#protective!eddie

[bettyfrommars]

I'm on Fire

biker!eddie x fem!artist!reader

Part 17: A creature of love, I can't be tamed

masterlist playlist

18+ONLY, series typical violence, alcohol consumption, unprotected sex with someone other than Eddie and reader, hate-fucking (consensual), oral (m receiving), sexual harassment, biker!steve, biker!billy, protective!eddie, rocker!nancy

word count: 6.4k

songs: I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Wild Child by W.A.S.P. and Cinnamon Girl by Type O Negative

The second half of your first night back at the Velvet Hammer heats up with Eddie on stage, Charlene on the premises with Billy, and Steve working through his emotions in a moment of carnal desire.

authors note: It has felt so good to get back to writing this story, I missed our biker boys so much. It will probably be another week or two until the next part, but you won't have to wait too long. Thank you for your patience, I love you.

There came the sound of shrill feedback from the stage, and the drummer twisted his stick around his fingers before clapping the high hat. You took your break and met Eddie over by the carpeted hallway.  The two of you huddled together, out of view from the front half of the bar, including Charlene and Billy.  

“What’s Steve going to do?” You hushed, feeling the familiar anxiety rise inside of you that someone might get hurt again.  

“Nothing for now,” Eddie exhaled.  You put your hand on his chest, and he held it there. “You let me worry about Steve and Charlene, you have enough to do.  I won’t let anything go sideways in here tonight.”

You told him about what you’d just learned from Shana, about Charlene being part owner of the Velvet Hammer, and he gave a slow blink, dragging out a long, ragged breath.  “Why does that not surprise me,” you could almost hear the wheels in his brain turning. “She can’t have this place, it’s ours,” he growled, walking you down the hall and clanking open the heavy metal back door to the alley.  

“But,” you started.  Eddie pulled a pack of smokes out of his front pocket and sparked a flame from his zippo to light the end.  “Isn’t it too late for that? It sounds like she already took it?”

You held two fingers like you were making a peace sign for Eddie to pass you a smoke and he raised his eyebrow at you curiously.  You gave a nod, answering his unspoken question, and he put a second one between his lips to light it for you before passing it over.  

You took a tiny drag and coughed smoke out of your nose at first, but then the second inhale was smoother.  Thanks to so many nights at the Hammer, your throat and lungs were sufficiently coated with tar and ready for the challenge.  

The other owner of the Hammer was a well known real estate investor and builder named Murray Bauman, and he was a friend of the MC.  They’d done several “jobs” for him over the years that were clean by MC standards, but dirty enough to ruin his reputation if they came to light. Murray was also notoriously unfriendly with the Gregson’s, and Eddie wondered how much Charlene had paid, and what kind of scandal she’d dug up on Stephen, to make him give up his share like that.  

Eddie tilted his head back, exposing his throat, to take a long, thoughtful drag, looking up at the clear sky that was blinking full of stars.  “I wish I could go back in time before I ever met Charlene, and avoid her at all costs.”

“I don’t know,” you looked down and kicked the heel of your shoe against your toe.  “She’s awfully determined.  I think she would’ve found you anyway.  Plus, I don’t think it’s you she wants anymore.”

“I feel responsible though,” Eddie muttered, blowing smoke out through tight lips. “For everything that’s happened to the people around me because of her.”

The sound of Nancy saying something into the mic, followed by the crowd cheering, came muffled through the door, and you really wanted to change the subject, to pull him out of his dark thoughts.  “I’d love to see you play tonight,” you told him right before both of your cherries glowed orange at the same time in the dark.  

“I don’t have my guitar here,” he stated the obvious, sucking his tongue on the roof on a sharp inhale, angling his head back to blow smoke up while keeping his eyes on you.  “But I might sing one or two with her.  Just for you.”

“You can sing too?” Your eyes got wide like a little kid watching the twinkling lights on a Christmas tree.

“Hi, baby, have we met?” He scoffed, slipping his bottom lip through his teeth to repress a grin, and then he winked at you and smashed his smoke on the brick wall before throwing it in the dumpster. He caught you by the hips and pulled you flush to him.  “I mean, I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

—--------

Back on his stool, Steve rolled a toothpick between his lips while he scanned the crowd, and did his best not to look over at Billy and Charlene. He wasn’t sure what was eating at him more; the fact that she had the nerve to show up after everything, or that she was there with Billy.  

The crew from Lucifer’s Own were known for doing the dirty deeds no other MC would touch.  They ran a high-end escort service on the outskirts of town, and did a lot of blow and opiate smuggling over the border.  It was also a front for an underground fighting ring that was dirty and rigged, and sometimes, the fools who participated ended up with broken bones, or had their lights turned out completely.  

Billy Hargrove and Steve went way back, and they’d actually been friendly acquaintances for a while back in high school, until Billy had pursued a girl Steve liked at the time just to piss him off. Also, to prove to Steve that he could take whoever he wanted.  “Nothing wrong with a little competition, right, Harrington?” Is that what this was? Was Billy escorting Charlene around just to rub it in Steve’s face?

“Yeah, well, you can have her,” Steve mumbled to himself under his breath, thoughts racing so fast that he was starting to talk to himself, head bent to work the end of the toothpick with his fingers.  “Good luck with that one, buddy, you’ll need it.”

There was more feedback from the speakers.  “Hey there Hawkins, who is ready to rock?” Nancy purred into the microphone, one hand gripping the fretboard of her guitar before she slung the strap around her body. People shouted and cheered, and there were a few high-pitched whistles of encouragement.

The bassist with the band looked like a younger version of Eddie, but with a mane of black hair that was thick with tight curls, and the drummer had a black goatee and long, straight hair way past his shoulders.  The backup guitarist looked like he was cut right out of the James Hetfeild playbook.  

“We’re gonna start out with a little something familiar to get y’all warmed up,” Nancy said into the mic.  “This one is called I Hate Myself for Loving You.”

The crowd roared, pounding their fists on the tables.  Nancy said a countdown before she began a slow clap to the beat and the drums kicked in, deep bass vibrating in the walls.  

When Steve looked up, he saw Charlene making her way across the room, either for the payphone or the restrooms, and Steve straightened up, wondering if he should say something to her.  He went up to the bar and patted Thumper on his broad back, asking him to watch the door for a few minutes.  Thumper was three beers and several shots in, but was not yet showing any signs of inebriation.  He fisted a handful of his graying beard and told Steve it was no problem.  

“Midnight, gettin' uptight, where are you?

You said you'd meet me, now it's quarter to two

I know I'm hangin' but I'm still wantin' you…”

He followed but he hung back, hiding in the crowd until he saw her go into one of the bathrooms.  When you and Eddie came out from the alley, you found Steve leaning against the wall that was heavily papered in band flyers, next to the payphone.  

Eddie was walking behind you,his hands firm on your hips, moving his legs in time with yours.  You both came to a halt at the sight of Steve, and you had to shove off, back to work, but Eddie took your hand to kiss your knuckles before you walked away.

“Everything cool?” Eddie asked his friend, checking around to make sure no chaos had ensued while he’d been outside with you.  There was a huge crowd there, packed in like sardines.  All of the tables and bar stools were occupied, and plenty of people were taking advantage of the standing room only, blocking most of the walkways.  

“I’m not sure yet, man,” Steve put his head back against the wall, Adam’s apple jutting out.  “But I’ll let you know.”

“I called Van and told him to get over here with Devlin,” Eddie let him know.  “Just in case more of Lucifer’s Own try to cause trouble.”

Steve only nodded, absently, his eyes twitching to the bathroom door every so often.  Eddie clapped Steve a few times on the arm before turning to watch the band as he pushed his way through the crowd.  Nancy made her fingers into devil horns in the air at him and Eddie returned the gesture, raising his arm high.  

“I think of you every night and day

You took my heart and you took my pride away…”

The crowd was stomping their feet to the rhythm and belting out the chorus.  Nancy detached the mic from the stand to make her way across the stage.  

The second Steve saw the door open, he took long strides across the hallway to keep Charlene from exiting, pushing her back inside the single-person bathroom.  She did not protest as he braced the door and locked it behind him, turning to face her with a tight jaw.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Char?”

“What do you think I’m doing here?” She hushed it, dropping her gaze as if suddenly she was afraid to look at him.  “I missed you.”

“Jesus Christ, Charlene, you need to stop.” He rubbed his hands down his face, exasperated.  “I’m sorry for how I treated you at the hotel, but this needs to end.”

“But what if I don’t want to stop?” She closed in on him, lifting her hands to hold his face, but he blocked the effort, restraining her at the wrists. “What if I want you so bad, it hurts?”

He met her eyes.  “You miss me and you thought fucking Billy would be the answer?”

“We’re not fucking, it’s not like that with him.  Not like it was with you.”  She struggled a little in his grasp just so he would tighten his grip on her.

Steve scoffed.  “You mean, not like it was with me and Eddie and your husband and every other dude you’ve spread your legs for in this town?” Steve wasn’t one to judge, not with the amount of pussy he’d run through over the years, but still, showing up with one of his rivals was a low blow.  

Charlene slammed forward so that Steve’s back hit the door, her breath hot and urgent on his neck. “No one fills me up like you do.  I need your cock to split me open one last time, Stevie, please.”

She sank to her knees, kissing down his chest as she went, and he let her, releasing her wrists so that she could make quick work of unbuttoning his Levi’s.  She licked around his balls and nuzzled her face in the hair at the base of his thick shaft, making hungry gasps of need as she did so.

He hissed when the fat head of his cock sank into her mouth. “Juss…just one more time,” he groaned as she lapped him up.  She hummed around his length and nodded, looking up at him, agreeing as her lips strained to take the measure of his girth.  

“I know you’re angry, Steve,” she flicked her tongue out over the ridge a few times like a poisonous snake about to strike.  “I want you to take it out on me.”

He fisted a handful of her hair, tight, so that he controlled the movements of her head, and it made her whimper with pleasure.  

—------

The next song Divine Filth sang was an original, a real headbanger that had Nancy growling into the mic and jabbing her devil horn fingers in the air. The bass guitarist’s fingers strummed the keys while the drummer spun his sticks high in the air and caught them.  You noticed that a few of the male patrons were choosing to go outside to take a piss, which meant there was another line at the bathrooms again, but you were too busy to go over and check out why.  

While Erika was on her break, it was your responsibility to go over and check on Billy, since Jackie was working the other side of the room.  Two more of the Coffin Kings had just arrived and Eddie was out in the parking lot having a talk with them, being that it was hard to have a conversation inside with the band playing. 

You made your way over to Billy’s table, noticing that Charlene was nowhere to be found.  One side of his mouth lifted in a crooked grin while he watched you approach, and you wondered if he knew who you were and who you belonged to.  You also wondered if he gave a shit.

As you got closer, you noticed that he had a pronounced scar from his eye to his jaw, and he didn’t have a ton of tattoos like the other boys, but there was the word “mother” above a heart with a dagger through it just under the sleeve of his t-shirt on his bicep and a Lucifer’s Own insignia on his opposite forearm.  

He was slouched down a bit in his seat, knees spread wide, voice raised to be heard over the music.  “You must be War Machine’s old lady,” he gave you a lift of his chin.

“You are correct,” you said with your best customer service smile.  

“Damn,” his hand made a cage around the pack of smokes on the table so he could pull it toward him.  His eyes locked onto your face, unwavering.  “That son of a bitch always had good taste.”

“If you say so,” you checked over your shoulder, expecting to see Eddie charging over with that dangerous scowl on his face, but he wasn’t inside yet.  You cleared your throat.  “Can I get you anything else?”

He ordered another beer for himself and a tequila for Charlene, even though you knew she was much more of a wine drinker.  

“Just put it on Charlene’s tab,” he said with a wink, alluding to the fact that she was practically your boss now. “But this is for you,” and before you could reach for the 20 dollar bill he had in his hand, he was stuffing it into the waistband of your shorts, fingers grazing your bare skin, watching the discomfort wash over your face as he did so.

You turned on your heel without another word, bee-lining back to the bar, when Eddie stepped through the main door so abruptly, you almost crashed into him.    

Devlin and Van moved around the two of you while Eddie put one hand on your lower back and the other cupped the back of your neck.  “You okay, baby?” He mumbled, lips grazing the shell of your ear.

You nodded, but then Eddie looked over in the direction you had just come and saw Billy there, flicking the flame on his lighter and watching the interaction between the two of you.  You knew what Eddie was looking at by the way his body tensed.  “Did Billy say something to you?”

“I had to wait on his table while Erika was on her break,” you were pulling your boyfriend away as you were talking, practically dragging him back to his seat at the bar.  “Nothing happened, I’m fine.  I just missed you.”

On stage, Nancy lit into a mean guitar solo.

“You sure?” Eddie’s stare was hard.  

“Hey,” you grabbed Eddie’s face, making him look at you. “Baby, can’t you see? He wants to start trouble.  Just ignore him.  Please, for me.”

“Did he touch you?”  His jaw muscles bulged and a dark fell over his brown eyes, making them almost black.

“No baby,” you hummed the lie.  Eddie had quite a bit of common sense, more so than Steve when it came to affairs of the heart, but you knew that someone would get hurt if you told him about the way Billy had slid that money into your shorts.  You had no doubt that Eddie could handle himself, but you didn’t want there to be any more fighting; everyone had already been through enough.  Plus, Billy was not the first guy at the Hammer to overstep, and he wouldn’t be the last.  Sadly, that was the nature of the work, you’d come to realize. 

Eddie took a breath and lowered his forehead to yours, slotting his fingers around your ears so that his thumbs grazed your cheeks.  “I’ll be good, sweetheart,” he promised.

Everyone clapped at the end of the song and then you heard Eddie’s name being said over the speakers.

“We’re lucky enough to have the frontman for Corroded Coffin here with us tonight,” Nancy started.  “And he said he might get up here for a song or two.  What do you say, Munson?”

The crowd went wild at that suggestion, and some even chanted his last name, punching fists into the air.  Nancy motioned him on stage with a few scoops of her fingers.

“I guess I’m doing this,” he said, parting your lips with his tongue for a brief but firm kiss before he made his way to the stage.  The James Hetfield guy was already taking off his guitar to hand it to Eddie before he could protest, and they clapped hands together in greeting.  Your “old man” was adjusting the strap over his shoulder when he looked out over the sea of heads and caught your eye. 

“I love you,” Eddie mouthed, taking the pic off of the chain that he had dangling around his neck.  

—-------

Five minutes earlier, Steve had Charlene bent over the sink in the bathroom, jeans low on his hips, yanking her head back by the throat as he jackhammered himself inside of her.  

“Tighter,” she whined, and his fingers closed in on her windpipe.  He’d pushed her thong to the side and was spitting every so often so that he could watch it slide down her slit and mix with the frothing wet mess of her arousal where his cock sank into her.  He didn’t need the saliva to lube his brutal pace, but he liked the idea of spitting on her, it helped him work through his hatred.  

“God Steve, you’re so fucking good, fuckkk,” she dragged the last word out as hips clapped onto her with rapid, forceful grunts, making her whole body jerk each time he made contact.

He slowed the pace for a few thrusts so that he could spit again, and then he used his thumb to rub the saliva around the pink hole that tightened at his touch.  He’d never been with a woman who had every inch of hair removed like her, she looked like some kind of porn star. He wanted to be in her ass one last time, but it felt too tight and warm where he was.  He was close.

He let go of her throat and clutched her hips on either side in a way that would bruise, angling to finish himself off.  

“You’re such a fucking whore for my cock,” he bit out. He wished she didn’t feel so fucking good.  He wished that his disgust for her didn’t also turn him on in a way that made him uncomfortable.  

Charlene’s eyes rolled back in her head, orgasm mounting rapidly as he buried himself base deep to a point where the line between pleasure and pain was blurred.  She knew this was a farewell reminder, and it made her cry out his name.

“Fuck Steve, I’m cumming,” a few more pumps and she was exploding around his length, legs shaking at the way the wave crashed over her, making her see white.

“Get on your knees,” Steve told her, his hips stuttering.  When she was down in front of him, he jerked himself the rest of the way off onto her outstretched tongue, ropes of cum painting her chin and dripping down to her cleavage.  He made her lick the rest of him clean, and then she sucked her fingers.  

Someone knocked on the bathroom door.

“Yeah, hold your fucking horses,” Steve shouted, pulling his jeans up.  He helped Charlene get her bodysuit back on and zipped up.  He almost kissed her, but then he remembered who she was.  

He checked himself in the mirror and slicked his hair back before letting her know she should wait a minute until after he was gone before she followed him out.  She was cleaning the mascara that had leaked down her cheeks, and was about to apply more lipstick, when she caught his eyes on her in the reflection.  

“What if I told you I had a gift for you?” Her expression was coy.

Steve sighed.  “I don’t want anything from you, Char. This was it, I’m done, I mean it.”

She rolled the red lipstick out of its gold tube.  “What if it was something that would change your life?”

He thought about that, wetting his lips.  “Listen, we’re never gonna fuck again.  I don’t care if you buy me a Ferrari.”

“Well, it’s better than a car,” she huffed a small laugh.  “Let’s just call it a…parting gift.  A way for me to say sorry for everything I put you and Eddie through.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest and put his back against the door.  “Yeah, well, if this is about to be some grande gesture from you, I’d like to know what the catch is.”

She turned to him, fixing the ends of her hair around her face. “No catch, not this time,” she took a step forward, holding her black clutch in one hand.  “Listen, I know it sounds childish and stupid, but I think I…I think I fell in love with you.” She furrowed her brow as if the sentiment didn’t make sense to her, as if she’d never grasped the weight of the words before.

Steve couldn’t help himself, he rolled his eyes and barked a laugh, thoroughly amused. 

“I can’t change the past,” she tried to push her chest out, to get her statuesque posture back.  “But I can try to make it up to you.  To both of you.”

“Yeah?” Steve gave her a bored shrug.  “Personally, I think you’re way past the point of redemption.”

“Maybe,” she pressed her lips together and took hold of the door handle.  “I guess we’ll see.”

—------

All of your attention was eyes front on Eddie as he leaned over to discuss something with Nancy, lengthening the strap on his guitar as he spoke.  You barely noticed someone trying to make their way through the crowd until Steve bumped into your shoulder, making you sway on your feet.

“Oh, shit, sorry,” he caught you and helped you find your balance.  “I didn’t see you there.”

Steve looked…disheveled, and his face was flushed, as if he’d just run around the block. There were lines in his hair from raking his fingers through it so many times.

“You good?” You called after him, but all he offered was a “thumbs up” over his shoulder.  

It was barely a minute before you caught sight of Charlene coming out of the hallway, following in his wake.  She had a pink flush to the pale skin of her throat, almost a perfect handprint impression, and your brain was busy putting the pieces together when Nancy got back on the mic. 

“This one is called Wild Child,” Nancy started on the guitar and people in the crowd got crazy again.  The Hell’s Belle next to you whistled so loud, it almost blew your eardrum out.  You weren’t too familiar with the band W.A.S.P. before Eddie, but you knew the song, and waited eagerly to hear his voice as he leaned in, moving his fingers along the strings.

“I ride, I ride the winds that bring the rain

A creature of love, and I can't be tamed

I want you, 'cause I'm gonna take your love from him

And I'll touch your face and hot burning skin

No, he'll never ever touch you like I do…”

He squeezed his eyes shut as he sang the first bit, hair hanging down his shoulders, muscles flexing under the ink that covered his forearms and hands.  When his eyes opened, he found you in the crowd, and your heart swelled at the way he cracked a smile around the words at the sight of you.  

“So look in my eyes and burn alive, the truth

I'm a wild child, come and love me

I want you…”

God, he was magic up there.  He looked like a natural, holding that guitar in his hands, the way his fingers flew deftly to each note.  

And he was all yours.  

The chorus came and you sang the words, smiling so hard already, your cheeks hurt.  You’d never known your eyes to “sparkle” like a cartoon before, but you felt like that’s what they were doing. 

“My heart's in exile, I need you to touch me

'Cause I want what you do

I want you”

Someone grabbed your elbow, and you spun around to see who it was.

Jackie had a full tray in her hand, trying to balance it amidst the moving bodies.  “Hey, are you on the floor right now? Don’t mean to be a bitch, but I need you.  A table full of jarheads just showed up.” 

“Oh shit, right,” you’d honestly forgot where you were for a moment, you’d been so caught up in that Munson Magic.  You took another glance at the stage, wanting to catch Eddie’s eye, but he was looking down at his hands, concentrating on where they worked the guitar.  

The table in your section that Jackie mentioned had seven guys in their mid-twenties sporting that type of “high and tight” haircut that you saw almost exclusively with members of military or law enforcement, and you took a deep breath, because you never knew what the vibe would be for those types of men who visited the Hammer.  Either they’d be extremely polite like they just came from church, or they’d be vile and disrespectful.  

“What’ll it be tonight, boys?” You asked, sidling up to their table.  “Buy one pitcher of draft and get the next half off.” 

They all turned to appraise you, not caring that the way their lewd stares locking on your body and tits made you uncomfortable.

“See, I told you,” the dark haired one said to the one in the red and white striped polo shirt.  “The bitches here are super hot.”

You gulped, doing your best to restrain from looking as disgusted as you felt while they talked about you like you weren’t even there.  

“How much for you to sit in my lap?” One of them asked.

“How much for you to suck me off?” One of them whispered, and the whole table guffawed into the type of laughter that was not warranted for something that was so not funny.

You checked over your shoulder for Steve, and he appeared to be escorting someone out who’d just been cut off.  There was a bench outside, and he always had them wait there while he called a member of their family or a taxi to come pick them up.  The guy was having a hard time getting his legs to work, and Steve had to practically carry him out. 

You glanced up at the stage when the other song ended, and you could tell Eddie was searching for you, and so you stuck your hand up in the air to catch his attention.  

“This one is for my girl,” he pushed hair out of his face and the sentiment made you freeze.  A goofy grin stretched across your face and you let out an actual giggle.  You were very familiar with the opening notes of Cinnamon Girl by Type O Negative.  

“So, a pitcher of beer, then?”  You asked, distracted, but in a much better mood than you were a few seconds ago.  The guys at the table were too busy being crass to decide what they wanted to drink, so you chose for them.  They agreed on the pitcher, and ordered a round of shots. 

You kept your attention on Eddie as you made your way across the space, and your heart was in your throat at how proud you were to be his.  His voice was deep and powerful, and it seemed like no one could pull their eyes away. The air was a bit humid inside, and you could see a sheen of sweat on his skin already glistening, bangs sticking to his forehead.  He’d taken off his Coffin Kings cut and shirt, so he was up there in a ribbed, white tank of the Hanes variety, exposing the wash of dark tattoos over his shoulders and arm muscles that bulged from hours upon hours of manual labor.  

“I want to live with a cinnamon girl

I could be happy the rest of my life with her

A dreamer of pictures, I run in the night

You see us together, chase the moonlight…”

At the bar, you considered letting Van and Devlin know that there were some guys there who might start trouble now that Steve was distracted, but then you remembered that you were the bad bitch who stabbed Craig in the balls and brought him to his knees—-you could handle a few young douchebags.  

You gave Shana the drink order while Eddie’s deep voice bellowed, “my cinnamon girl, my cinnamon girl…” to the collective swooning of the crowd.  

You waited on two other couples, lingering in the middle of the room so that you could see Eddie more clearly, dragging your feet before you had to return to the guys with the matching haircuts.  

You took a cleansing breath and squared your shoulders before heading back.  You tried not to be bothered by the way the dudes checked you out as you put the drinks down.  When you were finished, the guy closest to you, with close-set eyes and a thick neck, ran his hand up the back of your leg.

“Hey,” your stare hardened on him and you stepped away, eyebrows pinching together.  “No touching.”

The guys all snickered at that, as if it was so funny that they all knew they weren’t supposed to touch the staff, but they still got away with it.  

“No he’s sorry, really,” said the tall, skinny one who hadn’t spoken up yet.  His face was unreadable, you couldn’t tell if he was being a shitheel or not.  The table fell silent for a beat.  “But we would really like to know how much it would cost for handjobs, all around.  Is there a group price for you girls?”

More idiotic cackling.

You turned to leave them, to go find Steve, to let him know you needed his assistance, but the one with the blonde hair and Limp Bizkit shirt caught you by the arm, digging his fingers in, and yanked you back so that his other hand could roam the curve of your ass.  “Just a little feel, baby, we’ll tip good,  I promise.”

You pushed him off and were just about to yell for Steve or Thumper when you saw the guy across the round table get his face smashed into the wood, so hard that blood splattered and you could hear the sick crack of breaking bone.

You were surprised to see Billy there, standing behind the one who was clutching his broken nose and wailing.  He was smiling, cigarette bobbing between his lips.  “I think you bozo’s should apologize to the lady.”

You hadn’t heard the music stop, didn’t realize that the commotion had drawn most of the attention to you.

In a flash, the guy in the Limp Bizkit shirt was ripped from his seat, and there was Eddie, picking him up by the throat to punch him across the face, sending him flying.

The impact made saliva and possibly a tooth go spitting from his mouth and you screamed at the shock of it.  

“Eddie look out!” You shouted.  The tall one was about to take a cheap shot at Eddie’s ribs while he sank another punch into the guy’s jaw, but you came down with your serving tray as hard as you could and nailed him.

“Holy shit,” Steve cursed when he stuck his head inside to see what the commotion was.  Thumper was nowhere to be found, and Steve figured he was taking a piss.  Starting brawls inside the Hammer was not protocol.  Bouncers were always encouraged to take everything outside, but now it was too late.  

“Get her out of here!” you heard Steve’s voice, he was talking to Devlin, and then you were being pulled back by cautious hands, away from the chaos. 

One of the jarheads was just about to break a beer glass over Eddie’s head, but Billy showed up out of nowhere and kicked him in the back, sending the asshole flying right into Steve’s awaiting fist.  The guy’s body crashed into a table, shattering glasses, and making the other patrons scatter.  

“You better leave this one for me, Harrington,” Billy smiled and wiggled his tongue.  “Wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours.”

Billy was helping them, and that was a twist you hadn’t expected.  Perhaps it wasn’t so much for them as for himself, since you could tell Billy had been looking for a fight all night.  

Steve got one of the other guys in a choke hold and began to drag him outside.  Billy made wide eyes at one of the leftover trouble makers and charged after him, making the guy shriek like he was about to pee his pants before running from the building.    

While the one Eddie had been punched was babbling at the foot of unconsciousness on the ground, he took hold of the one with the close-set eyes and the thick neck who had rubbed your leg first.

Eddie had been watching, and quick to cut off before the end of the song to jump down from the stage in a blinding rage.

Devlin held you loosely by the arms, but you shook him off, and stood next to Shana and Erika, continuing to keep your distance for the sake of Eddie and Steve’s peace of mind, and wincing each time one of the other dudes took a hard hit from one of the Coffin Kings.  

Eddie took the guy by the shirt and sent a punch into his stomach.  Mister Thick Neck doubled over but then Eddie took him by the throat and slammed him into the nearest wall.  Eddie had his fist winding back for a punch when Steve shouted his name to get his attention.  

The rest of the dickheads had been escorted outside by a few Hell’s Belle’s, while the rest of the crowd kept their distance.  You saw Charlene in the far corner, touching up her lipstick in a compact mirror, seemingly unphased by it all.  

“Not in here,” Steve pleaded with Eddie, breathlessly.  “Like you said.”

Eddie’s eyes were black and cold like that of a shark.  His mouth trembled with the urge to actually bite into the guy’s face, to mutilate him with his bare teeth and make him beg for mercy.

Eddie banged the guy's body into the brick wall again, locking him there with his forearm.  “Apologize to my girl,” he growled.

The buzz cut guy coughed and struggled, having a hard time breathing. “I don’t know who your girl is, man,” he was only able to squeak out a mild protest under the pressure of Eddie’s grip.  

“Your waitress,” Eddie hissed through gritted teeth.

The guy against the wall tried to turn his head to look for you, but Eddie squeezed his face.  “You don’t get to look at her,” Eddie fumed.  “Just say you’re sorry.”

Multiple desperate “sorry’s” followed, and then Eddie told Steve to get the guy’s wallet to take all of the cash out.  A quick count said there was about a hundred bucks.

“That’ll be her tip,” Eddie announced, dragging him by the shirt collar to take him outside with the rest.  

They were all told to empty their wallets of their cash, and Steve made a scene of noting the addresses on their driver’s licenses.  

“I have a memory like a steel trap,” Steve lied, pointing to his temple, grabbing the guy in the red and white polo by the side of his neck, getting up in his face.  “If you so much as walk by this place ever again, or tell the cops about this, you’ll see me in your nightmares. Now, get the fuck out of here before I call your mommies.”

You sank in next to Eddie’s side just outside the main entrance, and he put his arm around you.  “Will things ever calm down around here?” You asked with a heavy sigh, watching the broken group scurry and limp away down the street.

Eddie gave a low laugh and hugged you a bit tighter.  “God, I hope so, baby.”

Divine Filth started another song, to try and get things back to normal, and most of the crowd returned to their drinks as if there had not been actual bloodshed just five minutes ago.

No one but Shana heard the phone next to the cash register ring over the sound of the music, but after a few seconds, she shrugged by you and Eddie to stick her head out and scan the sidewalk.

"Steve?" She craned her neck to look for him.

"Yeah, that's me," he came from around the back side of the door, flicking his cigarette, knuckles split and bloody again.

"Some guy named Dustin called," she said, merely passing on a message. "He said Suzie just went into labor."

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Love love you all for cheering this story on, hope you enjoyed this one. Your thoughts and reblogs are appreciated and cherished.

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#I'm on Fire #Eddie munson fic #Eddie Munson series #biker!eddie #biker!steve #Stranger Things fic #Steve Harrington smut #biker au #90's au #Nancy Wheeler #Eddie munson x reader #Eddie Munson fanfic #Spotify #protective!eddie #jealous!eddie

[forays-into-fiction]

Why Don’t You Put on a Show

This is a fic for anon who sent in this request, I hope it lives up to your expectations and it’s at least somewhat what you were after. I know next to nothing about Playboy so I’m pulling most of this out of my ass lol

Part 2: When It Rains, It Pours  

Minors DNI

Contains: Rockstar!Eddie x Reader, All smut right at the end, Protective!Eddie, Honorifics/ Petnames (Sir, Babe, Baby, Sweetheart, Princess), Dry Humping, Strip Tease, Oral fixation, Slight Dom!Eddie/Sub!Reader, Slight Degradation/Name-calling (Slut), Dirty Talk, Unprotected Sex, Some Aftercare

You had been relaxing with Eddie in a moment of downtime, he was sat on the couch strumming away on his acoustic guitar working on something new for Corroded Coffin. You were curled up with a book, glancing at him every so often admiring his look of concentration, his little tongue poking out between his lips. The moment is interrupted by the phone ringing and you move to answer it.

“Ok, yeah. Thank you. Bye.” You hang up the receiver in the cradle a little shellshocked.

“Who was that, sweetheart?” Eddie pauses his strumming to ask, looking over to you.

“So… uh… I just got a call from someone at Playboy. They want me for a photoshoot.” You explain numbly.

“What?!” He exclaims incredulously.

You rush to assuage any of his concerns, “They’ve said it will be very tasteful, nothing to worry about. And we’ll be doing an interview too, you could… you could come with me for support.”

“No, I won’t let you.” He says firmly.

You cross you arms over your chest, tensing at his response, “Let me. Let me, hmm…it’s not up to you to let me or not. I am my own person and I am sick and tired of all the rumours people keep spreading about me… about us.”

“I’m just trying to protect you, y/n. You don’t know what it’s like doing these interviews. They pick apart every word you say, twist it around so it means something else entirely. I don’t want you to have to go through that, people aren’t entitled to you, or us… or… or…”

You soften at his tone, moving to sit beside him on the couch, rubbing his arm, “I know, babe, but maybe this’ll help satiate everyone’s curiosity, maybe it’ll die down after this.”

“I just don’t want you getting involved in something that could hurt you, there are people out there that can be so nasty. You know how people were to me before all of this, I don’t want anything like that falling back on you.”

You grasp his hands between your own looking into his eyes deeply, “People already say some shitty stuff about me babe, I know. I can ignore it, what’s some random person on the street matter? I’ll be ok, I want to do this.”

“You’re sure? There’s no talking you out of it?” He persists.

“Yep, I’m sure, I’m gonna do this interview. Really stake my claim on you, shout it out to the world ‘I love Eddie Munson’ and maybe that’ll finally shut everyone up.” 

The two of you stand before the sprawling mansion, “It’s very ‘Gothic-Tudor’.” You muse, staring up at the impressive detailing.

Eddie wraps an arm around you drawing you closer and pressing a kiss to your neck, “You wanna live in a place like this one day?”

“Oh, god no what would we do in a place this big?”

He smirks devilishly, “I think you know what we’d be doing in a place like this…” he wiggles his brows at you suggestively before continuing, “…sex, I mean sex.”

You roll your eyes at him, “Obviously you mean sex Eds. When are you ever not horny? Jesus.”

“Jesus ain’t got nothing to do with it babe, I may have the hair but that’s about it.”

You give his shoulder a shove, “Oh, ha ha real funny guy you are. Come on let’s head in.”

He grabs your wrist as you turn towards the door, tone shifting more seriously, “You sure you’re ready for this? No going back once everything is out there.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure.” You assure him.

“Alright then, let’s go.” He gives a sweeping gesture, indicating for you to proceed and follows along behind you.

The man who greets you at the door introduces himself as Lawrence, he’ll be the one conducting the interview. As you step into the great hall, you can see straight through to the terrace on the other side and the backyard beyond, to your left there’s an ornate double staircase, chandelier dangling from the ceiling before it. You are led through an archway to a living room, you take in the art on the wood-panelled walls before taking a seat with Eddie on the three-seater couch.

 “Ok, so the way we’re going to do this is, Mario is going to take y/n for her photoshoot.” Lawrence gestures to the man who has just entered the room.

“Now y/n is definitely the focus of this issue, but we were hoping we could get a few questions in with Eddie over here, while we have him.” He turns gesturing to your boyfriend.

“Once the photos are all done, y/n can join us for her interview. How does that sound?” He glances between the pair of you waiting for a response.

 You’re a little nervous, shifting uncomfortably, you thought you’d be able to have Eddie there while the photos were being done. He gives your hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze before answering for the pair of you, “It’s not exactly what we expected, but yeah that’s fine, right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I’ll be ok.” You say more to him than the interviewer.

“Great! That’s perfect.” Lawrence claps his hands together and Mario motions for you to follow him, you drop Eddie’s hand a little reluctantly and rise from the couch.

You’re led to a bedroom that’s been decked out for the photoshoot, lighting, those white reflectors, a backdrop screen, camera positioned on a tripod, the works. A team of people stands waiting with a rack of risqué outfits, another waiting to do your makeup, you’re feeling a little overwhelmed but they guide you through explaining, “You have a very mysterious image and we want to bring that out with these photos. How do you feel about…”

 The whole process passes by in a whirlwind, you feel like you’re barely absorbing anything they say, just reacting. Before you know it you’re slipping back into your own clothing and heading back to the living room.

 When you are reunited with Eddie, he moves to stand beside you pressing a kiss to your cheek, “How was it babe?”

“Uh… it was good, I think. It all went by so quick, I’m not sure I even had time to take it all in.”

He rubs your shoulder, “That’s ok, you ready for the interview now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

He leads you back to the couch, Lawrence grins at you and you give him a small smile back, before beginning hesitantly, “I… um, I’m not really sure how this is supposed to go. I’ve never done one of these before.”

“Just answer the questions, be yourselves and have fun… I’ll take it from there.” He replies, that doesn’t sound too bad you think to yourself.

“Ok, y/n how do you think you’re handling your new found fame along with your boyfriend’s rocket to stardom?”

 “It has been kind of a wild ride. I don’t really know why anyone is interested in me. I mean he’s the rockstar… I’m just like his little groupie, like I don’t really have anything to do with the band.”

 Eddie interrupts to add, “Oh, sweetheart you are so much more than that, I don’t know what I’d do without you… without all your support and love throughout all of this.”

 He turns to Lawrence, “You know, back when we were only performing at that little dive bar just outside of Hawkins. To no one mind you, but a handful of sloppy drunks with nothing better to do. She was out there putting together posters and making shirts and singing our praises to anyone that’d listen. She was our number one fan from day one. Well, that was after I finally convinced her to come see us play.” He chuckles.

 You feel yourself beginning to flush with embarrassment, “Oh shush, that makes me sound so bad… so desperate.”

 “No, it doesn’t, I think it’s cute.” Eddie says, slinging an arm around your shoulder.

“Yes, very cute…” Lawrence mumbles offhandedly scribbling away in a notebook. “Do you have a favourite Corroded Coffin song, y/n?”

 “Oh, that’s a hard one…” you giggle, “I love all their songs really, but a favourite… hmmm, I’d have to say it was the one Eddie dedicated to me on their first album.”

 He scribbles a little more before looking up, “So, everyone is dying to know, how did you two meet? How did all of this start?”

 “We, uh… we actually met in high school. Started dating our senior year,” you look to Eddie for support and he nods, squeezing your hand in his breifly, “Eddie had to repeat his final year a couple of times and I became his tutor and friend at first. I know a lot of people thought he was dumb because of that but that is so not true, he is soooo smart, just has a little trouble concentrating sometimes.”

They let you continue rambling, “And he is so talented, I mean clearly… but I remember one time we were sitting in his bedroom, he was sat on his bed strumming on his guitar along to a song he put on the radio. He’d said it was some new song by Metallica he was trying to learn. His hair was gathered up all low, messy in a hair tie, a pencil tucked behind his ear. Every now and then he’d pause the cassette, to make some notes in the book beside him, his tongue poking out between his teeth. I just couldn’t look away, I remember thinking ‘how could someone be this pretty’.” You sigh and look up at him.

 Eddie gapes at you, “Babe, that was way before we even started dating, I had no idea.” He chuckles then continues in a teasing, singsong voice, “You had a crush on meeee, that’s embarrassing for you.”

You slap him playfully, “Oh, shut up we are literally dating it’s not like you didn’t have a crush on me… and you’re the one that admitted it first so ha.”

You poke your tongue out at him and he does the same.

 “Awww, you were high school sweethearts that’s so precious.” The interviewer responds in a patronising tone. “Do you think you guys will last? How do you handle all these women throwing themselves at your man?”

 You feel a heat rising in your cheeks, tensing at the question. You ball your hands into fists trying to control the emotions that threaten to overwhelm you, he’s definitely hit a sore spot for you, one of your biggest insecurities. Eddie places his hand over yours rubbing gently before springing to your defence. 

“That was a very rude question, how dare you imply I would cheat or leave the love of my life for some stupid hookup. I love my fans, don’t get me wrong, but that is never happening.”

The interviewer presses on, “Yes, of course, but we want to know how she feels. It must be hard even-”

Eddie cuts him off firmly, “No. If you continue with this question we are leaving.”

Lawrence throws his hands up in defeat, “Ok. Ok, I’ll stop. So, how do you think your relationship affects the band?”

 The next question does little to brighten Eddie’s sour mood, but he answers, “Well, I for one think it’s great. She gives us all so much support, she inspires me and I think that is great for the band. They all love her too, she’s like family to them.”

 Lawrence turns to you, “And how do you feel about it, y/n?”

 “I don’t know I’ve never really thought about it, I just… I guess I just want whatever’s best for them, whatever that entails. I am so proud of all of them and all their hard work, it’s really paying off for them.” You answer honestly, if a little shakily.

  “So, you’re not worried about having a Yoko situation?” He presses.

 “What? No, why would I be worried about that? I would never do anything to interfere with the band.” You answer slightly taken aback.

 “What’s he mean, babe?” Eddie whispers in your ear, a little confused.

 “He’s talking about Yoko Ono and John Lennon, people say that she’s the reason The Beatles broke up.”

 “Ok, man what the fuck?” Eddie jumps to his feet, “Are you really that desperate for some scandal, some little juicy tidbit that isn’t even true? Why can’t this just be about us, who we really are? You know either way the issue is gonna sell. No one cares about the shit that you write anyway.”

 “Then why are you here?” Lawrence counters.

 “Because she thought… you know what never-mind we’re leaving.” He grabs your wrist pulling you from the couch and stomping away.

 “You know what they say, any publicity is good publicity…” Lawrence shouts after your retreating forms. Eddie pays him no attention dragging you out of the mansion.

You’re speechless for a moment but when you get back out to the front door as it slams shut you tug on his arm bringing him to a halt.

“Eds, what if… what if they don’t run the issue? What if all of that was just for nothing?”

“That ass will probably find a way to work our little storm out into it, spin it like we’re the bad guys. Or maybe he’ll just make up some other lies it doesn’t matter to them really as long as they get their cut.” He scoffs.

“Come on let’s get back to our room.” He huffs out.

You spend the rest of the trip back to your hotel in silence, Eddie quietly fuming, you sitting there numbly.

He opens the door to your room ushering you in and closing the door behind him, turning to face you and sighing, “How’re you doing?”

The floodgates burst and tears stream down your cheeks, he pulls you into his arms and you blubber into his chest, “He was so mean… I di-didn’t think it would be like that… so confrontational…so demeaning…”

He rubs soothing circles into your back, pressing kisses into the top of your head, “I know. I know, it’s ok. Don’t pay any attention to what that idiot said. I love you. I’ll never leave you. You are the best thing in my life.”

“Y-you promise?” You ask shakily, tilting your head up to look at him.

“Oh, sweetheart of course I do. And you know me man of honour, man of my word.” He jokes.

You giggle, breaking out into a watery smile, “How do you do it Eds? Why do you do it?”

“The interviews, the publicity? It’s hard, but I love the music more and that feeling of stepping out onto a stage and performing… it’s exhilarating. It’s also good to have people looking at me like I’m not just some loser freak-”

“Hey, what have I said about calling yourself that?” You admonish him.

He waves a hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah. But the rest that’s the price I gotta pay and I hate that I gotta drag you into that. Tried so hard to keep you away from that part of my life.” He sighs heavily.

You lean back into his chest and he rests his head on top of yours, you mumble into him “I wouldn’t trade it for the world, you know? I love you, Eddie. I have always loved you. I hope you know I’m here for you when this stuff does get bad.”

“I know, it’s good to hear it though.” He sighs.

“Guess what came in the mail today…” He waves an envelope in your face as you step through the door.

“Uhh… I don’t know were we expecting anything?” You hum searching your memory for some clue.

He pulls out a glossy magazine and you see your own image staring back at you, along with the words ‘Inside the lives of rockstar Eddie Munson and his Mystery Girl’. You cringe, “Oh god! That’s out now? How bad is it?”

“Nah, not yet. We got an advanced copy, didn’t bother reading that stupid article, who gives a shit what that asshole has to say about us…” He lets out a low groan, “…but babe I looked through it and God damn is it sexy. Those photos of you, so hot I almost couldn’t wait ‘til you got home.”

“What do you mean, I wasn’t even doing anything in those photos… you definitely have more racy photos of me than that.”

“Yeah, but you’re in Playboy that’s really fucking hot, my girlfriend’s a model.” He grins at you broadly.

You giggle, smiling back bashfully, “Shut up!”

He pounces on you, kissing you fervently, groping at your ass.

“How about we take this to the bedroom?” He grinds his hard length up into your clothed core and you whine nodding your head against him.

He leads you to your bedroom, you don’t need to see him to know he’s grinning from ear to ear.

He sits on the bed grabbing your hips and pulling you to stand between his spread thighs. You lean into him and tilt his head back, pulling him into another kiss, your hands fisting into his curls. His tongue slides over yours insistently as he reaches around you, kneading the swell of your ass between both hands, you feel the hard press of the rings around his fingers. The two of you break apart gasping for breath, he’s pulling you to sit, straddling his lap. You move to steady yourself with your hands on his shoulders, but he grabs your wrists holding them crossed behind your back. He uses the leverage he has over you to pull you against him, conveniently dragging your mound over his persistent erection. Repeating this action over and over as your head falls against his, your eyes flutter closed as you moan breathily.

“That feel good, sweetheart?” He teases.

You hum with a nod, “Mmhm… so good.”

He chuckles at your response, “It’ll be even better once we get rid of these clothes.”

With the grip on your arms, he pulls you further down his legs til you’re just resting on his knees. You whine and open your eyes to look into his, his dark pupils encapsulating majority of his irises.

“How ‘bout you put on a show for me? Just like in that magazine.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. If I got the real thing in front of me, why would I bother with anything else?”

“O-ok…” he lets you pull away from his grip, sliding off his lap, “…wait here a minute.”

You disappear into your closet, re-emerging shortly with something clasped in your hands.

Eddie leans back on the bed, resting on his elbows as he watches you curiously, “What’s that you got there, princess?”

“You’ll see.” You reply evasively, making your way over to your vanity. You slip a cassette into the radio on the vanity, pushing some buttons…

 ♫Step inside

Walk this way

You and me babe

Hey hey♫

 You turn back around to face him and he laughs bodily, “Oh babe, you had that queued up perfectly, if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said you planned this.”

You give him a sly smirk, “Maybe I did plan this… well not exactly like this, but you know… I had it on standby.”

“Oh, so my dirty little girl wants to strip for me… interesting, well go on the song’s not gonna last forever.” He smirks back devilishly.

You sway your hips to the music, running your hands over your body, slowly moving towards him. You strip off your clothing piece by piece, teasingly, seductively. You move to straddle him once again, now only clothed in a matching black lacy bra and panties set adorned with little pink bows, one nestled between your cleavage the other at the middle of the waistband.

“So, you weren’t planning anything today huh? What’s this then?” He hooks a finger into the waistband of your panties.

You pout back at him, “Just wanted to feel cute today, that’s all.”

His fingers move to toy with the bow positioned above your crotch, “Well, you are. Look at you all wrapped up, bows and all, just like a little present. And it’s all for me.”

 You whine, dropping your forehead to rest against his nodding against him, mumbling, “Mhmm, all yours, baby.”

  He pulls you into another heated kiss as you grind down against him, the music continues in the background, another song having started up. You tug on his shirt whining into his lips, he pulls away hooking a hand in the collar of his shirt slipping it over his head smoothly. You latch onto his neck kissing and sucking your way down his chest leaving red marks in your wake. When you get to his pants, you’re unbuckling his belt without hesitation as he looks down at you pupils blown wide and with a lopsided smirk. Just as you’re rolling down his boxers to follow along with his pants, he’s pulling you back up, “No time for that now.”

You pout at him, “Awww, but why?”

“’Cause if I don’t get my dick in that wet, little cunt of yours I might just explode. You can suck my dick some other time.”

“You promise?”

He huffs rolling his eyes “God yes, just get over here.”  

He drags you onto the bed, flipping you over so that he’s hovering over you. He presses soft kisses into the swell of your breasts, his hands snaking around you to undo the clasp. He tosses the bra over his shoulder pausing to suckle at your nipple and nipping on it gently to your strung-out moans. “What… what happened… to… to ‘no time for that’.” You pant out as your hands twist into his curls.

“I’m getting there.” He mumbles grinning against your skin before continuing to trail teasing kisses towards the elastic of your panties. He grips the fabric between his teeth dragging it down your legs, before popping up proudly grinning with your panties still clamped between his teeth.

You snatch them away from him tossing them across the room, “Alright, that’s enough come on and fuck me already.”

“Ohoho, someone’s got bite. Settle, or you won’t get anything.” He reprimands you.

“Yes, sir.” You mumble back faintly, eyes downcast.

He presses you back into the mattress, drawing back down between your thighs with his head, “Just want a little taste, ok.”

He runs his tongue between your folds, collecting the slick that has gathered there, “Oh baby, you’re always sooo wet for me… so sweet too.”

He plunges his fingers into your heated core, you can hear his rings clink together at your entrance as he pumps them in and out slowly, they come away sticky with your juices.

“Wanna taste?” He presses his fingers to your lips, not waiting for an answer, “Come on suck on them, you wanted something to suck on, didn’t you?”

Your mouth falls open of its own accord, tongue darting out to lap at his fingers and he replicates his earlier actions, dragging his fingers in and out of your mouth. You whine around the digits, your tongue swirling around them as you imagine sucking on his cock.

“That’s it sweetheart… alright enough now.” He pulls his fingers out of your mouth and you pout back at him.

“Don’t look at me like that… ok, maybe I’ll let you suck on them some more later.”

You grin at him with those words, humming in response, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolls his eyes, but you know deep down he enjoys it just as much as you do.

Gripping his shaft at the base he drags the head along your folds briefly nudging at the bundle of nerves that sets you shivering in anticipation. You don’t have to wait too long before he’s plunging his length into your wet heat, your walls stretching easily to accommodate his size. He grinds into you firmly with a groan as his head falls forward, eyes fluttering closed and drawing your lips into his own in a burning kiss. You whine into his lips as the motion of his hips stimulates your clit even further, “Move, please.”

He pulls his hips back accommodating your request, pulling almost all the way out before slamming back in, “Like that?”

“God, yes… please… just like that.”

He chuckles darkly, repeating the motion a few more times before his hips slow into a steady roll.

“You know every guy in the world is gonna be jerking it to you when that magazine comes out.” He teases and your walls flutter around him, “Oh, you like that do you… thought you were my little slut-”

“Yes Eddie, I’m yours… only yours.” You gasp.

“Then why does the thought of other guys get you going so much hmmm?” He presses his thumb into your clit in lazy circles.

“Dunno…” you whine.

“That’s ok, I like it too… knowing that I have something everyone wants and it’s just mine… all for me… they can all dream, but this little pussy belongs to me.” He punctuates each sentence with another thrust. You’re tightening around him, lust coiling in your belly like a spring just waiting to release.

“You’re close, baby… I can feel it, the way you’re squeezing around me. You wanna cum?”

“Yes, please sir… need it…” He’s right, you are close, so close, you can feel little shocks of electricity emanating throughout your limbs. Right on the precipice, just need that little push.

He groans, “Love the way you beg for it, do it again.”

“Pleasepleaseplease sir… Please let me cum.” Your whines jumble together, tears gather in the corners of your eyes.

“That’s it cum for me, baby.” He growls.

That’s all it takes for you to come apart on his cock, screaming his name and he’s following along right after you spilling his seed into you as your cunt grips him like a vice. He collapses on top of you, both of you panting heavily, you relish in the feeling of his weight pressing into you, pinning you to the mattress.

“God, I love you Eds.” You breathe out.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He mumbles in your ear.

You feel him shifting, about to roll over, but you wrap your arms around him keeping him in place.

He looks down at you curiously, “Can we just stay like this for a minute?” You sigh.

He brushes a hair out of your face, pressing a kiss to your temple gently, “Of course we can princess.”

You stay there until his cock is softening and slipping out of you, your combined releases dripping out between you onto the bed. He hums into your hair, “Come on, lets get cleaned up now.”

He’s pulling you off the bed gathering you up in his arms and carrying you into the ensuite.

He lets your feet fall to the ground and you lean against him as he begins running a bath, adjusting the temperature to suit and adding some bubble bath liquid. As you wait for it to fill, he rubs along your back soothingly, “Well, that was something wasn’t it, babe?”

“That was amazing Eds, always is with you.” You hum back.

The bath is mostly full and he helps you in, sliding in behind you, still leaving the tap running to fill even further. He scrubs a loofa over your body pausing as you lean forward to shut off the water. Then proceeds to wash your hair, massaging your scalp comfortingly. Once he’s finished his routine you return the favour, giving him the same treatment.

#eddie munson fic #eddie munson smut #rockstar!eddie #rockstar!eddie x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie munson x y/n #request #anon #anon request #dom!eddie x sub!reader #protective!eddie

[sugarsblurbs]

The day Eddie finally asked you to be his girlfriend he gave you his pick necklace like immediately right when you said yes he gave you it. Over time he started giving you his accessories and clothes. His loves making it know that you are his.

#stranger things #eddie fluff #eddie munson #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson headcanon #eddie x reader #eddie x you #boyfriend eddie munson #eddie hc #eddie headcanons #eddie munson headcanons #protective!eddie #sugarsblurbs

[lightvixxen]

Eddie munson x insecure!bestfriend!reader

A/n:This is purely self-indulgent bc I needed some comfort lolz, also major vent post and its kinda personal bc this is actual stuff from my own vents lol, but I just needed to write Eddie comfort and ik there’s some plus sized ppl who feel the same<3

Warnings: degrading language(not the fun kind), insecurity, reader calls themselves names in their diary, negative self-talk,reader willing gets into a toxic arrangement, fluff��so much fluff, best friends to lovers, small angst but its hurt/comfort, small mentions of violence, Eddie just wants to harm the ppl that hurt you.

Summary: Eddie reads ur diary and need to show just how fucking wrong u are abt yourself.

Eddie had been in your room countless times, though this time, he was on a fucking mission. He had managed to convince you to go downstairs alone to grab some drinks, and he prayed it kept you occupied long enough for him to snoop.

You had been down the past few days and he needed to know why, unfortunately for him, you kept your mouth shut on your feelings, opting to change the subject every time he asked. Luckily for him though, you wrote down everything in a small blue notebook. Eddie grabbed the notebook out of its hiding place, flipping through its pages, he knew this was an invasion of privacy but damn it he was worried, sue him.

He stopped, finally coming to the most recent page, which had everything he needed to know.

September 19, 1987.

So, I went back to him…and I know what your thinking “why would you go back to someone who uses you?!”

Eddie already knew who and what you were talking about, had spent countless nights staying up with you as you sobbed into his shoulder about the boy who would never return your feelings and played you consistently. And spent countless nights fighting the urge to grab a fucking bat to go kill the son of a bitch. But he reads on.

Well, I’ll tell you, it’s because its what I think I deserve. I’ve kinda accepted my fate to the “fuckable but not datable” Role of my life. After all no one wants a fat ugly whore hanging off their arm.

God- Eddie wanted to both punch and hug you, you were absolutely perfect and beautiful, words couldn’t describe how much he wanted you. How much he wanted you hanging off his arm, contrary to your belief- you weren’t ugly, sure you were bigger than all the other girls, but that just meant more to love! He wanted to worship every part of your body. To show you off, show all the fuckers who said those nasty things to you what they were missing. And for fucks sake, you saw yourself as a whore?! You barely slept with anyone, and the people you did sleep with you had known for years!

I just- I just want someone to actually care, want someone to tell me they love me and mean it.

Eddie loved you, He loved you so fucking much even he, himself couldn’t believe it. He looked at you with so much adoration and love it was unbelievable how oblivious you were to him.

Nobody wants a nerd, no one wants a plus sized- or well fat, Plus size is only for the pretty ones, that of which I am not. Also no one wants baggage, or someone who’s clingy if they say they do they’re lying. Or i would have someone, pretty sure no one in this school would touch me with a 10ft pole. Lol jealous of the people who are wanted.

The entry ends and Eddie wants to cry, he hated the fact you talked about yourself like that. He wanted everything about you, he was fucking crazy over you. He wished he could make you see yourself the way he saw you. Because fuck- you were a goddess to him. He worships the fucking ground you walk on. He wanted to take you out on sappy dates, and treat you the way you deserve to be treated. Not the way you’ve been treated by your exes, he hated how they treated you like a fucking toy.

Eddie heard your heavy footsteps bounding up the stairs, he didn’t bother putting your diary away. He was going to shoot his fucking shot because damn it if that’s how you’ve been feeling he wanted to show you how fucking wrong you were.

“Okay I finally got- Eds…what the fuck?!” You almost dropped the two cans, seeing your best friend with your diary. It’s obvious he had read it, so fucking obvious in the way he was staring at you.

Eddie didn’t say anything as he gently closed the notebook. Didn’t say anything as he slowly got up from your bed. You thought he was going to run out, tell you everything you had thought was true, that this was the end to your friendship with Eddie. Instead, he crossed the room, walking towards you and before you knew it he was pulling you into a bone crushing hug.

“E-Eddie?!” You squeaked, arms hanging loosely at your sides. “God- your so fucking stupid you know that?! You talk so fucking negatively about yourself, while your oblivious to the way I look at you!” You were stunned, you couldn’t tell if he was comforting you or not.

But he continued, “you’re so fucking beautiful, and pretty and so fucking amazing, I want you to be the one hanging off my arm. Fuck- sweetheart I want everything about you.” Your face fell, more than it already could. You had heard that phrase so many times, and it only landed you being stranded in your sheets.

“Eddie- c’mon don’t play like that.” You murmured, even with the way he was hugging you, you couldn’t believe someone could ever want you outside of sex. “I’m not fucking playing!” He pulled back from you, a firm grip on your shoulders, he wanted to shake you until you realized he was telling the truth. “Sweetheart, I love you genuinely, every time- every single fucking time, you mention someone hurt you, or someone used you. I’ve had to fight the urge to kill a motherfucker for making you think like that.”

Tears slowly well up in your eyes. You knew Eddie, he didn’t joke about that kind of shit. Not after what happened last year. “Sweetheart-“ Eddie wiped your tears, “you don’t know how much I love you, I worship the fucking ground you walk on, I’ve written stupid love songs about how much I want you.” His eyes are locked on yours, letting you know just how serious he is about this. “You literally consume my every thought, all I think about is what your doing, what you feel, The way you laugh, the way you smile-“ Eddie hugged you once again. “God if I knew that’s what you were feeling I would’ve told you this ages ago, but…I’m absolutely crazy about you.”

And with that he kissed you, it was slow, passionate, letting you know just how much he meant every word. Every-time you tried to make it heated, tried to deepen the kiss he would pull away. He wasn’t gonna let your stupid insecurities and thoughts ruin the image you have of him.

#eddie munson #eddie x female reader #eddie munson x plus size reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #stranger things #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fluff #small angst #purely self indulgent #eddie munson x you #best friend! eddie #best friend! eddie munson #kinda protective!Eddie #protective!Eddie

[daddyy333]

“Can I do something insane?” | Eddie x y/n

if you’d like you can reblog my original work, but please don’t post it without credit. if you take inspiration from my ideas please tag me, I’d like to see how someone else would write it

Word count: 2.9k

warnings: includes very descriptive mentions of abuse, eating disorder, weight loss, and weight gain, and sh

summary: Eddie saves you from being manipulated and abused by your abuse asshole boyfriend Jason Carver and you can’t help but fall in love with him

"God damn it! What the hell was that, y/n?!" He said as you got to his room, slamming you into the wall. You whimpered and said "I-I'm sorry I've- ah!" He slapped you.

He scoffed and pushed you to the ground, going to the bathroom and taking his shower. You cried on the floor, your head pounding, your stomach rumbling after 3 days of not eating, your eyes just wanting to close and get some rest.

Jason told you not to tell anyone about the abuse, because he said he did it because he loved you. Besides, no one would believe you. Jason's rich, he's got good grades, he's captain of the basketball team, he wouldn't abuse his girlfriend.

God, he's so loving in public but as soon as they're alone he finds something to yell at her for. "Get in here," he said and you took a deep breath. You stood up shakily and he said "strip and get in here with me. I need you,"

"I-I can't I'm on my period," you said, hoping he wouldn't yell at you for it. He sighed and said "then come suck me off, you dumb bitch. You ain't new here"

You sighed and opened the shower curtain, he moved the shower head away and he shoved 3 inches into your mouth. You "showed him how much you loved him" every night. Or else Jason would get angry. He came within 2 minutes and made you swallow.

He pushed your head into the wall and closed the shower curtain, washing himself off. You made your way out of the bathroom and undressed, waiting to shower. Your head hurt, but you kept telling yourself it was because he loved you.

"You're getting fat again. Are you fucking eating after I told you not to, fatass?" He said and you shook your head. He scoffed and smacked you in the face, making you shriek.

Sometimes you fought back, and that's when he really beat you. You tried to kick him away but he got pissed off and pushed you on the bed, pinning your arms down with one hand and punching you over and over again. "He loves me," you told yourself.

He typically avoided your face considering he didn't want anyone to find out. Which meant your lungs and stomach got the worst of it. "I-I can't- augh! I c-can't bre-eathe!" You tried to say, literally gasping for air.

He pushed you off the bed and said "I don't give a shit. Hell, maybe it's better that way. Get your fat ass in the shower and weigh yourself when you're done" You slowly crawled to the bathroom, pain erupting all over your body.

He used all the hot water, and you were already injured and weak so this was gonna be hell. You weighed yourself and whimpered, he was going to kill you. He wanted you to be 100 pounds, you were 103.

"What the fuck! I told you to stop eating!" He said and smacked you in the back of the head. You whimpered and said "I haven't had anything in days. Not even water, I swear!" "Obviously not!" He said and scoffed, pushing towards the bedroom making you trip and fall on your broken ribs.

He laughed and kicked you. "Stupid clumsy whore. Get your ass in bed, that's 3 more days without food now. Quit being so fucking fat" he said and got into bed. You cried yourself to sleep, and he would groan at every little sniffle and whimper. He sighed and said "I only do this because I love you and want to see you be the best version of yourself you can possibly be" You nodded and he fell asleep.

You messed up your routine at the game and kept zoning out because you were exhausted and overworked and extremely stressed. You lied earlier, you didn't even get your period anymore because you were so small and so stressed, and was starving yourself.

It was just nice to have 4-5 days without him using you like a whore. Obviously you still had to make him cum, but at least this was a little less painful. No one even realized how sunken in your face was, how your bones jutted out, how tired you were.

All they saw was a perfect romance they wished to have. You weren't sure why, since love was so painful. He was so abusive for no reason, and the worst part was that your parents were dead and you were placed under your aunt's care and she doesn't even care about you enough to check up on where you are, so he has you all to himself.

You woke up the next morning and covered your bruises as best you could, and put on an outfit that he cringed at. It was sweatpants and a regular sweater. You didn't like form fitting and revealing clothes, and plus you didn't have enough foundation left to cover your self harm scars.

You'd noticed Eddie had been watching you a lot lately and you started getting worried. You never once thought of him as a freak. In fact, you tried to make Jason stop calling him that on multiple occasions and ended up having to call into school sick because of how bad he "loved" you.

You were worried because Eddie could read you like a book. You guys had been really good friends up until freshman year, when you met Jason. He wouldn't let you hang out with Eddie anymore and you kept trying and it broke your heart when Eddie told you to "go hang out with your new friends".

You missed being friends with Eddie every single day. You just wanted to hug him and tell him that one day he would be in love too, and he would understand. He almost figured it out in Sophmore year, he saw you flinch once around Jason and you just told him he was seeing things, you didn't realize flinching was such a bad thing.

You got to first period and Jason pulled your chair closer to put his arm over your shoulder. All the guys started chuckling and cheering. The girls giggled and wished they were you.

At first you tried to stay away from Jason as much as you could, but you had no other friends. Jason made sure of that. You couldn't talk to his basketball friends or else he'd call you a slut and leave some nasty marks on you.

"H-Hey y/n...are you okay?" Lucas asked. You looked up at him and shook your head. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" You said, checking to make sure Jason wasn't looking at you.

He sighed and said "I-I just noticed you look a little uncomfortable like just in general" "yea, well last night was a bit of a work out I'm just tired and sore" you said and he nodded. God, you wish all the soreness and pain you felt everytime you even breathed was from cheerleading. "Being in love makes the pain worth it" you told yourself.

"What the hell was that? Why were you talking to Sinclair?" Jason whispered in your ear as he hugged you, he smirked and slapped your ass in front of everyone. "H-He just asked if I was okay" you said and Jason growled.

"You've been telling people about the way I love you," he said and pulled away, cupping your cheek and kissing you softly. "I swear I didn't," you said as he pulled away.

He kissed your head and said "I'll see you tonight, beautiful" "see you, babe," you said and opened your locker, so you could hide your face and no one would know you were about to cry. You didn't like when he touched you like that in front of everyone, it made you really uncomfortable.

Jason and the whole basketball team had to leave early for an away game, so you decided to stay after school and read on the bench in the middle of the woods. You liked this, in fact you loved it. Jason said he didn't like needy girls who had their face stuck in a book, so you didn't get to read often.

Eddie followed you and you nearly fell out of the seat when he called your name. "Woah, woah, hey it's just me," he said, putting his hands up. He sat on the table part of the bench and cleared his throat. He looked over at you and said "I uh...I wanted to ask if everything was okay? If your relationship with Jason was hurting you at all?" "I'm great. Jason and I are really in love" you said and Eddie looked at you and nodded.

"Y/n...I-I haven't seen you eat in 4 days. The makeup you used to cover the bruise on your face is fading and you are visibly uncomfortable and scared and nervous around Jason. You don't need to pretend anymore, I can help you get away from him," Eddie said and you shook your head.

"N-Nothing's going on with me and Jason. He loves me, and I love him, we're really happy together. A-And I do eat, the school lunch is just gross and I eat at home instead" you said and Eddie put his head in his hands.

"Y/n please...eventually he's going to kill you. Don't you realize that? He's making you get smaller and weaker so it's easier to control you. You need help, y/n. You aren't safe or healthy right now and that's not okay..." he said and realized the way you were talking, and how your leg bounced and your picked at your hands, really hoping what he was thinking wasn't the truth.

"H-How does Jason show his love for you?" He asked and you bit your lip nervously. You sighed and said "just like everyone else. H-He hits me a lot, but that's only because he loves me and wants me to learn how to be perfect. It's okay, I promise"

"No, no it's not y/n. That's abuse, plain and simple. He is physically abusing you every single day because he knows you're vulnerable. Abuse is not love, okay? God, it's- it's fucking illegal for a reason. What Jason is doing to you is not normal and can put him in prison" Eddie said and you shook your head.

You sighed and said "how is love illegal?" "That isn't love, y/n. You don't hit anyone, especially the people you love. You don't deserve this, y/n, any of this" he said and you didn't want to believe him but you slow began to realize that maybe he was right.

"Oh- O-Oh my god...oh my god, Eddie," you said and began to tear up. He couldn't believe it. This whole time you had no idea that this was something bad, or wrong. You genuinely thought that this was just how you showed love.

Eddie begged you to stay at his place that night, even though Jason got pissed and blew up your phone. Eddie turned it off and distracted you the best he could. You were so grateful to have him, he was right, you would have died if you stayed with him and you wouldn't have ever realized this if it weren't for Eddie.

"Here, I have some sweatpants and a t-shirt for you" he said and you changed into the clothes he gave you. You put the pants on but they instantly fell off of you. You sighed, looking in his mirror. You bit your lip and put on your pants from earlier and he furrowed his eyebrows when you came out.

"I-I'm too small to fit into those. They just fall right off" you said and he furrowed his eyebrows and said "how? Those were my uncle's ex-girlfriends pants and she was literally the size of an12 year old boy" "I guess I'm an 8 year old boy" you said and you both laughed a little.

You noticed Eddie's mood quickly got sad and you took a deep breath. "Is everything okay?" You asked and he nodded. He smiled a little and said "are you uhm...are you in the mood for dinner?" "I-I don't...uhm...Jason said I can't eat for 3 more days" you said, and he instantly turned around and his eyes widened.

"What? W-What did- what?" He said, desperately hoping he was hearing things. You cleared your throat and said "Jason told me I was getting too big and that I couldn't eat for 3 more days" "when was the last time you ate?" Eddie asked quietly and you sighed.

"Uhm...I-I think 4 days ago. I-I had a granola bar and some iced tea" you said and Eddie took a deep breath, trying not to show you how angry he was. He reached his hand out and said "come on, y/n. I need to take you to the police station so that this sick bastard can go where he belongs"

"W-What- no, he doesn't need to go to jail" you said and Eddie ran his hands over his face and groaned. He pointed to the mirror and said "look at yourself in the mirror. Look at how boney your face and hands are. Look at the bruises on your face and neck. Tell me someone shouldn't go to prison for doing that to someone. Look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that abusing and forcing the woman who has been nothing but loyal and loving to you for 4 years to starve herself is not a reason for someone to be sent to prison, y/n"

"I-I'm scared, Eddie..." you whimpered and he slowly tucked your hair behind your ear, wiping your tears away. He sighed and said "it's gonna be just fine, y/n, I promise. Once he's in jail you'll be safe again. You can come live with me, and I'll protect you and take care of you and keep you safe for as long as I can. Please, y/n, let me help you"

You nodded and he drove you to the police station, stayed with you wherever he could and even though it took a long time, Jason was brought in for questioning and was arrested.

He was pissed and when he walked by you, lunged out of the officer's arms and got you on the ground, using his cuffed hands to punch you. They got him off of you and Eddie instantly scooped you up and got you away.

He tried to set you down but you just cried and held onto him. This was it, you had finally broken. "I-I hate him..." you said and Eddie sat down. He stroked your hair and said "you have every right to. I'm glad you told me and this is over now. I can't wait to see you happy again"

You nuzzled into his chest and he said "we can leave now if you want. I'll take you back to my trailer and let you get some rest" "o-ok..." you said and he gently put you in the car and drove back to his trailer. You fell asleep in the car and he shook you gently, worried her press on an injury.

You mumbled something and curled up, not wanting to move. "Y/n, come inside so you can sleep somewhere comfortable" he said and you groaned. You sighed and slowly opened your eyes, looking over at Eddie.

He brought you inside and you instantly crawled into his bed and fell asleep, smiling as you took in your favorite smell, Eddie. He chuckled and went to sleep on the couch, not wanting to scare you by sleeping next to you and accidentally touching you.

The next morning, he made you a small breakfast, and waited so that he could eat with you to make you more comfortable. He spent most of the day just letting you adjust to the new space, meeting his uncle and he went to your aunts to get all your clothes and stuff.

About a year later, you were happier than ever. He helped you get to a healthy 130 pounds, he also helped you realize what a healthy relationship was, even just a platonic one. His friend group welcomed you with open arms, and helped your healing process just as much as Eddie did.

You helped him finally pass highschool, and you both got a job at the same place so you were constantly together. Today he brought you to Rink-O-Mania, you two messing around on the rink and eating and drinking tons of junk food. You both crashed in the booth and he chuckled, tickling your sides which made you squeal and squirm.

"Eddie!" You giggled and he laughed as you almost fell out of the booth and caught you just before you could. You sighed and said "god I wish you were ticklish" "yea, sucks to suck huh?" He said and sipped his milkshake.

You bit your lip and said "Eddie, can I do something insane?" "Uhh sure" he said, not really aware of what you were thinking of. You leaned in, cupping his cheek and kissing him.

His hand and made it your waist, the other to your cheek. You pulled away and smiled and you both chuckled. "Do it again," he said and you leaned in once more, connecting your lips in a long awaited kiss.

"I've been waiting for that since we were 10 years old," he said and you giggled. He chuckled and you said "seriously?" "Absolutely," he said and you shook your head, kissing him again.

I’m not really sure how taglists work cause I don’t interact a lot on this app I mostly read stuff, but just dm me with the taglist you want to be added to (because soon enough I’ll be posting other characters/people)

Eventually I’ll be writing for

Eddie Munson

Joseph Quinn

Jamie Bower

Steve Harrington

Robin Buckley

So just dm me the taglist you want to be added to and I’ll add you :)

#eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #stranger things #protective!eddie

[popcornpoppypop]

It Was Funny At The Time

Part 2

Eddie Munson x female!OC

Summary: Eddie and Annie aren't ones to say no to a good time and a good laugh. But sometimes a good laugh has consequences. Now they have tough choices to make.

Warning: Language, abortion, talk of abortion, pregnancy, vomit, drugs, bad parents

Rating: 18+

Author's Note: I have been dabbling with this one for months. It got a bit long so I'm breaking it into two parts. There are no detailed descriptions of abortion. I would like to state that I am not a doctor and my medical knowledge of abortion in the 80s is none and there is surprisingly very little literature on it. If this isn't your thing, fine, just keep your thoughts to yourself.

The rest of the week seemed to fly by. They got down somewhat of a routine. They would wake up, eat, Annie would throw up and they would go to school. Eddie watched her like a hawk during school, terrified to have a repeat of earlier in the week. They made it to Friday morning, relatively unscathed. 

Annie rolled over slamming her hand on the alarm clock. It’s big red letters screaming that it was five in the morning. She groaned as she looked out the window, no hint of sun yet. She was not a morning person, but Eddie was even less of one. 

“Eddie, get up.” She groaned. He didn’t move. Annie got up and put on some clothes. 

“Eddie, we have to get going.” She said, ripping the blankets off his body. He grumbled under his breath as he stretched out on the bed. Annie went to the bathroom and brushed her hair and teeth. 

“You want some coffee before you two head out?” Wayne stood in the doorway to the bathroom. 

“Yes, please.” Annie said as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. She walked back into the bedroom, flicking on the lights. 

“Ah!” Eddie yelled as he shielded his eyes from the light. 

“If you don’t put clothes on in the next ten minutes I’m pouring my coffee on your bare chest.” Annie growled. 

“I’m up, I swear.” Eddie mumbled as he fumbled his way out of bed. Annie made her way to the kitchen, Wayne was sitting at the counter with his cup of coffee. 

“Just finished up.” Wayne nodded to the pot. 

“Thank you.” Annie poured herself a cup and sat next to him. 

“How you doing?” He asked. 

“I’m okay. Don’t think it’s set in yet.” She sipped her drink. 

“Yeah, it’ll probably hit about 45 minutes into the drive I think.” Wayne chuckled. 

“Maybe. I feel like I went through everything I needed to this week. Maybe, I’m okay now.” She shrugged. Wayne looked down at her with a smile and kept his mouth shut. 

“You’re mean in the morning.” Eddie’s voice cracked. 

“I was nice, you didn’t listen. You better hurry up and chug that coffee.” Annie scolded. 

“So mean…” Eddie took a big gulp of coffee. 

“You two be careful today. People ain’t always the nicest outside those clinics. Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” Wayne looked at Annie, his kind face riddled with concern. 

“I think we’ll be okay. You need to get some sleep, I’m sure we’ll bug you for things when we get back.” Annie smiled. 

“Well, if you’re sure then. I’ll get this place ready for you. Maybe even clean that dumpster of a room.” Wayne chuckled. 

“I picked up the dishes the other day.” Eddie said. 

“Right, well then. You two better get going. I filled up the tank for you two this morning, you’ll need to stop once before you get there, but should be smooth sailing.” Wayne looked almost nervous. 

“Thanks.” Annie pulled him into a hug. She was grateful beyond words for Wayne Munson. He was the family she had always wished for. She grabbed her jacket and backpack and headed out to the Van.

“Here, take an extra blanket for her. Just in case.” Wayne handed Eddie the folded blanket. 

“Thanks, I’ll make sure she’s okay.” 

“I know you will, son.” Wayne gave his back a pat as he ran out the door. 

Eddie was always in charge of the radio in his van. It was a strict rule and violators could face a hard smack to the hand or standing on the side of the road as he peeled away. But not today. He was being the most gracious he had ever been and let Annie pick the music. It was a ride full of Fleetwood Mac and Queen, he was in hell. They only had to stop once to fill up about thirty minutes away from the clinic, Eddie bought every snack in the store.

They pulled into the clinic parking lot, it was quiet except for a couple of protesters outside with their signs. There were only a few other cars in the lot, not too busy yet. Annie felt relieved, not that anyone from Hawkins would see her here. 

“Ready?” Eddie gave a tight smile. 

“I guess so.” Annie sighed as she jumped out of the van. Edde wrapped his arm around her, Annie kept a tight hold of him. 

“It’s going to be fine.” He told her. 

“I know.” She leaned into him. They made their way to the building. 

“You’re going to hell, murderers!” A protester screamed in their face. 

“Why don’t you just fuck off dude. I am not in the mood.” Eddie growled before a staff member came running out. 

“I’m so sorry, our escort called out for today, we don’t usually leave you to the wolves.” He said as he pushed the protester out of their path and brought them inside. 

“You okay?” Eddie asked. 

“Mmhmm.” Annie gave a curt nod. 

“Alright, what name are you checking in under?” The receptionist asked. 

“Annie Munson.” 

“Excuse me?” Eddie looked down at her. 

“I didn’t want to use my real last name, I panicked.” Annie shrugged. Eddie laughed and kissed her cheek. 

“Just fill out these forms and we’ll get you back in a minute.” Annie took the forms and sat down. 

“Has a nice ring to it.” Eddie said. 

“What does?” Annie didn’t look up from her papers. 

“Annie Munson. I like it.” Eddie wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Annie looked up with a scowl. 

“That better not be how you propose.” 

“What? No! No, when I propose it’ll be awesome.” Eddie smiled. 

“We’ll see.” Annie shook her head as she finished up her papers. She handed them to the receptionist and sat back down. 

“I brought your juice in if you want it.” Eddie shook the juice box in front of her.

“I’m okay. Eddie?” 

“Yeah?”

“I’m scared.” Annie sighed. 

“I know. Me too.” Eddie pulled her close. 

“Annie Munson?” A nurse called out into the lobby.

“Right here.” Annie stood up and gathered her things and made her way over to her. 

“Is your husband going to join you?” The nurse looked confused as Eddie ran up next to Annie. 

“If he can, I would like him to.” 

“He can stay with you when we administer the medications, but not during the procedure.” 

“Okay, thank you.” They walked down the hallway into an exam room. 

“Put this gown on, socks too. The doctor will be in to do the exam and then we’ll move forward with the procedure.” The nurse closed the door as she left. 

“It’s freezing in here.” Eddie shivered. 

“You’re not the one in a paper gown.” Annie grumbled as she gowned up, throwing her clothes at Eddie. 

“ Do you think we can take that home? It’s really doing something for me.” 

“You’re a pervert.” Annie laughed. 

“Yeah, I mean that’s kind of why we’re here.” Eddie smiled. He just wanted to lighten the mood for her, make her smile if he could. There was a knock at the door and a middle aged woman walked in with a smile. 

“Hello, I’m Dr.Andrews. I’m just going to do a quick exam and then we’ll get going. How many weeks are you today?” The doctor sat down, scribbling on a clipboard. 

“9 weeks and six days I think.” 

“And you understand that this is permanent?”

“Um, yeah?” Annie said. 

“I know, it seems silly, but we have had people who didn’t understand that before. Lay back for me.” The doctor said, Annie did as she was instructed. 

“How long will it take?” Eddie asked. 

“The whole procedure, once the valium is working, takes about fifteen minutes. Not long at all.” The doctor palpated Annie’s stomach. 

“She isn’t going to be asleep?” Eddie fidgeted in his chair. 

“Not fully, no. It’s less risky this way and we can keep the cost down too. It’s safe, I promise and she won’t be too uncomfortable.” The doctor went back to scribbling in her chart. 

“Are you sure you still want to do this?” Eddie grabbed Annie’s hand. 

“Yeah. I won’t remember most of today anyway.” Eddie nodded, but the look of concern on his face never dissipated. 

“Alright, everything looks in order. Nurse Gonzalez will be in to give you the medication, we’ll let you sit here for a bit before we take you to the procedure room. You’ll stay with us for about thirty minutes after the procedure just to make sure you’re feeling alright before you head home. Any questions?” 

“I don’t think so.” Annie gulped. 

“Will you send her home with any meds?” Eddie sat forward. 

“We’ll send home some extra strength ibuprofen.”

“That's it? You’re like scraping her insides and all she gets is tylenol?” Eddie spat. 

“It’s what is recommended by the medical boards. If the pain doesn’t subside in a week's time she’ll need to consult with her regular doctor and they can decide if she needs more.” 

 “It’s okay, Eddie. I’ll be okay.” Annie smiled, running her thumb over his knuckles. 

“The nurse will be in shortly.” The doctor left the room, a heavy quiet settled in. 

“As soon as they let me, I’ll be right next to you, I promise.” Eddie sighed. 

“I know. I’ll be okay. Just promise not to make too much fun of me when I’m high.” Annie smiled. 

“Not a chance, you are getting eviscerated for all of it.” Eddie laughed. There was a knock at the door and a nurse walked in with a big smile on her face. 

“Hello, I’m Nurse Gonzalez. I have your Valium ready. You’ll take these two pills with some water for me.” She handed Annie a little paper cup and a cup of water. Annie took the pills and threw them back before gulping down the water. 

“How long does it take?” Annie asked. 

“About ten minutes you’ll start to feel the effects.I’m just going to fill out your chart while we wait.” She smiled as she sat down at the desk. 

“When it’s all done, can I sit with her? I know she’s gotta be here for a bit before we can leave.” Eddie stood next to Annie. She was a lightweight when it came to anything intoxicating. All it took was two beers for her to be drunk, she only smoked with him once and all it took was one hit for her to be on the floor. He was prepared for her to be flying in about a minute. 

“Yes, I’ll come get you from the waiting room when you can see her.We don’t get many partners here for these procedures. It’s nice to see.” the nurse nodded. 

“Well, I am half the reason she’s in this mess. I’m not an asshole, wouldn’t let her do this shit alone.” Eddie shrugged. 

“I feel a little dizzy…” Annie sighed, closing her eyes. 

“That’s normal. You can lay back if you need to.” The nurse encouraged. Annie opted to pull Eddie closer and lean into him. 

“You smell nice.” She said, taking a loud deep breath. Snorting in his scent, causing Eddie to laugh. 

“Well, we use the same soap so I think you smell nice, I smell nice by proxy.” 

“You’re so nice to me. I don’t think anyone has ever been so nice to me.” Annie said, her voice cracking as she got overwhelmed with emotion. 

“You make it very easy to be nice to.” Eddie wrapped her up in his arms. 

“I love you!” Annie sobbed.

“And that is my que. I’ll be right back. I've just got to grab the wheelchair.” Nurse Gonzalez laughed as she left. 

“You’re going to be okay, I promise.” Eddie told her. The nurse came back in with the chair. Eddie found he didn’t want to let go, this was going to change them forever. He wanted to fight it, but you can’t fight the future. 

“Alright, Annie can we get you into the chair?” Nurse Gonzalez asked. 

“I guess so.” Annie sighed. Eddie helped her down from the table and into the chair. 

“Okay, we’re going to get you settled and ready for the procedure.” The nurse pushed the chair out into the hallway, but Annie reached around grabbing onto Eddie. 

“I want Eddie with me!” She cried. 

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, we need to keep the room as sterile as we can.” The nurse put a hand on her shoulder. Eddie crouched down in front of her. 

“I’ll just be behind those doors, okay? The second it’s over with I’ll come get you. This part you have to do on your own, I’m sorry sweetheart. But you’re Annie The Brave, remember? You’ve fought monsters and evil cults! You can do this. I promise you’ll be okay.” Eddie kissed her cheek and peeled his hand from hers. It broke him a little bit as he watched her get wheeled away with tears falling down her face. 

The room they wheeled Annie into was so white, it almost hurt her eyes. The smell of antiseptic and alcohol burned her nostrils. She did her best to keep her eyes on the ground, not wanting to see the instruments they were about to use. 

“Let’s get you on the bed.” The nurse helped her get comfortable on the gurney. The doctor came in, a mask now covered her face and wrapped in a sterile gown. 

“Alright, Miss.Munson we’re going to get started. This will be the last moment to change your mind, legally I have to ask once more if you consent to this procedure.” The doctor sat at the end of the bed. 

“I just want to get this over with, please.” Annie sighed. 

“Okay, let’s get started. We’re going to put your feet in the stirrups, I’ll administer some numbing solution to your cervix and then we’ll start the abortion procedure.`` The nurses helped put her feet in the metal stirrups. Nurse Gonzalez stayed by Annie’s side while the other nurse helped the doctor. 

“You’re going to feel a pinch, that’s the needle for the numbing solution.” The doctor said. Annie tried to focus on her breathing. Her whole body felt like it was vibrating, she was covered in a cold sweat. 

“Ow!” Annie gasped when she felt the needle. 

“Try and take nice deep breaths, focus on your breathing.” Nurse Gonzalez held onto her hand. Annie squeezed her eyes shut and just tried to think of anything else, be anywhere else. 

Annie sat at the lunch table, her nose deep in her book, trying to remain invisible. Her first day of sophomore year at a new school was going less than well. She had already tripped in front of everyone heading to her locker, the school counselor had made her late for her first class, every teacher was making her stand in front of the class and introduce herself. She wanted to crawl under a rock and disappear. 

“You new?” A voice broke her from her little world. She brought the book down, revealing a boy with long wavy hair, big brown eyes and a shirt covered in skulls and blood. 

“Um…yes.” She looked him up and down. She was waiting for him to start making fun of her. 

“I like that book too. Lord of the Rings, it’s a classic. These idiots never have any taste.” He scoffed as he popped a corn nut into his mouth. 

“Oh. Um, well I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinions.” She shrugged. 

“I guess, they all just play their little sports games and drink. So boring, predictable.” 

“I’m not much of a sports person.”

“It’s so primitive. I don’t know. What do you do for fun then?” 

“I mostly just read. I crochet sometimes and I used to be in a D&D group.” Annie played with the pages of her book, no one ever wanted to hear about her games. 

“Shut the hell up. You play!? No freaking way! No way!” The boy slammed his hands on the table causing her to jump. 

“I did, I never was DM but I was pretty good.”

“So, what’s your character?” The boy leaned forwards

“It’s nothing, we don’t need to talk about it.” 

“Come on! Tell me.” Annie sighed looking at her feet. 

“I couldn’t think of a good name when I made her, so I just used mine. It’s…Annie The Brave.” Annie wanted to be swallowed by a black hole. She had never regretted her choices in life more than having to tell this cute boy that her character’s name was Annie The Brave.

“Okay, so you’re name is Annie then. Good to know. What’s the details, I want to know.!”

“She’s a Orc, level 6 Chaotic Good, Rogue Assassin. I’ve been building her for about two years. I don’t get to play very often. Well, now I never do.”

“Bullshit. You’re joining my campaign. We meet the first and last friday every month in the drama room. We’re starting a new story next week. It starts at 4pm on the dot. I don’t tolerate lateness. You’re not a late person are you?”

“Not usually.”

“Good. I am, but it’s fine. I’m the DM, I get to show up when I want.”

“You never told me your name?”

“Eddie Munson. The popular crowd calls me Eddie “the Freak”.”

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“A freak?” Annie looked up at him with a small smile. 

“Only on Sundays.” He winked and ran off. 

“There’s going to be some pressure, totally normal.” The doctor said. 

“Nearly done, you’re doing great.” Nurse Gonzalez patted Annie’s shoulder. Annie did her best to focus on the breathing. She was so uncomfortable, but knew she just had to push through it. 

“It hurts…” A tear slipped down her temple. 

“You’re almost done, just a little bit more.” The doctor encouraged. The sound of instruments clanging against the metal tray filled the room, it was harsh and unpleasant. The doctor whispered to her nurse, wiped her forehead, and threw the gauze on the tray. 

“Alright, I’m finishing up.” She announced. 

“You did wonderfully. Are you warm enough?” The nurse asked. Annie just nodded. 

“Okay, Miss Munson, you're finished. We’re going to take you to a recovery room, you’ll stay there for thirty minutes and then you can go home.” The doctor nodded and left. The nurses wheeled her bed into a big room with a few other girls in it, curtains separating them. 

“Can Eddie come back?” 

“I’m going to grab him right now. You sit tight, try to relax.” the nurse smiled as she left. 

Eddie felt like he was going to throw up. It was only fifteen minutes but it felt like hours. He could have sworn he aged three years in that waiting room. Every horrible scenario ran through his mind. Part of him was grieving. He knew they couldn’t handle a kid, he was still too chaotic to be stable. He swore he wouldn’t be his father. Maybe that was why the idea of having a kid didn’t seem that bad, he wouldn’t be his father and they would be happy. 

“Mr.Munson?” A nurse popped her head out. 

“Yes! Hi, yeah!” Eddie ran up to her. 

“Annie’s procedure went perfectly. We have her in recovery and she’s asking for you. Follow me.” The nurse lead him down a hallway, to the recovery wing. Eddie made a B-line to Annie as soon as he saw her. 

“Hey, baby! Hey, how you doing?” He asked brushing her hair out of her face. 

“It’s over, they did it.” Annie said, her voice stable but tears rolled down her cheeks. 

“Yeah, they said it went well. Do you need anything?”

“No…” 

“You sure? I got your juice, or we still got some crackers?”

“I feel…empty…” Annie squeezed her eyes shut. Eddie felt his throat get tight. 

“I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry.” He sighed. 

“Me too.”

“You still want to go home tonight? Harrington called yesterday, said we could get a hotel.”

“I want to go home, I want to be home.”

“Okay, we’ll go home.”

“It hurts…” Annie sighed. Eddie nodded and got up to grab a nurse. 

“Excuse me, hi, I’m sorry to bug you. She’s just..she’s saying she’s in pain. Is there something you can give her, we just have a long drive home. It’s not the best roads, I don’t want to hurt her anymore than she already is, ya know?” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I can see if the doctor would be comfortable giving her a little more. Just give me a moment.” Eddie nodded and went to sit next to Annie. 

“She’s gonna try and get you something.” 

“I hate hospitals.” 

“Yeah, so cold and sterile. Like a horror movie or some shit.” Eddie couldn’t stop bouncing his knee as he sat in the chair. 

“Can we get ice cream for dinner?” Annie looked at him with pleading eyes. 

“You get to have whatever you want for dinner. What kind of ice cream?” Eddie traced patterns across her arm with his fingers. 

“Birthday cake.” Annie sighed, closing her eyes. 

“Sounds gross but I’ll make it happen.” Eddie chuckled. 

“It’s the most delicious. You’re dumb.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. 

“Oh I see how it is. Well, you’re allowed to have your opinions. Should I get whipped cream?”

“Obviously.” 

“I’m sorry, but you should keep in mind that I’m dumb.” Eddie laughed. The nurse came up to them holding an orange pill vial. 

“I spoke with the doctor and she is going to send you home with some low dose vicodin. It’s only enough for a day, I recommend only taking half a pill at first and seeing how you react. I’m finishing up your discharge papers and then you can head home.” The nurse handed Eddie the bottle. 

“Hey, they got you the good shit! I bet it was my charm that schmoozed the drugs out of them.” He gave Annie a cheesy grin. 

“I mean, I’d jump your bones right now if I could.” 

“Excuse me miss, I need you to calm down. This is a public space, we can’t have you acting so lewd and vulgar!” Eddie shook his head. 

“Oh you want to see lewd and vulgar? I can be so vulgar!” Annie chuckled. 

“You want to take some now before we leave, maybe sleep through the drive?” Eddie shook the vial in his hand. 

“Just half of one. I still feel loopy.” Annie reached her hand out. Eddie snapped a pill in half depositing it into her hand and fished the juice box out of his pocket for her. 

“Maybe you can share when we get home.”

“Fat chance, Munson! My drugs. Get your own.” Eddie laughed as he put the vial in his pocket. 

“Alright Munsons. I just need a signature on this paper and then we’ll get you out of here.” Nurse Gonzalez handed Annie a clipboard. Annie scribbled something resembling her name and handed it back. 

“I can go home?”

“Yes you can. I’ll close the curtain and once you’re dressed you are free to go.” The nurse smiled as she shielded the couple. Eddie handed Annie her clothes and helped her untie her gown. Annie picked up her shirt and shimmied into it, she attempted to put her pants on but they were proving to be a struggle. 

“Would you care for a hand m’lady?” Eddie helped her pull up her jeans. 

“Funny, you putting my clothes on me. Usually it’s the other way around.” Annie laughed. 

“Well, it is my favorite activity.” Eddie smiled. They got her shoes on and jacket. Annie stood from the bed, wobbling back and forth some. 

“Feel like I’m walking on a boat.” She said. 

“You look like it.” Eddie laughed as he wrapped a firm arm around her waist. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” He opened the curtain and they made their way to the lobby. 

“Oh! Wait!” The receptionist came running around the desk. “You might want to pull your car up to the entrance. A few more protesters have gathered. I can help her out to the car if you’d like.” The man offered with a kind smile. 

“Probably a good idea. You wait here, I’ll be right back.” Eddie sat Annie in the closest chair and ran out the door. 

“You’re a very lucky lady, most boys don’t come with to the women’s clinics.” He smiled. 

“Eddie’s my knight. He always saves me, he’s just the best.” Annie sighed. 

“He seems like it. Very chivalrous. Oh, your chariot awaits!” He said as Eddie’s van appeared up front. Annie fumbled her way out of the chair and clung onto the receptionist. The cool air felt nice after the sterile air of the clinic. There was shouting and people with signs and angry faces, but it was all a blur. Next thing Annie knew they were driving down the highway. 

“What?” She mumbled. 

“You okay?” Eddie looked over. 

“Where are we?” 

“We’re heading home. Got about an hour left, you don’t remember any of it do you?” Eddie laughed. 

“I was just getting in the van.” Annie winced as she sat up. 

“That was about an hour ago, baby. It’s okay, normal on the shit you are. I am upset you won’t remember the riveting conversation we had for about half an hour on how you thought squirrels were working for the government.” He chuckled. 

“What? No way.” Annie rubbed her eyes. 

“Oh yeah! You were very passionate about it too.” 

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Very true. I’m going to stop at the next station to fill up, you can stretch your legs a bit.” Eddie said. As Eddie rolled into the gas station, Annie’s head started to swim again. As soon as he parked she yanked the door open and attempted to run out, but was stopped by her seatbelt. 

“Whoa, hold on let me help.” Eddie jumped out and ran to the other side, unbuckling her and helping down to the ground. Annie wobbled over to the trash can and spit up the bile that had settled in her stomach. 

“Ew…” She groaned. 

“I’m sorry baby.” Eddie pulled her hair from her face and put in a ponytail with her favorite scrunchy. “I’m going to go pay for the gas, you need anything?” 

“Sprite, crackers.” She leaned against the hood of the van. Eddie made quick work of getting her sprite and crackers, fueling up the van and getting her settled in it. 

“Let me know if you gotta spew anymore.” He said pulling out of the station. 

“So romantic…” Annie mumbled as the van rocked her back and forth. She took a few sips of the soda before abandoning it in the cup holder. 

“Baby?” Eddie put a hand on her shoulder. “Baby, we’re home.” Eddie shook her shoulder. Annie lifted her head and looked around confused. She thought she had just dozed for a minute, but they were back at Eddie’s trailer. 

“We’re home?”

“Yeah, you knocked the fuck out for the rest of the ride. You snore on drugs.” Eddie laughed. 

“You snore all the time.” Annie shook her head as she climbed out of the van. They made their way into the trailer, Wayne was sitting in his recliner when they walked in. 

“Shit! I wasn’t expecting ya’ll for another hour or so.” He jumped up from his chair. 

“No traffic today. You want to go bed, Anna?” Eddie asked 

“No. I don’t want to sleep.” Annie shook her head with a pout. 

“Alright, we’ll get you settled on the couch then.” Eddie helped her over to the sofa and got her comfortable with pillows and blankets. 

“How’d it go?” Wayne sat back down facing them. 

“Good. They said no problems. She’s high as a kite, slept most of the drive.”

“M’right here. Talking like I ain’t right here!” Annie waved her hands above her head. 

“Sorry, baby. You can tell him.”

“They scraped my insides and now my tummy hurts.” Annie sighed, slouching down. 

“I’m sorry your tummy hurts, I got a hot water bottle you can use though.” Wayne nodded.

“You still want birthday cake ice cream for dinner?” Eddie sat next to her. 

“No! That’s gross now!”

“We’ve become a little ornery on our drugs.” Eddie laughed. 

“You’re just being a-a big idiot. I’m not ornery.” Annie crossed her arms. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry. What can this big idiot get you to eat? You need to eat, ain’t had anything all day.”  Eddie rubbed her back. 

“I want cheesy bread.”

“Why don’t we start with some soup and if you can keep that down, I’ll get you some cheesy bread.” Wayne suggested. 

“Sounds dumb. Fine.” Annie slumped back. 

“I’m sensing a pattern, thinking all the men are dumb today.” Wayne chuckled as he headed to the kitchen. 

“Seems that way.” Eddie threw his jacket off. 

“No! You’re not dumb! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Annie cried, hot tears running down her face. 

“It’s okay! Baby, it’s fine. We know you don’t mean it!” Eddie wrapped her up in his arms. 

“I love you, I’m sorry!” She sobbed. 

“I love you too. It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Wayne walked over with soup and a TV tray and got it set up. 

“Take it slow. It’s hot.” He cautioned. Annie nodded as she started sipping at the soup. 

“Soup is good.” Annie sighed. 

“I’m glad. You still want cheesy bread?” Eddie asked.

“No. I don’t know.” Annie shook her head. 

“Here darling, it’s a bit warm so be careful.” Wayne handed Annie the hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. She happily took it curling around it. 

“Can I ask you something?” Annie looked up at the older man in his chair. 

“You don’t need permission, you can just ask your questions.” Wayne chuckled. 

“There were these angry people…am I going to hell?” The room fell silent, it was a cold, uncomfortable silence. 

“I want you to listen as well as you can with all you got in your system. I’m not much of a god fearing man anymore, once upon a time I was. I know what I believe and you,” Wayne got up and sat on the arm of the couch, he brushed the hair from her face. “Are the last person in this house going to hell. You’re the best of us and if there is a god, he knows that. Don’t listen to those idiots, they ain’t got a brain cell to pass around.”

“Thank you.” Annie reached up and pulled him into a hug. 

“I knew I should have just plowed the van right through them.” Eddie growled. 

“Eddie.” Wayne warned. 

“Can I have some juice?” Annie asked as she tried to get comfortable on the couch. 

“Course.” Wayne made his way to the kitchen. 

“ Does it still hurt?” Eddie watched as Annie winced. 

“Mmmhmm. Probably will for a few days.” Annie groaned.

“You want some more meds? Might help you sleep.” Eddie fished the bottle from his pocket. 

“Yeah, please.” Annie held out her hand, Eddie gave her a pill. 

“Here, darling. You be careful with those.” Wayne warned as he handed her a glass of juice. 

“Only enough for the day. Had to negotiate for them at the clinic. Only wanted to give her extra strength tylenol, bastards.” Eddie grumbled.

“Just tylenol? After all that? That seems a bit ridiculous to me.” Wayne shrugged. 

“It is. I can attest that tylenol wouldn’t touch this pain right now.” Annie said as she downed her last pill. 

“You sure you don’t want to head to bed?” Eddie questioned. 

“I don’t know…” Annie sighed, her head hurt and she didn’t want to make anymore decisions for a long time. 

“I went and rented your favorite movies yesterday so we would have them on hand. I’ll sacrifice myself and watch Singing In The Rain with you.” Eddie sighed, leaning into his dramatics. 

“Really? You’ll watch it with me?” Annie looked up at him with big eyes. 

“Just this once.” Eddie got up and put the VHS in the player. The screen lit up with the title card and credits. 

“I love this movie.” Annie sighed as she fell into Eddie’s lap. 

“Me too.” Wayne said. 

“You too?” Eddie looked at him confused. 

“It’s a classic, son.” Wayne nodded. Eddie chuckled as he settled into his seat for two hours of pure torture. He would only do something like this for her. 

“He’s so handsome, Gene Kelly.” Annie sighed. 

“So you like the short, tap dancing types?” Eddie cocked an eyebrow. 

“Only sometimes. I have a bigger thing for curly haired metalheads that don’t shut up.” Annie smiled up at him. 

“Hint taken.” Eddie chuckled. The movie was barely half way when the sound of Annie snoring filled the room. 

“Aw and she’s gonna miss the Gotta Dance number.” Wayne shook his head. 

“Meds must have kicked in.” Eddie got up and peeled the blankets from around Annie as he took her in his arms. He brought her into the bedroom and laid her down. He made sure she was comfortable and climbed in next to her. She groaned and rolled over, burying her face in his chest without waking up. 

Eddie looked down at her and felt his chest tighten. She was all he could ever dream of. He didn’t fully understand what she saw in him, but he sure as hell grateful she could see whatever it was. 

“I’m gonna make sure we get out here and live our lives, I promise.” He kissed the top of Annie’s head as he too succumbed to sleep. 

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanart #eddie x y/n #eddie stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie x you #abortion #pro choice #protective!eddie

[911ficrecs]

Taking Smoke with my Coffee by UisceOneLove - 3,930 words, general

Summary: "Order for Firefighter Diaz!"

Eddie knows that coffee runs have typically been deemed a Probie task. He did plenty of them when Bobby first recruited him to the 118. So, tradition dictates that it's supposed ot be Ravi getting them.

But Eddie gets to have a lot of nice things for himself. The things that make even his worst call days just a smidge better.

If anyone (Hen) is interrogating him for details, it's definitely the coffee he's referring to."

I'm not in my gear, Buck," Eddie tells the barista when he approaches the counter.

The smile he looks forward to is waiting for him courtesy of the barista that makes even Eddie have to tip his head back a little bit to make eye contact. "Yeah," Buck drawls as he pushes the tray of coffee towards him, "but you're still on duty."

#buddie #buddie fic rec #evan buckley #eddie diaz #ao3 #3k #general #au #coffee shop #barista!buck #oblivious!eddie #nonfirefighter #protective!eddie #worried!eddie #minor injuries #first kiss #friends to lovers #getting together #happy ending #hurt!buck #insecure!eddie #crew as family #supportive firehouse

[rebelcthulhu]

I am feeling a very particular need for some protective!eddie smut tonight. Would any of y’all lovely’s have some recommendations for me??

#I’m literally writhing #I HAVE AN UNQUESTIONABLE DESIRE #eddie munson #eddie munson smut #protective!eddie #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #Cthulhu’s rambling on

[eddiethesexy1]

The fact that no matter what I do I'll never be held in eddie munson's arms while I'm a bit too high and I need a cuddle just fucking kills me lol

#protective!eddie #eddiethesexy #eddie munson

[wynnyfryd]

Steve’s drunk and sad at a party and doom-swiping through Tinder when he comes across this profile:

Eddie, 21

guitarist, dm, dipshit, six time ass eating world champ 💪 🌎 my friends call me Eds, but you can call me Daddy

“What the fuck?” Steve laughs to himself. First time he’s really laughed all night, actually; this party kinda blows.

He slinks down further into the couch, takes another sip of hunch punch and tilts his phone so no one sees him swiping right on this shit. It’s obnoxious. Like, objectively. He’s just…

Bored.

And curious. Surely that bio has never actually worked for the guy, right?

Steve swipes.

It’s a match.

He snorts to himself again, sends a message before he can overthink it.

Steve: Hey, Eds. That’s kind of a bold move, isn’t it?

Message sent, he goes to back out of the app; doesn’t really expect an answer this close to midnight on a Saturday night — only losers use Tinder at this time of night, and what the fuck does that make him? — but then Eddie starts typing.

Eddie: hey, cutie :) what is?

Steve: Uhh…

Jesus. Why is he blushing? He’s not the one who wrote a wildly aggressive hookup bio. Guy might as well have sharpied DTF on his forehead.

Steve: Your bio? 🫣

Eddie: huh?

Eddie: i mean, dnd can get a little spicy on occasion but i’d hardly call it scandalous

Steve: What’s that?

Is it a sex thing? It’s probably a sex thing.

Eddie: okay, what?

Steve: What? I’m so confused lol

Eddie must be, too, because it takes him a few seconds to answer, and when he does he just says:

Eddie: hold pls

Steve holds. Takes a big gulp of his drink and winces; pretty much all vodka at the bottom.

Eddie is typing and then he isn’t, then he is again and then he’s not, and Steve frowns at his empty cup and wonders if he’s already fucked up the one interesting thing that’s happened to him all night.

Finally, finally, a new message pops up.

Eddie: ………god. DAMN it, Gareth 😤😤😤😤

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie drabble #steddie au #modern au #my writing #gareth stranger things #gareth has absolutely no remorse for this. ‘keep telling you to password protect your phone dude’

[hairmetal666]

Steve knows he falls in love too easily. Nancy told him, Robin too.

But falling in love with Eddie Munson is hard.

They're supposed to be friends after Vecna. They're supposed to be friends, but Steve can't get past what Eddie did in the Upside Down; how he put himself in a position to nearly die, how Dustin got hurt. It's not fair. He knows it's not, but it doesn't make the anger go away.

Eddie's part of the group now, though, and Steve won't leave him out, no matter how angry. They're all at movie nights, at pool parties, at Hellfire, at Corroded Coffin gigs. It's just that Steve and Eddie don't speak. And Steve is okay with it. If it's what it takes to make sure that they're all hanging out together, not talking to Eddie is a small thing. He's pretty sure Eddie doesn't mind. At least, he seems as uninterested in hanging out with Steve as Steve is with him.

It doesn't need to be anything more than that, and it isn't, not until Steve goes upstairs to get more sunscreen during one of the pool parties, and walks back downstairs to find Munson waiting for him in his kitchen.

"You need something?" He asks, unable to fully hide the way he jolts with surprise.

Eddie twists the rings on his fingers, something Steve's noticed he does whenever he's nervous. "You have a problem with me, Harrington?

"No, of course not," he answers too fast.

"C'mon, man. You can barely stand to be in the same room with me."

"That's not true! We're in one together right now."

Eddie rolls his eyes so hard that it has to hurt. "Don't do that. Don't pretend like you don't know what I mean. You can't stand to be alone with me for more than thirty seconds."

Steve splutters, searching for a plausible reason.

"Is it cause--" Eddie swallows, hand going back to cup his neck. "Is it cause you heard me tell Robin that I'm gay? Back at the hospital. Is it because--" he cuts himself off.

Something in Steve's chest clenches hard, warmth swooping dangerously in his stomach. "No," Steve says, means it. "I didn't hear. I didn't-- it has nothing to do with that. It's--that's cool. Thanks for--yeah, that's cool."

Eddie's smile is a brittle little thing. "Then, what else?" Eddie pulls a chunk of hair over his mouth. "I can't think of any other reason you'd hate me so much."

"I don't." And Steve hopes it's coming off as genuine. "I promise."

He can't help remember the camaraderie, the understanding, that started to grow between them in the Upside Down. The "don't cha, big boy?" of it all. They could be friends. They should be.

They shouldn't get into it. Not right here, not right now when the kids' splashes and excited screams filter through the sliding door.

"You're a shit liar, Harrington."

"Ed--I'm not--"

"You know what? Don't bother. I'll just--" He jolts in the direction of the front door.

"Don't be stupid, Munson."

"God, I can't believe I didn't see it before. You just fucking loathe me."

"I do not. Grow up."

"Oh, yeah? Then what's your problem?"

"There isn't--"

"Stop lying!"

"You didn't fucking think!" He shouts. Loud enough that the noise outside cuts off. "You pulled that shit in the Upside Down and you almost died! Dustin got hurt!"

Eddie blinks his big brown eyes in stunned surprise.

"I told you, I said, 'dont try to be cute or be a hero or something.' And you know what you said? Do you?"

Eddie won't look at him now. "I had to make a choice, Steve."

"It was the wrong one!"

"I would do it all again. No matter what you say. I would do it to draw the bats away. To protect Dustin."

"But you didn't."

"There was no other way to stop them, Steve! They would've gotten through, into Hawkins."

"It doesn't matter."

"You weren't there! You can't tell me--"

"Yes, I can! I know."

"You don't! You think--"

"I almost lost you!" He screams. "You nearly died in my arms, Eddie. And for what?"

Falling in love with Eddie wasn't easy. It was blood and near death; it was weeks in a cold hospital room while Eddie existed in a drug-induced twilight state; it was agonizing convalescence and physical therapy and changing bandages; it was Eddie leading dnd sessions with bright eyes and contagious enthusiasm, herding the kids to the arcade and video store, theatrically serving snacks at movie night; it was festering, senseless anger at the near loss of something.

Eddie's lips tremble. "Steve, I--"

"It doesn't matter." He turns away to slide a hand down his face in an effort to wipe away the emotion. "You're fine and we're--it doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "Steve, I'm sorry. I wanted--I thought it would help. I thought--"

And Steve has to admit, he does, the whole terrible contradiction of it all. "I know," he whispers back. "I would've--I know."

"I thought I was protecting Dustin. I thought I was buying you guys time with Vecna." Eddie's voice breaks. "I didn't--I--" He squeezes his eyes shut.

In the quiet of the kitchen, they gravitate to one another, foreheads resting together.

"I should have been there, Ed. I shouldn't have left you two alone. You almost died, and I--"

"Sweetheart, I'm right here. We're right here."

They don't kiss, but they're close enough that their mouths brush with each breath they take.

"Don't do that, again." Steve clenches his fists into Eddie's cutoff t-shirt. "Promise you won't ever--"

"I promise, Stevie. I promise. I'll be by your side until the very end, whatever it is."

#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #ficlet #angst #angst with a happy ending #getting together #falling in love #protective steve harrington #oblivious eddie munson #mutual pining #steve harrington is bad at feelings #not quite rivals not quite enemies but a secret third thing to lovers #it's angst but then it's sweet #we're all traumatized here

[mcbride]

#let’s do it

Joseph Quinn as EDDIE MUNSON in STRANGER THINGS S4 Vol. 2

#strangerthingsedit #strangerthingsgif #stedit #joseph quinn #eddie munson #stranger things #tvedit #tvgifs #tvstrangerthings #dailystrangerthings #by dixonscarol #gif* #stranger things spoilers #im sorry for the quality #but i had tooo #he's gonna save people #protect him!!

[libraryofgage]

Good Vibrations Four

One | Two | Three

It has been a hot minute since I updated Good Vibrations hfjdksl thanks everyone for being patient with me, I just couldn't get this part written the way I wanted to for the loooongest time

There's a meme at the very end for anyone who sticks around!

As always, if you see any typos, no you didn't ;P

------

Of all the ways for Eddie's free period to go, getting cornered in the boy's bathroom by Robin Buckley was pretty damn low on the list. It's not even Robin's presence in the boy's bathroom that's throwing him off; it's the way her arms are crossed and she's glaring at Eddie like he's just bragged about kicking her puppy down the street.

Eddie pauses just inside the stall, holding the door open as the toilet struggles to flush behind him. A few seconds pass before Eddie forces himself to walk over to the sinks and wash his hands. "Buckley," he says, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We need to talk, Munson," Robin says, her eyes narrowing as Eddie shuts off the faucet, grabs a few paper towels, and dries his hands. "What's your game?"

"D&D, mostly," Eddie replies, dropping the paper towels in the trash and giving Robin his full attention. He notes, briefly, that she's locked the door to the bathroom, ensuring nobody is walking in on them.

"With Steve, asshole."

Oh.

Eddie pauses, shoves his hands into his pockets, and tilts his head at her. "Still not sure what you mean," he says. He's starting to get an inkling, though.

Robin frowns, seeming to argue with herself before shoving her hands into her hair to push it out of her face. She just leaves it even frizzier and messier as she takes a deep breath. "Do you think Steve is just, like, your entertainment of the week?" she asks, placing her hands on her hips as she levels that same glare from before at him.

"What? Shit, no, of course, not," Eddie says, sliding back a step at the implication. "What the fuck, Buckley?"

She grits her teeth, takes a deep breath, and marches up to Eddie. "Listen, Munson. I know you. I know all about your little Munson Doctrine. I agreed with it once. And because of that, I know you might be thinking of getting to know all about how former King Steve is a...a...a deaf idiot so you can tell the whole fucking world about it," she hisses. "And I'm here to cut that shit off before it even starts. So, if that's your angle, Munson, I suggest you waltz your flat ass out of Steve's life before I bury you in the football field."

There's a lot to unpack there, and Eddie is going to start opening suitcases soon, but first he can't help saying, "My ass isn't flat, Buckley." Robin raises an eyebrow at him and pointedly looks in the mirror. Eddie doesn't follow her gaze, deciding he'd like to spare himself that tragedy.

When she looks back, Eddie clears his throat. "Besides, that's not...that isn't what I'm doing."

"Then what are you doing?"

Eddie looks away, squirming slightly under her gaze. If this were anyone else, if this were someone who hadn't endured the most awkward seven minutes of his life with him, Eddie wouldn't admit a thing. But because it's Robin, because he knows she'll understand even if she doesn't agree, he finds himself blurting, "I think he's cute!"

"Oh? Oh! Oooohhhh."

He can see Robin going on a whole journey over the course of one word repeated three times, and Eddie almost immediately regrets admitting anything. "You can't tell him," Eddie says, moving forward without thinking and grabbing Robin's shoulders. "I'm serious, Buckley, you can't tell Steve."

She blinks, studying his expression for a moment before humming softly. "What do you want me to do? Lie? I tell Steve everything. He'll know if I'm not telling him something," she says.

"Just say it's not your secret to tell! Because it isn't! It very much is not your secret to be sharing around."

Robin huffs and shrugs Eddie's hands off her shoulders. She leans against the sink, head tilted. "So," she says, her tone implying they're changing the subject now, "when did this little crush of yours start?"

"What do you care?"

"If I'm going to help you, Munson, I need to know."

"You're gonna help me?"

Robin grins at him. "This is my entertainment of the week."

Eddie huffs and looks away, pacing a few times from one end of the bathroom to the other before finally stopping. "Okay," he says, more psyching himself up than anything else. "Steve has always been, you know, hot. It made me so fucking angry when I realized in sophomore year since he was a jock and all. But now...now he's...more. And I'm burning up, man, I've gotta know everything. What's his music collection look like? Do the kids know he's deaf? How does he interact with people when he can't hear them? Is he comfortable closing his eyes when he kisses? Does he feel everything more because he can't hear? Wou--"

"Okay, I'm stopping you there," Robin says, her face twisted in disgust as she levels a judgmental look at Eddie. "I don't want to hear your questions about Steve and kissing or whatever else your dirty little brain is thinking of."

"You asked."

"And now I'm telling you to stop," Robin replies. She runs her fingers through her hair again, frowning slightly. "Okay, I think the most important thing here is etiquette."

"Etiquette? What, am I too rough for Steve's delicate sensibilities?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you'd like to avoid offending him the way you did the last time you spoke."

Okay. Fair. Eddie grimaces at the reminder, the image of Steve's frown and the sound of his closed-off voice forcing themselves to the front of his mind. His shoulders slump and he nods. "Yeah, I would," he says.

Robin nods once, pushes herself off the sink, and places her hands on her hips. "Let's start with some basics," she says, taking a deep breath, and Eddie finds himself wondering if he's about to get overwhelmed by these basics. "Don't talk when Steve isn't looking at you. Don't have anything in or covering your mouth when you speak. Talk a little slower and make sure you enunciate, but if you talk slow like Steve is stupid, I will punch you. If Steve asks you to repeat something, repeat it word-for-word, no matter how many times he asks. If someone addresses Steve and he doesn't notice, give him a subtle nudge. Never sneak up on Steve when he's alone. Even if it means more walking or whatever, move to a spot where he'll notice you approaching. Be expressive when you speak. Steve can't hear things like tone, so he doesn't always know when something is a joke or sarcastic. And never, ever, call Steve or anything about him bullshit."

"That last one...," Eddie says, trailing off as he frowns slightly.

"Is the most important. I'm serious, Munson."

"Okay," Eddie says, nodding once and figuring he'll leave it at that.

"Oh, and ask Steve to teach you sign language. It'll give you an excuse to see each other more often."

-----

Robin has been acting weird since she started her shift, and Steve barely manages to wait until he's 95% sure the store is empty to turn around and ask, "What's wrong?"

Her hands falter, nearly dropping the tape she's busy rewinding. She catches herself, though, and looks at Steve. "What do you mean?"

"You're not telling me something. You tell me everything. What's wrong?"

She hesitates, looking away and biting her bottom lip before sighing and looking back. "I learned a secret today, so it's not mine to tell."

"Oh," Steve says, his shoulders relaxing some. "I thought you were hiding something actually important from me."

He doesn't hear her scoff, but he sees the way her head jerks and her eyes roll when she does. "Why would I bother hiding anything from you, dingus?"

Before Steve can answer, Robin stiffens slightly as she looks over Steve's shoulder. He braces himself for the customer interaction he's about to endure, slaps on a fake smile, and turns around. "Welcome to Family Video. How ca--Eddie?" His smile softens into something genuine at seeing Eddie on the other side of the counter. "Hey, man, what's up?"

Eddie flashes a smile in return, glancing at Robin over Steve's shoulder before focusing back on him. "Hey. Just, uh, kinda had a favor to ask you," he says.

Several possibilities run through Steve's mind, all of them related to the kids, since he can't think of any other reason for Eddie to need a favor from him. "Oh," Steve says, frowning slightly in confusion. "What's the favor."

Instead of answering right away, Eddie shifts awkwardly. He looks away, tugging on a few strands of his hair like he's nervous. He starts to use them to cover his mouth, making Steve dread his inevitable request for Eddie to repeat himself, when he stops. Eddie literally freezes, his fingers twitching before he drops the strands of hair and places his hands on the counter like he needs to keep them in sight.

He takes a deep breath, and Steve is starting to get really concerned now. "Hey, Eddie, whatever it is, just ask. I won't get, like, angry or anything," he says, hoping that makes things easier.

"No, I know you won't," Eddie says, huffing softly before nodding once, more to himself than anything else. "I was, uh, thinking. I read once that sign language is, like, a thing. So, if you teach me some sign language, I'll write you a song that's all noise and vibrations."

Steve doesn't get it all at first, concentrating on Eddie's mouth and getting distracted halfway through by the thought of dragging his thumb across Eddie's bottom lip. "Could you repeat that?" he asks, steeling himself to actually pay attention this time.

Eddie doesn't complain. He just nods and repeats himself. Steve got more of it, enough to know what Eddie is asking for, but he finds himself pausing when he meets Eddie's eyes again. There's no annoyance or frustration at being asked to repeat himself. All Steve can see is patience and nervousness. Without thinking, he asks again, "Sorry, one more time please?"

And Eddie says everything again. He repeats himself word-for-word, still lacking any negative reaction to saying the same thing three times. Steve feels something warm settle behind his ribs, and he nervously licks his lips, catching the way Eddie glances down to follow the motion. He shoves his hands into his pockets, balling them into fists so he doesn't do something stupid like grab Eddie's hand. "One more time," Steve says, the words feeling breathy and soft as they brush past his lips, and he hopes he wasn't too quiet.

Eddie blinks, tilting his head slightly and glancing over Steve's shoulder again. Steve hasn't forgotten about Robin being behind him, but he figures he can just play it off as fucking with Eddie at this point. Eddie doesn't complain or ask if Steve is serious, though. He just...repeats himself, and Steve suddenly knows that Eddie would keep repeating himself until Steve got tired of asking.

"Thanks," Steve says, deciding to spare them both from continuing the loop. "I got it that time. What do you want to learn sign for?"

"A D&D campaign. Thinking of using it in the plot."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I could teach you. Are you doing anything on Sunday?"

"Nope. Totally free. Nothing planned at all."

Steve can't help a slight grin, and he tells himself it's just because he's excited by the prospect of Eddie writing a whole song catered to how he experiences music. "Cool. Come by my place around noon."

Eddie nods once, exhaling like he's forgotten to breathe the entire time they were talking. His hands tap against the counter, drawing Steve's attention downward, and he suddenly wonders what Eddie's rings feel like. Steve forces himself to look back up before that thought can go too far.

"Will do," Eddie says once Steve is looking at him again. He flashes a smile and adds, "See you then, sweetheart."

With that, he turns on his heel and leaves, waving over his shoulder like Steve isn't trying to figure out if he read his words correctly. He watches Eddie leave, waiting for the door to close behind him before whirling around to find Robin still rewinding tapes like nothing happened. "Did he call me sweetheart?" Steve asks, needing to know if he's misunderstanding.

Robin looks up, eyebrows raised. "Don't know, dingus. I wasn't listening."

Steve barks out a laugh. "You're always listening," he points out.

She grins at him, her expression screaming trouble and that she knows something he doesn't. "Well, not that time," she replies, her grin widening as she adds, "But if I was, I'd say he did, yeah."

"He did," Steve murmurs, looking away from Robin and letting her confirmation sink in.

----------

Tag List (the tag list is completely filled up! There definitely wasn't enough room for everyone who requested a tag orz

Please follow the tag "good vibrations Steddie" or put on notifications for my blog to see when new parts are posted :D)

@hallucinatedjosten, @queenie-ofthe-void, @r0binscript, @jewellthebooknerd, @paintgonewrong, @vacantwatchers, @newagemyth, @gutterflower77, @just-a-tiny-void, @littlebluejane

@whenindoubtb72, @different-tale-student, @sharingisntkaren, @current-steddie-brainrot, @willim-billiam-byerson, @nuggies4life

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@lil-gremlin-things, @honorarybrit81, @sonny-ray-of-goth, @potent-idiocy, @fandomcartographer, @heartsong18, @lingeringmirth, @ko0kyco0kies, @ccomandercody, @spiderman-stilinski, @l0st-strawberry, @xxsky-shockxx, @stilesstickitinme, @boxsam, @thepansexualsnake, @37-screamingfrogs, @yourmom-isgay, @brainsteddielyrotted, @plasticcrotches, @hannahhook7744

The meme for those who stuck around:

#steddie #steddie fic #good vibrations steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #platonic stobin #deaf steve harrington #protective robin my beloved actually #eddie thought he was soooooo smart coming up with that little deal #meanwhile robin is that “i know what you are” dog meme behind steve #my writing

[popcornpoppypop]

Let's Play Hooky

Eddie Munson x female OC (fluff)

Summary: Beth Chapman is the quiet bookworm that all the teachers sit the class clowns next to in a futile attempt to keep them quiet. Eddie will never sit still in class. When Beth's day turns to shit, Eddie's determined to get her to loosen up just a little.

Author's Note: This is the first time I've written in a while, and I am a very sleepy person, so apologies for any mistakes grammatically. I would love some constructive criticism! Be gentle! This one ended being a little long, but it felt weird to break it up.

Rating: PG

Warnings: some swearing, one fight scene, bullying, mention of character death (not Eddie), discussion of satanism

Word Count: 9,264

Beth had a few pet peeves, but one that particularly bothered her was when people would lean back in their chairs and balance on the two back legs. She would start to sweat looking at them. It would drive her nuts. It just made her fidget in her seat and want to steam, just a tad. It was something she could mostly deal with as most people didn’t do it on a daily basis. Exempt one person. Eddie Munson. He happened to sit next to her in English class. Every day he would lean back and toddle on those two back legs. Every. Day. She could ignore the snarky comments to the teacher, the clicking his pen nonstop, the doodling on the desk top, but not him swaying on those two stupid back legs. 

“Mr.Roberts, I just think Hemingway is an overrated, alcoholic brute and we shouldn’t have to listen to what he had to say anymore.” Eddie shouted from next to her. 

“Good thing that it is not your decision what is on my syllabus then, Mr.Munson. Alright class, take the next thirty minutes to continue work on your essays for next week.” Mr. Roberts went to sit behind his desk. Eddie groaned and started doodling on his notebook. 

“Hey,” He whispered at an alarming decibel for someone attempting to be quiet. 

“Hey!” He said again and threw a piece of paper at Beth. 

“What?” Beth hissed, turning to him. Eddie flashed his wicked grin at her and it made her blood boil. 

“You finish your essay yet?”

“I finished three days ago.” She turned back to her paper. 

“What the hell are you working on then?”

“I am starting the essay for History.” 

“There’s an essay for History!?!” Eddie shouted, everyone turned in his direction. 

“Keep it quiet.” Mr. Roberts said without putting down the paper he was reading. 

“Yes, about the Greek myths.” Beth said. 

“Aw shit. I guess I can pull something out of my ass for that one. Which one did you choose?” 

“ Medusa, now shut up and do some work.”

“Damn, thats a good one. Ugly chick with snakes for hair, killing people with her stare. Nice.” Eddie laughed. Beth couldn’t stop the rage from rising. 

“She was not ugly. She was beautiful, she was considered one of the most beautiful mortals in fact. That was until a man came along and couldn’t take no for an answer in the temple of Athena and she was the one punished. Doomed to a life of suffering and loneliness. Will you please stop doing that with your chair!” Beth growled. Eddie looked at her shocked for a moment before letting his chair fall forward so all legs were on the ground. Beth was the quiet girl. Teachers often set the rowdy kids next to her in an attempt to get them to behave. She mostly ignored them and they, her. But Eddie would never leave her alone. He kept trying to get her to talk to him during class, trying to goad her into his little games. She tried to ignore him. He was one of the few people who would actually talk to her in school, there wasn’t anything particularly offensive about him. At least not to her. Some people said he was a satanist and trying to start a cult with his little DnD group. Beth knew better. He was just his own person and that made people uneasy. 

“You feeling alright today Liz?” Eddie asked. 

“I’m just fine. I…I hate when people do that with their chairs, it makes my skin crawl for some reason.” She mumbled and went back to writing. 

“Oh. I’ll stop then. You coulda just let me know, if it bothered you so much I wouldn’t kept doing it.” Eddie sighed and went back to his drawing. 

“You just seemed like the guy who would laugh and do it anyway.” She shrugged. 

“Naw. I’m not like these assholes. Well, I try not to be at least. How much to get you to write my history essay for me?” Eddie switched the subject.

“More than you can afford.” Beth snorted. 

“Aw come on! Help a guy out. I’m trying to graduate, finally.” 

“Then ‘try’ writing your own essay.” 

“Damn Liz, you are a tough cookie.” Eddie laughed. Beth shook her head, but couldn’t help the smile that snuck its way to the corners of her mouth. 

“What should I do my History essay on? Throw me a bone!” Eddie begged, his hands clapped together and his eyes pleading. 

“I don’t know. Think of it yourself! Mrs.West taught us at least ten myths this semester. Pick one.” Beth shook her head and went back to writing. She connected to Medusa, she was an outcast for reasons outside her control too. She felt comfort in knowing that others have been dealing with similar trials and tribulations for centuries. She wished she could find her way through the pages and paintings and just hold Medusa’s hand for a moment. Let her know she was not a monster. She wasn’t a monster at all. 

“Like I paid attention to anything West said this year.” Eddie snorted. 

“Try Orpheus and Eurydice. He plays a lyre, close enough to a guitar. Maybe you can pay attention to that.” Beth shrugged.

“Oh yeah, I think I remember that one. It’s like a love story, right? He’s all charming and wins her over with a song and shit but she dies and he has to go get her. Yeah, I can make that work.” Eddie nodded and started scribbling words onto his paper. Beth was grateful for the peace at last. Eddie always had a habit of talking to Beth for the entirety of the class even when she told him to shut the hell up. He seemed to find her getting flustered with him particularly funny. 

The bell rang and everyone shuffled to get their bags packed. The noise of papers being shoved to the bottom of bags never to be seen again filled the room. Beth still had her nose to her work, scribbling down her thoughts before they flew right out of her head. She always said she would forget her head if it weren’t attached, which is why you could always find her with a notebook and pen in hand. She wrote every good idea or important bit of information down the second she heard it. 

“Liz the bell rang.” Eddie said throwing his papers into his bag by just grabbing them in a fist and shoving them in like they were trash in a can, which they mostly were to him.  Beth kept scribbling, not outright ignoring him, just focused. 

“Lizzy, come on, it's lunch.” He hummed. She kept writing, her tongue stuck out just a bit from between her lips as she chewed down on it, a bad habit she always displayed when focused.  Eddie sighed and poked her side. 

“Hey!” Beth jumped. Eddie laughed a bit, but quickly stopped when he noticed how angry she actually was. 

“The bell rang, it's lunch.” Eddie said as he leaned on his desk. Beth looked around at the now empty room, Mr. Roberts had left too. She nodded to Eddie and packed her things. Eddie was always the one who stayed behind and reminded her class had ended when she would get into her zone. She just would get so excited about the world she was creating or the argument she was debating in her writings that she had no idea of the world around her and didn’t care to really. When the year started Eddie would sit with her and wait to see if she noticed everyone leave. He quickly realized she would stay like that until they shut the lights off at the end of the day if he didn’t shake her back to reality. 

“You like writing more than anyone I’ve ever met.” Eddie laughed as he walked past her towards the door. 

“I’m good at it, it keeps me occupied.” Beth shrugged as she hauled her bag onto her shoulder and followed behind. 

“I bet you’d be a great dungeon master.” Eddie smiled down at her. “Excuse me?” Beth looked up at him confused and horrified. 

“Oh shit! No, not like that.” Eddie said, waving his hands up in surrender and laughing so hard he started to tear up. 

“Munson, I would be very careful if I was you.” Beth scolded. 

“I meant like D&D. The roleplaying game?”

“Oh your little club thing. I don’t really think it’s my thing.” Beth looked to her feet. She had secretly wanted to play for a long time, she had once when she visited her cousin with her sister one summer. They all had a blast and said they would try and start a group when they got back. They never did. 

“Well, if you ever want to, you can come by and play with us. I bet you’d be great, kick ass and take names. You’d take over from me in no time.” Eddie laughed. 

“Unlike you, I have a lot of work to get done before graduation and would rather do that than pretend I’m some king ruling over a bunch of freshman.” Beth said. 

“Oh ouch! Lizzy, your words hurt sometimes, ya know? But I accept your apology.” Eddie smiled. 

“I didn’t apologize?” Beth looked at him confused. 

“But you were about to by getting me a coke from the vending machine and saying you’ll come join us this Friday for Hellfire.” Eddie winked at her. 

“In your dreams Munson.”

“Oh you don’t want to know what goes on in my dreams Lizzy.” Eddie said, leaning down closer to her. Beth felt her breath catch in her throat. Eddie could see her pupils dilate and he smirked. 

“You’ve got problems, Munson.” Beth cleared her throat and marched towards the lunch line. 

“Yeah, maybe. But you think that’s interesting, I can tell. You got problems too, we’re not so different Lizzy.” He whispered in her ear. She gave him a shove. 

“Stop calling me Lizzy.” She growled. Eddie gave her a wicked smile. He liked how he could get under her skin just enough that she wasn’t actually upset with him. 

“I’ll stop when you stop calling me by my last name.” He said. Beth looked up at him and rolled her eyes. She grabbed her tray and started grabbing her lunch. She accidentally tripped over the girl in front of her and quickly apologized. 

“It’s fin- Oh.” The girl looked at her and her expression fell flat and she quickly scampered away. Beth just sighed and kept going. 

“Hey, forget them. One day we’ll be outta here and none of these idiots will matter.” Eddie said. Beth knew he was right. She would leave this stupid town the seconds that diploma was in her hand. But it didn’t stop the sting every time someone gave her that look.

“I know.” She gave a strained smile as she grabbed a can of coke and put it on her tray and grabbed a second one and handed it to Eddie. 

“That’s $1.35.” The lunch lady informed her at the register. 

“His too.” Beth said as she handed the women a five dollar bill. 

“Hey, Liz, you don’t need to do that.” Eddie protested.

“Shut  up Munson.” Beth said as she pocketed the change and walked away. She went to her usual spot in the corner where no one bothered her and started to read her book as she ate. Eddie watched her from across the cafeteria, he never really understood why she elected to eat alone every day. He always invited her over, but she refused. He didn’t push it, figured she had her reasons and if she wanted him to know she would tell him. Part of him wanted to still barge over and crack a joke, to see her smile. He always wanted to make her smile, it felt like he was doing something right finally when he would get her to smile. 

“Earth to Eddie!” Dustin waved his hand in front of him. Eddie snapped back to the conversation. 

“Keep waving that hand in my face Henderson and it won’t be attached much longer.” Eddie said, smacking him away. 

“I was saying that my mom offered to make snacks for Hellfire if you wanted.” Dustin said with a big grin on his face. 

“Uh…sure. Whatever.” Eddie nodded. “Hey, Beth Chapman used to hang around with your sister, didn’t she Wheeler?” Eddie asked. Mike looked up, mouth full of mashed potatoes, surprised to be called out directly. 

“Um…yeah. They used to hang out. Why?” Mike asked as some potatoes spilled from his lips onto his shirt, cursing  he grabbed a napkin to clean it up. 

“Why don’t they anymore? Like she’s always alone, what’s up with that?” Eddie said, cracking his coke open and sipping.  Dustin and Mike gave each other a somber look. “What? What was that look for?” Eddie asked his mild curiosity now turning into anxiety to know this seemingly morbid information. 

“It’s just…I thought everyone knew.” Mike sighed, trying to get more comfortable in his chair, as if that would make telling his story easier. 

“Like two years ago her and her sister were out at the water tower one night and they were drinking, maybe some other stuff I don’t know for sure. But her sister…she thought she could maybe…fly. Story goes she tried to stop her, but couldn’t and…well it was a closed casket for her funeral. There was a rumor a while back that she maybe pushed her sister or that she had some super power and convinced her just by whispering in her ear. All bullshit. But she kinda cut herself off from everyone. People turned into real assholes about it, Nancy tried to help her but she just locked herself away.” Mike sighed as he played with the peas on his tray. 

“Shit…” Eddie sighed leaning back. He wasn’t surprised he hadn’t heard the rumor, he didn’t hang out with anyone who would have talked about it.  It pissed him off that people could even think that Beth would be capable of something like that. As far as he was concerned she was the best person he knew. 

“Yeah, she used to babysit me when I was in middle school. Really cool chick, she gave me my first copy of the Lord of the Rings! She would read it to me and do the voices. But she stopped coming over. I remember a couple months after her sister died I ran into her at the store and I tried to get her to come over for dinner, she always said she liked my mom’s cooking. She might’ve just been trying to be nice now that I think about it. But she snapped and started screaming at me about how annoying I was and how useless and shit. Right there in front of the poptarts. Haven’t really spoken since.” Dustin shrugged. 

“That doesn’t sound like her.” Eddie looked at him concerned. 

“It wasn’t. I know now that she didn’t actually mean it. Or not fully at the least. I don’t think she’ll ever be like how she used to be.” Dustin shook his head as he ate his food. 

Beth just wanted to get through every day without incident. It was the best she could hope for at this point. Most of the time she got her wish. She would go home and up to her room to finish her homework or read and be left to her own devices. That was the way she wanted it. She sat in her last class of the day thinking about the new book that lay on her desk at home when the bell rang. She quickly gathered her things and made her way toward the doors. 

“Liz! Lizzy!” She heard her name called over the chatter of kids filing out of school. She turned to see Eddie jumping over everyone’s head to get her attention. She sighed and stood to the side so he could catch up.  Kids passing by giving her side glances. 

“What do you want, Munson? I already told you I won’t do your homework for you.”She said. 

“Oh I know. You never want to do my homework. I gave up that dream months ago.” He smiled as he caught up to her slightly out of breath. “I wanted to ask if you wanted to go see a movie later.” He smiled

“What?” Beth looked confused. Eddie had asked her to hang out a handful of times outside of school, but it was mostly about his club or to do his homework. She never took him up on it and it was never more than that. 

“Yeah, I was going to sneak into see The Highlander and was wondering if you wanted to come with.” He said leaning in close to her. Beth’s mouth suddenly felt a bit dry, but her hands were sweaty. She wiped them on her jeans and tried to gather her thoughts. 

“I…um, I can’t. I have to finish my biology homework.” She mumbled looking to the ground. Eddie sighed and let his head fall

“Well, I’ll see you around I guess. Hellfire is on Friday, you should come. I know the boys would love you to come. They should meet a girl.” Eddie flashed a smile and walked off. Beth stood there for a moment, her books clutched tightly to her chest. He smelled like cigarettes, leather, sweat and fresh cut lumber. She felt a shiver run up her spine, she shook it off and headed home.

She walked in the door, kicking her shoes off and padding into the kitchen to grab a snack. She was startled by the sound of a glass being set on the counter. She turned to see her mother sitting at the counter. 

“Mom, you scared me.” Beth laughed. 

“Your father is having his supervisor over for dinner Friday. It would be for the best if you found something else to do rather than sit in the room.” Her mother sipped at her drink. Beth simply nodded. She made her way to her room and collapsed on the bed. Her parents had treated her differently since her sister died. They blamed her and she knew it. They never outright said it, but she didn’t need them to. She blamed herself most of the time. 

She spent most of the night reading until she fell asleep. She spent most nights that way. She would go downstairs suffer through a silent meal and retreat to safety. Her room was her oasis. A true escape from all the bad shit that went on in her world. She didn’t need anyone else to keep her company in her room. She was fine with being alone now. 

Friday morning rolled around and she rushed around the kitchen, grabbing a poptart and running out the door to grab the bus. She sat on the bus alone, finishing up some edits on her homework when she heard some whispers and felt eyes on her. Normally she would ignore it, but her gut told her not to. She looked up to see two of the cheerleaders in uniform looking at her and scowling. People weren’t so obvious with their disdain for her. She shook it off and kept writing until a shiver went up her spine. All the hair on her arms stood on end and all color left her face. She looked at her watch and noted the date that reflected back. The bus came to a stop and she was up before anyone else and pushing the door open before the driver could fully open them. 

Beth ran past all the students spilling from the buses and cars onto the front lawn. She ran past the teachers attempting to keep everyone in line. She felt so dumb for not keeping track. She felt a hideous guilt eating at her insides, she should have known what today was. She heard the whispers and saw the looks. She just needed to get to the bathroom, no one would bother her there. She wasn’t paying attention when she collided head first into Eddie. 

“Whoa! Where’s the fire Lizzy?” Eddie laughed. His smile faded as he took in the Beth that stood before him. She was pale and shaky and her eyes looked like she had seen a ghost. 

“Careful Munson or she might make you fly right off the roof!” One of the students cackled. Eddie grabbed them by the collar and threw them up against the locker. 

“You shut your stupid mouth before I do it for you.” He growled before pushing the kid away. He grabbed Beth’s hand. 

“Come with me Lizzy.” He started to lead her away before she yanked her hand from him. 

“Don’t call me that!!” She screamed. The hallway fell silent, everyone looking at her. She felt her heart racing, her hands sweaty. The tears threatened to spill. Eddie just nodded and reached for her hand again. 

“Okay, I won’t say it again. Just come with me Beth.” He said starting to walk away with her. He led her to the football field and past the bleachers into the backwoods. There was a picnic table and nothing else. He sat her down and took his jacket off and sat across from her. 

“No one comes back here. You’re safe, I promise.” He said. The mischief that usually laced his voice was gone, replaced with a sincerity Beth hadn’t ever really heard from him. 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.” She sighed looking at her feet in the leaves. 

“It’s okay. Sometimes I need a good scream to get something through my thick skull.” He said. It made Beth smile. Eddie smiled back. 

“I didn’t realize what today was. I thought…I should have.” Beth shook her head. 

“What’s today?” Eddie leaned forward onto his forearms on the table. Beth tried to breathe for a moment. 

“Sally…my sister, she…died two years ago today.” Beth sighed. Eddie squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. He was suddenly realizing how dumb he had been all week. 

“I’m sorry.” He said. 

“She…she was the only person that called me Lizzy. Until you.” Beth wiped the tears from her cheeks. 

“Shit. I’m sorry Beth, I didn’t know. I won’t do it again.” Eddie racked a hand through his hair. 

“Honestly, it didn't bother me. Just today, but it was more the reminder that I had forgotten than anything. I can’t believe I forgot.” Beth shook her head. 

“Maybe you were just trying to save yourself from the pain of it all. It’s not your fault Beth. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Eddie put his hand toward her, not expecting anything of her. 

“The rumors are wrong, you know? I didn’t push her. I don’t have magic powers of persuasion, I don’t work for the devil.” Beth said feeling the anger for her town bubbling inside her. 

“I know.” Eddie said. 

“I tried to stop her. I tried. She took acid, fucking acid! Mom and Dad pushed her so hard all the time to be perfect. They wanted her to go to Harvard so badly and she was so desperate to be the little girl in their dreams when all she wanted was to be an artist. She wanted to be a painter. She started drinking when she was 16, was good at hiding it at first. But the harder they pushed the worse it got. I got home and saw her on the floor, she looked like she was in a coma. I was trying to get her to the hospital, I didn’t know what else to do! She ran off, I tried to get to her before she got to the ladder. I couldn’t climb fast enough. I screamed as loud as I could, trying to get her to snap out of it. But I got to the top just to watch her jump. I should have saved her, I shouldn’t have taken her out of the house.” Beth sobbed. Eddie got up and ran to sit next to her, pulling her to his chest. 

“You were trying to help. You didn’t do anything wrong. You shouldn’t have been in that situation.” Eddie did his best to soothe her. 

“She deserved a better sister.” Beth's throat was raw, she felt like she could throw up.

“You tried to help her, that’s better than most people. You don’t need to blame yourself.” Eddie sighed. Beth clung onto him like he was the only thing keeping her afloat. They sat like that for what felt like an hour before Beth could finally breathe like normal again. She lifted her head and looked up at Eddie who looked as though he had been crying too. His shirt covered in tear stains and crumbled from where she had clutched onto him. 

“You look like shit.”She said. Eddie laughed.

“We can start a club then.” He chuckled, Beth laughed. She straightened herself up a little and started to get up. 

“Whoa, where are you going?” Eddie stopped her. Beth looked at him confused. 

“What do you mean? I already missed most of first period, I have to get ready for the next class.”

“Not today. Today you are playing hooky. Those assholes don’t deserve your brilliance today or ever, but especially today.” Eddie said, getting up and adjusting his jacket. 

“Eddie, no. I can’t miss a whole day.”

“How many days have you missed this year?” He asked. Beth sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“None.”

“So you can miss one today. I’m taking you out. Wherever you want. I’m your guide to fun today. We can go to the arcade, the movies, egg Principle Matthews house. Anything.” He smiled, putting out his hand for her. Beth sighed looking at her feet as she mulled over his offer. She looked up at him smiling and decided he was right. She could miss one day. She grabbed his hand and he helped her up with a giddy grin.

“Okay. But no egging anyone’s house.” Beth said. Eddie stood on the bench, one foot perched on the tabletop, one hand on his chest the other in the air as if he was in court. 

“I swear that there will be no egging until you give the word.” Eddie smiled. 

“Why do I feel like I’m going to regret this?” Beth shook her head. Eddie jumped down and grabbed her hand, helping her up and pulling her behind him as he started for the school parking lot. 

“Come on, it won't be that bad!” Eddie laughed. 

“Where are you taking me, Munson!?” Beth yelled as she did her best to catch up. 

“To the ends of the earth!” 

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know what, that sounded cooler in my head. It’s just the arcade.” Eddie said as he opened the passenger door to his van and helped Beth in. He jumped in and revved the engine. 

“Let’s have some fun!” He cackled as he sped out of the parking lot. 

The bell over the door rang as Beth and Eddie walked in. Eddie took in a deep breath, reveling in the smells of the arcade. Beth did not follow suit, there was a tinge of sweat in the air and she’d rather not experience it any further than she had to. 

“Oh yeah. This is great. No one is ever here this time of day, perfect.” Eddie smiled as he went up to the machine to exchange his dollars for coins. He fished the coins from the machine and gestured for Beth to hold out her hand, she lifted her hands up and he dumped a pile of the metallic tokens into them.

“Now what?” Beth looked up at him like deer in headlights. Eddie looked at her like she had grown a second head. 

“What the hell do you mean ‘now what’?” He asked, his voice getting high pitched. 

“I don’t know! I’ve never been to an arcade before.” Beth shrugged. Eddie’s mouth fell open and he stared at her for a moment. 

“Okay. Right. Come with me.” He grabbed her hand leading her across the arcade. Beth liked how the metal of his rings and chain bracelet felt on her warm skin. 

“This,” Eddie stopped in front of one of the many games and gestured to it’s blue exterior, “Is pacman. It is like the most basic game outside of pong. Everyone has played it, well everyone except you apparently.” Eddie sighed. 

“So what do I do?” 

“You eat the dots and avoid the ghosts unless you eat the fruit then you eat the ghosts.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. But it gets harder over time.” Eddie leaned down to put a coin in the machine, the back of his shirt rode up and a sliver of skin showed. Beth felt her cheeks flush and cursed herself for acting like an idiot teenager. She was in fact eighteen and qualified as an idiot teenager, but she rarely liked to acknowledge that fact. 

Eddie pulled her up to the machine and put her right hand on the joystick and her other on the buttons. 

“The stick moves the little guy around and this button uses powerups.” Eddie said. He stood with his chest pressed into Beth’s back, he was taller than her and it felt like he could envelop her entirely if he chose. Beth wouldn’t entirely mind if he did. He kept his hands on top of hers, they were rough and calloused but she didn’t mind. 

“Okay, it’s just like a maze, just don’t touch the ghosts.” He said, his lips next to her ear as he rested his chin on her shoulder. The screen lit up with the small yellow character at the ready for his meal of pixelated morsels. Eddie pressed the start button and he started moving the joystick and trying to avoid the ghosts chasing after them. Beth tried to pay attention, but as the ghosts got closer, Eddie’s breath quickened and she did her best to try and not have goosebumps. 

“Come on, you little yellow asshole!” Eddie growled as the ghosts got closer. 

“Go left!” Beth shouted, moving the stick left and getting them on the path towards a floating grape. 

“Yes!” Eddie yelled as they got to it just in time. The ghosts started blinking white and they chased after them, gobbling up three before the power up faded and the chase started over. 

“You little shits!” Eddie hissed as they got closer. 

“No, right! They’re gonna get us!” Beth yelled as the ghosts gained on them. Eddie was smashing all the buttons and trying to get away, but the ghosts were faster.

“Damn!”

“No!” Beth yelled as pacman spiraled to his death. Eddie laughed as he grabbed Beth’s hand and led her to a different machine. 

“This one we can play against each other. Here, this controls your characters movement, this button punches and this one kicks. The big red one is for special moves.” He said as he put the coin in. Two boxers popped on the screen. 

“Move around for a second, I won't start yet.” Eddie smiled at her. Beth sighed and started trying all the buttons. This was not her thing at all, but he was trying so hard to make her happy that she was going to do it until he didn’t want to. 

“Okay, I think I can kick your ass now.” Beth giggled. 

“Oh! Oh shit! You sure about that?” Eddie laughed. 

“Bring it Munson!” Beth slammed the punch button landing a swift jab to Eddie’s character. 

“You asked for it!” He leaned over the controls, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated. They hit and kicked each other, pixelated blood flying everywhere, until one character hit the ground. 

“No way.” Eddie shook his head in disbelief. 

“Yes!” Beth jumped up and down, hands in the air.

“ I can’t believe you beat me! You cheated, you had to!” Eddie said, hands on his hips. 

“Just raw natural talent.” Beth smirked, feeling proud of herself. Eddie nodded and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Hey, aren’t you kids supposed to be in school?” The attendant came over. Beth looked up at Eddie with wide eyes. She had never skipped school and the idea of being caught by anyone suddenly made her terrified. 

“So what?” Eddie looked the man up and down. 

“Out.” the man pointed to the door. 

“Of course,  we were just heading out. So sorry to disturb.” Beth muttered nervously as she grabbed Eddie by the arm and started for the door. 

“What!? No! We can be here, what is this idiot gonna do?” Eddie threw his hands up giving the man two middle fingers. 

“Eddie! Come on!” Beth dragged him out to his van. 

“What’s the matter?” Eddie asked, Beth was sweaty and out of breath. 

“He’s gonna call the cops! Eddie!”

“Haha, yeah right.” He rolled his eyes crossing his arms. He looked at Beth and realized she was actually quite upset. 

“Oh shit. No, Beth, look no one is calling the cops. I do this all the time, they don’t actually care that much. I promise you aren’t getting in trouble.” Eddie said, putting his hands on her shoulders. 

“Okay…okay.I’ve never done this before.” Beth sighed. 

“I know. I won’t steer you wrong.” Eddie smiled. “How about food? You aren’t like a vegetarian or anything weird right?” He asked. Beth shook her head as she hopped in the car. Eddie hit gas and off they went. 

“You don’t need to do this Eddie. I’m okay, really.” Beth looked over at him, his long hair flying behind him as the wind from the open window rushed in. 

“I don’t have to do anything. I want to spend the day with you when you feel like shit and try to help. If you don’t want to hang out anymore I can drop you off at home.” He said, he looked over to her, a hint of sadness in his eye. 

“No, I don’t want to go home. My parents told me in no uncertain words not to be around today anyway. I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Beth looked at her feet. 

“Who wants to hang out with their parents anyway? Fuck them.” Eddie said as he pulled into the diner parking lot. 

The waitress didn’t blink an eye at the two high schoolers clearing skipping school, just seated them at a booth. 

“I don’t have to walk you through how to order at a diner do I?” Eddie looked up at Beth. 

“No, smartass. I have been to a diner before.” Beth shot him a killer look. 

“Well, you hadn’t been to an arcade before. I thought maybe you were like those Amish dudes or something.” Eddie smiled.

“What can I get you?” The waitress asked, popping her gum and looking less than amused to be working. 

“Burger and fries with a coke, please.” Eddie flashed her a thin-lipped smile and handed her his menu.

“BLT and water for me, thank you.” Beth smiled and the waitress left. 

“Can I ask you something?” Eddie set his elbow on the table to prop up his head. 

“Um…I suppose so.” Beth felt her hands get sweaty. 

“How come you never put up a fight about me calling you Lizzy?” Eddie leaned forward some. Beth took a deep breath and thought for a minute. 

“I guess because when you said it, it felt okay. I don’t know. When Sally called me Lizzy it felt correct that she did. When anyone else did it felt wrong, like nails on a chalkboard. But when you did, it felt…natural.” She shrugged. 

“You look more like a Lizzy than a Beth to me.” 

“Sally said that too. She said Beths were boring and I was too cool to be a Beth.” She smiled to herself. 

“It’s true! You are too cool for Beth.” 

“She would have liked you. I think you two would have gotten along. She was kind of a freak too.”

“I’m a freak!? How dare you!” Eddie mocked offense. 

“You know what I mean! She liked weird music and made weird paintings and read weird books. She’s the one that made me read IT one summer. I never read anything she suggested again. She wanted to move to New York and live with the avant garde artists and paint all day and party all night.” Beth sighed. 

“She sounds very cool.” Eddie smiled. 

“You never talk about your family.” Beth noted. Eddie shifted in his seat and exhaled through his nose. 

“I live with my uncle. He’s pretty cool. He took me in when I was like…nine I think? My mom left my dad when I was like an infant. Picked up and ran one night. Not that I blame her, he was a real piece of shit. Uncle Wayne came by one night saw the state of things and in no uncertain terms told my dear old dad to go fuck himself and took me. He raises his ugly head every once in a while, but I can handle him now.” Eddie said, fiddling with his rings. 

“I’m sorry Eddie.” 

“Eh, it’s fine. Everyone’s got something to deal with.” He shrugged. The waitress brought their plates and drinks over to them and rushed back over to her magazine. They were the only ones in the place, it was nice. 

“So what do you want to do after this?” Eddie said through a big bite of his burger. 

“Oh. I don’t know. Whatever you want is fine.” Beth smiled. Eddie rolled his eyes and flung his head back, his usual dramatics. 

“No! Not how today works, Lizzy! This is all about you! Okay, what would your perfect day be? You have the whole day off, everyone is at work or school so no people around, no lines or anything. What do you want to do?” He said munching on a french fry. 

“Well, I guess there is one thing,”

“Yes! Alright! Okay, what is it?” Eddie sat forward in his seat, practically jumping up and down. Beth thought he looked a bit like an over excited toddler. 

“Sally used to take me to this antique store across town. They sell furniture and stuff, but they have a collection of books too. She would take me on Thursdays once a month and buy me a new book. We always went the Thursday before her payday, she said if she used the money before her check it was like she never spent the money.” Beth laughed at the memory. 

“Alright, never been to an antique store before. That’s what you want, that’s what you get.” Eddie smiled. 

“Can I ask you something?” Beth wiped her hands with a napkin. Eddie nodded as he shoved food into his mouth. 

���Shoot.”

“Why…why are you doing all this for me? I guess, I just don’t get it. I mean we’re friendly but we don’t hang out or anything. I just thought you were nice to me because I was the only one who would throw you an answer every once in a while.” Beth said. Eddie could see her shrinking herself down before his very eyes. He watched as every word she said about herself made her sink lower. He hated it, he hated how this ridiculous town could make a person do that to themselves. He was guilty of it too, from time to time.

“Lizzy, I think you’re the coolest person in this decrepit town. You are the smartest person here, you always have the most interesting things to say in class. I couldn’t give a shit what Mr. Roberts thinks about The Great Gatsby, I want to know what you think about it. I actually started liking English class because of you. You made it cool, there was more to it with you.” Eddie smiled at her and Beth could have melted into a puddle right there in that poorly lit diner. 

“I-I don’t know about the smartest. I think Nancy Wheeler might have me beat.” Beth looked at her plate as she pushed around her fries. 

“Nancy Wheeler doesn’t have shit on you. You are one of the best people I’ve met here. You are always looking out for the new kids and the quiet kids and the freaks. No one else does, just you. I see you,” Eddie reached forward and grabbed her hand, “even when you try your damn hardest to be invisible. I like who you are, I don’t care what you have to say about that either.” He looked her in the eyes, noticing how her dark eyes seemed to glow when she teared up. Beth felt her throat tighten and her eyes sting as Eddie’s words settled into her mind. She had never been spoken of quiet like that before. His hand was warm and his eyes soft. 

“I like who you are too.” Beth’s voice strained and cracked as she tried to not spill anymore tears. Eddie laughed, nodding his head. He would be so lucky to have a girl like her, he thought. He didn’t want to push it, they were so happy in this moment and that was a rare thing for him and, he assumed, her. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Eddie said, throwing money on the table and sliding from the booth.  Beth stood up for a moment, her face was tight from tears. 

“I’ll meet you in the van, I’m just going to go to the restroom.” Beth said. 

“Don’t fall in.” Eddie grinned as he walked out to his van. Beth shook her head as she walked into the dimly lit bathroom. She turned the faucet on and splashed her face with water. She caught her reflection in the mirror and stared just a bit too long as she started pointing out the flaws she saw. 

“Stop it. Not now, not today.” She muttered to herself. She started to feel guilty again, she was having such a great time. She was actually enjoying herself and happy for once. Should she be doing this on such a day? 

“Okay look, you know I don’t believe in ghosts and spirits and shit. But if you’re watching this, if you’re okay with this, just tell me Sally.” Beth looked toward the ceiling for a moment. The bathroom was still and quiet. Beth sighed, shaking her head. 

“You could give me something, anything, it’s the least you could do.” She growled as she kicked the trash can. Suddenly the lights flickered for a moment. 

“Okay. So what does that mean? You’re okay with this? With him?” the lights flickered again. 

“Yeah, this was probably your plan all along, you asshole.” Beth snorted. The lights turned off completely. 

“Oh fuck you.” Beth laughed as she left the bathroom. She ran out the door and jumped in Eddie’s van.

“You good?” Eddie asked as he started up the van. 

“Yeah, just…had to get straightened up.” Beth smiled. Eddie looked at her for a second before shrugging and driving off. 

They parked the van out front of the shop, a big old fashioned wooden sign hung out front simply saying Antiques. They jumped out of the van and stood looking at the display windows. 

“It’s been years since I’ve been here.” Beth sighed. 

“So they sell old shit?”

“It’s nice old shit.” Beth laughed as they headed in. There was a woman at the counter who barely lifted her head when they walked in. There were old tables and chairs cluttering every inch of the store. Antique toys and picture frames sat upon end tables that could use more than a little TLC. 

“Who the fuck is paying four hundred dollars for a damn rocking chair!?” Eddie snorted looking at the little price tag tied to the arm of the old wooden rocking chair. 

“Lots of people, it’s not old it’s antique.” Beth said maneuvering her way through the store. 

“Bunch of idiots.” Eddie whispered to himself. 

“My sister liked looking at the jewelry. She would make up stories about who wore them and the grand parties they would go to.” Beth said. She made her way to the back of the store and found the shelves full of worn and well loved books. She knelt down on the floor as she made her way through the bottom shelves first. Eddie looked at all the weird knick knacks that were staring down at him. He felt very uncomfortable in this dusty old store. 

“Oh they have a copy of Little Women from 1934!” Beth gasped. 

“Whoa, that’s…I’m going to be honest it’s hard for me to get excited about that one.” Eddie said as he stared down a ceramic mime. Beth giggled  up at him. She grabbed the book and went to the register, Eddie following behind. 

“Forty for the book.” The woman coughed. 

“What!? You are going to pay forty dollars for a freaking book!?” Eddie shouted, completely flabbergasted by the whole transaction. 

“Yes. It’s leatherbound.” Beth scolded as she handed the money to the woman. 

“Your boyfriend ain’t too bright, is he?” The woman grumbled. 

“Hey, I’m plenty smart. I just can’t believe people would pay that much for a book they can get at the library for free.” Eddie waggled his finger at the lady. Beth just looked at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. 

“What?” Eddie looked at her confused. Beth smiled and shook her head, grabbing the book from the lady with a quick thank you and dragged Eddie out of the store before he started arguing about tables. They got into the van, Beth’s cheeks were cherry red. 

“You do realize what she called you right?” Beth said, looking up at him. Eddie looked at her confused for a moment before understanding what had truly just happened. 

“Oh, well, yeah. I guess I didn’t think anything of it. But if that freaks you out..”

“No, it’s okay. Just caught me off guard, I was surprised it didn’t catch you too.” 

“Well, maybe I didn’t mind it.” He said squeezing the steering wheel tight. 

“Maybe I didn’t mind it either.” Beth smiled. Eddie’s head snapped to look at her, trying to find any ounce of her joking or making fun of him. He found none, just her beautiful eyes staring up at him. 

“You stay here, I’m just going to go grab something from the grocery next door.”Beth said as she jumped out of the van and made her way into the store. She walked down the candy aisle, staring at the brightly colored packaging. Her face felt warm still. She grabbed her sweets, a couple of glass bottles of soda and headed to the register. 

“Got a sweet tooth, huh?” The cashier commented. 

“Something like that.” Beth shrugged. 

“This stuff will rot the teeth out of your head. $5.27.” 

“Here, thank you.” Beth handed the money to the cashier and took the bag from them bounding out the door. She saw Eddie air drumming to some song in his van, his hair flying wildly around him. How a boy like that wanted to hang out with a girl like her would always be a mystery to her. 

“You’re Beth Chapman right?” A man came around the corner towards her. 

“Um…yes.” Beth said as she quickened the pace towards the van. 

“I thought so, I remember your face in the paper. Well, your face next to your sister’s.” He said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to face him.

“Please let me go.” Beth pleaded, the man’s grip tightened. 

“We were in the same class. She was a good girl. Sweet, she was my lab partner for three years.” “Please, don’t do this.”

“She should be here still, you know that!? How are you walking around here free, buying candy, while she’s in the ground!?” The man screamed in her face.

“Please!” Beth begged. He grabbed her face and forced her to look him in the eye, his nails digging into her cheeks. 

“You are going to Hell! You deserve to go to Hell!” He screamed, spit hitting Beth’s face. She felt droplets of blood roll down her face from his nails digging into her skin. He drew back his hand and slammed it across her face, Sending Beth to the ground. She whimpered, her hand coming up to cover her sore face, already starting to swell from the force. 

Eddie was drumming on his steering wheel to DIO as he waited for Beth to finish up. He wondered if he could somehow get her into his music. It was probably a long shot. He sighed looking around, his eyes landing on a man grabbing Beth by the hair and pulling her up from the ground where she lay. 

“Oh fuck!” He jumped out of the van and ran over. 

“You disgusting Satanist!” The man yelled as he started to bring his hand down, but was caught by another. 

“You lay another fucking hand on her and I’m keeping the hand.” Eddie growled. The man’s eyes grew wide, but he only became more enraged. He threw his whole body into Eddie's, sending them flying backwards. 

“Stop!” Beth yelled. The man threw punch after punch, Eddie’s face getting redder and redder. Eddie managed to knee the man in his crotch and throw him off him. Eddie clammered to his feet and the man wobbled up and towards him. 

“Fuck off dude!” Eddie yelled, pushing the man away from him and landing a punch to the jaw. 

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” A woman came rushing out of the store to where Beth laid on the ground still. Beth shook her head, pointing to the men fighting. 

“Oh! I’ll be right back.” The woman ran off into the store. Eddie kept trying to push the man from him, throwing punches that half landed. Beth was sure he had some kind of brain injury. 

“Please Stop!” Beth managed to get to her feet heading towards them, the woman grabbed her arm to stop her. 

“Don’t get in that, sweetie.” She told her. 

“Hey! Hey! What the Hell is all this!” The Chief of police came running over and pulled the men apart. 

“This FREAK! He attacked me!” The man growled. 

“Hey! I only stopped you from beating up on Lizzy! You started this shit!” Eddie yelled, starting towards the man again before Chief Hopper pushed the boy back against the hood of a car. 

“Settle down!” Hopper scolded. He turned to the man, looked over at Beth and back to the man, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Did you do that to that girl?” Hopper asked, a quiet rage emanating from him. 

“I don’t hit girls.”

“Fucking liar! I saw you!” Eddie yelled. Hopper pushed him back, shooting him an annoyed look. 

“How did that girl get covered in blood and bruises then?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“So if I go ask her, she won’t say it was you?”Hopper got close to the man, towering over him. 

“I don’t beat girls. She isn’t a girl though, she’s a criminal, a devil worshiper!” the man growled. Hopper sighed and grabbed the man’s arms and cuffed him. 

“You just got yourself a ticket to county.” Hopper said, dragging the man towards his car. 

“You should be arresting her! She’s a murderer! A devil worshiper!” They screamed as Hopper slammed the door in his face. 

Beth ran over to Eddie as he sat on the hood of some strangers car, spitting blood onto the sidewalk. 

“Oh my god, oh my god! Eddie!” She held his face in his hands examining the damage done. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” He smirked, blood covered his teeth and dripped from his mouth. 

“Well, it looks pretty bad.” Beth sighed. Eddie brought his hands up to her face and turned it to look at the marks the man left on her. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, wiping some blood from her eye. Beth laughed and shook her head. 

“I’ll live. You need to go to the hospital.” She sighed. 

“She's the right kid. You two need to go get looked at, make sure your heads are alright.” Hopper said, sauntering over. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Eddie shrugged. 

“If you two get to the hospital to get checked out, I won’t say anything about you skipping to anyone.” Hopper offered. 

“What a reasonable agreement, right Eddie?” Beth gave him a hard stare. Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed. 

“Yes. So reasonable.” Eddie winced as he stood, he started for the van.

“Whoa. You’re not driving, kid. Neither of you.” Hopper stopped him. 

“How exactly are we getting to the hospital then?”Eddie grumbled. 

“I’ll drive them, Hop. You just swing by and pick me up. Everybody wins.” The brown haired woman gave a warm smile. 

“You think you can handle my van?” Eddie cocked his eyebrow.

“Sweetie, I have done much harder things than drive a damn van. Get in.” She shook her head. Eddie thought for a second but tossed her the keys despite hating the idea. Beth helped Eddie into the car and slid in next to him. 

“I’m Joyce by the way.” 

“I know, Mrs.Byers. It’s nice to see you again and thank you.” Beth smiled. 

“Of course. Remind me your name again? Between all the customers and Will and Jonathan I can hardly keep track of anyone these days.” She smiled. 

“It’s fine. Beth Chapman. Jonathan and I are in photography together. He’s really good. Much better than I am, but I just needed the elective.” Beth shrugged. 

“He’s had a camera in his hand since I can remember.” Joyce laughed. “And what’s your name hun?” 

“Eddie. Munson.” Eddie croaked out leaning back against the seat. 

“You do this kind of stuff often. I can tell.” Joyce sighed. 

“People like to pick on the freaks.” Eddie sighed. 

“Well, despite the stupidity, what you did was very brave.” Joyce told him. 

“I usually run, don’t know what came over me.” Eddie looked over to Beth who looked down at the floorboards. The drive to the hospital was thankfully a short one. They thanked Joyce and hobbled into the ER. 

“I’m sorry this is how your day of fun turned out.” Eddie sighed, sitting in the waiting room’s uncomfortable chair.

“It’s not your fault. Anyway, before all the blood it was a pretty perfect day.” Beth smiled as she finished her paperwork. Eddie looked over at her, a smile spreading across his face. 

“Yeah? Maybe we can do it again.” He said signing his papers. 

“Yeah, maybe we can.” Beth grabbed his clipboard and brought both up to the nurses desk. 

“I’ll tell you what, if you don’t have some kind of terrible brain injury, we can go egg principal Mathews' house and then you can take me to the movies.”Beth sat next to him. 

“Are…are you serious?” He asked, looking up at her in shock.

“Absolutely. BUt only if you promise to let me put Reese's pieces in the popcorn.”

“Whatever you want. Anything.” He laughed. 

“Munson!” A nurse shouted. Eddie leaned over kissing Beth on the cheek, winking and limping away. Beth’s face grew red and warm. She liked it. 

#eddie munson #Eddie Munson x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie the banished #eddie stranger things #eddie munson angst #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things fanfiction #protective!eddie #joseph quinn #joseph quinn fanfiction #joseph quinn fluff

[911ficrecs]

all for you by gyeuihlfnkd - 14,878 words, teen+

Summary: There was a humming under Buck’s skin.

At first, he thought it was the purr of his Jeep’s engine but, no, there was an almost tangible itch under his skin. This being his first 48 hour shift since being back at the station some nerves might be understandable. But his leg felt good and his doctor gave him the all clear. So why did he feel so on edge?

#buddie fic rec #buddie #bathena #madney #bobby nash #athena grant #maddie buckley #chimney han #hen wilson #christopher diaz #eddie diaz #evan buckley #angst #emotional hurt/comfort #dyslexia #abuse #fluff #protective!eddie #protective!maddie #bisexual!buck #internalized homophobia #hurt!buck #angst with a happy ending #ao3 #10k #teen+

[loveinhawkins]

Steve’s bat bites start to bleed again during the drive out of The War Zone.

It’s a slow realisation, a creeping dampness on his skin.

He stays as still as he can, keeps his movements small and contained when turning the steering wheel; he thinks he mostly gets away with it, manages to park the RV and pitch his voice on just the right side of normal as he tells the kids to scram.

Awareness of his surroundings grows a little fuzzy around the edges, but he senses enough to know that he’s alone—the silence feels heavy, makes his ears ring.

He lifts himself up out of his seat, one hand clinging onto the headrest for balance. The ringing gets sharper, more high-pitched; he shakes his head to try and clear it.

One step forward, then another, and another.

There’s a slight rocking motion under his feet. It feels a little like he’s in a boat that’s docked, constant movement even in the gentlest of waters.

His palms brush against the bathroom door.

“Okay,” Steve whispers to himself.

He hangs onto the sink to keep himself upright—feels the room sway, as if the waters underneath have suddenly become stormy.

With one hand, he finds the knot in the bandage.

“Okay, okay…”

Pulls.

Steve doesn’t think he blacks out, not quite, but there’s a shift, a dizzying tilt… and then, somehow, he’s sitting on the closed toilet seat.

And…

The bat bites must cause hallucinations or something.

Otherwise, Steve cannot explain why Eddie—who notoriously threw up and passed out during a dissection in Biology—is currently pressing a clean bandage against his stomach, staring down at the blood like he can’t look away.

“You’re good, you’re good,” Eddie’s saying.

He’s clearly trying to sound calm, but it’s just coming out strained, like what he really means is this is all a fucking nightmare actually, but we’ve gotta find something to be optimistic about.

“Think it just needs some more pressure,” he goes on. “Yeah, there, see? It’s stopping. Oh, thank God.”

Steve feels more gauze getting wrapped around his middle—if he wasn’t injured, it’d almost be a nice sensation, Eddie’s touch somehow the perfect mix of both firm and gentle.

As he works, Eddie hums nervously.

“Talk to me Harrington,” he says in a shaky sing-song. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging, man, gimme some awkward small talk. Got any hopes? Dreams? Anything I should know?

Oh, so many things, Steve thinks, still light-headed.

But then he really does mull that over: his mind goes to The Upside Down, to belatedly telling Eddie about the hive mind, and oh shit.

“Hey, weird question,” Steve says, “but I’ve not been, like, asking you to make it cold in here or, um, anything like that?”

Eddie blinks. “Uh. No?”

“Okay.” Before he lets the relief of hearing Eddie’s answer sink in, Steve adds, “If I ever do, you need to lock me in here and get out. Tell Nancy.”

Eddie’s staring at him like he’s grown a second head. “Sure. Cool. Cool! Uh, for any particular reason or—?”

“Just in case—like, I don’t feel any different, but—one time, Will Byers, when he was in The Upside Down it, like, infected him? Like a virus. Except more… possession. And they had to kinda… burn it outta him.”

“Ha,” Eddie says. A beat. “Oh fuck, you’re serious.”

“I really don’t have the energy to be messing with you, dude.”

“Sorry. Sometimes you all just say things, y’know? And if I don’t get it, I’m like, well, they’ve been living through this for a while, maybe they’ve got a code going on.”

“I mean,” Steve says, “we kinda do.”

Eddie shakes his head. “So when Buckley said she dealt with a human-flesh-based monster, and the one before that was smoke-related, that wasn’t just, like, a really fucked up metaphor?” Eddie’s eyes are wide, pleading. “Please say it was a metaphor.”

“Sorry,” Steve says sincerely.

Eddie sighs through a lacklustre chuckle. “You’re fine, Steve. As for, uh, being possessed, I don’t think so. You’re no weirder than usual, but—”

“Wow, thanks. Means such a lot coming from you.”

“—you were a bit, like, out of it for a few seconds, but it just looked like you were gonna faint on me. Um. How’re you feeling now?”

“Good,” Steve says. When Eddie raises an eyebrow, he tacks on, “As good as I can be, I guess. Still.” He groans slightly as he stands, goes back over to the sink. “Better check.”

“Check? What?”

Steve runs the water as hot as it will possibly go, until the steam is evident. He sticks his hand right into the stream, hears Eddie hiss as the water scalds his skin.

“Okay, yup. Not possessed.”

“Fucking fantastic. Now I want it cold,” Eddie says.

He takes control of the faucet, nods for Steve to put his hand under the now cold water.

After a minute or two, Eddie sighs and collapses onto the toilet seat himself.

There’s a squeak as Steve turns the faucet off—his skin’s probably not had the good of the cold water for nearly long enough, but it’ll do.

Eddie’s tipped his head back so he’s facing the ceiling, eyes closed. Steve watches him with sympathy; he really must hate blood.

“Eddie. You can go.”

“Mm, nope,” Eddie says without opening his eyes. “I’m fine right here.”

“Suit yourself.”

Steve turns back to the sink, frowns at the tiny mirror above it; there’s black spots on the glass, but he can make out enough. Christ, the bags under his eyes are horrific.

“Relax, Casanova,” Eddie says, almost as if he’s heard Steve’s thoughts. “You look good.”

“Uh-huh. Think your brain’s fried from being on the run.”

Steve leans against the sink with one hip, finds Eddie looking at him with a small smile.

“Yeah, probably. Or maybe being on the run just suits you.” Eddie’s eyes flicker down. His smile falters. “You know, in an ideal world,” he says conversationally, “you’d be in a hospital getting stitches.”

Steve scoffs. “In an ideal world, I’d be in bed sleeping.”

“Amen to that,” Eddie says lightly. But he still looks sombre. “Seriously, though. If it gets… you know. I’d drive you.”

“To the hospital? What are you gonna do, Eddie, wander up to the front desk? Sounds like a real interesting way to get arrested.”

But Eddie doesn’t leap at the chance to make a joke.

“Steve,” he says softly. “I mean it. I wouldn’t care.”

“That would sorta ruin the whole priority of hiding you.”

“That’s—” Eddie huffs. “That’s not the priority.”

“Huh, that’s funny, cause it is in my book.” Steve nods at the door, to his whole world just outside. “One of many.”

Eddie’s eyes narrow. “And your name better be right at the top, Harrington.”

Steve hums.

“In bold. Underlined.”

“Whatever you say.”

Eddie groans quietly, runs a hand down his face. “You worry me, man.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“I know. Just…” Eddie hesitates. “Don’t go off alone. You know?”

Steve thinks it over. He steps forward and offers Eddie his hand.

Eddie takes it.

When Steve pulls him up, he stumbles a little, as if he feels like he’s on a boat, too.

“Oops, sorry.” He grabs onto Steve’s forearm for balance. “Think this should be the other way round, man.”

“Hmm, I don’t think so.”

Steve leads the way out of the bathroom—doesn’t mention the fact that, really, they’re both holding each other up.

There’s a bottle of water left in the back. Steve twists the cap off. Drinks.

“You too,” he tells Eddie.

“Huh?”

Steve considers him—thinks of the little flare of panic he felt when watching Eddie walk through the woods, tiptoeing around vines. How he had a sudden instinct to catch up to him, to make sure he wasn’t alone.

“I’m making a deal,” Steve says. “I won’t go off alone if you don’t.”

He lifts the bottle up as if making a toast—drinks again then passes it over to Eddie.

For the slightest of moments, their fingers brush; Eddie’s rings skim over Steve’s knuckles.

“So what’s this?” Eddie asks. “Legally binding magical water?”

Steve shrugs. “Cool metaphor,” he replies.

You say you just turn heel and run, Eddie. But sometimes I think if there was a fire, you’d run towards the flames if it meant no-one else got hurt.

Eddie smiles. Tilts the bottle towards Steve.

“Guess it’s a promise, then,” he says.

He drinks.

Steve prays that it holds.

#reciprocal hurt/comfort & protectiveness because they notice each other and care so damn much. with a side of banter of course ❤️ #pre steddie #steddie ficlet #steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie