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munson-blurbs · 7 months

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Single Dad!Eddie x Fem!Reader Series

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

Summary: A trip to the thrift store becomes overwhelming for Harris, and you and Eddie have to work as a team. But the real test of your relationship's strength is the crisis that unfolds days later.

Warnings: financial insecurity, school lock-in, missing child, police presence, mention of kidnapping, mention of drug addiction, blood (no gore)

WC: 8.5k

Chapter 19/20

Divider credit to @saradika

Eddie has already been awake for two hours when the phone rings. One part of parenthood that he hadn’t anticipated is that children do not understand the concept of weekends. Harris had flung himself out of his racecar bed promptly at 6:30 in the morning, crawling under Eddie’s sheets and poking his nose until he woke up.

“Har, go back to sleep,” Eddie had grumbled, the last word extended in a whine. One cheek was smushed against his pillow, muffling his complaint. “It’s Saturday; you don’t have school.”

In response, Harris pursed his lips into a perfect pout and used his thumb to peel Eddie’s eyelid open, getting as close to his face as possible. His morning breath was tinged with the scent of chocolate; Eddie groggily made a mental note to better supervise his nighttime teeth brushing routine.

“‘M hungry.”

That’s how Eddie finds himself pouring his third cup of coffee while his son keeps his eyes glued to the TV screen, watching Doug stutter and stammer in front of Patti. Eddie smiles, a blush creeping into his cheeks when he realizes that that’s probably what he looks like around you.

“‘Lo?” He cradles the receiver between his ear and his shoulder, wincing as he clumsily clinks the carafe into place. There isn’t enough coffee left to slosh over the side, a small miracle in and of itself, although he’ll have to brew some more if the caffeine doesn’t kick in soon.

“Hey, baby.” Your voice is sleepy yet sweet, smoothing all the creases of the morning. “Did I wake you up?”

Eddie laughs and takes a sip from his favorite mug, the one that proudly declares #1 Dad. It’s stained and chipped, but he’ll never throw it out. Wayne had bought it for him on his very first Father’s Day; ironically, Eddie had bought him a #1 Grandpa mug that year, probably from the same kiosk at the mall.

“Not even close,” he says, tongue flicking to the corner of his lip to catch the drip of coffee that’s pooled in the crevice. “Someone was up bright and early this morning.” His gaze flits over to the bowl of Cheerios snug between Harris’s criss-crossed legs, mostly uneaten despite his earlier protests that would make an outsider believe he was starving. “How was your sleep?” he asks, swinging back to your conversation.

You switch the phone from one ear to the other. “It was good. Would’ve been better if you were next to me, though,” you add, twirling the cord around your forefinger. If you could, you would capture the safety of his embrace and bottle it, releasing a bit each time you craved his gentle touch. “I might’ve even let you be the little spoon.”

He balks at this with a playful scoff, nearly spilling his coffee with the sudden movement. “Yeah, right,” he chuckles, licking the side of the mug before the bitter liquid can slide off and hit the ground. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Admittedly, his skepticism is rooted in truth; whenever you do get the chance to cuddle in bed, he’s always the one wrapping his arm around your waist, often taking the opportunity to snake a hand up your shirt and let the pads of his fingers brush over your breasts. It isn’t always a display of sexuality or desire–though you can’t say you mind that–but a connection, a way of ensuring that you stay close.

“Just a few more weeks until we get to find out for ourselves,” you tease, though he needs no reminding. Only sixteen days remain until you officially move in together, and he’s not ashamed to admit that he’s counting down. “Speaking of which,” you continue, glancing at the clock, “I was wondering if you and Harris wanted to do some furniture shopping for his new room.” You knew that he would be keeping his racecar bed; it’s unlikely he’ll part with it until he’s outgrown it completely. “Y’know, a new dresser or nightstand or something.”

There’s an extended pause on Eddie’s side of the line. You think the call dropped and are about to hang up and redial when you hear him say, “I, um…I don’t get paid until next week…” He nervously scratches the countertop with one fingernail.

“Oh.” You grapple with a response, trying to strike a balance of empathy without condescension. “Well, I was going to surprise you, but I sold some of Grandma’s old—”

“No way,” Eddie interjects, firmly but not harshly. “I’m not having you spend your money on me. We can just wait until payday.”

“I want to buy this for Harris. I…I probably should have cleared out Grandma’s room months ago, but I couldn’t. I mean, I could, but it felt wrong because I had nothing to put in its place.” You don’t care that you’re babbling on, forging ahead with your impromptu monologue. “It would’ve been too empty, but with you and Harris here, it won’t be empty anymore.”

Eddie tucks his thumbnail between his teeth. “Are you sure?” he prods, not wanting to sound ungrateful.

“Positive.” You’re much more assured in your reply. “If she knew Harris before she got sick, she would’ve spoiled the hell out of him, anyway.” The moment she saw him happily digging into the Oreos, she would have ensured that the cupboard remained stocked with Double Stuf. “In a way, s’like she gets to spoil him now.”

You can sense Eddie’s resistance tempering with an audible exhale. “He’s an easy kid to love, that’s for sure,” he muses, buying time to process the influx of emotions flooding his body. There’s the obvious gratitude that you’re so eager to take care of his son, but it’s cut with the insecurity of him not being able to do so. If you’re going to buy Harris furniture, it should be because you want to, not because he can’t. What if you hold this against him? What if, in the future, there’s an argument and you fire back with a retort about his shortcomings as a father?

Except…you have never done that. Ever. Not that night in the emergency room, or when you’d found out about the CPS report filed that evening. Not even when Eddie had made it his personal mission to tear you down, pulling insults from the depths and hurling them at you with reckless abandon.

You hadn’t brought up the way he’d helplessly panicked when confronted with the possibility of Harris’s learning disability, or how he’d let anxiety overtake him when he officially received a classification. With everything the two of you had endured, you’d never once echoed his anxieties about his parenting abilities; it was quite the opposite. With you by his side, he feels as though he can take on whatever challenge life chucks at him.

“Eds? Is everything okay?” Your tone is thick with concern; Eddie realizes that you probably think you’ve upset him. “We don’t have to go—we can do something else, or—”

“Sweet girl,” he says in one exhale, both to reassure you and to remind himself that you’re his, and he’s yours. Love surges through the phone lines when he speaks. “We can pick you up in an hour, if that works? I should be able to wrangle Harris by then.”

“Y’sure?” And, Christ, how his heart sinks when you shrink inward, reflexively making yourself smaller when you’re worried that you’ve offended someone.

Eddie doesn’t answer you directly, instead, calls out his son’s name. “Hey, Harris?” He frowns when Harris completely ignores him in favor of watching the cartoon. Using his free hand, he cups his mouth in a makeshift megaphone, amplifying his voice. “Harris Wayne Munson!”

The sudden sound jolts him out of his TV-induced stupor. “Huh?”

“Go get dressed and brush your teeth; we’re gonna go shopping with Ms. Sweetheart!” Eddie grins as Harris turns to him with a wide smile of his own. “C’mon, let’s go!”

Harris jumps up without further hesitation, inadvertently tossing his bowl from the makeshift table of his legs. Milk splatters, instantly soaking into the carpet, and the Cheerios topple out and land in a soggy pile. “Nooo, my bref-ist!” His big eyes well up with tears. “Daddy, you made me drop my bref-ist!”

“You, uh, wanna deal with that?” You can’t hide your amusement at the usual Munson chaos.

“Probably should, huh?” Eddie jokes back, stretching the phone cord as far as he can and reaching for the paper towel roll. “I love you, babe. See you in a bit.”

“I love you, Eds,” you tell him. “And Harris, too, of course.”

Some more static and shuffling; then, an energetic voice greets you. “Hi Ms. Sweetheart! Daddy made me drop my bref-ist,” the little boy reports.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Har.” You’ve perfected the art of mustering up sympathy for children’s not-soearth-shattering issues, a skill that every preschool teacher must possess. “Why don’t you help him clean up? That way, I can see you even faster.”

Harris pauses, mulling over his options. “Yeah, okay! Gotta go! Bye!”

You hear the clunk of him struggling to replace the phone on the hook, followed by Eddie saying, “Let me say good-bye before you hang—” click.

Pulling your own receiver from your ear, you stare at it with mild amusement. Never a dull moment with my boys.

Your boys drive up to your building just over an hour later. You stand up from the bench outside the entrance and smooth down your shorts where they’ve creased.

“Hey, Sweetheart.” Eddie lets the pet name roll off of his tongue. He wants to kiss you as you slide into the passenger seat, but he withholds his affection for Harris’s sake. It seems silly, considering you’ll all be living together, but he doesn’t know how his son will react to the romance aspect of it. Will he be happy? Excited? Disgusted by any display of affection?

You give his hand a subtle squeeze, turning around to greet Harris. “Ready to shop till we drop?”

“Till we drop?” Harris wrinkles his nose, glancing between you and his dad. “Why would we drop?”

“It’s just an expression,” you explain, catching a glimpse of the smile tugging at the corners of Eddie’s mouth. “Just means that we’re going to shop until we’re too tired to shop anymore.”

“I never get tired,” Harris declares, sticking his legs straight out so his flexed feet push up against the back of the driver’s seat, nudging Eddie slightly forward. “Grampa Wayne calls me an ‘Energizer Bunny.’” He bounces up and down in his booster seat to prove his point.

Eddie reaches his right arm around, keeping his left firmly gripping the wheel, as he moves Harris’s feet from where they’re planted into his lower back. “So, Har,” he starts, easing his weight onto the brake as he approaches a red light, “we’re gonna look for a new dresser for you, and maybe a nightstand.” He takes a deep breath as he delivers the news: “That means we’re not making any pit stops for toys. Got it?”

You want to interject, to let Eddie know that you don’t mind splurging on a small treat for Harris, but you bite it back. Whether or not you have the spare funds is irrelevant: this is the boundary he’s set for his son, and you have to respect it, regardless of your desire to spoil him.

Harris, however, does not accept the announcement as readily. “Not even, like, a little one?” he presses, holding his thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart. “Even if I’m really, really good?” He gives a hopeful smile, eyes blinking expectantly.

Eddie looks at you, serving as your cue to provide your input. You nod your approval, trying to hide your delight in being asked to make a parenting decision, regardless of how menial it may seem. He peers up through the rearview mirror at his son’s waiting face. “If you’re really, really good,” he acquiesces, features pinching into a grimace when Harris’s exuberant squeal echoes through the sedan. “You have to use your inside voice and stay next to us the whole time. Deal?”

“Deal,” Harris confirms. “Deal, Ms. Sweetheart?”

“Deal.” Laughter bubbles up inside you and you let it spill out uninhibited. You know that telling a child he can get a toy is an easy part of parenthood, but you silently swear to never take for granted being included in that choice. Harris joins you, though he’s not quite sure why he’s laughing, but your joy is contagious.

You lean your head against the car window, listening to the buzz of the radio filling the silence. Harris hums along, more on-key than the average five-year-old, which you can safely attribute to him having a musician for a dad.

“I’m not getting a new bed, right?” Harris says with sudden urgency. “Because I wanna keep my racecar bed.”

“Mhm,” you affirm, smiling when Harris relaxes back against the headrest. “Your racecar bed will be in your new room, don’t you worry.”

“Okay.” That response satisfies him until he thinks up another question. “An’ you’re bringing your bed, Daddy?”

Eddie chuckles as he pulls into the Goodwill parking lot. He picks a spot close to the store, right next to a green Ford with a faded “Clinton ‘96” bumper sticker. “Um, no. I’m not bringing my bed.”

“So are you getting a new bed?” His eyes dart from side to side as he assesses the size of the car. “Where’s it gonna fit?”

“I’m, uh, not buying a new bed, either.” Eddie kills the engine and unbuckles his seatbelt, swiveling to face Harris, who is more confused than ever. “Ms. Sweetheart and I are going to share her bed.”

Harris kicks his feet, processing this new information. “But you didn’t get married yet,” he points out, “so how can you share a bed?”

You rest your palm on Eddie’s forearm in quiet reassurance. “Some people share a bed before they get married,” you explain simply, knowing that less is often more when talking to young children.

“When are you gonna get married?” he asks, more curious than meddling. “Because it’s taking forever. My friends’ mommies and daddies are already married.”

Eddie doesn’t acknowledge the fact that Harris essentially referred to you as his mommy; instead, he slowly exhales. “I’d like to marry Ms. Sweetheart someday, and I think she’d like to marry me, too.” He looks over at you with a sheepish grin, and you give his hand an agreeing squeeze. “But, for now, we’re just going to try out living together. How does that sound?”

“I guess that’s okay.” Harris isn’t completely thrilled with his dad’s response, but he relents anyway.

“While, we’re, uh, on the subject,” Eddie continues, the tips of his ears flushing pink as he carefully considers his words. He chews on the inside of his lower lip. Is he really doing this? Is he opening his son up to this relationship? “You know that Ms. Sweetheart and I love each other very much, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Sometimes,” Eddie continues with only some trepidation, “sometimes, when grown-ups love each other a lot, they hold hands o-or kiss. Would that be weird for you? If Ms. Sweetheart and I held hands, or kissed?”

You avert your gaze, partly from bashfulness but mostly so Harris doesn’t feel any pressure from either of you.

The little boy looks at the car’s ceiling, centering his focus on the overhead lighting. Finally, with utmost certainty, he declares, “just no tongue-kissing.”

You snort out a laugh while Eddie goes bright red and sputters, “where did you learn about that?”

“Young and Restless,” Harris reports nonchalantly.

Eddie rubs his eyes, pressing his thumb and forefinger to his lids until his vision blurs. “Remind me to tell Wayne to stop letting him watch the soaps,” he grumbles to you, turning back to his son. “Yeah, no tongue-kissing.”

You easily lace your fingers with Eddie’s as you walk through the front doors of the Goodwill. Harris starts making a beeline for the toys, but Eddie uses his free hand to pivot him in the direction of the furniture department. Harris huffs but complies, trudging alongside you.

There’s a bright blue nightstand on display that immediately catches his eye. “Look!” he points, smiling so wide that all of his baby teeth are on display, “can I get it? Please?”

Eddie smiles warily, flipping over the white tag hanging from one silver drawer handle. He breathes a small sigh of relief when he sees the price is within the range of what he’d like to spend; rather, what he’d be comfortable asking you to spend.

“Looks like we’ve got a winner,” he says, posture straightening with the announcement. He runs his fingertips over the surface, checking for any chipping paint or splintering wood, but the finish appears to be intact. “I’ll go tell someone to set it aside for us.”

He sets off in search of an employee, leaving you alone with Harris. You swallow the nervousness building in your throat. You spend nearly every day taking care of children, but you’re suddenly inundated with the memory of losing him at the flea market. Those few minutes when you couldn’t locate him were some of the scariest of your life.

And yet, it hadn’t prevented Eddie from giving you another chance.

“Are you excited to move in with me, Har?” you ask, reaching out to ruffle his curls.

He nods, then looks straight up at you so that you’re staring at his nostrils. “Ms. Sweetheart?” The position of his neck changes his voice’s pitch so it’s froggy. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Can you marry my daddy?” His eyes shine with potential. “And then you can be my mommy for real?”

You crouch down to his height, heart melting at his request. “Harris, I love your daddy very, very much. And I love you very, very much, too.” You poke his nose gently, and he giggles. “Being married is a big responsibility—”

“‘Sponsibility?”

“Mhm. Responsibility. It means a really important job.” You slide your heart pendant across the chain on your neck anxiously. “And your daddy and I want to make sure that we’re ready for that kind of responsibility before we do anything, okay?”

Harris nods, but you can tell from his crinkled nose and furrowed brows that he doesn’t fully understand. You can’t blame him; it’s an abstract concept, one that even you often have trouble comprehending. “But I can tell you one thing: whenever your daddy wants to propose, I’ll say ‘yes.’” You smile at the thought of Eddie asking you to be his wife.

“Is that where he gets down on one knee and asks ‘Will you marry me?’” You’re about to respond when he adds, “and then someone runs in and yells about being their long-lost ‘dentical twin?”

Yeah, no more soap operas for Harris.

Finding a dresser proves to be a much more difficult task than picking out the nightstand. Everything that Harris likes is out of budget, and everything within budget is too worn down or small. There’s one that’s in good condition and isn’t too pricey, but it’s covered in hand-painted unicorns.

“That’s for girls!” Harris groans, stomping his feet. The last word is stretched in a whine. “I can’t have girl stuff!”

“We can paint over it. Whatever color you want,” you quickly jump in, trying to avoid a meltdown, but your efforts are fruitless. Fat tears stream down his cheeks; he’s already determined that the dresser is tainted.

“No! No, no, no!” he howls, throwing himself on the floor. He smacks down on his tailbone, fanning his tantrum’s flames. He quiets for a moment, too shocked to cry, but then he’s screaming louder than before.

It’s as though he’s lost control of his body, arms and legs knocking into the lower shelves without care. You can’t block him in time before he knocks over a lamp—a Nickelodeon-themed one that would have been perfect in his new room, ironically—and it shatters on the ground. Ceramic splinters, scattering across the linoleum like roaches in the light.

People start to stare, some with sympathetic looks, and some glare angrily at the child daring to interrupt their shopping. Eddie’s face blazes, vision swimming as he wracks his brain for a solution.

You’re faster, slapping a few bills into Eddie’s palm and jolting him from his thoughts. He watches you scoop Harris off of the floor, trying to avoid his flailing limbs.

“Go get the nightstand and pay for the lamp,” you tell him, straightforward and precise. “I’ll get him to the car and calm him down. Keys?”

Eddie blinks, the information swirling around him but not quite penetrating the surface. It’s when you hoist Harris onto one hip and balance his weight in one hand, using the other to make a ‘gimme’ motion that it registers.

“Y-Yeah, sorry.” Eddie fumbles for the car keys and tosses them to you, the two of you working in tandem. A well-oiled machine. You nod gratefully, wincing as Harris’s foot makes contact with your thigh. “I’ll be right out.”

You’re able to bring him to the car, struggling to unlock it and hold on to Harris. After a few failed attempts, you manage to open the passenger door and sit him on the seat.

“Harris, hey, Harris?” you start, keeping your voice soft and even while trying to pull his attention. His sobs are slowing down but he’s definitely breathing too rapidly for your comfort. “Hey, bud. You’re okay, all right?” You extend your hand and he tentatively places his own palm on top of it. “You wanna give my hand a squeeze?”

He does it, the motion grounding him enough that he can focus on your body in front of him. You don’t want to touch him, knowing that his senses are already overstimulated from the tantrum. Instead, you relax as his squeezing grows stronger and his breaths gradually even out.

“There ya go, Har. Just like that.” You smile warmly. “That was a really big feeling, huh?”

“Uh-huh.” His voice shakes and hiccups. He swipes at the tears on his cheeks, smudging them into his skin.

You reach into the center console and grab a tissue, wiping the mucus from his nose and lips. “Good as new.” With no trashcan nearby, you shove the used Kleenex into your pants pocket. “Can you tell me what made you so mad in there?”

“D-Don’t want girl…girl st-stuff,” he stutters through ragged breaths.

There’s a time and place to discuss the optics of categorizing interests into ‘boy’ and ‘girl,’ but you know better than to have that conversation now. “Oof, that’s why you were angry! That’s a lot to handle.” You gingerly tuck a curl behind his ear. “But, Harris, did you see what happened when you started hitting and kicking?” He shakes his head. “Well, you knocked over a lamp and it broke. You could have gotten hurt, or someone else could have gotten hurt.”

Harris’s face falls as you speak, absorbing what you’re explaining. “I-I didn’t mean to,” he sniffles. “‘M sorry.”

“I know you didn’t mean to,” you sigh, “sometimes, when we have big feelings like getting angry, we do things we shouldn’t without even realizing.” You pause for a moment, biting your lip as you consider your words. “Do you want to hear what helps me when I have really big feelings and I can’t scream and cry?”

“Mhm.” He nods again, little tongue peeking out to swipe up the tears above his mouth.

“I take a deep breath and close my eyes,” you start, demonstrating both actions. Inhale for three, exhale for three, and repeat. “And then I picture myself being in my favorite place in the world.” You smile at him, blinking back the sadness that comes with memories of holidays at Grandma’s. “Wanna try it together?”

Harris responds by closing his eyes and breathing in slowly. “Good job, Har,” you softly praise him. “Now breathe out; make sure you’re thinking of your favorite place, okay?”

“Thinkin’ about the zoo,” he whispers, voice raspy from shrieking for so long. “Daddy taked me there and we saw so much animals.”

“Zoos are a lot of fun,” you agree with a laugh. “I’ve never been to the one in Hawkins. Maybe we can go over the summer?”

“Yeah! I wanna show you the flamingos!” His grin stretches across his cheeks “Do you like flamingos?”

Like most people, you don’t have a strong opinion on flamingos, but you respond with an enthusiastic, “I love them!”

“Love who?” Eddie’s voice breaks into the conversation. He’s rolling out the nightstand in a cart, keeping one hand on top of it to hold it steady. “Me?”

You laugh, opening up the back door so he can wedge the furniture next to Harris’s booster seat. “Yes, Eddie. I love you very much, don’t worry,” you tease, seizing the opportunity to inconspicuously check him out. His biceps flex as he maneuvers the nightstand, and you have to tear your gaze from his denim-clad ass when he stands up and triumphantly wipes his hands on his pants.

“C’mere.” He pulls you in, pursing his lips in an exaggerated pout and planting a smacking kiss on you.

While you giggle, Harris is not as amused. He claps his hands over his eyes and groans.

“No tongue-kissing!”

You’re wrapping up storytime, your students fidgeting with their shoelaces—some fidgeting with their friend’s shoelaces—eager to move onto the corresponding art activity Will has planned.

“Okay, we’re going to use our walking—” Your announcement is cut short by Principal Sinclair’s voice coming over the loudspeaker. Her tone is typically warm and excited, but the way she speaks so sternly sends chills through your entire body.

“This is a lock-in. All staff and students must remain in their classrooms until notified. I repeat, all staff and students must remain in their classrooms until notified.”

You breathe out, though you’re still concerned about the cause of the lock-in. It’s usually some kind of medical issue that requires emergency services to have unblocked access through the halls. You hope that whatever it is isn’t life-threatening.

Will locks the door wordlessly, and you repeat your directions to the class. The kids walk to their seats, asking non-stop about what a lock-in means.

“We just have to stay in the classroom,” you find yourself repeating, losing patience with each iteration. You’re thankful for small miracles; your class has already gone out for recess, which means you don’t have to break that news to them.

Will is helping the kids glue multicolored strands of crepe paper in the shape of a rainbow, complete with cotton ball clouds. You’re unclogging a bottle of Elmer’s when the classroom phone rings, startling you. You place the glue bottle on the table, promising Joshua that you’ll be right back, and answer it.

“Hello?”

“We need you to come to the office immediately,” the secretary’s clipped voice informs you. “Bring your personal items. We’ll send someone to assist Will.”

Stupidly, you nod before remembering she can’t see you. “Y-Yes, of course. I’ll be right there.” You hang up, tell Will the plan, and bolt out the door.

What the hell is going on? Why are they having me break the lock-in to go to the office? You hike your purse higher up your shoulder, trying to ignore the dread pooling in your stomach and creeping up your throat.

Something is wrong. Something is really, really wrong.

Your feet can’t carry you fast enough. You nearly stop breathing when you see Eddie pacing in the lobby, Marion and Paula standing off to the side and speaking with Chief Hopper. The two teachers wear matching worried expressions.

As soon as Eddie spots you, he’s charging over. “Oh, thank God,” he murmurs, throwing his arms around you and hugging you tight. You can feel the tears falling from his eyes, wetting the crook of your neck. His hands squeeze against your back and your shoulder blades as his body is wracked with sobs.

You weave your fingers through his hair, holding him as close as you can. You’re desperate to know what’s going on, but you doubt he could explain if he tried. Instead, you continue comforting him while Principal Sinclair walks over.

Her strides are long and purposeful, and she meets your own terrified gaze with her own. “Harris went missing during recess,” she says quietly, “and Mr. Munson let us know that you might be an asset in locating him.”

Harris went missing. Bile inches up your esophagus and you swallow it, wincing at its burn. “Why would he—” You stop mid-sentence; his motive is not important right now. All of your focus needs to be on finding him.

Chief Hopper approaches you and Eddie, tapping your boyfriend on the shoulder with two fingers. Eddie looks up, wipes his face with the heel of his palm, and clears his throat, but a fresh batch of tears threatens to spill over anyway.

“We’ve just collected statements from his teachers,” Hopper reports, looking down at his notepad. “They said that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, that Harris was just playing with his friends one moment and then gone the next.”

“No,” Eddie shakes his head. “No, something had to have happened.” Harris had wandered off plenty of times, like at the flea market. The difference was that he was easily found. “If you haven’t found him, then he’s either hiding, or someone…” The thought is too painful to finish.

Hopper looks over at the principal. “You’re certain that the playground is secure?” He asks her, not accusing, but waiting for confirmation.

“Yes, absolutely secure,” she affirms, nodding her head. “The gate can only be opened from the inside, so no one can access it off of the street.”

You know this, of course, but it doesn't bring you closer to finding Harris.

“We’ve taped off the playground,” Hopper continues, “and we’ve got a search squad going now. Considering that Harris has been diagnosed with a disability, we’re beginning this investigation right away.”

“Mr. Munson,” a second officer chimes in, “is there anyone who would be inclined to take your son? Perhaps a non-custodial parent or an estranged relative?”

Eddie’s blood runs cold. “His mom, um, isn’t in the picture. Never has been.”

Hopper cocks one brow. “Never?” he asks disbelievingly. “How soon after he was born did she relinquish her rights?”

“She, um,” Eddie swallows, rubbing his nose in embarrassment, “she never did. Never relinquished her rights, I mean. She just kinda split.”

“So there was no formal agreement that she could no longer be involved in Harris’s life?”

“N-No,” he stammers, shame seeping from every pore. He’d always meant to start the legal proceedings, but that takes time and money…and maybe a small part of him had always hoped she’d come around and do the right thing.

He looks over at you now, the way you’ve stepped into a mothering role like a puzzle piece. Like any parent, you’d made some mistakes, but you’re also the most compassionate person Eddie has ever known.

He thinks of the times he’d tried to make his ex get clean, to want to get clean, and to be there for Harris. The weight of disappointment caused his chest to ache every time she’d mumble, “I’m gonna, but not right now” or “I don’t need help.”

Perhaps it’s unfair to compare the two of you; after all, you hadn’t struggled with addiction. But Eddie can’t help himself. You’d loved Harris before you’d even loved him, he realizes. And he’d never had to ask you to.

“Do you have any contact information for her?” Hopper taps his pen against his notepad. “Nine out of ten times in these situations, the child is with someone they know.”

What about the ‘one’ time? What happens then? Heat pulses in Eddie’s cheeks, sweat beading on his forehead. He doesn’t need Hopper to answer the question; he already knows what that means.

“It’s from five years ago, so I don’t know if it’s still accurate.” He stumbles over his words, thinking about the last time he’d called her; it was the invitation to Harris’s birthday. “I don’t know it by heart, but I have it in my address book at home.”

Hopper gives a brusque nod to his colleague and to your boss. “We’ll give you a lift. And, uh, it’ll be good to set up your place as a home base.”

“Yeah, yeah, right,” Eddie mumbles, simply going through the motions without processing them. He’s on autopilot, a robotic version of himself. If he was able to fully absorb his surroundings, he would note the irony of him sitting in the back of the cop car because they’re helping him instead of escorting him to the county jail.

You don’t let go of his hand the entire ride there, your thumb rubbing the soft hairs on his knuckles. “We’re gonna find him,” you whisper reassuringly, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand.

But Eddie is too embroiled in his own thoughts, imagining every possible tragedy that could have befallen his son. As soon as Hopper pulls up to the apartment complex, Eddie is flying up the stairs, two at a time, unlocking the door as fast as he can. You run in behind him, watching as he flings loose papers and pens from a kitchen drawer. He’s kicked over the boxes he’s already packed; clothes and some of Harris’s toys are scattered across the floor like a poorly-designed booby-trap.

He holds up the tattered black book, flipping through it until he lands on the right page. “Here. Right here.” He frantically points to an entry at the top, fingertip jabbing into it over and over.

Hopper takes the book from him, careful not to rip the already weathered materials. He dials the digits and frowns when he’s greeted by the automated we’re sorry, this number is no longer in service, far too chipper for the circumstances. He tries once more in case he dialed incorrectly, but he gets the same message.

“Disconnected,” he says gruffly, hanging the receiver with a clank. “Is there anyone else?”

Eddie can only shake his head somberly. If Wayne got Harris from school early, he would have told him. He wasn’t even sure how much of Harris’s maternal family knew of his existence, let alone his location. If someone took his son, it was more than likely a complete stranger.

Hopper’s walkie crackles with static; you and Eddie stiffen with anticipation. “Hey, Chief?” comes from the garbled voice on the other end.

“I’m here.”

“We’ve got a kid here at the school who says he spoke with Harris Munson right before he went missing today.”

Eddie stands up, walking closer to Hopper. Part of you expects him to grab the walkie and try talking straight to the other officer, but he doesn’t.

Hopper presses the small black button and speaks. “Copy. Does he know where we might locate him?”

There’s a deafening silence for a few moments; no more than ten seconds pass, but it feels like a lifetime. Finally, there’s some information: “No known location; just says that Harris told him he was having ‘big feelings’ and needed to go to his favorite place.’”

“The zoo,” you murmur aloud, drawing confused looks from both men in the room. “When he got upset on Saturday—at Goodwill—I taught him to do some deep breathing and picture being in his favorite place, and he told me it was the zoo. But I…” you swallow, furrowing your brows, “I told him to picture it, not actually go there.”

“Zoo’s too far for him to walk, and no bus driver is going to let a kid that young ride by himself,” the chief points out.

You nod, biting your lower lip. “He might not be at the zoo, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to get there.”

Hopper thanks the other officer and turns to you and Eddie. My guys are deploying the search party as we speak.” He takes a deep breath and makes direct eye contact with you and Eddie. “We’ll do everything we can to bring your son back safely.”

Eddie buries his head in his hands, collapsing back against the living room wall and sliding down to the floor.

You look over at the police chief. “Can we help? Join the search…or something?” Anything besides sitting around and waiting for answers.

“Absolutely. We’ll keep an officer stationed here in case Harris comes home.”

You nudge your foot against Eddie’s. “C’mon, babe.” You try to keep strength behind your words, to be what Eddie needs right now, but it gets harder with each passing second. “We’re gonna go look for him.” He looks up and notices that you’ve extended your hand, and he takes it, pulling himself up.

He doesn’t say a word, but he follows you and Hopper out the door. He’s gnawing on his lips so violently that some skin peels off between his teeth; flecks of blood dotting his usually perfect mouth.

“We’ve got some time before sunset, so that’s on our side,” Hopper says as he drives back the way he came. “We’ll start in the woods near the school, and we’ll move from there.” He peers back at the two of you through the rearview mirror with a determined gaze.

“My uncle,” Eddie says suddenly, no certain expression on his face. He’s practically catatonic when he talks. “I want Wayne to wait at the apartment. I need to tell him…” If Harris does return home first and sees police officers surrounding the place, he might get scared and run off again.

Hopper scratches at his beard. “We’ll let him know, all right? Don’t worry about that.” He radios the instructions to a colleague, who confirms them and signs off, before pulling into a grassy area and killing the engine. “Let’s go. If Harris is going to come out for anyone, it’ll be you two.” He slams his door and then helps you and Eddie out of the backseat.

Before you can even begin, you hear a group of people shouting Eddie’s name. You look over to see Jeff, Jess, and Robin waving and walking towards you.

“We came as soon as we heard,” Robin says, giving you and Eddie a hug. “We’re gonna help you, and we’re not leaving until we find him.”

Jeff offers a tight smile, one hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “We’re here for you man,” he promises, sincerity in its purest form. “Viv is gonna stop by later and I’ll take care of Ettie.”

It’s a kind gesture, but Eddie’s stomach sours at the thought of still searching later. He needs to know that his son is safe now.

Harris’s name is echoed over and over, bouncing off of trees and shaking the leaves as you and your friends call out for him.

“Harris!” you cry out, throat raw from your constant shouting. “Harris, it’s Ms. Sweetheart!”

“Harris!” Eddie’s voice is even louder than yours; the power behind it is palpable. “Harris, it’s Daddy! Please come out! You’re not in trouble!” he adds, cognizant of the little boy’s fear of making people mad.

Every squirrel that darts across the forest floor has you whipping your head around, heart leaping at the prospect of Harris emerging from where he’s hiding.

He has to be hiding; your mind won’t let you imagine what could happen if the wrong person saw him walking by himself, determined to get to the zoo…

“Harris, Aunt Robin and I will buy you any toy you want!” Jess yells. “And all the ice cream you can eat!”

The five of you take turns making promises to nobody; they’re secrets shared with the wind. Each unanswered call leaves you feeling more defeated, especially with the sun hanging lower in the sky. It will be dark soon, leaving Harris even more vulnerable than he already is.

Will joins the group a few moments later, bringing granola bars, water, and flashlights. You can only stomach about a quarter of your snack, having completely lost your appetite. Eddie doesn’t even bother to eat, fueled by adrenaline rather than food.

“Principal Sinclair is also looking,” Will tells you and Eddie. “She’s with Lucas and Erica over at Merrill Wright’s farm. It’s closer than the zoo, but he’s got some animals, so they wanted to check there.” He pauses, casting his eyes down for a second before looking at Eddie. “Everyone’s helping out with this. They all want to find Harris.”

Tears well up along Eddie’s lash line; he blinks them away to keep his vision clear. “Thanks, man.” He coughs to clear his throat, emotions forcing their way through. “That means a lot.” For a moment, he sees Will as he was when they first met: an overwhelmed little freshman, unsure of his place in high school, let alone in the world.

What if Harris never gets the chance to find himself? What if he doesn’t get to grow up and learn new things, make his own mistakes, figure out who he is?

You put an arm around Eddie, unknowingly pulling him from his intrusive thoughts. “Can you try to drink some water? Please?” You know better than to nag him about eating right now, but the last thing he needs is to get dehydrated.

He cracks open the bottle and takes a few sips, not realizing how thirsty he was until the liquid covers his tongue. He downs it all without taking a breath, the plastic crinkling as he siphons out every last drop of water.

“Take mine,” you tell him, offering it with the best smile you can possibly muster, but he shakes his head.

“You need it, too.” He’s not wrong, but you have no issue letting him drink from your bottle if he’s still thirsty.

You take a sip and pass it to him. “We’ll share.”

Another hour passes, the pink and orange hues becoming deeper purples and reds as the sky darkens with night. Some people start to call it quits, returning home to their own children, breathing secret sighs of relief that they have children to return home to. Your group remains intact; no one is even considering leaving until they physically cannot move any longer.

With just overworked flashlight bulbs illuminating your path, you continue trudging through the woods. Hopper’s shift was over hours ago, but he’s steadfast in his pursuit to find Harris.

Eddie’s exhausted physically and emotionally, feeling like every part of him has been drained and can never be replenished. His son is missing; he might have been kidnapped, and he doesn’t know if or when he’ll see him again. All he wants is to hold him again, to hear his little laugh as he tells a cheesy joke he learned at school, to watch him sound out new words or draw a picture or just fall asleep in his own bed.

Hopper’s walkie crackles; he clutches it tight and holds it so he can hear it clearly.

“Chief, we may have a sighting.”

A light flickers behind Eddie’s eyes; he doesn’t want to get his hopes up, but he can’t help himself. He listens intently as the other officer relays the information.

“Doris Driscoll just went outside to let her cats in for the night, and when they didn’t go inside, she went looking. Found them behind a bush, eating crackers out of a little boy’s hands. He told her his name is Harris. Matches the descriptions the father provided.”

Eddie grabs your hand, gripping it with whatever strength he has left. You feel a surge course through your veins as Hopper motions for you to follow him to his car. He turns on his siren and guns it down the road, swerving in and out of traffic to get to the old woman’s house as fast as he can.

Please, please let him be here, you silently pray, subconsciously screwing your eyes shut and holding your breath. The only thing worse than not knowing where he is might just be a false alarm that he’s been found.

Hopper slams on the brakes behind an ambulance parked in front of the Driscoll residence, their open doors allowing the fluorescent lights to stream through. Eddie watches, wide-eyed, as an EMT wheels a stretcher over to it.

A stretcher carrying Harris.

“Harris!” Eddie cries in simultaneous relief, exuberance, and fear. He instinctively reaches for a door handle, quickly remembering that he’s in a cop car and had to wait for Hopper to let him out from the outside.

You’re already crying; everything you’d been holding back to maintain a solid resolve for Eddie is crumbling as soon as you’d seen his son. You scramble out of the car, right behind him, and run to where the emergency technicians are treating Harris.

He’s awake and alert, and he spots the two of you right away. “Daddy! Ms. Sweetheart!” He tries sitting up, but a technician gently guides him to lay down again. “No, that’s my daddy and my almost-mommy!” he protests. “I gotta see them!”

You and Eddie reach him at the same time. He’s covered in dirt; it’s smudge along his cheeks, his arms, and his legs. He’s even managed to get some on the tip of his nose. Some blood is smeared on his right knee where he’s seemed to have scraped it, and the EMTs spray some antiseptic on it and apply a bandage before he can even feel the sting.

“Oh, thank God.” The words rush out of Eddie’s mouth, and he puts his palms on his son’s cheeks and presses kisses all over his face. “You’re okay, you’re okay…” He turns to the technicians, worry pinching his brows together. “He’s okay, right? There’s nothing wrong?” He pushes some of Harris’s damp curls from his forehead. There aren’t any visible bumps or bruises on his face, which eases a bit of his nerves.

One technician nods. “Right now, it seems like he’s just got some minor lacerations, but we’ll run the gamut of tests to rule out more severe injuries.” She looks over at the police chief, who stands a few yards behind you. “We’ll take it from here.”

Hopper gives a small, sad smile; it’s then that you remember that his own child had passed away nearly twenty years ago. She was only a little older than Harris is now.

Eddie follows your gaze with red-rimmed eyes, the realization setting in for him, too. “Thanks, Chief,” he says, just loud enough so Hopper can hear him. Hopper nods, placing his hat atop his head before walking away.

The EMTs check for any broken or sprained bones, shine lights into Harris’s pupils, and ask him a few simple questions to assess for a concussion. “We’ll have to take him to the hospital, just to be sure,” they say to you and Eddie, “but barring any extenuating circumstances, you should be able to bring him back home tonight.”

“Okay, yeah, okay,” Eddie breathes, crouching down a bit so he’s eye-level with his son. “Har, can you tell us why you ran away from school? You’re not in trouble; I promise.”

Harris looks down at the blanket draped across his lap. “I had really big feelings, and I tried thinking about the zoo like you told me,” he glances at you, “but then the feelings didn’t go away, so I decided to go there.”

You take his small hand in yours. “What were the big feelings?” you ask gently, free of judgment and filled with concern.

He thinks for a second, then states matter-of-factly, “Mad and sad.”

“Mad and sad?”

“Mhm,” he mumbles, wiping at his nose with his free hand. “‘Cause of Ms. Marion and Ms. Paula.”

You freeze, trying to regain your composure before Harris can pick up on your uncertainty. “What happened with your teachers, Har?”

“They were saying mean things about you and Daddy, and it made me mad and sad.”

At the sound of his title, Eddie speaks up. “Mean things about us?”

“Yeah, like, that Ms. Sweetheart is probably teaching you how to read, too,” Harris explains, “and I said that they’re lying, that you’re really smart and read to me all the time. And that Ms. Sweetheart isn’t your teacher; she’s my almost-mommy.”

Eddie clenches his fists, veins prominent as his body goes stiff. His anger isn’t at the insult, but at the way they could speak so brazenly about a child’s family, disregarding the hurt it causes. He doesn’t care what those women think of him, but he’s furious that they upset Harris.

“They keeped laughing and telled me to go play,” Harris continues, getting choked up at the memory. “I tried to do my breathing and my favorite place remembering with Charlie, but it didn’t work. And I got lost going to the zoo–the real zoo, not the one in my imagination–so I hided with the cats until the nice lady found me.”

You and Eddie share heartbroken looks, pushing aside your respective emotions as you tend to the little boy laying in front of you. “Get some rest, Har Bear,” you murmur, kissing the top of his head. “You had a long day.”

He falls asleep after a few minutes, constantly checking to make sure that the two of you are still by his side. As soon as his breathing steadies and his eyes remain closed, Eddie turns to you, exhausted and running on fumes. Wet brown doe eyes pleadingly gaze at you, lids heavy with sleep. You wrap your arms around him, unable to get close enough. He moves slowly, every action a delayed reaction, but he gradually embraces you, too.

“Stay. Please.” The words are muffled by the way his mouth is mashed into your scalp, but you hear them perfectly fine. “And if we get to go home tonight, come back with us. I need you both close to me.”

“Of course.” Your own lips press against his perspiration-soaked shirt collar. “I’ll stay as long as you need me to.” You pull back ever-so-slightly, brushing tears from his cheeks. “He’s safe. He’s safe, and he’s here, and we get to keep spoiling and loving him.”

Eddie absorbs this as best as he can, mind still spinning as the adrenaline crash hits. There’s so much he wants to say, but for right now, he just carves out space in his body for yours. Your light whisper keeps him grounded, pulling hi away from the spiraling that usually overtakes him in times of crisis.

“I’ve got you.”

#eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie x reader #eddie x you #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things fanfic #fanfic #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things #tui

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steddie-island · 6 months

Text

Just Because We Get Around

Part one of Fuck His Dad. A fic based on this post.

Summary

Eddie pulled Dustin’s hands away from his ears and threw an arm around his shoulders. “Seriously, Dusty, I’m not gonna sleep with your dad. You have nothing to worry about.” ...Maybe Dustin had something to worry about.

Steve had been feeling it for a while now. He felt it in the creak of his joints when the weather changed too fast, felt it when he noticed a new silver streak in his hair. He was still in good shape, he wasn’t decrepit or anything like that. He still played ball with Lucas when he came over, he still swam a couple mornings a week, and coaching the girls JV basketball team meant he got some exercise running up and down the court with them. Still, sometimes he would just have a few days in a row where he felt it more than others, and it kind of got him down.

Steve Harrington was getting old. He wasn’t nineteen anymore, he was forty-five now. He had a job, a 401k. He had a kid in college for Christ sake.

Dustin was maybe the thing that made him feel the oldest, though. Not because of his age, but because he was always talking about some new game, new trends, using some new lingo. It drove Steve crazy . He tried to keep up, but it was hard when things seemed to change at the blink of an eye– and then he felt like even more of a fucking geezer for complaining about the speed of the way things changed, too.

He was trying to listen to Dustin and his friend Eddie, who had been bouncing ideas off of each other for the better part of an hour for what they could do to get more attention on Eddie’s band online. The more they talked about tiktok trends and their social media presence, the more Steve felt in over his head.

“You’re leaving, Mr. H?”

Steve turned around to look at Eddie and Dustin again. “Yeah, figured I’d go catch the end of the game.” “Oooh, you’re ditching us for sports ?” Eddie shook his head. “I’m insulted.” Steve rolled his eyes. “I think the two of you have this under control. You don’t need help from an old man.” “Old?” Eddie shook his head and looked at Dustin like Can you believe this guy? “Mr. H, you’re not old.” “I am, too,” he laughed. “Yeah, he is,” Dustin agreed. He made a face. “He’s my dad , of course he’s old. Now–” “No he’s not.” Eddie moved to rest his elbow on his knee, and he gestured towards Steve. “You’re not old, you’re still, like, hot. ”

Steve’s face heated up while Dustin just gaped at his best friend. “Dude, what? Gross.”

“He is!” Eddie insisted. “Look at him!”

“I am! That’s my dad! ”

Steve laughed again and moved to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. “I– you’re sweet, Eddie. Thanks.” He meant it, too. Eddie was probably just being nice, but it still felt… good. Especially coming from the pretty boy with the curls and the tattoos and eyes so deep that anyone would have a hard time not getting lost in them.

He managed to not stare, but only just barely. This was his son’s best friend– one of them, anyway. Sure, Dustin hadn’t been friends with Eddie since he was a kid, like was the case with Will and Mike and Lucas, but still. He didn’t want to stand here thinking about how hot the guy was like an old creep.

Eddie wasn’t the first guy Steve had noticed. There had been Tommy Hagan when he’d been in school, who was mean but had freckles that stood out when he laughed or when he was pissed. There had been Billy Hargrove– who was pretty but a complete fucking asshole, and Steve hadn’t given him a second look when he found out the kind of person Billy turned out to be.

There were guys in college, too. A professor whose shirt sleeves had hugged his biceps, a teacher’s aide whose pants had hugged his ass in a way that had given Steve dreams that still made him flush to think about.

He leaned back against the refrigerator, his eyes on the countertop. “I think if I was born in your generation that I might’ve been bisexual.”

Eddie and Dustin both stopped talking. Dustin was staring at him like he didn’t recognize the man in front of him, and there was something like curiosity in Eddie’s eyes. The boy gave him one of those crooked smiles. “Mr. H, it’s not too late,” he said. “You know that, right?”

“Not too late to be in your generation?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised. He was sure he was missing something, but he was only half processing the conversation. His mind was back on the teacher’s aide, on the team members he’d had crushes on and just hadn’t realized it yet.

That crooked grin grew into a smirk. Those dark eyes raked over Steve, going from his head to his feet and then back up again. “I meant that it isn’t too late for you to be bisexual, but uh. Yeah, you could be in my generation if you wanted to be.”

Dustin smacked Eddie’s shoulder with the crown of his cap. “Dude, shut up !”

Steve nearly choked on his water. “I– yeah, I– thanks,” he said again. Dustin looked like he was ready to spontaneously combust where he sat, so Steve gave a wave, a rushed excuse, and he left them alone in the kitchen.

Finish reading on ao3! 😘

#Steddie #Steddie fic #steddie fanfic #My writing #There is a big age gap please read the tags #There had to be an age gap for this scenario though #Fuck His Dad pt 1 #kintsugi_kid ao3 #self-reblog

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inourtownofhawkins · 10 months

Text

ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀᴍᴀᴛʜ

Summary: The aftermath of yours and Eddie's time in the Upside Down, and the few times you meet up afterwards.

Author’s note: This fic means the absolute world to me and I hope you guys love it as much as I do. Again, this has been adapted from an Edancy fic so those of you who have read that fic, please don't spoil things for others.

CW: 18+, swearing, smut, signs of PTSD.

Word count: 4.3k

Any hate will not be tolerated, constructive criticism is welcomed.

It was pandemonium at Hawkins Memorial Hospital, with every hall seemingly overflowing with patients, frantic staff, and inconsolable family members. You knew you wouldn’t be able to ask at the front desk where Eddie was, if he was even there, due to the large crowd of desperate people screaming over each other to talk to the clearly overwhelmed receptionist.

Gently pushing your way through the crowd, you raced towards the stairs and almost fell down them numerous times while hurling yourself up them. All you cared about was trying to find Eddie. You checked every room, every bed, but he was nowhere.

You even began to lose hope until you came into the final room, everyone else inside of it was asleep apart from the silhouette of someone sat up and staring out the window made your heart skip a beat. Nervously, you slowly walked towards the figure, pushing back the curtain that separated them, causing the figure to turn around.

“Eddie, you’re here,” you whispered, tears brimming in your eyes. Before any tears could fall, you were gripped into his tight embrace, your face buried into his chest. You clung onto each other for a few minutes before eventually letting go, albeit reluctantly. “I thought you were gone.”

His chuckle made the warm glow in your stomach turn into an inferno, almost to the point where it might’ve exploded out of you. “Nah, sweetheart, you’re stuck with me, you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

God, how you loved the sound of him laughing and seeing him smile.

You couldn’t help but blush as you smiled shyly, feeling like an awkward kid again. “I’m glad you’re okay, when are you gonna be sent home?”

Eddie looked at the various bandages and bruises he could see on his arms for a few moments before shrugging and looking back up to you. “Probably later today, I only got a few cuts and bruises. They just wanted to make sure nothing was infected.”

You nodded, another shy smile spreading across your lips. “Did you want me to stay with you?”

There was that damn smile again, the one you felt like he saved just for you. His eyes would shine like starlight, even in the darkest of moments. “Nah, that’s alright, sweetheart. I’ll come by as soon as I can, I promise.” He took your hands in his and pressed a kiss to the back of each one, causing another blush.

His lips felt like sunshine on the hottest summer day against your skin, making you feel warmer than you’d felt in days. While you knew you needed to go, your heart was begging you not to. The rest of the world felt so cold, but wherever Eddie was, there was always warmth.

You squeezed his hands tightly before letting go and leaving the room. There were so many things you wanted to say, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say them, the fear of rejection was too much.

Driving home, you knew you couldn’t exactly tell anyone you went to see Eddie; your mom would flip, and your dad would probably have some kind of brain aneurism. Nobody knew about your relationship, every time you wanted tell people, you could never find the right words.

You knew Eddie’s reputation and how harshly he was judged for every aspect of his life, and if people knew you were dating, you would be judged just as harshly or perhaps even more than he was. But maybe after everything that had happened, maybe people would be more forgiving.

Arriving home, you didn’t speak much at dinner until you asked to leave the table due to being tired, despite only eating less than half of your meal. While being tired wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t the whole truth of hardly eating and wanting to go to bed. Being riddled with anxiety over Eddie’s wellbeing was driving you insane; you knew he was fine, he was okay, but until you saw him again, you knew the anxiety would continue to eat at your insides.

Once in your room and safely behind a locked door, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath to attempt to calm yourself. Not that doing that ever worked, but it was a start.

Just as you were maybe on some verge of calm, the phone rang. Although it startled you, you eventually picked up the handset and held it to your ear for a few moments before speaking up. “Hello?”

“Sweetheart?” Eddie’s voice on the other side made your rapidly beating heart skip a beat before finally calming, the warm glow starting once more.

“Hi Eddie. Are you out of the hospital yet?”

“Yeah, they let me go a couple hours ago. The trailer’s completely gone so I’m at the school with Wayne right now.”

You nodded, a small smile ghosting across your lips. “How’s that going?”

Eddie sighed and eventually turned it into a groan. “It sucks, the food isn’t that great, and I have to sneak around just to get some peace and quiet. I’ve mostly just been hiding in the drama room.”

You couldn’t help but smile more as you imagined Eddie camping out in his beloved drama room with his D&D set up still there just to get away from everyone.

Out of the months you knew Eddie, you’d only ever been in there once when a session had happened. You’d gotten fed up with waiting for Mike and his friends to come out of the session and had stormed in and demanding they get their asses into the car before you dragged them out. Funnily enough, that was how you met Eddie and the sparks instantly began flying.

“You need me to come and rescue you?” You joked, twirling your fingers around the twisted wire on the phone, once again feeling like the teenager you used to be before everything had happened.

Eddie chuckled, readjusting the phone in his hand. “Of course, princess. Your helpless prince is dying for your return.”

A dark blush came across your cheeks, you’d always secretly loved when Eddie would talk like that to you, even when you’d tell him he was an idiot and to stop, the blushing and your nervous but adorable laugh would tell a very different story – one Eddie knew all too well.

“You think you can wait until tomorrow morning?” You asked, almost shyly.

There was a pause before Eddie spoke up again. “I’ll wait forever for a moment with you. I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.”

Then the line went dead as he hung up, with you putting the phone down soon after. Eddie was safe and fine, that was for certain. But there was still a nagging idea in your head that there was something he wasn’t entirely telling you, the only real issue there was you weren’t quite sure how to ask him about it without sounding like an asshole.

That would be tomorrow’s problem, you mused.

In the morning, you woke up bright and early to eat breakfast and head out to the school before anyone would really notice or question where you were going, not that you really had anything to hide. If anyone asked, you were just volunteering, that was… believable.

Arriving at the school, you sped through the halls to try to find Eddie as quickly as possible. It almost reminded you of the hospital but thankfully, there weren’t any crowds you had to push your way through this time. You peeked through the window at the gymnasium to see if Eddie was there, but to the surprise of almost nobody, he wasn’t there.

Although you knew Eddie wouldn’t be eating with everyone else, it was still worth a try. You gave a quick glance towards Wayne before moving on, just to check if he was okay, making a mental note to visit him when you came to properly volunteer the next day.

You took a deep breath as you stood outside the drama room, knowing Eddie would be in there. Well, you hoped he would be in there and waiting for you. You gave a loud round of knocks before opening the door and stepping inside. Sat on his throne, basked in the slightly orange and gold tinted light that shone like a halo around his head, was Eddie.

His face lit up when he saw you, that smile planted firmly on his lips. “My princess finally came to rescue her prince.”

You laughed loudly as you closed the door, walking over to stand beside his throne, instantly feeling the warmth from the stage lighting against your exposed skin. “I told you I’d come! I hope you haven’t been suffering too much without me.”

He wrapped an arm around your waist, moving his hand down a little lower to playfully grab your ass before smacking it, causing a small yelp to leave your lips. “All the suffering was worth it now that you’re here, your majesty.”

You playfully hit his arm before playing with some of the fabric on his shirt. Sadly, he wasn’t wearing his Hellfire club shirt, but instead a plain black shirt that had been donated. As much as you wished he had the shirt on, you knew it would only remind both of you of the horrors you’d had to endure and how close you were to losing each other.

Due to your decision to keep the relationship a secret, both of you would always have only fleeting moments of being together before it would be interrupted by someone or something needing your attention. The most time you’d spent together publicly was in The Upside Down of all places, but even then you couldn’t show your true feelings towards each other, there wasn’t enough time to explain to Steve, Robin, or anyone else anything. Although after everything they’d all been through, maybe they would understand and not judge either of you.

No more words were exchanged before Eddie stood up, his hands moving to cup your face as he pressed a gentle kiss to your lips. The sweet and gentle kisses turned into a long and heavy make out session, Eddie bringing his hands back down your body to your ass to pick you up and effortlessly bring you onto the table, your legs almost automatically opening so he could stand in between them.

While your fingers were tangled in his hair, tugging, and grabbing at it, Eddie began slowly pushing up your skirt until it was around your waist, causing both of you to pull away from the kiss to give each other a breathless smirk.

Eddie’s lips moved from your own lips and down to your neck, causing you to shiver a little. You wanted more, you wanted everything he could give you. You moved a little underneath him to try to get more friction between you both, Eddie smirking again against your skin as he began nibbling and biting at your neck, being sure to leave a mark.

You couldn’t help but let a loud moan escape your lips as both the sensation of his teeth on your skin and his fingers slipping into your panties was almost enough to make you cum right then and there, it had been so long since he’d been able to touch you like that – far too long.

You subconsciously bit down hard on your bottom lip, letting out a few quiet whimpers as Eddie began to rub your clit, already feeling as if you were going to burst. Eddie moved his lips back up to yours, both of your lips barely touching as he whispered to you. “God, I’ve missed seeing you like this.” You couldn’t even reply as your eyes rolled back, unable to hold back your release.

Your legs felt like jello as Eddie kept rubbing, causing you to whine a little before that whine turned into a giggle. Grabbing his wrist, you slid off the end of the table and pushed Eddie back into his throne, smirking. “You’ve had your fun; I think it’s my turn now.” You unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans open, pulling them down with his boxers as you got down on your knees. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

Eddie groaned as he gently pulled on your head to guide your mouth down to his already hard dick, with you ready to begin licking and sucking as soon as his dick entered your mouth. His moans filling the room as his fingers gripped your hair, bringing his dick further into your mouth and throat, causing you to gag a little on it. He let you gag for a few moments before releasing your hair, with you giving one last lick to his dick before standing up.

He smirked as he watched you, picking you up and easily placing you down on the table. Taking off his shirt, he kissed you. “I want to fuck you,” he whispered against your lips.

“Are you sure you want our first time to be here?” you whispered back, your eyes slowly opening to look up at his.

Eddie nodded slowly, kissing you again softly. “I’m sure, sweetheart. At least here, we won’t get interrupted.” Both of you laughed at that, knowing it was all too true. “Plus, this is where we first met, why wouldn’t I want it here?”

You took off your shirt and unhooked your bra, tossing them to the floor along with Eddie’s shirt before lying back on the table, the cold wood against your back causing goosebumps all over your skin. Kicking off your boots, you shimmied out of your skirt and panties until you were completely naked on the table in front of him, finding Eddie to be just as naked.

You’d been naked in front of each other before, but you’d never had sex – you’d tried, sure, but it was always interrupted, or you just never had enough time. While you didn’t have all the time in the world now, that moment would have to be enough.

Hesitantly, he grabbed a condom from his jean pocket and tore it open, causing you to raise an eyebrow as he rolled it on. “Were you planning this, Munson?”

He blushed darkly, shaking his head quickly. “Not at all, baby. I just happened to have one on hand.”

You smiled, kissing him softly. “I believe it, don’t you worry.”

Climbing onto the table, he positioned himself in between your legs, with you wrapping your legs around his waist. Taking a shaky breath, he slowly slid inside, both of you letting out loud moans. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you and kissed him, not even caring how messy the kiss was.

During the kiss, Eddie slowly began to thrust, both of your moans seemingly getting louder with each one. Your nails dug into his back as you broke off the kiss to tilt your head back. “Fuuuuuck, it feels so good.”

Looking down at your position, he took the opportunity to kiss your neck and bite down, being sure to leave as many marks as possible; he always found it a turn on to see the love bites on your neck or thighs, knowing that he was the cause.

As he bit your neck, he felt your body jerking underneath him, knowing you’d cum soon. “Come on, baby, show me how much you’ve wanted this,” he whispered into your ear, causing you to whimper and moan as you came hard, your nails almost painfully digging into his back.

He thrust harder and faster, causing the table to shake and move slightly with each movement of his hips, but not that either of you even cared. Eddie was dying for his own release, but he wanted to at least try to impress you by lasting longer.

You pulled him in for a sloppy kiss, moving his hair away from his neck to move your lips towards it and gently began biting, causing Eddie to moan your name loudly. You smirked against his skin, clearly finding a weak spot.

You kept on gently biting his neck until Eddie whined. “Baby, if you keep this up you’re gonna make me cum.”

Smirking again, you moved your lips to his ear. “Come for me, don’t hold back,” you nibbled at his ear a little before moving back to his neck to gently bite and suck on it, feeling Eddie’s thrusts getting sloppier as he struggled to hold back, he let out one last groan before finally relenting and cumming.

He kissed you softly, resting his forehead against yours as he tried to catch his breath. “If I’d known sex was that good, I would’ve done it with you months ago.”

You laughed, holding him close. “You’re an idiot, Eddie Munson.”

“And you’re irresistible.”

You cuddled each other in contempt silence for a few minutes, Eddie nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. If you’d been in an actual bed, both of you could’ve stayed there all day but after catching their breath, the table was starting to get uncomfortable, against everything inside of him, he pulled out from inside you. “I suppose I should let you go; I know everyone would be wondering where you’ve gone.”

You frowned as you got up, but ultimately nodding knowing that he was right. “Alright, fine. But I’m leaving my window open.”

Eddie gave an exaggerated gasp, faking horror. “My sweetheart is offering a man into her bedroom, what will her mother say?”

You shook your head, hitting his arm as you smirked. “Oh, shut up.” Grabbing your clothes from the floor, you began putting them back on, mentally cursing yourself for not having access to a mirror to check if you looked as dishevelled as you felt.

“Not a chance, sweetheart.”

Shaking your head one last time, you opened the door and stood in the doorway. “I’ll see you later tonight, don’t be late.” You gave him a smile before leaving the room.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he whispered, knowing you couldn’t hear him.

Both of you felt almost daft; there was one thing you both knew they needed to say to each other but of course, both of you were worried the other didn’t feel the same, no matter how clear it was from the way you looked at each other, especially the way you both looked when the other wasn’t looking.

Eddie Munson was in love with you, just as much as you were in love with Eddie Munson. That was a fact, but you were both too scared to tell each other.

Later that night, you couldn’t keep your eyes off your slightly open bedroom window, nervous that Eddie wouldn’t actually come. But the familiar sound of someone climbing onto the garage roof put any nerves at bay, jumping out of bed to help Eddie inside your room as quietly as possible.

“Sorry I’m late, sweetheart. I had to pretend to use the pay phone, so they’d let me out,” he ended the sentence with a quick kiss before slipping out of his jacket and sneakers. You raised an eyebrow as you glanced down to his jeans, with Eddie looking confused for a moment before taking them off.

“I’m not letting you in my bed with jeans on, shirt is fine, jeans are a no-no,” you gave him a sarcastically sweet smile before getting back into bed, pulling aside the covers to let him in. Eddie smiled as he shook his head, climbing into bed beside you before hiding under the covers, bringing you underneath with him.

Under your covers, both of you stared at each other, taking in every small piece of each other. Although it was too dark to really take in any of his features, you had already memorised every inch of Eddie like the back of your hand. “I wanna tell people about us,” you whispered, caressing Eddie’s cheek gently with your thumb.

Eddie looked at you confused for a moment, unsure of what to say. “Why?”

You sighed heavily, almost looking as if you were about to cry. “Because after everything we’ve gone through, I don’t want to keep you hidden. I want to scream it in everyone’s face that we’re together and I don’t care what anyone has to say about it.”

“Are you sure you want to?”

“Do you?”

“Of course, I do, I don’t want to keep sneaking around anymore, you’re not some dirty little secret. You’re my girl.”

You blushed darkly at his words, a ghost of a smile on your lips. It just felt so right to be his girl, no matter what other people’s prejudices would be.

“I love you,” he whispered, causing your heart to skip a beat.

“You love me?”

He repeated himself, using your full name with it too, just to prove his point.

“And how do you know my full name? You looked at my driver’s licence, didn’t you?”

Eddie grimaced before nodding slowly. “I looked at your driver’s licence.”

You shook your head, playfully hitting his arm. “You’re an idiot, Eddie Munson.”

He took your face gently in his hands. “And you’re mine,” he whispered before kissing you softly.

Both of you soon fell asleep together, holding onto each other closely, almost protectively. But by the time you awoke in the morning, the bed beside you was empty and Eddie was gone.

Sighing heavily, you got out of bed and got dressed as quickly as possible to begin packing up your unwanted belongings to be donated to the school. You opened your closet doors and began going through each article of clothing and every box inside, slowly accumulating at least a box worth of things to go. Grabbing a cardboard box from the basement and assembling it, you returned to your room to begin putting the belongings into the box and closing the closet doors.

When you turned back towards your bed, you almost screamed as Eddie was sat upon it, appearing out of almost nowhere. “Jesus, you scared me!”

He chuckled as he looked at you, looking as if you’d seen a ghost. “I did knock!”

You couldn’t help but laugh too as you placed a hand on your still rapidly beating heart. “Right, of course, sorry. I was so massively distracted with sorting all this out, I didn’t hear you.”

He got off the bed to grab the box from you. “Let me help you with that stuff.”

Reluctantly, you let go of the box. “I’ll make up another box and start filling it up, you can just put it down somewhere so we can take them all downstairs together, there isn’t much left.” You sprinted back into the basement to grab a second box and set it up, returning to your room to hand the box to Eddie.

“You know, you’re cute when you’re being organized.” Eddie smiled as he watched you put things into the box.

You hit his arm, unable to contain your blush. “Oh, shut up!”

A knock on the door interrupted you two, with Steve being the one to knock before entering. “You got everything ready?”

You nodded, using some tape to close the box in Eddie’s arms before he gave a slight nod to Steve. “Yup, we managed to fill two boxes. The other is somewhere, not sure where Eddie put it.”

“I put it in front of your chest of draws, didn’t want you to trip over it.” Eddie answered, placing the second box down on top of the first.

“Eddie?” Steve asked, a completely puzzled look on his face as he looked between the two boxes on the floor and you.

You looked confused, too. “Yeah, Eddie’s been helping me. What’s up with that?”

Steve looked like he was about to say one thing but quickly stopped himself, deciding to say something else. “Does he look real to you?”

“Does who look real?”

“Eddie… does he look real?”

You frowned looking between Steve and Eddie stood behind you. “Of course, he looks real, he is real! He’s standing right here!”

Steve rested his hands on your arms, shaking you a little. “No, actually look at him. Properly look at him.”

The façade dropped at that moment, you slowly turning back to look at Eddie. He was wearing his Hellfire Club shirt and bandana, both were covered in blood and torn to pieces. Tears pricked at your eyes as you tried to tear your eyes away from him, looking back towards Steve.

“I am so sorry. It’s a dream, you dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible.”

A sob escaped your lips before you were able to stop it, your knees gave out and you collapsed to the floor. The horrible truth you’d so desperately denied over the past few days finally resurfaced; the image of seeing your Eddie lying dead outside his trailer, still wearing the handmade bracelet you gave him came flooding back.

You felt like you couldn’t breathe, your whole body was shaking as you screamed and sobbed, but you couldn’t hear anything. Your mind was still in that awful place, reliving it over and over and over again. Watching Eddie die in your arms, not knowing how you felt about him; you couldn’t bare it.

Now you had to face the truth.

Eddie had been dead the whole time you’d been back in Hawkins, all the time you’d spent together had just been lies, a delusion you’d made because you didn’t want to face the awful truth. But the worst part was knowing that Eddie had died without knowing you loved him, and that you wanted the world to know that you were together.

But now you’d never get the happy ending you both so desperately deserved.

#spilled ink #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson smut #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x reader smut

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where-is-francis · 2 years

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𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚

𝙀𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙚!𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

Before You Interact

𝙍𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩: Nope

𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩: It’s been long overdue and you decide to surprise your lovely boyfriend with your new hair.

𝙎𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚: Complete and total fluff

𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙨: He/Him — fem aligned DNI

𝘼/𝙉: This is NOT self indulgent whatsoever. I was absolutely NOT thinking about how hyped he would get after seeing what I had done to my hair. That being said, it’s somewhat implied that you have longer hair but ofc nothing is mentioned specifically. You have my favorite outfit as well bc this man would NOT be able to keep it together at the sight of you in leather pants. Might add smut later on idk depends on if I’m feelin ✨quirky✨

𝙏𝙒: Petnames (you call Eddie darling and sweetheart); that’s about it.

Eddie slowly began to stir in your bed, letting out a small groan as he started to wake. Sunlight was streaming in through the curtains to give the room a soft glow; he smiled to himself. Something about starting the day in the comfort of your bedroom made him feel content and fuzzy on the inside.

“Morning,” you beamed at him, quickly kissing his cheek.

He sat up and opened his eyes, lazily searching for the source of the kiss. You were fully dressed, sat on the edge of the bed, tugging your boots on. The sheets fell slightly as he moved closer, relaxing onto your shoulders.

“Hope I didn’t wake you, darlin’, I was trying to be quiet.”

The other male gave no response other than sighing dreamily at the slight southern twang that had invaded his pet name. His entire body relaxed even more with the scent of your cologne hitting his nose. Eddie buried his face into the crook of your neck, kissing at the exposed skin, like he usually did in the mornings.

Seeing him in this state was like day and night. Most mornings were calm and soft, leaving the nights to be a bit more hectic and passionate. But there’s no one without the other; a perfect duality you both enjoyed endlessly.

“What time is it?” He asked, hoarse.

“Mm, ‘bout 11. I gotta get going soon.”

Eddie pouted in protest, accompanying the displeased look with a vocal whine. You grinned and kissed him up his jawline, landing at his pouted lips. He tried to stay mad, but failed miserably as you peppered him in quick pecks to get a reaction. The feeling of his slightly calloused fingers on your face was more than enough to have a good start for the day.

His unruly dark waves fell over his shoulders as you felt the pressure of his forehead on yours. God, he was clingy in the mornings. If it wasn’t for the surprise, you might’ve opted to cancel all plans instead.

“I’m not sure when I’ll be back, hopefully around dinner? If you feel like it, we can go grab something. I doubt I’ll be in the mood to cook.”

Your boyfriend pouted even more, his arms coiling a bit tighter, an attempt to keep you in bed.

“Do you have to go?”

“Sweetheart, I’m not sure what he wants, but it’s best to assume I’ll have my ass kicked if I don’t go.” You laughed, referencing the lie you’d made up.

Eddie was told that you were going into the city to help your dad with something. Which was believable, considering he’d called a few days back, checking up on you. It was a bit weird, but the male assumed you were at least trying to be on decent terms with the man.

But alas, you were not. You were sneaking off to have your hair done in the city. It was very much overdue, but you wanted to surprise the doe eyed boy that was currently trying to get you to stay.

“I’ll be back in the afternoon. Keep yourself out of trouble.”

He just grinned, watching you out the door. “Can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

With that, you’d made your way to the car and started it up. Nothing too exciting had happened lately, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Pretty much anybody in your situation would agree that days so similar they couldn’t be told apart were more enjoyable than demonic creatures. For the next hour or so, it would just be you, the road, and whatever mixtape Eddie made you recently.

The desolate backroads and fields of corn began to morph into freeways as you distanced yourself from Hawkins. Even though you insisted on surprising him, the car felt too empty without the metalhead in the passenger. You could practically picture him playing air guitar to Night People or Evening Star; head bobbing in perfect time to the beat, hair getting more and more messed up by the minute.

By the time you’d arrived it was a bit past noon. The noise and busyness of Indianapolis during midday was one of your favorite settings, only being outmatched by how it was at night. On more than one occasion, you and Eddie were found in town for a concert or two. But the purple door of the shop reminded you that this was different.

You had spent hours in the chair as the stylist worked her magic. She was truly amazing, leaving you completely stunned with the end result. You knew it was going to be good but this had surpassed the expectations.

The way the color perfectly complimented the undertones of your skin, making it more vibrant than it’s been in a while, and a cut to perfectly feature your face.

“He’s going to flip his shit!”

After about an hour (and nearly a speeding ticket or two), you had arrived home. The entire drive back was spent wondering how your boyfriend would react. No doubt it would be dramatic, but there’s no telling what would come from his mouth. You pulled the keys from the ignition and practically sprinted to the front door, surprised that he remembered to lock it after you left.

The muscles in your face nearly hurt from grinning so hard for the past few hours. It wasn’t all for him, but his reaction was going to be the biggest part.

You stepped in and began to glance around the small living room. After a moment of careful listening, you could hear the guitar being played from upstairs.

“Darlin’, I’m home,” you called, the heavier presence of your twang disappearing since you woke up.

A familiar bedroom door groaned as it opened, and Eddie was greeted with your smirking face as you stepped through. The pencil he was holding while trying to think of lyrics in your absence soon fell onto the bed, his entire body leaning forward to get a better look at you.

He plucked such an awful chord when he saw you, almost convincing you he’d somehow snapped the string. Playing into it, you gave a turn, making sure every angle was being showed off. In his dazed state he was too tired to notice what you’d worn; leather pants, your favorite tank top, boots, and a jacket. Definitely not the kind of clothes you’d wear to be helping a family member’s construction company.

“S-shit…” you watched as he gulped, trying desperately to find words.

“That good?”

The brunette nodded vigorously, beaming, before quickly capturing you in a hug. You could feel the slight scratch of stubble as his lips met your cheek, sealing the deal with an over-exaggerated kissing sound. A sweet scent of expensive hair products began to mix with your cologne and nearly got him high the more he breathed in.

“You like the surprise?”

Eddie’s grip tightened on your waist, bringing you closer together — if that was possible. He was a wide-eyed, love-drunk mess. The metalhead began to take it all in after pulling away. Your hair was a multitude of colors, highlights raking through the top portion, and looked insanely soft resting against your shoulders. The cut was as perfectly suited as the color. Confidence was practically emanating from your figure. You knew exactly how to get him.

(E/C) hues glanced downwards to where his hips pressed closely to yours. Very excited — in more ways than one.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.”

If you like my stuff, be sure to check my other stuff. I make content for male/gn readers. Reblogs over likes! It helps get my stuff out there. 💕

#x male reader #eddie munson x male reader #stranger things x male reader #jaws stranger things

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atmilliways · 9 months

Text

Wrong On The Money (27)

part 27 of ?? | 810 words | Teen+

Blackmail fic on Ao3 | on tumblr

Summary:

Steve knows his hands are shaking, and he wants to stop them but he can’t. He’s also breathing too fast and his face feels like it’s crumpling, but he can’t fix that either.

27.

Steve knows his hands are shaking, and he wants to stop them but he can’t. He’s also breathing too fast and his face feels like it’s crumpling, but he can’t fix that either.

And he knew it, he knew that Eddie hates him. Why else would the guy think it was all to . . . to show off or something? It was stupid, even after all they’d been through, to think that might’ve changed. To think that “Big Boy” was anything more than temporary insanity, like his own overcompensating with Nancy and that six little nuggets speech.

The thing is, Steve had thought. He couldn’t help it. There’s this thing that happens when he throws himself between people and death—starting with Nancy, at the Byers’ house in ‘83, when he’d seen the bandage on her hand and pushed his way inside. It had extended to Jonathan as well when a monster dropped through the ceiling. Extended to Dustin when he got in his car the following year, and more of the other little gremlins as they came into his orbit. Steve started to care, and to his surprise they cared back.

So yeah, he’d assumed Eddie might too. That’s what this alternate dimension shit does, it makes you rely on the people in it with you, and with that comes . . . honestly, some of the best friends Steve has ever had. Friends he’s goddamn lucky to have.

But Eddie still hates him, the way Barb probably would’ve still hated him if she’d survived. It’s fine, he should have known to expect this, it should be fine.

(It’s not. Steve does want Eddie to look at him, he realizes, and not in a hateful way at all.)

He clenches his fists, digging his blunt nails into the heel of his palms, but in the end it’s the words that reel him back in. Eddie is talking again, rambling to put even Robin to shame.

Saying thank you for bridal carrying him out of hell. (As if a fireman's carry wouldn’t have been worse for Eddie’s injuries.)

Saying thank you for deciding to give him the money, and for using his being an asshole to trick him into taking it for Wayne’s sake. (An exaggeration. That made it sound clever, when Steve acted on impulse.)

Saying sorry for asking for interest, and that it was honestly all spent on Wayne’s medication, sworn on Dustin’s mother. (Judging people for how they spend money once they have it is something Steve used to do. He’s trying to not be like his dad anymore.)

Saying sorry for being a hypocrite, because he’s gay, and adding that Steve can spread that around if he wants because it’s not like Eddie’s reputation could get much worse. (Steve had kinda figured, but it’s nice to not have to assume.)

Saying sorry for being wrong.

At first Steve takes it all as lies to get him to stop making a scene. What other motivation could Eddie Munson possibly have? But the guy keeps going, and going, and going, and gradually it starts to sink in.

And Eddie keeps going like a runaway train. “Everything you did this past week is some of the most metal fucking shit I’ve ever seen in my life, man. Which I wouldn’t still have if you hadn’t dragged me in here and made them treat me. With what Dustin informed me was ‘the most badass temper tantrum ever,’ by the way.”

Steve almost chokes on a breath, managing in his surprise to get out a chuckle that only sounds half strangled. “Dustin said that?” he rasps.

“Oh yeah. Kid worships you, dude. It was kind of annoying, until . . . all this.” Eddie waves his hands around like they’re birds trying to launch themselves clear of his body. If it’s an attempt to get Steve to laugh, it doesn’t work.

But it’s a near thing.

Instead, Steve takes a deep breath and no longer feels an iron band constricting his chest anymore. He wiggles his fingers without any phantom pinprick sensations. The tension drains out of his limbs and he feels exhausted.

“Eddie?” he asks.

“Y-yeah?”

When he looks over, Eddie stares back with those big anxious Bambi eyes full of trepidation, as though he actually cares about what Steve’s about to say. Is it guilt? Is it trauma bonding and the solidarity of the matching bat bites on their torsos? Does it matter? Either way, it’s still care.

“Truce?” Steve offers.

There will be time for him to explain to Eddie about the panic and the nail bat he keeps in the trunk of his car, about Barb and wanting to be better. For now, he can bask in the smile that cracks across Eddie’s lips and the immediate “Yeah” he gets in return for the olive branch.

Maybe it will be fine. Maybe they can be friends.

#steddie blackmail fic #steddie fic #steddie #stranger things fic #steve harrington #eddie munson

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radiation-run · 1 year

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I’ve seen a lot of posts about Eddie in 6x11 and I also wanna share my take on his absence 🥺

Eddie fought tooth and nail to keep Christopher. Hen called it a “nasty custody battle,” meaning Eddie used up all his time, energy, and resources on the case.

Without Carla (“red tape’s worst nightmare”) Eddie struggled through all the paperwork and “bureaucratic mess” and failed to get the government assistance he needed.

Without Bobby there to nurture a family environment, Eddie didn’t have any support system in place. Captain Righetti forbade Eddie from bringing Christopher to the station and both Chimney and Hen referred to him as “Diaz” showing that their relationship was strictly professional. (Cue Buck’s insistence on using nicknames!)

Financially, Eddie was, without a doubt, at a disadvantage. The salary of a firefighter is lower than that of a petroleum engineer, and the cost of living in LA is much higher than in El Paso.

Here’s what I think could’ve made the custody battle go from bad to worse:

One way we’ve seen Eddie make money is through underground fighting. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that he might’ve joined a fight club to earn money quickly and “blow off steam.” Following a similar storyline to 3x08 where Bobby finds out Eddie’s been fighting, Captain Righetti also finds out. But unlike Bobby who directs him to therapy, Righetti takes disciplinary action, possibly leading the court to believe he’s mentally unfit to parent Christopher.

Now to tie this into Buck’s coma dream:

Everything Buck experiences in his dream is something he has either imagined, envisioned, or experienced before. After waking up from his coma, Buck tells Bobby about his dream. Everyone was different except for Hen. His brother was alive and his parents showered him with love—things Buck has imagined/envisioned before. The others were things he has experienced—Chimney pre-Madney, Maddie’s marriage to Doug, and Bobby’s life during his relapse.

What we, and Buck, have never seen/experienced is Eddie’s life pre-Christopher. Ever since Buck learned in 2x02 that Eddie is a dad, it’s been Eddie AND Chris. A package deal. Eddie Begins 3x15 starts off with Christopher’s birth and really drives home the fact that Chris is Eddie’s life. The Eddie we all know began with Christopher.

Earlier in Buck’s dream, he asks Daniel if coma dreams are possible. Daniel’s response is that he doesn’t know—because Daniel is actually just Buck’s subconscious. Buck doesn’t know the answer, therefore Daniel doesn’t know either.

To me, Eddie’s complete absence in Buck’s dream is due to the fact that Buck cannot imagine Eddie without Christopher. He can’t even begin to fathom the thought of it, so it’s easier to just not think about it.

The first memory to physically manifest itself (Ferris wheel) was that of Buck protecting Christopher during the tsunami. At the back of his mind, he still thinks about Eddie and Chris relatively unprompted.

Buck seeing dream Christopher ask for help finding his dad was Buck’s subconscious trying to fix things. Same with Chimney inviting him to help convince Maddie to leave Doug. Buck really only stops to talk to his parents because that’s not something he can fix. He’s making peace with it now that he’s come to the realization that Bobby is his true parent.

So what happened to dream Eddie? My absolute downer of a take is that Eddie, after eventually having lost hope of ever getting Christopher back, suffered a breakdown like in 5b but this time, he was alone and without anyone to break the door down.

Thanks for reading! 🥺💖

repost since tumblr finally fixed my account 😭

#eddie diaz #christopher diaz #evan buck buckley #911 spoilers #911 fox #911 on fox #repost

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pinkkinoko · 2 years

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Ever since watching Kin I keep thinking of like, Stranger Things kid fic? Like, a mungrove AU where Eddie and Billy both end up in foster care for a short stint? Eddie’s parents get in some trouble or smthn while on a trip in Cali and land in jail and he’s left alone. He’s super sad/traumatized about the whole thing but he ends up making an unlikely friend in Billy after the kid swoops in and beats the shit out of some bullies who were making fun of Eddie for “being a country hick who smelled like cow shit!”

Billy actually thinks Eddie is dumb as rocks and that he does kinda smell like the countryside in some weird way; but the first time they met, Eddie had been all over Billy for having a piercing even though he was only like 11, and he said Billy’s freckles looked like sparkles and asked him all these questions about what it was like living by the Ocean. Billy liked feeling like a king even then, so he just took pity on the guy and decided he was gonna make him his little minion.

Eddie is a sweetheart though, and he he won’t stop being genuinely kind and curious about Billy, who these days didn’t really have a lot of friends because it was his mom who always took him to stuff, and now that his dad was in charge all the kids just kind of stayed away from him. Partly because Billy was always really angry after his mom left, and partly because his dad was hard to be around. He’d always have all these rules whenever kids came over to play with Billy (if he even let them), and he didn’t let him go out with the other kids because he didn’t like “the kind of parents they had”, but really it was because after they moved to a poorer neighborhood he ended up going to school with a lot of POC kids. So all this leads to Billy just genuinely liking Eddie and thinking of him like an actual friend.

Of course, Eddie thinks Billy’s like this totally awesome kid because he grew up in Cali and surfed every day, practically since he could walk. Eddie is older than Billy but he’s all skin and bones since his parents are pretty poor, and he gets bullied a lot and has his lunch money stolen really often. But he’s really resourceful and knows how to pick a lock and sneak around without getting caught, he’s got loose fingers and can snatch pretty much anything in sight, a real rascal. He might not know how to navigate a city but growing up in not great conditions with a dad who regularly got in trouble with the law meant he just knew really unconventional stuff. So of course Billy is totally into that and starts respecting him on top of it all, watched as Eddie fiddles with Knick knacks and makes slingshots and shit with whatever he can find. They become a real troublesome duo and the people in charge are constantly trying to separate them and they get sent to “time out” on the reg. Eddie always finds a way to escape though, and he gets Billy out too whenever he gets in trouble.

Eventually, Eddie leaves with his uncle Wayne after like a week, but gives Billy his new address in Indiana, so they can keep in touch. He even tries to come back and visit the next day before Wayne takes him back to Hawkins, but Billy had just left that morning and Eddie is really sad, mostly because he hears that Billy’s dad picked him up and he knows the guy is just absolute trash.

Billy had told him about how Neil broke his surfboard, the one his mom bought for him, and how Billy cried so hard even after Neil smacked him for being a pussy, saying stuff like “your mom abandoned you, why do you need anything from that bitch? She doesn’t care about you.” Eddie had been super mad about that, because that’s stupid; yeah, kids made fun of him all the time and called him a freak, and when he cried it always made it worse for him, but he knew it didn’t make him a pussy, it’s those kids’ faults for being assholes. Crying was natural, and his dad might’ve been a less than great guy but he’d been a kind father.

So Eddie goes back home all sad, and Wayne tries to cheer him up, buys him ice cream on the drive back, but it doesn’t make it better. Eddie thinks about jumping out the truck and running to Billy, but he didn’t even know where he lived, so he gives up on the idea and just sits in the passenger seat and watches the scenery. When they get beck, Eddie sits in the trailer alone at night looking at the foggy sky and wondering if Billy is alright, if he’s crying or if he’s at the beach or something. Eventually, Eddie gets a letter in the mail, it’s from Billy, and Eddie learns Billy’s had it really rough. His dad had been drinking more recently, probably because he got fired from his job, and he beats Billy for little things like not finishing his dinner or watching TV too loud.

Eddie decides right then that he has to get Billy out of there, he doesn’t know how he’s gonna do it, but he’d find some way to save Billy even if it meant snatching some cash like his old man taught him and making a run for Cali on an overnight bus.

Anyway, that’s all I got, I was just thinking of random shit🤷🏽‍♀️

#headcanon #stranger things #mungrove #fanfic idea that won’t happen because it’s too much work LMAO #let me know how you’d think it would go tho

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hardestgrove · 2 years

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A thought I had for how to use Billy in season 4 if you wanted to have him around for the Hawkins plotline.

For starters— Max is still vecna’d. There’s enough shittiness in her life without Billy’s death to make her a target so I’m not gonna worry about juggling changes to this.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that Billy was in the same grade as Steve because the gym scenes read to me as PE class and not basketball practice (how the hell could Billy join mid/late season? etc) and PE is not usually a multi grade affair. So he’s working somewhere in Hawkins, say a mechanic shop or a record store. If you’re adamant he’s still in school then he’s on the basketball team with Lucas and Jason. I will admit this is more juicy narratively.

I’m aggressively ignoring how fucked up Billy’s body would be and how long it would take to get through physical therapy and how he’d likely be impaired for life by his injures because it’s television and the rule of god in television writing that everyone knows, is when someone is injured — even critically — it heals in time for the next season and they’re as mobile and strong as the plot demands.

Lucas over the course of his like year+ dating Max has gotten a better sense of the Vibes in the Hargrove-Mayfield home and either knows or suspects that Billy is being abused by his dad. Him and Billy have a tense relationship that is slowly crawling towards tolerable solely because of exposure to each other because of Max/Sports. For Lucas the knowledge that Billy is being abused makes him conflicted. He doesn’t like the idea of ANYONE being hurt like that but Billy has also been dogshit to him so he doesn’t know how to feel about this. Because like, Fuck Billy right? The question “how much of our beef is because of your dad hurting you?” colors all their interactions for him now. There’s no clear stance or message or anything about how Lucas should or does feel about Billy, knowing he’s abused doesn’t make him instantly forgive him. We just know that it’s strain and he’s conflicted.

Billy is friends with Eddie from the start of the season. It’s a 60k weed deals to besties situation. Met because Eddie’s a dealer and Billy works at the record shop to they see each other around and when your drug deal becomes an Event because you two can’t shut up about Dio then congrats you’re just friends now. Billy is IMMEDIATELY invested in the Eddie manhunt plotline and doesn’t need to be convinced he’s innocent. Probably says something like “Munson couldn’t win a fight against a 5yo like fuck he’d kill a chick”. Might’ve even been someone Eddie turned to when he fled the trailer. Was definitely there when they found him. Billy also very early on pits himself against Jason, starting off a a Whole Thing there.

Billy and Jason are narrative foils. Jason seems like a nice guy, a bit of a jerk jock but hey, he’s 18. But over the course of the season we see him devolve into his worst self and it’s frankly shocking. Billy comes off as an abrasive asshole but we’ve seen with the s3 flashbacks, his constant internal battle against his possession, and his saving Eleven that he’s actually a good dude at heart. The similarities and differences between him and Jason are made more apparent over the season and are a highlighted part of their arcs.

Billy along with Lucas are originally more focused on the Jason-Eddie plotline. But Billy INSTANTLY focuses on the Max plotline the SECOND he finds out she’s about to be the next victim, even more so than Lucas who’s thinking more logically. Like, full blown meltdown, throwing things, hitting stuff, screaming, season 2 Billy wrecking shop in the Byers house levels of unhinged. Some combo of people manage to calm him down to the point he’s at least not an active detriment. Likely some combo of Max, Steve and Robin since I don’t feature others being very effective lol. But it’s extremely jarring for everyone, including Max, because it really does go a long way to show them how much Billy really does care about her. Which isn’t all ways obvious because of his bullshit.

Around here my thoughts on this get a little more fuzzy. the two most obvious ways to use him at this point are that he’s glued to Max’s side and is part of this timeline’s dear billy grave scene. Lots of sibling emotional shit, likely some with Lucas too as they’re the most invested in Max. Also maybe some bonding with Steve since Steve’s a good guy and can see Billy’s a wreck worrying for Max which sets them up to like, Actually Be Friends. I can also see him being put on Eddie/Jason duty. Basically being pitted against the basketball team and all that to slow them down and make sure Eddie’s safe because we all know that Billy could deliver a smackdown on Jason on every level. This plays well into the Billy/Jason foils idea. Having Billy somehow at the townhall when Jason’s trying to incite a lynch mob would be a genuinely epic showdown I would pay to see. Also having Billy pitted against Jason and the team gives us an opportunity to see Billy using all his rage and toxicity and bad behavior in a more constructive way. Like he can really unload onto these guys because what they’re doing is blatantly fucked up and it would likely be a bit cathartic for him. Billy’s likely been trying to choke down all his rage and violence to “be a better person” but now he’s getting to use it for a good cause instead of just hurting the people around him. You could also likely mix these two up and move him between the two plotlines as needed. Though I admit I find it hard to see him leaving Max’s side but maybe she convinced him to help Eddie who knows.

The whole season is filled with the unspoken tension between Billy and Lucas and while that tension has been wearing down with more speed than ever given their mutual love and fear for Max it’s still there and it’s still looming over every scene they’re in together. When we get to the final mission more likely than not Billy refuses to leave Max’s side and doesn’t join the attack on Vecna.Which yeah is bonkers because Billy??? Not in a Fight??? Seems fake. But I stand by this because he’s nothing if not an overly extreme emotional fucko. If she’s going to let herself be bait you KNOW he’s not leaving her. He just cannot do it. So it’s him and Lucas out here being tense as fuck. Billy having to listen to Max talk about the ugliest shit she’s thought about him as she lures Vecna and we get to see how it effects him. Knowing Dacre, there is a single perfect tear™.

When Jason shows up Lucas still gets to have his “i wanted to be just like you except not bc jfc you’re insane” moment but instead of it being Lucas and Jason fighting, it’s Billy and Jason. Because the culmination of the 2 season journey of squashing the Billy-Lucas beef is that Billy takes on the same role that Steve had when it was Billy rocking up acting psycho. Lucas being brave enough to say that shit while having a gun pointed at him cements a lot of things for Billy. Because however you portray Billy or what kinda dude you think he is, he’s had months to work on his shit AND I always stand by the concept that his long term issues with Lucas would always be more around the fact that Lucas is dating Max and to Billy, all men are dangerous. It’s his responsibility to look after Max and her dating just fucking sets him off. To him the threat of a new Neil is ever present, any man could secretly be a Neil and if Max ever got hurt by a Neil and he couldn’t stop it he’d fucking implode. But right here at this moment he’s getting his wake up call that Not All Men Are Neil and that Lucas is good person who loves his sister.

So Billy puts himself between Lucas and the gun and it’s the second time Billy’s put himself between Lucas as a threat but it’s the first time it’s explicitly for Lucas. Which understandably is A Lot for Lucas. These two don’t get on, Billy terrorized him, threatened him and tried to hurt him. They’ve basically only tolerated each other because they’re in each other’s spheres because of the Upside Down nonsense and Max (and basketball if Billy’s in school). Even with a better idea of what Billy’s life actually looks like Lucas has still not been a real fan and has been very conflicted about how much he feels it really matters to him. But now Billy’s taking on a dude who’s got a loaded gun pointed at them, physically shielding Lucas from possibly being shot and going to town on him to keep Lucas safe. So uh, it goes a long way to heal the rift. A bonus is that since Billy is fighting Jason instead you can have Lucas focus on Max and the walkman isn’t necessarily destroyed. Depends on how much drama you want for the finale.

If you keep Eddie dying Billy goes off the rails with grief. If Max and Eddie get got-- Literally no words. You’d be lucky if he didn’t wrap his car around a pole. Literally the only two people he cared about and who cared about him are dead or effectively so and they were the two who he was “in charge” of protecting. It’s ugly. If both are alive he and Eddie talk about being roommates since Eddie’s trailer is gone and shit. Billy makes a smart ass remark to Max and Lucas that’s basically his way of saying he’s cool with them as a couple and with Lucas. Probably has a scene with Lucas where they explicitly talk about the squashing of the beef. Also I want some Billy-El interactions because I just think they’re neat.

okay WOW this is WAY LONGER THAN I’D THOUGHT IT BE. why under estimate my length? i’ve literally been doing this for years lol but YES this is a very rough first draft/brainstorm of how you could’ve written an arc for Billy in season 4 if the desire was to have him in the Hawkins plot and not say the Russia one.

#s4 concepts #billy hargrove #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #eddie munson #train.txt #fic ideas

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rqgnarok · 1 year

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lights will guide you home

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Buck runs.

Despite how he’s running towards his life, towards his family, he has to leave them behind to get back to them.

He leaves Bobby, high and drunk and somehow still fundamentally wise because that’s who he will always be to Buck: someone to lean on, to learn from, to seek comfort in. A parent, in every way the Buckleys never were.

He waves Chim off, the slightest bit relieved when he hears he and Maddie have met and even if this world isn’t real if it’s a universe where everything is absolutely wrong, Maddie and Chim find each other. They gravitate to each other and become one of the couples Buck admires the most in his life, has watched and understood more about love than his parents or his partners ever taught him.

He has to lean in and kiss Hen on the forehead, finding his footing amidst all the adrenaline when he comes to the realization that she’s the one thing that hasn’t changed. She made gentle fun of him the second she saw him even if he was a total stranger, helped him despite her better judgment, and brought him closer to coming home. She smiles at him, hits him on the chin gently with her knuckles, and tells him, knowing. “Go home, Buckaroo.”

He almost doesn’t stop for his parents. They look at him the way he’s wanted to his entire life, soft and loving and with their arms raised prepared to keep him and embrace him as they’ve never done before. He doesn’t feel that pull towards them but he does give them his forgiveness, for himself more than anyone else.

He stopped holding a grudge a while ago without even realizing it. How could he not, with the family he’s built? Bobby and Athena, Maddie and Chim and Jee, Hen and Karen and-

Buck does stop for Christopher. He feels lighter, suddenly, almost knocks himself off his feet when he sees that toothy grin directed up at him like sunshine itself. He kneels on the ground and Chris falls into his arms like Buck was made to hold him, like there was always an empty space carved out inside of him he didn’t understand until Eddie brought his kid into Buck’s life, gave him to Buck like the most precious gift, like-

Like Eddie’s own heart. Like a declaration of something Buck hadn’t been ready to hear.

“Can we go home now?” Chris asks against his sweater, and Buck hides his face in his little curls that somehow still smell like fruity shampoo, a detail not even the most powerful lightning was able to scratch from his mind.

Like the memory of Eddie’s go get them, cowboy. Like the fundamental premise that even after someone loses their memory after a coma, they don’t forget how to breathe. Buck woke up confused and dizzy and knowing Eddie has his back, always.

“Yeah,” his laugh is wet as he kisses Chris’ hair, the same hair strangers have confused for Buck’s genes in this smart, wonderful firecracker of a little boy. And yeah. Yeah, yeah, of course.

He helped make Connor and Kameron’s kid, but that baby isn’t his. This one, in his arms, that he didn’t meet until he was 11 is, and Buck knows it like he knows the sky is blue and dirt is brown and he’s coming home to Eddie and Christopher Diaz whether his subconscious wants him to or not.

“Come on, buddy, let’s go home,” he draws back to smile at his kid, wiping his tears with his shoulder. “Let’s go get your dad.”

Chris’ laugh is bubbly, and when Buck starts to run again, he doesn’t follow him. That’s okay, Buck thinks. That’s okay, I’m coming. I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming-

Daniel says all the right things. If Buck hadn’t learned what he was supposed to in here he might’ve caved. He might’ve believed him and stayed in a world where his job didn’t threaten his life and his parents loved him and his sister’s smile was always slightly off and he didn’t know any of his friends and the parents that stepped up, his partner and their kid.

But Buck knows. He does know, he doesn’t need to have a life-altering accident to know that any world without his family is not worth it. Not for anything in the world.

Buck breaks the glass, and he breathes.

He breathes, and breathes, and breathes.

________

finished the ep and realized I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF IN THIS HOUSE. hope you enjoyed!

read on ao3 / message me about commissions!

#911 fanfic #buddie fic #buck x eddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #bobby nash #athena grant #christopher diaz #chimney han #maddie buckley #buckley parents #jee yun buckley han #hen wilson #911 spoilers #06x11 #in another life #coda fic

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steddieas-shegoes · 4 months

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take a break

Happy Birthday CJ @tboyeddie )!!! I hope this tiny token of my friendship makes you smile, and I hope your day is relaxing and you get to do whatever you want to do. Giving you the biggest hug and wrapping you in a fuzzy blanket so you can be cozy. - Mickala 💖

rated m | tags on ao3

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

“Wayne’s just as bad as you.”

Steve looked at the giant box sitting in his living room, scribbled with little doodles and notes to their daughter, Jess. Her birthday wasn’t until next week, but since Wayne could only come this weekend, they’d arranged an early party.

He shipped her gift to their house since he couldn’t bring it on the plane.

Now Steve sees why.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Eddie said against his cheek as he came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist. “Nothing bad about wanting the best for our girl.”

“The best doesn’t have to be so…big.” Steve gestured to the box that was nearly his height. “What did he even get her?”

“He might’ve mentioned something about a swing set.” Eddie rocked them back and forth slowly. “But maybe it’s not.”

It was.

Steve glared at Eddie as he opened the top of the box to peek inside to confirm.

“We don’t even have anywhere to put it!” Steve whisper-yelled. Jess was asleep in her room, exhausted from a busy day at school and softball practice. “I’m not setting it up in my living room.”

“Sweetheart, we’ve got enough room on the back patio for this. It’s just one swing!” Eddie pulled a printed picture of the assembly from the side of the box. “See? Barely takes up any space. You won’t even notice it.”

“Right. I’ll just have to walk around it every time I have to take the trash out.” Steve crossed his arms. “Where are we even hiding this until her party?”

“I can make it fit in our closet.”

Steve’s brows raised in surprise.

For all that Steve used to hoard clothes, he only took up about 30% of their shared closet now. He was content with just enough to get through his week and a couple extra nicer outfits for special occasions.

Eddie, however, believed that more is more and he should get to have every shirt that looks even remotely decent on him.

Which, Steve admits, is most shirts.

“You’re not gonna make that fit.”

“How many times have you said that to me? I’ve always made it fit, right?” Eddie smirked at him, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“I’m going to bed,” Steve sighed, turning so he could hide the fond smile he had on his face.

“I’ll be in soon to make it fit!” Eddie replied.

Steve shook his head as he walked to their bedroom.

He stripped off his clothes with every intention of letting Eddie try his best.

——————————

“Daddy! You said Uncle Wayne was coming at 3:45. It’s 3:47 and he isn’t here!” Jess whined.

“Daddy did say that. But Daddy forgot you can read a clock and Daddy should have thought this through better,” Steve said as he finished making the pitcher of lemonade that Jess had long since abandoned.

“Where is he? Is he still in the plane?” Jess looked out the window and up to the sky as if she would be able to see Wayne waving out of the window of a plane if she tried hard enough. “Dad said that sometimes planes have to fly in circles before they can land. What if he’s dizzy?”

Steve hid a smile in the fridge as he put the pitcher of lemonade on the top shelf. “He’ll be here any minute. Maybe there was a holdup with his bags at the airport.”

He was glad Eddie was working right now or else he’d be pacing the floor and being as impatient as Jess. If he knew Eddie half as well as he thought he did, he probably was.

“Maybe they lost him.”

Steve couldn’t hold back the laugh at that. “Lost Uncle Wayne? I don’t think so. It’s pretty hard to lose a person, lovebug.”

“Not sometimes! My friend Hannah at school lost her sister once at the grocery store and her mom cried for two whole hours before they found her.”

Steve’s eyes widened momentarily. “But they found her! And she was just a kid who probably didn’t listen to her mom or dad, right? And your Uncle Wayne-“

“Is here!” Wayne yelled from the front door.

“Uncle Wayne!” Jess yelled as she ran out of the kitchen and dining area to their living room. “You’re not lost!”

“‘Course not! Couldn’t get lost right before your birthday. Then who’d sing ya the silly birthday song?” Wayne picked her up and settled her on his hip.

She was turning eight, and she was quite tall for her age, so this would probably be the last year Wayne could get away with this.

“Dad knows it. Doesn’t he?” Jess asked Steve, suddenly growing concerned. “What if Wayne did get lost?”

“Your dad knows it just fine,” Wayne said, setting her down and walking to Steve. “Hey, son. You doin’ alright?”

Steve let himself fall into a hug with Wayne, doing his best not to let tears gather.

It’d been a while, okay? He missed Wayne’s hugs.

“Glad you made it. Want a drink?” Steve pulled away to grab him a beer. “Grabbed your favorites at the store last night.”

“Drink sounds good.” Wayne popped the top before turning back to Jess. “I was promised a makeover last time we talked on the phone, wasn’t I?”

Wayne was a good sport, insisted that he didn’t care if it was playing catch at the park or getting his nails painted, he wanted to spend every second with Jess. Steve was just excited to have a day go by without eyeshadow glitter on his clothes.

“I got a new lip gloss that tastes like strawberries and you will love it, it’s just a little pink, but it tastes so good,” she said seriously, folding her hands in front of her and rocking onto her tip toes. “Can I show him daddy?”

“Yes, but remember what I said. It all stays in the bathroom. Go get everything ready first while he rests for a minute,” Steve smiled at her as she clapped and ran to the bathroom. “You don’t have to let her do the makeover. She’d be just as happy doing it to herself.”

“I’m happy to get a little glitter on this face. Could use a shinin’ demeanor,” Wayne joked. “Especially after the airport lost my bags.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “What? Do you need me to run to the store and get you stuff? Why didn’t you say so sooner? I’ll catch Eds before he leaves work so he can stop on the way home.” He walked over to the phone, only to be stopped with a hand on his arm. He looked at Wayne with furrowed brows. “What is it?”

“If you waited a second, you’d know they found them. That was why I was a bit late.” Wayne shook his head. “You ain’t gotta jump through hoops for me, I keep tellin’ ya. You doin’ okay? Really?”

Steve’s sharp inhale, his painstakingly schooled features on his face, his hands being kept busy so Wayne wouldn’t see them shake, it all added up to him not doing okay.

Wayne pulled him into a hug, one hand cupping the back of his head and one rubbing his back as he felt Steve sob against him.

“Son, what’s goin’ on? You boys need some help?” Wayne whispered so Jess wouldn’t hear. “You know I’ve got some money saved up if ya need it.”

Steve shook his head against Wayne’s shoulder.

“No, no.” He sniffed. “I mean we’re broke, but all the bills are paid and we still managed to spoil Jess for her birthday. It’s just-”

Wayne smiled sadly before pulling away.

“Everything?” Steve nodded. “I know the feelin’. You boys are doing a great job, though. I know it’s a lot right now, but you’ll get through it. You always do.”

“Just overwhelmed lately. Eddie’s been working a lot more and my classes are all labs this semester, which is so stupid, like why do teachers even need labs if they aren’t gonna be science teachers?” Steve threw his arms up. “And Jess got in trouble at school last week for fighting and she was technically right and protecting herself and another kid, but they have policies or whatever so she was suspended for a day and I had to miss class, which was a midterm day and the professor is a dick who doesn’t seem to understand that people have lives outside of the classroom. And Eddie doesn’t really understand my frustration because he hated school, so why should I care so much, right? But he’s kinda right, like, I was allowed to make up the midterm, why am I still letting it bother me?”

“Papa! I’m ready!” Jess yelled from the bathroom, interrupting Steve’s rant. “Do you want blue or purple eyeshadow?”

“Surprise me!” He yelled back before touching Steve’s arm. “We’re gonna talk about this more later, okay? Ya don’t have to hold this in, son.”

“I know. Enjoy your makeover,” Steve sniffed, wiping at the few tears that managed to still trickle from his eyes. “Eds should be home soon.”

——————————

When Eddie got home, Wayne was well on his way to being the prettiest princess Chicago had ever seen.

He barely contained a snort of laughter at the streak of dark pink blush across one cheek as he kissed Jess’ head and made his way back to the kitchen.

“Hey, sweetheart. Smells good,” Eddie leaned in to kiss Steve’s cheek, brows furrowing when he saw the red around his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’. How was work?” Steve’s attempt at a comforting smile failed, and Eddie let his hands fall.

“Fine. Turn the stove off.” Eddie wasn’t sure what could’ve happened between that morning and now, especially since he’d been looking forward to Wayne’s visit even more than Eddie had been. “Look at me, Stevie.”

Steve turned to him, eyes still downcast, bottom lip worried between his teeth.

“Your head being loud?” Eddie whispered, cupping Steve’s cheeks in his hands. He smiled sadly when Steve nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

Steve shook his head, unsure of what Eddie could do. They were both doing everything they could, it was just how life was going for them right now.

No way out but through.

Eddie wordlessly pulled him into his chest, ignoring his quiet protest.

“We’ll order pizza if it burns.” Eddie had $20 cash in his wallet ready to go if Steve just said the word. “You’re doing too much, sweet love.”

“Jess, I totally forgot!” Wayne’s voice echoed from across the room. “Part of your birthday present is coming to stay with me at the hotel for a night so you can swim in the pool! Did you know it has a slide?”

Eddie turned to glance over his shoulder, nodding once when Wayne gave him an encouraging smile.

“Really?” Jess squealed. “Daddy! Dad! Please!”

Steve and Eddie were nearly bowled over by Jess, her excitement making them both give genuine smiles.

“If Papa is absolutely sure.” Steve looked over at Wayne, who was nodding. “You should go pack your backpack with pajamas and a bathing suit, little one.”

“I’m not little! I’m almost eight!” Jess argued as she ran to her bedroom.

“Wayne, you don’t have to-” Eddie started.

“You both need a night off. Maybe it won’t solve everything, but it’ll give ya time to yourselves.” Wayne ruffled Eddie’s hair, ignoring his groaning and complaining. “I’ll have her back before lunch tomorrow so she can get ready for her party. Plus, it’ll keep her outta your hair while you set everything up.”

Eddie and Steve knew better than to argue further, not with that stubborn old man.

Jess was packed in record time, giving Steve and Eddie hugs and a kiss on the cheek before practically bouncing out the front door.

Wayne just laughed and waved at them as he took her hand in his to lead her to his rental car.

The silence that followed was deafening, almost overwhelming.

Steve looked at Eddie, Eddie looked at Steve.

“We’re alone all night.” Steve sounded shocked, like it just sunk in. “Just us.”

“Just us. Alone,” Eddie repeated, his smile growing as he walked forward and stopped right in front of Steve. “I’m gonna take such good care of you, sweetheart.”

Steve melted against his chest at the words, grateful that Eddie was already wrapping his arms around him, keeping him from collapsing to the floor.

The past…six months or so, really, had been so stressful for both of them, they’d barely had time to do anything, let alone take care of each other in the way they both desperately needed. Steve wasn’t even sure the last time they actually managed to go to bed at the same time, his homework often keeping him up long after Eddie went to bed.

It would all be worth it, and they still managed to do little things for each other when they could, but it still sucked trying to get through it all.

“Miss you so much, Eds,” Steve mumbled against his neck, pressing his lips to the juncture of his shoulder and neck.

“Miss you all the time, baby boy. You wanna take a bath?”

Steve nodded against him, but didn’t pull away.

He didn’t need to; Eddie lifted him up under his thighs, waited for him to wrap his legs around his waist, and walked to their small, but cozy bathroom. Jess’ bath toy basket was still by the tub, along with an open bottle of bubble bath and her fruit punch shampoo along the edge. Eddie shook his head fondly before setting Steve down on the sink counter.

“She sure knows how to leave a mess, huh?” Eddie asked, not nearly as annoyed as he probably could be. “I guess she gets it from me.”

“Forgetting to close shampoo bottles? Definitely a learned behavior.” Steve kicked his toe out to nudge Eddie’s leg as he cleaned up and started the water. “Definitely not learned from me.”

Eddie turned around just to roll his eyes. “I don’t close them because I know you’re gonna use them. I don’t just forget.”

“Sure you don’t.” Steve pulls his own shirt off as he watches Eddie pour some of the coconut bubble bath. “Which is why you must also always forget to tell me when you’re running low on your body wash.”

“Exactly! You get it.”

Steve snorted and got off the counter to unbutton his pants, didn’t wanna waste any of their time waiting on Eddie to get him undressed.

“In a rush?” Eddie said over his shoulder as he let his hand run through the water to check the temperature. “We’ve got all night.”

“Not in a rush, just don’t wanna waste a second.”

“That sounds like rushing.”

Steve poked his shoulder as he stripped off his socks. “I’m not rushing.”

Eddie finally stood up and turned around, his breath catching when he saw Steve, completely naked, watching him with his hands on his hips.

“You’re so beautiful, baby boy,” Eddie whispered, reaching his hand out to run his fingers across his chest. His scars weren’t nearly as widespread as Eddie’s, mostly focused on his side and stomach, but Eddie liked to trace along the sensitive skin surrounding them just to watch him shiver. “How do you always look so good?”

Steve blushed, never good at taking compliments, even 15 years after Eddie gave him the first one. “I have bags under my eyes that look worse than that bag you found on the side of the road and tried to convince me you could polish up to use for when we visit Wayne.”

Eddie leaned in to give him a kiss. “No one knows how good you are at imagery, it’s such a shame. But they aren’t that bad, sweetheart. And they don’t make you less beautiful.”

Steve didn’t say anything else, just pressed a kiss to Eddie’s cheek and moved him out of the way so he could get into the almost full tub.

As he sunk down, every bit of stress he had in his body left him in a long sigh. The water temperature was perfect, the bubbles smelled good, and he could feel Eddie’s eyes on him in a way that made him feel precious, cherished, loved.

“You gonna join me or just stare at me all night?” Steve kept his eyes closed as he spoke, didn’t wanna disturb his peace.

“Can I do both?” Eddie asked from right next to the tub.

Steve opened his eyes to see Eddie already naked and gesturing for him to scoot up so he could join him.

Their tub was small, definitely not built for two grown men, but they managed to make it work. Once Eddie was settled against the back of the tub, Steve settled his back against Eddie’s front, pulling his knees up slightly and letting them rest against the sides of the tub.

Eddie’s arms wrapped around his chest, holding him up so he could relax completely.

They stayed like that for a while, quiet except for the occasional hum from Eddie.

Steve let his eyes drift shut after a minute or two, focused on the feeling of Eddie’s heart beating against his back, his breath puffing against his shoulder and neck or the top of his head, his fingers making patterns against his skin and chest hairs.

Every moment they’ve had to touch each other over the last few months had been rushed, and while Steve loved when Eddie got rough, he craved the softness of this moment sometimes too.

Now that he had it, his brain was shutting down, taking a rest from expectations, even the ones he liked having.

“Doing good, sweetheart?” Eddie whispered, not wanting to interrupt him.

“Mhm.” Steve’s mouth didn’t quite want to form words, but he was able to get that out at least. “Mmm.”

Eddie’s hands disappeared for a moment, but quickly came back with a soaped up washcloth. He rubbed along his arms and chest slowly, gently, whispering words to him as he worked. Steve felt cloudy, kind of like he’d stuck his head under the water, but kept smiling to himself. He hadn’t felt this good in a while, and he knew Eddie would take care of him.

“Stevie, I’m gonna get out so I can wash your hair. Can you open your eyes for me?” Steve blinked them open and turned his head, his vision blurry and taking a moment to completely focus on the man behind him. “That’s good, sweet love. You heard what I said?”

“Mhm.”

Eddie kissed his lips briefly, not wanting to pop the bubble Steve was in, before getting out of the tub and helping Steve settle back against the wall.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and dropped to his knees, cupped water over Steve’s head slowly, meticulously.

“Good,” Steve managed to get out as Eddie started scrubbing the shampoo into his hair, dragging his nails across the roots, massaging his scalp. “Love you.”

“I love you so much, baby boy.” Eddie kissed his forehead as he helped him tilt backwards so he could submerge all of his hair in the water to rinse it. “You deserve to feel good like this.”

Eddie always said that to him, even when Steve wasn’t floaty. They’d be sitting at a restaurant with Jess and he’d tell Steve to order whatever drink he wanted because he deserved to treat himself sometimes. They would be at the park watching Jess play with friends and Eddie would tell him that he deserved to have the family he always wanted.

Eddie made sure he knew he deserved to be happy, no matter the situation.

When Eddie was done, he kissed his temple and helped him out of the tub, pulling the plug for the water to drain as he held on to Steve’s hand.

The night went on, Steve got extra care and attention, and when he finally came out of the clouds, Eddie was holding a cup of hot chocolate for him to sip on in bed.

“Thank you, Eds. Needed that,” Steve said after taking a few sips, letting his head drop onto Eddie’s shoulder beside him.

“I needed it, too. Haven’t been able to really do much for you in so long. Started to feel like maybe I was failing.” Eddie sighed. “I know it’s not our fault, but we haven’t made us a priority in a while. I’m glad we got to tonight. We owe Wayne big time.”

Steve nodded, taking another long sip. “Maybe we can try to save up and get him that fishing pole for Christmas? That one he keeps talking about like it’s his firstborn child.”

Eddie barked out a laugh. “I think if we got that for him, he’d name it. I’d be forgotten.”

“I hope you don’t get jealous of your future sibling,” Steve joked, nudging Eddie’s side. “Wayne’s got plenty of love for you both.”

“I guess we’ll have to find out, huh?”

“I think if I can pull off a few extra shifts next month during school break, we can do it.”

Eddie kissed the top of his head. “Wayne would love that.”

“Well, I love him.”

“And he loves you. He wouldn’t have offered this if he didn’t.”

“He loves you and he loves Jess, he would’ve offered for you both if not for me.” Steve set the mug down on the bedside table before turning back to Eddie with a grin. “I think we could probably find the energy to get one round in before we pass out, couldn’t we?”

“One whole round? Very optimistic of you, sweetheart.”

Steve straddled Eddie’s lap, cupping his face in his hands. “Half a round?”

“That sounds possible.”

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #birthday fic #wayne munson #steddie dads

142 notes · View notes

munson-blurbs · 10 months

Text

Single Dad!Eddie x Fem!ReaderSeries

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Summary: Grandma's funeral brings out a side of Ms. Sweetheart that Eddie hasn't ever seen, leaving the two of them questioning everything they've built up together.

Warnings: funeral service (I tried to keep it as neutral as possible so it could apply to any religion), mentions of cause of Grandma's death, failed attempt at sex, pretty much all angst sorry

WC: 5.1k

Chapter 10/20

Divider credit to @saradika Harris's note credit to @girlwiththerubyslippers

Eddie can’t remember the last time he went to a funeral. It might’ve been for one of Wayne’s friends, or a distant great-aunt twice removed. He doesn’t even own a proper suit for such an occasion; everything he’s wearing actually belongs to Wayne. He smooths down the creases in his black slacks; the material of anything other than worn denim is foreign against his legs. The elbows of his coat jacket are patched, and he slides his palms over them in embarrassment.

He takes a seat in one of the back rows, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible while the other mourners file in. There’s a pit growing in his stomach as his gaze swoops to the coffin resting at the front of the room. The realization that Grandma was inside was almost too much for him to handle, and he’d only met her a month ago. He hadn’t known her when she was…herself, but he saw glimpses of her now and again. The last time he was over for a Wednesday night dinner, she rested her head on his shoulder as though she’d done it a million times. You’d mouthed sorry, but Eddie had simply smiled and let Grandma stay there as long as she wanted. If he was being honest, he felt special, knowing that she was comfortable with him.

Eddie’s eyes are only drawn from the casket when he sees you walk among your family. He immediately takes note of your face, normally soft and vibrant, now stoic and emotionless. It’s a sharp contrast to your relatives, who wear their grief through bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks. The hymn playing in the background fades out as a man speaks up at the podium.

Eddie’s barely listening, keeping his attention on you. He watches your mouth move as you recite the prayers along with the rest of your family, though he’s only half-listening to them. He’s never been one for organized religion, but he echoes the closing statement when everyone else does.

That’s when you stand up, smoothing down your dress at the back of your thighs, and walk towards the front of the room. You’re clutching a piece of paper in your hand, which Eddie notices is slightly trembling. He locks eyes with you, dragging his teeth along his bottom lip and offers the smallest of encouraging smiles. You acknowledge it with a tiny nod in his direction before taking a deep breath and beginning the eulogy.

“Um, h-hi.,” you start, stumbling over your words awkwardly. You clear your throat and try again. “Thank you all for coming to honor and remember Grandma. It’s evident that she meant a lot to so many people.

“When I was writing this eulogy, I kept thinking about who she was as a person.” You don’t let your gaze drift from Eddie’s, and you could swear that he’s the only force keeping you from crumbling to the ground in a heap of grief. “For a lot of us, we wonder what ‘big thing’ will define our lives. The occasion that people will remember us by, you know? But with Grandma, there wasn’t one ‘big thing.’ Her life was a series of little kindnesses that she made sure to sprinkle into her everyday life. Like, when I was a kid, my dad broke his ankle. My mom couldn’t leave me home alone, so Grandma drove him to and from the hospital and stayed with him while he waited. She always took care of us.

“One of my favorite memories is how she would bring me a bouquet of flowers after every dance recital I was in. She’d be waiting for me by the stage door with a big smile on her face, telling me what a great job I did, even if I totally messed up…she was the best. All she wanted was for the people she loved to be happy.

“And that’s what I associate with Grandma—love. How much I loved her, and how much she loved us. Just a few weeks ago, she was sharing Oreos with the kid I tutor, and it reminded me of how she used to be with me.” At that line, Eddie feels his lip quiver, tears dampening his lashes, and he ducks his head to keep you from seeing him break. This time, it’s more for your sake than his, since you’re leaning on him to remain upright. “I encourage all of you to find the little kindnesses in life, and to be the kindness in someone’s day.

“Grandma, you are already so missed. I hope you’re seeing the values you instilled in each of us. Rest easy. We’ll take it from here.” The only sounds in the entire room are the heels of your shoes clacking on the floor and sniffling from nearly everyone else in the congregation. You take your seat quietly, bowing your head as though trying to hide.

The rest of the service is a blur of hymns and prayers; nothing, Eddie notes, nearly as moving as the eulogy you gave. He barely notices when the people around him start moving, keeping a watchful eye on you. You’re trying to blend in amongst your black-clad relatives, but Eddie has no problem finding you. He cranes his neck just in time to see your family make a right through the doors, while you pivot left.

Instinctively, his hands tuck into his pants pocket as he fumbles for his cigarettes and lighter. He has no idea what to say to you, no idea where to even begin. He needs a smoke or three to clear his head before he sees you and stammers out some half-witted acknowledgment of your loss. There’s no time for that; however, because as soon as he steps outside, he sees you sitting on the steps. It’s freezing outside, but your arms are bare, and Eddie can see the prickle of goosebumps lining your skin.

“What are you doing out here by yourself?” he asks, drawing your attention as he takes a seat next to you. He shrugs off his own jacket, placing it over your shoulders without a second thought.

You offer him a sad smile, tugging the coat so it covers more of you. You didn’t realize how cold you were until you felt the contrast of his body heat. “Trying to avoid my family,” you admit, placing your hand over Eddie’s. “Could you take me home? I got a ride here from my uncle, but I really don’t want to go out to eat with everyone.” They’re probably arguing over where to get lunch right now, acting as though their matriarch isn’t about to be lowered into the ground.

“You sure?” Eddie’s eyebrows pinch together in concern. “I mean, I don’t mind, but I don’t want to take you away from them or anything.” He can picture the sneers he’ll receive, a pit forming in his stomach.

You remain unfazed to the conundrum he faces. “Trust me, you’d be doing me a favor. I can’t…” your voice catches, so you restart your sentence. “I can’t sit there while everyone’s smiling and laughing. That’s what happens when an old, sick person dies; people don’t even try to hide their relief. I need…I need to be alone.” You tuck your lips inside your mouth, attempting to bury your feelings.

Eddie nods, reaching over to take his keys out of the jacket you’re now wearing. “Yeah, no, I get it. We can get outta here.” He stands up, takes your hand in his to help you to your feet, and leads you to the car as inconspicuous as possible. The last thing either of you need is to be confronted by one of your relatives.

The two of you sit in the car quietly, without even the radio on. Eddie can’t remember the last time he’s had a silent car ride; he either has music playing, Harris yammering his ear off, or a combination of both. He keeps his hands at ten and two, internally debating whether or not to rest one on your knee. It wouldn’t be a sexual thing, not even close, but he doesn’t want you to get the wrong idea. His grip remains steady, the hum of the engine is the only sound.

You take this time to study him, taking in the crow’s feet that line the edges of his eyes, the tiny patch of stubble that he’d missed while shaving, the slight dimple in his chin. You try and turn before he can catch you, and though your efforts are fruitless, he doesn’t quite call you out on it. “Y’good?”

“Y-Yeah,” you stutter, smoothing a part of your dress that isn’t wrinkled. “Could you come inside for a little while? I thought I wanted to be by myself, but I really want you to stay.”

You really want him to stay. Not just that you need company, but you want him specifically. The notion sets all of Eddie’s nerve endings alight. “‘Course,” he replies, perhaps a bit too casually to cover up his excitement over the realization that he brings you some form of comfort.

When he pulls into the apartment complex’s parking lot and shuts off the ignition, he takes the opportunity to hold your hand again. It’s so much different than when he held it a few days earlier on your date, when there was an atmosphere of joy and hope. Now it’s like he’s pulling you along, like his lead is what has you placing one heel-clad foot in front of the other.

You unlock the door, accidentally leaving the key within its latch, and Eddie quietly removes it and places it on the table. His fingers ghost your biceps to remove your–his–coat from your body, but you just pull it on farther like a safety blanket.

“Y’want coffee? ‘M gonna put on a pot,” you offer quietly, already heading over to the kitchen. You scoop out a serving of coffee grounds for you, inhaling the hazelnut scent before dumping it into the basket, glancing over at him for his response.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he nods, and you put another scoop in before filling the carafe with tap water. With a flick of the power button, the Black + Decker rumbles and kicks on, and the drip drip drip of coffee fills the room.

You grab two mugs from the cupboard and place them on the counter. “How’d you even find out about the funeral?”

Eddie walks over, though he feels as though he can’t get close enough. He just wants to hold you tight and never let go, but you’ve put up some sort of barrier that he can’t quite interpret. “Oh, um, I asked Byers. I hope you don’t mind–I tried calling you, but it said the line was disconnected.”

Your cheeks burn. “That was Grandma.” Eddie looks confused–rightfully so–and you elaborate. “The morning that she…she got annoyed with the phone ringing, so when I wasn’t looking, she took the scissors and cut the wire.”

Eddie’s jaw drops in disbelief. “You’re joking.”

“I wish I was. I left the house for a few minutes to get a new phone, and when I came back, she’d fallen asleep and…” you swallow thickly, rummaging through the refrigerator for the tiny carton of half-and-half, “…and she never woke up. First call I made with the new phone was to 9-1-1, but it was too late.” Too late. That’s what the EMTs told you: I’m sorry, but it’s too late.

“Oh, Sweetheart. My sweet girl…” Eddie’s heart lurches, and he instinctively reaches out to you. One hand lays between your shoulder blades while the other rubs up and down your spine. He’s careful not to let it drop too low, never going past the small of your back. Though you’re pressed flush to his chest, there’s still a strange disconnect between you.

Despite every urge you have to cling to him, you pull away and shove a teaspoon into the sugar bowl, sliding it towards him on the counter. “S’okay. I mean, it’s not, but…they said she’d had a heart attack. If I didn’t get the phone, I wouldn’t have been able to call for an ambulance anyway.” The dripping of the coffee maker slows as it finishes brewing. “Only thing I could do is go back in time and stop her from cutting the wires, and Melvald’s was all outta time machines,” you joke, but it falls flat.

Eddie frowns, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the countertop. “You don’t have to do this, y’know.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Pretend like you’re alright,” he explains, voice hardly louder than a whisper. He tucks a lock of hair behind his ear.

You feel an anger rising within you, though you’re unable to pinpoint its origin. “I am alright,” you insist through gritted teeth.

Eddie shakes his head, peering at you through his impossibly long eyelashes. “It’s okay to be sad–”

“Don’t you get it, Eddie?” You cut him off with a snap, slamming the coffee pot down so harshly that it almost cracks. “I’m not sad. I’m not relieved. I’m not anything. My grandma just died, and I don’t feel a goddamn thing! It’s like I’m some kind of monster.”

“Hey, hey, c’mere.” He hugs you again, holds you even tighter than before as he kisses the top of your head. “You’re not a monster, ‘kay? I promise you.”

You look up at him, not quite believing his words, but you press your lips to his. He kisses you back gently; timidly even, but you deepen it and graze his tongue with your own. Your left hand weaves its way through his messy curls and your right fumbles with his belt buckle, but you’re unable to unhook the clasp before he steps back.

“What’re you–” His eyes widen and he puts his hands up to avoid touching you, clearly confused by your behavior. If you had the capacity to be honest with yourself, you’d admit that you’re not sure why you’re doing this, either.

“Please, Eddie,” you beg, trying to reconnect your lips with his, but he just pulls away again. “Please, I…I need this. I need you.”

“If we sleep together for the first time right now, while you’re like this, you’ll regret it,” he says.

You don’t deny the accusation; instead, you double down on it. “Okay, so I’ll regret it! I’ll feel regret, but at least I’ll feel something!” Your trembling fingers brush against his shirt, trying to grab onto it and bring his body to you, but he turns with a scoff.

“You’d really be okay with that?” There’s unmistakeable anger in his tone, but it’s laced with something more than that; something that sounds more like hurt. “Regretting our first time together?”

“Didn’t we almost fuck on your couch the night we met? You didn’t even know my last name. You barely knew my first name.” Your words are biting, thick with malice. “When did you become so averse to meaningless sex?”

“Meaningless?” Eddie balks, digging his fingernails into his palms until they leave crescent-shaped marks. His lips contort into a perplexed grimace as he formulates a response. “I, um, I gotta go. I’ll call you–”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that line before, and I’m not falling for it again.” You can’t stop the words before they’re tumbling from your mouth, and you can’t take them back. “Shit, Eddie–”

“Just—don’t say anything else, ‘kay? I’m leaving.” He turns around, digging into his back pocket. “This is for you. From me and Harris.” He tosses a piece of notebook paper, folded into fourths, onto the end table and closes the door with a slam.

You stand there, dumbfounded at what just occurred–mostly at your own actions. When you move towards the paper, you realize that you’re still wearing Eddie’s suit jacket, and you yank it off and throw it to the ground, leaving it in a heap. You open the note and read, vision blurred from the tears threatening to spill over.

The innocent kindness of a little boy is all it takes for you to break down and cry, muffling your sobs in your palms though there isn’t anyone around to hear them. Grandma was gone. You’d chased Eddie away with the same vitriol he’d spewed at you that day at the record store. You’re really, truly alone.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” you chant to no one in particular. You’re sorry to Grandma, for leaving her home alone. You could’ve asked Jess to run out and get a new phone, but you’d needed a break from Grandma’s anger that was always directed towards you. That morning, after you’d discovered the cut phone line, there had been another argument over taking her medication, and she yelled “I HATE YOU!” at the top of her lungs. Then she sat at the table and ate a bowl of cereal like nothing had happened. Instead of taking a deep breath and brushing it off, you’d grabbed your keys and headed to RadioShack. You could’ve driven there, it would’ve made the trip much faster, but you’d decided to walk. The fresh air would do you good, you told yourself, pushing away the full truth of the matter: you’d desperately needed to be away from Grandma. When you got back, she was laying on the couch, and you would’ve sworn she was only sleeping…

You’re sorry to Eddie. Sorry that he’d wasted his time with someone who resorted to dredging up the past as soon as she felt an ounce of anger and rejection. Someone who insisted that he could trust her and then promptly shattered that rapport once he’d let his guard down.

And for a split second, you allow yourself to feel sorry for you. Sorry that you couldn’t even grieve properly without feeling like you didn’t deserve it, because if you were home, Grandma might still be alive.

You look down at the card one more time, choking out a laugh through your tears at Harris’s offer to share his grandpa. It dawns on you that you’ll either have to stop tutoring him or continue to see Eddie on a weekly basis. Everyone who comes in contact with me gets entangled in my problems, you note miserably. Eddie’s finally getting his life together and I’m fucking it all up. He deserves better than me.

Maybe it’s a good idea to leave Hawkins and go back home, at least for the holidays. You’re not sure what type of celebrations the family will muster up, but it’s better than being alone with your thoughts. And if you never return, that might be best for everybody.

The bell above the drugstore door chimes as Eddie pushes his way in. He smoked out his remaining cigarettes on the drive over, and he’s desperate for another pack. He makes a beeline for the back wall, plucking his usual Camels from the display. “Perfect,” he mutters, though his lungs would certainly disagree.

As he shuffles towards the cashier, he spots a familiar face in one of the aisles. His lurking cowardice screams at him to run away, but he shoves it deep down and talks anyway. “H-Hey, man. How’s it going?”

Jeff turns around, first bewildered at who’s speaking to him, then tensing up when he sees Eddie standing before him. “Can’t complain. Just getting some of these prenatal vitamin things for Viv,” he replies tersely, shaking the bottle to emphasize his statement.

There’s an awkward silence before Eddie speaks again. “Look, um, I’m really sorry about what happened at our last show.” He rubs the back of his neck and winces at the memory. “What I said, what I didn’t say…you’re gonna be a great dad, dude. Like, the best. I was just jealous, but that’s not an excuse to be an asshole.”

“Jealous?” Jeff cocks an eyebrow incredulously, willing Eddie to continue.

“Yeah,” Eddie nods, shamefully averting his gaze. “You’re bringing a kid into a stable household, and I couldn’t do that for Harris. I don’t regret having him, of course, but I’ll always feel guilty about the shitshow he was born into.” He taps the pack of cigarettes on his palm, biting his lower lip to shut himself up. “Anyway, I gotta get home—”

“Eddie Munson?” He turns around to see a young woman standing behind him. Her low-cut top shows off the top of her breasts, cleavage pushed up by a bra, and her jeans hug every curve. She purses her pink-glossed lips together in a flirtatious smile.

“Y-Yeah?”

“I’m Lisa.” She says this like Eddie should already know this, and he’s embarrassed to admit to himself that he can’t place the name or face. “We hooked up last summer at the Hideout? In the men’s room?” Lisa lowers her voice seductively to whisper that detail. “I haven’t seen you there in a while.”

“Oh, yeah.” There have been multiple men’s room hook-ups, but he’s not about to play detective to figure out exactly who she is, so he plays along. “The band’s been on a bit of a…hiatus, I guess.” From his peripheral vision, he can see Jeff ducking his head, and his cheeks burn with the truth.

Lisa juts out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout, though Eddie knows it’s all for show. “That’s too bad.” She lets her hand rest on his chest, leaning into him and twirling a strand of his hair around a polished fingernail. “If you’re not busy tonight, I’d love to have you over for drinks and…dessert? Recreate that night at the bar, minus the urinal?”

Eddie moves her arms from his vicinity, putting a necessary space between them. “Um, n-nah. No thanks,” he clarifies. “I’m, uh, kinda involved with someone, so…”

She remains undaunted, a small chuckle escaping her throat. “I can keep a secret. She doesn’t have to know.” She takes another step forward to close the gap, and he’s so goddamn tempted, but he shakes it off. He doesn’t have a clue what’s going to happen between you and him, but he knows he’s not going to sabotage any potential relationship.

“Well, I’ll know,” he retorts, “and I’ll feel like shit about it.”

Lisa rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Your loss.” She pivots on one heel and mumbles something under her breath that Eddie doesn’t even bother to interpret.

Jeff looks at Eddie with an amused grin as he shifts his weight from one side to the other. “So, you’re involved with someone?” He knows from what Jess has told him that Eddie went on a date with you a few days ago, but he couldn’t gauge the seriousness of the situation.

“I think so. At least, I was, until about fifteen minutes ago.” He relents and fills Jeff in about everything that happened, from your conversation over steaming coffee mugs, to the amazing kiss you’d shared as snowflakes collected on your eyelashes, to the unexpected confrontation after Grandma’s funeral today.

Jeff sighs, but it’s one of sympathy, not exasperation. “You did the right thing,” he says finally.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever said that to me.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Jeff laughs, punching him playfully on the arm. “I’m serious. And you did the right thing just now, too, with that groupie.” He clears his throat. “Viv’s baby shower is in a couple weeks. Ladies only, y’know, but I could use some help loading all the gifts into the car. And we could grab some lunch beforehand, if you want.”

Eddie nods. “Yeah, that would be great. Might have to let Harris tag along, if that’s all right.” He doesn’t want to keep asking Wayne to babysit, no matter how much the old man insists that he doesn’t mind.

“Of course. You know that little man is always welcome.” Jeff says, walking towards the register. “I’ll call you with the details.”

Eddie hesitates, letting his friend pass him by a few paces before he calls out. “Jeff?”

“Yeah?”

“What do I do about…” Eddie trails off, unwilling to finish his sentence. He feels absolutely ridiculous having this conversation in the middle of the drugstore, but he’s desperate not to fuck this up further.

Jeff scratches at his stubble with his free hand, contemplating the options as only someone who’s been in a long-term relationship and hasn’t had to navigate the nuances of a fresh relationship in ages can. “Give her some time; a few days, at least. She’s going through a lot. She needs her space, y’know, to figure things out.”

It’s not the answer Eddie was hoping for; patience has never been his forte. He wishes that Jeff would have told him to chase after you, to go get the girl and make sure she knows how much she means to him. But he knows that his friend is right, and he acknowledges his response with a small smile. “Thanks, man.”

“See ya around, Ed.”

Eddie unlocks his apartment door, new pack of cigarettes in one hand and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s tucked under the other arm. He doesn’t usually splurge on ice cream, but every romantic comedy cliche has instructed him that it’s the perfect remedy for heartbreak. If that’s even what this is, he thinks, but he knows it’s true. After doing everything in his power to prevent it, he’d allowed you to break his heart. And as he shoves a spoon into the container of Devil’s Food Chocolate, it dawns on him that he’d do it all again.

He’d come to your rescue and pick the lock of Grandma’s bedroom door. He’d sit around the table and eat pizza with you, Harris, and Grandma every Wednesday night. He’d drive to your house with store-brand cookies and watch cheesy Thanksgiving movies with you just to see the smile on your face. He’d take you out for coffee and kiss you in the snow a thousand times over. And he’d go to Grandma’s funeral and drive you home and turn down your offer for sex and break his own fucking heart again and again if it meant protecting you.

He shimmies out of his starchy dress pants and unbuttons his shirt, leaving himself in just a white undershirt and his boxers as he sinks deeper into the sofa. He reaches over for the remote–now that he works when Harris is in school, he rarely has time to watch something that he actually enjoys–and notices the phone’s red flashing light indicating that he has a new voicemail.

He presses play with a clumsy finger on the button, expecting Wayne’s gruff voice or a reminder for an overdue bill. When he hears that it’s you, he sits up straight, nearly dropping his ice cream.

“Hi, Eddie. It’s me. I’m so sorry for what happened earlier. I’m sure you’re probably mad, but I just want you to know…it wouldn’t have been meaningless. It wasn’t meaningless the night we met when it was supposed to be meaningless.” You take a deep breath. “I’m going back home for the holidays. Um, I’m not sure when…if…I’m coming back, but before I leave, I had to apologize for what I said. You’re a great guy, Eddie. I hope you know that. Have, um, have a nice holiday. Okay, bye.”

Eddie remains still, a loud silence enveloping the room once the machine relays that he’s reached the end of new messages. He’s dissecting every word you’d uttered, replaying them over and over.

It wasn’t meaningless the night we met when it was supposed to be meaningless.

So you’d felt it, too; that spark much stronger than the usual lust that overcomes him during hookups. And while he’d tried to convince himself that he’d only asked you to cuddle, had you stay over out of post-sex, post-show delirium, he can’t deny the truth any longer.

He’d asked because he felt comfortable around you, like he could hold you forever and whisper secrets that scare him to even admit to himself. Maybe it was because you’d seen Harris’s car seat that night and hadn’t run for the hills, or maybe it was the way you’d kissed him like he was worth savoring. And the morning after, when he’d all but chased you out of the apartment…Christ, you didn’t deserve that.

I’m not sure when…if…I’m coming back.

The ‘when’ he could handle, but that ‘if’ was a weight on his chest. He questions his actions for a moment–should he have slept with you? Showed you how wanted and cherished and safe you were with him? Given your mind a chance to wander from the grief choking it? But Jeff said he had done the right thing, and considering the man was engaged with a baby on the way, Eddie figured he had to know something about women.

You’re a great guy, Eddie. I hope you know that.

Is he? He’s certainly a better man than when you’d first met him, but is he actually a great guy? He’d bought you coffee and didn’t fuck you when you were too vulnerable to truly consent–is that what constitutes greatness, or is he just a step above a piece of shit?

And, of course, part of him is angry. Not only because you were so easily willing to use him–although that realization definitely stings–but mostly because you’d thought he’d want to. After everything you two had been through, did you truly believe that he’d be unbothered? That he’d throw away all of that progress just to get his dick wet? Is that how little you think of him? Eddie doesn’t want the answer.

The ice cream is melting, so he forgoes the spoon and just takes a swig from the pint. He licks the chocolatey residue from his lips before standing up to put the carton in the freezer. Tacked onto the refrigerator is Harris’s picture from Halloween where Eddie and Ms. Sweetheart are holding hands.

He plucks it from under the magnet, staring at it intently. The memory of his son and his uncle asking him about you, that pretty like a princess remark, the unfurling realization that he felt things for you that he’d thought he was incapable of feeling. He never should have taken their ribbings, inadvertently getting his hopes up that there was something there worth pursuing.

Without thinking, Eddie crumples the paper in his fist, crushing the family portrait into a ball. “Shit,” he mutters, placing it on the table and smoothing it out as best as he can. His hands glide over the drawing, rubbing over every crease until it looks good as new and Harris will be none the wiser.

But Eddie knows what’s been destroyed. What he doesn’t know is whether or not it can be smoothed out.

taglist:

@kelsiegrin @lma1986 @munsonology @stuckontheceiling @avobabe87 @eddapwinchester @peachysink @browneyes8288 @jeremyspoke-inclasstoday

@breezybeesposts @wednesdaymunson @feltonswifesworld87 @take-everything-you-can @bebe07011 @81rain @dylanmunson @oscarisaacwhore @eddiesguitarskills @everheart12 @etherealglimmer @hollster88 @wh0re4life @siriuslysmoking

@bibieddiesgf @winchester-angel @starlitlakes @avalon-wolf @hazydespair @josephquinncore @daydreaminglisa @sidthedollface2 @eddiebaemunson @mandyjo8719 @daydreaming-mood @aol19 @corkadymu @starcourtnights

@rockstarmunsons @metalhead-succubus @boinkybarness @oohworldofpisces @costellation-hunter @toobsessedsstuff @meadow20 @theweasleyskettle @lost-in-the-stars03 @elizabethmidnight2017 @aysheashea

@chamomileh0ney @dream-a-little-nightmare @emma77645 @kurdtbean @sheneedsrocknroll92 @tlclick73 @lolly-in-a-strange-land @bakugouswh0r3

@strangerthingsstories5255 @adaydreamaway08 @itsalltaken @harmfulb1tch @mimischaos @averagemisfit03 @steddiegarbage @vigilanteshit @ellendemeyer152 @sierrahhh @hiscrimsonangel @mrsjellymunson @idkatee

@quentinswife @eddiesguitarskills @momowhoo @jasminelafleur @mmunson86 @mcueveryday @augustsgetawaycar @let-love-bleeds-red @inesven @tanyaherondale @theintimatewriter

#eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie x reader #eddie x you #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson smut #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things fanfic #fanfic #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things #tui

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boogiewrites · 1 year

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a03 tag game

rules: post the first lines of your 10 most recently published AO3 stories. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

I'll tag @chestylarouxx no pressure to actually do this, this took a few minutes to put together and I know you're busy. <3 Thanks @blue-mossbird for tagging me!

Here's mine! I'm all over the place.

Hindsight’s Always 19/84 (single dad eddie munson x reader)

You walked down the stairs from your apartment onto the street. The sunset painted the town in nostalgia. Muted colors like looking back into your memories surrounded you. It all felt different and somehow exactly the same. You’d been back for about a month now. But with the exception of holidays, you haven't spent any time in Hawkins for over a decade. You didn’t even go to your 10-year high school reunion. You’d had no expectations of coming back here. Certainly not without an exit date firmly scheduled prior. But life is funny that way. You never expect to get divorced when you get married. You never expect to quit what once was your dream job. You never expect to move back to your hometown in some potentially pathetic, you hadn't decided yet, attempt to find yourself. Along with a lot of other lessons you were finally learning, expecting the unexpected was one being driven into your life hard.

Repentance (eddie munson x reader best friends to enemies to lovers)

“One day I’m gonna be the prettiest, most popular girl in school, you’ll see!” you shouted proudly, full of optimism at the age of 12 to your best friend.

“Uh-huh, sure.” he nodded, rolling his eyes with a crooked smile.

“I am!”

“People like us don’t get popular.” he sighed, the defeat of 2 more years of life experience, a teenager in middle school who was getting even more life lessons than those he’d already learned the hard way at a young age.

“Well…” you pouted your lips and sunk back in thought. “Can I still be the prettiest?” you perked up with newfound hope.

“Sure.” he chuckled to himself. “You can be the prettiest.”

Now, 6 years later you’d achieved that bold goal. But you hadn’t… couldn’t have known what it was going to cost you. The biggest hurt and the first was losing your best friend. The very same boy that had told you you could do it (at least half of it anyway) In hindsight, you wish you’d listened.

Seeing Stars( eddie munson x f!oc witch)

It was a hot summer night, the heat coming off the asphalt as he made his way up the driveway to the front door. This would probably be the last party of the summer before school started back. Since it wasn’t being thrown by a high schooler, Eddie was inclined to go. He hoped there’d be good drinks and weed since things had been slim since Rick had gone to jail. He wasn’t excited for school to start back, only eager to get it the fuck over with this time. The third time’s a charm after all.

Cherry Bomb (eddie munson x f!oc cherry shy/virgin)

As of late, she’d been regretting her track record of chronic GOOD decision making in her life. However, the trust earned from being a good girl for 18 years was paying off and allowing her to savor tiny tastes of rebellion for the first time.

She couldn’t have stood out more from the other patrons of the bar on the outskirts of town. The doorman had put a big X on the back of her hand when she’d shown him her ID. He was half surprised she wasn’t trying to pretend to be older, if she hadn’t been in the Hawkins High shirt, she might’ve been able to pull it off.

Another Man (Frankie “Catfish” Morales x reader)

It wasn’t like you to stand and gawk. Let alone at a man, but before you was the man you’d known for months and grown quite fond of. His shy and wounded exterior was now gone and showing a certain and practiced fighter with nearly black eyes and no inkling of hesitation in his body. Your lamp sparked on the ground at his feet, the room had gone dark. The only light to illuminate the interior of your home was the light from lamp posts outside and a faint glow from a kitchen fixture above the stove.

You watched, breathing heavily from exertion and now rising arousal. His forearms flexed, just visible outside of a loved and well-worn utility shirt, cuffs rolled up tightly just below a now strained upper sleeve where another man’s throat was being choked. Warm chocolate eyes were black under a heavy brow, no longer puppy eyes that you’d teased him for. His trusty hat still stayed on a head of messy waves that was always just too long of looking groomed. The unconscious body hits the floor and you’re left gazing at a different man than you’d known just a few minutes prior.

Choking on Sapphires (Alfie solomons x f!oc Genevieve crime/romance)

You find yourself making a handful of trips back from your home near Paris as uses for your particular sets of skills are to be had with the Peaky Blinders. You’d spoken on all holidays over the telephone and visited on a few. You speak to Polly most frequently, mostly of Charlie as you sent all the children gifts often when you traveled.

For the first time, you initiate the call to Tommy in the wake of your fast decision to move to London. You make your way out to his country home. You explain to Tommy of your intentions of starting new for yourself. You have a different last name to hide your nobility connections and forged paperwork and records to weave together a fake past. You tell him about your legal business plans, your honey, and your berries. You whisper to him about your illegal business, mostly art theft, some jewels and a touch of persuading others to do your bidding because of your connections and violence. The latter he was a skill he was well acquainted with. He welcomes you with a closed mouth smile.

Never Break the Chain (javier pena x f!oc thief/enemies to lovers)

The air was as still and silent as a hot Texas summer night could be. The buzz of the insects and the rustle and call of the nocturnal animals felt familiar to Esme and were a white noise that made her feel she was home. The moon was high and bright, illuminating the rushing and recently risen river below her. Summer storms had made their way through, a brief break to the smothering heat and filling the formerly waning river bed. It made for a great day on these rare summer occurrences, floating about lazily and working on her tan, drinks were plentiful between friends and you could let any stress you had floated down the river after you left. As she gripped the old iron railing of the backroad bridge, feeling the failing paint flaking under her anxious hands, she knew those golden days of youth and summer were falling behind her now. The river would take her trouble away tonight, but in the morning a whole new set would emerge in their place. Even so, this is what she wanted, deep down she knew the conversation she was about to have wasn’t going to be one with a happy ending, and she’d prepared for that. Still, until she heard the words from his lips herself, that last bit of naivete she had left would hope against hope that this night wouldn’t end in tears.

Burning Star ( din djarin x reader )

You couldn’t recall the exact BBY you’d met The Mandalorian. But then again, you weren’t even sure of your birth year, so dates tended to blend into one another in your memory. You recalled every encounter though, every mission he’d asked you to assist him on, the times you’d healed him and his ship, and especially the time he’d come to your planet for refuge with a strange but endearing little green creature. Your small, backwater planet didn’t have much. But that was one of the main things that had drawn you to it. Your parents were nomads, and you’d adopted the same after their death. So you made yourself a home on a green little planet after years of travel. It homed tiny hubs for weary travelers dotted along with the mountainous surface. But the one they called Mando always came to yours.

NO. 9: The Body (diego hargreeves x f!oc discovery of superpowers)

From the view from her apartment window, only slightly obscured by the fire escape, Eve looked out on the gloomy sunrise falling over the New York City street below. The fog and steam from the light drizzle on the street grates blended with the haze of her coffee cup as she took a moment to gather herself, feel the calm at the moment before the chaos of her job began.

Eve was all about function over fashion these days. Her childhood had held many questionable punk ensembles and thrifted, or even stolen pieces that were worn down to bare threads. But now her clothes usually consisted of scrubs, so she opted for comfort usually. She savors the last of her coffee and the peace of her small home and makes her way out into the world to begin another long, chaotic 12-hour shift.

Mae Flowers (alfie solomons x f!oc Mae white witch/immortal soulmate au)

The year is 2018, a long, long way away from his birth year of 1893. He stands in front of the Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies in New Orleans, Louisiana. A place that had been around longer than he had. This place and the supreme, Fiona Goode had served as a haven and an ally for him for many years. It seemed no matter the type of witchcraft, save for the spat between the witches and the voodoo practitioners, this place could serve as a resting place, a pause in whatever journey anyone with powers might find themselves on.

He'd been drawn to New Orleans, his inner voice, his darkness kept pointing it out to him, whispering it to him. It'd all started about a year ago, only growing in intensity since. Once the odd dreams had started, and for the life he had lived, odd was saying something. Once they had started, his usual blackness, an endless, timeless void that lay before him in his unconsciousness, there started to appear small specks of light.

Nightmares were eased with more pleasant thoughts and memories that were not his own. Once he felt his darkness recoil from the light in his dreams he knew something had changed, something was different. He'd heard of awakenings like these from others of his kind but it'd been so long that he'd been alone in his own dark soul that he had thought that he would be alone there forever.

#tag game

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new-employeeamillion · 1 year

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Video teaser

Right before I begin work on my annual “Best Episodes” list for the year, I’ll put out a new review of Codename: Kids Next Door for its 20th anniversary on December 6th. I won’t directly reveal what episodes it’ll be about, but since it’s a birthday, hopefully it’ll be easy to guess. But what I wanted to make note of before I get into producing the video is some observations I made with the series’ finale special, Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.

Being a very important KND adventure, obviously, Father appears. But I believe this is the last time we’ve ever seen a Cartoon Network character smoking a pipe. (Correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m not a galaxy brain expert on modern CN.) I thought that was worth bringing up because you never see characters smoking in children’s media anymore, even in a negative context. You’d see pipes once in a while on the channel back in the Cartoon Cartoon days (Professor Utonium was shown with one in the earlier PPG episodes), but as time’s gone on, people have become more aware of the health risks, and the image of the smoking silent gen dad these shows were paying homage to faded out of relevance, it makes sense why no CN character has stopped to take a puff since January 2008.

Speaking of that rough time period, it’s possible this is also the last Cartoon Network production to be produced in 4:3 and standard definition. All their in house productions since the start of 2007 have been animated in 16:9 and high definition (which aren’t the same thing, but I understand why they’re synonymous), but since KND was produced by Curious Pictures, that mandate must not have applied to their show. The only other episode of a Cartoon Network show that might have it beat is the sole episode of Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy’s 6th season, which was produced by A.K.A. Cartoon and aired in June 2008. But it might’ve been squished to fit the 4:3 aspect ratios most Americans were still using at the time, or stretched out for current day releases.

Either way, I’m so used to both looks that neither one looks right to me anymore. In the case of “better safe than sorry”, and Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy was the last 4:3 Cartoon Network production, 2nd last still isn’t a pointless honour.

And of course, Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S. is the last official KND production in nearly 15 years. Unless the planets align, the Age of Aquarius begins and CN picks up Galactic KND, it looks like that’s always going to be the case. Might as well make its birthday present this year extra special.

PS: Holy crap it’s SO much easier to post little observations like this on Tumblr than Twitter! There’s so much more room to post and say what you want. I’m surprised I didn’t move here sooner. I’ve always wanted a dedicated blog, perhaps I should make this account that.

#cartoon network #codename kids next door #ed edd n eddy

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firemedicdiaz · 3 years

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The Road Will Lead You Home Again

Fandom: 9-1-1. Pairing: Buddie. Word Count: 2201. Genre: fluff. Rating: teen+. Summary: Eddie goes over to Buck’s to pick up Christopher, or how 4x08 should have ended. Warning(s): alcohol mention. Note: Beta’d by @fireladybuckley. AO3 link here.

Buck jumped as his apartment door was thrown open and Eddie rushed in, his expression bordering on unhinged. Buck hadn’t been expecting him for at least another five minutes given the distance between Eddie’s house and his apartment, but it was unsurprising that Eddie had taken speed limits and stop signs as suggestions more than anything considering the fear and restless energy rolling off him in waves.

“Christopher?” Eddie barked, glancing around frantically.

Buck stepped closer, putting a hand on Eddie’s chest to stop him.

“In the bathroom,” Buck explained. “He’s fine.”

He could feel Eddie’s chest heaving under the strain of his emotions and a frantic rush up three flights of stairs. Buck watched Eddie’s face, waited. It took a few moments for his words to sink in, but Eddie finally relaxed a fraction, dropping his shoulders and meeting Buck’s eyes.

“I’m sorry about all this,” Eddie said with a shake of his head, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. “We’re going to have a long, hard talk about boundaries when we get home.”

Buck shook his head, dropping his hand as Eddie calmed.

“Not until you’ve slept on it,” Buck said softly. “Christopher is going through some stuff right now and he needs kindness, not a reprimand.”

Buck could feel the tension return to Eddie’s body even though they were no longer touching.

“You think you know how to parent my son better than I do?”

Buck raised his hands in an attempt to diffuse the tension as Eddie went on the defensive.

“I’m not saying that,” Buck said quickly. “I’m just saying that we had a heart-to-heart and that I really think Chris could use some reassurance that this - you dating Ana - doesn’t mean that he’s going to be left behind.”

Eddie almost visibly flinched at Buck’s words, the anger leaving him in a rush, replaced by a sudden chill, an understanding. Eddie cursed quietly and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Is that what he said?”

Buck nodded, turning on his heel and making his way into the kitchen. Eddie followed along, leaning on the counter as Buck pulled two beers from the fridge and uncapped them, sliding one across the marble at Eddie.

“Between the shelter in place order and you dating again, he feels like everyone is leaving him,” Buck explained, taking a sip of his beer and regarding Eddie. “He told me that you promised him the two of you would try new things together after the whole skateboarding debacle, but this kind of came out of nowhere.”

Eddie cursed again, the conversation from that day coming back to haunt him. Of course Christopher was upset; bringing someone new into the family was a huge step, and Eddie hadn’t even asked Chris how he felt about it.

“Maybe you do know more about parenting him than I do,” Eddie said with a bitter laugh, his voice hollow.

“Come on, man, you know that’s not it,” Buck assured him, setting down his beer and coming around to Eddie’s side of the counter. He put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, and Eddie would be lying if he said Buck’s touch wasn’t exactly what he needed right then. “Christopher came to me because he needed a friend, but he’s going to need his dad to walk him through this new normal.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Eddie lamented.

Buck’s hand stayed in place, its weight grounding Eddie as anxiety gnawed at him. It was terrifying, the realization that Christopher was growing up, understanding more than Eddie was giving him credit for, and Eddie wasn’t sure he was ready to take on some of the big conversations they needed to have. Shannon would have been great at it, and with her by his side it might not have been so dizzying, but he didn’t know how he was supposed to manage on his own.

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy,” Buck said sagely like he was reading off a motivational poster. “But it’s worthwhile, and you’re not alone. You’ve got Bobby, and Hen, and - and you’ve got me. I may not be a dad, but I was a pretty messed up kid. If nothing else, I can tell you what not to do.”

Eddie’s heart ached at Buck’s attempt at jest. Setting his beer down, he turned slowly to face his best friend, meeting Buck’s eyes. There, under a veil of confidence and conviction, behind the hurt at memories of his own childhood, Eddie saw a shadow of something different, something more. It was gone in a flash, before he could even begin to delve into it, but it made the gears in Eddie’s head turn a bit as he processed what that look might’ve meant.

Clearing his throat before he could get completely waylaid, deciding it was neither the time nor the place to dwell on whatever moment had just transpired, Eddie glanced around the apartment again.

“Christopher’s been in the bathroom a while, I should go check on him.”

“I’ll get him,” Buck interjected. “Make yourself at home.”

Eddie agreed with a nod, watching Buck disappear further into the apartment before making his way to the couch. Christopher’s crutches were propped against the side of it and Eddie relaxed a fraction at the tangible proof that Christopher was there and safe. He rested his elbows on his knees as he sat, dropping his head into his hands and wondering just where he’d screwed up parenting so badly that Christopher didn’t think he could open up and talk to him about what was on his mind.

“If we need to take a break, I’ll understand.”

Eddie smiled and held up a hand.

“Hold on, hold on. He and I can figure this out. In the meantime, I don’t want you going anywhere. Got that?”

Ana’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, not that he’d noticed it at the time. He’d been too busy looking ahead to a future where he wasn’t so cripplingly alone. Of course he had his coworkers and his family. He also had Buck.

Buck, who would drop everything to help out even without Eddie having to ask. Buck, whom Christopher looked at like he’d hung the moon. Buck, who was in his heart and on his mind even when he was miles away.

But he needed someone in the in-between. Someone whose touch could calm him, ground him, who could reassure him that maybe he wasn’t making an absolute mess of parenting, learning, and growing as a person. Someone who could be his heart and his soul. His best friend.

But he already had that too, didn’t he?

“I got it,” Ana’s voice called to him through the cobwebs, returning him to that moment.

“I’ll uh, talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

Eddie shook his head, dispelling the unwelcome flashback. His heart beat heavily in his chest at the implications of the memory and he nearly jumped as a weight landed on the couch beside him. Looking over, Eddie found Christopher sitting at his side, his head bowed and looking so much younger and more innocent than Eddie was used to seeing.

Any remaining anger that Eddie felt disappeared as Christopher worried with the hem of his shirt, not meeting Eddie’s eyes. Eddie shifted closer, putting an arm around Chris’ shoulders and pulling him close, pressing a kiss into Christopher’s hair.

“I’m glad you’re safe, mijo,” Eddie murmured, holding Christopher tightly enough that the boy squirmed in his grip. “You scared me.”

“Sorry, dad,” Christopher said quietly, keeping his gaze averted. “I won’t do it again.”

“I appreciate that, but I want you to know that I’m not mad at you. I understand.”

Eddie’s compassion piqued Christopher’s interest and he finally looked up, cautiously meeting Eddie’s gaze. Eddie smiled, brushing a few stray curls away from Christopher’s forehead.

“I was wrong, buddy, and I’m sorry,” Eddie said softly. “I should have talked to you before I started dating again. That’s on me. I made a promise to you and I broke it, and now I’m going to make it right, okay?”

“How?” Christopher asked.

“By starting over,” Eddie replied with a courage that he wasn’t sure he could live up to. “By breaking it off with her and by starting again with someone else, but only if that’s okay with you.”

Christopher considered the words for a moment and smiled, nodding as he leaned into Eddie again and wrapped his arms around him. Eddie let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and embraced Chris, holding onto him for a long moment. He glanced up as he sensed movement in the periphery of his vision and found Buck watching the two of them from the kitchen.

“Can you start over with Buck?” Christopher asked, and Eddie’s heart nearly stopped as he wondered whether Buck could hear them from his vantage point. Buck’s face gave nothing away, and Eddie operated on the hope that they were out of earshot as he agreed to something he thought he’d have a little more time to process before acting on.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Eddie whispered, holding Christopher just a little tighter to borrow some of the boy’s unbridled courage and enthusiasm. “Do you think he’ll say yes?”

Christopher giggled.

“Yeah! He promised he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Eddie’s heart leapt at the implications of Buck’s promise to Christopher, settling into a quick, erratic drumbeat as he wondered whether Buck’s sentiments would stay the same once Eddie came out and admitted that he’d love nothing more than to have Buck in their lives forever, and not just for evenings and weekends.

“Okay,” Eddie said quietly. “Do you think I should do it now?”

Christopher nodded, giving Eddie a playful shove to get him going. Eddie took a slow, deep, steadying breath and stood, slipping his hands into his pockets to keep himself from fidgeting as he made his way into the kitchen. He could hear the drag of fabric on fabric as Christopher swiveled on the couch and he could feel Chris’ gaze on him as he made his way toward Buck. Buck’s expression was quizzical as Eddie approached and he slid Eddie’s beer in his direction again as though sensing Eddie’s nervousness.

“Good talk?” Buck asked casually.

“Yeah, I think so,” Eddie replied. “We came to an understanding.”

Buck raised an eyebrow, wordlessly encouraging Eddie to go on.

“I’m breaking up with Ana.”

Eddie had expected surprise, disbelief, maybe, but not the warmth and approval that Buck’s expression held.

“You’re a good dad, Eddie. Chris is lucky to have you, and I’m sure you’ll find someone even better for you one day.”

Eddie picked up his beer and averted his gaze as he took a long swig.

“I’ve already got someone better.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie watched Buck tilt his head curiously. He could feel those blue eyes burning a hole straight through him and he took another sip before setting his beer down. The clink of glass on marble was louder than he’d intended as the bottle slipped from his nervous fingers and it didn’t escape Buck’s notice.

“Eddie?”

“I’ve had someone better for a while,” Eddie continued before he could talk himself out of it. “I just hope he’ll have me back.”

Eddie looked over pointedly to meet Buck’s gaze. He watched Buck process, the other man’s expression changing from confusion, to realization, to acceptance, and then to something else. Something that made Eddie weak-kneed as he realized just how desperately he’d wanted to see it in Buck’s eyes for so long. For longer than he cared to admit.

Approval.

“You mean… me?”

Buck had to be sure, of course. He had feelings of his own, feelings his tone and the way the words caught in his throat when he’d asked Eddie about his date had nearly belied. He’d never been good at reading people, though, and as much as he knew Eddie inside and out, he found it even harder to read him, and so he’d kept those feelings to himself. To see them being reciprocated was something Buck was both desperate and completely unprepared for.

“Yeah, Buck, I mean you.”

Their gazes stayed locked as Eddie moved around the counter between them, closing in on Buck. Eddie bit his lip, feeling suddenly shy, unsure of himself, and Buck’s heart swelled with love. Buck broke into a soft, easy smile, reaching out to wrap his arms around Eddie as the other man stepped into reach. Eddie sagged into Buck’s embrace, locking his hands around Buck’s waist and holding onto him, breathing him in.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”

Eddie pulled back just enough to be able to see Buck’s face. He chuckled softly, inhaling sharply a moment later as Buck tilted his head, pressing his lips to Eddie’s, effectively stealing his breath away. The joy Eddie felt as they connected was so deep and fulfilling that any doubts he had went up in smoke and he smiled into the kiss as Chris’ cheers of celebration filled the air.

#9-1-1 #Buddie #Evan Buckley #Eddie Diaz #Christopher Diaz #9-1-1 fanfiction #fanfiction #missing scene

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