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boogiewrites · 1 year

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Seeing Stars

Part 26

Eddie is faced with a worst-case scenario. Star sees how he handles bad news as their relationship becomes more about being partners through life and less about being two love-struck kids. Eddie's birthday comes along much to his annoyance and Star makes sure it's one he never forgets.

CW: NSFW - Anal play (m receiving), prostate orgasm, blow jobs, hand jobs, tit jobs, oil massages, pet names, dirty talk/praise. Plenty of angst and fluff for good measure.

The final weeks were closing in for the school year. The energy was heavy with a mix of excitement and worry. College plans and summer vacations were tittered about among friends who for the first time in their lives were going to be faced with a distance between them. Star and Eddie however were still very much living in the present. Eddie had clapped his hands at every attempt from anyone asking about his post-high school plans. He wasn’t going to jinx it. He had the final in O'Connell's left to pass and he wasn’t about to assume anything. Honestly, if he was assuming anything it was that he was going to fail.

Star had done everything she could to help him. Steve had given her the idea to try strip studying, a mix of strip poker and studying, something he swears by. She was optimistic about how the study sessions went and that Eddie would pass. All he needed was the right motivation. And who could blame him that tits and ass seemed to be just what he was motivated by?

The class was almost over, and the teacher closed up a lesson before finally passing out the tests that everyone was itching to receive. Finals were always stressful, no matter where you landed on the GPA scale. Finally coming down the row between Star and Eddie, Star received her test first and winced, hesitating to flip it over. She took a deep breath and it turned into a loud exhale of relief. She’d gotten a C and she was more than content with being average. She looked to Eddie, waiting, expecting fingers guns, or a loud shout he’d get scolded for. Something. But he did nothing. Which was very unlike Eddie. His face was terrifyingly neutral, hands crinkling the paper in his hand as they slowly turned to fists.

“Eddie?” Star asked softly, her eyes large with worry. But Eddie wouldn’t see them since he shoved the papers in his backpack and walked out of the classroom without a word. Star blinked rapidly, looking at the door he’d so unceremoniously left through. She looked back to his seat as if it would give an answer. She sank back, full of questions and a fresh wave of nausea. She was left with only one conclusion from his actions. That he'd failed.

Star kept the same shocked pale face on as she sat down at lunch, so quiet and empty without her partner in crime by her side. Her ears rang like a bomb went off as she saw Eddie’s van gone from the parking lot. Her jaw was tight and clenched, she looked at the food in front of her and no part of her wanted to eat it. She felt too queasy, mind racing with consequences.

“Hello??” Dustin snapped in front of her face. She slowly turned, as if she were on a delay. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Dustin’s annoyance with her lack of listening shifts to concern.

“Where’s Eddie?” Gareth asked with a mouthful of food.

“I think he went home.” her voice was weak, unlike herself.

“Is he sick? Because I think you might be too?” Dustin studied her face.

“I-” she shrugged and shook her head, looking back down. “I think he failed the O’Connell final.” A hush fell over the group, everyone freezing and looking at Star with varied levels of horror and sympathy.

“He didn’t.” Dustin whispered, a rare time where the boy was quiet.

“She handed out the tests and he just… got up and left.” her voice cracked and she felt tears burn hot in her eyes.

“Fuck.” Jeff said deflating, he thought he and Eddie would get to graduate together. Then he felt the sadness hit him. Eddie wouldn’t be graduating with Star.

“He’s not gonna graduate?” Mike asked for clarification.

“That test was the one thing between him and graduating.” Gareth added, suddenly losing his appetite. The somber mood took over everyone at the table.

“We studied so much.” Star squeaked out and the guys felt a prickle of uncertainty about how to deal with an emotional girl. “The extra credit essay I KNOW he knew. I don’t know how…” she felt her lip tremble as she brought her hands to cover her face.

“Uh… shit,” Dustin muttered, fidgeting and unsure of how to respond. Star cried into her hands quietly. He looked to the other guys hovering his hand over her back with a ‘what the fuck do I do here?’ glance of desperation. “It’ll be uh-” Dustin didn’t want to lie and tell her it would be okay. Because it wasn’t. Eddie wasn’t graduating, he was stuck in hell for another year. He saw how upset Star was and knew she was holding it in. He couldn’t imagine how upset Eddie was. “This fucking sucks,” he said and let his hand go to her back. “I’m sorry, man.” he groaned.

“It’s… yeah,” she said, wiping her face with her sweater. “I’m just gonna…” she motioned away behind her.

“Yeah, you go do what you need to.” everyone nodded and murmured approval.

“Shit.” she stood still and said, looking out the window. “He drove me to school.” she sighed, only adding to her dejected appearance.

“I’ll take you home.” Jeff quickly added and he felt his chest hurt from the look she gave him of appreciation.

“You sure?” she sniffled, wiping her nose with her cuff.

“Yeah, it’s no problem at all.” he insisted with a nod and weak smile.

“Thanks.” she swallowed and walked away with an unusual gate as if she was a zombie.

“He even left her at school. Shit. It’s gotta be bad.”

“I can’t believe he failed. He really tried. I know he’s said he’s tried before but he really did this year.”

“Shit.”

“Fuck.”

“Poor Star.”

“Poor Eddie.” was the general consensus as she had so much to lose from this happenstance.

Instead of home, Star asked Jeff to take her to Eddie’s, she couldn’t stand the thought of him being alone and upset. He understood and wished her luck.

The door wasn’t locked, which was the first bad sign. She let herself in and heard the unsettling nothingness in the trailer. Eddie always had music on. She could hear her footsteps on the carpet, soft and unsettling as she approached his room. The light was on, she could hear his bed moving, she figured he’d heard her come in. She stood out of sight but he could see her in his dresser mirror. He watched her take a deep breath, tucking her hair back and wiping her cheeks clear of evidence she’d been crying. She didn’t want to further upset him.

“I can see you. Just come in already.” he groaned. She did as instructed, eyes already so apologetic he looked away immediately. “Don’t.” he shook his head, sitting on the edge of his bed with his elbows on his knees, his face red and swollen from crying. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m not- I don’t-” she stuttered and stood with her hands fidgeting in front of her chest, looking at them instead. “I’m sorry.” she whispered.

“Don’t do that either.” he griped. Too emotionally exhausted to hide her emotions she let her shoulders fall and her eyes roll.

“I don’t know what you want me to do I just walked in.” she rasped out, giving away the intense level of sobbing she’d done.

“You’re looking at me like they’re all going to.” he snapped. “With pity.” he spat out.

“I’m looking at you like I’m sorry because I know what this means. And…I love you and I don’t want you upset. It’s not pity. This fucking sucks but… it is what it is and I’m not here to make you feel worse about it. I’m here to try to make you feel better.” she let the hurt out in her voice, her small hands in fists at her sides, expecting a fight. He saw her stiffen, her flushed cherub face set into the expectancy for violence and he felt even worse for it.

“I’m… shit. I’m sorry, baby.” he slouched and looked back at her face, her eyes flicked to his, brighter for a moment. “I’m just… fuck!” he shouted as she jumped. “Sorry! I’m just I’m so fucking… EVERYTHING right now!” his fists shook in front of him as his chest huffed and puffed. “I’m so fucking mad and then I’m so upset. I’m sad and depressed as shit and I’ve got all these voices in my head telling me horrible shit and I can’t make them stop.” he shook his head and held it in his hands.

“I know, baby.” she whispered and stepped towards him.

“What did I expect really?” he scoffed and looked away, eyes full of tears. “I can’t do it. I just can’t. Three fucking times? I’m a failure. I should just accept it.” he gritted out and tears began to fall.

“No you’re not!” she got on her knees in front of him, hesitant to touch him as he was so twitchy and amped up.

“I am! Why are you with me, Star?” he asked with bloodshot eyes. “I’m a fucking idiot. I can’t graduate high school. Even when I do try! I really fucking tried, Star, I did, I swear!” his lip trembled and he hid his face in his hands, shoulders shaking as he let it out in another wave of disappointment.

“I love you. That’s why.”

“That’s not a reason.” he said defensively, staring at the ground and running a hand through his hair.

“You are smart. You know intelligence isn’t measured by some stupid test.”

“It’s the only kind that seems to matter!” he croaked, another sob breaking out, no longer hiding his face from her.

“Not in the long run.” she said quietly.

“What? AFTER high school? There is no after high school for me, Star? I’m stuck in hell, in some time loop that I can’t escape. It’s a fucking nightmare! Every year I get my hopes up and every year I fucking fail. I’m so stupid! Stupid for trying, stupid for thinking I could. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” he gathered his hands and hit himself in the head and that’s when she intervened. She grabbed his wrists and tore them down, holding them with all her strength as she fought him.

“EDDIE STOP IT!” she screamed into his face, breaking him out of his cycle of self-loathing. He blinked, surprised at the screech so loud and close. “You are NOT stupid! You are NOT a failure! And you’re not alone! Okay?” she took a deep breath and caught herself before she got to sobbing again. “I’m here. If you have to repeat until you’re 30 I’m fucking HERE you got it?” his face fell, eyes wide and body losing its tension. “It’s one test. It’s okay. We can figure this out. There’s… options… there’s…” he watched her face try so hard, his eyes going soft, feeling her grip still hard on him despite him no longer fighting her. She really did love him.

“Star?” his voice was unexpectedly quiet and it made her startle out of her flow of thought. He took a good long stretch of silence and swallowed dryly, clearing his throat just looking at her face, seeing her pulse in her neck at how worked up she was. “You can let go of my wrists.” She flinched back like he’d burned her, she hadn’t even realized. He rubbed them as she sat back on her feet between his legs.

“Sorry. I… didn’t realize I was still…” she let her shaking white-knuckled hands plop into her lap.

“Thank you.” he reached down after tending to his pinched wrists to take her hands into his.

“I’m not going to let you hurt yourself.” she said with the most pitiful downturn of her mouth.

“Thank you,” he said again, pulling her against him and holding her. “I’m sorry. This is just… the worst thing that’s happened in a long time. And I really fucking tried, babe. You know I did. I didn’t wanna fail you.”

“You didn’t fail me,” she snuggled their heads together, squeezing around his neck. “I know you tried. I do.” she nodded. For a long while they sat and held each other in silence. Their hearts syncing and calming. “I really thought you’d pass,” she added supportively. “You knew that extra credit essay. We talked about it a lot. You did it right?”

“Yeah, of course, I wrote the whole damn page full.” he let out a small chuckle.

“How bad was it?” she pulled away to put her hands to his cheeks and soothe his angry skin.

“I… I saw a 5 and just… blacked out. I don’t even know what the other number was, to be honest.”

“Maybe it’s high enough to ask for extra credit? Or maybe… if you could take it again? It’d be worth a shot.”

“I highly doubt that old bat would let me.”

“Would you try?” she asked, moving her head into his wandering line of sight.

“For you.” he nodded.

“Do it for both of us.” she kissed him softly. “Where is your test?” she released him and turned to find his backpack.

“It’s in my bag.” he motioned loosely and fell back onto the bed. Star stood and found his bag, the crumpled test at the top of the pile.

“Shit. 58. So close.” she whispered, shaking her head.

“You what’s really sad? That's the best I’ve ever done on her final.” he laughed but it was distinctly unhinged. Star flipped through the pages, the last one was his essay, a few marks in red pen, but on the very back was a small note.

“Demonstrated a clear, multi-dimensional understanding of the subject matter. That’s nice at least.” Star read with a smile. In not red pen in the lower portion was a scribble of numbers, and a 68 circled. Star’s heart stopped. “Full credit! First time for everything!” the snarky comment read underneath. The numbers were to add the extra credit score to his grade. “You finished out strong, Eddie. Proud of you.” she said with tears already in her eyes.

“Psh. Nothing strong about failing.”

“Eddie.” Star huffed out, tears falling as her cheeks rose and she started to laugh.

“What?” he grumped, laying on the bed unmoving.

“Eddie.” she said again, her laugh growing, tears kept falling as she stepped forward.

“What?” he asked again louder sitting up. He’s met with her hand holding the back of the test up towards him. He groaned and snatched it with a sigh. “Did she write go fuck yourself on it too? Is that why you’re laughing?” he snarked looking down at it with narrow eyes. His face went from scrunched to stretched slowly, his eyes as large as she’d ever seen them. “Demonstrated understanding…” he muttered, slowly standing as Star stepped back nodding, her hands to her mouth as she started to bounce in place. “First time for….” Eddie lost his voice, looking to Star and then back at the paper. “She… the extra credit??” he managed to jumble out. “PROUD OF YOU?!!” He screamed, throwing the paper down as Star mimicked him, both letting out the built-up negativity as he lunged and squeezed her at the waist, picking her up and jumping up and down.

“YOU PASSED EDDIE!” she squealed and held on as he shook her, making her dizzy. “Put me down I’ll get sick!” she giggled and he did so immediately.

“I FUCKING DID IT??” he scrambled to find the paper he’d thrown, on all fours on the floor like an animal. “I DID IT!!!” on his knees he sat and lunged back with his fists to the sky. “I PASSED! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” he gutturally screamed, bent at the waist.

“You’re gonna graduate babe!” Star was sobbing, but they were happy tears.

“WE are gonna graduate! Together! We’re getting the fuck out Star, holy shit.” he jumped up and grabbed her face, and kissed her hard. “We’re getting out baby. I fucking did it. I promised. I kept my promise. We did it. I did it.” he kept muttering, pecking her lips noisily.

“You did it.” she managed to get out between presses. “I knew you could do it. Don’t ever doubt yourself, Eddie. You’ve got proof. A PROUD of you from O’Connel? Seriously? That’s legendary!”

“I know!” he screamed again, still bouncing. “We’re gonna graduate and we’re gonna have a party. And we’re gonna start the rest of our lives together, Star. This is it. It’s finally happening. This is the beginning of the rest of our lives. We can do anything!” he shouted with excited tears. “Thank you so much, baby.” he grabbed her face hard and kissed her again. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Of course. I knew you could do it, smarty pants. Now we can enjoy the rest of our final senior year.”

“The last one. Again.” he threw his head back and laughed. “Holy shit. It really is the last time.”

Star puffed away at her cigarette in one hand, a fresh mountain dew from the vending machine in the other. She leaned against the cold stone wall outside the school, directly in the light of a lamp trying to let the temperature change and brightness give her enough energy to get through the last half of this campaign.

“Hey,” Eddie says, peeking out the door into the back of the theatre to everyone else who had already filed back in after their intermission. “Has Star been acting weird to you guys?” he asked in a hushed voice, standing by the door so he could keep a lookout.

"Only always.” Gareth chuckled.

“I”m serious. Have you not noticed? She’s had 3 mountain dews and she’s still yawning. She’s told me not to come over like 4 times in the past week because she’s busy. She’s not working, I went and looked. But she’s not home. There’s nothing left to worry about with school. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Maybe it’s her art stuff? She gets in those moods where she won’t shut up about it.”

“But she’s not talking about it.”

“Right.”

“You don’t think she’s…” Eddie gulped and they all saw the worry on his face and they felt guilt wash over them, eyes darting to one another for a game plan.

“She’s definitely NOT cheating on you, dude. Don’t even let that cross your mind.” Dustin said loudly and quickly and Eddie nodded.

“I know. I know that.” he rubbed his face. “I just… can’t help but consider all possibilities.”

“Trait of any good DM.”

“Maybe ask her?” Jeff said as the other frowned at him, he shrugged, at a loss.

“Maybe she’s pregnant.” Gareth joked.

“Don’t even joke about that dude.” Eddie’s eyes went wide. “I know she’s not.”

“Maybe she's just on the rag.”

“Yeah but… that isn’t the kind of different I mean.”

“She’s a girl. They get weird sometimes. If something’s wrong I’m sure she’ll tell you.” Dustin tried to motion Eddie back to the table.

“Yeah,” Eddie said with wandering eyes to the ground. “You’re probably right.” he said with a sigh.

“C’mon!” Star cackled as Eddie kept pulling her back toward him and kissing her neck.

“I’m trying to come on… you.” he snorted out into her neck as he squeezed her and she let out another laugh.

“You can after we get back.”

“Or we could now.” he sang and bit down on her shoulder.

“Eddie, baby, I know it’s your birthday and normally I’d let you have your way but I need my shoes for work tomorrow!”

“Go get them before work.”

“Steve’s house is all the way across town, I’m not gonna wanna do that before work. Hard enough to leave you as is.”

“Fine.” he groaned and threw his head back dramatically, letting his arms go limp, stomping with exaggerated bratty steps towards her car.

“Thank you!” she said with outstretched arms of approval. “It won’t take long.”

“I want Burger Hut.” he announces unprompted as they drove across town in Star’s car. Eddie’s van had suddenly stopped working and he couldn’t figure out why for the life of him. Which was highly unusual. Robbie offered to look at it at a local mechanic’s place so they could jack it up. What Eddie didn’t know was that was all happening at Star’s request.

“Burger Hut you shall have my liege.”

“I want extra onions.” he grinned. “And chili cheese fries.”

“Gonna be a treat kissing you tonight.”

“Gonna put garlic on a hot dog.” he chuckled. “And drink a big glass of milk!” he leaned in and made kissy noises at her face as she drove. She palmed his face and shoved him back into his seat with an amused smile.

“Whatever you want, stinky.”

“Would you seriously still make out with me if I had onion, garlic, milky chili meat breath?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“On your birthday yes.”

“And I thought all my birthdays were bad.” he wiggled his brows and stuck out his tongue.

“Not this one. I told you. We’re gonna hang out and nothing bad is gonna happen on this one. The first of many.”

“What if I also got pickles?” he asked ignoring her sentiment, still focused on how gross he could get and still have her kiss him.

“Jesus Eddie.” she laughed and shook her head. “I love you and I’d kiss you with all those things AND morning breath. How’s that?”

“I think that’s practically a marriage proposal.” he chuckled and teased, reaching over to smooth her hair back to give her some physical affection. “Or grounds for marriage at the least. That’s dedication. That’s beyond the call of duty.”

“Aw, you gonna marry me, Eddie?” She teased and made kissy lips at him.

“I mean… I hope.” He said bashfully and looked away, she reached over to pinch his cheek.

“How could I not agree with you gallantly sacrificing your time to let me go get my shoes from Steve’s on your birthday? You’re a saint, Munson. A martyr.” she said with bravado that made him deeply smile, dimples visible out of the corner of her eyes.

“I am. Seeing as I’m a boyfriend who actually lets you hang out with other guys alone.”

“That’s a bit much. We trust each other, we trust Steve, you know nothing unsavory is going on between us.”

“You don’t have to say it, I know. I’m just giving you shit for getting naked at another guy's house.” Eddie smirked.

“Only if you’re there too, baby.” Star giggled.

“What's me being there have to do with anything?”

“To be so smart some of my sexual references really go over your head sometimes.” her shoulders shook with amusement. Eddie thought for a moment, eyes lazed and head tilted, facing out the front window trying to figure out what she said.

“Oh!” he let out a burst of laughter that made her jump. “This involves me being naked too I assume.”

“Mmm Hmm. And Steve.” she wiggled her brows and stuck her tongue out this time and Edie looked down and blushed. “I know you think he’s hot, babe. No shame in it.”

“Yeah he’s… yeah.” he flushed red in his cheeks and his fingers started picking at one another. “He’s very pretty, isn’t he? There’s handsome ya know, a guy has that rugged look to him. But then Steve is like… different.”

“He is pretty. He’s soft. He doesn’t have that gross male energy.”

“Hey!” Eddie took faux offense. Star rolled her eyes and shoved his thigh. “Yeah I’m kidding.” he grinned and let the thought ping around his head. “Have you ever… had a threesome? You joke about it all the time but… have you?”

“I have.” Star nodded.

“Really?” his eyes lit up. “Spill.” he clapped his hands.

“Well, we’re here so I’ll have to continue this on the road.” She grinned and nodded her head to Steve’s daunting house. Eddie bops out of the car. “It was with another girl and a guy. Kinda boring actually.” Star shrugged as Eddie walked shoulder-to-shoulder with her up the paved sidewalk.

“A threesome was boring? Jesus who are you?” he bumped her with his hip.

“I’d much rather have two guys and me. Now THAT sounds fun.” she cheesy grinned and raised her brows.

“Youd wanna… with…” Eddie’s brows lower and he nods to the door in front of them.

“I can say yes because that would never happen. That’s why I joke about it.” Star rang the doorbell.

“I mean he’s so pretty anyway, it’d basically be like two girls and a guy again right?” Eddie laughed and Star shared in it.

“Oh so you think Steve’s a bottom, huh?” she smirked and Eddie looked up in consideration.

“Hey!” Steve answered, his voice cracking.

“Hey, hun!” Star gave a wide closed mouth smile. “Me and the birthday boy reporting for duty.” she stepped to the side and Eddie was snapped out of his thought as he looked at Steve’s broadly smiling face.

“SURPRISE!” roared from the large entryway Steve stood in, Robin opening up the door next to him to show the usual suspects crowded together, some poppers were let off, and a little bit of confetti was thrown as Eddie froze.

“Happy Birthday, dick head!”

“Happy Birthday!”

“You’re old now! Congrats!” all came from the Hellfire club.

“You- I-” Edie stuttered eyes wide and in a defensive stance from the sudden loud noises.

“Surprise party, dude!” Steve chirped and slapped Eddie’s shoulder, he yanked him in, arm around his shoulder as he was brought into the room full of people happy to see him. “Happy Birthday, man.” Steve ruffled Eddie’s curls and Eddie’s face finally broke from shock. He let out a nervous laugh, straightening his hair.

“You did this?” He asked Star who was standing proud, already with a cliche party hat on her head.

“Of course I did!” she grinned.

“It was her idea. I took the party planning, as that was my specialty.” Steve said proudly with a hand to his chest.

“We went and got the food!” Dustin bounced.

“Star was the conductor,” Robin added in. “We were the orchestra.” she smiled.

“Babe.” Eddie said with a crooked smile. She swooped in and took his face into her hands.

“Happy Birthday baby.” she gave him a PG-level kiss. “Before you say anything you’re worth the trouble.” she tapped his nose and he blushed, she knew him too well. “We wanted to have a party for you and you graduating and just… everything. You deserve a big fuss to be made about you. I wanted you to know that.” she says these things quietly, giving him small tender kisses on his cheeks. His hands rest on her wrists as he fought back tears. “You’re not going to have a shitty birthday again as long as I’m around.” one last long press that he squeezed her against him.

“C’mon Munson!” Steve said as they pulled apart, knowing the importance of giving them their moment. “We’ve got a mixtape with your name on it!” he laughed. “I’m sure it’s full of questionable taste, but this food we have? There is nothing questionable about it!”

“It’s Burger Hut.” Star smirked as Eddie lit up like a child.

“Oh fuck yes, baby. You’re the best!” He grabbed her up and squeezed, her feet off the ground before adjusting and throwing her over his shoulder as she squealed from surprise.

“I knew it’d be the food that got him.” Star rolled her eyes but laughed.

He smacked her ass, then a bite and trotted into the living room where streamers and balloons littered the space. He indulged in a party just for him for the first time in his life. He’d never had a group of people come together, or balloons or streamers. He’d never had a decorated cake. Wayne had done his best, small homemade cakes and a couple of presents, letting him pick dinner that night. But this was equal to the amount of love he felt from the effort. It was huge. His inner child felt like a King. Little Eddie finally got the big birthday party he was always jealous of, denied he wanted, but longed for. And the night had just started.

Eddie croaked dramatically and leaned in toward Star with a wide open mouth, sharing his chili burger with extra onion and pickle breath.

“You said you’d kiss me. Regretting that now?” He said with a twist of his head right against hers.

“It’ll take more than that Munson.” She smiled and yanked him close by the shirt into a kiss. “Let’s go have a smoke.” She said before standing. Everyone was gathered in Steve’s living room, circled up and chattering. Metal was playing, a conquered dungeon laid out on the tables pressed together. The tv played an unwatched movie in the background. It was catered to Eddie’s tastes but there was something for everyone there. After the quick campaign the boys had thrown together was over the drinks came out and the food went for round two and everyone was a combination of full, tipsy, or content. The amount of movie knowledge stored in the heads of professionals and nerds alike gave plenty of ammunition for lively conversation. Eddie slapped his hand into Star's and was led out to the poolside with a dopey smile for the sight in front of him. He wasn’t drunk by any means but he was very happy and fuzzy. The company and circumstance only fueled that feeling.

“You having a good time still?” Star blew smoke out of the side of her mouth and tucked Eddie’s hair behind his ears. She had one beer when they got there and stopped.

“Are you?” He asked with high brows.

“Asked you first.” She smirked. “It’s your birthday I wanted to check in and make sure you’re having a good time still.”

“Speaking of.” He said stretching his arms and then putting one around her. “I don’t know how I couldn’t have a good time tonight.” He praised her efforts. “I noticed you were acting a little distant but not bad, ya know? But it makes sense now. You were planning.”

“Mmhmm” she smiled knowingly. “I wanted to give you what you deserved. Well, what I could manage. I couldn’t get Metallica tickets or get you a new guitar but I figured with how things had been going with us that focusing on things more… real would be better anyway.”

“Real?”

“Important? Non-material? I wanted to show you how much we loved you. How many people care about you. Seeing you upset when you thought you’d failed broke my heart. I wanted to make sure you felt special after that. You’ve got so much more going for you than you realize.”

“I know.” He smiled and stepped chest to chest, looking into her eyes with a bold gaze that didn’t falter away. “I’ve got those nerds that care about me.” He nodded inside. “And I’ve got you.” He kissed her softly. “I have friends who give a shit and I’m in love with the most amazing girl in the world and she for some reason loves me too.”

“I do. I want you to know that. Never doubt it. You’re loved and special and deserve the world, Eddie. I said I was going to convince you of it one day and I’m dammit I’m trying.” She grinned and comedically stomped her foot.

“Keep this up and one day you’ll succeed.” He leaned in, classically cupping her cheek before kissing her slowly. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

“Thank you for this. For everything.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m glad you’ve had a good time.”

“I have.” He nodded, nose to hers. “And not that I’m not still having a good time but… I was wondering when you wanted to go home. I didn’t want to leave too soon. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aching to get you alone.”

“The night doesn’t end after the party.” She giggles and put her arms around his neck to pull him close. “I’ve got some more surprises for you.”

“I bet you do.” He cooed teasingly and grabbed a handful of ass and kissed her deeper. “My sweet thoughtful baby. Taking care of me. Being drop-dead gorgeous. I’m the luckiest son of a bitch alive.” He grinned and picked her up by the heft of her cheeks and spun her. “You make me so happy Star. Shit. Do you know that? I mean seriously? Do you?”

“This the beers or you taking?”

“Shut up you know it’s me.” He laughed and set her down.

“I do.” She hummed happily. “I try Eddie I really do. I want you to feel how happy you make me. I want to share that. I want you to heal in the same ways you’ve helped me heal. I want to be better with you. You make me wanna be better.” She admitted so freely that Eddie’s stomach hurt.

“I’m nobody baby.” He said it with a smile. Her eyes grew serious and held his face in her hands, bringing him to her.

“You are someone to a lot of people. All the people in there tonight and more.” She spoke softly and caresses his cheek with her thumb, he softened under her touch, slouching to her level. “ And you’re everything to me.” She swore with a whisper to his lips.

“Babe I…” he sighed and held her close again. “I love you. You- I don’t-“ he huffed not knowing what to say. She stopped his rambling with a kiss.

“Happy Birthday Eddie.” She said as she pulled away. “I love you.”

“You’re - more than everything to me Star you’re the whole fuckin universe. You're the moon and the planets and the stars! You’re the whole Milky Way and all the others and the black holes and the aliens and- You’re this reality and all the ones around it! All the evil versions and the opposite versions and the ones in the past and the ones in the future and the ones happening now and everything into infinity to me.” He rambled in his special way, communicating in a distinctly whimsical aloof way that Star found to be the most charming act to exist every time it happened. “I know I’m dramatic and shit but… I mean it. You’re it. All of it. There’s…” he shakes his head to get rid of the heavy emotions forming as tears in his tipsy eyes. “There’s no me without you anymore.” He seemed unsure, mostly about whether he got his point across. He had.

“No there’s not. Because there is no you and me anymore is there? It’s only us.” She smiled. “We don’t have to ever be alone again.” She sighed heavily, closing her eyes and letting the feeling wash over her.

He smiled weakly, sentiment heavy in his gentle touch and eyes. “You feel like… home now. Ya know?” She nodded. “Where I’m supposed to be. Where I’m safe and cared for. Like it always should’ve been.” The hurt flashes in his eyes, Remnants of that broken little boy she was trying so hard to reach with her plans today.

“And it always will be now. I promise.” She took her hand into his and squeezed. “I’ll try forever to give you the love you deserve. The love you need now and the love you needed then. I wanna be that for you. I love you enough to love you now and in the past.” She chuckled and he squeezed her hands back.

“I love you doesn’t feel like enough. But I love you. So much. Too much probably!” He huffed out a laugh and wiped away a stray tear that finally fell. “But I don’t ever plan on stopping. Even when I’m dead okay? And if I die before you I’ll come back as a ghost and guess what? Still gonna love you!” He said with a childlike happiness and his signature playfulness that helped her inner child heal too.

“You already watch me sleep so it wouldn’t be that much different really.” She teased.

“I can’t help it! You’re like a little fuckin Christmas ornament angel when you’re asleep!” He laughed and squeezed her tight to him, burying his face in her neck. “Love you.” He mumbled. She rubbed his back and kissed his shoulder where she was shoved into currently.

“Love you too baby.”

“I don’t uh- don’t mean to interrupt but we’ve got some visitors.” Steve braved the dreaded breaking up of whatever had been going on between that the others had been whispering about inside.

“Second surprise of the night.” Star smiled as Eddie released her from his vice arms.

“More?”

“Before you ask it’s not strippers.” Steve grinned.

“I mean it did cross my mind.” Eddie let out a dumb chuckle.

“Maybe for the bachelor party, huh?” Steve wiggled his brows and it made Eddie unexpectedly blush, following in behind Star.

“You got a side job I should know about Stevie?” He heard Star snort with amusement. SteveE rolled his eyes and shoved Eddie back in by the shoulder.

“Uh-huh. Use those speedos from high school for work. Getting my money's worth out of them.”

“You’d make a killing Steve. Don’t joke about that.” Eddie laughed a little too loudly but Star blushed at the compliment.

“Would be a tax write-off?” Robin wondered aloud as they passed her on the couch, thinking out loud having had Steve's rants about his father's bitching about things that didn't matter pop into her head.

“Anything is if you have the right accountant.” Steve snorted at his jab.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” Eddie said with wide arms and reached in to take his Uncle into his arms.

“Good to see you too Eddie.” Wayne said with warm crinkled eyes.

“AND Robbie? How is the plant running with you two here?” Eddie joked as Robbie had to hug back the very friendly new member of the family. Or he considered him that anyway.

“Waiting to get the call it’s on fire any minute.” Robbie grinned.

“We’re merely delivery men tonight.”

“For what?” Eddie asked with a crooked show of lip in confusion.

“Close your eyes Eddie.” Star stepped in between him and the door.

“Really? When I spend the night in the ER because I fell and curb stomped myself I'm gonna remind you of this.” He gave her a smirk and then shut them.

“If that happens you have full permission to tell me you told me so.”

“Noted.” He nodded sharply. He felt her soft hands slip into his, heard the sound of the door opening.

“They’re actually closed right?” Star asked.

“Cross my heart.” Eddie swore and swiped across his chest.

“Okay, a few small steps. There we go. Alright, stop please.” She said with a lovely sing-song to her voice.

“Steve?” She shouted and lights could be seen behind his eyelids. “Thanks!” She gave him the thumbs up as he jogged down the sidewalk to join the others. “It’s just the floodlights on the house so you can see.” She said quietly to ease Eddie and she saw the recognition on his face. “We all pitched in on this. There weren’t any presents at the party and this is why. Like I’ve griped about the entire time you’ve known me, paint isn’t cheap.” She sighed and released his hands, motioning for everyone to step back. “Open your eyes.” She said with a smile as bright as the floodlights.

He fluttered them open to find himself near the road, centered in on his van. It took a few seconds to realize it was his.

“This is-?”

“Uh-huh.” Star bounced and nodded. “She’s all fixed up.”

“She? You??” He pointed and gawked with a trademark lack of grace in his behavior that Star found endearing.

“All that’s why I had to keep you away a few nights. I went to the shop and painted it.”

“You did this??” He shouted, walking closer to the van as if it might jump at him at any moment.

“We had enough for paint but not the labor.” Gareth said moving to stand beside him.

It was Eddies Van alright, but it shines like a diamond. A new coat of paint was everywhere with it scrubbed and waxed until it was almost a mirror finish. On the side, a huge fantasy mural was airbrushed. A wizard akin to Gandolf pointed his staff with lightning shooting out over a lush green landscape of hills, valleys, and water. A dragon on the other end wrapped in sparks and fire. The coloring was like the Ride the Lightning album cover. Star had been heavily inspired by it. He walked up to get a closer look, almost touching it with his hands but then jerking them away. It was too pretty to touch. The deep almost black color of the body blended so well.

“It’s sealed!” Star laughed at his jerky reaction. “You can touch it, it’s all dry and road ready.”

“You did this?” He asked again.

“Me and your old man painted the body. Star here did the artwork and scrubbed her all up.”

“It’s so metal.” He whispered.

“Get on in there and look.” Wayne motioned for him to look inside as he held a back door open.

“Holy shit!” Eddie shouted and clumsily jumped in. For once, the light in the top of the van was working. He’d busted it years ago with their band equipment. It illuminated a new navy interior, scrubbed clean, his upholstery a new shade of light gray from a good vacuum wash. Inside was a large trunk he immediately kneeled in front of and looked inside.

“We bolted her down so it wouldn’t slide around on ya.” Wayne said with proud eyes. “Your girl did the upholstery on the top.”

“You don’t have to hunt for your cables and stuff now! They can all go in here!” Star climbed in and the rest were still looking at the painted outside. Gareth however was interested in the potential for moving band equipment with this new setup. “There’s some mesh on the sides so you can shove stuff in there. It was super simple.” She said like it was nothing. “The guys helped a lot. I finished it off. I did add the lock on the chest tho. If it’s locked, the police have to get a warrant to look in it.” She winked and the rest of the guys laughed. Except for Eddie. He stared at her, watching her explain with bright eyes and animated hands. He grabbed her face and kissed her, her still mid-word as he did so.

“I think he likes it.” Wayne laughed and looked at Robbie.

“You’re amazing,” he said shaking Star’s head, her cheeks mushed between his hands. He pulled her face into his chest and squeezed it as she laughed. “This means you KNEW!” he pointed at Gareth and Jeff peeking from around the corner.

“Yeah.” Gareth cheesed.

“You lied!” Eddie said dramatically but unseriously.

“I’m more afraid of what Star would’ve done if I’d ruined the surprise than what you’d do if I lied to you so…” he weighed imaginary objects in his hands.

“Smart man.” Robbie chuckled.

“And before you start, because I know how you are, we didn’t spend any more money than on paint for this.” Wayne clarified with a pointed finger at his nephew. “That little angel will sell herself short but she put the work in on this. We just brought the van to the shop.”

“I know a couple of guys from work and they let us use their equipment after hours. We painted the base and she did the rest.”

“I didn’t drill in the brackets!” she said loudly, muffled still by force in Edie’s chest.

“Oh yes how I could forget. The most time-consuming part of the whole thing.” Robbie rolled his eyes.

“This is why you’re been so tired? You’ve been staying up doing this?” He let her up to breathe and she grumbled and fixed her hair.

“Yeah. I think it was worth it though. It looks badass.” she smiled proudly.

“It is very metal.” he nodded in the affirmative.

“Motor’s all tuned up if you wanna take her out for a spin.” Robbie tossed the keys at Eddie who fumbled but caught them.

“Only way he knows how to drive is spin.” Jeff joked.

“Well I am NOT going to be doing donuts at… 11:25 at night I can tell you that.” Eddie looked at his watch. “Wouldn’t mind driving it though.” he turned to look into the front cabin.

“If you all wanna head out you’re welcome to. Don’t let us keep you love birds.” Steve appeared with arms crossed over his chest behind the kid's rubbernecking from the back bumper.

“I don’t wanna leave my party. That’d be rude.” Eddie said with a pushed-back chin. “Would that be rude?” he turned his head to ask Star.

“You’re the birthday boy you can do whatever you want.” Steve said with a warm smile.

“I guess we can head back. Is that good?” he asked the many sets of blinking eyes on him.

“Go on home.” Wayne threw a hand.

“I’ll drive your car back in, kid.” Robbie added with a nod to his little sister.

“We’re picking up a late-late shift anyway. We’ll see ya in the morning.” Wayne nodded and Eddie shared the mirrored gesture.

“Thanks Wayne.” Eddie beamed a smile that Wayne had worked so hard to earn all these years. One full of appreciation and love.

“I guess you’re worth it.” he winked and mosied out of sight with Robbie.

“See you Monday old man!” Dustin grinned.

“Threw your bag in the front.” Max nodded to Star.

“You’re my favorite.” Star grinned.

“I know. I’m the best.” Max smirked and rolled her eyes beginning to shut the doors to move along the process.

“Night!”

“Thanks, you guys. You don’t suck!” Eddie shouted and slid his face near the closing gap of the back doors before they shut.

“You still do!”

“Happy Birthday!” could be heard from the other side of the metal.

“Now.” he turned to Star with a pep in his shoulders. He tossed the keys into the air and snatched them. “Let’s see what this baby can do.”

Seeing what it could do was simply driving back to Eddie’s house, but the level of shine and cleanliness made it practically a new vehicle for him.

“It’s not as wobbly.” he said shifting his shoulders.

“Tightened everything up.” she nodded. “I had a few more ideas for things we could do with it. Figured over the summer we could save up and make some upgrades?”

“Yeah?” his eyes were surprisingly soft as he flipped his face her way for a few brief moments before returning his eyes to the road.

“I got a cute sheet set at the salvation army for the mattress. Maybe something to hold it in place in the back might be nice. Some little inserts or something. I thought we could take a trip over the summer. So I figured real sheets would be nice.” she let out a soft huff of a laugh.

“Like a road trip?”

“Yeah!” she perked up. “We can fit all kinds of shit in here. Maybe we could go to some concerts? Have a little fun before the cold sets in and life gets real.”

“The infamous summer after high school.” his smile was as bright as his headlights against the dark.

“You know… Eddie I’ve been wanting to talk about what we might wanna do after-” Star picked at her nails, eyes down.

“Nu-uh!” he shook his finger in her face. “You know my rule! No talking about post-graduation plans until AFTER graduation. I’m not jinxing it.” he said with high brows seriously, but with his usual comedic delivery.

“Okay.” she nodded and chewed her lip. “Then how about you pick the first tape to listen to and take us back to your place?”

“My place?”

“Yeah. It’s your birthday, your house. We’re gonna have a nice relaxing time tonight that’s all about you so I want you in your space.”

“All about me huh? Now those are plans I’m willing to talk about!” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together before slapping them back to the wheel. “What’s the game plan, sweetheart?”

Star held off on explaining her plan in more detail until they were back at his home.

“You know what’s fuckin' nice as shit?” Eddie says, down to his bottom layer of t-shirt and boxers, completely at ease. His lip curled up in enthusiasm, he bent at the waist awkwardly, leaning toward Star who hadn’t yet stripped down, still in jeans, a shirt, and cardigan.

“The words you use?” Star chuckled as he let his weight move him toward her, to the balls of his feet, putting his arms on her shoulders.

“Thanks”. He gave a bashful smile before his thoughts quickly shifted again. “I was gonna say coming home to you.”

“It’s your birthday, I’m supposed to say sweet things to you.”

“You have. But I’ve got more.” He gave a deep closed-lip smile, shrinking his eyes. “It’s more of an observation if you will. Getting to come to you at the end of the day. You’re always there and it’s just so fuckin' nice. And you’ll make me feel better if I need it and you feed me and I get to press my body up against yours in a warm bed and fuck it’s just so nice.” He says with total confidence and comfort in his sentiment. There was no shyness for his needs and wants between them now. Star had been enjoying seeing the layers peel back to see Eddie at his core. Who he was when he was alone. No filter on his mouth that loves to ramble. She got Eddie Munson acoustic so to speak. Stripped down and raw. Turns out he was even more of a sap than she knew.

“It is. I agree. Getting to cuddle up with you at night is the high point of my day sometimes.” She chuckled softly. He kissed her cheek and squeezed her, pressing her flat against him.

“And what plans do you have before we get to do that?” He asked with his nose against hers.

“Well birthday boy,” she began with a grin before nipping at this nose and turning to get something out of her purse. “I want you nice and relaxed, okay? I happened to make this recently, so you can use it tonight. It’ll make you nice and calm.” With a lowered brow he looked at the bar now in his hand. “I have a ton of it, I used it last night. It’s great. You have to make soap in big batches so lots of people are gonna get it as a gift.” He raised it to his nose to sniff. “It’s got lavender and chamomile and all sorts of nice things. It’ll soften you right up.” She squeezed his biceps.

“I’m taking a shower first?”

“Uh-huh. You’re gonna wash off this emotionally heavy day. Like the ritual baths I do. Not gonna leave any place untouched.” She cooed.

"Those baths have worked well before." he smirked.

“Yes, they have. And they're going to tonight too. You’re not gonna let any bad energy hang on anywhere. Gonna scrub behind your ears,” she giggled and tucked his hair back as he smiled down at her doting on him. Gonna get between your cute cheeks.” She reaches back to grab his ass and he giggled. “Not even under these big heavy balls.” She ran a hand down his crotch and got a soft handful of him. He shuddered and sighed, shoulders slumping. “Got it?” She asked, rolling her fingers around his balls as his eyes fluttered from the good feeling.

“Yes ma’am.” He gave a goofy smile.

“I’m gonna take good care of you tonight baby. Gonna make you feel so good you won’t know what to do with yourself.” She tip-toed up to kiss him softly.

“What are you gonna do?” He gave a dreamy smirk.

“We’re gonna have some fun. I plan on pleasing you. Loving you up. Some worship. It’s all about you tonight.”

“Happy Birthday to me.” He let out a deep dumb chuckle.

“Go get cleaned up handsome. I’ll be right here.”

“You sure you don’t wanna join me?” He offered, looking over his shoulder from the doorway.

“I’ll be setting up in here. Don’t worry about me. This is about you.” She said perkily with a nod. He nodded, a little bashful from the insistence on his importance before moving into the bathroom.

The room was a different experience when he walked back in. Stars decor had bled over into his, mainly in the form of incense and candles. He hadn’t minded so much, it made everything smell better. She’d lit the few candles he had to give the room a romantic ambiance. A scarf over a lamp changed the light in the room to something cool-toned and relaxing from its usual yellow tinge. A nice nest of pillows were stacked on the bed and the part Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off of was Star in the middle of it all. She’d dressed down into a unique color for her, white. A small cropped tank top with thin straps and material covered her top half and white panties that looked to be a few sizes too small, eaten up by her ass and darling clam puss covered her bottom. Eddie stood and stared with no fear of the repercussions.

“Mmm,” he grunted with a sleepy smile on his face. “Hi.” He let out an awkward laugh as she walked towards him, joint and lighter in hand.

“Hi.” She let out a chest-shaking laugh. “How's the shower?”

“Not as good as this.” He took the joint into his mouth as she gingerly placed it and lit it for him. “Smelled amazing though.”

“Good.” She bounced and walked over to the bed. The low sounds of Zeppelin floated around the background. “Smoke and dry off if you want and then lay down on your tum for me.” She stood with her hands clasped and waited patiently.

“My tum?” He grinned, a bit patronizing. “You’re the cutest thing to ever exist.” He walked over in just his towel and kissed her, smoke from his nostrils like a dragon.

“I’d prefer you naked too if you don’t mind.” She cooed and trailed her finger along the top of the towel around his slender waist.

“I could say much the same.” He smirked behind two fingers holding the joint.

“I’ve got a reason for wearing this, don’t worry. If you’re good maybe I’ll get naked later.”

“I don’t have to be good tonight.” He gave a deep chuckle to remind her of whose day it was.

“No, but I think you’ll wanna be.” Her confidence was clear and he held up two hands in succession, joint bobbing from his full smiling lips.

“Consider me intrigued.” he said with a shake of his head and the same smug grin. He kept eye contact with her, daring her to look away as he casually tossed away the towel he was wearing. The smile that grew across her face gave him all he needed to feel an actual sense of confidence and not the mask of false bravado he was so used to performing with.

“Get on this bed and let me get my hands on you.” she slapped his hip and stepped out of the way, watching his lean body with lustful eyes. It was starting to grow into itself and losing its gangliness the older he got, she’d noticed little changes in it over the time they’d been together. She found herself excited to see what would come in the next year, and the one after that, and the ones after that. She sighed and took in the strong but svelte vision to hold it as a memory. The day had been full of moments she’d stopped and stored away. His first birthday with them together, the first big gift and the look on his face, the first surprise party. And she was looking forward to snapping a mental picture of another first coming for him tonight.

“Would you like to tell me now what’s going on since I’ve blindly trusted you to give you my back, completely defenseless and buck ass naked?” he grumbled, cheek mushed into a pillow he punched to fluff and snuggled his head into.

“First,” she started and plucked a bottle from his bedside table she’d brought over. “I planned on giving you a massage.” she got on her knees on the bed and straddled his hips.

“Fancy.” he mumbled.

“I’ve got some of my oils and I’m gonna put them on you okay? If they’re cold I’m sorry.” she squirted a healthy dose into her hands and rubbed them together, a few drops plinking down onto his skin. He jumped a little and she giggled, wiping away the cold droplets with warm palms, gliding effortlessly across the plane of his back. She leaned her weight in, pushing up the sides of his spine and to his shoulders. An involuntary long grown escaped him. “You’ve needed this for a while. You’re full of knots, you’re so tense all the time.”

“From carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.” he said as if it were an unmistakable fact.

“Of course, a cursed human to carry the burden of the world’s woes.” she cooed and kept to her task of kneading him like dough.

“I’m so glad you get it, babe.” he nodded with no crack in his face for the joke, but Star smiled enough for them both. She worked guttural sounds and higher pitched sounds of surprise at pops and cracks out of him slowly and methodically. He mumbled various swears and approvals, as she pressed against every freckle and scar, thumbs digging into the lines of his muscles as she enjoyed the feel and view.

“You really are beautiful.” she sighed out as the noises began to come less frequently, his body went limp, and lips pooched out.

“Don’t lie to me on my birthday, you’re supposed to be nice, not make-up shit.” he chuckled and she slapped his bare ass cheek and he jumped, face bright and laughing before burying it into the pillow.

“I’m not.” she insisted, another deep push up his spine, another groan released. When her hands reached his now well-rubbed shoulders, she pushed his hair out of the way and leaned against him fully, stroking his hair back and kissing his shoulder. This got an immediately heavy exhale of a jumble of swear words out of him. “I wouldn’t be wet from just touching you if I didn’t believe it.” she whispered into his ear and he whined, his face mushing into something precious and weary from her arousing words.

“I didn’t believe you when you said that sucking my dick got you wet. But you proved me wrong. So as much as I’d like to tell you to prove it, I’m inclined to believe you this time.” his smile deepened into a dimple, smug but happy.

She scoot down, straddling his thigh and pressing her center against him, she humped her hips against the back of his thigh, and he felt the slick slide first, then as she rose he felt the cold air hit the evidence on his skin.

“Ugh. You’re so fuckin…ugh. That’s so sexy, Star.” his eyes were shut, and he couldn’t see her but the act itself made his cock stir, pressed against the mattress.

“Because you’re so sexy,” she said with a sweet turn. “Gonna move to the rest of you now, kay?” he heard the slick slap of more oil to her hands, she slapped down two hands to his cheeks and made him jump and immediately laugh. “Had to.” she said as an excuse.

“Mmm Hmm. Involuntary. I understand.” he nodded.

“I’m so glad you get it, babe.” she mocked his earlier words and his shoulder shook with amusement as he pushed his face into the pillow, burying the sounds coming from him as he had no clue that his hips and glutes were so tight.

“No wonder you like me grabbing your hips this feels amazing.” he eventually rose his head to share. She squeezed his hips bones, fingers sinking into the deep V that led down his front. His hips bucked involuntarily, he didn’t really give a shit what he did anymore, being pampered like this felt too good. He understood why rich people spent their money on having people do this to them now. It would be worth every penny.

“I feel like it’s my birthday getting to play this cute little tush of yours.” she giggled, something happy and bright, and it made Eddie’s chest feel fuzzy. “I get why you like man-handling mine so much.” she did as he had to her countless times now, hands splayed, thumbs pressing deep circles into the meat of her, cheeks spreading with every pass as they moved inward, opening him up to see the way he was pieced together in a new way. The almost black hair she was intimately familiar with in other areas spread to the rest of him, his legs soft and fuzzy, less wiry than higher up as she ran a thumb on the sides of his puckered hole, seeing him seize and squeak at the touch. Before he could interject she’d moved to give his balls a warm embrace, then onto his upper thighs she went.

“Oop!” he jumped a little at the surprise touch. “Buy me dinner first.” he laughed, looking back at her, finding her face soft, lip bitten, the oil had soaked into the white of her clothes slightly, making parts transparent as they clung to her like a second skin. A deep groan replaced the high-pitched surprise as her eyes rolled up to meet his.

“I’ve done far more than that.” she gave a seductive smile, a deeper, full voice from her chest humming out and moving across his body like her hands did.

“True.” he flopped back down and nodded. His legs twitched as she worked them over, apologizing if his feet tickled too much as she rubbed them. He was again a puddle, a nice intermission from the sexual tension for a moment before he felt her lips on his skin again. A satisfied moan left him, mouthy kisses with tongue trailing up his calves, his thighs. Carrying over the arch of his ass where she took a bite out of him and his smile told her he knew it was part of their love language now. Up his back she moved, he felt the weight and drag of her tits against him, grunting at the realization. Then he felt hard nipples as she teased up his back. He took a deep inhale, enjoying the attention. He shifted his hips as she ran them down his back, and to his delight back up again. “Fuck that’s nice.” he eventually sounded off his approval.

“Feels good for me too.” her voice light and breathy over his skin. “Can I work on the front now, baby?” she asked, tucking his hair back and kissing his cheek.

“If I can move you’re MORE than welcome to.” a satisfied hum of a job well done from her as the warmth of her body left his. To his surprise, before he could brace himself to turn himself over she did the work for him, turning him to his back. “Or you can manhandle me. That is also an option.” he smiled, rubbing his face out of the trance it’d been in.

“Was that good? Your sounds tell me, yes but I wanna hear it.”

“That might’ve been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” he grinned, being corny but honest. “I feel like I should look like an action figure you stuck in the microwave.” His comparison made her laugh, his eyes on her chest as it shook. She looked down to find him half hard and was tempted to grab at him already, but she refrained. He saw the consideration in her eyes before she threw her leg over his hips, his almost soft shaft now nestled right between her ass cheeks. A deep grunt she was more familiar with followed, as she’d expected.

“Good. I wanted to make you feel good tonight.”

“You make me feel good every night, baby.” he smiled as his hands rest on her slick thighs from the oil from his body.

“You’re very sweet but I wanted tonight to be special. You deserve to get pampered like a princess, so that’s what I plan on doing.”

“Call me whatever you want, I feel too good to care.” he let his head fall back, his chest full and thrumming from amusement. He felt her reach for the bottle again, finding a little less oil this time as she splayed his chest, dancing over tattoos with her fingertips purposely as he knew he loved to have attention shown to them. She dug into his shoulders and up his neck, his full lips falling apart with a sigh.

“You look so good it’s hard to want to finish this.” she whispered, leaning in to kiss his bottom lip.

“I am ready for whatever the next step if you want it, sweetheart. Consider me seduced.” he smiled, eyes crinkling at the edges and closed, a blissful look on his blushed cheeks from the blood being forced to the surface.

“I’ve not even started seducing you yet.” she hummed and his hands found her hips, rubbing lightly on them.

“Can’t wait til you start then if this isn’t it,” he mumbled, drunk off the feeling of her lips to his neck now, trailing down his shoulder, her taking his hand into hers as she kissed down his arm and nuzzled her face into his palm before massaging his hand. “Jesus Christ that’s good.” he rose to see her thumbs working his and feeling the pain from it.

“You use your hands so much they need to relax too.” she kissed his fingertips and he gave her a terribly soft expression, brow slack over his almost black-brown eyes.

“The price I pay,” he said wistfully before a smile crossed his lips. She matched the other arm, kisses, and strokes, before taking them both to her face and covering his sensitive underside in affection. Lashes fluttered against fingerprints, lip lines met lifelines in his palms. Kisses turned more sensual, her bubble gum tongue appearing and lapping at his palms as he let out something more of a whimper than a moan. She gave attention to each finger and sucked each fingertip into her praising mouth as her hips ground subtle against his now far more than almost soft dick. “You’re too good to me, sugar.” he smiled, drunk off love and affection.

“Shhh.” she shushed, using his finger to her lips instead of her own. “Just enjoy it.” she whispered and put his hands on her chest. His brow began to move lower, the slack she’d created in his muscles being reactivated. She took the oil and let it spill onto her chest as his mouth fell open in awe, his hands rough and not even meaning to be as they gathered the slick and spread it to make the material transparent, massaging both her tits in his big hands, thumbs sliding under the shirt to get between them. He ran them up to her shoulders and neck, making her skin shine.

“Fuck you look so good.” he whispered, eyes transfixed on her body.

“You like the oil?” she smiled knowingly, letting a short stream fall to his pubes before her hips rocked against him.

“Fuckin' LOVE the oil.” his eyes stayed on her center, every pass making her more and more visible to him, the column of her clit snug against the seam of her panties, her lips outlined from the tightness of the fabric, eating up the panties to make her shape fully visible. “I get the white now.” he nodded, eyes in puppy mode as they swung up to hers, half-lidded and content.

“Thought it might be fun. Something new.” she shrugged as if she wasn’t gifting him the most erotic experience of his life. He stuttered at first, mouth opening and closing, not sure of where to look. He reached down and found her clit with no effort rubbing his thumb up and down along the seam. He felt her muscles tighten against his dick, now hard and tapping against her cheeks, knowing it felt good.

“I bet this seam is killing you, huh?” he smirked, taking the see-through fabric and tugging it up and making her mouth fall open in a small gasp that turned into a giggle.

“I wouldn’t say killing me.” she laughed, pushing her hair out of her face. “I knew I’d be focusing on you so I thought I might give myself a little something while I worked.” she slid her hips backward and out of his reach to his disapproval. Her chest pressed against his hips and he was immediately less upset. She kissed down his stomach, nuzzling and lapping and he got to see as well as feel it this time, he stroked back her hair before she got out of reach, both maintaining eye contact as she practically tongue-bathed him like a cat, thumbs rubbing his muscles farther and farther down all the while. She scoot back between his legs, ass in the air as she bit and sucked at his hips.

“Yeah, put that ass up so I can see it, baby.” he said without thinking, feeling her smile against his skin. She raised, applied more oil then slapped her ass, making it shine and the fabric run clear just like her front. He shifted and groaned in anticipation of the sight. Her hips beamed in the candlelight with the shine of soft moisturized skin. She lifted her back end up again, kissing and massaging his thighs, feeling them twitch and shake with impatience. She skipped his feet this time, having fully worked them over already, but when it was time to cycle back up his body this time she raised his leg and kissed his ankle. Eddie didn’t know of a time he felt more physically delicate. She handled him in the way he’d only ever heard of women being touched. She was soft and thorough, seducing him and relaxing him simultaneously to win over his body and mind. He felt a bit precious and soft, a little shy as she hummed and smooched, to his knee, to his inner thigh, and switched to the other. The whimsy turned to horny again as she dragged her tits up his middle. His head fell back until he heard the pop of the bottle again. He didn’t want to miss her oiling up her tits again. She dribbled a different bottle between them, obscene sounds as she slid her fingers into her cleavage, pressed from the tight top. She wiggled close, loosening the underside of her top before her hand lay on his hips. They worked their way in, knowingly teasing, watching his cock twitch with every pass.

“You ready for me to really start making you feel good baby?” she smirked, something mischievous in her eyes as her hands hovered so close to his length he could feel the heat from them.

“Yeah, baby, please. You’re killing me.” he gave a crooked honest smile and she obliged, her hands lubed and slick around his cock as he hisses at the touch finally coming. Two hands she fucked him slowly with, a schlick up and down, basic but effective. It was so slick, so warm, and she looked so good doing it that he felt like he could finish already, but he knew he had to let this drag on as long as possible. Luckily for him, she felt the twitch of his veins, the tightening of his balls as she gave hand fucking him a break, a small slurp of his head, humming at the taste of precum as she lowered herself to use her mouth on seemingly every place but his cock. As she kissed and caressed, with his balls in her mouth he didn’t even notice her push his legs up and apart, he’d do anything to get her closer. Across his deeper most inner thighs she licked and sucked, popping up for a quick deep throat and gag to make him cry out quietly before returning, keeping him hard. It registered where her mouth was when she lifted his balls, letting them slap onto her face, something he never knew he’d needed in his life. That mischievous tongue kept lapping and probing, deeper, deeper down before the short distance to his asshole was traveled. The kisses tickled to his cheeks, something new and different, and not at all unpleasant. Then her hot wet tongue pressed against his most sensitive and least shared part of his body and he hissed and seized.

“This okay?” she asked, reaching up to give his cock a few lubed strokes, kissing the tip as she spoke. “You can tell me no at any time.”

“No it’s - it’s… yeah that’s fine. Just… never done that before.” he practically panted out, shining like a demi-god in the low light and mouth trembling with need.

“Tell me no if you need to okay? I’m just trying to make you feel good baby.” She was tooth rotteningly sweet with his fat cock head tapping against her lips somehow.

“Yeah-yeah. I will. It’s okay.” he quickly nodded, spreading his legs a little farther apart and his bravery was rewarded by the smile of delight that appeared on her face. She nestled down again, round ass in the air that went fuzzy as his eyes crossed as her mouth explored him. Soft laps, circles, nuzzles to his balls and happy hums that vibrated into his body left him a shivering mess. He watched as the beads appeared and grew on the head of his cock. He followed her as she found them with excitement and sucked them away with a satisfied hum.

“You’re doing so good, baby. You still okay?” a light two-hand stroke to his cock, her hands bumping into her tits and making them bounce.

“I’m… fuckin’ perfect yeah.” he gave an unintentionally charming smile.

“Yes you are.” she cooed, leaning forward to slip the bottom of her shirt away from her body and slide his dick between her tits.

“Holy fuggin’ sh—-” he almost drooled getting sucked into the heat of her body in a new way. She pressed her chest together to make her as tight as she could, to wrap around him as much as possible.

“That feel good?” she let out an evil giggle and he raspberried out.

“You know it does, fucking CHRIST!” he cried out, hand over his face, mouth open and breathing heavy, hair fanned out, he looked like a dream. “I think I could fuck the bend in your fuckin KNEE and it’d still make me cum.” he confessed with a laugh that she fell into with him.

“We can try that sometime.” she giggled and lowered her head to kitten lick his sensitive bare head as it popped through her chest.

“Fuck that's nice baby” he whispered.

“Hold ‘em for me. Fuck my tits.” she ordered with a nod, hand moving to his balls as he let out a small cry of pleasure. His face looked pained but she knew better as his hips started to move, thrusting up into the heat of her, hands squeezing and pawing at her tits a bit desperately. Her hands roamed around again, his eyes focused on her chest. “Your body feels so good under my hands.” She let out a moan she didn’t exactly intend as she felt the muscle in his ass as he pushed up into her.

“Mine? Pfft. Yours.” he said with a hard brow that gave away that his filter was gone. “Shit.” He winced and froze, eyes screwed shut, mouth open, and panting like a dog. Star purred at the sight. Beads of sweat wet his bangs, rolling down his strong jawline. “Can’t cum yet. Feels too good.” his voice was high pitched, throat on display with his pounding pulse as he stretch it back.

“Poor baby.” she sucked his head into his mouth and he cried out helplessly. She slid her tits off him and sat back, letting him grit and whimper, fists into the sheets and willing his body to listen.

“Christ.” his voice cracked, a forearm over his eyes.

“Good job.” she giggled and kissed his tip once the painful part was over. “I still wanna play with you. That okay?”

“Yeah.” he nodded. “Yes baby, play.” he nodded and rubbed his face as she sank into his legs and put as much of his balls into her mouth as she physically could. “I never knew that felt so good.”

“Can I show you something else?” her ass swayed to and fro like a cat about to pounce, tongue-filled kisses on his balls, and her hands wrapped around the base of his cock, feeling his heartbeat against her palm.

“Yeah?” he panted out with a quirked-up brow.

“You can say no. But I’d love to try something new.” she paused and kissed his thighs, hand now lightly tugging his balls and he groaned and gritted at the mix of pleasure and pain. “You know how I used my tongue on that little asshole of yours earlier?” she smirked into his inner thigh, tongue out and lapping.

“Uh huh.” he nodded, helpless against her onslaught of sexiness.

“Can I use my finger on you? Fuck you like you do me? It won’t hurt, I promise. It’ll feel so good baby. I want to make you cum so hard you scream.” she bit softly into his leg. “And you will if you let me touch you.”

“Yeah?”

“Promise. I want you to experience everything, Eddie.” she whispered and nuzzled into his balls. “I want you to know how good it feels to get fucked. To have someone inside you. I want to try everything with you baby.” she cooed in a deep tone that was borderline sweet except for what she was requesting.

“You do?”

“Mmm Hmm.” I want to find new ways to blow each other's minds together. Always together.” she throbbed.

“I…yeah. Together. With you, baby yeah.” he nodded, his brain beginning to function in a more normal way, pushing through the heavy fog of a hard, edged cock. “Yeah, touch me. Make me feel good.” her ass wiggled like a dog wagging its tail.

“Really?” her smile was almost innocent in its joy.

“I know you’ll take care of me, baby.” he reached out to cup her cheek and she nuzzled into his hand. “Make this birthday boy feel good.” he nodded with more confidence and spread his legs wide. She bit her lip and squealed with excitement, sliding him down her throat with a trill in her throat. She was like a kitten at play as she pounced on him, pulling off him with a gasp, as always never skimping on the spit and mess when she went down on him. She quickly reached for more lube and spread it where he was stretched out for her with his strong thighs spread.

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long.” She looked at him like he was a meal and she was starving, it felt good to be on the receiving end. “I’m gonna tell you the same thing you tell me.” she nodded. “I want to hear you. I want to hear every little sound that comes out of that pretty pink mouth of yours.” she wrinkled her nose at him with affection. He nodded and bit the pretty pink lips she spoke of. Her finger circled and teased until he stopped fidgeting. She was more than happy to take her time with him, she’d been so anxious about if he’d say yes that now in the post-yes phase she was content to go slow again. She held him in her mouth, not actively sucking him off, more lolling and playing while her mind focused on her finger. Distracted by her mouth, but not moving toward an orgasm too quickly he started to loosen up, and steady his breath. She fanned open her eyes, her lips and tongue obscene and slurping against the length of him. She found him already watching her, wordless they communicated as she began pressing her finger into him. She’d been generous with the lube, and with him relaxed and ready, it didn’t take much before his mouth opened just like his hole did as she passed the tight rim of him. A little unsure moan, brows furrowed as his brain processed and Star took it slow and easy. She waited until his dark lashes quit fluttering before pressing farther inside. Eddie was very shy to admit it but this wasn’t the first time something had been inside him. He was a bisexual horny teenager, of course he’d experimented with himself. Having someone else do it, as with most things, was completely different, and even though he knew that her fingers weren’t that big, the stretch still felt like so much. He licked his lips with a grunt, adjusting to the foreign feeling, but certainly not disliking it. Slowly in and out, she even put more lube for him as he let out a sudden sound as she grazed against his insides. “How are you doing, baby?” she asked warmly with big kind eyes, her lips puckered to his head despite her finger fucking his asshole. The juxtaposition confused him.

“Different. But not bad. Good. Just feels…like there’s something up my ass.” he let himself laugh, squeezing around her before a moan grew from the way his body was touched by her from his movement. She laughed deep and throaty, her hand wrapping around his cock and sitting up straighter to focus on moving this to the part she was most excited about it.

“Getting past that feeling is the hardest part. You feel like something’s coming out, but it’s not. Relax, you’re doing so good.” she promised, leaning forward and her tits brushing against his cock unintentionally, he let out a queasy-faced murmur of pleasure at being able to see her body again. “You want two? Or just one?” He pondered it a moment.

“Can we try? If it’s too much…” he trailed off.

“Of course, honey.” She slid her one finger out and pushed at him with two. Another pump of lube for good measure as she saw him become more eager and less anxious. His body took in two fingers, a hiss and a shout of a swear as his head fell back.

“I know it’s not but it feels so big.” he panted out, eyes to the ceiling to concentrate. “Fuuck.” he groaned as she kept her fingers moving a slow in and out.

“If it gets too intense, let me know.” she kissed his knee and pressed as deep into him as she could, the pressure against his body from her knuckles was something new, something his hips seemed to seek out without much input from his brain. She watched him ease again, face gorgeous and neutral before she started moving and curling her fingers to introduce him to something new. She pulled out and found the spot she assumed felt similar to her own. Eddie so kindly assaulted hers for her so she’d get to have screaming orgasms, it was only polite she extend the same kindness to him. So she did. She pressed with intention and a wiggly moan left Eddie’s chest, his stomach tensing.

“Oh, " he said clearly and announced, making her laugh. “That…that was..” his eyes were wide and almost paranoid as they darted.

“What? This?” she feigned innocence with a tilt of her head as she pulled out and pressed back in with more precision.

“Christ!” he squeaked. “YEAH THAT!” his face looked angry at her as she laughed but she knew he wasn’t. She continued her pace, fingers tapping and pressing, feeling like she had the volume knob under her fingers at the way Eddie grew louder. His cock pulsed and leaked in her tight grip, she barely stroked him and he was throbbing hard. With a loose grip, she let his cock penetrate her closed fist, down to the hilt, and squeezing hard before sliding back up to repeat. “Baby, faster.” his voice surprised her, looking up to find his hands on the back of his thighs, holding them up and his face tuned on her.

“With your cock or inside you?” she asked in a borderline patronizing tone. Eddie didn’t even notice.

“Both.” she gave him a dark wicked smile.

“There’s my greedy good boy.” her hips wiggled with enthusiasm. “Already asking for more.” she said it like it was a pickup line or a flirt, that she was impressed with him. His head jerked back and he prayed loudly.

“Oh god. Ugh, yes. Oh my gooood.” he bellowed out, feeling his entire body tingle and tighten. He felt her grip on his cock tighten as the speed of her strokes grew faster, her thumb slipping over his head and her chest knocking together with the movement of her arm. “Babe,” he whined a true puppy whine that made her wet to hear. “S’good.” he nodded with a bitten lip, looking so pathetic she wanted to eat him alive. “I think I’m close.” he sounded helpless, he didn’t even know when his orgasm was coming he was so bewitched.

“Faster? Harder? You sure aren’t acting like you want me to slow down.”

“No. No slow down. SO good.” he whimpered out, bangs into his big wet eyes, desperation on his wincing face.

“You have permission to cum whenever you want baby. You‘re gonna cum so hard, aren’t you? Look at you, you love getting fucked like this.” She went with concentration thrusts, her thighs to his, her body moving to give a little added pressure as she chose short distances, focusing on his prostate and pounding into him. He was a crying mess for her. “Fuck I wanna see you shoot that big load all over yourself and make a fucking mess baby. You look so good bouncing on my fingers like this. This big dick about to burst, look at the precum Eddie.” she giggled something evil.” Pressing it right out of you aren’t I?”

“Y-yeah.” is all he managed, now aware of how hard it might be for her to speak while he was railing her and asking her for answers. “Holy fuck Star it feels so good.” he met her eyes, shining with tears from the swell of emotion building in him.

“Told you I’d make you feel good baby. I keep my promises don’t I? Yeah.” she nodded as she saw his eyes unfocusing and a pathetic nod follow her question, half forced from the way his body was being rocked. “You’re almost there baby, I can feel you pulsing up. You’re doing so good Eddie. So good for me with my fingers in your ass aren’t you?” he let out a groan of frustration, every exhale a moan growing higher pitched by the second. “God, you’re so fucking pretty baby boy. Look at you.” she moaned, only pushing him closer to the edge. He was flushed, hair damp and sticking the strong features of his face. His eyes had never been as lovely as they were right now, losing their battle with focus and lolling around their sockets from pleasure. His mouth constantly moved, winces, growls, cries, and pleas falling from shining bitten lips, plump with fresh blood.

“Gonna.” he grunted, his nails digging into his thighs as they tightened.

“C’mon my beautiful boy. Make a mess. Show me how good I make you feel.” she sounded almost as desperate as he did.

“Gonna.” he whined, his eyes screwing shut. She didn’t taunt him again, he didn’t need it. His mouth flew open with a shout, then a clench of teeth as he screamed, his body shooting ropes into the air and landing all over his chest and stomach. Star hummed and bit her lip so hard at the pleasure of the sight that she tasted blood. His body heaved, and convulsed, the sounds that fell out his mouth were music to her ears. Jumbled and slurred, wailed and growled his voice sang for her as he came so hard his body tried to force her out but she stayed right on his spot and let him go until no more came out of his jumping cock, the power behind his sounds faded, turning to puppy whimpers and whines. His big beautiful brown eyes opened and fought against the orgasm fuzz to find her. When he finally took in a haggard deep breath, his knuckles turning from white to pink again as he loosened his grip on his thighs, she slowed. His chest bobbed, catching up, mouth panting and open, eyes wild and desperate, running a hand through his hair as she slid out of him and went to lapping up his mess with a needy mouth. “You don’t gotta- holy fuck.” he squeaked out, trying to force his throat to function again. She smiled and sighed contently, giggling as she lapped and sucked the cum off his body. “God dammit I love you so much.” he reached to hold her hair back as she reached the top of the mess on his chest. She traced his star tattoo with her tongue before sliding in against his body, her face beaming as if she was the one that just came so hard their eyes crossed.

“And I love you.” she giggled, feet swinging up behind her as she pushed his hair from his face so he could cool down. “You’re so gorgeous Eddie.” she sighed and he let his head fall into her warm palm. “You really are. When you get overwhelmed with an orgasm you sound like a siren to me. I swear it.” he took her hand into his and kissed her palms.

“Thanks, baby.” he let a blushed grin cover his face. “You are really good at that.” he let out a nervous laugh.

“You’re really good at taking it big boy.” she winked and he flushed red deeper. “I’m gonna get something to clean you up okay? You don’t have to get up.” she pecked a kiss to his lips before bouncing off him like a happy bunny and to the bathroom. She was naked when she returned, not wanting to spread the oil any further than it already was.

“Mmmm.” he made weak grabby hands as she appeared it made her face contort into a wrinkled smile.

“Just a minute. Gotta take care of you how you take care of me.” she said quietly, the warm cloth making him groan at the contact with his agitated skin. She cleaned him up with one and used another to get the excess oil off. She returned with water, lit him a cigarette, and climbed into bed with him.

“You’re perfect.” he said with a tired, happy smile.

“Nah, I just love you.” she giggled and kissed his dimpled cheek.

“Oh shit. You didn’t-” he realized and began to sit up before she easily pushed him back down to the bed.

“Nope. Trust me I’m very content with what you gave me.” she nuzzled her nose to his. “This is about you, don’t you worry about another damn thing tonight.” she tapped his nose before he let his arms wrap around her.

“If you say so.” he shrugged, too weak and blissed out to argue. “That was as good as advertised.” he let out a chuckle and kissed her collarbone.

“I’m glad.” she stroked back his hair. “I do want to try everything with you. I figured since we’d ventured into you getting in a different hole of mine that it made sense to try to get into one of yours.”

“Fine by me. I don’t know that I’ve ever come that hard. Felt like my guts were gonna come out of my dick.” Star threw her head back and laugh.

“Always a poet with your sexual imagery.” she laughed and he let himself be amused at his crude choice of words.

“It’s not pretty but it’s accurate.” he shrugged.

“Opposite of you. Pretty but wrong.” she teased, in a playful mood from sex as she smooched noisily on his face. He swung his arms out and pulled her tightly to him. She didn’t struggle, only mewled and buried her face into his soft skin. They calmed, him stroking her back and her listening to his heartbeat.

“I’m so glad you moved here.” he said with no attachment, merely a peg in his thought process as it whirled in his brain. She shook with a laugh in his harms.

“I am too.” he heard her muffled.

“I mean it.” he sighed, rubbing his cheek to her hair. “You’ve opened me up to so much.”

“I opened you up alright.” she snorted and he reached down to slap her ass, she giggled and squirmed in his grip.

“I’m being romantic Star.” he scolded but playfully.

“Sorry.” she kissed his chin as she looked up to see his face. “Please continue.”

“That’s better.” he huffed dramatically, flinging his hair out of his face as she beamed up at him from his arms with love in her eyes. “You’ve…introduced me to a lot of new things. Maybe not new but things I never thought I’d have or feel. And clearly… after tonight yes you’re opening me up to other new things too.” he looked down to bite her nose. “I don’t know that I would’ve ever been able to feel what I have with you if it hadn’t happened now. After high school when work starts and shit gets harder I don’t know that I would’ve believed it was possible. Like I’d somehow be more jaded than I am now. More cynical. Bitter. More tired. I might’ve not had the energy to keep up with you.” he smiled softly and reach down to pet her head. “I know what brought you here wasn’t good and I wish it could’ve been better circumstances that brought you to the middle of nowhere but I’m thankful that you did come here. Knowing what I do now I’d have done anything to get you here.”

“Everything happens as it should.” she nodded and sought out his hand to hold it. “And I’m here now. With you. And wherever we go next, I’ll be right there too. I’m excited about the future for the first time in my life.” she let out a sad huff of a laugh. “It won’t be easy but we won’t be alone.”

“Thought I’d always be alone. Or feel alone. Even if I wasn’t.”

“Me too.” she quietly agreed, feeling the loss of her life from before. “We’re almost there Eddie.” she snuggled back into his chest. “We’re at the end of a chapter. We’re about to start a very long new one.”

“I think this next one is gonna be better than the last. I feel like calling myself naive just saying it out loud.” he grinned, but there was contentment behind it. “But I do. Because of you.”

“I think they’re all gonna be better than this one.” she nodded, kissing his hand and bringing it to her lips to snuggle in close.

“I don’t know how it could feel better than it does right now, to be honest.”

“Me either. This is the happiest I’ve ever been. But that makes me even more excited to know that there’s even more happiness out there to be had with a life of our own. Different kinds of happiness we maybe don’t know about it. It’s all unwritten and that’s why it’s so scary and exciting. But I’m ready now. I feel ready.”

“After graduation, we’ll dive in head first to it, alright?” he dipped down to kiss the top of her head.

“I’m ready for it.” she whispered, feeling the weight of a new beginning increasing.

“If you are, so am I.”

This is the next to last chapter. I don't like that it's so close to the end. But here we are. If you've enjoyed this pair, let me know. Feedback is invaluable to me and lets me know to keep making time to write more (even after this fic is over).

PART 27 (The Last Chapter)

Tag List: It only let me tag some. Sorry.

@kik51199 @banannie255 @paracetamollvr @honeyshiftss @simonsblueee @suspirian @likeficsinthewnd @hollyismentallyillhelp @eddiesgoodgirl @ouuwitchywoman @michaelfuckinglangdon @hannahdinse8 @thikkiesixx @idyllicbutterfly @lonesome-doveee @kaelyn-lobrutto244 @eriseffigy @kriffingstarss @psychedelephantt @laurathefahrradsatteleltel @munsinss @secularlunarsorceressss @angelofthorrrr @eddiemunsonsbedroom @justiceiswater @unnecesarysstuff @divadinagg @boomhauerr @br0ck-eddiee

@fridamosss @nitafromtheshadows @sammararaven @bambipowerblueadditioneaddtion @trixyvixx @bimbobaggins69 @sillypurplemurple @sunnyhoney420 @sugar-bears-smile @hellfires-harlot @eddiemunson95 @savannahlynnes @orginalstar1

#eddie munson #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson angst #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fem!reader #eddie munson friends to lovers #eddie munson fix it fic #eddie munson x female oc #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x fem!reader smut #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fic #eddie munson forever #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson fanfic

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elthreetimes · 1 year

Note

To be fair!: I got @loveshotzz one foot in the Eddie cave. 😈

The Steve girls almost got me! Disjointed is one of the VERY FEW fics that’s keeping me in the Eddie cave 😭

#I’m trying to stay strong for you #I know our numbers are dwindling #eddie munson forever

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feralgoblinbabe · 2 years

Text

Hellfire Baby(e.m)

What if Eddie didn't have to die? What if he really was a devil worshiper, but not in the way you think? What if, he pleaded so loud and desperately to not die in the upside down that it was heard in a demon dimension far below in the belly of hell. And that said call was heard by a sneaky demon with curves for days and a liking for soft boys. This is my first attempt of ff in YEARS and I came to this idea one day while taking a bath lol what if eddie makes a deal with a demon to save his life and in return he mist be her companion and teach her about humans.

Content warnings ⚠️: smut(eventually) illusions to sex, sexual thoughts, blood, gore, depictions of hell and demons (in a positive way), anti-religious ideology, and angst. This ff also is not really proof read and I know there will be spelling errors and such. I haven't written in years!

Word count:7k

This will be an ongoing series if I get rhe courage to post more lol

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Chapter 1: Sinners are winners

There was one thing for certain that Eddie did know, and that was that he sure as shit did NOT want to die here. After he cut the bedsheets to save Dustin he did the only thing he could think of because saving Dustin meant more to Eddie then his own life. He was finally brave, for once, a hero. But even heroes don't want to die. Not like this.

He pleaded mutely. His lips chapped and bloody. He knew by the foggy haze in front of him that he didn't have much longer. That's when the panic set in. Panic that cooled his veins and made his sluggish heart beat unevenly.

"P-please I-" he stuttered, licking his lips in a futile attempt to plead to anything that was above or below. He wouldn't call himself a religious man by any means. In fact, having been called a devil worshiper his whole life, he saw more faults in the truly religious people than anyone without. But now, he would give even his soul if he could to live.

"Anything?" A voice cooed in his ear. Eddie lulled his head to the side, having felt a presence beside him. His eyes, heavy but clear for a moment, landed on a pair of eyes staring back at him. Eyes so red and glowing it seemed unreal. Eddie couldn't believe what he was seeing and as he wounds pooled around him, a figure appeared into focus.

Long silky black hair, a soft angelic face, and massive black horns. A spade tail was whipping to and from lazily as if bored. The creature took her long nail and swiped it in the puddle of his blood. Pressing her finger in her pillowy mouth, rolling her eyes in the back of her head as if in pure pleasure. This was it, he was dead. And the devil had come to take his soul.

" Well sort of pumpkin, you see I am not the devil. That's my dad, silly. " She spoke sweetly, crawling closer to his face. He could see flecks of pure gold swimming like starlight in her eyes. Had he said that out loud?

"No, baby, I can read your thoughts. They're sooo loud, you know? And I couldn't help but to overhear you pleading away, asking for anyone and anything to save you. So here I am" she smirked, motioning to her naked body, which Eddie just now realized was covered in swirling patterns of black on...on her red skin. Holy shit.

" ah now eyes up here pumpkin" she laughed." I'll tell you what, I'll make all your pain and suffering just disappear, and you can go back to your realm nice and alive if "she reached forward cradling his cheek in her warm palm" if you make a deal with me and give me your soul." She smiled so brightly it hurt to look at. He grimaced as his wound around his stomach burned even more. He knew he had no choice. And as impossible as this seemed, maybe this was his chance. To live. Sides, it would be pretty metal to sell your soul. Right? " oh baby come on now your time is running out, you have about thirty seconds" she spoke arrogantly knowing she won.

He didn't even hesitate"Y-yes, I will" Eddie spoke the words softly, his breath quaking and blood filled his lungs. Maybe this truly made him a coward, but shit he just wanted to live.

She brought her head back and laughed up at the night sky as lighting struck next to him." I knew you would say that." Eddie finally closed his eyes, shuttering like his last breath. His heart beat ceased. The demon in question crawled forward lowering on her hunches, she pressed her blackened lips to his rough ones and breathed hellfire into his lungs. She gave him life.

Lily was a demon who was so utterly bored with immortality. Having lived for thousands of years, she was still a young demon. Especially, in her father's eyes. She liked to believe that maybe she was meant for other things than just torture and punishments. She had dreams..and interests. Though her father wanted her to take interest in managing souls and judgement, it just wasn't in her to really enjoy it. Sure, it was fun to kick rapists and evil men off cliffs to meet an agonizing death by spikes over and over again. It just got borrrrinngg after a while. But boy did Lily lovvee humans. Even though humans throughout history gave demons a bad name and hated her kind. They werent all bad demons just where misunderstood. Without demons and Lucifer there would be no balance of souls. Sure there was some bad seeds but they all had a job and a place in the vast universe.

Anyway, Lily always had an interest in human music,culture and emotions. It was so interesting. The few times she did venture to the human realm it always amazed her to see how they lived. Humans though faulty were so innovative and complex with just the small amount of time they had on earth they managed to do so much and be so much.

Secretly in the pit of what she assumed was where her heart is, she longed for that. To be human and to love, fuck and dream.It's why when she was laying in her chambers after a long day showing her father new torture methods (having the whole of hells elite witness how far she came in the ranks making her father proud for one day she might take his very throne even if Lily had no dreams for it) Did she hear a faint pleading whisper through the air and make her shiver in delight. It was soft and masculine. A cry of desperate fear of death and the end of all. She knew this was her chance.

This soul who was powerful enough to plead his case all the way down to her. It brought a warm feeling with it, so innocent and pure. A true non corrupted soul. It made her purr in delight and immediately an idea formed, she would do one thing that's frowned upon. She would give this human life and in exchange she would not only own his soul, but he would show her what it was like to be human. Lily conjured a raven to inform her father that she was going to earth to claim some souls. It wasn't totally a lie, but he didn't need to know exactly what she was up too. Not yet at least. She took a deep breath and summoned herself to the soul.

He was in a desolate land. Not earth like she thought but a flipped version of it made by a chaos demon long ago. One that laid dormant, hibernating in the ground. She never met this said demon, but had heard whispering from her sisters that he had been imprisoned her for disrupting the balance.

"Interesting" she murmured. Hopefully by the time she saved this soul she'd be out before he realized.

The young man lay in a pool of his sweet blood, his life fading slowly as he pleaded desperately for life. His soft curly hair matted around him, wounds weeping heavy tears of blood making it hard for him to speak. But he did so anyway, he even had the will power to look her directly in her eyes. His soft dark brown to her red demonic ones.

She slyly toyed with his pleading, knowing full well he was desperate enough to accept whatever she was offering. She almost felt bad. After her lips landed on his a strange fluttering was felt in her chest. An almost warm feeling. She shrugged it off as she breathed hellfire into his body. Hellfire was a family gift that all Lucifers children possessed. The ability to give life at a cost. A cost of the soul when the human died by whatever cause after the resurrection. Breathing life in to him was easy, what was not was the sheer force of his emotions as past events swam into her head.

This boy as a child toothless and grinning, him as a gangly teen shaven head and a shiny guitar, him not so long ago sitting on a throne with his hair wild and untamed as he smirked at a group of awkward looking boys. His last moments collected in her brain and she smiled excitedly, a hero through and through.

His name came to her lips as she breathed the last of the hellfire into him. "Eddie Munson, you are mine".

#eddie munson #stranger things #fanfic #eddie stranger things #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson forever #ff #dark #funny #fix it fanfiction

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totalfandomfreak · 2 years

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Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair Additional Tags: Alternate Ending, it’s what we deserve, for the gays, steddie, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Pansexual Eddie Munson, Angst, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Lives, Protective Boyfriend, Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, enjoy the burn…., What else am I supposed to write here?, Stranger Things 4, Eddie Munson in the Upside Down Summary:

THIS IS THE SEASON 4 ENDING WE DESERVED! ……… Accused of 3 murders he didn’t commit, Eddie is on the run. Aided by a selection of his fellow Hellfire club members, as well as Robin-from-band and Perfect little Nancy Wheeler, he is on a mission to help his friends and clear his name. Oh, and ‘King’ Steve Harrington is also there, just being devastatingly distracting with his newly discovered gorgeous personality and annoyingly handsome face. ……… THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE ALTERNATIVE/BETTER ENDING OF VOL. 2 THAT THE QUEER COMMUNITY, AND STEDDIE DESERVED….

(It goes without saying that although I feel a kinship and deep connection to these characters, they are not my own and that all rights are owned and reserved by the Duffers)

#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #season 4 #stranger things 4 #eddie munson forever #ao3 writer #ao3 fics #long reads #fanfic #steddie fanfic

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madaboutmunson · 1 year

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Happy New Year Everyone 🎉

Thank you to everyone who I've met in this community since May, you are all tremendous and wonderful.

I hope each of you get at least one wish come true this year if not all of them, and I hope 2023 treats you kindly.

I can't emphasise enough how much the creativity of this community and the support of my own writings has improved my mental health, just having that creative outlet has made such a huge change in my life.

And also, even though he's fictional, thank you Eddie Munson, you hopped up on that table and changed my life forever. You helped me remember the happier and free girl I was a long time ago, and I'm clawing my way back to her, bit by bit.

I'll never forget you. Eddie Munson Forever 💚🤘🤪🤘💚

#happy new year #happy 2023 #thank you eddie munson #thank you joseph quinn #wishing you all the best #thank you all for being so awesome #i love you #thank you #eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson forever

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artrealla · 1 month

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golden hour cuddles

#steddie #steddie fanart #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #my art #im really so happy with how this turned out #plz reblog with tags so i can read them and i'll love u forever (every tag makes me blush)

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lazylittledragon · 10 months

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dads bc i've missed them :'))

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie dads #i haven't posted them here in Forever but i'm going to start again since my twt followers are migrating #the quality of these compared to the first art is INSANE

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meet-me-backstage · 1 year

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🜸

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎸 Virgin!Eddie Munson x Fem!reader

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 🎸 You play at the Hideout with your band, Stake For My Valentine, every night - you're considered the metal queen of the bar and your band are the rulers of the roost, famously loved by the Hideout's local drunks. However, when a band named Corroded Coffin land their first gig there, the sparse crowd warm quickly to the unique and awkward charm of the leading metal head, Eddie Munson.

However, you don't warm to him so easily - in fact, you don't warm to him at all. Eddie, on the other hand, worships the ground you walk on and doesn't hesitate to make it known, leading to a cold rejection from you.

Band rivalry occurs - you vs. Eddie, Stake For My Valentine vs Corroded Coffin.

You hate each other... but one night everything changes when a plan is created and executed by yours and Eddie's bandmates with the intention of bringing you two together and harmony between the bands.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊-𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕, 𝒔𝒎𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈!

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 🎸 bad language, angst, mention and consumption of drugs, mention and consumption of alcohol, sexual innuendos, mention of blood, Eddie wearing eyeliner bcuz damn😍, some typical bar fight drunkard violence and SMUT so you must be 18+ to read‼️

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 🎸 6.2K words (grab a drink and a snack, it’s a helluva ride)

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 🎸 bad language, a sexual innuendo oop, mention of smut, alcohol and mention of it, mention of drugs.

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠!

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 <𝟑

𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 ⎈ 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 ⎈ 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓

‘I’ve got it on my mind to change my ways-’

Sweat dripped in several trails from your forehead down to your chin, it fell in droplets onto the black cracked wooden planks that formed a raised platform - a stage.

A stage you felt at home on, like it belonged to you. Years worth of your blood, sweat and tears had seeped into it - literally, you’d claimed it as yours the moment the first drop of your sweat collided with it, like a scent that would deter others of the thought of taking it from you.

You'd claimed it, The Hideout, two years ago, nearing the beginning of your senior year at Hawkins High. The run-down, isolated bar was like the Rainbow In The Dark to your Dio, the Spiral Architect to your Black Sabbath, the bats head to your Ozzy - it was a place that very quickly became home to you, Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa… the girls that played alongside you every night.

You met them at school - Elektra and Cherie first in Mrs Click's class, they both sat in front of you, next to each other. It was fate, the three of you sitting so close - or maybe it was just the fact that you were all left out. Alyssa was in the year below, Elektra’s little sister, who would sit join you in the cafeteria on your assigned table. A table that everyone else steered clear from.

All through middle and almost four years of high school you hadn’t found your people - the ones who could just catch a glimpse of you and know what you were thinking, feeling, whether you were down in the dumps or on cloud nine. You’d had a pretty shitty and tough experience throughout your time at school, you’d spent a lot of time being picked on by the likes of the popular crowd. You gradually learnt to enjoy your own company at school and developed a ‘fuck them all, they’re all the same anyway’ mindset… until you met the future members of your band.

You just knew that Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa were your people, and it wasn’t just because they had a similar style to yours, wore their hair messy, their dark clothes often crinkled, ripped or untucked, exuding an ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude towards school. It was from the moment that the grade A asshole of the class, Derek Hagan, told them to ‘shut up’ upon hearing them whisper about the new Iron Maiden album, ‘Live After Death’. Elektra and Cherie turned around, synchronised, and shot a cold stare and a flip of the bird his way before Cherie uttered with attitude, ‘why don’t you shut the fuck up, Hagan?’ - you were sold.

And after countless heated conversations full of passion for your deep love for music, specifically metal music, and how playing it felt like an escape from the dull town full of people who misunderstood you and treated you like crap for it… the band was formed.

⎈ 🎸⎈

‘We’ll make them worship us - they’ll be down on their knees begging more and more for our kinda music,’ you state confidently, enthusiastically with your hands balled into fists and slamming them down onto the cafeteria table, alerting everyone casually eating their lunch.

While they all glared, your three dear metal heads sat with you are mesmerised, they have a gleam in their eye and are entirely inspired by you, ‘We’re in!’ They squeal in unison before reaching their hands out for you to shake.

⎈ 🎸⎈

The sweat that hadn’t soaked into the stage fell onto the microphone you held with a tight grip, making your hand even more clammy.

You soaked the feeling of being on your stage up, the final moments - when everybody is on autopilot, limbs numb from moving wildly to the music, mouths tired from screaming.

‘But I don’t think I can be anything other than me.’

Your eyes scan the crowd of about twenty people as you sang your final line in a low drawl.

Here tonight were the usual locals that came for the Hideout itself rather than your show and hung around the bar. About fifteen were stood directly in front of you and your undivided attention was focused on them.

You slowly bent over to be level with the eyes of your small, but devoted audience that you’d built through hard graft, gigs that you put your all into every night without fail. Bending your knees, focusing for a moment on controlling them and not letting them shake from tiredness or adrenaline, your eyelids fluttered open to be met with an unfamiliar pair of brown eyes.

Usually you recognised everybody here. Keith, the Hideout’s owner, Rodrick, Keith’s son who had been obsessed with the idea of getting into your pants since the very first time you walked into the bar - Troy, Lisa, Joan, Paul, Victoria… that one drunkard who tends to throw dollar bills at the stage, the few creeps who would eye you down from the bar.

You’d had at least one interaction, good or bad, with everyone here.

So a new-comer easily stood out to you, instantly making you intrigued as to who this person was.

As far as you can tell under the dim, flickering light of the bar, it’s a man with a sort of… boyish look, a brunette with long curly hair. Even with the weak light shining over him, he had a twinkle in his doe-like eyes that only seemed to gleam brighter when he noticed you were looking at him too - in fact, his jaw practically dropped down to the floor.

You continued to stare at him with half-lidded eyes through the few people who stood in front of him, like you were a missile and he was your assigned target.

He was frozen while everyone else threw their arms and heads around frantically to the rhythm of Alyssa on the drums, the groove of Cherie on the bass and the melody of Elektra on rhythm guitar being played in unison behind you.

You shot the gazing newbie a side-smirk.

He’s probably creaming his pants right now, you think. Arrogant, you know, but you were perfectly aware of the power you beheld as the lead singer and guitarist of Stake For My Valentine. That fact alone acted as a gravitational pull in a place like the Hideout - because nowhere else were you so carefree and wild… a free spirit - just… yourself.

You stood out like you did at school, out and about in Hawkins. But here, at this dingy bar - it was so different, everyone stared in awe rather than in judgement. The people in here wanted you, your presence, your music… having that knowledge, it made you feel like an iconic figure in this little bar - like the metal queen of the Hideout, and you loved it.

The thought alone suddenly sent a final boost of adrenaline through every vein in your exhausted body, your aching neck because of the strain of your personalised guitar strap with a lightning bolt patch sewed onto it, digging into it. You swiftly and messily twirl, banging your head wildly and stomping your boot-clad feet as your hand flies to the neck of your beloved beauty of an electric guitar. You took a deep breath, about to shred an epic, improvised guitar solo as if you hadn’t been teasing a stranger with your eyes mere seconds ago.

You thrust your hips against the guitar you’d dedicated years of your life too. You’d been a little metal star with a guitar by your side ever since your fourth birthday.

Your fingers learnt to move faster and faster to the point where they now moved as speedily as the speed of lightning. You played full of passion with your bottom lip tucked behind your teeth, face scrunched up and hips pushed forward while the guitar unleashed angelic and harmonious screeches that, if it were possible, would pierce a hole through the Hideout’s roof, reaching the sky.

The notes flew out of you in a rapid flow - it was a feeling that you couldn’t get enough of and didn’t ever want to end, but you guessed that you had to round the gig off in a matter of a few minutes as you could see Keith beside the stage through your peripheral vision. He usually tapped on his watch with a finger, gesturing for us to round up for the night. Tonight you were entirely too lost in the music, it was as if you were a puppet controlled by strings, the master being your guitar.

Keith was shaking his head, becoming frustrated with you - you could just feel it, but the feeling of euphoria from your solo was so much stronger.

You smile with closed eyes, appearing to be under a powerful spell difficult to be pulled out of.

“Time to round up - Vampire Slayer! Time is up!” Keith shouts over the amp plugged to your guitar, but his voice is still muffled - only you could hear it and decide if you were going to listen to him or not.

You could also feel Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie’s eyes bore into the back of your head, frustrated, but trying to keep cool in front of the small crowd watching your fingers in a hypnotised gaze.

“Vampire Slayer!” Keith shouts again.

I suppose I should round this up. Finally, a more responsible thought manages to creep into your brain in the mix of thoughts of all things metal music and guitars and - holy shit, this is the best solo I’ve played in ages!

You didn’t want to get on Keith’s bad side, especially when Stake For My Valentine’s nightly gig slot was entirely in his hands and he could take it away from you whenever he wished. You swallowed a sudden unsettled feeling towards the ‘backstage’ discussion you usually had with him every night and rounded off your solo on a gentle and drawn out high note that faded into the electrical sound of the metal strings vibrating and the amp, to complete silence.

There were some blank faces, mouths formed in an ‘O’ shape - I guess I’ve never played that hard before in front of them. You clear you throat, easing your aching lungs before stepping towards the mic and speaking in a breathy voice, “Stake - For My Valentine - see you tomorrow, lovers.” You then swing your guitar by its strap over your shoulder to rest against your back, a trick you learnt at home after many failed attempts and breakdowns after almost damaging your baby.

Then you, Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie all share fleeting glances before starting to walk your way towards the three steps at the side of the stage. You are stopped in your tracks, your head quickly turns to face the audience again at sudden sounds of messy thudding and continuous squeaks of sneakers colliding against the floor.

You squint your eyes, focusing on some movement towards the back of the sparse crowd. You notice the curly-haired, twinkly doe-eyed brunette from before jumping up and down with three other newbies - friends of his, you assume.

“Most - metal - ever!” They chant with uncontrolled excitement, an outburst, completely making up for how silent they’d been during the gig.

Was this their first gig ever? The question crossed your mind as you stared, still entirely focused on them while the rest of the crowd’s cheers were muffled to you.

The twinkly doe-eyed newbie, once him and his friend’s spurt of enthusiasm had died down, turned his head, catching eyes with you again before seemingly panicking at your returned gaze and erratically turning back to the other newbies, who you now noticed, were all wearing the exact same shirt as him with a devil and horns on it - you were too far away to read the writing on them.

When you noticed that his friends were pointing at you with over-exaggerated looks on their faces you broke your gaze away from that area and shot a charming smile at the familiar faces before resuming your way off of the platform, down the steps.

“What was that?” You hear in a weak whisper behind you, it was Elektra, she’d caught up with you, her front brushing your back every few moments as you both walked.

You shrug your shoulders, a trace of a smug smile starting to form on your lips, “Just some new-comers - I’m pretty sure they’ve never been to a gig before, judging by their starstruck faces - how lame is-.”

“What are you talking about?” She asks, tired and frustrated, her whole body probably aching from playing guitar too.

You look over your shoulder at her as you walk, “What are you talking about?”

Elektra shrugs casually for a moment before moving even closer, her lips by your ear, “Oh - I don’t know, maybe the part where you and your guitar should’ve gotten a room?”

“What can I say? Pink Special and I have more than a decades’ worth of chemistry - the tension got pretty intense - don’t know what came over me,” you joke, giggling breathlessly.

Cherie overhears yours and Elektra’s back and forth… being not only the bassist of the group, but also the excitable ‘loose cannon’ who just about defended you in every band discussion, about lyrics, keys, solos - everything. She planted her hands abruptly on yours and Elektra’s shoulders, startling you both, “Rock on, Vamp - you really did slay the audience tonight!”

You glance Elektra’s way, giving her a smug smile with a tilt of your head as if to say ‘I told you so’.

Elektra playfully glared at you in response before turning her attention to Cherie, “While it was metal, I admit - it could also jeopardise our deal with - Keith.”

Keith's features were strained, serious, making his wrinkles more prominent than usual. His demeanour was unlike his usual easy-going one.

You shrug it off and smile, “Hi Keith.”

He doesn’t mirror the smile the you’d given him, choosing to remain cold - a side of him you’d never seen before, and you’d crossed a line or two in the years that you’d been playing at the Hideout.

“Backstage - now. I want to have a word with you,” he states before looking over your shoulder between Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa with a raised brow, “All of you.”

His stare lingers on you before turning his back on you, walking towards the bar, probably to grab a drink to psyche himself up for whatever he had to say.

“Told you,” Elektra mumbles under her breath.

“Way to go Vamp - you really did it this time,” Alissa pipes up, rolling her eyes.

With a now clear path to the private room dedicated to Stake For My Valentine, you walk, hearing them continue to grumble about your epic guitar solo’s potential consequences.

‘What if we get kicked off? No other venues would ever book us - we’re so screwed.’

You turn smoothly on your heel right in front of the door labelled ‘S.F.M.V’ with red tape, ignoring the ache of every bone in your body. You moved so quickly that the girls behind you almost collided with your chest, creating an almost fallen domino effect.

They back themselves up slightly, gathering their balance and blinking at you.

“Hang on a second - we haven’t even heard what Keith has to say yet so please, will you just - chill out a little bit - jeez,” you state coolly while their blank stares turn more into disbelief at how calm you were in the given situation, “C’mon, let’s sit down, have a drink - maybe smoke a joint… we played a great goddamn gig, we deserve it,” you add with a cheeky grin before grunting as you push yourself against the old door, giving it a nudge to get it open.

The room was messy, mainly because most of the time that you spent in here was when you were exhausted from playing a show, drunk or hungover after having shot after shot with Rodrick or high and sleeping. There were empty beer cans, clothes, paper, more cans and guitar plectrums scattered on the floor - stains from constant spillage of drink on the bohemian-style rug in the centre of the room, there was even a burn mark on it from a previous after-show shindig.

Despite its messiness and complete lack of organisation, it felt like your forever home. It was a safe space for you and your friends, a place you could go to escape from things when it would all get too much outside of the Hideout, at home mainly because your parents gave you a lot of slack for dropping out of senior year just months before graduation and dedicating your life to music, they also didn’t exactly approve of your choice to play there every night but hey-ho - it was your life, not theirs.

You threw yourself onto the scratched and torn brown leather couch once you’d set your shell pink and crimson Fender Stratocaster electric guitar with a beautiful maple wood wood neck against the wall. The guitar’s pastel pink part of it’s body had been personalised by you with a few doodles of broken hearts in red pen, you also wrote ‘GIRLS BITE BACK’ in the same red ink by the hearts. You named your guitar the Pink Special when you were only ten and the name just stuck.

You immediately feel the effect of wildly throwing yourself around on stage for an hour and thirty minutes, and melt into the couch.

The others join you, but sit closer to each other than to you.

You blew quiet raspberries and picked up a few unopened cans of beer, passing them along to Elektra, who passed on to Alyssa, to Cherie - the cycle continued until you had your own beer, casually taking a sip of it every so often.

“I guess this isn’t as bad as the times Keith caught you fucking Rodrick in here,” Elektra says with a snort.

You gasp, reaching for a pillow, threatening to chuck it at her, “Hey - that was a one time-!”

All of them raise their brows at you at the word ‘one’ leaving your mouth, knowing it was a blatant lie.

“Two time - thing. ‘S never gonna happen again”

You could tell that they still didn’t believe you. The truth was, you and Rodrick got extremely drunk one night last month. All you can remember was gazing him down during a gig like you did the doe-eyed newbie tonight - Rodrick also melted under your stare. You’d always innocently flirted, ever since your very first gig at the Hideout, the night you met. It was playful, a joke - and yeah, he was kinda cute, a goofy metal head with floppy brown hair and dark brown eyes often outlined with black eyeliner who could also play the drums, but that wasn’t the point - you’d had one too many tequila shots.

You remember making out with him and then boom - after that, your mind was completely blank. You woke up half-naked in the arms of a totally naked Rodrick - together you picked up the missing pieces of the night before and came to the conclusion that you had gotten off on his fingers and thigh. The conversation had got him going and you ended up on your knees, sucking him off - the first time you’d ever done that to anyone and Keith walked in on you doing it to his son… to say it was awkward would be the biggest understatement and Keith told you that if he ever saw you and Rodrick doing anything like that again, Stake For My Valentine would never play at the Hideout again.

You ended up having sex with Rodrick a week later - it was your first time… ever. You couldn’t ignore the excitement that rushed through you whenever he was around after that morning, how Keith had forbidden you from doing anything further. It was a temptation you couldn’t ignore and neither could he, you both gave in and it just - happened, in this room. For something you spent so much time excited to experience, it was pretty underwhelming - nor terrible, nor mind blowing, more a learning experience.

Keith hadn’t walked in on you two but he found out about it when overhearing a hysterical conversation between you and Cherie about the room being like yours and Rodrick’s ‘not-so-secret sex dungeon’. He then swore that he’d ban you from even taking one step into the Hideout.

So far you hadn’t broken his rule of not sleeping with Rodrick again, you hadn’t even had the urge to and it happened three weeks ago.

I don’t think I can even want anyone, let alone love anyone like I love my Pink Special, you think, ignoring the playful glances of the girls sat on the couch with you, staring at your guitar instead.

The click and twist of the door knob alerted you - now you were panicking, maybe you had messed up your deal with Keith one too many times, maybe tonight was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Keith peeked his head through the door wearily, he was probably scarred, always cautious to take a look into this room. He examined the room for a few seconds before letting himself in and standing opposite you.

Seconds passed and you, along with your band-mates, stared up at him with pleading eyes, making him sigh.

“Listen - y’know how much I adore you four,” he starts, his voice trailing off at the end - this doesn’t sound promising, your heart starts to feel heavy, “I feel like we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well over the last few years. Hell, the moment I took you in you became - the nieces or - god-daughters I never had.” Where is this going? “One of my favorite - attributes o’ yours is your attitude, I love your attitude,” his eyes land directly on you, “But not when it’s aimed at my bar - you disrespect my bar, you’re disrespecting me, the very person who provided you with a place to share your music - showed you nothing but respect and gave ya very few rules to go by,” his voice picks up, his slight southern drawl becoming clearer as he struggles to contain his frustration. He visibly deflates with drawn out exhale, “I’m so close to chucking you all out permanently.”

You fiddle with your fingers, twirl your hair around your fingers as a coping mechanism to try and soothe your rapid heartbeat, but all you can muster up the courage to say is, “N-no - you’ve gotta give us another chance - please.”

Keith breathily chuckles in disbelief before gesturing to Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie, “These girls? No, they don’t need me to give them another chance, they’re just as disappointed as I am with ya,” his arm falls to his side with a slap, “You’ve crossed every goddamn line - acting like ya own the place, gettin’ it on with my boy on public property - in my family business’ property that’s been kept alive for generations… I’d been keepin’ it goin’ by the skin of my damn teeth for years until you came along and brought the spark back with music, more customers - and now? All you bring is trouble.”

The air became more thick as each word spat from Keith’s lips while you sat in a wallow of guilt, tears threatening to spill from your eyes as you realised how much you’d taken his kindness and leniency for granted. You sniffle quietly, “I’m - s-sorry, Keith - girls - for being a… self righteous asshole, I’ll do anything and I swear I’ll listen, just please don’t make us walk, K - I - we need this place - and you, most importantly, acting as our - loopy, but responsible mentor - did I already say please?”

You didn’t care how desperate you sounded right now, all that mattered was any positive sign from Keith that you could stay. Instead he just stared at the floor, scratching his bald head as he contemplated with himself. Your legs restless, bouncing up and down quickly, watching his every move for just about anything from him.

“You four have got me wrapped around your little fingers,” he sighs, after what felt like an eternity.

“Yes!” You all say in unison, raising your fists in the air.

“Hang on a minute - hang on - a - damn minute,” Keith speaks over your celebrating, your arms immediately fall onto your lap, “I mean it when I say that you’re treadin’ on real thin ice now, Vamp.”

You nod with a gulp.

“So - we’re still booked to play every night?” Elektra asks, hopefully staring up at Keith, holding her own hands.

Keith sheepishly glanced at the floor, making you furrow your brows at him, “what?” You blurt.

“Alright - I’m just gonna say it, I think ya need to calm down a little - and that maybe a gig every night is gettin’ too much for ya,” he confesses, bringing his hand to his chin - you could tell that he was still itching to say something, but you were finding it difficult to withhold your frustration.

Patience was never your strong point. You were on the edge of the couch, “Spit it out, Keith - please, for the love of Ozzy Osbourne.”

He tilts his head with a deadpan expression, “I’m thinking of letting another band have a chance.”

Your mouth drops and a strained, sarcastic laugh comes out, “Nice one, Keith - you really had us fooled.”

“I’m being deadly serious, Vamp - and I’m not saying that our deal is off, you’re gonna have gigs to play, just - not every night.”

“Nope - no wa-,” you begin to argue, but feel Elektra nudge your side harshly with her shoulder, “Ow what the hell was that for?!”

“I’ll do anything, I swear - I’ll listen,” she mimics your voice, reminding you of the words you uttered just minutes ago.

You visibly deflate, hunching your back and leaning forward before inhaling slowly, lifting yourself again.

Upon your very brief self reflection, you bite your lips together to soothe the hit to your chest, “Fine,” you rub your temples with your fingers, “Have you - got a band in mind, since you’re already so, y’know, insistent?”

Keith purses his lips, “Actually, there is - Rodrick scoped ‘em out tonight and introduced me,” So that’s why it took him so long after sending you here ‘to have a word’. “They seem aight - very eager for a gig - reminded me of you four when you first stumbled in ‘ere like a bunch o’ strays lookin’ for a home. I hope you can be friends, after all - if they do well, I’ll probably book ‘em again, meanin’ you’ll be sharin’ this very room with ‘em.”

You kept your mouth shut while the others are visibly intrigued - you are intrigued, but do your best to hide it.

“What are they called?” Elektra asks, she often spoke for the band in a more… responsible kind of way, like the mom of the band.

Keith hums, gravelly and low as he tries to recall it, “It’s an - interesting name. Ah - Corrosive - no - Corroded Coffin.”

Lame. Our name has a better ring to it, you think, unable to stop your competitive brain. It was something you gained from trying to win over your parents while your sister was so perfect that she didn’t even need to beg for their praise.

“Anyway - I’ve got some late errands to run. I’m pretty sure Rodrick is still chattin’ to ‘em, why don’t you go say hi?” Keith takes a glance at his watch before nodding at you with a stern eyes, “Remember - thin ice, break it? You’re out.”

You begrudgingly nod before bringing your hand up and saluting him, “Yes captain.”

Keith left you four alone with a chuckle.

You, Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie all turned to stare at each other with wide eyes - hearts still pounding, but overall you felt relief. For a moment you really thought that you were outta there for life.

After a minute of silence, Cherie jumped onto her feet and reached her hands out towards the three of you that remained on the couch, “C’mon - let’s meet Corroded Coffin!”

You blinked at her, your lips pressed together in a thin line before shaking your head, “Fuck no.”

“Oh - don’t be like that Vamp, don’t act like you’re not at least a little intrigued,” Cherie lights up, grabbing for your hands and giggling like a school girl as she pulls you up onto your jelly legs, “Treat it like - scoping out the competition!”

It was like a lightbulb had been switched on in your head. She’s right! You smiled cheekily at your scheming mind and nodded, “I guess it’s our duty to welcome them - huh.”

Cherie smirks, reading your mind. She links arms with you and pulls you towards the door - you could hear loud muffled voices behind it, people who had, had one too many tonight.

You take a deep breath and link your arm tight with Cherie’s, making her side move to be flush with yours. Then you look over your shoulder to see Elektra and Alyssa behind you, “Let’s do this,” you say as you exhale and all three of your bandmates nod.

As you nudged the creaky door open, silent thanking the metal gods that it didn’t attract any attention due to the blare of music coming from a stereo as old as the bar itself, everyone seemed to be distracted by their drinks or friends anyway.

You, Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie all slowly peeked past the door in a vertical line, you at the top. You examine the room with squinted eyes, you figured to look for Rodrick first, that seemed like a pretty good place to start to find this new band - Corroded Coffin.

You spotted Rodrick eventually, he was in a booth looking hot as ever with his spiky brown hair… he had a pint of beer in hand and was not alone. He was in the midst of a conversation with three boys, but the bar was too smokey to catch a clear glimpse of them, you could just about make out their figures.

“Psst - is that them?” Cherie whispers up at you, making you look down at her.

“There’s only one way to find out,” you state, raising your brows with a mischievous grin before pushing the door open forcefully, making it knock into the wall and bounce back.

You walk ahead while your band walk in toe, forming a diamond from a bird’s eye view. You could feel everyone’s eyes on you, a couple waving and calling out for your attention, but it’s already occupied as you’d set your target on that booth.

As you got closer, the smoke began to vanish and you could see that the boys sitting with Rodrick were the same ones you’d seen before, the newbies wearing the matching shirts - minus one… the one you’d given the eye during your gig, the twinkly doe-eyed brunette.

For a fraction of a second, you wondered where he was, but shook off the thought once you reached the end of the table, immediately catching the attention of the three young boys. Their eyes were wide with fear at the sight of you alone, but as Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa caught up and stood with you, they were practically shaking, “Well well well, what do we have here? Isn’t it bed time for you kiddos?” You cockily laugh, leaning over the table.

Their mouths part and their eyes flicker, hypnotised by the skull and crossbones necklace dangling from your neck. One of them attempts to answer but a bunch of stuttered letters and half words come out instead.

“I’m kidding - aren’t you going to introduce me, Roddie?” A smirk tugs at your lips and your gaze moves to Rodrick, who is staring back at you, mesmerised, but also a little agitated at your use of the nickname he despised. The boys seemed to be desperately seeking an escape plan from Rodrick, they all turned to him too.

Rodrick set his beer down onto the table, making some of it spill out from how lazily he’d placed it, “Gareth, Jeff and er - sorry, what’s your name again?” Rodrick gestures to each boy until reaching the final one sat at the table, he points at the final boy with a puzzled look.

The boy looked at his friends, taking a deep breath, “T-Travis.”

Rodrick hits the table excitedly, making all of the boys straighten their backs suddenly, “Travis - I knew it,” he sighs, rubbing his chin with the same hand he used to hit the table with. You became distracted by his fingers, tanned arms and then up to his brown eyes that were outlined by eyeliner, a skill you taught him. He seemed to smile more when he noticed the way you were staring, “And er - this is Vamp,” Rodrick shoots you a wink, which makes you smile flirtatiously and playfully twirl a finger in your hair. He blinks at you, distracted until Elektra clears her throat, knocking him out of his trace, “Um - and this is Elektra - Cherie - Alyssa.”

“Vamp?” Gareth asks suddenly, he furrows his brows and you nod in response, “Is that - your real name?”

“It is.” You abandoned your real name the moment you dropped out of high school, but they didn’t need to know that.

Rodrick chuckles, an unusual laugh that was pretty funny in itself, it sorta sounds like a drunk Donkey, “Vamp the fair, but metal Queen of the Hideout.”

Gareth, Travis and Jeff all stare up at you like you are an illusion, like they couldn’t believe you were stood in front of them. You almost felt like you were actually royalty. Gareth gestured to his friends, all of their cheeks are tinted pink, “We t-thought yo-u w-ere badass tonight, Vam-.”

“Hey, buttheads - I just had the most - profound whizz of my life - I’ve got it all figured out. We’ll start with Victorious Spear to rev the crowd up, y’know, head-banging - the lot-,” it was him, twinkly doe eyes. He walked towards the table you were stood at with a skip in his step, so excited that he’d paid no attention to his surroundings, including you and your band - you were watching him with an amused look as he stood next to you, rambling while expressing himself with dramatic hand gestures. Gareth, who seemed to speak for the other two a whole lot, raised his brows at the rambler and tilted his head, subtly hinting at your presence, “and - we’ll end - on - um,” the long curly-haired brunette’s voice began to slow down and trail off into silence as soon as he realised that you were stood next to him.

His head whips in your direction, his breath hitching immediately at the sight of you. His pink lips quivered and suddenly his expressive mannerisms disappeared, he was as stiff as a plank of wood.

You stared into his eyes, they are twinkly and round, just like you’d spotted from the stage earlier. Then your eyes quickly examine the rest of his features, his big nose, lips, the spots on his chin - he seemed familiar, but you couldn’t pin point exactly why. You shake it off, straightening your back, the platforms of your boots making you as tall as him, “You’re Corroded Coffin?” You ask with an amused smile.

Has he ever even spoken to a girl before? They’re practically babies - what kind of charm are they gonna have on stage?

He seemed to be at boiling point alone at being stood next to you, practically melting in response to being acknowledged by you - he couldn’t believe his eyes and he was not being subtle about it. It did wonders for your ego. “Y-yeah - er - I’m Corr-oded Coffin,” He stutters in a high pitched tone, you squint your eyes at him, your smile growing as you glance at Cherie and the other girls, who are trying to hold in a laugh. His cheeks turn so pink that you can still see it in the darkness of the room, “I mean - I’m Eddie - Munson and my band is Corroded Coffin,” he nods at his friends, “Gareth - Jeff and Tra-.”

“I know, I’ve already had the pleasure of being introduced to ‘em,” You maintain eye contact with him for a moment, the same flirtatious look you gave him while you were on stage, “Vamp,” you smoothly drawl before gesturing to your friends, “Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie - Stake For My Valentine.”

Eddie nods quickly, “Y-yeah, I know,” his fingers delve into the mane that was his hair and scratched the back of his neck, scrunching his face up at the same time, an excuse not to make eye contact with you, “I - er - don’t know whether to bow or - roll out a carpet.”

You nibble at your bottom lip still staring at him intensely, playfully smirking too, “A bow would suffice.”

“As you wish, m’lady - didn’t have a carpet on me to roll out anyway so-,” He brings a hand to his stomach and bows, his hair falling over his face and shoulders. He chuckles breathlessly, his chest heaving as he stands up straight again - you could see it because his t-shirt wasn’t exactly… loose.

Hellfire Club. That name seemed familiar too.

“We’ve got a er - a gig, here - Tuesday,” Eddie states, still scratching his neck, unable to make eye contact with you. He’s kinda patheti-. “You should come,” he blurts, lifting his gaze from the floor to you, and then to your friends, “Y-you all should come, I mean.”

He’d surprised you with his sudden charm. You blinked at the brunette with a blank face as he stared back at you again with hopeful eyes while your band giggled behind you.

You heard a cough coming from the table - it was Rodrick, he was staring between you and Eddie with an irritated look, tightly holding onto his beer. When he noticed he’d caught your attention, his eyes bore into yours and he wavers slightly in his seat, shaking his head.

You knew what you were doing, a mischievous grin pulled at your lips as you looked at Rodrick, it only grew wider as you focused your attention back on Eddie, who was sheepishly looking between you and Rodrick.

Everyone else excluding you, Eddie and Rodrick, were staring between you all, invested in the entire interaction. The other boys from Corroded Coffin and girls from Stake For My Valentine were watching with open mouths, giving you three knowing looks.

“We’ll be there,” you blurt with the same cheeky grin. You could feel everyone’s eyes only on you now. Rodrick even slammed his drink down onto the table.

Eddie, on the other hand, was writhing with excitement, he jumped on the spot, his hair bouncing off of his shoulders until he stumbled, realising just how much he’d overreacted to your acceptance of his invitation. He fiddled with the sleeves of his leather jacket awkwardly, then swooped his hair away from his eyes, grinning widely at you for a while, “Metal.”

“Eddie,” Jeff interrupts, raising his brows at the man stood in front of you, who was still staring, “Eddie!”

“Jesus H. Christy - what?” Eddie asked, startled by his friend’s outburst.

You bit both your lips together, snorting a little laugh.

“You’ve got to drive us back? We’ve got our campaign, remember?” Jeff asks, ending his questions sarcastically. You put two and two together - campaign meaning ‘Hellfire Club’. You watch them closely, entertained by their subtle bickering.

Eddie’s nose twitched, glaring at Jeff, “Oh - right, yeah - we’d better er - get going then,” he now scratched his nose, clearly disappointed that he had to go. His eyes flickering over your outfit before looking into your eyes timidly, “See you.”

You nod, flashing him your most charming grin before nodding at his friends, who had slid themselves out of the booth and were practically dragging Eddie with them to the entrance and exit door of the Hideout.

The boys left one by one and when it was Eddie’s turn to leave he hesitated, looking your way once more. He blinked, his bottom lip parting from his top one when he noticed that you were still watching him.

You lifted your hand to wave, wiggling your fingers at the same time, making him smile toothily and blush for what felt like the hundredth time tonight.

Your heartbeat seemed to pick up and once he disappeared through the door you were left with nothing but adrenaline pumping through your veins - your entire body was a furnace and all the ache you felt before from performing vanished entirely. You were pumped up enough to play a thousand times more - you couldn’t wait until Tuesday.

A little competition never hurt anybody.

You smirk. You’re going down, Eddie Munson.

⇝ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆!!!!! 𝐈𝐭'𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 <𝟑

𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐞 ;)

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ’𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒’ 𝐨𝐫 ’𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧’ 𝐭𝐚𝐠-𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰!

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒 ↯

𝑩𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑺

@pexsistolss @big-ope-vibes @majesticjellyfishzombie @lexi--a @b-ritney @joyfulcandyrunaway @sidthedollface2

𝑬𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

@introvertedmouse @munsonology @fastnights @eddiesluvt @kathieycarrerarosshley @marjoriea13 @lolalanaie

🜸

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steddieas-shegoes · 2 months

Text

Country singer Steve Harrington, who has always leaned more into the pop country side of things (think Wanted by Hunter Hayes), but wants his third album to be more true to old school country roots.

His label agrees but only if he works with Eddie Munson, a rock star who had to leave the spotlight when he got kicked out of his band for, well, rockstar behavior gone too far.

Steve isn't amused, especially because he doesn't care for metal music or rock star shenanigans. He was "raised better" and doesn't think Eddie could sit down and write songs with actual emotion and feeling.

Cue long songwriting sessions where Eddie is trying his hardest to be on his best behavior because he knows this is his last shot at being taken seriously, and Steve being surprised every time Eddie proves that he's talented as a songwriter and musician, well outside the scope of just metal and rock.

They write a song that they're both so proud of, Steve asks if he'll record it with him just for fun. The released version would just be Steve.

Eddie agrees.

It's an incredible duet, something country music has needed forever, but Eddie doesn't want that version out there.

The label genuinely accidentally releases their version instead of the Steve only version. As soon as they realize, they remove it from official places, but it's too late.

Fans have already heard it and have gone crazy over it, begging them to let the radio play this version, begging for this version to be available for streaming. The Steve version is great, but it doesn't have the emotion that's laced in the tone of them singing together.

Eddie finally gives in when he sees how happy Steve is about the reaction to it.

But the label decides they want them to tour together, have Eddie work as his opening act, perform his acoustic songs that haven't been officially released anywhere. Eddie can't do it.

He can't go back into that lifestyle. He couldn't do it to his band, who made him promise that he'd come back to them when he got his shit straight. He can't do it to his fans, who stuck by him through some rough shit, but probably wouldn't support a fucking country music career. He definitely can't do it to Steve, who deserves to have someone with him who can be trusted not to go off the deep end.

So he runs. He hides. His uncle welcomes him home, congratulates him on finally embracing his country roots.

It doesn't take long for Steve to find him.

Because he'd been more honest with Steve than he'd ever been with anyone. He told him about his childhood, his Uncle Wayne, his struggle to make it. He told him about his worse struggle when he did make it, how he got in with the wrong people, the wrong things. Prioritized the lifestyle more than his own life.

Of course Steve knew where he'd run to.

Of course Steve came to remind him what his life could be if he allowed himself to find new priorities.

Steve's lips were pretty persuasive, but not nearly as persuasive as his promises to remind him what he could have if he kept his life his priority.

"But what if I let you down?"

"You won't."

"But-"

"No. You won't. You're gonna do amazing things for yourself. And I'm gonna be there to see it happen. That's all."

And he was.

They co-wrote Steve's entire album while Eddie worked on recording his own original songs. He liked that it was an old school rock and roll feel, some blues, some country, some hints of metal sneaking in on a couple songs.

He called his band to come help him with a song, hesitant to even ask, but they came. Of course they came.

He called his Uncle Wayne to play banjo on a song, worried that he wouldn't like the heavier electric guitar notes over it. Of course he loved being involved.

When their tour started, he let himself actually feel nervous.

But instead of running, he looked at the man who supported him through it, even when his own career was on the line.

Of course Steve was there.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #headcanon #drabble #rock star eddie munson #country singer steve harrington #what a wild tag that is to type #if yall were in my brain you'd be begging to get the hell out of it #i swear to god #i had this idea forever ago and was like YES YEARNING PINING ENEMIES TO LOVERS #and then just got bogged down so here #someone else do that

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blatantlyright · 1 year

Text

He’s so pretty 😭

#eddie imagine #eddie munson #eddie munson forever #Eddie munson beauty

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loveinhawkins · 1 year

Text

There’s a table in the school library that’s nestled in the corner, right by a radiator; Steve has claimed it ever since his double block of ‘private study periods’ began.

Not that he’s planning on doing any studying: it’s the last day of school before the winter break, and while his face has healed up from the whole Billy Hargrove Incident, he still finds himself feeling wiped at random—like his body’s having a delayed adrenaline crash ever since he pulled Dustin out of that freaky vine-infested tunnel.

So really, this spot should be ideal for a couple hours of not having to think.

And it would be perfect, if his eyes weren’t instinctively drawn to movement at the front desk.

Because for the past god-knows-how-long, Eddie Munson has been in a back-and-forth with the librarian.

It had started when he ambled up to the desk with a healthy pile of books in his hands, placed them down neatly, all ready to be stamped. Flashed a charming smile.

Steve was too far away to hear the words, but he got the gist that whatever the librarian had said amounted to no, absolutely not, because Eddie scooped the books back up, dumped them on a table a little distance away from Steve’s, then hemmed and hawed before returning to the desk with a more modest pile than before.

He was sent away again with presumably the same refusal, and so the pattern repeated until this very minute: he’s returning with just one book in his hands, his smile less charming now, more desperate.

But… no luck.

Eddie slouches back to the table in defeat. Just stands there, staring down at the books.

And goddamn it, Steve thinks, now he’s invested.

“Hey. Munson,” he says in an undertone. “What’s up?”

He doesn’t miss the weird kind of double take Eddie gives him, but at least Steve knows it’s not because of his face being a mess this time—seriously, drawing looks from students when all he wanted was to get in line for crappy cafeteria pizza had not been fun.

“Nothing,” Eddie says with a shrug, and he flashes another wide smile that makes Steve think bullshit. “Apparently I racked up a mountain of late fees. Who knew?” He sighs, glancing at his wristwatch. “Guess I’ve got enough time to just read the—oh. Um. Hey?”

“These books?” Steve confirms, having already stood up to look at them.

Eddie blinks a few times. “Yeah, these—uh, Harrington, what the fuck do you think you’re—?”

Steve heads over to the front desk with the books. It’s not all that difficult of a decision to make; he remembers Tommy H had his own library late fees in freshman year, but got nothing more than a simpering, “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again, sweetie,” just because his mom knew someone on the school board.

“For checking out, please,” Steve says, not bothering with a smile as he hands over his library card.

The only resistance he gets is a raised eyebrow from the librarian before all the books are stamped.

“What the fuck,” Eddie says, voice flat; he doesn’t take the books when Steve tries to give them to him, so Steve just shrugs and goes back to his seat, sets the books pointedly on the edge of the table.

“Look, man, it’s up to you, but I’m not gonna take them. They’ll just be sitting here.”

Eddie huffs. He goes over to the books, his hand twitching towards them before drawing back, like he’s at war with himself.

“You—you didn’t have to do that,” he gets out as if it physically pains him to do so.

Prickly, Steve thinks.

“It’s no big deal,” he says. “My account’s gathering dust, so someone might as well get the good of it.”

At hearing that, Eddie looks a little less defensive. He chews on his lips for a few seconds, then says, his tone serious, “Harrington, I’ll—I’ll forget. Like, with the holidays… like, I guarantee you, even if I write a million fucking reminders, I’m gonna take these books and forget to bring ‘em back for months.”

“Oh, no,” Steve says dryly, “lemme go alert the press, I just heard a blatant confession to a crime. Dude, just take them, what do I care if your homework takes you months to—”

“It’s not even for school,” Eddie interrupts through gritted teeth, “it’s dumb, it’s just—”

“Jesus Christ. Lemme call the press again, sounds like you’re reading a book for fun.”

Eddie stares at him. Steve raises an eyebrow in challenge—he could do this all day; just the other week, he’d beaten Mike in a brutal staring contest that felt like it went on for hours.

Eddie breaks first. “Fine,” he says with another huff, but he’s less agitated when handling the books—lingers thoughtfully on their titles, puts a couple in his backpack. The rest he opens at seemingly random parts, but it looks like he knows what he’s searching for.

And then it seems as if he’s just going to pick up the remaining books and walk away—Steve expects him to, honestly—but he ends up staying where he is, gives Steve a look of consideration, almost like he’s a book worth reading, too.

“You stole my table, you know?” Eddie says.

“Uh, no,” Steve says automatically, then adds with more confidence, “I was definitely here first.”

Eddie snorts. “Nope. My senior year, uh,” he shrugs self-deprecatingly, “the first time around. That was my spot. Was pretty possessive over it too, think I signed the table, like, underneath.”

Steve’s eyebrows rise in interest; he runs a finger along the underside of the table and soon feels it: an E.M scratched into the wood.

“Huh,” he says. “Guess you’re right.”

A pause.

And then Steve surprises himself.

“There’s, um, room here, if you want? I’m not gonna use the whole table.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up. There’s a long enough silence in which Steve considers just telling him to forget about it, but then—

Eddie sits down opposite him.

It’s not as awkward as Steve was expecting: Eddie seems focused enough on his books, on bringing out a battered looking journal with sheets of paper that look like they’re hanging on by a thread. He roots around his backpack some more, retrieves a ballpoint pen with a quiet, triumphant, “Aha!”

He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care that Steve isn’t even making an attempt to look busy; his own side of the table is bare.

“Didn’t know you were left-handed,” Steve says after a moment.

Eddie looks up from his note-taking. He smirks, waggles his eyebrows briefly. “Fitting, huh? Spooky.”

“Oh, I’m terrified.”

And Eddie actually laughs—hushed, but it still counts as one.

He soon returns to being absorbed in whatever it is he’s writing, which means Steve has less of a distraction when the familiar wave of tiredness washes over him.

He tries to sit up as well as he can, conscious of the fact that he’s not alone, but the radiator is the perfect temperature, and the steady scratch of Eddie’s pen has a soporific effect. He’s distantly aware of the fact that his head is nodding down with dwindling energy to try and stop it—hears Eddie’s voice, as if from very far away, rising in question.

Steve sniffs sharply, jerks his head back up and blinks hard. “What?”

“Oh, sorry,” Eddie says quickly, and he sounds genuine. “Didn’t know you were sleeping.”

“I wasn’t,” Steve says.

“Uh, okay,” Eddie says. His lips twitch. “That was an awfully long blink then, Harrington.”

“Shut up,” Steve retorts mildly. He stretches slightly, hides a yawn behind his hand. “Did you actually want something or—”

“Nah, wasn’t important.”

Steve frowns, unconvinced. The side of Eddie’s left hand is covered in ink, and Steve can see where his pen has started to die on him as his writing gets more faded across the page.

Steve puts a hand in his pocket, brings out another ballpoint and throws it at Eddie.

The pen bounces along the table, and Eddie manages to catch it one-handed.

“Good catch,” Steve says.

“Thanks,” Eddie says. He sounds almost uncertain.

Silence falls. It only takes another minute or two of hearing Eddie writing away for Steve’s determination to stay awake to waver again. He slumps forward with a mumbled, “M’just gonna…” and lays his head down.

Eddie stops writing.

“Hey, man, are you… okay? Like, if you feel… if you wanna go home I could take you to the nurse? Or—”

“I’m fine,” Steve says into his folded arms. “S’just… the aftermath of… stuff. No big deal.”

“Oh?” Eddie says tentatively.

Steve lifts his head up a bit, squints dubiously. “C’mon, Munson. You must’ve heard the rumour mill.”

Billy Hargrove had spread it all over the school, how he had ‘taught King Steve a lesson.’ In all honesty, Steve hadn’t cared all that much about how he himself came across in whatever story Billy created, was just relieved that at least Max and Lucas’s names had been kept out of it.

“I don’t put much stock in rumours,” Eddie says carefully. “Folks can say… all kindsa things.”

Steve nods faintly. Fair point.

“Okay, but you can take a little bit of stock in this one. Like, a smidge.”

Steve demonstrates with his thumb and forefinger.

It’s only when Eddie doesn’t smile in response that Steve realises he’d been hoping to make him laugh again. Maybe.

“Huh. Well. For what it’s worth… I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Steve says tiredly.

“Harrington. I’m not stupid, y’know? That was more than a… a stupid fight after school or something. Like, I can remember what your face looked like.”

“Gee, thanks.” Steve sets his head back down, closing his eyes.

“I didn’t—I just meant whatever it was, it… it went too far. Way too fucking far.”

Steve yawns again, doesn’t bother hiding it. “Yeah. Something like that.”

He’s resigning himself to the thought of waking up with a stiff neck before Eddie sighs and says, “If you’re gonna sleep, Harrington, don’t be an amateur about it.”

Steve looks up in time to see Eddie reaching underneath the table with one leg, hooking his ankle round the empty chair next to Steve and shoving it closer to him.

“Three or four’s probably the best amount for stretching out on,” Eddie says. “Uh, speaking from experience.”

Steve smiles. “Noted.”

He manoeuvres himself until he’s lying much more comfortably across the seats, using his backpack and coat as a pillow.

Frustratingly but predictably, despite his fatigue, sleep doesn’t come easily, so Steve looks underneath the table and asks, “What’re you writing about, Munson?”

He can see Eddie’s boots, how one foot is tapping away, as if in time to a song no-one else can hear.

“Um, I was just… getting inspiration for… it’s kinda like. Like a story, but—”

“Don’t hurt yourself, dude,” Steve says, “I know what a campaign is.”

The foot tapping stops.

“Aren’t you just full of surprises?” Eddie says.

He sounds a bit far away again, though Steve knows that’s just in his head; he can feel his eyelids drooping.

“You’ve got…” He sighs, voice trailing off as he finishes, “No idea…”

Eddie launches into a speech; Steve can follow it well enough for a little while, Eddie rambling about the kind of decisions he thinks his players will make in the game, but eventually the words become a blur, and he drifts off just like that, into an unexpectedly peaceful sleep.

He wakes with the lightest of touches to his shoulder, a soft, “Steve?” that nevertheless makes him jolt to full alertness in a blink, reaching for a bat he doesn’t currently have.

“Jesus Christ!” Eddie yelps, almost falling back against the table. “What the hell kinda military training d’you have, Harrington?”

“Just have good reflexes,” Steve says, hopes it sounds casual enough as he breathes through his suddenly racing heart.

“Yeah, that’s one way to fucking put it. Anyway, uh. Sorry, didn’t mean to, like, startle you, but you slept right through the bell, man.”

Steve sits up; the library is empty apart from them, the librarian shooting them a not so subtle glare. And he realises that while everyone else was rushing out of school, eager for the holidays to start, Eddie must’ve stayed. Waited for him.

Steve runs a hand through his hair, quickly puts on his coat.

“God, sorry, you didn’t have to—if I’ve made you late, I’m—”

“Nah, don’t sweat it.” Eddie puts his backpack strap across one shoulder. “I wasn’t in a hurry. Um, are you… like, good to drive? I can give you a ride, if—”

“I’m okay,” Steve says, struck by the consideration behind the offer. He means what he says though; he feels pleasantly refreshed. He smiles self-effacingly. “Think I need one class where I can just sleep, and then I’ll get through the day.”

Eddie gives a playful scoff. “That’s already a thing, Harrington, it’s called first period.”

They walk out of the library together, and Steve finds that it’s kind of… nice, honestly. He keeps waiting for some awkwardness to creep in again, but it never does.

“Big holiday plans?” Eddie asks, smalltalk that should be stilted, but it just sounds like he’s sincerely interested in the answer.

Steve shrugs. “Not really. Oh, I’ve got—you know the Snow Ball thing tomorrow, at the middle school? There’s this kid I know, I’m gonna give him a ride there, but—”

Steve breaks off with a fond shake of the head, knowing that there’s this kid I know doesn’t really give it justice, doesn’t say the full truth: that Dustin Henderson has somehow wormed his way into Steve’s goddamn heart forever.

“His mom’s invited me over for dinner tonight,” he continues. “Think he wants, like, a dress-rehearsal of his outfit or something, which is probably the closest he’ll ever come to admitting he’s nervous. I kinda feel for him, honestly. God, do you remember being thirteen? Everything seemed to matter so much, and most of it was just… stupid shit.”

They’ve reached the parking lot, and Eddie gives Steve a sideways look with a bemused smile.

“Woah, Harrington, we’re still in school, remember? Don’t think we’re meant to sound so world-weary yet.”

Steve chuckles. “Yeah.” He gestures at Eddie’s get-up. “Bet you’ve never once cared about the stupid shit, though.”

What people think.

Eddie’s smile turns more knowing. “Shockingly, Harrington,” he says, “I didn’t come out the womb like this.”

They both hesitate; they’re at Steve’s car now, Eddie’s van parked in a space that’s further away. There’s no reason, really, for the conversation to continue any longer.

But Eddie still lingers.

“Uh, enjoy your dinner, I guess. If the… dress-rehearsal goes shit, just tell the kid it’s good luck for the real night.”

Steve laughs. “He’s in the Drama Club, so that might work, actually. Thanks, Munson.” He opens the car door as Eddie nods, starts to head off to his van. Seized by a sudden impulse, Steve calls, “Happy holidays!”

“Yeah, you too.” Eddie turns, tapping at his temple exaggeratedly. “Won’t forget about the books, I promise.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “You better not,” he says, tongue-in-cheek.

He starts the car and heads for Dustin’s house, honks the horn when he drives past Eddie’s van, catches Eddie waving.

Steve thinks he quite likes the idea (regardless of whether it’ll put his library account in jeopardy), of the books finding a permanent home at Eddie’s place. Briefly imagines Eddie writing with an ink-stained hand, curled up safely in a world of his own—where the only monsters are the ones that live in between the pages.

#i’m forever in love with ‘first’ meetings i cannot help myself. can’t help writing about winter in spring too apparently #pre steddie #steddie #steddie fic #steddie ficlet #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve and dustin

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flowercrowngods · 3 months

Text

who did this to you. part 3

🤍🌷 read part 1 here | read part 2 here pre-s4, steve whump, protective (but scared) eddie. now with robin!

The number rings in his head, echoing off the inside of his skull and sinking lower and lower until his heart strings join the symphony that leaves him shaking as the memory of Harrington’s slurred voice is drowned out by the dial tone that feels harrowingly like a flatline right now.

Said I’ll go blind. Or deaf. Or just… die.

Eddie doesn’t really feel like his body belongs to him anymore, or like there’s anything left inside him other than panic and fear and that stupid, stupid shaking that he can’t suppress even as he bites his knuckles. Hard.

The pain helps a little not to startle too much when the dial tone stops and a female voice begins speaking to him. Still he almost drops the phone, cursing under his breath as he pulls his hair to collect himself and get his voice to work.

“H— Hi, hello, Mrs Buckley? This is, uh. I. I’m. A friend of Robin’s, could you, uh—“

“Oh, of course, dear,” the woman says, and Eddie feels his eyes beginning to prick with how nice she sounds even through the phone.

Does she know Steve, too? Would she worry if she knew? Would she curse Eddie for not taking him to the hospital right away? Would she blame him if anything happened?

“I’m sorry? What did you say your name was?” she asks, repeating herself by the sound of it.

He blanks, for a whole five seconds, before he spots a note stuck to the fridge saying Don’t forget to eat, Eddie :-)

“Eddie,” he croaks. “Uh, Eddie Munson.”

“Alright, Eddie Munson, I’ll see if I can grab Robin for you. You have a good day, dear, yes?”

No. “Thanks.”

The hand clenched in his hair pulls tighter and tighter until the tears fall and he can pretend it’s from pain and not from— whatever the fuck is happening.

He waits, phone pressed to his ear with a kind of desperation he’s never really felt, and never wants to feel again. He doesn’t even know what to tell Robin; what to say. It’s not like they ever hang out or have anything to say to each other, so why would she—

“Munson?” Robin’s voice appears on the other end, a little too loud for Eddie’s certain state, and he does drop the phone this time, scrambling to catch it and only making the situation worse as it dangles by his knees.

He drops to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest and reaching for the phone again.

“Hi.”

“What do you want? How’d you even get this number? I swear, if you—“

“It’s Blue. I mean, Steve. Harrington.”

That shuts her right up, and Eddie clenches his eyes shut for a moment, hoping to keep the tremor out of his voice if only he takes a moment to breathe.

The moment stretches. And Robin’s voice is wary and quiet when she speaks again.

“What about Steve.”

Eddie rubs his face, leaving more dirt and grime to fill the tear tracks, and clenches his fist before his mouth.

“Eddie,” Robin demands, dangerous now. Nothing left of the rambling, bubbling mess he knows her to be on the school hallways. “What. About. Steve.”

“He… He’s hurt.”

There’s a bit of a commotion on the other end, before Robin declares, “I’m coming over. You tell me everything.”

“You— I mean, he’s in the hospital with my uncle, so—“

“I am. Coming. Over,” she says, enunciating every word as though she were making a threat. Maybe she is. But the certainty in her voice helps a little, anchors him the same way that Wayne’s calmness did. “And you tell me everything.”

Eddie finds himself nodding along, knowing intuitively that there is nothing that could stop her now. Knowing that he doesn’t want to stop her.

“‘Kay.” It’s a pathetic little sound, all choked up and tiny. She doesn’t comment on it.

One second he hears her determined exhale, the next she’s hung up on him and Eddie is greeted by the flatline again. He lets out a shuddering breath and leans his head back against the wall.

Breathing is hard again, but it’s all he has to do now, all that’s left to do, so he focuses. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Hold. His lungs are burning and there’s something wrong about the way he pulls in air and keeps it there, desperately latching onto it until the very last second, his exhales more of a gasping cough than calm and controlled.

It takes a while. Longer than it should. But with Harrington’s blood still on his hands, with his heartbeat in his ears so loud he can’t even hear the words Wayne used to say about breathing in through the mouth or the nose or… or something, he—

He’s fine. He’s home. Wayne’s got Blue, and Buckley is on her way, and… He’s fine.

People don’t just die.

They don’t.

He’s fine.

Eventually, Eddie manages to breathe steadily, the air no longer shuddering and his hands no longer shaking. It’s stupid, really, being so worked up over someone he doesn’t even really know. Sure, everyone knows Steve fucking Harrington, and everyone sees Steve fucking Harrington — whether they want it or not. He has a way of drawing eyes toward him even if all he does is walk the halls with his dorky smile and that stupidly charming swagger he’s got going on. Always matching his shoes to his outfit.

Eddie can relate.

Always reaching out to touch the person he’s talking to; clapping their back or shoulder, lightly shoving them in jest, ruffling their hair or chasing them through the halls, moving and holding himself like teenage angst can’t reach him. Like he belongs wherever he goes. Like he’s so, so comfortable in his own skin. Like the clothes he wears aren’t armour but just a part of him; a means of self-expression.

Again, Eddie can relate. He can relate to all of this.

It’s almost like the two of them aren’t so different after all. Just going about it differently.

And now he’s… Bleeding. Slurring his speech. Wheezing his breath. And Eddie feels protective. Eddie feels responsible. Like he should be there, like he should get to know more about him. About Steve. About Blue.

But he can’t. And he won’t. So he gets up with a groan that expresses his frustration and the need to make a sound, to fight the oppressive silence that only encourages his thoughts to run in obsessive little circles, and he hangs up the phone that’s been dangling beside him all this time.

He needs a smoke.

He needs a smoke and a blunt and a drink and for this day to be over and for time to revert and to leave him out of whatever business he stumbled into by opening the door to the boathouse and, apparently, Steve Harrington’s life.

But unfortunately, the universe doesn’t seem to care about what he needs, because just as he steps outside and goes to light his cig, he catches sight of a harried looking Robin Buckley, standing on the pedals of her bike as she kicks them, her hair blowing in the wind to reveal a frown between her brows. A wave of unease overcomes Eddie, an unease he can’t really place. Maybe it’s the set of her jaw, or the tension in her shoulders, or maybe it’s the worry and anger she exudes.

It never occurred to him before that Robin Buckley might not be a person you’d want to set off. And not because of her uncontrollable rambles.

“Munson!” she calls over, carelessly dropping her bike in the driveway and stalking toward him.

Almost as if summoning a shield, Eddie does light the cigarette. Pretends like the smoke can protect him.

She doesn’t stop at the foot of the steps, though, climbs them in two leaps and gets all up in his space with that unwavering look of determination — so unwavering, in fact, that it almost looks like wrath. Cold. Eddie wants to shrink away from it, not at all daring to wonder what could make her look like that upon hearing that Steve’s hurt.

I don’t wanna die, Munson. I never… I didn’t. With the monsters or the torture.

But those are the words of a semi-conscious teenage boy beat to a pulp, they can’t— There’s no way. Eddie misheard him, or Steve was talking about some kind of inside joke, using the wrong terminology with the wrong guy. It happens. It happens when you’re out of it, really! The shit he’s said when he was shot up, canned up, all strung out and high as a kite… He’d be talking of monsters, too, and mean some benign shit.

But the way Harrington looked, none of that was benign. The bruising all over his face, the blood still dripping from the wound by his temple or his nose, the way he held himself, breath rattling in his lungs, or—

“Hey!” Buckley demands his attention, giving him a light shove; just enough to catch his attention, really, and just what he needed to snap out of it. Still the smoke hits his lungs wrong and he coughs up a lung, further cementing his role of the pathetic little guy today.

“Hey,” he says lamely, his voice still croaking as he crushes the half-smoked cigarette under his boot. “Sorry.” He doesn’t know for what. But it feels appropriate.

She shakes her head, rolling her eyes at him as she crosses her arms in front of her chest.

“Tell me,” she says at last, and even though there is a tremor in her voice, she sounds nothing short of demanding. “I want the whole story, and I want it now.”

And so he does. He tells her everything, bidding her inside because he needs the relative safety of the trailer even though the air in here is stuffy and still faintly smells blue. He pours them both some coffee and some tea, because asking what she wants doesn’t feel right in the middle of telling her how he found her supposed best friend beat to shit in the boathouse he went to to forget about the world for a while.

She stills as she listens to him, staring ahead into the middle distance somewhere beneath the floor and the walls, her hands wrapped around the steaming mug of coffee. Eddie stumbles over his words a lot, unsettled by her stillness, her lack of reaction. She doesn’t even react to his fuck-ups. People usually do.

He wants to ask. Where are you right now? What have you seen? What’s on your mind? What the fuck is happening?

But he doesn’t ask, instead he tells her more about Steve. About how he seemed to forget where he was. About the pain he was in. About the smiles nonetheless. The way he reassured Eddie.

That one finally gets a choked little huff from her, somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

“Yeah, that sounds like him alright. He’s such a dingus.”

There is so much affection in her voice as she says it that Eddie can’t help but smile into his mug.

“Dingus?” he asks, hoping for some lightness, hoping to keep it.

But the light fades, and her eyes get distant again. Eddie wants to kick himself.

“Just a stupid little nickname. An insult, really.”

“Oh.” He doesn’t know what to do with that. If he should ask more or if he should say that he has a feeling Steve might appreciate stupid little nicknames. Especially if they’re unique. Especially if they’re for him. But what right does he have to say that now? What knowledge does he have about Steve Harrington that Robin doesn’t?

So he bites his tongue and drinks his coffee, cursing the silence that falls over them as Robin mirrors him, albeit slow and stilted, like she doesn’t know what to do either. Or where to put her limbs.

“Wayne’s got him now. I took him here, after the boathouse, because I didn’t know what to do. He said he didn’t want the hospital, said there’s…” He trails off.

Robin looks at him, her eyes wary but alert. “Said there’s what?”

It’s stupid. Don’t say it.

“Eddie?”

With a sigh, he puts his mug on the counter and stuffs his hands into his pockets. “He said there’s monsters. In the hospital, I mean. He said that.”

Instead of scoffing or at least frowning, Robin clenches her jaw and nods imperceptibly, her eyes going distant again. Eddie blinks, the urge to just fucking ask overcoming him again, but with every passing second he realises that he doesn’t actually want to ask. He doesn’t want to know, let alone find out.

He just… He just wants to go to bed. Forget any of this ever happened. But he can’t do that, so he continues.

“Brought him here and Wayne took one look at him and convinced him he needed a doctor. And, Jesus H Christ, he was right. I’ve never… I mean, those things don’t happen,” he urges, balling his hands into fists even in the confined space of his pockets. “Right? I mean… Shit, man.” He bumps his shoe into the kitchen counter; gently, so as not to startle Buckley out of her fugue like state.

“You’d be surprised,” she rasps, staring into the middle distance again and slowly sinking to the floor. There is a tremor in her shoulders now, barely noticeable, but Eddie knows where to look. Without really thinking about it, he grabs two of his hoodies he’d haphazardly thrown over the kitchen chairs this morning while deciding on his outfit and realising that it was altogether too warm for long sleeves today. But now, right here in this kitchen, the air tinged with blue, they’re both freezing.

Because fear and worry will take all the warmth right from inside of you and leave you freezing even on the hottest day of the year.

She barely looks at him when he holds out his all-black Iron Maiden hoodie to her, freshly washed and all that, but she takes it nonetheless, immediately pulling it on. It’s way too large on her, her hands not showing through the sleeves, her balled fists safe and warm inside the fabric. It would make him smile if only it didn’t highlight her stillness, her faraway stare, and the years he has on her. She’s, what, two years younger than him? Three?

It seems surreal. Everything, everything does.

Robin Buckley in his home, sitting on his kitchen floor, swallowed by a hoodie that is a size too large even for him, but it was the last one they had in the store and he doesn’t mind oversized clothes, can just cut them shorter when the need arises or layer them or declare them comfort sweaters for when he wants to just have his hands not slip through the sleeves on some days. And now Robin is wearing his comfort hoodie because her best friend was bleeding in his car earlier and then on his couch and now in his uncle’s car, and they never even talk, but he knows that Robin’s favourite colour is blue, but not morning hour blue because that makes her sad; only deep, dark blues.

Her favourite colour. Her favourite person.

It’s so fucking surreal.

He drops down beside her, leaving enough space between them so neither of them feels caged, and mirrors her position: knees to his chest, chin on his forearms. Staring ahead.

And silence reigns.

“Your uncle,” she says at last, finally breaking the silence that’s been grating on Eddie’s nerves and looking at him, really looking as she rests her cheek on her forearms crossed over her knees. “Tell me about him.”

There is a gentleness to her voice now despite how hoarse it is. Maybe she’s just tired, too. And scared. At least the shivering has stopped.

Still Eddie frowns, confused as to why she should be breaking the silence to ask about Wayne when everything today has been about Harrington. About Steve. About deep and dark blues.

“Uncle Wayne?” he asks. “Why?”

“Because,” she begins, and sighs deeply, works to get the air back in her lungs. Eddie wants to reach out, but instead he just clenches his fingers a little deeper into the fabric of his hoodie. “My best friend is hurt very badly and the only person with him is your uncle, and I need to know that he’s in good hands. Or I swear to whatever god you may or may not believe in, and granted, it’s probably the latter, but still I swear I’ll give into my arsonist tendencies and burn down this city, starting with your trailer if you don’t tell me that your uncle is a good man who will do anything in his power to make sure that boy gets the help and care he needs. And deserves.”

Her jaw is set and her bottom lip trembles, but it doesn’t take away from the absolute sincerity in her threat.

“So, please,” she continues, her voice breaking just a little bit. “Tell me. Tell me about your uncle.”

Tell me about your favourite person.

Eddie swallows, and mirrors her position once more, so she can see his eyes and know he’s sincere. Because he’s learned something about eyes today, about how much in the world can change if only you have a pair of eyes to look into.

And he nods, looking for somewhere to start. “He’s the best man I know. He’s the best man you’ll ever meet.”

She clings to his eyes. Searches them for the truth, beseeching them not to lie. He lets her.

“Took me in when I was ten, because my dad’s a fuck-up and my mom’s a goner. Took me in again when I was twelve after I ran away. Makes me breakfast and I pretends the dinner I make him is more than edible.” He smiles a little, because how could he not? “He’s my uncle, but still he’s the best parent anyone could wish for. Writes those little notes that he sticks to the fridge, y’know, the one with the smiley face? Tells me to eat, because I forget sometimes. I tell him to drink water, because he forgets. First few years, he’d read to me. And the man’s a shit reader, has some kind of disability I think, and at some point I learned that he wasn’t reading at all. He was telling me stories all the time, conning me into thinking that the books were magic, and that every time I’d try to read the book for myself, the story would change.”

There’s a lump in his throat now, and his eyes sting again. But Robin doesn’t seem to fare any better than him if her wavering smile is any indication.

“There’s no one,” Eddie continues, “who will make you believe in magic quite like uncle Wayne. Or in good things. And d’you wanna know what he told Blue when he said he was scared of going to the hospital?”

Sniffling, Robin shakes her head.

“He said, Okay. Then we do it scared. And all of that after he just… with that patience he has, told him everything that was gonna happen. And that he’d be there with him through it all. That he knew the doc and wouldn’t let anyone else near him, and that there’s no need to be scared at all.”

He sighs, breathes, stills. Swallows, before looking back at Robin.

“So, if there’s one person who’ll make sure that boy gets the help and care he needs and deserves…”

“It’s uncle Wayne,” Robin finishes his sentence, her voice still hoarse, but Eddie likes to think it’s for a different reason now.

“It’s uncle Wayne,” Eddie says, nodding along as he does.

There is something like understanding in Robin’s eyes now, and Eddie hopes it’s enough. Enough to calm the spiking of her nerves, enough to settle the coil of freezing nausea that must reside in the pit of her stomach, enough to let the next breath she takes feel a little more like it’s supposed to be there.

He wants to say something more, wants to reach out and reassure her that everything will be okay, but he can’t know that. He doesn’t feel like it’s entirely true, let alone appropriate right now.

There’s something in Robin’s eyes, in the way she holds herself, like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like she accepts his words at face value but doesn’t really believe them. Like she’ll only rest when she’s got her best friend back in her arms and hears the story — the whole story — from him.

And Eddie doesn’t fault her, because the thing is, he doesn’t know what happened. Steve said that Hagan came at him, but that’s really all he got out of him before he started talking about death and shit, and Eddie really didn’t want to ask any more questions then.

So they sit there for a while, the silence oppressive and unwelcome, clumsy and awkward; Robin’s mouth opening and closing a lot, like she wants to ask questions but doesn’t dare to ask them — and Eddie doesn’t know if he’s glad about it or not. Doesn’t know if he wants to hear the kind of questions asked with that kind of stare.

It is only after a long while, when Robin’s shoulders start shaking again and she buries deeper into the hoodie and her own spiralling thoughts, that Eddie breaks the silence again, replaying in his head the last moment between him and Steve.

“He’s not gonna break,” he tells her, aiming for gentle and reassuring.

What he doesn’t expect is the minute flinch, the jolt shooting through her body and the pained expression it leaves her with. What he doesn’t expect is what she says next.

“You know,” she begins, her voice as far away as her eyes, and it’s like she doesn’t even know she’s speaking. “Sometimes I wish he would.”

What?

Eddie blinks, swallowing hard.

“Just for, just for a break. Just so he can rest. Let the rest take over for a while.”

That… He doesn’t— What the hell does that even mean?

“Like maybe then the world would… snap back.” She snaps her fingers, just once. This time it’s Eddie who flinches. “And everything bad would disappear. But it won’t. And he won’t.” She swallows. Then quietly, almost inaudible, “He won’t break.”

And the way she says it… It was reassuring before. And now it feels like a burden. A curse.

Who the fuck are you, Steve Harrington? And you, Robin Buckley.

Eddie shudders, knowing he doesn’t want the answer to that anymore. He doesn’t want the questions either. So he buries his face in his hands, closes his eyes, and breathes. The adrenaline has worn off by now, the repeated panicking that added fuse to the fire has ceased now, leaving him worn out and strung out, tired and exhausted. He pulls up the hood, burrowing into the warmth.

And then he stills. His usually twitching, fumbling, fiddling body falling entirely still beside Buckley.

It’s like time stops for a while there, even though Eddie knows that it’s dragging ever on and on. He’s inclined to let it, though. He’s too tired, too exhausted to really care about what time may or may not be doing.

“Why’d you call me?”

It takes a while for Eddie to realise that Robin’s spoken again, asked him a question out loud, the cadence of it different to the endless circles of questions Eddie’s got stuck in his head since the early afternoon tinged in blue against crimson.

He lifts his head, tucking his hands underneath his chin, and looks over at Buckley. Her hair is dishevelled now, her mascara smudged and crusty. Her lipstick is almost all gone, with the way he sees her biting and chewing on her lips.

“I… It seemed like the right thing to do, y’know? He kept repeating your number. In the car, it was like… Sounds dramatic, but it was like his lifeline, almost. Repeated it so often it kinda got stuck.” He shrugs. “Seemed important, too.”

Robin frowns; a careful little thing. “How’d you know it was me?”

“Well, he just talked about you. Y’know. Tell me about your favourite person, I told him, because that’s the thing you gotta do to keep people, like, talking to you. Not shit about what day it is, or what. Just, y’know. Let them talk about things they like. Things they’ll wanna tell you about. ’N’ he talked about you.”

She’s quiet for a while, letting his words sink in. And Eddie wonders if she knew. That she’s his favourite person. If he ever told her. If maybe he took that from him now. It’s a stupid thing to worry about, really; the boy was bloodied and bruised on his couch just an hour ago, there are worse things at hand for Eddie to worry about. But now he wonders if he just spilled some sort of secret. Some sort of love confession.

“Did you, I mean… Are you guys, like, dating? Did I just steal his moment?”

Robin huffs, but it’s more like a smile that needs a little more space in the room, a little more air to really bloom. It’s fond. She shakes her head, her eyes far away again, but closer somehow.

“Nah,” she says, and the smile is in her voice, too. Eddie kind of likes her voice like that. “We’re platonic. Which is something I’d never thought I’d say. Not about Steve Harrington, y’know?”

And the way she drags out his name… Eddie can relate. Like it means something, but like what it means is nowhere close to reality. Nowhere close to what it really means. Nowhere close to Blue.

Robin sighs, the sound more gentle than it should be, and leans her head against the cabinet behind her. “We worked together over summer break. Scoops Ahoy.” Her voice does a funny thing, and her eyes glaze over as she pauses. Eddie waits, his lips tipped up into a little smile, too; to match hers.

“What, the ice cream parlour?”

Robin hums, her smile widening at what Eddie guesses must be memories of chaos and ridiculousness. “I wanted to hate him,” she continues. “But try as I might, he wouldn’t let me. Or, he did. He did let me. Just, it turns out, there’s no use hating Steve Harrington, not when he’s so… So endlessly genuine. There’s nothing to hate, y’know? And then he…”

She stops, her mouth clicking shut as her eyes tear up a little. The Starcourt fire. Eddie remembers the news, remembers the self-satisfied smirk when he’d heard about it, remembers sticking it to the Man and to capitalism and to the idea of malls over supporting your friendly neighbourhood businesses.

Guilt and shame overcome him as he realises that they must have been in there when it happened.

“He saved your life?”

Robin’s eyes snap toward him, wide and caught, and Eddie raises his hands in placation.

“In the fire? Were you there?”

“Y—yeah.” She swallows hard, avoiding his eyes. “The fire. He saved me. Yeah.”

Eddie nods, deciding to drop that topic right there; to lay it on the ground as gently as he can and cover it with bright red colours so he never steps on it ever again.

“He must be your favourite person, too, then, hm?” he steers the conversation back away into safer waters.

“He is,” she says, sure and genuine and true. “It’s just. I don’t think I’ve ever been anyone’s favourite. He has a lot of people who care about him, you know? A lot of people he cares about. Even more numbers memorised in that stupidly smart head of his.” She huffs again, burrowing deeper into Eddie’s hoodie, pulling the sleeves over her hands some more. “It’s stupid, to be so hung up on this. Is it stupid?”

“I don’t think it is,” Eddie says, scooting a little closer to Robin. “Like, I don’t even know that boy, right? But even I know that he’s got some ways to shift your focus or something. Give you a silver lining, or something to take the pain away even when he’s the one who… I don’t know, that’s probably stupid, too.”

“Nah,” Robin says, scooting closer to him, too, until their sides are pressed together and she can lay her head on his shoulder. “It’s not stupid. You’re right; that’s Steve for you. ’S just who he is.”

It is, isn’t it?

You’re so blue, Stevie.

She’ll say something corny when, when you ask her, jus’ to fuck with you. Sunset gold or rose, jus’ to mess with… But is blue.

Blue. ‘S nice.

Yeah. Yeah, he is.

Eddie lets his thoughts roam the endless possibilities and realities that is Steve Harrington, the depths he hides — or won’t hide, maybe, if you know how to ask. Where to look.

Maybe he’ll find out, one of these days. Not about the terrible things that leave him scared of the hospital, not about the horrible things that have him speaking of death and dying like he’s accepted them as a possibility a long time ago.

He swallows hard and shakes off these thoughts, because things like that just. They don’t happen. They don’t happen to blue-smiled boys who trust you to be kind even when they’re beaten straight to hell. And they sure as hell don’t happen when uncle Wayne’s around.

Nothing bad has ever happened when uncle Wayne was around.

And he wants to tell Robin, wants to make that promise. But part of him can’t bear the thought of being wrong. So he keeps his mouth shut and just sits with her, their heads as heavy as their hearts as they wait.

The sun is long gone when the phone above him rings again, spooking and startling them out of their timeless existence.

“Yeah?” he answers, his heart hammering in his chest. “Wayne?”

“Hey, Ed,” Wayne’s voice comes through the phone like a melody. Calm and steady. Robin is scooting closer, and Eddie shifts the phone to accommodate her so they can both listen. Somehow, they ended up holding hands — and holding on hard. “We’re coming home now.”

🤍🌷 tagging:

@theshippirate22 @mentallyundone @ledleaf @imfinereallyy @itsall-taken @simply-shin @romanticdestruction @temptingfatetakingnames @stevesbipanic @steddie-island @estrellami-1 @jackiemonroe5512 @emofratboy @writing-kiki @steviesummer @devondespresso @swimmingbirdrunningrock @dodger-chan @tellatoast @inkjette @weirdandabsurd42 @annabanannabeth @deany-baby @mc-i-r @mugloversonly @viridianphtalo @nightmareglitter @jamieweasley13 @copingmechanizm @marklee-blackmore @sirsnacksalot @justrandomfandomstm @hairdryerducks @silenzioperso @newtstabber @fantrash @zaddipax @cometsandstardust @rowanshadow26 @limpingpenguin @finntheehumaneater @extra-transitional (sorry if i missed anyone! lmk if you don't wanna be tagged for part 4 🫶)

#steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #who did this to you #something has Shifted in this part and i wanna do a literary/meta analysis of it but i dont wanna ruin the fun or be annoying but hhh #also sorry if you don't like this bc it's so different from the other two but the sudden adrenaline crash will do that to ya #we'll get Blue back soon don't you worry 🤍#also eddie's mind is running in circles and he doesn't have wayne to stop him this time sooo if this feels repetitive and redundant???#then let's pretend it should read that way actually (and also eddie is an obsessive little guy he'll ruminate forever if he doesn't have #an outlet sooo)#also rambling fumbly robin going deadly still over an injured steve is the hill i will die on actually like that just makes me feral #dio words

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