie? If you can hear me, the tube down your throat is helping you breathe. You had an accident. We’re taking care of you and we’ll take you to the hospital soon. Your friends are here with you.”

The other medic looked up, stethoscope pressed to Ellie’s chest, and made eye contact with Mateo. “Boyfriend… you can come hold her hand for a few minutes until we are ready to move her.”

“We can take the back seat out of my SUV,” the ranger was saying.

Josh had to help Mateo crawl over to Ellie.

Ellie’s hand was still very cold when he took it between his hands. “Can she hear me?” He asked, his voice hoarse.

“She may hear you, but she won’t react much.” The medic squeezing the bag said. “You should say whatever you need to say. Do you understand?”

Mateo nodded.

Josh and the female medic were talking quietly, and he heard “fragile” and “could crash again.”

Mateo took a deep breath and squeezed Ellie’s hand.

“I love you.” His throat immediately spasmed, and he cleared it hard before he could speak again. “I love you. I want you to stay. I want to marry you. And… and, Ellie, I’m so sorry.”

Tears ran hot down his cheeks. 

“I love you,” he choked out. “Forgive me.”

And then, in his hand, he felt the tiniest twitch of her fingers.

#female resus #resus writing #cpr resus

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

hello, have a good day. i was wondering if you got into anything new as of late, be it a book, an animations... i've started to like dungeon meshi/delicious in dungeon, i hope you give it a try if you can

hey anonymous--the day is basically over already, you know?

mostly all i did today was work and listen to stephen king audiobooks (while at work, while on daily/nightly walks), which i really have a soft-spot for and always get excited to start a new one; today i finished The Langoliers and started Secret Garden, Secret Window (or is it Window, Garden? I forget) from the novella collection Four Past Midnight; the former is narrated by Willem Dafoe and was pretty alright but shockingly pulpy (even for King), and I'd even say I really enjoyed it--cept Willem Dafoe does a pretty horrendous job being audible (he:ll go so low that sentences basically just become indistinct growly slurs at times), and does a pretty horrendous job voicing this character Becky (or Bethany? awful with names);

there:s that movie adaptation i:ve never seen of it, but even more interesting about The Langoliers and its movie adaptation is there is a re-edit of the movie where each slide is printed out on paper and then re-shot that way, called The Timekeepers of Eternity which looks really neat, cause it:s based off the neuroses of this character called Craig who rips-up paper throughout the story to calm down his neuroticisms.

i thought it was a little less 'interesting' than some of the other King stories i:ve gone through, but the stand-out points were: the past being described as a stagnant pond and peoples/things stuck there became denatured--as opposed to something more fantastically 'time-travel-y': here in Langoliers the past is just a rotting carcass without wind, color, smell, taste; the relationship between blind-girl dinah and craig--because it reminded me of DaS3 Archdeacon Mcdonell and people seeking covenant through him (though in this case it is dying versus dead);

Secret Garden, Secret Window has better narration but my file seems corrupted, or the person who ripped the audio did something with the pitch to avoid copyright like old youtube content-id avoidance; after awhile the audio will start to warble like a Longmont Potion Castle bit, and occasionally there are jarring cuts that seem like the file got scrambled--which has made it hard to follow. but: i heard this was the weakest story in Four Past Midnight, but i:ve been really enjoying it otherwise--sort-of reminds me of the villain from Night of the Hunter (which i:ve never seen, but i imagine the villain acting like John Shooter from Secret Garden, Secret Window).

I watched the first two episodes of Dungeon Meshi and thought it was good, but boring, and dropped it; finished Mushoku Tensei sometime early last week, though--that:s a great show.

that:s it; it:s a terrible reason to donate to me, but the bulk of my monthly subscriber posts on substack are basically me blogging about shows/(audio)books i:ve finished during the month--so, if you:re interested. haven:t been reading much or watching much because i:ve been on my feet sunup-sundown most days lately.

take care.

[aziraphales-library]

Hello mods! I love your work so much and believe that what you do for the fandom is extremely admirable. Sorry if something very similar to this has already been asked, but I was wondering if you could find some fics in which Crowley is genderfluid and switches up his physical presentation and pronouns (e.g using she/her while fem-presenting in Golgotha) throughout the fic. Thank you dears! :)

Hi! You'll want to check out #genderfluid crowley tag for more fics like this! Here are some more for you...

Sunshine by ivoryline (G)

Newt has some questions for Crowley about gender exploration.

The Right Shape by ElCompositor (T)

Crowley knows a thing or two about changing his shape - he's had many, many forms, each beloved in its own way. So when he meets someone deeply unhappy with their own shape, he does his best to give them that same feeling of beloved-ness. And, maybe even receives a little beloved-ness in return.

Basically, Crowley is the genderfluid/nonbinary icon we all knew he was, and also is our trans dad who is looking out for all the little baby trans people. Trans fluff for a belated trans day of visibility.

A demonic study in gender by shanimalew (T)

Crowley explores gender presentation throughout a few historical periods.

what's in a name? by noclouds (T)

“what’s in a name,” the actor on stage sighs, “that which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” he frowns, though understands juliet’s plight exactly. names are more complicated than let on. or, crowley's journey of self-discovery from creation to after the apocalypse-that-wasn't.

Warning coloration by WoodsWitch (T)

"It was hard to keep your guard up around someone so open and friendly and charming. And lovely, whispered a treacherous thought. It was dangerous beauty, Aziraphale tried to remind himself. Black, red, yellow - warning coloration, like a coral snake or a wasp. A helpful sign saying: Do not touch."

Basically 6000 years of Aziraphale trying to figure out what Crowley's deal is, and some of the heavenly conditioning that makes that difficult. Of course, he was largely correct to start off with - he's just over-thinking it a bit.

Note: Crowley's pronouns are all over the place in this. That was intentional, meant to reflect either how he/she/they are presenting at various points in history...but just a heads up, in case the first swap or two is jarring.

To Have and to Hold by Raichel (M)

Some temptations are better accomplished with a feminine touch.

Unfortunately for Crowley, humans have some annoying hang ups about what a single woman is allowed to get up to. She needs to have a man around to avoid suspicion. Crowley needs a favor from his one real friend on Earth.

This is the story of how Crowley and Aziraphale became spouses of convenience. At least, when the job calls for it.

- Mod D

#good omens #ineffable partners #genderfluid crowley #mod d