#courtesy of Uncle Wayne

[corroded-hellfire]

AYW!Eddie and Steve debauchery--I cannot get enough of those idiots. What was their friendship like before they each got married and had kids?

You are all in for a wild ride with this one. All humor is courtesy of @munson-blurbs as usual. Please enjoy the chaos that has sprung from our minds!

Warnings: alcohol consumption, stripping, dumb boys

Words: 2.2k

[As You Wish masterlist]

Eddie had originally never thought he’d have more than one bachelor party in his life because he hadn’t planned on ever getting married more than once. But when the first wife was Brittany, it’s no surprise that marriage didn’t last.

This second bachelor party he’s having is already way more fun and is with people he loves—not that he doesn’t love his high school friends with all his heart. But nothing could beat palling around with his sons. 

Wayne sits next to Eddie in the passenger’s seat of the car, while Steve is in the back, squished between Ryan and Luke. The steakhouse they’re going to isn’t far from the apartment and then they’ll be headed to the bowling alley for some friendly competition amongst them. 

“This is nice,” Luke says, folding his hands and relaxing them behind his head, “just us guys.”

Eddie chuckles to himself as he pulls into the restaurant’s parking lot. As insane as his first bachelor party had been, it didn’t have the humor that Luke would undoubtedly inject into this evening. 

“I would like to order the chicken fingers. Not the ones on the kid’s menu, the ones on the adult menu,” Eddie’s youngest son informs the waitress when she comes to take their orders. Eddie half expects the precocious child to wink at the waitress or call her “doll.”

Eddie can’t stop smiling. Being out with his kids, uncle, and best friend for a nice evening to celebrate his upcoming marriage. To you. The girl of his dreams, the love of his life. How could he not be ecstatic? 

Even his bowling game gets off to a good start until Wayne begins to wipe the floor with him. For an old man with arthritis, he’s impressively skilled at bowling. 

After Luke’s third gutterball in a row, he huffs a sigh of annoyance and eyes the arcade in the back corner of the bowling alley with interest. Lights flash and whistles blow from the small room, calling like a siren to any child within its grasp. After his big brother has his turn and only manages to knock down two pins, Luke recruits him in asking their dad if they can go into the arcade. 

“Sure,” Eddie says. He pulls a twenty out of his wallet and raises his eyebrows at the boys. “This is for you two to share. Evenly. I don’t want any arguing. Capiche?”

“Capiche,” the brothers agree in unison. Ryan takes the twenty from his father and the two kids make their way towards a basketball arcade game, their bowling shoes squeaking on the polished floor beneath them. 

Steve eyes the bowling alley around them, his hands on his hips as Eddie bowls a frame behind him. It’s fairly empty, save for a bowling team at the other end of the lanes. Some old 80’s pop is playing dully over the speakers and the scent of beer and French fries stains the air. 

“This sure looks a whole lot different than your first bachelor party,” Steve remarks. 

Wayne raises an eyebrow at Eddie as he comes back over towards the ball return, keeping an eye out for the twelve-pound blue marbled ball he’s been using. 

“Was that the time this knucklehead—” the older man starts to ask, mirth lighting his face.

“Oh yeah,” Eddie says with a bark of laughter. “It sure was.”

November 1988

The Hideout is the same as it always is: dimly lit, every surface sticky with spilled beer, music crackling through ancient speakers. Tonight, however, there’s a liveliness that isn’t usually present. 

“Another shot, Harrington?” Jeff calls out, raising two tiny glasses filled with tequila. “Or are you pussing out on us?”

Steve grins and accepts the drink, though he’s already a bit wobbly on his feet. “You wish.” He jabs a playful finger towards the guitarist. “Shot for shot? Winner gets to be the best man.”

“You’re on, man!”

Dustin rolls his eyes, the beer in his hand giving him a false sense of maturity. That, and the wispy mustache he’d been trying to grow out to avoid being carded at the bar. No one had the heart to tell him that The Hideout would probably serve bourbon to a baby.

He leans over and whispers to Eddie. “They don’t know that you already asked me to be the best man?”

“Nah, but don’t say anything. This is entertaining.” Eddie watches as the two men throw back shot after shot, taking a sip of his own rum and Coke. 

Steve is ultimately the winner, throwing a fist up in victory. “Looks like I’m the best man,” he gloats, cackling as he practically falls into the booth. 

Jeff just shakes his head, balancing on the bartop and silently chastising himself for the loss. 

None of the men pay attention when the door swings open. It’s only when the person speaks that their ears perk up. 

“Is there an Eddie Munson here?”

Eddie swivels around to see a police officer standing there with her arms crossed. She looks serious, determined, and he combs through any recent activities that would land him in the slammer. 

He tries to keep his composure, clearing his throat before saying, “I’m Eddie Munson.”

The officer smiles, sauntering over to him with a stride that Eddie had never seen from a cop before. It isn’t until she’s standing in front of him that he notices the way her cleavage spills out of her low-cut top and the high heels that would render her unable to chase after a real criminal. 

Oh, hell yeah. 

“I’m afraid you’ve been a bad boy, Eddie,” she coos, tilting his chin up with the pad of her forefinger. “And bad boys get arrested.” She whips out a pair of black fuzzy handcuffs and gestures for him to drag his chair to the center of the room, to which he immediately obliges. 

“Okay, which one of you bastards did this?” He says with a giant smirk, only to be met with a disapproving tut from the dancer. 

“Eyes on Vanilla, big boy.” She presses a button on her portable CD player and a sensual beat fills the room. 

Eddie keeps his gaze trained on her, just as she ordered. He watches as she slowly unbuttons her tiny uniform, her bare breasts spilling out once the final button is opened. 

“I think I’m in love,” Steve says from his seat, but Eddie barely registers it. Not when he has a pair of tits in front of him. The Russians could drop an A-bomb and he wouldn’t even notice. 

Dustin’s eyes widen as Vanilla reveals her lacy black thong. “Eddie should marry her instead of Brittany,” he muses. 

“Not if I marry her first,” Steve quips back. 

Vanilla’s bare ass grinds over Eddie’s lap, and he smiles through the arousal kicking up in his pants. He never wants it to end—the dance and the attention. It vaguely occurs to him that his own fiancée doesn’t care this much about his pleasure. 

This woman is paid to care, he reminds himself. That’s why. 

With one final roll of her hips, the song ends, and Vanilla stands up. She’s flushed from all of the movement, her lipstick slightly smudged from where she’d kissed Eddie’s collarbone. 

Steve glides over to her as best as he can in his inebriated state, holding out his hand. “Hi. Steve Harrington. Former Hawkins High swim team co-captain and Keg Stand King.” He lifts her hand to his lips and kisses it. “Can I interest you in a shot?”

Enamored by his attempted chivalry, Vanilla blushes and accepts, buttoning herself back into her costume. 

“Leave it to Harrington to charm the goddamn stripper,” Eddie mumbles, but he grins as he rejoins the party. 

It only takes a few moments before Steve and Vanilla are making out in the corner, just a blur of limbs and tongues. He’s grabbing her ass so tightly that it’ll probably leave bruises, but she certainly isn’t complaining. 

“Hey, you guys!” Gareth says, flinging one arm around Eddie and the other around Jeff. “What if we do a little trial run before the big day?”

“The hell are you talking about?” Jeff asks. 

Gareth rolls his eyes as though the answer is obvious. “I’m talking about using my new ordination skills on those two lovebirds.” He gestures towards Steve and Vanilla. “That way I’m not as nervous for Eddie’s wedding.”

Too drunk to argue, Eddie shrugs. “S’okay with me if it’s okay with them.”

“Harrington! Vanilla!” Gareth yells far too loudly. “Do you two wanna get hitched?”

Steve pulls away for a second. “Hell yeah!” He calls back, and Vanilla nods emphatically. 

“Looks like we’re having a wedding!” Will chimes in. “Okay, let’s make this legit. Everyone needs a role. I’m the wedding planner, of course.” He assigns Eddie the role of Best Man and makes Mike the Maid of Honor. Dougie is the ring bearer, and Lucas volunteers to be the flower girl. 

“Erica got to do it when we were kids. Now it’s my turn,” he explains. 

Dustin starts walking Vanilla down the aisle, as Jeff plays Here Comes the Bride using the painfully out-of-tune guitar he’d snagged from the bar’s tiny green room. Steve and Gareth wait for Vanilla to join them on the Hideout stage. 

“Dearly Beloved,” Gareth begins, “we gather here to wed this man and this bombshell exotic dancer in holy matrimony…shit, we don’t have rings!”

Steve leans back to Eddie. “Is he allowed to say ‘shit?’” He mumbles. 

“Guess so. He’s not a priest.”

Gareth shakes off the snafu and continues. “It’s fine; we’ll skip that part.” He turns to Steve. “Do you, King Steve Harrington, take Vanilla to be your wife? In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do you part—Jesus, that’s dark.”

“I so fuckin’ do.”

“And Vanilla,” Gareth continues, “do you take Steve to be your husband? In sickness and health and all that other bullshit I said before?”

Vanilla smiles drunkenly. “Hell yeah, I do.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife!” Gareth announces. “You may continue dry humping in the corner. Oh, but first,” he digs into his jacket pocket and pulls out an official looking piece of paper, “I picked up this bad boy today. Let me make sure I get this right. Just need a pen…”

Dustin procures one from the bartender, and Gareth shows the newlyweds where to sign. “Oh, and we need a witness, too. Eddie, c’mere.”

Eddie shuffles over, grinning as he writes his name in sloppy cursive. He’ll have to remind Gareth to get a new license before the actual wedding, but that’s tomorrow’s problem. 

“Hey, Steve,” Eddie giggles, “your wife gave me a lap dance.”

“Shut up, Munson. I’m gonna get one later.”

“Thank God for annulments,” Steve says with a sigh. 

Eddie grabs his Styrofoam cup of Pepsi resting on the chair next to him. He holds it in the air as he says, “To ending marriages and finding actual love.”

“Hear, hear,” Steve agrees, knocking his own Styrofoam cup against his buddy’s.

Wayne takes a sip from his can of beer, shaking his head in amusement at the pair of them. 

“You weren’t with Nancy at the time, were ya?” Wayne asks.

“God, no,” Steve says, shaking his head vehemently. “Was pretty damn funny when she first found out about it though and learned that her brother was the maid of honor.”

“How the hell you got Nancy to marry you is still a mystery to me,” Eddie says with a laugh before lifting his cup up to his lips. 

Before Steve can open his mouth to defend his honor (or say the same about Eddie with you), the boys come skipping over, a few skimpy prizes in their hands that they won. The yellow slinky was sure to get lost by tomorrow and the little hot dog shaped whistle was something Eddie was already planning to “misplace.”

“Can we get ice cream?” Ryan asks as the boys switch from their bowling shoes to the sneakers they arrived in.

“That sounds all right to me,” Eddie says. 

The rental shoes all get returned at the counter and Luke takes his father’s hand as the gang walks out into the parking lot.

“What flavors are you guys gonna get?” Luke asks.

“Well,” Eddie says, a hint of a smirk on his lips, “I know Uncle Steve will go for Vanilla.”

Steve silently shoots daggers at his friend before replying, “And your dad won’t decide until he gets there because he likes the newest flavors.”

Two soft thuds have Ryan turning around. He sees both his father and uncle holding the back of their heads while his grandfather walks past them, shaking his head. 

“Ow,” Eddie complains, but Wayne just ignores him and keeps walking towards the car.

“I’m sitting in the backseat with you two,” Wayne tells the boys. “Probably more mature than these two knuckleheads—Ed, if you grab that man’s nipple one more time, I swear to God, I’ll leave you both here.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #older!eddie #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #dad!eddie #eddie munson imagine #AYW #AYWS #request

[oneforthemunny]

gone fishin' |dad!rockstar!eddie munson x nepo baby!reader|

prompt: doing my own prompt again from #munnysummergame. domestic fluff with dad!rockstar!eddie :)

🐙- domestic blurb!! any of the dad!eddie’s take their kids to stay with wayne for a mini vacation (or staycation if they’re in hawkins). I love grandpa!wayne and dad!eddie make my ovaries cry.

contains: fluff lol. that's it no warnings just sweet dad!rockstar!eddie and grandpa wayne :)

"I mean... if you want to." Eddie's grimacing face says it all, eyes darting from his uncle back to his youngest.

Vega bounced on the tips of her toes, a grinning, bubbling ball of energy, ecstatic to be back with Grandpa Wayne. The summer trip back to Hawkins, before spending the remainder of July in the Hamptons, was annual for the Munson family. Wayne traveled to you when he could, but in his older age you wanted to make it easier on him, more accommodating; the opposite of keeping baby Vega.

At four years old, she was...energetic, and that was generous. Eddie had invested in a leash after her dash down Rodeo Drive, the ever chaotic child that kept you all on your toes. While you didn't doubt that Wayne would take care of Vega, you knew he would, you worried, truthfully, if he could.

Wayne lifted a brow. "Well, of course I want to, boy." Wayne gruffed, eyes rolling over Eddie's rigid frame. Even as a grown man, a father, he could tell when he was uneasy about something, read him so easily. "You don't want me to?"

"No," Eddie shook his head. "It's not that. It's just...I mean as long as you feel up to it-"

"I feel fine, Ed." Wayne rolled his eyes with a huff.

"Yeah, Ed." Vega parroted with a far greater attitude than she should at four. You blamed Persephone, Vega was observant- copying the seventeen year old's every move.

"Vega Jo," Eddie glared at her, a stern warning glare that had her giggling, hanging on Wayne's leg, laughing maniacally at his expense. Not quite the reaction he was hoping for, only praying that the name didn't stick. Not the way 'mother fucker' had- the drop off line at the elementary school is brutal, ok?

Wayne pressed his lips together to fight back a smile. "You go on. Go to Mike's party, and I'll take care of this one." Wayne petted Vega's unruly curls, already puffing and frizzing in the Hawkins' humidity.

"Are you sure?" Eddie asked again.

Wayne huffed in annoyance. "We're goin' fishing', Miss Vega. Tell you Daddy and Mama bye." Wayne glared at Eddie lightly, pushing off the wall to head towards the garage.

"What's going on?" You emerged down the hall, lipstick in hand. "Where's Vega going?"

"Grandpa's taking me fishing!" Vega cheered excitedly, a wide toothy grin dazzling up at you.

"Is he?" You asked, brows raised and voice lilting to that high octave you fell into when you baby talked. "That sounds like so much fun, baby. Is it just you and Grandpa?"

"Yes." Vega lisped, swinging her arms back and forth by her side. "Jus' me and Grandpa. Not you, or Sicily, or Sephy, or-or Ed." She giggled wickedly.

You hid your face to hide your smile. Fuck, kids were funny sometimes. It was hard not to snicker at Vega every now and then, especially at Eddie's expense. Sicily and Sienna didn't hold the same courtesy, doubling over each other in the hallway. Eddie glared at them, turning back to Vega.

"You better stop that, Vega. Or you're not going anywhere. I'll make you come with me." Eddie pointed at her in warning.

You watched it unfold in slow motion, the same scenario. Vega's little grin melting into a sweet smile, swaying until she scampered and hugged Eddie's legs tightly.

"I jus' kiddin', Daddy." Vega grinned, chin resting against his knee to look up at him with a sweet look. She patted his calve with childlike gentleness, the final nail in his own coffin.

You could practically see Eddie melting before your eyes, reaching down to hoist her on his hip. You hid your eye roll, shaking your head lightly. Your heart swelled nonetheless. How was this the same man you met nearly twenty years ago? The same rough and mean and nasty man, who now could be so gentle, not just with you and the girls, but with himself.

Eddie gave her an exaggerated mean look. "You better be kidding, Vega Jo. Better be good for Grandpa Wayne."

"Yes," You nodded, your hand rubbing over the cotton material of her little shirt. "Look at Mommy, baby. You have to be very, very good for Grandpa, ok? Listen to him and no running, Vega. That's not a funny game at all."

"I won't." Vega sighed heavy, like she was bored of the conversation.

"Vega, I'm being serious. You gotta stay close to Grandpa. Do what he says- are you listening to me?" You watched her tip back in a backbend, Eddie's arms holding her in place on his hip. She looked up at you, upside down with a grin.

"I'll be good." Vega repeated. "I'll listen."

"Yeah, right." Kensington muttered, passing the two of you to get to the kitchen.

"Kensie." You grit, eyes cutting to the fifteen year old, so angsty and moody all the time.

"I am good!" Vega growled, scowling at her older sister with a furrowed brow, a scrunched nose- the same expression she got from you. The look on Eddie's face told you that.

"Ok," You held your hands up. "You are very good. Very, very good, and you're gonna have so much fun catching fish with Grandpa, aren't you?"

"I-I'm gonna catch a big fish, like this big Mama." Vega stretched her arms out wide, nearly smacking Eddie's nose in the process.

"Yeah? You gonna bring it home? We can fry it up tonight. Dinner's on you." Eddie teased, tickling her sides so she shrieked.

"Ready to go?" Wayne called, holding a tackle box and two fishing poles- an old, black one and a bright pink one with various Disney Princesses on it.

Vega squirmed out of Eddie's grasp, flip flops smacking against the hardwood of the lake house towards the front door. "Be good, Vega!" You shouted after her, nervously pressing your fingers to your mouth. "I have my phone, Wayne, if you need anything-"

"-I got it, darlin'. You all go have fun. Don't worry 'bout us." Wayne gave you a warm smile, shutting the door with his foot behind him.

You hesitated for a moment, looking over at Eddie carefully. "She'll be good, right? He's got it."

"Vega? No way." Eddie scoffed, shaking his head. "But he's got her. He won't let anything happen to her." You frowned, lips jutting in a pout. Eddie sighed heavily. "I'll go check on them after a little bit, ok? In case it gets too much."

***

Eddie wasn't sure if it was the heat or surely someone had slipped something in his drink. He'd felt fine, pressing a kiss to your cheek before excusing himself, climbing in the car to go check on Vega. The best part about Hawkins was everywhere took ten minutes to get to, at most. The lake house was on the outskirts of town, a farther drive, but nothing he couldn't get to quickly.

Eddie didn't hear shrieking or crying or cackling, only hearing the eerily quiet sound of the breeze through the trees and the water rippling. His heart lurched, heavy steps pounding towards the back yard. The lawn that backed up into the lake, the bank meeting the soft grass where he saw them; Vega and Wayne, sitting in their own little chairs.

Vega was calmly sitting there, watching the bobber in the water, her own little pole slipping while she chatted with Wayne softly.

"...You don't like them Webkinz anymore? They not doin' it for ya?" Wayne asked gently, reeling in his line.

"No. I don't-I don't really like them anymore, because I like to play on the Wii. Me and Zarah play Just Dance a lot, but she alwaaayyys beats me." Vega sighed heavily, shoulders deflating. "She's so good at it. She can hit all the moves."

Wayne snorted lightly. "Yeah? You'll get there soon, Vega. She's a lot older than you, bigger. She's got more coordination."

Vega paused, nose scrunching when she looked over at Wayne. "What's coorginmasion?" She stuttered out the word with a grimace.

Wayne laughed. "Coordination. Means you can move quick. You'll get there. You're still little bitty. Got lots more growin' to do."

"Daddy tells me that too." Vega hummed. "He's really tall. Got lotsa co-or-di-nation." She sounded it out slowly, in between deep breaths that had Eddie grinning.

Wayne grinned. "Yeah? You'd think he would. Your Daddy can be a little clumsy sometimes."

Vega giggled loudly, nearly dropping her pole. "Yeah..." She sighed, far too heavy to be four. She'd definitely heard that from you or Eddie.

"Catch any big ones yet?" Eddie asked with a grin, arms crossed over his chest when he stepped forward.

Vega perked, curls whipping her face. "Daddy! You sneaked!" She giggled, swinging her pole around, ripping it through the water to point at him accusingly.

"Easy, Vega, easy. Gotta be gentle. Scarin' all the fishies, baby." Wayne cooed calmly, maneuvering his own pole away. "What're you doin' here, boy?"

"Just came to check on you. Make sure everything was alright." Eddie hummed. "Catch anything yet, Vegie?"

"No." Vega pouted, shaking her head. "No big ones. Grandpa said they're probably in the middle of the lake 'cause that's where all the sunshine is."

"Yeah?" Eddie grinned in amusement. "He's probably right."

Eddie sat down on the cool grass next to them, under the shaded trees, a hand on Vega's back to steady her on her makeshift chair, a turned over bucket. "Guess no dinner then, huh?"

Wayne huffed at him. Vega shrugged. "Grandpa has honey buns so we're good." She said easily, eyes cutting over to Wayne's, copying the way he slowly reeled his line in.

"Honey buns?" Eddie gasped. "And you didn't share any with me, Grandpa?"

"No. They're just for us." Vega declared.

"That's right." Wayne nodded. "Vega said we should use 'em for bait. The fish might like 'em." He grinned at the younger girl.

Eddie watched in awe as Vega sat peacefully, not fidgeting or bouncing or trying to jump off the bucket. She sat, chatting with Wayne, calmly and slowly, careful with her reeling and casting- well, as careful as a four year old could be.

Eddie felt his phone buzz in his back pocket, a text from you, no doubt. "Well, if you two are good, I'm gonna go back." Eddie hesitated, standing slowly.

"We're alright." Wayne nodded, eyes not leaving the water.

Eddie hesitated, leaning down to press a kiss to Vega's head, before ducking over to Wayne. "Did you... Did you give her something?" Eddie asked quietly. Wayne's head snapped to him in question. "Like to calm her down? I don't care if you did just-"

"Boy, get out of here." Wayne scoffed, shaking his head at Eddie. "We're just having a nice, relaxin' fishin' day, right, Vega?" He glared at Eddie.

"Yes." Vega chirped, tongue poking out in concentration, turning the gears around.

"I got it handled." Wayne nodded. "Handled you for many years, boy, think I can handle this one."

Eddie nodded, raising his hands lightly. "Just call me if you need me." He said, backing away slowly.

"I got it." Wayne huffed. "Get outta here so we can get another honey bun. Let's see if them fishies like it, Vega. Maybe that'll help 'em bite."

Sure enough, Vega was bounding towards the two of you hours later, buzzing with excitement to show you what she caught. A bass in the bucket, swimming in the half filled orange container.

Wayne grinned proudly, patting her back while she rambled and showed off her fish to you, Eddie, and her sisters.

"She caught this?" Eddie asked, lifting a brow carefully.

"With her pink fishin' rod." Wayne laughed. "Caught that damn fish. Wouldn't touch it and didn't want it to die, so we put it in the bucket 'til you got back. She wanted to show ya." He boasted.

"Damn honey bun trick worked. 'Bout to use that one on my next fishin' trip with Roy." Wayne laughed.

#munnysummergame #oneforthemunny #munnytalks #rockstar!eddie munson #eddie munson #eddie munson au #wayne munson #dad!rockstar!eddie munson #dad!eddie x mom!reader #dad!eddie munson #rockstar!eddie munson x groupie!reader #rockstar!eddie munson x nepo baby!reader #rockstar!eddie munson smut #eddie munson x fem!reader fluff #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie x fem!reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic

[hana-no-seiiki]

YANDERE! BATFAM W/ MILES MORALES (BUT MAKE IT GENDER NEUTRAL)! READER

[ SERIES MASTERLIST ] [PREVIOUS CHAPTER ]

GENERAL CW/TW: Spoilers for Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. Typical Yandere themes of stalking, violence, and whatnot.

PART SPECIFIC CW/TW: Soft, awfully wholesome scene with your father. Like seriously it’s like the third time I watched the whole movie but this particular scene still breaks me

current status: unedited

summary: you get replaced by peter last minute as the one that plugs in the goober. but you won’t let that happen. not when he still has a whole life to get back to.

Reply if you’d like to be added to the taglist!

WHAT’S UP DANGER

( PART FOUR )

“Aye, Getting old they doubted us, makes it that more marvelous. Sign ‘em up cause I’m on this vibes and I get synonymous.

What’s up, danger?

Aye, don’t be a stranger!”

Look, because of the Spiderman: Miles Morales game I’m a bit biased.

I don’t want uncle Aaron to die damn it. But yeah the Prowler does exist and you have been keeping contact with him.

But for the sake of keeping the dude alive though he’ll only physically come in act 2 of this series, we gucci?

Although this means you lose a lot of the development Miles gets from his death. I’ll try my best to make the events as natural as possible

Anyways, you come back to the spider gang hanging out at Jason and Roy’s apartment.

The gang essentially jumpscares you (thank god for spider sense) with a suit of your own.

Except it was one size too big.

And there were holes at the eye sockets for you to actually see through.

“Ehrm . . . Thanks ?”

“You don’t gotta pretend you like it, kid.”

“Ahaha…”

“It’ll fit eventually.”

You begin sweating quite a bit. Something felt so off here.

You notice that Jason was looking straight at you.

Which I mean, anyone would be m e l t i n g if someone like Red Hood was staring right at them so it’s a miracle you aren’t a puddle at the moment.

Perhaps it’s cause you spent so much time with your crush, Gwen, that you’ve pretty much gotten used to hot people looking at you directly.

Still, you turn away and hide your face. Utterly clueless as to how react in this type of situation.

The relatively peaceful circumstance doesn’t last long as everyone’s spider sense is alerted and the door bell rings. A mechanical tentacle shoots through the lock, completely shattering it.

“Cute place. Real homey.”

Oh great, it’s Liv.

“Get out of here, kid.”

“For the last time I’m a legal adult—“

“Mira todas estas arañitas. (Well, look at these little spiders.)”

Two more of Kingpin’s men show up, Tombstone and Scorpion.

God, fucking damn it—

Olivia spots the new flashdrive Peni made around Peter’s neck and grins.

“Oh, I think I’ll be taking that.”

You hold in your attraction to the woman and duck as a fight ensues.

Scorpion takes notice of you.

“Niñito dale. (Go ahead, little one.)”

“Prepárate a morir (Prepare to die) — Ah, man stupid pillows!”

Before you could get your body bashed in by the cyborg, Red Hood takes a shot his tail just in time.

“You good?”

“Y-yeah.”

Your spider senses were all over the place just like with Damian. What is it with black haired hot guys and their danger levels-

You manage to slip away, flashdrive in hand, courtesy of invisibility finally working in your favor.

“All vehicles in the area we have a disturbance involving multiple spider . . . people ?”

“On my way.”

Dick wasn’t the type to spend Christmas in Gotham.

But the tone of his brother’s voice — how broken and desperate it was — alarmed him.

It seemed that his baby brother finally fell in love.

It was about time really.

Although he was terribly curious as to who the person the Damian Wayne had fallen for.

You couldn’t just be a normal student from school right?

He finds around the scene looking terrified and scared.

A perfect opportunity to get to know you a little better.

“You alright there citizen?”

“Huh? Yeah I’m fine.”

“You seem pretty calm despite being in a police car and all.”

“My dad’s a cop. He gives me rides in one plenty of times.”

“Jefferson Davis, right?”

“You know him?”

“Well, it’s hard not knowing the guy who’s been looking all over for you. He spread the news to several police departments.”

“That . . . sounds a lot like him . . . “

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t tell him where you are. You need some space, right?”

“Right.”

Nothing outstanding so far. You were cute albeit awkward. But he could see that you were going through things at the moment. Early adulthood is a bitch after all.

You kept quiet most of the ride.

You were so distracted that you didn’t even question how he knew what school you went to and the location of your dorms.

“Hey, I’m a little curious, why don’t you have his last name? Family problems?”

“No, it’s something with my grandfather. I don’t think it’s within my place to share.”

“Well alright.”

You two arrive at your dormitory and you make sure to give the place a good old scan just in case you were getting followed.

“I’ll see ya when I see ya, [Y/N]. Give me a call if you ever need help.”

“Got ya.”

You realize that you don’t even know the man’s name much less a way to contact him.

But as you look back, the car he was in had already driven away.

Time wasn’t going to wait for you.

You knew that. You were trying your darn hardest to chase after it.

But you weren’t fast enough.

“[Y/N]. We came to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye? We can say goodbye at the collider.”

“You’re not getting it. You’re staying here.”

“I need to be there, so you can all go home.”

“They are going home [Y/N]. I’m the only one staying.”

“You’re taking my place.”

Your voice trembled as you say those words. And unbeknownst to you, Jason (and to be fair the rest of the spider-people are out there eavesdropping too) shivered as he heard your words.

“If you stay here you’ll die.”

“I’m doing what needs to be done. I just wanted you to hear it from me.”

“What about MJ?”

“Not everything works out, kid. I need the goober.”

“That’s not fair! You gotta tell them I can do this.”

It took Jason all his might to not reach out and embrace you.

He knew how it felt to be replaced. Circumstances differ but still, a connection was made.

Although he couldn’t be there for you now as you had to grow into the Spiderman you had to be, he promised to himself that he will in the future.

After all, if you two were partners in another universe, what stops it from happening in this one as well?

“It wasn’t their decision.”

“I’m ready, I promise— ah—!”

Peter knocks you down, jumping to the ceiling and dangling you by a web.

Jason clenched his teeth. As much as this man knew so much about him and his vulnerabilities, and how he knew this was completely necessary it still ached to see his destined partner getting thrown around.

“Then venom strike me right now or turn invisible on command so you can get past me.”

Peter webs your entire body and sticks you to the chair your roommate always used.

“Look I know how much you want this kid. But you don’t have it yet. I’m sorry.”

“When will I know I’m ready?!”

He then webs your mouth and takes the goober from your hands.

“You won’t. It’s a leap of faith. That’s all it is [Y/N]. A leap of faith.”

And you’re left alone, stuck with webs all over your body. Unable to move or talk.

You hear a knock to your door.

“[Y/N]. . . ! Uh . . . [Y/N] it’s your dad. Please open the door.”

Unfortunately you couldn’t so you just use thrust your body closer to him.

“[Y/N] I can see your shadow moving around.”

“Yeah okay I get it. I get it yes… still ignoring me. Look can we talk for a minute?”

You nod. Internally facepalming after realizing he can’t see you doing so.

“Look sometimes people drift apart [Y/N] and I don’t want that to happen to us, okay? I know I don’t always do what you need me to do or say what you need me to say but I’m…”

“But I see this - this — spark in you, it’s - it’s amazing. It’s why I push you but . . . it’s yours and whatever you choose to do with it you’d be great.”

You feel tears falling from your face as your father spoke.

All those days feeling the pressure of everyone’s expectations on you

As [Y/N], as the Spiderman of this universe.

You were an adult in age, yes. But in the face of all these events your youth and inexperience slapped you in your face.

You wanted to run away. You wanted everything to be over and done with.

But you realize, you were the only one who could do this. For the sake of the spider-gang. For Gotham.

You didn’t know if you were going to succeed but wasn’t that what life was?

A leap of faith.

“Look, call me when you can.”

“I love you. You don’t have to say it back though.”

And your father leaves.

You close your eyes. Thinking back to all the moments you’ve failed, all the times you’ve broken a bone or two trying to learn.

Time wasn’t going to wait for you. But why run after it when you can web-sling it up?

You use your venom powers to get rid of the webs and do you best to get to Jason’s place. He had to have an extra, better suit lying around right? Anything was better than what the gang gave you.

You ring the bell to his house completely expecting him to not be there and potentially having to break in.

But you stand corrected.

“Took you long enough.”

taglist: @vanessa-boo @w31rdg1rl @zlatolait-writes @ice-cream-writes-stuff @hakudaru @violet2507 @sleepy-maenad @yell0wdreams @humanoid606 @holybatflapexpert

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[jamdoughnutmagician]

Through The Echoes.

Eddie Munson x Reader

Word Count:1,025

He shows up at your house covered in mud in the rain, but the problem is, he died two months ago.

Taking a little break from writing A Slice Of Life to take part in the Stranger Prompts, courtesy of @bettyfrommars , @allthingsjoeq and @somnambulic-thing

Eddie Munson Masterlist // Masterlist

Two months, that's how long ago Eddie's funeral had been. There hadn't even a body in that dark wood casket, just a bouquet of white roses and guitar pick on a chain necklace set on top of the casket as it was lowered into the ground.

It had been a quiet gathering of people, his uncle Wayne, who still believed his poor nephew had lost his life to the devastation of the so-called earthquake, and you, and his new-found group of friends who knew the much stranger truth.

Robin wrapped a comforting arm around your shoulders as you shook with quiet sobs, holding your head in your hands, knowing that you would never get the chance to ever see Eddie again. To tell him what he means to you. To tell him how you feel for him way deeper than friends do.

That was two months ago.

The rain patters heavily against the windows as you tie your hair back, getting yourself ready for bed, taking one last longing look at the picture sitting on your dressing table. It was a four picture collage of you and Eddie from a photo booth, pulling increasingly silly faces at the camera to make each other laugh. He had taken you to the fair that had come to town, showing off his skills in trying to win you the giant stuffed teddy, which he had done with an all-too cocky smirk.

Your heart pulls when you look at that picture, the unassuming innocence of two people who didn’t know what was waiting ahead of them.

You kiss the photo in the frame, as you had done every night, before setting it back down on your dressing table and getting into bed.

Just as you were about to reach for the book on the bedside drawer, to read a few chapters before falling into an ultimately restless sleep, you’re roused by a heavy fist knocking at your front door. The sound echoing throughout the house. You untangle yourself from the sheets and reach for your dressing gown before sliding into your slippers and padding your way downstairs.

Who could that be at this hour? And what on earth could they possibly want that it couldn't have waited until morning?

However, it wasn't the splatter of cold rain that had your blood running cold as you opened the door, no.

There, stood in the doorway was Eddie, your Eddie, clothes sodden through and caked in mud. His dark eyes are red-rimmed as though he hadn’t known a decent night's sleep in a long time. The once familiar bounce of his frizzy hair is now plastered to his skin, raindrops clinging to the wet strands.

You could scarcely believe what you were seeing. Was this some kind of sick dream that you were going to wake up from at any moment? A manifestation of your grief?

Then he spoke. As plain as day, letting you know that this wasn’t a dream, no, this was real.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” he mumbles out, sadness and exhaustion clear in his voice.

Then, as if on auto-pilot, you bring your arm around him, ushering him into your house and upstairs to your bedroom, giving him a towel to dry himself off with.

 “I-uh, I’ve still got some of your old clothes, you know so you can have something warm to change into.” you say shakily, handing him over an old Black Sabbath t-shirt and a pair of plaid pyjama bottoms.

He had left a few of his things in your room from the countless times he’d stayed over, staying up with you late into the night just talking. You had fully intended on giving them back to him, but after losing him you just couldn’t bring yourself to part with them. Not when they still smelled so much like him. That familiar warm smoky scent that lingered on the soft cotton of his shirts.

The unspoken question of ‘how are you even here right now?’ hangs in the air as silence falls between you.

“Right, well I’ll give you some space to get changed.” you tell him as you take the damp towel from his hands and take it to the laundry hamper down the hall.

When you return to your room you see him as he’s pulling the t-shirts hem down his body, your eyes catching on the sliver of skin, the angry red scratches and splotchy purple bruises that litter his body.

The silence between you both is awful. You used to be able to talk about everything and anything, no topic was off the table, conversation with Eddie was so easy.

“I guess I owe you an explanation, and by God I wish I could give it to you, I really do, but I just don’t know what happened to me.”

“Eddie..” you start, but what were you going to say to that? Where have you been all this time? I thought you were dead? Everyone’s missed you. I’ve missed you. 

“I don’t remember anything, all I could remember is you, and I don’t know, just the thought of you brought me comfort when I felt lost and alone, and I knew that I had to find you. That I had to come back to you.” he said, his shoulders slumping as his head hangs down, hiding his face from you with his dark shaggy hair.

“Eddie, look at me, please.” you say with a steady breath falling from your lips. “Whatever you need, I’m going to be here for you. I’m going to help you, okay? I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you ever again, I swear.” 

“I don’t know if you can help me.” he sounds so scared and unsure of himself and it shatters your heart to pieces. “I keep hearing things, and seeing things that I don’t understand and everything just always feels so fucking dark.”

You wrap your arm around his cold, frail and bony frame, pulling him closer to your warmth.

“We’ll figure something out, I promise.” you chance a gentle kiss to his shoulder. “We’ll do this together.” 

@penguinsandpotterheads @mrsjellymunson @paybacksawitch @ali-r3n @seatnights @raccoonboywrites

#strangerprompts #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader blurbs #eddie munson x reader fanfiction #stranger things fanfiction #Eddie Munson fanfic

[scoops-aboy86]

For Now

written for the @steddiemicrofic March prompt ‘pin’ 

wc: 388 | rated: T | cw: chubby eddie munson, weight gain, belly kink

“Ah fuck,” Eddie sighs, looking down at himself. His only pair of dress pants, and of course they don’t fit. Wayne had gotten them as a Christmas present during his first senior year—something to walk that graduation stage in, his uncle his uncle had said, and they’d ended up shoved into the farthest corner of a dresser drawer when he’d been held back. That had been… a while ago. 

“Eds? What’s up?” Steve pokes his head in from the hall. 

All Eddie has to do is turn from the mirror, and his boyfriend’s mouth forms a gentle oh of understanding. He steps inside, closing the door behind himself, and steps in close. His hands settle Eddie’s partly covered hips, gentle and soothing.

“They’re too small,” Eddie whines, pawing between the two of them where his belly sits stubbornly over the spread-open zipper. “Wayne’ll be disappointed if I don’t wear something nice under the stupid gown. Got me nice shoes to go with these and everything…”

Steve shushes him. “Don’t worry babe, I’ve got this.”

And look, Eddie has tried everything. Jumping and wiggling just to get them over his thighs and ass, sucking in, laying on his back—the best he can do is get the button to touch the other side, but not close enough to get it through the buttonhole, let alone zipping the zipper. Too much time spent on bed rest after his injuries, eating three filling meals a day courtesy of the government payout in a comfortable government-provided house, just a short drive away from an honest to god boyfriend. 

But, unfortunately, too long of a drive from anywhere he could get new pants in time for graduation without being late for the ceremony.

Just as he’s about to explain all that, Steve drops to his knees.

“...S-stevie?” He doesn’t think a blowjob would help the pants fit better, though who is he to say if they haven’t tried?

But Steve just winks at him and produces a safety pin from one pocket. “Thought we might need this.”

Slightly disappointed, Eddie goes through the whole production of sucking in and holding his belly out of the way while Steve hooks the pin in place through the hole. Two tiny lines of cool metal on his scarred and stretch-marked skin hardly feels secure, but… it’ll do.

Permanent tag list: @hotluncheddie

#wg steddie #chubby eddie munson #well what would YOU think if steve harrington up and dropped to his knees before you #eddie munson lives #eddie munson gets to graduate #scoops words #steddiemicrofic #steddiemicroficmarch

[bottomtim]

steddie a/b/o au part 2! (part 1 here) | rated M, 2.9k words, now on ao3

Steve walks up to the door of the Munson trailer, blankets now situated in a laundry sack for easy transport, and goes to pull it open, only to find it locked. 

Knocking is a courtesy that, lately, Steve only really extends when Wayne is there, but his car is nowhere to be seen. He does usually call first, and when he doesn’t, Eddie grumbles about how he needs to start locking the doors if Steve is going to barge in like he owns the place. But that’s just good natured teasing, or else Eddie would have locked the doors before today. (And do you know who shows up at your place uninvited, who you keep the doors unlocked for, who you keep that boundary open with? Pack mates.)

Steve’s mind is still so hyper focused on pack mates and what it means to be pack mates that when he goes for the door and it doesn’t budge, his mind doesn’t really comprehend it at first, thinks maybe he’s just not turning the knob far enough. But he goes to open the door again, and, nope, still won’t budge. So he knocks.

His initial knock goes unanswered, so he knocks again, harder. When there’s still no answer, Steve yells, “Ed, it’s me! I know you’re in there, open up!” And when Eddie still doesn’t answer, he decides knocking incessantly and calling Eddie’s name will get his attention eventually, will break through whatever barrier that is currently being provided by sleeping, or reading, or writing music. Steve’s about to go knock directly on Eddie’s window when he finally hears, “Jesus Christ, Harrington, shut up, I’m coming.”

When he hears the knob jiggle, Steve lifts his laundry sack of blankets into view, ready to explain to Eddie that he’s here for his scent. But when Eddie opens the door, he looks, well… Awful.

His hair is flatter and duller than normal, he’s pale but his cheeks are red, he’s looking sweaty, and Steve can see the exhaustion all over his face. Steve would’ve assumed Eddie was sick and had a fever if the smell didn’t hit him next.

“Holy shit, Munson, are you in heat? You’re in heat! Why didn’t you say anything? Oh my god.” Steve pushes Eddie back inside, and firmly shuts the door.

“Steve, why are you here?” Usually Eddie seemed pretty happy to see Steve, or, at least, not upset. But right now he looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than in his living room with Steve.

“Came to get your scent for the movie night nest, but, heat scent is definitely not what we’re going for.”

“My scent? Why…?”

“For the nest? The pack nest? The one that we set up every movie night…?” Then Steve waves his hands, going back to the more pressing matter. “Why didn’t you tell us about your heat, Munson? You need nesting materials with our scents, you need, like, snacks and water, you need someone to be here for you, like holy shit, why are you here alone right now?!”

“I’m here alone because I didn’t think my uncle needed to hear me jerk off for the next three days. Don’t sweat it, Stevie, I can handle my heat just fine.”

“You don’t look like you’re handling it, you look like you’re about to keel over.” And, as if on cue, Eddie starts swaying and Steve has to steady him by the arm and lead him to the couch before he actually does keel over. Steve sets the laundry sack down and focuses his full attention on the omega in heat in front of him.

Eddie takes a deep breath, then says, tiredly, “Steve. Why are you still here?”

“Why—? Eddie, because you’re apparently in heat and you shouldn’t be alone! Why do you think we would leave you alone during your heat?”

And then the lightbulb goes off in Steve’s mind. His brain supplies the answer to his question before Eddie can.

Because the girls were—ugh—right.

Because Eddie doesn’t know he’s pack.

Eddie sighs, exasperated. “Why would you think I want you to be here for my heat?”

“Eddie,” Steve begins, hesitantly. “Why do you think I came to get your scent for the pack nest?”

“Still haven’t parsed that one out yet. Kinda too busy trying not to whip my dick out in front of you, right now.” 

“Okay, um.” Shit. Shit. Steve has to approach this carefully. Asking someone to join your pack when they’re in the throes of heat isn’t ideal, but Steve can maybe use this opportunity to ease him into it gently. “How does this sound. How would you like some things that smell like… Us… for your heat nest.”

“‘Us’ being?”

“Well, the pack. At least Robin or Nancy’s, or, um. Mine.” He could probably get Eddie to agree to stuff from the kids, too, but he thinks just the 3 of them might be less overwhelming.

Eddie whimpers, probably involuntarily. “Not gonna lie, that sounds, uh. Nice.”

“Ok! Ok, good! Let’s start there. I’ll get some stuff for your nest. Do you want to lay down? You look like you need to lay down.”

Eddie nods hard, eyes glassy as Steve helps him lay down on the couch. Eddie lets out a whined, “Smell so good,” before Steve heads over to the telephone. Christ.

Nancy picks up on the third ring. He doesn’t even let her say a greeting before he goes, “You were right.” 

“Of course I was.”

“We’ve got a bigger situation.”

“Okay?”

“He’s in heat.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah ‘oh.’ Uh, can you bring some stuff over? Some painkillers, snacks, he likes those gummy bears and that Earl Grey tea, and something for his nest?”

“Yes,” Nancy answers quickly, no hint of hesitancy in her voice. Nancy is a very good alpha, and whether Eddie has been officially invited into the pack or not, Steve knows she still sees him as one of hers.

“Are you sure you want stuff for his nest if he doesn’t even know he’s pack? Will he be okay with it?” 

“Yep, he’s fine with it. Maybe just stick with stuff from you, me, or Robin for now.”

“Got it. Robin and I will be there in 20.”

“You don’t need to bring Robin.” Steve hears Eddie whine again from the couch. Probably the idea of having any alpha near him sounds appealing, just for the company and comfort alone. But the idea of two alphas being in Eddie’s space makes Steve nervous on his behalf. He knows neither Robin nor Nancy would ever do anything to intentionally hurt Eddie, but he’s vulnerable and could easily be overwhelmed. It took Steve a while to be okay with having the both of them around for his own heats; though it’s still usually just Robin keeping him company, Nancy will still stop by to check on him because she is, as previously stated, a very good alpha.

“Don’t worry about it. See ya soon!” She hangs up before Steve has a chance to say anything further.

Right. Okay.

Steve hangs up Eddie’s phone and turns back to see Eddie laying on the couch with his arm thrown over his eyes, taking deep controlled breaths. “How ya doin’ over there, buddy?

“I’m gonna be honest with you,” Eddie starts. “I’m trying really hard not to grind into my couch cushions right in front of you right now.”

“Right, got it.” Steve’s been there. He’s felt the uncontrollable urge to rub himself on every available surface, to put anything even vaguely phalic shaped inside of himself just to quell the incessant desire screaming at him, the quiet the little voice in his head telling him he needs to be filled. “Do you want to go to your room and take care of it?”

Eddie moves his arm to peek at Steve with a big, surprised eye when Steve realizes how that must sound. “Can’t even ask me to dinner first, Harrington?”

“By yourself, I mean!” Steve corrects, hastily. “Obviously.”

Eddie grimaces, face turning sour. “Yeah. Obviously.” The smell of hurt and disappointment hit Steve like a truck, and shit. Steve mentally asks himself why he’s being so stupid today.

“Eddie, that’s not what I mean, I just mean, that, well, y’know… We’re not… We’ve never…” Steve’s at a loss for what to say. They’ve never done anything, not really, and have never said anything. Eddie doesn’t even think he’s part of the pack. And, sure, Steve sometimes feels butterflies when Eddie sleepily scents him when they lay on the couch, or when they’re in the pack nest and Eddie chooses to sit next to him over everyone else. But that’s all that’s ever happened. Steve chooses not to look too far into it. Eddie’s never said if he would be interested in another man, or even if he’d be interested in another omega, so it’s hard to say if Steve just wants to see more than there is or if there’s really something there. So he ignores it. 

Eddie sighs, still smells a bit unhappy, but says “No, I know. It’s just… Heat Brain making me sensitive. Sorry.” 

“Yeah, no worries. I shouldn’t have said it like that.” 

“I am tempted to, uh, go take care of it. But from what I could hear of your conversation, I should be expecting company.” 

“Yeah, just Rob and Nance. They’re gonna drop some things off for you.” 

Eddie lets out a choked little noise, probably trying to hold back another whine before he says, “Gotta be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever been around any alphas for my heat. Wayne’s a beta, mom was an omega, Dad was a beta, too. And I’ve never, uh, been with any alphas, either.” 

“I get it, man. Nancy’s a good alpha. So is Rob. Hell, Robin spends every heat with me, just making sure I don’t, like, get dehydrated. Or die. And Nancy always checks in, too.”

“And you guys don’t… Do anything?” Eddie asks, hesitantly.

“Nah. You know about Robin. And Nancy and I tried when we were together, and it was fine, but it just… I don’t know. Wasn’t really either of our things.”

“Mine neither,” Eddie admits softly. “Not the… The alphas or the-” He’s cut off by a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it. Are you okay if they want to come in? I can just take the stuff and tell them to scram. They won’t be offended, I promise.” 

Eddie turns to lay on his side and looks up at Steve with glassy eyes, contemplating. Steve can tell every fiber of his omega being wants the presence of an alpha but he’s internally debating on if he thinks he should, probably heard too many horror stories of alphas and omegas not being able control themselves around each other during a cycle.

Steve can’t help but reach out and card his fingers through Eddie’s hair. “I promise, if you want to see them, nothing will happen. I’ll make sure of it, if you’re worried. And if you don’t, that’s fine, too.”

Eddie thinks a moment longer, the girls (probably more likely Robin) are continuously knocking on the door now, much like Steve was earlier.  Eddie nods and Steve gives him a reassuring smile before he gets up to answer the door.

As he approaches, he hears Robin call through the door, “You guys better not be having s-!” and she stops when Steve opens the door and flashes an overly wide smile at him. “We come bearing gifts,” she says, instead.

Robin shoves the pile of clothes and blankets she brought into Steve’s arms and makes a beeline straight for Eddie on the couch. Steve follows close on her heels– Look he knows, okay, he knows, it’s just Robin and nothing is going to happen, he doesn’t need to be protective of Eddie, but… Something about Omega-In-Heat Pheromones make it a little hard for Steve to think straight. He’s anxious. He feels an arm squeeze his shoulder and turns to see Nancy, who just deposited some grocery bags on the kitchen counter, looking up at him. “You need to relax,” she says, giving him a reassuring smile. “Deep breaths.” He can smell Nancy releasing a calming scent and it does help a little.

“Oh, Eddie,” Robin tuts, holding his fevered face in her hands. “I’m sorry you thought you had to do this alone. We should have talked about this sooner.” 

Eddie groans, taking in a deep breath of alpha scent and melting into a puddle in the couch immediately. “Smell sooooo good,” he says, hazily. 

“I know, buddy, I smell like a dream,” She laughs, easily. It helps Steve relax, seeing her smile, seeing her dote. He knows this is how it goes.

“Ugh, yeah,” Eddie says, openly scenting her wrist. She smiles wide up at Steve like in a Do you see this happening?! Kind of way. They can tell Eddie is losing more of his focus the more time he’s around the alphas’ scents, plus there already seemed to be another wave coming on not long after Steve got there. 

“How are you feeling, Eddie?” Nancy asks. Her face is concerned and her grip on Steve’s arm is still tight, but she still smells calm as ever. 

“Betterrrrr,” Eddie slurs, the word turning into a purr in the latter half.

“Good! Good. We brought stuff for your nest,” She says.

“Nest!”

“Yes. Nest. Do you want to put some stuff in your nest?”

Eddie nods, clumsily sits up. Robin and Nancy are all over him in seconds, helping him stand, leading him to his room. Steve really wishes Robin hadn’t shoved all of the nesting materials in his arms right about now. 

They make it into the bedroom and Eddie plops down onto his bed, which already has Eddie’s regular blankets, both throws from the living room, and a couple of Wayne’s work shirts scattered about. Steve sets the nesting materials next to him and watches as Eddie takes his time to sniff each piece. When he gets to one of Steve’s shirts, he nearly moans and says Steve’s name, holding the fabric tight and rubbing his own scent on it, mixing their smells together. Robin gives Steve’s shoulder a not so subtle shove, a shit-eating I-told-you-so grin on her face while Nancy giggles behind her hand. 

They watch as Eddie takes his time, laying out each piece–Shirts from Robin and Nancy, the blanket Steve recognizes from Robin’s room, but also a big blanket they save for pack nights. Eddie purrs when he smells  that one, and Nancy leans to whisper in Steve’s ear, “I had the kids scent that one. I know… I know you said just us, but… I don’t know. Felt right.” She shrugs, eyes locked on Eddie watching him fuss with each piece.

After a while, Eddie has all the materials placed, and he looks up to Steve and the alphas, almost for approval. 

Robin is the first to say, “It looks so great Eddie! So comfy! Any omega would be lucky to have a lovely nest like that.” This is what Steve loves about Robin as an alpha, as a pack member, as a person. Robin will be the first to say she talks too much, that she rambles, that she doesn’t know when to shut up, but Robin says the right things with the right tone. She knows how to comfort you, how to make you laugh, and how to knock some sense into you when you need it. When she compliments Eddie’s nest, his face lights up and he purrs again. He’s so happy, the smell fills the room. 

Nancy smiles at Eddie, tells him, “It looks so comfy, Eddie. I bet you’re going to take a good nap in that nest, huh?”

Eddie flops back into the nest, rolls around a bit, then curls up into a ball like… Like a puppy… He’s so cute Steve could die. He nods to them, glassy eyes getting heavy. Steve can tell from where he’s standing Eddie’s still warm, probably gotten even warmer since he started working on the nest.

“Alright, well, you go ahead and nap, Eddie. We’re going to go,” Nancy says, turning to leave, the others following suit, when Eddie whines. 

“No,” he says, pouting up at them from his nest. 

“Do… You want us to come in your nest?” Robin asks.

“No,” Eddie says very adamantly.

The three of them share a look, not sure what to do. Then Nancy asks, “Do you want Steve in your nest?”

“Yessssss,” Eddie says, stretching out like a cat then reaching his hand to Steve.

Ok, it’s honestly kind of a big deal that Eddie wants Steve in his nest. Steve wouldn’t let Robin in his nest for the first cycle they spent together, and even after that, his mood on whether or not he wanted her there was fickle. Now he needs her there like he needs the water she makes him drink so he doesn’t get dehydrated, but it wasn’t an immediate thing. So Steve’s kind of shocked that Eddie wants him in his nest.

But he’s also deeply pleased, a primal part of his brain preening at being chosen.

Steve stands still frozen for a moment before Robin shoves him towards the bed (Robin again with the shoving!). He fumbles a bit, almost falling into the bed, but he catches himself on his hands, face to face with Eddie. “Are you sure he asks?”

And Eddie, hazy and warm, gives him the softest smile (really, Steve is going to die), and says, “Yes. Very.”

Robin and Nancy are waving goodbye and just like that, Steve is in Eddie Munson’s nest with a warm omega koala-gripping his front and jamming his nose into Steve’s scent gland. Steve softly laughs. It tickles.

They fall asleep smiling.

#steddie #steddie fanfic #omega eddie munson #omega steve harrington #stranger things fic #katpost #my writing #we love omega x omega in this house

[sortagaysortahigh]

Trailer Park Pretty | Eddie Munson

A/N: I had so many concept ideas for this specific fic, but i present to you hurt/comfort friends to lovers with our nerd king. Also as usual my reader is coded, and in this specific fic she leans towards being black coded w big curly hair, and one last thing, before anyone tries to pull the ‘well its obv ab a white reader bc white ppl live in trailer parks’, i just KNOW you’ve never been to the south bc there’s hella black/brown trailer parks down there...like bitch don’t play w me. ALSO this is fanon...so for the sake of this spcific fic dustin and susie arent together lmao

Summary:  “A girl like that? She’s what you call trailer park pretty, she gets it from her mama, she’s gonna have a guy from every corner of the park and beyond after her-you just gotta be the one to get her attention and treat her right cause there’s gonna be a lot of them that won’t.”

Warnings: angst, mentions of domestic abuse/parent in an abusive relationship (brief, not graphic), mentions of a deceased father (i give my y/n’s trauma im sorry), mentions of insecurity, eldest sister who takes care of her family instead of herself, mentions of cornography (dirty magazines, sci-fi based corn, Eddie’s Heavy metal magazines), spelling and grammar errors, brief mentions of sex, mentions of mary jane, mentions of absent parental figures, mentions of trauma, violence (broken bottles, cuts/scrapes, and a cast iron skillet, broken/shattered hands) - nothing happens to the main characters

Word Count: 11.5k

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

(so totally very much in love)

Eddie Munson had quite the crush on one of his neighbors-Y/n y/l/n to be specific or as he called her ‘Curly’-courtesy of her big curly hair that she’d been sporting since they were kids.

Her family had been living in their red and white trailer for as long as he could remember. They lived on the lot to the left of his, her family consisted of Y/n, her mother, and her little sister who was nearly finished with her freshman year at Hawkins High and based on the way guys were constantly dropping the girl off-he knew she had the same charm as her meaner older sister.

Y/n Y/l/n was the definition of pretty, growing up his crush on Y/n came and went depending on the status of their friendship. But one thing he knew for sure was that she’d gotten prettier and prettier as they grew up, and anytime he asked his uncle for advice about her-especially when the two attended Hawkins at the same time-Wayne always told him the same thing. 

“A girl like that? She’s what you call trailer park pretty, she gets it from her mama, she’s gonna have a guy from every corner of the park and beyond after her-you just gotta be the one to get her attention and treat her right cause there’s gonna be a lot of them that won’t.” 

Wayne was right about one thing, the older she got, the more male attention she got. When the two went to school together he remembered seeing her in the hallways, constantly rolling her eyes as some guy offered to hold her books and walk her to class, or they’d try to talk to her at her locker, not to mention the way they’d always ask her to sports games, some even offering her their jersey-trying to make some ‘big’ statement-she rejected them all. The only person she hadn’t completely rejected was Steve Harrington, but after one date she let him down as softly as she could.

It was after he’d been dumped by Wheeler-Eddie remembered hearing about it through the grapevine, he almost felt bad for Steve. Getting cheated on, then dumped, then he actually thinks he gets the girl but she has to let him down because apparently Y/n knew that he was still in love with his ex. However, now they were friends-to the point that he’d seen Steve pick her up several times. 

She was always so close, yet so far out of reach. He’d never even been able to make a move, anytime he tried to speak to her he’d get nervous and completely move past it, opting to talk about music, his band, what she’d been up to-hell he knew a lot about flower maintenance because he’d always see her outside the trailer, taking care of the potted plants lining the front of it. 

It wasn’t like she was a bitch to him, she’d actually always been nice to Eddie, probably because they’d been neighbors and as kids the two were friends, but they drifted apart due to their different interests. Eddie loved music and Y/n loved nature. So while he was inside learning how to play the guitar, she was outside tending to her mother’s plants, or she’d ride her bike to the forest and trudge her way around it-granted an unsupervised twelve year old alone in the forest wasn’t a great reflection of her mother’s parenting-however Y/n easily roped her sister into going with her.

As long as the girl had her backpack full of drinks, snacks, and supplies, alongside her trusty compass, and the crowbar her mother spray painted pink and told her to use if anyone ever came into the house when she wasn’t home-then the two were perfectly fine. Some days Eddie would see Y/n on her bike with her sister in tow, the two riding off towards the forest, and other days she’d hear the sounds of him strumming chords when she’d walk past his trailer-that’s just how it was.

But that didn’t mean Y/n was nice to everyone. She’d grown up poor-he knew that-hell anyone who lived in Forest Hills knew that-because they all lived it. She’d been chastised and bullied as a kid, growing a thick skin by the ripe age of ten-and by then she was fighting boys on the playground. Of course the classism didn’t end in elementary school, kids were mean-and those same kids grew into spoiled rotten teenagers. She had no issue in socking guys twice her size in the face-and she had a mean right hook.

So it’s safe to say Y/n had quite the reputation in Hawkins, even after she’d graduated last year people still spoke about her when they spoke about her younger sister. To the point that even Eddie had heard the older jocks warning their younger teammates about even trying to date Mia Y/l/n, saying if she was anything like her older sister they’d need God’s good graces. Not to mention the fact that they’d have to actually go through with meeting her sister, the girl still had that pink crowbar.

She was perfect, at least he thought so.

When he stepped outside he hadn’t expected to see her outside, the only people he expected to see were his neighbors who worked at one of the plants or factories-either coming home or leaving for a long shift. But there she was, her wild frizzy hair blowing slightly in the morning breeze, an oversized flannel over her body-and he couldn’t help but crack a smile at the way it was clearly buttoned unevenly, and from what he could see she had on her bunny slippers. 

He watched for a few seconds as she pulled the clean laundry from the clothesline, holding a white basket to her hip as she pulled the articles off with her free hand. Then she spotted him, raising a brow. 

“Hey Munson!” she had to yell a little bit so he’d hear her completely,”hey Curly!” he lifted a hand, waving it at her, trying not to blush as he noticed the smile on her face as she rolled her eyes. Then she grabbed the final few pieces of clothes before turning around and heading back inside. The entire time he stood there he was blushing and smiling, he looked like a lovesick puppy-then he finally snapped out of it, fishing his van keys out of his pocket as he walked up it, unlocking the back doors and rummaging through-looking for a specific tape of his band’s new songs.

However, no less than ten minutes later, when he finally found the tape, he heard the front door of her trailer slam open, followed by her mother’s boyfriend clearly being shoved out, stumbling slightly with a long cut along his cheekbone, blood clearly dripping along his face-not to mention the cast iron skillet that clanked loudly as it hit one of the wooden steps then the gravel below. Then he spotted Y/n walk out, her mother tried to chase after her-but Mia held her mom back. Meanwhile Y/n held a broken beer bottle-probably the reason he was bleeding in her hand.

He watched as she ran behind him, kicking him in the back of one of his knees-then in his moment of imbalance she shoved him to the ground, one foot against his back, the other stepping on one of his hands-the cry of pain from him unmistakable as she gripped him by the hair, pulling his head back-ignoring his shouts of pain as she pointed the broken bottle to his face as she spoke.

“You think you can put your fuckin hands on my mama like that? You come around here again-I’ll drag you by your fuckin hair to Monroe’s and feed you to the pigs alive.” she stepped harder onto his hand-clearly shattering part of it “you understand me you old fuck?” he winced as she pressed one of the broken ends of the bottle into his cheek. “I said, do you fuckin understand me?” 

“Yes-y-yes” she smiled, dropping his head-and it immediately fell flat against the cobblestone and grass below. “Good. Now get the fuck outta here before I get my dad’s gun, I’ve got jack shit to lose” with that she kept one foot on his back, the other off his broken hand as she stepped over him. Her mother stared with tears running down her cheeks while Mia looked both impressed and terrified. 

All Eddie could do was stare, his eyes wide and jaw dropped. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen something like that living in Forest Hills, it was no secret that a good portion of the men that were brought around here weren’t good guys. But he’d never witnessed Y/n like that-at least not with a grown man. Sure he’d seen her sock a few guys in the face here and there, but his heart was racing as he watched her single handedly take down her mother’s now ex-boyfriend. He shouldn’t have found that as attractive as he did-but he couldn’t help it.

What Eddie didn’t know was that Y/n hadn’t even meant for that to happen. As soon as she walked into the trailer she placed the clean laundry basket on the floral patterned couch, she wanted to make breakfast for her mom and sister, then fold clothes, and once the two were headed to school and work, she planned on cleaning the trailer then she was planning on taking the lot rent check in. However that quickly changed the second she heard her mother fighting with one of her shitty boyfriends-this ones named paul. 

She watched as the two of them walked through the trailer, her mother followed behind him, berating him about his whereabouts yesterday-it was clear things had escalated fast-but the second she noticed him grab her mother’s shoulder the way he did alongside the pained look on her face-Y/n easily connected the dots especially after spotting a bruise on her mother’s back a few days ago. So she did what any rational almost-twenty year old would do, she grabbed an empty beer bottle off the counter.

The next few moments were a blur, it felt almost like an episode of Looney Tunes-she grabbed his shoulder as hard as she could-and she immediately hit him with the bottle-glass breaking and slicing his cheek right open. Then as he stumbled slightly she grabbed the cast iron skillet from the counter and didn’t hesitate to smack him with it, watching as he fell backwards into the door-falling right through it, stumbling outside. 

Meanwhile her mother was shouting for her to stop, while Mia came running from their shared room-immediately grabbing her mother the second they stepped outside-watching as her older sister did what she did best-took care of them. 

The icing on the cake however was Y/n walking past her mother and sister-handing Mia the bottle and mumbling “just incase” then she rushed inside, emptying the laundry basket onto the couch before rushing to her mother’s room, gather all of her boyfriends random things-followed by his car keys and rushing back out, heading to his beat up sedan, unlocking it and throwing all of his shit inside of it. Then she walked the few steps back towards him, threw the keys on the ground next to him.

“Get the fuck up and go!” she stared down at him, watching as he struggled to get off the floor. The entire time she didn’t move, she watched as he made his way to his car and got in-her eyes held on him until he was speeding off. 

That’s when she noticed Eddie staring, she didn’t even acknowledge it, simply turning back around and making her way towards her mother and sister “are you two okay?” the concern in her voice evident as she paused in front of them-her hands on her sisters face first-making sure she was alright, then she pulled her crying mother into a hug-she’d always been a little taller than her mom so it made it easier to gently massage her scalp as she hugged her. 

The entire reason Y/n always rejected guys was simple, she didn’t have time for a relationship-not when she was the glue that kept her family together. Sure she had crushes here and there, but she didn’t think too deeply into them, she’d grown up taking care of Mia while her mom worked long hours to keep a roof over their heads, but now as an adult she found herself taking care of her mother and Mia. She never gave herself the opportunity to be mad about it-knowing that dwelling wouldn’t change things.

She did the best she could with the minimal free time she had, of course the girl had a few one night stands in high school-but now she avoided them, opting to spend those nights sitting on top of the trailer stargazing, or she’d be reading-lately she’d been into the lord of the rings saga, Eddie recommended it a while ago and she’d never gotten around to it, other times she’d focus on cleaning, keeping things nice and tidy.

“Go finish getting ready, I’ll drive you to school today Mia.”

Once her mother and sister went back inside, she stood outside for a few more minutes, then she went inside, grabbing the pack of marlboro reds from her mother’s jacket hanging by the door alongside a lighter, then she walked back outside, sitting on the wooden steps, placing one between her lips and lighting it. She’d never been a strong cigarette smoker-but when she was stressed and had things to do and weed wasn’t an option, it was the next best thing. It set in that it wasn’t even seven thirty yet as she smoked, her gaze held on the skyline past the Mayfield’s trailer-it always looked the prettiest looking that way. 

Eddie shoved the tape into his pocket and made his way over there, she didn’t say anything-but he knew she saw him. Then he sat next to her on the steps, watching as she absentmindedly handed him the pack of cigarettes and the lighter, which he accepted. 

“You think life ever gets better Eddie?” he shrugged as he lit the cigarette, taking a quick puff before speaking “for people like you? Yeah definitely” her brows knit together as she exhaled smoke, gaze now held on him “people like me?” he nodded his head “yeah, protective, rough shell-soft heart, good person-yeah, life’ll get better for you” she slowly nodded “I dunno if almost murdering a forty year old man makes me a good person” he laughed at that, nodding his head as he turned to look at her.

“Looks like he deserved it to me” she cracked a small smile, nodding her head “I hit him with a pan” he laughed at that, shaking his head “that’s one way to get your point across” she rolled her eyes as she lightly shoved him.

Moments like these always reminded Eddie of why he’d fallen for her in the first place, regardless of if they were talking every single day or once every other month it was as if nothing had changed. She was always so warm around him, her wide smile almost always made its way to her face as they spoke, and she was so comfortable around him. He was practically her childhood best friend-sure they weren’t extremely close anymore but they’d still been around for one another if need be.

She leaned her head against his shoulder “be honest with me Munson-did I look like a psycho?” he laughed at that, shaking his head “looked pretty badass to me, gotta say, I’ve never seen someone in bunny slippers take down a grown man” she rolled her eyes, the same smile on her face as she put the cigarette out on the steps below. “Someones gotta protect them y’know” he slowly nodded, his brows knit together as he processed her words.

“So who’s gonna protect you?” she sat back up, shrugging with a confused look on her face “I’ve never really thought of that-guess I am? I mean i’ve been doing it pretty well for years” he nodded again, looking at her, he then took a second to gently tuck one of her curls out of her face behind her ear. “Remember when we were kids and you made me promise I’d always be there for you if you needed someone” she smiled, grasping his hand that had been ghosting her face and moving it away.

“That’s cause you pushed me off of the jungle gym and I broke my arm” he laughed “Hey! That’s just semantics! What I’m trying to say is-if you ever need someone y’know where to find me” she nodded her head at that “thank you Eddie” “course Curly, that’s what friends are for-and neighbors I guess?” she shoved him again, laughing now “you’re so lame Munson” she heard the door behind her creak open-the two of them turning their gazes towards it-spotting Mia looking down at them.

“Oh uh-hey Eddie. Uhm, are you ready to go?” she raised a brow at her sister “what time is it” Mia shrugged “almost seven thirty-like five off” she nodded her head “yeah just gotta change my shoes” with that she stood up, and Eddie followed suit. “Uh, I’m gonna head back but like I said Curly, you know where to find me” she smiled, watching as he stepped down, nodding her head.

Then she went inside and opted to change into her vans, she kept on the flannel because she knew she wasn’t going anywhere after dropping off her sister. The two sisters walked out first, then as they were getting into the old beat up Camry, their mother followed suit, only in her work clothes-the diner uniform having a few unwashable stains on it. “Y/n where’s my cigarettes?” she reached into her jacket’s pocket, tossing them to her mother, then she followed suit with the lighter. “I’ll be home late tonight okay, working a double” the two nodded their heads.

Then they were headed their separate ways. 

However less than five minutes into the drive Mia turned the radio down, staring at her sister. 

“What’s up with you and Munson?” her brows knit together at the question as she quickly glanced at her sister-then back at the road. It was clear that Mia was serious, however Y/n didn’t get where the question came from. “Uh nothing? We’re friends” she slowly nodded “so why don’t you hang out with him then-if you’re friends”

“Because I don’t have time and he probably has too much time” Mia laughed at that, nodding her head. It was no secret that Eddie was repeating his senior year for the third time-however from what she’d gathered he was finally on the way to graduate. “That's total bull! You spend your time reading those nerdy books and stargazing! You definitely have time!” she shushed her sister, reaching to turn the radio back on-however Mia immediately turned it back down.

“Come to think of it, the only people you hang out with are your co-workers, and sure Robin and Steve are technically your friends-you don’t even hang with them off the clock! But you also don’t look at them the way you look at Eddie!” she scoffed “now I know you’re bullshiting me Mia! I do not look at Eddie any different than anyone else.” 

“Yes you do! You have like this little sparkle in your eye! And you’re all smiley and giggly! You’re never like that!” her brows knit together again as she shook her head “I am not all smiley and giggly! I don’t giggle you little shit!” she nodded her head “yes you do! I’ve only ever heard you giggle around Eddie! Even when we were younger and you’d show him some weird bug you found!” 

She rolled her eyes “Hey! You liked the weird bugs too!” her sister scoffed “stop changing the subject! What's going on between you and him! Are you two gonna date!” her eyes practically popped out of her head at the question-granted she used to have a crush on him-but she hadn’t thought about that in years. “No! What the hell!” Mia slightly squinted, skepticism evident on her features “so why’d he say you know where to find him huh?! Don’t you think it’s time you go on a date and get a boyfriend! He’s cute too!” she scoffed again “Mia! I am not going on any dates! Quit it! Me and him are just friends!” 

As Y/n pulled into the Hawkins High parking lot she sighed, parking the car and staring at her sister “now cut it out! Besides, don't you have your own love life to worry about!” Mia shook her head “actually, no. I don’t. I enjoy being single, besides the guys here are tools. I just like getting rides home-but today I’m going to Tina’s so you don’t have to get me.” she nodded her head at Mia, digging in the pocket of her shorts and pulling out a ten dollar bill, handing it to her.

“I know you’ve been saving the money mom gives you and mooching off of other people you little shit” her sister laughed “hey! I know you did it too! Free food from dumb guys is worth it!” she raised a brow “you’re something else Mia, now go before you’re late!” with that Mia got out of the car, slutting the door “bye! Love ya!” to which Y/n responded with “love ya more!”

A few hours had passed, and while Y/n was home cleaning, Eddie was currently sitting in the cafeteria listening to Henderson ramble on about the really pretty girl in his math class. Something about how smart she was, and the way she always smelled so good-which he defended himself in saying it wasn’t creepy because he sat behind her.

“Eddie, are you even listening?” he blinked a few times, nodding his head “uh yeah, something about a girl in your math class Henderson?” Everyone stared at him with confused expressions, he almost never zoned out mid conversation-usually he was the one to further the conversation with his commentary or advice to his younger friends. 

Gareth cleared his throat “he’s talking about Mia” Eddie’s eyes widened “as in Mia Y/l/n?” the brunette nodded, then Eddie was looking at Dustin “you’re into Curly’s sister?” the freshman looked confused “who’s curly? I know she has an older sister-didn’t know you two were friends though” Eddie nodded his head “yeah we’re neighbors, we’ve been friends since I was like six and she was five” 

“So what’s the big deal exactly? Mias really nice-sure she clearly takes advantage of meatheads-but I’m not a meathead and I’m a gentleman!” Dustin spoke with his hands, glancing between Jeff, Gareth, then Eddie. Earning a slight grimace from Jeff “Mia might be nice-but her sister’s definitely not. She wasn’t a bully but she definitely isn’t the friendliest-and she threw a literal encyclopedia at Jason Carver last year” Gareth nodded his head before adding “Not to mention she broke the star runningback’s nose because he tried to touch her ass-mind you the guy was like six four and she just went for it” 

Eddie nodded his head, but unlike his two friends, he had a large dopey smile on his face while he thought about it, leading to Mike furrowing his brows and staring at him “why do you look like you’re in love with her?” Gareth laughed “because he is, he’s been into her for years-completely refuses to make a move!” Eddie scoffed “ignore the drummer, Curly and I are just friends-totally fine with being just friends. Besides she’s not the relationship type” 

Jeff raised a brow “are you saying that as an excuse to not make a move?” he scoffed “No! Have you ever seen her in a relationship? The only guy who’s ever gotten a date with her was Harrington-and even she let him down!” Dustin and Mike glanced at one another before they both made the realization. “Wait Y/n that works at the Family Video?!” the three older guys nodded at Dustin.

“Wait so Robin was serious about her being scary sometimes? She’s only ever been really nice to me” Eddie laughed “because she’s not an asshole-tell you what Henderson, I’ll talk to her about her sister and see where her heads at” Dustin’s eyes widened, brows raising as he shook his head “no-no don’t do that-cause then she’s gonna figure out I told you-and she knows who I am-what if she doesn’t like me? No-that’s completely gonna ruin my chances!”

However before the conversation could continue Gareth quickly shushed Dustin, then turned his gaze to Mia who was now standing on the opposite end of the lunch table, a textbook in one of her hands and the other held a can of soda as she stared directly at Eddie and cleared her throat. 

“Munson, are you into my sister?” he scoffed “wha? Me? No-nope-never she’s just a friend” Mia blinked a few times “you’re lying this morning you two were awfully close, don’t make me steal your car battery, empty your oil, and steal your spark plugs” his jaw slightly dropped “how the hell do you know how to do any of that” she shrugged “your girlfriend is how, so it’s true that you’re in love with her?”

Gareth and Jeff tried to hold in their laugh-but they did a terrible job at it and the second she looked at them the two of them nodded their heads rapidly. “Case and point. Now here’s the deal Munson, you’re gonna ask her on a date and make her feel special and sweet because she’s been through a lot lately and you’re the only person that makes her all smiley and giggly. If you don’t ask her out soon I’m popping your tires” 

His jaw dropped, face now tinted a bright red as he stared at the fifteen year old girl across from him, he couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or intimidated-or embarrassed that a fifteen year old wearing a madonna t-shirt was intimidating him. “You’re way too much like your sister, especially when you make demands” she raised a brow “She raised me you dufus, now do we have a deal or not?” he knit his brows together “how is that a deal?” 

“You get to date my sister-which we all know you’re dying to do, in return I don’t pop your tires, I thought it was pretty simple. But honestly I think this is the only way to actually get you to act on your feelings” Dustin stared at Mia mesmerized, his lips slightly pouted and brows slightly raised as he watched the entire interaction. Meanwhile Mike was glancing between everyone as if he was on the sidelines of a sports game, Jeff and Gareth were both snickering at Eddie’s embarrassment, and Eddie was staring in shock.

“Uh? I- she’s not even into me like that” she rolled her eyes “yes she is, she had the biggest crush on you her sophomore year and never shut up about you. I guarantee it’s still there underneath her layers of bitchiness.” he blinked a few times “wait are you serious-” she cut him off “you’ll do it! Great!-” then she glanced at Dustin, a small smile on her face “Hi Dustin, see you next period” with that she left, leaving both Eddie and Dustin dumbfounded as they processed what just happened.

In true Eddie Munson fashion he decided to skip the rest of the day, instead opting to drive home before this evening’s Hellfire session and grab a few things-he also hopped into the shower because for some reason in his head he needed to shower before walking next door and talking to the girl of his dreams. However, when he’d barely finished pulling on his jeans he heard someone knocking on his door-leading to him answering it while drying his wet hair with a towel and being completely shirtless. 

“Uh-Hi Eddie” his eyes widened as he registered that it was her, stepping to the side slightly “Hey-uh hi-come in Curly” she nodded her head, walking past him-trying to ignore the way he smelled like green apples, not to mention his lack of shirt-her gaze slipping to his somewhat toned chest-then she easily snapped out of it as she made her way to his room. She knew the layout of his trailer like the back of her hand, not much had changed in terms of the living room decor. Wayne’s hats and mug collections only increased over the years, and while it wasn’t one hundred percent clean, it was pretty tidy given the fact that it was Eddie and his uncle. 

He watched from the doorway as she grabbed a few stray clothing items from the floor and his bed, tossing them into his closet. “Can I ask why you’re cleaning my shit up?” she shrugged “I clean when I’m stressed-besides you’re the one with shit everywhere” she raised a brow as she glanced at him. He slowly nodded, watching as she got to his bed, grabbing his large comforter and shaking it off-then she laid it across the sheet clad mattress and situated herself on top of it, grabbing one of his pillows and holding it over her lap. 

“Are you gonna finish getting dressed?” he blinked a few times, nodding his head as he grabbed a Motley Crue shirt, throwing it on then he tossed the wet towel over the door-hanging it to dry. In the process she’d gotten off his bed, now standing in front of his rickety bookshelf, manicured fingers tracing along the spines of his books, things ranging from Tolkien to Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guides to Stephen King to Alexander Dumas. 

“Do you ever feel like your life is just constantly falling apart?” her voice caught him off guard, he’d been sitting in his bed-gaze held on her while he watched her delicately admire his things. She pulled out a copy of The Hobbit-gently opening the worn book-tracing her fingers along the pages as she spoke “Like it’s like one second things are going really, really good, and the next everything is just falling to shit” 

He nodded his head “I think that’s part of life-y’know you have to go through the good to get to the bad, it’s like the scales don’t ever really balance out” she let out a choked laugh, it was at this point he realized she was crying-and that’s probably why she kept her gaze on the book in front of her-rather than him. 

Even as kids she never cried in front of him, only when she’d broken her arm and was in too much pain to stop the tears. He immediately jumped up from his bed, and as he stood behind her he was slightly nervous-but he went for it, grasping her arm gently-spinning her around and carefully prying the book from her hold-tossing it onto his messy dresser before pulling her into a hug.

He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing soft circles into her back as she gripped the sides of his shirt-her soft sniffles were the only sound heard for a few minutes as he gently swayed, doing his best to comfort her. “I’m getting your shirt all dirty” he laughed “doesn’t matter to me sweetheart” she sniffled again, feeling the damp spot formed on his chest from her tears against her cheek. 

“You don’t always have to be the strong one y’know, it’s okay to cry every now and then” she laughed slightly, pulling away from him as she wiped her tears with the backs of her thumbs “it’s not that easy Eddie” he raised a brow, grasping her hand and pulling her towards his bed-then he sat down first, motioning for her to join him.

She giggled slightly, rolling her teary eyes as she sat back in his bed, however he pulled her closer to him, opting to pull her between his legs, wrapping his arms around her waist as she leaned into his chest. The two hadn’t sat together like this since her sophomore year, but it still felt the same-as if nothing had changed.

One of his hands gently rested against her exposed thigh, tracing small circles into her skin “it’s like if I’m not there for them-then no one is. And I know it’s stupid to want to take care of my mom when she’s barely fifteen years older than me but it’s like what am I supposed to do? She just constantly brings home pieces of shit and she lets them treat her like shit. Then Mia-God I had to raise Mia, when my dad died I was only five, and that was the year we moved here, she was a baby and I had to figure out how to change diapers, make bottles, and keep us fed because otherwise what the hell were we supposed to do?” 

She sniffed as she spoke, wiping her tears away occasionally. “But now it’s like Mia’s fifteen, and I love her to pieces but I just don’t want her to end up with guys like the ones my mom ends up with-she needs a kid like Henderson or something, someone who’s sweet and kind and a nerd, and just genuinely cares about her for her.” Eddie laughed at that, a small smile on his face. “Y’know Henderson has a crush on her? Talked about it today” she smiled.

“Good. Because the assholes she lets drive her home? She just craves male validation because she’s never had it-but refuses to admit that. She’s gonna end up doing the same stupid shit I did and losing her virginity to some asshole who’s gonna treat her like shit” he tensed up slightly, however he had to remind himself that it was all a thing of the past-he couldn’t change the past. 

“And now it’s like, I work to help pay bills, to help do everything that I shouldn’t have to fucking do! I was working at Benny’s for like three years before he passed, I didn’t even get to have the shitty teenage experience because I was too worried about our rent, or our electricity, or the water, and all the shit that teenagers shouldn’t have to fucking care about” he shifted one of his hands, moving it from her waist to her hand, intertwining their fingers and giving her hand a small squeeze as she spoke. He knew she just needed someone to listen, and that’s exactly what he was doing.

“It’s just so fucking unfair. I’m barely gonna be twenty and here I am, taking care of my thirty five year old mother and my fifteen year old sister-constantly having to wonder about their well being because of the assholes ma brings around, and worrying about how Mia’s doing in school-I could’ve gone to fucking college. I graduated in the top ten of my class, but instead I’m stuck in Hawkins and everytime something feels like it’s going well-everything has to fall apart. Like today-jesus christ I had a whole meltdown after I dropped Mia off because that shit’s traumatic-and I can’t even fully acknowledge that it’s traumatic because it feels so normal”

She paused for a second, shaking her head, gaze held on the ceiling as tears welled in her eyes. “I learned how to fight because I was bullied-and now I'm fighting forty year old men? On what feels like a fucking weekly basis. And like you said-who’s gonna protect me? Who’s gonna take care of me? I’ve been taking care of everyone else my entire life and never for a second has anyone really truly taken care of me-and I won’t even let them if they try because I’m so scared they’re gonna leave or end up like one of my mom’s boyfriends, or just treat me like shit-or what if I get too attached to them” 

“I probably sound so pathetic right now” he shook his head, leaning his chin against her shoulder “no you sound like someone who’s been through a lot and hasn’t had time to actually think about it. You just bottle shit up-always have” she scoffed “says who?” He raised a brow, placing a gentle kiss against her cheek-he didn’t even know what motivated him to do so but he did anyway.

“Says me-you’ve been doing it since we were kids. You didn’t even tell me your dad died until you were eight because you refused to acknowledge it, then you ran back home and didn’t come outside for a week.” she rolled her eyes “that’s different!” he shook his head “mmm no it’s not, you don’t like to think about the bad shit that happens to you so you occupy yourself until you have no choice but to address things because something makes it all spill out-this morning is a prime example of that”

She blinked a few times “when did you become mister psychologist” he shrugged “dunno, life experience helps you figure shit out” she now shifted, turning around to face him, her legs crossed as she sat between his, before she could say anything he wiped her tears away gently with his thumbs “stop being so soft Munson, it takes away from the rockstar thing” he rolled his eyes “I can still be a rockstar and be soft with the girl I’ve known my entire life”

“Uh huh, sure you can.” he raised a brow “are you deflecting? You are! Keep talking princess, y’know you have a lot to get off your chest” she scoffed “no I don’t” he raised a brow “you found out your mother was in a shitty relationship and literally kicked her boyfriends ass this morning, and based on what you just said-this isn’t the first time something like that has happened with her” 

“You’re good at reading people and I hate you for it” he smiled at her joke, nodding his head “I’m here for you, all ears, ready to listen and follow you to the ends of the earth.” she raised a brow “even into Mordor?” his eyes widened “wait! You read it?!” she cracked a smile, rolling her eyes “maybe” he nodded his head “yeah I’d follow you into Mordor” 

“There’s one other thing that’s been bothering me since this morning-and it’s gonna sound stupid-so don’t laugh at it. We can unpack my mommy issues on a different day-trust me that’s gonna take hours and I’d rather not focus on that” he slowly nodded his head “so what’s the other pressing matter?”

“Y’know how I said, I've never gotten to like have that teenage experience?” he hummed in acknowledgement “this morning Mia was talking to me about someone, anyways he’s not important-but it had me thinking that I’ve never even been on a real date, and like yeah I’ve had sex-I mean it was probably because I needed validation and felt like shit at the time-but it’s also like I wouldn’t even give anyone the time of day. I didn’t even make it to the actual date with Steve-but thank God I didn't. He was so in love with Nancy it wasn’t even funny-but like is there something wrong with me?” 

He had to hold in his laugh, an upside down smile on his face as he tried to hold it back “you’re gonna laugh! You said you wouldn’t!” he shook his head, letting the laugh slip out “it’s just that I never really thought you’d be into that stuff” she rolled her eyes “what girl doesn’t want to be whisked away by her prince charming? Just because I’m a bitch doesn’t mean I don’t want to be loved you ass!” she leaned forward, shoving him slightly.

He raised his brows “who would’ve thought, mean ol Curly who’s smashed more windshields in her life than I can imagine wants to be wined and dined” she scoffed “shut up!” he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down “oh c’mon you know it’s true! Miss ' I reject every guy who’s ever tried’ wants to find her prince charming!” she grabbed his pillow and didn’t hesitate to smack him with it.

“Seriously? A pillow fight? Are you ten?” she scoffed, squinting her eyes slightly, now standing on her knees as she tried to take the pillow back from him “maybe I am! Let me live you ass! Give it back” he tugged it a little too hard and it sent her falling into him, Eddie landing flat on his back while Y/n landed on top of the pillow-above his chest.

It was silent for a few seconds before the room erupted with laughter, however when she tried to get up and grab the pillow from him he easily tugged it from under her-however that lead to her letting out a small ‘yelp’ as her shirt was slightly rolled up and she fell into his chest, mumbling “you moron” but then she looked up at him, placing her palms on his chest, then resting her chin atop them. “Thank you Eddie” he looked down at her-the angle definitely awkward but worth it because she looked beautiful “for what?” she smiled “for listening”

“I’ll always be here to listen” she smiled, then she moved, now sitting up while he still laid in place-gaze on the ceiling, a dopey smile on his face.

“Can I borrow your copy of the Hobbit?” he sat up, now staring at her with a singular brow raised-giving himself a mental pep talk “only if you let me take you on a date” her brows knit together, lips slightly parted as she stared at him, unsure what to say “hear me out Curly, you’ve never gotten that first date, and I think I know you pretty well-so instead of sitting on top of your place and star gazing-let me take you on a date”

“Why?” he shrugged “because you deserve it” she smiled at that, looking down at her hands as she fidgeted with the singular gold ring she wore all the time-it was her father’s. “So do we have a deal?” she bit her bottom lip, a small laugh leaving her lips before she glanced at him again “yeah, we have a deal” he nodded “tonight or tomorrow at seven?” “Are you picking me up?” he laughed “course, my chariot awaits” then she raised a brow “don’t you have Hellfire tonight?” 

“Aw Curly, you remembered?” she rolled her eyes “it’s almost like you’ve been talking about Hellfire nonstop for the past five years-course I remembered. Just because we don’t talk all the time doesn’t mean I just randomly up and forgot you dweeb”

She laughed again as she stood up from his bed, walking over and grabbing the book before she spotted something from the corner of her eye-he stared at her confused as she squatted down-then she grabbed the black magazine, her eyes widening at the Heavy Metal magazine-specifically the cover art. Then she flipped through the pages.

“Holy shit-” his eyes widened as he realized what she was looking at, meanwhile she was turning the magazine slightly, angling her head to get a better look at the image “so you’re into like sci fi porn? What the fuck is that?” she squinted slightly “Oh she’s like a cyborg? Wait is she getting fucked-oh no nevermind I don’t think that’s that-” she tilted the magazine again “actually wait is she getting fucked? I can’t tell if that’s a robo dick” he was stunned-he expected her to judge him, instead she was flipping through the pages and examining the artwork. 

It’s safe to say he was falling even deeper into his ‘I’m in love with Y/n Y/l/n’ hole. 

“Aren’t you like weirded out?” she shrugged then shook her head-still looking at the magazine, now holding it at a ninety degree angle as she examined a long image that looked like a raunchy star wars knock off. “No, you’re a guy-figured, you'd have something to y’know help with the job, plus the artistry is actually kinda interesting-and I’m gonna wash my hands anyway” Then she turned the page “oh wait! It has like stories! i thought it was just porn honestly-this makes more sense it’s like sci fi and fantasy but with tits?” 

He nodded his head slowly “so do you have more of these? Or is this the fan favorite?” he rolled his eyes “are you really asking me about my spank bank?” she giggled, and he was trying to ignore the way he was blushing while she glanced back towards where she found it-spotting another one but deciding to leave it be. Then she shut the magazine and placed it on his dresser, she acted nonchalant but in all reality her mind was racing and for the first time in forever she thought of Eddie in that way. “So tomorrow? Seven” he nodded his head, watching as she grabbed the book once again. 

“It’s a date Sweetheart” she rolled her eyes at the pet name-but her smile was still evident and as she turned to leave he wanted to stop her but he didn’t want to overstep. So he just let her go, but little did he know her smile had widened the second she opened the door and walked outside, a skip in her step as she made her way back to her place-holding the book closely to her chest. 

She’d never felt this way before, maybe it was because her crush on Eddie had never really gone away-she just didn’t think about it because it wasn’t a pressing matter. Hell she’d never really thought of herself over the past few years, making sacrifices for her family at her own expense. She didn’t want to regret anything, and based on Eddie’s subtle input-she shouldn’t regret it, rather she needed to learn how to let people in and to talk about her feelings. 

Maybe he’d be the one to help her with that. She hoped he would be. 

For the rest of the day she had a wide smile on her face, as she folded and sorted the clothes, vacuumed the floors, swept up any broken glass,took the trash out, washed the dishes, and made dinner for herself while putting everything else away in the fridge sorted into two foil wrapped plates-she had the same smile on her face. Even as she showered she was giddy, singing a tune the entire time.

She’d even opted to listen to Dolly Parton’s Jolene album-granted she’d never been big on country music but she had a soft spot for the Blonde. 

What she didn’t know was that as she cleaned her and her sister’s shared room and made both beds over again with the music playing loudly through her stereo, her singing was even louder-and as Eddie parked the van after coming home from Hellfire he could hear her singing ‘Randy’-only knowing the song because she used to hum it often. He liked to imagine that she thought of him when she sang the song.

In truth, her mind did drift to him and she simply smiled and rolled her eyes while tossing the pillows back onto the beds on opposite sides of the room. She’d been so caught up in singing ‘Jolene’ that she hadn’t heard the front door open-nor did she notice her sister standing in the doorway with a wide smile on her face as she watched Y/n sing and sway her hips and for the first time in a long time-she looked happy.

“Someones in a good mood” she screamed as she turned around, instinctively throwing the book in her hand at her sister-who easily dodged it. “Don’t scare me like that!” Mia laughed, nodding her head as she walked in and turned the music down “Dolly? You haven’t listened to Dolly in forever-oh my god” her eyes widened and she jumped in excitement “did he ask you?!” she blinked a few times, taking a step back from her younger sister.

“Did who ask me?” Mia smiled “Munson! Did he finally grow a pair and ask you out!” she scoffed “did you really put him up to this?” it was evident how easily her mood changed, of course he only did it because her sister put him up to it. “Woah! Woah relax! I just told him to go for it because he’s clearly into you!” she scoffed, rolling her eyes, then she shoved past Mia, the usual attitude and anger surfacing again as she took off her slippers, opting to slide into her vans again then rush out of their home and towards the Munson residence.

She banged her fist against the front door several times, and as Eddie answered it he could practically see the heat leaving her ears-and he knew the fact that Chrissy Cunningham was over because she’d been buying weed from him for the past few months would be an issue. But Y/n didn’t know that the blonde was just another one of his customers-so the second she noticed the blonde she scoffed. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? You fucking asshole!” his eyes widened as he tried to calm her down “woah! Woah-relax sweetheart-Jesus Christ come inside before someone thinks you’re gonna kick my ass next” she scoffed as he grasped her hand and pulled her inside, then he shut the door behind her. He took a second to give her a once over, noticing the baggy Up In Smoke t-shirt she wore alongside either no pants or the shortest shorts in existence-most likely the latter. 

“Uh Curly this is Chrissy-Chrissy this is Curly-” she scoffed “It’s Y/n.” Chrissy nodded her head, a sweet smile on her face “yeah, I know who you are! You totally kicked Derek’s ass last year-he so deserved that, you’re kind of a Hawkins legend” she blinked a few times, and she knew that the girl was being genuine, which only made it harder for her to be upset. She honestly wanted to cry, a smidge of heartbreak sneaking through her.

“Oh uh-thanks?” Chrissy laughed, the same smile on her face “of course! I didn’t know you and Eddie were together? You must be the girl he’s been telling me about for months!” she glanced at Eddie who’s eyes were wide and the familiar red flush overtook his features “we’re not-we’re not together” he mumbled it as he ran a hand over his face and she looked surprised “oh! Shit my bad! Uhm don’t worry Eddie’s said a lot of good stuff about you!” 

“We’re not-me and him aren’t doing anything if that’s what you thought! He’s just my dealer! We’re friends! Promise! I have a boyfriend too” she slowly nodded her head at Chrissy’s panicked demeanor. Eddie groaned, quickly rushing over to the kitchen counter where he had Chrissy’s weed ready then he handed it to her, taking the twenty dollar bill from her hand. 

“I’m gonna go, uh it was nice meeting you Y/n! Once again-totally not doing anything with him-he talks about you all the time! We’re uh friends-platonic friends!” she slowly nodded, watching as Chrissy rushed past her then she went outside, the sound of a car starting signaled that the blonde was leaving.

“Can you please explain to me why you rushed over here ready to go to war?!” she scoffed “did you only ask me out because my sister told you to” he looked taken aback as he rapidly shook his head “no-I mean she gave me the push I needed but no-I’ve been into you forever you’re just-you’re you and you’re amazing”

She rolled her eyes “you’re full of shit Munson” he craned his neck slightly “are you kidding me! This is the shit we talked about earlier! You always put up walls and you bottle everything up because you’re so afraid of letting someone in! I could sit here and tell you that I’m in love with you and you’d tell me to fuck off!”

She shrugged “because you’re a fucking liar” he shook his head “I’m not a liar, you’re just too afraid of your own feelings to have any ounce of trust in anyone else!” she scoffed, stepping towards him, a cynical smile on her face as she stared at him “yeah I’m just supposed to wanna jump into your fucking arms and trust every single word you’ve said to me right? As if you didn’t have Chrissy Cunningham in here less than five minutes ago!” 

“Because I’m a dealer, you know this, everyone knows this! People want weed, I sell them weed! It’s simple” she scoffed, nodding her head, running her tongue along her top row of teeth “yeah so fuckin simple huh? I’m just supposed to believe that pretty girls from rich families like Chrissy Cunningham smoke weed? Yeah-great fucking story there.” he shook his head, letting out a deep breath.

“Y/n it’s 1986-everyone smokes weed! It’s weed!” she rolled her eyes again “you’re so full of shit Munson. You just fucking play the part so fucking well huh?” he raised a brow “what fucking part?!” she shook her head, feeling her eyes water “fuck you” he stared at her, noticing the way her eyes glossed over as she stared at him “you think you’re so unloveable and you push everyone away because you’re scared of getting hurt. You hate the idea of people hurting you so you don’t let them even like you.”

As he spoke she stared at him, ignoring the singular tear that slid down her face “You’ve been taking care of everyone else for years and haven’t given a shit about yourself. You’re so used to neglecting yourself that you don’t even see it when people want to be there for you, and when people wanna take care of you!” she rolled her eyes “yeah cause you clearly wanna take care of me huh?” her sardonic tone had him clenching his jaw.

Eddie Munson rarely got angry, sure he had a lot of reasons to be angry in life, ranging from his absent parents, the Munson family name, being labeled as a freak, being looked down upon, to being considered ‘trailer trash’ since the ripe age of ten. But he didn’t care, he hated being angry, he’d promised himself that he’d let the anger go after his dad stopped calling, after he’d been left in the dust and picked up by Wayne. 

For the first time in a long time, he was getting angry. She was pissing him off because she couldn’t see herself the way he saw her-because she was so insecure without even realizing it that she couldn’t accept that Chrissy Cunningham was just a friend and a customer.

“Is it so wrong to say I do? That I do wanna take care of you-that I’ve wanted to take care of you for years! That maybe every now and then I wanna give you a hug without you fighting it-or that I wanna hold your hand and take you on long drives, or just be there for you on a regular basis and not whenever your facade falls apart and crashes to shit!” 

She took a step back, he’d never yelled at her before-to be fair he wasn’t even yelling his voice was slightly louder than usual but it still felt different. She hadn’t been spoken to like this in years, sure she had people yell at her-but they weren’t people who mattered. Eddie shattered her entire reserve, her tears now slipping down her cheeks faster-but she tried to hold her composure-still staring at him.

“Jesus Y/n I’m sorry-I didn’t mean to get loud but you just-you’re so frustrating.” she shook her head, tears still flowing “yeah? Guess I am huh?” she was shutting him out, and it was as if he could see her walls building back up. “Curly, I care about you in a way i’ve never cared about anyone else-I want you to be happy, I want to make you happy, I want you to see yourself the way I see you because you’re so fucking beautiful inside and out but you refuse to see yourself that way”

She shook her head “because all I’m ever gonna be is trailer park pretty. I’m gonna end up like my mom with shitty boyfriends back to back to back, living in a run down trailer park having men offer me stupid shitty things just for a chance to sleep with me. You said life gets better for people like me-but it doesn’t. I’m stuck-and if I drag anyone else down with me-I just-I dunno” she sniffled as she spoke, and it took everything in him to not start crying.

He took a few steps forward, then placed a gentle hand along her cheek “none of that is true Curly. None of it-not for a single second”  the two held eye contact for a few seconds before he leaned in and connected their lips. The kiss was so soft as he poured his heart into it, he wanted her to know he cared and that he was in it for the long run-as friends or as more. 

It wasn’t long before she was kissing him back, one hand gripping the edge of his denim vest, the other on his jaw, pulling him closer as their lips melted together, perfectly molding against one another, then she slid her tongue along his bottom lip and he was spreading them. Her tongue swiping against his as she kissed him, the motion made him groan, but he kept up with her-taking control of the kiss as he sucked on her tongue-then slid his against hers.

Once they pulled apart for air he slid his thumbs along her cheeks-wiping away her tears. “You’re worth so much more than you think” his words were so loving and tender-she didn’t even know how to react. No one had ever spoken to her like that, sure she had her few friends but this was different. 

“For the last time, I didn’t ask you out because your sister put me up to it, I asked you out because you deserve to be wined and dined and taken care of. You deserve to be loved” she nodded her head, sniffling again “I’m sorry” he shushed her “don’t apologize to me, I know how it is, I know that it’s gonna take time for you to see yourself the way I see you” 

“But what if that doesn’t happen Eddie?” he laughed, rolling his eyes while placing a kiss on her temple “it will, i’m gonna make sure of it-if it’s the last thing I do, now do you wanna stay the night here? Or you wanna go back home?” she raised a brow “are you trying to get into my pants?” he laughed at that, shaking his head.

“No but I think you’d benefit from being held a little longer” she rolled her eyes “are you saying I’m touch starved?” he nodded his head “yeah basically” she scoffed, shoving him back, but instead of making a beeline to her door, she went to his room and flipped him off in the process. Once she was inside she kicked off her shoes, tucking her socks into them as well before going through the things on his dresser-looking for a hair tie. 

“Top drawer princess” she rolled her eyes at the pet name, opening the drawer and spotting the practically unused pack of hair ties, then she spotted something else, the light reflecting off of the shiny paper. She grabbed it, her jaw dropping as she stared at the most explicit magazine she’d ever seen-immediately screaming and shoving it back in the dresser. His eyes widened as he noticed what she grabbed-then he had to hold back a laugh as she slammed the dresser shut.

“Jesus Christ Munson! Keep your porn in one place!” He shrugged “I told you where the hair ties were-I didn’t tell you to snoop. Curiosity killed the cat” she rolled her eyes “but satisfaction brought it back” what she hadn’t realized is that he’d moved from his doorway to behind her, his hands now resting on her hips as he leaned closer to her “are you satisfied?” his voice was lower than usual but then he cracked the act and laughed, letting go of her hips. 

She shoved him back as she made her way to the bathroom, now taking time to braid her hair. Meanwhile he shrugged off his jacket, then his shirt and his shoes-leaving his jeans unbuttoned because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable-he’d wait until they were actually going to sleep to take them off.

She hadn’t expected him to follow her in, but he stood behind her, admiring her work through their shared reflection. “How do you do that?” she furrowed her brows, glancing at him “braid my hair?” he nodded his head “I can’t really explain it well, but I dunno, just watch my fingers” he scooted closer to her, now standing slightly to her right as she braided the other half of her hair back, grasping each section by section until she was finished.

“I’m gonna learn how to do that” she raised a brow “really? You wanna braid my hair Munson?” he nodded “I’ll do anything you want me to do sweetheart-but yeah I do” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “It’s harder than it looks y’know” he raised a brow “and you’re softer than you look-your point is?” she scoffed, but didn’t say anything. The sound of knocking caught them both off guard, he left the bathroom to go answer the door.

Mia stood outside, holding a satin scarf in her hand. Her eyes practically popped out of her head at the sight of Eddie “jesus christ you two hornballs! Here this is for her hair-figure: she wasn’t coming home tonight. I didn’t think she’d already jumped your bones” his jaw dropped as he shook his head. “It’s not what it looks like-jesus christ-uh” she shook her head “you don’t have to lie to me Munson, but at least make sure her hair is wrapped.” she shoved the scarf in his direction and as he took it she cleared her throat.

“And uh-can you do me a personal favor?” he raised a brow “I don’t sell weed to freshmen” she scoffed, rolling her eyes “that’s not it, can you ask Henderson what he thinks of me?” he smirked “so baby y/l/n likes Henderson hmm? It’s your lucky day-he’s into you, talks about how pretty you are all the time. Just ask him out, you two nerds can watch star wars together” her jaw dropped “how’d you know!” he raised a brow “your sister talks, and I just happened to listen, now go home-it’s late” she rolled her eyes and turned-walking off. Eddie stood outside, making sure she made it back inside before he closed and locked the door.

He expected her to still be in the bathroom, however she was in his room, flipping through one of his copies of Heavy Metal while she sat in his bed, her legs extended in front of her as she tilted her head slightly, eyes wandering across the page-she was clearly reading something.

“Are you serious right now?” she glanced up at him “shush the interesting parts coming up! I need to see if they fuck it out-this shit’s actually interesting once you get past the alien porn” he blinked a few times “Curly please put that away” she shook her head, gaze still focused on the pages-he watched the way her eyes widened as she flipped the page “Oh my god-Jesus Christ!” she dropped the magazine for a second-and he noticed the exact panel she was on.

“Uh yeah-tentacles are kinda some peoples thing” she slowly nodded “i can tell” she looked slightly disgusted as she picked the magazine back up, grimacing as she read through that page, then she let out a sigh of relief. “You’re seriously gonna keep reading it?” 

“Yeah, is that a problem? Did you wanna take it and go jerk off or something? Use the other porn you have stashed everywhere, i’m reading” her sarcastic tone was unmistakable as her gaze didn’t shift from the magazine in front of her. 

He raised a brow “really? You’re reading?” she nodded her head, turning the page again-eyes widening at the next graphic scene-more specifically the clear knock off of Princess Leia’s slave outfit falling off of a woman’s body “you would get off to shit like this, you pervy nerd” he bit his bottom lip, slipping into the bed next to her, peaking over at what she was looking at-his cheeks immediately reddened at the sight, and he couldn’t help the way that his cock stirred.

He then blinked a few times, handing her the scarf. “Mia brought it over-she uh thinks we uh y’know” she raised a brow, taking the scarf and handing him the magazine in return. Then she folded it into a triangular shape, angling her head down as she tied it around once-then again atop her head. “Of course she does” he bit his bottom lip, nodding his head. Then she moved, laying down and looking up at him, raising a brow “lay down Munson” he blinked a few times before nodding his head-except he glanced down at his pants.

“You can take them off if that’s how you sleep” she turned away from him, and the sound of shifting alongside his pants hitting the ground made her giggle, then he turned off the light before she felt the bed dip beside her.

He carefully wrapped his arm around her waist, slightly pulling her against him as he spooned her, however she shoved his arm off, turning around again and resting her head against his chest, one of her legs resting against his-her thigh right on his waist and the warmth from her skin made him dizzy. She traced small patterns into his chest with her fingers.

“Thank you” he clicked his tongue “stop thanking me” she glanced up at him, and he met her stare “I can’t help it” he raised a brow “yes you can, stop thanking me for caring about the girl I love” she blinked a few times, somewhat shocked at his confession “you don’t gotta feel the same way-but just know as long as I love you I’m not giving up on you” 

“I-I think I love you too” he smiled at that “you think so?” she giggled, rolling her eyes before nodding her head. “Yea I think so you dweeb.”

-

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[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Fluffy one shot, Eddie is a total goner for you, like sappy as shit.

Lyrics are Underneath the tree by Kelly Clarkson.

🎄

🎄

Tonight, I'm gonna hold you close, Make sure that you know. I was lost before you.

You're fast asleep in Eddie's arms and he marvels at how much his life has changed since meeting you.

The holiday season was in full swing in Hawkins and a major snow storm had hit the town but Eddie couldn't bring himself to care.

He had you with him and that's all he needed. It had been a year since you came into his life, last Christmas to be exact and he had been on cloud nine ever since.

Eddie wasn't always the biggest fan of Christmas. Sure, Uncle Wayne made it fun, they got a little tree and exchanged a present or two and Eddie made his famous hot chocolate.

But at this time of year Eddie always felt a little bit lost.

Christmas was cold and grey. Another holiday. Alone to celebrate.

It's just Christmas wasn't something he went crazy for. He was much more of a Halloween lover. That was Eddie's most wonderful time of the year.

Then as cliche as it was (especially to his usual cynical self) everything changed when he met you.

You and Eddie met when he was at the record store last year trying to search for an old Christmas vinyl that Uncle Wayne had his eye on.

He was just about to give up when he heard your voice asking him if he needed any help.

But then, one day, everything changed. You're all I need, Underneath the tree.

All it took was one look and Eddie was a goner.

After a shitty year post the defeat of Vecna and the destruction of the Upside Down, healing from almost dying courtesy of those fucking demo bats Eddie was aching for something good, something happy.

Most people looked at him like he was a murderer even though Hopper got all the charges dropped, the town would never believe the murders that plagued the town in March were the work of an actual monster.

To them Eddie would always be the monster.

It didn't matter what they thought because the people he cared for, his friends, Wayne, they knew the truth.

When Eddie met you there was no judgement in your eyes, just warmth and you genuinely wanting to help him.

You're here where you should be. Snow is falling as the carolers sing. It just wasn't the same. Alone on Christmas day

Meeting you, falling in love with you, it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Presents, what a beautiful sight. Don't mean a thing if you ain't holding me tight.

Now Christmas was his favourite time of the year, your infectious energy for this time of year, the way you would sing along to carols and the amount of times he caught you dancing along to some of them made Eddie love you even more.

He even baked Christmas cookies this year, adorable ones that had some of the Hellfire boys *Mike and Gareth* tease the shit out of him for, but he was proud as punch at what he made.

He is so lost in thought that he doesn't resize that you've woken up until he feels your soft lips against his.

"It's midnight. Happy Christmas eve love" he smiles as you cuddle back on his chest.

Yeah, as long as you're here then Eddie doesn't need presents or superficial shit.

Just you.

You're all that I need, Underneath the tree

#eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson #minors dni

[missingexaltation]

This got way longer than I thought it would. Basically, a 'Wayne centered' steddie mini fic.

I love the dynamics that we could have had with this mini family, so this kind of threw itself together.

Wayne's seen Eddie with the girls he brings back home. Well, he sees the backs of their heads as Eddie walks them out early in the morning, past a Wayne who's thoroughly exhausted from the night shift.

Eddie always knows he's there, always offering a shrug and apologetic grin before practically skipping back to his room. Rarely the same girl twice, that Wayne could tell, but (more often than he'd thought possible, and doesn't he feel like an ass for assuming) dressed in that white and green cheerleader outfit.

Not that Wayne judged. He and his brother, Eddie's dad, had both been the same back in the day. The popular girls seemed to love a boy from the wrong side of town, and (unlike his old man) Eddie was a good guy under it all, so Wayne knew he was treating them girls right. If only for the night at least.

The surprise was that it was girls he was bringing home.

His friend Danny, who'd given Eddie the part time job at Thatcher's, had called it years ago. Said that Eddie reminded him of his brother, and that Wayne had better get prepared for the boy's teen years because it was gonna be rough. Sure enough, the moment Eddie turned thirteen Wayne had come home to find him packed up and ready to be thrown out.

God bless Danny Harris and his foresight, because Wayne had had a nice little speech prepared for a year or more, ready and waiting. And Eddie had soaked it in, those big ol' brown eyes grateful, relieved and full of tears as he unpacked again.

So sure, the girls were a surprise, but he let it go. Assumed the kid was happy with both, or either, and if he wanted to talk about it then he knew damn well that Wayne would listen. He'd done the difficult part already, the rest just details and semantics, and Wayne certainly wasn't going prying into his nephew's love life. It was safer anyway, for him to stick with girls for now. Or however long.

It wasn't until after the most horrific week of Wayne's life where he noticed things had changed. Eddie was home, a free man, an innocent man, and for his troubles had been relocated (with his uncle) out of the trailer park and into a nice, quiet and expensive part of Hawkins. Courtesy of some official-looking government suits.

They'd taken Wayne aside, given him some bizarre, bullshit story, and it wasn't until a few days later that he'd noticed his bank account was overflowing with compensation money. After the week he'd had, Wayne knew enough to keep his mouth shut, and life had seemingly carried on as normal. Neither he or Eddie had to work again, if they didn't want to.

Seeing Richard Harrington's boy in their new kitchen was more than a surprise. To his credit, the boy was cooking some breakfast thing or another, and trying to encourage Eddie to get his ass in gear for school. He didn't notice Wayne either, but Eddie sure did.

He remembered Danny's advice. 'Don't treat the boys any different to the girls, Wayne. Eddie'll pick up on that.' So he just waved a good morning and went to bed.

A few days later the Harrington boy was back again, herding Eddie out of the door as Wayne was coming in it. Noting the time, a gentle 'don't be late, boy' as the door swung shut, and that was it until the evening and Eddie was traipsing in from school. His mama's big brown eyes eyes looking at Wayne like a wild animal trapped in a corner.

Eddie had said nothing, hiding his face with his hair, looking for the world like he wanted to say something, until he yammered out some excuse and fled to his room to hide.

'That Harrington boy seems nice. Polite.' Wayne offered later, over dinner. Conversationally. Lightly. Apparently enough to cause a reaction, and as he'd never seen Eddie so red-in-the-face embarrassed he decided to drop it. Just a shrug and a nod in response.

He didn't see the Harrington boy for a long time after that. But he kept an eye out. The changes in Eddie were remarkable. Contrary to popular belief, he was a pretty quiet kid at home (guitar aside), but now he was reflective. Moon-eyed and lost in his own head. Practically floating from room to room and always with that damn smile on his face.

He realised that he'd not seen (or smelt) any of Eddie's drugs since they'd moved into the new house. A call with one of Rick's buddies confirmed that Eddie was out of the drugs game (finally, thank Christ), so he could only assume that this dopey, lovelorn version of his nephew was a consequence of something else.

Or someone.

It occurred to him that in all the time he'd known Eddie, having raised him and loved him and taught him as much as he was capable, that he had never seen his boy in love before. And now, noticing Eddie swapping out his electric guitar for his acoustic, seeing the sunshine glimmering under Eddie's skin and beaming from his smile, it was overwhelming. Adorable.

A couple of months ago he'd thought his boy was dead, or hurt, and it had damn near devastated him. And now here Eddie was, alive and very much flourishing. Learning some song (by ear) that he wouldn't have been caught dead listening to a few months ago. Having giggly, hushed phonecalls on their new landline when he thought Wayne was out of earshot. Constantly smiling, an actual genuine, happy smile instead of his usual theatrical, false grin that he used to throw Wayne off the scent.

He'd confessed all of this to Danny, one night when Eddie was 'out with friends for the night'. Despite everything he'd hoped, he'd never thought Eddie had had much of a chance. The world was too grim and constricting, especially Hawkins. He'd done the best he could, loved that boy with all he had, and prayed it would be enough to give Eddie the best start he could offer.

He'd heard the things the other kids called him, he'd witnessed Eddie trying to get stains out of his clothes, or sewing up holes caused by being shoved to the ground. He'd held Eddie close in his arms and let him sob it out after a really tough day. He'd patched Eddie up when things got really bad, and had quiet words with his teachers. By and large, it all washed off, and come morning he was always ready to face the world again.

So yes. He'd told Danny everything and he'd cried. Real happy tears, though, and Danny was real fucking nice about it instead of making fun of him. They'd been friends since school, after all. Hell Danny had known Eddie most of his life too. Like the uncle Wayne should have been, in a life where Eddie's parents had been capable of raising him themselves. They'd celebrated with a six pack and toasted to what was hopefully Eddie's big turning point.

It took Eddie a few weeks longer, but he eventually brought it up himself. Kid was nervous, obviously so, but nothing out of the norm. (last time he'd been so nervous, he'd been summoning the courage to tell Wayne he was repeating his repeat year).

'So me and Steve are like a thing.' He said, just blurting it out like he'd been overthinking it. Wayne had paused, finished his bite of casserole, to give him a moment to think. 'He treat you good?' He asked.

If he'd not seen the way Eddie headbanged to his music, he'd have been concerned with how eagerly Eddie nodded his head, almost giving himself whiplash. As if his enthusiasm was the factor that was going to convince Wayne of his veracity.

'Well. Tell your boy he's welcome here anytime. I need to see what his intentions with my boy are, after all.'

Eddie had made a face, like he was disgusted, but also gleefully pleased. Like Wayne had passed whatever test he'd been set.

'I'm gonna marry him one day.' He'd declared, sighing dreamily. 'He's so fucking perfect, you know?'

'Language.' Wayne admonished, and chuckled to himself. 'And no, I don't know. On account of you hiding him away every time I'm home. Bring the boy around, let me get to know him.'

And so he did.

And, a few years later, he followed through on his declaration and married the Harrington boy.

#steddie #wayne munson #eddie munson #stranger things rambling that apparently turned into a mini fic #steve harrington #i love the little Munson family dynamics that we COULD HAVE HAD #i also headcanon Eddie as bi or pan #to me he finds a person attractive rather than a specific sex or gender #(and Steve ticks all the boxes) #Wayne is such a sweetie...i love him...more Wayne in season five please and thanks #i love the idea that Steve's around loads until Wayne mentions that he seems nice...then Eddie is instantly 'i MUST keep them separate'

[rubydubydoo122]

In every universe Jason Peter Todd dies young. It’s a fate sealed across the multiverse. Maybe he could hope that there’s one universe where he doesn’t. aka, Jason, Dick, and Bruce go multiverse hopping, and are not having a fun time. (Ps, when I started writing this fic I hced Jason as Latino, but I don't really believe in that hc anymore, so just a heads up if you don't like that hc)

TRIGGER WARNING -> Child Death (it's Jason)

They spent the next couple of realities kind of… drifting. 

They spent the first couple universes mainly in hotel rooms or abandoned apartments, because Jason was tired . Using his All-Blades to almost his limit twice in one week, along with being pinballed around the multiverse was exhausting. 

Though eventually they went back to watching different Jasons die.

There were different Robins killed by different rogues– Scarecrow's goons giving him multiple doses of fear toxin. Ivy’s plants throwing him into a building too hard. Another Jacicle, this time a courtesy of Mr. Freeze.  

Then there was the reality where Jason got killed by the Joker in that one warehouse alone. Then the Jason , who got killed by the Joker at Amusement Mile. And the Jason who was captured in Arkham Asylum and apparently brainwashed and then he died. And then– there were a lot of Jasons killed by the Joker. 

They couldn’t do anything about the Jason who dropped dead on the streets. He couldn’t find clean water for a week, because of a rogue attack on the plumbing. (When that had happened to him there had been a convenience store owner who was kind enough to spot him and give him a spare water bottle. The owner stuck with him and made sure he sipped slowly.)

There was also the Jason who died caught up in a gang war. And the one who got shot by a cop. Gotta love the GCPD, (Commissioner Gordon is the exception.) 

What really sucks is that they’ve learned that no matter how hard they try, Jason is still going to die. They’ve tried keeping Jason at the manor. They’ve tried keeping him out of the way from rogues, they’ve tried tying up the Joker before he could get to Jay, but he keeps on dying .

Honestly it’s starting to get annoying. Is Jason following the three Ds– Disassociation, Derealization, and Death-Jokes– to stay sane? Obviously. You can only watch yourself die so many times until the voice of the Anti Monitor that says, “Incongruities must be purged” gets too loud and you start thinking, Huh, maybe being purged isn’t such a bad idea .

But honestly, the worst part about this is that none of the Jasons have been older than 15. At least they could bump it up a number. 

They also were never in a place long enough to actually start on the beacon prototype. So that sucked even more.

Until they landed in the Universe they were currently in. They landed just outside of the Manor’s Ballroom which was currently filled with people dressed in black tie attire.

On the stage, there was a banner that read: 30th Annual Wayne Foundation Charity Gala. There were three large tables closest to the stage, on the left seated Bruce, Talia, Damian, Baby Jon in a highchair, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, and Alfred 

On the right, seated Leslie Thompkins, Commissioner Gordon, Elaine and Doug Thomas, Crystal Brown, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance, and a man Jason has never seen in his life.

And the middle table held the rest of them. Barbra, Roy, Dick, Cass, Jason, Stephanie, Tim, and Duke.

Yet, despite the supposedly very magical presence of One Wonder Woman, and Talia (and Superman and Duke he supposes) it didn’t feel like there was any magic at all. Zero, zilch, nada.

Jason turned to Bruce, “I don’t think Uncle Clark and Aunt Diana are superheroes here.”

“I don’t think any of us are.” Dick was analyzing each of them closely, until his eyes blew wide, and he started  smacking both Bruce and Jason’s shoulder, “The Man sitting next to Oliver is Béla Károlyi. As in the Olympic level gymnastics coach.” Just as he said that, alternate reality Dick leaned back, seemingly saying something to Mr. Károlyi which made the man laugh, causing his brother’s jaw to drop.

Jason looked back to all of the tables, realizing that everyone looked so much… happier. So much lighter. He felt a smile creep onto his face, “Ya know, in all of the other Universes, I died either on the streets or because I was Robin. I have a pretty good feeling about this one.” 

Bruce looked like he was about to say something when the lights started to dim, and a projector was rolled out.

The screen opened up to an eight year old Dickie in a booster seat, holding Zitka in his arms. The camera quality showed it was from the early 2000s, which, yeah, considering if Dick was eight, it was probably 2002? There was a symphony of awws that went around the room as Alternate Reality Dick rolled his eyes, but sent a smile towards his Bruce.

The video continued to show clips of Bruce taking Dickie to visit Haly’s circus, probably for the first time since Bruce took him in.

Bruce turned to Dick with a raised eyebrow, “Remember how I had to practically pry you from Zitka when it was time to leave?”

Dick snorted, “I remember her smacking you with her trunk. Haly was really concerned, but I knew you were fine.”

“Because I’m Batman?”

“Because you’re Batman.” 

Then there was a video of Dickie and Bruce at a playground, where Bruce is struggling to squeeze down a tube slide. Alfred and Dickie dusting the chandeliers together– except Alfred was on a ladder, and Dick was hanging off of something. There were more pictures– a couple with Dick in a leotard and sweats with several gold medals around his neck, while he and Bruce ate ice cream– but mostly they were just of Dickie being a kid. In front of the school building, rolling out cookie dough with Alfred, up in a tree, that sorta thing. 

There was also a video of Dickie watching the Olympics, and watching the male Olympians do the Vault. He looked into the camera “Please, I can do better than that.”

The audience erupted into cheers, as Mr. Károlyi reached over and patted Dick’s shoulder.

Until there was a video of a maybe four year old Cass hiding behind Talia’s leg. 

“Hi, my name’s Dick.”

Talia gave Dickie a soft smile, “This is Cass. She can be a little shy sometimes.”

“ That’s ok. Bruce was a little shy at first too. Look at him now.” Dickie peered around Talia to get a better look, “Hi Cass, I can’t wait to get to know you.”

Alternate reality Cass was covering her face with her hands as another round of awws circled the room, but Dick leaned in to whisper something into her ear which made her look up and smile at him.

There were a lot more pictures of Talia, Cass, and Dickie doing things together. Like Cass painting Dickie’s nails, Dickie teaching Cass how to tumble, and a picture of Cass and Dickie standing side by side, backpacks on, holding signs that said KTG and 5th on it. There was also a really cute video of Dickie and Cass setting up a date night for Bruce and Talia. 

Then there was a video of maybe a six year old Cass holding hands with a toddler in the middle of a Gala. 

“Whatcha got there Cass?” It was a young voice, so he assumed it was Dickie behind the camera.

“A baby brother.” 

“I’m Tim! Where do you live?”

The room erupted into howls as alternate reality Tim lowered his head so he could no longer see the screen. 

Dick turned to Jason, “Guess the stalker tendencies started young.”

From then on, there were a lot of photos and videos that included Tim and Cass in the middle of shenanigans together. Cass putting lotion in Tim’s hair, Cass putting makeup on Tim, both of them racing those little electric cars down the giant manor driveway. Bruce teaching Cass how to ride a bike, with Talia and Dickie cheering her on in the background. Videos of Cass dancing balletT

There was also a picture that looked like it was from Thanksgiving, with Alfred, Bruce, Talia, Dickie, Cass, Tim, Jack and Janet Drake, Uncle Clark, Ma and Pa Kent and Aunt Diana. So Bruce and Dick probably just babysat Tim a lot. 

Then there was a video of a very large backyard wedding– It looked like a fusion wedding. Yeah, the closeups of Talia showed henna decorating her arms.

“You know your name’s hidden in the design.” 

“I already found it.” Bruce grinned at Talia, and placed a finger right below her ring knuckle, “Right here.”

“You know they say it is a sign of good luck if the groom finds his name faster.”

Bruce kissed Talia’s forehead, “We don’t need luck, but I’ll take it. Now where are my shoes?”

Talia laughed, “Well, Beloved, Dick is going to have to find them. If not, you have to pay Cass to get them back.”

“Dick can’t even find his own shoes half the time.”

“Well, you’re a billionaire for a reason.”

There was also a video of Ra’s and Bruce dancing bhangra together, which honestly wasn’t bad at all.

The next picture was of a 14 year old Dickie, and an eight year old Cass, with Talia, Bruce and Alfred in the courthouse holding up adoption papers.

There were a couple of photos of the five of them at Disney World. Then some more Thanksgiving photos, this time, Janet Drake wasn’t there, but Jack was. Except he was in a wheelchair. There were more photos and videos from throughout the year. Like Cass and Dick’s Birthdays, Mothers and Fathers day, and then Tim’s 6th birthday.

It looked like a really small thing, and Jack wasn’t there. Then Bruce handed him a gift wrapped rectangle. “Happy Birthday, Tim. I know it hasn’t been the best year, but hopefully the next one is better.”

Tim took the gift with a tiny smile, and unwrapped it. “A camera!! I love it! I love it! I love it! I’m going to take a picture of all of us right now!” Tim frowned at the buttons, “How do I take the picture?”

There were giggles that went around the room as the slideshow continued, now with a lot more photos of Bruce and Alfred compared to before. There was a video of Dickie holding both of Tim’s hands while Tim balanced on a skateboard. A video of Cass teaching Tim and Dickie her Ballet routine, and a really nice picture of Dickie in the middle of a corkscrew flip. 

Then it cut to a video of Cass and Dickie teasing Tim in the living room.

“I’m not scared. It’s just a movie.” That being said, Tim was currently hiding in Bruce’s arms, so he definitely was scared.

“We can turn it off if you would like us to, Tim.”

“I’m not scared! I am six years old. I’m not a baby. I hate being the youngest.”

The camera panned to Talia, “Well…you don’t have to be the youngest anymore. I’m going to have a baby.”  

Tim’s eyes widened, and then he rolled his eyes. “Finally.”

The next couple of videos and photos were of Dick, Cass, and Tim painting the nursery– Jason totally forgot the manor had a nursery– yellow and green while Alfred and Bruce assembled a crib. There was a video from the Baby Shower where everyone was putting bangles on Talia’s arms, along with feeding her sweets. 

The next video was of all six of them in the nursery with a giant whiteboard, where Bruce  tapped it with a dry erase marker, “Alright, what should we name this kid?”  

Tim jumped up and down, “ I got one! Peanut!”

Talia laughed from the rocking chair she was in, as Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, “Like…the butter?”

“Yup.”

“Write it down, Beloved. I like it.”

There were squeaks on the whiteboard, that felt a little long for just Cat, but oh well.

Dickie was doing a headstand against the crib, “Do we know if it’s going to be a boy or a girl?”

“We want it to be a surprise.”

“Hmm.” Dickie maneuvered so he was sitting properly on the floor, “What about Robin? My mom used to call me that. Maybe it could be the baby’s middle name? It’s gender neutral.” 

Jason turned to his brother Dick, “Your mom used to call you Robin?”

Dick nodded, but didn’t take his eyes off the screen

Screen Bruce looked to Dickie, “Are you sure, Chum? You don’t want to use it if you have any kids of your own?”

Dickie smiled, “I think I’d use my parents' names for my own kids. I’d like my sibling to share Robin with me. I’d give it to Cass and Tim if I could.”

The pride was practically bleeding through the screen, as Bruce erased the middle line separating Boy and Girl, to make a column for middle name. 

Talia ran her fingers through Cass’s hair as she started to braid it, “ What about your parents names, Beloved?”

Bruce shook his head, “They wouldn’t appreciate that.”

Alfred cleared his throat, “Might I suggest Athanasia? It was one of the names your parents picked out if you were to be a girl.”

“That’s a beautiful name. Write it down.”

Dickie snorted, “Yet they decided to name Bruce, Bruce. What are you, a mechanic?”

Tim moved to sit on the ottoman of the rocking chair, “Your name’s Dick .”

Dickie opened his mouth like he was about to make a counterpoint, but ultimately decided against it.

“Cass, do you have any ideas?”

Cass leaned back and pressed her ear to Talia’s stomach like she was listening to the baby, “Damian. Damian Al Ghul-Wayne. But we should call him Cat.”

The next couple photos were of Talia in a hospital bed holding a newborn Damian. Then a video of a tousled Bruce taking Damian from Talia, “This is weird. Usually they’re bigger when I first hold them.”

Tim was running around the hospital room taking pictures of Bruce and the baby from different angles, “If he’s too small for you, can I hold him? My arms are the perfect size to hold a baby.”

There was a hand that reached out to ruffle Tim’s hair, “I thought you said you wanted to take pictures first.”

“I do! But I also wanna hold him.”

“Why don’t you take pictures of Damian with everyone else, and then you can hold him. Save the best for last, ya know.”

Tim nodded and continued taking pictures.

Bruce, smiled down at Damian, “He has your nose and lips, Talia.”

“He has your ears, Beloved.”

There was a gag from behind the camera as Bruce kissed Talia’s forehead. Then they both looked to Alfred, “Do you want to hold him?” 

“I wouldn’t want to intrude–”

“Alfred, he’s your grandson. Just like Dick, Cass, and Tim.”

Alfred seemed to reboot at the statement, but it didn’t phase him for long, as Bruce placed Damian in his arms. “Why hello there, little lad.” Bruce came closer to the camera as it stayed trained on Alfred and Damian, “I can film for a bit.” The camera shifted a bit and a very ruffled looking Dickie appeared on screen, in a leotard and sweats. “What time is your first event at?”

“10:30, but Bruce–”

“Alright, that gives us about thirty more minutes here…”

“Bruce–”

“if I speed a bit, we’ll be able to make it back with time for you to warm–”

“Dad!” That seemed to immediately shut Bruce up. Jason kinda wished the camera was on his face, “I’d rather stay here with Talia, and you, and Damian.”

“What about the scouts?”

“I’ve still got, like, three years until I can go to the Olympics. I’ve got time. Besides, I fly for my family. Not for scouts.” Dick tapped his chest twice with his fist, before there was the sound of shuffling off camera, which Jason assumed was a hug.

Then Alfred walked over to Dick, and handed Damian to him. Dick made a face like ‘why are you handing me a child’ but then looked down at Damian and smiled, “Besides, he’s already stolen my heart. Good luck trying to get your child back.” Bruce and Talia both laughed, but Dick looked to Cass, “Do you want to hold him?”

Cass’s eyes widened as she shook her head, “No.”

“Alright then, Tim, go wash your hands and sit down.”

Tim did a little Mario jump, before running to the nearest hand sanitizer dispenser and running back to one of the waiting room seats, and making grabby motions at Dick.

Dick made a panicked expression before Damian went back to Alfred so that Alfred could give him to Tim.

“Make sure to support his head, ok?”

Tim nodded, as Alfred placed Damian in his arms, “Oh! Oh! He’s waking up!” Tim grinned, showing off his missing tooth, “Hi Peanut, I’m your big brother Tim.” Damian blinked up at Tim, once, twice.

Then he started to cry.

Tim’s eyes widened as he looked a little past the camera, “Take him back. Take him back!”

The next couple photos and videos were of Damian and the rest of the family at different milestones. And a little tiny baby Damian napping on Bruce’s shoulder, while Bruce is also asleep.

The Next video was from slightly outside the playroom– Jason didn’t even know they had one of those– of Talia and Bruce crouching in front of Damian in his walker.

“Say Ummmi. Habibi say Ummmi.”

“Don’t listen to your Mother, say Baba, Baba, Bababababa.”

The camera came closer, and Damian immediately looked at him, and gave the camera a two toothed smile that made the entire audience coo, “ Dee!”

Bruce frowned back at Damian, “I can work with that, Dada, say Dada, Damian.”

Damian reached to whoever was holding the camera, “ Dee!”

Dick laughed from behind the camera, “I think he’s trying to say…Dickie!”

“Diggie!”

“I win! I was his first words.” The camera shuffled around until it was in Bruce’s hands. Dick picked Damian out of the walker, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Cass owes me five dollars.”

His brother Dick turned to Bruce, “Ha!”

The video was cut off with a photo of Dick, Cass, Tim and Damian all piled on top of Bruce. There were more photos and videos as the years progressed. From Tim doing skateboard tricks, and Cass and Dick belting to “Enchanted”, to holiday photos, Tim getting adopted and Damian somehow covered completely in flour. There was also a video of the whole family going feral of Dick getting on the US Olympic team. 

So that was probably why Mr. Károlyi was sitting at the friends and family table up front. 

The next video had horrible quality, so it had to have been taken on an old iphone or something. “Um, Hi, Tim here, I’m recording for Bruce’s therapist, cus I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. So, it’s June 27th, and– ya know what, I’ll just show you.” The camera flipped around to show a Mercedes GLE that was missing three tires, and a Bruce who was hunched over, clutching his stomach laughing, “Bruce, do you want to tell Leslie what’s going on?”

“There was this–this tiny little kid, and he- and he stole my tires.” Bruce fully squatted and leaned his head against the car door because he was still laughing, “And then– and then–” Bruce apparently could not stop himself from laughing, “ And then he hit me with the tire iron, and called me a big boob!” If Bruce wasn’t on a street he would’ve been rolling around on the floor.

Honestly, Jason doesn’t think there was ever a time Bruce laughed that hard.

“Are you hurt, Beloved?”

Bruce shook his head no, and took a couple of breaths while wiping tears from his eyes, “ Tim, give me back my phone. I’ve got some people to call.”

“Are you gonna call the cops on him?”

Bruce looked at Tim like he was crazy, “No, I need to contact Elaine to see if I can adopt him.”

There was a bit of shuffling, but the camera only cut off after Tim grumbled, “ I could probably steal your tires too.”

Jason spared a glance at Bruce, only to find him with a slight fond smile. “Ain’t no way that was that funny.” Honestly, all Jason could remember was being terrified out of his mind. If he hadn’t been so scared, he would’ve thought of a better insult than ‘ya big boob.’

Bruce huffed out a laugh , a real one that Jason hasn’t seen or heard in years, “Honestly, It was a lot funnier considering I was dressed as a giant bat when you took a swing.”

Jason shook his head in disbelief.

“I’d get hit with that tire iron a million times if it meant you would enter my life.”

Oh. Oh.

No. He probably just means the kid Jason used to be. Jason sucked in a breath through his teeth, “Been there, done that, and let me tell you, Old Man, it was not fun.”

Jason half expected Bruce to yell at him for making a joke about his death, but he just rolled his eyes, “I guess I walked right into that one.” The next photo was a candid of Jay in the manor’s library white streak stark against his black hair, looking like he just rolled into Narnia, “That was the exact expression you made when you first saw the library.” Bruce looked back at Jason with a smile that wrinkled the crows feet around his eyes.

“I guess some things are constants when it comes to us.” 

Bruce fixed his gaze at the younger Jay who was oblivious to the way alternate reality Bruce was smiling fondly at him. “I have a good feeling about this reality too.”

They continued to watch the slideshow. Most of the pictures and videos with Jay in them consisted of him covering his face, unless he was absorbed in a book, or cooking with Alfred.

Then there was a video of Jay in the bathroom with a bowl of black hair dye and a brush, Cass straightening the white streak, so that the hair dye would go on more evenly.

The mirror showed it was Tim behind the camera, “I still think you should paint it red.”

Cass set down the straightener, “I think you should keep it the way it is.”

Jay shook his head, “This is gonna be my first time out in public as Wayne's new foster. They’ll already–” Jay cut himself off and chewed the inside of his cheek, “Maybe in a couple years. I’m just not used to all of this yet, and I don’t want more eyes on me because of a stupid autoimmune disease.” Jay took the brush and started parting the white strip so he could cover it in the hair dye.

“It’s not stupid. It looks really cool.”

“It makes you unique,” Cass shrugged, “ It is your hair, though, and you should be changing it because you want to, and not because everyone else thinks you should.” Cass smiled at herself, “ That’s what Dick would say.”

Jay frowned for a second, until a mischievous grin slowly appeared on his face, “ I’m gonna dye my hair, but not because of anyone else. I just wanna see how long it takes Dick to figure out I have vitiligo.”

Cass grinned and grabbed the bowl of hair dye, “I’ll help.”

Jay lowered the lid of the toilet and sat down facing Cass, “Timbo, you’d better hide that video.”

Dick turned to Jason, and flicked his hair, “I guess the white streak is also a universal constant. Even if the reason isn’t magic in this one.” He turned back to watching the slideshow, as Jason shared a look with Bruce.

Dick may be a great detective, but boy could he be dense sometimes. 

The next picture was of Jay and a three year old Damian looking out of the plane window, followed by a video of Jay reading out loud to Damian, Tim and Cass, as all of them gradually get closer and closer, until they were all cuddling, and then a photo of Damian, Tim and Cass sleeping as Jay seemed to continue reading 

Then there was a video of the seven of them in an empty looking stadium. The camera focused on Jay for a couple seconds before he pushed it away and it focused on Dick hugging his siblings. And then Talia, and then Alfred.

“Bruce, can’t you give it to him? You know him better, and you bought it.”

“You came up with the idea, Jason.”

“Anyone with brain cells would’ve been able to come up with it.” Dick started walking over to the pair, “Here, let me take the camera…” There was a bit of shuffling, “And you can take the bag!”

The camera focused just as Dick engulfed Bruce in a hug.

They pulled apart as Dick glanced at the bag, “Ya know, B, you didn’t have to get me a gift. A new little brother is more than enough.”

Bruce handed the gift bag to Dick, “Actually, the gift was Jason’s idea.”

“Snitch.”

“I am just giving credit where it’s due.”

Dick opened the bag and pulled out a red and yellow leotard with a pair of green shorts and green pants. Dick immediately recognized the colors and put a hand to his mouth.

“I know blue is also the color of the Flying Graysons, but to me these colors have always been more… iconic. I’m sorry if I overstepped, you don’t have to wear it–”

“No, shut up, I’m wearing it.” Dick had a soft smile on his face, “I was debating doing the quadruple flip, but I’m sure this is a sign that I should.”

Bruce clapped a hand on Dick’s shoulder, “ Great, because the rest of us are going to match.”

“Stop, I’m literally going to cry.”

The next photo was of all of the Robins– the whole family, because Alfred, Bruce and Talia were also wearing red, yellow, and green– in their colors. In the Grayson colors

Jason looked over at Dick whose eyes were glossy, but he was still smiling. Though he wasn’t looking at the screen. He was looking at alternate reality Jay, who was being nuggied by alternate reality Dick.

Dick realized Jason was looking at him, “It’s kinda the opposite of our first meeting.”

“Huh. it is, isn’t it?” he thought back to Dick giving him the box with a Robin suit that was too big for him. It was Dick’s official stamp of approval. He never got to grow into that suit.

Vaguely, he wonders if Bruce threw away that suit, along with all the other ones, save the one he died in.

The next video was of Jason in the garage with Bruce staring at a singular tire with a bow around it.

“Is that a tire I stole?”

Bruce grinned, “It is.”

“Huh. I didn’t realize you got them back.”

“I have my ways.”

Jay turned to face Bruce, “You do realize I stole them to make money, right? Currently, this serves no purpose to me.” His face morphed into something dejected “Unless…”

“No. No, not that.” Bruce kneeled in front of him, “ Jay, lad, I know you’ve only been here for a little over a month, but I would like to say, you will always have a home here. No matter what. 

“In fact this is more of a promise. I was thinking of giving you a tire for each of your birthdays, so by the time you turn 16, you’ll have all four. I was thinking we could maybe build a car together.”

There was a flurry of emotions that flashed over Jay’s face, before it settled on disbelief. “You? Bruce Wayne? Build a car?”

 “I am a man of many talents.”

Jay raised an eyebrow, “I better not be the only one putting elbow grease into this thing, otherwise, as soon as it’s finished I’m drivin’ away. With all four tires this time.”

Bruce lifted his arm to flex his bicep, “I’ll put in the muscle.”

Jay rushed in to give Bruce a hug and just as quickly pulled away, “ Thank you, Bruce.” Then Jay turned to face the camera directly, “ Are you seriously filming us, Tim?”

There was a video of the family helping Dick move into a dorm room. A picture of the first day of school with a very happy looking Jay, and just… memories captured that was so normal . No bruises, no broken arms, no hollow eyes from any of them. Just… love.

Obviously Jason knew that this family had to have had its fair share of ups and downs– most of them had seen loss in horrific ways– but the downs didn’t seem to lead to bloodshed, or near murder. Just more understanding.

The slideshow ended with a photo of the entire family cuddling on the couch, sleeping while Dick who was on the outskirts took a selfie.

The crowd erupted into cheers as the lights slowly brightened and alternate reality Bruce took to the stage. 

“Hello everyone, and welcome to the 30th Annual Wayne Foundation Charity Gala.” There was a polite round of applause, “Now, you may be wondering why I decided to start off the night differently than I have in the past years. That is because it has been brought to my attention that my usual speech about philanthropy and giving back to the community is, and I quote ‘ mundane and monotonous, and became stale after the second gala.’ Jason’s words, not mine. So he helped me write this.” There were a couple of chuckles that went around the room, “While I still believe in those values, the real reason this Gala is so important to me, is because it was important to my parents, Martha and Thomas Wayne. To me, this Gala has always been in memory of them.

“My parents loved this city, but they didn’t love it for its old buildings, or the grime on the pavement. No. They loved Gotham for her people. My dad, a doctor, who never turned his back on someone in need, no matter their background. My mom, who knew she was blessed with money and realized she could use that to help other people who need it in this city. Which is why the Wayne Foundation was made. Though, I don’t think there’s a single person in Gotham who didn’t already know that. Yet there was so much more to my parents than just that. Even though they’ve been long gone, I still see them everywhere. 

“I see my mom sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping her tea while Alfred prepares breakfast. I see my dad in the living room whenever baseball plays. I see my parents on the porch swing that overlooks the garden, but most importantly, I see them in my kids.

“The way Dick cares for his siblings sometimes is almost the exact same as how my dad used to care about me. He’ll bring an ice pack over in three seconds flat, even if they say they’re ok. He’ll slap a bandaid on an ouch, even if it isn’t bleeding. He’ll do anything to bring a smile to their faces. Just like my dad always did with me.

“I’d give up everything just to see Cass laugh. Because the way she laughs is just how my mom laughed. The way it starts with soft giggles and gradually gets louder and louder. The way she leans her head back and clutches her stomach. The way if something is truly hilarious, she’ll lean her head on the nearest solid object, trying to gasp for air.

“And Damian, oh Damian. He looks so much like Talia, but sometimes, I catch myself staring at him, picking out which of his features belonged to my mom, and which of his features belonged to my dad. His ears are shaped just like hers, his eyebrows are sculpted just like his. His curly hair is definitely from my mom.

“I can tell that Tim looks at the world in the same way my mom did. He looks at everything, taking in every little detail. He knows even when the subtlest thing is off. And when he looks at you, you know he is not just seeing you, but he’s seeing you . All of you.” 

Bruce pulled out a sheet of paper and placed it on the podium, “And I knew all of these things subconsciously, but Jason, he had to hold my hand through writing this whole speech. I would say some things that I remembered about my parents, and he’d go ‘ like blank does?’ and I'd be like–” Bruce facepalmed, “ duh. But he didn’t help me with this part. Uh oh, I’m going off script.” There was a rumble of laughter at that, but Bruce had a really soft smile on, and was making eye contact with Jay, “But in all seriousness, I think of the way I met Jason often. How he came to me on the reminder of the darkest day of my life, and turned that day into something brighter to remember. And I don’t believe in Fate, or God, but whenever I think of that night in the alley, I can no longer think of a boy who lost his parents. I can only think of my parents guiding their grandson to me. Jason made me realize that my parents guided all of my children to me, and to Talia, and to Alfred. And for that…” Bruce’s eyes were shining as he blinked hard and fast, “I don’t think words can describe how… how glad I am to be blessed with the beautiful family I have today.”

I can only think of my parents guiding their grandson to me.

Jason turned to his Bruce, only to see tears streaming down his face. 

What’s going on? Was he hurt? Why is he crying? He never cries. Batman never cries.

But this wasn’t Batman. This was Bruce.

I can only think of my parents guiding their grandson to me.

“Bruce? Do you…?”

Bruce looked from Jason to Dick and back to Jason, “Every single word and more. And so much more.”

And before he knew it, he was in his Dad’s Bruce’s his Dad’s Bruce’s his Dad’s arms. And then his brother’s arms. He was in his dad’s and his brother’s arms and everything felt–

Whole .

Jason felt whole .

They stayed in each other’s embrace as Alternate Reality Bruce finished up his speech, “There was a poem my mom read to me once, and I had forgotten about it until Jason showed it to me again. The poem actually inspired this entire speech. It’s called ‘ Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep’ by Mary Elizabeth Frye. 

“Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.

“When you awaken in the morning's hush; I am the swift uplifting rush; Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry,

“I am not there; I did not die.”

There was a moment of silence as the audience drank in the words. And the silence was pierced. But not by applause or cheers.

It was pierced by twin shots.

Gunshots. 

And screaming. Screaming even though the room seemed to be drowned out by the sound of cicadas.

Because Jay was slumped on the table. 

He wasn’t Robin. He was no longer a street kid.

Still, he was–

Bleeding. 

One Bullet through the heart, one bullet through the head. 

Tablecloth stained red.

#jason todd #batman #batfam #dc comics #red hood #dick grayson #bruce wayne #tim drake #damian wayne #cassandra cain #alternate universe #dimensional travel #no capes au

[moonchildreads]

small town

Chapter 24 - Up Where We Belong

IN THIS CHAPTER: Graduation gowns, strawberry milkshakes, and Wayne asks a question [9.9k]

WARNINGS: dealing with grief (nancy, dottie, eddie to a less extent), writer not knowing how graduations are in the us

A/N: happy new year!!!! i hope everyone is having a wonderful start of 2024, here's your belated christmas gift from yours truly. if you read this and think "that's not how that works", then i don't know what to tell you bestie but i tried. i watched a TON of graduation ceremonies on youtube and i pulled heavily from those, aside from borrowing things from my own not-american graduation. i hope you enjoy it anyways! (and let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist!) <3

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

All we have is here and now All our life, out there to find

Friday, June 13th - 1986

Wayne Munson had walked the halls of Hawkins High School several times throughout recent years courtesy of his nephew’s misbehaving, but never making it past Principal Higgins’ office was turning out to be a problem. Resigned, he stomped on his cigarette gently before following a family that looked like they knew where they were going, regretting not taking up Eddie’s offer to escort him inside before he disappeared in search of his friends and fellow graduates. Graduation. Ain’t that a funny thing to think about, Wayne mused. The auditorium, he noted as he finally found it, was decorated in bright orange and calming forest green, a Class of 1986 paper banner hanging from the dark curtain that was doing its job as an unassuming background at the very back of the room. On the stage, there was a regal-looking wooden lectern, and a small table with stacked up rolls of paper tied with orange and green ribbons; next to it, a bunch of black chairs where teachers would probably be sitting during the event had been carefully lined up into a single row.

Excitement filled the air. It was in the murmurs of the people taking their seats, skimming their programs to proudly find the names of their kids printed on the semi-matte paper. It was in the way the school’s faculty could not stand still, barely having time to say hello to everyone walking in before they were off to check yet another little detail so everything could go as smoothly as possible. Wayne walked down the central aisle trying to find a good spot to sit in while feeling a bead of sweat go down his back. The last time he’d worn a suit, any suit, had been to his mother’s funeral eight years before; in fact, he still only owned that one suit. The temperature in Hawkins was steadily rising as June turned into July, and Wayne felt incredibly stuffy in his clothes but he didn’t dare wear anything less for such a special day. Eddie had defied all odds and was now a High School Graduate, the first Munson to walk to stage in three generations. Truth be told, his Uncle was willing to bet that he was actually the first one to do so in their entire family history, and thus, Wayne wore the suit, and the shirt, and the tie, and searched for a seat near the front to witness his nephew doing the exact opposite of what the whole town had always expected him to do: succeed.

Bianca, Donny’s mom, was fussing over her youngest grandson, Francesco, when she saw Wayne looking a little lost in the crowd and waved at him to wordlessly invite him to sit with them. The eldest Munson approached them with a smile, settling himself on the row behind the Vitale family who was so very busy trying to keep little Francesco and his (barely) older cousin Marco from running down the aisles and bothering other families.

“Good to see y’all made it,” Wayne commented, shaking Donny’s dad Angelo’s hand before turning to Vittoria, Donny’s heavily pregnant older sister. “Though I coulda sworn I heard you were on bed rest, missy.”

“I am, but what my doctor doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” she laughed, hand resting over her swollen belly. “This little lady hasn’t stopped kicking me all day, I think she’s more excited than I am to finally be outside the house!”

“It’s a special day, I’m sure the doctor won’t mind too much as long as we take it slow,” her husband said, kissing the side of her head. “Say hi to Mr. Munson, Marco.”

“Hi!” the little boy said, standing between his parents’ seats. “Whose Grandpa are you?”

“Marco!” his dad exclaimed, but Wayne laughed loudly.

“That’s not a grandpa, you dummy! That’s Eddie’s dad,” said Francesco, before grabbing his cousin’s hand and leading him towards Nonna Giulia down the row in search of the candy she always kept in her purse.

“I’m sorry,” Vittoria said with an apologetic smile. “They read this picture book about families at pre-school and now he thinks all men with white hair are grandpas.”

“Ah, it’s fine. I know I’m not gettin’ any younger,” Wayne joked, his eyes straying to the side of the auditorium where the seniors were finally getting ushered into formation.

The Vitale family craned their necks to see their boy, and Wayne in turn searched for his: Eddie was standing near Jeff towards the middle of the line, the two of them engaged in conversation as they waited for everyone to get into their respective places. It wasn’t that Eddie wasn’t paying attention to what his friend was saying; he was clearly answering back and keeping the chat going, but it seemed to his Uncle that he was searching for someone in the crowd, eyes scanning rows of unknown family members for a face he hadn’t yet found. Wayne was about to lift his hand to let him know where he was sitting, but it soon became apparent that Eddie hadn’t been looking for him - he had been looking for the short haired girl who had just ran into the auditorium with a panicked look on her face and an askew cap on her head.

Dottie hurried over to where her classmates were standing, enveloping a curly haired girl Wayne wasn’t familiar with at the very back of the line in an enthusiastic hug before doing the same with Donny. Wayne saw with an amused smile how Eddie waited patiently for his turn while she hugged Jeff, and how all his anxiety looked like it was melting away as he embraced her, eyes closed and face buried in her hair. After saying their hellos, Dottie kept walking to the front of the line where she greeted a strawberry blonde girl with excited hops and shared an equally loving hug with both her and Gareth. Her dad watched her with a fond smile from his place near the doors, a program held tightly in his hands. Taking pity on the poor man who Wayne knew was attending the event alone much like he was, he motioned for James to join their mismatched group who gladly took the offer, walking briskly towards the still empty seat next to Eddie’s uncle. James greeted Donny’s family before getting comfortable on his wooden chair and let a long breath out. Finally.

“Long morning?” Wayne asked, knowingly.

“Be grateful you don’t have a teenage girl in your house, Wayne. It was near impossible to get here on time,” James scoffed.

“Can’t be worse than Ed’s allergy to his damn alarm clock. It went off for a whole 15 minutes before he got up today.”

“Did it wake you up?”

“Nah. Was already up reading the paper but I wasn’t about to turn it off for him. He just rolls over and keeps sleeping if I do,” he said, and James shook his head with an affectionate smile on his face.

“Teenagers, right?”

“Yup. Teenagers.”

Over the few short months Wayne and James had known each other, they had learned to appreciate the quiet but hard work the other did for their respective kid. It wasn’t easy to be a single father, and even though Wayne wasn’t Eddie’s biological dad, there was no doubt in James’ mind that he fulfilled that role wonderfully in the boy’s life and heart. The Munsons and the Burkes had gone through a lot over the years, that much was undeniable, but on that hot Friday morning both fathers could be proud that their kids had made it to the other side relatively unharmed, all the while somehow finding each other to rely on along the way. If Dottie and Eddie were going to be inseparable all summer as they had been since the day they met, it was only fair James and Wayne got to compare notes on parenting and commiserate over the little annoying things they’d miss once the kids had left the comforting safety of their family homes.

Before they could continue their talk however, teachers began herding the seniors into a neat single file and getting into their places on the stage, Principal Higgins taking his spot behind the lectern. Excitement amplified as the crowd hushed - only suppressed coughs and a few little children’s voices could be heard in the quiet room. Wayne saw Higgins approach the mic and took a deep breath letting the pride he’d been feeling all morning take over him. The heat of the almost-here summer was forgotten outside in the parking lot, along with his smushed cigarette butt and the heavy weight he’d been carrying since a CPS agent left a scared 8-year-old Eddie on his doorstep all those years ago.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Hawkins High School Principal Thomas Higgins,” the man began, voice booming across the room with the aid of loudspeakers; Dorothy peered at him over the shoulder of the taller girl standing in front of her. “On behalf of the faculty, staff, and administration of Hawkins High, we’d like to welcome family and friends, and most importantly, to our seniors to the Commencement Exercises of the Graduating Class of 1986.”

Higgins paused for effect and the crowd followed his cue by breaking into happy applause - the aforementioned seniors gleefully waved to the few family members they could find within the sea of heads straining to look at them. The Class of ‘86 stood patiently to the side towards the back of the auditorium, waiting to be called into the main aisle where their names would be announced one by one and they’d go up the stage, accept their diploma, and go back downstairs to the rows of chairs at the front left that had been reserved for them. The full graduating class was small, no more than 40 students, and Dottie wondered how different things would have been for her if she were graduating with her New York classmates in a year that comprised around 400 kids instead of doing it in Hawkins, Indiana.

“Please, rise from your seats and join us in singing the National Anthem, followed by the Hawkins High School Spirit Song,” Higgins announced, and the sound of creaking wooden chairs filled the air as everyone followed his request.

Dottie sang along to the National Anthem without thinking too much about it, but when the first notes of the Hawkins High school song came through the speakers, she realized she had no idea what the lyrics were. No one had told her they’d be singing it during their only rehearsal, and certainly no one had spared a moment to teach it to her in the last six months. She wasn’t even sure she knew a spirit song even existed before that very moment. Eyes surveying over the crowd of family members, she saw that most if not all were singing along - the only ones not joining in were probably those who hadn’t attended Hawkins High and lived in a different town, perhaps even in a different state altogether. Heat rising up her chest under her dark green gown, she turned her head to the front, feeling very much like an outsider amongst her peers for the first time in months. Bryan Butler right behind her sang louder as the song was ending and she tried to not call attention to herself to let him take the spotlight. Once the music stopped, Principal Higgins neared the lectern to continue his speech.

“Thank you, you may be seated now,” Higgins said, and the wooden creaking resumed for a second as everyone sat back down to watch the rest of the ceremony. “The Hawkins High School Class of 1986 has experienced many memorable moments over the last four years, and Hawkins is proud of how these young graduates have worked and persevered through hard times to get to this day. We as faculty could not be prouder or more thrilled to celebrate with them, and we look forward to sending them off onto the next chapter in their lives. Parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and other family members, we are honored to have you here today as our guests to celebrate our graduates and we thank you for your support. Please clap along as the Class of 1986 proceeds to their places.”

The speakers began playing Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 in D and the crowd broke into fervent applause once more, Michael Allen leading the way for his fellow seniors to stand in the central aisle right below the middle set of stairs where they’d wait to be called to the stage. As they fell into their designated spots, Dottie finally recognized who had been assigned to stand right in front of her; it was Robin Buckley, the shy band nerd she had met at Family Video a few weeks earlier and briefly bonded with over their shared love of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. She was wearing white Converse sneakers with little drawings in blue and black ink, and the edges of her black rolled up jeans could be seen poking below her gown. She’s so cool, Dottie thought, not knowing that Robin was desperately trying not to scan the audience lest her nerves paralyzed her. Not even painting her nails bright orange had saved them from being chewed on this time around.

“Hawkins High School’s Class of 1986 was given the opportunity to choose a member of our staff to read their names as they cross the stage today,” Principal Higgins explained as three people already on stage stood from their seats. “I am honored to announce that this year, our Assistant Principal Mrs. Elaine Chandler will present the diplomas to our newest graduates. Mrs. Suzanne O’Donnell, Mr. Leopold Hauser, and myself will present them with their diploma cover, graduation medallions, and honor cords if applicable. Elaine?” he motioned for her to switch places with him.

“Thank you, Principal Higgins,” said Assistant Principal Elaine Chandler, adjusting her glasses on her nose as she looked down the list of names in front of her. “Allen, Michael,” she called first from behind the lectern, and the crowd clapped as Michael went up to her and received a hug and a rolled up certificate before moving down the stage towards the other teachers to shake their hands.

Dottie’s palms began sweating as more names kept being called and her time as a Hawkins High student slowly came to an end. Even though she had felt very much like an intruder looking in through a window during her first few months in the town, she had to admit that was happy here now - certainly much more happier than she’d ever been back in New York. Here all the teachers knew her name without having to read it from a file. Here she had a group of friends she’d go to literal Hell and back for, and she had a boyfriend who loved her the way she’d always thought love should be: easy and gentle. Here she had attended the best prom of her life, and her face would be permanently attached to a club that had given her the safety she’d never gotten anywhere else to finally, truthfully, be herself. Here Dottie had been at home.

While Barnes, Kathleen was getting her extracurricular honor cords for being part of the cheerleading team, Mrs. Chandler called upon Buckley, Robin and Dottie suddenly found herself at the front of the line. Robin climbed the steps with as much grace as she could muster while being pretty much mortified, and Mrs. Chandler soothed her with friendly pats on her back before presenting her with her diploma. The tall girl accepted it with shaky hands, her rings glinting under the stage lights, when a loud cheer rang above the polite applause of the crowd. Robin laughed, half embarrassed and half grateful, and when Dottie turned to see where the sounds were coming from, she found not only Dustin and Erica hooting and hollering besides a couple who were clearly Robin’s parents, but also that Steve guy that worked at Family Video with her, the one that Robin had described as her strictly platonic best friend with a capital P. It looked like retail did bond you forever after all.

Mr. and Mrs. Buckley looked between confused and amused as Steve pinched his bottom lip and let out a loud whistle - a chortle escaped Robin’s mouth while a cheerful Mr. Hauser, who had been her favorite teacher all four years of high school, put her graduation medallion around her neck, nerves all but forgotten before she skipped her way down to Mrs. O’Donnell to receive her extracurricular honor cords for being in band. Huh, that’s curious, Dottie thought distractedly. Didn’t know Dustin and Erica were such good friends with her and Steve. I wonder how they met.

“Burke, Dorothy,” called Mrs. Chandler through the speakers, jostling Dottie out of her musings.

This was it. The moment of truth. Dottie climbed the stairs and accepted a hug from Mrs. Chandler, hearing her friends cheering for her loudly in the background when her damp fingers came into contact with her diploma. She glanced at the crowd and time seemed to stop when her eyes found her Dad, a proud smile on his face and his program tucked under his armpit so he could clap loudly for his daughter. She waved at him and Wayne, who had also stood up to cheer for her, and time resumed after a blinding flash went off and she was whisked along to where the rest of the teachers were standing. She shook hands with both Principal Higgins and Mr. Hauser even though she hardly knew both men, and accepted her diploma cover and her graduation medallion before turning towards Mrs. O’Donnell. She was about to hug her teacher when the old woman presented her with her own honor cords, entwined green and orange ending in delicate tassels dangling from her manicured hands.

“That’s not- I’m not-” Dottie began.

“You have one of the highest GPAs in your year, besides being involved in two extracurriculars. Congratulations, Miss Burke. You’ve earned this,” O’Donnell said, and it was perhaps the only time in the whole semester Dottie had seen her genuinely smile.

“T-thank you,” she managed to get out, letting the woman drape the cords on her shoulders and rushing to her seat before she began bawling on stage.

“Hey, congrats!” Robin whispered once they were both seated next to each other, shaking her own cords lightly. The ceremony continued with no regards to their little chat.

“You too! Didn’t know I had qualified for any of this, I think everyone saw me have an aneurism up there.”

“Nah, everyone’s too nervous about not tripping down the stairs on their way back, don’t worry about it.”

“Coleman, Gareth,” Mrs. Chandler announced, grabbing Dottie’s attention.

Carver, Jason hadn’t even reached the sidestage stairs to go down after accepting his diploma when Gareth, in his haste to get everything over with, tried to climb two steps at a time and got his feet tangled in his dark green gown. Cunningham, Chrissy, who was right behind him, quickly caught his arm before he could lose balance and hit the floor. He quietly thanked her with red cheeks and embarrassed eyes before he finally went up the stairs, one step at a time. Chrissy went back to the front of the line while other classmates around Dottie and Robin snickered at the little mishap; Gareth accepted his diploma and other paraphernalia, and got the hell off the stage as quickly as humanly possible.

“Thank God that wasn’t me,” Robin muttered, and Dottie grimaced in agreement.

Gareth ended up awkwardly sitting between Jason and Chrissy, but much to his relief, they had all been assigned to the row behind Dottie. Taking advantage of the proximity, he leaned forward to talk to his friend as the ceremony progressed and Chrissy quickly joined, stopping to give Dottie a kiss on her cheek from her seat behind her as a second greeting. Jason watched the scene unfold and asked himself when had his girlfriend started hanging out with people he didn’t know. He thought he knew everything about Chrissy - when had that changed and to what extent? Selfishly, he couldn’t help but think about what the future would look like for them when they left for college. Chrissy was headed to OSU and he would be at Indiana State, almost four hours and more than 250 miles between them. Would this be their last summer together? He didn’t like to entertain that thought.

Davis, Monica, Foster, Kyle, and Hanson, Randall were some of the names they didn’t pay much attention to until Humphrey, Andrew was called to the stage. Jason distracted himself from his anxiety over his relationship possibly having an expiration date by clapping loudly for his best friend. Dottie and Gareth shared a mischievous look: Andy wasn’t wearing any bandages on his nose anymore, but the dark purple shadow under his eye was still very visible with the bright stage lights illuminating his face. After him came Hurley, Marcie, one of Dot’s colleagues from the newspaper club, and Kemper, Lucy, the girl who had sold almost everyone their prom tickets. Morgan, Theresa was on stage when Dottie realized she knew almost all the people in her graduating class by name now, even if they had never spoken to one another before. In New York, she’d never known the names of all the people within a single class, not since elementary school at least. She wondered if they remembered her, but then decided she didn’t care that the answer was probably a resounding no.

When Munson, Edward was called to the stage, Dottie and Gareth stood up to make as much noise as possible, both infinitely proud of the long haired boy with the charming eyes who was accepting the one piece of paper that had seemed so elusive all this time. Dustin and Erica hollered at him, and the rest of the Hellfire Club, still in line waiting to accept their diplomas, joined them in their antics. When Principal Higgins went in for a handshake, Eddie pulled him into a hug; the older man laughed and let it happen, a sort of fondness for the metalhead’s unwavering resilience present in their interaction. He accepted his medallion and his own honor cords for being the Chapter Leader of a student organization, and just before he climbed off, he approached the edge of the stage with a dazzling grin.

“Here it comes,” Dottie muttered, anticipating her boyfriend to give the middle finger to the entire town and bolt as he had declared he’d do on multiple occasions.

What Eddie did instead was find his Uncle in the crowd and bow deeply in his direction as people clapped for him like it was the end of a play. Wayne pretended to not be choking back tears as his nephew got off the stage, lips pursed behind his fingers trying to hide the grin threatening to break out on his face.

“Coward,” Gareth said, and Chrissy hit him in the shoulder.

There was no time for Eddie to do anything more but find his seat, because immediately after him came Patton, Jeffrey, and exactly ten names later, came Vitale, Donatello. The teachers laughed and cooed at his excited nephews jumping up and down the aisle, cheering for his favorite Uncle. One day in the not so distant future, they’d probably be handing them their diplomas too. Just how many faces in the crowd had walked through these same halls, attended the same classes, and some of them even had the same teachers as the Class of ‘86? A much younger and recently married O’Donnell, a Higgins as a History teacher prior to his Principal days, a Kaminski after his eldest son had just been born. Never before had the kids in the Hellfire Club felt as much part of the Hawkins High community as they did now - it almost felt unfair that they had to permanently leave the place to finally feel that way.

“And last, but certainly not least,” said Mrs. Chandler when there was only one person left to climb up the stage. “-Wheeler, Nancy, the valedictorian for the Class of 1986 who will say a few words for us and her fellow graduates after receiving her diploma.”

The crowd broke once again in loud applause as a red cheeked Nancy in her dark green gown and bright orange valedictorian stole greeted all her teachers with a few flashcards containing her speech in her hand. Karen Wheeler looked at her daughter with shiny eyes, infinitely proud of her little girl that’d grown into a smart, capable woman right in front of her. In a few months she’d be far away, following her dreams, and taking a piece of her mother’s hopes with her as she did so, but none of her fears. Holly raised her arms, silently asking to be lifted up so she could see better, and Karen picked up her youngest daughter, pointing at her big sister in the distance so she could wave at her. Nancy took her place behind the lectern and looked at the audience, a carefully put together mask over bittersweet eyes that Dottie had almost become used to seeing on her friend. If she stared into a mirror too deeply, she could recognize the dents in her skin of her own mask, now laying shattered at her feet.

“Honorable guests, Principal Higgins, Hawkins High School faculty, academic and supporting staff, friends, families, and graduates - good morning,”  Nancy began, voice soft but pleasantly clear. “It is with great pride that I stand here before you on such a special occasion to deliver this speech, which I promise I’ll try to keep short and sweet,” she lightheartedly smiled at her audience before she grew solemn once more. “However, before I start, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silence to commemorate the students and family members who could not be here today with us, and to remember the victims of the Starcourt Mall Fire on July 4th, 1985.”

Not a sound could be heard for a few heartbeats, and Dottie watched the faces of the town she’d come to love morph from amused to weary. There was real mourning here, a deep gash left open in a community that couldn’t heal properly because some wounds were just too deep to scab over. Eddie had told her everything he knew about what had happened, the official story everyone that hadn’t been involved in the tragedy repeated when asked, and her heart constricted when she saw Dustin and Erica in their seats with their heads down. They looked downright haunted. Steve sat next to them, watching over them with such turmoil in his eyes that Dottie had to wonder if there was something they were all missing about what happened. Had Steve also been in the mall with them? Had Robin, who was quietly sitting next to her like she was reliving a horror movie behind her eyes, her fingers absentmindedly tangling and untangling themselves in her honor cords?

Karen, sitting next to her unaware husband and emotionally closed off son, took a few deep breaths to keep her tears at bay and gently kissed Holly’s head before shifting her baby on her lap to hold her against her chest more tightly, like someone could snatch her off her arms at any given moment. Dottie twisted her mom’s engagement ring on her left middle finger and bit the inside of her cheek while blinking away the wetness gathering on her lash line. Not now, she scolded herself. Later.

“Thank you,” Nancy said, breaking the silence and moving onto her next flashcard. “Four years ago, we arrived at Hawkins High as children, and we are now leaving as young adults with our whole lives ahead of us. Some will go on to college, others will enter the workforce, but all of us will take the lessons learned here and let them guide us to become who we were always meant to be,” she turned to look to her side. “I'd like to thank our teachers for sharing their knowledge with us, for being patient and pushing us to achieve great things. With their help, our Hawkins High Mathletes reached their first ever state finals and brought home the silver medal earlier this year.”

There was a loud cheer coming from somewhere in the auditorium that sounded very much like Rick Stewart, exiting Captain of the Hawkins High Mathletes. Some people laughed goodnaturedly and joined in, the teachers clapping proudly at their labor being recognized. Nancy smiled and continued, knowing the applause would only get louder as she read the next part of her speech.

“I'd like to thank our coaches and counselors for making school more than just homework. You taught us about discipline, teamwork, and integrity, which led our basketball team to win the 1A North Central Conference Championship for the first time in 22 years,” the applause that followed was deafening, and it took several minutes for it to die down before Nancy could keep going. “I'd like to thank our families for supporting us in more ways that we could ever count, for chaperoning our dances and field trips, cheering for us at our sporting events, and attending all our plays with so much love and commitment, that our Drama Club was able to extend their winter run of West Side Story with a packed audience every night until their closure.”

The cheers this time were much more subdued, yet polite and sustained enough to not be embarrassing to the Drama Club members and their families in the audience. It was clear, however, where the town’s loyalties stood: Indiana’s love for basketball was known throughout the country, and Hawkins wasn’t the exception to the rule. Nancy looked at her graduating class and grabbed the last two flashcards in her pile.

“No one achieves success alone, and we are truly grateful for the help and guidance we’ve received during our years as Hawkins Tigers. However, if my classmates indulge me for a second, I’d like to ask each of you to think about a moment where you felt proud of yourself. Think about the things you’ve accomplished here, and the challenges you’ve overcome. A great woman by the name of Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, you gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Our time as Hawkins High School students has come to an end. We did it, Class of ‘86. We did the thing we thought we couldn’t do, and we’ve learned that we can take the next thing that comes along, so keep moving forward. I’m proud of you, and I hope you are too. Thank you, and congratulations to us all.”

Dottie followed Nancy with her eyes as she shook Principal Higgins’ hand once more and left the stage towards her seat. Her hands were shaking lightly, and her lips were pursed, but she almost looked lighter, like she’d left significant weight behind that had nothing to do with public speaking related nerves. Nancy’s speech had been beautiful, there were no doubts about that, but it was strange to think about someone like her looking at her high school years as something that had been horrific to live through. She was popular enough to not have been bullied, pretty enough to have been desired and looked up to, smart and well-off enough to never have to worry about not fitting in.

High school was certainly hard for almost everyone, but the way Nancy had spoken about it left a familiar bitter taste in Dottie’s mouth. If Eddie had been right when retelling her the town’s recent strange happenings, Nancy had probably been thinking about her friend Barb when writing her speech. She would have most likely graduated alongside her, maybe she’d be headed to a nearby college where the two girls could still see each other often, or to a completely different one across the country and they’d have to call every weekend with updates on their new lives. Holland, Barbara should have been called up to the stage between Hall, Suzanne and Humphrey, Andrew, but now she was just another name added to the always-growing list of people who ought to have been there, but ultimately couldn’t be.

“Thank you for that inspiring speech, Miss Wheeler,” said Principal Higgins, returning to his place behind the lectern to close out the ceremony. “Graduating is an amazing achievement for these students, and we here at Hawkins High are excited to see the things they’ll accomplish in the future. By the authority vested in me by the Governor of the State of Indiana, Mr. Robert D. Orr, I confer the appropriate diplomas for the Class of 1986. Graduates, please move your tassels to the left,” he smiled at his now former students. “Congratulations Tigers, you can now throw your hats!”

As they had been instructed during rehearsals, they threw their hats directly above them, not wanting to lose them on the way down before they could take pictures with them but in the excitement and elation of the graduates, some caps ended up on the floor, prompting kids to search for the lost items under their chairs while their classmates cheered above them and congratulated one another. Dottie hugged Robin again while Principal Higgins said his goodbyes through the loudspeaker without anyone really hearing him, families eager to leave the auditorium and get into their cars quickly to avoid the inevitable bottleneck at the entrance of the parking lot.

“Thank you all for coming and being part of this special moment,” Higgins said, voice ringing above the loud chatter and scraping of chairs. “Please drive safe and have a good weekend!”

“Dad!” Dottie called upon seeing James talking to Gareth’s family near their cars. He waved at her in acknowledgment and she turned to her friend to say her goodbyes. “I’ll call you as soon as I have my new schedule down, okay? We can go to the movies some day!”

“I’m gonna go see family up North next week, but I’ll call you when I get back,” Chrissy said, arm still tangled with hers. “We have to go see the new Karate Kid coming out soon, Ralph Macchio is so cute.”

“I’m not even gonna correct you on that because I do wanna see it with you, but just know I think you’re crazy,” the brunette said, laughing at her friend.

“Well, excuse me, bad boys aren’t everyone’s type,” the blonde retorted, a secretive grin gracing her fairy-like features before she pulled her into a goodbye hug. “I’m gonna miss you!”

“We’ll see each other soon! You go have a great trip, forget about this boring town for a while.”

After the girls said their goodbyes and went in separate directions, Dottie watched Chrissy greet her family with curious eyes. She didn’t know much about the Cunninghams and was surprised to see that her newest and most unlikely friend had a little brother she had never mentioned before. He must have not been the right age to be in high school yet or he’d probably be under Jason’s overprotective wing, especially if he was athletic like his big sister.

Chrissy might have looked small and dainty, but there was a certain fierceness cheerleaders had in their step - their aura had been painstakingly trained to command a room and demand attention. And yet, Dottie noticed that as Chrissy turned from her unassuming Dad to her elegant Mother, the brightness she radiated seemed to dim ever so slightly, even if her charming smile stayed in place.

“There you are! I was looking for you everywhere,” James exclaimed, her thoughts instantly lost to the wind. “Congratulations, honey. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Dottie melted into his hug, knocking her cap even more askew with his shoulder. “They gave me honor cords, did you see? I didn’t know I had earned them!”

“I’m seeing them now! You worked so hard, good job.”

“Congratulations, sweetie!” Lydia, Gareth’s mom, said, pulling her into a hug. “Have you met Gretchen yet? Gare’s big sister?”

“Hey, congrats,” Gretchen said with a polite smile on her face.

“Thank you, hi! It’s nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Likewise,” Gretchen said, eyes sparkling with mischief as she saw Gareth approach with two more kids toddling behind him. “I’m always really curious to meet any girl who would even talk to my brother in the first place, but you seem normal enough.”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Gareth said, and Erica snickered.

“Honestly, he’s lucky we’re nice to him,” the middle-grader joined in, making Gareth groan in annoyance.

“You’re my friend, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Congrats, Dot!” Dustin said, hugging the older girl from her right side, prompting Erica to cuddle up to her on the left. “We’re super proud of you.”

“Aw, Dus,” she pouted, leaning her head on his. He really was like the little brother she’d always wanted and never had. “Thank you, you’re so sweet. I’m happy you two could be here!”

“It was fun! We enjoyed it.”

“I saw you guys with that Steve guy earlier, did you come with him?”

“You know Steve?” Dustin said, curious.

“Yeah, he works at Family Video with Robin!” Dottie said.

“You know Robin?” it was Erica’s turn to ask.

“Uh, yeah, we’re classmates? She was sitting next to me throughout the ceremony- wait, how do you know them? What am I missing here?”

“Nothing! Steve’s, uh- Steve’s our babysitter!” Dustin hurried to say. “Did you know he used to date Nancy a while ago? That’s how we met, through Nancy. And we know Robin through Steve. Hawkins is a very small place.”

“W-what? Nancy and…”

“Yeah, she dumped him in front of everyone at a party and he’s been all mopey and sad since then,” Erica said, prompting Dustin to elbow her. “What? Just the facts!”

“Uh…,” Dottie looked at Gareth, dumbfounded.

“Anyway,” Dustin continued, aware that multiple eyes were on him. “He’s our babysitter.”

“Dustin, you’re fifteen,” Gareth laughed. “You’re a little old to still have a babysitter.”

“My Mom’s protective of me, okay? I’m an only child.”

“And he’s a good babysitter?” Dottie asked, amused.

“The best. Steve’s… yeah, Steve’s great. More like an older brother figure than a babysitter,” Dustin smiled, clearly fond of the older boy. “You should hang out with him, I think you’d like each other.”

“Stop. Just stop,” said Erica, knowing where Dustin was headed.

“What?” he shrugged, feigning innocence.

“Alright, let’s take some pictures!” said Lydia, not having paid any attention to the kids’ conversation.

While they were in the middle of taking photos, the remaining Hellfire Class of ‘86 joined the group with their respective families. Eddie snuck up behind Dottie while she was distracted taking a picture with Jeff and picked her up, arms encircling her middle and spinning her around while she giggled unabashedly, hands coming to rest on his forearms when he put her down but didn’t let go. Wayne had to hide a chuckle while he talked to the other parents; his nephew really wasn’t as smooth and mysterious as he thought he was, and Wayne had been around the sun too many times to not recognize what he was seeing between Eddie and his little lady friend. Gretchen, in turn, looked at Donny and lifted an eyebrow at him quizzically.

“What have I missed?” she quietly said, a smirk lifting the corner of her lips. She’d always liked Donny the best out of all his brother’s friends, and was aware that as much of a good confidant as he was, he never shied away from gossip.

“He said he wanted to wait until after graduation to ask her out so I don’t think anything has happened yet,” Donny muttered back, crossing his arms and leaning closer to her friend’s big sister. “They’re totally gone for each other, though.”

“You don’t say,” Gretchen said and turned to Erica who looked very interested in their conversation. “What do you think?”

“I think he’s too chicken to ask her out,” Erica laughed. “But they have been looking really cozy lately. That’s suspicious.”

“Eddie knows she’s into him,” Donny said, making Erica’s eyes widen. “Forgot to tell you about that.”

“You bastard, I thought we had a good thing going and you’re withholding information from me? Nuh-uh, this is betrayal. I want reparations.”

“Oh, she’s feisty,” Gretchen said.

“Come to the restaurant this weekend, I’ll give you ice cream and we can catch up and compare notes,” Donny offered, genuinely interested in keeping his friendship with the fiery younger girl intact. “But it has to be this weekend, Dot starts working with us on Monday.”

“How big is that ice cream?”

“Big as you want.”

“Deal,” she put out her hand for them to shake on it, but it was merely a formality - Donatello Vitale had no intentions of ever crossing the one and only Erica Sinclair again.

As families began saying their goodbyes and heading to their cars, it soon became clear that Eddie and Dottie did not want the festivities to end so fast. They’d already taken multiple photos with everyone and with each other, waved Dustin and Erica off as they climbed into Steve’s red BMW, and even said hello to the Wheelers, but they would just not leave each other’s side, always fluttering around one another no matter what was happening. If James thought anything strange about it, he didn’t mention it, but as Wayne looked at his nephew’s beaming smile, he realized he didn’t have the heart to cut his happiness short when there was such an easy solution to their problem.

“You two have any plans for lunch?” Wayne asked James, finishing up another smoke.

“Not really, no. I was thinking of picking up some burgers to celebrate. Why? You have any suggestions?”

“Well, me an’ Eddie like to go to the diner down on Randolph on special occasions. Thought you might want to join us,” he smiled at the kids who were now both staring at him expectantly.

“Can we go, Dad?” Dottie asked with hopeful eyes. “They have crinkle fries - you love crinkle fries!”

“That’s really kind of you, Wayne, but we don’t want to intrude,” James was saying, but Eddie hurried forward.

“You wouldn’t be intruding, sir. We both graduated today, we can celebrate together!”

“Come on, Dad, they wouldn’t ask if they didn’t want us there.”

Both older men looked at each other with knowing eyes and James sighed theatrically before conceding, his daughter cheering happily at the new impromptu plans. The teens quickly headed in the direction of their cars deep in their own happy little world; their parents amusedly looked as Eddie opened her door for her and helped her in while they talked about burger combinations and debated about their orders.

“Meet you there?” James asked Wayne, also getting into his car.

“You bet. Come on, boy, quit the yappin’. You’ll see her again in ten minutes, she’s not gonna run away from you!”

“Jesus Christ, Wayne!”

Eddie and Dottie had already been to the diner down on Randolph a few times; some of them before they’d begun dating and once after, but never with their parental figures as unofficial chaperones. The booth at the back they loved to sit at was occupied, so they chose a table near the front instead - the diner was bustling with energy as multiple families had had the same idea as them and got a headstart on their kids’ summer holidays. Eddie helped Dottie with her chair, thoroughly enjoying how shy she’d get whenever he did something remotely gentleman-like, and plonked himself next to her, quickly engaging in conversation about the menu she was holding. James had no option but to sit in front of his daughter as Wayne took the seat in front of Eddie, both of them also busying themselves with their own menus.

The teens tried to act normal in front of their elders, they really did, but it was such a lovely day, and they were celebrating one of the biggest achievements in their short lives that it was as if they’d forgotten that friends didn’t usually look so smitten with one another. Wayne took little peeks at them over the bright laminated piece of paper in his hands, catching how Eddie was stroking the side of her arm resting on the table with his pinky finger while she talked; he loudly coughed when James put his menu down and took his reading glasses off, the unexpected sound making them jump and separate instantly just in time for him not to see them. A young and friendly looking waitress approached their table, pad of paper and pen in her hand.

“Hi! Are you ready for me to take your order or are we waiting for the wives to arrive?” she said with a perfect customer-service smile. Dottie blinked up at her twice, her face morphing into a blank expression.

“No, thank you, it’s just gonna be us four today,” James said politely.

Today, he’d said. Like Margaret and Maureen were off doing other things, like working or shopping or attending a jazzercise class, and couldn’t join them for lunch but they’d probably be around later. Like they weren’t gone forever. Like they were still alive. Nancy’s speech rattled around in Dottie’s brain, her eyes glazing over and her ears filling with invisible cotton. James and Wayne ordered their food, and Eddie ordered for both himself and her, very much aware that something was bothering her. Her sight was stuck to her Dad’s hand resting on the cheap laminate tabletop. The gold band that had been there on his finger since Margaret and him had said I do all those years ago taunted her, glinting under the fluorescent lights of the diner. They’d promised each other forever, and what did they get? What did she get?

“Dot,” Eddie muttered, hand sneaking down the table to settle on the exposed skin of her knee. “Darling, can you hear me?”

“Huh?” she turned to look at him in a daze.

Behind him, there was a table where a family sat: a father, a mother and a daughter, barely older than she’d been when she’d lost the most important woman in her life. The baby gurgled in her Mom’s arms, and the woman cooed at her, noses nuzzling against each other’s. Dottie turned her head towards the other side of the diner where a mother was cleaning up a little boy’s face, chocolate staining his chubby cheeks.

She had just graduated from high school and her mother wasn’t there. She hadn’t been there when she got her first period, during her first heartbreak, or when she won a spelling bee at age seven. She wouldn’t be there when she graduated college, when she got her first job, when she got married to the boy who was holding onto her leg with worried eyes. She would never be there, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. It was always going to be just them.

“Honey, are you okay?” James asked, leaning forward.

“I-I’m sorry,” she managed to get out before she stood up and bolted outside and into the parking lot, her chair scraping against the floor in her haste to get out of the diner.

“I’ve got it, sir,” Eddie said before he sped after her, his chains rattling with every long step he took to catch up with her.

In silence, James and Wayne watched their kids through the huge windows next to their table. When Dottie saw Eddie running behind her, she turned her back on him, hugging herself as she tried to keep her emotions together. She lifted a hand to wave at him over her shoulder and said something - probably that she was okay, that she didn’t need help so he should go back in - but as he came closer, it was evident that the storm that had been brewing inside her all morning was on the brink of overtaking her. All it took was feeling his hand hovering on her shoulder for her knees to buckle as she folded onto herself, Eddie instantly rushing forward to catch her and pulling her into his chest, her back rising up and down violently as she sobbed into his graduation gown. He chewed on his lower lip as he held himself together, never one to cry in public where people could see him and judge him for it. He muttered something into her hair, his chin resting onto the crown of her head, gently rocking her side to side as her sobs subsided.

“She was really lonely until we came here, y’know,” James said, breaking the quiet that had fallen on their table. Wayne could only look at his nephew, the gentleness he’d always known he’d possessed perfectly on display. “All her new friends are great to her but Eddie… you’ve got a good boy there, Wayne.”

“They’re both good kids,” Wayne said, matter-of-factly. “It’s a damn shame they’re so young and been through so much already.”

“Yeah, it is.”

In the parking lot, unaware that they were being watched, Dottie lifted her head from Eddie’s chest, an embarrassed smile on her lips as she fanned her face with her hands in an attempt to dry her tears without ruining what was left of her mascara. Eddie, still holding onto her, blew on her cheeks; she laughed, heart feeling equally heavy and light at the same time. There was joy and levity to be found in shared grief, that was something new she had learned from him.

“Sometimes I feel like Eddie understands her better than I do,” James admitted, fingers toying with his wedding band.

“They understand each other in ways that you and I never will,” Wayne mused. “That ain’t a bad thing. Actually, I think it might be healthy.”

“Mhm,” James agreed, half lost in his own thoughts.

Dottie squeezed Eddie one last time like she was mentally preparing herself, gathering strength for whatever came next, and nodded once to let him know that it was okay to let her go. Eddie followed her inside quietly, holding the door open for her as they filed in and sat once again at their table. They both looked very tired, and perhaps even a little bit flustered at having to face their guardians after bolting out of the diner so unexpectedly. Dottie leaned forward to grab a napkin to blow her nose.

“M’sorry,” she said, eyes low. James grabbed her hand gently.

“You okay, honey?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. S’just a lot, you know?”

“I know,” her Dad said, watching her glance at Eddie next to her.

“Can I… is it okay if Eddie and I go to the lake after lunch?” she asked, shy. “We want to burn some cards.”

“Yeah, of course,” James said, knot tightening at the base of his throat and fingers tangling with his daughter’s.

Eddie was silent through the entire interaction, hands hellbent on shredding the paper napkin in front of him to minuscule pieces. Wayne could feel their table shake as he bounced his leg frantically, something he had long understood as his nephew’s tell when holding back tears. The waitress, unaware of what had just transpired, came back at that moment with their drinks and two milkshakes for the teens. Dottie smiled at them with wet eyes, and Eddie had the indecency to look sheepish: she hadn’t mentioned to him she wanted one, but he knew she loved strawberry milkshakes from this specific diner because they made them with real strawberry ice cream and not the powder. He must have ordered them when she blanked out. The simple gesture felt like balm for her anguished soul.

“Well, I’d like to propose a toast,” Wayne said, dissipating the remaining uncomfortable tension at their table. “To the Class of ‘86.”

“To the Class of ‘86,” James joined him, clicking their bottles of Coke together in the air.

Food arrived shortly after, and as an easy conversation sanded whatever edges were still sharp for the moment, Wayne observed the tender behavior of the kids sitting in front of him. It wasn’t as playful as it had been before, no, this felt much more… intimate. Considerate. Muted, yet still softhearted. Not missing a beat in the story she was telling to her Dad, Dottie grabbed the cherry on top of her milkshake and left it on top of Eddie’s. He gave her a toothy grin before popping it into his mouth, and she shook her head at him fondly. Yeah, this ain’t a bad thing at all, thought Wayne, taking a bite out of his food and laughing along with James at the ridiculous gossip Dottie and Eddie were sharing about their now former classmates.

“Okay, hold on a second before you run off,” Wayne said, as his nephew ushered his friend towards his van.

After lunch was done, it was decided that Wayne would drive Eddie and Dottie back to their trailer so they could get Eddie’s van and head to the lake for what they were calling The Card Ritual. The eldest Munson didn’t really understand what it meant, but it seemed that James knew what they were talking about so he didn’t ask too many questions about it - all he knew was that the kids were going to buy some cards at Melvald’s and then burn them, and that Dottie was emotional over the whole thing. If burning some paper brought peace to her heart, then who was Wayne to judge? He’d indulged in far more destructive coping mechanisms throughout his youth, evidenced by his unshakeable smoking habit.

After they’d said goodbye to James, they climbed into Wayne’s truck and headed to Forest Hills, graduation caps, gowns, and his suit jacket now discarded into the backseat. The heat kept rising in the early afternoon and Wayne just wanted to get out of his clothes, drink a glass of icy cold water, and take a nap in his undergarments next to his trusty fan, but he felt like there was a pressing conversation to be had before he went in and could finally relax on his day off.

“What’s up?” Eddie asked, Dottie coming to a stop next to him.

“I just gotta know, kid,” Wayne turned to her. “Does your Dad know about you two or do I have to play dumb with him?”

“W-what? What do you mean?” she asked, nervously.

“I may not be young, but I ain’t blind, sweetheart,” he smiled. “You’re not in trouble, I just wanna know how to act around your old man, that’s all.”

“He doesn’t know,” Eddie muttered, grabbing Dottie’s hand and surprising her with how quickly he confessed. “No one knows, we haven’t told anyone yet.”

“Except Chrissy,” Dottie said.

“Except Chrissy,” he conceded. “She knows because I asked her for advice, but she’s the only one.”

“How long?”

“Huh?”

“How long has this been going on?” Wayne asked, pulling his lighter out of his pocket.

“Uh, like two weeks? We’re not, like- we’re not official yet,” Eddie scratched his neck uncomfortably.

“Not offi- Edward,” his Uncle hardened his stare. “I taught you better than that.”

“Shit, I swear I was gonna do it today! Wanted to wait until after graduation, I’m not trying to be a flake-”

“It’s okay! We talked about it,” Dottie said, hanging onto his arm. “I don’t mind waiting, we just thought it’d be best to keep it a secret for now,” Wayne turned to look at her, wary. “Mr. Wayne, please, I’d announce it at the next Town Hall meeting if he’d let me.”

“We share all the same friends,” Eddie explained. “They’ll wanna know all the details, and I just- she breaks up with me and I’m the biggest loser in Hawkins, you know how those assholes are.”

“Oh my god, stop calling yourself a loser!” she whined.

“Don’t break up with me, and I won’t be!” he argued back, but it was clear he was being silly about it.

“Okay, so what’s the situation here? You two dating or not?” Wayne asked, getting back on topic.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, smiling down at her with hearts in his eyes. “We’re dating. I was gonna ask her to be my girlfriend officially later today but I might as well do it now since you’re so nosy.”

“It’s not like anything’s changing anyways,” Dottie said. “We just didn’t put a label on it, but I’ve kinda been his girlfriend since that party we went to a couple of weeks ago.”

“Hell yeah you are. And I’m your boyfriend, right?”

“No, you’re my private driver,” she deadpanned. “Of course you are, Eddie, what kind of question is that?”

“Just making sure, darling,” Eddie said, and Wayne snorted at how smug his nephew looked.

“Well, then… you two can go now, I guess. I’ll keep the secret.”

“Thanks, Mr. Wayne,” Dottie said, coming to hug him. “We’ll tell people soon, we just want a little bit of privacy for now. The guys can be so nosy sometimes.”

“Don’t I know that, kid,” he chuckled. “I’m real happy for you two.”

“I’m really happy too,” she whispered to him, a bashful smile on her face.

Eddie finally let her into his van, her white sundress and summery sandals a stark contrast against his ripped jeans and chains. They were an odd couple if one only looked at their clothes, but it was so clear that they vibrated at the same frequency that Wayne couldn’t help but think that he should have expected this development sooner. He didn’t know why he’d chosen to believe them when they’d said nothing had happened between them the night of the party. His nephew went towards the driver’s seat when he called to him again.

“Ed, a word,” he was dead serious as Eddie jogged to where he was standing.

“Yeah?”

“You treat that girl right, okay?” Wayne said, voice low so she wouldn’t hear from the van. “I don’t wanna hear shit from her Dad about you bein’ stupid with her.”

“I know.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not gonna fuck this up, Wayne. I love her,” Eddie told him, so sure of what he was saying that it knocked the wind out of his Uncle’s lungs for a bit.

“Love, huh?” Wayne laughed softly, and Eddie shrugged with red ears but looked so very happy. “Go, have fun. And take care of her.”

“I will,” he nodded.

“I’m proud of you, son,” Wayne said, ruffling his hair roughly like when he was just a boy barely taller than his own hip. “And your Momma would be too.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, eyes full of unshed tears. “I’m proud of me too.”

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

#bunny writes #small town fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x ofc #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fic #stranger things 4 #stranger things #hellfire club #corroded coffin #eddie munson #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #chrissy cunningham #dustin henderson #erica sinclair #wayne munson #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #joseph quinn #baby's first fic

[the-authoress-writes]

Bradley’s Uncle(s) (And Dad)

Synopsis: The Daggers look through Mav’s TOPGUN class yearbook.

What they see surprises most of them.

In other related news, Bradley would like to bleach his brain.

And his ears.

Author’s Note: This was inspired by this tumblr post, and I churned it out in about half an hour.

I posted this on my main blog, @oh-great-authoress, eleven days ago, but it makes me cackle to the point that I feel that you guys on my fanfiction sideblog should see this too.

Title is inspired by the Fountains of Wayne classic, “Stacy’s Mom”.

Warnings: None, really, but the events of TG:M are completely canon for this, so a certain Admiral is unfortunately not with us in this ficlet.

The daggers were gathered at Mav’s hangar for their weekly get together, when one of them—not Jake, surprisingly—decided to snoop around Mav’s bookshelf.

Fanboy was looking at all the gathered NATOPS’ from various aircraft, when he spied the thin, blue-spined book entitled “TOPGUN Class One, 1986”.

“Hey Mav?” Mickey called out.

“Yeah, kiddo?” came the voice from the trailer, where Mav was heating the food Payback had brought.

“Do you mind if I take a look at one of your books?”

“Knock yourself out!”

“Thanks!” Mickey replied, immediately taking the yearbook, and moving over to the living area, where most of the daggers were. “Hey guys, look what I found!

It’s—”

“Damn—haven’t seen that in an age,” Rooster breathed, rubbing a hand over his upper lip.

“What is that?” Hangman asked, leaning forward, curious as ever.

“It’s Mav’s TOPGUN class yearbook,” Mickey explained as he laid it out. “Mav said I could take a look.”

The first photo was of the whole class together, and more than a few of the daggers silently chuckled at the fact that Mav was one of the shortest people in his class.

There were a few photos included that were also visible on the hangar walls, the versions in the yearbook printed with a small “Courtesy of Carole Bradshaw” or “Courtesy of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell” in the corner.

Then they came to the section with everyone’s official Navy portrait, when suddenly, Phoenix reached out, and grabbed the book, wide-eyed.

“What?” Rooster asked, speaking for everyone, shocked and worried.

She pointed vaguely at the page, her mouth slack.

Halo immediately turned away and spat out her drink.

“Hey Cal, you okay?” Omaha rushed over.

“Yeah,” she rasped, coughing and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I just—I never expected Admiral Kazansky to be hot!”

The other daggers immediately leaned to look at the book, and true enough, there was twenty-six year-old Thomas “Iceman” Kazansky in all his youthful glory.

“Well, I’ll be damned, who knew the late COMPACFLT could give me a run for my money?” Jake whistled, while everyone else save Bradley blinked incredulously, trying to reconcile the image they had of Admiral Kazansky with the image they were seeing.

Phoenix scoffed, leafing through the portraits section, “Most of Mav’s class could give you a run for your money, Bagman, you’re hardly God’s gift to women.

And even now, Mav could give you a run for your money,” she declared, ignoring the Texan’s dramatic gasp.

“I know, right, Nat—I mean, you saw those abs—who has those abs at fifty-seven?” Halo whisper-shouted.

“Oh, yeah.” She paused, then blinked. “Gotta admit, though, young Mav hits different.”

Halo leaned and nodded, an admiring smile on her face. “Ooh, yeah, he could totally get it.”

A sharp sound pulled the two women away from their musing, and they turned to see Bradley had slammed his beer bottle down on the coffee table, and he was striding away towards the airstream. “Roo, what are you doing?” Natasha shouted.

“Nope!

No!

I’m not listening to you guys thirsting over my dad and uncles!

No!!”

It’s Traumatize Bradley hours in this blog I guess 😂!

If you look at the nametags they’re all wearing in TG86, the second row says “TOPGUN 1”, so I’m assuming that there’s more than one TOPGUN session a year, at least in the TG/TG:M universe.

Taglist

@valmare (I know you saw it already, but I’m including you because it’s the taglist, sorry Mir!)

@callsign-skydancer

@permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88

@tadomikiku

If you’d like to join my taglist, just send me an ask!

#this is completely predicated on the idea that none of them ever bothered to look at the huge photo of mav and ice in the TOPGUN foyer #which is wholly plausible #bahaha 🤣 #the defense department regrets to inform you your daughters are *ded* because of the navy(al aviators) #officially in my val kilmer era #not me 👀 at men literally old enough to be my father #but phoenix and halo are i guess #top gun: maverick #top gun maverick #top gun maverick fic #top gun: maverick fic #mickey fanboy garcia #pete maverick mitchell #jake hangman seresin #bradley rooster bradshaw #natasha phoenix trace #callie halo bassett #neil omaha vikander #tom iceman kazansky

[emurph-24]

IT'S ALMOST BIG BANG TIME!!!!!

The first chapter of my Steddie Big Bang fic, titled "I'd Pray to God That You Would Choke (If I Had One)" drops on November 16th! I'm so excited for you to read this project. My artist and I have been working extremely hard to make something special for you and I really hope you all enjoy it!

As a treat, here's an excerpt from part one!

1986

After the streets of Hawkins were forcibly knit back together in secret by a super-powered fourteen-year-old girl, and her merry band of misfits, the world simply moved on. The survivors mourned the dead with memorial services and plaques around town, of course. But homes were rebuilt, streets repaved, time passed. 

No one would ever know what seven kids and four young adults had done for a shithole town in the middle of Indiana. No one would know that the world was saved with makeshift shields, Molotov cocktails, and walkie-talkies. Saved by the outcasts, the freaks, the fallen kings. But it was. 

When Eddie was pulled from the Upside Down, skin soaked in blood, and muck, and a surprising amount of bat guts, the world still tried to paint him as the villain. They grasped at broken straws, little crumbs of half-baked conspiracies that they could use to point a crooked finger at an innocent man. But with Jim Hopper risen from the dead, standing firmly planted on his side, the town had no choice but to listen to his story, no matter how much they complained. Of course, it was a fabricated story, a well-spun web with details filled in courtesy of Hawkins Lab and Doctor Sam Owens. There were stipulations, of course, and non-disclosures were signed by all.

Eddie was put in a private room at Hawkins Memorial after he was cleared by the government officials who swarmed in as soon as possible. There he was stitched and glued back together, held together by strings and tape. 

The kids came and went, flitting between his room and Max’s down the hall, usually hauling Robin or Nancy, behind them. Occasionally, Jonathan and his friend Argyle were dragged along, but it seemed they spent their days lost to the sweet green smoke that Eddie craved. 

Wayne never left his bedside, sleeping on a small cot that the nurse had rolled into the room. The plant had told him to take as much time as he needed, that his job would be there for him when he was ready. They had even offered to give him some extra pay for his bills, but Wayne wouldn’t take it. He was reluctant to ask for anything, per usual. But when the government had simply deposited a large sum of cash into his account and disappeared into the night, he couldn’t turn it away.

Steve didn’t leave either, much to Eddie’s surprise. He spent his days right there next to his bedside, stroking over the newly scarred skin of his hand. He only left for short times, usually when Eddie slept. When he returned, his hair would still be damp and a new t-shirt would be clinging to his perfectly sculpted frame. To fill their days, Steve read to him. He stumbled over the words sometimes, but it was Eddie’s favorite activity, listening to the soft melody of Steve’s voice reading to him. They got through all of The Hobbit and most of The Fellowship of the Ring before Eddie was allowed to go home. Eddie figured that was that and his life would return to its normal lonely state.

But Steve didn’t fade away when the dust had settled like Eddie was afraid he would. The government had provided him and his uncle with a new trailer, with fresh white paint and sterile floors, and Steve was the one to help Eddie make his room more like home. He had gone out and bought a plethora of posters and cassettes to fill his space with, and spent an entire day on a ladder to help hang everything up while Eddie directed him from his place in bed. He tried to say it was nothing much, just little bits of what would make his house a home. It was a kind thing, one that Eddie had not expected from the likes of Steve Harrington.

#steddie #fanfic #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #steddie big bang 2023 #steddie big bang #ao3

[cherryxlavender]

A Killer Cruise on AO3

Written by cherryxlavender. ALL chapters out now!

The final semester of Eddie's second senior year are some of the worst months of his life. Genuinely.

So when Uncle Wayne wins two tickets for a month-long cruise in a raffle, courtesy of the 'Creel Cruise Line', he encourages Eddie to take a friend and get out of Hawkins for a while, not able to leave himself due to bills.

Things start out fine, good even; possibly thanks to a cute boy who serves ice cream in a sailor suit. But when people start going missing and weird occurrences follow, Eddie can't even begin to predict the horror that will soon befall him, his buddy, Dustin, and the friends he makes on the isolated 'Creel Starcourt'.

OR: a Stranger Things slasher au set on a cruise ship during the summer of 2011.

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #jonathan byers #robin buckley #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie x steve #steddie fic #stranger things fic #stranger things au #nancy wheeler #mike wheeler #will byers #dustin henderson #A Killer Cruise