#but yeah I have a lot of mouth shit to make up for because neglect n well uh neglect | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

steddieas-shegoes · 1 month

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i wanna make your heartbeat run like roller coasters

for @subeddieweek day one with the prompts manhandling and accidental subspace

rated e | 3,520 words | please check ao3 for tags

⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕

Eddie gets pushed against a lot of lockers.

It’s rarely accidental.

It’s always painful.

He doesn’t exactly have a lot of meat on his bones. Every hit leaves a bruise.

So when Steve fucking Harrington does his own dirty work for once, even though he graduated the way Eddie was supposed to, it’s just a bit embarrassing that it doesn’t hurt. It feels…kinda like he should be on his knees.

Which is really not something he wanted to think about when Steve’s got a hand on his shoulder, gripping hard enough to bruise, and something like fear in his eyes. Why is he scared?

“Did you sell weed to Robin?” he asked, teeth clenched.

Jesus fucking Christ. Steve’s got himself a band nerd girlfriend. How the hell did that happen?

“No, I sold to her friend. She waited by the treeline talking to herself the entire time.”

Eddie could hear his own voice shaking, but he wouldn’t back down. Black eyes were kinda metal weren’t they?

“Which friend?”

“Dude, I don’t even know. Someone else in band.”

The hand on his shoulder tightened and he barely bit back a whimper.

Steve’s eyes were very pretty this close. They were pretty from far away, too. Honestly, having Steve this close was probably rewiring something already broken in his brain. Having Steve’s hand on him like this was making his brain do somersaults trying to stay focused.

And then his hand was gone.

Eddie breathed in, breathed out.

“Sorry. I-” Steve shook his hands out and backed away. “Sorry.”

Eddie ignored whatever the fuck was happening in his stomach. It shouldn’t be happening so it isn’t, simple as that.

“Maybe you should ask your girlfriend if you’re so worried about her buying drugs.” Eddie should learn to shut his mouth at some point. “I only sell to the people who come to me first.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I remember.” Steve wiped his hand down his face. “Sorry again.”

Eddie looked him up and down, taking in the fact that he was genuinely apologizing. No one ever apologized for knocking him around, not even when it was on accident.

“You good?” He eventually asked.

“Yeah. Just, she’s been through a lot. I didn’t really want her to get pressured into buying something,” Steve sighed. “Has she come out of the band room yet? I’m supposed to bring her to work.”

“Uh, yeah man, everyone left an hour ago.”

Eddie watched Steve’s face fall as he checked his watch and must’ve realized the time.

“Shit. Okay. I must’ve lost track of time.”

Steve looked pitiful. Eddie’s seen dogs in alleys who looked less beaten down and neglected than Steve currently did.

“I can help you find her?” Eddie offered for some unknown reason.

Well, he knew the reason, but he was choosing to ignore it.

“She’s probably already at work. It’s my day off so I ended up getting distracted with something and didn’t realize it was so late,” Steve admitted, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. “Thanks, though.”

Wayne liked to tell Eddie he was too nice to undeserving people. Lord knows he gave his dad too many chances and got let down every time. He even tried to be friends with Tommy Hagan in middle school because he could sense something was going on with Tommy’s dad much like his own.

But Eddie liked to remind Wayne that Eddie is often considered undeserving and he took him in and gave him multiple chances regardless.

“You wanna smoke?” Eddie asked, despite knowing he barely has anything left after the long week of midterms for students. His busiest times of year were right before school breaks, midterms, finals, and graduation weekend. He usually stocked up, but with Rick being in prison again, he had to try to stretch what he had out.

“Uh…smoke what?”

“Weed.” Then it hit Eddie that maybe Steve was into harder stuff. But he hadn’t ever even bought from him in high school. Tommy had, Carol had, almost everyone at his parties had, but Steve never did. “I have regular old cigs too if you prefer.”

“Yeah, man, cool,” Steve sighed with relief.

“I got a spot behind the cafeteria if you wanna…”

“Sure, yep, let’s go,” Steve nodded, gesturing towards the double doors that led outside to the cafeteria and auditorium buildings.

As they walked, Eddie’s mind raced with thoughts of being alone with Steve, Steve’s arm brushing against his, Steve pushing him against the wall of the cafeteria, of Eddie dropping to his knees and unbuttoning Steve’s pants and-

“I’m really sorry about what happened back there.”

Steve’s voice shook him from his thoughts, but his dick didn’t quite get the memo. When did he even start getting hard?

“No worries, dude.” His face scrunched in disgust at calling Steve dude. What was next, the bro pat on the back? A fist bump? “Kinda jealous of how protective you are of your girlfriend.”

Okay, actually, what the fuck? Eddie needed to shut his fucking face, right the fuck now.

“She’s not my girlfriend, but uh, I don’t think you’re really her type either,” Steve gave him a look, one Eddie knew well and one he couldn’t quite believe he was seeing on Steve’s face right now.

“Right, right.” Eddie wouldn’t make him say it, especially if it was actually the look he thought it was, but maybe he could offer a little something in return. “Yeah, she’s not really my type either.”

Steve stopped just before they reached the hidden area behind the dumpster and picnic table for staff to smoke.

“Really?” Steve’s eyes were wide. “So you’re more into…someone like…me?”

Eddie was actually leaking into his goddamn boxers. Why was he getting turned on just talking to Steve?

“That would be one way of saying it,” Eddie said. Still easy enough to back out of it, at least. Could just say he likes women who wear polos and use more hairspray than Melvald’s has ever carried at any given time.

“Huh,” Steve continued walking to the picnic table, sitting on top of it and kicking some dirt off the bench by his legs for Eddie to sit. “So those rumors were true?”

“That depends on if I’m gonna make it back home to my very loving uncle if I say yes.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Obviously, I’m not gonna judge you about it when my best friend is-” He cut himself off and Eddie had to give him major credit. The Steve he used to know never would’ve cared if he outed someone, or at least never would have realized that was wrong. He coughed and then looked down at the bench. “You gonna sit?”

Eddie sat down on the bench, extremely close to Steve’s legs. Almost touching. Was that heat coming from his body or was Eddie just extremely warm?

“Did you actually wanna smoke or did you just wanna get out of the hall?” Steve asked after another minute of awkward silence.

“We can smoke.” Eddie reached into his pocket, hating how tight his jeans were in the front, and grabbed his lighter. His pack of cigarettes were usually stored in his van because he rarely smoked them, but luckily he’d brought them with him all week to sneak smokes between classes. He pulled one out and handed it to Steve.

He started to light his own when Steve leaned down, his face right next to Eddie’s, breath hot on his neck.

“You aren’t gonna light it for me?”

Eddie whimpered.

He would deny it a million times over if anyone asked. He almost had himself believing he imagined it.

But Steve laughed and backed away, pulling out his own lighter and giving Eddie a second to catch his breath.

What the fuck was that? Did Steve know he was making Eddie’s brain flatline?

He watched Steve take a long drag out of the corner of his eye, his mind shuffling between ‘what if he fucked me right here?’ and ‘get the hell away before your dick pops a hole in your jeans.’

Steve’s lips were so pink, and looked so soft, and just wet enough from licking his lips before taking the next drag, and Eddie was really going through it right now.

He’d gone through his Steve Harrington phase just like everyone else, thought it was over when he graduated. Had avoided the mall all summer when he heard he was working at Scoops so he didn’t have to see him in those tiny blue shorts. Had even gone so far as to avoid being around when the kids were being picked up from Hellfire because Dustin mentioned Steve was his ride.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Except for Eddie’s imagination was impressive, and his late night thoughts turned into very vivid scenes of Steve working him to the edge and making him beg, or pushing him against a locker and making him take his cock with barely any prep, or-

“Dude, anyone ever tell you you’re kinda space-y?” Steve’s voice once again lifted him from his thoughts, though he felt a bit hazy.

“Think I’m comin’ down with something,” Eddie squeaked out. All he was coming down with was a sickness deep in his chest: Harrington Heart-itis.

“Did you hit your head?” Steve sounded concerned now, setting his cigarette in the ashtray left on the table and moving so he had one leg on either side of Eddie. His fingers landed in Eddie’s hair, pulling his head closer and inspecting it for injury. “I didn’t think anything but your shoulders hit, but maybe-”

“No,” Eddie gulped. He should pull away. “Didn’t hit my head.”

Steve’s fingers tightened, not quite painfully, but enough of a bite to it that Eddie whimpered. Again.

Steve’s grip loosened, but his fingers stayed buried in his curls, and Eddie felt pressure guiding him to rest against Steve’s thigh.

“You eat today?” Steve asked, though his voice sounded kinda far away, like he was above the surface of the water and Eddie was sitting at the bottom of a pool looking up at the sun. “Eddie?”

“Hm?” Eddie blinked up at Steve. “I ate.”

“When?” Steve’s hand was cupping his cheek. “Lunch?”

“Mmm, no,” Eddie shook his head, blinked. “Breakfast? Cereal.”

Steve cursed under his breath.

He was so pretty. Had he been told how pretty he was? Surely when Nancy was with him, she told him.

Even if Robin liked women, she had to at least notice how pretty he was, right?

Steve’s sharp intake of breath somewhat centered Eddie.

“I’m gonna drive you home, okay?” Steve whispered, leaning down so his face was only inches away.

Eddie could kiss him. It would be the easiest thing in the world to lift his head the final two inches to make their lips meet.

“Eddie, eyes open,” Steve’s fingers tightened again, gaining Eddie’s full attention. “Should I call someone? Are you dynamic or something?”

Eddie’s brows furrowed. What did that even mean?

“Like the sugar thing?” Steve continued.

“Diabetic?” Eddie still felt a little hazy, but he was starting to come back to it with Steve’s hand migrating from his hair to his shoulder. “No, my sugar’s fine.”

“I’ve got some soda in my car. I can drive you home and then bring you to school in the morning. You probably shouldn’t drive like…this.”

It all came crashing down when Eddie realized how vulnerable he’d just been, how he’d actually lost track of time, not sure exactly how long he’d been sitting between Steve’s legs with his hands in his hair before he started coming back to earth. He stood up, maybe a bit too quickly, rocking a bit before finding his balance.

“Woah, take it easy.” Steve held his hands out, grasped his biceps to hold him steady. “You were pretty far out of it. Don’t rush it.”

How fucking embarrassing.

Eddie had only gone down that far one time with someone and they got freaked out when he was giggling and couldn’t walk on his own because his legs felt like jelly. But that had been on purpose. This was- Steve didn’t– Jesus Christ.

“I’m fine now.” Eddie was not fine. He knew what would happen if he left right now. Aftercare was a major part of this whether Steve was prepared for it or not. “Just, um, walk me to my van.”

Steve looked like a kicked puppy, but Eddie didn’t have the time to explain all of this to him.

Steve Harrington didn’t know how much of a freak Eddie was even if he did know he was gay. There’s no way Steve participated in any type of BDSM with the many girls he slept with in high school.

There was absolutely no fuckin’ way Nancy Wheeler let herself get tied to a bed and get fucked by Steve.

He shook his head at the thought.

“I’d feel a lot better if you let me drive you. I promise we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Steve sighed. “I just don’t know if you should drive when you went down so hard.”

“You have no idea what even happened,” Eddie argued, pacing back and forth. “I can drive. I just need to walk it off.”

“You don’t walk off subspace.”

Eddie froze. Steve was standing right in front of him now, concern in his big, stupid, adorable eyes.

“How do you even know about subspace?” Eddie whispered.

“I slept with half the high school and two guys in Indy. I know what subspace is, Eds.”

Eddie must still be in space. Or maybe another galaxy.

“Sorry, did you just say you slept with two guys in Indy?” Has Steve seriously fucked more guys than Eddie has? Eddie, the resident gay man of Hawkins, has only been with one man in his entire life and Steve has apparently slept with two?

“Well, I wasn’t gonna sleep with two men in Hawkins!” Steve threw his hands up before putting them on his hips. “I hit up a gay bar and didn’t realize it doubled as a BDSM club until I was already in it and then a nice guy showed me the ropes. Literally. There were ropes involved.”

Eddie snorted. Steve was pretty and funny. Great. Just what he needed.

“I have a quick recovery, so I’ll be fine to drive home,” Eddie tried, though even he could hear his voice still shaking.

“No one is that quick,” Steve wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tugging him into a hug. “Has that ever happened before?”

“Not like that.”

“We should probably talk about it.”

The last thing Eddie wanted to do was talk about how someone playing with his hair and moving his head around while showing the bare minimum of care was enough to send him into subspace, but he had a feeling Steve wasn’t gonna give up easily.

“Fine. What should we talk about? How no one ever touches me gently so the moment someone did, I slipped? How I’ve been avoiding seeing you anywhere in public because I knew it would make my crush come back full force? Oh, I know!” Eddie laughed hysterically as he pulled away. “Let’s talk about how I still think about you in your stupid basketball shorts when I’m fucking myself on four fingers, which is never enough because I can never reach the spot I need to. Or how I once cut out your yearbook photo to keep for jerking off material because my mags weren’t enough. Could even talk about how earlier I wanted you to put your leg between mine so I could rub off on you. Or maybe the weather if you’d prefer that.”

Eddie was panting, could feel the heat on his face rising as he realized everything he’d just said, admitted, to Steve.

He’d never said any of that out loud. Shit, he’d barely said most of it in his own head.

Steve’s arms were pulling him in and Eddie let himself have it, let himself feel small for just a moment. If Steve wasn’t completely disgusted by what he said, then he would at least accept this offering of kindness for now.

They stayed like that for a while, long enough that Eddie started to wonder if he could just live here, right in Steve’s arms.

“It’s looking a little cloudy,” Steve said quietly, hands still rubbing Eddie’s back slowly.

“What?” Eddie still felt a little out of it, but that was entirely out of left field.

“You said we could talk about the weather.”

Eddie snorted. “Oh my God, you’re so-” Eddie looked up at Steve, who was smiling down at him. He felt off-kilter, being the object of that particular Steve look. “Stupid.”

It was fond, probably too fond for someone who needed to protect himself from whatever the hell was happening. He needed to shut this down.

“It’s been mentioned,” Steve’s eyes flickered down to Eddie’s lips, then back up to his eyes. “You good to head out?”

Eddie started to nod, but stopped.

This was his only chance. He wasn’t dumb enough to think he’d ever be alone with Steve again. If he was gonna kick start a spiral over feelings, he might as well go all out.

He stood at his full height, almost eye level with Steve, and leaned in.

The kiss was not even close to perfect. In fact, as far as kisses go, it was probably in the bottom three for Steve. Eddie chose not to think about how he screwed it all up.

But once the initial shock wore off, and Eddie put his teeth away, Steve’s hand cupped Eddie’s cheek and he licked past his lips.

Leave it to Steve to turn this around, make it something worth the risk.

Their lips moved in sync, both of them deepening the kiss without making it too wet, too filthy for a public space.

It was, dare he say, romantic.

Most kisses Eddie had managed to have were dirty and rough, hidden away in dark bars and alleyways, not exactly prime teen romance.

Of course Steve was good at this, of course he made Eddie melt against him, and of course Eddie was going to start writing hearts around Steve’s name in his notebook as if they were high school sweethearts.

When they pulled apart, it took him a minute to open his eyes. How stereotypical.

Steve was already looking at him, softer than he probably deserved.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Eddie breathed out.

“It’s been mentioned.” Steve’s lips turned up in a smirk before he pulled away completely. “Let’s go.”

They walked back through the school, stopping at Eddie’s locker to grab one of his textbooks as if he actually would use it. By now, he didn’t really need the textbooks to get his work done. And he was actually committed to getting it done this time around.

They were quiet as they continued out to the parking lot, only a few cars belonging to teachers left, maybe a few students stuck here for football or basketball practice. Steve’s car was towards the back, but Eddie’s was almost all the way in the grass field by the main road. It was less risky leaving it further away, less likely that anyone would slash the tires or key the side.

“You’re sure you can drive?” Steve asked as they stood outside his car.

“Yeah. Only five minutes to the trailer. It’ll be fine.” Eddie shrugged like it was nothing, but he was actually a little worried the kiss set him too off balance to focus on the road. Fuck the subspace, Steve’s lips were like discovering a new galaxy.

“Can I call you later? To check on you?” Steve seemed hesitant to ask.

“Uh, yeah? Do you…have my number?”

Steve shook his head, opening the door to his car and reaching into the glovebox to find a pen and an old receipt. As Eddie wrote down the number to the trailer, he thought about how much worse this would be tomorrow, how shitty it would be to have had this absolutely out of this world experience with the one person he never thought he could and then be left with scraps for the rest of his life.

“You uh, you don’t have to call, man. Don’t feel pressured. My uncle will be home so it’s not like I’ll be alone.”

Steve took the paper and pen back, folding the paper and putting it in his pocket and throwing the pen back into the car.

“I’m gonna call.” Steve moved a piece of Eddie’s hair from in front of his face. “You got a phone in your room?”

“No, but the one we have reaches to the bathroom?” Why the hell did he need one in his room?

“Good. Need you to be alone.”

“Steve, what the hell does that mean?”

“How else am I supposed to tell you what I wanna do to you?”

Well, fuck.

Day two: ao3 | tumblr

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #subeddieweek #sub eddie munson #dom steve harrington

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roanniom · 9 months

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bestie you called, i’ve been thinking heavily abt virgin eddie who licks into you for the first time and makes you cum so hard u have to push him away bc he’s greedy and sloppy with it and you might pass away if he keeps devouring you like you’re his last meal on earth and you swear he’s lying that he’s a virgin, but the second you sink down on him, god, he’s practically a puddle and ur not even bouncing on him for more than 5 minutes before he’s shuddering and panting into your neck all “wanna spend forever tucked inside you, feels so fucking good. so warm. so wet, jesus, i’m gonna fuckin cum.”

k bye😭

Rachael. RACHAEL.

Everything

Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Eddie Munson is 100%, unbeknownst to him, a Big Dicked Virgin™️

After he licks you like his life depended on it, you pull down his boxers only to reveal the most mouth watering cock you’ve ever seen. They aren’t supposed to be picturesque but Eddie’s? You want it inside you in any capacity immediately. But judging by the way he looks like he’s gonna combust from the sight of it in your hands alone (not to mention the feeling of you touching him) you don’t waste time in straddling him and sinking down onto his length.

Its an understatement to say he’s huge. It’s a stretch in the most delicious way and your eyes almost cross from the feeling of him hitting every single neglected part inside you. If he were a more experienced partner you would have begged for time to adjust. Would have needed the grace to compose yourself.

But the man beneath you is so absolutely far gone from the second you slide him inside you that you realize it’s all up to you. This sight of him absolutely fucked gets you wetter than you’d ever imagined, thankfully, so you rock yourself back and forth a bit till you work yourself up to bouncing up and down.

His fingers dig into your thighs, the meat of your hips, and his eyes are watery and wide.

“F-fuck it’s too good. You feel so fucking—oh god I can’t. I can’t take it. But don’t stop. Please-mhm.” A torrent of whimpers and groans bless your ears and you ride him in earnest, knowing you won’t have a lot of time to appreciate this quivering mess of a man before he blows.

You lean back and brace yourself with your hands on his knees and he watches your breasts bounce with each movement.

“So beautiful. Shit. I’m gonna…oh fuck. Can’t last—god what are you doing to me. Don’t stop,” he says again. Begging with his words and his eyes. His wounded puppy eyes that make you laugh because you would never dream of stopping.

“I won’t stop, Eds,” you promise. It’s a reassuring sweet sound, but you’re the devil incarnate to him with the way your hips roll and your tits entice. You smile. “Feels good?”

“F-feels like I want to buy you a ring and a house and a f-fucking dog,” he moans. It makes a zing rush through your heart but you suppress it and laugh.

“Yeah? My pussy’s that good, Munson?” you tease. He’s swearing under his breath as you ride him harder. “Gonna get me the white picket fence?”

“Fuck, yes. Yesyesyesyes,” he mutters like a prayer. “Gonna…oh god…”

“Gonna cum for me, too? That’s so generous of you, Eddie,” you continue to tease. His eyes roll into the back of his head as you lean forward to kiss his jaw. “Give it to me, Eddie. Give me everything.”

He cums inside you moments later. No longer a virgin, but newly a full devotee intent on worshipping at the altar of your body. You’d give him shit for the dramatics of it all, but he’s busy kissing his way back down your body so you really can’t complain.

#eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #issa’s writing night

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rumisgf · 5 months

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— ATTRACTIVE THINGS HE SAYS/DOES

includes: katsuki bakugou, denki kaminari, shoto todoroki

warnings: college!au, black reader obv, suggestive, she/her pronouns used once

KATSUKI BAKUGOU

you can try to get pouty or sassy with him if you want to, but it is not a game you will win. one thing he likes is checking yo ass (cs he knows you secretly get a kick out of it).

“fix that attitude ‘fore i fix it for you.”

and he does not let you smart mouth him at all. he’s the sassy one, not you babes.

“what’chu say?”

you start trynna cuss at him or give him more attitude? he’ll deadass look to the left, to the right, behind him, then look back at you and be like “oh, you talkin’ to me?”

“ay, watch yo mouth.”

possessive in not a toxic way but still obvious

he cares a lot about your grades and he’ll memorize your classes so if you decide to skip a day or two, he’s texting you making sure you at least did your work

and like y’all are still in highschool, he’ll deadass take your phone if you need to catch up and keep it in his pocket

“uh uh, yer not gettin’ this back until you finish. we clear, baby?”

unconsciously flexes his jaw when he stretches

digs his tongue into his cheek whenever he’s focused and furrows his eyebrows

bakugou manspreading. that’s all.

if he sees someone trying to flirt with you he will deadass laugh in their face

moves you out of the way by grabbing your waist

if he wants you to sit with him he simply pats the spot next to him (or sometimes his lap) and is like “c‘ mere”

if you couldn’t tell, yeah he likes to give orders (☺️)

speaking of orders, knows your food order from every place you like by heart

and is the one who sends your food back if they get your order wrong

“yo, excuse me! yeah send this shit back she didn’t want pickles on her shit.”

he actually talks to older adults very respectfully

as he got older, he matured and his manners towards his professors is definitely one of the things that swept you off your feet

DENKI KAMINARI

he knows damn well when you missed him and loves to be especially affectionate just to have you all shy under his touch and with his words

“hi pretty babyy”

“aww, am i making you nervous?”

“you miss me my princess?”

“you’re real cute, y’know that?”

when you achieve something like learning how to play a game he’s showing you or doing good on an exam he always says things like “see, there you go” “good job, baby ‘m so prouda you”

he’s very attentive to you, he lets you be clingy whenever you want

taps his pencil gently with his fingers or plays with his rings whenever he’s trying to focus hard on something

then when he’s confused he runs his fingers through his hair with furrowed eyebrows and his lips pouted up

always responds with “yes, baby?” whenever you say his name to get his attention

and to make sure he’s not neglecting you all the time when he sits down to play video games he has you either cuddled up in his lap, sitting between his legs on the floor, or laying your head on his lap depending on how he’s sitting

no matter who he’s with always greet you with “hi baby” or “hey babe”, he has absolutely no shame showing affection to you

definitely participate in all those tiktok slideshows where people show off they girlfriends

pulls you into his lap by the waist

<< his morning voice 33

getting to go to the gym with him or at least see him after he goes to the gym is a true blessing bc his messy hair immediately makes him 10x hotter

always hugs you tightly and wraps both arms around your body

and loves hugging you from behind

hypes up every post you make and spams your comments

SHOUTO TODOROKI

when he gets mad it makes you feel all hot, especially because it’s rarely directed at you

his voice. that’s all.

he’s so polite and treats you like the highest human being on earth (as he should)

“are you alright, my love?”

“i’m so sorry my angel, let me make it up to you please.”

“here, i’ll carry that for you love.”

“goodnight my princess, i’ll be dreaming about you.”

he hugs you with his whole body, making sure he can feel every inch of your skin pressed up on his.

and he makes you do it to, pulling you in by your waist flush against his stomach.

makes sure to hold your hand every time he’s walking you somewhere because your safety is a priority to him

always ask before he does things, he hates feeling like he’s making you uncomfortable. “can i kiss you?” “is this okay? “you sure you want to, lovely?”

contrary, to popular belief he’s way too good at eye contact

and then gets confused when you become all flustered even though he’s staring into your eyes as you speak

“what’s wrong? is there something on my face?”

but eventually you admit how nervous it makes you, and he takes note

so now, he especially looks you in your eyes during conversation

“hmm? go ahead sweetheart i’m listenin’.”

whenever he’s studying for an upcoming exam, he leans back more in his seat and when he goes to stretch, his shirt lifts up and reveals his lower stomach

he comes well dressed no matter how bad of a day he’s having or what time he woke up

whenever he walks in a room, trust he got that shit on (because he’s way too rich to be dressed like a fool)

his dorm is always clean: bed’s always made, has a specific shelf for school supplies, etc

him cursing. that's all.

whenever you fall asleep on his chest he holds you tight under his free arm with his hand over your head, just because he wants so bad to protect you

in general tends to be protective

keeps a hand on your waist at events, walks next to the road on the sidewalk and will make sure you dont, puts his hand in front of you if the car stops too hard, all that

#denki headcanons #bakugou headcanons #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x black reader #denki kaminari x reader #denki kaminari x black reader #denki x black reader #bakugou katsuki x black reader

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jadequeen88 · 1 year

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As someone who has worked many different service industry jobs, I obviously have lots of thots about line cook! Eddie. Let me elaborate:

Eddie is the one cook who keeps all the other younger hooligans in line. Did they make a rude comment about your skirt riding up while you’re picking up a drink someone spilled? Spatula to the back of the head. They need to learn to treat these hard-working girls with some respect. One of them wolf whistles? Eddie pinches their ear, looks at you apologetically, and says, “Sorry, sweetheart. This one here is barely housebroken. Doesn’t know how to act around pretty ladies.”

He’s also definitely the one all the servers have a crush on. He’s the topic of many smoke break discussions. You didn’t even smoke until you worked there, just wanting an excuse to bat your lashes and bum cigarettes off him. One night, he grinned as he took a long drag and let the smoke curl out, saying he was smoking his last one, but you could have a hit off it if you wanted. Instead of taking it from him, you wrapped your lips around the filter as he was still holding it. Watching his pupils widen and seeing him lick his lips in response was a big payoff for such a risky move.

The other servers start getting jealous of your special treatment, but Eddie really doesn’t give a fuck, and as long as your boss is happy with your work, you’re fine with it too. Sometimes he moves your ticket to the front of the queue if it’s a really busy night and the other girls have been giving you a hard time. You shake your head in weak protest, but Eddie just says, “I gotta give my favorite girl the red carpet treatment every now and then, don’t I? You work so hard, darlin’. I gotta do my part to help you keep those bastards out there happy. Keeps that tip money coming in for ya’.” He gives you a wink as he twirls his spatula and gets to work, leaving you a blushing mess.

Up to this point, you thought it was just Eddie being a flirt because you were the new girl, but the night you see him with one of the particularly annoying cooks pinned against the wall by his throat for calling you a “dumb bitch”, you start to suspect your crush might not be as one-sided as you’d originally thought. Afterward, he walked up to you and asked if you were okay. The gentle caress he placed against your cheek made your lashes flutter before you could stop yourself. “Y-yeah, Eddie. Thanks.” His thumb brushed along your cheekbone, and he graced you with the lopsided smile you loved before pulling away to say, “No one talks about my favorite girl that way.” You were in a daze the rest of your shift.

A couple of nights after that interaction, you stay late to wrap all the silverware and cut all the lemons. You knew the other servers left those time-consuming tasks for you as a punishment, but you refused to neglect to do them and put the opening shift in a bind. Even if it was fucked up of them to do that to you in the first place. You realized after a few minutes that someone else was there deep cleaning the grill. You nearly dropped a whole container of freshly cut lemons when you heard whoever it was singing along to one of your favorite songs you’d been silently head-banging along to as you worked.

The soulful delivery of this mystery man’s singing had you weak in the knees, and it only got worse when you peeked around the corner to see that big voice coming out of Eddie’s mouth. His eyes were closed, bandana-clad head thrown back, as he scraped the grease off the grill and sang his heart out. He must have sensed you standing there, because he turned towards you and jumped a little, those pretty chocolate orbs widening. It was kind of adorable.

“Shit, sweetheart! Didn’t know I had company, or I’d have kept my wailing to a minimum!” He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. How dare he have the nerve to look embarrassed when all you could think about was getting on your knees and under that apron after hearing his voice?

“Eddie, that was…” your voice cracked a little. You cleared your throat and continued. “That was amazing. I love that song, by the way. Not many people here listen to them. You do it justice.”

He turned red and couldn’t meet your eyes, a rare way for the bold man to behave. You liked this side of him. “I do okay, I guess, but I’m better on guitar than vocals.” It seemed to dawn on him that you revealed that you had a similar taste in music then because he perked up and met your gaze again. “Wait, you listen to this kind of stuff?” You nodded and grinned at his sudden switch in tone. “Damn, I didn’t know you could get any more badass!” You laughed at that. “You know,” he continued and cleared his throat. “I’m in a band. We do okay. Decent crowds. We play Tuesday and Friday nights down at the Hideout.”

That’s how you end up at a dive bar the following Friday night, front row cheering Eddie on as he shreds on stage. Afterward, he grabs you up into a sweaty hug, spinning you around. “That’s the best I’ve ever played, baby.” Your heart fluttered. He hasn’t used that pet name before… “You gotta come to every show now and be my good luck charm!” You giggled and agreed. Like you’d ever turn down that offer.

The flirting amps up at work after that. Eddie yelling out, “There she is! Light of my life, goddess incarnate! How’s your day going, sweetness?” from behind the grill becomes a daily thing. “‘M doing fine, Eddie. How about you?” You always answer. You know what he’s going to say before his mouth even opens, but it gives you butterflies every time. “Million times better now I’ve seen you! Now go out there, kick-ass, and get those tips!”

Things come to a head one night when you’re dealing with a table of Hawkin’s “elite,” the rich boys that thought being born on the right side of the tracks made them special. It didn’t help that their table was in view of Eddie’s workstation. He had a front-row seat to the show, watching them flirt with you, and you have to put up with it, having to smile through it. When the loudest one slipped you his phone number, Eddie couldn’t take it. You heard a clatter and saw a flash of dark curls exit through the back. “What’s going on?” You asked one of the other guys. They all shrugged and looked at each other, just as lost as you were.

You walk out back and see Eddie leaning against the rough brick wall lighting his second cigarette. He jolts upright when he sees it’s you. “Oh, hey sweetheart. Need to bum one?” He holds the carton towards you, and you can’t help but notice his sad eyes.

“No, Eds. Can I just have a drag off yours?”

“Course darlin’,” he mumbles around his cigarette before holding it out to you. He just expects you to let him hold it for you by now. It doesn’t mean it makes his chest ache with want any less, though.

“What’s the matter, Eds?” You ask sweetly. It embarrasses him that he’s so weak for you.

“Nothin' to worry about. Promise.” He tries to smile, but he knows you can see right through him.

You had a feeling it had to do with the asshole trying to give you his number earlier, but you’re still a little nervous to address it and get rejected. So you take a deep breath, brace yourself, and ask, “Was it because that guy gave me his number?”

Eddie couldn’t meet your eyes, “Am I that obvious, sweetheart?” he sighed and looked up to the star-speckled sky overhead, “Some days, I wanna come clean so you’ll reject me already. Put myself outta this misery. But I always chicken out,” he turned to you with misty eyes, “I'm a coward, you know? I’d rather have little pieces of you than nothing at all.”

He barely finished his speech before your hands found his stubbled cheeks, and your mouth was on his. Eddie tasted how you’d imagined he would, the cigarette you shared and cherry chapstick. His eyes closed and he sighed sweetly. It was pure heaven. You pulled away and he smiled bigger than you’d ever seen.

“You silly man,” you whispered, nudging his nose with yours, “All you had to do was ask me out and I’d have said yes.”

“All this time?!” he said, eyes bulging and voice going high.

“Yes! All this time,” you responded. Now it was his turn to initiate a kiss, this one more consuming than the last, his tongue barely swiping your bottom lip. You whined under his touch, making him turn desperate.

“Baby, we gotta revisit this in a couple of hours. Just so I know that I'm not hallucinating.”

“You got it, Eds,” you bit your lip and pulled away from him to go back inside to finish your shift. Before the door closed behind you, you could hear Eddie whooping and cheering in celebration. Needless to say, as soon as you were both clocked out that night, you never kept your hands off each other again.

NOTE: Thanks to everyone on the discord server for fueling this madness. I’d love to revisit this and write an actual fic with smutty goodness. So everyone, let me know what you think!!

@trashmouth-richie @munson-blurbs @pinkrelish @eddiemunsonsmum @courtingchaos @corroded-hellfire @chestylarouxx

#line cook!eddie #eddie munson #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson headcanons #jade writes smut #jade drabbles #eddie munson smut

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mayaflowerxs · 2 years

Text

GLASSES & JEALOUSY

Synopsis: You’re in a great relationship w/ the team captain Mark Lee. But there’s something keeping you two from moving forward, a hint of jealousy and the old childhood friend.

Warning: Smut! Like lots of it. Bit of angst and harassment involved. Obsessive behavior, stuck up kid, complications, jealousy , neglect, Creampie, choking, use of ‘baby’ & more. Religion involvement. Corruption kink. (It’s literally so bad I’m so sorry!)

Pairing: Mark x shy ‘innocent’ reader

Read this first to better understand -> YANGYANG

Series Masterlist: 90’s Love Franchise

“Fuck Mark!”

You yell out in ecstasy. Eyes rolled back, hands gripped on the sides of the sink. Legs wrapped around your boyfriends who’s currently balls deep in you. Your glasses slowly falling off of your face. Oh god just seeing you like this had Mark coming right then and there. The adrenaline rush becoming too much for him.

He absolutely loves how fucked out you look because of him. You see you’re like the school’s it girl. Highest grades of the entire school. Never once missed school nor gotten any referrals of any kind. The sweetest and some might even say the most ‘innocent’ girl in the campus. You can do no harm and will do anything to help others. All you want is to go to your dream university and live a great life because of education. Yeah no. When Mark set his eyes on you it was in the 9th grade. He just got into the team but in order to get himself situated he had to hand his forms into the coach who was at the time printing more scouting papers, who would later file them into the school system. When entering he saw you in there reading. He didn’t know who you were since you came from a different middle school.

It all progressed when he started asking around and later figured out who you were. Your name stuck in his head. And when he learned more about you his fantasy in becoming friends with you and maybe even be more than friends progressed. His dream came true when you two became friends by the end of the year and spent all summer hanging out. He was your first and took his absolute time with you. Making his goal to taint each and every part of you one by one. He loves how cute and adorable you get when it comes to your studies and passion for your future. But it becomes so overbearing he has to fuck the overwhelming feeling into your poor little pussy. And now here you two are.

In the 11th grade with him fucking your brains out in the shower rooms. Mark just won yet another game the fourth time in a row and is currently celebrating it with you having your walls tightly wrapped around him. “God I love your cute ass” he whispers into your ear. Nose colliding into yours as he pounds into you harder. Your tiny moans filling into his ears as it only encourages him more to have you sobbing for him. “Markie it’s too much baby.” Your mewls barely go heard. Growling, he pulls your shirt down and proceeds to suck your tits. Making sure to have your chest filled with marks everywhere. A reminder for the next time he has you this way how good he fucked you the previous time.

“Markie!” You gasp, arms wrapped around him tightly as your orgasm gets the best out of you. “Yes baby. Fuck I love you, god I love that sweet cunt of yours.” He rants. Feeling delirious the more he fucks his orgasm into you. “Shit. Shit!” Attaching his mouth into your neck as his load explodes into the condom. Both of you guys breathing heavily as sweat consumes you guys. Pulling him off of your shoulder, you pull him eagerly into a kiss. Loving those sweet lips that makes you dizzy for more. Pulling back slowly, his once lustful eyes are back to his cute dorky self. “Cutie” he mumbles softly. Giggling, you become shy and hide your face in the crook of his neck. Laughing, feeling his chest rumble softly. He sets you down softly. Planting a loving kiss to your temple.

“We better get going. One of the guys might come in. Don’t want them seeing you like this.” Nodding, you start to dress yourself up. In the mirror, you see yourself. Hair disheveled but makeup still on point. Fixing it a bit you also fix the position that your glasses were currently like. Pulling up your skirt and short sweater that showed a bit of the hickies Mark left you. Smiling contently when you feel your baby’s arms wrap around you. Kissing your shoulders softly. “Why must you wear such revealing clothes?” He asks you in mumbles. Catching it still, you snort and turn to face him. “What?” “You just look so damn ravishing it’s hard to not fuck that cute pussy of yours.” Smacking his chest you scold him, “Mark!” “What? I’m just saying. You know I don’t lie baby.” “Yes but do you have to be so blunt and bold?” “Baby I just fucked you in the shower room and you’re worried that I’m being too bold?” Lost for words, you shrug your shoulders and cuddle yourself into his chest.

He laughs and hugs you tightly. “Just wish you wouldn’t wear this type of clothing” he tells you. Lifting a bit of your skirt, getting a peek at your red thong. Holding back a groan and eyes rolling to the back to his head. “Does it bother you that much?” “No, but the guys at school are pigs, who knows what they’re thinking when they see you.” “So you’re embarrassed of me?” You tell him slowly. Pulling back to face him. “No! Of course not it’s just you know how the boys in school are-“ “And I need to change because of how the boys act? It’s not my fault the male species are pigs and can’t be decent people for once.” “Baby don’t take it the wrong way-“ “Mark have you seen the way girls behave towards you? They kiss each and every floor tile you’ve ever stepped on. The way they drool over you when you take your gear off and your stomachs gets exposed for like a second yet you don’t change your ways.”

“Yeah but that’s different-“ “Different?” “Baby please hear me out-“ “You know Mark I don’t understand really. You don’t want me wearing these sorts of clothes because you’re afraid boys might think dirty things of me or try to do something to me. Yet it’s not a problem when girls do it? Have you ever stopped to think how I feel? How you don’t seem to care when they do the same thing you’re afraid guys will do to me?” Going quiet, you scoff and pick up your bag off the ground. “Call me when you’re done being hypercritical.” Walking out the shower rooms. You make your way out. Ignoring his calls after you. Getting in your car, you quickly get out of the lot before he reaches your vehicle. Seeing a hurtful looking Mark in front of the stadium.

After hours since you got home to an empty house, you hear your door bell ring. Getting out of your seat from your current studying. You go down the stairs and open the door only to be met by a regretful Mark in frame. A clear vase with stickers filled with pretty cosmos. A bag of gooddies hanging on his arm. “Forgive me please?” Grabbing the vase from him, you let him in and close the door behind him. Walking past him and into the kitchen, where you add a bit of water for your favorite flowers and leave them by the window sink. Turning around, there stood a pouty Mark. Face to face where they were only centimeters away. “I’m sorry baby. I didn’t mean to offend you and I know I wasn’t being fair to you. I just worry for you and don’t want you to get hurt by those jerks. I’m also sorry for not doing anything when girls do that to me I promise I won’t let them get away with it-“ cutting him off, you wrap an arm around his head and pull him into you.

Dropping the back of food on the floor, he grabs your waist and picks you up. Arms underneath your bottom as you deepen the kiss. A sigh leaves his mouth, already have missed your lips. Pulling away when you guys were running out of breath. “So…am I forgiven?” Giggling, you nod and kiss his nose. “Yes you big awkward baby.” Rubbing noses with him, he chuckles and flashes you that cute smile you fell so madly in love with. “Good because I couldn’t go on with my day knowing you were upset with me.” “Well i’m not anymore.” “Want to Netflix and Chill?” He asks you, wiggling his brows at you. You laugh and smack his shoulder. “Get those dirty ideas out of your head!” “I can’t you’re too hot to not think this way. So…yeah?” Biting your lip, you nod at him. Not needing any verbal words. He sets you on the ground and picks up the bag of food.

Squealing when he picks you up suddenly. Legs on his shoulders as he runs up the stairs and into your room. Closing it behind him and plops you onto the bed. Grabbing your remote, he gets comfortable in your bed and turns on the tv while you go through the bag he brought. He knew exactly your favorite kinds of snacks and bought each and every single one of them including his jersey. “What?” Showing it to him, he looks over and sees you holding his shirt. “Oh yeah, I know how much you love wearing my jersey and since I had to wear it today, I washed it and brought it back so you can continue wearing it.” He says like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Leaning over, you kiss his cheek. Not seeing them turn a slight shade of pink because you began to take off your shirt. That same groan he held back earlier wanting to erupt again when he saw your matching red bra. Putting on his jersey, you threw your shirt on your dirty basket of clothes. Climbing on Mark’s lap in which he swallows. Eyes rested on you. “You do know that we haven’t gone to the Netflix part yet right?” Laughing, you couldn’t contain it, snuggling him in kisses he laughs with you and hugs you tightly.

“God I love you, you know that?”

“Sure do handsome”

——————

“Mark my p-parents - oh fu- Are here.” You say in between gasps. Jersey lifted to reveal your bra, in Mark’s fists as he has you pinned onto the bed. With a rapid pace he is ramming into you. His chain dangling, every once and a while coming contact with your cheek.

Not being able to get through the movie you two chose to watch. “Come on baby, cum for me.” He says. Breath hitched as he concentrates in satisfying his baby and him. Ignoring the fact that your parents were home and most likely going to check up on you. Mouth wide open as you became lost for words. “Markie we’re going to get caught-“ feeling your orgasm hit you, legs wrap tightly around his waist as he grabs your wrists and interlocks his hands with yours. In your ear, he mumbles how good you’re taking him. “Y/n sweetie! We’re home!” You hear your mother call out to you from down the hall. “Markie-“ “Fuck baby I’m coming shit!” He whispers.

“Hi sweetie!”

“H-Hi mom!” You tell her. Opening the door to your room in which you are on your bed. The movie still playing and your snacks displayed out on your bed. “Having a movie night?” “Yep, thought I should treat myself tonight.” “I’m glad, me and your father brought Chinese food if you want some?” “I’m okay thank you.” “Of course it’ll be on the counter if you want it later. Is that a jersey?” “Oh yeah, my favorite team” You tell her nervously. “And Mark I’m assuming is your favorite player?” “Yep!” “That’s nice, well I’ll let you back to your movie and snacks. Night sweetie.” “Night mom!” closing the door behind her, you let out the breath you had held in. Mark crawls out from under your bed. Smirking as he climbs back onto the bed he just fucked you in.

“Oh no mister no more dirty humping for today.” Whining, he gets under the blankets and cuddles. “But not even-“ “No” “How about if I eat you o-“ “Mark!” You scold him in whispers. “Alright fine but tomorrow if I’m horny can’t promise you I can keep it down.” “Markie if you wake up with blue balls and close to tears I might just think about it.” Huffing, “So I’m your favorite player huh?” “Actually no it’s Sungchan but since I don’t have his jersey -ouch!” Feeling him smack your bum when he heard you mention Sungchan he holds you tightly and kisses your jawline. “I’m kidding baby” you snicker at him. “You better be. Can’t be naming my teammates especially when I just fucked you in my jersey.” Blushing, you looked away from him.Giggling at you, he runs a hand through your hair and feeds himself. “So cute.” Ending the night with a cuddling boy in your arms.

In a hurry, you rush into the corridors of the school. Always liking to get to school a little earlier than most kids arriving 10 minutes before the bell rings was already late for you. Rushing to your locker you huff as you try to open it. Frowning when it wouldn’t budge you begin to tug at it, “Open” you say underneath your breath. “Left baby.” You hear your boyfriends voice come from behind. Furrowing your brow you step aside as he opens your locker for you. “Since when have you known my code?” “Since that pretty little head of yours tends to have trouble holding in anymore info.” With a smile you boop his nose and begin grabbing the items needed for your first period. Feeling his arms wrap around your waist he nuzzled his head in your shoulder. Rocking the both of you slowly side to side. “Is there something you want to tell me babe?” Closing the locker behind you, books propped against your chest.

Gladly taking them out of your arms, Mark holds your stuff as he leans in and pecks a kiss on your lips. Cheeks becoming rosy as you still aren’t too used to the affection. No matter how long you two have been together you still can’t get over how flustered you get when he shows you affection. Mark wasn’t seen as the type. And even before you two dated you thought Mark wasn’t into you by how distant he was. As if there was a border between you two. The first ever pda he showed you was right before he asked you to be his girlfriend. Rubbing away the ice cream on your cheek as he leaned in to kiss you. Even the memory of it still has your stomach all tingling. Propping your nose higher on your nose, you mutter a small thank you to him.

“Remember the newest friend I made yesterday?” “Oh yeah who helped knock some sense into you?” With a short chuckle he nods. “Can you uh, help her fit in with us? I mean given that you’re one of the few girls in the group and I know she’ll need a new girl friend and all, I mean that’s if you’re totally fine with that. I don’t want you to think you have to or anything-“ pecking his cheek you giggle and nod. “So cute when you ramble.” Groaning he turns away from you. “Y/n!” “What?” You laugh. Seeing how shy and nervous he gets when you return the affection, not really handling it well which results in him to become pouty. “Okay where can I meet her?” “Her locker should be somewhere near the entrance.” Nodding you go to grab your books from him but it only results in him backing away. “I’ll take these.“ “But-“ “Nothing. We have first period together so you go get yourself a friend and I’ll see you in a few okay?” Nodding you smile at him as you part ways with him.

“Since when do you bring your stuff with you minutes before the bell?” Jeno raises his brow. “Oh come on Jeno don’t be so slow. Don’t you see how nice and organized the notebooks are? Mark couldn’t have done that.” Scoffing at Ten he sets the books down and takes a seat next to the guys. Haechan and Sungchan were currently out on the grass playing a simple game of catching and throwing a football. Picking up one of the notebooks, Winwin reads it out loud. “Y/n.” “Aww!“ Haechan says loudly. “So cute you’re even carrying her stuff, my boy is whipped!” He screams, shaking his hands in adoration. “Shut it.” Mark huffs. Having to put up the rest of the minutes with their constant teasing he rushes out as soon as the bell rings. Shaking his head when he hears them say, ‘Go Jack! Run to Rose!’

“So how’d it go?” Mark asks setting your stuff down. Having seats next to each other you look up at him with a pleased smile. “She’s sitting with us at lunch.” Tilting your head to the side and flashing him a smile. A habit you do when you’re content. Chuckling he nods, “I’m glad you two got along.” “Baby?” “Yeah?” “You’re books…” looking down at his desk the realization that he forgot his stuff at the locker settled in. Jumping out of his seat, “Oh shit!” Running past the teacher who had just entered, freezing mid greeting when he looks at his student rush out the classroom in confusion. Looking back at you which he knew he spent most of his time with, you only sit back in your seat and giggle.

“Markie we have to go back.” You whimper. Trying to push him back and walk out, he grips his hold on either side of you. Caging you as he continues to assault your neck. “We still have three more minutes.” “Yes but we need to get our stuff and go to lunch. You know I have to find my new profound friend-“ gasping when Mark picks you up and puts his crotch against your heat. “Feel that my love?” He whispers low enough for you to hear. “You did that.” You felt dirty. You shouldn’t be doing this. The fact that this isn’t the first time is even more wrong. You go to church, the people there see you as goodie two shoes and now here you are making out with the ice hockey team captain. You should be shoving away and say to wait til after school but the proximity of being so close to him can send you haywire. Head fuzzy as all you feel is lust. “Don’t you want me?” He asks you in a low tone. Whimpering as he puts more pressure on you. You wanted him but the many risks you guys had taken was too many. But you wanted him close, you wanted his mouth all over you.

“Markie your mouth.” “What about it baby? Say it. Say what’s on your mind.” Seeing the smirk on his face he expected you to beg him to do something to you. While on campus he’s seen as this dominant guy. Who knows what he wants and will fight for it. Knows how to take control and won’t put up with anyones bull. Whereas at home he becomes this pup who constantly wants your attention. Pouting when you don’t say ‘I love you’ back quickly after he says it. Lifting up your shirt, you pull your bra down. Mark’s breathing becoming raggedy as soon as you reveal your breasts in front of him. Brushing a hand through his hair you lift his chin to look at yours. That damn innocent look that’s naturally there on your face looking at his heated face. “Please suck me.” You plead him. With a groan, he feels his pants tighten. Most definitely getting blue balls.

Without another say. He leans his head down and begins sucking on your tits. Squeezing the other to give it an equal amount of attention. Slowly grinding into you as he only gets more sexually frustrated. Sucking harder and harder the more he thinks about fucking his cock in between your tits. Your moans getting louder, he looks up at you. The stern look he gives at his team mates to quit it was thrown at you. The small custodian room can only hold so much noise. Mouth wide open when he flicks his tongue on your nipple. Hickies forming everywhere, hearing the bell ring you whine. You wanted more time with him. God damn it you wanted him to fuck you right then and there but that couldn’t be possible. “Come on Mark-“ a sound of disapproval when you try to pull him off you. Pulling you closer with his arms as he as he buries himself in your breasts.

When he felt content that is when he pulls away. A proud smile on his face when he sees you tired out, chest heaving as there were beautiful purple marks on your chest. Cupping your face he kisses your face gently. “My baby.” He coos. Helping you to fix yourself up you two walk out after making sure no one was around.

“What’s going on?” You ask Mark. Both girls rush out while a confused Yangyang stands alone. Mark shakes his head, if only his friend really got the hint. “What?” Yangyang asks him. “And I thought I was slow.” Tilting his head at your boyfriend. Mark turns to you and smiles at you warmly. Pulling you in his lap as you happily ate your lunch. Kissing your shoulder gently while conversing with the guys. “Jeno gimme.” You huff when he keeps snatching a utensil out of your tray. Chuckling he continues to pester you. Finding humor in your annoyance. Wincing when he feels a kick on his shin. Looking over and seeing your boyfriend continue to talk with the other guys as if he wasn’t the one who kicked Jeno. Finding it boring, Jeno gives your stuff back and finishes up the homework needed to be due in math. “Still struggling?” Scoffing he nods. “You don’t know it.” “Why don’t you ask your best friend?” Shaking his head softly as he stares at his nails. “She’s too busy with her boyfriend. Wouldn’t even have the time.” He says with a sigh. It was no news that Jeno has had the biggest crush on his girl best friend but it seems that she’s never returned the feelings. Boyfriend after boyfriend he had to come face to and never once was he one of them. What really broke him is when he accidentally walked in on her and her boyfriend making out. It still hurts him but his only way to cope is to imagine him being in her boyfriends shoes. Him being the one to make out with her and love her.

With sadden eyes you reach over and rest your hand on top of his. You couldn’t imagine being in his shoes. How heart breaking it would be to see Mark with other girls and never once seeing you as an option. A potential crush even. Mark didn’t need an explanation to know what you were thinking, with a hand rubbing your side you look back at him and see him sending you a soft warm filled smile. Returning it, you blow him a kiss and continue eating.

Jogging onto the park grounds. You rush to the swings, in a race to beat Mark to them. “I won! You’re slow.” You shake your head in fake disappointment. With a smug look, he accepts the defeat. He knew obviously if he were to actually try, you wouldn’t even make it to the grass while he had already gotten to the swings. Love seeing the pure happiness on you was all he ever cared for. Strived for too. “Oh darn baby I’m losing it.” He sighs while walking over to the swing next to you.

“Push me Mark.” Quirking a brow at you, he chuckles. “Aren’t you big enough to swing yourself.” Pouting, you huff and go to push yourself. Looking up when you feel a hard surface hit your back. Well more like Mark’s abs. Taking a hold of the chains, he lifts you up and begins to push you. Loving how nice the air felt each time you went down. Laughing each time he tickles you once you meet back to him. wanting nothing but take a picture of the scene, Mark can only stare in awe. Not realizing his love for you is only expanding rapidly.

“Okay! Okay let me push you.” You announce, trying to stop yourself from swinging. He grabs on the chain, taking your spot. You wrap your arms around his neck. Kissing his temple, you go to pull back and begin pushing him. “Markie.” You giggle when he keeps a hand on your hand. Attacking you in kisses all over your face. Desperately trying to hide your face in his neck from the sudden attack. Finally letting his hold on you go, you fix your hair. Laughing along Mark who only teases how flustered you already got because of him.

While doing so, your smile drops immediately when catching sight with someone from church. Better yet from your religious classes, son of your parents friends, Eric. You didn’t really have a problem with him but a bad trait of his was that he used every single information about you to your own disadvantage. Anything about you he uses to get you in trouble if you needed to. In this case, Mark would be the cause for you being heavily grounded and shamed for. You weren’t allowed to date until you became of age and lose your virginity until marriage. Your parents even bought you a purity ring, and while they believe you’re keeping this holy promise. Mark laughs mockingly at the ring every time he’s pounding you onto any surface he happened to push you up on. Mark knew of you keeping your guys relationship a secret and he isn’t upset. Instead he’s very understanding, but Eric. He’s never met Eric. And god what an awful timing.

“Mark walk away, quickly.” “Why? Something wrong?” Tapping his shoulder to quickly get him up. He does so upon filled with confusion. Muttering lots of ‘what’ and ‘everything okay’s, pushing him to get going but it became too late when Eric had caught sight on you.

“Y/n! Wow long time no see!” He greeted you. “Oh! Hey Eric! I see you’ve changed, like loads of it.” Waving you off, Eric was no longer the scrawny boy he was back in your guys religious class. He too worse glasses and now changed to contact. Curly brown hair now straightened and jet black. Muscles blushing from his arms and seemed to have grown 5 inches. “You too, I see you still keep the glasses around though.” He playfully nudges the glasses you’ve had for years now. Swatting his hand you groan. Rolling your eyes playfully you smile at him awkwardly. Forgetting what was at stake, Eric’s eyes set onto Mark’s awkward figure. Still having no clue who the hell Eric was to you.

“And this must be…?” “Cousin!…my cousin’s friend. Yeah, he uh has trouble with his math homework but given it’s too stressful for him we’re hear to kinda help him relax a bit.” You chuckle nervously. Eyeing you, Eric nods reluctantly. “Oh…okay. Well whenever you’re done tutoring him contact me. Definitely need help on my homework too, Bio really can be a pain.” “Will do.” “Well, I’ll leave you guys to it. Bye Y/n, bye…” “Mark.” He says seriously. No smile, no expression. Nodding, “Mark. Nice seeing you two…oh and by the way what cousin of yours exactly?” “Jeno’s! Yeah pretty tight friends. Why?” “Oh nothing. Just wondering.” Flashing you one last smile before walking off, you let a breath of air you didn’t know you were holding.

“Cousin’s friend mhm?” “I’m sorry baby.” You pull him into a hug. “He’s a son of my parents friends. I knew him from my religious classes, always wanted us together. My parents thought me being with a good kid would influence me to be just like him.”

“And you don’t want him knowing about us because…” “C’mon Markie use that big head of yours.” “Wow is my angel catching an attitude?” He raises a brow. You laugh and pat his chest. Resting his forehead on top of yours, staring into your eyes as he waits for you to continue.

“He’s like my parents personal stalker. Anything I do he goes and tells them. Heck I don’t even have to do anything bad but he still manages to make it suspicious enough that my parents scold me for it.” You mutter. “I’m sorry you’re stuck having to put up with that.” Shrugging, he kiss him unexpectedly. “Doesn’t matter I have you…that’s all that matters.” Nodding approvingly, he intertwined your hand with his and left the park. “My place baby? Or do you got to go home.”

Checking the time on your phone, you shrug. “Guess I got some time left before I must actually be home. Your place it is.” Letting you in his car, he closes the door after you buckle up. While he drives off, the familiar bulked figure lingers in the park. Seated on a bench far away, he eyes the leaving vehicle. Didn’t catch you two become cuddling but did see you guys leave. Deep down he knew what you said was a cover up, and he was going to get to the bottom of it all.

Sitting on the cold bleachers. You watch your boyfriend practice with his team mates. Hearing the clashing sounds of bodies hit one another, ice being scraped by the stick. Taking off his helmet, his silver gray hair sticking to his forehead. Chest heaving he looks over to where you sat. Winking at you, dropping the smile when you hear loud squeals come behind you. Turning around, you see three girls had sat behind you. Wondering who they were here for, it was made quite obvious the second Mark had walked up to you. “I’ll be out in 10, wanna wait here?” Silence overtaken the room once the guys had walked into the locker rooms. Feeling the intense stares from the girls behind you, you shyly shake your head. Standing up and going to walk off, Mark grows confused.

Going to run after you, he stops when he hears a voice call for him. “You did great out there.” The one in the middle said seductively, twirling her hair as she flashed her lashes at him. One on her right glares at you as you turned to look back at your boyfriend. Sighing, you don’t let him catch up to you or what you thought he would and leave the stadium.

It definitely took longer than 10 minutes.

And by the time he did finally get out, he wrapped an arm around you. Your energy was lowered and you didn’t like it one bit. You didn’t like the reason for it was because of some possessive girls who think they had a shot at your boyfriend. Shaking the terrible feeling off, you go on your tippy toes and kiss his cheek. Smirking at you, he pulls you closer to him. Kissing your forehead continuously as he moves both of you guys side to side. “Love you baby.” He tells you softly. Lifting your hand up to where his arm rested on your shoulder, you interlock his fingers. “You hungry?” You had asked him. When he nods, you pick up the pace and lead him outside.

“Good because I’m starving and I really wanted to eat at this place I heard from Jeno’s friend. Would really like to check it out.” Following him, the two of you made your way on out. By the next morning, you did your usual routine in getting ready for school. Only this time, going down the stairs you stop as soon as you see Eric standing there with your parents. “Eric?”

Flashing you a smile, your mother besides him claps her hands. “Y/n great news! Eric will be attending your school! Isn’t that great? You two can make up the time you lost and finally reconnect. I’m sure you two will have a blast knowing you guys can spend more time with one another.” Jaw slacking, you merely nod as you watch your parents be glad having Eric to be going to the same school as their daughter. Your father patting his back as he bids you two in a great day at school. “Aren’t you glad sweetie?” Your mother asks you. Eyes silently telling you sternly to say something nice. Nodding, you send a small tight smile at Eric’s way. “Great! Well since he’s already here, I figured he should take you to school.” “Oh mom I don’t think-“ “I’d love to do that.” Eric interrupts you.

Turning your head, you see him already staring right at you. A chill run down your arm at the way his eyes looked at you. As if he was examining every bit of you. Gripping your backpack tighter to you, you nod hesitantly. “Okay then.” With an excited grin, your mother walks the both of you out. Getting into the passenger seat, you look out the window. Not bothering to speak to him and you only wished he didn’t try to make conversation but rather turn up the music.

“So how have you been?” He breaks the tension, barely. Nodding you answer him quickly. “I’ve been okay. Doing me. And you?” “I’ve been good!” The awkward silence began to settle in again and all you could’ve hoped is for the ride to come to an end soon. “So um…why’d you move schools?”

“Well I didn’t really like my old school and my parents said the one you went to was very nice so I had asked them if I can go attend there and they said yes. So now I’m here.” Smiling at you, head turning to you once the car comes to a red stop light. Not speaking anymore, you look out the window once again. Head running through thousands of thoughts. How were you going to keep seeing Mark if Eric’s going to be attending the same school as them. As soon as he finds out the truth you’re done for. Not only that, you knew for a fact Eric will be listening and watching at all times. Worse, your boyfriend happens to be the school’s Hockey team captain. Anyone and everyone speaks on him and his beloved girlfriend even the staffs and teachers.

Biting the inside of your cheek each time your nerves kick in, leg bouncing rapidly. You turn around to look at the boy driving when he begins to chuckle. “What’s got you so nervous?” “Me? Nervous? I’m not nervous.” You shake your head. Fidgeting with your hands, averting your eyes. “Please I know you so well. You’ve always did the little things to tell you right away.” “So you’re saying I have a tell?” “Oh yeah, the leg bouncing, chewing the inside of your cheek, fidget of your fingers and eyes averted all of it. Come on, what’s going on inside that pretty little head of yours?”

Ignoring the compliment, you shrug. Never one to be good at lying you only managed to come up with a decent cover up that wasn’t necessarily a lie. “Just wondering how things are going to be with you around.” “Is that bad?” “No! No, it’s just last time we went to the same school was back in elementary school.” “Ah yes 6th grade I remember.” Remembering the memories of you two in elementary, Eric laughs at a faint memory of you both.

“You were so small, you still are but. Everyone saw you as the innocent one, so many wanted to be your friend because you never judged anyone. And still you’re still the ray of sunshine I know you to be as.” His hand rests on your knee momentarily. Heart beat stopping, now even more tended to be near him. You never understood if he was naturally this touchy. But whatever his reason was, you moved your knee away from him. Playing it off to make it seemed like you were adjusting yourself. Seeing the familiar school come into view, you grabbed your backpack and prompt it on your lap. When finding a parking spot, you notice a few had already started staring at the unfamiliar vehicle. You original plan was just to get out, thank him for the ride and go but you knew your conscious wouldn’t let you especially since he’s new.

So when getting out, a few whispers were already starting. You and a new guy which no one ever saw around, people found him attractive. Seeing him help you with your books as he smiles down at you. Something people already consider coupley looking. “Did they break up?” You heard one whisper to their friend and you only hoped Eric didn’t hear it. Picking up speed to go inside, Eric doesn’t speak on it. “Will you help me find my classes?” Looking between him and the hall guiding you to your locker, you wanted to tell him to go to the office, knowing they had students who were qualified to help new students around. But not wanting to seem rude, you merely nod. “Thank you!” He grins at you and follows you to the direction of the office. When entering the staff there ignored you guys. Doing whatever it was on the computer. Hearing Eric clear his throat, the few other students there needing assistance as well watch him through the corner of their eyes.

“Excuse me ma’am, but me and a few other students are in need of assistance and it seems like you can attend us if I’m not mistaken?” The cranky old woman about ready to snap at whoever dared try ‘demanding’ her for help stops herself when seeing him. “Oh! You must be Eric Kim! I’ve met your father, very professional man and if I may admit an overall gentleman. How may I help you?” Ignoring the other students who had arrived before you guys furrow their brow. “Came here for my class schedule miss.” “Oh please call me Mrs. Kang.” “Of course Mrs. Kang.” Seeing how easily Eric manages to woo the cranky staff no one really likes being dealt with, you’re glad you two manage to leave the office rather quicker than you anticipated.

“Wow.” You say. “What?” “Oh it’s just, she’s so…” “Cranky?” “Yeah. And you managed to simply decay all of that.” Laughing he shrugs his shoulders. “You should thank my father, if it wasn’t for him we would still be there waiting.” “Well thank you Mr. Kim.” Handing you his schedule, he begins to ask you series of questions. “Any of them we share together?” “Oh um …well wow we share quite a lot.” “Oh yeah?” Eric’s voice slightly pitched from his usual tone.

“Yeah only classes we don’t share is our last two. Guess first period we should be heading off to.” “Guess we shall-“ “Oh no wait! I have to put some books in my locker.” “Okay well I’ll come with, I mean I don’t know my way around so.” “Okay yeah.”

More whispers were made the more the hallways got packed. Ignoring it, you quickly rushed to your locker. “Woah what’s the rush?” He jokes, leaning on the locker next to yours. “Oh I just don’t like being late it’s all.” Nodding, he watches you take out your stuff in your locker. Grab what you needed, you were ready to close it and go. “Y/n hey!” You hear a voice say behind you. Turning, you come face to Jeno’s best friend. The same one he’s having a crisis loving head over heels for. “Oh hey!” Eyes looking past you, she raises a brow. “Oh! Um this is Eric! He’s a childhood friend of mine. Just transferred today.” “Well hello nice to meet you and hope you have a nice time here. Well I should get going, hey have you seen Jeno by any chance?” “No sorry.” “Oh well, haven’t been able to come in contact with him at all. Hope he’s not ignoring me.”

“Ignoring you? What for?” “Oh well we had this stupid argument last night and- it’s whatever I’ll tell you some other time. Bye you two!” Waving her goodbye you watch her disappear into the crowd of students. Turning to face your friend, you give him an awkward smile as he only simply stares. “Shall we get going?” “Yeah let’s go.” Walking side by side, you two stay quiet for the time it takes you two to get to your class. Eyeing the proximity your shoulders had, when brushing into each other’s you try making more space but it seems the more you guys walk the space keeps lower each time.

“Oh hey, I forgot where’s my locker?” Stopping right in front of the classroom, you sigh and lead him into the direction where his locker was at. “So sorry just got caught up in my own head.” “Don’t apologize, maybe it’s you being nervous. It is your first day here after all.” “Yeah, maybe so.” When opening his locker, you hear the bell ring. Great you’re late. You’re never late to a class. Hope your parents won’t nag you for the first and only tardy you got yourself. “Hey, since it’s my fault you’re late how about you get going.” “But don’t you-“ “We were already right infront of the classroom, I know where it’s at. It’s okay.” Sending you a reassuring beam you nod. “Okay see you in class.”

Rushing back into the direction of your first period. You mutter a quick apology and make your way to your usual seat in the back. The spot you and Mark sit at. You were nervous to what Eric would think and if anything you wanted to advice Mark to act natural but seeing he wasn’t here only had you more anxious. When the door opens you had hoped it was your boyfriend. “My apologies ma’am, it’s my first day and-“ “Oh no need dear! Eric Kim right?” “Yes ma’am.” “Please take any seat, and I’ll be there to catch you up on some lessons yeah?” You were kinda astonished on seeing how easily Eric managed to charm people. Like it was in his genes. Eyes catching yours, he walks over and sits next to you. A few students watched him walk by them, heads turning to follow his every move. Whatever Eric held surely had a hold on anyone really.

“Hey partner.” He greets you. Before you can answer him, the door opens again. Hearing another apology but this time sounded more rushed and out of breath. “So sorry ma’am.” “Fell asleep again Lee?” Your teacher scolded him. Putting his hands up, he grins at her. “Guilty as charged.” A few giggles come out of the girls sitting up from. “Mhm go sit.” Nodding, he makes his way over to his usual seat next to you but freezes mid way when seeing Eric in his spot. Confused and shocked he looks over at you. You didn’t know what to say nor how to act natural with Eric being right besides you. Not getting anything out of you, the teacher scolds him to just sit already. Having no other choice but to sit next to one of the girls who immediately give their friend a giddy expression knowing the Mark Lee is sitting besides her. As the class begins you feel Mark turn back and give you a few glances. Still wondering what Eric your childhood friend was doing here all of a sudden but you don’t give him any glancing back as you also noticed Eric constantly turning his head to look at you.

Oh how awkward it was getting now. If only you could prepare yourself from the madness that was about to occur soon.

For most of the day, Eric was attached to your hip. It seemed wrong just how much you wanted him to leave even for a short amount of time and what made things worse is your friends silently asking you for an explanation. You felt Mark watching your every move and anytime he wanted to walk over to you, your eyes would widen and shake your head at him. By lunch hour, Mark sat at his usual table. Glaring daggers behind the head of the new guy whose back was facing him. He had asked you who you normally sit with and thankfully your friend managed to sit beside you in a whole different table, alongside her was Yangyang.

The spork in a tight grip as he watches Eric getting too close to his girlfriend. “What’s up with the new guy? How does four eyes know him?” Jeno tells him. The pet name is what he’s called you for years now. “Said he’s the son of her parents friends. Don’t know why he suddenly moved here but I can’t be seen with her when he’s around.” “Wow that must suck, especially with him practically hogging over her.” A slight pinch from Ten and Jeno winces. “Don’t worry about it Mark, I’m sure he’ll find friends and leave her alone. Gosh it’s pretty funny how jealous you get.” When seeing you get up and make your way out of the cafeteria, Mark ignores the rest of his friends and follows you.

About ready to enter the woman’s bathroom, you shriek when a pair of arms wrap around your waist. Lips immediately imprinting light kisses on your neck. Giggling, you pick up the familiar cologne and snuggle into your boyfriends embrace. “Miss you.” He mutters into your neck. Rocking you two slightly side by side. “I missed you more. Really wanted to hug you, to kiss you.” A kiss to the lips and Mark groaned. Something about you had him driven crazy and with a simple kiss he already wanted to do such dirty actions to prove his love for you.

“Why’s he here?” He tells you. “Eric?” Nodding merely, you see the seriousness in his face. “Well he said he wanted to go to a better school and his parents agreed this school was it.” “What does that mean for us?” “What do you mean?” “Baby you said he can’t see us…like this.” Sighing, you turn around to face Mark. Cupping his face you peck his nose.

“I know Markie but it’s only temporary. He’ll find friends and with due time, I can hopefully trust him enough to tell him about us. Pray he won’t tell my parents.” Nodding reluctantly, Mark kisses you again. Pulling your waist closer to him, you moan when feeling his crotch grow. “Dirty boy.” You tell him. Sucking on your neck, he hugs you tightly to him. “You love me.” Giggling, you quickly pull away when you hear voices come into the hallway. A smirk on Mark’s face, you shake your head. Seeing a few students walking down to pass you two, Mark walks over to you. Wanting to touch you, but you reject him.

“Mark behave!” You whisper shout to him. Tickling your side, you flinch with a smile on your face. The students watch you two fondly as they wish they can be in a relationship as lovingly as the one you were in. “I can’t stop baby, you’re irresistible.” Grabbing your hand before you go to move away from him. In love with the giggle that leaves you when he twirls you around, keeping you put in between his arms. Leaning in, he kisses you not caring if anyone else were about to see them. “Hey Y/n.” You hear the familiar voice of Eric’s say in the distance. Quickly pushing Mark away and turning to face the lockers, you pick your head up when Eric walks over to you guys. Thankfully hadn’t turned the corner yet if not you would have been toast.

“Yeah?” “Just wondering what was taking you so long…oh is this Mark?” Quirking a brow at your boyfriend who Eric thought stood too close to you. Something he already wanted to have a talk to you about. “Yeah! This is Mark, he uh came to ask me a question he had on one of his assignments.” “Oh well hello Mark, think it would be much more appropriate to ask you such questions at the hour you two meet up don’t you think?” Not expecting a cold reaction come from Eric you give him a look in disbelief. Mark on the other hand, fisted his hand in his pocket, biting his words back before he nods slowly when seeing a pleading look coming from you. Respecting your wishes and going along, “You’re right. I’m sorry, see you after school Y/n.”

“Actually I don’t know if you two can meet up after school, kinda wanted her to help me join a few clubs and sports and what not, here in school.” “Then you do it yourself-“ “You know that seems like a good idea Eric!” You quickly interrupt Mark. Standing next to Eric as you speak up again, eyes looking straight into Mark’s.

“The more clubs you join and sports you’ll help your college application. And will also keep your mind off of things. Won’t be so bored all the time.” You nod. Mark understanding you wanted Eric to join in order for you two to spend more time, he smiles. “Okay I understand. I’ll see you sometime later then.” Bidding you goodbye, Mark doesn’t bother even waving at Eric and walks off. Eric quickly puts on a smile when turning his head towards you. “Lunch is almost over, shall we get going?” And you agree.

“I don’t like him.” Mark says bitterly. Him and the team getting a break from practice, taking his helmet off and he tells the boys all about how Eric manages to snatch you away every possible chance he gets. “Maybe he only has her as his friend. Besides didn’t you say she was suppose to help him join clubs or whatever activities the school has?” Ten tells him. Yangyang sitting next to him shakes his head, “What if he’s interested in her?” Snapping his head up at him, Mark turns serious at the thought of someone trying to take you away from him. “Don’t be ridiculous Yang, Mark said they’ve been childhood friends. If he was interested he would’ve done something a long time ago.” Sungchan tries to reason mostly for the sake of his captain who looks like he’s ready to hit something.

“No Yangyang is right. I mean I never heard of him and now he suddenly bumps into her and boom the day after he attends this school? AND you know what she told me, that he’s like this spy who always needs to keep tabs on her and if she does anything, even breath the wrong way he goes running to her parents. Like he’s this strict babysitter.” “Okay so maybe he’s not into her more like trying to ruin her life by being a taddle taler?” Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair. “Whatever this guy is trying to get at isn’t good I know that for sure.” Hearing the whistle blown by their coach they set their water bottles down and get back on the ice rink.

You on the other hand arrive home tired. Eric took his sweet time deciding what he wanted to do and even tried convincing you to join an activity with you. Just wanting to go home you made the decision to say yes with joining him in the pottery club. Excitedly telling you all the pots and vases he’s made when he joined it at his old school all the way home. “How was Eric’s first day? Oh I hope you two had a splendid day!” Your mother said excitedly. Clapping her hands as she demanded every little detail. “It went alright.” You mumble to her tiredly. “Just alright? Oh come on! I’m sure having your childhood friend be in most of your classes had to have been fun.” “Yeah I guess so…wait how do you know he has most classes with me?” “Oh his mother called the office, yeah Eric himself wanted to have as many classes with you. Said he worried to lose his way around and what’s a better way to keep himself on track with you constantly by his side right?” Nodding reluctantly, you send her a forced smile and walk up to your room.

Closing the door behind you, you plant yourself on top of your bed. Eyes demanding sleep, you don’t bother to do anything else but sleep. Sleeping until the sun had gone down and the ice hockey team captain once again climbs onto your balcony and into your room for the umpteenth time. Watching you sleep fondly, he moves a few strands of your hair behind your ear. Climbing in bed with you, he pecks your forehead softly. Pulling your sleeping self into his arms as he kisses your head. Waking up from your nap, you smile at him tiredly. Pickering your lips for a kiss which he doesn’t deny you of. “So cute.” He tells you softly. “No you are.” You mumble to him, nuzzling your face in his chest which you feel a rumble from him laughing slightly.

“How was your adventure with the prince of snitching.” Snorting, you lay on your back. “Exhausting. I really missed you guys, all I had to endure was him constantly talking about himself and the things he’s done before coming to our school.” “Would think so. Just by how he dresses screams narcissism.” Sitting up, you face him. “But enough about him, I don’t want to think about him just you.” A small smirk forms on his face and he tugs at your shirt. “Just me? About what baby?” Holding his shoulders, you climb onto his lap. Arms come around you securely. “About loving you. Really missed being near you. I know pathetic right?” You joke as you avoid eyes with him. Face heating as your ears turn red. “Well I guess I’m pathetic too since I missed you so much too.” Leaning closer to you, he kisses your cheek. “Just hope I’m your pathetic loser forever.” Smacking his bicep, he laughs and kisses your nose. “Of course you’re mine forever and I am yours but no need to call yourself that. You’re not a loser.” “So I am pathetic?” “Your words not mine.”

Spending the few remaining hours until your mother comes to barge into your room, putting face masks on each other. Letting a shriek out because of the coldness, you giggle as Mark makes roaring noises for the tiger mask he has on. “You make a cute panda.” Mark boops your nose, grabbing his phone as you two take many pictures through the mirror in front of the bed. In the bathroom, a puddle of water is caused by constantly splashing each other. Music playing from your phone on the bed, using foam to cover your face with it Mark smirks at you as you pout at him. Letting you get him back, hair up in a small ponytail using the many scrunchies you have for such occasions. By the time you two were freshened up the knob to the door began to wiggle. Eyes widening as you hear your mother call out your name from the other side.

“You need to go!” Grabbing his sweater and phone you push it up against his chest as he still tried to put on his shoes. “Y/n? You okay in there?” Opening the window wide enough for him to slip out, he struggles when he has to juggle many things in between his hands and hold the railing.

“Y/n?! Talk to me dear.” “I’m coming! Just changing it’s all!” Still hearing the jiggle going on on the door knob you push Mark out. “I’m going to fall!” He shrieks when he almost loses his balance. Dumbfounded when you give him a rushed peck to the lips. “Love you, so sorry though.” “For what?” Letting out a shout when you push him, closing the window shut and open your bedroom door. Confused look on your mothers face as she looks inside the room. “You okay? Thought I heard a shout?” “Nope no shouting in here? Maybe one of the neighbors kids you know how loud they can be.” Nodding reluctantly, she walks in and sets a few grocery bags on your bed.

“Here’s the supplies you needed, your father just got home.” “Okay I’ll be down in a bit.” Kissing your forehead, she walks out of your room with the door open. Letting out a sigh you jog over to your window and see Mark was no longer there. Silently hoping you pushing him off didn’t injure him too badly.

“Ow! Ten!” “I’m sorry but that’s most definitely going to be swollen all day tomorrow if you don’t let me treat it!”

Currently on the couch weeping in pain, the team took the time to hang at the oldest’s house. Parents work in the afternoons so house stays mostly vacant. Few were eating, others on the phone and the rest playing video games. House was semi calm but it wasn’t until their captain walked in slamming the door open and limping in when everyone got up to attend him. Certain he had gotten jumped until they were told it was because of an breaking and entering accident.

“I wasn’t breaking and entering.” Mark mumbles as Yangyang constantly tells him that. “I was visiting my girlfriend and now I’m stuck with an injured leg.” “How can you be so reckless Mark? You know we have a game in a few days right?” “Her mother was coming in and she needed me out as fast as possible.”

“Y/n pushed you?” Jeno asks him. “Yes but she didn’t mean to get me injured!” With a groan the boys sit back as they can only hope their captain gets better before the game. If wanting to get into finales they had to win this upcoming game for sure to even get involved in the tournament. “If you have to sit out swear she will have to take your place!” Winwin exasperates. Snorting at his comment, Mark shakes his head. Grabbing the bag filled ice from Ten and gently sets it on his ankle. Wincing the more pressure is added on it.

“Yeah maybe she will have to.” Mark tells them after he forcibly removed the ice off of him, can no longer endure more pain.

_______

“And so I told my mom, it’s already difficult enough having to jog between sports and clubs. Now you want me to run the committee for the annual carnival hosted for charity? Come on now.”

Boredly playing with the food on your tray, you watch Mark laugh at a joke one of the boys had said. The scrunch of his nose has you holding back an aww as his eyes brighten up. What you would do to just go over and cuddle him, but you couldn’t.

“Y/n are you listening?” “Huh? Oh! Yeah, you were saying Eric?” Eyes looking down at the tray, you wait for him to continue. A silence from him has you lifting your head, a certain look on his face as he watched Mark’s table. “Eric?”

“He’s been looking at you for a while now.” He says a bit coldly. Looking over and catching sight of Mark glancing at you, looking away after a bit and focusing his attention back on his friends. “M-Maybe he has a question about a worksheet of his.” Proceeding to get up, you quickly grab his wrist. “What are you doing?” You tell him with wide eyes. “Going to tell him to stop staring. It’s rude and impolite to be watching someone especially a young lady.” Tugging him back when he tries to walk towards his table you get up quickly. “Eric no! Stop please don’t make things more difficult than it should be.”

“Y/n, I don’t like him. He just doesn’t seem like someone you should be associating with.” “Eric, I’m sorry to come off rude but.” Letting go of his hand, you cross your arms, eyes back on the floor to avoid contact. “You can’t tell me who I can and can’t socialize with. Sorry you don’t have a nice feeling about him but I do. I know him more than you do and Mark has the best intentions when it comes to me.” “Best intentions? You make it seem like you two are more than tutor and tutoree.”

Shaking your head quickly, you clear your throat. “No! Mark’s…simply a student I have to tutor. It’s all, nothing more nothing less.” “So he’s not your friend?” Feeling conflicted, you take a few seconds to come up with your response. Mark had seen your sudden shift to stand in front of Eric and he didn’t like it one bit. He’s been watching your every movement since the moment you frantically tried to tug Eric back. Biting the inside of his cheek as he tries to stay away but when even Yangyang the most oblivious one noticed the sudden shift in you and Eric, Mark waited no more. Getting up to check up on you, he froze when hearing your next words.

“Mark’s nothing to me. Don’t worry Eric.”

Eric had seen him behind you. And he was left even more content knowing Mark had heard. Nodding, his eyes kept going from you to Mark. “I’m glad.” Confused, you turn around to see Mark standing there disheartened. Shocked, you go to take a step closer to him but stopped when he shakes his head at you. Leaving you there, guilt and shame washes over you. You wanted to explain yourself and yet it seemed like the world was preventing you from doing what you wanted.

“Come on y/n, we don’t want to be late for pottery club.” Handing you your backpack, he puts an arm behind you and leads you away.

Getting more worried the more the club went on and still no response from Mark. Phone in hand and the many unresponded texts. Ignoring Eric who seemed pretty confident in the vases he’s made so far. The girls next to him watching him closely and throwing a few compliments his way. The times he’s tried talking to you they quickly avert it to them which you were glad. You weren’t in the slightest bit interested in speaking with him. Looking at the time and seeing you still had a good hour and a half. You huff, blowing the strand of hair getting in your face.

Mark was in practice currently. He was only on the other side of the school, you could just talk to him right now. Would make sense why he isn’t answering. Of course! Grabbing your bag, you quickly exit out the classroom. Not paying mind to Eric’s call out to you. Jogging through the corridor, opening the doors leading into the ice rink. Hearing a few shouts and laughs from the guys. Walking further in and you get a glance at them. Not practicing but huddled by the bottom of the bleachers chatting. Getting closer you see a few other people there. You saw Mark in sight and made your way over. You needed to speak to him, to explain yourself. And yet while you were in the pottery club worried how he was feeling, you stopped in your tracks seeing him so happy. A grin on his face as he joked with his friends and worse, seeing him not the least bit minded that one of the many fan girls of him had her arms around him.

You wanted to be upset with him. And man you were but was he doing this because of what you said? Does he really think you’d stoop so low and bad mouth him? Surely he has to know you didn’t mean it. His eyes moved from his friends to you. Your eyes move from his to the arms currently wrapped around him. It seemed as if Mark had gone stiff. He didn’t know what to do and yet when he sees you walking off he panics. Hearing the girl whine behind him, he harshly tugs his arm away from her when she tries to resist. “Quit it!” The group goes quiet as they watch the captain run off after you. Slamming the door open wide.

“Y/n!” Grabbing your elbow, you pull away from him. “Leave me alone Mark.” “Please stop walking.” Trying to pull you by the waist, you begin to thrash. “Stop touching me!” Tears began to pour down your face, frustrated and clearly upset had you lashing your emotions out. Wanting nothing more to breathe in fresh air, feeling suffocated especially when your boyfriend can’t seem to give you space. “You have to hear me out-“ “I didn’t mean it Mark! I did it to make sure he did nothing to you and this is how you repay me! By letting some chick feel you out! Is that how little I mean to you?!” You shove him back. Eyes going red the more you cry. Looking at you with desperation he shakes his head.

“No! No you mean everything to me-“ “No I don’t! This is exactly what I was talking about Mark you have no respect for me! You let anyone get too touchy with you and can’t seem to understand just how disrespectful it is for me!”

Swapping his hands away from touching you. You turn to walk away, whining when he pulls you in again. You go to shove him away when you get moved away from him harshly. “Didn’t you hear her?! Stop touching her!” Eric’s angry voice tells Mark. “Shut up Eric this has no business involving you!” Shoving him back, Eric gets in his face. “Anything that has to do with y/n is my business.”

“Eric stop!” You try to diffuse the tension.“Quit pretending she’s your girlfriend!” “And what if she was? Why don’t you run back to your prissy friends and dance your way back on the ice alright? Y/n’s better off disassociating herself from you.” Angry, Mark swings on him. A hard punch to the face and chaos breaks. Pleads to stop fighting wasn’t enough. The blood and bruises is all your head can permanently print in your head. Hearing the loud punch hitting skin and bones and the lockers being rattled with the more they press each other on with.

“Get away from my girlfriend you creep !” Mark yells at him. The rest of the team had managed to separate them apart, never really seeing Mark this angry. Only the one time they managed to lose their win streak for the tournament. “Mark stop! Stop! This can cost us the tournament enough!” Ten demands him. Jeno held him back while Sungchan got in between them. “Eric please just go.” Glaring at him, he goes for your hand. This only angers Mark more and goes for him again. More of the guys go to push him back, yelling at him to control himself. “She’s not going anywhere with you!” “She will because I said so. Y/n, come with me now.”

“Y/n don’t listen to him!” Running a hand through your hair frustratingly you look between the two. “Y/n let’s go, your mother won’t be happy hearing about your stay with this freak show.” Eric told you. Your heart drops at the mention of your mother finding out the truth. Everything was happening so fast you no longer knew what to do. A part of you simply wanted to leave and yet the other didn’t want to leave Mark alone even though he had the guys. “Y/n please.” You hear Mark plead, feeling as he was in the brink of breaking down. He knew just how bad things got and he can’t let you walk away from him. Not when he needs to sort things out with you even with how bad things are.

“I’m sorry. I have to.” You whisper to him, shaking your head as you let Eric drag you away. Breaking your heart seeing his so distraught watching you leave him. Turning your head in hopes it’ll be easier to leave him there, you don’t notice more tears begin to run down your face. “You made the right . I told you he was bad.” Eric tells you. Getting in the car, you look out the window. Deciding to stay quiet you hear him sigh. “Your mother won’t be happy hearing about this.” “No, don’t tell her.” “I have to y/n, such things can’t happen. You are way too good for that and your mother needs to know to make sure you will never hear of that boy again. He deserves to be punished, taken away of his scholarship or kick him off the ice hockey team. Something to teach him a lesson-“

“Shut up Eric!” Shocked, his mouth slightly opens. Eyes widen as he turns to you. “You ruin everything! You can never seem to mind your business! Things were so much better when you simply fucked off!” Getting out of his truck, he goes to grasp your wrist. Moving it away from him, you slam his car door shut. Rolling the window down he shouts your name.

“Get in the car y/n!”

Ignoring him, you run back inside. Mark wasn’t there and it only had you stressing to find him. “Sungchan where is he!”

“Boys locker room-“ not letting him finish his sentence, you bolt it over there. Opening the door where the guys stood, they quiet down when seeing you. Walking past them, you hug Mark tightly who sat on the cold bench in the middle of them. One by one they make their way out to give you two space. Pulling you by the waist, he holds you as tightly. “I’m so sorry” he cries. “I’m sorry too.” Pulling you on his lap, he lays soft pecks on your collarbone. “She didn’t mean anything. I was angry, I didn’t want to hear you out and I didn’t care whether they were crossing the line or not because I just wanted to forget your words and I know that doesn’t justify my actions but-“ cutting him off, you grip his face and kiss him.

“I should’ve come clean from the beginning. You didn’t deserve having to be hidden from my family simply because I was too much of a coward to confront them.” “And I shouldn’t have lost my temper and hit your…friend.”

“Fuck him, he’s nothing to me.” Laughing, he smashes his lips onto yours. Wincing when you accidentally kneel into his side. “You okay baby?” Nodding, he tries to kiss you again but you cover his lips with your hand. “Lift your shirt.” “I’m fine baby-“ lifting his shirt, you gasp when seeing a bruise begin to form. “It’s all my fault.” “Don’t start y/n, I chose to fight him. And I don’t want to brag or anything but he’s got it much worse. Not only is he narcissistic but a sore fighter.” Giggling, you pull his shirt down carefully. Feeling him push your glasses up, he lifts your chin up as well. “I love you. Please know that.” He mumbles near your lips, “I love you too. Please remember that.” Sealing those words with a kiss, you feel him smile during it. “What now?” He asks you wanting you to comfortably make the next step.

“Guess we tell my parents about us before Eric does.” You respond nervously, eyes set on your hands. Nervously playing with your cuticles, his large hand on top of yours to stop you. A finger under your chin he lifts it up. “I’m ready whenever you are.” He smiles at you warmly, kissing him you felt just the slightest bit of relief.

Arriving home, you make Mark wait outside. Wanting the process of introducing him to come smoothly and not all at once where chaos will break lose. A reassuring squeeze from your boyfriend and you go inside. “Mom? Dad? I’m home!” You hear the tv on, on low volume and the smell of food yet it was silent. And when walking further inside, the living room comes in view and sitting with your parents were none other than Eric himself with his parents.

“Mom?…Dad?” “Take a seat, dear.” Your mother said sternly. Eyeing the empty spot furthest away from them, you reluctantly take it. The looks on your parents were enough to know Eric revealed everything to them, “Mom I can explain-“ “Save it. How could you y/n?” Her tone stern and eyes cold.

“I said no dating, and to hear it from Eric all the things you’ve been doing behind our backs?” “Mom please-“ “Enough!” Your father shouts, flinching as he stands. “We spent day and night to raise you the right way and this is how you repay us?! What else have you been doing Huh? Drugs! Were you partying? All those study sessions were those lies too!”

Tears brim your eyes as you stand. Shaking your head as you try not to cower, “Dad please just let me explain okay? I came here to tell you guys the truth I wanted to tell you myself today before Eric did but he beat me to it-“ “Don’t lie! Eric did the right thing to come to us or who knows what else you’d get yourself into.” Disgust was all over your fathers face. Glaring at you with such anger, eyeing you as he couldn’t believe all the things Eric had told him.

‘She may be doing more than simply dating’ Eric’s voice rings in his head. Looking down at the purity ring he bought, he walks over you. Taking a step back that hits the couch. “Give me the ring.” “What?” “Give me the ring!” Shaking, you take off the purity ring and hand it to him. Lifting it up to your eye level, “Did you break it? The promise the ring signifies?” Growing quiet, you look over at the others in the living room. Each not daring stare into your eyes but all equally disappointed in you. “Answer me!” Flinching, you sob. “Dad-”

A smack. A loud smack is heard throughout the house. Foot tapping rapidly as Mark waits for you to let him in. How much longer must he wait? He can’t help but worry the more he waits. Windows closed off by the curtains, and even when it seems suspicious to everyone who may pass by, he pressed his ear up to the door.

You cry. Desperate to hold it in as your father walks over and throws the ring into the fire pit. “Sixteen years down the drain with you. Everything your mother and I have given you, all for the best and you took it for granted.” “Dad please, I didn’t mean to disappoint you but I love him-“ “What do you know about love?!” “More than you! All you do is lock yourself in your office all day, when was the last time you and mom went out on a date that didn’t end in less than an hour?!” Going to raise his hand again, your mother intervened. “Please, enough. No more.”

“Don’t you hear? Listen to your daughter! How disrespectful she’s gotten! And it’s all because of that damn boy! I told you it was best if she was homeschooled or best, was enrolled in catholic school. Better the nuns beat some sense into her!” “Hitting her won’t change her ways.” She tries to reason. “It could! Maybe she’ll understand for once her place in this house and to never disobey us again.” Gripping your arm you yell at him to let go. “Dad you’re hurting me!”

“Hear me when I tell you, you will never see that boy again! You will go to boarding school if you must, you will listen to Eric as he is a responsible child unlike you! He will keep an eye on you and anything he finds out he will report to me! You are grounded for the rest of the school year young lady.” About to respond to him, the door opens. The others look up and watch as Mark walks in.

“Is that him?” Your father seethes. Letting you go harshly as he makes his way over to Mark. “No! Stop!” Your mother and Eric’s father are quickly to pull him away. Mark stays put as your dad begins to curse him out. “You ruined my daughter! I will not let you ruin this family!” “Honey, please.” Pushing her away, you are quick to pull her to your side.

“Mr. y/l/n, whatever you feel about me, I accept it. But you shouldn’t take it out on your family. Especially y/n.” “Like hell I do! She’s a disgrace to this family! Better I had a boy.” You wince at his rejection but silently cry to the side. Eric now standing by you with pity. Worried eyes as he looks at the scene unfold.

“I love your daughter sir. I really do and it wasn’t right we went behind your back but we weren’t doing it to dishonor everything you’ve done to help y/n and the family. We worried you wouldn’t accept us, your daughter has always been responsible.” “Responsible? Alright tell me young man, have you two had sex yet?” Your eyes widen as you shake your head at Mark. Fearful of what your father was capable of if he admitted it, but Mark only smiles at you sadly and goes to say yes.

“No, they haven’t.” Eric speaks up. Looking over, everyone in the house does so. “And how do you know?” Your father asks him. “Because I heard y/n speak about it. She told her friend, she wasn’t ready yet. No matter how much she loves Mark she wanted to wait.” He speaks ignoring you as you watch him cover you up. Showing little to no shock as you the turn to your father who eyes you. “So why did you insinuate it?” “I was jealous.” He murmurs.

“Son? Explain yourself? This is so unlike you.” His mother tells him. “I didn’t like the idea of y/n with Mark, so I lied so that they would separate but instead I only brought more damage to your family. I’m sorry Mr. Y/l/n, they really are being responsible.” “Doesn’t change the fact she lied to our faces and kept this to herself-“ “Dear, try to understand her. She didn’t like the idea of disappointing her father. We did the same when we were young remember? It took you a long time to face my father.”

The room grows silent, your father watched Mark slowly approach you. Taking your hands, “I’m not lying when I say I love your daughter sir. I really do care for her and only want to keep her happy. Just give me a chance, give us a chance to prove to you that we are serious. We aren’t being reckless.” Eyeing the two of you so close, the anger slowly dissipates. Turning to your mother as she silently asks him to let it go.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, taking a step towards you. Taking your hands from Mark’s, seeing the already forming bruise he curses himself for doing that to you. “I shouldn’t- I was just- I’m so sorry.” He pulls you into a hug. Standing warily, you pat him lightly. “I shouldn’t have hit you, no reason to have done that and I’m sorry. I just got so angry and…” looking between you and Mark he sighs.

“I don’t like the idea of you dating but, I should’ve expected it to have happen sooner or later. Just, promise me you’ll be safe?” Nodding, you force a smile. He knew it was but it was enough for him. Your forgiveness wouldn’t come easy but he as okay with that. Eric’s family soon dismissed themselves as they take their son away. Disappointed scoldings to him on their way out. “And you.” He turns to Mark, “Take care of her.” “Of course.” Mark shakes his hand, a bit taken aback when he gets pulled in.

“Does it hurt?” You shake your head. Bruise covered up by makeup, the stadium loud already as the bleachers begin to fill up. It was time for the game to start soon, and Mark still hadn’t changed into his gear. Instead sitting next to you, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear and inspect the injured part of your cheek worriedly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there in time to stop it.” Shaking your head, you kiss him. “Just glad it’s over.” You tell him. Mark nods, a small silence falls upon you two. “He’s getting therapy. Was told the stress had been triggering his anger. Even going to marriage counseling with my mother.”

“That’s good.” “Yeah.” Lifting your head up from his shoulder you smile at him lazily. It’s been a week since the argument, you and your father hadn’t talked much but he’s been trying to get more involved in your life and do little acts of helps for you to forgive him. Eric had moved away again, this time since his parents had to go to Italy for business. Had heard much and for that you were glad. “Don’t you got a game to win?” Mark smirks and winks. “Of course I do-“ Mark stops in his tracks when he looks down and sees the jersey you were wearing. “Hell no.” He says, taking your hand and off the bleachers. Giggling you whine as Mark drags you away. “Stay here.” Standing outside the locker rooms, he rushes in. Ignoring his teammates demanding him to change already. “Going hold on.”

Going through his jerseys, he picks one out. His favorite one on you and runs out. “Mark-“ grabbing your hand and pulling you two in a closet, he locks it behind and begins to lift the jersey off you. Laughing you whine as he throws the jersey on the floor harshly. “It was just a joke! I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously.” You giggle as he puts his on you. Grasping each arm to pull through each arm sleeve hole. “Ha ha what a great joke to wear Sungchan’s jersey.” Smashing your lips as soon as he pulls his jersey down, you cup his face and lean in closer. Pulling you up and setting you on top of the counter, you cross your legs around his waist.

A groan let out as you pull him closer. “Fuck.” He rasps out when you run a hand down over his crotch. Messing up his hair the more you run your hand through it, disheveled and fuzzy as your lipstick gets smeared all over his lips. Sucking hickies on his neck, red lip marks all over his neck. Grinding into you as he loses himself to you. “Nooo.” He whispers frustratingly as you pull away. “Sorry, you have to game to play.” “But you gave me blue balls.” He fakes a pout.

His throat dries when you spread your legs. Shorts that were very easy to pull down. “Win this game and I’ll let you take me anywhere, anytime right after.” Groaning, he rolls his eyes back and falls into your stomach. Giggling as he wraps his arms around you. “God you’ll be the death of me.” Lifting his jersey you’re wearing and planting a soft kiss right on the spot he most adores. Just below your belly button where he sees the outline of his tip get fucked deep in you. “I’ll be back in a few to fuck the shit out of you.” He winks and kisses you. Setting you down, and the two of you part.

So he may have lied to his future father in law about not having had sex with you but at least he was honest that he would do anything to keep you happy. And when the time ran out, the crowd roared and his team cheered for yet another victory. His eyes immediately settled on yours. Taking off his helmet as your hickies on his neck gets exposed the earns many screams and whistles of approval. Biting the inside of your cheek as you squeeze your legs, not paying to mind anything your friends were saying as you two kept eye contact. A smug grin appeared on his face as the many ideas came to mind for what the rest of the night shall go for the two of you, happy he shall make you.

#nct scenarios #nct x reader #nct reactions #nct imagines #nct smut #nct mark lee #mark nct #nct mark #mark imagines #mark lee #mark lee smut #nct sungchan #nct haechan imagines #nct ten imagines #nct jeno imagines #nct yangyang #nct winwin

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moonchildreads · 7 months

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small town

Chapter 23 - Cum on Feel the Noize

IN THIS CHAPTER: Yearbook messages, unlikely friendships, and Corroded Coffin puts on a show [13.8k]

WARNINGS: mentions of dead parents (eddie's mom), child neglect (not very graphic, eddie as kid), underaged drinking (no one gets drunk), low self-worth

A/N: i know. i promise you, i know. but i did say i was never gonna abandon this fic, so if you didn't believe me, that's on you, buddy. blame my job for my two month absence - three new people joined my team and one of those left last week, it's been hectic. this is an extra long chapter as a sorry for making you wait for so long. i hope you are all okay and still interested in my dumb little story, we have a lot more to go before we say goodbye. <3 (btw lemme know if you wanna be added to the taglist!)

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Girls, rock your boys We’ll get wild, wild, wild

Monday, June 9th - 1986

The last Monday before graduation was Kyle Foster’s most anticipated day of the year; not because it meant that school attendance was officially an afterthought for most of the school’s population, but because it was the day the overpriced yearbooks he had been working on all these months were ready to be picked up, their pages waiting to be filled with doodles in colorful pens and silly stickers. He was particularly proud of this year’s edition, with its green leatherette hardback cover and bright photos printed in glossy paper, everything on them carefully arranged by the Yearbook Club with evident care and love for their craft. For a few hours, Kyle got to feel like he was hot shit. Teachers congratulated him and his fellow club members for their wonderful work, people he’d never talked to before in his life asked him to sign their yearbooks, and the basketball team kept patting his back in the hallways in between classes to thank him for the double spread with pictures of them lifting their championship trophy. Life was good, but even though he was enjoying his surely short-lived popularity, there was only one person Kyle was particularly looking forward to seeing. As faith would have it, he found that exact guy leaning against his locker waiting for him between third and fourth period, a yearbook under his arm and a piece of minty gum in his mouth.

“Hey, man,” Eddie greeted, pulling him into a bro-ey side hug that didn’t suit his personality in the slightest. “Nice work.”

“What’s up, Munson? Heard you’re finally leaving this place.”

“Yeah, about damn time,” the tall metalhead laughed, and Kyle thought he’d never seen him carry himself with such levity before. “Wanted to thank you, y’know? I mean, I know I kinda bribed you to do it but you came through for us and went above and beyond with the design and everything, so, thank you.”

“Ah, it was nothing, dude. Couldn’t ruin the yearbook by giving your club a shitty spread,” Kyle downplayed his work, but they both knew he had enjoyed the secret assignment.

“Well, then. Would the artist care to sign his masterpiece?” Eddie joked, extending his yearbook to Kyle with a jet black pen tucked into it.

Kyle nodded, surprised by the request, and went straight to the blank pages at the back. From what he could see, no one had signed it yet. He realized then this was Eddie giving him a definitive olive branch, whatever feud they’d had over his little debt more than ready to be buried in the sand and thoroughly forgotten. He quickly penned a generic “have a good summer!” message at the top corner, slowing down while writing his name when he felt Eddie’s hand slip something into his front jean pocket. Ah, there it is, Kyle thought, smiling to himself as the weight of the small weed baggie Eddie had promised in exchange for his rule breaking could be felt through the rough fabric. He gave the book back to his newest acquaintance before opening his messenger bag and retrieving his own, shocking Eddie with his silent offering. Kyle was not only accepting his olive branch but returning the gesture, and so Eddie signed his name in a little unoccupied corner, adding a smiley face with devil horns under it for good measure.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Foster,” he said genuinely, tucking his trusty pen into his back pocket.

“Likewise, Munson.”

“We look so fucking badass,” Gareth said, eyes stuck to himself holding a knight’s helmet under his arm in the Hellfire section of the yearbook.

“I know, right?” Jeff said, giddy. “Kinda wanna get it framed. You think they’ll give us copies if we ask?”

The Hellfire Club was enjoying a peaceful lunch outside, the day still perfectly warm despite the constant clouds that perpetually obscured the sky over Hawkins, Indiana. The older boys were doodling on each other’s yearbooks, laughing about bad portraits and accidental funny faces belonging to classmates, while Dustin and Mike quietly muttered to one another at the head of the picnic table. They looked like they were arguing about something important but no one else seemed to have noticed - if they did, they were giving them space to resolve it on their own. Pretending like she wasn’t eavesdropping while she wrote a heartfelt message in Donny’s yearbook, Dottie listened carefully, worried about Dustin who seemed to be particularly distraught at Mike’s disinterest in cooperating with him.

“I’m just saying, aren’t you tired of acting like you’re still upset with him?” Dustin asked.

“I’m not acting, I am pissed off,” Mike huffed. “I don’t get why you aren’t. He cut us off and he’s never coming back, get it through your head.”

“Well, maybe he feels like we cut him off. Have you even tried talking to him since Spring break?”

“No, why would I?”

“Mike,” Dustin was nearing his breaking point.

“What? Did you?”

“Yes!” he threw his hands in the air. “I called him the next day because I’m not an asshole!”

“If you talked to him, why isn’t he here then, huh?” Mike asked, icy. “Why is he still hanging out with them?”

“I said I called him, not that I talked to him,” Dustin grumbled. “He wasn’t home, he… he was at a party with the jocks- Look, all I’m saying is that I feel like shit, okay? I think we’re all being idiots right now and we should talk about it. This is just like what happened when we found El and-”

“This is nothing like what happened with El. He was just scared-”

“We were twelve, Mike. We didn’t know what we were doing, maybe- maybe he was right and we should have been scared! And maybe he shouldn’t have to be the one to always apologize first!”

“He ditched us!”

“Oh, grow up,” Dustin said, getting up from the bench with his yearbook in hand and hurrying to catch up with a redheaded girl who looked about his age.

Dottie watched how Mike gathered his things and disappeared into the cafeteria without saying goodbye, giving off moody teenager vibes to anyone who dared to cross his path. Meanwhile, Dustin was now animatedly chatting with his mystery friend near the doors - the girl he was talking to was signing his book and rolling her eyes at something he was saying, a shy but still clearly fond smile on her face. Dottie felt like she’d seen her before somewhere, but never talking to Dustin. She seemed nice, if a little sassy. I guess that’s why she’s friends with Dustin, she thought.

“Really? You got him a sweater? In June?” Jeff’s laughter brought back her attention to the table: she quickly doodled a little daisy next to her name at the bottom of her message and gave the yearbook back to Donny.

“He’s always wearing sweaters at the office, okay? And also, it’s not like he’s gonna grow two sizes before Winter starts,” Gareth defended himself. “It’s still gonna fit him in a couple of months.”

“What are we talking about?” Dottie asked, leaning her head onto Eddie’s shoulder as he stole one of her apple slices.

“Father’s Day. Gareth got his Dad a wool sweater.”

“It was on sale!”

“What did you get for your dad, then?” she asked Jeff.

“New slippers. His old ones were falling apart.”

“Very thoughtful. You?” she turned to Donny.

“Nothing yet. I kinda wanna get my Dad a funny shirt but I haven’t seen any good ones around. D’you think it’s too late to get one printed?” he asked at large.

“Oh, Eddie bought a cute one the other day!” Dottie said conversationally, looking up at the long haired boy from her place on his shoulder. “They had a bunch of graphic shirts at that store near Melvald’s, right?”

“On Mulberry? Sweet, what did you get?” Donny asked, munching on some grapes.

“Found this ugly thing with a brown Care Bear at the front that says World’s Best Grandma,” Eddie said, half a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “Thought it was funny.”

“You’re gonna get your teeth kicked in if you wear a Care Bears shirt in public, dude,” Gareth snickered.

“Well, good thing I’m not gonna be the one wearing it then.”

Father’s Day was historically somewhat of a weird day for Eddie. When he was a little kid and still hadn’t developed a mouth filter, other moms at the park or strangers at a store would sometimes see him wandering around unsupervised, think he was lost, and ask him where his Mom was; he’d always reply with a simple “oh, no, my Mom is dead”, like the answer wasn’t absolutely devastating to hear coming from someone who hadn’t learned how to tie his own shoes yet. Like clockwork, they’d all sputter out an awkward apology, feeling sorry about unknowingly asking a young child about something so painful like losing a parent at such a tender age. A couple of times some of them went so far as to offer to buy him a snack, as if that could distract him from the tragedy of his Mom’s untimely death and, in turn, make themselves feel better about being nosy. Eddie, however, didn’t mind the questions. He liked telling people that Maureen was dead, because he learned very quickly that those were the only times people saw him as someone to take care of; just a little innocent boy having to grow up without the woman who’d loved him most, instead of shunning him as soon they inevitably found out he was Wyatt Munson’s devil spawn.

Another thing Eddie learned very early on, was that his Dad didn’t care about Father’s Day, mainly because most of the time he didn’t even care to acknowledge he had a son unless it was useful to him. And so, after the second year in a row Wyatt threw into the trash can the crafts Eddie had done for him at school without so much as looking at them, the drawings stayed in his backpack and the treats the teachers gave to all their kiddos to gift to the most important men in their lives got hidden in an old shoe box underneath his bed. There they waited until the older man passed out on his couch with a beer in his hand, and the littlest Munson got to eat them in secret without anyone calling him a pig for smearing chocolate all over his face and fingers. No, Father’s Day had always been a weird day for Eddie - at least until he moved in with Wayne.

The first Father’s Day Wayne and Eddie spent together came after almost eight months of living together. There had been a Halloween, a Thanksgiving, a Christmas, Eddie’s 9th birthday, and a Mother’s Day spent along with Grandma before that, but Eddie’s little stomach still churned with the thought of Wayne dismissing him on a special occasion like Father’s Day. He quietly waited in bed after the sun rose, ears perked up for any noise coming from the living room but the minutes ticked by and Wayne didn’t get up, busy catching up on some much needed sleep after a long week at the plant. The youngest Munson impatiently crept along the hallway until he reached his Uncle’s side, kneeling on the carpet next to his fold-out bed and observing his chest go up and down with each breath he took.

“Uncle Wayne,” Eddie whispered, but the older man didn’t so much as flinch. “Uncle Wayne,” he tried a little louder, softly shaking his arm.

“Huh?” Wayne opened his eyes, startled to find his nephew’s tiny fingers wrapped around his forearm. “What’s going on? You okay, Ed?”

“Mhm,” he nodded, wild curls bobbing along with the movement. “I- I made something. At school.”

“Yeah? What d’you got there?”

Eddie lifted a piece of paper, the sun filtering through the moth-eaten curtains helping Wayne read along. Happy Father’s Day, said the handmade card written by a teacher and decorated by his nephew, each letter colored inside with a different crayon. Wayne’s heart sank when he realized he’d forgotten what day it was. He didn’t even know which hole Wyatt was currently being kept in, but he guessed he could call his Ma and ask her about it if Eddie wanted to pay his Dad a visit. Or at the very least, he could take the kid to the post office to mail his shitty excuse of a father a letter he most likely didn’t give a damn about. Wyatt hadn’t called once since he’d gotten himself locked up, and Wayne tried not to think too much about Eddie stiffening up whenever the phone rang when he first moved into the trailer with him. He didn’t want to do it, didn’t want to have jackshit to do with his little brother anymore but he’d do it anyway even if he knew it was a bad idea, because Wayne Munson would have walked barefoot to the end of the world if it made Eddie happy, and God only knew that that boy deserved a small mercy for once.

Wayne peeled the card open curiously and felt his chest tighten up when he saw how wrong he’d been. Inside there was a crude drawing of two figures, one bigger than the other one: it was him and Eddie, standing on bright green grass, a big yellow sun with a smiley face at the upper left corner of the page, and a tree with juicy red apples to the right side. The figures were holding hands and Wayne was wearing a trucker hat - the same blue one that was resting on the kitchen counter next to his keys. At the bottom right of the card, written with the nicest calligraphy Wayne had seen from his nephew yet, was a simple I love you in purple crayon.

“You drew this for me?” Wayne asked, trying to get his emotions together.

“D’you like it? Miss Mullins gave us Hershey’s Kisses too,” he lifted a little paper bag that looked like it had been squished in transit. “I’m sorry I ate one without asking. I wanted to know what they tasted like, but I can buy you more! I have money left over from my birthday-”

“That’s okay, Ed. You can have as many as you want if you brush your teeth after,” the eldest Munson sat up tiredly and pulled his boy from the floor into a hug. “Thank you for the card. You’re very good at drawing, y’know that?”

“Miss Mullins says I’m good at art and music,” Eddie beamed. “And sometimes Math too but I get distracted. She says my reading’s not very good though.”

“You’re a smart boy, just keep practicin’ and you’ll get better,” Wayne said, feeling his nephew’s body sink into his arms the longer he held him. “Hey, how ‘bout you go get ready while I take a shower, huh? We can go get pancakes at Benny’s.”

“Really? Can I get whipped cream on mine? And chocolate chips?”

“You can get whatever you want, boy. Go on, go get dressed,” the older man ushered him down the hallway towards what used to be his bedroom and locked himself in the bathroom for a little privacy.

Wayne cried in the shower that day, much like he’d done after Thanksgiving dinner, when Eddie said he was thankful he got to live with him, even if it was just for a little bit. He got Wyatt to sign away his parental rights before Christmas came around after that. Wayne stuck the card to the fridge door with a carrot shaped magnet and drove himself and his nephew to Benny’s where Eddie ordered chocolate chip banana pancakes that Wayne ended up eating half of after the 9-year-old’s tummy became too full to keep going. Upon returning home, they spent the rest of the day watching cartoons and practicing Eddie’s reading during the commercials. When the littlest Munson fell asleep on the couch after the sun had set, his energy finally depleted, Wayne helped him put on his pajamas and tucked him to bed, stopping to kiss his curly head before he retreated back to the living room for a nightcap.

“Good night, son,” he’d said, turning off the lights, and for once, Eddie didn’t go to sleep wishing he was Wayne’s, because he knew he was and Wayne knew it too.

“You got Wayne a World’s Best Grandma shirt for Father’s Day?” Donny said, amused. “He’s gonna think you knocked someone up.”

“Of course not,” Eddie scoffed at him like he’d just said the stupidest thing ever. “He’d think I knocked someone up if it said World’s Best Grandpa, but it doesn’t say that, does it? Therefore, funny shirt.”

“You were there with him and you let him buy it?” Jeff looked at Dottie, whose cheeks felt like they were burning upon remembering Wayne’s resigned attempt at a Birds and The Bees talk two weekends prior.

“I… I thought it was funny too,” she admitted sheepishly.

“You two are spending way too much time together,” Gareth shook his head. “When did you even go shopping?”

“Last week after band practice,” Dottie said, mischief in her eyes. “Don’t tell my Dad if you see him because I told him I was at yours all afternoon so he wouldn’t snoop around and find his gift.”

“What did you get him?” Donny asked.

“A bunch of candy and a book. The guy at the store recommended it, he said it was pretty new. It’s called Ender’s Game, I think?”

“Oh, I read that one,” Jeff said, frowning.

“What, is it bad?”

“No, I think your Dad might like it," he shrugged. "But you know me, I don't like military shit.”

“How could we forget about you being Mr. Pacifist,” Gareth poked fun at him goodnaturedly and Jeff shoved him gently in return.

“Hey, speaking of band practice,” Eddie said, lips curling upwards as he leaned into Dottie’s personal space. “You think your Dad's gonna let you come to The Hideout tomorrow?”

“On a school night? Keep dreaming.”

“Oh, come on, no one’s even taking attendance anymore,” he pressed on.

“I’m pretty sure Mr. Russell took a nap in class today,” Gareth said, spreading a rumor he’d heard about the old Algebra teacher.

“He did. I was there, I heard him snore,” Donny nodded.

“There you go, darling. Not even the teachers give a shit anymore. So, what do you say?" Eddie batted his eyelashes dramatically.

"You know I wanna go, I just don't think he's gonna let me. Can't you wait one more week? He promised I won’t have a curfew anymore after graduation," she bargained.

"You say that like you don’t already know we’re gonna ask you to come next week too," Gareth said, grinning. “Besides, what kind of manager are you if you don’t come to all our shows?”

“Wasn’t aware I had signed any official contracts. Do I get health insurance?” Dottie joked.

“You get one box of kiddie bandages and we’ll drive you to the hospital if and only if any bones stick out,” Donny said.

“Wow, what a deal. I’m in,” she laughed.

“You’re gonna come then?” they all looked at her expectantly.

“Alright, fine, I’ll ask him. But if he says no you aren’t allowed to be mad at me because it’s definitely not my fault,” she finally relented.

“If he locks you up we’ll help you escape the tower, princess, don’t worry about it,” Eddie said, his breath ghosting the side of her head, and she shivered in anticipation for the new adventure that was to come.

James working past the time Hawkins High School let its students out had proven to be heaven-sent to the new couple looking for places to hang out without any prying eyes around. Eddie and Dottie were lying on her bed, hiding away from the world in her room, the radio on at a low volume playing Top 40 hits. Van Halen’s Why Can’t This Be Love was setting the perfect mood for Eddie to kiss his not-yet-girlfriend stupid - their movements still shy and exploring, neither of them rushing to get ahead of themselves. In recent days, they had progressed from chaste and giggly pecks to something much more slow and romantic, making the most of their moments alone to make each other feel comfortable and loved. Eddie hovered over her, tummy pressed against Dottie’s while supporting most of his weight on his elbows, his hands free to gently caress her cheekbones and jaw between kisses, stopping every so often to look at her dazed smile if only to will himself to believe that the girl he was so in love with was as equally smitten with him as he was with her.

Dottie let her fingers wander up his arms, one of her hands tangling in his unruly hair and occasionally pushing stray curls behind his ears to get a glimpse of those deep chocolate colored eyes she adored so much. Her other arm sneaked into his t-shirt sleeve, nails drawing barely-there patterns on the back of his shoulder, making him hum like the stray cats at the trailer park when they let him pet them after being fed. The delicate white curtains swayed calmly, brushing against the pillows in the windowsill, the gentle breeze outside rustling the leaves in nearby trees. Everything felt so peaceful, warm, and cozy. She felt like she could spend an entire lifetime like this, with the boy that had swept her off her feet so thoroughly that she almost felt like she was floating whenever he was around.

“What are you thinkin’ about?” Eddie asked in a soft voice, index finger brushing down the slope of her nose.

“You.”

“Me?”

“Mhm,” she smiled, fondly. “You’re so pretty.”

“You’re pretty. Beautiful. Gorgeous even,” he lifted his eyebrows and pouted, making her giggle at his antics. “I wanted to play a song for you tomorrow but the guys said it didn’t fit with the rest of the setlist.”

“Which song was it?”

“Nope,” he shook his head, curls tickling her. “I’m not telling you. We’ll play it in Indy.”

“I have to wait a whole month? That’s so rude!”

“It’ll be worth it, you’ll see,” he muttered, leaning down to kiss her again, and she accepted his love eagerly.

The low rumble of a car pulling into the driveway burst their cozy bubble, Eddie groaning as his head fell forward onto Dottie’s shoulder, making her snort loudly. He scrambled off her bed and dropped himself on her desk chair, fingers dancing on top of her scented Mr. Sketch markers before settling on the brown one and lifting it up to his nose to smell the cinnamon embedded in the ink. She watched him with an oddly enamored smile on her face, like him sniffing her stationery supplies was the most charming thing she’d seen him do yet. He twirled a marker between his fingers before drumming with it once on her yearbook resting unassumingly on her desk.

“Can I draw something for you in here?” he asked, tapping the hardcover again with the cap of the marker.

“Can I write something sappy in yours in exchange?”

“Knock yourself out, darling,” Eddie smiled, pulling his yearbook out of his ratty backpack and tossing it onto her bed where it made a soft thud upon colliding with her comforter.

When James climbed up the stairs to greet his daughter after a long day at work, he found both teens deeply engrossed in their tasks: Eddie’s long hair was draped like a curtain obscuring his sketch from view as he worked steadily with his chewed up pencil while Dottie was lying on her front decorating a corner of a page with her colorful pens. James leaned onto the door frame when she looked up, gifting him the same smile she used to give him as a toddler when he picked her up from daycare.

“Yearbooks are out?” the eldest Burke asked, nodding towards the book in her hands.

“Yeah! Ed’s drawing in mine but look, we got a full page!” Dottie said, rising onto her knees to show him Hellfire’s spread.

James sat at the foot of her bed, glancing at the glossy pictures in front of him. He couldn’t recall Dottie being so excited about a yearbook before, but he supposed she’d never really been a part of any club at her old school and this was an important first for her. There was Dustin front and center, arms and legs bent like a lifeless puppet being held by strings, Erica’s hand poised in the air as if she was the one controlling him while Mike and Gareth lifted her up in a princess-like manner, a tiara glinting on her head and a school flag draping down her back. Jeff and Donny scowled at each other dramatically, engaged in a lethal fight that Jeff was clearly winning, his sword pressed to the middle of Donny’s golden scepter. But it was his own daughter and the boy that kept smelling markers before he put them to paper a few feet away from him that really caught his attention.

Eddie lounged on his throne with a fake skull in his hand, rings twinkling in the room’s moody light, and legs spread out like he was a despot king about to order someone’s head to be cut off. Dottie stared at the camera with a mischievous smirk, hands cradled around a crystal orb, looking like she knew something no one else did and was more than ready to drop a cryptic riddle that would ruin your entire life. They were playing characters, just like everyone else in the picture: Mike was the loyal knight, Dustin was the terrifying jester, Erica was the bratty princess. Except Eddie’s arm was curled around Dottie like she was his most prized possession, devotion noticeable in his seemingly innocent posture. He might have been the one sitting on the throne and she on the chair’s arm as his trusty advisor, but it was very much clear to anyone that stopped to truly look at them that even though he was the King, she had him wrapped around her finger. It shouldn’t have been a surprise - after all, since 1953 the song did say God save the Queen, not the King.

“It looks super cool, right?” Dottie asked, eyes shining. “Jeff wants to ask the Yearbook Club if we can get copies, I’d love to put one on my corkboard.”

“That sounds great, honey! It’s very theatrical,” James agreed, scanning down the list of names: Edward Munson - Chapter Leader, Donatello Andrea Vitale - Treasurer, Jeffrey Thomas Patton - Secretary… “Who’s Lucas?”

“Huh?”

“Lucas Charles Sinclair?” he asked. “His name is on the list but I don’t see him in the photo.”

“Oh, that’s Erica’s brother. He was in the club before I joined, right, Ed?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, lips tight. “He, uh- he quit before Spring break. Conflicting schedules.”

“Ah, that’s a bummer,” James nodded, knowing first hand how scheduling was the greatest enemy of a D&D party. “Why isn’t Erica on the list though?”

“She’s still in middle school so she’s not, like, entirely allowed to be in the club actually?” Dottie grimaced. “But Eddie thought she should at least be in the picture. I mean, I’m there and she’s known these guys for longer than I do.”

“She only joined a couple of weeks before you did,” Eddie shrugged. “But a member is a member, no matter when they joined.”

“Spoken like a true leader,” James smiled, flipping the pages to find the senior portraits.

He reached the B section and immediately found his daughter, her red knitted sweater barely visible, the picture cutting off just below her shoulders. She was smiling in it, yes, but she didn’t really look happy. She seemed nervous, perhaps even a bit apprehensive. Her eyes were dull despite the bright lights behind the camera, and the little dimple below the right corner of her lip that she’d inherited from her Mom was nowhere to be found. In comparison with the wicked witch that had been staring at him in the Hellfire Club’s group photo, this girl looked like a shell of herself. Empty. Lost. Scared. Two months had passed between the two pictures, and one more since the last one had been taken, and James realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her glow as much as she did every day now. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he looked at her and wondered why he hadn’t done anything to prevent her light from dimming so much right in front of him. Bitterly, he realized the proper question wasn’t why he hadn’t done anything, but instead why hadn’t he ever noticed it had been dimmed in the first place up until that moment.

“I’m so proud of you, honey,” he muttered, pulling her into a hug and letting out a heavy sigh courtesy of his own inadequacies as a parent.

“You’re not gonna cry, are you? Because you’re gonna make me cry if you cry,” she said in a joking manner, tears already threatening to climb up to the surface.

“You’re just really big now and it sneaks up on me sometimes, that’s all. I’m getting emotional in my old age,” he laughed, turning back the pages to Hellfire Dottie - the happier Dottie. “Your hair looks really pretty like this.”

“Yeah. Feels more me, I think,” Dottie agreed. “I need to get the ends trimmed before graduation, though.”

“If it keeps getting shorter I’m afraid you’re gonna end up bald soon.”

“I’ll go to a salon this time, promise,” she laughed.

“Still can’t believe you just-” James did a cutting gesture with his index and middle fingers. “-went to town on it.”

“Wait, what? You chopped off your own hair? When?” Eddie asked curiously, reminding them both that he was listening to their conversation.

“I thought you knew about this!” Dottie said. “I had really long hair back in New York.”

“It reached the top of her jeans,” James added.

“No way! Why did you cut it?”

“I just needed a fresh start, y’know? New school, new haircut. It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she shrugged.

“Honey, you snipped it all off at the first gas station we stopped at on our way from New York. Almost gave me a heart attack when you came out of that bathroom.”

“You’re kidding,” Eddie stared at her in disbelief.

“Nope,” said James. “Had to take her to a hairdresser to even it out as soon as we got here.”

“In my defense, it didn’t look that bad. It was just… very layered,” Dottie said.

“You’re lucky you chickened out and didn’t cut it shorter or you’d be looking like a boy right now.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, I’m not a hair stylist. I’ll stay away from scissors and let the pros handle it next time,” she rolled her eyes at her Dad.

“Well, I’m gonna go get a shower,” James announced, returning Eddie’s yearbook to his daughter. “You staying for dinner, Ed?”

“No, thank you, sir, Wayne’s waiting for me. Just gotta finish this drawing and I’ll be out of your hair for the night,” Eddie said, lifting the book in his hands as if to demonstrate he wasn’t just wasting time.

“You’re never a bother, kid. You can stay as long as you’d like.”

“T-thank you, sir,” he said in a small voice when James walked past him and ruffled his hair affectionately as he left.

“Dad? Wait, hold up-”

Dottie launched herself into the hallway and caught up to her Dad when he was halfway through his bedroom door. She nervously looked up at him and James lifted an eyebrow, curious.

“Would it be okay if I went to The Hideout to see the guys play tomorrow?” she asked, chewing on her own lip.

“Honey, it’s a school night-”

“I know but the teachers aren’t even taking attendance anymore. And I swear I’m not gonna skip the next day! Please, I’ll be back before midnight.”

“Dot-”

“You know Jeff’s dad wouldn’t let him do it if he was coming back home at 3 am every week on school nights. Please let me go? I really, really, really wanna see them play.”

“Would you be riding with Eddie?” James sighed.

“Yeah, he’s Gareth’s ride. His drum kit doesn’t fit in Donny’s car.”

“Okay, you can go-”

“Thank you!”

“-but! You gotta be back by midnight, okay?” he said, stern. “I don’t care if the teachers aren’t doing their jobs anymore, school’s not out until Friday. You’re not on holiday yet.”

“I know, I won’t break the curfew, I promise-”

“And you can’t drink any alcohol either. If I have to pick you up from the station for any reason, you’re grounded until September.”

“I won’t drink a drop, Dad, I swear. I just wanna see the guys play,” she pleaded with doe eyes.

“Fine. You can go,” James finally relented.

“Thank you!” Dottie shrieked, hugging her Dad and shaking him in her excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you-”

“Alright, alright, calm down. Just be careful, okay? And call-”

“Call you if anything happens. I know. Thank you,” she kissed his cheek and ran back into her bedroom where James heard Eddie scream “fuck yeah!”, followed by a loud thump and bright laughter.

That night after dinner, Dottie sat on her windowsill looking at the inside of her wardrobe, mentally putting together an outfit that wouldn’t make her stand out like a sore thumb in the dingy bar. Jeans and sneakers are fine, Eddie had said when she asked him about it, but she knew the guys dressed up for their gigs, and she wanted to fit in. Maybe she should have asked her soon-to-be-boyfriend to lend her one of his band t-shirts, but then again, Eddie had a tendency to get grabby whenever she wore his clothes lately, even if it was just a borrowed sweatshirt when she got cold during a movie night. It was better to be lowkey about this; they were already pushing it a lot lately with the secret daily hangouts and the doing errands together thing. Borrowing his clothes in such a public event like his own band’s gig was as big a declaration of love as they came.

Yes, it was best to keep this under wraps, for the sake of all their friendships with the rest of the boys. She’d wear her own clothes to her very first Corroded Coffin show, and she’d be extra careful with her yearbook when she gave it to her friends at The Weekly Streak to sign. No one had to know that Eddie had drawn a very realistic looking arrangement of daisies on a corner of a page, along with an incredibly telling message that would be hard to explain if anyone read it. However, nothing was stopping her from letting the words he’d written in his usual chicken scratch form behind her eyelids as she let sleep take her under, a perpetual lovesick smile tattooed on her face.Thank you for believing in me, darling, he’d said. I love you now and always. Your Endearing Eddie.

Tuesday, June 10th - 1986

If there was anyone in Hawkins who had bad timing when it came to scheduling business transactions that happened outdoors, it was Eddie Munson. He was in such a hurry to sell most of his stash before he was due to start his first ever real job at Thatcher Tires the following week that he’d failed to account for the permanent drizzle that haunted Hawkins most of the time, and thus, had to move from his preferred selling spot in the woods to the back of the East classroom wing, his back pressed to the warm brick to shield himself from the droplets falling from the sky.

While he was busy earning much wanted cash so he could take his still-not-official-girlfriend out on a date to celebrate their graduation, Dottie and Gareth were lounging in his van, side door cracked open to let some of the day’s heat out. The almost empty parking lot looked menacing surrounded by a thick haze, a moderate breeze directing the drops of water to hit the van’s windshield in a comforting rhythm. Gareth was, as usual, being a menace. He was going through Eddie’s tapes, exchanging their cases to mess with his friend, and never letting a song reach the end before he was skipping forward to the next one. Dottie would have complained about it if she wasn’t so concentrated on her knitting, the summer baby blanket she was working on spread out over her legs. She was in the middle of calculating if the soft cotton yarn she had left was enough to finish the row she was currently knitting when Gareth turned around in the passenger seat to catch her attention.

“You excited about tonight?” he asked, glancing at the songlist at the back of a mixtape.

“Yeah, it should be fun! Though I’m not sure what I’m gonna wear yet,” she put down her needles and stretched in her seat. “Eddie said sneakers and jeans were fine, but I don’t wanna look lost, y’know.”

“Pick the oldest, shittiest clothes you have and you’ll fit in just fine. Most of the drunks in there go after work, it’s always a lot of plaid, jeans, and dirt.”

“You’re not selling this to me very well.”

“I don’t have to,” he grinned. “Eddie says jump, you jump.”

“No, I don’t-”

“Hey, there you are!”

She was about to tell Gareth off when Chrissy appeared from the mist, shielding herself from the rain by holding her cheer cardigan above her head. Immediately, Dottie slid the van door open a bit more so she could climb in, moving all her knitting supplies to her lap so the strawberry blonde girl could sit next to her. Gareth looked at both girls awkwardly and muttered a quick hello before turning in his seat again and busying himself back with the mixtapes.

“I didn’t know you knitted,” Chrissy said, thumbing the corner of the blanket. “This is so pretty.”

“Thank you,” Dottie smiled. “It’s a gift for my Aunt, she’s having a baby in a couple of months.”

“Aw, that’s sweet! Let me guess, a girl?” she said, pointing at the baby pink yarn.

“How could you tell?” Dottie said with good natured sarcasm. “Her name’s gonna be Rose so… pink for Rosie! It’s not very original but I’m hoping she still likes it even though she’ll be born in the middle of summer.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it. I used mine until I was in preschool, there’s no age limit for a good blankie,” Chrissy said, kindly. “I wish I could do creative stuff like this, it looks fun. I tried to learn to sew when I was younger but my Mom’s so not a good teacher. She made me cry once because I forgot to put the presser foot down.”

“I could teach you a few things if you want,” Dottie offered. “I’m not an expert, but my Aunt is, like, the most perfectionist person on the planet and she taught me everything I know so…”

“You’d do that?”

“Do what, teach you?” the blonde nodded in response. “Of course! We’re friends! And it’s a great skill to have, it comes in handy more than you think.”

“We’re friends?” Chrissy asked, eyes suddenly shiny.

“After everything you’ve done for- Chrissy, of course we’re friends,” Dottie said, grabbing the other girl’s hand.

“Oh, thank goodness,” she breathed out, a quiet laugh escaping her lips. “I feel so much better about asking you to sign my yearbook now, I didn’t know if I was being weird or not.”

“For future reference, we like weird here,” the brunette said in a stage whisper, leaning down to get her own yearbook out of her backpack. “Besides, I kinda wanted to ask you to sign mine too so we’re even.”

The girls exchanged books and quickly got to signing, aware that Gareth was pretending like he wasn’t in the same vehicle as them. He didn’t want to turn up the music and rudely drown their conversation, so he distracted himself by drumming on Eddie’s dashboard with two pens, wondering what on Earth had Chrissy done for Dottie that made her so thankful towards the cheerleader. Dottie grabbed her nicest black pen and found an empty space under Eddie’s message. He’d written Don’t be a stranger, Chrissy the Cheery (and thank you for the advice! See you at the wedding) next to a crude drawing in blue ink of a girl with a ponytail lifting one pompon and doing devil horns with the other hand.

After thinking about what she wanted to say to the cheerful blonde, Dottie settled on a nice simple message that was cryptic enough should anyone else read it, but also something that conveyed just how truly grateful she was for this new found friendship. Have a fantastic summer!, the note opened. Thank you for everything. Call me whenever! At the end, right next to her name and a little daisy, she wrote down her phone number. The word everything was underlined twice. When she gave it back to her rightful owner and saw the message Chrissy had written on pink ink on her yearbook, she let out a girly giggle. It was so lovely to get to know you, have a good summer! Let’s hang out soon, it read. Below, Chrissy had also written down her phone number. Both teens looked at each other with a knowing grin and hugged, not paying any attention to the metalhead who’d put them on each other’s path hopping onto the driver’s seat of his van, hair damp from the rain.

“Aw, aren’t you two cute,” Eddie said, grinning. “Did she sign it?”

“We both did,” Chrissy said, returning the smile. “How were the sales?”

“Great! I’m selling my last bit on Thursday and then I’m keeping the rest for myself. A man’s gotta have his vices.”

“What a shame,” the blonde shook her head. “Hawkins is losing its nicest dealer to the workforce.”

“I’m the only dealer you know, sweetheart.”

“Because you’re the nicest one, keep up! I’m gonna have to buy from sleazy dudes now, ugh,” she said while she gathered her things to leave.

“You should have enough to last you until you leave for your pre-season with what I sold you today,” he frowned, concerned that every time Chrissy bought from him, the amounts she asked for kept increasing.

“Yeah, maybe,” she said and shrugged, sliding the door van open and hopping off. “See you around, guys!”

The three of them watched her jog towards the school with her cardigan draped over her head again, her petite figure losing definition in the haze. Eddie clicked on his seatbelt - a habit he’d picked up since he started driving Dottie around - and pulled out of the school’s parking lot, winking once at the girl on his backseat when he put his hand on Gareth’s headrest to reverse into the open road. Dottie rolled her eyes at him, picking up her knitting needles once again. Gareth stared at the school building until it disappeared from sight before he turned to his friends.

“I still can’t believe Chrissy Cunningham is not only super nice to us freaks, but also smokes weed,” he said, making both of the other teens laugh.

James Burke did not think that moving to the town he had grown up in as a quiet wallflower would result in an exponential growth in his daughter’s social life, but truth be told, he wasn’t exactly upset about it. Before packing up her whole life and facing the Big Drive to Hawkins, Dottie had never once gone out for the night on a weekday, much less during the school year. But James had agreed to it, and Dottie had promised to be home before midnight, which brought them to the living room where the tired father sat in his armchair and amusedly watched his daughter pace the entirety of the room swinging her arms around with each step she took.

“You’re gonna burn a hole in the carpet, honey.”

“Good. This carpet gives me allergies.”

James chuckled, following her with his eyes as she padded her way to the window once more and peered outside yet again despite knowing that she would hear Eddie’s van first before seeing it, as per usual. She sighed dramatically and resumed her pacing, glancing at the clock on the wall anxiously. Mildly embarrassed upon noticing that her friends were still perfectly on schedule, she took a few deep breaths and tried to get her emotions in control before their arrival.

“You know you can call me if you get there and want to leave, right?”

“I know, Dad,” she rolled her eyes at him. “Stop offering to pick me up from places, you know Eddie’s gonna drive me back whenever I ask.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t exactly comfort me as much as you think it does, honey. That van looks like it’s gonna die on him at any second.”

“Oh, come on,” Dottie argued. “He loves that van, he takes good care of it.”

“The fumes that come out of that thing say otherwise, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since he’s gonna be a mechanic and all now.”

And speak of the devil, thought James, as the aforementioned smoky van appeared down the street while playing loud metal music. Dottie hurried to grab her keys and a jacket, ready to bolt out of the door and get to the damn dive bar already, but her Dad insisted on walking with her outside to say hi. Eddie and Gareth waved at them as they approached, lowering the music so they could greet the older man properly.

“Good evening, boys,” James said, hands on his hips in a typical Dad pose but with a friendly smile on his face. “How are we feeling? Excited for the show?”

“Hell yeah!” Gareth said, grinning. “We’re gonna kill it, the setlist is awesome tonight.”

“You let him add an Anthrax song to it, didn’t you?” Dottie laughed knowingly, sliding the side door open and climbing in.

“We’re closing with Metal Thrashing Mad,” Gareth looked at her with an expression of triumph.

“Sounds like it’s gonna be a riot,” James chuckled and turned to his daughter. “Have fun, but don’t get into too much trouble. Midnight, okay?”

“I’ll get back here by 11, sir, I promise,” Eddie said, nodding once.

“Midnight’s okay, Ed,” the eldest Burke said, putting his trust in the young man’s hands; Eddie nodded again in understanding. “Have a good show!”

The man patted the side of the van as a goodbye and headed back inside, privately enjoying how much he could make Eddie squirm with just a few well placed words. He liked Eddie, he really did - he was polite, unapologetically himself, resourceful, kind. He loved his friends and wore his heart on his sleeve. And he loved Dottie, that much was clear to literally everyone that surrounded the teens. James didn’t know what the situation was like between them at the moment, but he could tell something had shifted based on recent interactions he’d witnessed. In his opinion, there seemed to be some sort of deeper connection between them since that fateful party they had gone to just a handful of days earlier, but James had to admit, albeit a little reluctantly, that even though he had been on the lookout for signs of a romantic relationship developing, not a lot had truly changed.

Eddie and Dottie had always been unusually close even upon first meeting, that was an undeniable fact about their friendship. It was hard to pinpoint if anything romantic had blossomed between them when Eddie had been calling her darling since the very first moment he laid eyes on her, or when Dottie gravitated towards him at any given moment, even in rooms filled with other people. Their hugs, while always having lasted longer than a regular friendly hug, were chaste and innocent, their main purpose always to comfort and to reassure. Eddie’s hands always stayed above her waist, not even so much as accidentally dropping to her hips in James’ presence, and any compromising position he’d found them in was at best playful, certainly never inappropriate.

It wasn’t that James was particularly concerned with the nature of the teens’ relationship; after all, he had been a teen himself once, he wasn’t an idiot. If anything was bound to happen, they weren’t going to ask for his permission beforehand. No, his worries were more about the knowledge that Dottie and Eddie dating while having the same group of friends could make a potential fall out incredibly painful for both of them, and the poor man was just desperately trying to protect his daughter as best as he could. He already felt like he had failed her once, he couldn’t let her down again. And yet, despite being cognizant of the dangers ahead, James found himself trusting Eddie because if Dottie trusted him, how could he not trust that his daughter knew better than her own Dad did about the matters of her heart?

“Okay, be honest, guys. How do I look?” Dottie asked, shoving half her body between the front seats so they could look at her better at the first stop sign.

“You look gorgeous, princess,” said Eddie.

“Like a toddler,” said Gareth, at the same time.

“Gareth, what the fuck,” Eddie deadpanned, swatting at his friend’s chest.

“What? She’s lucky they don’t ask for IDs,” he said, doubling down.

“You don’t tell a girl she looks like a toddler when she dresses up, you asshat,” Eddie said. “See, this is why you can’t get a girlfriend, you know nothing about women.”

“How would you know any better, you don’t have a girlfriend either!” Gareth retorted, making Eddie snort. If he only knew…

“You two bicker like an old married couple, did you know that?” Dottie said, settling back on her seat.

“That’s because we are,” Eddie joked, grabbing Gareth’s hand and giving him a kiss on the knuckles, making his friend yank his arm out of his grasp while the older boy laughed loudly.

Everyone was in good spirits as they journeyed to The Hideout, but whether she wanted them to or not, Gareth’s words made Dottie pause. Both boys had told her dark, casual clothes would be okay when she’d asked them for advice, so she’d gone with a striped dark blue and white t-shirt and black jean overalls, her trusty Reeboks matching Eddie’s keeping her feet comfortable. She glanced at both of her friends through the rearview mirror and compared her clothes to theirs, but that would never be a fair fight: they were dressed for the stage, not to be a spectator like she was. Gareth was wearing a loose shirt with the sleeves cut out, leather bracelets with spikes decorating each wrist along with his usual rings perched on his fingers. He had a flannel tied at his hip and his jeans were incredibly distressed, something that his Mom hadn’t been too happy about when she found out he’d ripped them himself on their driveway with a sharp rock. Eddie sat next to him, tapping on the steering wheel lightly as they talked about the setlist, looking like a vision straight out of his wildest rockstar dreams in acid wash denim and chains. Admittedly, his eyeliner did look terribly smudged, but he more than made up for it with enthusiasm and a giddy grin etched permanently into his features.

There was no comparison and there would never be one. Dottie simply didn’t fit in. They were undiscovered rockstars, masters of their craft who had poured blood, sweat and tears into a yet unfulfilled dream, and she was just the high school friend who was lucky enough to meet them before they blew up. She tried to be excited for them, to join in on the fun, but all she could think about was how Eddie was destined for bigger things than to be chained to an elementary school teacher and the white picket fence she had always dreamed of when she was living in a tiny apartment with her Dad back in New York.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Eddie pulled into The Hideout’s parking lot next to Donny’s car, Gareth excitedly hollering out of the co-pilot’s window to get their friends’ attention. Donny took one last drag of his cigarette before throwing it to the side, and hurried to meet them along with Jeff, hugs and pats on their backs exchanged before immediately busying themselves unloading both vehicles. Dottie was quick to mask her discomfort by helping out; a task that forced her to stay focused was always a welcome distraction for her worried brain. The boys chatted loudly, their tired grunts filling the eerily empty parking lot as they moved heavy amps and Gareth’s drum kit into the bar through a service door to the side of the building, leaving Dottie to trail behind them carrying cables and drumsticks.

“Hey, you okay?” Jeff asked, taking a mic stand from her hands, back pressed to the metal service door to keep it open.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m just nervous,” she lied, her smile failing to reach her eyes. “Never been to a place like this before.”

“No one here bites, I promise,” he nudged her shoulder. “And if they do, we’ll fight them for you. You’re with the band, you’re a VIP now.”

“My heroes,” she said, pretending to swoon.

The small exchange might have gone unnoticed had Eddie not become finely attuned to the girl’s emotions even when she wasn’t sharing them out loud. Something wasn’t right, he was sure of it, and he was determined to find out what it was before their set started. He wanted her to enjoy this, to see him doing one of the things he loved most, to let her into a space that up until now had been sacred for him. The Hideout’s little stage wasn’t the Madison Square Garden, but with her in the crowd, he felt like it was the most important show he’d ever play in his entire life.

“I really like your shirt,” Dottie was telling Donny about his Iron Maiden tee, holding his bass for him as he searched for a pedal that had gotten lost in the back of his car. “The black makes your eyes pop out.”

“But I need my eyes,” he whined jokingly.

“You know what I mean, dumbass,” she laughed, softly hitting his leg with her sneaker.

“I was gonna wear something else actually but I couldn’t find it,” he said, frowning at his car’s messy floor. “I have this Halloween shirt- aha!”

“Did you find it?”

“Yep, it was under the mat,” he climbed out of the car and pulled his pants up higher. “My ass wasn’t showing, was it?”

“I would never let you show your ass in public,” Dottie said, giving him back his bass. “We got everything? What do we do now?”

“Yeah, we just need to set up and-”

“Hey man, can you start without us?” Eddie asked, sitting on the back of his open van and patting his pockets for his cigarettes. “Need her help with something.”

“Uh- yeah, sure,” Donny said, looking at both of them suspiciously and noticing how Dottie appeared to be as equally confused as he was. “Don’t take too long.”

Donny hoisted his bass case over his shoulder and disappeared into the building, throwing one last look at them for good measure. While Eddie busied himself lighting up a cig, Dottie shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. What on Earth could Eddie want her help with right now? Was he… was he going to tell her to leave? Had he realized this was no place for her and didn’t want anyone to see she was with them? Or with him?

“Come ‘ere,” Eddie said, widening his legs so she could stand between them. “You gonna tell me what’s going on or do I gotta tickle it out of you?”

“You know I don’t like tickles.”

“Then I guess you’re gonna have to spill, don’t you, princess?” he flicked some of his ash to the side and wrapped an arm around her hips to bring her closer. “What is it, huh? My eyeliner’s that bad you can’t even look at me?”

“No,” she muttered, lips curling into a resigned pout. “You look pretty.”

“I look like shit. People might confuse me with a raccoon.”

“A pretty raccoon,” the right corner of her mouth lifted into a tentative smile and he took that as a win.

“If it’s not my eyeliner, what’s bothering you then? You wanna go home? ‘Cause I’ll drive you back right now if you want me to, just say the word.”

“No, no,” she quickly shook her head, curls bouncing around but her eyes were still stuck to his knees. “I wanna see you play.”

“Baby, I know something’s upsetting you. Talk to me, come on. We’ve been good at that lately,” he pleaded, thumb sneaking into the side of her overalls and under her shirt to rub comforting circles on her skin.

“It’s just-,” Dottie huffed, crossing her arms and curling on herself. “I feel weird, okay? I look like an idiot.”

“What are you talking about?” Eddie frowned.

“Ed, I’m wearing overalls.”

“And?”

“What do you mean, and? You look like a fucking rockstar and I’m some random toddler following you around. I don’t fit in, Gareth’s right.”

“Okay, first of all, fuck Gareth,” she opened her mouth to argue but he beat her to it. “No, no, fuck Gareth. He doesn’t know shit about fashion, never trust anything he says, okay? He used to wear polos every day before he met me, you knew that? He can’t judge anyone. And I love your overalls. You look adorable in them.”

“But I don’t want to look adorable!” Dottie stomped on the ground, which only furthered his point. “You look so badass, why couldn’t I look like that?”

“You wanna look badass? I’ll give you any of my shirts next time, I promise,” Eddie pulled her closer until she uncrossed her arms and rested them on his shoulders. “But don’t listen to that dumbass. I love how you dress. I really fuckin’ do, babe.”

“Yeah? The toddler thing gets you going?” she asked, melting under his earnest eyes.

“Nah, that’s all you, darling,” he stretched himself up to kiss her gently. “You get me going. And you always fit in with me, alright?”

“Okay.”

“Nope, come on, you gotta say it.”

“Eddie.”

“I’m waiting,” he sang.

“You’re insufferable sometimes,” she rolled her eyes, but this time her smile was much more genuine. “Fine. I fit in with you.”

“Always.”

“Good,” he took one last drag of his cigarette and threw it away, lifting himself up to close the van doors and direct into the bar. “We’re gonna talk about this later though. I know you’re still thinking about it.”

“It’s scary how much you know me,” she mused, leaning onto his side for courage as they walked to the front door.

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t pay attention to you?” he said, opening the door to let her in.

Boyfriend. He had called himself her boyfriend. They hadn’t discussed what they were yet; Eddie was adamant about asking her out properly on Graduation Day but it felt good to hear that he knew what he meant to her. That he wanted the same thing she did, even if her anxious heart got in the way sometimes. Dottie was so sure he’d get bored of her once he realized how truly boring she was, but failed to consider that in all their months together as friends, Eddie had learned to love their differences and cherished them deeply. Why would he want someone who was just like him? He was an idiot in his opinion, he’d hate it if she was equally impulsive, messy and brash as he was. She was soft where he was rough, logical where he was a dreamer, practical where he was ignorant. And in turn Eddie felt capable where she was inexperienced, bold where she was shy, and calm where she was nervous. Two puzzle pieces that are cut the exact same way never fit, and Eddie was confident in the knowledge that they were alike, yet different where it mattered the most. It was just a matter of time until she got to see things like he did, and he’d be damned if he didn’t help her get there faster.

“Dave! What’s up?” Eddie hollered as he approached the bar, a bald man with a bushy beard greeted him with a big smile.

“Hey, Ed! The guys told me the big news, I’m proud of you, kid,” Dave said, putting down his rag and a glass to pat Eddie’s back over the counter. “You brought a new friend today?”

“Thanks, man. Yeah, this is Dottie,” he introduced them. “Dot, Dave, he’s the owner - Dave, Dot. Treat her right, okay? She’s our manager.”

“No shit,” Dave laughed. “How did that happen?”

“I got them a gig in Indy next month and they offered me the job,” Dottie said, slipping onto a bar stool next to Eddie. “We should talk business sometime.”

“That’s my girl,” Eddie beamed, squeezing her hand before walking backwards to the stage. “Give her anything she wants, I’ll cover her tab!”

“So, you’re Eddie’s girl, huh,” Dave said, eyes glinting.

“I guess I am,” Dottie smiled, before her expression dropped in realization. “Could you- We’re not, like- The guys-”

“Secret’s safe with me, doll,” he winked at her. “I knew something was up when Ed started adding ballads to their setlist. Now, what’s your poison? On the house.”

“Would root beer be an acceptable choice?” she asked, cheeks burning under her skin.

“Depends. You want ice cream with it?” he threw his rag over his shoulder.

“I’ll never say no to a little vanilla.”

“Attagirl. I can see why he likes you,” Dave said, and disappeared down the kitchen door in search of a scoop of ice cream.

Dottie turned around in her stool to look at her friends happily setting up for their show, palpable excitement coursing through their veins. Gareth was hunched over his drum kit, tightening and loosening the skin until it was perfect while he heard the story Donny was retelling, Eddie laughing loudly and Jeff cringing while uncoiling a cable. They looked happy, barely controlled energy bouncing around the room much to everyone’s amusement. Two older men sat in a corner of the bar, mugs filled with frothy beer and a bowl of peanuts shared between them - they lifted up their drinks and smiled at her in acknowledgement when she glanced their way. Dave was funny, charming and a little bit kooky, all the right ingredients for a good bartender. He kept Dottie busy by telling her stories about every regular that was in the bar, and introduced her to the two men as “the boys’ boss, so no funny business with her”. Rudy and B.B. ate it up, calling her bosslady in all further interactions, asking her about their friendship with Corroded Coffin and telling her silly stories they had collected about her friends over their years as The Hideout’s only band with a permanent slot.

It was clear to Dottie that this was a family built on routine and comradery. They had nicknames for each other, knew about beverage preferences and medical conditions, asked about parents, wives and children. B.B. was all too glad to have someone new to show off the pictures he kept in his wallet, his five grandchildren looking up at Dot from the glossy paper as he shared names and little anecdotes about them proudly. When it was time for Corroded Coffin to finally start playing, everyone paid attention and even cheered when the first few notes of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid began. Dottie sang along to every single word that came out of Jeff’s mic, thinking about that very first time she’d seen them play in Gareth’s garage. This felt equally warm, homey, and handcrafted. A labor of love.

Corroded Coffin was a sight that begged to be seen. They were loud and unapologetic; they crooned to the outcasts, the freaks, the weirdos. Lee with his prosthetic leg and handlebar mustache, Rudy with his white hair and beer belly, Shonda with her leather vest and scary-looking motorbike parked outside. These drunkards were their very first fans, and they enjoyed the Tuesday night gig as much as anyone could enjoy first row seats to a Metallica show in a big arena. During a water break between songs, Lee asked for a Judas Priest song and the boys indulged him, Gareth immediately launching into a complex beat that made him break one of his drumsticks in half at the end. He looked the happiest Dottie had ever seen him.

The half hour show came to a close, and Corroded Coffin said their goodbyes with pure elation and sweat dripping down their faces. Dottie wanted to help them load everything back into the cars, but Shonda kept her busy and glued to her stool talking about New York and the best food places she had encountered on her travels. If Dottie recognized some of the mentioned spots as known queer hangouts she’d always wanted to go to but couldn’t because she was underage, she said nothing, but the knowledge only endeared the older lady more to her. When the guys had finished putting everything away, they surrounded Dottie at the bar and Dave presented them with a beer each. Yes, it was illegal to serve alcohol to minors, but no one cared. They’d earned those fair and square, and what was the big issue with a little toast between friends to the Hellfire Class of ‘86 who would be graduating in just a few short days?

“Since when do you go dry after a show, Ed?” Dave said, grabbing the bottle Eddie had pushed back into his hand.

“I’m driving her around tonight,” Eddie said, nodding towards Dottie who was lost in conversation with Jeff. “Her Dad might kill me if we get pulled over and I’m drunk, and I actually like being alive.”

“She’s got you whipped,” B.B. commented, making the rest of the older men laugh while Eddie’s ears burned red at the light teasing.

“Good for her. Someone had to do it at some point,” Rudy said, lifting his frothy beer to his lips, and truth be told, Eddie was more than happy to admit they were right.

Dottie was not expecting Eddie to pull over halfway between her house and Gareth’s after dropping him and his drum kit off, but it soon became clear that he wasn’t about to let her go to bed without talking about what had happened earlier. He was still a little jittery from the show, adrenaline starting to run off now that they were surrounded by the quiet of the night in a deserted street, truly alone for the first time all day. After reaching to click her seatbelt off, he helped her crawl sideways onto his lap, resting her weight half on him and half on the driver’s door, legs draped over the center console and stretching towards the co-pilot’s seat. Despite the fact that he’d just played a 30 minute set and still felt a little bit damp with sweat from his performance, he took the time to bask in the sense of calm that washed over him. This is the best part of my day, he thought, lazily pressing kisses to the side of her head as she played with his rings, a dazed smile on her face.

“I fuckin’ love you,” he whispered, pushing her hair behind her ear and making her squirm in delight when he pressed another kiss to her temple.

“I love you too. You’re my favorite rockstar,” she muttered back, nosing his cheek.

“You had a good time?”

“The best. Everyone was so nice.”

“They better be,” he said dramatically, lifting his hand into a menacing fist. “Or else I’d have to kill them.”

“Stop,” she laughed, arms wrapping around him. “I’m sorry if I worried you earlier. I was being silly and got too into my own head.”

“You gonna tell me what that was about? And don’t say it was about your overalls, because I know it wasn’t,” he lifted her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles gently.

“I don’t know, I guess… I was just thinking about the future, and-”

“Uh-oh. Is this it? Are you breaking up with me? Shit, I knew that old dog Rudy was gonna take you away from me.”

“Shut up,” Dottie slapped his chest lightly as she laughed and he pretended to be in excruciating pain, slumping against his seat. “I… I was just wondering if there’s gonna be a place for me, y’know? In your future? And I got upset thinking that maybe there wouldn’t be.”

“Why would you think that?” Eddie asked, uncharacteristically serious.

“I mean… I dunno,” she admitted. “You’re gonna be a huge rockstar and I’m just, like… your boring high school sweetheart that wants to become a teacher. Is that really what you want for your life?”

“Yes. I want you.”

“Eddie, I’m being serious.”

“Yeah, me too,” his hand came up to hold her face. “I’m not gonna become a rockstar, Dot. That ship sailed a long time ago.”

“You’re only twenty-”

“It’s not about my age. Jeff’s leaving Hawkins and he’s gonna be a fancy businessman with a- a fuckin’ pacifist non-profit org or whatever people do in West Virginia,” she snorted at his words and he continued. “Gareth’s probably gonna become the greatest studio percussionist in the world for all we know, and Donny has his family’s restaurant to take care of. We’re all going separate ways, and I don’t wanna do the rockstar thing without them. Like, that’s my band, y’know? I’m not gonna go solo, it’s all of us or no one.”

“I get that, I do but… I just don’t want to be the reason you give up on your dreams,” she admitted. “You’re gonna resent me if you do, and I don’t want you to wake up one day and realize that you are unhappy and you hate me.”

“I could never hate you and I’m not giving up on anything because of you, darling, I promise. Is it really that hard to believe that I want a normal, peaceful life with you?” he shrugged.

“But you hate normal.”

“No, I don’t. I thought I did but… I can’t be hanging onto a maybe forever, babe. I can’t do that to Wayne. I want to help him out, have a good job so I can pay for things around the house, move out before I turn 30. Give him back his goddamn bedroom, for fuck’s sake,” Eddie scoffed bitterly, thinking about his poor Uncle’s back after years of sleeping on that shitty fold-out bed. “I want to make his life easier. He deserves that much.”

“But you could help him out even more if you became a rockstar. You could- you could buy him a big house, and he wouldn’t have to work anymore, he could just retire,” Dottie pressed on. “Didn’t you want to get out of Hawkins? Travel the world?”

“Yeah, but I think I’d miss you too much if I was away on the road all the time. I’m already suffering about you going to Michigan and that’s only three hours away. I can’t get on a tour bus and not see you for eight months, you know I’ll die if you don’t kiss me regularly,” he joked.

“What makes you think I wouldn’t be right there with you on the tour bus if you asked?” she joked back but her voice was so, so earnest.

“Darling, I could never do that to you. I could never ask you to give up on a full ride scholarship for me, fuck. You earned that shit, you have to go and get your degree so I can brag about how smart you are to everyone I talk to.”

“But who’s gonna keep the groupies away from you if I’m not there?” she whispered dramatically.

“I’ll chase them out, let the guys have all of them. Got the best and only groupie I need right here,” he squeezed her to make the remnants of her insecurities go away before kissing her forehead.

“I’m not a groupie though, I’m your manager,” Dottie reminded him. “I’ll have you know, Dave and I are gonna discuss business soon.”

“Yeah? You gonna look out for us? Read all our contracts before we sign them?” Eddie played along, smirking up at her.

“I’ll get you moved from Tuesdays to Thursdays, you’ll see.”

“God, you’re so hot when you know what you want.”

“Eddie!”

“What, my girl is the smartest manager in the world and I can’t find that hot? Fuckin’ sue me then,” he laughed and leaned in to kiss her, feeling incredibly lucky about the fact that she chased his lips for more when he pulled away. “I’m being serious, though. I know you don’t believe me when I say I don’t want that rockstar shit anymore, and this is way too brave of me considering we haven’t even gone on our first official date yet, but… I dunno. I kinda really like the idea of coming back home after a long day at work and getting to hold you like this. I used to think having a normal life was so lame because I never had it and now it’s all I can think about.”

Eddie had told himself throughout his whole childhood that he didn’t want to live like his classmates. He didn’t want to have family dinners every night like they did, because it meant he would have had to eat vegetables like broccoli and carrots instead of whatever unhealthy snack he could make for himself while his Dad was out of the house for the night. He didn’t want to have perfect attendance at school, because he liked whenever he could sleep in until late before “going on an adventure” on Wyatt’s Good Days. He liked spending his summers with his Grandma, stuffing his face full of ice cream and pie, and he liked when Wayne had a few days off from his job as a trucker and returned to Hawkins bringing dumb trinkets he had probably bought at a gas station on his way home, but felt like treasures to the youngest Munson. Eddie had told himself he didn’t want anything more than what he had throughout his childhood, because Wyatt said whining was for pussies and for girls, and his son wasn’t either of those things, are you?

It wasn’t until Eddie moved in with Wayne that he found out he really liked carrots because they were unexpectedly sweet and that he didn’t like grapefruit because it was bitter. He didn’t skip a single day of school for a month and his teacher put a gold star next to his name on the wall. His clothes were now always clean, and he didn’t have to wash ketchup stains in the school’s bathroom anymore to hide them from his Dad because his shirt would be hanging from the clothesline the next day like the offending red splat had never been there in the first place. Eddie thought that living in a real house was bullshit, because he lived in a trailer now and the trailer park was fun. He could feed and pet the strays and go to the playground whenever he wanted, and the people who lived there said hi to him when they saw him collecting flat rocks to skip at the lake when Wayne took him fishing on weekends, and sometimes the old lady next door would give him a bite of watermelon if he asked nicely.

But now Eddie was 20, and he wasn’t scared of admitting he wanted more. He wanted a water heater that didn’t randomly die on him, and a bedroom without mold stains, and Wayne to have the privacy he so very much deserved after 12 years of sleeping in the living room. He wanted a garage like Gareth’s, a backyard like Jeff’s, and a loud but loving family like Donny’s. And whenever he thought about those things lately, he always ended up dreaming about lying on a big comfy couch after a hot shower with his sleepy girlfriend pressed to his side and the decadent smell of a roast cooking away in the oven. No rush, no worries. Just love.

“I think about it too,” Dottie said quietly, jostling him out of his cozy fantasy.

“You do?” he asked, surprised.

“I never had a house until we moved here, I’ve always lived in small apartments before. And it’s not like that’s a bad thing, because it isn’t! I’m really grateful I always had a roof over my head. But I used to dream a lot about having a house like my grandparents when I was younger, and… I don’t know. When I think about it now you are there too. I know, I know it’s a lot, we haven’t even, like, talked about-”

“No, no, that-,” Eddie said, an unfamiliar warmth spreading in his chest. “That sounds really nice, darling. Tell me more? About our future house?”

“Well… it changes all the time. When I see something I like, I add it so it’s always different,” she said, cheeks warm at his soft gaze. “Like, it didn’t have a front porch until I met you, but now I know I definitely want one.”

“Why did you add a porch when you met me?”

“Because you have one! I love it when we sit outside when it’s rainy, it feels really peaceful. And also I think it’s really cute that Wayne waits for you there sometimes. I… I kinda wanna do that.”

“You wanna wait for me to come home on our front porch?” Eddie asked, grip tightening around her waist.

“Mhm,” she buried her head on his neck, closing her eyes like she could see themselves in the future. “We should get a swing, I can make cushions for it. And plant fruit trees in the backyard.”

“We could set up the basement to host D&D nights,” he continued. “And a dog. We should definitely get a dog.”

“Yes. A big dog.”

“A big black dog, and we can name him Ozzy,” he smiled.

“Aw, I wanted to name him Bilbo,” she pouted.

“You can’t name a black dog Bilbo, that’s a name for a brown dog,” Eddie argued.

“We can have two dogs then, one black and one brown.”

“That’s too much, we need space for the kids.”

“K-kids?” Dottie lifted her head and stared at him like he’d just grown two heads.

“I thought you wanted kids?” he was confused.

“I do, I just… I didn’t think you wanted kids,” she admitted. “And we’re still so young, it feels strange to talk about that.”

“I mean, I definitely don’t want kids right now but maybe in like… five years-”

“Ten,” she said, in a tone that left no room to argue.

“Ten years sounds great. We could have kids in ten years, right? I’m not gonna be a loser by then.”

“Eddie, you’re not a loser,” she frowned.

“Wait until after graduation to make big statements like that, babe.”

“You’re not a loser. You’re the best rockstar mechanic in the world and Ozzy, the kids and I love you.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, wiping his face with his hand. “Princess, you can’t shit like that or I’m gonna ask you to marry me before our first date.”

“Ed?” Dottie said nervously; his hand fell from his face to her thighs and he looked at her. “Are we… are we moving too fast? We haven’t even been on a real date and we’re already talking about, like, marriage and living together-”

“We’re just goofin’ around, babe,” he said, grabbing her hand. “We don’t have to do anything until we’re ready. You gotta go to Michigan first and get your degree, and I have to move out of Wayne’s, we have time. I’m just, uh, putting my cards on the table early so you can yell at me if I start being stupid. That alright with you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s alright with me,” she smiled back at him.

“Besides, everyone at The Hideout knows you’re my girl now. That’s bigger than marriage - if we break up they’ll take your side.”

“Am I?”

“Huh?”

“Am I your girl?” Dottie asked, knowing the answer but still wanting to hear it from his lips.

“You know you are,” he pulled her into a kiss before singing softly. “My girl, talkin’ ‘bout my girl… my girl!”

“You’re so silly,” she giggled, noses bumping in the dark.

“But I’m your silly. You’re mine and I’m yours, okay? So no more getting upset at whatever bullshit Gareth says. I’ll kick his ass.”

“It’s not his fault. My brain just hates me sometimes.”

“I’ll fight your brain,” he said, making her giggle again. “You’re It for me, darling. We fit in together. It’s just that easy.”

“Easy,” she repeated.

Eddie had told himself a lot of lies growing up, but the biggest one was that he didn’t want a normal, quiet life, because that was lame and he wasn’t going to conform to the system like everyone else did. He understood now that maybe, just maybe, having the most regular, happy, love-filled life he could get with his high school sweetheart turned elementary school teacher and a big black dog named Ozzy, in a house with a swing on the front porch, enough rooms for children that didn’t exist yet, and a basement where he could DM as many campaigns as he could think of, would probably be the biggest act of defiance he could do in the eyes of a town who thought he would never be deserving of the common luxuries everyone else got to have without having to fight for them.

taglist: @munsonology @kurdtbean @every1lovesanunderdog @eg-dr3amer3

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